Spuds and Cupcakes…Food to Make You Swoon

Eating healthy doesn’t mean that a sacrifice has to be made in the flavor department. We’ve really been enjoying choosing healthier dinners around our house. And this meal was particularly delicious while still staying well within my healthy goals for losing weight and getting fit.

I baked some marinated chicken and paired it with garlic-roasted broccoli and (my new favorite) caramelized-onion mashed potatoes.

We didn’t even need gravy with these perfectly-flavored and juicy potatoes. To add lots of taste without blowing my calorie count, I caramelized some onions for about twenty minutes before adding them to my smashed spuds. I also added some chicken broth and a small scoop of low-fat sour cream for even more flavor and some creaminess.

Holy smokes, this was good.

It wasn’t just the potatoes that made me happy during this meal. Please allow me to introduce you to broccoli and garlic.

I steamed these florets in the microwave before mixing them with some garlic-infused olive oil, salt, pepper, and crunchy garlic. Then I popped them into a hot oven to roast for about ten more minutes. The result was a perfectly-cooked and still-crunchy vegetable that has long been a favorite of mine.

The original recipe for this green stuff, which is from one of my preferred healthy chefs, Ellie Krieger, was even better than I expected. I didn’t have whole cloves of garlic to slice thinly but just used some of the finely-chopped garlic from my giant Costco jar.

This was heavenly. Who knew that steaming veggies in the microwave first could make their texture so amazing?

But this pile of spuds was the obvious highlight for me. I still can’t believe how delicious everything was, while still staying around four-hundred calories for the entire meal!

Hubby loved this meal, too. Maybe because it wasn’t just a salad, which we’ve been eating lots of lately?

A few days after eating our yummy dinner, Hubby texted from work asking me to make a coworker some cupcakes for a birthday.

I’m always happy to help out when it means that I have an excuse to bake!

I decided to make Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Buttercream Whipped Frosting.

And you might not even believe this (I still don’t), but I didn’t eat a single one of these bad boys!

Who is this speaking?!

I tried a little tiny bit of this frosting just to make sure that I had all of the right flavors without being too sweet. I really think that frosting is what makes or breaks a cupcake.

It’s difficult to describe this stuff. But I’ll just say this: it made me want to eat three gallons.

Everything was so light, fluffy, peanut-buttery, and not overly sweet. I knew that, paired with some moist chocolate cake underneath, this was a can’t-lose combination.

Everyone that I know loves peanut-butter-and-chocolate goodness. They almost make each other taste better when paired together.

I also like to let people know what they are eating, so I cut some mini Reese’s Cups in half to place on top of that creamy, heavenly frosting.

You know what I think made all the difference here? I usually place cupcakes back in the refrigerator before serving to keep them safe. And then I take them out about an hour before we eat them. But since he needed them before the workday was finished, I frosted these and took them right over to his building.

The lack of refrigeration is what made this frosting stay so light and fluffy.

I knew that I was on to something when Hubby said that they were the absolute best cupcakes that I’ve ever made.

Now I kind of wish that I had tried one to know if he was just saying that, huh?

They were looking pretty edible already, but a few chocolate sprinkles would only make the situation that much better. So I sprinkled on a little love and got them boxed up for their journey.

There is a fine line between too much frosting and not enough, but I think that these turned out perfectly, thankyouverymuch. I wanted frosting in each bite, but not so much that it ruined that flavor and presence of the cake.

This just makes me hungry for breakfast…

I get to make some more cupcakes for all of the moms in our church on Mother’s Day, so I think that these little beauties will make the cut. It will be fun to make them again, and, heck, even try one this time!

Have you been cooking anything yummy lately?

A Homemade Caramelized Onion Tomato Tart

On a drizzly day in Vancouver, I watched a neat Food Network only-in-Canada show called Chef Michael’s Kitchen. I’ve enjoyed watching his laid-back-but-informative style previously on trips to Canada, so I was excited to see one of his episodes.

And then he made this. And I couldn’t wait to get home to try it!

I felt uber fancy when making this tart because I even made the dough from scratch! I rolled it into a ball and wrapped it tight before letting it rest in the fridge for half an hour.

