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shopping spree – favorite finds!

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This week, on Wednesday, I took the day off, and went to Minneapolis/St Paul MN to go shopping with my Mom. The day didn’t start so well. My Mom’s check engine soon light came on and we made it all the way up to Fergus Falls, MN. Then we turned back and went and got my car back in Fargo. That wasted half of our morning but it’s a good thing we went back.

I got a few good foodie type things on our little shopping spree. We stopped at the Macys cafeteria and had lunch there. They had one of the best cupcakes and the frosting was made from vanilla beans. Never had that before. The picture is on my mom’s phone so I can’t upload to my blog yet. There was all sorts of food in jars there like these jams from Stonewall. I picked up a fig and orange jam and dulce de leche sauce.

I got some cute pumpkins for Fall at Crate and Barrel a long with a pumpkin whoopie pan and some cupcake liners for Halloween. Be expecting some pumpkin whoopie pies on the blog soon. :)

Trader Joe’s is one of my favorite food stores to shop at there, and I’d wish we’d get one here in Fargo. I was so happy when I found my figs there. I have this obsession with figs. Every time at about this year (they’re in season), I go on a fig hunt. They’re super hard to find in Fargo so that’s why I always end up picking some up when we go to Minneapolis. Aren’t they beautiful?

My new FAVORITE store to go shopping at is Anthropologie. I first heard about this store on pinterest because people were pinning so many cute clothes from that store. I finally got to go there this week and I found my dress for the wedding rehearsal.It smelled so good in that store.

Well that’s about it. I did end up finding some whole wheat pizza dough at Trader Joe’s that’s just as good as regular pizza crust. Go and buy some and try it out for yourself. :)

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Dump Cake

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Dump cake is a cross between pineapple upside down cake and some kind of berry/apple crisp. It’s super easy to make and only requires opening a box or can up and dumping them in the cake pan.

This cake didn’t last too long in our house. It was gone in less than a day. My friend was over helping with invitations and she loved it. It can be served warm or cold, but I thought it tasted better when I got it straight out of the oven.My favorite part was the cobbler/streusel topping on the top.

Ingredients from Pioneer Woman

1 can (21 Oz.) Cherry Pie Filling
1 can (15 Oz.) Crushed Pineapple
1 box (about 18 Oz.) Yellow Or White Cake Mix
1 stick Margarine
1/2 stick Butter
Whipped Cream (I used Cool Whip)

Preparation Instructions

Dump cherry pie filling and crushed pineapple into baking dish. Stir together.

Sprinkle cake mix over the top of the fruit. Slice margarine and butter and distribute over the surface of the cake mix.

Bake this sacrilege at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Then, to redeem yourself and become the person your high school history teacher always wanted you to be, whip some cream and put a dollup on top.

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Apple Chips

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The first batch of apple chips I tried making  didn’t get crisp at all because I had sliced them too thick with the mandolin. I tried making them again and slicing them thinner, and they turned out much better. This is a great and healthy treat to make, especially if you have kids. They’re also very addicting and would probably be good with a little salt on them.

These almost made me wish it was Fall again. I can’t wait to make these on a cool day, when we actually have some apples growing on our tree. The neighbors are starting to get some on there’s but we aren’t yet. We do have some tomatoes starting to come up, which I’m excited for.

To make these apple chips slice an apple really thin. I used a mandolin for mine. If you don’t have one of those yet, go and get one. I love mine. Place them on a lined baking sheet with parchment paper and bake at 250 for up to 3 hours or until crisp.

Using one apple for a serving would  be 1 points plus for the whole entire serving. I sprinkled mine with just a little bit of sugar and cinnamon. You don’t really even need the sugar or the cinnamon and they will still taste good.

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Mexican Tortilla Pizzas

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If I could, I’d eat Mexican 5 nights a week.  I love nachos, mexican pizza, chalupas, quesadillas, etc… Tuesday’s are deemed Taco Tuesday for us, because we go to Taco John’s every Tuesday for dinner. Tacos are just $.89! If you’ve never been to a Taco John’s before, I’d suggest you go. It’s like a Taco Bell, but  they have these potato oles that are to die for and I just love the seasoning on them. They’re really good with nacho cheese.

If you’re trying to cut back on meat these Mexican pizzas are my favorite. I’m not trying to, but if I ever did, I’d eat these pizzas every day a week.  I didn’t have high fiber tortillas or fat free re-fried beans, but I’m going to go to the store and stock up on that stuff. You could serve these with a side of rice.

