Because sweet potatoes are good for you.
Because in a few days people will be making a bunch of crazy biscuit-free resolutions and you need these before that happens!
Tag Archives: baking
Carrot Cake Truffles
Carrot Cake Truffles… also known as How to Make Carrot Cake a Finger Food.
But these perfect little balls of carrot cake and cream cheese frosting were, for me, kind of bittersweet.
For those of you that know me, you know that I am basically not capable of sitting down and watching TV, but the background noise HAS to accompany me all day. If I don’t have the music cranked then the TV is on. And not just on, but like FULL BLAST. Because I don’t spend a whole lot of time looking at the TV. I just listen to it while I stay busy doing other things and glance up when the dialogue strikes me. For some reason I cannot process the information coming from the speakers at normal volume unless I’m actually watching. I think that this probably directly correlates to my having to turn the music down when I’m driving and lost or when traffic seems to demand my full attention… does anyone else have this problem?
Weekend Stuff & a Hair Update
I know why time is going at warp speed:
Christmas.
I blinked and lost the last half of last week. So I really wanted to kinda lolly-gag through the weekend.
Didn’t happen.
Thanks For…
Photos by me & Instagram
Thanks for this day spent in my kitchen with little boys under foot, listening to 90′s-era alterna-rock in between old episodes of Gossip Girl while wearing an apron smudged with cream cheese and cheeks sprinkled with flour dust.
Chili Spiced Cheesy Hasselback Potatoes
This was yesterday’s lunch. Kind of.
I actually had lunch with Chad, but in the interest of sharing with all of you, I made these at 2 in the afternoon.
Oh the sacrifices I make for the sake of this blog.
So here’s the great thing about these potatoes: You can make a whole bunch OR you can make just one.
Filed under Side Dishes, Vegetables, Vegetarian
Chocolate Buttermilk Cake Parfaits
Ughhhhh. Monday.
I lost my weekend somewhere. It was either in the 2 hour early voting line that ate up our Friday evening, the 19 hour wrestling match on Saturday morning, or in the midst of a Top Model marathon (Cycle 17, to be specific) droning on in the background while I worked for the past 3 days. So hey… what happened to Angelea? I realize I’m like two years too late and it’s also pretty troubling that this is actually a question in my mind but seriously, what happened?
Thinking of You.
Dad,
I made cupcakes. The 30th of October marks your birthday and I was thinking of you. We are all always thinking of you.
You come up often and unexpectedly and sometimes in places that surprise me… pleasantly.
We share many laughs; I know you won’t mind that lots of them are at your expense because it’s in the most endearing and cherished sort of way.
Like when we talk about you puttering around in that old diesel Mercedes that you could hear coming from 32 miles away. How you permanently had that small styrofoam cup of lukewarm coffee glued to your right hand, and you’d have us shift the gears for you from the shearling covered passenger seat so you didn’t have to set that precious coffee down. I always wondered what you did when we weren’t in the car… one of life’s great mysteries, I suppose.
We still think it’s hilarious that you fell asleep on the sofa every night with a newspaper spread across your chest and the TV volume set at it’s highest level while you waited for mom to come home from work. And as soon as we crept down the hall and depressed the button to adjust the volume your eyes would fly open and you’d exclaim, “Hey!! I was watching that!!” Sometimes we’d point out that actually you were sleeping, to which you always responded, “No. I was just resting my eyes.”
We laugh about your cream-of-weird-soup-covered-pork-chops that I think was maybe the only meal you ever knew how to cook, and the time that you made Lindsey and I sit at the dinner table until the middle of the night because we refused to eat canned creamed corn. Whenever I hear one of my children tap out that ting ting ting sound the spoon makes when they are determined to get that last bit of cereal or ice cream from a bowl, I think of you eating oatmeal and mom rolling her eyes.
I remember sneaking onto car lots in the dark to get a close-up look at the reeeeally cool stuff without the salesmen asking us questions.
And how sometimes you’d go to the grocery store for orange juice and be gone for an eternity because there is not one shred of peace to be found in a house full of five children, at least 3 dogs and a revolving door of kitty cats. Also… we know you talked to Ali Cat at night while you washed the dishes when you thought we were sleeping.
It still makes my heart smile to think about when I lived far away and mom would put you on the phone, and you’d keep asking me silly pointless small-talky questions because you didn’t want me to hang up just yet.
Michael still rocks your aviator sunglasses. Spencer eats ice cream for breakfast because he’s determined to gain a little weight and maybe one day fill out that worn old leather bomber jacket.
So anyway… I made these double chocolate buttermilk cupcakes. We are thinking of you.
Happy Birthday.
Filed under About
Cranberry Pecan Quinoa Granola
Also known as my new favorite breakfast cereal.
Move over, Kashi. I think I’ve got you beat.
And speaking of Kashi… I found a ton of it at this resale store over the weekend. You know, one of those wholesale buyout places that snatches up all kindsa stuff that’s about to go out of date, or be discontinued? And then they sell it for cheap!! Like TJ Maxx for junk.
