Chocolate Covered Animal Crackers

Tonight (literally about 20 minutes ago) I was sitting in my living room watching tv. My sweet tooth was screaming so I decided to raid the kitchen. Nothing. Well I mean, there was plenty if I didn't mind spending 6 hours at the gym tomorrow burning it off. So I looked to my left and saw a few chocolate cupcakes that my mom had brought home from work. Then I looked to my right and saw animal crackers. Animal crackers? Hmm...

I grabbed the huge tub of crackers I recently purchased at Sams Club and placed it on the counter. Staring at it for a few seconds, while racking my brain, I finally got it. Chocolate Chips! I rustled through the pots and pans to find the double boiler that sat underneath the cabinet. Then I quickly tore open the bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips and placed them in the top of the boiler. When the chocolate finally melted, I dipped the crackers one by one and delicately placed them on the wax paper. For a little twist, I even sprinkled some coconut on a few.

In the freezer they went for about 5 minutes until the chocolate hardened. Then out they came and now was the moment of truth. Did I just waste 10 minutes of my life on something that was only going to taste disgusting? And the answer to that was...NO! I can't even describe how amazing they were. Especially if you're trying to watch your weight and need something chocolately, these are the treats to curb your sweet tooth. Taking all of 10 minutes, the kids won't have to wait and I guarantee you'll be happy too. Enjoy these simply scrumptious treats!

Ingredients:

• Animal Crackers
• Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Directions:

• In a double boiler, add about 1 to 1.5 inches of water. Don't let it boil though. When you think it's about to start, then put the top with the chocolate chips on.
• Stir constantly until fully melted.
• One by one, dip the crackers in the chocolate and place on wax paper to dry.
• Then leave them in the freezer for about 5 minutes.

Heavenly Hummus

A few days ago, I decided to make my weekly trip to the local grocery store. I got a few things that I wanted needed to have as well as a few extras. As I was venturing down the section of fresh cheeses, I noticed the small area where the hummus was kept. I hadn’t had any for so long so I decided to pick up a jar to throw in my cart. I did some more shopping and found some great organic pita chips to go along with the jar of heaven I had just picked up and made my way to the front cash register. One by one, items were being rung up and then came time for the hummus. This was the one thing in the cart that I had been cooing over for the extent of my trip. The cashier rung it up and said “$7.99”. I thought I had just had a mini heart attack. Almost 8 dollars for a jar of crushed chick peas? I ended up buying it anyway but was utterly disgusted that I had just spent so much money. When I got home and finished unloading the groceries that I had just spent a small fortune on, I sat down to my computer. There were multiple recipes for hummus but none that I felt would be as good as the jar I had just bought. I surfed the web while munching on the pita chips and hummus only to find that the “jar of heaven” I had purchased wasn’t that great. Finally, I found a recipe that looked pretty good. I substituted some of my own ingredients and added a few extras that gave it a pizzazz effect. Homemade Hummus is a lot cheaper to make than to buy and in my opinion, better quality than store bought. Although this recipe does call for longer prep time than my usual recipes, it’s still really easy to make. See for yourself!

Ingredients

[4 extra-large bowls of Hummus]

1 cups dried chickpeas (the smallest you can find)

1/2 cup tahini

Juice from 1 squeezed lemons

1-2 garlic cloves

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 tablespoon + 1/8-1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Salt

Olive oil

Parsley

Directions

1. Poor the chickpeas over a large plate. Go over them and look for damaged grains small stones, or any other thing you would rather leave out of the plate.

2. Wash the chickpeas several times, until the water is transparent. Soak them in clean water over night with 1 tablespoon of baking soda. Then, wash it, and soak again in tap water for a few more hours. The grains should absorb most of the water and almost double their volume.

3. Wash the chickpeas well and put them in a large pot. Cover with water; add the rest baking soda and NO salt. Cook until the grains are very easily smashed when pressed between two fingers. It should take around 1-1.5 hours, during which it is advised to switch the water once again, and remove the peels and foam which float over the cooking water. When done, sieve the grains and keep the cooking water.

4. Put the chickpeas into a food processor and grind well. Leave it to chill a little while before you continue.

5. Add the tahini and the rest of the ingredients and go on with the food processor until you get the desired texture. If the Humus is too thick, add some of the cooking water. It should be thinner than the actual desired texture.

Julee's Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes

Julee

For this post, I figured that I’d go with a different approach. Instead of blogging about one of my recipes, I think it would fun to introduce Julee, an amazing baker with some of her own simply scrumptious recipes. I just recently became very close with her and we share recipes and ideas all the time. It was definitely time for me to add her to my blog. We both love to play badminton and tend to get into in depth discussions about food while playing. She’ll usually tell me about some extravagant dish that she made and how it doesn’t even last an hour because her Dad loves everything she cooks. She shared with me her recipe for Pineapple Upside Down cupcakes and they look unbelievable. This girl seriously knows what she's doing in the kitchen.

