Happy Birthdayt to ME!

For my birthday I made a cake that I had wanted to make for Will's birthday but it didnt happen because it was a little intimidating and time consuming.  Will said he had tried making one before but the flan didnt set for some reason.  We both had this kind of cake on our missions.  Will remembered it with chocolate cake, but I remembered it with yellow, so I made it this way.  The cook in my first area was from Brazil, so kudos to Brazil for the amazing flan cake - it stays super moist.  Behold - I give you- the flan cake!

Flan Cake

• 1 yellow cake mix (prepared according to directions on the box – check to see if you need extra eggs or oil for this.)
• 1/4 cup caramel topping (Cajeta de Leche if you can find it at a Mexican market)
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. almond extract 
• Ground cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.put your bain marie vessel in the oven while it is preheating.

2. Grease and flour a large Bundt pan.

3. Prepare cake mix according to package directions.

4. Pour the caramel topping around the bottom of the Bundt pan.

5. Pour cake mix over caramel.

6. In a blender, mix together well: eggs, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and vanilla extract.

7. Pour the flan mix gently down one side of the pan.The flan will go to the bottom and the cake mix will raise up a bit as the flan mixture fills the bottom of the pan.

8. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

9. Place your cake in the bain marie pan (i used a 9×13 pan) and add hot water about 1 to 1 1/2 inches up the side of the Bundt pan.

10. Bake (in the water bath) 45 min, then cover with foil and bake about 20 min more.. It should be slightly golden brown. Test for doneness by inserting toothpick in the cake. If it comes out clean, it’s done.

11. Remove from water bath and cool 10 to 15 minutes.

12. Invert onto a cake plate. The caramel will still be runny – it’s supposed to be to melt over the cake, so be careful when inverting! Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

I tried to make my own carmel sauce but it turned into candy so my cake had no carmel, but was plenty sweet and tasty.  

Veggie Plates, Cornbread, and Brussels Sprouts

I need to make up veggie plates like this more often. They really are a lifesaver for those last few minutes when I'm making dinner, and the boys are bugging me because they're ready to eat RIGHT NOW! We got some purple carrots and mini sweet peppers in our Bountiful Basket the other week, the boys loved them. As well as the grape tomatoes that were on sale at the store. They grab handfuls of them and stuff their cheeks.

I adapted Mom's Sweetest Cornbread recipe to make it 100% whole grain. I also reduced the sugar a little. The cornbread was a little darker and a little denser, but other than that I could hardly tell the difference. I'll probably keep tweaking it to see how little sugar and oil I can get away with.

SWheatest Cornbread

Combine in medium bowl:
3/4 c. corn meal
1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 Tbl. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Combine in small bowl:
1/3 c. oil
3 Tbl. melted butter
2 eggs
1 1/4 c. milk

Combine all above ingredients.
Pour into greased 8-inch square pan.
Bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 35 minutes.

For muffins: Spoon batter into 18 to 20 greased or paper-lined muffin cups.
Fill 2/3 full. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 18 to 20 minutes.

We also got Brussels sprouts in our Bountiful Basket. I've tried roasting them before, and we didn't care for it. This time I roasted with bacon, because everything tastes better with bacon! It did taste better, but still not good enough to convince me to buy Brussels sprouts again. Anyone have any tips for preparing Brussels sprouts or a favorite way to cook them?

Roasted cabbage with pears

Made this tonight to go along with leftovers that needed to be eaten up. I think this could stand alone as a main dish pretty well though. It's all that George ate for dinner. Mainly he ate the pear, but I made him take bites of cabbage each time before he got more pear. I thought the cabbage was just as good, a nice savory complement to the sweet pear.

Roasted cabbage with pears (adapted from Better Homes and Gardens, October 2012)

1 small head cabbage

3-4 pears

olive oil

salt and pepper

lemon juice

handful of walnuts, chopped and toasted

Preheat oven to 400F. Core cabbage and cut into wedges; core and quarter pears. Place on a baking sheet and toss with oil, salt and pepper. Roast in oven for 40 to 45 minutes, turning once halfway through cooking. Transfer to a serving platter. Top with a squeeze of lemon juice and a generous sprinkle of walnuts. 

Serves 4-6 as a side, probably 2 if main dish.

Honeydew, Blueberry, and Mango Salad

I made this fruit salad (photo and recipe from melskitchencafe.com) to go with our Thanksgiving meal. So delicious! The lime-ginger dressing takes a little bit of time to make, but it is so good! It does have a strong flavor, so I didn't add all of the dressing because I didn't want George and Allen's taste buds to be overwhelmed. I did use most of it, just maybe a tablespoon less. This is more expensive to make in the winter when things are not in season, but that makes it a great holiday treat.