While it was thinking about future life decisions in the refrigerator, I got to work cooking down some caramelized onions, one of my favorite things in the world, and slicing some tomatoes.

When the dough was rested enough, I rolled it out and placed it into my removable-bottom tart pan. Ha, it’s kind of fun to say removable bottom!

We enjoyed it with dinner of grilled chicken and salad, and it was so good! I highly recommend giving the recipe a try. Especially if you’re feeling fancy enough to make a dough from scratch, which ended up being really easy!

What I really want to do it buy tiny removable-bottom tart pans and make one for each guest when we have a dinner party. Wouldn’t that be fun for a little personal tart to arrive on each plate for dinner?

Man, I need to get out more.

Even Hubby liked it, and that is saying something for how many vegetables were involved!

Let me know how much you like it!

A Sweet Catering Experience

I got a call last week from my sister-in-law. She had been assigned dessert at a fancy party that she and my brother were attending…just a few days later. She needed help, and I just so happened to be in town. She asked for my help (eek!), and I happily obliged!

Of course, “helping” for me meant taking over completely and making a menu for several tasting desserts. There would be fourteen people at this fun party, and we both wanted them to have lots of sweet choices for their after-dinner treat.

This was the menu. I think that we’re in business here!

I started out on Friday evening by making some from-scratch cheesecakes that turned out so perfectly. Baking them a day early allowed them to cool completely so they were ready to be formed into pops and dipped in chocolate on Saturday.

I’ve never made cheesecake from scratch before, but it was easy-peezy and holy smokes delicious. And Hubby ate all of the “failed” pops and couldn’t get enough, so that is saying something for a guy who isn’t crazy about sweets.

The cheesecake took longer to set than I expected, so I ended up forming them into balls and then popping them back into the freezer to set up.

Melting cheesecake doesn’t mix well with warm dipping chocolate, you know?

And only the best would work for a party of this magnitude. This chocolate perfectly cut the sweetness of the cheesecake. Rich, creamy, decadent. I think they will like it!

After being dipped and tapped to get rid of any excess chocolate, the cheesecake pops were rolled in fresh graham cracker crumbs and then placed back in the freezer until transportation time.

They turned out amazing. I guess the whole rustic look is working here, because the party-goers couldn’t get enough of these. They were big on purpose, so each partaker got one to enjoy.

I don’t think that I would attempt cheesecake next time, unless it didn’t have to travel. We had to store everything in a cooler on top of some ice to keep them cold. They weren’t very forgiving when it came to travel, but I’m glad that they held up through the party!

I decided to add some mint to the menu through some homemade Oreo cookies with from-scratch cream cheese mint frosting. The cookies were delicious and uniform in size, thanks to my one-inch cookie scoop.

These were deliberately removed from the oven just a little early so that the cookies would stay soft and chewy. After cooling on the pan for a few minutes, they were moved to a wire rack to hang out until ready for some frosting in between.

The frosting got tinted green to let the guests know what to expect when they took a bite.

My sister made a birthday cake once for my brother. It was covered in a beautiful green frosting, and we all got excited for the mint explosion about to ensue. But she was stunned at our expectations…it was just green frosting.

No mint.

I have learned so many lessons from this wise sister…now I know that green frosting = mint, and never bring fruit trays to Christmas Snack Tables.

Next I baked some sugar cookie cups to fill with a sweet cream filling. I piped this into the cups and then topped with beautiful fresh fruit.

The cookie cups were so fragile, but I love how they turned out. They were chewy in texture, and the cream just melted in the mouth. The tart bursts of the berries on top made a nice presentation with the eyes and with the mouth!

These were less than two inches wide, so they were just little guys. But lots of flavor came in little packages. And it’s fruit, right, so it’s healthy!

Right?

I made five treats today, thinking that I would still have four back-ups in case one of them didn’t work the way that I wanted. I am thrilled that all five dessert options turned out today…fragile cookie cups included!

It made baking from 7:00 AM nonstop through 4:00 PM a wonderful experience. I have way more fun with this whole catering thing when the goodies turn out well!

