Upside Down Ideas

Upside down cakes! Wow, that was a brilliant invention! It makes it so much easier to make spectacular cakes, especially fruity ones!

The classic pineapple is what I'll be making later this week. But There is a whole world of opritunaty in the upside down area. Berrys, banana-chocolate, chocolate chip, citrus, apple, or even just brown sugar and nuts!

The recipes always follow a basic pattern, the messy good stuffs goes at the bottom of the pan, and a basic cake recipe goes on top. Best your cake include extra eggs, like 3, due to the variations I've seen of one not rising well. 

I'll be posting my madness methods and plenty of pics upon completion of my P.U.D.C. (Pineapple Upside Down Cake). For now, our pineapple must further ripen. Its likely I'll be going GF on this one. Heads up. Hugs!

Bestest Brownies - Part 2

LANI'S DARK FUDGE (GF) BROWNIES

Hi, Have you met me? My name is Lani and I can not EVER leave well enough alone! Even if I get rave reviews from everyone, and hubby loves it, I must continue trying to PERFECT it. This "it" was my brownies. I desired them to be more brownie-ish and slightly toned down on the "punch you in the face fudge" texture. But still deeply chocolately. 

THESE ARE 100% GLUTEN FREE! YIPPY! 

But not 100% guilt free, lol, dark as they are, there is sugar and crisco/butter involved! 

3 eggs

1 cup white

3 tbsp dark brown

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup Pamela's GF Baking mix

1/2 cup butter/crisco

+ 1 tbsp butter or oil ...

to add in melting chocolate if desired

2 oz semi and 2 oz unsweetened chocolate chopped

(or even one ounce more if you like)

1/4 cup dark cocoa powder

large pinch of salt

nuts, add ins and espresso or coffee optional.

pre heat oven to 400

prepare square pan with foil tightly wrapped both ways, spray.

set up your double boiler, once water in pot boils turn off - add glass bowl on top and put in chocolate. stir stir stir. on the side, sift together flour, salt, and cocoa. set aside. keep eye on slowly melting chocolate. now cream together butter, and sugars, until ...well ...creamy, lol. then add vanilla and eggs, mix together. add flour mix in parts, stiring in, then slowly stir in melted chocolate. 

pour into prepared pan and cook, 25 mins. (varies by pan, oven, altitude, etc) test with toothpick, quickly, then cover with foil. let sit 30 mins, then remove, wrap with plastic and let cont cooling to the touch with saran wrap. cut with pizza cutter or knife, whatever. wrap well, and save or serve. 

serve warmed with cold vanilla icecream, yum!

GF Snickerdoodles!

SNICKERDOODLES

Yup! I decided to make some super yummy slightly crispy and chewy SNICKERDOODLES, GF! I BASICALLY followed the LAND O LAKES RECIPE  but though I did stray SLIGHTLY, I'd suggest to follow theirs. As I do not recall what exactly what it was I did. I forgot to note it. 

PICS

NOTE : WATCH FOR BROWNING! Do not let them get to brown. Though they still taste great (like cinnamon toast crunch) It takes away some of the chewy texture.

the end!

Quick and Easy, Diet Friendly Treats

Quick Foods, That WON'T Bust Your Diet!

It is said by many that we should eat more than 3 times per day. Admitably, this is not easy to do! Three times fits better in a busy schedule than 6 does!  Espcially with the "every 2 hours" and "no eating 2-3 hours before bed" rules adding to it. And if that was not enough, your trying to "stay healthy", for whatever reason. Be it intolerance, diet, fitness, illness, etc. So now you gotta fit all these rules together in a timely neat lil' package!

Easier said than done!

there are however, a few things I can reccomend to those of you who are ok with the types of foods I'll be listing. Who are likely to be on a lesser restrictive diet or plan. 

Like...

Nuts

Try them mixed with things. Many kinds many flavors, and unless your allergic to all nuts, most people have at least one they like to eat. Nuts are loaded with (listen carefuly to the first ford here..) HEALTHY fats. YES THATS RIGHT - HEALTHY! Your body actually NEEDS fats to function properly, so don't hold out on it! These fats help digestion, brain power, hair/skin/nails, blood cholestoral levels, and more! 

Ideas? I like a simple quick fix, I mix 2/3 (or up two twice as much) Emeralds Cocoa Roast Almonds, with Ghirardelli's 60% Cocoa Chocolate Chips in a baggie and munch away! You can either set up serving size amount by calories, or, like me, just munch (or "graze") whenever you get a chocolate craving. This method can be applied to all kinds of mixes! Look up recipes for ideas. Like almond cherry granola mix. Or walnuts and dried fruit. Peanuts are full of protien so through them in. Toasted, shelled, seasoned, whatever you like! 

Fruit and Wine? 

