My Kitchen Adventures

Christmas Cookie Exchange!

jboundridge — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:00:25 +0000

These are my mothers favorite cookies, and I think mine too after the amount I happened to slowly eat over the past few days… melt in your mouth delish!

As I am sure you have read I am participating in a cookie exchange, with 3 people I have never met in my life, whom are also food bloggers. I am so excited to receive their cookies and apprehensive because I am not sure they will love mine quite as much as I do.

Ingredients

3/4 cup of Butter cut into chunks

1/3 cup Packed Brown Sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cup Flour

1 cup Pecans

Directions:

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla

Add Flour slowly in 1/2 cup portions, then mix in pecans last.

bake for 20 minutes at 350F and enjoy

Yummy dough

I think that I make them too big as I double the recipe and do not get 7 dozen

I was so happy to finally to get to use my Silpat it is awesome and stops me from going through so much parchment,

On To my cute Christmas Cooke tins

I packed them all with 1 dozen cookies and two pieces of fudge

I hope that the three recipients of my cookie tins receive them safely and enjoy the items inside as well as the card that I enclosed.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from my Kitchen to Yours

Peppermint Fudge-Amazing

jboundridge — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:08:11 +0000

While I was on tastespotting.com the other day I saw this recipe for Peppermint Fudge and thought to myself this would be great. I did modify the recipe slightly but it is still delicious.

Ingredients:

14oz of sweetened condensed milk

1 Tbsp butter

20oz of dark chocolate

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp peppermint extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 package of Andes mints (I froze mine then chopped them up)

Grease a 9×13 baking dish. Sprinkle half the peppermint chunks in the bottom of the dish and set aside.
Create a double boiler by placing glass or metal bowl over a medium sauce pot over medium heat with 2 inches of water. Make sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water.
Pour the condensed milk and butter in the bowl and heat.
Add the chocolate chips and salt in the bowl. Stir the chocolate and watch as it melts.
The mixture should be very THICK almost too thick to pour.
Add both extracts and mix well.
Pour the mixture into the dish. Tap the dish on the counter for at least a minute to get all the air bubbles out.
Sprinkle the remaining peppermint chips over the top and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, maybe longer, to set.
To cut, dip a sharp knife in hot tap water, and wipe. Dip and wipe the knife between cuts.

These were so so good I put two in the cookie tins that I sent away to my exchange friends

It’s Almost Here

jboundridge — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 20:15:37 +0000

About a week ago I got my matches for the Cookie Swap… and I have to say I am intimidated by these amazing blog. Mainly because I have slacked on mine for so long (about a year) and I do honestly feel bad about that, and because these 3 people look like full time amazing bloggers I am afraid they were sad when they looked at my blog and saw that it was not up to par with theirs. I know that the cookies I make are loved by many and I am still working on the perfect way to package them so I am just hoping they are enjoyed by the 3 wonderful ladies that are going to receive them and share them with their loved ones.

If you are waiting in anticipation for the blog with these cookies, it will be posted on the 12th of December as per the guidelines of the cookie swap. I will be putting a small twist on how I regularly make them, and hopefully have some photos of the to go packages (I may make one for my family as well) I wish I was home or near a craft store as I am usually creative with my cookie gift giving packages as I give them every year to friends. I am taking a trip to Minot tomorrow so hopefully I can pick up some inexpensive and creative items to make my cookie packages more attractive

What is coming in december:

My Cookies Swap Cookies (not to be revealed until the 12th)

Ginger Bread Men (I LOVE gingerbread)

Spiced Nuts (No recipe -family secret)

New Christmas Cookie (Maybe a shortbread, I am always looking for a perfect shortbread as I am yet to find one that I am proud of and Gregory LOVES them)

Hoe you all Tune in in December!

**(from the 8-17th I will be away from the computer for the most part as I am going home to visit my friends and family for an early Christmas)

Healthy Blueberry Muffins

jboundridge — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 03:35:19 +0000

I have been reading many health blogs lately, and everyone says that Greek Yogurt is better for you than regular yogurt. I did some Greek Yogurt research and it has more protein, and less lactose, and is good for diabetics. Along with many other reasons. The type of yogurt that I purchased is Vanilla flavored Chobani Greek Yogurt, from their website is the info below:

“This unique straining process is what makes Chobani Greek Yogurt “Greek” and full of flavor and health benefits:
·      All natural. No preservatives. No artificial flavors.
· Free of synthetic growth hormones: No rBST-treated milk.
·      Includes 5 live & active cultures, including 3 probiotics.
·      Made with real fruit.
·      Twice the protein of regular yogurts.
·      A good source of bone-building calcium.
·      Gluten-Free and Kosher-Certified.
·      Safe for people with corn, nut and soy allergies.”