Ingredients adapted from Honey, What’s Cooking?

4 whole wheat flour tortillas
Cooking Spray
1 can of fat free refried beans
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon of taco seasoning
Oretaga Taco Sauce
2 cups of %2 Mexican Cheese
2 roma tomatoes
3 scallions

1 Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray the tortillas with cooking spray
and line a cookie sheet pan with tin foil. Place tortillas on baking sheet
for 10 minutes. Every 5 minutes flip the tortilla so that they get crisp.

2. Place about 1/4 cup of beans on 2 tortillas and add about a tablespoon of hot
sauce. Layer the other tortilla on top of the sauce. Add some sauce, cheese,
tomatoes, and scallions and melt the cheese in the oven. About 5 minutes. Make sure
to keep the oven on to melt the cheese.

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Monkey Bread Muffins

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This morning, I woke up and wanted to bake something.  Most monkey bread recipes call for 2 cans of biscuits to fill a bundt pan, but I only had 1 can. One can is the perfect amount for 2 people. They taste like cinnamon rolls but better.  Cinnamon rolls take too long to make waiting for the yeast to rise and then you have to roll out the dough. These probably take  less than 15 minutes to prepare.

I had 3 muffins and went for a run. after that. That run, probably only canceled out one of those muffins. Gotta get used to running longer than 9 minutes. Two summers ago, Ben and I could run for up to 45 minutes without stopping. It will happen. Just wish my shin muscles would stop hurting.


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Calories 361 | Fat 16.65g | Carbohydrate 49g | Fiber 1.2g | Protein 4.1g

Servings 8

Ingredients

1 can of biscuits

1 cup of brown sugar

6 tablespoons of butter

1 cup of brown sugar

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Directions.

Open up can of biscuits. Cut each biscuit into 4 equal pieces. Melt the butter in a small bowl. In another small bowl combine cinnamon sugar mixture. Dip each biscuit into the butter and then into the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place 4 pieces into one muffin tin. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

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Happy Cinco de Mayo!

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Happy Cinco de Mayo! My fiancee thought I should have ordered a ghost chili pepper online and use that instead of using a serrano pepper to make this salsa. We were watching you tube videos last night of people eating those things and saw one where a guy had put a ghost chili pepper on his girlfriend’s pizza and she got so pissed. I would have too,  if my boyfriend did that to me. What an evil prank to play on someone, and I really don’t want to be putting people’s mouths on fire at work. :)

There was a base recipe I used for this, that I found at Everyday food and thought at first that it was kind of bland. Then, I started throwing things in there like more peppers and more cilantro. It actually helped to cook it too, because the original recipe was a no cook salsa.

One thing, that I like about salsa is that there’s hardly any fat and you can put it on top of almost anything. :)

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Calories 23 | Fat 0.06g | Carbohydrate 4.76g | Fiber 1.1g  | Protein 1.02g

Servings 12 (about 2 or 3 tablespoons per serving)

1 28 can of whole tomatoes
2 serrano pepeprs
1 onion
1 bunch of cilatro
3 garlic cloves
1 tsp of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of lemon juice

1. Chop serrano pepper and onion and add to blender. Add all the rest of the ingredients to the blender and puree.

2. Pour salsa in a pan and cook on medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool and store.

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Easter Nests

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I can’t believe it’s already Easter on Sunday. I’ve been looking at a lot of Easter recipes online and have seen many different things. Like for instance Peeps S’mores and cake baked inside of eggs. I’m also excited for Ham and cheesy hash brown potatoes. That’s usually my families Easter tradition. My job is to make the Strawberry pretzel Salad that I had posted about sometime last month.

I also plan on bringing these. It’s basically chow mein noodles and peanuts covered in chocolate. For eggs, I used Cadburry mini chocolate eggs. Or… you can use whatever else you desire like jelly beans. They’re probably not for somebody on a diet but hey, it’s Easter right? I like to splurge every now and then.

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Nutrition Info: Calories 296 | Total Fat 20.09g | Total Carbohydrate 28.97g | Dietary Fiber 3.4g | Dietary Fiber 3.4g
Points Plus: 9

From (EzraPoundCake.com)

Makes about 12 nests

2 cups (10 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (Or, use 1 cup each chocolate chips and butterscotch chips; 1 cup each chocolate chips and peanut butter chips; or 1 cup each butterscotch chips and peanut butter chips.)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (use only with 2 cups chocolate chips)
2 cups (4 ounces) Chinese chow-mein noodles (You could also use crumbled shredded wheat or broken pretzel sticks)
1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) dry-roasted peanuts, sliced almonds or toasted chopped pecans

For the Eggs: your choice of candy-coated mini chocolate eggs, jelly beans, Jordan almonds, etc.

