Banana Oatmeal Muffins (Flourless and Sugar-free)

I'll be honest.  I'm not ever interested in making any gluten/dairy/sugar/blah-blah-blah free recipes.  I love using flour, real butter, real chocolate and actual eggs in my baking.  I'm always doubtful when I see a recipe for "Gluten-sugar-dairy free Cookies and it tastes great."  Really?  Really, it tastes..."great"?  I think it tastes bad or okay, maybe even almost good.  But I have yet to try one that I can say tastes "Grrrreat!".   I say pick one evil and leave the rest of the good stuff.  For example, French macarons.  (And that's macarOns, not macarOOns...for goodness sake get it right, this drives me CRAZY!)  They're gluten free. And if you know me, I definitely think they taste great.  Even if you make a failed batch, it may look like crap, but they still taste great.  If you've ever attempted to make French macarons, you know exactly what I mean by failed batches.  Once, I forgot to add 1 cup of sugar to Lemon Blueberry Muffins.  They still tasted great!  Like a scone.  My friend, Super Momma J baked flourless chocolate cookies with pink sea salt.  They were amazing!  So, the lesson is...leave one bad thing out and you can still indulge on something great.  Ha, that's my logic.

Oh my, I got distracted.  So, I found this recipe for Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins that said no flour, no white sugar and tastes great.  Hmmm.  Well, I had all the ingredients on hand so I thought, why not give it a go.  I love muffins, I like the oatmeal + banana combo and I don't need them to be sweet so I was optimistic I would like these.  As usual, I made a few tweaks to the original recipe.  I did not use a food processor, just my KitchenAid mixer.  Why take the extra step of grinding the oats?  I did not add nuts.  I reduced the honey because I knew I was adding an entire package of Ghiradelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips.  These muffins are great!  Tender, moist and good chew from the oatmeal.  The girls and I taste tested when they finished baking, then I shared some with AKRams, then the girls and I ate them for breakfast.  I need more.  Looks like I'm making my second batch in 1 week.

I love this cannister I got for my birthday!

Banana Oatmeal Muffins
Prep time: 5 mins Bake Time: 20-25 min
Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:
2.5 cups old fashioned oats (buy gluten free oats if you want)
1 cup plain low fat greek yogurt
2 eggs
1/2 cup honey (reduce to 1/4 if adding chocolate)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp ground flax seed
1 tsp vanilla
2 ripe bananas
1 pk chocolate chips or chopped chocolate (optional) use the good stuff!
chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 dregrees.  Grease or line muffin tray with parchment.  Put all ingredients in a mixing bowl except nuts and/or chocolate.  Mix for 2-3 mins.  Fold in the nuts/chocolate.  Scoop into muffin tray.  Bake for 20-25 mins or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Enjoy warm or at room temperature.

Look at the beautiful texture of this muffin.

Philly Cheesesteak Dip

Years ago while hubby and I were still at college, one of our favourite restaurants was Boston Pizza.  We lived in our tiny little basement suite, both worked full time and went to college almost full time.  Our classes were in the evening from 7-10 pm so on the nights we didn't manage to eat before class, we would head to BP after since it was (and still is) one of the only places open late.  Hubby loved the Boston Cheesesteak sandwich from BP.  Beef, peppers, onions and mushrooms smothered with cheese with a side of beef au jus for dipping.  Like us, BP has changed over the years and the Cheesesteak is no longer on the menu.  Lucky for hubby, I make this all the time at home.  Here is the recipe I've come up with.  You'll be amazed how easy it is.  Dinner in 30 minutes?  No problem!

Cheesesteak Dip
Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: about 20 min
Makes 4 Sandwiches

Ingredients:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 lb (500g) rouladen* beef, cut into strips
1 small green bell pepper, cut into strips
1 small onion, cut into strips
8-10 button mushrooms, sliced
1 heaping tsp Montreal steak seasoning
4 Kaiser** rolls
Butter or margarine (optional)
Slices of Pepper Jack cheese***
4 cups of beef broth

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Slice and butter the buns and arrange on a cookie sheet.
Heat oil in a frying pan and stir fry the beef over medium-high heat until brown.  Sprinkle seasoning all over and toss well.  Keep cooking until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the veggies and cook for another 2 minutes.  Divide the cheese steak into the four prepared buns and top with cheese.  Bake for 5 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.  Heat the beef broth while the sandwiches are baking.  Serve 1 cup of broth with each sandwich.

