peanut free puppy chow

Being the parent of a child with a food allergy (peanuts in our case) can be a bit stressful at times. Where a bowl of peanuts at a party used to be viewed as a perfect finger snack to accompany a juicy burger and a cold beer, it's now seen as a bowl of death that must be eliminated in order to ensure safety of all that surround it. Recently at a baseball game I found myself in this exact situation. From across the room I locked eyes with a salty, roasted death trap and quickly prepared myself to lunge across the table and swipe the offending snack. Luckily before I embarrassed myself (I mean, I was in a skirt, for crying out loud, things could have gotten ugly really fast) I realized that the Baby - who actually has the peanut allergy - was hanging out safely at her Aunt and Uncle's house. Peanuts (and my pride) escaped unharmed.

That being said, I am a former lover of peanuts. Desserts, savory dishes, you name it - I loved adding peanut-y goodness to it. We are clearly not the only family to be living with food allergies (and truly we are completely blessed that it's just a peanut allergy as some families are dealing with far further complicated allergy combinations). Luckily, there have been several new peanut butter alternatives to hit the market, my favorite being Sunbutter which is a butter made from sunflower seeds. It has the creaminess (and crunchiness in some cases) of peanut butter, and while the flavor and taste is definately 'sunflower seeds', it makes a wonderful roasted nutty swap out for peanut butter. Spread it on apples and graham crackers or pair it with your favorite jam. It is the way I have been able to fill the peanut butter sized hole in my life. Baking and cooking with Sunbutter can sometimes be a challenge (it doesn't always get along with baking powder and soda so recipes need to be altered specifically for Sunbutter), in a recipe where the Sunbutter is simply melted along with other ingredients, it shines like a star.

Last night, the kiddies and I decided to whip up a little 'night before the first day of school' treat. It was so easy, and so completely addicting that I have to share it with you. It's an old classic that I grew up with called Puppy Chow. Here's what to do:

Melt some Sunbutter, chocolate chips, and butter in a microwave safe dish. Stir it up until it's all shiny and melty. mmmm.....

Mix with some crunchy cereal.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and toss it around a bit.

Voila! Super easy. Super sweet and crunchy. 

It's really very difficult to stop eating. Don't say I didn't warn you. 

a tale of two breadcrumbs

I am proud somewhat troubled to admit that I had a marathon of bread baking this weekend. In truth, it might be more troubling to admit that it was in honor of The Hunger Games coming out on video. Have you seen it? It's amazing. I loved the books, loved the movie, and I am now one of those people eagerly awaiting the casting of Finnick (please be someone fantastic!). Yes, I am 30 years old and I love The Hunger Games. Okay, I will ease up on the HG talk for the rest of the story.

Let me start again. Hang on tight for there is a rapid subject turn in your future: It feels great - and very pioneer-y of me - to use everything in my kitchen to it's fullest potential. For me this has been a summer of conservation. Back in April, I started a compost bin as a way of redirecting fruit and vegetable scraps from our kitchen to a more environmentally friendly end. I also began cutting back on the staggering amount of paper towels that I used everyday (I am seriously embarrassed looking back), choosing instead to use fabric napkins and kitchen towels. To keep the momentum going, I started storing all the ends and bits of bread that had begun to go stale. You know the kind. The pieces that will sit for several days, having everyone pass them by just to have you through them away in the end. Anytime I had a new heel, into the freezer bag it went. And after my bread baking marathon, I finally had enough 'crusty ends' to make up a batch of breadcrumbs. I am going to share my method of making breadcrumbs with you. I call this a method more than a recipe because there are no exact types or amounts of bread that must be used. Use what you have. Homemade or store bought. It really doesn't matter. The bread crumbs will turn out delicious, crunchy and ready to be used in endless recipes. Also as a general rule, I prefer to keep my crumbs plain and season them when it comes to using them in any given recipe.

