Guatemala!

So I just got back from my week-long trip to Casa Para Ninos de Aleluya in Guatemala.  My life has been change for good.  I saw God work in ways that just blew me away and He worked in my life to draw me to Him.  There is so much I want to say, but for now...pictures!!!

Sarah and Sanda

Emily, me, and Jacqueline

Antony, me, and Andrea

Team picture in Antigua!!!

Pricila has stolen my heart, for sure.  This is us with me pointing to the necklace she made me

ANA MARIA!  She is by far the child who change my life the most

Heaven in Your Mouth

As my roommate can attest, I have an obsession with Panera Bread's Cranberry Orange Muffins.  They're so big and wonderful.  Crunchy and sugary on top, soft and almost gooey in the middle.  It's heavenly.  Well, obviously if I bought one every day I'd soon run out of money.  So after much searching, googling, binging (is that even a word?), etc I found a recipe for one that sounded and looked close.  I made them this afternoon and I was not disappointed.

So pretty

I think I may be in love...

Tofu Stir-fry

So sometimes I buy things without thinking.  Case in point: I bought tofu once.  My nutritionist told me one way to cook it is in a stir fry.  So tonight, I did just that.

Camille's Tofu Stir Fry

Ingredients:
1 cup rice, cooked
3 oz firm tofu
1/2 c pepper blend frozen veggie mix
1/2 c broccoli stir fry frozen mix
1 t garlic powder
1/2 t season salt
1 T peanut butter
1 T soy sauce

Directions:
1.  In small container, mix PB and soy sauce, microwave 20 seconds to soften, then stir.
2.  In skillet, cook veggies on high until almost thawed.  Add in tofu.  Pour in a few splashes of soy sauce.  After a minute, add in PB/Soy sauce mixture.  Add in rice.  Once liquid evaporates, add in 1/2 c water.  Season with garlic salt and season salt.  Once water evaporates and stir fry begins to stick to pan, pour in bowl, then serve and enjoy!

It is so easy to make and makes 2-3 servings, depending on how hungry you are!

I forgot to take a picture after I made it...so here's a picture of what's left on my plate :)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...FALL!

It's FALL!  The air is crisp, the leaves are changing, and all my favorite things to cook are HERE!

Case in point: I just made all of the following for a Kappa Delta Potluck:
Oatmeal cookies
Chocolate Chip Oatmeal cookies
Peppermint chocolate chip Oatmeal cookies
Caramel Oatmeal cookies
Coconut Chocolate Chip Oatmeal cookies
Cranberry Oatmeal cookies
and I think that's it.  Basically, I made 52 cookies....hopefully I won't eat them all before the Potluck tomorrow night...

I bake when I'm sad, stressed, or just in need of "me-time" and since my tendonitis in my hip is KILLING me, I couldn't run.  Frustration, anger, and sadness ensued...so I baked.  But it was SO worth it!  I love Oatmeal cookies (Can't you tell?)!!!

YUM

Wow

So it's been a very long time since I have posted anything.  And I mean a VERY long time.  School got very busy for a while and something had to go, and sadly it was blogging and cooking.  BUT two of my classes are done (night classes) so I have more free time.  And this means more cooking.  SO stay tuned because I'm going to be a baking/cooking machine!  Especially with fall foods.  I love pumpkin and other fall-type dishes.  So prepare for a whole lot of pumpkin!  Pie...bread...cookies...bars...soup?  We'll see!

Sweet Potatoes, Pie Crust, and Eggs OH MY!

So this afternoon, I decided to try my hand at making some homemade brown sugar and cinnamon poptarts.  I had seen a recipe for strawberry lemon poptarts, so I figured I would follow the same basic principle and make my own version.  First of all, rolling out a Pillsbury pie crust into a square shape is HARD WORK.  After working with the dough and cutting it and peeling it off of my rolling pin, I finally cut it into ten rectangles.  After filling each one with a brush of melted butter and the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture, they were  ready for their egg wash and to be put in the oven.  15 minutes later and TA DA!

Gooey filling and flaky crust.  YUM!

So, I still had the matter of that egg left.  It called for one egg for an egg wash but I basically still had an egg leftover.  Remembering sweet potatoes I had recently bought, I decided to make....SWEET POTATO BISCUITS!  (Yes, I realize it is ok to throw out an egg, but I tend avoid wasting things, even eggs.)

Let me tell you, that dough was STICKY and hard to work with.  I'm pretty sure I got dough everywhere (the floor, the counter, my shirt, my feet, the faucet, the flour canister, the toaster, and...well you get the picture).  As I shoved the cookie sheet into the oven, I grumbled to myself that these better be worth the effort and mess.  Well, 20 minutes and a mouthful of biscuit later, my decision was made.  Totally worth the effort!

So beautiful and tasty

My only issue with these biscuits is that you can't taste enough sweet potato.  So Next time, I am definitely using extra sweet potato and brown sugar to give them a TRUE sweet potato taste.  

Now, time to get back to what I am supposed to be doing...studying for my Praxis II exam on Saturday.  YIKES!

I have GOT to share this recipe

So I had a bunch of bananas that were getting overly ripe.  And I remembered that overly ripe bananas are perfect for baking.  So, I found a recipe for banana cupcakes...yes, cupcakes.  I was going to make banana bread, but after watching Masterchef, I wanted cupcakes.  This past episode, they had to make cupcakes.  And boy, it made me hungry!  So, I found a recipe.  My next problem was, what do I do for icing?  I didn't want to do plain old vanilla or chocolate (boring).  I was going to do peanut butter frosting but I have natural PB that's more runny than solid.  Then, I thought "CINNAMON!".  Only trouble was I couldn't find a recipe for cinnamon frosting.  Well, turns out my grandmother had the PERFECT recipe!

Pre-icing

They didn't rise up very tall

LOTS of cinnamon icing

All 12 of my beautiful cupcakes!

Banana Cupcakes:

Ingredients:

3/4  cup  granulated sugar, divided

• 1/2  cup  mashed ripe banana
• 1/4  cup  butter or stick margarine, softened
• 1  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 2  large eggs
• 1  cup  all-purpose flour
• 1/2  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  ground nutmeg
• 1/4  cup  plain yogurt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare cupcakes, combine 1/4 cup granulated sugar and banana; set aside. Beat 1/2 cup granulated sugar, butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended (about 3 minutes). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana mixture to sugar mixture, beating well. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with yogurt, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix after each addition.

Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups lined with paper liners. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Cinnamon Icing

2 cups confectioner's sugar

2 tbsp milk

2 tbsp butter, melted

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon