Hummingbird (Cup)Cakes

Hummingbird (Cup)Cakes

 

My friend Sarah shared her Hummingbird Cake recipe with me so I decided to try it for Easter.

Instead of a cake, though, I made cupcakes.

 

They were delicious and really moist.

 

Along with a gorgeous carrot cake and a cheese cake, we had great Easter desserts.

 

Mix together oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.  Then add in baking soda, cinnamon, flour and salt.

 

Finally, stir in diced bananas, crushed pineapple with its juice, coconut, and chopped pecans.

 

 

Combine well.  This recipe makes either 3 cake layers or 36 cupcakes.

The layers should cook for 25 minutes at 350*.  I cooked the cupcakes for about 18 minutes.

We made cream cheese frosting by beating cream cheese and butter together, then adding powdered sugar and vanilla.

 

Brennan frosted the cupcakes for me which was a big help.

 

So yummy!

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Enjoy!

 

Pineapple Puree

Pineapple Puree

Brennan chose this recipe from the You Are What You Eat Cookbook  and got the ingredients at the grocery store.  He was not to be deterred!

It was a great smoothie/puree that is easy to make and easy to customize.

We trimmed an entire pineapple and pureed it in the blender. 
Then we added two bananas and blended it again.

We chilled the smoothie before dinner and everyone really enjoyed the thick, sweet treat.
Instead of chilling, you could also add ice to the blender for a chilled treat.

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Enjoy!

Pineapple Casserole

Pineapple Casserole

Last month when our moms came up to visit, my mother-in-law gave us a new cookbook called Mississippi Hometown Cookbook. 

The boys and I read through it and drooled over the delicious sounding recipes.  Of course, a lot of the ingredients are not "figure friendly" (as is the case with most of my Southern cookbooks!), but it's fun to try out new recipes any time!

Brennan spotted a Pineapple Casserole recipe in the "vegetables and other side dishes" chapter and was intrigued why it would be considered a vegetable or side dish instead of a dessert.  I had to agree.  But I like pineapple casserole and hadn't had it in years so we made it last night.  And yes.  It truly is more of a dessert.

I've modified it quite a bit to make it a touch healthier less decadent  :)

I only took the "after" shots.  We had friends in and out and a lot of activity while I was cooking dinner and trying out this new dish.  I'm just glad I remembered these photos!

We drained a can of pineapple (you can use chopped or crushed), and reserved 2 Tbsp of the juice.

We sprayed our casserole dish with Pam and placed the pineapple in the dish.

Then we combined sugar, flour, and cheese and sprinkled it on top.

Finally we mixed the pineapple juice in with melted butter and crushed Ritz crackers (I used whole wheat), and sprinkled it on top.

Baked at 350* for 30 minutes, it was a delicious sweet treat after dinner.

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Enjoy!



Fire Roasted Tomato and Pineapple Salsa

Sandy's Fire Roasted Tomato and Pineapple Salsa

I have a 10 year old who loves to be in the kitchen.

It is his personality to design his own recipes, and sees it as an utter lack of creativity to follow one created by someone else.

While sweet and cute and adorable, his need to always do it his way doesn't always serve him well in the kitchen.

But sometimes it does.  He actually has good cooking instincts.

This summer I'm asking him to practice following recipes, and then tweak them to make them his own.

I asked him to make this Salsa for me last night while I worked on dinner.  After resigning himself to the uncreative-task-at-hand, he got busy and loved every minute of it.

This is an absolutely fantastic salsa recipe.

I'll never buy jarred salsa again - unless I'm in a pinch.

This recipe comes from Sandy Thomas, Holistic Health Coach (www.zenchoice.com).  Many of you locals have heard me rave about Sandy's cooking classes I recently finished.  If you want more information on Sandy's services, please let me know!

Brennan only tweaked this recipe in one way - he added garlic.  I had jotted this down on the recipe during class - Sandy offered it as a good addition to her original recipe.  Brennan saw this as his opportunity to "tweak", and it worked beautifully.

Brennan started by chopping pineapple and then measuring out 1 cup of cilantro, showing lots of patience pulling the leaves off the stems (a few stems are OK since this will be blended).

Then he zested a lime (don't worry, I showed him how to flip the microplane over after this photo), and juiced it.  He then added salt, cumin, and garlic powder and blended it for 10 seconds.

Brennan then added a can of fire-roasted tomatoes and a can of mild Rotel. 

If you like a milder salsa you can use two cans of fire-roasted tomatoes instead of the Rotel. 

If you like it hotter, you can use the hot version of Rotel.

He pulsed the salsa 6 times to get it to the consistency he likes, and was ready to transfer it to a bowl.

Gorgeous!

Because the boys aren't tomato fans, they tend not to like salsas - what with the chunky tomatoes and all.  This salsa though - Brennan absolutely loved!

We decided to follow Sandy's advice and let the flavors "marry" overnight in the fridge.

Tonight we ate chips and salsa while playing a serious game of Apples to Apples (David stomped us).

The salsa was fantastic - and I watched (slightly amazed) that Thomas and Brennan gobbled it up.

I'm proud of Brennan for his creation, and I'm happy to have a delicious salsa recipe!

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Buen Provecho!



Fruit for Dessert

Fruit for Dessert

We have had a lot of sweets around the house for the last month or so with Easter baskets, birthday party gift bags coming home, and a recent trip to Jungle Jim's in Cincinnati with Thomas and Brennan.  They chose several international sweets that we've been enjoying a little at a time.

But it's not often that we eat real dessert after a family meal.

What we've been doing instead each night is enjoying fresh fruit with flavored Balsamic vinegars.

I shared on our family blog that we have a new Olive Oil and Balsamic store in town. 

Thomas and I enjoyed a special tasting with friends last month.

Our favorite fruits to dip in Balsamic are fresh strawberries and fresh pineapple.

With strawberries we like the Fig Balsamic.  I chose that one the first time I went to our local store.  I absolutely loved it.

With pineapple we like Thomas's choice - Cinnamon Pear.  Mmmm.

While fancy Balsamics are certainly not necessary to dress up fresh fruit, it sure makes it fun and more like dessert for our family!

Enjoy!

Luau Chicken

Biggest Loser's

Luau Chicken

I received a Biggest Loser cookbook from a friend for Christmas and wanted to try out some of the recipes that I thought we'd all like.  I made this recipe at lunch today and everyone liked it.

You start by cooking chicken breasts in a skillet.

I sprayed the pan with Pam and seasoned both sides of the breasts with garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

I cooked them for 4 minutes on each side.

Next you top each breast with barbecue sauce, a pineapple ring, and goat cheese.

I had feta on hand that I wanted to use up so I substituted it.

Then I popped the skillet in the oven for 10 minutes until the chicken was completely cooked through.

I was really surprised the feta didn't melt but it was nice and soft.

I served with remaining pineapple and steamed broccoli.

According to the recipe, each serving is approximately 218 calories.

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Enjoy!



Grilled Pineapple

Grilled Pineapple

I love fruit, especially in the summer.

While canned will do in a pinch, I much prefer fresh cut fruit.

I modified a recipe I saw at Gina's Skinny Recipes and we all really liked it!

Slice and marinate the pineapple.
Grill and brush marinade over the tops.
I omitted the olive oil from the original recipe and used low-sodium soy sauce.

I served it with bbq chicken and salad and it was gone in no time!

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Buen Provecho!