Cookie Dough Dip - Peanut Butter

I was playing on pinterest (my goodness what an addiction that is) and came across a recipe for a healthy cookie dough dip. I am trying to get some healthier snack foods in the house as i know I like to snack throughout the day rather than eating a large meal 3 times a day. the only problem with that, is that I tend to grab whatever is easy - which means I need to get my but in gear and have some healthy snack food on hand. This seemed perfect for the days that I am craving something a little sweet.



Ingredients:
1 can chickpeas
⅓ tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp milk
½ cup brown sugar
⅛ tsp baking soda
⅓ cup chocolate chips

Directions:
1. In a food processor combine all ingredients,but the chocolate chips, and blend until smooth.
2. Mix in the chocolate chips.
3. Enjoy!

Reviews:
This is a great dip, that tastes a lot like a mix between a chocolate chip cookie and peanut butter cookie dough. You can’t even tell that there are chickpeas in there! I tried it on a couple people and they both loved it.

Menu: September 26-30

This week is trying to clean up the odds and ends of things out of the freezer to make room for the new produce being harvested and processed now. I am trying to do a little more canning this ear and a little less stuff for the freezer, but we will see how that goes.

Monday: Ravioli
Tuesday: Grilled Chicken Salad
Wednesday: Perogies and Turkey sausage
Thursday: Steak, potatoes and corn
Friday: Travel Day!

Other food this week: Gingerbread cupcakes with peach cream cheese filling (for cake decorating class), peanut butter cookie dough dip (but healthy), fresh salsa and chips (from the garden produce), fresh fruit.

Lemon Blueberry Cake

I had some fruit that was around leftover from the first fruit delivery of year and I decided to try a Blueberry Buttermilk Cake.  I had some lemon curd in the fridge as well that hadn’t gotten thick enough to fill cupcakes with and decided to add it to the cake.  What I ended up with was a wonderful moist lemon cake filled with fruit.

Lemon Blueberry Cake


Ingredients:
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tsp. lemon zest or more — zest from 1 large lemon
3/4 cup + 1 T. sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
½ cup buttermilk
½ cup lemon curd
2 cups fresh blueberries

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F and prepare a 9x9 pan by lining with parchment paper or buttering and flowering.
2. In a bowl cream together the butter and ¾ cup sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add in the egg and vanilla, mix until well combined.
4. Mix in ½ the flour and baking powder, followed by the buttermilk.  Then add the remaining flour and baking powder.
5. Fold in the lemon curd and blueberries.
6. Pour in the prepared pan ( you may have to spread it out to the edges as it is a thick batter), and bake for 35-45 minutes.  After 20 minutes remove from the oven and sprinkle the 1 tbsp of sugar over the top before you finish cooking.  Check if the cake is done by poking a toothpick into the middle (as long as you don’t hit a blueberry it should come out clean).

Variation:
Switch out the blueberries for raspberries for a yummy twist on this cake!

Reviews:
This cake got great reviews and quite a few people thought it was better with raspberries than blueberries.  I suggest going with the fruit you prefer.  

Even O who isn’t a huge cake fan loved this cake so much he ate a ⅓ of it in a single day.  Both times I brought it to work, I didn’t have any leftovers (and I didn’t have to work too hard to get people to eat it either!).

Menu: September 19-23

Fruit arrived late last week (a little earlier than expected), so evenings this week will be a little busy getting things stored away. Thankfully I was able to get a bunch of things done this weekend (egg rolls, apple chips, canned apple pie filling, and apple peal syrup). Suppers will be fairly simple this week and lots of fruit!

Monday: Spaghetti bolgnese
Tuesday: Calzones
Wednesday: Tater tot casserole
Thursday: Ham Potato Soup
Friday; Fridge Fallout

Snacks: fresh peaches and apples, Spice cake, Apple Crisp, fresh peach tart

Pumpkin Pie Hummus

Fall is in on the way - it is getting cooler outside and the leaves are starting to fall off the trees. This time of year always has me wanting to make comfort food, start packing away food for the winter and bake. One of my favorite ingredients to play with in the fall is pumpkin. I was playing on Pinterest and saw some pumpkin dips popping up so I thought I would try and make a somewhat healthy alternative to pumpkin pie. I ended up with a pumpkin pie hummus - eaten on a graham cracker this really does taste like pumpkin pie, but full of protein, fiber and iron!

Ingredients:
1 cup chick peas (about 1/2 a can)
¾ cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling!)
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp all spice
⅛ tsp ginger
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp molasses
3 tsp maple syrup

Directions:
Combine the ingredients in a blender or food process and mix until smooth.

This is a starting point - taste it and see if you think it needs any more spice or sweetener, I change the amounts a bit depending on the day and what I am wanting.

I love this spread on graham crackers!

Reviews:

I enjoy this and a friend ate ½ a batch in one day and then proceeded to demand the recipe, so it must be pretty good!

Menu: September 12-17

Things are getting busy in our house now. I am taking a cake decorating class starting this week, O is training for a 1/2 marathon later this year and hockey has started. This means we are going to be having more quick meals or freezer meals for a little while until we figure out the new schedules.

This week:
Monday: Pierogi
Tuesday: Lasagna soup
Wednesday: Supper out for O's Birthday
Thursday: Coconut curry chicken
Friday: Crouton crusted chicken

Other foods: We have pumpkin pie hummus, red pepper hummus, sugar cookies (decorating class), Monkey Bread (For O's Boss's birthday) and a Cake as yet decided for O's Birthday.

Menu: September 5 - 9

September is here and with that cooler weather is supposed to be on the way, however it looks like we are going to get at least one more week of decent weather. I am hoping to make the most of it with some quick meals tonight that are easy to eat outside on the deck or in the park.

Monday: Pasta
Tuesday: BLT Pitas
Wednesday: Tzatziki chicken wraps, taco dip
Thursday: BBQ venison sausage and potato salad
Friday: Stir fry

Banana Caramel PIe

I was playing around on Pinterest (oh so addicting) and say the picture for this delicious pie. My cousin was visiting and when she saw the picture, she declared we had to try making it. It also suits her style of cooking as you can get most of the ingredients premade.

Ingredients:
Graham cracker pie crust (homemade or store bought)
3 bananas
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
whipping cream/ whipped cream/ coolwhip

Directions:
1. Remove the label from the can of sweetened condensed milk and place in a pot of water (the water should cover the can). Boil the can for 2.5 hours.
2. Peal and slice the bananas. Layer the banana slices in the pie shell.
3. Pour the caramel from step 1 over the bananas and smooth.
4. Top with the whipped cream (whip this if necessary) or cool whip.
5. Place in the fridge to chill and set for 1 hour.


Reviews:
We all loved this pie, so yummy! It is rather sweet however and can be a little messy despite being in the fridge. If I made this again, I would also not put the whipped cream on until I am ready to serve it, as it got a little melted coming in and out of the fridge.