First, gather the bread you will be using to chop into crumbs. I store my ends in a bag in the freezer until I have 'enough' or until I am in the mood to make some crumbs. Now if your bread is frozen, allow it to sit out and defrost for a bit before putting through the food processor. For extremely crusty bread, use the shredding disc on your food processor to create the crumbs. The thick crust is usually too much for the chopping blade to break down, and bread can get stuck on your blade.  If you have a softer bread (white sandwich loaf) the chopping blade will work.

Spread your newly formed crumbs out onto a baking sheet. The crumbs can be a variety of sizes (I enjoy a coarse crumb). Bake your crumbs in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until completely dry and toasted but not burnt. If you have a thick layer of crumbs you may want to bake them for a bit longer. If you have a thin layer of crumbs, bake them for a shorter amount of time.

When the crumbs are toasted, allow them to cool. If you desire a finer crumb, send them through your food processor again using your chopping blade. I left half of my crumbs coarse - for use in topping casseroles and mac & cheese - and processed the second half into fine crumbs for use in meatballs and meat loaf. Any shaped meat, really. Store them in bags or freezer safe containers in the freezer for up to 6 months. The crumbs can be used directly out of the freezer. Now that you see how easy (and thrifty) this is I hope you are inspired to give it a whirl. Get it? A whirl in the processor?

tomato mac & cheese + why I can't workout in public

 Last night, while brainstorming my post for today, I realized it was already Thursday evening and my weekly workout tally was embarrassingly small for the week. For the last several years I have been in a pretty consistent routine of working out, in some form, at least 3 times a week. Now, my reasoning behind working out is a bit backward. You see, I love to eat. I mean, love it, love it. And I was one of those people who did not gain a 'cute' amount of baby weight during my pregnancies. I was one of those people, who at 5 months pregnant, had blown up so much that people could not hide their shock at how much longer I had to go. After my daughter was born I decided I needed to take some serious action to get this extra weight under control. So, with the help of Weight Watchers and lots of exercise, I was luckily able to get back down to my original weight. Now I continue to work out, not because of my love for a good sweat, but for the reason I got into trouble in the first place. My love of all things food. Carbs specifically. And cheese. Now I try to work out relatively regularly and keep my portion sizes under control. Usually during the course of working out I am mentally calculating just how large of a bowl of ice cream I am earning by running or doing a Jillian Michael's video. So, while I am no doctor, I figured one night of doing Ab Ripper X wasn't going to cut it for the entire week. 

So upstairs I went to dig out some exercise clothes, put on my shoes (that boast neon pink laces that never fail to cheer me up in the face of yet another workout) and drag myself back down stairs to the basement which acts as my own personal gym. Some people love the working out in an actual gym. One with rows and rows of shiny treadmills, ellipticals and weight benches. The reason(s) I avoid such a place are the people that are then on these shiny treadmills, ellpticals and weight benches. Now I'm sure the people at the gym are all lovely - I happen to know several of them. Nice people who are there to mind their own business and get their workout just like everyone else. I avoid these places, and these people, for their own sake. You see, when I work out (particularly if I am running), I sing. Loudly. And I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but I am a bad singer. There is a reason that I was always behind the scenes in my high school musicals. If I put my mind to it (in church mainly) I can carry a tune. However, it is not uncommon for me to trip, fall, and drop that tune like a hot potato. I have a great disturbing story of how I drove my 2 year old to tears with my kicky rendition of Ace of Base's 'The Sign'. I would blame it on the song choice, but I would just be kidding myself. 

Well, when I work out, I take it to a new level of awful. I will crank up the music in my headphones as loud as it will go because I cannot stand the sound of myself panting or of my feet hitting the ground. It is maddening and if I hear it I want to stop immediately and go eat some ice cream. As an added bonus of the loud music I can also tune myself out. Which is fantastic. For me, at least. Not for my husband who is sitting upstairs and trying to enjoy his Ludlums. In the middle of Fun.'s 'We are Young', he will often come down, peek around the stairs, and with a grave expression shake his head. I feign ignorance and claim that singing is necessary for my well being. When I don't sing on the treadmill I tend to develop awful side cramps. Side cramps so bad that I have to stop running and suck air for a bit before continuing. For some reason when I sing, I feel great. No cramps. Anything to make the tedious task of running go by faster and less painfully, I will embrace with vigor. So until I can learn to breath properly while running without singing, or take some intensive voice lessons (which really would just be a waste of money), I will exercise in private. Trust me. You don't want me at your gym. It'd get ugly in a hurry.

