The Boob Tube

I have been seriously slacking with the blogging lately.  Much like I've been seriously slacking with the cooking.

Last night I ate a leftover hot dog.  Leftover.  That means that I've had a hot dog for the past two nights.  There's a valid reason for this though-

WATCH-A-THON-WEEK.

I've been a Comcast-over-payer subscriber for a bazillion years, and never knew that for one week, they throw you this magical bone of HBO, Showtime, and such.  Meaning that I have to cram an entire season of "Girls" and "Portlandia" into seven short days.

Hence the microwaveable hot dogs.  And the title to this post.  If you've seen "Girls," you know what I mean.

Here is a picture of my lunch today:

We went to Trader Joe's last night and I stocked up on their delicious veggie burgers* and tasty whole wheat English muffins*. 

*Some may call this an oxymoron.

I promise to be better than ever at blogging and not-obsessive-TV-watching next week.  I have some looooong overdue recipes that I need to be sharing.

Only 3 episodes to go 'til my Watch-a-thon-Week is complete.  Hellooooo, Friday night!

EZ Foodz

Yesterday I was craving macaroni and cheese. 

Not macaroni and cheez- but the real thing.

Something happens when the "-se" is replaced with a "z"....a whole lotta chemicals and preservatives are thrown into the mix. 

But good homemade mac & cheese is usually a fat bomb, since cheese, though a good source of calcium, also comes with a fair amount of natural fats.  Entrez le cauliflower. 

Cheesy Mac
1 box whole wheat elbow macaroni, uncooked
1 head cauliflower, rinsed and chopped into smallish chunks
1 cup chopped carrots
32 oz low sodium veggie broth
1.5 cups 2% shredded cheddar
4 oz lowfat cream cheese
1 Tbsp brown/Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a large stockpot, bring broth to boiling.  Add veggies and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until really tender and soft.

No sweat and tears went into this recipe, but there might have been a wee bit o' blood.  Sidenote: Forever 21 nail polish is terrible.

Scoop the veggies into a bowl, along with 1-1.5 cups of broth.  Meanwhile, dump the uncooked pasta into the hot broth and continue cooking that until noodles are tender.

Working in batches, puree cauliflower, carrots, and broth until smooth.  Add puree to a smaller saucepan over medium-low heat.

Add seasonings, cream cheese, and 1 cup shredded cheese.  Combine with cooked pasta.  Coat a 9x9 glass baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.  Pour noodles into the pan.  Top with remaining cheddar, and then breadcrumbs.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly browned and bubbly. 

 Before.

 After.

Deliciouz.

Makes six servings.  Per serving:
400 calories, 62 g carbs, 9 g fat, 19 g protein, 10 g fiber

Things I'm loving lately

Happy belated St. Patrick's Day.  Putting this out was the extent of my celebrating:

Like most people with XX chromosomes, I love to have cutesy seasonally appropriate dish towels.

And cutesy dish soap.

Palmolive?  Pfffft.  Go get yo'self some radish dish soap.  Then you'll really be living.  Know what else I'm loving?          


My doggies, finally caught in the act of tolerating each other.

Ignore the dog blankets and dog toys strewn about the kitchen floor.  Nothing like tripping over a squeaky toy on your way to the Kitchen Aid.

And another thing I'm loving?

Pink frosted donuts.  Say whaaaa?  Isn't that the epitome of things I advise people to avoid?  Yes, yes it is. 

I saw a recipe and I love the challenge of tweaking a recipe to make it lower cal while still retaining good flavor. 

