YumSugar

What should I bake next?

kiddylnd — Tue, 13 May 2008 10:30:51 -0700

So tomorrow is week 2 of my Bake for the Cure bake sale at work. Last week raised just under $40. Not bad for rice krispie treats tinted pink. This week I have some ideas but haven't really decided what to make. Tell me - what would YOU want to see in a bake sale (I am only making one item)?

Snack Attack: No-Bake Peanut Butter Balls

FitSugar — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 07:00:19 -0800

Peanut butter is one of my all-time favorite foods, so I love to bake with it. But this recipe requires no baking at all. These chewy, nutty treats are made with all-natural peanut butter, wheat germ, rolled oats, and coconut, and no added sugar, so they're a healthy treat you can enjoy anytime. I like to take a couple out on long rides with me instead of an energy bar.

To see this simple recipe, keep reading.

Snack Attack: No-Bake Peanut Butter Balls

FitSugar — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 07:00:19 -0800

To see this simple recipe, keep reading.

10 No-Bake Dessert Recipes for V-Day

celebrity_soup — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 11:05:24 -0800

Valentines Day is almost here and your probably looking for a sweet recipe to make for your hubby.
If you're not, then think of it this way, don't you rather give to someone you love, a mouth watering dessert you made, then a store bought waxy chocolate heart?
I don't know about you guys, but I'd say hell yeah!
So to end your special V-Day dinner without too much hassle, try making one of these delicious no-bake desserts.

Their all very easy to make and very easy to please you and of course, your loved one!
I got all of these recipes from the one and only Martha Stewart.

Click on the link below each photo for the recipe.
Enjoy!

Chocolate-Mint Icebox Cake

Peanut Butter Tart

Chocolate Whole-Wheat Biscuit

No-Cook Mint Ice Cream

Black-and-White Icebox Cake

Chocolate-Ricotta Icebox Cake

Coconut Bonbons

Raspberry-Lime Freeze

Crunchy Chocolate Treats

Frozen Mocha Toffee Terrine

Baking Soda and It's Many Uses

Myst — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:15:18 -0700

Yes ladies and gents, baking soda, isn't just for cooking. It has many uses for your beauty regiments. Now if a person was to ever to grocery shopping with me, they would see me stock piling on the this miracle item. It's not because I like to bake that much, it's because, I can do much more for my skin and hair with baking soda, than I can do with spending a small fortune on cosmetic products.

1. Alternative for Shampoo

As I mentioned in my other blog, most shampoos, especially commercially produced shampoos have ingredients that are bad for your health. I've personal have been using the Baking Soda and Apple Cider Vinegar method for about 4 years now and the changes have been nothing short of a miracle. My hair is stronger, no matter what I do to it, it's silkier, and healthier.

The reason being is that baking soda is acid neutral, and acts a mild buffer which means that it has the ability to neutralize other substances it comes in contact with that are acidic (like vinegar) or basic (like soap). If you're looking to go a more natural way and are trying to avoid adding unnecessary chemicals to your hair, this is a great way to go.

2. As an exfoliant

Again as I mentioned in my other blog, you don't necessarily need to wash your face all the time, what I mean by that is: you don't need to wash it with soaps and other products. Using warm water and gently scrubbing is enough to remove the dirt and dust and other particles. However you do you need to exfoliate at least 2 a week to remove dead cells, depending on your lifestyle and beauty regiment. I personal don't wear a lot of make-up. In fact, I wear make-up only if I'm going on and even then, I never put on any foundations (I think they are the devil). So because of that, I will only exfoliate once a week. But if you are the type to never leave your door without make-up then you should be exfoliating around 2 to 3 times a weeks. So why use baking soda to exfoliate instead of the hundreds of products out there.

Baking soda is physical exfoliants, and what makes it especially effective is that it is a fine, yet hard powder, making it highly effective at removing the dead skin cells without causing excessive irritation.
Some commercial exfoliants contain mild acids such as Alpha Hydroxy Acid (AHA for short), which help renew the skin layer by burning off some of the skin. The effectiveness of these chemical exfoliants depends on the acid concentration, with too low being not effective enough, and too high being damaging to the skin.

