May 13, 2010
Chicken Pot Stickers (Chinese Dumplings)
So here’s something that’s completely different. At least for me, it is. I tend toward baking and comfort food type recipes, so Chinese food is quite a departure. But I would say that these dumplings are the Chinese version of comfort food and honestly, I was really surprised by how much I liked them. And I should tell you that I don’t normally even like Chinese food. So that made liking these even more pleasantly surprising.
My boyfriend loves Chinese food, though. It’s probably his favorite kind of cuisine. So when I was flipping though my cookbook one day and he saw this recipe, he said “You should make those!” and I reluctantly agreed because I’m an awesome girlfriend like that (…and I’m so humble about it 
). But another reason I was weary about making this recipe, besides not liking Chinese food in general, and dumplings specifically, was that this is a recipe from my Weight Watchers cookbook
May 5, 2010
Chocolate Angel Food Cake with Strawberries
I have an excuse for not posting in a while: finding a good recipe is hard! This is my third attempt at a cake in as many weeks and I finally have a winner to show you guys. I could have posted a couple weeks ago when I made that spongecake that turned out to be the blandest of bland, but I just couldn’t get myself to be excited about it. (It was so bland, it wasn’t even worth the calories to me and I wound up throwing most of it away. I’ve never thrown a cake away before!) So then I found a chocolate angel food cake recipe that sounded like it would be anything but bland, but I failed. Oh, I failed hard. The cake tasted ok, but I believe the word “brick” was used by my boyfriend when he saw said cake. As in “That’s supposed be an angel food cake? It looks like a brick.” So then I went online searching for why my cake turned out to be a brick instead of a cake and I found …
April 7, 2010
No bake, chewy Granola Bars (just like Quaker!)
I’ve been looking for this recipe forever. These Quaker granola bars are just about my favorite snack and I’ve been eating them my whole life. I like them because they are soft and chewy and not hard and tooth breaking like other granola bars I’ve tried. I also like the rice cereal in them because it makes them seem more like Rice Krispy treats with granola in them rather than boring old “healthy” granola bars. Healthy food isn’t inherently fun, Rice Krispy treats are always fun.
March 31, 2010
Roasted Cornish Hens with Grapes
Do you ever make roast chicken for dinner? A while ago a fellow food blogger I follow on twitter asked this question to her followers and said she was surprised to learn that many people had never roasted a chicken before. I also found this somewhat surprising but then I remembered that I used to be scared of making a whole chicken, too. After I roasted a chicken the first time, it became one my favorite dinners, but I can still understand why people would be apprehensive.
So for anyone still on the fence, I present to you: Cornish Hens. They’re basically miniature chickens and as such are even easier to handle and only take about 30 minutes to cook. Cornish Hens are a great stepping stone if you’re not quite ready to make the leap to a whole chicken yet. Plus…it’s pre-portioned! If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know how much I love pre-portioned meals. If there’s one thing I dislike about roast chicken it’s having to carve/divide it up. With a Cornish …
March 24, 2010
Lemonade Layer Cake
It’s been a while since I posted a dessert here, mainly because I’ve been trying to stay away from things like that, but also because I haven’t found anything that interested me. But since it’s the first week of Spring, I decided I wanted to make a dessert that was light and fruity, nothing chocolate or heavy (which is my usual preference for desserts). So when I was flipping though my beloved Cooking Light cookbook, this recipe jumped right out at me.
But I have a confession: I haven’t made many layer cakes before. Most of the ones I’ve tried have been unmitigated disasters with uneven and/or rounded layers and frosting catastrophes aplenty. So I was bracing myself for another un-perfect cake, but it turns out I didn’t need to worry. This cake should be called “Baby’s First Layer Cake”. Seriously, it’s really easy to make and I didn’t have any of the problems I normally have. For one, the tops didn’t puff up and get rounded like many cakes I’ve baked (I know I could slice them off, but let’s just say I’m not too …
March 9, 2010
Quickie: Best Bran Muffins ever?
I haven’t eaten enough bran muffins to say if these are the best ever but these muffins are pretty damn good. In fact, I thought they tasted a lot like these molasses cookies, which are a favorite of mine. Any muffin that tastes like a cookie is a win for me, so I liked these a lot.
March 3, 2010
Individual Chicken Pot Pie
I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to post this recipe. I’ve been making it since last year . It’s one of my favorites and something I make regularly. I have another more traditional chicken pot pie recipe which I like a lot, but that recipe is most certainly not low fat so I don’t make it as much (usually only after holidays to use up the extra chicken/turkey). This recipe is a lighter version of chicken pot pie, but it tastes just as good. I got it from the Weight Watchers website and while I’ve made some modifications to it, it’s still pretty light, especially compared to other chicken pot pie recipes you’ll find.
As I’ve mentioned before, I love using ramekins to make individual portions of my favorite recipes. I’m not so good with the portion control so I like having things portioned out for me in advance. It’s just easier that way. You can make this in 4 small ramekins (10 oz.) or 2 large ramekins (20 oz.). I got some large ramekins recently, so I’ve …
