I’m a cookbook junkie. I have shelves and shelves of cookbooks of all different types. I seriously love them. I honestly love just having them – I don’t cook a lot from them. In fact, most of my cookbooks get looked at once, maybe twice a year. As always, there are exceptions. Baked: New Frontiers in Baking is my most recent purchase and I’m obsessed with it. Every single dish I’ve made from it has been amazing. If you don’t own this book, I beg you – BUY IT!
Now, these muffins… so so good. In fact, I made these about 2 months ago for some friends. They were gobbled up before I even got a chance to take a photo for the blog. Thankfully, these muffins are also very easy to make and really tasty so I didn’t mind having to make these again! In fact, I whipped these up before heading to work on Friday. It only took about 20 minutes of prep time and another 20 for baking. I made a few adjustments so they would be a bit healthier and I loved how they turned out!
3 cups mashed, very ripe bananas (6 – 7 medium – large bananas)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup skim milk
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons instant coffee granules
3 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2-12 cup muffin pans with liners or grease with nonstick spray.
In a medium bowl, stir together bananas, sugar, brown sugar, butter, applesauce, milk, and eggs.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, instant coffee, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and slowly pour in wet ingredients. Stir until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
Fill prepared muffin cups with batter, filling each one 3/4 full.
Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing the muffins and placing on a cooling rack to cool completely.
There are some days where I just don’t have the time (or energy) to cook an elaborate meal. I’ve come to love quick, easy dinners that I can throw together in a half hour.
There are some sweet & sour meatball recipes that use only 3 ingredients: frozen meatballs, grape jelly, and chili sauce. I couldn’t even bring myself to consider making it. Instead, I opted to make meatballs from scratch (easy!) and sauce from scratch (easier!). Sure, it took a little longer to whip together than the 3 ingredient meatballs, but it’s well worth it to me! The meatballs are super tender and I love the sauce. I also love the fact that I can pour a healthy dose of Sriracha on top.
The only part that beats the fact that it is so simple to make is that this made a LOT of food. That means that Mike and I were able to eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a couple days 😉 If you’re cooking for a small group, you may want to cut the recipe in half.
Sweet & Sour Meatballs with Peppers adapted from All Recipes
for the meatballs:
2 pounds 90% lean ground beef
2 eggs
1 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped or grated onion
1-inch piece of ginger, grated
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
for the sauce: 2 – 20 ounce cans pineapple chunks, drained and juice reserved
1 cup water
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons corn starch
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
1 large onion, chopped
2 red or yellow bell peppers, sliced
white or brown rice, for serving
Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
To make the meatballs: combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix by hand until just combined, being careful not to overmix. Shape into 1 – 1 1/2 inch balls and place on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10 – 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Set aside.
Meanwhile, make the sauce. Pour reserved pineapple juice into a large pot over medium heat. Whisk in water, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, corn starch, and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened.
Stir in pineapple chunks, onion, bell peppers, and meatballs into the sauce. Gently stir to combine and simmer for 15 – 20 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through.
This post two-for-one deal. It’s a running and recipe post all rolled into one! Let me start the race recap with my Saturday. In my last post I talked about my nervousness and how I planned on dealing with it. So, what did I do all weekend?
Well, like I had said before, Mike and I went to the Cellcom Race Expo and picked up my race packet. We bought a running hat (for him) and some more running capris (for me) there. We then headed over to Hinterland for some beer & food. It was so good. We decided to sit in the lounge and I’m so glad we did. The space is really neat – we snagged a corner booth that had a nice view of the downtown area. The service and food were amazing. We’re already planning on next trip back – I’m sad they are a 40 minute trip away, but it’s definitely worth it.
We drank: Cherry Wheat (Crisp, cool and refreshing. Brewed using tart Door County cherries from Seaquist Orchards) and Bourbon Barrel Dopplebock (Dark amber color. Full-bodied. Pronounced notes of caramel and oak with a smooth bourbony finish. Aged 10.5 months). Both were delish.
We ate: Caprine supreme goat cheese curds with kimchee ketchup and Nueske’s smoked chicken pizza (maple bock barbecue, mango, chives, goat cheese). The cheese curds were different than any cheese curd I’ve had before – they were light and fluffy and the kimchee ketchup was awesome. The pizza was, of course, delish as well. I loved the addition of the mango.
Saturday, we wasted the day away at home and ran some errands. I felt sick with anticipation almost all day. I was refreshing the weather on my iPad every hour (definitely wasn’t helping). I ended up throwing together dinner early at around 5:00 so we could eat early and get to bed by 9:00.