3. Treating pimples
I'm not a dermatologist, however I've had some of the great ones over the years and they all have advocated using natural products to treating your skin as much as possible. Although I do rarely get a pimple, I do use the method that was prescribed to me many years ago. Treat my pimples with baking soda. Now this may or may not work for you. It depends on your skin, your activities, stress level...etc. But I would recommend giving it a try and most people I know who also try this method, have sung it's praises as well. What I do when I get a pimple is to make a paste with baking soda and water, or baking soda with tea tree oil (it's good because it kills bacteria) and leave it one for about 5-10 minutes. After washing it off, I do see a difference and after a day or so of doing this, my pimple will generally disappear.

There are many other uses for baking soda. Like smoothing your knees and elbows, great for baths to leave you with soft smooth skin, as a callus remover, and many more. To learn more, this blog over here http://health.howstuffworks.com/uses-for-baking-soda-health-and-beauty-g..., gives you other great ideas for baking soda as a beauty regiment.

12 Days of Edible Gifts: Date Balls

YumSugar — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:27:00 -0800

Latkes, Russian tea cakes, and plenty of other treats remind me of the holidays - but nothing feels more like Christmas than making my mother's date balls. Every year for as long as I can remember, my mother has given friends, neighbors, and co-workers her date balls. When I was a child and my main role was that of date-ball-roller, I thought the whole process was a big production.

But once I grew up and learned to make them, I realized that these no-bake crispy confections actually aren't that hard to put together - which explains why they became a regular part of our holiday cookie circuit. If you're pressed for time to make an edible gift, or you want to set yourself apart at a cookie exchange, then wow your loved ones with these festive date balls. Get my mother's recipe when you read more.

Baking: Soft chewy Mall Pretzels!

haze1nut — Wed, 02 May 2007 07:41:05 -0700

Soft big chewy mall pretzels that are easy to make at home so you don't have to go to the mall if you ever have a hankering for one. Here's a picture by picture instruction on how to. I like mine completely covered in cinnamon sugar but I also made Pretzel dogs and they were delicious! My boyfriend ate 3 out of the 4 I made, he really liked them, lol. Best if eaten the day of but you can always store leftovers in the freezer and nuke them for 45secs whenever you want another one. A little stale after storing them? Just microwave them for a couple secs

I got the recipe from Mall Pretzels from Allrecipes.com
Here's the following with my notes and pictures. It's pretty easy and simple, you can even just make breadsticks with this and sprinkle some garlic salt and parmesan over them before baking. It's good, not really delicious delicious but hey it satisfies my pretzel craving

SOFT CHEWY PRETZELS "Mall Pretzels"

INGREDIENTS

* 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
* 2 tablespoons brown sugar
* 1 1/8 teaspoons salt
* 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 cup bread flour
* 2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
* 2 tablespoons baking soda
* 2 tablespoons butter, melted
* 2 tablespoons coarse kosher salt

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast, brown sugar and salt in 1 1/2 cups warm water. (I let this proof w/ 1/2 cup flour for 10minutes but I don't think you need to do that for this recipe). Stir in flour (I reserved 1/2 cup for kneading and added it to the dough a few tablespoons at a time.), and knead dough on a floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.

It shouldn't stick to your hands and should pull away from the bowl. Place in a greased bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover, and let rise for one hour.

2. Combine 2 cups warm water and baking soda in an 8 inch square pan. I think this solution allows for a chewy crust.

3. After dough has risen, cut into 12 pieces. Yay for dough scrapers! if you don't have one, get one! Roll each piece into a 3 foot rope, pencil thin or thinner.

The trick is to form it and then roll it with both hands going out, pressure on the heel of your hand and making an up and down motion. It's like massaging a snake, yeah yeah you know what i mean. :P Here's a youtube vid of some guy doing it the quick professional way, you don't need to do it like that (crazy skills) but the massaging part is the same.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=klZ7N91-zdQ

Twist into a pretzel shape, and lightly dip into the baking soda solution. If they turn goopy on you then your dough is still sorta wet when you rolled them, you can try holding them over the solution and sprinkle it on and pat it around. Place on parchment covered cookie sheets, and let rise 15 to 20 minutes.

4. Bake at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) for 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter, and sprinkle with coarse salt, garlic salt or cinnamon sugar. Also, don't bake it on the lowest rack, put your rack on the middle shelf,lower rack would cause the bottoms to burn. The parchment paper will burn on you but pretzels lift off easy. I tried aluminum foil ungreased and it stuck to the pretzels. You can try greased aluminum foil.