White Chocolate Variation: Substitute white chocolate for semisweet, 1/2 cup toasted coconut flakes, and use the toasted pecans.

1. Line a baking sheet or work table with wax paper.

2. Using a double-boiler (or a metal bowl set over a a pan of simmering water), melt the chocolate chips and butter together, stirring until the mixture is smooth. OR, place the chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl, and microwave them at medium heat for about 2 minutes, stirring halfway through.

3. Gently stir in the noodles and nuts.

4. Drop mixture by spoonfuls onto wax paper. Use a spoon to gently make an indentation on the top of each cluster for your candy eggs.

5. Place the candy eggs in the nest. Let the clusters stand until set, about 1 hour.

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Blog Roll Link Exchange

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I’m looking for people to exchange blog roll links with. The only 2 requirements is that your blog must be related about food and you must add me to your blog roll also. If you would like your blog to be linked on here please leave a comment or email me. Thanks!

Recipes coming soon….

Black Bean Soup

Ham and Egg Crepes

Croque Madames

Funfetti Pancakes

Turkey Mini Meatball Sandwiches

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Ina’s Rum Raisin Truffles

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Ingredients

125 grams heavy cream (about 1/2 cup)
750 grams (about 26 ounces) milk chocolate, divided
15 grams butter (about 1 tablespoon)
40 grams raisins (about 1/8 cup)
60 grams dark rum, such as Mount Gay (about 1/4 cup)

Directions

In a heatproof bowl set over simmering water, heat the cream until hot to the touch and turn off the heat. Meanwhile, chop 350 grams of the milk chocolate into small pieces. Add the chocolate and butter to the hot cream, and stir until the chocolate melts.

Place the raisins and rum in the bowl of a mini food processor or blender and process until the raisins are finely minced. Stir the raisin mixture into the chocolate mixture and set aside at room temperature for at least 6 hours or overnight to cool.

Using a 1 1/4-inch ice cream scoop, scoop balls of the rum raisin mixture and place them on sheet pans lined with parchment paper.

To make the tempered chocolate, chop the remaining 400 grams of milk chocolate and place 3/4 of it in a small glass bowl in the microwave for 20 seconds exactly. Stir the chocolate and continue to microwave for 20 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until the chocolate is smooth and shiny. Add the remaining 1/4 of the chocolate and stir until smooth. The chocolate should register 85 to 89 degrees F on a candy thermometer.

With 2 small spoons, pick up each ball and cover it with tempered chocolate. (You can also use your hands to coat them.) They can look a little messy and “truffle” like. Place the truffle back on the parchment paper. Continue to coat each of the balls until they’re all coated with milk chocolate. Allow to sit for a few minutes until the chocolate hardens. Serve at room temperature.

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Rum and chocolate are two ingredients that go really well together. I had all the ingredients to make these truffles after I saw Ina make these on her show. Next time I make these I’m not going to process them so much. I’d rather bite into bigger pieces of raisins rather than little tiny ones. These truffles were really good, and maybe they could even be possible wedding favors?? That would be a lot of chocolate to get.

There was some left over chocolate after I got done dipping the truffles. We had some left over bacon from these burgers we had on Saturday night. We all know that bacon and chocolate go really well together. The burgers that we had were Chili Dog Bacon Cheese burgers from Rachel Ray. I know… I always complain about her recipes, but these were really good. She normally has good burger recipes.  I’m sorry, I don’t have a picture of them.

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1 Ingredient Ice Cream

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Weight Watcher Recipes

Points Plus = 0

This ice cream has just one ingredient. BANANAS. I saw Claire Robinson make this on her show one weekend, and I’ve also read about this.  You cut up some banana pieces and freeze them in the ice box for about an hour. After an hour you take them out of the freezer and puree them with whatever your little heart desires. Coconut, Chocolate Chips, Caramel Sauce, Raspberry Sauce… etc…. Heaven! It didn’t taste too banana-y either. Ben really liked it too. I did try to make some ice cream out of snow this weekend (not yellow snow) and I liked this idea better.

I’ll probably end up buying even more bananas now at the grocery store, just so I can make this. It’s a very healthy ice cream, since there’s no extra added sugar or cream.

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