Nectarine Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Someone recently asked me if I was still blogging here, a loving family member who knows of the existence of this blog but probably doesn't read it. I say that because if they had, they would have noticed my absence from this realm. This blog is supposed to highlight good, wholesome recipes I've tried and want to share. Throughout my pregnancy, I have tried desperately to cling to this mantra of good food, but the reality is very very boring. 

For the first few months I ate weird, gross or very bland food. (My favorite lunch at the time was an everything bagel with whipped cream cheese, siracha and chicken. I loved that so much.) I ate a lot of cereal, which I generally believe to be too processed to want to consume so regularly, but when it sounded good and helped with my nausea, I gave in and ate that Kashi every single day. 

My second trimester I felt better, but my energy never kicked back in. With the school year in full swing and testing anxiety, I relied a lot on Trader Joe's to help me out with dinners. I have a serious meat aversion with the pregnancy which means even more boring foods. Lots of salads, soups, and pastas. I started loving the premade salads at Trader Joe's for lunch every day- I'm still currently obsessed with their 'Crunchy Slaw' salad with the peanut dressing. Love. Even though it's summer and I ideally have time to make lunch, I still buy three of these a week and eat them for lunch on hot (ugh) days when I can't bring myself to make anything. 

Now that I'm 35 weeks along and due in a month, my eating hasn't changed much and my energy has only plummeted. But, I am on summer break which means even if I take forever, I can get some cooking done. The thing is that without meat to cook, I'm so bored. It's too hot to do anything too good with veggies (in my opinion, I'm so tired of grilling and sautéing) and if I never see pasta again I'll be ok. I feel like I'm living on cereal (still), fruit (adore!) and raw veggies (don't ask how many bags of baby carrots, plain old lettuce and bell peppers I'm going through a week. I'm setting records, I'm sure of it). Even sweets aren't very tempting, but baking... oh baking is my weakness. I've been baking at least weekly and sending them off with Dylan to work or freezing them for after the baby comes and we need some sugar. 

These cupcakes were one such baking bonanza. The nectarines I've been getting lately (from all sources: CSA box, grocery store, family's backyard) have been to die for. I realized recently that I had way more than I could eat, so I decided to do some baking with them. I chopped about seven of them up and slowly simmered them with a tiny bit of sugar and used them to make both these cupcakes and made some hand pies as well (these were killer. seriously, make them now. sorry I have no proof.)

I haven't felt like sharing these though, because I'm not sure how well they fit into my idea of 'good food'. They used processed ingredients and lots of sugar. But, I love baking. I find it to be extremely therapeutic and since I can't go for a long, sweaty run- baking is one of my best outlets. So, I'm sharing the baking. I realize this means my posts for what remains of the summer will be skewed in the sweet direction and I'm ok with that. It is what it is, right? If you've got a bbq to go to or a party to host, any of the sweet treats will make your guests sing your praises. So, bake on and share. Just don't eat them all at once or I'll feel just terrible (and frankly, so will you).

The recipe for these gorgeous little dandies can be found here, and I found them thanks to my favorite way to kill three hours, pinterest. 

Enjoy!

-m

Oatmeal Pancakes

This year has been a quick one, passing fast as we count each week. I'm 24 weeks (6 months!) pregnant and my cooking has really taken a backseat during the pregnancy. I have been eyeing new recipes again and cooking 4 or 5 nights a week- which feels like a success to me!

I've been really loving breakfast foods lately. Fruits and eggs and whole grains, oh my! I made these pancakes one weekend and had some leftover which were promptly frozen. Later that week, we stuck them under the broiler (we are lazy with the toaster oven) and rejoiced- what a lovely way to start a week day!

I love these pancakes. They use oat flour, cooked oatmeal and all purpose flour which makes them hearty and flavorful and very satisfying.

Oatmeal Pancakes
From "Good to the Grain"

Ingredients

3/4 cup oat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled a bit
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1 cup cooked oatmeal
1 tablespoon unsulphured (not blackstrap) molasses
2 eggs

If you have some leftover oatmeal, toss it in here- but if you don't, just boil 2 cups of water with 1 cup of whole rolled oats and a pinch of salt. Once it's boiling, turn it down to simmer for about 5 minutes. I have done this as I mix the rest of the ingredients, easy peasy.

Work with the dry ingredients (oat flour, all purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, salt), mixing them all well, in a large bowl. Set aside.

Mix together all of the wet ingredients (butter, milk, oatmeal, molasses, eggs) until they are combined well and just a warning, this will look lumpy and gross.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, very lightly. The batter should be lumpy and a bit thick. Cook them up on a skillet with a bit of butter, and enjoy!

-m

Hmm..

These are a few of my favorite food magazines. Do they contradict one another? Always. I like to think it's a balanced perspective. Do you have any food or cooking magazines you adore? I'm always on the lookout for more!

Baked Pasta

I have made this baked pasta so many times in the past few months. It's such an easy little meal that provides us with many leftovers and makes a great dinner to give to a friend who might need it.

As I was making it again last week, I decided I should share it with you. I haven't cooked much lately, for a few reasons, and most of my attempts at cooking lately have left a lot to be desired (boring blueberry muffins, not worth sharing!) and this recipe seemed like an fun, quick thing to share.

And then I did that thing I do. I did that thing, where I photograph the whole process. The shredding of the cheeses (mozerella and fontina), the browning of the ground meat (you could use turkey! I used beef) and the boiling of the pasta (but not too much, let the meat do the talking). I even got a shot of the whole thing mixed and piled into a baking dish that was headed for the oven.