According to the show "The Doctors", one of the healthiest (as well romantic, yummy and enjoyable) snacks you can eat, esp ladies, is chocolate (pref dark) dipped fruit and red wine. You can chocolate dip just about any fruit for this. Or just eat the fruit fresh with the wine. For added calcium you can pick a matching cheese (you can pick healthy like mozzarella, swiss, feta, etc.) , especially since fruit is not very filling. Very hydrating and great for your skin and body, but not filling. But if your watching calories, you can stick to just the fruit and wine if you would prefer. 

Spread and crackers

Get yourself some great crackers, be they wheat, multigrain, seed, butter, soda crackers, or graham. You can put everything from various nut butters to various dips. Or even pita chips, or other chip variety  There are yogurt dips, tuna spreads, veggies spreads and dips, bean dips, hummus, onion dip, even healthy versions of various cheese dips. Just about anything can be made into a dip or spread. Bananas and a couple other fruits like avocado, most veggies like squash, pumpkin, sweet potato, onion, spinach, corn even, most meats, all cheeses, and any beans available just about! Also, anything can be added into a dip. Nuts, fruits, veggies, whatever! So you can either buy some or look up recipes and make your own. Either way, with so many options it shouldn't be hard to stay within your diet/plan rules if you must!

Smoothie

Smoothies are relatively simple. Loud, but simple - and fairly quick to boot.

A simple smoothie is basically made up of fruit, yogurt and juice/milk.

Smoothie recipes can be found far and wide! you can made chocolate, pb, even veggie ones... eew, but you could. Healthy (if you make it that way) and yummy!

Grab and Go?

Try pre-packaged items, or easy to grab fruit. There are a wide assortment of healthy "bars" you can find. Even the picky people can often find one that fits them. Or make if you can't! there are recipes! There are vita-cookies and muffins. There are low-no sugar packaged fruits. Or just the real deal fresh! Fresh veggies can be a grab and go if there are ones you like. Example, celery, carrots, radishes (hubby eats them raw), etc. We enjoy pre-packaged mozzarella sticks (string cheese) as a great grab and go. There are nutrition shakes, liquid food i guess you can call it, like ensures or special k's version. Pre-packaged crackers (healthy), or nuts. Just make sure you steer clear of tempting processed fat filled options! 

Salads

these CAN be quick and easy! Unless your my husband! (acts like each one he makes is going to a photoshoot or art gallery...takes FOREVER placing EAH peace JUST SO. lol) 

Start with a basic leaf and add anything! Fruit, other veggies, cheese, meats, breads, beans, nuts, seeds, etc. Then top with a dressing that won't turn this salad into the calorie equivant or a big mac, and TADA!

ALSO, salads can be made of fruits, beans, eggs, meats, and pastas. so just look up ideas or play! Keep in mind your trying to be healthy!

Dessert anyone?

Not all desserts have to be evil! There are so many people out there creating ways to eat dessert healthy! Like the above Black Forest Trifle, for example! an easy quick fix! Get healthy brownies, berries, whipped cream and sugar free dark chocolate pudding and its easy peazy! One of my faves is to take the whip cream and sugar free pudding and make instant mousse! 

There are pre-packaged healthy desserts everywhere now. Most common ones say "100 calorie" or "low fat" or something on them. Or google search healthy dessert recipes (or click that) and it can open a world of new recipes and ideas! Even if its simply buying soy icecream or frozen low fat yogurt. In fact the ice cream isle has a few lines of healthy options! Or try this - Eating Well has a list of quick and healthy ideas! So don't limit yourself!

I hope that this has helped you see that the two or three missing meals from your schedule do NOT have to be a burden or unpleasant. They can be simple, quick and yummy!

Have a blessed day!

LD

Cooky Cheesecake - Experiment

Becca's B day Cheesecake, by Lani, Cookie Cheesecake

Well, lets discuss this before I reveal my recipes. 1st off, I need to do a few things differently next time. I did some reading about the perfect cheesecake tips, and realized I did a few things wrong. Which is why my cheesecakes texture was not as flawless dense and smooth. 

Recipes?

My inspiration came from pictures, but I could find no recipe. So I used "Cheesecake Factory Reciipe" I got from ABC News. as my base cheesecake part. and decided on The recipe on the bag for Pams Baking Mix as my cookie crust. I added frozen cookie dough bites to the top of the cheesecake also. The cheesecake had fantastic flavor. And being that I have never done this I decided not to play with the recipe this time. Though I did use some tips from Williams sonoma also. Jacob loved the cheesecake part, but likes chocolate chip cookies without chocolate chips more, so he let us eat the cookie part. 

