cUte Kitty pUnk

Primal for one Month - Protein Power Smoothie

2012-02-06T20:18:00.000+01:00

I've been Primal for one month. I've worked hard to get in bed on time, because the biggest difference between Paleo and Primal is that Paleo is just food... Primal - namely, the Primal Blueprint is all about the whole lifestyle thing. Sleep, Exercise, Food, Play.

I'm trying to play more and enjoy life, not just complain about the weather, etc.

Okay, enough about that, some results for the first month of Primal living:

1. I've lost 8.5 pounds - effortlessly!
2. I do have more energy.
3. I'm more "regular" - if you know what I mean.
4. No cramps during my monthly cycle.

Okay, so that's great - enough to keep me going. Also, I've noticed that the kids don't dig bread as much as they used to. For example, when I make them lunch, I make them bread still - and then I make myself a delicious bowl of soup and immediately they toss their sandwiches on the ground and they want what I got.

That's cool because I'm teaching them to be primal by example and they want it, too.

For now, I'll keep giving them bread because I need to switch myself over before I change them over... and because I haven't found a good alternative to bread... lots of good Paleo cakes... no good Paleo breads - and I don't think they exist... but I will consider making my own sprouted wheat sour dough bread once in a while :)

Here are a slew of recipes I've tried across the web that are Paleo... some good, some better, some I will never make again.

And one recipe of my own containing Hemp protein powder - which I think is awesome.

Apple Flan Muffins (Paleo-Grain free)
I think they were actually called Apple Butter Muffins,
but mine turned out so flan-like in the bottoms, the name fits.

Cheese Balls - Appetizers (Paleo - Grain Free)
Kind of boring actually, looks good...
needs salt or some other spices... maybe some garlic.

Very Blah Flax seed Bread... will not make again - ever!

The very least I could do to improve this very blah Flax seed bread is
fill it with jam and present it like cake.

This was a good one... I believe I blogged about it last month.

Cauliflower Roulette
(vegetarian - good... but by the third day of eating it,
I'm done and will most likely never make it again...
or at least, not for a few years... Paleo, Grain free)

Protein Power - before I blend it -
love the colors and textures to this smoothie -
taste is great, too!

Protein
Protein Power Smoothie

4.0g 200ml coconut milk
14.1g 2 T Hempseed protein powder (100% Hempseed - no additives)
2.0g 1 T chia seeds
2.0g 1 small banana
2.0g 1 small handful goji berries (about 2 tablespoons)
- 1 large handful frozen blueberries (unsweetend)
- Pinch ground cinnamon
- 1 drop liquid stevia (optional)

- 1-2 squares good quality dark chocolate 75% cocoa or more (optional)
-___ 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
24.1g

Blend. Drink. Yum!

(serves 1)

I've made this smoothie several times this week. Very delicious. I've used different add-ins depending on my mood such as dark chocolate and vanilla extract. I love the Hemp seed protein powder. To be truthful, the first time I had it mixed with juice I thought it was really gross. But when I blend it into a creamy base like coconut milk or mixed with chocolate it's really good and hardly noticeable. The taste and smell is a bit nutty - or seedy - like sunflower seed. But the best thing about it is the amount of protein in two small scoops. Plus with all the other "super foods" thrown in - it's one powerful smoothie. It's a great afternoon pick me up!

The kids even liked it as an after-school snack... I just had to add a bit more milk to thin it for them.

I entered this in the Fat Tuesday Forager Festival!

Bumba Bumba Lu - Birthday Cake

2012-01-17T21:09:00.001+01:00

My little girl had a birthday recently and requested a Bumba themed cake. Bumba is a clown from the Belgium network - Studio 100. The kids really like this little clown. I was happy to make the cake - it was easy and turned out really nice. I used the recipe from The Church Cook - Pumpkin spice layer cake with cream cheese buttercream frosting and it was delicious. I just colored some of the frosting the colors I needed and added extra powdered sugar and cornstarch until it was a consistency in which I could roll it up into a ball for the nose, or flatten it out and make shapes like the star-shaped hair, eyes, mouth, dots, and hearts.

Leftover Breakfast Hash, Hete Bliksem & Oostere Spek

2012-01-13T21:07:00.002+01:00

Leftover Breakfast Hash

Last week I made the most delicious Hete Bliksem, which translates literally as Hot Lightening. Normally we make this with potatoes, apples and some bouillon, but I've been making it with celery root in an effort to eat Primal (Paleo). It tastes really good with celery root, too.

So, I made the Hete Bliksem and served it together with Oostere Spek (Eastern as in Asian Pork) which is one of our favorite meals. And all through the meal Mark was exclaiming his love for the meal! And I was, too. Love it!

celery root

But I didn't want to eat it again so soon, so I stored up the leftovers* in the freezer to save for the following week. Then, in the meantime, Mark eats some spoiled meat (little pork sausages) that he'd been carrying around all week long (supposed to be refrigerated after opening) and then he gets sick on his birthday. And he takes a while to recover from food poisoning. And then he goes and associates my delicious meal with his food poisoning stomach flu and now... he doesn't want to eat Hete Bliksem or Pork. Aye Caramba!

But, it's been a week since said incidence so I get the Hete Bliksem out of the freezer and warm it up for the nights planned pork dinner. This time I served it together with pork chops instead of spek. And he just can't stomach it. Well, it's too much food for me to eat. What am I gonna do? I don't want to freeze it again.

So, I think, I'll try and use it up in the morning. That's just what I did and it was fantastic! For a single portion - for myself, I baked three strips of bacon. Ate one slice, gave the other slice away, and crumbled the third slice. Then I beat one egg, added the crumbled bacon to it, some fresh snipped green onion and two spoonfuls of leftover Hete Bliksem. Fried it in the frying pan with a little olive oil or butter and whalaa: the most delicious leftover breakfast hash... very satisfying and tasty, too. Season with salt to taste.

Now, in case you are wondering what Hete Bliksem is? It's like mashed potatoes but better! You boil in a pot one celery root, peeled and chopped up together with about 600 grams of peeled and cubed apples. Cover with water. Add a chicken or beef bouillon block and cook until soft. Then drain the water and mash. That's it. Serves 4-6. It's great served with pork for a main meal. I like it best with spek. This is how we bake the spek - eastern style. Add a little olive oil to the pan and cook speklapjes* (4-6 slices) until brown on both sides, then add a finely chopped onion and 1 tablespoon sweet soy sauce (ketjap manis) and cook a further 5-10 minutes until onions are soft. Serve with Hete Bliksem and extra jus. Yum Yum.

Hete Bliksem, Oostere Spek en jus.

*I've talked to the butcher here to ask what spek is in English and he doesn't really know. Neither do I. I've not really seen this cut of pork in the U.S. It's probably more common if you go to an Asian market as I had a Korean guest for dinner a while back and she said it was something they ate a lot in Korea. So, spek looks like a fat piece of bacon. But the butcher said that bacon is a different cut of meat from the pig - that spek comes from the belly of the pig. That's about all I can tell you about it. So, it looks like a fat piece of bacon and it does take quite a while to cook - like 15-20 minutes... it is so yummy - I highly recommend it to all my American comrades.

comparison: there are several slices of bacon, and only two slices of spek. Spek is much thicker.

*Update: So a friend of mine just sent me this: pork belly So, go to your butcher and tell him that is what you want!!!

Paleo/Primal Chocolate Cake

2012-01-11T21:02:00.000+01:00

This was my first successful go at baking a Paleo/Primal chocolate cake. I actually set out to make Peanut Butter swirl brownies - a varation of... but the end result from the texture and taste of the "brownies" - it's so cake, spot on.

I found a nice looking recipe here, and then had to make some changes based on the ingredients I have and just some changes that I felt were necessary based on my feelings as a baker - and I'm experienced enough to make those changes... so... (yeah, I'd actually like to go back and make the actual brownies as she made them because I'd really like some dense peanut butter swirl brownies)... but that will be for another day!

here we go:

160 grams cashew butter (100%)
3 medium eggs
1/3 cup honey
1 large ripe banana, mashed
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

(I did attempt the "peanut butter" swirl ingredients like this:)
1/8 cup tahini
3 tablespoons honey butter
pinch salt

1. Preheat oven to 175-C degrees. Line a square glass baking dish (about 9-inch x 9-inch) with foil and lightly butter. Set aside.
2. In food processor cream the cashew butter till smooth. Blend in eggs, honey, banana, and vanilla extract.
3. In another bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Fold into the wet ingredients and blend until combined.
4. Pour into prepared baking dish and smooth the surface with spatula. Bake 35-40 minutes.

(My attempt at the "peanut butter" swirl didn't really work out because it was too lumpy and not spreadable enough... perhaps that is why the previous baker used maple syrup as it's more liquid.)

On another note: these were really yummy and filling and paired nicely with vanilla ice cream... also good topped with honey butter "frosting".

Sorry for the crappy photos, Mark said he would make me a light box for my Christmas present... I'm still waiting on that one ;)

Overall, I'm very happy with the texture and taste of this cake and I'm eager to try more variations of it, like a cinnamon/ginger spice cake version which would be a great alternative to the ontbijtkoek that is loaded with sugar that we normally eat. I also liked that it rose really high and didn't taste really egg'y like some of the other baked goods I've tried thus far. Would make a nice cake to use in a trifle dessert. Pure cashew butter or any other alternative to peanut butter is really expensive so this will have to be a once in a while treat.

Taking it one day at a time.

2012-01-06T20:05:00.000+01:00

With this Primal/Paleo thing, the only way to do it - is to do it right. And the only way to do that is to take it one day at a time. It's a journey. And I'm taking joy in the journey.

There is a challenge in the fact that previously I've been vegetarian with good reason - number 1, the Word of Wisdom... and number 2, I just don't like handling raw flesh... it grosses me out big time. (You can see the long explanation if you wish, in the link).

Okay, so I think it was around 2010 just before Siembra was born that I started to eat meat again. It happened quite by accident. I was at a baby shower for another friend and someone had brought some sandwiches. Some of them were vegetarian with avocado and they were totally delicious. And some of them were chicken salad and those were totally delicious, too. And that's when it got me!

After Siembra was born, I had the feeling that we needed to add meat back into our diet. And it started slowly at first and then it got to be more and more and more...

and now we are eating it all the time... especially pork products.

So, I see with Primal/Paleo that we should not be eating canned foods that are filled with all sorts of who knows what? And we've got a lot of smoked sausage in the food storage. Canned "hot dogs" and such. So not eating that stuff is not a problem for me because I can easily not eat any meat at all. It's just being prepared that's a little bit difficult for me.

Part of the reason I want to do this is to have more energy... because I'm tired a lot. Easily exhausted... and then having to spend more time creating a meal or snacks for in between for the children is pretty exhausting as it is...

