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.
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!)
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).
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)
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.
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
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
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
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)
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.
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
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).
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!
This post is sponsored by Door-to-Door Organics. All opinions are my own. #MyFarm2Table
I was sent some beautiful Local Organic Heirloom Tomatoes from Door-to-Door Organics for my Farm-to-Table post. I love the colors of heirloom tomatoes, especially the lighter ones, so I wanted to use them in a way that highlighted their coloring. What better way to make heirloom tomatoes the star but in a Gazpacho recipe?
Now, the one typical setback of making gazpacho is going through the whole process of peeling and seeding tomatoes. So, for this recipe, I just eliminated it. I have a pretty awesome blender (a Blendtec) which blended the tomatoes well enough to basically eliminate the skins and seeds, so yours may come out a bit more chunky. But removing the skin of a tomato is just such a pain!
I served my silky smooth gazpacho topped with finely chopped cherry tomatoes and a Wild Flour Bakery Hearth Baked Mini Baguette that was also in my box from Door-to-Door Organics. The recipe also includes a green bell pepper and a jalapeno which were also a part of my box.
Ingredients:
3 cups heirloom tomatoes, chopped (I used some yellow and red)
This weekend, my fiancé went fishing with a friend and his friend’s father. They had quite a successful trip, and came home with a ton of Rockfish! Rockfish, also known as striped bass, is a mild whitefish that can be prepared many different ways, so I was jazzed!
We had some that night on the grill (yum!), but there was plenty left over, and my fiance’s friend was nice enough to send us home with more fish. I had a hankering for fish tacos, so these Rockfish Tacos are the end result! Rockfish, or striped bass, is the perfect balance of flaky and meaty, so it works wonderfully in tacos.
Ingredients:
1 cup cherry tomatoes, diced
1 tablespoon minced jalapeno
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 tablespoon cilantro chopped, plus more for garnish
the juice and zest of 1 lime
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large fillet rockfish (striped bass), skin removed (~1.5 lb)
