Tag: I Can Cook That

Banana Chocolate Chip Hemp Muffins

Note: I received products to use in this recipe from Just Hemp Foods. All opinions are my own.

Today is the last day of #Choctoberfest! If you haven’t already, be sure to go enter the giveaway now!

Because it’s Sunday, I have my mind on the week ahead. I really struggle to have an on-the-go breakfast option that actually tastes good and doesn’t load on the calories. I love making homemade muffins because then breakfast is set for the week, but it’s kind of tough to justify much nutritional value in most muffins.

But these little guys are amped up with Just Hemp 50% Protein Powder, which is a plant-based protein powder with essential amino acids vitamins and minerals. The powder is gluten-free, soy-free, and lactose-free, and can be added to just about anything! Each 4 tbsp serving contains 0.7g omega-3’s, 2g omega-6’s, and 6g of fiber.

You can connect with Just Hemp on their social media pages:  Facebook  | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram

Hemp protein powder is a great substitute for some of the flour in a baked good, up to 25%. I also happened to have some overripe bananas on hand, and still have some dark chocolate chips leftover from my #Choctoberfest baking, so I made these yummy gluten free banana chocolate chip hemp muffins for my fiance and me to enjoy all week! (This recipe can be made with normal flour instead of almond meal as well, it just won’t be gluten free.)

Ingredients: (makes 12 cupcake-sized muffins)

  • 1 1/2 cups almond meal
  • 1/2 cup Just Hemp 50% Hemp Protein Powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup Imperial sugar
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3 ripe bananas, mashed
  • 1/4 cup applesauce
  • 1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 tablespoons mini dark chocolate chips

Continue reading Banana Chocolate Chip Hemp Muffins

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache

I can’t believe I’ve never tried to make a flourless chocolate cake before. This oversight will happily be corrected with the help of #Choctoberfest with Imperial Sugar!

This Flourless Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache is a dense, rich, chocolate cake. Because there is no flour in the recipe, it is also gluten free!

Because this is #Choctoberfest and you can never have too much chocolate, this cake is finished off with a yummy dark chocolate ganache topping.

If you haven’t entered the #Choctoberfest with Imperial Sugar Giveaway yet, be sure to head over to Monday’s post to do so! The prize is worth over $350!

Ingredients:

Flourless Chocolate Cake

  • 1 12 oz bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 6 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups Imperial Sugar

Ganache

  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 10 oz dark chocolate chips
  • 1 teaspoon espresso granules

Other

  • powdered sugar, for dusting
  • raspberries or strawberries, for garnish
  • whipped cream, for serving

Continue reading Flourless Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache

Black Forest Cupcakes

When I think of all things chocolatey, no list would be complete without Black Forest Cake, which is traditionally made of layers of chocolate cake, whipped cream, and cherries. My Black Forest Cupcakes version for #Choctoberfest uses dark chocolate cupcakes stuffed with cherry filling, topped with fresh whipped cream frosting, chocolate shavings, and maraschino cherries.

As the Gold Sponsor of #Choctoberfest with Imperial Sugar, Imperial Sugar was kind enough to send quite a bit of sugar my way to use in my recipes, including these Black Forest Cupcakes. (Speaking of #Choctoberfest, don’t forget to enter the giveaway!)

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

  • 2 teaspoons espresso powder brewed in 1 cup water
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 cups Imperial Sugar
  • 3/4 cup dark cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Whipped Cream:

  • 3 cups heavy cream
  • 1/3 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Other Ingredients:

  • 1 can cherry pie filling
  • Jar of Maraschino Cherries
  • Chocolate Shavings

Continue reading Black Forest Cupcakes

#Choctoberfest with Imperial Sugar GIVEAWAY

 

This is going to be a very good week. Why? Because it’s #Choctoberfest! Today, October 5th is the first day of a week long event celebrating all things chocolate!

#Choctoberfest is a virtual event put together by The PinterTest Kitchen. Bloggers from around the world will be posting their favorite chocolate recipes, and you’ll get a chance to win some awesome prizes. What’s not to love?

Here’s what this event is all about!

