Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

My vacation plans were to make 3 different cupcakes. I made one. I was a slacker in the kitchen, but busy elsewhere. These cupcakes were yummy and very refreshing. They have chunks of fresh strawberries inside and strawberry puree in the frosting.

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes
from here

For the cake:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. lemon zest
12 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
2 cups fresh strawberries, chopped


For the lemonade syrup:
1 cup lemonade concentrate, thawed
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

For the frosting:
1 cup fresh strawberries, roughly chopped
12 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
18 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 2/3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
3 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line muffin pans with paper liners.
2. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. Stir together with a fork and set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until it is light and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat until well combined. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add half of the flour mixture to the bowl and beat on low speed until just incorporated. Add in the milk and mix until smooth. Add in the remaining flour mixture and mix on low speed until just blended.  Fold in the fresh strawberries with a spatula.
 4. Divide the batter evenly between the paper liners, filling them about 3/4 full.  Bake about 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
6. Once the cupcakes have cooled, whisk together the lemonade concentrate and confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl to make the lemonade syrup. Poke several holes in the top of each cupcake with a skewer and pour the syrup over the cupcakes, allowing it to soak in.
7. To make the frosting, puree the strawberries in a food processor or blender and set aside. Beat the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and very fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Add the lemon juice and vanilla extract and mix until incorporated. Mix in strawberry puree, a tablespoon at a time, until you achieve your desired texture and flavor of frosting.

** For some odd and supremely annoying reason, my gmail account will not work on this computer...but it will work on my work computer, my phone, any other computer imaginable...therefore, I don't have a photo of this :(

Creamy Asparagus Soup

My new Clean Eating magazine came in. Why I would choose to make a creamy soup as the weather starts to get warm is beyond me, but I did.

Let me start by saying that the soup was OK. Not bad, but it definitely lacked more flavor. I'm not incredibly chatty today, so let's get right to it.

These plus...

...these equals...

...a terrible picture of this.

Creamy Asparagus Soup
from Clean Eating April/May 2011

1.5 lbs asparagus
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp olive oil, divided
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced small
1 tbsp whole-wheat flour
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup water
2 medium white potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
1 cup low-fat milk
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Garnish
6 tbsp finely chopped red bell pepper
6 oz. cooked crab meat
optional: basil and homemade croutons

For croutons (which I didn't make):
Heat tsp oil in a small saute pan over med-high heat. Add 2 slices multi grain bread (cut into 1/2-inch cubes) and toss lightly to brown, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and sprinkle with some parmesan cheese.

1. Wash asparagus and cut off the bottom 2 inches and discard. Peel lower half of stalks and cut into 1-inch pieces. Set aside.
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large saucepan over med-high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes or until onions begin to turn translucent. Mix in flour and cook for 2 more minutes, stirring occasionally. The gradually add the broth and 1 cup of water. Continue to stir and bring to a boil, about 5 more minutes.
3. Add potatoes and asparagus. Bring to a simmer and cover. Cook for 20 minutes, until asparagus is tender. Working in batches, transfer mixture to a blender and puree for 20 to 30 seconds. Return soup to pot (off heat) and blend in milk, salt and black pepper.
4. Top with whichever garnishes you choose.

I blended the milk in with the soup using an immersion blender, but just stirring it in would work just as well.
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Zucchini Pizzas

Today was a crazy day. Between working at another school for the day to observe some upcoming students, meetings, planning and report card grades due tomorrow, I also had a dentist appointment that had to be canceled. I also have dance class tonight. I also need to clean out my fridge. Badly.

I have discovered that I LOVE to stock my fridge with leftovers. I also found out that eat about half of my leftovers. I then find myself wondering where all my tupperware has disappeared to and why I have no room in my fridge for new groceries. I also have a fridge that is half the size of a normal fridge.

Little fridge.