I already know the changes I need to make, and where I went wrong. The cream cheese only set out like under an hour. So it was not really blending well, so i had to mix more than I wanted, resulting in air in the batter. Also, resulting in unmixed "lumps" (small) so that it was not like the texture of store bought, but more how most ppl cook it from home. Also, I need to develop a plan for the cookie crust. I left it not fully cooked when adding the mixture, knowing it would be cooking further an hour with the cheesecake, but it slid from under the mixture to the sides. Still yummy, but made the cheesecake harder to serve. 

I won't stop till I achieve what I consider THE PERFECT CHEESECAKE. So any chance I get, any reason, I will try to make one to perfect my technique. After my reading, I feel more confident about the next one. 

All in all, A SUPER DELICIOUS EXPERIMENT! Everyone loved it so much it was gone in under two days! I made it that night, then it was gone by the next evening. So I'm glad that even though it was not a 10 in appearance that everyone apparently thought it about that in taste! YAY!

XOXO

LANI D

Cookie Dough Cheesecake?

Monkey (my lil' sister....who is bigger than me by 2.5 inches...lol) is having a bday the 8th of august. She knows how much my familt enjoys cooking, each one of us, and is going to milk it for all its worth via two bday dinners. 1 at Tina and Dans with smoked salmon and a mystery dessert featuring cherries. 2 a la Lani (me) at my mothers house feauting the star of the show ... a cookie dough cheeecake.

Looks rather rich, but I love cookies and cheesecake! Now to figure out HOW. Most of the pictures I find that look right do not include recipes, not to mention, I am only willing to work with the cheesecake recipes I have been researching. To get the "store bought" results. Alot of recipes use no cook cheesecake. But I want real cheesecake.

My dilima lies in the cookie "dough" staying that way, and still cooking the cheesecake. Also, the crust being cooked but not over cooked. I'm sure I'll crack it by the time its due. I still need to plan a dinner menu as well. I'm thinking Spicy Molasses Glazed Chicken, some kind of Risotto or Mashed Sweet Potatos, and a simple Mandarin Salad (with baby spinach and raddicho, nuts maybe pecans or almonds, and cheese like goat, feta or asiago.)

I'll have to think about it some more though.

I'll update!

Brownie Points For Perfection

Please excuse the fact I still sometimes use my awful cell's (chocolate touch) camera to take some of the pictures for my blogs. I often misplace my sony dig cam. I did find it this time though.

BROWNIES....

They take time, effort and love.

But you will get in what you put out. My brownies, don't judge me, are semi-GF. Being that I am playing with recipes for "from scratch" brownies (dense fudgy flakey slightly chewy being about the hardest of brownie types to get perfect), I did not feel safe swimming in such deep unfamiliar waters without a life preserver. So I mixed half n half all purpose normal flour with bobs red mill all purpose flour. So consider them...

 "LOW GLUTEN" BROWNIES.

Official name for my creation? Hmmm lets just say...

(REDUCED GLUTEN) DECADENT SALTED BROWNIES

or.... FUDGY FRIDGE BROWNIES

Salted you ask? Yes. In most gourmet recipes, for high quality chocolate treats, often times grey salt or fine sea salt is sprinkles on top to enhance the flavor of the chocolate. My recipe does this to, at the end, but before cooking. This recipe is made up a mostly two recipes, but ideas from researching many. The main two sources were "Williams Sonoma - Hazel Nut Brownies" and "Americas Test Kitchen - Chewy Fudgy Triple Chocolate Brownies". I combined both methods.

Example. One said melt butter with chocolate, one said whip butter until fluffy, I did both, half one half the other. Which was necessary after other alterations were made. Adding the cocoa powder to the melted chocolates was a spur of the moment choice, I was unsure about. It thickened the melted Chocolate mixture to much, so I had to melt half the butter along with it to thin it back out to a deep chocolate frosting texture. (slightly thinner) But required the other half of the butter to be whipped to help soften the sugar I would be adding.

*** slowly melted chocolate will be shiney ***

The eggs were also a compromise. One recipe said "2", one said "3". I did two and one yolk. Odd decision I know but its what I decided on.

With ALL the changes, it resulted in by far the most delicious brownie batter I've ever tasted! Nay, the yummiest of ANY chocolate batter. And I'm not the batter eating type. Though I adore pound cake batter (b4 eggs) but that's really just sugar and butter so who wouldn't?

ANY WAYS! MY RECIPE! LETS SHARE! (before I forget what I did....)

4 oz semi sweet chopped

2 oz unsweetened chopped

3 tbsp cocoa powder
2 whole eggs, 1 yolk

1 cup white sugar

3 tbsp brown sugar

1 stick of unsalted butter, sliced into pats

3/4 cup flour or flour blend (read above)

1 tsp vanilla

pinch or two of table salt

optional:

large pinch or two of fine quality sea salt

nuts, chocolate chips, etc for adding in batter if desire (not me this time)

- preheat over to 350, line your preferred sized pan with foil, I used square 8" pan - metal. Glass cooks longer. Spray foil with nonstick spray.