#Choctoberfest would not be possible without our sponsors, starting with our 2015 Gold Sponsor, Imperial Sugar. Imperial Sugar has been a trusted name in family kitchens since 1843. Their sugar products and sweeteners are made from non-GMO cane sugar and ensure consistently delicious results. We’ll be using Imperial Sugar whenever we use sugar in our recipes this week, and can’t wait to share the sweetness with you! (You may have seen my Instagram post; I’ve got plenty of Imperial Sugar to make sweet treats for a while!)

You can find Imperial Sugar on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and more. Make sure you visit the recipes section of their website for some sweet inspiration, and you can also find coupons on their website if you want to try out Imperial Sugar yourself.

Imperial Sugar and our other sponsors have banded together to contribute some awesome prizes for our #Choctoberfest giveaway! Entering is simple – just click below to follow us on Pinterest. Here’s what you could win:

We also have a nonprofit sponsor this year – Rescue Chocolate! They make vegan chocolate treats and donate 100% of their proceeds to animal shelters.

Enter now to win the #Choctoberfest prize. Hurry, because we’re picking the winner on October 12 at 8:00 AM, so if you don’t sign up before then, you’ll miss your chance!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A huge thank you to all of the other blogs participating in #Choctoberfest 2015. Check out their blogs throughout the week for chocolate recipes you won’t be able to resist:

The PinterTest Kitchen • 2 Cookin’ Mamas • A Day in the Life on the Farm • Aloha Flavor • Amy’s Cooking Adventures • Angels Homestead • Balancing Motherhood • Bless this Mess • Busy-at-Home • Chocolate Slopes • Coconut & Lime • Colie’s Kitchen • Cookaholic Wife • Cooking In Stilettos • Cooking With Libby • Cookistry • CopyKat Recipes • Cravings of a Lunatic • Crumbs in my Mustachio • Culinary Couture • Cupcakes Take The Cake • Deliciously Savvy • Eat It & Say Yum • Fairyburger • Famished Fish, Finicky Shark • Farm Fresh Feasts • Food Hunter’s Guide to Cuisine • Full Belly Sisters • Get Off The Couch and Cook • Grumpy’s Honeybunch • Hey What’s for Dinner Mom? • Honey and Birch • I Can Cook That • Jane’s Adventures in Dinner • Jessie Weaver • Life on Food • Life, Love, and Good Food • Majorly Delicious • Moore or Less Cooking Food Blog • Mother Would Know • Or Whatever You Do • Poet in the Pantry • Recipes Food and Cooking • Sassy Southern Yankee • Savory Tart • Seduction in The Kitchen • Serena Lissy • Sumptuous Spoonfuls • Take Two Tapas • That Skinny Chick Can Bake • ThatsSoYummy • The Chonchudo Files • The Crumby Cupcake • The Dinner-Mom • The Saucy Southerner • The Spiced Life • The Spiffy Cookie • The Two Bite Club • The Weekday Gourmet • Vintage Kitty • Wendy Polisi • What A Girl Eats • WhitBit’s Indian Kitchen • Wit Wisdom & Food • Zesty South Indian Kitchen

Are you a blogger who is interested in joining us during out next community event?

Sign up here now!

We’ll make sure you get an email about our next blogger event.

Check out some of my#Choctoberfest posts below!

Freezer Friendly Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells

I live in Philadelphia, and last week I was kind “stuck” at home because of the pope’s impeding arrival. So I used the opportunity to cook up a storm! (Seriously, I managed to make Saucy Chicken Over Rice, Chicken Tacos Bowls, Tomato Sauce, this recipe shared below, and a bunch of other yummy freezable dishes. My slow cooker and stove had quite the week!)

 

Here’s one of my favorite “freezer friendly” meals, with directions on how to store in your freezer and how to reheat when ready.

 

These Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells are easy to make, and are great to pack away for future meals (or eat immediately, that’s totally allowed too).

 

Ingredients:

  • 30 cooked jumbo pasta shells
  • 1 15 oz container ricotta
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella, divided
  • 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 2 cups marinara sauce, divided
  • Cooking spray Continue reading Freezer Friendly Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells

New Barber Foods Chicken Cordon Bleu & Sauteed Green Beans #SimplySpecialMeals

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SimplySpecialMeals #CollectiveBias

 

We all have those nights where dinner is the last thing on your mind. On busy days (especially Mondays), I just don’t want to think up something for dinner, and  I don’t want to spend the money on delivery.

