Joyfully Almond Brownies

It's been a while since I baked something to take to the office. I took a basic one-bowl brownie recipe and added some coconut and almonds to come up with this. These were so easy.

JOYFULLY ALMOND BROWNIES

1 cup butter
4 squares unsweetened chocolate
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup toasted almonds
1 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 x 13 pan. In a microwave or in a saucepan melt the butter and chocolate. Add the eggs, sugar, and vanilla and stir well. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir until well mixed. Add almonds and coconut. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes. When cooled cut into squares.

Fruit Smoothie

Too hot to cook. Not worth heating up the kitchen for one person and no special occasions, so this is my addition for this week. This is kind of a thrown together recipe. I usually use whatever fruit and yogurt I have on hand and put my blender to use.

FRUIT SMOOTHIE
1 6 oz. Yoplait Light Thick and Creamy Yogurt (can use any kind of yogurt you prefer -- I used Strawberry Banana Orange Sunrise for this one).
1/2 banana
1 cup frozen fruit for smoothies (I find this in the frozen section). This particular mix had pineapple, strawberries, and mango.
1/2 cup canned peaches

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

If I don't have frozen fruit, I throw in a few ice cubes. On this one I just added a few tablespoons of milk to thin it out. This was the consistency of a milk shake. It was pretty good.

Chocolate Cake

I made a birthday cake for someone in the office today. This cake is usually made as a layer cake, but I decided to try my Nordicware Heart pan that my son and daughter-in-law gave me for Christmas. It lost some of the form with the icing on the cake. This pan makes a beautiful cake that can just be dusted with powdered sugar to get the true design of the pan.

CHOCOLATE LAYER CAKE

1-3/4 cups flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and dust with cocoa two 9" layer cake pans (I've used a 9 x 13 before or a bundt pan). Set aside.

In large bowl, combine sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir until blended.

Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla and beat well until combined, about 2 minutes. While beating, heat water to boiling. Stir boiling water into cake batter.

Pour the thin batter into the prepared pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until cake pulls away from sides of pan, top springs back when lightly touched, and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks.

Frosting:

1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup cocoa
4-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/3-1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a saucepan, melt together butter and cocoa. Stir until smooth. Using mixer, alternately beat in powdered sugar and milk until frosting is smooth and creamy. Stir in vanilla. Frost cake as desired.

Butter Pecan Quick Bread

BUTTER PECAN QUICK BREAD


2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg, beaten
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup pecans, chopped


Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla


Mix together dry ingredients. Add egg and buttermilk and vanilla. Stir until just blended together. Add pecans. Pour into a 9 x 5 x 3 loaf pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on rack. Drizzle with icing.

Roasted Garlic Pasta Salad

ROASTED GARLIC PASTA SALAD

8 ounces farfalle pasta (bowtie) cooked and drained
1 cup grape tomatoes cut in half
1 small can sliced black olives
3 green onions sliced
Garnish with 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Dressing:
1/2 cup Italian dressing (I used Ken's Light Caesar)
1 tablespoon mayonnaise (I used light)
2 heads garlic roasted with 1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil pasta according to package directions. Drain and cool. Add onions, tomatoes, olives. To roast garlic, slice ends off two heads of garlic. Drizzle with about a tablespoon of olive oil. Wrap in aluminum foil. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. When done scrape garlic out of cloves and whisk into dressing ingredients. Add dressing to pasta and toss. Sprinkle cheese on top.

Bacon and Cheddar Scones

These scones are pretty good. I think the onion is somewhat overpowering, I might would cut down on that. I think some chopped green chilies might be good too. Not a bad treat for breakfast though.

BACON AND CHEDDAR SCONES

3 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick cold butter cut into pieces
6-8 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped into pieces
1-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3 to 4 green onions chopped
1-1/2 cups buttermilk

Mix flour, baking powder and salt together. Cut in butter until flour resembles coarse meal. Stir in cheese, bacon, and onions. Add buttermilk. Turn onto a floured board and shape into a circle. Place circle on baking sheet (I covered mine with parchment paper). Score circle into 8 pieces. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Heavenly Surprise Cupcakes

This recipe is from the Taste of Home Cookbook. I made these with just a basic cream cheese frosting.

2 eggs
1-1/4 cups sugar
1 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1-1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

FROSTING

2/3 cup butter-flavored shortening
2/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 can (5 ounces) evaporated milk
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla until blended. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add to egg mixture. Fill paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-22 minutes. Cool completely.

For frosting, in a large mixing bowl cream the shortening, butter, and sugar. Stir in milk, water, and vanilla. Gradually beat in powdered sugar. Cut a small hole in the corner of a pastry or resealable plastic bag. Insert a small star tip. Fill bag with frosting.

Push tip 1 inch into center of cupcakes and fill with frosting just until the frosting comes to the top. Frost remainder of cupcake. Add sprinkles if desired. Yield: 1-1/2 dozen.

Easy Spicy Chicken and Rice

This is a quick dish that can be thrown together and takes no time. I promise it tastes better than it looks. It's best served with maybe some refried beans and guacamole, but my cupboard is usually pretty bare and this is what I had.

EASY SPICY CHICKEN AND RICE

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 onion chopped
1-1/2 cups rice (I used basmati)
1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes and chilies
1 can chicken broth
1 tablespoon oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Garlic powder to taste
I added a special spice blend that I have that has cumin in it. You could use cumin with some chili powder or whatever you like.

