Busy Necklaces

So clearly this is a suggestion more than a recipe.. but hot damn do these come in handy! It's very straightforward: put some cereal on a string and tie. Done.

Any cereal with a hole in it will do. I opted for plain and fruity Cheerios simply because they aren't sugary (which could lead to a really gross sticky neck). I've seen people do this with string or twine, but personally I prefer thick plastic string so it doesn't just collect spit. Leave some space for it to land on the back of your kiddos neck. Obviously, don't leave your child with these unattended!!! They do pose a strangulation hazard as they are around your kid's neck.

I found these to be INCREDIBLY handy last month when we took a family road trip back to my hometown of El Paso, TX. We wanted to hit the road early, so these served as a sort of breakfast snack for the boys while they were strapped in to their car seats first thing in the morning. They loooved them! Kept em quiet and with happy tummies for a good while.

They're also great for everyday tasks like going shopping or anywhere you're likely to get stuck waiting in line. I have a hard enough time shopping with the boys even when I've got the mister there to help, so I'd imagine these would be very beneficial to single parents or for those trips you've gotta brave with the kids alone! 

I made a "batch" just today while the boys were having breakfast. Bagged em up, and they'll be ready in the diaper bag for whatever this weekend brings us.

Need I say more?

Better-than-the-box Pudding Cake

I've gotta say, I'm pretty excited about this post. I've been working on this recipe for some time now, and after a few mishaps along the way, I have devised THE most decadent from scratch cake.. ever. Yeah, I went there. Seriously though, this cake is so moist and just the right level of dense. It's so good, I didn't even bother with any frosting or fillings. The best part is that it's easily modified to be vanilla or chocolate. 

Be forewarned though... You NEED crisco for this! Crisco and flour. Not butter, not cooking spray. Crisco. Just. Use. Crisco. It's under $3 a tub and will last for forever. Just do it... My first two attempts at this beautiful cake were utterly stuck to the pan with no hope for any aesthetic pleasure. The first time wasn't so bad because the taste was incredible. The second time, not gonna lie, I threw myself a tantrum which lead to me throwing my oven mitts which then landed straight into a pot full of oil from the mister frying chicken the night before. An oven mitt soaked in oil is basically useless, and my mother (who happened to be in town that same week) gave me that "what the hell?" look only a mother can give when she saw these atrocities sitting next to my sink. We went to THREE stores and couldn't find any dang normal replacements! I had to settle for a holiday bundle adorned with pictures of pinecones and ribbons that came with a few hand towels sporting the same gaudy images. The lesson? JUST USE CRISCO. (I already told you that, pay attention!)

Now that I've instilled the great need for a properly greased pan.. Let's begin! I'm going to give you the recipe for the vanilla version of this cake, followed by the alterations to make it chocolate if you prefer.

Here's What You'll Need:

1 1/2 c flour

1/4 c cornstarch

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 (3.4 oz) box instant vanilla pudding

12 Tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) softened butter

1 1/2 c sugar

2 whole eggs + 1 egg yolk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbsp coconut oil

3/4 c buttermilk (or 3/4 c of 2% or higher milk + 1 Tbsp lemon juice set aside for 10 minutes)

If you are using milk and lemon juice in place of buttermilk, start by combining those in a small bowl and set aside while you do the rest of your prep work. Begin by preheating your oven to 350F, and grease/flour your bundt pan. (Again, DO NOT just spray your pan and expect a cake to come out, because believe you me it won't!)

In a large mixing bowl whisk your flour, corn starch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pudding mix until very well combined. (If you happen to have actual cake flour, then by all means use 1 3/4 cups of that and omit the corn starch.) Set your dry ingredients aside.

In another mixing bowl cream together your softened (room temperature, not microwaved and half melted!) butter and sugar until light and fluffy. You may use a stand mixer or hand beater for this step, but I recommend hand mixing for the rest.

Next, you will be adding your eggs to the sugar and butter mixture one at a time. (I would suggest trying for your separate yolk first if you're not very good at doing so, that way you have three chances to get it right! And always separate your eggs over a different bowl so you have somewhere for the remaining egg white to fall. Save it! Egg whites are great for bread baking! We'll tackle those recipes next.) Anyway, beat your eggs and egg yolk in one at a time.