I am a sucker for muffins, I could eat them every day and I find when I start making muffins I go on a crazy muffin kick. I remember when Gregory and I moved into our first home there was a month where every Sunday I made muffins to eat during the week. I knew that I would be in at least a little hurry every morning and I didnt want to buy breakfast at work because I knew it wouldnt be homemade and would certainly be worse than the muffins I make for myself. My most favorite muffin as of late, I say as of late because I am 25 and it took about 23-24 years for me to even attempt eating a blueberry. Now they are one of my loves.

Blueberry Muffins

2 cups of AP Flour

2/3 cup Sugar

4 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Baking Soda

1 Large Egg

3 tbsp vegetable oil (I used 3 tbsp of apple sauce instead)

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup fat free greek yogurt

3/4 cup milk

1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries (I used 1 cup blueberries and 1/2 cup of raspberries)

I also added a big scoop of ground flax

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease 12 muffin cups.

Mix the wet and dry in separate bowls, then add the wet to the dry and blend.

Review: Well….I am not sure what did it, but they were just too moist, and the blueberries did not taste like when I use the ones picked out in the garden of my family’s cabin. Will I make these again? No, but I will try to make a good tasting one. It may have been the apple sauce, or the raspberries…As well I have the individual Vanilla Greek yogurts to have with an apple or some granola this week, test it out and see how I feel about it.

**This post will be doubled on my Personal Blog jessicaboundridge.wordpress.com **

Christmas is coming!

jboundridge — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 04:54:49 +0000

I have no photos or even recipe updates. This is again another hope for cookies suggestions. All of the votes so far are for Melting Moments so I think that is what I will be making. It will be a glorious post that I am hoping will revive my love of baking blogs. I do not make much while I’m in this apartment. The kitchen does not make me want to bake, that may sound weird but I loved our old kitchen and the kitchen in my parents house. I have made pumpkin loaf, it was not very good so I did not post the recipe and I didn’t take any pictures.
I made my sisters pumpkin cookies which I liked but no photos….Lastly I made some peanut butter oatmeal cookies. I am trying to play with recipes to make them healthier. Finding substitutes for butter, eggs, seeing how to add flax and ww flour to make cookies delish and good for you (or better for you)

The peanut butter oatmeal cookie recipe worked out alright. I sub-ed one of the two eggs with 3 tbsp of water and 1 tbsp of flax. I googled to see what I could sub in ground flax for. I throw some in my smoothies as well you can see it but not taste any difference. I also swapped some of the white flour for whole wheat flour. They were ok but nothing to rave about, and I also tend to not want to give away cookies that are not knock your socks off yummy. (this recipe was from Kraft)

In terms of meals I have been eating alot of fish and spinach salad. My spinach salad consists of zesty italian dressing, spinach, carrots and almonds. It is so good, I am not a big salad eater but I could and do eat this every day. We made a pot of Won Ton Soup, but that was one of the more recent posts I have done so I did not take photos or even write about it. Also lots of chicken recipies. The best thing about living in a boom town is that even if I felt like having fast food that is pretty terrible for me, the wait time is usually about 30+ minutes in a drive through or more so it is easier to go home and have a tuna sandwich and carrots.

I found a recipe over at Gimme Some Oven that looks pretty healthy or well sounds healthy and yummy, Apple Cinnamon Raisin Bars. I promise photos will be taken and I will write a lovely blog about it. I do miss baking all the time but trying to balance the goal of weight loss with the love of cookies, cakes, and everything sweet is a balance I need to find.

What is your favorite thing about Christmas?

There will be some December activity!

jboundridge — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 22:52:14 +0000

I have just signed up for a Food Bloggers Christmas Cookie Swap! So so excited so the blog will have a few posts about that because I feel it is better to use my baking blog for the purposes of this challenge!!! Woop! Christmas stuff!! so pumped!