But, I'm just gonna take it one day at a time. That's all I can do.

~~~~

Okay, so we celebrated Ella's birthday and I made this pumpkin spice cake with a cream cheese frosting and it's wasn't primal at all and it was so freaking sweet that I just didn't really like it. And so there I'm experiencing progress already. I ate a bite and I thought, geesh woman, that's really sweet, too sweet. And that used to not be a problem for me ever.

So, I'm really happy about that - and about the fact that after the kids had a second sliver of a slice... I threw the rest in the trash. I really don't want them eating that crap... and I don't want it either.

The next birthday coming up is Kailea's and whether she knows it or not or likes it or not I'll be baking something much more Paleo/Primal because that's just a little less than two months away and that's plenty of time for me to sharpen my skills in the Paleo baking realm.

I've got plenty of good Paleo blogs bookmarked and I'm gearing to go!

Going... Primal in 2012

2012-01-02T21:34:00.001+01:00

On the last day of 2011, I participated in my first competition - 2k run. I didn't finish first, but I didn't finish last. Okay, I practically finished last because I think there was a 4 year old girl behind me with her mother. But that doesn't matter... any way, some one has to come in last. And I am just so proud of myself for doing it and for jogging the whole time and my incredibly slow pace... but I did it and I didn't walk at all... I finished it and my time was 14 min 28 seconds!

Now, here is a completely embarrassing photo of myself... but hey, this is what I look like:

Yes, that's me. And seeing myself in a photo such as this makes me go, what?! Am I that big? And my husband says, you look kind of slim in that photo, as if to say I normally look bigger. I think the mirror in my closet is playing tricks on me. Or do you actually look fatter in photos. I've heard that before.

Any hoo, it doesn't matter... it's 2012... and I'm going to do something totally different. Now I know that in the past I've said I wasn't going to eat sugar any more... but I'm really going to do it this time... because the whole family is behind me... well, I don't think Ella is behind me on it, she doesn't really know what's about to happen, but Mark is behind me because he want the Primal Blueprint to work for him, too... and maybe it will help get rid of his asthma a long the way!

I, of course, want to lose weight, but what I want more is energy. I'm so freakin' tired of being tired all the time. I have to energy to just run around and play with the kids. I can't keep up with them... and also, for the last two months of 2011 I was sick with the cold and flu... and that drove me crazy...especially because I eat pretty healthy for the most part...

Hear me out, I juice a lot. I juice spinach and stuff that's good for ya. But still I'm fat. Well, I've had enough... no more bread, rice, and sweet rolls for me... no more chocolate and peanut butter swirls brownies... I'm cutting it out... and it's easy for me because whenever I think to myself, geesh, I'm craving a brownie - I ask myself a question : Do I want that brownie or do I want to look like Carrie Sisson (Mark Sisson's wife aka Mark's Daily Apple) - Here is the link... to her amazing photo... it's truly inspiring!

Carrie Sisson is 53 years old in this photo... I got twenty years to go... but following PB I suspect it will take much less time. I love to read the success stories - of people who have dropped the weight and look totally ripped in 6 months time - it's possible if you stick to it strict!

I want to... and I've already started... well, sort of...

Week one, I've weighed in and I'm 238.5 lbs. I'm starting the week off with the cleanse from the Candida Diet... mainly because of the holidays and the excessive amount of sugar and carbs I consumed have left my gut feeling extremely out of whack.

Week two and I will transition into the strict diet from Candida... but then I'll transition over to Primal Blueprint as well - yes PB - will no longer stand for peanut butter... I'm waiting for my copy of the book to arrive... in the meantime, I've been hooked to Mark's Daily Apple - the blog from Mark Sisson all about Primal Blueprint... that guy is awesome in a nutshell.

mini-chocolate cheesecakes

2011-09-14T20:35:00.000+02:00

So, this idea is not original and has been done before - but I just wanted to make some too... they are quite yummy, and I added a top layer of caramel sauce and a pecan to top it off... cutesy, too!

And I love the layers when you cut through it like this - looks like something that takes some time to make - but it's so quick to whip up.

So, after making a batch with Oreo's - I decided to make some with mini stroopwafels.... and I'm not sure which I liked better... but I love - love - LOVE stroopwafels... I could eat them everyday... and I have... not lately, though... I'm getting much better at disciplining myself - really I am!

I know it doesn't look like much - it doesn't have that layers thing like the Oreo does... but stroopwafels are so very yummy!

Just in case you haven't seen what I've done with stroopwafels before... let me redirect you to a previous post... Double-dipped Stroopwafels were divine. Also, my newest way to indulge in this bad but good cookie - is to spread a thin layer of chocolade pasta on it (such as Nutella). They are also great served up with some chocolate vla (pudding) and whipped cream.

Stroopwafels and chocolate are friends - they go great together... even better than peas are carrots - yup yup!

This is how I made mine.

Step 1. Line muffin pan with silicone cupcake liners - these peel away easily from the finished product. Place one Oreo cookie or mini stroopwafel or other cookie of your choosing in the bottom of each liner. Set aside. Heat oven to 160-C or 325-F.

Step 2. In a bowl, prepare chocolate cheesecake batter - beat together 1 package (8oz) cream cheese and 1/4 cup sugar, mix in 1 egg, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 3 ounces (about 1/3 cup) semi-sweet chocolate morsels, melted.

Step 3. Divide batter among the cookie lined muffin holders or no more than 3/4 full. Cook in oven for 25 minutes. Cool before removing from pan. Chill. Top with caramel sauce and pecan half just before serving.

See, that was easy! - Much easier than the full blown large cheesecake I normally make - and also probably less fattening, too... you know, cuz you'll eat less of it - if you are serving them to guests... otherwise, don't make them just for yourself - because that is just plain foolishness :)

Cherry Rhubarb Jam

2011-08-15T22:18:00.000+02:00

A lady I know has one of those little garden plots that Dutch people have - they are like garden co-op area's - so she always has a lot of extras and is giving stuff away. I am always happy to receive... I've gotten from her so far this summer: beets, cucumbers, bell peppers and now rhubarb!

I have always wanted to try making a rhubarb strawberry pie... but I ended up making jam.

I found a yummy recipe and altered it to my liking:

about 3 cups rhubarb, rinsed and chopped finely
1 cup sugar
1/2 can cherry pie filling
1 (3oz) box strawberry Jello mix

This recipe takes 2 days to make. First, place chopped rhubarb and 1 cup sugar in a bowl. Mix together and let sit overnight in the refrigerator. Day two - heat rhubarb and it's sugary juices over medium heat in a pot. Stir until softened. Then add cherry pie filling and Jello and bring to a boil - stirring regularly. After Jello has completely dissolved remove from heat and pour into metal container and refrigerate until cool. Then store in pretty glass jars or freeze.

This jam is so yummy and easy to make... it only takes a bit of patience. I absolutely love it. It's so special... not like my usual store bought jam... since making this... I've even experimented... First I used this jam to make cinnamon rolls... which you can view here... and I altered the recipe slightly to make some interesting Celery & Cherry Jam... which I will tell you about very soon.

I'm so excited about this jam that I'm putting in an order for more Jello to try out other varieties... Jello to make jam is a genius idea.

Lovely Green Food... and exercise wise - I'm not so "green" anymore!

2011-08-02T22:16:00.001+02:00

Wow, I feel totally great right now!

Why you might ask? Well, for the last several weeks I've been exercising and tonight was the first night that I didn't want to exercise... but I planned it in and decided to do it anyway...

I'm so glad that I did because not only did I have an amazing work out - but my ability to stretch further has increased, and I can all of a sudden to that jack knife "sit up" that I couldn't do before and I did more push-ups than I was able to do last time... so in that sense I don't feel so "green" anymore - you know green like -a newbie!

So, I finally got a crosstrainer - the one I got is a Kettler Mondeo. It's awesome. It's great being able to have a really great workout where I sweat a lot and I don't have to go to a gym. This is great for me because for one, I'm not really able to go to a gym because I have children at home asleep in their beds and I can't really be going to the gym... and two, if it was pouring rain outside, I'd be a whole lot less likely to get on my bike to go to the gym anyway.

So, here's what I've been doing and this is working for me:

Sunday- day of rest... although, we do usually visit a park and let the kids play and then go for a walk through the woods - or around the neighborhood - and we usually visit a different park every week.
Monday - crosstrainer - I started out at 30 minutes, and have increased to 45 minutes or 5 kilometers, which ever comes first.
Tuesday - aerobics - I've been alternating between three different videos.

Tonight I did Women's Health Total Workout in Ten - it's a great workout - I totally recommend it. Look - Amazon has it - for a great price, too - why don't you pick up a copy today?!

Wednesday - day of rest!
Thursday - crosstrainer
Friday - aerobic video*
Saturday - crosstrainer

So, that's what I've managed to do the last two or three weeks and I'm happy to report that I've lost 10 pounds... yes - 10 pounds... and my face is slimmer and my belt pin now goes in two holes tighter - you know what I mean!

Yeah, I feel pretty good! It feels so good to be not so green ;)

*I totally gotta put this out there... you need a pilates ball or balance ball for the Women's Health video if you want to do the core training - which I recommend - because who wants to have flabby abs? Not me! What I did was buy this: Gaiam Total Body Balance Ball Kit. And included is a DVD and stretchy band thingy. This workout doesn't feel like much. I mean, you don't sweat very much, but by the second and third day you feel it throughout your whole body -- it really is a total body workout! So, I do the Women's Health workout one day, then the next time I do this Total Body Balance Ball workout, then the next time I do Pump it Up Aeroburn and it's got a hot dance mix included... it lasts about 60 minutes if you do the whole workout... I don't usually last that long. I like it because the main guy has a nice English accent and the girls have amazing bodies... it's something to work toward... and there is this one move in that workout that leaves my love-handles feeling like they aren't going to be jelly rolls for long.

So off of that tangent and back to green - there are two very green recipes I'd like to share: Peas Palak and Lovely Green Soup.

Totally green right! Peas Palak is spinach and peas... and add a bunch of Indian spices, some pita bread and you have yourself a delicious appetizer. I've also used this in wraps and on toasted ciabatta bread with grilled veggies. It's very good!

I love soup - a lot. I eat it a lot. But I don't blog about soup a lot because there are a lot of mediocre soups out there. Most are okay. Then sometimes I come across really awesome excellent soups... and this is one of them!

Ha! The first time I made this soup, Mark called it dirty fish water. Yeah, that's exactly what he said... in front of the kids... I thought they might not eat it... but luckily they did. Phew! I told them, it's called Lovely Green Soup - and it really is lovely.

Okay, I made just a few minor adjustments to the original recipe - and that's okay, because the author of the lovely soup said to 'experiment with this soup' - as she has over the years.

Okay, so here is my version:
8 cups water
4 cubes vegetable or chicken bouillon tablets
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 large bunch celery stalks, washed and chopped
1/2 large yellow onions, chopped
1 bag spinach, washed and chopped (about 350 grams)
6 or 7 large cloves crushed
1 tsp dried basil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 zucchini, chopped
1 cup red lentils (precooked)
90 grams quinoa (precooked)
lemon juice to garnish
1 tablespoon curry powder
NO salt needed...

Bring water to the boil. Add the bouillon tablets, oil, celery, onion, garlic, zucchini, spinach and herbs. Reduce heat and simmer about 20 minutes.
Remove from heat, using hand held mixer puree partly, allow some texture to remain. Return to medium heat, stir well and add the lentils, quinoa and curry to taste.

Serves 8 - serve with crusty bread.

Orange Chicken

2011-07-25T22:04:00.001+02:00

I've tried many versions of Orange chicken, this one was pretty good - just made a lot of sauce... a lot!

I used vegetarian chicken pieces, and no one was the wiser... original recipe found here at Local Kitchen.

The deep fried "chicken" in it's batter tastes very good on it's own... reminds me of popcorn chicken from KFC!

yummy... i gotta make it again soon :)

This is pretty much the same way I make my sweet and sour pork - I use this same vegetarian "chicken" and then instead of the orange sauce - I use this recipe's Sweet and Sour Pork - with one minor adjustment - I used 1/2 cup tomato sauce and 1/2 cup vinegar instead of the 1 cup vinegar - comes out perfect every time... ok, almost every time, I also like to add a bit more cornstarch because I like my sauce very thick and syrupy - not runny.

Okay, that's two favorite family recipes we like at this house... and I gotta make it more often!!!

Banana Loempia's

2011-07-18T22:11:00.000+02:00

At the end of May, I shared with blog-world - an amazing and delicious little cookbook, and in that blogpost and in that cookbook is this recipe for Banana Loempia's which have become a delicious little treat that we just adore at our house.

The recipe adapted as follows:

5 layers phyllo dough
2 bananas, diced
1 leek + 1 oz. bean sprouts OR 1 package (250g) Nasi/Bami groenten
2 tablespoons peanut sauce (Satay sauce)
15-30 grams butter, melted (about 1-2 tablespoon)
Sweet chili sauce

Defrost phyllo dough according to package directions. One sheet of the phyllo dough I used was quite large, so I had to cut them in half. So I used a total of 10 phyllo sheets - making 20 mini loempia's. Have a towel nearby to cover unused phyllo dough while you work so it doesn't completely dry out.

Pre-heat oven to 200-C or 400-F degrees.

Wash and cut up the leek and bean sprouts. Of course, I like to use the pre-cut and pre-washed Nasi/Bami groenten. It's a real time saver and adds some extra Indonesian flavor.

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade combine vegetables and peanut sauce. Give it whirl and chop it up a bit till peanut sauce is well combined. Add the banana's in an whirl again just to combine - again we don't want banana puree so go easy on it.

Prepare your work area. Lay out some parchment paper, have a bowl nearby with you melted butter and your phyllo sheets cut to size and ready to go. Spoon some vegetable mix on the phyllo sheet and roll from the bottom, then the sides and roll it up. Seal with some butter. Make all the loempia's in the same manner.

Now if you like, package half of them up in a Ziplock freezer bag to save for later, or place on a baking sheet and bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

Serve with Sweet Chili Sauce.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake (remembering Grandma)

2011-07-07T22:14:00.002+02:00

Something that I've been trying to do for the last few years is celebrate my grandparents' birthdays to honor and remember them.

Grandma Betty York would have celebrated her 90th birthday today if she were still with us. But that's okay, we celebrated it in style.

Grandma used to always bake pineapple upside-down cake... this was my first go at it so I used a tried and trusted recipe from Betty Crocker - plus they share the same first name so I thought - it can't go wrong!

It was really easy to make - simple, clear instructions - must be why it's a favorite... and the taste: wow!

It turned out splendid - very, very sweet - I was loving the crusty edges and just classic blend of flavors.

I would definitely make it again... perhaps - next year on the 7th day of July!

Funny thing is - when I was a kid, I didn't really like it that much... I guess as I've matured, so have my tastebuds :)

I added chopped pecans as seen in this Quick Pineapple-Upside Down Cake. I'm really glad I added the nuts - it was just the right amount of nuttiness.

And now for some lovely photos of Grandma... I really miss her.

She was so pretty :)

That's my dad there on the left - cute little guy!

Ahh, I just stumbled across some recent - well more recent - but still old photos of Grandma... the way I remembered her - photos from when Mark and I were sealed in Manti Temple... (2003)

Seeing these makes me so happy inside :)

Grain-free Pancakes

2011-06-28T19:34:00.003+02:00

So, while cruising the web over the last week I bumped into some really interesting "diets." Okay, actually truth be told, I didn't just bumped into them - I went looking for them.

I have this friend, her little boy has autism and she was reading about this GAPS diet which helps children with autism. So I wanted to know more about it - so I went looking for information. What I found was some interesting stuff. Stuff that makes sense. When you put crappy junk food into your body - you feel like crap!

So, the GAPS diet is a bit similar to the SCD diet - I'm no expert on it - that's why I ordered this book:

I'm still waiting for it to come. I'm looking forward to reading it. The reviews on it over on Amazon are pretty good. And my friend - the one whose son has Autism. She's been reading it and she says it's very eye opening... well, I'd like my eyes to be opened, too! ;)

So, in my websurfing, I've come across a grain-free pancake recipe - which I just had to try - because we eat a lot of pancake over and this house. It only has 3 ingredients: eggs, banana and nut butter. Those are things which I happen to have on hand all the time. So this will be easy to try. I have tried it - in the last 5 days, I've had it every day and I love it. I've been trying different combinations as well. One such combination is to serve it together with cottage cheese and blueberries - because I'm trying to avoid excess sugar, syrup and the like.

Eating these pancakes together with the cottage cheese and blueberries - is so satisfying - delicious, nutricious and filling!

So, I begin the day with my juice, around 10am I have the pancakes and then around 12:30 or 1pm I have my salad - which keeps me feeling full and satisfied till dinner! I only had some watermelon because it was so hot and I usually snack in the afternoon so I didn't want to resort to old habbits and snack on junk food - I had the watermelon - it's watery - it's sweet - it's good.

I found the recipe here... and then I did this to it:

I stacked them up with a layer of cottage cheese and blueberries between each pancake and just a sprinkle of cinnamon - it was really yummy. I've also rolled them up like crepes - both are good options. I really like this pancake - it's good and it might sound strange - but once you whip it up - it looks like regular pancake batter - see:

I've tried this recipe using all natural hazelnut butter and also cashew butter. I like it with the cashew butter. I'd like to try it with peanut butter - just because I love peanuts - and I think that would go good with some honey on top... of course it would... but you know, with the banana - it's a pretty sweet pancake - you don't really need to add any sugar, syrup or honey - it's delicious with just some fruit and yogurt or cottage cheese.

Juice yourself Slim (part 2) - Beta Carrot Juice

2011-06-27T21:32:00.000+02:00

<-- So, I've been reading this book, or rather, I read it and I've been "doing" this book. The juice lifestyle. I did the "launch" recommended which is like a whole week of nothing but juice, some salad and soups. I didn't really stick to the program because it's very difficult especially when I have to prepare alternative meals for my family... so I didn't lose a lot of weight. But I did discover some really great juice recipes... and I have not given up yet.

In the next phase of juicing, after the launch, Jason Vale recommends starting each day with a juice or smoothie. Also a juice or smoothie for lunch and a healthy dinner.

I've incorporated a particular juice into my daily diet. It's my breakfast routine. I start with the Beta Carrot Juice first thing after I get to the kitchen in the morning... I slowly sip and enjoy while I'm preparing the childrens' breakfasts and lunch. I take the kids to school, do a little grocery shopping and then when I return, if I'm hungry right away, I have my regular breakfast or brunch.

You see, I've been reading up on some other diets. There is this SCD and GAPS diet. I'm not sure where I read this on the web, but what I found to be interesting was this: the body is still digesting food from the day before between 4am and about 10am... that's why when we wake up we don't feel hungry yet. Start the day with a carrot juice (to help keep ya regular) and then around 10am when you feel naturally hungry - start the day with your proper breakfast - containing all those good for you proteins and fats!

So, the last couple days, I've been doing that and I feel great. I don't feel hungry - I don't feel the need to snack on carbs - and I feel more satisfied through out the day.

Here is what I did today:
Breakfast: Beta Carrot Juice
Brunch: Grain free pancakes with cottage cheese and blueberries
Lunch: baby leaf salad with avocado, sun dried tomatoes, sunflower seeds and some pesto dressing
Afternoon snack: 2 slices watermelon
Dinner: Hete Bliksem en Oostere Speklapjes

I planned in a dessert - which was to be yogurt with fruit - but I'm still satisfied!

And, besides the molasses which was in the sweet soy sauce I used with preparing the speklapjes - I didn't eat any sugar today - not one drop! I didn't consume any wheat! Not a bit - and I feel great... which is a huge contrast from yesterday.

Yesterday, I started the day out right - I had the same breakfast and brunch - but then in the afternoon I had like 3 or 4 pastries - and then by evening I felt totally tired and this morning, I had a headache, I felt achy in my body and just plain tired - even though I got enough rest.

So, you see, this trying to be grain-free, sugar-free the best I can for the next few days - is a test for me to see if wheat might be a problem for me. (If you have seen my sweet rolls blog - you know it's a problem for me!)

Okay, so to make this juice, add to your juicer 2 apples, 1/2 lemon, 1/2 beet root, and 3 medium carrots. A couple seconds later you'll have this:

So good with some ice cubes - sip and enjoy!
Despite the carrots and beet - the apples make it pretty sweet and the lemon gives it just enough tang -so, it is good!

Juice yourself Slim (part 1)

2011-06-16T21:07:00.000+02:00

So, this book
<--- yeah, that one... I ordered it and it finally arrived. I don't blame the company I bought it from, I blame the way they do things over here. If TNT Post wins the bid to deliver it - it comes really fast, but if some other carrier wins the bid... then it takes F-O-R-E-V-E-R!

So, it finally came. I read the whole thing in about two days. It reads really easy... it also happens to be really funny. Funny in a serious kind of way. Not funny like it sucks... just that there are some really funny parts that had me laughing out loud! So, I really like that Jason Vale threw some humor in there - it's part of his personality.

What with having once been an overweight man with breasts, and psoriasis all over his body, he wasn't exactly a catch... so he had to get a personality... and since he juiced himself slim - he's also in incredibly great shape... and sharing his enthusiasm for juicing with as much of the world as he can.

So, until I had gotten my awesome Philips Juice Extractor - I had never even heard of this guy. But, inside the box was a free DVD from Jason Vale... this one here:

you may buy it here!

And in case you were wondering which Juice extractor I got, it's this one here (I'd buy it from Juicemaster.com if you can because it comes with two of Jason Vale's books and a bag):

Also, doesn't show it in the picture, but it comes with a jug for the juice to go into.
You may buy it here.

Okay, now that I got that out of the way, I want to share some of my newest insights with you... and some hopes and dreams as well.

I have always loved juice and smoothies for as long as I can remember. And even way back in high school, when I took this small business class and I had to put together a business plan - my business idea back then was to have a juice and smoothie bar.

That was before they were even so popular and in vogue... So, I did some research and interviewed some people and put together my business plan - it was so much fun!

Then I went to college and took a few business classes which had nothing to do with small business - and everything to do with corporate - big business and that pretty much shattered my dreams... for a time.

I got off track... changed majors... and here I am today - a stay at home mom - a job which I absolutely love to pieces... but having said that, I still dream of having my own restaurant or diner or cafe or juice bar or whatever someday.

And lucky for me... I'll even have some little employees to help me run the place ;)

So... I love juice. But to be honest... it wasn't for a long, long time before I finally got a good juicer. Mainly because they use to be so darn expensive. I finally got one a few years back - and it had to be the crappiest piece of equipment I have ever owned... it couldn't even juice carrots. Doh.

So I gave it away. Then, like two years later... yes I waited that long, I came across this Philips juicer in a store and it was less than 100 euros! And I just had to have it. I pretty much begged Mark and hinted in the most obvious way to buy it for me for Valentine's day... I pretty much told him I expected this for Valentine's day and after all he'd better get it for me... or else!

Oh, the day I got it, I juiced for breakfast, snacks, and lunch... and then dessert. It was awesome. Refreshing. Delicious.

And much of the reason it was awesome, refreshing and delicious is because I used the juice combinations recommended in the Keeping it Simple DVD from Jason Vale.

He doesn't just juice raw spinach... he combines it together with pineapple, apple, a smallish piece of celery and some ginger to give it just a kick... and it's sweet, juicy - of course, and it's good... really, really good! In fact, it's awesome juice.

So, I went to his website - Juicemaster.com to see what else there was and then I went to Amazon.com to read all the reviews... and then I waited and thought about it for a while... and then I finally decided on Juice yourself Slim...

Because, to be honest with you all... I'm fat. And I don't wanna be fat anymore. I want to be healthy... but I also want to be thin. So, I've got a lot vested in this book - not just my 10 euros... but I want it to work.

And heck... it's worked for so many other folks, why not me?

So, I'm giving it a go. First, there is this 7 day launch program where you pretty much drink a whole lot of juice and smoothies, sometimes soup and salads for the first week - and when you do this to a T - include some exercise as well... you will pretty much lose 7 to 14 lbs. in the first week! And that's the momentum I NEED to keep going.

I'm only on day 1, officially, so next week - when I weigh in - I'll let you all know how I did.

Also, I'm hoping to benefit from this juicing thing in a few other ways... in addition to losing weight, I hope that my hair will be shinier and not as gray... and I also hope that I don't grow as much facial hair.

There are many, many benefits to juicing - those are two that I hope will work for me.

Mark said to me, he hopes that my juicing will make his asthma go away... but he'd need to be drinking the juices then ;)

Ha ha ha haaahaa... as if I give him asthma!

The cook book for your toddler - Het kookboek voor je peuter

2011-05-30T22:38:00.000+02:00

So, I've been going through this little cook book I got from the baby clinic - the book is made by Kinderen - it's a monthly magazine for mothers and expecting mothers - and it's a great little book.

see bol.com

Here are just a few of the recipes I've tried:

Pippi's pannenkoekentaart

That was good - I gave it a 4 star **** - easy to make and everyone enjoyed it. Dessert for dinner is good anytime :) I put sliced apples in almost every pancake - which is why it leans so much. It was very filling - and very yummy.

Up next:

Een echt indiaantje

Good 4 stars **** - another easy meal, presented in such a way that the kids got excited... Kailea, my 5 year old, is normally very picky about green food - she ate it up :) We served it with simple gravy.

Ella - liked the patty, but tossed the sugar snaps aside - oh well, can't please everyone - but I try.

Kailea poses for me.

Dad's angry man... even big kids play with their food!

And...

Bananentrifle

OK-Good 3 stars *** - the reason being it was too sweet, and because I found out with this dessert that Dad and the kids don't really like dessert rice - although, I loooooove it. The kids loved the bananenschuimpjes (candy that tastes a lot like old fashioned American candy "Circus Peanuts") - and because of all the hagelslag (chocolate sprinkles) and so forth - it was just a bit too sweet. Easy to make though, with a few minor adjustments. The recipe says to make the dessert rice from scratch as well as the yellow banketbakkersroom... but I used store bought dessert rice which only costs about 45 cents and doesn't require any extra prep time. I also use a generic brand vanilla vla. All in all, this dessert serves quite a few and doesn't cost more than 3 euros to make. And it really looks like a show stopper... I will probably make it again and use vanilla yogurt or chocolate vla in place of the dessert rice because of my picky eaters... and I'll probably cut back on the chocolate sprinkles and candy... but it is a dessert - and dessert can be sweet ;)

There is also a nice vla-flip recipe - but I discovered with that one as well that some people don't like this or that... but I loved it. And there are some nice soup recipes in it that I'm eager to try very soon.

Overall it's a great little book and I'm happy to own it.

The last thing I made and absolutely love is the banana loempias -which I don't have a photo of sadly... but they are so good... I'll blog about them next time and share the recipe... it's one of the rare - 5 star recipes - yes 5 stars ***** that I've come across this year. It has made it's way into our regular rotation - it's in the family favorites book... so... next time I'll share it... at least, my adaptation of it!

And by they way, Happy Memorial Day to all my American readers :)

Maxine - one last tribute...

2011-05-26T20:40:00.001+02:00

Maxine, November 1 1996 - May 25, 2011

I'm adjusting to life without Maxine. I have so many regrets. I wish I could have been a better Mom to her. If I could do things over again, I would. I did the best I could given the information I had. But hindsight is 20/20.

I feel like she is at rest and peaceful with Heavenly Father. It's just too bad that dogs don't live forever in happiness and health... well, they do - just on the other side... hopefully, when I return to Heavenly Father, I can see Maxine again and maybe dogs and humans can communicate is some special way, I'd like her to know that I loved her the best that I could...

I know a dog is not a person, but she sure was a good friend to me for so many years.

If... or when I ever get a dog again, I will treat my dog a lot better. I wanted to take her to the vet for yearly check ups but when she was 10 years old we were advised not to do that. To just let her be and then she can get sick sooner and die sooner.

I wouldn't do that again. I would rather take her to the vet for yearly check ups. And provide the best care possible. Had I done that I think she would have lived a more comfortable life. Like as soon as she started to go blind - had I reacted sooner, maybe I could have got some eye surgery for her to see better. I don't know how much that all costs, but it's cheaper than people care - I've heard.

It's hard because Mark didn't want to spend much money providing care for her - so what was I to do?

As we had more and more kids It was also hard for me to pay as much attention to her. I love my kids more than my dog. Not to say I didn't love her, of course I did - it's just different.

So, when I get a dog again... in the future... it will be when the kids are grown and when I feel like I want a "baby" to love again - and dote on - that's when I'll have a dog.

Also, thanks everyone for your kind words. Thanks to my friends that called to talk to me about it. It's only been one day, but I feel better and better.

It also gets easier that I have to be tough about it and explain to the kids that she's in Heaven. It makes me want to get that movie All Dogs go to Heaven.

And prayer has helped me through this trial as well.

It's just so weird coming down stairs to and empty kitchen and no more dog bowls by the sink. No dog to let out. I dunno... it's just empty feeling.

Maxine.

2011-05-25T20:30:00.001+02:00

Tonight I say goodbye to my dog Maxine. She was a really great dog. I had her for 10 years. She would be 15 this year. She was old - she was sick - a lot. I had to take her to the vet, I watched them put her to sleep. It was really hard to do. I was holding her and crying and just petting her and again and again I wanted to say, you know what? I'll just take her home and wait for her to wake up, I can't do this... I don't wanna do this.

On one hand, I knew it was the right thing to do, on the other hand, I just wanted to let her live forever and just go on another walk. One more day with her. I think I wasn't really ready, even though, I was tired of seeing her suffer - I wasn't really ready to say good bye.

I just feel really, really sad.

I feel like I don't ever want another dog again because sure, they are lots of fun when they are young, but then they get old so fast and then they have problem after problem and then you gotta make tough decisions like this... well, I DON'T LIKE IT.

It feels horrible to do these things. Of course, it feels horrible to see them sick all the time, too.

You know what? I miss her, already.

And I just wish that somebody would have talked me out of it, and said, you know what - let's just take her back home and don't think about this anymore.

But instead, they all said, you know what, you are doing the right thing. It's okay to be sad. This is an ethical, peaceful way for her to go.

So I let her go. And as I left the clinic, I felt relief. I got home and Mark helped clean up her things and put them away. And I put the kids to bed... and then I just looked around and it was over and instead of feeling relief, I feel like really sucky. Like, questioning myself. Did I do the right thing?

How could I do that? Why?

And I miss her. Like I didn't think I would. When I was on vacation for two weeks in America, she was alive, not so young and lively as before, but she was alive... and I was fine not being with her... but right now, to be completely honest, I want her back. Well, not the sick her... the young and lively happy young dog that she used to be. I want that...

oh well. I'm not getting her back. And I'm not getting another dog. No more pets for me. Not for a while at least.

