Hummus!!! And a new Twitter account

Hummus!!

I have fallen in love with this stuff! It's amazing.....healthy.....tasty......very versatile....

There are lots of different recipes and ways to make hummus.....the most popular is chickpeas (garbanzo beans), tahini, garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil. I don't like tahini......it just has kinda a weird taste to me....there are some purists out there who refuse to even believe that you can make hummus without it....I beg to differ. (tahini is a paste made out of sesame seeds)

You can also add in paprika, roasted pepper, and/or salt.....then everything is just ground up to a smooth paste like consistency.

Health Benefits

• Chickpeas (garbanzo beans) are very good for you because they are rich in protein and contain no cholesterol or saturated fats.  Chickpeas are also known to be effective in preventing build up of cholesterol in the blood vessels.
• Olive oil is known for being high in healthy fat - it is high in monounsaturated fat content but low in saturated fat. This oil can thus help regulate cholesterol and protect the heart from various diseases.
• Garlic and lemon juice, meanwhile, are filled with antioxidants. They also work to improve your immune system and fight off bacteria and viruses.
• Altogether, hummus contains iron, vitamin B6, manganese, copper, folic acid, and amino acids. It also contains omega 3 fatty acids, which helps to  improve intelligence and maintaining a healthy heart. 

 

 Ways to use Hummus

• use as a dip for veggies such as peppers, carrots, and celery
• to replace mayo on sandwiches or pitas
• as a dip for pita chips/bread
• add to plain whole wheat noodles with some parmesan cheese ( I do this for my kids since they are picky eaters and they won't eat meat sometimes - adds lots of protein to their meals and they LOVE it!)
• add to sauteed onion and peppers with extra veggies such as corn or cauliflower and some chicken (this is SO good!)
• add to wonton wrappers and bake it then dip it in your fav chutney sauce
• use as a base "sauce" for pizza then add onion, peppers, chicken, mozzarella cheese and basil (had this for lunch today...also added some salsa just because for some reason it sounded good lol....and it was!)
• to replace cream cheese in some layered dips or on a tortilla (whole wheat tortilla with hummus, peppers and spinich)
• can be used to replace the yolks and mayo combo in deviled eggs
• can be used to thicken soups
• cherry tomatoes can be filled with hummus - cut off the tops of cherry tomatoes, scoop out the seeds, and use a piping bag to fill each tomato with hummus.
• and one person recommended using hummus as an exfolient for your face.....not sure about this one......if you do it let me know how it turns out! lol I would rather be eating it ........ 

Hummus

Ingredients:

• 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas/garbanzo beans, drained, liquid reserved
• 1 clove garlic, crushed .....or 2.....I like garlic
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons paprika

Directions:

1. In a blender or food processor combine garbanzo beans, garlic, cumin, paprika, salt and olive oil. Blend on low speed, gradually adding reserved bean liquid, until desired consistency is achieved. 

I usually double the recipe and freeze half......we go through it fast though so it doesn't stay in the freezer long.....but it will keep in the freezer for about 2-3 months.

 

 

I also signed up for Twitter! Finally (as my husband would say.....lol)

Check it out and tell me what you think! My Twitter handle is @eatcake_bakery

I don't have many tweets yet because I spent most of my time designing the background.....so really let me know what you think of it lol! I have a whole 5 followers so far! Woohoo! lol

My first "Cake Bible" recipe and Pizza :)

I LOVE my Cake Bible! It has SO much information in it! I have never been very good at baking cakes from scratch.....I usually use a cake mix base and add too it with Cake Dr. recipes.......don't judge me.......

However, this first recipe, White Velvet Butter Cake, turned out really well! It was very light, almost like an angel food cake, and just melted in your mouth......SO GOOD!  :))

I made some homemade Vanilla Whipped Cream and added fresh strawberries to top the cake off. It set the cake of perfectly......I think a stronger flavor would have been too much.

Hopefully, I will be making another recipe from my Cake Bible tomorrow :) I plan on baking my way through it this year - the whole book! I can't wait :)

On another note I made some homemade pizza.....I needed a recipe to give you since I can't just give you recipes from The Cake Bible :)

Sorry the pictures aren't very good :\ It was after dark and I don't have good lighting for pictures.