Now you will add the vanilla, coconut oil, and buttermilk to your butter/sugar/egg mixture. Gently combine. You don't have to use coconut oil, I just find the subtle flavor it brings really adds to this cake, but any oil will do. If you made your own buttermilk (especially if this is the first time you've tried it and weren't expecting this) be sure to use all of it, curd chunks and all! They'll mix right in smooth as the rest, I promise.

Finally, slowly add your wet ingredients to your large mixing bowl with the dry stuff. Whisk well for about 1 minute. Pour batter into your prepared bundt pan, and bake for approximately 45 minutes (look for the edges of the cake just barely starting to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick that comes out clean.) Cool your cake in the pan on a wire rack for about 5-10 minutes before you actually flip it out of there. 

Confidence will abound if you used crisco and flour like I said, otherwise prepare yourself for this soul crushing defeat! This was the first of the two sad sad stuck cakes I baked before I learned my lesson.

And here we see golden delicious cakey perfection, with my favorite little sous chef, Fry! 

Now if you're wanting a cake of the chocolate variety, the switch is simple. You will replace a 1/2 cup of flour and 1 Tbsp cornstarch for a 1/2 cup of cocoa powder. Meaning your recipe now calls for only 1 c flour, 3 Tbsp cornstarch, and 1/2 c cocoa powder. You will also be using instant chocolate pudding instead of vanilla, but you already guessed that, right?

Personally, I don't think this cake needs any frosting. If you can't stand a naked cake though, try a light dusting of powdered sugar on top.

Before I go.. Let's talk a little science. The corn starch, as briefly mentioned, is being added in lieu of using cake flour. In the most basic of explanations the difference between cake flour, all purpose flour, and bread flour is a matter of protein. Cake flour is lighter, bread flour heavier, and all purpose is hanging out somewhere in between. Adding corn starch in place of some of the flour is the closest you'll come to turning your all purpose flour into cake flour if, like me, you can't justify dedicating the pantry space to a flour just for cakes and other such confections! The buttermilk or milk and lemon juice has just the right amount of acid in it to react with your leavening agents to keep this cake lighter in texture as the added pudding can easily make a cake too dense. And that half an egg? It's there to make your cake extra moist. Eggs add moisture (yolk) and structure (white). And that's as in depth as I'm going to with that. I'm not Alton Brown after all.

I'm sorry this isn't an easy breezy recipe. I assure you though, it will all be worth it in the end. Next up I'll be sharing two of my favorite bread recipes so you can make use of that remaining egg white!

Layered Pumpkin Cheesecake

It's October, so you know what that means... Pumpkin spiced EVERYTHING. From coffee to candles, your senses are going to be bombarded for the next month or two, like it or not. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em! This layered pumpkin cheesecake has just the right amount of pumpkin flavor without overwhelming everything else. Details like the homemade pumpkin purée and graham cracker crust makes for an exceptionally delicious cheesecake. It's sure to impress, and the nice thing is it's really not that difficult to make! The pumpkin purée can be made in advance, and the canned stuff just doesn't compare in flavor. The bit of sugar in the graham cracker crust gives it such a lovely crisp. The hubby and I ate up the whole thing in about two days, no lie. It's that good... Enjoy!


Fresh Pumpkin Purée 

• 1 Sugar Pumpkin (pie pumpkin)
• Approx. 1 Tbsp Oil (olive, canola, vegetable, whatever you've got)
• 1 c Water

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Wash the flesh of the pumpkin to remove any dirt and debris. Pop off the stem and cut pumpkin into quarters. Use a spoon or an ice cream scoop to scrape out the seeds (set aside if you like to roast them) and stringy bits. Once it's all cleaned out, rub the cut edges with oil to help prevent the edges from burning. I used olive oil and simply poured a bit in my hands to work into the edges. Place the pieces into your baking dish without overlapping them. I used an 8x8 glass casserole dish and there was just enough room. Add a cup of water to the bottom of the pan, also to help prevent burning. Cook for 60-90 minutes, until the flesh of the pumpkin is soft enough to easily pierce with a fork. Set pieces on a wire cooling rack. Once cool, but not cold, use a spoon or an ice cream scoop to scrape the flesh away from the skin (in the Halloween spirit, how creepy did that sound? Haha!). Use a food processor, blender, or food mill to blend until you have a smooth purée. Set aside 3/4 cup of pumpkin. One sugar pumpkin will make a significant amount of purée. The remainder can be stored in the refrigerator for about a week or so, or will last for months in the freezer.


