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#Cultivate2012 Foodie Friday — Cultivate Style

Foodie Friday — Cultivate Style: Food nourishes us. Some foods give us more enjoyment than others. Some foods leave us feeling less than ourselves. What foods nourished your soul and body this year? What food choices can you make in 2013 to cultivate more self-care?

This year I learned how to make do with rice and potatoes. I gave up gluten for Lent in February as an experiment to see if my body had a reaction to gluten. On Easter, I discovered without any doubts that gluten negatively affects my digestive health. It was bittersweet because I’ve always loved bread and pasta — but they didn’t love me back. Along with this lifestyle change, I lost 20 pounds. It’s hard to believe I’ve been carrying around that much bloat! While it sounds difficult or like a fad, I’m actually comfortable without gluten. I treat it the way a diabetic treats sugar, a person with high cholesterol treats saturated fats and cholesterol, and a hypertension patient treats salt. I treat it how a person with food allergies would treat their allergens. It’s not a “diet.” It’s a not a “trend” to me. It’s a better quality of life.

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#FoodieFriday Salted Chocolate Bark with Almonds

 

I was struck by a very specific chocolate craving the other day, and I happened to have leftover chocolate chips from a snack mix I made. It’s super simple.

Salted Chocolate Bark with Almonds
1 cup chocolate chips or pieces
1/2 tsp salt
slivered almonds (add desired amount)

Grease a small cookie sheet, plate, or whatever you’ve got lying around. Line it with wax paper. Grease the wax paper. Put the chocolate chips/ pieces in a microwave safe bowl (or a double boiler if you desire), and sprinkle on the salt. Heat the chocolate chips for 1 minute. Stir. Heat for another 30 seconds. Stir in the slivered almonds. Spread the mixture across the wax paper. Chill in the freezer for 5-10 minutes. Break into pieces and enjoy! See? Super fast, and super simple — so fast and simple that I never captured a picture. Oops!

 

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#FoodieFriday Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes

Last week I promised my daughter that if she behaved in school we’d bake cupcakes. She complied, so I invited her into the kitchen to bake some peppermint mocha cupcakes.

Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes (Adapted from Healthy Indulgences [Yes, I love playing with this recipe!])

1 can of drained, rinsed black beans
5 large eggs
2 tsps peppermint extract
1/2 tsp salt
3/8 cup coconut oil (or butter or oil of your choosing)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tbsp instant coffee granules
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Put the beans, 3 eggs, extract, and salt into the food processor. Puree that mixture for a good two minutes. Add the remaining two eggs, oil, and sugar. Puree for another minute or so. Add the dry ingredients. Puree it until smooth and combine. Pour the batter into a lined cupcake pan (trust me — now is NOT the time to skimp on the cupcake liners!). Put the pan in the oven for 20 minutes. Allow the cupcakes to cool before frosting.

Peppermint Mocha Frosting

1 stick of butter (8tbsps, 4oz), sliced
1 cup melted mint chocolate pieces
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp coffee extract

Cream the butter and melted chocolate until smooth. Add the sugar, cocoa, and extract. Whip until smooth and fluffy. Frost your cupcakes.

peppermintmocha

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#FoodieFriday Apple Mascarpone Cobbler

One day last month it occurred to me that there should be an apple and cheese cobbler. I took to the Internet like I usually do when I come up with a brilliant idea. Most of the time, my “brilliant ideas” are brilliant ideas that other people already came up. In this case? Not so! Apples and cheese pair well in so many other recipes, but I couldn’t seem to find a recipe that paired apples with a good dessert cheese in a cobbler recipe. I decided to create my own and selected the ultimate dessert cheese — mascarpone. The result? A delicious treat just perfect for the fall harvest!

Crust
½ cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups ground gluten free rice krispies
1 tbsp baking powder
1 pinch of sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp cloves
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp ginger

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together dry ingredients in a bowl. Set aside. Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in milk and egg. Mix in the dry ingredients. Put half the crust on a greased 9×13 pan. (Or you could split the recipe between 2 pie pans or 2 8×8 pans.)