 I have tried to take on a habit of using up ingredients I already have...but how many days in a row (or in a week) can you eat pizza toppings or ricotta cheese (which I ALWAYS have leftover). Pizza stuff is highly adaptable, so I used some tonight. Ricotta cheese I didn't use, and I think I have two half-filled tubs of it in my fridge. Such a waste of good stuff...if only I could eat pasta....

This recipe is one I've held onto for quite some time. With the warm weather here (finally!), veggies and lighter fare is what I'm craving. And pasta.

ANYWAYS, it's a great way to eat the great stuff that's in pizza without the crust. It's super easy to make and quick, which is the best thing for a busy and beautiful day.

Hollow out some zucchinis

Mix together some pizza ingredients and stuff the zucchi boats.

Top them with some cheese.

Don't forget the olives.

Zucchini Pizzas
adapted from here

3 medium zucchinis
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/3 cup mini pepperonis, chopped
1 tsp. Italian seasonings
shredded mozarella cheese
sliced black olives (if you like them)

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Wash the zucchinis to be sure to remove any grits from the skins. Cut the zucchinis in half, lengthwise. Hollow out the zucchinis using a spoon and reserving the flesh. Leave about a 1/4 inch around the edges. Place zucchini "boats" on a baking dish.
3. Chop the reserved zucchini into small pieces. In a bowl, mix the zucchini pieces, tomato sauce, parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, pepperoni and Italian seasoning.
4. Fill the boats with the mixture. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top and place olives on top.
5. Bake for 20 minutes until cheese is melted and ingredients are heated through.

Oh yes.

Szechuan Shrimp

I have 2 weeks to go until I can eat pasta again. I gave up junk food years ago for lent, and since then I have even much less of it. I can't remember the last time I have bought chips, other than tortilla chips to eat with salsa. I rarely eat candy and I eat cookies when they are freshly baked or sold by girl scouts. Not eating pasta hasn't gone any easier since day 1...and I now feel bad for people who have tried to quit smoking. It must be awful. All I want is lasagna.

And raviolis.


And tortellinis.


And mac & cheese.


Now that the venting is over, let's get to the shrimp. This is one recipe in my books that I've made many times. I've added different veggies to it each time, but it's good as is. Tonight I served it over quinoa because I had no rice left. I like quinoa, but I have to be in the mood for it. I would've preferred rice tonight. I also added langostino tails, broccoli florets and snap peas to it. The best thing about this recipe is I almost always have all the ingredients on hand at any given time. With the exception of green onions, the rest are staples I always have, even the shrimp. I always have frozen shrimp on hand.


Szechuan Shrimp
from blogchef.net

12 oz. cooked large shrimp, tails removed
4 tbsp. water
2 tbsp. ketchup
1 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. honey
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/4 cup green onions, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced


1. In a small bowl, mix together water, ketchup, soy sauce, cornstarch, honey, red pepper and ginger.
2. Heat oil in a wok or skillet over med-high heat. Add green onions and garlic. Stir-fry for 30 seconds.
3. Add shrimp and toss to coat with oil.  Pour in sauce. Heat while stirring until sauce is thick and bubbly.

 

Up for tomorrow: zucchini pizzas.

Homemade Pizza Pockets

Or homemade pizza pop-tarts, as these resemble both. I read over this food idea while reading a different recipe. The woman was making fruit pop-tarts and tried them with pizza filling and said they resembled pizza pockets. There was no recipe for it, but I figured I probably couldn't screw up making these. They required pie crust, pizza sauce, cheese and any pizza filling I might want.

I did not screw these up. The crusts are definitely not as flaky as a real hot pocket, but they are probably infinitely healthier. They definitely could've used more filling (or cheese at least).

Homemade Pizza Pockets

Pre-made refrigerated pie crusts (I used 2 9-inch crusts)
1 jar pizza sauce
shredded mozzarella cheese
any pizza toppings you like (I added mini pepperonis)

Roll out the crust onto a clean surface. Place the second crust on top. Cut into rectangles. (I got about 4 doing this and used the scraps to make 2 more.

