Black Bottom Cupcakes

So I made these cupcakes for Spencer’s birthday which was this past Monday. It’s a recipe that his great, great, great aunt used to make and was passed down through the generations. He grew up loving them and has fond memories of shoving his face full them when he was a kid. No pressure or anything. I’ve actually attempted to make them before and have failed miserably. So miserably that when he tried them last time, he frowned and said “they don’t taste like my mom’s” which I followed with “well, I’m not your mom!” Let me just say that these cupcakes are a labor of love. They aren’t easy to make. There are a lot of ingredients, especially if you’re like me and you just like to dump out a package and add eggs and water. But, trust me, the end result is out-of-this-world good.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

• 1 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper cup liners. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, egg, 1/3 cup sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt until light and fluffy. Stir in the chocolate chips and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, 1 cup sugar, cocoa, baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Make a well in the center and add the water, oil, vinegar and vanilla. Stir together until well blended. Fill muffin tins 1/3 full with the batter and top with a dollop of the cream cheese mixture. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

Goat Cheese Tortellini with Roasted Vegetables

Goat Cheese Tortellini with Roasted Vegetables

• 1 medium butternut squash
• 3 small beets
• 1 medium eggplant
• 1 medium zucchini
• olive oil
• handful of fresh herbs, stemmed and chopped (rosemary, oregano, thyme and chives)
• salt and pepper
• 1 package of goat cheese tortellini (in the refrigerated section)
• parmesan cheese
• crushed red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Prep the butternut squash by peeling the outer skin and removing seeds, dice into 1-inch cubes. Peel beets and dice into small cubes. Cube the eggplant and zucchini and toss all vegetables in olive oil, fresh herbs, salt and pepper. Place on a large cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cooked. Cook tortellini according to package directions. Drain and toss with the roasted vegetables, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes. Serve and enjoy!

Southwestern Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti squash is a great, healthy alternative to pasta if you’re trying to limit your carbs. Why you’d ever want to do that I have no idea, but if you are, this dish is so good you won’t even miss them! If you’re running short on time, cook the squash a day or two before and heat up when ready to serve. If you’re going for a vegetarian and low carb meal (that’s just crazy talk!) you can omit the ham and use vegetable broth instead. Although I think the ham adds a really nice smokiness to the dish and makes it a bit more of a hearty meal for the winter.

Southwestern Spaghetti Squash
adapted from here

• 1 medium-sized spaghetti squash
• 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halfed
• 1/4 cup frozen vegetable medley of corn, carrots and green beans
• 1/2 cup diced ham
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon Penzey’s Adobo seasoning
• 1 teaspoon dried minced onion
• juice of 1/2 fresh lime
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut squash in half lengthwise (this will take some serious muscle) and discard the seeds. Coat the flesh in olive oil, salt and pepper. On a baking sheet lined with foil, roast squash flesh side down for 50 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium high heat, add remaining ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes. When the squash has cooled, use a fork to scrape up the flesh. Top the ‘spaghetti’ with the bean mixture and serve warm.

Mini Jalapeño Cornbread Muffins

Mini Jalapeño Cornbread Muffins

• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup corn meal
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/4 cup chopped jalapeños, fresh or canned

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 24-cup mini muffin tin with nonstick spray. In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Stir in milk, oil, egg and jalapeños, mixing just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour batter into muffin tins. Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Roasted Cabbage

Our farm share provided us with our first (of many) heads of cabbage this past weekend. Last year, I got so sick of it that I started leaving it behind at the pickup location. I just had no idea what to do with it and they kept getting bigger each week. We got sick of coleslaw really fast and I tried making soups with it, but it just wasn’t hitting the spot. This roasted cabbage is pretty tasty when served with pierogi and kielbasa and would delicious on a cold day. I’m going to try my hardest not to let any go to waste this year so I’d love to hear your recipes and suggestions.

Roasted Cabbage

• 1 large head of green cabbage
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
• salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Slice cabbage into 8 wedges, making sure to keep a part of the core intact with each wedge and place on a cookie sheet lined with tinfoil. In a small dish or mason jar, mix together the remaining ingredients. Use a pastry brush to brush the both sides of the cabbage with the olive oil mixture and season generously with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Roast for 15 minutes on each side.

Greek Stuffed Banana Peppers

First, let me start out by apologizing for no posts last week. I know my all of three followers are very upset (please excuse my sarcasm!). But seriously last week was a whirlwind of activity and I didn’t have the time to make a single home cooked meal. Needless to say my body hates me this week from all the crap I ate. In between running around and party-hopping on Saturday afternoon I somehow miraculously managed to squeeze in these stuffed banana peppers for a quick lunch. All of the ingredients I had on hand in my practically empty fridge. Given the time constraints and the lack of ingredients, this came out surprisingly well although, I’ll admit, I was expecting to be a little disappointed. Thankfully I proved myself wrong this time!