You know that I couldn’t really cater a party without having a cupcake offering, right?

For today, I decided to go with Rolo Cupcakes similar to these from My Baking Addiction. I changed the frosting and used melted butter in place of vegetable oil for an even better cupcake.

The cupcakes turned out perfectly plump and not too tall or short. I was relieved.

I’ve always wanted to try a “dripping” chocolate ganache on top, and I am tickled to announce that it worked like a charm!

Kitchen Assistant Hubby had to help me with this step, since the chocolate ganache set up quickly after touching the cooled caramel cream cheese buttercream frosting. So he came right behind my spoonfuls of sugar chocolate ganache with some cut miniature Rolo candies.

I love when people are shown what they can expect to taste. Rolos on top because there was a frozen Rolo baked inside!

Tickled was I at seeing these done cupcakes. They look so dang edible!

My last item to prep for the day was Lemon Drops for some nice tart flavor. I usually make Paula Deen’s Lemon Blossoms, but they always get stuck in the pan regardless of how well the pans are greased. And I couldn’t deal with that potential failure today of all days!

So I decided to try a new recipe from Woman’s Day for Little Lemon Drops, and they worked like a charm. I held my breath when I turned the pan over. They were supposed to just fall out…and they did!

Wonder of wonder, miracles of miracles!

I set them out to cool on a tea towel. To make them look even more professional, I decided to top them with Sugared Cranberries.

Purdy, huh?

They sat in a dissolved-sugar glaze overnight before being tossed in more sugar, so the tart smack was really toned down. They ended up being the perfect topper for pretty little lemon bites of bliss.

Aren’t they fancy?!

After I made a lemon glaze, it was time to dip the little lemon drops and then top them with the cranberries.

Wait for it….wait for iiiiiiiiiitttttt…….

SHAZAM! (Say that in a Gomer Pyle voice, please).

Don’t you just want to pop one (or thirty) of these little guys into your mouth? Of course, for quality-assurance purposes, I did just that.

No, I didn’t count. But I was happy with the party taking place in my mouth!

The glaze actually locks in the moisture from the cakes. I toned down the lemon juice in the glaze because the extreme tartness today came from the sugared cranberry on top.

Aren’t they gorgeous?!

I was really happy with how everything turned out. I feel so blessed that all five attempts at awesome desserts worked well enough to be proud of putting them in front of people to eat.

My brother said that each and every dessert was a hit at the party, and he even managed to hand out some business cards for them to call me again.

I’m OK with that. It must have been the cute Chrome Animal Name Card Holders, huh?

Canning Chicken Like There’s No Tomorrow

A few weeks before I arrived in Nephi for “work,” my Mama told me that she could get a killer deal on chicken if I wanted to can some and take it home with me.

It just so happens that she got a pressure canner for Christmas, and it just so happens that I have a glass cooktop at my house, which prohibits the use of heavy pressure canners.

All of the stars aligned to let me bring home almost forty pounds of canned chicken for our pantry!

The chicken was just beautiful, if I may say so about a bunch of raw chicken. I had to trim very little, and they were perfect for stuffing in a jar and applying insane amounts of pressure to cook them!

My first task of the day was to chop up the chicken so that it could easily fit into a jar. Mama bought wide-mouth pint jars, but even that wasn’t enough for these still-frozen beauties.

We took them out of the freezer the night before, but it took over a day for them to get pliable enough to make it into said wide-mouth jars!

However, still being frozen made chopping a little easier.

But I got a nice blister after cutting up forty pounds of frozen chicken. No, you can’t see the blister in this picture. But I know it’s there. And that’s what counts.

I was so tickled to be working alongside my Mama for this project! She cans a lot, and I have really been wanting to learn her skills. It’s hard when we live so far apart, but this weekend allowed some time to can up some chicken boobs.

So we washed the jars to prep them for the canning process.

And then I filled the jars with chicken and half a teaspoon of salt. The jars the next morning were even fuller as the chicken continued to thaw. It’s easier to stuff more chicken into the jar when its pliable!