~~~~~~~

Me and Maxine, we did a lot of stuff together. We went on lots of walks. All over Baltimore. We went out west together. I let her sit in the sun in Phoenix and chase lizards. She'd catch 'em, too. Then there was that time that -that jerk tried to have his way with me, and Maxine jumped into the rescue...

She was great to cuddle with. I loved letting her sleep at my feet. It was so funny how she would always bury herself in the blankets. And she loved mouse hunting.

A break in

2011-05-16T21:13:00.000+02:00

Just returned from our vacation to America. It was great. I loved seeing family and friends and I loved eating out in America :)

My favorite new place to eat: Village Inn - free pie Wednesdays. I was never really a pie kind of person, until now. They've got this European Truffle pie - it's good - not too chocolatey - just right. The Oreo cream pie is also very good. I really liked the strawberry rhubarb as well.

I also enjoyed many good donuts in America. I didn't get to have two particular favorites though: (1) the Krispy Kreme donut with the chocolate glaze and marshmallow-creme type filling and (2) that chocolate cake donut with chocolate glaze from 7-11... perhaps next time.

Another thing I discovered - Cache Valley is totally beautiful this time of year. A very late Spring, but so pretty.
I think I could consider living in Logan, Utah - on Temple boulevard - what a view, the temple to the rear and this out the front:

photo credit: justsnooping.com

And I was also thinking that perhaps in the future when I return to the states, I will open a small cafe, but instead of before I was gonna call my restaurant WOW cafe (aka Word of Wisdom cafe) now I'm gonna make it a Dutchy food cafe/diner. And I was thinking of the name Hou Doe cafe. I told my brother in law about my idea and he said I should call it Dutchess. Ha ha. That is a good one. Better actually. And then for the subtitle - I could say: Food from the old country :) ha ha. I'll serve up some stamppot and bratworst or rookworst. Be good - just like home.

That is what Mark missed most. In just two weeks, he was like, I'm so hungry and I need something from home, what reminds me of home... I'm going to the store to buy bratwurst. And boy was he disappointed when he came back with Cheddar Brats... he doesn't like cheese and didn't realize that Americans put cheese in Brats. He didn't even see the cheese until he cut into them. Oh well.

So, we had a great time in the U.S. the flight there and back wasn't that bad travelling with three kids. We arrived back in Amsterdam at 5:30 am - finally get our luggage and leave the airport around 7am, arrive home around 8:30 am - pull into our street on a Sunday morning - and see two cops and two neighbors out in front of our house, And as we pull up I say, I bet we got broke in to... and yup, we did.

Not a very nice home coming, especially when all I wanted to do was go to sleep on my bed with my nice fluffy feather down pillow and you know what? It was gone! Yeah, apparently burglars often take your pillow fill it with your stuff and take off with it. So there went my pillow. I had two of them and both where gone!

Some gold jewelry which probably wasn't worth that much except that one was a necklace my Dad gave me when I turned 16, one was a necklace from my Grandmother who has since past away, one was my YW medallion and a few other ones as well. Also, they took my little Precious Moments jewelry box which contained those items - and the box I probably spent $5 on at Walmart - but the box was on my wedding cake and it was mine... and I was probably gonna pass it on to the kids and now I can't. And I had some other things in there that probably weren't worth a lot of money but they were mine and you know, it's just annoying to have people take things from you.

But I try to look at the bright side. I still have my most valuable possessions. My family! Aside from that, my material possessions: my paintings I value, my scriptures I value, my journals I value - and those are untouched! Yeehaw.

So, they may have taken my tv - which isn't worth much without the power supply, and Mark's cameras and lenses - which he has insurance on - a tv is cheap these days luckily... and we learn our lesson. Better locks. Perhaps a house guest to watch the home and listen to our instincts! I had a premonition of coming home to our door being open... and wondering what would that be like to come home and your front door open and your house broke in to - and now I know what it's like - it's not that bad. It's only when you find your stuff missing that you get a bit bummed out... but I wish I would have said something to Mark because I felt like I wanted someone to drop by the house to check on things and I didn't say anything.

Then to find out, Mark had a feeling, too. Even my good friend had a feeling and she walked past the house a few times... it might not have mattered anyway because the break in happened the day we got back.

I guess we are lucky that we spent so much money trying to get to America - that we didn't buy that new computer until we got back. We didn't buy a new TV, blue ray player and all that other stuff you can buy with money that went toward travels - because it might have all been gone on a weekend trip some place else.

Just a shame that my oldest little girl - who is 5 years old - comprehends what happened and is afraid to open the door now. She's afraid this bogey man is gonna get her. She wouldn't even open the door for Daddy. Hopefully she will let go of that fear very soon and just be relaxed again.

Just makes me realize that when you die you can't take anything with ya so not to become too attached to anything... so I try not to let it bother me too much.

But I'd do it all over again, I sure enjoyed my trip to the U.S.
And next time we go - we are thinking of going to San Francisco/Bay area - in another 4 years or so.... gotta save, save, save!

Drop Sugar Cookies - baked in 6 minutes and low fat, too.

2011-04-20T22:09:00.002+02:00

Have you noticed how a lot of bloggers are trying to be the next food blogging star? How they are trying really hard to get followers by doing give-aways and stuff like that?

It's real easy to fall in that trap. I was in that trap for like a few weeks. I was like, I gotta post at least two times every week if people are gonna "follow me" and I gotta take really good photos so that my photos don't get rejected on foodgawker and tastespotting... And I gotta do give-aways. How do I do that? Do I gotta buy stuff myself for that? How do I get someone to sponsor that? And then, I just sort of wondered why I was doing that - why I got caught up in that snare? Because for me it is a snare. It was taking me away from my family and my personal goals.

So, you know how I cured myself of this idol worship? I stopped following so many other food bloggers. And I started on a personal project. I've been reading this book called Fascination Womanhood - it's really interesting.

It has opened my mind to a whole new world... a world where I don't necessarily think about myself - but I think about appreciating others... especially my husband. I like this new me and where I'm going.

I'd like to write a whole book review about it, but if you see the Amazon reviews - they are plenty accurate... at least the positive ones. The people who give one or two stars are simply not humble enough to see through the trees.

Because you can't change people... you can only change yourself!

That's what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to be the best me I can be. That's also why I love Personal Progress. By the way, I've heard you can now do Personal Progress online... that's so cool. You can even send your project proposals to your Young Women leader online. I love how the Church is so hip and up on things Internet related. Has anyone seen this Young Woman video 195 dresses? It's so cool. The LDS.org Youth page is really good. My husband is also hooked on the youtube Mormon Channel - Our People section. They are all very inspiring.

Okay, here is the video. My husband helped me figure out how to imbed the video here:

I love technology... but not as much as you (Mark)...

But even though, I will not be the next food blogging star... I will share this - because this is my blog and I can blog what I want... and afterall, the main goal of my blog originally was to be my online recipe box so to speak... here is what I did with the kids recently... it was fun and it was one of the first times when I let them roll out the dough and cut out the cookies and Ella even got to eat cookie dough a few times - she's fast - I tried to stop her but I wasn't fast enough... anyway, I took a video of it and I hope to be able to post that eventually - when I learn how to edit the video and put all the pieces together.

For now, still photos:

Here, I tried to catch Ella before she shoved some dough in her mouth... I was too late... she chomped it down fast!

Dang- my kids are so cute! Is such pride in my kids a sin ;)

Ella with the rolling pin... I realize this is a fuzzy photo - kids are difficult to get crisp pictures of.

Patty cake - this is Kailea - she really likes making these cookies, and I like it that I'm starting to loosen up and let the kids have fun baking and making a mess as you can see and I didn't freak out about it either :)

The final cookies - these only take 6 minutes to bake! And they are low fat, too.

Drop Sugar Cookies
Makes approximately 3 dozen cookies
<-- Slightly adapted from this cookbook that my Mom bought me years and years ago. (Just look how cheap it is to buy used, you only gotta pay shipping!)

1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla (I also like to play around with the flavors, sometimes a bit less vanilla and add in lemon or almond extract - b/c I don't use frosting)
1 egg
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup milk

Heat oven to 400-F degrees. [Prepare baking sheet with parchment paper]
Sift together flour, salt and baking soda, set aside.
Combine oil, sugar and flavorings in bowl of food processor. Add egg. Beat at medium speed until blended. Using dough hook, add in flour mixture and beat until looks crumbly. Add milk and continue beating until good dough ball. Take out and place into plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. Keeps quite a while in the fridge - last time I waited almost two weeks before using it up and it was fine.
Now, the original recipe calls them drop sugar cookies, which means you can drop by teaspoonfuls and bake as is, but I like to refrigerate the dough, then roll out on floured surface for rolled sugar cookies - and have fun with the kids cutting out with any shape imaginable. You can also roll the dough into a log - wrap in plastic, refrigerate or freeze then slice and bake as follows.
Or with oven pre-heated to 400-F degrees bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until just barely brown. (Avoid overbaking). Remove to cooling rack.

This post is linked to:

What I'm really thankful for...

2011-04-17T21:28:00.000+02:00

So, there is this blog that I follow, you can find the link in bloggy love - listed in the side column - "Lady in the skirt" and in Tara's most recent post she writes what she is thankful for and I was thinking, I should do that, too. So...

Dear Heavenly Father,

I'm so thankful for you (thee, thou) you know what I mean! I'm thankful for my husband who provides for our family so I can be a stay at home mom to our three beautiful daughters. Mark is my very best friend and I love him so much. And yes, I'm so thankful for the girls. They really keep me on my toes - they can be very demanding at times, but I love them dearly. I'm grateful for my calling to teach the youth in Sunday School. It's very scary that the Bishop wants me to teach in Dutch. I think I can do it but my stubborn pride keeps getting in the way and I my natural laziness just wants to teach in English... please help me to understand the Bible words in Dutch! I'm very grateful for my girlfriends. Life without them would be so stressful. I really love having friends that listen when I talk and talk and talk and talk. Krista, Genei, Judith, Vanessa, Angelique, Cate and Cat - thanks! I'm thankful for my family and friends back in the U.S. and I'm so exicted to see you all soon. I'm so excited for my girls to play with their cousins, friends (Collin and Ethan) and cherish the memories. And finally, I'm very grateful to my Savior Jesus Christ who overcame death so that I may live again with Father in Heaven. I'm grateful that Jesus suffered in Gethsemane so that I may repent for my sins. God your great! I love you!

Suitcase Sweets

2011-04-01T11:16:00.000+02:00

This is no April Fool's joke... this is the real thing... a suitcase filled with all kinds of Dutch sweets and Belgian chocolates...

Yes, I take good care of my family and friends - this is a preview of treats for you... just a few more weeks till I get there :)

Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration

2011-03-29T21:41:00.000+02:00

Just got back from watching Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration.

It was really good. Even though I already knew the story from watching different versions over the years and reading the story and studied church history, did seminary, all that stuff... it was still really good and I cried.

I don't really enjoy movies that make ya cry too much. But this one is different because even though Joseph is martyred, we know that God lives, that Jesus lives and that He has overcome death. Jesus is resurrected and all that believe on him will live again. Jesus is our Savior. This is the very truth that Joseph prophesied on over and over again.

The thing that was new to me, or at least a reminder was just seeing how many trials Joseph lived through - and what he died for - makes me want to try a lot harder...

Now for my favorite scripture quoted in the movie:

And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophesies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins. (2 Nephi 25:26)

(warning: contains spoilers)
In the film, there is a girl and her father that are making their way from the old country to America to join themselves with the saints. Her father doesn't believe that Joseph is a prophet. He's kinda like how can you know he's the prophet - you haven't even met him. And the daughter is like - Dad you don't have to meet him to know he's the prophet. So she gives her Dad this letter and the Book of Mormon to read and over the course of 3 days he reads all this stuff. But he still doesn't really believe. And then they finally get there and then Joseph is on his way to Carthage jail. And she's running through town together with her father to see the prophet. And in the end, she doesn't get to see him - but her father turns to her and says: you don't have to meet him to know he's the prophet. So, we see he got his testimony.

Bakerella's Cake Pops in Dutch

2011-03-25T20:17:00.001+01:00

A little while ago I purchased Bakerella's Cake Pops cook book and just today I found out that they now have it available in Dutch! I love this book - so much fun. Many neat and sweet ideas galore.

Yippee. Or shall I say hipierdepiep-hoera!

Now, hopefully, very soon they - as in those people that sell stuff in the kitchen and baking stores - hopefully they will have candy melts and lolly pop sticks for sale.

Because, actually I bought the book for a very good friend of mine that loves to bake. And she had a very difficult time making the cake pops with melted white chocolate. I guess melted white chocolate doesn't set the same was as candy melts.

I'm kind of hoping to pick some candy melts up in the U.S. when I go there in the May vacation... and then, I'll get a few extra baggies for my friend and who knows - maybe I'll host a fun give-away for those of us on this side of the Atlantic. Because I know that even foodie bloggers in Germany can't even find candy melts.

My friend also used popsicle sticks for the cake pops - and I'm sure that was still user friendly. It would just be nice to use the lolly pop sticks.

I guess it's just a U.S. thing - or it's just way bigger in the U.S. than it is over here. But all things baking related are getting more and more popular here.

I remember when I first moved here, I had to go to the Wal*mart in Achen, Germany to get all my special baking supplies. But now, I can find almost everything here.

Another word of advice for any expats or other newbies here in the Netherlands: Baking soda in dutch is sold as "zuiveringszout" in the pharmacy. Or you can buy a big box of Arm & Hammer at just about any Chinese grocery store for way less. That's what I do!

I haven't been following Angie Dudley's blog Bakerella for as long as it's been around. But I can tell you that I love her blog. She is so inspirational to many bakers, like myself.

I've made cake balls a few times. I think the first time I tried making them was in 2009. After seeing how Angie makes them - I'm just so impressed by this lady's amazing talents. Mine turned out pretty good for being a newbie at making something for the first time. But it sure is nice to see that if you want them to look more perfect - all you have to do is put them on a stick and then put the cake pop in a foam block till it's completely dry. So simple and yet I didn't even think of it myself. I used chocolate to dip my cake balls in because once again, candy melts are hard to come by here. By the way, they were delicious. A little timely to make but the taste was quite luxurious, rich, very chocolate-y and dare I say: better than cake.