Some people have certain foods they need to stay away from before race day. I’ve found that I can eat almost anything, but it’s best if I stay away from fiber and copious amounts of grease. I ended up making a dish with chicken sausage and bell peppers with a pasta salad side. I loved that this meal was filling, easy, and my stomach handled it perfectly.
Chicken Sausage & Peppers
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 large onion, chopped
12 ounces fully cooked chicken sausage*, cut into 1 1/2 – 2″ pieces
2 bell peppers, sliced
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Heat oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add in onions and cook for 3 – 4 minutes or until they start to soften.
Add in sausage and bell peppers and cook until sausage is heated through, 3 – 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
*I used Johnsonville’s Chicken Sausage – Chipotle Montery Jack in my dish. I’ve had this type before and love it so I used it again instead of trying something new.
Easy Spinach Pasta Salad
12 ounces farfalle or other small pasta
1 teaspoon garlic olive oil or plain olive oil*
3 cups baby spinach
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
3 roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Cook pasta according to package directions in a large pot of boiling salted water. Drain and immediately toss with garlic olive oil. Toss warm cooked pasta with spinach, onion, tomato and Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
*I used a garlic evoo from a local store, The Olive Cellar. Love the place and will never buy olive oil (or balsamic) from any other place.
After eating a fair amount of this, Mike and I turned in for the night. He tried to calm my nerves by playing the Fun Run episode from The Office. It worked 🙂
Now, that brings us to Sunday: race day. Mike and I rolled out of bed at around 4:00 that morning and I nervously ate a banana and some Quaker Oatmeal Squares. I chugged a little water and then we were off to Green Bay. We weather was beautiful at first. Here’s a picture of me – all happy that it was race day and ready to conquer Cellcom once again.
I got about 2 miles in before I realized just how hot and humid it was. Last year was hotter, but this year was much more humid. I do not handle humidity or heat very well. Put the two together and well… I’m a goner. Let’s just say that there aren’t many pictures I want to post of my grossness mid-run. I will, however, share with you the pics Mike snapped during my last mile in Lambeau Field!
I may look happy and full of energy in the above photos, but miles 2 – 12 were killer. I was dragging and just mentally d-o-n-e with it all. After I crossed the finish line and found Mike, I loaded up on brats and beer. I got my picture taken with a complete stranger (??) and then changed into dry clothes before heading back out to Lambeau and cheering on the marathoners and snapping a few more pics.
I wish I could say that everything was perfect. That I hit my goal time. That I PRed. But none of that is true. I debated sharing my time with the world because I was embarrassed at first. Then, I realized that all runners have good days and bad days. I just happened to have a bad day. And even though my time was 2:27 and I finished nearly 15 minutes after my goal time, I still did better than the person I was just 2 1/2 years ago. I used to be someone who couldn’t run for 20 seconds straight and struggled through Day 1 of Couch to 5k for a solid week.
I’ve got a storm of baked goods comin’ your way. I would apologize for not posting healthier foods or main dishes, but I’m really not sorry. If you want someone to blame, you can start with Mothers’ Day. And then birthdays. Because all those occasions require baked goods. And when they all fall within a few days of each other… well, I end up pumping out a lot of goodies from my tiny kitchen.
I’ll start off with a lightened up lemon yogurt cake. I loved how light and spring-y this cake was. I’ve mentioned in the past how much I love lemons and their tartness. The next time I make this cake I will bump up the zest to 3 lemons and I’ll consider using a lemon-flavored Greek yogurt as well. I may double the glaze as well – I couldn’t get enough of that stuff! My sister liked it so much that she ate the top off a slice of the cake, leaving behind a sad naked slice. Rude 🙂
Lightened Up Lemon Yogurt Cake adapted from Ina Garten
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1 1/3 cups sugar, divided
3 extra-large eggs
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
For the glaze:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter an 8.5″ loaf pan with butter. Line the bottom with parchment paper and butter and flour the pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a large bowl, beat together yogurt, 1 cup sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Slowly pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients and stir gently to combine. Mix in canola oil until combined.
Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake in preheated oven for 45 – 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Meanwhile, combine remaining 1/3 cup sugar and 1/3 cup lemon juice in a small pan. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until sugar has dissolved. Set aside.
When cake is done, let cool in pan for 10 minutes before placing on a wire rack over a sheet pan . Using a toothpick, pierce top of cake several times. Pour lemon-sugar syrup over warm cake. Allow cake to cool completely.