Now all this talk about working out brings me to the actual food (aka fun part) of this post. This mac & cheese recipe is different than any I have ever come across before. A recipe of my Grandma LeBlanc's, it features tomatoes and my own addition of cinnamon and nutmeg. These spices add a subtle warmth to the dish that wraps itself around your insides like a big hug.

spiced carrot cookies

I told myself when I started this blogging (you know, last week) that I would try to vary the posts and recipe topics. Not too many side dishes in a row. That sort of thing. Well I still think that is a valid rule because in many cases side dishes are overrated. What is not overrated, however, are desserts. So we'll call the coffee cake from Monday a 'breakfast' and I'll still be well within my own guidelines.

Spiced up carrot cookies! I have to take a moment and pat myself on the back for these cookies, guys. While I have been baking for a while now, I still get nervous when it comes to baked goods. So when I came across a vague yet intriguing recipe titled 'carrot cookies' I tried not to let the lack of actual directions on how to make the cookies keep me from moving forward. In fact, the more I thought about it, the lack of directions gave me permission to not follow directions, which as I mentioned before, is something I struggle with anyway. Win, win, win.

On the very yellowed piece of paper that I found in a small envelope labeled 'Opal's Recipes' (my Great Grandma Scheuer), was this 'carrot cookie' list of ingredients, as well as some extremely vague directions I'm-not-even-going-to-call-them-directions:

•  cream together 3/4 c. shortening and 1 cup cooked carrots
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 c. sugar
•  2 c flour sifted with 2 Tbs baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup nut meats
• drop by spoonful and bake
• juice and grate 1 small orange. Add enough powdered sugar to spread. glaze cookies while they are still warm.

That's it. That's all I had. It was odd yet extremely liberating. I had room to play. Room to build the recipe from this foundation, and frankly, figure the foundation out as well. 

I love playing with existing recipes just to see where swapping ingredients, and tweaking flavors will take me. I often end up in a joyous and comforting place and sometimes...not so much. I wanted the happy place. The place filled with cookie goodness. In order to get there I figured I had to kick this recipe up a bit. I added some spices, because really, spices will improve almost any carrot-y cake so I figured it would work for cookies, as well. I left out the nuts for two reasons: 1) The Baby has a peanut allergy, and I wanted her to be able to eat these, and 2) I plain 'ole forgot them. What can I say? I sped ahead to the orange and powdered sugar glaze, and frankly, never looked back. This glaze is a thing of beauty. Like a bowl of melted creamsicle. It boosts the cinnamon and nutmeg and takes these cookies into a class of their own.

 

I have to say that when I took my first bite I was a bit stunned at how good they were. I looked at The Buddy, and said 'Wow Buddy, these are good. Too good'. And he replied, with all the wisdom of his 4 years, 'No, Mommy. They're not too good, they're just amazingly good'. And also amazingly addictive. Beware.

peachy cinnamon coffee cake

In the past I have never really seen eye-to-eye with baking. It's precision and the whole 'needing to read all of the directions thing' really rubbed me the wrong way. The experimentation that goes into savory cooking--adding a bit of this and a few glugs of that--has always gotten my blood pumping. I've tried to blame it on my 'art' background, but really, I think it just boils down to a lack of attention span. I would often skim baking directions and about half way through say, 'yeah, yeah, I've got this'. Well it turns out that this is not an advisable approach to baking. Which is why, until recently, we haven't gotten along.