First time making cake balls - as you can see - where the toothpick was inserted in the cake ball - not so pretty - but the taste was not affected at all whatsoever!

Second time making cake balls - mmmmm yummy - much better with white chocolate!

I'm excited that this great little book is available in Dutch. It will be a nice addition to any cake lover - or cook book lover to add to your home library.

Creamy Hummus, Restaurant Style

2011-03-22T20:39:00.000+01:00

Usually when I make hummus - I make this chickpea mash - which isn't really hummus because it omits the tahini paste. But it's fast and easy and I like it. Now, I've finally tried the real thing. And it is just as fast and easy as chickpea mash and maybe even better! And I learned the science behind how to make hummus the proper restaurant way... according to this recipe. The secret is to cream the tahini with lemon juice first. To make it into a milk consistency. The author of this recipe says that it taste good on it's own but I went further and added chickpeas, and lots of other extras as well. I put in about 2 teaspoons ground cumin, and all the garlic recommended in the original. This was delicious and a must add to my personal recipe archive!

St. Patty's Day Treats

2011-03-17T21:33:00.000+01:00

Shamrock Sweet Rolls at Sweet Rolls that Rock

Chocolate and Mint Sandwich Cookies

I had a lot of leftover minty frosting from Kailea's birthday cake earlier this month. So far, I made the above cookies, and I used it to pipe the decoration on the Shamrock Sweet Rolls. I still have a lot leftover.

These are good to make when you've just made angel food cake or meringue frosting and you have a lot of egg yolks leftover.

I used most of the batch to make homemade oreos – fill with any kind of frosting you like... or enjoy plain.

Egg-yolk Chocolate Cookies

½ cup butter

½ cup shortening

¾ cup granulated white sugar

¾ cup caster sugar (witte bastard sugar) or light brown sugar

6 egg yolks

2 ¼ cup flour

1/3 cup dutch-processed cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream butter, shortening and sugar until fluffy in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the whisk/paddle attachment.
Beat egg yolks in a separate bowl. Add extract and blend. Add the egg yolk/extract mixture to the fluffy batter and continue to mix well.
In a separate bowlm sift dry ingredients. Add to the fluffy batter and blend again on low setting until good and thick and fluffy.
Refrigerate at least one hour or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350-F degrees (175-C). Prepare cookie sheets with parchment paper. Use a rounded teaspoon or melon scooper to form balls with the cookie dough – about the size of a walnut. Roll in granulated sugar and flatten slightly. Bake 8 to 10 minutes.
Let cool on cookie sheet.

Cinnamon Roll Doughnuts with Vanilla Glaze and Sprinkles

2011-03-14T21:30:00.000+01:00

I ~~baked~~ fried these over the weekend. Yummy. I have a new love - deep fried Cinnamon Rolls dipped in vanilla glaze with sprinkles. I mean, I always loved a good donut - and I always loved cinnamon rolls - so I combined the two.

I'm sure this idea is not even so original, but that doesn't matter, really. I recommend you try them. Recipe posted here at my other blog--gig!

~~~~~~~~~~

In other news, I'm working on a book review of My Best Friend Named Chocolate - I mentioned this little book at the beginning of the year. So far I've tried three recipes in it. One dessert and two main course meals. I've got a dessert scheduled to try out Friday when we have guests for dinner - The Elders - missionaries from the Church - it's my charity thing I do to feed these guys once in a while, plus it gives me an extra excuse to bake ;)

And I'm trying out another main course meal next Monday. It's going to be my thing over the next couple weeks to try out some recipes on Monday nights until I feel like I've tried out most of the book.

You know what is really lame, one of my peeves I guess, when you go on Amazon and you read the book reviews and some people give a book like 1 star and they've only tried one or two recipes. I don't think that's fair. I think you should try out at least 50% of the recipes before you can fairly judge it. That's just me I guess. So that is the plan here.

~~~~~~~~~~

One last item here: Babi Pangang. I mentioned it last week. I made it last Friday night - at least one version of it. It wasn't that bad but it wasn't that good either. So, now from here on out on Friday night we will be eating Babi Pangang. A different recipe every week until we find the one that we like.

So, note to self: do not use that version again... no good. Too sour. And for some reason the pork was very dry. Gotta figure out how they bake it so crispy on the outside and tender inside. Perhaps with the slow cooker?

A little bit about me...

2011-03-09T21:23:00.001+01:00

This is my blog - so I can talk about me. :)

Cute Kitty Punk is a mini phrase I started using many years ago. I just like it because it's kind of hip and catchy... but it doesn't totally describe me. I'm really sweet - not punkish. I don't even really like punk music. I do like the Cure. They aren't really punk though - more like alternative. I love Daft Punk. Does that make me punk? Probably not.

I feel like an average American girl. Except that I don't live in America. I have been living here in Europe for almost 7 years. When I first got here I missed Mexican food like crazy. One time I made a special dinner with enchiladas, refried beans, Spanish rice, and guacamole. I served it to my sister-in-law. She looked at the beans like - "what is that?" A look of disgust on her face. I was like, "what? You've never seen refried beans? They are delicious."

She didn't think so.

Well, fast forward 7 years - and I don't even miss it anymore. I've totally gotten used to living here. I don't even really miss American breakfast cereal anymore. I never thought that would happen. We use to drive over an hour to get to a Wal*mart in Germany that had American breakfast cereals. And I'd stock up there. Now I don't even care about it. And I went through a phase here where I ate whatever breakfast cereals they have here in the Dutch stores - which isn't much - believe me.

Now, my favorite thing to eat for breakfast - it's very Dutch: bread! Bread with jam or Halvarine and honey. I don't really know what Halvarine is America is called. I'm thinking it's light margarine spread.

My favorite kind of ethnic food - Indonesian... Dutch-Indonesian.!

You, my readers/followers, family and friends are going to be seeing a lot more Indonesian food posts. In fact, this Friday I will be making Babi Pangang. It's my husbands most favorite thing to order at a "Chinese" restaurant. I put that in quotes because Chinese restaurants are different every where you go. Well, here in the Netherlands - they are usually Chinese-Indonesian. And I discovered that the reason why I never had Babi Pangang at a Chinese restaurant in America is because it's not Chinese - it's Indonesian.

And it's delicious. So be looking for a blog post on that in the future.

photo credit: watmaakt.suzette.nu

Baking cake is NOT much fun

2011-03-01T20:49:00.000+01:00

Cake.
I don't know why I keep doing it.

I have noticed the last 4 or 5 cakes that I baked... I didn't really enjoy it.
It being - the baking.

It's just a lot of work and I really hate the clean up part of it. I feel like I'm on my feet all day and my cakes don't really turn out all that pretty. I mean, they are okay. Not the ugliest things but I'm much better at baking cinnamon rolls - sweet rolls.

In fact, I'd much rather be baking sweet rolls - because I enjoy them so much more than I enjoy cake. And really, cleaning up after baking sweet rolls is so much faster. For one, I almost always bake my sweet rolls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. So then I just throw that away - and I'm done! The other bowls, rolling pin and few other things get cleaned up along the way - while the dough is rising, etc...

Cake is just so much work - and in my opinion - not that rewarding for all the work put into it.

I'd much rather make a trifle. Or cookies. Or ice cream, milkshakes, smoothies, juice or fun decorated treats like those chocolate dipped stroopwafels or... anything else that is quick and easy and less messy.

I keep doing it because I have a birthday party to celebrate, but the more kids I have the more I think, I'll just buy a cake and focus on doing the activities or making a special dinner. That's more my cup of tea.

So, I've been mulling over this in my head, but I think I'm going to sell on my cake-baking gear. And then, I won't bake - then I won't eat this stuff and I'll be that much closer to my weight loss goals (except when I feel like baking cookies or sweet rolls, of course).

Plus, I really don't care for buttercream frosting - especially when it is made with shortening. Yuck. If it's made with cream cheese then it's pretty good. Chocolate frosting - also good... but just plain buttercream I don't really like that. Maybe my tastesbuds are just changing... that could be it.

I'll be baking my last cake on friday - a sugar free, gluten free cake - and I'll top it with a meringue frosting made from honey. I'm hoping that cake will be lots more fun and enjoyable.

I'm not saying it will be my last cake ever - but in the future, I hope to bake cakes that don't need a lot of frosting of layers - frosting in general. Let's just say - I don't want to bake a cake for a while!

Kailea's 2nd Birthday
"strawberry" cake made with starburst candy for the leaves and skittles for the "seeds"

Kailea's 3rd Birthday
Cookie Monster made with Oreo's for the eyes -
this cake was actually fun to make and not too much work.

Kailea's 4th Birthday
Barbie princess cake - made with marshmallow fondant -
which is a whole lotta work - don't wanna make that again.

Tomorrow we celebrate her 5th birthday - I've made another "barbie" cake - in the style of a mermaid... it turned out okay... I bet it will taste okay - I used a box mix - first time I did that. I topped it with melted white chocolate and sprinkles. Then I did the mermaid tail with buttercream -colored it turquoise/green - flavored it mint. And I have a lot of leftover frosting... but with St. Patty's day coming up - I think I'll make these with the leftover frosting:

Photo credit: Lisa Pearson
Simply... This. That. And The Other
aka ThePearsonFamilee.blogspot.com

Then, I'll take the cookies to church and share them with everyone - because although it's minty-flavored buttercream - it's made with shortening so it's kinda yucky - imo. Hopefully not to everyone else though. Ha ha.

White Chocolate Dipped Sugar Waffles (suikerwafels)

2011-02-25T21:56:00.002+01:00

I wanted to make something that was easy to make, fun to make and really delicious... and also something that Mark would like - or at least I hope he will like it.

Last week I took stroopwafels and dipped them in dark chocolate and white chocolate and sprinkled them with sprinkles. I wanted to try sugar waffles this time because Mark likes sugar waffles and he doesn't really like stroopwafels. He also likes white chocolate the best.

It's also something the kids can help out with - would make a nice FHE treat :)

I got to use my Speculoos hagel, too!

To make 'em. Gather your supplies:

sugar waffles aka suikerwafels aka Luiksewafels aka waffles from Liège, Luik or Lüttich (it's a town in Belgium)
your favorite brand white chocolate (about 200g for 8 waffles)
candy sprinkles, hagel, funfetti, chocolate pieces, chopped nuts, you name it.
a bowl to melt the chocolate in
a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper

Melt chocolate in microwave safe bowl - 30 second intervals - up to 2 minutes, stirring between each interval. Let sit a few minutes before beginning.
Dip waffles in chocolate then let extra chocolate drizzle back into bowl. Place waffle dipped side up on prepared cookie sheet.
Sprinkle with whatever you like.
Let cool for a very long time - feels like a long time because you can't hardly wait to eat them... but you can do it!
Enjoy with a nice cold glass of milk - or hot chocolate (depending on the weather and your mood, I suppose).

This post is linked to:

The BEST REAL Peanut Butter Cookies

2011-02-24T20:34:00.001+01:00

Gooey in the middle and crispy on the outside, just the way a cookie should be!

I discovered this recipe some years ago. I used to bake it nearly every month, that's how good it is. I've tried many, many peanut butter cookie recipes and this is the best by far!

You don't really need to add chocolate chips... but I just happen to get a bag full of goodies from a lady who bought all these baking supplies - American style baking supplies - from the BX, and the stuff she didn't use up before she moved back to the U.S. - was gifted to me. So the best way to show my gratitude - was to use it up!

There was a half open bag of white chocolate chips and a half open bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips... Did I mention... I love this recipe for peanut butter cookies and I threw in the chocolate chips as well. It was very yummy.

This recipe is originally vegan believe it or not. You don't really need eggs in most baked goods anyway.

But then I went and poured in all that chocolate - not really vegan anymore... but then again, neither am I - so why bother?!

(So I can save my eggs for my egg worthy recipes that's why. You know like Angel Food Cake or egg salad sandwich or fried eggs with toast... mmmm.)

You know what else was in that bag of goodies? Light Brown Sugar - brand - Domino. And Being from America - and being a sugar lover - you would think that Light Brown Sugar from Domino is like the best stuff ever. But you know what I discovered? Not all sugar brands are the same. Take this photo for instance - you can see the comparison.

brown sugar comparison

I didn't have quite enough brown sugar for the recipe. So I used up the bit of Domino Light Brown Sugar and then I used van Gilse light brown sugar (lichte bastard suiker) Do you know which is which? Which one looks better to you?

One of the brands, when packed into a cup - keeps its shape. The other just falls apart. One is more golden and fresh looking - the other dry and... well... not so fresh.

Okay, I guess you guessed which one I like best... van Gilse - the more golden sugar. Ahh... and it really is good.

So, not only is European chocolate better, in my opinion, but so is the sugar! That probably has something to do with why the chocolate is better here, too! (imho)

Unfortunately for those living outside the Netherlands who may wish to try this recipe - and I recommend you do... your cookies might not turn out as good as my cookies - because you are forced to use mediocre American brand products in your baked goods. Sorry! ;)

So, let's get down to brass tacks...

The BEST REAL Peanut Butter cookies!
source: vegweb.com (slightly adapted)

1 ¼ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup appelstroop (or molasses or maple syrup or something similar)
¾ cup peanut butter
½ cup cold margarine
2 tablespoons vanilla
1 tablespoon apple sauce
1 ¾ cup flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt

Sift flour, soda and salt in bowl, set aside. In food processor fitted with metal blade, combine sugar, stroop, peanut butter, margarine, vanilla and apple sauce. Add in flour mixture and combine again.

Scoop tablespoonful balls onto baking sheets lined with baking paper. Flatten slightly with a fork, pressing once on each side to make fork lines. Bake at 190-C degrees for 8-10 minutes. Let them harden on baking sheet before removing to cool completely.

Do not overbake - they can burn pretty quickly so keep an eye on them and don't walk away.
Makes approximately 3 dozen cookies.

Prep time: 10 minutes

This post is linked to:

Baking once a week... I love treats and sweets

2011-02-22T20:53:00.000+01:00

In my previous post - No second helpings, I revealed that I'm starting this new thing. It's not so new really - just new to me. New because, I'm just now doing it for the first time ever.

I did Weight Watchers online a few years ago and I had some success with that but it just didn't hold really. And then, last week on Wednesday I ate a big fat lovely piece of lasagna - three cheese lasagna and it was so fattening and good. And then, I ate a second piece. And then later that night I felt really gassy - to be honest, I did.

Then Thursday came, and I ate leftovers - another half serving of lasagna and then a wicked whipped cream butterscotch dessert. It was very wicked. I felt like eating that was a sin.

Then I started noticing that I eat a lot. I mean I snack all day long. I graze like a cow. I'm constantly in the kitchen every hour or so looking for something to eat. It finally hit me and I could no longer make excuses.

So Friday morning I woke up - and I must have thought about this in bed the night before because I was armed with rules - and then I just did it. I stuck to them.

And here I am going on day 5 of this thing - No second helpings, no snacking between meals - and I do end my lunch and dinner with a sweet thing - it's not a lot compared to before. Usually just a slice of toast with halvarine and honey or vla with a crumbled Speculaas.

Hopefully, I can train my body pretty quickly to get used to this and that this is the way it's gonna be for now on...

Yes, even when we go on vacation to the U.S in a few months I want this down so that I don't end up gaining 10 pounds in two weeks. I think that's how much I gained last time... what with eating ice cream every night, soda pop with my meals, and so on and so on.

Well, I've decided not to give in - anymore... so far I am doing it. Because I believe in it and I believe in me!

Even today, when I was opening up a box of chocolate milk for the little ones, you know, usually I take a sip - just a taste... and I stopped myself from doing that.

Anyway, I got several very nice comments from readers and most of you are "strangers" - because we've never met in person and I was really touched by your enthusiasm. Thanks everyone. It's nice to have a cheering squad.

One comment, in particular, caught my attention. From Sonya. She says she does the same thing, and once a week she bakes. Wow. Once a week. I think I could add that to my rules. I might have to make an exception for birthdays - but I think I could do that.

Actually, once a week seems like a lot but I have many excuses/reasons to bake. Number one reason: FHE.

For those of you not familiar with FHE - this is Mormon lingo for Family Home Evening. This is where we spend one night a week - usually Monday evening as family night. We sing songs, have a lesson about Jesus or something gospel related, play a game, and eat a treat. Okay, not every Mormon family is the same. But most Mormon families eat a treat with FHE. So that's one excuse to bake in the week.

Not that I'm always going to use that as an excuse. We often do yogurt for dessert, so...

I have other reasons to bake.

Number two... ward calling. You see, I've been very comfortable just coasting along this last half year or so - just you know - taking care of a newborn requires personal attention... but now the Bishop asked that I teach Sunday School to the 14-16 year olds.

I have to admit that I was not prepared for the calling. And also, 14-16 year old boys intimidate me. I don't know why. I think maybe because I'm not around boys very much. And also, when I was 14-16 years old - they intimidated me back then, too.

Luckily, there are some nice girls in the class, too. Girls don't intimidate me - of any age.

I heard from the previous teacher, though, that all you have to do is bring a treat every other week and they love you.

So, I might be able to use that as an excuse as well. You think?

Number three... someone's coming to dinner - bake a nice dessert.
Number four... birthdays... hip hip hooray - or as we say in Dutch hieper de piep hoera!

So, I'm going to add Bake Once A Week to my repertoire - my rules! And we'll see how that goes.

Here is a picture of me from early part of 2010 - just because it's nice to have a photo in every post - even if it doesn't relate to the post.

p.s. I don't normally where that much make up... but I like this picture of me.

No Second Helpings!

2011-02-18T21:01:00.000+01:00

Today went well - because I set some rules for myself and I kept them - and I'm very proud of myself.

Only 3 meals per day - NO SNACKING in between meals.
No second helpings.
I can eat a small treat/dessert together with the meal - at the end of the meal.

Some things that helped me achieve my goals:

I think it helped in the morning for breakfast that I started the day with a Green Monster with extra protein added.
It was a very cold day today so I ate a warm lunch.
I just kept reminding myself of the rules and told myself that "I don't want to be fat"
I told myself - if I "feel" hungry - drink water

besides I'm not really hungry, I'm not going to starve - my body is getting enough to eat and those "feelings" are just sugar withdrawals or just out of habit of eating all the time.