- set up a double boiler. boil water, then turn off. in bowl add chopped chocolate, both kinds, and stir. add half of the butter and cocoa powder, keep stirring until well mixed and melted. remove from heat. set aside to cool. (another option would be to sift cocoa podwer in with flour and only melt chocolate, or chocolate and butter. Might try that next time, I'm sure theres no differance.)

- beat the rest of the butter pats until fluffy, then add in sugars. beat until see "beads" them keep beating another min until well mixed. add eggs and vanilla. beat for another min.

- flour and salt sifted together. add 1/4 or 1/3 into mixture. beat together. add 1/3 chocolate mixture. beat. continue altering flour mix and chocolate until all mixed in ... WELL.

- Pour batter in greased pan. Spread, then sprinkle option sea salt evenly across top. place in oven 20-25 mins (i did twenty, next time will do twenty five). Do not test with toothpick, this does not work with fudgy brownies.

- remove from oven, cover and let cool for at least an hour. Best if after that hour, you place safely in fridge to "set" and continue cooling. This long period helps not only "set" the brownies, but ensures the likelihood of a nice flaky top. YUM!

TO SERVE, USE FOIL TO PULL OUT OF PAN. REMOVE FOIL, THEN CUT.

(I used big long rocking pizza cutter/slicer)

do not know the cals. But its brownies, so prob 200-300 according to size.
Wrap idividulaay and they will last days in the fridge. weeks in freezer.

Quickie ....

I promised my sexy army hubby when he got home from his drill this weekend I'd make him fried chicken and brownies. No, not in one meal. Brownies for dessert silly.

I wanted to make my mac n cheese with it too, but alas, we are out of some ingridients. If I can get hubby to pick up some of the things I'm missing on his way home I might. Or mash potatos (not suppose to have according to lood type diet, but once in awhile its ok.)

The brownies, from scratch - not box, I will be using my recipe that I created after researching some super fudgey recipes. Though, since I just got a Williams Sonoma cook book (a few actually) with a great chewy fudgey brownie recipe, I might compare mine to it. I adore W S!

Tomorrow I will post pictures, etc, about the brownies. And the fried chicken maybe as well. It will probably be in the afternoon, when hubs is at work. I like to give him my full attention when he is home. I feel like its part of being a good wife.

Anyway, I will keep you posted.

Macaroni N' ... Pleeeeeease

Gluten Free and Blood Type Diet together make mac'n cheesin a bit more difficult than usual. I am known for my version of Fannie Farmers Classic Baked Blue Ribbon Macaroni n' Cheese. I kick it up several notches! But, its harder when My cheeses are soooooo restricted, AND being gluten free.



my baked mac with smoked gouda, cheddar, and cheese-its crust.



NOW, I must share. Share the fantastic news of quino pasta. Oh how yummy. Its got a naturally buttery noodle taste. That and the fact I cheat on cheese with allowing myself to have 1/3 less fat cream cheese. Those two items open the world of baked mac back open for me.

I tested it with much succsess and rave reviews as a stove top version. Still have not tested it with baked but am sure it will turn out. I'll let you know. :)

The cheat secret is using the cream cheese with heavy cream or half n half heat it up, then mix in feta. Do not mix the feta in with the temp tooooooo hot, or it might react badly. medium med-low heat is best. the lowest meltable temp. then you can leave it there or kick it up with salt, red pepper and a pinch of mustard powder.

That sauce will taste alot like cheddar sauce, but with a bit more refined of a pallette. Mix that directly with the noodles, opting to add extra shredded cheese with it of your choice if you'de like. Or you can mix that put it in a dish cover with crumbs and bake. your choice.

Dying to try it! Will let you know. :)

xoxo

ld

GF Chocolate Chip Cookies (Short post)

Chocolate Chip Cookies (GF)

The link above will take you to the originating recipe. Very good recipe. Only changes I made were adding 1 tsp of unflavored gelatin (pectin works also, or agar agar) and used Pamelas Baking and Pancake mix as the gf flour blend. Meaning I had no need to add the xanthan gum, baking soda, or baking powder. I added maybe a tablespoon or so extra brown sugar and a tablespoon scant (less) of white sugar. I used crisco, I don't tend to keep butter around is the only reason. This meant I added a bit extra water as instructed by the containers instructions.

But by all else I pretty much went by the rules. I used Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate chips. And removed 6 cookies worth of batter for plain cookies (hubby requested). I assure you one bag of chips is quite enough. To much almost, if you remove batter, as I did.

Very very very very VERY good cookies!

Super yum!

I was bad and had 4 the first day and one for breakfast! lol

<3

LD