Notes:

*Rouladen is round steak cut in large, thin slices.  I usually roll the beef and then slice it like pinwheels. You can choose any cut that works well for stir fry.

** Make sure your choice of bun is heavy enough to hold the filling while you're dipping.  I normally use long sub buns, they're easier to dip.

*** Choose your favourite cheese.  Marble is always in available in our household.

Zuppa Toscana

Here's another favourite recipe.  If you don't recognize the name, this is one of the soups you can get at Olive Garden.  It has sausage, potatoes and kale in a light creamy broth.  Hubby loves it and he doesn't like soup.  I was thrilled when I found this copy-cat recipe that was very similar in taste but doesn't require any special ingredients.  I love how hearty it is so it's great for lunch or dinner if you pair with some warm, crusty bread (preferably covered in some sort of cheese).  You could even try to make breadsticks and pretend you're at Olive Garden.  I have a not-so-secret ingredient that wasn't in the original recipe that I've added.  I also add the kale last because I don't like kale overcooked.  I've made this with all Italian sausage, all turkey sausage, and half and half.  They all taste great but our favourite is using all Italian sausage.  If you buy the links, remove the sausage from the casing.  Enjoy!

Oops, this picture is missing garlic.

My not-so-secret ingredient: Original or Low Sodium

Zuppa Toscana 

Prep Time: 10 min. Cook Time: 30 min
Serves 4 as dinner or more as a starter
Adapted from Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
1 lb. mild Italian sausage
1 large onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup white wine to deglaze the pan
2 russett potatoes, washed and scrubbed, cut into discs
900 ml (1 tetra pack) your favourite chicken broth
1 cup water
1 pack of homestyle chicken stock (in jelly form)
1 cup heavy cream
3 cups fresh kale, chopped

Directions:
Over medium heat, crumble the sausage into the pan and cook until well browned.  Remove the cooked sausage from the pot with a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl; set aside.  Add the chopped onion to the pan and sauté until tender, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the garlic to the pan and cook for a minute more, just until fragrant.  Add the wine to the pot and stir, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any browned bits.  Add the potatoes, chicken broth, water and chicken stock jelly to the pot.  Return the sausage to the pot and stir.  Increase the heat to medium-high to bring to a boil them reduce heat to low-med.  Cover and simmer until potatoes are fork tender and cooked, about 20 mins.  Add cream and kale and stir together.  Cover and simmer for 5 more minutes to wilt the kale. Serve and enjoy!

Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake

Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake

Yes, the word cake is there twice.  Yes, there are 2 cakes in this cake.

This is my first baking of 2014.  It's one of my favourite recipes.

I fell in love with red velvet a long time ago, about 10 years ago.  Before it "arrived" in Canada.  Before it was available as a cake mix, in ice cream, yogurt, as cookies or whatever else they're making red velvet these days.  What hooked me was The Cheesecake Factory's Ultimate Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake.  This is a copycat recipe of that. I tried many red velvet cake recipes and this is the one I liked best and I've made it many, many times. My key to success is to make the cheesecake and cake 1 day ahead and freeze it so it's easy to handle and apply frosting.

It's fairly easy to make.  Step 1: Make cheesecake.  Step 2: Make red velvet cake.  Once cooled completely, pop both in the freezer.  Step 3: Make cream cheese frosting.  Layer the cakes and slather it with frosting.

I made this for an Elmo themed birthday.  It's red and white, a perfect match.

Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake

Yield:12 to 14 servings

Prep Time: 1hr + cooling and chill times  Cook Time: I hr 15 min

Adapted from a recipe by Recipe Girl

Ingredients

CHEESECAKE

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature

2/3 cup granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1/3 cup sour cream

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

RED VELVET CAKE (*See notes)

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 l/2 cups granulated white sugar

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs at room temperature

1/2 cup vegetable or Canola oil

1 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup (2 - 1 ounce bottles) red food colouring

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 teaspoons white vinegar

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING (**See notes)

1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, softened

1/4 c butter, softened

4 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Cheesecake

Prepare the cheesecake layer. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place a large roasting pan on the lower third rack of the oven.  Place a kettle of water on the stove to boil.  Line the bottom of a 9” springform pan with parchment paper.  Wrap a double layer of foil around the bottom and up the sides of the pan.  You want to seal it so the water from the water bath does not seep into the pan.