 

Li'l Pink Frosted Donuts -makes six 4" donuts

Ingredients

• 1 cup white whole-wheat flour
• ⅓ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon dry strawberry sugar-free jello powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ cup pureed strawberries (I just thawed out some frozen ones and ran them through the blender)
• ¼ cup plain fat-free Greek yogurt
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• a few drops of almond flavoring

Strawberry Glaze:

• 2 tablespoons softened Neufchatel (less fat) cream cheese
• 1-2 tablespoons skim milk
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon strawberry sugar-free jello powder

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray your donut pan with nonstick baking spray.  You could make these in a muffin tin, but what would you call them then?  Moughnuts?
2. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, strawberry jello, salt, and nutmeg together in a medium mixing bowl. (You can leave the nutmeg out but it gives the characteristic donut flavor.)
3. Whisk yogurt, strawberries, egg, oil and flavorings together in a separate small bowl. Pour all at once over dry ingredients and stir only until everything is moistened.
4. Spoon batter into pastry bag or quart-size zippered plastic bag. Seal. Snip small corner of plastic bag and pipe dough into each ring.  Don't fill it more than 2/3rds of the way- half is actually best- otherwise the hole portion bakes over.  Bake for 9-10 minutes.  Let cool in the pan for a few minutes, then invert onto a paper towel.

Strawberry Glaze:

1. Combine cream cheese and milk in a medium mixing bowl. Mix powdered sugar and jello powder with cream cheese until smooth. Add more milk (a few drops at a time) if necessary to achieve correct consistency. It should drip slowly without being runny.
2. Dip donuts face down into glaze and turn over to "dry" on a paper towel. Sprinkle with colored sugar or other edible decorations, if desired, before the glaze dries.  I chose- what else- pink sprinkles.

  And lastly, I'm loving reading the comic section first.  While eating a donut.

Per donut:
165 calories (unglazed), 250 calories (with glaze).

Secrets

Can I tell you something?

I'm not really a breakfast person. 

I'm very "eh" on breakfast, and I'm very "MEH" on brunch.

In my daily life there is a very small window during which egg bakes, pancakes, or Belgian waffles are appropriate.  If it's 9 a.m. and I've already brushed my teeth, no drop of maple syrup shall pass my lips. 

Of course I always do eat breakfast, but it's usually my standard bowl of Kashi or bran flakes and a spoonful of crunchy Skippy.  However upon reading a blog that is much cuter and better than mine, I decided to hijack one of their recipes- and it's worth sharing.

Lemon Poppyseed Pancakes -makes 6 pancakes
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 teaspoons lemon zest
1/2 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1 cup + 2 Tbsp skim milk
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

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

In a smaller dish, combine sugar and lemon zest.  Rub it between your fingers for a minute or two to help bring out the lemon oils.  Stir in to flour mixture.

In a medium bowl, whisk together yogurt, milk, lemon juice, vanilla, eggs, vanilla, and poppy seeds.  Add to flour mixture and stir until just combined.  Try not to over-stir because it will make the pancakes tougher.

Heat a griddle to 350 degrees.  Spoon batter onto the griddle and flip when the tops show tiny bubbles and the edges are slightly cooked.

I made a sauce using frozen mixed berries I had on hand.

Good thing I hadn't yet brushed my teeth.

Reminisce

It was two years ago today that I returned from a vacation to Hong Kong.

I'm not so much of a go-outside-of-my-comfort-zone gal, so why the trip to Asia?  My youngest brother spent a semester of college abroad at one of HK's universities, so my other brother and I figured he could serve as our tour guide.  Which he did.

First order of business: hit the grocery store for snacks and foreign beer.  Thousand Island chips were delicious.  Seaweed chips were not.  The middle product- Jolly Shandy- was lychee beer.

We stayed on the club level of our hotel and breakfast every morning (along with the South China news) consisted of kiwi, dragonfruit, and dim sum.

Assorted gluten?  Ehhhh pass.  BTW- prices are in Hong Kong dollars (8 HK$ = 1 US$).

Roasted baby pigeon, beak and all.

Street meat market.

"Hey Jeff- am I supposed to eat this brown part?"

"Ummm that's the poop sac."

Seafood market.

There was a city park known for its monkey population.  I was excited to go- I pictured a Curious George smiling and hopping up to meet me.  He would hug me, sit on my lap, and I would feed him a banana.

In reality, it was swarm of angry aggressive monkeys.  More like Furious George.

Cable car ride up a mountain. #NotAfraidOfHeights#JustKiddingYesIAm

The absolute best thing I ate- squid burger @ MosBurger.  Delicious.  Notice the dark purple tentacle bit.  Like a Big Mac, only with squid.

