Monday, February 22, 2010

Lock Down French Toast



Ok. So I decided to declare Sundays French Toast Day.  My boyfriend LOVES french toast (sometimes more than me), and I love him so......I dug out and dusted off my Bitchin Kitchen cookbook and found this recipe for Lock Down French Toast and it looked simple enough, so I gave it a try.  The verdict- it may just become a once a week staple in our house.

The cookbook calles for a vanilla bean.  Let me just tell you that vanilla beans are expensive, and extremely hard to find.  I ended up paying $5 for 2 beans at Hy-Vee.  Sheesh!  But vanilla beans are really fun to work with (to get the beans out cut your vanilla bean lengthwise.  Scrape seeds out with your knife.  They look like coffee grounds and are really sticky so they clump together. Mix well to distribute in your mixture) , they smell amazing, and add great flavor so it was worth it.  They also add pretty homemade like flecks to the french toast.  My heart sank a little when I threw out the first empty vanilla bean shell ( 5 bucks, are you kidding me?!), so I googled things to do with an empty vanilla bean shell and I came up with this:  Vanilla Sugar.  Who wouldn't appreciate vanilla flavored sugar?!  And it's super easy to make.  Here's what you do.........

Vanilla Sugar
1 vanilla bean
2 cups of sugar
Dry empty vanilla bean shell on windowsill overnight.  Place sugar and vanilla bean in an airtight container.  Seal up and give it a good shake.  Put sugar container in a dark cupboard for 2 weeks, shaking occasionally.  Discard vanilla bean after the 2 weeks are up and voila!  Vanilla Sugar.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

promises, promises.

Months before I got my promise ring, I've been daydreaming of getting married.  I can't help it!  I am so in love with the boy, and I am also in love with the idea of getting and being married.  This Valentines Day my sweetie gave me a thoughtful bouquet with roses, lilies, and daisies in it.  But the real present was a big sparkly promise ring!  I'm always scared when people buy me jewelry, because I'm afraid it will be hideous and I'll be forced to wear it all the time.  But Mr. Keelan Cy is really good at picking out jewelry.  I told Daisy that I'm going to wear it on my ring finger and pretend that I'm already married.  She started giggling, but guess what?  It's still on my ring finger.  And to indulge my fantasy further, I've been strolling around the web looking at wedding blogs.  My favorite so far is this awesome circus inspired wedding I saw on OnceWed!

My idea of a perfect wedding would be....
  • small, eco-friendlyish, inexpensive
  • outdoors
  • colorful pendants
  • bubbles, confetti, glitter, sparklers
  • Chinese lanterns
  • lollipops (the big swirly kind)
  • balloons
  • comic book/circus themed!
  • un-traditional dress
  • cupcakes
  • candlelight
  • bbq
  • a kissing booth
  • a photo booth 
  • lots of candy
  • cotton candy & popcorn machines
  • as many homemade elements as possible
  • 100% customized playlist
  • lots of cheap beer and wine
  • board games and disposable cameras on tables
  • picnic blankets
  • a projector playing Iron Man!  (our first date)
  • a little homemade fireworks display
too much?

homemade peppermint patties

York Peppermint Patties are one of my favorite candies.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I found this recipe for them to make at home!  I'm definitely going to try these soon!!

carrot cake whoopie pies

recipe here.  your welcome.

:)

Sunday, February 7, 2010

go bananas!

I've been wanting to make a "healthy" cookie for a while now. So I did a little research on sugar and fat substitutions, and thought about which extra healthy add-ins would work well together. Then I typed in some key ingredients into Google image search (the best way to filter recipes because you can judge them based on looks) and found this recipe for Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies. It sounded fabulous so I altered it with my own spin, and they are absolutely amazing! The only problem is, they aren't cookies. Nope. They're muffin tops. But they're still amazing. And Healthy.

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies Muffin Tops
2 1/4 C flour
1/2 C oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp wheat germ
1/2 C applesauce
3/4 C brown sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 mashed ripe bananas
2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 C walnuts

*preheat oven to 350

Mix applesauce and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer. Add in eggs one at a time. Add in mashed banana. In seperate bowl mix dry ingredients. Add dry mixture to wet mixture in small doses. I know the batter looks runny, but it will be fine. Mix in your chocolate chips and walnuts. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray. This step is very important, as they will stick to the pan. :) Drop your muffin tops onto cookie sheet spacing evenly. You don't have to worry about them expanding...they won't. That being said, if you slop them onto the pan they will look sloppy. Bake for 7 minutes. They will look like cookies, but taste like muffiny goodness. I can't tell you how many this recipe yeilds, as we already ate too many to count. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

it's bananas. b-a-n-a-n-a-s.