r2girls design » food

Carrot Cake for Two

Sonia Powell — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 15:12:40 +0000

I’m bad at making a meal for just two people. We usually have tons of left overs. And we’re not big on left overs, so the food usually goes to waste. So, I’m trying super hard to make really small portions. Here’s one of my first attempts, Carrot Cake for Two! YUM! I took my grandma’s recipe and quartered it. Just the prefect amount for two people. Should last a few days.

Blueberry Yogurt Cake with Lemon Glaze

Sonia Powell — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 15:27:07 +0000

I made this blueberry yogurt cake this morning and am seriously freaking out. It’s so delicious and light and lemony and moist, I’m about to eat the whole thing. I found the recipe in my latest issue of Vegetarian Times (thanks Shannon for the best birthday present ever.)
Not wanting to type out the recipe for you, I found it online! Check it out here. The blog I found it on, The Noble Pig, is a new find and I kind of love it! (she lived in Davis and I went to school there. her name is cathy, my mom’s name is cathy! she loves this cake, I love this cake.)
Oh, and by the way, the recipe calls for grape seed oil and not wanting to go to the store, I substituted extra virgin olive oil instead and it came out just as lovely.

My Bread Machine Adventures Begin

Sonia Powell — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:36:18 +0000

We got a hand-me-down bread machine! After spending a few days in the forest where we had an unlimited supply of fresh homemade bread, we wanted fresh bread daily. The day after we uttered the words “bread machine”, my mom called me up and asked if I wanted her old one. Weird, huh. I went and bought some bread flour yesterday (yes, there IS a difference). I set the timer on the bread machine to start baking in the earlier morning… and when I woke this morning… we had fresh bread! Amazing. Technology.

I made whole wheat bread. It’s super yummy.

And I made chocolate chip cookies last night. One of my favorite things for breakfast!

Cake Balls and Yogurt Beards

Sonia Powell — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:46:12 +0000

I had a great weekend! I went to a friend’s house and we made Bakerella’s Cake Balls! They are amazing! So delicious (frosting mashed in with the cake and then covered in chocolate!). Totally messy and fun to make (we ended up squishing the cake and frosting together with our bear hands then rolling the mixture into golf ball sized balls).

I took the Cake Balls to Bobby’s Super Bowl party. Where I witnessed the world’s best yogurt beard on the world’s cutest one year old.

Yummy Ewwwy Goewwwy Dessert

Sonia Powell — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:13:11 +0000

Last night I made a real white trash delicatessen! I found it on Bakerella’s cupcake blog (man, I love this blog! she has the best photos and sweetest ideas). She calls this one Peach Crunch Cake. YUM! I ended up baking it for almost forty minutes, rather than the twenty that she said. But, check it out. Super quick and easy. She has step by step instructions and photos.

My photos wouldn’t do it justice, so I poached some of Bake’s photos to show you what this dream-in-a-bowl looks like.

New Chili Recipe and (the best)Corn Bread Muffins (ever)

Sonia Powell — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:38:20 +0000

Ever since I found this one really good chili recipe, I’ve been obcessed with chili! I love how heart and wholesome it is. I love eating the left overs in the morning and for lunch the next day, and usually the day after that too. Tonight, I found a new recipe(!!) in my new issue of Vegetarian Times. And, man, is it good! I can’t decide which one I like better…
This new one has a base of baby bella mushrooms and seitan (i used soy crumbles), which makes it rich and kinda of chewy. And the chipolte chili (verses the jalapeno) adds an unusual smoky spice. Oh! And the corn bread muffins, in the same VT issue, are dreamy. The last corn bread muffin I made was super healthy and super dry. This one had a little tiny bit of butter, maple syrup, a bit of sugar and apple cider vinegar. YUM! The sweet and buttery got along great with the smoky spicy chili.

Unfortunately, my photo doesn’t do the meal justice…

Cupcakes on a stick!

Sonia Powell — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:46:08 +0000

This has to be one of the best ideas i’ve ever seen! Tiny cupcake pops! WHAT?!

Bakerella, you are the bake-a-bomb! She gives a full tutorial on how to make these party pleasers too! From where to buy the sticks to how to frost the bottom.

And check out these scrumptious treats! These MAKE me want to watch the Super Bowl!!
She shows you how to make these too! Here! YUM!

The Best Bran Muffins YET!

Sonia Powell — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:28:06 +0000

I took the basic bran muffin recipe that I shared with you the other week (check it out here) and added one over ripe banana, half a cup of raisins, half a cup of walnuts and a cup of cherries! YUM! The original recipe is a little dry and heavy, but when I added all the fruits and nuts… it’s a taste explosion!

New Muffin Addiction

Sonia Powell — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:06:35 +0000

I’m hooked! I love baking muffins. Who’da thunk! I made bran muffins on Saturday.

On Sunday, I did a little experimenting. I started with a plain muffin recipe and then in each muffin i added different special ingredients or a combination of them.

The special ingredients were dried cranberries, cherries, bananas, chocolate chips. I think I like the ones with cherries in them the best. But, the banana and chocolate chip one is delish too!

I got the recipes from The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook by Diana Shaw. I’ve had this cookbook for years and years, close to fourteen years! But, I’m finally really starting to love it! I think my cupboards have matured with my age, when I was younger I never had nor heard of half of the spices she uses.

Now that I’m revisiting the book, I’m finding I appreciate the little things she does. For each recipe, she includes the nutritional information, the calories per serving, the protein, carbs, ect. Another great thing, is she says how long each recipe takes to make, including total time, prep time and cooking time. All very helpful! Especially when I have a limited amount of time to make dinner. The only thing I miss are photos. I love to see what the food I might make has the potential to look like. And it’s just fun to look at food photos!

Here’s the recipe for the best bran muffins!

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups wheat bran
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
2 large egg whites
1 cup nonfat buttermilk or plain nonfat yogurt

Heat oven to 500. Combine the flour baking soda, baking powder, salt and wheat bran in a bowl. Beat together the brown sugar, molasses, egg whites and buttermilk. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Just stir till moisten. (try not to stir too much, this will make the muffins lighter and fluffier.) Here is where I added dried cranberries, you can add whatever goodness you want!
Get your muffin tin and fill each cup not quite all the way full. When you put the tin in the oven, turn the heat down to 400. She says to bake them for 35 minutes, but in my oven, it only took twenty. Each muffin has 164 calories, 8 grams of protein, one gram of fat. Enjoy! Let me know what your favorite special ingredients are!

She’s ALIVE!

Sonia Powell — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 01:43:55 +0000

We finally got our new stove up and running! Isn’t she a beaut! I love old stoves. They look great and work even better. On the left is a Grillerator! And a storage drawer. On the right is a (now) working oven!! What am I going to make for dinner tonight?! All the possibilities. It’s amazing how the minute you don’t have something, is the time you need it the most. I hadn’t baked anything in forever, but once we found out the oven didn’t work on our new stove, I NEEDED to bake and all the time. I couldn’t think of anything to cook that didn’t need to be in the oven… Now, I can’t think of one thing to make. Well, ok. I can. I think I’ll make a onion, olive and tomato tart! YUM!