Stuffed Steak (Braciole)

2 1lb flank steaks
1 beaten egg
2/3 of a 10 oz package of frozen spinach, thawed and drained well
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/4 cup parmasean cheese
1/2 cup seasoned break crumbs
salt & ppper
italian seasoning
garlic, fresh or powdered
1 8 oz can of tomato sauce

pound steak thin if neccessary - season with salt and pepper
in a blender combine cottage cheese and egg - move to bowl and mix with spinach and bread crumbs
spread over steak
roll up steak and tie
brown steak rolls in vegtable oil on stove top
in glass baking dish combine tomato sauce, italian seasoning, garlic, salt and pepper.
Place steaks in tomato sauce and cover with foil
Bake at 350 for about 1.5 hours
Remove ties and slice steak rolls - serve with tomato sauce from pan

super healthy pumpkin bread

will it taste good....it is in the oven now...

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup SPLENDA® Sugar
3/4 cup dry milk
3/4 cup flax seed meal
1 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup low-fat sour cream
1 egg
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
OR
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamon
3 cloves
and some fresh ground nutmeg - maybe 1/2 tsp

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the splenda, flax meal, pumpkin, dry milk, sour cream and egg until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the pumpkin mixture until moistened. Spoon into prepared loaf pan.
3. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the crown of the loaf comes out clean
Wow - this looked sketchy while it was baking - looked kind of dry
but when i sliced it - there is very moist pumpkin bread inside - you wouldn't even guess it was completely whole grain and low fat - i will def make this again!

Dark Chocolate Cashew Biscotti

can you tell i have cashews sitting around the house...
the dark chocolate really hides the whole graininess of these
not bad I must say...

5 TB margarine
4 Tb splenda
dash of stevia
(or 5TB splenda)
1 egg
1 large egg white or 2 reg egg whites
3 TB water


3/4 cup oatmeal flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 TB special dark cocoa powder
1/2 cup dry milk
1/2 tsp baking powder

add dry to wet
form into loaf
bake at 350 for 20 minutes
slice and bake another 15 to 20 minutes - turning slices halfway through

Diabetic Orange Coconut Cashew Biscotti

My mom was recently diagnosed with Diabetes - so i am looking into some diabetic baking recipes
i came up with this as splenda apparently works well in biscotti and I just got a fancy new zester I was dying to try
These are so good! So Orangy I don't think you will notice they are 'diet'
I think maybe a little bit of salt should have been included
also I might try a splenda/orange juice glaze




5 Tb sortening (without trans fat)
5 Tb splenda
Beat together
continue beating add
1 egg
2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla
zest from one orange
juice from half of orange

In a seperate bowl Combine
1/2 cup oat flour (oatmeal proccessed in a blender)
1 cup white flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup dry milk
1/2 tsp baking powder

add to wet ingredients
fold in 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut & 1/4 to 1/2 cup cashews

Mold dough into 12 x3 inch log
bake 20 min at 350
remove from oven and slice into 1/2 inch slices
put slices back in oven until crispy - about 15 minutes

Smore's Cupcakes

My brother is having a campout for his birthday and I have been looking for an excuse to try Smores Cupcakes. There are so many options - you could do a chocolate cupcake or a graham cracker cupcake...and you have to work marshmallow in...and it is better if it is toasted....
So chocylit had smore's cupcakes on her site and I like how she did a graham cracker crust on the bottom - so i used her cupcake recipe. I think a main component of smore's is that the chocolate is melty - so I injected the cupcakes with ganache. Actually injected cupcakes has been on my mind and I think that is what lead to the obsession with smore's cupcakes. So I think that actually worked out ok - there is a limit to how much you can inject so it may not be as chocolatey as I would like - we will see. For the toasted marshmallow component I scoured the internet for marshmallow frostings that you could toast. You can make frosting by melting down marshmallows or with marshmallow fluff, but many reports say that 7-minute frosting tastes a lot like marshmallow - and you can toast it!
So I made a batch of that straight out of Joy of Cooking and iced the cupcakes. When I got to the campsite I 'toasted' the icing with a kitchen torch. I imagine you could also toast them under the broiler.
They were a total hit and people were raving about the chocolate centers.
I took the photos on site with my camera phone - so not the best pics - but you get the idea.
I so want a kitchen torch now!