So we were actually shopping for bits and pieces of Halloween costumes because Andrew keeps giving me all these crazy costume instructions. He means business. As we were walking into the store I was cracking a joke to Chad about there always being an overabundance of health food products at this place because no one except me buys them in the regular stores and they are always about to go out of date.
Public Service Announcement to my people in southwestern North Carolina: You guys. Sundrop is not a food group.
Okay, so we are walking through this discount resale store looking for an orange hardhat (I bought yellow. Close enough.), and I spotted this humongous wall of Kashi. Everything from cereal to snack bars. They even had those caramel pecan roll things. I started scouring the packaging for the expiration dates, trying to figure out how much Kashi product I could possibly consume before it’s harboring mold spores or something, and that’s when I saw it:
High fructose corn syruped hydrogenated everything.
I felt so betrayed.
Because it’s been a pretty long while since I read a Kashi label. I was just rolling along, trusting that recycled cardboard packaging and perfectly balanced right-on-the-cusp pricing. You know, it’s too expensive to be cheap garbage, but it’s just reasonable enough that I’ll consider it. Plus it’s all grainy and earthy and has like 4,000 grams of fiber or something.
To be fair, the labels that were shocking the socks off of me (or something… because I actually hate socks) were for the candy bar kinda Kashi. The chocolate drizzled coconut pecan caramel clustered cookie kind of yummies. And they DID still have lots of whole grains. And they were probably more nutritious than a Snickers bar, though, I dunno… Snickers DOES satisfy.
But I was disappointed anyway.
I make granola all the time with oats and dried fruit and coconut. I pour milk over it and eat it like cereal. I sprinkle it on my yogurt, take a bite, and then toss in another handful.
I put it on ice cream. Or frozen yogurt (by far still the BEST way to eat granola).
I really never tire of crunchy, grainy, fruity cereal. This time was a little different, though, because I added quinoa to the oatmeal. And cranberries. Pecans. Dried apricots. Roasted sunflower seeds.
No high fructoligized anything.
Disclaimer: I actually really love Kashi products. They do a really great job of taking weird food from health food stores that scares people and making it mainstream in friendly packaging. And it IS so much better for you than most pre-packaged foods. But lesson learned! Don’t stop label reading just because you trust a company.
UPDATE: This post was shared with the Cowgirl Up! Link Party #38, hosted by The Ivy Cottage Blog. Check it out!!! There are seriously HUNDREDS of entries. It’s an awesome was to find new projects, new reads, and share some of your own creations!
Cranberry Pecan Quinoa Granola
1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed according to package instructions
2 cups water
1 cup uncooked old fashioned oats (quick cook works, too)
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup vegetable oil (or coconut oil!!! mmmmmmm)
1/3 cup packed brown sugar (or maple syrup)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup roasted sunflower seeds, lightly salted
1 (6 ounce) package dried apricots, about 1 cup, coarsely chopped
In a medium saucepan, bring the uncooked quinoa and the water to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat to a simmer, until all the water is absorbed and it can be fluffed with a fork, about 15 minutes. Set aside, uncovered, so it will cool slightly.
Pre-heat the oven to 250. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.
In a large bowl, stir together the cooked quinoa and the uncooked oats. In a small saucepan, heat the honey, oil, brown sugar, and vanilla, stirring occasionally, until bubbly and the sugar is dissolved. Pour the liquid over the quinoa oat mixture and stir well to incorporate. Spread it evenly across the prepared baking sheet. The thinner the layer, the faster the granola will crisp up, so bigger baking sheets work best.
Bake for about 90 minutes, stirring around every 15 minutes or so. Make sure to pull the granola away from the edges and push it around the baking sheet when stirring; the edges tend to brown first.
The granola won’t be done in 90 minutes at that low a temperature. So take it out of the oven, turn the heat up to 350, and toss the granola with the remaining ingredients. Pour 1/3 back onto the baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes. It’ll crisp up quickly and your cranberries and pecans won’t have that weird singed oven taste. Repeat with the remaining 2/3 granola mixture.
Store in an air tight container.
Enjoy immensely.
Baked Southwest Egg Rolls
Norma Kitty Jean and I were at odds for most of the day yesterday.
She chased half a roll of toilet paper all over my bathroom. She decided that she really hates my bear claw slippers and tried to attack my feet every time I walked through the house, which mostly resulted in me tripping all over myself while trying not to accidentally step on her. Because I needed help being the clumsiest person on earth. Thanks, Norma.
I crank the music when I’m cooking. Also I sing. And besides Norma Jean, I am home alone, so really who cares what I sound like? Well I’ll tell you: my kitty does. She is a total hater. And yesterday, every time I opened my mouth to belt out some lyrics, she crouched down on the little side table in the living room, flattened her ears, and looked at me with what I can only describe as the crazy, hateful, I’m-about-to fly-at-you-with-all-my-claws face.