Top with sauce, cheese, etc. I added some garlic powder to mine as well. Leave some room at the edges so you can seal it up.

Place the top piece of dough on. Seal the edges and press with the ends of a fork. Brush with olive oil. I sprinkled some Italian seasoning on top as well. Bake in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes until crust cooks through.

Voila!

Stuffed Portobellos

I very much underestimate how long prep time can actually take when making meals. This is a really simple meal, just more prep work than I had planned for. Between chopping veggies, cleaning mushrooms and cooking rice, it took a while. It was worth it though.

As my blog title states, I use cookbooks and recipes. I am not very good at throwing together meals on a whim with no direction, though I am getting better at it. I didn't follow this recipe exactly due to missing a step, but it came out just fine. The food was good, I didn't burn my kitchen down....that counts as a success. I wanted to name these something fancier than just "stuffed portobellos" because there are a million things you could stuff one with, but my creativity has drained from me. Two hours of ballet and jazz will do that to you.


Stuffed Portobellos
from here

7 Portobello mushrooms
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
3/4 teaspoon ground coriander
3/4 cup sushi rice (I used regular white rice)
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (14-ounce) can vegetable broth, warm
½ cup canned black beans, rinsed
2 celery stalks, peeled and diced
½ cup roasted red bell pepper, diced
3 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley ( I used dried parsley)
2 tablespoons green onions, chopped
1/3 cup Dubliner cheese, shaved (I shredded mine)

1. Cook the rice until about 2/3 done. Drain but do not rinse.
2. Remove the stems from the portobellos. Use the edge of a spoon to scrape out the gills. (I had an extra portobello that I chopped up and threw into the skillet with the other veggies). Rub portobellos with olive oil. Either throw them on the grill or a grill pan and heat until they have grill marks. (This step can be left out). Set aside.
3. In a deep non-stick skillet, over medium heat, heat 1 tsp olive oil. Add the onions and cook until tender, about 5-8 minutes.
3.  Add the coriander and garlic. Cook for one minute until garlic is fragrant. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Add in the celery and black beans. Cook for a couple minutes and then transfer onion mixture to a separate bowl, leaving as much oil in the pan as possible.
5. Add another teaspoon of olive oil to the pan. Add the rice. The oil should coat the grains. Add the tomato paste and broth. Stir constantly and bring to a boil.
6. Once the mixture boils, lower the heat to med-low and add the parsley, onion mixture and red peppers. Continue cooking for about 10-12 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. Adjust the seasoning to your liking.
7. Spoon the mixture into the mushrooms and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with the cheese and bake at 425 for 15 minutes or until the cheese melts. Broil for 2 minutes if you want your cheese browned with a little crust.

The best thing about this dish is that it's super healthy with lots of veggies, but fills you up. A lot of times, veggies leave me craving carbs, but not this dish. I also really liked the Dubliner cheese. It's like a sharp Irish cheddar. I'm glad I have some leftover to sprinkle on anything else I make this week. Which I need to go plan right now.

I really need a good camera...and to not put my food on highly distracting (but oh so pretty) plates.

Salmon & Crab Stuffed Baked Potatoes

My Sunday consisted of going to an open house for random vendors. This included vendors that sold Lia Sophia jewelry, Silpada jewelry, Stella & Dot jewelery, one of those "trade in your gold" ladies, Tastefully Simple, and Pampered Chef. I am proud to say that I did not buy any jewelry, though I was very temped to buy a gorgeous $88 ring. Instead, I bought a couple Pampered Chef items, like a manual food processor and an egg slicer. I really wanted new knives, but good knives are so expensive!

I think I spent a solid hour going through recipes today trying to decide what to make for dinner tonight. Nothing sounded good...unless it had pasta in it. Few more weeks.....