Apple Filling
8 small apples, peeled, cored, and sliced*
⅔ cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Sprinkling of cloves, nutmeg, and ginger

Stir together apples, sugar, and spices. Pour over the cobbler crust.

*I used 8 small macintosh apples, which produced a ridiculous amount of apples. Feel free to scale back on the apples if you wish.

Mascarpone Filling
8oz mascarpone
1 egg
½ cup heavy cream
½ cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 pinch of sea salt

Beat together mascarpone and egg. Beat in cream, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Pour over apples. Put the reserved cobbler crust over the top.

Streusel Topping (From Southern Living)
½ cup butter
⅔ cup brown sugar
⅔ cup grounded rice krispies
1 tsp cinnamon
Sprinkling of cloves, nutmeg, and ginger

Cream butter and sugar together. Beat in ground krispies and spices. Put on top of the cobbler. Bake for 40 minutes, or until golden brown.

Salted Caramel Sauce (Lifted entirely from Nadia G.)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup unsalted butter
Pinch of sea salt

Using a food processor, pulverize the granulated sugar into fine powder or dust. In a pot, heat the water over medium heat. As the water begins to slowly heat, carefully pour the pulverized sugar into the center of the pot, creating a mound. Do not touch or mix the sugar into the water, let it dissolve on its own. Once the sugar-water begins to boil, keep a close eye on it: in a few minutes the water will boil away and then the sugar will begin to boil. Watch closely, the second the molten sugar begins to turn a light brown or caramel color, take it off the heat and add the whipping cream and butter. [Nadia G’s] Note: Careful, it will spatter. Whisk the mixture until smooth. Add a big pinch of fleur de sel and whisk to incorporate. [Meredith’s Note]: Melt the butter in the molten sugar first — I end up with rock sugar stuck to my whisk if I don’t!

Serve the cobbler with salted caramel sauce — and ice cream and/ or whipped cream and more caramel sauce!

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#FoodieFriday Field Trip!

So, I was going to post pictures of our lunch and dessert at Chocolate Therapy Cafe, but I both forgot the camera and forgot about taking pictures while enjoying the food, service, and company. Instead, here’s a picture of me enjoying some delicious pumpkin cheesecake! Let me reassure you that it was like mixing pumpkin pie into cheesecake, smooth, creamy, and spiced. The chai latte washed it down perfectly. And for the record, my exposed fang/ snaggle-tooth indicates my sincere pleasure.

Foodie Friday Goof

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#TuesdayTreat Gluten Free Chocolate Gingerbread

Right, so I got lazy over the past few days, but I figured out a great save — the Tuesday Treat! I baked some very delicious mocha spice cupcakes a few weeks ago and came up with a great idea — gluten free chocolate gingerbread. While I’m not ready to share my mocha spice recipes with the world yet, I am ready to adapt a recipe I’ve been enjoying since March.

Chocolate Gingerbread (Adapted from Healthy Flourless Chocolate Cake)
1 15 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
5 large eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup oil (or 1 stick of butter)
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1.5 tsps ginger
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a loaf pan. Put drained and rinsed beans, 3 eggs, vanilla, and salt into a food processor or blender. Crank it to high and run the machine into you’ve got a liquified concoction in the bowl of the processor (or blender). Add the other eggs, sugar, molasses, and oil. Turn on the processor/ blender again. Put your dry ingredients in, and blend it again. Pour the batter into the greased loaf pan. Bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes. Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool. Makes 12 slices.