Pretzel Dogs: The hot dog doesn't need to be 'cooked' for this, just take it out of the fridge. Roll out the dough to like 2 1/2ft long, lightly dip in baking soda/water solution and the easiest way is to lay the dough down, with one end wind it around the tip of the hot dog and roll the dog till the dough is winded all around. LOL , my bf was like why aren't there any gaps in the dough like the ones in the mall?(bc i sorta overlapped it), so i made sure to seperate the dough a bit to make little gaps. lol

OH YEAH!
Cinnamon Sugar dip: BF says, instead of covering your pretzel with butter before dipping make like a sugar syrup like they do at Auntie Ann's. I'm thinking equal parts sugar and water and heated up in the microwave, genorously brush this on your pretzels and dip to your hearts delight in a cinnamon sugar!

Pretzel-and-Mustard Baked Chicken

justingirl1989 — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 06:36:23 -0700

Put a slim spin on fried chicken by baking with a pretzel crust instead. You'll retain the trademark crunch and flavorful taste while losing tons of unwanted calories and fat. It's a perfect recipe for a healthy home.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 cups pretzel nuggets
1/2 cup spicy brown mustard
2 tbsp skim milk
3/4 tsp kosher salt Parchment paper
3 lb skinless chicken parts (including bones)
Directions:

Heat oven to 375°.
Pulse pretzels in a food processor until nuggets become coarse crumbs.
Whisk mustard, milk and salt in a bowl. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Roll each piece of chicken in mustard mixture, rubbing off excess into a bowl.
Coat chicken with crumbs and place on baking sheet.
Bake until juices run clear when pierced with a fork, about 45 minutes. Serve warm.
Nutrition Facts:

430 calories per serving 9.7 g fat (2.3 g saturated) 23.8 g carbs 0.5 g fiber 52 g protein
http://fitceleb.com/2008/10/12/pretzel-and-mustard-baked-chicken-

Baked Pumpkin Custard with Pecan topping

katee82 — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 16:45:47 -0700

2 eggs
16 oz can pumpkin puree
1 cup half and half
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

For the topping:
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup brown sugarr
1 1/2 Tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Beat custard ingredients till smooth and pour into baking dish. Put the baking dish into a larger pan of water and bake for 20 minutes. Make the topping.

After you baked the custard for 20 minutes, just sprinkle the topping ingredients of the top of it and bake an additional 30 - 40 minutes until the custard is set. Allow it to cool, then serve it as it is or with whipped cream.

Butternut Squash and Parsnip baked pasta

cravinsugar — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 19:54:13 -0800

I saw this recipe and thought "I wonder if I like parsnips?" and decided to make it anyway! lol! I got it from Cooking Light. It is delish, and in the picture is on the left side of the plate (the soup will be in a different blog--it is called Italian Egg Drop Soup with Meatballs, and be sure not serve these together as I did...I didn't realize 1/4 tsp of crushed red pepper would add as much heat as it did to the dish, and it did not pair well with a soup). So, without further adieu...Butternut Squash and Parsnip Baked Pasta )on left) Italian Egg Drop Soup with Meatballs (on right)

Butternut Squash and Parsnip Baked Pasta

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash
1 cup chopped parsnip
1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided
2 cups uncooked penne pasta
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
Cooking spray
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup 1% low-fat milk

Preparation
Preheat oven to 375°.
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, red pepper, and garlic; sauté 3 minutes. Add squash and parsnip; sauté 10 minutes. Stir in sage, parsley, nutmeg, allspice, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper; remove from heat.

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain in a colander over a bowl, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid. Combine squash mixture, pasta, and 1/4 cup cheese in an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray, tossing gently to combine.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add flour; cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk. Add milk; cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk. Gradually add reserved cooking liquid; cook 2 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly with a whisk. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Pour milk mixture over pasta mixture; sprinkle with 1/4 cup cheese. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until lightly browned.

Yield
4 servings (serving size: 2 cups)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 437(28% from fat); FAT 13.4g (sat 6.1g,mono 5.1g,poly 1g); PROTEIN 16.5g; CHOLESTEROL 25mg; CALCIUM 297mg; SODIUM 607mg; FIBER 5.3g; IRON 3.1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 63.6g

P.S.: I used skim milk, whole wheat pasta, and forgot to reserve the water from the pasta and used 1 C. of reg water and it turned out delish!