 

Having a main dish in the freezer, like Barber Foods Stuffed Chicken Breasts, is a lifesaver for busy days. I picked up a 6-pack of Barber Foods Chicken Cordon Bleu from my local Superfresh (you can find them in the freezer section) so that I’m set for future dinners. Look for their new snazzy packaging!

 

The stuffed chicken breasts are individually wrapped so you can make as many or as few as you want at a time. Barber Foods’ Chicken Cordon Bleu is a chicken breast stuffed with savory ham and Swiss and American cheese which is then breaded — they recently updated the recipe to go along with their new packaging, yum! The frozen raw chicken can go right in the oven from the freezer, so no preparation is needed. This allows me to get dinner going as soon as I walk in the door, so helpful!

 

I like to make a quick side dish to serve while the chicken is cooking, so for the Chicken Cordon Blue I decided to make sauteed green beans with garlic and toasted almond slices.

 

Ingredients:

  • 4 Barber Foods Breaded Stuffed Chicken Breasts (I used Cordon Bleu)
  • 1 (16 oz) bag frozen cut green beans
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1/3 cup sliced almonds
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • the juice of one lemon

Continue reading New Barber Foods Chicken Cordon Bleu & Sauteed Green Beans #SimplySpecialMeals

Glazed Salmon and Rice Bowl

I don’t think I’ll ever have enough 30 minute weekday recipes, especially healthy ones! Here’s another one from Cooking Light, that includes salmon, brown rice, snow peas, and quick pickled radishes for a bunch of flavor, crunch, color, and a little tanginess.

 

This is actually two recipes together: the salmon rice bowl and orange-sesame snow peas.

 

Ingredients:

Salmon and Rice Bowl

  • 3 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce (or coconut aminos to make gluten free)
  • 3 tablespoons rice vinegar, divided
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 4 (6-ounce) skin-on salmon fillets
  • 1 cup very thinly sliced radishes
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 (8.5-ounce) pouch precooked brown basmati rice
  • 1/2 cup (1-inch) pieces green onions
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Orange-Sesame Snow Peas

  • 2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
  • 12 ounces trimmed snow peas
  • 1 teaspoon lower-sodium soy sauce (or coconut aminos to make gluten free)
  • 1/2 teaspoon grated orange rind

 

Continue reading Glazed Salmon and Rice Bowl

Lemon-Browned Butter Cod with Hazelnut Pilaf

Have you ever made an Armenian-style pilaf? This style of pilaf adds toasted spaghetti or other noodles to the rice. This recipe for a Browned Butter Hazelnut Pilaf is really stellar. The cod recipe that goes along with it is also tasty, but the real star is the pilaf. The recipe, from the latest Cooking Light, is a quick meal, so it’s great for something a little different for a weeknight dinner!

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
  • 2 ounces uncooked thin spaghetti, broken into 2-inch pieces
  • 1 cup unsalted chicken stock
  • 1/2 cup uncooked basmati rice
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
  • 1/4 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts
  • 4 (6-ounce) cod fillets
  • the juice of one lemon
  • 4 lemon wedges (optional)

Continue reading Lemon-Browned Butter Cod with Hazelnut Pilaf

Smoky Slow Cooker Ribs #KingOfFlavor

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #KingOfFlavor #CollectiveBias

 

The countdown to the football season is almost over! As a Philadelphian, I am very much in Eagles territory, where Sunday (and Monday night) schedules revolve around the birds. A huge part of watching the game (at least for me) is obviously the food!

 

One of my favorite game day foods is a rack of ribs. I don’t have a grill, so my go-to method to get fall-off-the-bone ribs is to use my slow cooker.

The best ribs have a little bit of heat to them, don’t you think? This recipe brings both some heat and smokiness with the use of two El Yucateco hot sauces: Red Habanero Hot Sauce and Black Label Reserve Hot Sauce.

I actually picked up three of El Yucateco’s hot sauces at Walmart (you can never have too much hot sauce on hand!) I found them in the Hispanic Food Section.