GFchocogingerbread

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#FoodieFriday Gluten Free Pumpkin Cupcakes

Whoops! Never scheduled this in time, so let’s have Foodie Friday on Saturday! Today I’m moving to a different department at work, so I brought in some cupcakes to say goodbye to my co-workers. I decided to make gluten free pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting since it’s getting closer to autumn. Now, I’m going to admit to you right up front: gluten free baking can be very expensive in terms of buying flour substitutes. The boxed mixes are more expensive than regular boxed mixes, but they’re an easy alternative for me — especially since I live in a rural community. So, I decided to start with a simple gluten free yellow cake mix. Here’s what I did to turn a pre-made mix into a delectable delight:

1 box gluten free cake mix (15oz)
4 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 can pumpkin puree (15oz)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cardamom

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake pan (or 2, if you’re living the good life with a big kitchen) with liners. Beat the eggs and oil. Add the pumpkin, vanilla, and spices. Beat until combine. Pour in the box mix and whisk gently until combine. Carefully ladle the batter into the liners, using about half the mixture. Bake for 25 minutes. Set them to cool on a wire rack and re-line your cupcake pan (or be finished if you had 2 pans to start with). Bake the rest of the batter — you should have 24 cupcakes from this recipe.

Now, I may have used a boxed mix to make my cupcakes, but I didn’t get lazy when it came to the frosting. Here’s what I do to make my cream cheese frosting:

1 8oz bar of cream cheese, softened
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup, 4oz), softened
1/2-1 cup of powdered sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Using a hand- or stand-mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter together on medium-low until combine. Turn OFF the mixer. Add in your powdered sugar. Carefully turn the mixer on low until the sugar is mostly combined. Pour in the vanilla and beat on medium until smooth, creamy, and whipped in appearance.

Frost your cupcakes. Sprinkle the tops with cinnamon for a nice touch, if you wish.

pumpkincupcake

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#Reverb11: Foodie Friday, Reverb Style

Foodie Friday, Reverb Style: Food nourishes us. Some foods give us more enjoyment than others. Share your favorite food moment of 2011. Describe the food, where you got it, and/ or how you made it.

Here we go again: chocolate. Yes, I’m going to talk to you about chocolate again. Moreover, I’m going to talk about Chocolate Therapy Cafe again. What can I say — that chocolate cobbler was just the most amazing food find of 2011. I had decided that once I finished tutoring my student, my husband and I would split some chocolate cobbler and get some coffees. They call their half hot chocolate/ half coffee drink a “chocolate au lait,” and you can get different flavors added to it. Our server warmed up a portion of chocolate cobbler, topped it with fresh whipped cream and chocolate sauce, and brought it out to us. If you’ve ever had molten chocolate lava cakes, this trumps those. The flavor, texture, and warmth of the chocolate cobbler brings a big smile to my face. It makes me giddy like a child. It’s a particularly special dessert, though, and I only order it when my husband and I plan to split — even if he only plans to eat a bite or two.

I entered 2011 having no idea a cobbler didn’t need fruit, and now I’m going into 2012 wondering where chocolate cobbler had been all my life.

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[Foodie Friday] Turkey Soup

Thanksgiving typically yields tons of leftovers, but what about that turkey carcass? You can’t just toss out those bones — they’re packed with loads of delicious nutrients! Every year I take my leftover turkey carcass, break it up into smaller pieces, throw it in a pot of water, and boil it down into a tasty stock that welcomes December with warm bellies.

To make the stock:
Turkey carcass
3 stalks of celery
3 carrots
1 onion, quartered
2 or 3 cloves of garlic
3 bay leaves
A few peppercorns
1/4 tsp salt

Put your ingredients into a pot. Cover everything with water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for three or four hours. Skim the fat if using right away, forget about it if you’re not. (Refrigerating the stock will bring the fats to the top, forming a coating that can be easily removed when chilled.)

To make turkey soup:
Turkey broth
Leftover turkey meat
Veggies of your choosing
Potatoes (or noodles if you prefer)
Salt & pepper to taste

Simmer your soup on the stove, warming everything through. If you choose to add noodles, cook them separately to avoid them absorbing all your soup. Serve with crusty bread, leftover biscuits, crackers, or whatever suits your tastes.

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