Anyways, it is homemade BBQ Chicken Pizza with whole wheat crust........my favorite pizza :) I don't have the calories figured out exactly....I've been working on it lol.....but it is about 250 calories for 2 slices.....not too bad for pizza :)

BBQ Chicken Pizza


Crust Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

Crust Instructions:

• In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top, and let stand for about 10 minutes, until foamy.
• Stir the olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture, then mix in 3cups of the whole wheat flour until dough starts to come together. Tip dough out onto a surface floured with the remaining 1/2 cup of flour, and knead until all of the flour has been absorbed, and the ball of dough becomes smooth, about 10 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover loosely with a towel, and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• When the dough is doubled, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 2 pieces for 2 thin crust, or leave whole to make one thick crust. Form into a tight ball. Let rise for about 45 minutes, until doubled.However, I actually had enough to make 4 medium-ish pizzas - I made 2 up and froze the rest of the dough for later.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Roll a ball of dough with a rolling pin until it will not stretch any further. Then, drape it over both of your fists, and gently pull the edges outward, while rotating the crust. When the circle has reached the desired size, place on a well oiled pizza pan.
• I like to pre-bake the crust at 500 degrees F for about 5 minutes before putting toppings on. 

For the toppings:

• 1 large-ish chicken breast - shredded
• about 2 cups of BBQ sauce (click HERE for my recipe)
• 1/2 red onion - sliced however you like for pizza - I personally like them in strips
• 2 tomatoes - sliced
•  mozzerella cheese - one bag of shredded cheese - a couple of handfuls should cover pizza
•  parmesan cheese - grated fresh 

 To put together:

• after pre-baking the crust - spread a layer of BBQ sauce on the crust
• then spread the chicken over the sauce
• onion and tomato go on next
• then mozzerella cheese on top and grated parmesan cheese after that
• Bake at 425 degrees F for 16-20 minutes or until bubbly and turning brown on top
  
  Enjoy!!!
  

Green Monster Smoothie!

I'm so excited for this post! I have been wanting to try this smoothie since I first saw it like at least a year ago! I wasn't too sure of it at first.....I mean it's green! A pretty green, yes......however, still green!

My hubby got me a Oyster Smoothie Blend and Go Cup for Christmas :) I LOVE it!!!! It's SO convenient - all you do is blend it right in the cup and switch lids - barely any cleanup! Just my type of kitchen gadget! lol 

I've been making the usual smoothies which are good - like strawberry/blueberry with oatmeal - however, I wanted something a little bit more.

Doesn't that look beautiful?!

This is chock full of vitamins like A, C, K, iron, fiber, folate, and lutein..........Leutin is an antioxidant that promotes good eye health, and may help prevent cancer of the liver, ovaries, colon and prostate, and even dementia.

There are loads of people who claim that green smoothies help....

•  smooth and clear skin exponentially
• decrease acne
• increase energy levels
• speed up hair and nail growth
• encourage shinier, healthier hair
• improve overall feelings of health

So what's to lose?! Plus as my hubby and I discovered....they are DELICIOUS!!!! They don't even taste healthy!

Here are the basic ingredients: 

• Full-Fat, Organic Yogurt (3 Tbsp): For the creaminess, and the protein
• Spinach or Kale (1-2 handfuls): It just wouldn’t be a raw, fresh, green smoothie without one of these two ingredients 
• Banana (1 whole, peeled, frozen banana): To add body, potassium, and creaminess to the smoothie

 Other Things You Can Use in a Green Smoothie:

• Fruits of any shape, taste or size (I used frozen strawberries - if you use a colored berry such as blueberries your smoothie will turn brown!)
• Oatmeal (I LOVE adding oatmeal to smoothies! They really help to fill you up!)
• Peanut butter
• Honey, agave, stevia, or other sweeteners
• Wheatgrass, Kale, or any other type of healthy green powdered veggie/grass
• Ground flax seeds, hemp hearts, maca powder, chia seeds
• Milk (cow, almond, coconut, rice, almond, etc.)
• Veggies of any shape, taste, or size
• Flavorings like vanilla extract, orange extract, molasses (VERY healthy), and more
• Cocoa powder
• Coffee or tea
• The kitchen sink

 From what I've found there really are no set rules for a green smoothie other than the green part :) Though, I have read  that you do not want to leave out the banana - apparently the banana is what "cancels" out the "green taste".