Using the paddle attachment on your mixer, mix the cream cheese until it’s smooth, and creamy (about 1 min).  Add the sugar and salt  and mix for 2 mins.  Scrape the bowl down and add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Finally, mix in sour cream, whipping cream and vanilla until smooth.

Pour batter into spring form and set the pan in the roasting pan in the oven.  Carefully pour the hot water into the roasting pan, surrounding the cheesecake.  Pour enough water so it comes up to about 1” along the sides of the cheesecake.  Bake for about 45 mins.  It should be set to the touch and not jiggly.

Remove the cheesecake from the roasting pan and let cool on a wire rack for at least an hour.

Red Velvet Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line the bottom of two 9" cake pans with parchment paper.  

In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt).  Add the eggs, oil, buttermilk, food colouring, vanilla and vinegar.  With the mixer on the lowest speed, beat for 1 minute until blended.  Scrape the sides down using a spatula.  Beat for 2 minutes at med-high speed until thick and smooth.  

Divide evenly between the 2 cake pans.  Bake 30-35 mins.  Cool in pan on wire rack  for about 10 mins then remove from pan and cool on wire rack completely.

Wrap cakes in plastic wrap and place on top of the cooled cheesecake still in the pan.  Place the 3 cake layers in the freezer and freeze over night or at least 3 hours.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Mix together cream cheese, butter and vanilla until well blended.  Add powdered sugar and mix on low until fully incorporated.  Beat on med-high for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy. 

Assembly

Remove the cakes from the freezer.  Remove the cheesecake from the pan and place a wrapped red velvet layer on top.  Trim the cheesecake to size.  It's easier while it's still frozen.  Once the layers are all the same size, layer red velvet then cheesecake then red velvet.  Cover in frosting.  

NOTES:

*This cake recipe is fabulous on its own.  It yields 12-15 cupcakes, 24 mini cupcakes.  I've also substituted blue colouring instead of red without a problem.

**This cream cheese frosting recipe is different from the one posted on Recipe Girl.  This one is from the fabulous Serendipity 3's recipe book Sweet Serendipity.  I don't bother with a crumb coat because I like a few red velvet crumbs to show.  If I have intentions to frost it in a particular way like the pink ombre above, I double the frosting recipe and apply a crumb coat.

Korean-Style Ribs (Crock Pot)

I have never made ribs before and I love them.  There are so many recipes on Pinterest that I want to try.  When I came across this recipe from The Crepes of Wrath, I promptly added the ingredients to my grocery list and made them for dinner the next day.  It was too easy.  It was too tasty.  I will be adding this to our regular rotation for dinner.  These ribs literally fell apart as I moved them from the crock pot to the baking sheet.  I loved the sauce!  The only thing I would probably do if I can help it is to not cook them as long.  Ours was on high for 5 hours so they were very, very tender.  Regardless, it was delicious.

Korean-Style Ribs (Crock Pot)
Tender pork ribs cooked in a sweet and tangy Korean style sauce in the crock pot.

Prep Time 20 Cook Time 4-6 Hours
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients
4 pounds pork ribs
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup ponzu sauce (if you do not have ponzu sauce, use an
additional 1/4 cup of soy sauce + the juice of 1/2 an orange)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
6 cloves of garlic, finely grated or minced
1 2-inch piece fresh ginger, finely grated or minced (I forgot to buy ginger so I used 1/4 tsp of ground ginger)
1 teaspoon Sriracha or hot chili oil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (I omitted because I didn't want it to be too spicy for the girls)
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 green onions, thinly sliced, for garnish
sesame seeds, for garnish

Instructions
1. Grease the inside of your crock pot with non-stick spray or oil. Add in the ribs. Whisk together the soy
sauce, ponzu sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, garlic, ginger, Sriracha and chili flakes, then pour over the
ribs. Cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low for 7-8 hours.
2. When ready to eat, remove the ribs from the pot (they will be fall-apart tender, so do this gently) and
place them on a baking sheet. Preheat your oven to broil.
3.  Whisk together the corn starch and water in a sauce pan until combined. Pour the sauce through a sieve into the pan.  Whisk the sauce over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbling, then baste the ribs in the sauce. Broil the ribs for 5 minutes or so, until bubbling and slightly caramelized. Serve garnished with sliced green onions and sesame seeds.

Serve with rice or potatoes and your favourite veggies.  Corn and salad would be great in the summer time.

Adapted from a recipe by The Crepes of Wrath