Life Update! :)

So, it's been awhile.
It's cold outside and I love it. I just finished my first semester of nurse practitioner school. It's a good feeling. This is my favorite time of the year, I've put my christmas decorations up.

Most of the year, I hardly spend any time at home, but when it gets cold outside I become a homebody. I become all crafty and spend any free time in the kitchen.

<This is the cowl scarf I am working on right now, except it will be sea green.

                                 

                                            Currently reading>



I've managed to keep my herbs living indoors, and thanks to IKEA I've found found a great way to display them that is convenient for use and clutter-free!

This past week, some of my ACCU girls came over for an Italian cooking night. It was great food and great company. I am so thankful for these friends. They keep me sane at work, and let loose with me outside of work! Such a blessing.

<Also, Debbie spent pretty much an entire week with me. Our time together is limited lately, but she had to take finals in Tuscaloosa... PERFECT excuse for some catch up time!

Joseph and I are as happy as always... here he is being a goofball... no surprise really. :)

Blackberry Banana Smoothies

I've realized that I use bananas in things a lot lately. I can hardly eat most fruit plain, but love fruit in smoothies, breads, or other dishes. I have also been out of town and just plain busy the last few weeks and this has become my latest go to.

Mix in a blender:
1 banana, frozen
1 handful of fresh blackberries
1/2 cup milk or half and half
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
cinnamon
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Banana Loaf Bread

I always buy bananas, but hardly ever eat them all before they go brown. No problem! This banana loaf bread is amazing! Enjoy.

1 stick butter, at room temperature, plus more for pan
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3-4 ripe bananas
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup chopped pecans

-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and put a rack on the middle shelf. Butter and flour a 9 by 5 by 3-inch loaf pan.

-In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

-In a separate small bowl, mash the bananas with a wooden spoon, leaving a bit of texture.

-In another large bowl, use a hand electric mixer or stand mixer to cream the 1/2 cup of butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time. Stir in the mashed bananas, sour cream and vanilla and beat until just combined. Add the dry ingredients and gently stir in pecans. Pour the batter into the pan and put on a sheet tray.

-Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

For the Cookies:
1.5 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon red food coloring
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

For the Filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise and seeds scraped

To make the cookies:
-Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine the semisweet and milk chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave at 50 percent power until melted, about 2 minutes. Whisk until smooth.
-Whisk the melted butter, sour cream, eggs, vinegar, vanilla and food coloring in a bowl until combined. In another bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
-Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in four equal batches, whisking each batch completely before adding the next. Stir in the melted chocolate.
-Scoop heaping tablespoonfuls of batter onto the prepared baking sheets and smooth the tops with a damp finger. Bake until the cookies spring back when lightly pressed, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the filling:
-Beat the cream cheese and butter with a mixer until smooth. Beat in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla seeds. Sandwich a heaping tablespoonful of filling between 2 cookies; repeat with the remaining cookies and filling. Refrigerate 30 minutes before serving.

Hazelnut Truffles

If I had to pick my favorite flavor I would choose chocolate for sure. Number two would be coffee. And number three is hazelnut. Lucky for me, these three make a to-die-for combination! In my book, these beat anything Ghirardelli, Hershey's, Dove, you name it.

1 cup hazelnuts
8 ounces good semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons Frangelico
1 tablespoon prepared coffee (or a little more if you're like me!)
1/2 teaspoon good vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Chop the hazelnuts and place them on a sheet pan. Roast them in the oven for 10 minutes. (If the hazelnuts have skin on them, roast them for 25 minutes.) Set aside to cool.

Chop the chocolates finely and place in a bowl.

Heat the cream in a small saucepan until it boils. Immediately pour the hot cream through a fine-meshed sieve into the bowl with the chocolates. With a wire whisk, slowly stir the cream and chocolates together until the chocolate is completely melted. (If the chocolate doesn't melt completely, place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir for a few minutes just until it melts.) Whisk in the hazelnut liqueur, coffee, and vanilla. Cover and chill for 45 minutes to 1 hour until pliable but firm enough to scoop.

With 2 teaspoons or a 1 1/4-inch ice cream scoop, make dollops of the chocolate mixture and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes, until firm enough to roll into rough spheres. Roll the chocolate in the chopped hazelnuts and chill again. Truffles are best when they're allowed to set overnight in the refrigerator.

Green Beans with Paneer in Fresh Tomato Sauce

Paneer is an indian cheese. I love cheese. When I learned that this was a type of cheese I could make easily at home, of course I had to try it. See video.

I ended up eating it all the first time, but the second go round, I made this wonderful Indian dish.

1 tablespoon oil, plus more for frying the paneer
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon grated fresh garlic
1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tomatoes, chopped
Pinch salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound fresh green beans, tips removed
8-ounces paneer, cut into small cubes

Put the 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet, and add the coriander, garlic, mustard seeds, and cumin and cook for about 15 seconds. Add the tomatoes and season with salt, and pepper, stirring well. Add the green beans and cook until the beans are crisp-tender, about 8 to 10 minutes.

In another pan, add oil and place over medium heat. Add the cubed paneer and fry until golden on all sides, turning frequently. Gently stir into the finished beans.

Greek Cucumber and Tomato Salad

I do love salads, and of course they're good for you. But I get sick of a plain salad with lettuce all the time, no matter what you put on it. This is a good change up! And it's easy too.

