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!

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!

Baked Southwest Eggrolls Cups

I love trying new recipes. But I have a few requirements for trying a new recipe: it cannot take too much prep time/hands on time AND it cannot require too many ingredients. And if there are more than say 6 ingredients, they all have to be pretty basic things. I cannot stand recipes that call for 20 ingredients, 10 of which I've never heard of.

Here is a new recipe I tried & messed up before starting... I accidentally bought won-ton wrappers instead of egg rolls so I made "cups" instead. Which I loved! I sprayed a mini-muffin pan with non-stick spray & then I placed one won-ton wrapper in each, added filling and baked (watch them closely, my oven gets very hot and it only took them about 5-6 minutes baking).  I also made regular size muffin cups by putting two won-ton wrappers in each normal size cup. Both turned out great. 

Let me know if you try it!

Baked Southwestern Egg Rolls

Ingredients:
2 cups frozen corn, thawed (I used one can of corn)
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (10 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
1 (4 oz.) can diced green chiles, drained (had to ask my mom where to find these in the grocery store -- thank God for her!)
4 green onions, chopped
1 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
1 package egg roll wrappers (about 24 total) (found the won-ton wrappers in produce)

Optional Toppings: 
Salsa
Sour Cream

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine everything but the egg roll wrappers.  Mix well to blend.  Lay an egg roll wrapper out on a work surface so that one of the corners is pointing toward you and place ¼ cup of the filling in the center.  Fold the tip closest to you up over the filling, roll a bit, then take the points pointing outward and fold them in toward the center.  Continue rolling into an egg roll shape until a small part of the remaining point is still free.  Dip a finger in water or beaten egg and lightly brush on the edges of the free corner.  Finish rolling and press to seal closed.  Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling. {Or do what I did and make cups with wonton wrappers!}

Preheat the oven to 425˚ F.  Lightly oil a baking sheet with cooking spray.  Place the sealed egg rolls on the baking sheet seam side down and spray the tops of the egg rolls with cooking spray.  Bake for about 15 minutes, or until lightly brown, turning halfway through baking.

Serve warm with salsa/sour cream/etc.