1 tablespoon grated lime zest from 4 limes (zest limes before juicing)
1 cup fresh lime juice (from the 4 grated limes and an additional 3-4 limes as needed)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Pinch table salt
1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced (about 1 tablespoon)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 small honeydew melon, seeds and rinds removed, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
2 mangoes, peeled, pitted and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
1 pint fresh blueberries

DIRECTIONS:
In a small, heavy-bottomed non-reactive saucepan, simmer the lime juice, sugar, and salt medium-high heat until syrupy, honey-colored, and reduced to 1/4 cup, about 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and add the lime zest, ginger, and lemon juice. Let the mixture sit and steep for 5 minutes. Strain the syrup through a fine mesh strainer. Combine the honeydew, mangoes and blueberries in a medium bowl; pour the warm dressing over and toss. Serve immediately at room temperature or cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate up to 4 hours, and serve chilled.

We love CURRY!

The spices in curry are a great immune boost against colds and such.  Its become one of my repeat meals and my family does not mind the repetition!  I just need to remember to put yogurt at the table for those that dont like it as spicy as I do :)

We had some friends over for dinner tonight and they asked for the recipe, so I decided to type up my notes of adjustments I've made.  I got this recipe from Celia.

 CURRY IN A HURRY—by Troy Flake (Sweet Coconut Curry) serves 8 or so

Ok, here is the deal; this isn't really a recipe, it is kind of a blank canvas.  One thing is to keep tasting it.  You can balance everything out to taste. 

Put a little oil in the bottom of the pot, turn it on medium and add:

1 can of coconut milk

1 quart of whipping cream (Or milk, or broth, or more coconut milk.  Increase cornstarch to 2 Tbs)

1 tablespoons of cornstarch

Chicken: (if desired)

In a separate pan, cook as much chicken as you want, cut it into strips or chunks, and put it in.

Now here is where the fun begins; just add all this stuff in as you go:

Curry powder: probably a tablespoon or maybe even a little more

If you like it spicy then keep adding it.  If you go too far, just add a little more cream (milk works too) and it will cool it right down.  You might need to add a little more cornstarch if you add more cream. (Celia’s note: I had to add WAY more than a Tbsp. to get to a curry taste that was strong enough for me.  The pastes are stronger than the powder.)

Vegetable suggestions:

chopped chard, beet greens, kale, bok choy or tatsoi, collards maybe?

Cabbage

Eggplant

Onions

Peppers (I dont prefer them in this dish)

Potatoes: skin them, cut them up in little chunks, and boil them.  When you are done you've got to strain them and rinse them off really well or else the curry will have a potato-ish taste. (Celia’s note: I love the potatoes…red potatoes work nicely and you don’t have to peel them.  I put in a lot)

Fruit suggestions: 

Apples pieces, Pineapple chunks, Golden raisins (or regular ones)

Spices and seasoning:  Add these to your liking

A little salt and a lot of pepper

Yellow mustard—about a Tablespoon

Cayenne pepper (This helps off-set the sweet and makes it delicious)

Coriander seed, ground

Cumin

Turmeric (gives the nice curry color and is a good health boost too!)

Anything else in the cupboard that you think would work well

Just keep stirring it over low heat until the apples and the onions get soft and you can't taste the cornstarch. 

I usually let it cool down for a while and then make sure it tastes good and has a good consistency, then heat it up again just before I serve it.  The longer you do it in advance, the better it usually tastes.  Leaving it over night REALLY makes the flavor set, but either way it's good. Serve over rice.

We've learned that soaking brown rice up to a day ahead of time helps it be more digestable.  We love sweet brown rice from asian food stores.

VINDALOO CURRY PASTE—makes ½ cup

Ingredients

2 T grated fresh ginger

4 chopped cloves garlic

4 chopped fresh red chilies

1 T each of ground coriander and cumin seeds

2 tsp each of ground turmeric and ground cardamom

1 tsp ground cinnamon

4 whole cloves

6 peppercorns

½ c cider vinegar (I actually omit this - dont like the vinegar taste in the curry)

Directions

Put in a food processor and process for 20 sec. or until well combined and smooth.  Makes ½ C.

Sesame snacks

I found this idea online. Make a muppet on a plate out of fruits and vegetables. Our most recent one was Elmo (red head [cherry tomatoes, strawberries], orange nose [carrot], dark mouth [red grapes], white eyes [yogurt or ranch dressing], dark pupils [blueberries]). We've also made Oscar the grouch out of broccoli and green pepper and Cookie Monster out of blueberries. You can let your creativity flow and make other favorite cartoon characters. Sometimes George gets excited about carrots and ranch dressing, but he always gets excited about making a Sesame snack!

Pizza Bites

We found this recipe in a magazine, I think it was Parents', like the July issue maybe? We made it for a snack a few weeks ago, and today George asked for pizza bites. I couldn't figure out what he was asking for, but then he mentioned it was from a magazine. So we had this for lunch today (I made bigger pizza bites for me, on whole wheat bread).

Ingredients:
Triscuit crackers
tomato sauce
mozzarella
assorted veggies (broccoli, red pepper, we also did green pepper and pepperoni today)

Top the crackers with the toppings, put them in the toaster oven or under your oven broiler for 2 to 3 minutes and enjoy!