Graham Cracker Crust

• 12 Graham Crackers (full sheets)
• 6 Tbsp Melted Butter
• 1/3 c Sugar

Begin by breaking up the graham crackers into a fine crumb (I used honey graham crackers, and they work awesome with this recipe). If using a food processor or blender, be careful not to overdo it! We're looking for crumbs here, not powder. Mix in the sugar, then the melted butter. Once well combined, pour into an ungreased 9" pie pan. Using your hands, press graham cracker mixture into the bottom and along the sides of the pan. Getting the sides nice and even is a little tricky, but with a little patience and some firm pressing, you'll have a lovely crust in no time. Set aside when finished.


Layered Pumpkin Cheesecake

• Prepared Graham Cracker Pie Crust
• 2 8 oz Packages of Regular Cream Cheese (softened to room temperature)
• 1/2 c Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2 Eggs
• 3/4 c Fresh Pumpkin Purée
• 1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice (or 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground cloves, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, and a dash of ground ginger if you don't have pumpkin pie spice)

Preheat your oven to 325°F. In a large mixing bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract. Beat in each egg, one at a time, until well combined. Pour about 1 1/2 cups of this mixture into your prepared graham cracker crust for the first layer of traditional cheesecake and set aside. Next, add the pumpkin purée and spice to the remaining mixture and gently stir until well combined (you don't want to overwork it).  Pour over the first layer. Mine filled up right to the top! So long as you're able to handle it without spilling, fill it on up because cheesecake doesn't really rise. Bake for 30-45 minutes. You're looking for the top to just barely start picking up color, and for the middle to be nearly set (in other words, there shouldn't be much movement when you jiggle the pan). Set on wire cooling rack for an hour or so. Once cool, transfer to the refrigerator to set for at least 3 hours or overnight. 

Cheesecake as it appeared freshly placed in oven.

Baked to glorious perfection!

Cranberry Jelly Thumbprint Cookies with White Chocolate Drizzle

Okay, so I lied in my last post. That "seasonal" french toast recipe is now quite out of season so I'm going to move forward and pretend like nothing ever happened...

SO! Happy New Year!
Did anyone take advantage of the lovely price and abundance of cranberries back in November/December? These things keep in your freezer for forever, so just a note, if you didn't snag a few extra bags this time around be sure to do so in the future! I've had an itch to make something decadent with some of the berries I had in my freezer, so here it is: Thumbprint Cookies with Cranberry Vanilla Jelly with a hint of Blueberry and a White Chocolate Drizzle. Just the name alone sounds epic. A little time consuming? Yes. But sooooooo worth it.

To begin, let's make some jelly! This can be as easy or as difficult as you want to make it. (Really, you can even skip this step and use any flavor of store bought jelly instead, which is nice if you're looking to save a little time.)

Here's what you need for the Cranberry Vanilla Jelly:
1 1/2 cps (fresh or) Frozen Cranberries
1/2 cp (fresh or) Frozen Blueberries
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
3/4 cps Sugar
1/2 cp Water

Start by bringing the vanilla extract, sugar, and water to a boil in a medium sized pot, stirring occasionally. Then, add your berries. If using frozen, there's no need to thaw ahead of time. Simply throw them on in! I stir a little more frequently at this point and even help the berries along by squishing them with my spoon, but really you just need to bring everything back up to a boil. Once you do, you can drop your heat nice and low to let your jelly thicken up. I let mine sit like this for about 20 minutes, stirring every now and then to be sure the sides or bottom weren't scorching. Once it's nice and jelly-like, remove from heat and allow to cool for at least 5-10 minutes. In this time, it should thicken even more and come down to a safer temperature for pureeing in a blender. Which leads us to our next step, puree! If you have a food mill then, by all means, mill away. I used my Ninja blender for about 30 seconds. (DO be cautious on this step, if your jelly is still warm at all you risk it wanting to explode when you open it after blending.) And that's that! Unless you aren't a fan of skins and seeds in your jelly. Then you'll need to push your mixture through a fine strain sieve with the back of a spoon to get your final product. And you're done with your jelly!

But why stop at just delicious jelly? Time to put this flavorful stuff on top of some simple, buttery, crunchy thumbprint cookies.