Here is the smoothie that I made today

• 3 Tbsp Organic Vanilla Yogurt
• about 1/2 cup milk
• one full banana - sliced
• about 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
• 2 handfuls of spinach
• about 1 Tbsp honey

(I put "about" with a few of them because I really don't measure the ingredients, I just put in what looks right and after I blend it sometimes it will be too thick so I will add in more milk or too thin so I will add another frozen strawberry or some protein powder)

Blend all together in a blender and enjoy!!!

Here is my daughter enjoying her green monster! Wouldn't she be surprised to learn that there is spinach in it!

Monster Cookies and Ornaments!

Sorry for posting rather sporadically!

I seriously mean to post at least once a week but then it never seems to happen - really I will get better....I promise.......hopefully.......lol.

Today was a great day! I had the day off, the kids and I made my favorite cookies of all time, and we made some homemade salt dough ornaments! Plus I got half of the house cleaned.......I chose season 4 of Cake Boss (that is now on Netflix YAY!) over cleaning the rest of the house. Oh, well :)

We had so much fun! The salt dough ornaments were SO easy to make! Here's the recipe in case you have never made them before.....

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup salt
1/2 cup water

* Mix all together and knead to form a dough
* Roll out the dough to desired thickness and use cookie cutters to cut shapes out
* Or if desired shape dough into desired shapes
* Place tin foil down on a baking sheet so your creations do not stick to the pan
* Bake at 250 degrees for 2 hours

All baked and ready to be decorated this weekend - gotta load up on paint and glitter! This recipe yielded about 2 dozen ornaments for us.

Now onto my favorite part of the day!

Cookies!!! 

Not just any cookies either, these are my favorite cookies in the whole wide world :) They have everything good in them....oatmeal, peanut butter (or in our case soybutter) M&Ms (my favorite candy) and chocolate chips, all melted and baked together into a giant cookie :)

These are a family tradition and a family favorite. My mom bakes them up every year around Christmas time (and sometimes throughout the year too) and always gives us a bag of them to take home. This recipe yields 4-5 dozen! My favorite way to eat them (if they last the night.....lol) is to put the bag in the freezer and let them get crumbly then put it over ice cream :) Serious goodness!

When you make them be sure not to make them too small - they are called monster cookies for a reason! If you make them too small, they will just end up hard and flat (and while I will still eat them that way, it is definitely not the best!) They recommend using an ice cream scoop instead of a spoon to get the right size :) Also don't bake them too long - take them out just before they look done!

Monster Cookies

Ingredients

3 eggs
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon corn syrup
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups peanut butter (or soy butter for nut free)
4 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup candy-coated milk chocolate pieces

Directions

* Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
* In a very large bowl, beat the eggs. Very large.....this seriously makes a lot!
* Add the remaining ingredients in order, mixing well.
* Use an ice cream scoop to put on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. I took them out at 13 minutes and they turned out perfect!

This recipe is halved very easily - for the eggs use 2 and the rest just cut in half!


Enjoy!

Check out my bakery website here!  www.eatcakebakery.weebly.com

Pumpkin Spice Granola (and can you guess what I'm watching?!)

My favorite season is fall. Seriously, I love everything about it (except the impending snow), the colors, the smell, the fall food! We always have cider in the fridge and I make caramel for apples like every week lol. Pumpkin pie is my hubby's favorite for the fall, however, since we are both losing weight and neither of us have done very good on eating clean and healthy for the past month, we decided that making some pie wouldn't be the best idea. So, I decided to make something healthy that is along the same lines :)  

Granola! Oh, the smell of granola baking in the oven is heavenly! And it tastes so very good too! Store bought granola is absolutely nothing compared to homemade and it's so easy to make! So, after church this morning we took the kids out to eat for lunch, came home and put them down for a nap (did they sleep? Nope lol but it bought me at least an hour!) then I made up a batch of granola and popped in a movie that I've been wanting to watch for a while :) I actually want to do a marathon of the series but I don't have time for that. So one movie at a time for now lol..........can you guess what it is???

Also today we had a loss in our family :( Our cat Loki died of unknown causes. We found her after church and we think that she may have ate something bad possibly. We've had her for a few years (I think since 2009) and she left behind 2 kittens plus an older baby - Ernie. I feel so bad for the babies! Its just starting to get cold out and the one kitten is disabled - his back legs are twisted and he can't walk very well. So we brought them into the porch where we can keep an eye on them, and all day the big brother and daddy has been staying on the porch watching over them - sad but very sweet to see them taking care of the babies!