To make the glaze: in a small bowl combine lemon juice and confectioners’ sugar and mix until smooth. Pour over cake.
There are two liquors I love – gin and whisky. Gin has been a favorite since my college years. I could almost always be found with a cup of gin and something in my hand. That lead to my nickname Ginni Li, a twist off my maiden name of Jenni Li. My love for whisky didn’t start until I had a whisky sour in Mexico on our honeymoon. One sour led to two… to three… Basically it was a drink an hour for the entire duration of our week-long honeymoon.
This particular version of the drink changed my view on whisky sours. Never again will a bar-made whisky sour of Kessler and sour mix taste good. I’m kind of upset that I made these because it’s ruined all other whisky sours to me. Nothing will ever match up to the deliciousness of this drink. Ever.
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup whiskey
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
ice cubes
maraschino cherries
Combine sugar with 1 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and chill.
Combine whiskey, lemon juice, lime juice, and 2/3 cup of the sugar syrup in a cocktail shaker. Place 3 – 4 cubes of ice into shaker and shake for 15 seconds. Pour into glasses. Garnish with maraschino cherries and serve cold.
I had no idea something as simple as a s’more could be so good. I’ll be honest – s’mores have never been that good to me. When we go camping, I usually pass on making them for a few reasons: 1) I’m not patient enough to toast the marshmallow ~perfectly~, 2) the effort put into making them was too much for me, 3) they just didn’t taste that good. I was much happier just skewering a marshmallow, torching it, and then popping the burnt morsel into my mouth.
All that said, I couldn’t wait to share this with you. So imagine my horror when I started typing on my laptop only to find out that my space, N and B keys don’t work. I started copy/pasting those letters and wrote out a couple sentences when it hit me – type it on my iPad! Duh. It’s still slower than typing on a keyboard, but a lot faster than having to paste in all my Bs, Ns, and spaces.
So, why is this s’mores recipe so good? I think it’s the addition of the grilled banana. Or maybe it’s the fact that all I had to do to make them was stand by the grill. I will admit that I spent about 90% of my 11 mile run on Sunday thinking about these bad boys. I told Mike that every mile I ran = 1 s’more. (Note: I didn’t end up eating 11 s’mores yesterday… but I kind of wish I had). So, here you go. Enjoy this supremely gooey, delicious mess.
Grilled Banana S’mores makes 4
1 medium ripe banana
1 teaspoon brown sugar
4 graham crackers, halved
1 .5 ounce bar of milk chocolate, broken into 4 pieces
4 large marshmallows
Heat grill to medium.
Lay banana flat. Cut a slit down length of banana. Sprinkle brown sugar into the opening. Grill banana for 5 minutes, or until brown sugar is bubbling. Remove from grill and let cool slightly. Peel and slice into 1/2 inch pieces.
Lay graham crackers down on grill. Top 4 crackers with chocolate and 4 crackers with marshmallows. Cover grill and cook until chocolate is melted and marshmallows are softened.
Place sliced bananas on chocolate and place marshmallow cracker on top. Serve immediately.
Okay, so I’m a bit of a bad dietitian. I don’t eat fish once a week. Or even once a month, honestly. I can’t really tell you why. I like it, but it just never seems to make it into my menu plan. I almost always have a salmon and tilapia in my freezer, but I very rarely reach for it when I’m putting dinner together. Hmm. Something’s gotta change. To start us off? This delicious salad. This salad isn’t your traditional mostly-lettuce salad. Don’t get me wrong – I love my mostly veggie salads. I eat one for lunch every day during the work week. But sometimes a basic veg salad just doesn’t hit the spot. But this salad most definitely does. It is chock-full of all sorts of goodies from salmon to artichoke hearts to feta to… well, everything I love. I made this again a couple weeks later and forgot the feta and it still tasted great. Best of all, it was super easy to put together. From start to finish, it only took about 20 minutes.
for the dressing: 1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
for the salad:
1 pound salmon filet
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 cup orzo
1/2 cup kalamata olives, halved
1 bell pepper, chopped (~3/4 cup)
1/2 red onion, chopped (~3/4 cup)
5 ounces feta, crumbled
14 ounce can of artichoke hearts, quartered
2 cups spring salad mix
dressing (see above)
To make the dressing: whisk all ingredients together and set aside.
To make the salad: Preheat broiler to high. Sprinkle salmon with salt, pepper, and oregano. Place under broiler and cook for 5 minutes, or until center is cooked.