Hopefully within the next year I can plan a return vacation.  Though maybe next time I'll skip the monkey park. 

*problems*

It has been a worrisome week.

Some major worries, some minor worries, and some minor worries-that-have-worked-themselves-all-the-way-up-to-panic. 

I backed into the garage door, effectively breaking it.

In my defense, it wasn't closed...

...it just wasn't all the way open.

It's not my style to roll around in a cracked up car, so we'll see how long I decide to live with this.

Major worry.

And then I found these cute baking dishes at the craft store.  Because one was broken, I got the remaining 3 for a buck apiece.  But then when I went to take a picture, I realized that my couch is the only clutter-free surface in my home.  Well, the couch and the toilet I suppose.  Guess which one I used as the backdrop here. 

Minor worry.

And then there's our new(er) dog, who I'm pretty sure has expanded in size by at least 50% since we brought her home 2 months ago.

That is some serious chunk.  I am pretty sure that she has doggy sleep apnea now.  Her snoring is terrible.  In the words of her buddy Mr. Bill, "Ohhhh noooooooo!"

So that got me thinking that we are terrible pet owners, and how if we bring her to the vet they will not only confirm that we are terrible pet owners, but we will also have to get a doggy CPAP for her sleep apnea, and doggy CPAPs are surely not cheap and I ALREADY HAVE TO SPEND MY MONEY ON REPAIRING THE GARAGE DOOR AND MY CAR!

Panic.

Good thing I still have those cute bowls.  Spaghetti is way more fun when baked.

Notice I am *still* using up that ricotta from last week's post.

So my wise words for this Thursday are three-fold:
1. Don't overfeed your pet
2. Make sure the garage door really is all the way up
3. When money gets tight, the Powerball is always there



"Now that I can finally understand you, I am less impressed with what you have to say."

I should start off every Friday with a Don Draper quote.

Why Don Draper?

Last night I made a lasagna.  I had a lot of leftover ricotta cheese.  And so why not then launch into a complicated labor-intensive recipe all to use 1/2 cup of a leftover tub of ricotta?

It's been a long time since I made a cake from scratch, and for the dessert I had in mind, I knew I wanted to avoid a box mix.  I picked up this box of cake flour from Target and it totally reminds me of something from the 60's. 

Cake flour is lighter and fluffier since it has less gluten (a protein found in wheat).  Unless you want a heavy dense cake, use cake flour.

Betty, I like your methods.  I need both a cook book stand and a glass of wine.

I used the recipe on the back of the cake flour box, but cut it in half 'cause I only wanted one 9" round cake.

While the cake was baking, I whipped up the lemon-ricotta filling.  I let that chill while I made blueberry sauce, using frozen blueberries I had on hand.

I chose to assemble the dessert in small glasses for the pretty factor.

Why Don!  You look intrigued.

Homemade Vanilla Cake (makes 1 9" round cake)
1 stick butter, room temperature
1 cup white sugar
1.5 cups sifted cake flour
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Beat butter until fluffy.  Add sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour with baking powder.  Add eggs, one at a time, to butter-sugar mix.  Beat until well-combined.  Alternate adding flour with milk into the batter.  Add vanilla.  Careful not to overbeat, as it will make the cake tough. 

Pour into a greased pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean.  After cooling a few minutes, invert onto a plate.

Lemon Ricotta Cream
1/2 cup skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup Neufchatel (reduced fat cream) cheese
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 cup light Cool Whip

Beat ricotta and cream cheese together until fluffy-ish.  Add powdered sugar and lemon juice.  Beat until smooth.  Gently fold in Cool Whip and chill for at least 20 minutes.

Blueberry Sauce
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup cold water
2 Tbsp cornstarch

In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir together 1/2 cup water, OJ, and sugar.  Add blueberries.  Carefully stir, trying not to smoosh the berries, until is starts to boil.  Whisk together cold water and cornstarch and add to berry mix.  Sauce will thicken up quickly.  Chill until ready to serve.

Makes 8 servings of dessert.