And here it is - the end of the day - I'm proud of myself and I have NO REGRETS!

Me and my girls - one on each hip - cuz I'm so hip ;)

Coconut Curried Brussels Sprouts (Spruitjescurry)

2011-02-17T16:59:00.005+01:00

If you've been following this blog - you know that I've got a thing for Brussels sprouts. We never ate them when I was a kid, probably because my Dad got it in his head that they are yucky. But he's totally wrong! And actually I think a lot of people got that idea in their heads... it's just not true. They are really good. I've tried them several ways and I like them everytime. This particular recipe was a new and different way to eat them... and guess what? They taste even better the next day!

Coconut Curried Brussels Sprouts served with Omelet Spirals
(Spruitjescurry met omeletreepjes)
source: SMAK school uigave 2010/2011

1 onion
1 clove garlic
600 grams Brussels sprouts
1/2 - 1 tablespoon mild green curry paste
1 tablespoon olive oil
200 ml coconut milk
100 ml water
6 eggs
50 ml milk
1 tablespoon margarine
soy sauce
lemon juice
coriander

Clean the vegetables. Finely chopped the onions and garlic. Cut the sprouts in half.
Fry the onion and garlic together with the curry paste in the oil till the paste is fragrant. Add in the sprouts and coconut milk and 100 ml water. Let this cook gently for 8-10 minutes.
Meanwhile, gently beat the eggs together with the milk. Add salt and pepper to taste if you like. Fry in hot margarine 3-4 omelets. Roll the omelets and then cut into spiral strips.
Bring the curry to taste with soy sauce, lemon juice and coriander.
Serve over steamed rice together with the omelets sprirals.

A Birthday Surprise

2011-02-16T20:46:00.000+01:00

I was invited to a birthday lunch surprise... and I managed to keep a secret! Boo-yah!

Yeah, everyone was actually surprised that I kept a secret - but I can keep secrets when they are important like that :)

My friend and her family often eat gluten free - and they try to eat as organically as they can afford to because not only is it good for you, they also do it for her young son that is overcoming autism.

So I asked if I could bake something and bring it to the party and they said Yes! Yippee.

This comes from "At Tiffany's Table" by Tiffany Perez. Tiffany suffered from Crohn's Disease and healed her illness with food! Ultimately, she gave up refined sugar completely. She does eat desserts though - made with honey or maple syrup. She mainly uses raw honey and raw milk. She also bakes with her own freshly ground wheat. I'm looking forward to trying many recipes in this book (I'll just have to adapt them to my circumstances - i.e. regular milk, regular honey, etc.)

Well, I didn't use raw honey in my bars because I don't really know what that is and it's probably very expensive. I actually used the cheapest honey I could find because it's kind of expensive already.

My Mom sent me this book for my birthday because ultimately I'd like to be in control of my own sugar addiction. I figure, if I bake with honey, I probably won't bake as much because it's so costly.

These bars were pretty good - when I cut the bars into even pieces, I trimmed the sides, and I put the extras into a bowl with vanilla vla (pudding) and it was like my own little mock trifle - ready to eat like that. Cuz, you know, I love a good trifle, even when I'm in a hurry.

Blackberry Coconut Macaroon Bars

slightly adapted from original recipe

6 egg whites (best at room temp.)

1/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup honey

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon coconut extract

4 cups finely grated, unsweetened coconut

2 teaspoons arrowroot or cornstarch

1 cup finely-chopped almonds

1 jar naturally-sweetened blackberry jam (St. Dalfour makes a good one)

Whip egg whites with salt until soft peaks form. Pour in arrowroot then add honey a little at a time mixing in between each addition. Fold in extracts, coconut, and almonds.

Spread into a greased 9x13 inch pan (actually I used parchment paper in my casserole dish because this make for easier clean-up - and taking them out and cutting them, etc.) Spread layer of jam on top of the coconut batter (I like to microwave the jam in a bowl first and mix it around good before I spread over batter - spread easily and evenly this way.)

Bake in a pre-heated oven 300-F or 150-C for 35 minutes. Let cool completely in the pan then cut into bars. (I baked them in the evening, then let them cool over-night before cutting them).

Double Dipped Stroopwafels (Syrup Waffles)

2011-02-14T20:43:00.003+01:00

I couldn't think of a better way to use an old egg carton then to have it hold yummy delicious double dipped stroopwafels. The idea is not really so new. Just a few months ago I saw Kristan from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen do the same thing with graham crackers for a quick holiday treat.

The stroopwafel is not really equavalent to a graham cracker though... it is so much better. It's really one of the best cookies to come out of the Netherlands. You can find them everywhere here. Every grocery store carries them in many different price ranges. And there is a difference. That "E" brand that is really cheap - really sucks. The brand from the Lidl is a great price and one of the best tasting ones I've found. They have them made with real butter or with glucose-syrup. I personally like the real butter caramel flavored ones. Yum-yum.

A stroopwafel is simply translated as syrup waffle. It's a thin waffle like cookie with syrup in the middle... much better than an Oreo... okay, guess it depends what you're in the mood for.

Oh my, just look at those layers - this really was the best stroop wafel I ever had in my entire life. I ate two whole cookies all to myself... then I gave the rest away... geez, I'm so nice ;)

Want to know how I did it? Easy peasy, just melt your favorite chocolate in a bowl. I used about 200 grams dark chocolate and a bit less for the white chocolate. I melted it the microwave method way - after 30 second intervals stir - done within 1 minute. Let cool slightly then dip halfway up the cookie. Let dry before you apply the second dipping/drizzle of chocolate - then top off with candy sprinkles, chopped nuts, Speculoos hagel - wish I would have used that!
Let stand upright so that the chocolate doesn't stick to the surface - that's why I used the egg carton. Let stand overnight or many many hours before you stack them side by side. Better yet, put some parchment paper between each cookie, just to be on the safe side.

This one looks like an ice cream cone turned on it's side.

I've heard that they sell stroopwafels at Wal*mart and Costco... so if they are new to you - I highly recommend picking some up. I promise that you will not be disappointed.

I also really like to break them up and eat them with chocolate pudding and whipped cream. Just Heavenly - really was my most favorite treat during my last pregnancy :)

This post is linked to:

Found a recipe to make your own stroopwafels - for those of you living outside the Netherlands:

photo credit: Melissa's Cuisine

Follow this link!

Mmmm Chocolate

2011-02-09T21:40:00.000+01:00

Brussels Sprouts... many ways

2011-02-05T18:20:00.000+01:00

This is just a note-to-self post really... a way for me to find link backs to other Brussels Sprouts recipes that I want to try or that friends have asked for...

Fresh Brussels sprouts - all cut up and ready to be cooked!

Brussels Sprouts Lardons
- one to try

Cinnamon Cider Brussels Sprouts, Apples and Pears
*this one I've made a few times and it's really good. I've even made it with cranberries once in place of the pear - tart but good.

Honey Roasted Brussels Sprouts
-one to try

Autumn Mac and Cheese (with all kinds of things added - including Brussels Sprouts)
-one to try - although I don't know when I'll ever get to try this one because it includes cheese and I can never make that for a dinner to serve Punk Papa - he's such a punk he won't eat cheese :( but me thinks it looks really good!

Warm Autumn Salad
-another one with cheese, but I think I'll leave it out when I try it ;)

Maple Glazed Brussels Sprouts with Chestnuts
*this is the recipe I did for Thanksgiving 2010. Very yummy - so sweet!

Baby Brussels Sprouts with Buttered Pecans
-hmm, sounds interesting... anything buttery is good, really!

You know what - there are hundreds of Brussels Sprouts recipes that all look so good to me... I still really like them boiled and mashed up with potatoes and carrots though...

Belgian Day - Speculoos Hagel and Stoemp!

2011-02-03T21:53:00.000+01:00

You know what? Normally when I think of Belgium - I think of those cute little sea shell chocolates - those are so dang good. I always bring a few boxes of those when I go home to America. Everyone likes those a lot! You are instantly popular and everyone's best friend if you are carrying a box of those.

But Belgium is also known for other things - like waffles and Brussels sprouts. And if they aren't known for Speculaas - they should be. Speculaas is a small spice cookie. It's very yummy and often served with coffee, tea or hot chocolate. Lotus is all over it; it's a name brand and they got it made with the Speculaas. Not only do they know how to make a great little cookie. They've turned it into a creamy sandwich spread... and now into a crunchy sandwich sprinkle. I love it. It's brilliant. And you know what - it would work great as any cake or cupcake topper. Forget those disco sprinkles - Lotus Speculoos Hagel is it!

Luckily for living here, I don't have to wait until someone has a birthday or for some holiday to bake cupcakes - I don't have to because I can eat it on my bread - for my snack - or after lunch dessert. Oh yeah!

I tried it sprinkled over some light margarine and that was good - but it's much more enjoyable spread over duo pasta (what we call a "Nutella" type spread)... the benefits of living in the Netherlands. Mmmmmm good.

You know I think that the Speculoos Hagel is much - much better than the Speculoos spread - so you know what? If you have access to it - I highly recommend going out and getting some... like right now! And if your local grocery store doesn't carry it - tell them you want it - and then pre-order two cases just for your food storage and why not throw a couple boxes into your 72-hour kit, too... don't have a 72-hour kit? Now you have a good reason to start one! It's that good... it's blog worthy baby!

Yup - it's good.

Okay, you know what, before I even woke up and went to do my shopping and discovered Speculoos Hagel, I had already planned on making this Belgian dinner tonight - so I'm declaring it Belgian Day... even though it's Chinese New Year and I should be doing something like with that theme... oh well...

I have come across a recipe in the Allerhande AH magazine and it looks good to me. Apparently, Belgians call their mashed potatoes with vegetables: stoemp (Dutch call it stammpot) - and I'm going to try some - using none other than Brussels sprouts and spitskool.

<--- What is that? Spitskool. It's like cabbage - white cabbage - that is pointy and cone-head shaped. It's coney! I think it's cute, actually.

So, this recipe calls for one spitskool. It tastes exactly the same as regular white cabbage, in my opinion, so if you don't or cannot find it, you can probably just use the regular stuff - or if you come across this at a farmers' market - now you have a recipe to make with it... so bookmark this one!

One spitskool sliced and chopped up into pieces filled an entire soup pan for me. I decided to use half of it only... but as I was frying it up - it shrunk up a lot... so you can use the whole thing if you want.

On a side note, isn't cabbage very common in China? Like in eggrolls and stuff? You know, this is kind of like my way of celebrating Chinese New Year without even knowing it. Okay... (note to self: I'll try and make some Chinese food tomorrow night or some kind of stir fry at least).

The original recipe

This recipe calls for karbonades - and according to the recipe photo - that is pork chops I believe. I used Valess vegetarian schnitzel for mine because we try to follow the Word of Wisdom - eat meat sparingly. It was very tasty.

You know, I'm starting to really like stamppot more than ever before. Punk Papa says he doesn't want to eat it every night - but I wouldn't mind if we did - during winter at least. It's so filling and a good way to eat my veggies.

I liked this stoemp a lot - and I like the little onions, crunchy - good. I'd definitely make it again :)

My version

The recipe: Belgian Mashed Potaotes, Cabbage and Brussels Sprouts
It says it serves 4 - but that would be for four very hungry big men...

1 kg fast cooking potatoes, peeled
75 grams butter or margarine
1 sack Brussels sprouts (500g), quartered
1 spitskool, sliced, chopped (or whatever it is in English - coney cabbage?)
4 pork chops or veggie schnitzel
1 pot zilveruitjes (340g) - okay, another thing I'm not familiar with in America - it's like little pickled onions
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons curry-spiced ketchup

1. Cut the potatoes in pieces and cook in water with salt 20 minutes. (I left the salt out)
2. Heat about 50 grams of the butter/margarine in a big pan/wok and cook the Brussels sprouts and cabbage for 10 minutes on low heat/low flame. Drain the potatoes over a bowl. With a potato masher, mash together the potatoes, 150 ml of the drained cooking liquid and the cabbage mixture all together. Adjust to taste with salt and pepper (I left it as is - with the margarine - it was salty enough for me - and I don't really like pepper in my stamppot).
3. Sprinkle the pork chops with salt and pepper, if using meat. Heat the rest of the butter or margarine in a frying pan and cook the meat 2 minutes each side until just brown. Take out of the pan and keep warm in aluminum foil. If using veggie meat replacer, cook as usual and just put aside on plate during this next step. Now, pour the pickled mini onions (zilveruitjes) with liquid into the pan, together with the brown sugar and ketcup in a pan. Cook on high flame about 5 minutes. Return the meat or veggie replacer to the sauce and cook another 2 minutes on low flame. Serve the meat together with the stoemp and the extra sauce on top.

White Chocolate Blondie Cupcakes

2011-02-02T21:54:00.003+01:00

Do you like brownies? Me, too. Do you like white chocolate? Me, too. I've had this cake in the original dark chocolate brownie form and in the white chocolate blondie form... and I liked it way better in white chocolate blondie form. Oh my gosh, it is so good... like fudge. White fudge from heaven!

I might even dare say - that's it's better than Death by Chocolate cake... it's Death by White Chocolate and by golly it's GOOD!

My good friend Cat likes to bake - lucky me. She baked me the original for my birthday - it had a chocolate ganache topping - very heavy cake - Punk Papa ate most of it. It was just so chocolatey, that I couldn't handle it... but the white chocolate - oh my - I couldn't stop.

So, if you are going to bake these in cake form or cupcakes - do share - or else - don't blame me if you gain 5 pounds ;)

Top any way you like. Cat made them for me topped with cocoa-frosting. She told me her recipe from memory (included below) - might just want to top them with Peanut butter marshmallow frosting or with this White chocolate cream cheese frosting.

White Chocolate Blondie Cupcakes
Adapted by Cat from AH Allerhande recipe Chocolade Brownietaart

200 grams butter
400 grams good quality white chocolate
4 eggs
200 grams caster sugar or light brown sugar
150 grams self-rising flour, sifted
200 grams pecans or walnuts (optional)

Mix the eggs with the sugar.
Melt the chocolate together with the butter.
Mix the melted chocolate/butter with the eggs/sugar.
Add sifted flour and mix it around, don't use a mixer for this but do it slowly by hand.
Add nuts if you want to. Pour it in a prepared baking pan and bake it for about 100 minutes.

* Cupcake version. Do everything the same but pour them in small cupcakes and bake them for about 25/35 minutes.

Cat's cocoa-frosting: blend together 115 grams butter + 180 grams cream cheese. Mix in about 3 cups sifted powdered sugar + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract + about 50 grams Dutch-processed cocoa powder. Pipe it on thick.

This post is linked to:

Experimenting with Saffron and Pumpkin - mmmm... good!

2011-01-31T21:11:00.000+01:00

There are a lot going on in these muffins! A lot of flavors and normally, that's a no-no. I try to follow the rule: less is more. But in the case of these muffins - the saffron and pumpkin work together and the chocolate and carob chips also work together... add to that a little frosting on top - and they totally rock... or leave it off if you are trying to cut out the sugars. So, yeah, generally speaking I wouldn't have put so many flavors together - but these worked for me really well - I'd definitely bake them again - might just use whole wheat flour next time.

Want to know how I made them? Yes... It was easy because I used my Saffron Master Mix - yeah, the same stuff I used to make Saffron & Chocolate Chip Ice cream and Saffron-infused Carrot Cake. It turns out that saffron goes well with many things :)

Oh yeah, did I mention... these are low in fat (if you leave out the chocolate even more so) and eggless!

Saffron - Pumpkin Muffins
Makes 12-14

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
smidgen ground cloves
1 cup pureed canned pumpkin
1/2 cup Saffron Master Mix
1/2 cup chia gel
2 tablespoons molasses (or appelstroop)

First, preheat oven to 200-C degrees (400-F).
Second, prepare 12 muffin pan, line with cupcake liners or lightly grease.
Third, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and spices. Set aside.
Fourth, in a separate bowl whisk together, pumpkin, Saffron Master Mix, chia gel and molasses.
Fifth, pour wet ingredients into dry and mix.
Sixth, fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick or knife inserted comes out clean.

Variation: fold in a cup of chopped dark chocolate or carob chips or a mixture of the two. Top with Honey-buttercream Frosting if desired.

Note: to make chia gel, simply add 1 tablespoon chia seeds to 250 ml water and set aside till resembles gel consistency. Use as egg replacer or to add extra protein to baked goods.

Personally, I liked them with the frosting - turns a muffin into a cupcake - a darn good one, too!

I love kawaii and all things cute

2011-01-28T21:58:00.000+01:00

Late last year I re-designed again for the hundreth time my background layout. This time with a very cute pink kawaii tile background courtesy of Holly aka berrysprite. She's so talented and amazing - I love her designs.

simply cute! - designed by berrysprite

I love that cutesy stuff and in pink - so girly. I really wanted to have a kawaii girly in my blog title as well... but I didn't think I was capable of doing something so cute. I'm really creative and good at drawing/painting and stuff, so I drew this and then my husband, he's so talented and artistic, too - in a photographic kind of way - he's also good on the computer, he took my drawing and scanned it in and then with the photoshop thingy or paint shop pro - one of those programs, he took my drawing and did this to it:

ckp girl 1 - designed by me and punk papa

I think it's super cute - but doesn't really fit with the kawaii thingy like I wanted to have. So I look to inspiration. This one below sits on my desktop - it's another berrysprite design and i just love it. So I tried to sort of copy this design - but you know I wanted pigtails...

Kawaii girly with bunny by berrysprite

And I think I did a pretty darn good job. I used Jasc Paint Shop Pro... and I'm not even a pro at it. I'm totally amateur at design - but there it is - all cute and stuff:

kawaii ckp girl - designed by me

And then, I went a step further and re-designed the background layout for Sweet Rolls that Rock... and it turned out great! If I do say so myself :)

cinna-rolly tile

But I did want that cute kawaii thingy going on - so i gave it a smile-y face, see:

hello!

But Punk Papa thought it was too distracting, so we went with the simple look. It was fun to do. Next time I won't be so afraid to do something new and creative. But I thank Berrysprite and all those other kawaii designers for their designs - they are my inspiration :)

Saffron and Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

2011-01-25T21:27:00.003+01:00

Hormones are interesting things... because during my last pregnancy I didn't really like ice cream - and that's very strange for me - especially because I was pregnant during those hot summer months. I think I only made ice cream one time last year. I think if you have an ice cream maker and you like ice cream - you should definitely be making a lot more ice cream than that - don't you think?