To spite her musical disdain I made up a song about her to the tune of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”.
She retaliated by snuggling my laptop every time I left it unattended and Googling things like “ddsyyuyu9999777777777777777777777tfduuyghj”. She also managed to turn it off. Twice.
So I left the mess in the kitchen and parked myself on the sofa with my laptop to try and wrap my head around custom css or some other foreign kind of language (you may have noticed a few changes on the homepage- let me know what you think!! Unless you don’t like it. Because I’m honestly not sure I can undo what I did). Norma decided to join me, except for some reason she really only likes to sit on my head when I’m on the couch. And then she does that Iloveyousomuchletmekneadyouwithmyclaws kitty thing in my hair. I appreciate the sentiment, but not the tangling. Or the claws on the back of my neck.
In the afternoon, Norma Jean was way excited about Evan getting off the school bus because they like to play Hot Wheels cars together.
No, really.
Evan puts the cars on the little Hot Wheels track, and Norma catches them in mid air and bats them across the floor. It keeps them entertained. But yesterday Evan had kind of a lot of homework. He also had to study for a science test. I think Norma got a little impatient and annoyed, because while Evan sprawled across the floor with his paper and pencil, she hid behind the Hot Wheels track, eyes narrowed, silently stalking.
And then she pounced on his head. Repeatedly. She also tried to eat the pencil eraser while he was writing.
Then she trapped herself in the kitchen cabinet for a little bit.
All of this is to say that Miss Norma wore herself out completely yesterday.
Other than mewing at me to give her a treat at 6 a.m. because the crinkle of the coffee bag sounds like the crinkle of her treat bag and she thinks I’m holding out on her at least 3 mornings a week, she’s been sleeping. Curled up in the sunlight on the arm of the sofa, basking in warm kitty happiness, and hasn’t heard a thing all morning sleeping.
Kitty bliss.
Since Norma Jean is napping and not being her high-maintenance self for at least a little bit, I thought I’d take a minute to tell you about baked southwest egg rolls with avocado ranch dressing. Yep. I’ve been holding out on you. Because I actually made these for the first time MONTHS ago. But then I had other things to post (like chocolate), or I’d just posted another recipe with a Mexican flair, or I made something else with wonton wrappers and these felt like a repeat. Anyway… these things are straight up AWESOME. Like those appetizers they always charge too much for in a restaurant and you’re so excited to get them, but when they put ‘em down on the table they are small and there are only 5 (side note: I’ve spent a huge chunk of my life working in restaurants and I still don’t understand WHY appetizers always come in uneven numbers. It causes problems. We should protest). So these are like those except better. Because they are baked. And have a TON of goodies in the filling.
AND if you aren’t feeling the avocado ranch, you could try this cilantro sour cream. Because it’s awesome, too.
I’ve been excessive with THE CAPITAL LETTERS FOR EMPHASIS today. Sorry about that.
Baked Southwest Egg Rolls
Author: Sugar Dish Me
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked shredded chicken
- 1 (10 ounce) bag of frozen corn, thawed
- 1 (15 ounce) can of black beans, drained and rinsed OR about 2 cups of cooked black beans
- 1 (9 ounce) package of frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
- 2 cups finely shredded blended cheese (cheddar/jack is my go-to)
- 1 (4 ounce) can of diced green chiles, drained
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 (1 pound) package egg roll wrappers
- a small glass of water (for sealing the wrappers)
- non-stick cooking spray or olive oil (for coating the egg rolls before baking)
- ½ cup ranch dressing- use your favorite brand or mix up your own
- ½ an avocado, peeled and mashed
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
- zest of 1 lime
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 400. Lightly spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray (OR situate a wire rack on top of the baking sheet and spray that; this helps the heat to circulate more evenly).
- In a large bowl, stir together the chicken, corn, beans, spinach, cheese, green chiles, green onions, cumin, chili powder, salt, and cayenne pepper.
- Wrap 2-3 tablespoons of the filling into each egg roll wrapper (if you aren’t sure how, you can see the photo collage above, but instructions are usually on the package).
- Use a dab of water on your finger to seal each filled egg roll, and then line them upon the prepared baking sheet.
- When the sheet is filled, brush the tops of the egg rolls with olive oil OR spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- Bake for about 15 minutes, turning the egg rolls over halfway so they brown on both sides.
- While they bake, mix together all the ingredients for the avocado ranch. Dip the baked egg rolls in the ranch. Eat. repeat.
(slightly adapted from THIS recipe at Budget Savvy Diva)
Filed under Sugar
Pumpkin Donut Holes with Cream Cheese Drizzle & Pecans
I have barely begun to scratch the surface of the complete awesomeness this season has to offer.
You are probably about to be inundated with fall things here over the next few weeks, so if you aren’t into it, look away (but please don’t, though, okay? because I would miss you. and you would miss out on donuts).
So let me tell you what keeps happening to me every single time I wander over towards Pinterest.
