On Coconut Oil

Pretty basically everywhere I go lately, I hear about coconut oil. And so I figured it was time to try it out.


I picked up Dr. Bronner’s Unrefined Whole Kernel oil at Whole Foods and made chicken and peppers with it.

Pros: Easier clean up than olive oil, and if you accidentally use to much like yoahsss truly tends to do, it doesn’t splatter.

Cons: Contrary to what I’ve heard, the coconut flavor doesn’t cook out completely. The whole time I felt like I should have had some Malibu Rum in hand (+ possibly my swimsuit and a tan).

Re: cooking, I think I’ll stick with EVOO. However, I quickly transferred it from my kitchen to my bathroom, and it’s served as lovely lotion/chapstick this week.

Put the lime in the coconut, my friends!

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brekkie

I've often heard cooking described as an art, but a recent endeavor of mine proves otherwise. Due to a lifelong quest to find the perfect on the go breakfast, I made egg and spinach quiche cups.

I thought they'd look like this:

But they actually turned out like this:

Although they were less than beautiful, they were pretty tasty. They're only 75 calories, and super easy to make (recipe!). I added extra cheese because, well, obviously, and also added jalapenos because I'm having a love affair with them, as well as lots of Cayenne. I think the trouble was that I didn't drain the spinach well enough and too much water overflowed. Also, the suggested 10 ounces of spinach was too much. I'd half it.

And to redeem myself from this disaster, Hannah and I made pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes, and although the pumpkins on top would certainly be abstract art, they made us proud:

...and eat it too

I realize I'm basically the last person on earth to get on board with cupcakes, but I consider the fact that I'm more of an ice cream girl to be my handicap.

Last week, after burning Jim's first birthday cake, and totally messing up the second frozen birthday cake (I know.), I decided it was time to give cakes a rest.  However, I still felt like I kind of owed him a decent birthday dessert, and thought I'd try my hand at cupcakes.

However, after I had the batter made and was ready to pour it into the cupcake tin, I realized I had made 24 cupcakes and only have one tin for six cupcakes.  I also only had enough time to make one batch...

So, I had to make a cake.  Again.

However, this time, I didn't mess it up.  It was a chocolate cake with peanut butter icing and although we were way too full for dessert last night, we ate it anyway. And it was very tasty.

However, the combination of a chocolate cake + peanut butter icing + me being in a hurry = decidedly the ugliest cake ever.  So, instead I'll leave you with this...

And, in case you're now having unbearable cravings for cake, I'll also leave you with this...

photos via cooking light and busy being fabulous

treats no tricks

Since Sara and I both received aprons for our birthdays, we decided it was time to get domestic.  With Halloween just days away, we were feeling inspired...

whimsical wednesday {BYOL}

Lately my desire to pack my lunch for work has been rapidly diminishing.

My ever-faithful lunch options are looking tired, my interest in going to the grocery and getting creative is absent, and I've ended up with sad little meals like an apple and yogurt.

I'm dreaming of much easier, yet more detailed lunch options...

My absolute obsession for the last year has been veggie burgers.  Frozen, homemade, on the grill, on the skillet, at a restaurant...

I love them.  I think I could safely say that of the 365 days in the last year, I've probably had a veggie burger for 250 of them (total creature of habit).

Tonight I'm wishing these Black Bean Burgers with Mango Salsa that Court sent me could just create themselves. They'd be the perfect addition to my lunch. I'd top them off with some of my dad's sweet pickles and mustard, and be in lunch time heaven.

I'd throw in an oversized-perfect-for-fall crisp apple and a Halloween cookie (or two), pack it all up in my Box Appetit.

Cooking with Skippy

My dad is easily one of the most precise people I've ever met. He measures spaces before he buys furniture for them, he researches products, he tests paint colors...

And all of this creates a stark contrast to my mom and me.

So, when my dad and I decided to host a little HGC cooking show, it was bound to be entertaining. While he suggested I look at the recipe, measure, and test before taking action, I was more into the idea of just dumping in the ingredients and seeing how it all turned out.

However, while I may be impulsive, I'm not afraid to admit his accuracy typically leads to him being correct. So, I let him play chef while I played sous.

First, we made Court's Dried Fruit and Nut Clusters and, for the second batch, we tweaked the recipe by adding peanut butter and vanilla, switching out a few of the fruits, and turning the whole shabang into a dessert.

The actual rolling of the clusters was up to me and the combination of my patience and disliking of sticky hands led to the little guys looking a funny (compare them to Ashley's gems if you dare). But they still tasted decent and we got to take the old Cuisinart for a nice spin. And, of course, it was a lovely activity Skip.