And I am all about pliable chicken.

This is her new All-American Pressure Canner. I have one on my Amazon wishlist, though we wouldn’t be able to use it until we get a gas stove.

Sigh. Someday.

I’m just glad that Mama let me do chicken as the first thing to break this puppy in!

Because of our altitude at over 5,000 feet, we had to let the pressure rise to fifteen pounds-per-square-inch before the chicken could properly cook. First the heat had to build, and then we had to let it “vent” for about ten minutes. Then we placed the weight on and let the pressure rise to fifteen psi. Then we had to let it cook for seventy-five minutes. Then we turned off the heat to let it cool down. When the gauge read “zero,” we removed the weight to let the canner vent the rest of the way. Very quickly after it was vented, to avoid a vacuum from taking over, we removed the lid and removed perfectly-canned chicken.

It was quite a process. With beginners luck, our first batch went off without any problems. The second batch…well, let’s just say that we were up until almost 1:00 AM canning chicken.

The third batch the next morning went well, too.

These cans are ready for their lids, and then ready for the pot. This is second batch ready to go in, while first batch is almost ready to come out of the canner.

Here we go! The heat has been off, and the gauge has dropped to “zero.” Now it’s time to remove the weight so that the rest of the pressure can be released.

This little metal guy is the weight on top of the vent. Once we removed this, a constant stream of steam escaped for another several minutes.

And then it was time to remove the lid to check our handiwork. How exciting!

But we couldn’t get it open! So we had to bring in the Big Guns and his muscles to open the canner for us. He even got out a rubber mallet to tap the lid open. It was all very adventurous, I must say.

And I’ve never been able to use that work to describe canning anything!

Soon, the lid was off. And we all stood around to “oooooo” and “aaaaaahhh” the end result.

Somehow, Mama got lassoed into doing all of the manual labor while I sat back and watched with my camera lens. That doesn’t sound fair, now does it?

But I daresay…that is the prettiest jar of homemade chicken that I have ever seen! And I’ve seen a few (literally, just a few).

What is it about doing something so domestic and self-reliant that feels so amazing?

After they were removed from the piping-hot canner, the jars continued to bubble and boil inside. It was really neat. And then, one by one, we heard them “pop” as they properly sealed!

Per some instructions we found online, we added vinegar to the water bath to prevent the canner from getting stained. The vinegar stained the jar lids instead! Weird, huh?

Dang chemistry. It still confounds me!

After the first batch was so successful, we moved on to our next batch. It took two attempts to get the lid properly sealed, so too much stream escaped during the canning process! But getting to that point had taken over an hour each time. So, by the time that we were finishing this last batch, Mama and I were the only ones still awake.

Even Rosie had gone to bed. Slacker.

This was the clock when we finally finished our sketchy second batch. Silly me…I was thinking that we would finish all three batches today by lunchtime!

Ha!

Even though we were tired, I couldn’t help but admire all of our hard work on the countertop. Can you believe that I am brining home almost forty pounds of chicken for $1.30 a pound?!

The ones on the towel just came out of the canner, while the ones in the back were from batch numero uno. Lots of chicken going on ‘round these parts!

These boiled until they sealed with some loud pops. Even after going to bed, we could hear them popping out in the kitchen. Ah, the sound of edible success!

And we did pretty well! Out of three batches, processing sixteen jars in each batch, we only lost three jars that never properly sealed.

Mama put them in the fridge and made delicious chicken salad sandwiches and chicken enchiladas out of them. Everyone that I talked to said that they were delicious!

And I managed to bring three cases of chicken home on Gladys. They look rather nice in my pantry, don’t you think?

We have a few chicken cans from Costco to finish first. But I am so proud of the homemade versions next to them! Canned meat doesn’t always look appealing, but I am pretty stoked about this canned meat!

In fact, because I’m so patient, we are going to try our first jar tonight in some Mexican Chicken Wraps. I can hardly wait!

Mama, thanks for all of your help. I can’t imagine doing all of that on my own, and it was so much fun being in the kitchen with you!

Even if it was until the wee hours of the morning…