Well, I may finally be recovering from that spell - because I made some saffron ice cream. And wouldn't you know it - saffron goes great with chocolate :)

Lately, I've been on this kick where I'm making mixes and then I can create lots of other things, desserts, dinners, etc from one mix. This ice cream is made from Saffron Master Mix - which I also used to make the Saffron-infused Carrot Cakes.

Why saffron? Why not? I received 2 grams of saffron from a foodie exchange from Greece. It's Greek Saffron. Perhaps it's cheaper to buy in those parts. My husband use to work at the grocery store when he was in college. He was a box boy or something like that. He said that the most expensive item in the grocery store by weight is saffron. They usually only sell it in tiny little tubes. And over here when I've seen it in the spice section - you buy about .1 gram of it for like 2 euros. So imagine my happiness when I have 2 whole grams of it. How much is 2 grams - just eyeballing it - it's about 2 tablespoons. That's a lot of saffron!

I will also feature some Saffron and Pumpkin Muffins very soon, but for now - one more yummy look at that Saffron Ice, which by the way, tastes best when it's a little soft - just like this:

Saffron and Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Makes about 3 cups

3/4 cup Saffron Master Mix
1 3/4 cup vanilla vla or vanilla pudding
1/2 cup of milk or cream

Mix together and pour into ice cream maker. Add 1/2 cup chopped up dark chocolate pieces in last 15 minutes of cycle.

Siembra is now 5 months old and she's so adorably cute. Here is a cell phone snapshot of her attending church with Mama. I must say, she is the most popular girl at church. Everyone wants to hold her and just be her friend. I can't say I don't blame them. I just can't get enough of her either :) I'm smitten!

I'd give up ice cream cravings again for this little doll anytime!

This recipe is linked to:

Saffron-infused Carrot Cake (Grain-free) SHF #73

2011-01-20T21:36:00.001+01:00

I have participated in a few Sugar High Fridays so I thought by now that I was kind of a professional and could pull anything off. Not so my friends. In Sugar High Friday #73 the challenge is a challenge indeed. Zoe of Z's Cup of Tea challenges all to make a "grain-free" dessert.

Side note: Jennifer of The Domestic Goddess started Sugar High Friday - a blogging extravaganza - an excuse to bake your favorite dessert around a certain theme. It's also fun to participate each time because you meet other foodies and get to read new blogs you might not have known about.

Z's Cup of Tea is new to me. But I've been following her blog since the SHF #72 - trifles. And I find it very interesting that she makes so many foods grain free, sugar free, and so forth.

So back to the challenge - make a "grain-free" dessert. Naturally, I thought, oh that's easy - just make ice cream or something like that. But I figure, since she provided a list of suggestions - she wants us to make something that is normally with grains and then to be creative and use one of those suggestions instead.

So, I thought to myself... that's too hard and I'm not going to participate this go around.

Broken carrot cake - eek!

But you see, I have this fantasy that one day I will open up my own little cafe/diner some place warm and I want it to be one of those little eateries where if someone comes in and goes, can you make something gluten-free or wheat-free or whatever, that I'll be experienced enough to say - Heck yes!

And so in order to become that cook, I thought I'd better give this challenge a try.

First go around and my cake turned out to be a sugar high flop. It tasted good though. What can I do with this crumbly cake? Ahh, when life gives you lemons make lemonade says Michelle of Brown Eyed Baker. So I turned it into a trifle - because I love those and it's a great way to serve cake. And I just so happen to have some pineapple jam in the fridge and it went great with the cake and pudding.

But I was not satisfied with just a trifle. I still had a few days left to try and fix the recipe, so I did.

And you know what? Punk Papa thinks I'm a genius. Well, he said something along those lines. I baked the cake again - second time around - not so crumbly. Thin - yes. Crumbly and falling apart - no. So I sliced the thin cake up and thought - should I just call 'em Carrot Cake Bars?

Then it hit me! I'll make them into little layers cakes - ah yes - petits fours. I quickly whipped up some honey-buttercream frosting (so good!) and whalaa! I had myself a delicious dessert.

Grain-free desserts - not bad at all - tastes pretty good if I do say so myself :)

Saffron-infused Carrot Cake (Grain-free)
Makes one small cake. Enough for 16 servings or layered, makes 8 petits fours.

3/4 cup finely grated coconut (unsweetened)
1/4 cup amaranth porridge*
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon honey
1/3 cup Saffron Master Mix**
1 egg
1 1/2 cups shredded carrots

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with metal blade or in the bowl of a mixer - add ingredients in order given, beating well coconut and amaranth first. Then add baking powder, baking soda, spices and sugar. Beat again. Then add wet ingredients. Beat again. Add carrots last and mix until all combined. Prepare a square baking dish with layer of baking paper in bottom. Pour batter over top and bake at 175 degrees-C for 45 minutes in hot air oven. Cool completely before turning out and slicing into bars.

Meanwhile if making petits fours, prepare frosting as follows:

Honey-Buttercream Frosting
Makes about 1 cup

2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoons shortening, melted
2/3 to 3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon honey

Beat butter and shortening together until fluffy. Add sugar - beat another 1-3 minutes. Add vanilla and honey and beat another 5- 7 minutes until fluffy.

*Amaranth Porridge
1 cup water
1 cup amaranth
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt

Soak amaranth in 1 cup water overnight at room temperature. Pour into a small sauce pan. Add additional 1 cup water and salt. Simmer 10 minutes. Serve with cream, honey or berries or use in recipes such as Carrot cake, corn bread, etc.

**Saffron Master Mix
2 teaspoon Greek Saffron threads (about 1 gram)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 1/2 cups cold milk

In a small pan over low-medium flame, heat saffron with 1/2 cup milk until bubbly about 5 minutes or until the milk is a vibrant yellow color. Strain milk. Discard saffron thread. In another pan mix together spices, sugar and cornstarch. Slowly whisk in cold milk. Turn heat to medium flame. Add in saffron milk. Stir constantly till mixture thickens - about 8 - 10 minutes. Be careful not to burn milk. Remove from heat and let cool. Keep refrigerated when not in use up to 5 days. Freeze up to 3 months. Blend this mixture into your favorite recipes such as brownies, ice cream, cake, and so forth.

Today is a Glorious Day

2011-01-14T13:46:00.000+01:00

Last night I hardly got any sleep at all. In fact, almost every night I hardly get any sleep at all. And as a result of that I end up being sleepy all day and then eating foods that are not too good for me. You know - quick, unhealthy, sugary, and fatty foods. And chocolate.

Well, last night I read a pick me up kind of blog post from Angela at Oh She Glows. And then I, too realised, I don't need a juicer, when I've got my blender. I decided to make myself some really healthy smoothies using what I had on hand.

I really wanted to make that green monster drink but I just don't have any spinach... and usually I almost always have some - at least in the freezer - so I can whip up some African Peanut Soup - it's punk papa's favorite!

Okay, so I looked in my fridge and did this. About 1/2 cup orange juice, 1/2 cup non-fat plain yogurt. 1 small ripe banana. 1 small carrot, peeled and grated and 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed. I blended till smooth and drank it up.

Okay, at first, it was a little bit tart - afterall I was using the plain yogurt. But soon enough I was enjoying it.

Then, about 90 minutes later - it hit me. I felt great. Like really great. Like as if I had slept all through the night for a month straight great. So then I thought, I'm going to make myself another super duper healthy shake thingy for lunch, too.

And I did.

And something really awesome happened very soon after that, too. I was full. Like actually satisfied. You know, usually I eat lunch and then I just keep on snacking immediately after I'm done eating. Like usually, my lunch doesn't really satisfy me.

But, this lunch did.

This is what I did.

In a small sauce pan, I combined 1/2 tablespoon butter with one small diced apple, 1 handful of shredded red cabbage, a sprinkle of ground clove and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. I stirred it around, put the lid on and let it get cooked and soft - about 10 minutes. Then I added that to 1 tablespoon flax seed, 1/2 cup plain non-fat yogurt and about 1/3 cup orange juice in the blender - till smooth.

Again, tart - no sugar added... and it tasted okay. I liked it. I enjoyed it. And then before I even finished drinking it... I felt my hunger vanish. Completely gone.

And I feel really good. Happy even. I have energy... and I didn't even have to quit eating sugar all together to feel this way.

Thank you Angela, because the thought of quitting sugar for good frightens me really. I've been reading some different things lately about how other people gave up sugar and they would say it's really hard - but that they had so much energy afterwards that is was worth it. But still, the thought of no cookies, no cake for birthdays - just doesn't sound all that enticing to me... no chocolate ever again - oh no...

So you see - I have energy - I feel really good and all this without having to quit sugar permanently is a very good thing.

And it's not even sunny outside. It's totally gloomy. It's been like, rainy and cloudy and gloomy all week - so I can't contribute it to the weather. It must be the smoothies and the flax seed.

See! I told you - it's gloomy outside... not the weather then.

So, tomorrow, when I go grocery shopping, I'm going to pick up some spinach -- and I'm going to do the green monster thingy -- and I'm way excited for it!

Mijn beste vriend heet chocolade... My best friend named chocolate

2011-01-11T22:11:00.001+01:00

This is the title of a cookbook I just received for my birthday... of course, it was a belated birthday gift - ha you thought i just revealed my birthday date - no - i didn't.

anyhoo, My best friend named chocolate - is an interesting little book - not just desserts - it also includes appetizers, main course entrees, and then more desserts.

For example, one such recipe is titled Lolly's from geese liver with chocolate. (This book is in Dutch so I translate it the best I can).

The food looks fantastic, but the title - can't say it's very interesting. I don't think I ever want to eat liver of any animal. I was brought up that way to just say no thanks.

- the Lolly's from geese liver.

I think I will try a few of the vegetarian recipes that are not traditional chocolate recipes. They are:

"Met Benco gepaneerde camembert" - that's like deep fried cheese with chocolate

"Balsamicovinaigrette met chocolade" - this is a salad dressing featuring cocoa

"Met ricotta gevulde cannelloni met munt en chocolade" - cannelloni pasta filled with ricotta, mint and topped with cocoa powder

"Driekleurige crumble met courgette, roomkaas en chocolade" - this is like one of those fancy French entrees in cupcake form bottom layer zucchini, middle layer cream cheese, top layer chocolate and nuts. looks like a dessert with zucchini - not an entree... i'll probably serve it that way ;)

A few recipes I'm looking forward to trying (desserts):

"Terrine van chocolade en Kinder Bueno" - Kinder Bueno is a German candy bar. It's like cream filled little chocolate bars - for the kids. yum.

"Perencrumble met Toblerone" - Pear crumble with Toblerone - I think I'll use the white chocolate Toblerone for this one.

"Chocoladeslakken" - um, looks like pinwheel cookies - easy to make - only uses pie dough, sugar, egg yolk and Nutella!

A cookbook all about chocolate - what a way to being the new year!

Gingerbread and Apple Pie Trifle (SHF)

2010-12-14T21:49:00.001+01:00

Earlier this year I went to a birthday party - dessert potluck. Everyone was asked to share a favorite dessert. There was just one catch. It could not contain chocolate. That was easy for me. I just made mini cheesecakes. It was a very fun get together because I got to try some different kinds of desserts. One thing that I tried that I absolutely fell in love with was an English Trifle. I had never had one before - what a shame because they are the yummiest and easiest to make. I suppose it's called a trifle because it has three layers. Normally when I think of the word "trifle" it makes me think of people who worry over unimportant things. It's in the scriptures in a few different places. See this Link.

Well, the dessert I had that night was a very simple thing to make. I got the recipe and tried it a few months later. Oh yummy. Here is a link to that recipe. I made it back in June. And since then, I have come across several other yummy trifles to try - they are on my wish list. Yes, I have an actual "wish list" for treats to make!

Let me share some of the good ones with you which I have favorited:
Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifle from multiply Delicious

Pumpkin Bread Trifle with pumpkin mousse and pumpkin seed brittle from Z-Tasty Life

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting from Brown Eyed Baker (This one's not really a trifle - but I loved the idea of it - when life gives you lemons make lemonade, she says)

Snickers Pudding Parfait from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen (okay, this one is not really a trifle - but a parfait - but who am I to trifle over one little word, eh? ;)

Then, last week I was wondering what the Sugar High Friday theme was for December and to my surprise it is trifles. Yippee. I've participated in 3 or 4 Sugar High Fridays this year. In case you are new to it - it's an excuse to make something sweet once a month, blog about it and share it with everyone. The Sugar High Friday was created by blogger Jennifer of The Domestic Goddess. Every month a different blogger hosts the Sugar High Friday and can choose the theme. This month Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice chose trifles. Ivonne, thank you so much for suggesting this theme. It has given me the opportunity to try some different combinations and I'm just loving it.

One of the reasons to love a trifle, as I mentioned before, they are easy to make. Or at least they can be as easy to make as you like. For me, I do like an easy dessert now and again. I choose to combine 3 simple ingredients to make one sweet holiday dessert.

Ingredient 1: ontbijtkoek - translation: breakfast cake. Yep, in the Netherlands they eat cake for breakfast! Yippee. The breakfast cake is like a really sweet version of gingerbread. If you are in the U.S. I suggest trying this recipe with your favorite ginger bread recipe or spice cake.

Ingredient 2: apple pie filling - which, unfortunately they didn't have in my local grocery store. But like Michelle of Brown Eyed Baker - I turned my lemons into lemonade. I found a seasonal apple-cinnamon-vanilla jam and combined it with freshly peeled and diced apples. This gave my trifle extra crunch!

Ingredient 3: apple and cinnamon vla - translation: can best be described as thin pudding. I love it. I never really cared for vla until during my last pregnancy when I got to love eating it together with stroop wafels and whipped cream. There are a few Dutch brands that have a seasonal winter vla containing apples and cinnamon and it tastes just like an apple turnover. It's so yummy and perfect for this trifle.

So, I cut up my ontbijtkoek into little pieces. And that became my first layer or bottom layer. Next, I combined my apple-cinnamon-vanilla jam together with my freshly peeled and diced apples. This became my second layer. Then I poured that lovely apple and cinnamon vla over top. So easy, so simple - and so delicious.

Then just for looks - for the professional photos really - I added a dollop of fresh whipped cream and a sprinkle of freshly ground cinnamon.

If only, I could eat like this all the time... but then I'd surely never lose my Santa belly.

The Future of Sweet Rolls... and Eggplant Croquettes

2010-11-19T14:24:00.001+01:00

Well, some of you may be wondering what is the future of Sweet Rolls that Rock - my other blog dedicated to making awesome sweet rolls?

And, to be honest, I'm kind of wondering about that as well. I think, perhaps we could get some guest contributors? Anyone interested?

I'm also thinking about tweaking some of my recipes to include more protein. For example, this morning I read that you can use protein powder in baked goods. You can replace up to half the flour content with a protein powder.

Here is something interesting I read in Little Sugar Addicts. Do not use soy-based powders or soymilk with children. Does that set off an alarm bell for anyone?

As a "mostly" vegetarian - we like to follow the Word of Wisdom in our house - we eat a lot of soy. But we do drink cow's milk.

Anyways, I ask why not use soy for children?

Then I read that the estrogenic properties of soy can have hormonal effects on growing bodies. Increased estrogen levels can cause early puberty in girls and boys to grow breasts! EEEK.

Ok, occasional use is fine, but not daily and not in large amounts.

Hello? Soy is in everything!

However, whey protein powder is a far better alternative for children. Whey protein is a product made from milk. The proteins are distilled by passing the milk through a series of filters and the end result is very pure and concentrated. Even many children who have a problem with dairy can tolerate whey protein powder because it is so distilled. Whey protein powder is also rich in something called alpha-lactalbumin, which increases the level of tryptophan in the brain. Increasing the level of serotonin as well - which mean less depression and more impulse control - which means happiness.

Mark - don't be alarmed. You are not gonna grow breasts. LOL. Soy is great for adults - just not so much for children.

So, anyway, this weekend I'm going to look for whey protein powder at the natural food store. And then, maybe next weekend when it's Thanksgiving and we have our Dessert Social at church - I will bring those yummy cinnamon rolls - tweaked a bit with protein powder :)

And now for a favorite recipe of mine - Eggplant Croquettes!

As a kid we never ate eggplant at my house. My Dad didn't like it I suppose. And the first time I tried eggplant - it was eggplant parmesan at an Italian restaurant and I didn't like it very much. But just plain fried eggplant is wonderful. I love that. I love to put it in wraps or with my cucumber-cashew panini - I love it also has a croquette.

I've made these a few times - and surprisingly Mark hasn't noticed the cheese content. He's probably not going to eat them anymore after seeing this post. Oh well, more for me ;) ...nah - 15 grams of cheese isn't much at all - you can always just leave it out or sub it with Parmesan - which isn't as "cheesy" - does that make sense?!

1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1 large eggplant, peeled and cubed
1/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cups bread crumbs
2 eggs
15 grams shredded Cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 cup flour
vegetable oil for frying

Place eggplant and salt (sprinkled over eggplant) in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on medium-high 3 minutes. Stir eggplant around and microwave another 2 minutes. The eggplant should be tender, cook another 2 minutes if the eggplant is not tender. Drain any liquid from the eggplants and mash.

Combine onion, pepper, bread crumbs, eggs, cheese, paprika, and white pepper with the mashed eggplant. Mix well. Shape the eggplant mixture into patties, balls or croquette (log shape). Coat each croquette with flour.

Heat oil in a large skillet. Fry each side of the croquettes until golden brown, approximately 5 minutes on each side. Patties can be frozen before frying and cooked later.

Your Last Diet... and Sauerkraut Curry

2010-11-17T21:25:00.001+01:00

I bought this book - Your Last Diet... and it's not really a diet at all. It's a way of healing from sugar addiction. It's very interesting so far. The thing I really like about the "program" is that you can take as much time as you need to work through every step. The recommended time is six to eighteen months - yes 18 - not 8. I like that. Because I don't want to quit sugar like - cold turkey. That would be not possible for me.

This morning I was feeling a little bit "blah" - like not overly depressed or hopeless - just "blah" and then I grabbed a couple of Twix bars (white chocolate - limited edition) and whalaa! I was UP. I felt so good. I felt very sociable and nice to be around. I was dancing and playing with the kids. I was feeling like I'm such a cool person. And I'm such a cool Mom!

And then I grabbed the book - Little Sugar Addicts (because I bought two books by the author Kathleen DesMaisons) And I read something and it just hit me... like wow - this is me. I'm a sugar addict all the way. Of course, I already knew that - but this connection between what I ate and how I feel - this was a little eye opening for me.