I finally narrowed it down to 2 recipes, the second which I will make tomorrow night. I settled on the Salmon Stuffed Potatoes for tonight, and tweaked it slightly. I was a little weary of this recipe. I found it in my first recipe book I ever compiled, which is full of recipes that I will probably never make, as my tastes have changed in the past 7 years (yes, I was 19 when I started writing down recipes...I didn't even cook back then!). This recipe contains smoked salmon, which I've never eaten until today. I'm not sure how I feel about it. The salmon is pretty masked in this recipe, and even though I love raw salmon and cooked salmon, smoked salmon remains iffy in my book. I had some crab surimi in my fridge, so I chopped some up and threw it in to use it up. It might be fake crab, but it's delicious.

Salmon Stuffed Baked Potatoes
from who knows....

3-4 medium baked potatoes
1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream
1 tbsp. butter
salt and pepper to taste
4 oz. smoke salmon, cut into small pieces
2 tbsp. green onions or chives, sliced

1. After baking the potatoes Let them cool. Once cooled enough to handle, cut a thin slice off of the tops. Scoop out the potato inside and set aside in a bowl.
2. Mash the potato reserves with sour cream and butter. Add salt and pepper and stir.
3. Fold in salmon (and anything else you might want to add, like crab).
4. Top with onions or chives.

I found that the potato filling cooled down quite a bit as I added everything and mixed it up. I baked my potatoes in the oven for 10 minutes at 350. I then sprinkled some shredded cheddar on top and popped them back in the oven until the cheese melted.

I had mine with a side of parmesan risotto. Yum!

Flower plates do not make for good photo opportunities.

I also have Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins in the oven right now. You can find the recipe here.

Lamb Ragu

This might be the longest I have gone without updating the blog. March was an absurdly busy month....April's not looking any smoother. This recipe is from two weeks ago at least. When I saw this recipe I instantly knew I had to make it...it involved lamb and pasta. But alas, I cannot eat pasta yet, so adapted it to go over spaghetti squash, which is quickly becoming a new favorite ingredient of mine.

I would start by prepping your spaghetti squash.

Cut the squash in half and remove seeds. Drizzle the cut sides with olive oil and place cut side down on a rimmed baking pan. Bake at 400 for 40-50 minutes until squash is tender. Scrape out the insides of the squash and place in a separate dish.

Lamb Ragu
adapted from MyRecipes.com

4 tsp. EVOO, divided
8 ounces lean ground lamb
3/4 tsp. kosher salt, divided
1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 tsp. fresh minced rosemary
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1.5 cups canned crushed tomatoes, undrained
1/2 cup fat-free less-sodium chicken broth

1. Heat 1 tsp oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add lamb; cook for 5 minutes, stirring to crumble. Remove lamb from skillet with a slotted spoon, sprinkle with 1/4 tsp salt. Discard drippings from pan and reduce heat to med-low. Add 2 tsp oil, onion and carrot and cook for 5 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally Add rosemary and garlic, cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.

2. Return lamb to pan and add wine. Increase heat to med-high; cook for 3 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates. Add remaining 1/2 tsp of salt and pepper. Stir in tomatoes and broth; bring to a simmer. Partially cover and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring constantly.

3. Spoon the mixture over some spaghetti squash. Serve.

The recipe called for mint, which I'm not a huge fan of if it's not unless it's in a mojito. I left the mint out. It also said to top the dish off with a tablespoon or two of ricotta cheese. That I did. So delicious!

Sauteed veggies

Lamb

Lamb Ragu

As a bonus, I'll add in a pictture of something I made last week. No recipe for it, I just threw together some stuff I had in the house.

Langostino Tikka Masala

It just consists of langostino tails (bought at Trader Joe's), peas, corn, rice and a jar of Tikka Masala sauce.  Saute the langostino tails in a skillet until heated through. I steamed the corn and peas, you could throw them in the skillet to heat them if you like. Once the langostino is heated through, add the tikka masala to the pan and simmer for about 10 minutes. I added the veggies in after this point, then spooned the mixture over rice.