I say 'until recently' because there has been a relatively recent change in my life: having kids. This change has forced me to alter my outlook on baking (as well as about a million other things). Before kids, baking was cooking's tedious, high maintenance cousin. Now, baking is the answer to the question, 'how do I have my kids help me in the kitchen?' Baking is the way I can share and pass on my love of creating in the kitchen but also keep them away from sizzling pots, sharp knives and salmonella-y death traps. There is also the added bonus of a built in lesson: how to 'follow directions' - I am still mastering this myself -, how to 'count cups and tablespoons', and how to 'not whip the whisk out of the bowl of dry ingredients and effectively covering everything in flour'. All good lessons.

 

This new found respect - dare I say 'love' - of baking has led me down a road on which I am so grateful to be a traveler. For it is a delicious road. One that has led me to this lovely cake.

waldorf salad

Marshmallows. Intrigued? So were my kids. If I say the word ‘marshmallow’ in their presence, their little ears prick up and their eyes widen as if to say ‘tell me more’. It was my go-to treat for a success during potty training time. Yes I read all a bit of the literature on potty training and I realize you are not supposed to bribe your children into potty training. In the moment, however, things can get a little standoff-ish and rational moms (I like to include myself in this category from time to time) can do desperate things. Like offering teeny, tiny marshmallows to a 2 year old who is insisting that the 3 sippy cups of milk she just drank have not produced a need-to-go. And do you know what? It worked. Both of my kids are potty trained and not at all only somewhat addicted to marshmallows.  And really? The addiction to marshmallows probably would have happened naturally. They’re delicious.

Which brings us to this delightful dish: Waldorf Salad. A salad developed by matitre d' Oscar Tschirky back in the 1890’s and named for the Waldorf Hotel in which he worked.

a swirl chip cookie? don't mind if I do...

Hello! My name is Emily and this is my blog. Please take a look around, pour yourself a cup of coffee, and make yourself at home. What will you find here? Well recently, I have set out to cook and bake my way through my family's recipe box. Wild adventures are sure to follow.

 Now where to begin? Swirl Chip Cookies. Swirl Chips. Those cakey-cookie things. They will answer to any of the above. There are similar recipes out there, but my family's version came to us via my Grandma L., and let me tell you, we ate these puppies by the handful. Still do, actually.

 

When it was time to bake Christmas cookies my mom would ask us what cookies we wanted her to bake and we'd all insist 'swirl chips!', just to be shot down with 'Those aren't Christmas cookies, pick something else'. Well, I'm picking them now.

Cake mix, egg, oil, chocolate chips. Simple, right? Don't let the humble ingredient list fool you. These cookies are soft, slightly gooey, and their rich cakey-fudginess wraps itself around you like a warm sweater. I love sweaters. And I love these cookies.  And now I pass them to you. So what are you waiting for? Go. Go make them. Right now. You won't be sorry.

 

Swirl Chip Cookies

Makes about 2 ½ dozen, depending on how enthusiastically you scoop the dough.

Ingredients:

1 box of Duncan Hines Fudge Marble Cake Mix (contains two packets of mix: chocolate and yellow)

1/3 cup of vegetable or canola oil. Any neutral flavored oil will work.

3 Tbs water (or a bit more to adjust for consistency)

1 large egg, slightly beaten

½ cup of chocolate chips (any kind that you like: semi sweet, milk, mini, chunk)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°

In a large bowl using a wooden spoon, mix together yellow mix packet, oil, egg and 3Tbs of water.

Fold in chocolate chips.

Transfer about 1/3 of the dough to a medium size bowl. Sprinkle chocolate mix packet over the transferred dough. Work the chocolate mix into the dough with a spoon. You may need to add a few drops of water to allow the mix to come together. Be careful not to add too much water at this stage, as to not make the chocolate dough too runny.

Transfer chocolate dough back into the large bowl with the yellow dough. DO NOT STIR! Simply place the chocolate dough on top of the yellow dough and spread it out gently. Using a tablespoon scoop, scoop out the dough, making sure to get some yellow dough and some chocolate on each spoonful. Drop onto parchment lined baking sheets.

Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cookies will seem just set. Allow to cool on sheet for 5 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Enjoy!

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