Cake Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter

2 cups sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 eggs

3 cups sifted cake flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup milk

1/3 cup of pineapple juice (from crushed pineapple)

Topping Ingredients:

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) melted butter

1 cup light brown sugar, tightly packed

Maraschino cherries (amount varies with the size of the cupcake)

1 (12-ounce) can of crushed pineapple

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350º F. Spray a cupcake tin with nonstick cooking spray.

In a mixer, beat the butter until creamy. Gradually add the sugar and beat until fluffy. Next, add the eggs one at a time. Be sure to beat the mixture well after each egg is added. Add the vanilla, and then set the mixture aside.

In a separate bowl, sift together the three cups of cake flour, salt and baking powder. Gradually add the flour mixture to the egg mixture, alternating between the flour, milk, and pineapple juice. Beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Be sure to mix well before each addition. Set to the side.

In the cupcake tin, add one to two teaspoons of melted butter to the bottom of each tin. Next, add the light brown sugar to the butter in the tins. Make sure that the moist brown sugar is compact on the bottom of the tins. Now, add about a tablespoon of crushed pineapple on top of the brown sugar. Be sure to spread it evenly on top of the brown sugar. In the center of each tin, place a halved cherry. Push it down lightly so it sits in a bed of brown sugar and pineapple. Now you can add your batter to the tins. Fill them 1/2 to 2/3 of the way in the tin, depending on how much you have already filled it up with the topping.

Place the tin on the top rack of the preheated oven and let bake for about twenty-five minutes or until the top is nicely golden. Once the cupcakes have baked thoroughly, transfer the tin to a cooling rack until all cupcakes have cooled completely. Use a butter knife to carefully loosen each cupcake from the edges and bottom of the tin, then place a cookie sheet over the top. Invert the tin, turning the cupcakes out onto the cookie sheet. Makes 12-18 cupcakes.

Baby Tiramisu

Regular Tiramisu takes so long to make. It’s a tedious process and I don’t know about you but I don’t have the patience for it. Whenever I go to an Italian restaurant, the first thing I think of is if they have good Tiramisu. With this mini version, there’s basically no wait and you still get the main idea. Obviously it isn’t going to be as good as if you were to make the whole dessert by scratch but it comes in a close second. Tiramisu is by far my favorite desert in the world. If you're a fan of this classic Italian dessert, try this quick, lower-calorie variation the next time you need a dessert in a hurry. Both types of ladyfingers—spongy and crunchy—work well. I prefer spongy; It’s closer to the real thing. Once you take a bite of this chocolate drizzled treat, you'll think you just ate a baby bite of heaven.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup nonfat ricotta cheese, (4 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 12 ladyfingers (about 1 3/4 ounces)
• 4 tablespoons brewed espresso or strong coffee
• 2 tablespoons bittersweet chocolate chips, melted

Preparation:

1.Combine ricotta, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

2.Place 6 ladyfingers in a 9-by-5-inch (or similar size) loaf pan. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons espresso (or coffee). Spread the ricotta mixture over the ladyfingers. Place another layer of ladyfingers over the ricotta and drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons espresso (or coffee). Drizzle with melted chocolate. Refrigerate until the chocolate is set, about 30 minutes.

So as you can see this is probably the easiest dessert recipe that you will find. It's simply scrumptious! 

Classic Margherita Pizza

Its 6:00 and you just got out of work. The kids are hungry but you don’t feel like cooking an extravagant meal. Order a pizza? No. Store bought is expensive, greasy (translation: unhealthy), loaded with artificial flavors (what exactly is the cheese on Cheetos), and when you drive home the cheese gets stuck to the box. Instead make a pizza! It’s a great way to make a delicious meal and get the kids involved in a family activity that can also show them that traditionally unhealthy food can actually be healthy. Pizza is the perfect food for creativity. You can literally try any kind of combination. I, for one, love the classic Italian Margherita pizza. It’s effortless and so simply scrumptious at the same time. Very low calorie and taking about 20 minutes all together; this is something the whole family will love.

Ingredients:

·         1  (10-ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough

·         Cooking spray

·         1  teaspoon  extra-virgin olive oil, divided

·         1  garlic clove (cut in half)

·         5  plum tomatoes (thinly sliced)

·         Fresh mozzarella cheese covering the entire pizza (I usually slice mine in circles but it's completely preference.)

·         1  teaspoon  balsamic vinegar

·         1/2  cup  thinly sliced fresh basil

·         Salt and black pepper to season

Unroll crust dough onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; pat into a 13 x 11-inch rectangle. Bake at 400° for 8 minutes. Check this often because some ovens differ. I've burned countless crusts because my oven is so temperamental. Sometimes 6 minutes will be more than enough and sometimes I have to leave it in for 10. Remove crust from oven, and brush with ½ teaspoon oil. Rub crust with cut sides of garlic to give it an extra kick. Arrange tomato slices on crust, leaving a ½ inch border; sprinkle evenly with cheese. Bake at 400° for 12 minutes or until cheese melts and crust is golden. Combine ½ teaspoon oil and vinegar, stirring with a whisk. Sprinkle pizza evenly with sliced basil, salt, and pepper. Drizzle the vinegar mixture evenly over the pizza. I generally cut the pizza into 8 slices but slice at your discretion. Enjoy!