Cake Batter Fudge & Apple Crisp

Sunday's weather was miserable... nasty rain and cold. I've run in the rain but nasty rain + cold? I decided to skip and avoid getting sick. The gym wasn't open yet so I decided to make some sweet treats (yeah replacing running with sweets makes no sense, I know!).

I had some apples so I made Healthified Apple Crisp (so good!). I put some frozen yogurt vanilla ice cream with this.

I also had been dying to try out Cake Batter Fudge. This is the easiest recipe ever! Warning: very, very sweet!

The apple crisp was gobbled up by Andy & I. I took the Cake Batter Fudge to work where it was definitely a hit!

I Gain 5lbs Just MAKING This...

I told you before I don't make a lot of the traditional dishes people love because I don't want mine to be compared to {insert name of mom, grandmother, aunt, etc.)'s version. But on Thanksgiving I decided to give a new Banana Pudding recipe a try... and I curse and praise that I did. This banana pudding rocks my world... my mouth loves it and my newly adapted healthy lifestyle hates it.

I will not make this dish unless I'm taking it to a party or having a group over... I force feed it to Andy if we have leftovers because I have NO willpower around this stuff. When I make it I lick the beaters, the bowl, the spoon, the counter... So there, I gave you fair warning before giving you this recipe that will give you love handles just looking at the dish.

AND I can't even take credit for the recipe. I'll just send you straight to the blog it came from.... but first let me give you my edits/tweaks/advice:

• I LOVE bananas, so I use 5-6 bananas. 
• USE a mixer when beating the cream cheese --- it doesn't show it or say it on the recipe, but do it. 
•  And go ahead, lick the bowl, you only live once.

Without further delay, here's the recipe: http://pearls-handcuffs-happyhour.blogspot.com/2010/06/momma-didnt-make-it-like-this.html

I've been wanting to try it with sour cream instead of cream cheese, but I just always happen to have extra cream cheese on hand and not sour cream {most likely due to the fact that Andy loves sour cream on everything...}.

Southern Favorites

I watch HIMYM and love the episode where Lilly goes to meet Marshall's family and his mom makes their favorite salad --- complete with Mayo and Doritos. Lilly is horrified....

That was/is pretty much my reaction to Andy's favorite salad, 7 Layer Salad.

I don't think it can be called a salad when it has a layer of mayo and a layer of bacon... I love some southern cooking but this is not one of those things I get.

I swore up & down I'd never make this salad... but I had extra lettuce on hand and Andy's squad had liked it when his mom made it to accompany my Thanksgiving day meal for them, so I broke down and made it.

At least it's pretty! I absolutely love this bowl (borrowed from Andy's mom)... I must find one similar!

I adapted my recipe from Andy's mom's recipe and added some different layers based on recipes I saw on the internet and what I had on hand. 

7 Layer "Salad"
Layer of Salad
Layer of Frozen Peas (not thawed... I don't even try to understand this recipe)
Layer of Red Peppers
Layer of Celery
Layer of Chopped Bacon (The one time I don't use turkey bacon, because this cannot be healthy anyways!)
Layer of Shredded Cheese (I used a three cheddar mix)
Layer of Mayo (tip from MIL, sprinkle with some sugar)
Layer of Tomatoes
Salt and Pepper layers as desired

This is one recipe I did not taste test... based on the fact that I hate mayo... but it gets Andy to consume a lot of veggies in one sitting so I guess it's worthwhile!

Cauliflower Mash - New Recipe!

People who have known me forever (like my mom, my BFF Lindsay, Andy, etc.) sometimes still get a good laugh out of: a) seeing me in the kitchen working away b) me telling them about a new recipe c) me making them try a new recipe. This is due to the fact that I hated cooking/baking/making anything (despite being President of FCCLA - aka politically correct version of Future Homemakers of America). I often told people how I would only marry a man that could (and would) cook (all of our meals). When I lived on my own in college I made a whole lot of cheese fries, frozen pizzas and spaghetti (without meat in the sauce, as Andy likes to point out).

I refused to touch raw meat. I had no real desire to make anything in the kitchen. And honestly, I have no idea when it all changed.

I remember when I first started handling raw meat (wearing rubber gloves! haha) and adding hamburger to my jar spaghetti sauce (I was 22). I'm not sure how I became such a housewife considering I didn't even know how to do laundry until I was 22 (ignorance is bliss people).

Now, I can not tell you how many days I spend hours straight in the kitchen. During the month of December I'm pretty sure I racked up some amazing numbers in my kitchen!

Yesterday I spent a good portion of the day making 7 Layer Salad, Jalapeno Corn Muffins, Taco Soup & Banana Pudding for Andy's squad for dinner. Today I tried out Cauliflower Mash and Potato Soup. I realized today, I had never boiled potatoes before (thank goodness for Google). I often find myself Googling how to do seemingly easy tasks in the kitchen (how to cut up a butternut squash...).

My mom gave me a head of cauliflower to use because she knew she wouldn't get around to it. She also told me (knowing my "healthified living kick") about being able to use Cauliflower to make something similar to mashed potatoes. Of course, I set out on Google looking for the easiest recipe.

Warning: I'm not much for complicated recipes that take 20+ ingredients. Especially, when I'm trying something completely different. If this recipe had been awful and I had thrown it away, I wouldn't have cost myself $20 on the ingredients too.

Garlic Cauliflower Mash

• 1 head cauliflower , separated into florets
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 garlic cloves , minced
• salt and pepper , to taste

1. Preheat oven to 300°F.
2. Steam cauliflower for 10 minutes, until soft enough to easily pierce with a fork. 
   Remove from heat & transfer to a food processor or blender. Process until smooth. Add milk, garlic, salt and pepper. Process until mixed.
3. Pour into 1-1/2 quart baking dish. Bake for 10 min., until top is slightly browned.

 

I adapted this recipe from others on the internet - since I had the ingredients on hand. I also baked mine for 10 minutes but didn't wait for it to brown, just to "set" to a better consistency. 

 

I was impressed and will definitely give cauliflower mash another try -- next time I'll add a few more ingredients and try a little twist on the recipes I saw online... now that I know it's worth the extra money!