Here's what you need for Thumbprint Cookies:
1/2 cp (or 1 stick) Butter, softened at room temperature
1/2 cp Powdered Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 cps Flour
1/4 cp (approx.) Cranberry Vanilla Jelly

And for the White Chocolate Drizzle:
1/3 cp (approx.) White Chocolate Chips
1/2 tsp Coconut Oil (optional)

First, get your workspace ready. Preheat the oven to 350° F, line two cookie sheets with parchment paper (for easy cleanup!), and have a cooling rack or two ready. In a medium sized bowl beat the softened (NOT melted) butter, powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla extract until smooth. If you have an electric mixer, this step is a cinch set on high for about a minute. Slowly mix in flour until your dough forms. You may not need the whole cup and a half, what you're looking for is a moldable dough that isn't sticky. I know it's ready when I can press the back of my mixing spoon into it and it leaves a shiny, distinct imprint. Now, roll the dough by hand into little balls about a tablespoon or less in size. I like to press them a little flat before arranging them on the cookie sheet to make "thumb printing" them later a little easier. (There's enough butter in this recipe to keep you from needing to flour your hands or grease the parchment paper to keep the dough from sticking, so no worries there.) Keep at least 1/2" of space between each dough ball, but really they shouldn't spread much at all. Now bake for 10 minutes. I like to have one batch in the oven, and one batch ready to go, so after I fill one cookie sheet I put it in the oven and begin loading up the second tray while the first bakes. When I take one batch out at the 10 minute mark to "thumbprint" I put the other tray in. Be careful to watch your timers though! Now, to "thumbprint" your cookies, you may either use your thumb or finger of choice to make a dent in the middle of the cookie, or you can use the back of a small spoon to do the same. I could probably do this step by hand back in my waitressing days, but I don't have a thick skin against heat these days and used the back of one of my nice round measuring spoons instead. The sides of your cookies will likely crumble and crack to an extent which is normal, just gently coax the cookie back into one piece if bits fall off. Now spoon in a little bit of jelly into each of the indents in the cookies. When you finish, return to the oven for roughly 8-10 minutes, or until they just barely begin to brown on the edges. These are crunchy cookies, not chewy, but you still want them to be soft, not hard and burnt. Transfer to your cooling rack and let cool completely before adding the chocolate drizzle.

When you're ready for that chocolate drizzle though, the easiest route to go is via microwave. Simply add your white chocolate chips and coconut oil, if you're using it, into a mug and heat for 30 seconds on high. (I like using a mug because of it's handle and perfect size for this job. Also, using a little coconut oil or shortening helps the chocolate to stay liquid for a little longer. This means a longer drying time, but more time to work with the chocolate before needing o reheat it.) Stir your chocolate, and continue to heat in 10 second bursts, stirring each time, until all your chips are melted and smooth. Now you're ready to decorate those delicate little cookies! This can be done a number of ways. For a rather fast and fool-proof method: put your chocolate into a small sandwich baggie, and make a very tiny snip at the bottom corner. Instant disposable pastry bag! Place a paper towel under your cooling rack, and squeeze your chocolate over all your cookies in one fail swoop, and leave to dry. The downside to this method is you will not be able to reheat your chocolate easily so you'll need to work fast, and you'll have a decent amount of waste doing all the cookies at once. The more tedious OCD way I like to do it: hold one cookie over your mug of melted chocolate. Using the spoon you used to stir, scoop some chocolate up and hold over the mug until you get a steady thin stream of it falling. Drizzle over the cookie (and catch everything that falls back in your mug!) and replace cookie on cooling rack to dry. Repeat until all cookies are decorated, reheating the chocolate with 10 second microwave bursts as needed. The obvious downside to this method, it's a little crazy and rather time consuming! Hahaha

And your cookies are complete!
This recipe makes a decent amount of jelly, but only about 20 cookies. If you want more, double or triple the cookie recipe, but the jelly will suffice for multiple batches (unless, like me, you have a son that wants to eat all the jelly with a spoon straight from the jar!). Be warned, these things are REALLY flavorful and scrumptious. One batch is not going to be enough. HA! Happy baking!

About My Disappearance...

Hello all! Welcome to another "Sorry I've been gone!" post. Honestly, I've just lost track of this poor blog before it even began. But hey, that's life as a new mother, right?