I also like that this is a program of "abundance" not deprivation. I'm going to add nutrition to my diet before I ever take sugar out. So, I'm excited about this journey - because Kathleen says "going slowly puts attention on the process rather than the end" and this reminded me of Uchtdorf's G.C. talk - to "Slow Down" - remember what matters most... and I don't remember the other guy who quoted "Enjoy the Journey" I think it might have been President Monson.

Anyway, one thing that also caught my attention is that a lot of the scenarios in this book are the extreme. A lot are about people who feel very hopeless or really depressed. And I think I might have been in that situation had it not been for the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. Because I can have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, I have personal revelation all the time about the love Heavenly Father has for me. I know who I am. I know where I came from and where I'm going. So because of that knowledge I don't feel overly depressed about life. I don't need sugar to the degree of other sugar addicts. Sugar is not my only comfort food because the Holy Ghost is my comforter!

There is this list in her book - and if you check yes to three or more - you may be sugar sensitive. She lists 22 questions/statements - I could check yes to 9 of them. So I don't have it as bad as other people. I don't feel ugly. I don't hate myself. I haven't tried every diet out there. I don't like to diet at all actually. I rather enjoy food. The first time I ever dieted actually was about 7 years ago - only after I saw how much weight my sister lost doing WeightWatchers online. Before that I only ever exercised a bit more but I never considered eating less sugar or more of this or that. So diet is still relatively new for me. And that is one reason I love this "diet" because it's not a diet! Yippee!

And the best part is - I don't have to do this alone - I can and will continue to have the much needed support from my loving Heavenly Father all the way. Everyday, I can wake up and pray - and receive communication that I can do it - that He will help me. He has promised to make my weaknesses my strengths (see Ether 12:27).

There is also an online community at radiantrecovery.com and I will join that group - eventually... first I'm going to learn to love journaling in a whole new way. I am one of those people that write lists of what to make for dinner. I do this in a notebook. It helps so we don't eat the same thing every night because I like variety (the spice of life). And because I did WeightWatchers in the past I use to write down what I ate. But this new way of journaling is not just about what I ate - it's also about how I feel when I ate and at what time.

This is so I can make connections in my head - so I can see that quite possibly - I crash everyday at 3pm - then I can start having more control over how I feel. I haven't started my journaling yet - but already I know that I "crash" a lot earlier than that!

It certainly doens't help though - that it's cold and gloomy outside. Eating sweets justs cheers me up. A realization for sure.... and perhaps by next November I'll have lots more control over the situation... that's what I'm hoping for.

And now, a recipe to share... it includes sauerkraut. Yes sour cabbage! I was having a conversation with a friend the other night. I told her that I had prepared some "Zuurkool Schotel" - this is Dutch for basically sauerkraut casserole. To make it we use a layer of seasoned "ground beef" (vegetarian), then a layer of sauerkraut and then a layer of mashed potatoes. Bake to warm through and serve with apple sauce. Very Dutch! My husband grew up with this winter time meal. I really like it. I made this a few weeks back. And then I noticed on the back of the sauerkraut package a recipe! The recipe uses the whole bag of sauerkraut - about 500 grams. The sauerkraut casserole from Mark's mom only uses a little bit. And when I ask her what she does with the rest of the sauerkraut - she says - she just throws it away. It's so cheap anyway. It really is cheap. A bag of about 500 grams costs about 40 cents. Even though, I didn't feel right about throwing it away. I would use a bit on hotdogs the next night but that still leaves a lot leftover. So I was eager to try this new recipe. I did. It's good. It's really good.

A portion of sauerkraut - 100 grams is just 8 calories! Add some butter to it - and now we're talking! yum yum :P

Sauerkraut Curry

Ingredients:
500-520 grams sauerkraut
1 small onion, finely diced
1 garlic clove, minced
100 grams butter
1 teaspoon curry powder
175 grams vegetarian “stuff”
pepper and salt to taste (I usually leave it out)

In a pan over medium heat, gently melt butter; add onion and garlic and cook until golden yellow. Then add in the curry powder and vegetarian “stuff” - cook at simmer for 15 minutes. Then add the sauerkraut cook another 25-30 minutes at a gentle simmer. Serve together with boiled potatoes and gravy.

I like to use Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy from Vegan with a Vengeance cookbook. Super yummy - highly recommend it.

“STUFF” - should resemble something that looks like kabap - calf or veal. I suppose you could also use TVP or tofu. Of if you eat meat - then the original recipe says calf - um something or other - my Dutch to English translation is not always so good when they are talking about cuts of meat. Sorry.

What Matters Most

2010-10-27T13:24:00.001+02:00

So, I just had a baby not more than 3 months ago... and I really need to SLOW DOWN.

Like Ferris Beuller says: Life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

And I was wondering, how did I get distracted so easily? What matters most? My faith, my family, my friends. This baking thing - is really last of all. But for a moment there, it caught hold of me - I got caught up in "following" all these cooking and baking blogs - and in posting on foodie websites like foodieblogroll, ptitchef and foodbuzz - and for what? For my pride.... ewwww. I fell for it. And I know that it was Satan all along trying to lead me astray. He is so evil - and tricky - how he takes something virtuous and good and turns it into a vice.

So, I was listening to a couple talks from this last General Conference. And I took notes and it really helped me reflect on what matters most. President Uchtdorf is so funny - he has a nice way of teaching - I loved his opening remarks about that tree... and what does that have to do with airplanes? Ha haaaa ha.

But his talk really struck a cord with me. Because I myself felt like I had no control over this monster of trying to keep up with all these other baking bloggers. I was submitting photo after photo to foodgawker and tastespotting and some of my submissions were getting rejected - like really good - delicious photos - not accepted. And it was affecting me. And then, I had to step back and take a look at what matters most - and I had to laugh at myself because this does not matter. It's really supposed to be for fun. A place where I can write my thoughts for me. And share recipes with my friends and family - and a source where I can remember - oh I tried that and I didn't like it or I tried that and it was yum-yum. I like my recipe archive the best - because no matter where I go in the world, I can find my favorite recipes.

I'm also reminded of Elder Oaks' talk from a few conferences back - he said: give up something good for something better! But I like Uchtdorf's advice better - slow down! Because I don't want to quit this blogging thing altogether - I do enjoy it... I just want to take a step back and re-examine why I'm doing it. Then I can continue on my own pace.

Siembra in her blessing gown

So, Uchtdorf reminds me what the fundamentals are - he reminds us that we need to become great by mastering the fundamentals.

Number 1: God. My faith - it's the most sacred and vital. I need quiet alone time where I can study the scriptures, pray, commune and reflect regularly on what matters most. This will give me more stability, peace and joy.

Number 2. My family. No other success can compensate for failure in the home. Plus - I love hanging out with them. And I'm also looking forward to seeing my family in America when I go there in May :)

Number 3. Fellow men. Friends... and strangers. Children of God. I need to be sensative to the feelings of others. I need to give service when it is needed. I need to love one another as God loves me.

Number 4. Myself. I am a child of God. I'm a divine daughter of God. So I need to love myself.

Now, it's number 4 that I find quite interesting... because it seems that I've put that at the top of the list for the last couple of months. I've been constantly thinking about me (blogging)... when I should be loving every moment with the new baby and kids, right? But, it's really easy to get distracted. Because I tend to think, if my needs don't get met, then I really cannot help anyone else. That's kind of true, but I took it too far. Well, almost... I almost got too distracted, but then Conference time was there just in time to remind me what matters most.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now this is a separate yet similar post. Because I've been thinking again. About what matters most and where I see myself in the future. I like cooking. I like baking. I love sugar. Too much - I think. Yesterday I had a nice visit with friends - our kids played together and Monica made some delicious coconut cookies for us - but I'd called it coconut candy. It was basically fresh shredded coconut boiled in sugar water and just before the syrup caramalizes it is put out of the frying pan and onto cookie sheets. And that's it. It's sooo yummy. Well, I had a few too many... a sugar binge, some might say. And I felt just awful about it. I could actually feel my body speak to me: why? Why Melissa did you have to eat so many of those? That's too much sugar!! Then I'm reminded of D. Todd Christofferson's talk - Reflections on a consecrated life. One way we can glorify God is to take care of our body. This is one duty to God - for the body is a temple. We can glorify God in body and spirit by presenting the body as a living sacrifice. Don't defile the body. Be modest - exercise - be healthy.

So, after my sugar binge, I sat there on the couch - feeling guilty. Feeling a little bit sick. Then I put my walking shoes on and I went for a walk. It took me 30 minutes to get my heart rate up - to break a sweat. After 55 minutes, I returned home. I felt so much better because I did something good for me. And it also gave me time to reflect.

Here is what I've concluded during my reflection time. My sugar fast has begun. And I know that Halloween is just a few days away... but this is for me. For my body, for my happiness - for my kids... for the future!

Now, before this sugar binge - where was my future going - towards diabetes. Which is something I absolutely fear! Several family members have gotten it though unhealthy diets... and I was heading down that road, too. Where do I want to be in say 20-25 years? Gosh, I'm gonna be old... but I'd like to be healthy and happily old. I want to go on a mission with Mark. And I feel like, if I continue down this sugary bumpy road - I might not get to do what I want, go where I want, be what I want.

You see, it all comes back to Satan. He's very tricky. He's so sly... he knows our weaknesses. He doesn't want me to be in the service of my God. So he knows that if he can take me out of commission by my addiction to my poison (sugar) He'll do it.

But, I'm onto him. And I'm not going to let that happen. I'm going to thwart Satan!

Ella at gardens of castle in Geldrop

Chick-O-Stick Soup

2010-10-21T12:12:00.011+02:00

Okay, this soup is really called Peanut soup with chicken and banana... but it’s garnished with Seroendeng which is a spice-blend made from coconut, peanuts and spices - and when you swirl it through the soup - it tastes just like a Chick-O-Stick. Some of you may not know what that is, so I’ll tell you. A Chick-O-Stick is one of my most favorite “old fashioned” candies from America. Recently one of my awesome family members sent me a care package full of all kinds of American candies. I specifically requested a Chick-O-Stick. She had to look pretty hard but she found me one. It was one of the first things I ate. Loved it. A Chick-O-Stick is kind of like a Butterfinger without the chocolate. It’s peanutty, crispy, sweet and it’s got coconut. In one word it’s yummy.

So, I found this recipe for peanut soup and it contains bananas! Of course, I recently wrote another blogpost with recipes containing bananas... and in that post I said that a friend of mine who grew up in Colombia said that they ate bananas with their soup - as opposed to us Dutch and Americans who eat soup with bread. So, I just had to try this recipe to see if it was any good.

Well, it’s awesome. I think one of my new favorites. This Sunday at the church I go to - we are having soup - and I’m bringing this recipe to share... with the exception of the bananas. I’m leaving those out... we will serve it with bread :)

It’s not that the bananas don’t taste good in it - they were okay. I just prefer it with bread. I ate mine with pita bread actually. The bananas gave it a little something sweet but it doesn’t really need them - unless you are from Colombia and you like bananas with your soup - then - go for it.

Seroendeng

Chick-O-Stick Soup
Makes 4 main course servings

1 leek + 3 stalks celery + 200 grams small carrots
OR 350 grams pre-cut vegetables for soup mix
200 grams fresh green beans, trimmed
100 grams bean sprouts, washed
1 1/4 liter chicken or vegetable bouillon
150 grams peanut butter
1-2 teaspoons Sambal badjak or Sambal oelek (for the people that like it hot)
175 grams vegetarian chicken pieces, cooked
salt and pepper to taste
1 small banana, if desired
2 tablespoons Seroendeng
2 tablespoons fresh coriander or parsley, finely chopped

So, cut the leek, celery and carrots up finely - or use a precut bag of vegetables for soup, which is what I do - much easier and faster. Bring a soup pan with the peanut butter and bouillon to boil. Add the Sambal. Add the soup vegetables and green beans. Cook 10 minutes. In the last 2 minutes, add the bean sprouts and vegetarian chicken. Season to taste with salt and pepper, if desired. Peel banana and slices into 12 pieces. Ladle the soup into deep bowls and garnish with banana slices and sprinkle with Seroendeng and fresh herbs if desired. Also delicious with pita or roti.

(Can't find Seroendeng or Sambal... try your local chinese market - or if you are so lucky to have one - an Indonesian market!)

Fudge and Marshmallow Topped Cookies

2010-10-20T20:34:00.000+02:00

I bought this small recipe magazine at the checkout by my local grocery store back in 2003. It’s by Gold Medal (flour). This is another thing I miss about living in the U.S. I miss those cute little recipe books that you can thumb through while waiting your turn to check out. This book has lots of festive ideas for the holidays. I’ve made this one a few times. I’ve been thinking, I could easily top any of my favorite cookies with this marshmallow and fudge frosting... maybe even cupcakes... and sweet rolls! I think it would go fantastic with PB Criss Cross cookies or pumpkin chocolate chip cookies or Snickerdoodles! Gold Medal uses cocoa cookies - I made mine with a pumpkin variation of this recipe - adapted... I think I just used 3/4 cup pumpkin puree in place of the butter and 2 extra tablespoons flour in place of the cocoa. I put some cinnamon in as well - about 1/2 teaspoon I think and that worked pretty good. This is also one of those recipes that the kids can help out with... my kids love marshmallows.

Fudge and Marshmallow Topped Cocoa Cookies
(Gold Medal No. 45 Holiday)
Makes about 3 dozen cookies

3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 1/2 cups Gold Medal all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
36 large marshmallows
Fudge Frosting (recipe below)
Candy sprinkles, if desired

1. Heat oven to 375-F. Beat 3/4 cup sugar, butter, vanilla and egg in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.
2. Shape dough by slightly rounded teaspoonfuls into 3/4-inch balls. Place about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten to 1/4-inch thickness with greased bottom of glass dipped in 2 tablespoons sugar.
3. Bake 8-10 minutes or until cookies are set. Immediately top each cookies with 1 marshmallow. Return to oven; bake 2 minutes longer or until marshmallows are softened. Lightly press each marshmallow to flatten slightly. Remove from cookie sheet to wire wrack; cool 15 minutes. Meanwhile make Fudge Frosting.
4. Swirl about 1 tablespoon Fudge Frosting on top of each cookie. Top with candy sprinkles. Let stand until frosting is set.

Fudge Frosting

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup milk
1 bag (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate (1 cup)
1 to 2 tablespoons water

Cook sugar, butter and milk in 1-quart saucepan over medium-high heat stirring occasionally, until mixture boils. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat; cool 5 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips until melted. Slowly stir in enough water until frosting is smooth and spreadable. Frosting sets up quickly, so thin as necessary with additional water.

Sergeant York's Cookies

2010-10-13T15:53:00.000+02:00

So, good news - my brother who had spent the last year or so in Afganistan away from his wife and little girls - and a few years before that in Iraq... made Sergeant and I am so happy for him - he deserves it and also because that means - he gets a bigger paycheck!

With good news like that I felt like making some cookies - specifically his cookies. My brother was always baking these cookies growing up - almost every Sunday night and we couldn't stop eating them... which is why they always seemed to disappear.

He actually calls them: Vanishing Oatmeal *Chocolate Chip* Cookies.

One time I ate so many of them... well, maybe that isn't the right story to tell... the point is that these are addicting - because they are so SO so good.

Here is Sergeant York's cookies - in his own words he says “This is the recipe I use for oatmeal cookies. It actually calls for raisins, but I use chocolate chips instead, cause I'm not a big fan of raisins, and chocolate is always good. On a side note, I usually double the recipe so I have more cookies, cause there never seems to be enough.”

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) margarine or butter, softened (I usually use butter)
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups Quaker Oats
And your desired amount of chocolate chips
(bag, half bag, 7 bags, whatever)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350*F (you'll have to convert that to celsius Mel) (180*C)
2. Beat butter and sugars till creamy
3. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well
4. Add flour, baking soda, cinamon, and salt. Mix well
5. Stir in oats and chocolate chips; mix well.
6. Treat yourself to some dough.
7. Place on cookie sheets.
8. Bake 'em for 10-12 minutes (if you want em gooey then just about 10)
9. Put a glass of milk in the freezer to get nice and cold.
10. Cool em on some wax paper or something.

11. Pick up semi-cooled cookie and dip in milk, place in mouth, and enjoy.

12. Repeat step 11 as desired, but not too many times.
13. Package up a dozen and send to [Sergeant York] so he can see if they are as good as his.

Number Of Servings: It says 4 dozen

Preparation Time: Depends on how many breaks you take.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

CKP notes: Really, the only thing I do differently is use chopped up dark chocolate bar because I like the chocolate pieces chunkier and you know it's cheaper to buy chocolate bars than chocolate chips (at least where I live).

I especially like step 11 - but I agree with step 12 - because from experience too many is a bad thing if you eat them all at once -- you could eat them all by yourself - just space it out over the course of a week - trust me!

Going Bananas - Healthy and Delicious!

2010-10-11T22:43:00.000+02:00

Bananas are a staple starch of many tropical regions. Just the other day a friend of mine from Columbia even said they eat sweet bananas together with soup - when the rest of the Netherlands - and probably most Northern countries eat soup together with bread.

Another wacky thing about bananas I read today on wikipedia - is that bananas are naturally slightly radioactive... and something that those pro-nuclear energy supporters often site in favor of their arguments. And that banana shipments often set off the radiation monitors installed at US ports to dectect illegal shipments of radiological materials.

And have you seen the email forward that goes around all about the nutritional benefits of bananas? Bananas are like a super food! The expression “going bananas” is from the effects bananas have on the brain... just two bananas provide enough energy for a 90-minute workout, bananas may reduce blood pressure and stroke... read more about this amazing fruit here.

Aside from all the hoopla about bananas - the thing I like most about them is that they taste good! And they do keep for a while unlike some other fruits... and when they go all black in color - or ripen you can use them for baking sweet breads, cakes, etc. The other nice thing about them is that we buy them every week at my house. It’s a staple item on our grocery list... so it’s not difficult for me to add them into a recipe easily. Usually they get taken to school and eaten plain and Mark uses them almost every night to accompany his vanilla yogurt late night snacking.

Today though, I tried two very interesting and delicious recipes using the sweet banana. I would like to share the recipes with you... and I highly recommend trying them soon. The first recipe is a main course - and it was so satisfying that Mark and I decided to add this to our family favorites cookbook. The second is a dessert. Also equally satisfying for me and my good friend who taste tested it before the meal... Mark didn’t like it though - he said it was too much like pudding (like there could be anything wrong with that?!)

