Happy Belated "Pi-Day" (March 14th)

For the Pie Making Sensations:
              

March 14th is known as "National Pi Day" and since I didn't make any pies, I figured that I'd give you some tools to make your own pies with.  Although the National Pie Day is over, a day of pie doesn't have to be.  Happy Baking!

-Bakie

Butternut Squash-Part Two: Lesson Learned

I had such a good meal with my butternut squash and this that I decided to try it again...except this time I said, "why not use a short cut...?"  Instead of roasting the squash cubes in the over I tried pan-roasting it.  Big mistake!  First of all, the squash was not nearly as vibrant in color as when we roasted it in the oven.  Second of all, it was mushy and absolutely flavorless!  Not quite the flavor that I was going for.  So what's the lesson to take home?  If you're going to make this dish and bulk up your meal with some yummy butternut squash..don't go the stove top route.  Trust me, you'll be missing out on big color, big flavor and big fun!  Happy Eating :-)

-Bakie

Not Your "Average" Frozen Dinner...

....Or lunch for that matter.  Since I am following this weight loss program I sometimes will have one of their meals.  This one is one of my old favorites...just it's just kicked up a notch!  This is their Creamy Chicken Rigatoni meal that I oven-roasted about a cup of chopped butternut squash and added to it.

The process is very simple.  Simply get your meal ready by microwaving it on HIGH for about five minutes. (Now the reason why I say to microwave it before you actually roast the butternut squash is because although it will be sitting for a while it will give the sauce time "cook" and thin a bit.  Which when you taste it, you'll see what I mean). 

So after you've nuked the meal then just set it aside and start working on your butternut squash.  First, peel, then chop your butternut squash.  Remove your seeds and pulse if needed.  Preheat your oven to about 400 degrees.  For easy clean-up, cover one of your cookie sheets with aluminum foil.  Turn the sides up to keep all of the squash on the foil when you turn it.  Place all of your squash in the center of the foil but all of the surfaces should be flat on your cooking surface.  None of these butternut squash should be on top of each other.  Drizzle with about 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, fresh ground salt and pepper.  Bake for about 20-25 minutes, turning midway.

Once your squash are done, reheat your meal for about 2 minutes.  You will notice now heating your meal for the second time your cream sauce has sort of "stuck" itself a bit more to your pasta.  Now dump your meal into a bowl, add the squash on top, stir and enjoy.  Absolutely delicious!  And there you've just bulked up your meal without adding any points if you know what I mean ;-) Buen Provecho!

Rubyellen, this one's for you!

This special "pink" dessert is for none other than the very special Rubyellen of the Cakies blog.  She's as sweet as can be and most of all inspirational :-)  I've heard that she's expecting another bundle of joy, so I wanted to make something special for her...maybe she's having a craving for something sweet today :-) This recipe is called:

My Pinkies for Cakies

Ingredients

one bag of white or pink wilton melts
one egg yolk
3/4 cup evaporated milk
red food coloring-if you decide to use the white melts
one chocolate graham cracker crust
(an oreo crust might even work good for this too...YUM!)
4 ramekins

Directions

First, take your store bought chocolate crust and crumble it up into a bowl.  Then melt on tablespoon of butter and thoroughly mix it into it

Next, evenly divide the crumbs into five parts. Take four of those parts and press them into the bottom of four un-greased ramekins.  Wrap the fifth part up in a little plastic wrap and save for garnish later.

Beat your evaporated milk and egg yolk together.  If you're using the white melts and the red food coloring add, (specifically) four small drops of the red food coloring.  (*Trust me on this one, you don't want to go over that amount with this recipe). 

See what I mean?

Get all of the attachments in place for your food processor and add your melts to that.

Constantly stir over medium high heat, whisking to keep the egg and the milk smooth

as it thickens.  After about ten minutes, your mixture should have thickened.

Take your mix and pour it directly over your melts.

Pop the top on and blend with your metal food processor attachment and blend for about 3 minutes.  Sorry for the bad photo but this is what it should look like.

Evenly pour all of your pink mix (:-) into your four ramekins.

You should have enough that it makes fills all four ramekins, equally.

Cover with plastic wrap and let it chill overnight.  (Now, I'm telling you, don't go sneaking in that fridge to test it out before morning, or let's say eight hours is up.  I will be gooey if you do.  If you can wait, this treat is best after 24 hours).  Once you take them out, top 'em with a little whipped cream and some of your left over crumbs and there you go!

