Read Your Recipe!
I’d be willing to bet that if you interviewed five self-described “healthy eaters,” their diets would look radically different. For instance, was my pre-Becca husband considered healthy when he was eating four protein bars a day (but they were organic!)? Or was I healthy during my dark-chocolate, sugar-free pudding craze (only 60 calories!)?
Ahh chocolate bread. I make this often and always to great reviews. I take no credit for recipe creation, it is almost straight out of a cookbook called Baked Explorations (Poliafito and Lewis). It’s pretty much can’t miss. It was already on this site but the pictures were horrible and I hadn’t yet made the cream cheese spread. Made the cream cheese spread this past week – ate cream cheese spread with bread. Died. Came back to life to write this post so that you, too, could experience the extraordinary culinary death provided by cream cheese spread.
You should know – there aren’t actually oatmeal cookies in these muffins. They are muffins that taste like oatmeal cookies.
Here you go, Lynnie my love!
These muffins are not fancy, by any means. They are from Joy of Cooking and they come together in ten minutes flat. Seriously, they are one of fastest, easiest baked goods for you to have a go at. The thing is, I’m not a fan of fancy most of the time. These don’t need coconut milk, brazil nuts or cocoa nibs to be enticing… the smell in your kitchen will do the trick.
Technically this should be called “soybean hummus” but I think the connotation for soy bean is MUCH different than for edamame. Edamame makes you think of swanky sushi restaurants, whereas soy beans sound like something husbands and kids won’t eat.
Quick, easy, HEALTHY dinner tonight. I feel like what sets dinner apart from the other meals is that it should be warm. It’s okay if it’s warm eggs or pancakes, its the temperature that says “dinner”.
The most economical thing you can buy at the store is frozen spinach. True story. The SECOND most economical thing you can buy HAS to be bagged corn kernels. I bought a 2 lb. bag of kernels for under two dollars. You can make well over 100 cups of popcorn from the kernels I bought, whereas for a package of bags I could make only 12.
Let’s discuss the rule of 80 -20. This rule says that 80% of the time, you eat what you know is best for your body. The other 20% of the time, you can eat what tastes good. My students always come up to me and say, “Mrs. B, have you tried the new coffee moo-lata double cream chocolate blah blah at Dunkin?” I say, “no, but I’m sure it’s ridiculous”. If you just let go, there is no shortage of crazy amazing food out there. The thing is, we want to stay “tight” and we want to feel good.
I’m not done with pumpkin. Maybe you are, and that’s fine, but I’m not. Pumpkin. Is. The best.
I figure January is the last month for pumpkin. February is chocolate month, and then it’s spring. Let’s make some pumpkin bread!
Homebeccanomics got a face lift! My baby projectile vomited all over me at 6:10 AM this morning, so it’s nice that SOMETHING is looking good.
Still me, though, and still working out the kinks so bear with me.
Hummus. Yes, you can buy hummus really easily. It’s tasty when you buy it. It’s tastiER when you make it. It’s also way cheaper if you will make it a few times. To make it yourself you’ll need a fresh lemon, a can of chickpeas (also called garbanzo beans), some garlic and a bit of cumin and cayenne. You will also need something called tahini. Know how you grind peanuts to make peanut butter? Well you grind sesame seeds to make tahini. It’s high in healthy fats and vitamin E. You can buy it at any grocery store. It keeps at room temperature for months (years?).
My students always ask if I make amazing, gourmet meals for my husband at dinnertime. Ha! Not only would that be pricey, it’d be super annoying for me, the one who does the cooking. Though I grew up in a house where dinner meant dinner: a meat, a starch, a veggie, this theory didn’t seem to rub off on me. My thoughts are that food should taste good, and the categories are dumb.
That being said, we have eggs for dinner. A lot.
Jess and Monica are the masterminds behind the site, The Real Housewives of Bucks County, which is SUCH a fabulous site that it got showcased on The Nate Berkus Show. They’re crafty and design savvy and lots of other things that sometimes make the lesser crafter feel chagrin. Let’s not despair, let’s just beg, borrow and steal so we, too, can be crafty masterminds.
Anyways, they were kind enough to have me guest post on their site! The price of avocados has JUST been lowered at my local Giant, so it’s time to make some guac! Just try to find me someone who doesn’t like guacamole, because unless I discuss their problem with them I won’t believe it. EVERYONE likes guacamole! Make it this weekend and if you like it, make it again for the Superbowl! Go to their site and check it out! Happy weekend.
Oh, today is my husband’s birthday and Sunday is mine, so look for my BIRTHDAY CAKE post on Monday!
I’ve never actually had Irish soda bread. Come to think of it, though I’m half Irish I’ve never had any Irish food. There’s a reason for this; it’s not very good. If you are Irish and an adept cook, then please know I’m speaking BIG TIME in general. I mean, do you know that many restaurants that specialize in Irish fare?
Traditional biscotti is definitely a “healthier” cookie. While you’ll find loads of sugar and a hefty amount of eggs, you won’t find fat. That’s right, no butter or oil in this one.
Scones are comforting. Like how mashed potatoes are comforting? That’s how scones are to me. They aren’t so sweet like a cookie, or bready like a biscuit. They are SO SO good with hot tea or coffee, and they’re somehow fancy but not the least bit pretentious.
The cranberry would be like the really mean cranky great aunt in the berry family. Super sour, pretty much inedible when eaten alone. Add a bottom-load of sugar, though, and good things happen. Cue the cranberry sauce. Cranberries pair famously with oranges, cue this delicious bread. As easy to make as banana bread, but MUCH more festive.
Okay kids, easiest recipe ever! This is nearly impossible to screw up. If you are just learning to cook and want to make something that will SURELY turn out like it should, cornbread is for you.
I made this over the weekend for no reason at all. Terrible idea to make something like this when you don’t have anyone to give it to. I pretty much ate the whole thing myself. It is SUPER addictive and I highly recommend making it as soon as you can, assuming you are never alone together in the same room (you and the popcorn).
Mmm bats are so tasty. These cookies LOOK like they’re just for kids but they’re slightly chewy and intensely chocolatey. Great for halloween (which, by the way, is now the second most popular holiday RIGHT under Christmas…what?) but shaped into anything else.. or just a round chocolately ball… great for any time of year! That’s right, if you just want some chocolate cookies then roll them into a ball and bake them. You could then use the circles to make ice cream sandwiches! The dough is super forgiving and easy to work with, trust me.
Might as well make it pumpkin Monday. Last Monday, pumpkin muffin. Today, biscotti. Next Monday, pumpkin roll!