El Yucateco Red Habanero Hot Sauce is a combination of red habanero peppers, tomato, spices and seasonings. What sets El Yucateco apart from other hot sauces is that it has less vinegar, so the flavor (and kick!) of the pepper comes through more. The red habanero sauce is a great pantry hot sauce and is a great addition to everything from a Bloody Mary to wings. The tomato flavor in the red habanero hot sauce also makes it a great addition to a barbecue sauce!

El Yucateco’s Black Label Reserve Hot Sauce is made from fire roasted habaneros and has an awesome smoky flavor without being overpowering. This hot sauce works great with red meat, chili, and even chocolate! The Black Label Reserve Hot Sauce adds the smoky flavor of barbecued ribs to my slow cooker version!

El Yucateco also has a Green Habanero Hot Sauce, which  is a combination of green habanero peppers, garlic, spices and seasonings. This hot sauce is perfect with lighter foods — chicken, seafood, veggies, etc.

I’ve included two methods of cooking these ribs, based on if you’re watching a day or night game. I’m not going to lie, the results are best when you can cook the ribs at a lower temperature for a longer time, but are really delicious both ways!

 

Ingredients:

  • 3 lbs baby back ribs
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 tablespoon onion powder
  • 2 cups ketchup
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons El Yucateco Black Label Reserve Hot Sauce
  • 1 tablespoon El Yucateco Red Habanero Hot Sauce
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

Continue reading Smoky Slow Cooker Ribs #KingOfFlavor

Beef Tenderloin Steaks with Chipotle Butter and Bell Pepper Sauté

I haven’t posted a beef recipe in quite a while, so I’m happy that the one I’m sharing is absolutely delicious! It’s really simple to make as well! This recipe is from the latest Cooking Light and works great as a weeknight dinner. I paired it with the suggested side, Cilantro-Cumin Quinoa, which was also really tasty.

 

I found the portion of my steaks to be too big, so the below ingredients is a smaller cut than is shown. The beef tenderloin steaks are topped with a simple bell pepper saute and chipotle butter, so a flavorful dinner is ready in no time!

 

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
  • 1/4 cup sliced onion
  • 3 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 1 small red bell pepper, sliced
  • 1 small orange bell pepper, sliced
  • 1/4 cup dry sherry
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
  • 3/8 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
  • 2 (4-ounce) beef tenderloin steaks or 1 (8-ounce) sirloin steak
  • 1 tablespoon butter, softened
  • 1/2 tablespoon finely chopped chipotle chile in adobo sauce

Squash Ribbon Pasta with Lemon Herb Cream Sauce

Late August delivers some of the best produce! I’ve been using a lot of zucchini and yellow squash lately because it’s so darn plentiful right now.

 

This recipe is adapted from Cooking Light and makes the most of summer squash. I added some lemon juice to the dish to brighten it up a bit, but in general kept the recipe in tact.

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium zucchini (about 8 ounces)
  • 1 medium yellow summer squash (about 8 ounces)
  • 8 ounces uncooked fettuccine (I used spinach fettuccine)
  • 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
  • 1 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh tarragon
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • the juice of 1 lemon
  • freshly chopped parsley, for garnish

 

Continue reading Squash Ribbon Pasta with Lemon Herb Cream Sauce

Zucchini Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce

It’s probably no secret that I love pasta. My fiance and I eat it every Sunday night. But its so darn hot in Philadelphia right now and I’ve been craving something a bit less heavy to eat.

OXO must have known my pasta-loving dilemma because they sent me their new Hand-Held Spiralizer, which turns veggies into long thin spaghetti-like strands in no time!

Zucchini noodles (or “zoodles”) seem to be all the rage at the moment, so I was excited to try them out myself!

The OXO Hand-Held Spiralizer creates curly noodles from  long vegetables like zucchini, carrots, and cucumbers, while it’s open blade design accommodates round vegetables like beets, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. The food holder keeps hands safe from the blade and the easy non-slip grip container makes it simple to turn the Spiralizer. It is also BPA-free and dishwasher safe.

For this recipe, I decided to make a tomato sauce out of the fresh tomatoes I had in my house, so this recipe for Zucchini Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce is a very summery meal!