1 large cucumber, sliced
1 large tomato, cut into chunks
Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
2 pressed garlic cloves
chopped mozzarella or crumbled feta
salt and pepper
olive oil and red wine vinegar

Mix pressed garlic into oil and vinegar. Mix veggies, olives, and cheese together and top with oil/vinegar/garlic mixture. Season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

Refrigerator Spinach and Eggs

I've been trying to save money on groceries. I usually keep a fridge full of stuff and end up throwing out stuff too much. So my goal has been to actually use most of the stuff in my fridge/freezer instead of just running to the grocery store to get things I happen to be craving at that moment. I'm proud to say that there are currently less than 5 items in my fridge. This dish came about while trying to use things and be creative... so put whatever in it you happen to have laying around!

1 tbsp butter
4 eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 package frozen spinach
1/4 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 onion
4 garlic cloves
nutmeg
salt & pepper
paprika

Cook spinach per directions on package (Be sure not to overcook). While doing so, saute onions, garlic, and any other veggies you have on hand in the butter in a skillet. Beat eggs, and mix in cheese, heavy cream, and spices of your choice (I used nutmeg, paprika, salt and pepper). Add spinach to veggies in skillet, then pour egg mixture over top. Cook until eggs are no longer runny. This makes two servings. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cannoli Cupcakes

I LOVE cannoli's. (My aunt makes the best) So of course when I ran across this recipe on foodnetwork.com, I had to try it. And I was not disappointed! Enjoy.

For the cupcakes:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream

For the Chocolate Chip Cannoli Cream filling:
16 ounces whole milk ricotta cheese
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans

For the whipped cream icing:
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
Chocolate chips/Pecans for garnishing

Directions

For the cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line regular sized cupcake pans with 24 liners.
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Set aside. In a mixing bowl fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs and sugar until light in color and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the oil and vanilla. Mix until incorporated. Add the sour cream. Mix until just incorporated. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, and mix until just blended.
Fill the cupcake liners three-quarters full with batter and bake until baked through and golden brown, 18 to 22 minutes. Cool completely.

For the cannoli cream:
In a mixing bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the ricotta, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla on medium speed for about 5 minutes. Stir in the mini morsels.

For the whipped cream:
Beat the cream and sugar together in a mixing bowl fitted with a whisk attachment until the cream is whipped.

To assemble:
Using a small knife, cut on an angle directly into top of the vanilla cupcake in a circular pattern, staying within the perimeter of the top, removing the inside of the cupcake in one piece. Using a spoon or small scoop, fill the inside of the cupcake with Chocolate Chip Cannoli Cream. Place the top of the cupcake back on, putting a little pressure so that the top is pressed into the cream, holding it in place. Top with a whipped cream and chocolate chip and pecans for garnish.

Crockpot Corn and Turkey Chowder

This dish is so flavorful and filling! Perfect for a cold day. I just kind of added things as I went so this recipe is pretty rough, but just use whatever veggies and spices you like! Also, if you cook on high heat, you could probably almost cut the cooking time in half if you want.

Butterball boneless turkey breast
1/2 cup olive oil
Sage
Italian Parsley
Rosemary
Thyme
Garlic (I used 6-8 pods)
Salt & Pepper
1 cup heavy cream
4 cups frozen corn
2 cups frozen mixed veggies
2 cans potato soup
1 large yellow onion
Carrots

Place turkey, skin-side up in a crock pot with garlic pods surrounding. Add a few springs of each herb and some salt and pepper. Pour olive oil over everything and cook on low.

8 hours later...

Remove turkey from crock pot and onto a cutting board. Remove netting and cut/shred into small pieces. Return to crock pot and add veggies, potato soup and more herbs if desired.

1-2 hours later...

Turn off heat, add cream and mix.
Enjoy!

1/11/11

And I emerge from Christmas "break". My first big girl Christmas aka staying here in Tuscaloosa to work while my family was in Detroit and Joseph is in Cali. Fortunately, I was able to group all of my work hours together around Christmas weekend and New Year's weekend. Basically I spent 5 days in Huntsville, worked for 3 days, 5 days in Detroit with my immediate family and my Dad's family, 3 more days of work, then 5 days in San Diego with Joseph and his family. In other words... crazyness because I was never home awake for more than 30 minutes for the last month, but above all, wonderful because I was able to fit in everything I would have done during a Christmas break and all while keeping the $$$ coming in.

So the last two days I have been "iced in"to my apartment which has been wonderful to say the least. I have never been a homebody or someone who likes being alone, but since I've lived by myself, I suppose I've become accustomed and to having "me time" where I cook, clean, read, and do other dorky things. I feel so old. Anyhow.

Joseph was supposed to fly back to AL last weekend, but mother nature and Delta Airlines have decided that he will be coming in Thursday. I'm ready for us to be in the same city together again! For my Christmas present, he surprised me and took me to a wine and cheese tasting class in San Diego. It was sooooooo fun and sooooo goood. He knows me so well. <3

I'm taking a Research and Statistics class online through UAB this semester. I needed a little something more to do, and I'm planning on applying for Nurse Practitioner school for the fall. So far, it doesn't seem to bad, I think that the hardest part will be making myself keep up since there is only a midterm and a final and it's an online class.

I feel so very blessed at this point in my life and I'm very thankful for everything that God has given me. I'm excited to see what this year brings!

P.S.- Many recipes to come. :)