Then, then it came out of the oven. It came out, glorious and bubbly. The salads were on the table, the drinks poured and the table set. And so it happened. I plated the pasta and ate a delicious, hearty meal, without ever stopping to photograph the best part, the finished product.

So, I guess you'll just have to make it yourself to see!

Baked Pasta 

serves 4-6
time: 30-45 minutes

ingredients

1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce or homemade sauce if you're fancy like that
1 lb of ground beef (I'm sure turkey would work here too)
1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 lb of pasta (adjust as desired, I prefer less pasta so that my sauce:pasta:meat ratio is where I like it)
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese (I add fontina and parmersan, depending on what I have on hand)

Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 9x11 pan by coating it with a light spritz of oil.

Cook pasta as usual; in a large pot- boil water, toss in pasta, cook for 8-10 minutes.

While pasta is cooking, drizzle the olive oil in a large pan and toss in the onions once the oil gets warm. Cook the onions for about 5-7 minutes, until they become translucent. Then place the meat in the pan and cook until browned. When the meat is done, pour the marinara sauce over it and let it simmer until the pasta is ready.

Drain the pasta and return it to the large pot, then combine the meat and sauce mixture with the pasta. Stir until evenly distributed and then mix about 1/3 of the cheese in the pasta mixture. Pour into the pan, sprinkling the rest of the cheese on top and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden.

Enjoy! (and take a picture for me, would you?)
-m

Happy New Year!

As we begin 2013, I'd like to take a moment and think back on the past year.

for just a second or two.

or maybe just a second.

There. Done. Moving forward! Ready for 2013?

I am!

In fact, I'm ready but noticing that my time lately feels so limited and while I want to write and share and learn, I'm hoping to do so in directions that aren't entirely food related. So, I've begun writing a bit here. I'll still share my recipes and food related posts on this lovely little space but for everything else, the hodgepodge of life, I'm trying something new. (the link will be under the banner, labeled 'pastiche', in case you want to check it out later!) 

Hope 2013 has started out swimmingly for you!

Enjoy!
-m

Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm not gonna lie, this year has kind of stunk. It's not too terrible really, just so many ups and downs. I feel like just when I get grounded, something wipes me out. I can't remember the last time I felt relaxed or calm. I'm either exuberantly excited or a bit down in the dumps. With a year like this, I'm totally ready for the holidays and January 1st. Bring. It. On.

With that being said, I can point to many things I'm thankful for, but one thing in particular. I'm thankful that my dad, who had a massive and scary stroke over a month ago, is recovering well. He spent a week in the ICU, unable to do much with his right side or speak, and was moved from one hospital setting to an acute rehab facility and is now in a residential facility where he is walking (yippee!) and talking up a storm. This month has been rough but inspiring. I see his strength in his struggle and I know I have that in me as well, the struggle is our strength. Through the struggle we find out what we will fight for, what we will move mountains for and see ourselves truly.

Now, I'm going to roast some veggies and begin my holiday prep. Seriously excited this year, time to get cheery!

Enjoy,
m

Rosemary Rolls

A year or so ago, I made these rosemary rolls from the pioneer woman. I loved them instantly and they were easy peasy. Then I did my October unprocessed (holy moly, that was a year ago) and couldn't bear to look at the ingredient list in the premade, frozen rolls. I tried to make yeast rolls from scratch, but they never lived up to my standards (thanks in most part to my grandma's amazing, fluffy, golden, tender rolls that melt in your mouth and I think make a great savory side with butter or an amazing dessert treat with a hint of jelly.. mmm..).

Yesterday, I decided to try my hand at another yeast roll. I'm not quite ready to give my grandma's recipe another try (there was a rolls turned hockey puck incident in my kitchen last year that left me feeling less than confident) I thought I'd try another rosemary roll recipe, this time with yeast rolls from scratch.

Do you love rosemary? I can hardly believe how much that scent does for me. I've been in a funk lately, and I keep trying to pull myself out of it, and I succeed for days or even a week here or there, but I eventually get sucked back in. Yesterday morning I was feeling the funk, you know what I mean? I didn't want to do anything, see anyone. I was forcing myself to go for a bike ride, knowing that I need that exercise to work through whatever is going on mentally, but I just broke down before I could even get out the front door. I took off my helmet and didn't know what to do.

Dylan asked me what I really wanted to do, how did I really want to spend my day? I had to think, but eventually it came down to wanting to do something with a finished product. I haven't cooked a lot lately (as you can plainly see) because even cooking has felt a bit like a blessing and a curse.

Long story, a bit shortened, I decided to roast some veggies for a soup. It seemed like a good place to start. I walked out to the front yard to pick some rosemary to throw in the pot. I grabbed the stem of the thickest little stalk and stripped it slowly of its aromatic leaves. I carried the little leaves inside and began chopping them up into itsy bitsy pieecs and with each slice the scent felt a bit as though it was waking me up.

It made me fantasize about those rosemary rolls from last year and I decided I just had to make some fabulous rolls to go with this delightfully autumnal soup. I went to my favorite place for recipes, food gawker, and found this wonderful recipe for rosemary rolls and whipped up a batch. The recipe was easy to follow and they taste great. I subbed a bit of flour for some whole wheat flour, and they are still light and fluffy.

Go give them a try!
Enjoy!
-m