Note: I was sent an OXO Hand-Help Spiralizer to try for this post. Opinions are my own. 

 

Ingredients:

  • 9 roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped (~3 cups)
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 6 zucchini squash
  • grated Parmesan cheese (omit to make dairy free)
  • fresh basil leaves, optional

Continue reading Zucchini Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce

Vanilla Almond Cupcakes with Plum Frosting

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SwapMilk4Silk #CollectiveBias

Everyone loves a nice, fluffy cupcake. I love when a cupcake is light and airy, with smooth and creamy frosting on top! One of the easiest ways to keep a cupcake moist and fluffy is to use yogurt in the batter. But that doesn’t mean your cupcakes can’t be dairy-free or vegan-friendly!

I really enjoy making vegan cupcakes; they are surprisingly simple to make and taste just as delicious as normal cupcakes (or, dare I say it, even better!) I became interested in vegan baking when I made cupcakes for my sister-in-law a couple of years ago. Since then, I’ve noticed how easy it is to make delicious baked goods that are dairy and egg free!

Silk dairy-free products are perfect for cupcakes, because they add additional flavor to the batter through their Vanilla and other flavored yogurts and milks.

To make these Vanilla Almond Cupcakes with Plum Frosting, I went to Walmart to pick up a Silk Half Gallon Vanilla Almond Milk and a couple of Silk Vanilla Yogurts. You can find them in the dairy aisle, with the normal milk and yogurts.

Silk Almond Milk has 50% more calcium that dairy milk, with no cholesterol and no saturated fat. Silk offers seven almond milk options, all 100 calories or less. I love Vanilla Almond Milk in my cereal, its so tasty!  Silk yogurt, made from soy, has 6 grams of soy protein per serving with no cholesterol and no artificial flavors or colors. The yogurt is dairy-free, gluten-free, and vegetarian.

Plums are in season at the moment and I absolutely love their flavor, so I decided to make a plum frosting. The delicious flavor of plums is enhanced with almonds and vanilla, so Silk products are perfect with plum!

 

Cupcakes:

  • 1 stick margarine (8 tablespoons), at room temperature
  • 1 1/3 cup sugar
  • 2 (5.3 oz) containers Silk Vanilla Yogurt (~1 cup)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups cake flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup Silk Vanilla Almond Milk

 

Frosting:

  • 3 plums, diced
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 stick margarine  (8 tablespoons), at room temperature
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • a pinch of salt
  • a couple drops blue food coloring, if desired
  • cinnamon, for garnish

Continue reading Vanilla Almond Cupcakes with Plum Frosting

Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers

I was sent quite a few jalapenos as part of my Door-to-Door Organics box, more than I could really use in a normal time frame. So as part of #MyFarm2Table dinner, I decided to make Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers as one of the side dishes to use up the jalapenos.

 

I’m not the biggest fan of super spicy dishes, so after cutting and seeding the jalapenos, I placed them in a bowl of water for at least an hour to try to take some of the heat out of them. There was still some in the peppers, but it did help! (Note: there were still a couple of peppers that packed a punch, so be aware that every pepper is different in terms of heat).

 

For this recipe, I used local jalapeno peppers, and Apple Tree Goat Cheese, both from my Door-to-Door Organics box.

 

Ingredients:

  • 8 jalapeno peppers, halved lengthwise and seeded
  • 4 ounces goat cheese
  • 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Continue reading Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers

Vegetarian Stuffed Zucchini Boats

This post is sponsored by Door-to-Door Organics. All opinions are my own. #MyFarm2Table

These Zucchini Boats were my favorite part of my Farm-to-Table Meal last weekend. Stuffed with mushrooms and mozzarella cheese, the boats were nice and hearty and had great flavor!

For this recipe, I used Local Zucchini Squash, Antonio Fresh Mozzarella, and Local Organic White Mushrooms, all from my Door-to-Door Organics box.

 

Ingredients:

  • 3 large zucchini, halved lengthwise
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
  • 1/2 cup onion, chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 8 ounces white mushrooms, sliced
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
  • 2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs
  • 2 ounces mozzarella cheese, torn into small pieces
  • thinly sliced basil, for garnish
  • 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Continue reading Vegetarian Stuffed Zucchini Boats

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