Cut chicken into small pieces. Saute in pan with chopped onion until tender and chicken is no longer pink. Add rice and saute until just barely brown. Add Ro-Tel tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer on low for 20-25 minutes until rice is done.

Pecan Praline Muffins

I found this recipe looking through some old cookbooks. The brown sugar glaze reminds me of the 'gritty' texture of a praline. The muffins are not too sweet, so this glaze adds a nice amount of sweet to them.

PECAN PRALINE MUFFINS

1 stick butter
1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans (I always toast mine)

For the glaze:
1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 375. Prepare muffin pans. I got 18 muffins from this recipe. I used liners but you could just butter your pans if you prefer.

In a small saucepan melt butter until lightly brown, careful not to burn. Set aside to cool completely. In a bowl mix dry ingredients together, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt.

When butter is cooled completely, add the milk, eggs, and vanilla. Add this wet mixture to the dry mixture. Stir until just blended, do not over mix. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Place glaze on muffins while still warm.

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

I've added a link at the bottom of my blog thanks to the efforts of the Left-Over Queen who has created a Foodie BlogRoll for people to share their sites. There are some amazingly talented cooks on there and I am happy to be added to the group.

Chicken Mojito with Lime Over Couscous

So, a few of the girls in the office are on a diet. They saw this recipe in Women's Health magazine by Food Network's Robin Miller. I told them I would give it a try and bring it in for them tomorrow. So here goes.

Chicken Mojito with Lime over Couscous

1 cup couscous (I used a whole box of Near East)
24 spears of asparagus
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon sugar (I did not use this).
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used three) cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup light rum
1/2 cup reduced sodium chicken broth (I just used one whole cup of broth - no rum)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest
1/4 cup chopped mint (there's that green stuff again which I did not have). For the photo -- of course -- the ever present cilantro.

Cook couscous according to package directions. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray. Arrange asparagus on baking sheet and spray with cooking spray. Season with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Roast 15 minutes or until fork tender.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, and sugar. Saute about 3 minutes.
Add chicken and saute 3 to 5 minutes or until golden brown on all sides. Add rum and broth and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice and zest. Chop asparagus and arrange with couscous and chicken mixture on a platter. Sprinkle with mint.

Breakfast in a Cup

I love breakfast. Especially on weekends when there is a bit more time. Paula Deen demonstrated this recipe on her show last week and it looked interesting. This was pretty good and the only thing that would have made it better would have been to be eating it on the front porch of a cabin overlooking some mountains and trees with the temperature being about 65 and hearing the wind in the trees. But I had to have it in reality -- oh about 85 degrees and 200% humidity!

BREAKFAST IN A CUP

Grits
2 eggs to scramble or poach
Ground country bulk sausage
Shredded cheddar cheese
Parsley for garnish

For the grits:

2 cups water
1/2 cup quick cooking grits (not instant)
Salt to taste
1 Tablespoon butter

Bring 2 cups of salted water to a boil. Slowly stir in 1/2 cup quick grits, stir immediately and reduce the heat, then bring back to boil. Add butter and stir. Reduce the heat and simmer. Let cook approximately 5-7 minutes. (Paula adds half and half to make them creamier -- I did not).
Cook crumbled sausage and drain. (A way to lighten this up is to use Morning Star soy sausage patties -- 75% less fat and taste really good).

Scramble two eggs according to your favorite way. Paula also showed using a poached egg. Some people like the drippy stuff with their grits.

To assemble: Spoon grits into mug, about 2/3 full. Spoon sausage on top of grits. Add poached or scrambled egg. Sprinkle cheese on top then garnish with parsley. You'll notice in my picture that I used cilantro -- I didn't have parsley -- but hey, it was a photo op -- I could have gone in the yard and got a dandelion!

No Food to Share

I finished jury duty today. Not something I want to do again any time soon. Not a fun case to try but glad that it is over. It took a lot longer to come to a consensus so late getting home.

I feel like comfort food after all that, but think I'll just do the 'Nestea Plunge' in the pool. Less calories that way.

We had a really nice judge, very personable. I felt like asking him if he would like a 'Cookie Lady for the Courts'. I think I'd like that job.......:o)

Mexicali Cornbread

I got this little cornbread pan at the outlet mall recently on a clearance rack. I like it because each piece of cornbread gets its own crispy crust.

Mexicali Cornbread

2 cups cornmeal
3/4 cup flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 small can chopped green chilies
1 cup sour cream
1 (17-oz) can cream-style corn
2/3 cup oil
3 eggs
1 cup cheese, grated

Mix all dry ingredients. Mix eggs, oil, sour cream, corn, chilies, and cheese until blended. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 450 for 30 minutes. (I made this small pan and a 9 inch square pan with the batter, baked at 400 for 25 minutes).

Dinner for One

I spent the day at the courthouse for jury duty selection. Out of 65 people I was juror number 12 - DARN -- I was *this* close! I've never served before so it should be interesting.

I need to start cooking. This is just almost sad to post a poor picture of watermelon, but that is what I had for dinner. There are not too many enticing adjectives to describe having watermelon, but it was succulent, cool and refreshing -- how's that?? If anyone wants the recipe just let me know, however, I must say it is quite involved.........:o)