Big brother Ernie taking care of the babies

 Thor (who is a gigantic cat btw) keeping watch on the porch - he usually doesn't hang around

RIP Loki

Ok, so onto the recipe for the granola (sorry I know it's not a good transition) - it's adapted from with style and grace blog and can be adapted very easily to be gluten free and/or nut free and is dairy free!

Pumpkin Spice Granola

Ingredients

• 5 cups rolled oats (if gluten free use gluten free rolled oats)
• 1 cup of nuts - your choice ( I like to use 1/2 almonds and 1/2 walnuts)
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 3/4 teaspoon. salt
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce (I used my homemade spiced applesauce - yum!)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup of dried cranberries ( I like to use a mix of dried cranberries, blueberries, and cherries)

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Line your two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
In a large bowl, mix together oats, nuts, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt until well combined.
In a separate bowl, combine brown sugar, pumpkin puree, applesauce, maple syrup and vanilla extract and using a whisk or fork, whisk until smooth.
Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until everything is coated.
Spread the granola mixture onto the prepared baking sheets.
Bake for 45 minutes, carefully stirring every 15 minutes for even baking.
Remove from the oven and let cool before stirring in the dried cranberries.
Store in an airtight container.
Enjoy!

Sorry - not a great picture - I didn't have any natural light left - darn time change!

Oh, and did you guess the movie? Here is another clue if not lol

Wedding Cake

Hi there!!!

It's been a little while :( So sorry! I have been caught up in a few different things and it's been a bit stressful lately..... So, quite a few things have happened since my last post! I got a new phone which I'm in LOVE with :) it's an iPhone 4 and did I mention that I LOVE it?! I also have started doing cakes - officially - out of my house and made a website for it  www.eatcakebakery.weebly.com   AND I did my FIRST wedding cake and delivery!!! SO exciting!!!! 

 I was SOOO nervous about the wedding cake! I baked it up the beginning of the week, dirty iced (or crumb coated it - whichever way you say it) the night before it was due, then decorated it the morning of. I was worried about the timing, however, I actually ended up getting done about 45 minutes ahead of schedule! Awesome!!! Then came the part that I was the most nervous about.....delivery.

My awesome husband driving :) He helped me carry and deliver the cake and did a wonderful job of being extremely supportive!

In case you were wondering, yes that is my leg next to the cake - I rode in back with it so I was sure that it was safe........just a little paranoid lol

It ended up perfectly fine....my stomach was in knots the whole way there - it was only about a 15 minute drive....actually closer to 30 minutes since we were driving slow....I never realized how bumpy M-53 really is........then we arrived.....after passing it up a couple of times......totally not our fault - there was no sign! Anyways, the hall was absolutely gorgeous....vintage looking with hardwood floors, mood lighting, huge vintage chandelier....it looked amazing. PLUS, what probably was the most exciting part is that the woman owns the hall also owns the bridal shop up above, and she asked for my business cards to put out in her shop!!! AHHH!!! I was on cloud 9 the rest of the day! :)

Here is the finished product all set up..........:)

I just have to say....I'm very proud of it :)

So anyways, here's my recipe for the chocolate cake and the white cake that I use. The top tier and bottom tier are chocolate cake and the middle is white.  It does use a boxed cake base - don't judge it or me until you've tried it! It does not tasted like boxed cake - so very delicious and moist......

Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

• 1 (18 1/4 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
• 1 (4 ounce) box instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Place the cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, water, oil, and eggs in a large mixing bowl.
3. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute.
4. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
5. On medium low speed, continue to blend for 2-3 minutes more.
6. The batter will be very thick and should look well combined.
7. Pour batter into prepared pans and smooth it out.
8. Bake for 27-32 minutes ( I started checking the cakes at 25 minutes-- it was like gooey chocolate pudding-- then 3 minutes later it was perfect.
9. Another couple of minutes and I think it would have been dry, so keep an eye on your cakes.
10. Allow to cool in the pans on a wire rack for 20 minutes.

http://www.food.com/recipe/darn-good-chocolate-cake-cake-mix-cake-87205#ixzz1d4gT7uVI

The 16" pan for the bottom tier barely fit in the oven!