Cook orzo according to package directions. Drain and place into a large bowl. Pour 1/4 cup dressing over pasta and gently toss. Add in olives, bell pepper, red onion, feta, artichoke hearts, and salad mix to orzo and toss to combine.
Flake salmon with two forks and place on top of salad. Serve with additional dressing on the side.
I. love. fries. Like, really love fries. I like to pretend that I’m not fully aware of how bad they are for you and always get fries at restaurants. Well, not always… more like 90% of the time. The last time I turned down fries was a couple months ago at a German restaurant. I opted for liver dumpling soup instead :-P. The last time I was out and had an option, Mike and I were in Milwaukee. I could choose between cottage cheese, fruit, or fries. I actually asked about the fruit first, but it had cantaloupe in it and I found out about a year ago that whenever I eat cantaloupe my throat and ears get really itchy. So… that wasn’t going to happen again. Long story short, I chose fries.
I could have fries with every meal and be happy. In fact, I could have fries as my meal and be happy.
Yup.
That’s what I did. I made a meal out of these and I don’t regret it one bit.
Baked Sweet Potato Chili Cheese Fries adapted from Joy the Baker
Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 425°F. Lightly grease two large baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
Cut sweet potato into 1/4-inch slices. Stack slices and then slice lengthwise into 1/4-inch strips. Repeat with remaining sweet potatoes to cut fries.
In a medium bowl, whisk together corn starch, chili powders, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, ground cumin, and chipotle chile pepper powder.
In a medium bowl, toss fries with olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, and grill seasoning. Sprinkle cornstarch mixture over fries and toss to combine.
Divide potatoes between the two prepared baking sheets. Bake for 30 minutes, flipping every 10 minutes, until fries are crispy. Sprinkle with cheese and return to oven for about 2 minutes or until cheese is melted. Remove from oven and place fries onto serving platter. Sprinkle with jalapeño slices and green onions and serve hot.
Is there such thing as too much kimchi? I don’t think so. Or at least I haven’t reached that point yet. Today I have yet another kimchi dish. This time, in sandwich form. Yeah, you read the title right. It’s a grilled cheese sandwich with kimchi. Grilled kimcheese. See what I did there?
So, this dish doesn’t really need a recipe because nothing is easier to cook than grilled cheese, but… why not? I just had to. Imagine it: ooey, gooey cheese with crunchy, tangy, spicy kimchi.
Grilled Kimcheese Sandwich makes 2 sandwiches
1/4 cup unsalted butter
4 slices sourdough bread
1/2 cup kimchi, chopped
4 ounces havarti cheese, sliced
Heat a large pan over medium heat.
Butter bread slices with butter on one side and place 2 of them in the pan butter side down.
Distribute the 1/4 of the cheese onto each bread slice in the pan. Top with 1/4 cup kimchi, remaining cheese, and the remaining 2 slices of sourdough bread, butter side up.
Cook for 1 minute or until golden brown and cheese has started to melt. With a spatula, flip sandwiches and cook until other side is golden brown and cheese is completely melted. Serve immediately.
Have you ever eaten something so good that you wanted nothing more than to eat it alone?
Not because you didn’t want people to distract you from the deliciousness, but because you were ashamed at the rate in which you were shoveling the food into your mouth.
No? Well, that happens to me once in a while. Most recently with these tacos. These tacos were a-ma-zing. One of my favorite ways to get kimchi into my mouth, I think. These tacos were so good that I couldn’t decide if one was enough. If I only had one that meant I would have more leftovers for future meals. But… one just wasn’t enough. And if I ate only one that meant I might have to share the leftovers with Mike. Hmm…
I mean, seriously. These tacos are the perfect balance of sweet, savory and crunchy. And they were super easy to cook.
Korean Steak & Mushroom Tacos with Kimchi adapted from Eating Well
Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.
Combine soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, mirin, gochujang, and garlic in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Cover and keep warm.
Add oil to heated pan and cook steak until browned and desired level of doneness is reached (I cooked about 3 minutes on each side). Remove from pan and set on cutting board to rest for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, add mushrooms to skillet and cook until heated through and slightly soft, about 1 – 2 minutes on each side. Remove mushrooms from skillet and slice. Slice steak across the grain. Add steak and mushrooms to sauce and stir to combine.
To assemble tacos, divide and steak and mushrooms among the tortillas. Top with chopped kimchi, shredded carrots, and scallions.
Ok, now get off your computer/iPad/phone and go to the grocery store and pick up the ingredients you need to make this. Then, kick everyone out of your house and eat in silence and with reckless abandon.
DoughSeeDough 