Curry from Bananas, Coconut and Chicken

(Source: Jumbosupermarkten.nl/receptenbanaan)

Main course

Serves 4
Time: 25 minutes

2 tablespoons hazelnuts

4 bananas, peeled

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar*, divided

2 chicken or vegetable bouillon cube

3 tablespoon sunflower or light olive oil

400g chicken filet, cubed; or vegetarian substitute

2 onions, finely chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons mild curry powder

200ml creamy coconut milk

4 tablespoonfuls shredded coconut

1. In pan roast hazelnuts on high heat 2 minutes. Let cool on plate. Chop nuts.

2. Divide bananas. In a bowl, slice 2 bananas and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon vinegar. In another bowl, diced and stirred together with remaining tablespoon vinegar. Set aside.

3. Bouillon cubes in 300ml boiled water. In large pan heat oil and cook chicken 4 minutes. Adjust time for vegetarian substitute. Add onions and cook further 3 minutes. Mix in curry powder and diced banana mixture. Cook another minute, then mix in bouillon and coconut milk and bring to boil. Adjust heat and simmer 5 minutes.

4. Serving suggestion: Delicious with warm white rice and steamed broccoli; divide among 4 bowls and garnish with shredded coconut, chopped hazelnuts and banana slices.

*Suggestion: Use FairTrade brand White Wine Vinegar in Lemon-Fennel variety

Banana Split Pudding Brownies

Dessert by Isa Chandra Moskowitz - from the cook book Vegan with a Vengeance - makes a really fudgy brownie - although you can hold it in your hand - best eaten with a fork. I topped mine off with dried banana chips and drizzled them with caramel sauce. Yum :)

Makes 12 brownies

Brownie layer:

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 cup pureed banana (about 2 large or 2 1/2 medium)

1/3 cup light oil

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

Pudding layer:

1 cup pureed banana

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon arrowroot powder or cornstarch

Preheat oven to 350-F or 180-C. Lightly grease 9x13-inch baking pan. To make brownie batter, melt chocolate in microwave on low heat - stirring every 30 seconds till melted. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine banana, oil and sugar. Mix in chocolate and vanilla. In another bowl sift together dry ingredients. Add this to the banana mixture until well blended. Prepare the pudding layer in a separate bowl. Combine all ingredients and mix well. To assemble and bake brownies: spread the brownie batter in prepared baking pan. Pour the banana pudding topping over that and spread evenly. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. About 15 minutes later, cool completely in refrigerator. Cut into 12 squares - garnish as desired and serve.

Sugary Sweet Spumoni Cake

2010-10-02T21:35:00.001+02:00

This month's Sugar High Friday theme is "layer cakes" sponsered by Zucchero Dolce - sweet sugar. What is Sugar High Friday? Jennifer of the Domestic Goddess fame says it's my best excuse to bake something sweet each month. Although... I don't really need an excuse. This month I chose to bake Spumoni Cake. Here is a cake that I've had my eye on baking for years. It's from one of my most favorite cook books - Make-A-Mix Cookery. I've slightly adapted it and it's super duper sweet - perfect for achieving a sugar high on Friday or any day for that matter. I recommend baking this for a special occasion or when having friends over - don't eat it alone - may cause an overdose! It's a delightful blend of flavors and colors. I didn't have a few ingredients on hand, so I slightly altered the recipe. Adapting a recipe to your liking is best for experienced cooks anyways - my husband didn't like the peppermint in the recipe - so next time I may add cherry flavoring instead. So since he didn't care for the cake much, I'm hoping we can find someone to share it with this weekend... because I don't want to die from sugar overdose - and me and the kids should not really be eating this much sugar either.

Sugary Sweet Spumoni Cake
Recipe slightly adapted from "Mom's Spumoni Cake" (Make-A-Mix Cookery)

Rainbow Frosting (see below)
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 tablespoons dutch-processed cocoa
1 + 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
1 cup yogurt or buttermilk

Rainbow Frosting:
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons flour
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup butter or margarine, room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable shortening, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 to 3 drops green food coloring
1/4 teaspoon almond flavoring
2 to 3 drops yellow food coloring
1/4 teaspoon pineapple or lemon flavoring
2 to 3 drops red food coloring
1/4 teaspoon peppermint flavoring
3 tablespoons cocoa
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Prepare Rainbow Frosting and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175-C). Grease and lightly flour two 8-inch round pans. In a large bowl, combine oil and sugar - mix well. Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by extract, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Then mix in 1 cup of flour and half cup of milk or yogurt alternate and mix in last cup of flour followed by last bit of milk or yogurt. Pour into prepared pans. Bake 10 minutes. Turn oven to 375 degrees F (190-C) and bake 20 minutes more. Cool 10 minutes in pan, remove from pan and then cool on wire racks. Cut each cake with a serrated knife to make 2 layers each. Frost each cake with a different color of Rainbow Frosting. Stack layers. Do not frost sides. Makes one 4-layer cake.

Rainbow Frosting:
In a small saucepan, combine milk, flour and salt. Cook over medium heat about 5 to 7 minutes, until thickened. Cool. Combine butter or margarine, shortening and sugar in a medium bowl. Beat well. Add to cooled milk mixture, beating constantly - about 7 minutes until smooth. Divide mixture among 4 bowls. In the first bowl, add green food coloring and almond flavoring. In the second bowl, add yellow coloring and pineapple or lemon flavoring. In third bowl, add red coloring and peppermint flavoring. Add cocoa and vanilla to the fourth bowl.

Knorr - Turkse Durum - a review.

2010-09-23T21:40:00.000+02:00

So, I'm going to do a series of reviews of certain food products like Knorr and Conimex - and the reason for this is that I'm actually using these products a bit more regularly now... the reason being: Siembra.

What is Siembra you may ask? Who is more appropriate... Siembra is my baby girl - she was born just days after the full moon in August and she's beautiful. She's also lots of work and my reason for lots less food blogging. It's on my mind a lot though - this is my one hobby that I really love right now and so when I get a moment free time I want to do it... the moments are few and far between. Okay, that's not true... I also have baking and cooking - those are my hobbies, too - I think I love baking far more than blogging about what I just baked... but because of the time restraints - baking and cooking are happening far less right now - creativity is about out the door and I'm using Knorr and Conimex to help out a bit.

My first review goes to Knorr - Wereld Gerechten - Turkse Durum.

Verdict: We loved them.

I did have to provide extra tortillas though... but we loved the addition of apple in these spicy wraps. Very fast and easy to put together - I love quick meals like this :)

Death by Chocolate Cake - Review

2010-08-18T13:05:00.000+02:00

I did not make this cake... I did eat!

In my favorites... listed in the side column - you will find a link to Ons Eetcafe - in Eindhoven. I have found that they make a most delicious chocolate cake. Their own version of Death by Chocolate and you cannot find another one like it around - not for miles and miles.

I looooove it.

The middle is especially good - it's like milky and creamy and caramelly almost. I don't know how they do it. I've looked for several recipes online but none seem to compare to theirs... my good friend is even considering getting a job there just for a few months to learn the trade secrets... :) kind of funny I know... but it's seriously good cake.

My husband suggests - that I just ask them how much they want for the recipe... but I think I'll just skip the baking and eat theirs when I'm in the mood... then I don't have to do the clean up... and I don't have to be stuck with a giant cake that might actually kill me... would kill my diet to be - my future diet to be that is.

So, here is my review - this slice of delicious Death by Chocolate cake gets an A+ or a 10, however you slice it... it's goooood. If you ever find yourself in the Eindhoven area - I highly recommend getting some!

Baltimore Berger Cookies & Chocolate Fudge Gelato... Week 39!

2010-08-17T15:09:00.000+02:00

What do you do when your 39 weeks pregnant, it's summer vacation, the kids are stuck inside cause of the rain and if you lay on the couch you just know you'll fall asleep? Bake!

So, that's just what I did. I got up off the couch, and I walked to my shelf full of cook books and I looked for something to make. I felt like having something chocolately...

I let the kids turn the living room into their house/tent for the day - they got all the blankets and pillows they could use for that - and while they played, I baked.

I have a friend that has been posting a lot of links related to Baltimore Berger (Bergers) cookies on facebook lately, and I found a recipe for them some time ago, so I finally decided to make some. Luckily, I even had all the ingredients on hand (as long as I cut the recipe in thirds - which I did)... then I also decided to make some chocolatey fudge gelato as well.

If you are not familiar with Baltimore Berger cookies - let me just tell you - they are piled high with a fudgey frosting... so this is going to be a very chocolatey fudgey post. I'll include my recipe adaptations, too!

Baltimore's Berger Finest Cookies*

I found a recipe for these with this *title at recipezaar.com (now food.com) about 2 years ago... and it has taken me this long to try it out. The recipe author Cucina Casalingo says that "Baltimore's storied Berger cookies, a product of that city's DeBaufre Bakeries, are a close relation to New York City's Black and Whites (a.k.a. Half and Halfs). These cake-like, jumbo-sized cookies are piled with thick, rich chocolate icing, the thicker the better, up to ½" of icing atop each ½"-thick cookie. Note that the cookies themselves are rather dry, so the over-the-top amount of icing, rather than being too much, ends up being just right."

I'm not sure if I'd compare them to the Black and White cookie - another cookie that I loooove! But they are delicious because of that piled high amount of fudgey icing. I think the recipe Cucina Casalingo gives might be a bit off though - because I had to add quite a bit of powdered sugar to the fudge icing to make it stay together and hold up like I remembered it being... of course, it's been probably more than 10 years since I've had an actual Berger cookie. Please someone... send me some?!

The recipe Cucina Casalingo gives makes 24 - my recipe version makes about 7 to 8 large:

Icing:

200 g Pure chocolate, chopped
2 teaspoons apple syrup (use corn syrup if you have it)
4 teaspoons (19g) butter
1/2 cup whipping cream
200-250 grams powdered sugar

Cookies:
1/3 cup (75g) butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup milk

To make the icing: Place the chocolate, corn syrup, butter, and cream into a large microwave-safe bowl, or into a large saucepan. Heat the mixture till it's very hot; the cream will start to form bubbles. Remove from the heat, and stir until smooth. Let cool to room temperature; this will take at least a couple of hours, so plan accordingly. When completely cool, beat with an electric mixer for 6 to 7 minutes, until the icing lightens in color just a bit, and thickens just slightly. Add powdered sugar and mix again - taste and adjust to your liking. Set aside - bake cookies.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees-C (400°F). Lightly grease (or line with parchment) one baking sheet. To make the cookies: In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, salt, vanilla, and baking powder. Beat in the sugar, then the egg. Add the flour to the wet ingredients alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Do this gently; there's no need to beat the batter. Using a muffin scoop, or a 1/8-cup measure, drop the dough onto the prepared cookie sheets. Flatten each mound of dough to a circle about 3" across; wet your fingers or a knife, or grease the bottom of a drinking glass or measuring cup to do this. Leave 2" to 2 ½" between each cookie, for expansion. Bake the cookies for about 11 minutes, or until they are a mottled brown on the bottom (carefully tilt one up to look), but not colored on top. You may see the barest hint of browning around the edges, but these cookies are supposed to be soft and cake-like, so do not over-bake them. Cool the cookies on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.

Top each cookie with a generous amount of icing - using all of the icing up - is a good idea. Pile it high, then store airtight in a single layer.

They taste even more amazing the second day - I recommend keeping them in the refrigerator when you are not eating them.

Chocolate Fudge Gelato

I read somewhere once that the difference between ice cream and gelato is that ice cream is made with cream - like whipping cream or half n half and gelato is made with egg yolks - slighty heated, etc. So this recipe is made with regular milk, pure chocolate, egg yolks, sugar and just a bit of vanilla. It's also the only chocolate frozen treat that my husband will eat. I personally enjoy both chocolate ice cream and chocolate gelato.

Last summer, my husband and I went on regular friday night dates. We always paid our babysitter so we didn't always have a lot extra to spend. So one night we went to the public library. I love that place. And my favorite section is the cook books. I found an awesome cook book - The Encyclopedia of Chocolate. I highly recommend that book! It's just so fun to look at. I quickly photo copied several recipes to try... and the only one I've actually made is the chocolate ice recipe - you see above. I'll try and give the recipe below in simple terms - the book was in Dutch so I think I made the recipe correctly - my best Dutch is actually all food related - if you ask me any other Dutch language - like "law" related words or anything like that I'm lost - but I know how to read a Dutch cook book :)

Chocolate Fudge Gelato:
Serves 4-6

750 ml milk
1 vanilla stick
4 egg yolks
115 grams granulated sugar
225 grams pure chocolate, chopped

1. Warm the milk together with the vanilla stick in a pan over medium heat until it begins to simmer. Do not let the milk boil. Pour milk into sieve over a can/bowl.
2. Put the egg yolks in a bowl together with the sugar and whip or blend with hand held blender until light in color and thick. Then add a bit of the warmed milk and continue to mix until all milk is together and well blended with the egg yolk mixture.
3. Set the bowl over a pan with a little boiled water and put the chocolate pieces in to melt, then set the flame or temperature a bit higher and let the mixture thicken a bit. Then take off heat and let the mixture cool a bit, while stirring until everything is well mixed.
4. Put this mixture in an ice cream making machine and follow manufacturer's instructions. Can also just freeze in a metal pan and after a few hours mix in food processor fitted with metal blade, then return to freezer again till hardened. When ready to serve, cut up in blocks and again with food processor chop/whip until creamy and color lightens and then freeze again or serve. It will be much softer, smooth and creamy after you follow this process.

Super Easy Horchata

2010-08-07T12:00:00.008+02:00

I love horchata - Mexican horchata that is. When I went to Spain last fall I found some tiger nut horchata and I didn't like it at all. When I first had Mexican horchata it was just at some hole in the wall dive that my Dad took us to and it was delicious. I fell in love with it right there. Afterall, almost everything is better with a bit of cinnamon - expecially a nice cold drink over ice.

I've been told recently from a friend that you can also make it with whole wheat. That I haven't tried yet but this is my super easy version of Mexican horchata:

Super Easy Horchata Recipe
- serves 2-3.

1/2-3/4 liter cold vanilla-flavored rice milk (Rice Dream)
2 tablespoons ground almond meal
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8-1/4 cup raw sugar (to taste) or a couple drops of liquid Stevia

Blend all together in blender till frothy. Serve over ice if desired. (I like it really cold over ice - yum).

Recently I was a bit sick with the "d" word. I don't like to mention that word on a food blog but sometimes we all get that virus bug from perhaps... old cheese. Anyways, in my book Nutritional Healing it says to eat bananas, apple sauce, mashed potatoes, rice or rice water... so a few nights ago - luckily I had some vanilla Rice Dream in the cupboard (because I was going to make Horchata) but instead I warmed it up in a mug, added a smidgen of cinnamon - a drop of liquid Stevia and whalaa... my angry tummy went away. Yippee.

Diner Favorites - Potatoes O'Brien and French Toast

2010-08-06T12:00:00.001+02:00

I love eating "breakfast" for dinner. I love to eat at Diners. My favorite Diner that I miss the most is 5 & Diner. They had them all over Phoenix. I use to always get an Oreo milkshake and they would give you the extras in that tin cup. And I would order hashbrowns, eggs and toast. Simple but oh so good.

I recently found out that my grandmother also loved Oreo Blizzards. So that is something we have in common. She died recently and this was listed in the handout at the funeral. Next time I'm in the states I'm totally going over to DQ and getting myself an Oreo Blizzard in her honor... and I'll be sure and stop by a diner and eat all my favorites as well.

So, occasionally for dinner I make a special "diner night" and I often serve pancakes and hashbrowns, egg omelets or egg "mc" muffins but this time I served Potatoes O'Brien and French Toast. I've read that there are hundreds of different variations of Potatoes O'Brien. I suppose my version - adpated from the original "Jack's Restaurant" of New York in the 1900's - could be called Potatoes O'Daams. Maybe we can give it a Dutch name like Aardappellen van Daams. Anyways, we like to serve them with ketchup or BBQ sauce.

To make the Potatoes
turn to page 76 of WILLIAMS-SONOMA Kitchen Library Potatoes or follow below:

1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
1/2 small red bell pepper, deribbed and finely diced
1/2 small green bell pepper, deribbed and finely diced
2 lb (1 kilo) small white or red potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces [I like to use 1 lb baking potatoes because I add extra extras - see below]
salt [1 teaspoon]
fresh ground pepper [1/2 teaspoon]
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley [1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes]

I like to add:
1/2 medium zucchini, washed clean and finely chopped
1 package of Alpro Soya Tofu reepjes (you could use something like ham or bacon for you meat eaters)
1/2 medium eggplant (aubergine), wash clean and finely chopped.

1. In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, melt 1/2 tablespoon of the butter with 1/2 tablespoon of the olive oil. Add the onion and saute, stirring frequently, until golden brown and just beginning to caramelize, 5-7 minutes. Add the red and green bell pepper [zucchini and eggplant] and saute for 3-5 minutes longer. Transfer to a serving bowl.
2. Add 1/2 tablespoon each of the remaining butter and oil to the same pan. Add half of the potatoes and cook, turning too brown on all sides, 5-7 minutes. If the potatoes are too sticky or dry, add a bit more butter or oil. Transfer into the bowl with the onion mixture. Add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon butter and oil and brown the remaining potatoes on all sides in the same manner. [Fry the tofu, ham or whatever you like to add as well].
3. Return mixture to the pan. Raise the heat so the mixture quickly warms throughout. Remove from the heat and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the parsley and mix to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve immediately. [Or you can always reheat in the microwave :)]

Serves 4-6.

To make the French Toast
go here or follow below:

4 eggs
2/3 cup whole milk [low-fat is good, too]
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon [double this or triple it - b/c cinnamon makes everything better]
6 slices Texas toast thick bread [plain white thin bread or Turkish bread, sliced as thick as you like]
3 tablespoons butter [liquid butter for cooking]
powdered sugar
butter
syrup [Real Canadian Grade A Maple Syrup - the best!]

1. Mix together the eggs, milk, flour, sugar, vanilla, salt and cinnamon.
2. Heat a large skillet or griddle.
3. When the skillet is hot, add 1 tablespoon butter.
4. If the butter smokes, your pan is too hot; turn down the heat.
5. Dip each slice of bread into the batter for 30 seconds on each side. [With thin bread, not that long]
6. Let some of the batter drip off, then put in skillet.
7. Cook each slice until golden brown - 1 1/2 to 2 minutes each side.
8. Add more butter, if necessary, to cook all the slices.
9. To serve, put on plate, dust with powdered sugar. Serve with butter and hot syrup.