PS: All our things get here this weekend sooo I will be adding things to this blog at least until December, maybe i was too hasty to cut it off so excited to share my cookies with 3 other food bloggers

A Merger of Topics

jboundridge — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:30:44 +0000

I have finally decided that I will now direct you to jessicaboundridge.wordpress.com. I am unable to bake at the volume that I have previously and not being able to do it is driving me nuts! (As well not being able to update this blog drives me nuts too! I update the other one every few days) I have began a “Health Kick” and this is not proving to be a challenge in finding things to make, but it is when I have no way to make them as all of my things are gone. I am STILL waiting for them to get here, we are 4 days behind now waiting…But I will be posting my recipes, life stories, reviews of products and food on my other website, I feel if I divide my time between the two the product will not be as great as if you just have the one. I will keep the url so I can come back at a later date If i decide to stop melding them together again so all past posts will remain up.

Please follow me there! I promise it will be fun

Update from Williston

jboundridge — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 01:45:20 +0000

Well, I have been here for a little more than a week and I will be away from this blog for a while…why? because my kitchen has like 2 pots, a pizza pan and a smallish fry pan ….we are waiting for the contents of the house to get here which include all of my kitchen appliances, and pots and pans, so I cannot really justify going out and buying any when I know how many that I have in a truck on it’s way here. I am making due with what I have and have only made like 2 meals in a week. We have been out a few times to meet people who Gregory works with, and one night because we were just too tired to make anything. The night that I did cook I made pork and broccoli slaw stir-fry with ramen noodles, yes I know what you are thinking why not rice well the rice that Gregory has picked up isnt very good so I need to go poke around the supermarket and see what else is around maybe some couscous or something else we can eat with out meat and veggies. I’ve been living on yoghourt, granola, peanut butter sandwiches, fruit and carrots and TONS of water.

It is SO warm here I cannot get over it, it is never this warm so long in Newfoundland so it is somethings I am not accustom to, and I have been warned that it is very very cold here in the winter like -40… so Gregory and I are going on a road trip to pick up some clothes that are warm for when it gets that cold.

Anyway I am off and will be back as soon as I can make something I am proud of. I have found many things on Pinterest, look me up and follow my pin boards if you like

Big Move t-13 days

jboundridge — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 20:38:24 +0000

Okay my reading audience, I have been very sporadic in my posting and I am so so sorry for that. My life has been stressful and I have not really felt like baking much lately, minus the Happy Lemon Squares that I found on Pinterest which I have made twice now. (Photos coming asap!)

I am moving to the US of A in less than two weeks, I am excited and nervous and everything. Also along with moving comes not restocking my baking pantry as I don’t want to have a lot of leftover food so there are a lot of family dinners, eating out and eating random frozen things to get them out of our freezer. I promise that once I am settled I will begin to blog again more regularly. As well, my blogs will be more health conscious as one of my commitments to myself for this new stage in my life is to be more active and healthy to lose the weight that I want to lose to be happy with myself. Lots of chicken, couscous, veggies and delicious things!

Chocolate Zucchini Bread!

jboundridge — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 22:04:36 +0000

Zucchini bread, what?!?! yup and you cant even taste it! It has been a dreary couple of days here in Newfoundland and I am trying to eat better but have been craving chocolate for some time. Today the weather just got to me not being able to go out and enjoy the nice weather for so long I started looking for Zucchini baked goods. This idea came from a friend of mine who brought zucchini muffins to a meeting I once had and I was so surprised that you couldn’t taste the secret hidden healthy ingredient. (One photo to follow as I only took one of the final product and haven’t uploaded it as of yet, but I plan on making some Zucchini Brownies this week as well so there will be more photos for that too )

Ingredients

1 & 1/2 Cups Shredded Zucchini

1 Cup All Purpose Flour

1/2 Cup high quality Unsweetened Cocoa Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder

Dash of salt

1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1/2 Cup Canola Oil

1/2 Cup Sugar

1/2 Cup packed Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

3/4 Cup Dark Chocolate Chips (I had an 85%) lindt bar lying around nobody had eaten in months so i chopped it up and threw it in this loaf….so good!

In a mixer, combine your oil, sugars and vanilla. Mix in your eggs and shredded zucchini. In a separate bowl, sift together your flours, salt, cinnamon, baking soda and baking powder. Slowly add this dry mixture into your wet mixture. Beat until combined. Mix in your chocolate chips.

Scrape your batter into a greased 9x5x3 loaf pan, and bake at 350 degrees for 50-65 minutes, or until done.