Since this recipe was made special for Rubyellen and her family.  I've made one for each of them.

I hope Benny doesn't mind sharing :-)

God Bless Cakies & Sweetest Blessings to

You! -Chemeeka

Grandma's Waffles (Made My Way:-)

This recipe came from my grandmother when I was about twelve years old.  It was one of those, "calling for another recipes".  I was calling for tips on how to make her lasagne and in the process she gave me this one.  I've re-vamped it up (not that it needed re-vamping) and have done it now a few different ways.  I'll give you her recipe for Homemade Waffles as well my own. 

Here's Grandma's Recipe:

2 cups all purpose flour

4 teaspoons of baking powder

3/4 tsp of salt

2 eggs, beaten

2-1/4 cup whole milk

1/2 cup of vegetable oil

1-1/2 tbsp granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

and here's mine:

1 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons of baking powder

3/8 tsp of salt

1 eggs, beaten

1-1/8 cup whole milk

1/4 cup of vegetable oil

1-1/2 tbsp granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

I made these first time years ago. They weren't such a hit so I stopped making them.  I've since been making these for my daughter almost everyday for the last year and a half.  I always make a half batch of the recipe, and that usually gives us about four good-sized waffles on our beligium waffle maker.  I would guess if you made a full mix, you'd probably get around 8 or 9 waffles.  You might have also noticed that I didn't "half" the amount of sugar.  That's because the first time that I made the batter when I started making them again I forgot to "half" the sugar and they turned out fabulous!  So here goes:

Directions:

First you mix all of your dry ingredients (which is your flour, baking powder, salt and sugar-that's the order I do it in.)  Then you stir that with a wisk and get everything blended well before you add your wet ingredients.

Then you add your egg, in the center of those ingredients. And your oil, then the milk.  P.S. Do not  stir your mix until after the milk has been added.

My secret ingredient in this that gives it it's yummy yellow color is this thing:

It's vanilla, butter and nut flavored extract.  It's more like the consistency of a syrup.  And you'll see that I'll use it in making my homemade little syrup for these creviced goodies.  Can you tell that I like to use this in just about....everything?!

I'm adding strawberries to my batter today...I don't always. 

*Remember: That when your pouring your batter into your waffle maker, just like anything you don't fill it to the edge.  About two thirds of the way should be good.

Here's the finished product:

My special syrup is really, really simple.  It's literally just:

1/2 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon special vanilla, butter, and nut extract

1 tablespoon of light corn syrup

Put them all in a little ramekin like this:

And microwave for it 30 seconds.  And you're done.  Bon Appetit!

Just in case you're wondering, this is the waffle machine that we use. If you don't have one like it, you can always get one here: Waring WMK300A Pro Professional Stainless-Steel Belgian Waffle Maker.

Pinkies Treat Gone Bad!

This was with one teaspoon of red food coloring.  It looks like a can of paint.  And we don't want that!

Chocolate Cookbooks

That might also interest you:

3 Ingredient Fix for Valentine's Day

Three ingredients; one delicious treat.  I made these last night for a late night snack and quite honestly in my opinion, it couldn't been simpler.  My 3 ingredients for this delicious snack were:

* a box of Ritz crackers
* a bag of Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips
* a bag of Heath bar Toffee bits

*Note: I used one sleeve of the Ritz "fresh snacks" crackers.  And that was enough for my treat but you could use this same recipe using your standard (one) long sleeve of Ritz crackers with about half of the bag of milk chocolate chips and half of the bag for the Heath toffee bits.  In that ratio.

First, melt your milk chocolate chips (Microwave one high for about 1 minute). And stir.

Then grab your Ritz cracker and lather on a layer of your chocolate.

Dip it into your heath bits.

Put these in an air tight container and into the freezer uncovered for 30 minutes. (Now this batch didn't make the freezer step but we've since made another round and we froze them before hand and they were 10 times as delicious! You can't stop eating them.  They're an easy treat to whip up that anyone will love! 

Sweet+salty+chocolate = Ultimate perfection!

As you can see, one of these (bottom left) couldn't make it to the party.

Sorry for the bad photos...but these were too good not to share.

 Happy Valentine's Day & Happy Munchin'!