Speaking of which, my absence can partially be blamed on my latest personal news:

We're PREGNANT! :D <3

Yes, round two is on his way! We found out just this Tuesday that we will be having a boy. He is set to arrive on February 7th, 2014 (only two days before Fryster's 2nd birthday), putting me at my halfway point of 20 weeks along. Wow!

So I will try my best to maintain this with some sort of frequency, but no promises. I'm in nesting mode already. Not to mention some big steps happening with big brother (moving out of Mama and Dada's room and into his big boy bed, as well as potty training) to steal away my time and energy. And did I mention I brilliantly broke my camera a couple months ago? Yeah, dropped it off the counter. It may be fixable, but that's still a work in progress. I have a number of meal ideas/recipes already photographed from before the incident, so you may not notice any difference for a while, but eventually you'll be stuck with the terrible quality of my tablet's "camera". More apologies for that.

Stick around though! First food post to come will be a lovely seasonal twist on french toast! YUM.

Banana Berry Peach Smoothie

If you read my previous post, then you know that Fry has some molars coming in right now. Two nice big ones on both the left and right side of the top of his mouth. They've been slowing pushing through for WEEKS now, and have really been messing up his whole little world. Most of the time, he's just fine. But the pain has most certainly affected his eating and sleeping habits. Understandable, yes… But still troublesome when the little stinker is waking up wanting to nurse 2-3 times a night again all of the sudden because his tummy is grumbling because he ate like a bird all day long! Le sigh.

So I got to thinking…
When I was pregnant with him, my first trimester was especially brutal. I felt nauseous and threw up often, and had very few foods that I could stand to see or smell (let alone eat and keep down). My solution? Liquid food! Slimfast shakes became my new best friend. Not because I was trying to lose weight, obviously, but because in one glass I was getting plenty of protein and vitamins and nutrients. It was generally far easier for me to keep down, and I figured a diet shake was better than nothin'.

So I got to thinking some more…
If liquid meals kept my belly happy when I couldn't eat anything else, why not do the same for baby boy? An epiphany! He was eating nothing but pureed fruits and veggies a few months ago, only now he'll be drinking it through a straw himself. Same difference, right? So lately, after we attempt some din din, he gets a fruit smoothie before bed. This is not only helping to fill his belly up a little bit more to encourage him to sleep through the night, but it's a real treat for him too! He sucks em up so quickly I honestly don't know how he doesn't get derailed by brain freezes.

Here's what you need:
Banana
Frozen peaches
Frozen blueberries
Milk

These, of course, have about a billion variations. Use whatever fruit or veggies your kiddo enjoys most, or even sneak in some of the ones they don't! My general go to smoothie for the boy always includes milk and banana as a base, and frozen fruit to thicken and chill the drink without having to use ice. I'm currently using a Ninja blender system, which is AWESOME (more on this lovely machine to come). If your blender isn't too great however, these smoothies should still come together for you just fine. The frozen fruit seems easier for most blenders to take down than ice. Anyway…

Put half a banana (and save the other half for breakfast or a snack for the next day), about 4-5 peach slices, roughly 10-20 blueberries, and 1/4-1/2 cup of milk into your blender. (We've been introducing cow's milk to Fry's diet recently. Since lactose intolerance is very prevalent on Dad's side, we're easing it in very gradually. Fry's shakes only get about a 1/4 cup of skim milk, and we're only using skim because that's what we drink. If there were even a half gallon of fatty milk, the majority would go to waste. So for now, he's getting what we're getting.)

Now BLEND! Duh.

And that's that!
If it's thin enough, pop it into a straw style sippy cup. If it's thicker, you'll probably have to monitor your little one with a regular cup and straw. If that doesn't work, well, you're on your own my friend.

(You see my creepster beast monger in the background there? Hahaha!)

Happy (über late) St. Patrick's Day!

My apologies for my sudden disappearance! This little booger face right here has been a handful lately, and I just haven't made the time to post. He's got some nice big flat teeth coming in agonizingly slow on both sides of the top of his mouth. What does this mean? It means much boycotting of daytime naps, sleeping through the night, and eating full meals. Joy. But that's just how it goes!

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Fry and I here at SIZZLE MA!

I promise I'll try to keep up a little bit better with this blog. On the plus side though I'm fairly certain no one's following me yet, so we'll let this one slide. ;)