I am stuck on a blog post about Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls. Apparently making them is easier than writing about them. Here’s a picture to satisfy the curious. Until then.
My Sunday Confession
I’m so happy April is over. April was a tough month in The Hip Vegetarian household. Both boys couldn’t be sick at the same time, they each had to take their own week. After being sneezed and cough on so many times, I knew my days were numbered.
I came down with the worst sore throat I’ve ever had in my life. It took two shots to get me back on the path to recovery, but that sore throat stuck with me for two weeks. My diet consisted of Boost and pudding. Nothing worthy to blog about.
Yes, I’m happy to bid adieu to April.
Hasta la vista.
Hola, May!
Happy Easter
Baked Acorn Squash
Baked Acorn Squash
As I’m sitting here in the coffee house talking about what my friend Kim is making for dinner, I was totally reminded about my Baked Acorn Squash recipe.
So Kim, this is for you.
Baked Acorn Squash
1 medium size Acorn Squash
2 tablespoons Butter
2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
Black Pepper
Set oven to 350 degrees.
Cut acorn squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and place in a baking dish with 1″ water. Trim the stem slighly so the squash will sit flat during baking.
Bake upside down for about 1/2 hour, so the meat of the squash will quickly soften. You can speed up this process by placing the baking pan and squash in the microwave for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and turn the squash right side up and place 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar in each half. Sprinkle with black pepper.
Bake for an additional 10-15 minutes until the squash is tender.
Wordless Wednesday
Gorgonzola Spinach Mini-Quiches
Gorgonzola Spinach Mini Quiche
I enjoy company.
I enjoy a good quiche.
However my taste in quiche doesn’t always match up with what another’s tastbuds enjoy.
The beauty of the mini-quiche is that you can make each quiche specific to what your guests’ prefer. When I had company in town for Spring Break, my girlfriend was all about trying a gorgonzola and spinach quiche. Her husband — not so much.
So out came the muffin pan, and we quickly whipped together the egg mixture, and carefully selected ingredients to suite each person individually.
Hubby had cheddar cheese, salt and pepper.
Girlfriend and I had gorgonzola cheese, spinach and red bell pepper. They were delish!
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Gorgonzola Spinach Mini-Quiches
4 Eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/2 cups Milk
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
1 tablespoon Gorgonzola Cheese
1/2 Bell Pepper, finely chopped
1/2 cup Spinach
1. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees
2. Spray muffin pan with non-stick spray
3. Beat together 4 eggs, add milk, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
4. Choose individual ingredients: cheeses, bell peppers, spinach, etc. and place the desired amount in the bottom of each muffin cup.
5. Ladle mixture evenly between muffin cups.
6. Bake for 15 minutes and check the center with a knife to see if it comes out clean. If necessary, bake for anther 5 minutes and recheck.
Blueberry Buttermilk Breakfast Cake
Blueberry Buttermilk Breakfast Cake
Here is the perfect Sunday brunch cake for any weekend. I stumbled across this recipe on Pinterest, and as I promise to my readers and friends, I try out recipes to see if they are easy to make and tasty for the vegetarian household.
I had company in town this past week, so I pulled out this recipe to try for a second time. I loved it so much the first time that I was looking for a good excuse to make it again — and my husband has prohibited me from making it for him since he’s on a diet.
The original recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of lemon zest; however I love how lemon makes everything feel so fresh so I used 4-5 teaspoons instead. Also the original recipe calls for 7/8 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar. That’s just an odd equation, so I’ve rounded it up to 1 cup of sugar. Seriously, I don’t want to have to think that hard while I’m baking.
The buttermilk makes this breakfast cake moist and help intensify the lemon and blueberry flavors.
My guests loved this recipe. Mark, my picky friend like it so much that he went back for seconds; making the recipe a winner in my book.
Special thanks to Alexandra’s Kitchen for the recipe. You can find the original recipe here.
Blueberry Buttermilk Breakfast Cake
Serves 6-8
½ cup unsalted butter
4 tsp. lemon zest or more — zest from 1 large lemon
1 cup of sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 cups fresh blueberries
½ cup buttermilk
1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan with non-stick spray and set aside.
2. Cream butter with lemon zest and one cup of the sugar.
3. Add egg and vanilla
4. Toss the blueberries with ¼ cup of flour
5. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
6. Add the flour mixture to the batter in small quantities, alternate with the buttermilk. Fold in the blueberries.
7. Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle batter with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 40 minutes. Check with a toothpick for doneness. If it isn’t cooked through, you might need to bake an additional 5 minutes.
Cool at least 15 minutes before serving.
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Wordless Wednesday
My Sunday Confession
Rosemary Garlic Duo Pizza is oh, so hard to resist.
Since the beginning of the year I’ve been trying to loose weight, and it hasn’t been easy.
It started off with a bet between my husband, sister-in-law and brother-in-law. Then my friend joined in. We’ve all been using the LoseIt app to help track our calorie in take and exercise. I’ve been trying to stay below 1600 calories a day.
Since then my husband and friend have lost 19 and 15 pounds respectitvely. Me five. I keep losing a pound, then gaining two. Bouncing up and down the five pound scale. My SIL and BIL have dropped out of the competition completely.
I’ve used the LoseIt program before and easily lost 10 lbs. But this year is different. I’ve hit that magic age where the doctor told me that it will be hard to start loosing weight.
When I stay within my 1600 calorie range, I don’t seem to loose weight. I know I’m not drinking enough water. I know it’s all about portion control.
And then nights like this happen — we go to our favorite pizza place and hit up Krispy Kreme Donuts. As I sat there last night, I confided in another friend that I just have no discipline. I’m hardly disciplined with anything in my life. But on the upside, I only ate one donut last night.
Then I weighed in this morning and discovered I lost a pound. For the love of Krispy Kreme, I lost a pound.
Today I’m linking to The Perfect Trio Blog.
Quick Southwestern Wraps
Here’s a quick and easy dinner for the uninspired.
My mother-in-law whipped this up when we were visiting her last summer. We loved these so much that we brought the idea home with us. What’s easier than heating up some refried beans, spreading them on a tortilla wrap, and then adding your favorite toppings?
This could also be converted to a gluten-free meal by using torillas like ones made by Food for Life.
You can also spice up the taste by using flavored torillas that can be found on your grocery aisle. We like the sun-dried tomato tortilla wraps.
Make an assembly line of ingredients and let your children choose and assemble their own wrap. I find that if my children can help “make” the meal, then they are more likely to eat it.
Also, if you warm your tortilla up in the skillet first, it’s less likely to tear apart when you start to wrap it around the filling.
The ingredients are flexible, like a taco salad. Choose what you and your family will eat. However here’s a simple guideline to get you started.
Southwestern Wraps
Tortilla
Refried Beans
Cheese
Red Bell Pepper
Yellow Bell Pepper
Onions
Fresh Spinach
Sour Cream
Salsa
Wrap up ingredients in up snug as a bug in a rug. Eat. Enjoy.
