Advent Conspiracy Cards

These are a few of the cards I have been working on for Advent Conspiracy.

These are not complete. I still need to stamp "Happy Holidays", but overall I like them.

These are a few of the greeting/ note cards I have made. The green ones say "friend", and the multi-color one says "A good friend is forever" (with birds). So far I like what I have come with and have several more ideas!! Be sure to keep these in mind when looking for a gift.

Triple "C" Cupcakes

These are Chocolate Creme Cookie Cupcakes I made for the Superbowl Party. They were delicious--the best cupcakes ever, according to Nick. Best of all, they were vegan!!

Recipe: Makes 12 cupcakes (courtesy of Vegan Cupcakes)

1 cup soy milk

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (or red wine)

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup oil

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup AP flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup crushed chocolate creme cookie (Newman's Own is good)

Heat oven to 350* and line muffin pan with cupcake liners. Whisk soy milk and vinegar in large bowl, set aside for five minutes. Add sugar, oil, and vanilla to the soy milk. Beat until foamy. In separate bowl, sift (make sure you sift!!) flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. In two batches, add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Beat until no large lumps remain. Stir in crushed cookies. Fill liner 3/4 full and bake 15-18 mins. Cool completely before icing.

Icing:

1/4 cup non-hydrogenated shortening

1/4 cup non-hydrogenated butter (Smart Balance is good)

2 cups powdered sugar, sift if clumpy

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup soy milk

1/2 cup chocolate creme cookies

beat shortening and butter until fluffy. Add sugar a little at a time and beat until combined. Add vanilla and milk, beat 5-7 minutes until fluffy. Add 1/2 cup cookies. Ice cupcakes and enjoy!!

Winner, Winner, Chili Dinner

This is one of my staple recipes, and I cannot believe I haven't shared this before. I am going to make it for the Superbowl. I'll post the pictures after then. Also, if you have a meat eater in the family, this is a great alternative to traditional chili, and I can guarantee they won't even miss the beef. Lastly, the last time I cooked this, everyone devoured it--seriously, there was not a drop left in the pot (and it filled to the top to begin with)!

Winner, Winner, Chili Dinner Recipe: Serves 4

1 can black beans, rinsed

1 can chili beans

1 can corn, rinsed

2 cans diced tomatoes

1 pack chili seasoning (reduced sodium)

vegetable or tomato juice, enough to cover everything

3/4 to 1 cup crushed tortilla chips

In a large pot or dutch oven, put everything in EXCEPT tortilla chips. Bring it to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer at least 30 mins, but the longer the better. About 10 mintues before serving, add tortilla chips to thicken up the chili. Enjoy!!

Just as a personal note, I like spicy chili and always use the hot chili seasoning packet. Also, I am turning the heat up a notch this time around and using a spicy vegetable juice.

Enchilada Casserole Remake

I made a healthier, vegetarian version of this before, but I think I prefer tonight's casserole way better! Also, this is a versatile recipe. I just used leftover from taco night last week and some frozen shredded pork. (I always roast a huge pork butt, about 8 lbs, and then shred it so it last longer and can be used in various recipes.)

Recipe: Serves 6-7

1 1/2 lbs shredded pork

1 can Rotel, drained very well

1 can refried beans

1 cup frozen corn

1/2 cup seasoned rice*

1/2 cup green chile salsa

1 cup cheese (Cheddar or Mexican Cheese Blend work best)

10 taco sized corn tortillas

1 small jar salsa

Heat oven to 350*. Mix pork, Rotel, corn, rice, and salsa. In a 13x9 dish (coat bottom with cooking spray), spread beans evenly. Cut tortillas in half and layer one stack over beans, top with half of pork mixture, and 1/2 cup cheese. Do a second layer with tortillas and the second half of pork. Top with cheese. Bake for 30-35 mins or until cheese is golden and edges of pork crisp. Serve with extra salsa (and/or sour cream, cilantro, red onion, etc.). Enjoy!!

Here's the result!!

*For a quick "spanish" rice, bring to a boil 1 cup rice, 1 tsbp butter, 1 packet of taco seasoning, and 2 cups water. Reduce heat, cover and cook 15-18 minutes. Quick and easy. Use this for tacos all the time.

Superbowl Line-Up

Here's the line-up:

The Defense: crudite (fresh veggie plate) and figs in a blanket--courtesy of Rachel Ray magazine.

The Offense: buffalo chicken bites and vegetarian chili--this chili is the best!

The Kicker: Chips and dip

The Special Teams: Oreo Cupcakes and a special surprise dessert--look for the recipe next week.

If you're doing anything for the Superbowl, let me know and share some recipes--if it's not a family secret!

Sour Cream Pancakes

These are some delicious pancakes I made recently. Now I have made pancakes many-a-time, but hands down, my favorite recipe so far. Also, if you halve the recipe, it will have slight egg-y taste as it is hard to only use half an egg.

Sour Cream Pancakes: Makes 6 5" cakes

7 tbsp flour

1 tbsp sugar (I used Splenda with great results)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup sour cream*

1 egg

1/2 vanilla

1-2 tsp oil (double if using stainless steel or cast iron)

Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Then fold in sour cream just until combined. Separately, beat egg and vanilla; then add to sour cream batter. Stir just until combined and somewhat smooth. (This will be a thick batter and slightly lumpy.) Heat pan and oil on medium heat. Drop one spoonful--a gravy ladle works perfectly--into the heated pan. Once cake begins to bubble all over, flip. Let cook about 1 minute each side. Plate, dollop of butter, syrup, and enjoy!!

*I only had 3/4 cup sour cream so I substituted with 1/4 cup evaporated milk and still came out great.

Foodie Treats

I have decided to purchase more organic and sustainable products. Right now it is a challenge as we live with Nick's parents, but I will do what I can. Today started with craving some snacks. At the house all we have is chips, oreos, and ice cream--none which I really enjoy eating, surprising I know. Well while at Wal-mart, I decided to see what kinds of snacks I could get that fit into my new thinking. Well, I made two DELICIOUS discoveries!

Stretch Island Fruit Company boasts all-natural fruit strips (similar to fruit roll ups). I have tried other brands of "all natural" fruit whatever before and have been disappionted. However, these were fabulous. Tasted sweet like the actual fruit not high fructose corn syrup. Also, there is not much sugar in a serving--only 9 grams. Also, it is glucose free, 100% DV of postassium, and1/2 serving of fruit in each strip. The company also supports The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation which donates fruit trees to schools and communities to establish long-term orchards. For more on either of these companies check them out here http://www.stretchislandfruit.com/ and http://www.ftpf.org/.

The second company is Green and Black's Organic. They use all organic products to make some of the best chocolate I have had (and I have eaten alot of chocolate). The thing I like best is their actual name. On the inside of the wrapper, which is recyclable, is the company motto "Live in the &". It seems a little strange but the concept was to create a product that was environmentally friendly or "Green" and combine that with the richness of cocoa or "Black". Genius if you ask me. Also, the company pays fair wages to the farmers and visits farms to ensure guidelines are being met. One of their partnerships is with cocoa farmers in Belize, and G&B's has been doing some incredible work with them, check out more about it here: http://www.greenandblacks.com/us/from-bean-to-bar/Belize-project.html.

On another note but still an environmental one, I am using Seventh Generation dryer sheets and am having really good results with them. If you are looking for better alternative to traditional sheets (which can contain the beef fat tallow), these maybe a great option for you. I paid about $4.00 for 65. More expensive per sheet than say Bounce, but the sheets are actually perforated so I only use half a sheet per load--still no static cling and just as soft.