Creamy Mushrooms and Pork Chops with Noodles

1 carton baby bella mushrooms
1 can evaporated skim milk
1/2 cup onions (Frozen chopped)
1 TB minced garlic
1 TB smart balance margarine
6 thin boneless pork chops
whole wheat noodles, cooked
bavarian seasoning from penzys or any spice blend you like
salt & pepper

Brown pork chops briefly and move to oblong baking dish. Deglaze pan with some water, add onions, garlic and margarine. Cook down liquid and add mushrooms. Saute until mushrooms are cooked. Combine mushrooms with canned milk, spices and pour into oblong pan with pork chops. Bake at 350-400 for at least half an hour - serve over noodles

Other Version of Creamy Mushrooms and Pork Chops with Noodles

1/2 cup frozen chopped onions
1/3 cup frozen chopped green peppers
1/2 tb garlic
1 tb oil
satue over med high heat
add
4 thin boneless porkchops, seasoned with salt and pepper and cut into strips
brown
deglaze pan with some water
cook off water
add
1 can evaporated milk
1 can mushrooms
salt and pepper
and turn heat to high
cook for 10 minutes
add 3 oz low fat cream cheese
and stir until mixed in
add cooked whole wheat noodles and stir to cover noodles

Easter

Here are my Easter offerings for this year....I am going to my aunt's and the BF's aunts - hence 2 desserts. Well, I have been craving coffee cake - coffee-flavored cake to be clear- think coffee ice cream. I found a recipe at chockylit.blogspot.com - her recipe is for Vietnamese Coffee Cupcakes - but it worked fine as a cake. I will paste it below with the slight alteration I used. Recently I bought these do-hickeys that wrap around your cake pan to keep your cake from forming a dome - and then requiring you to trim it to get a nice shaped layer cake. I couldn't wait to try these! The are called "Evenbake Cake Strips" and you can see from the photos that they really worked! No trimming needed to form my nice layer cake. I also decided to try a Dacquoise layer. Dacquoise is simply meringue piped into the shape of a cake layer and then baked at 225 for 1.5 to two hours. Nuts are often incorporated - but I used freeze dried coffee as a flavoring. I haven't tasted it yet - the BF said it tasted like a coffee flavored toasted marshmallow. My friend at work said she liked it. We will see tomorrow how it tastes in the cake. You can see in the photo my dacquoise layer in a large Tupperware with some little mushroom pieces I also piped. Underneath it is the underside of another layer that didn't work out b/c i tried to remove it from the pan too early. To finish this cake I made a mocha buttercream. I tried making it with some blue bonnet light - which is not recommend for baking - it totally didn't work. I thought I might save us all some calories on Easter. That batch had two melted squares of baking chocolate and 1 packet of freeze dried coffee - it tasted great - but the light margarine didn't hold up. The second batch was done with normal margarine - but I was out of baker's chocolate. So I used dark cocoa powder dissolved in a small amount of hot water, along with freeze dried coffee. It turned out much better as far as the texture goes - but the mocha flavor was not as pronounced. The recipe below will yield the tastier kind. I assembled the cake as follows: cake layer on the bottom, a thin layer of mocha buttercream, the dacquoise layer, more buttercream, and the final cake layer. Then I went on to try a basket weave design on the cake. First I did a 'crumb coat' on the cake, then I applied the basket weave - I can't believe it worked! I thought it would be terrible and I would have to forgo the basket weave and ome up with something else. I colored some coconut with green food coloring for the basket filling and topped with some candy malted milk eggs. I hope it tastes good!

Moving on to the Bunny Cupcakes! I baked some buttermilk cake - the recipe came from my kitchen aid cookbook - but I used buttermilk instead of regular milk. I iced them with 7 minute frosting from the "Joy of Cooking". Then I went about decorating.
You will need the following: Large Marshmallows, Small Marshmallows, Coconut, Blue and Green Smarties, Pink Sugar, and Pink Jelly Beans.
1) Cut large marshmallow in thirds, discard middle third and dredge sticky sides of other pieces in pink sugar.
2) Adhere ears to iced cupcakes.
3) Coat faces in coconut
4)Insert pink jelly bean into cupcake to make nose. You only want a little of the short side peaking out - so you have to really push it into the cupcake.
5) Adhere sweet tart eyes - put some frosting on the back to make them stick
6) cut a small marshmallow in half and adhere under nose with some icing.
7) make pupils - color some icing darker than the eyes and dot on with toothpick
It was really pretty easy. For the pink sugar I dissolved a drop of 'neon' pink food coloring in about a teaspoon of water. This was then mixed into about 1/2 cup of sugar. It is a little moist - but still sticks to the marshmallows. It air dried and I may try to save it for future use - why pay for colored sugar?
Now I want to try:
1) making the better tasting mocha buttercream
2) injecting cupcakes with something yummy
3) a pecan (yes I am still on the pecan kick) with some rich chocolate icing and a layer of pecan dacquoise

Coffee Flavored Cake

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup strong brewed coffee
1/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons freeze dried coffee

1. Beat butter on high until soft, about 30 seconds.
2. Add sugar. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add eggs one at a time, beat for 30 seconds between each.
4. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
5. Measure out coffee and milk together.
6. Add the flour to the butter/sugar mixture and beat to combine.
7. Dissolve the freeze dried coffee in the coffee/milk mixture.
8. Add the coffee/milk mixture and beat until combined.
9. Pour into prepared pans (I use baker’s joy)
10. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.

Coffee Dacquoise
Have everything at room temp
½ cup egg whites
1 tsp vanilla
beat at high speed until peaks form
add 1 tb at a time
1 cup sugar
Pipe onto parchment or silpat
Bake at 225 for 1.5 to 2 hours

Buttermilk Cupcakes
2 1.4 cup flour
1 1/3 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ cup shortening
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs

combine dry ingredients in mixer bowl. Add shortening, milk, and vanilla and beat for 1 minute, add eggs, beat for 30 seconds, scrape bowl, beat on high for 1 minute.
Scoop batter into cupcake liners using an ice cream scoop (with the clicker that releases the ice cream) or a cookie dropper that works the same way (this will require two scoops). The cupcakes should be 2/3 full.
Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Will not brown – check with cake tester

7 minute frosting
in the bowl of kitchen aid mixer combine:
5 tablespoons water
1 1/3 cp sugar
2 large egg whites
1 TB light corn syrup
Set bowl in a saucepan of simmering water. Wisk continuously until the mixture is warmed through (about 160F)
Beat on high until stiff peaks form, adding 1 tsp vanilla.

Mocha Buttercream

In bowl of kitchen aid mixer combine
4 large egg whites
1 ¼ cup sugar
Set bowl in a saucepan of simmering water. Wisk continuously until the mixture is warmed through (160) and sugar has dissolved.
Beat on high until stiff beaks form. Switch to the paddle attachment and add
3 sticks butter or margarine (room temp)
one tablespoon at a time
If it separates beat on medium-high until smooth again
Beat in
1 packet (2 tsps) freeze dried coffee dissolved in
2 squares of bakers chocolate, melted
This mixture should cool before incorporating it into icing

*Update* the Dacquoise layer turned gummy inside the cake-i won't try that again in this kind of cake-next time I will try a Mocha pastry cream. The cake was yummy - one comment was that I could even up the coffee flavor.