Greek Stuffed Banana Peppers

• 2 banana peppers, washed with seeds removed (if you like it spicy, keep a few seeds)
• 1/2 cup precooked brown rice
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh or dried oregano
• 1/4 cup marinara sauce

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a small dish combine rice, feta, garlic powder and oregano and mix. Divide the mixture between both peppers and stuff. In a small baking dish, add a layer of marinara sauce, then the peppers, then top with remaining marinara. Cover in foil and bake for 10 minutes.

Baked Green Bean Fries

my helper! This week our farm share provided us with a ton of green beans and rather than just cooking up plain ol’ green beans, I wanted to do something a bit more interesting. Green bean fries it was! These were so easy to make that my 16-year old sister, who is staying with us for the month, even jumped in and helped out.

Baked Green Bean Fries

• 4 cups green beans, washed and ends trimmed
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• olive oil or butter spray

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Whisk together eggs, garlic salt, salt and pepper in a dish. In another dish, combine breadcrumbs and cheese. First dredge a handful of beans in the egg mixture, then in the breadcrumb mixture, making sure to coat each bean. Arrange in a single layer on a nonstick baking sheet and spray olive oil or butter over top. Bake for 15 minutes or until beans have started to brown. For the dip I mixed 2 tablespoons of my Swiss chard pesto with a 1/2 cup of plain Greek yogurt.

Zucchini Pizza Crust

Last Saturday we picked up our third bag from our farm share only to realize there was more zucchini in it. After making zucchini, banana and chocolate chip muffins, I thought to myself “what else can I do with all this zucchini?” Ding! That’s when I remembered seeing on Pinterest that there was influx of my friends posting cauliflower pizza crust recipes. Why couldn’t I do that with zucchini? Well you already know where I’m going with this. To me it was like the skies opened and all of lives problems were suddenly solved. Yes, it was that serious. A pizza. That was delicious? And healthy? And used up all of my zucchini? Who could really ask for more? Not me. That’s for sure. Oh, annnd my zucchini-hating husband tried a bite and said “That’s pretty good.” Hallelujah!

Zucchini Pizza Crust

• large zucchini, shredded about 2 cups
• 2 eggs
• 1-1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• handful of fresh torn basil or 2 teaspoons dried
• salt and pepper
• toppings of your choice

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Toss the shredded zucchini with salt and let it sit in a colander for about ten minutes. Squeeze handfuls of zucchini to remove any excess water. To the drained zucchini add the eggs, cheese, salt and pepper, and mix well. Spread the ‘dough’ evenly into a well greased pie pan or parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until the crust is browned on the edges. Remove from oven and add toppings. Bake for an additional 5 minutes.

Monster Cookies

A girl at work refers to me as Betty Crocker so when I brought these cookies to a work function she asked “Did Betty Crocker make these?” to which I replied “Actually, this time, she did!” I only changed the recipe slightly by substituting vegetable oil for butter (because a cup of butter in anything makes me uncomfortable) and by reducing the amount of M&M’s (because too many make the cookies too sweet. Yes, that’s possible.)

Monster Cookies

• 1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker chocolate chip cookie mix
• 1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker peanut butter cookie mix
• 1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate M&M’s

Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir all ingredients except candies until soft dough forms. On ungreased cookie sheets, place about 1/4 cupfuls dough about 3 inches apart. Add 3-5 M&M’s to the top of each cookie, making sure to press them down. Bake 12 to 13 minutes or until light golden brown. Makes about 20 cookies.

Apple Crisp

I usually only make apple crisp in the fall, after we go apple-picking at Becker Farms, but I decided to bring this yummy dessert to Easter and it was a hit. It had to bake for an hour and man did it make the whole house smell like the fall. Mmmmmm sweet, delicious fall. We served it warm with vanilla ice cream and it really made this dessert taste out of this world. Also, I used a melted vegan spread instead of butter and it didn’t compromise the flavor at all. It was still as delicious as ever AND vegan-friendly. Yum!

Apple Crisp

• 8 apples (I used 3 organic Granny Smith and 5 organic Gala, but you can use whatever kind you like)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons apple pie spice
• 1/2 cup butter, margarine or vegan spread (melted)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 cup quick oatmeal
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Peel and slice the apples, then place them in a large bowl. Add the 1/2 cup sugar, 2/3 cup flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt and the apple pie spice to the apples and mix thoroughly. Then place the apple mixture into a 9 x 13 baking pan. Combine the melted butter, brown sugar, 1/2 cup flour, oatmeal and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Mix well and spread over the top of the apples. Bake at 350ºF for about 1 hour. Check the apples periodically to make sure they are done. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.