I use parchment paper in the bottom of my cake pans instead of flour - grease the bottom of the pan only!  If you grease the sides, the cake will not climb up the sides! then lay down your parchment paper that is cut to the size of the bottom = no cake sticking to the pan! You may also notice the little round indent in the middle of the cake. This is a trick that I learned about a year ago - I take a flower nail, used for cake decorating, and put it in the center of the batter - pointy side up. This acts like a heating core so the cake bakes more evenly. Cheaper than bake even strips!

White Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 (18 1/4 ounce) package plain white cake mix
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Place cake mix, sour cream, oil, eggs, and vanilla in mixing bowl.
3. Blend with mixer on low speed for 1 minute.
4. Stop machine, scrape down sides of bowl.
5. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more.
6. Scrape down sides again if needed. The batter should look well combined and thickened.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
8. Place pan in oven.
9. Bake the cake until it is light brown and springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, 35-40 minutes.
10. Remove pan from oven and place on wire rack to cool for 20 minutes.

 http://www.food.com/recipe/basic-sour-cream-white-cake-126396#ixzz1d4heUE4t


Fun Fact: I used about 60 cups of batter for this wedding cake and about 30 cups of icing.........

and in case you didn't catch it the first time, here is my cake website :) please check it out and tell me what you think!!! I appreciate any feedback!

www.eatcakebakery.weebly.com

Playing around with Photoshop

I don't have a recipe tonight....just pictures. Today is my last day off for the week and so I decided that after all the work we did yesterday, that I didn't want to do anything today :) So I've been playing around on Photoshop experimenting with photoshop actions. Here are a few that I did........

PS I entered the second picture down (Oliver's messy face) in the iheartfaces photo challenge :)

Tuna Saute over Spagetti and a New Car!

So this week has been the week from.....well, you know where. Having numerous problems with my job, hit a deer with our Blazer, went to my friends funeral......plus what seems like a never-ending list of other small things that keep happening. SO glad this week is OVER!!! I'm ready for it to be better!

Well, yesterday it got better - we bought a new vehicle! 2003 Envoy XL - it's beautiful, fully loaded, has 4-wheel and all-wheel drive, 4 doors, and seats 7! It has everything we wanted and more (heated seats :)

Heated seats :-D (can you tell I'm excited about the heated seats.....lol)

So to celebrate our new car, I came up with this recipe (actually I came up with it the day before but I couldn't figure out how to transition to the recipe lol).

I wasn't sure how it would turn out.....lol......I had a recipe bomb on me a couple of days ago.....yeah that was another thing that went wrong.......ANYWAYS, this one was totally good! I bought some Anise at the market last week and I have been wanting to try it out. From what I have read about it, it is good either cooked/grilled/sauteed or raw in salads. Cooking it is supposed to mellow out the licorice-like flavor a bit, and since the hubby isn't fond of black licorice, I decided that cooking it would be the best route. I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to do though lol. I got a few ingredients out that I thought would go well together (and honestly what I had left in the fridge/pantry......) and sauteed them together - the tuna was a last minute addition and it was very good, although I think chicken breast would be equally good.

Here are the ingredients - tuna in water, anise, capers, yellow onion, garlic, EEVO (extra virgin olive oil), fresh parmesan cheese

Anise bulb with the tops and end cut off

Garlic bulb

 

 A GIGANTIC yellow onion! This is half of it!

Fresh parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste

A beautiful huge tomato from my mom's garden :)

The tops from the anise bulb - don't throw away! You can use it as a herb!

EEVO - extra virgin olive oil

Tuna Saute over Spaghetti

Ingredients:

* 1 can of tuna in water

* 1/2 cup of diced yellow onion

* 3 garlic cloves - minced

* 2 tbsp capers

* about 1/2 cup of roughly chopped anise

* 1/2 medium tomato diced

* 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

* 2 tbsp EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

* 4-5 basil leaves chopped

* salt and pepper to taste 

* 100% whole wheat spaghetti noodles

Directions:

* saute yellow onion in pan on low until soft - about 10 minutes

* add garlic, capers, and anise and turn up heat to medium for about 3 minutes until heated

* add to cooked noodles 

* add in tuna, parmesan cheese, basil, tomatoes, and salt and pepper

* garnish if you want with the "feathery" tops from the anise

* Enjoy!

As a side note we now have 2 cars for sale - a 99 Saturn for $800 and a 98 Blazer for $1800 - send me a message if interested! We spent all day today cleaning them out and washing them so we can get them out to the road. It was actually fun with the kids helping and it turned out to be a beautiful day!