Category Archives: Recipes

The Ole Switcheroo + Last Night’s Dinner

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Jessica| Leave a comment

Welp looks like I’m going to have to pull the ole switcheroo on this week’s workouts.

I went to the gym after work yesterday expecting to do my strength training.

Unfortunately, the gym had other plans.

There are 5 benches in the weight training area at my gym.

Yes, I go to my local Planet Fitness.

There were 15 people (I counted) in the weight training area when I got to the gym yesterday evening.

Clearly no room for me to lift things up and put them down.

They were, for the most part, a group of high school boys – chatting with each other the whole time, therefore making their total workout time even looonger.

Awesome.

I didn’t  want to waste my trip, so I hopped on the treadmill and banged out the 2.5 miler that was supposed to be for tonight.

Only I did not have my ipod, so the run seemed a wee bit more painful and tiring and slow.

Even so, I finished the 2.5 miles at 5.5MPH (11 min/miles), and sped up at the end as per the usual.

My plannnnn was to get up this morning and do my weight training.

Only I suck at getting up early.

**Please note that I originally started writing the excuses for not getting up, and then just decided to roll with me sucking instead.

Sooooo I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do today.  Haven’t quite figured it out yet.

I’ll keep you posted.

In the meantime, let’s read about what I had for dinner last night!

Last night, I made this Three Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta Bake recipe.

I didn’t have/want everything on the ingredients list, so I changed it up a little and left some things out.

Anything involving cheese and pasta, and I am I-N.

Needless to say, it was obviously delish.

Add this one to the ole recipe box.

I really like the word “ole” today, huh?

Here is my rendition:

Three Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta Bake

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups penne pasta
  • 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bit-sized pieces
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
  • 1/2 cup pasta sauce
  • 1 2/3 cups diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1 cup mozzarella cheese
  • grated Parmesan cheese
  • grated Romano cheese

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Cook pasta as directed on the package.

Meanwhile, heat a large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat.  Add chicken and basil; cook 3 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink, stirring frequently.

Add pasta sauce and tomatoes; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low; simmer 3 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Drain pasta; return to same saucepan.  Add chicken mixture; mix lightly.  Stir in half of the mozzarella cheese.  Spoon into 8-inch square baking dish.

Bake 20 minutes or until heated through.  Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese and Romano cheese.  Bake 3 minutes or until cheese in melted.

Enjoy your day!

PDF Printer    Send article as PDF   

→ Leave a comment

Posted in 10K, Recipes, Strength Circuit

Two Apple Recipes For You Cooked Apple Lovers

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Jessica| Leave a comment

Soooo….I like apples.

But only when they are raw.

The husband (along with most of the world) also enjoys them cooked.

And so, for him, when November hits each year, I make homemade apple butter.

He gets super excited about it.

This year, however, apple butter alone was not good enough for him.

He said I needed to make up for the one weekend in the past two months that I haven’t baked him some delicious goods.

So, I thought, why not more apple?

Apple Crumble Cupcakes, it is.

Or it was.

Not sure what the grammar should be there.

Also, I just spelled grammar wrong and had to correct it.

Ha.

I was, and still am, very intimidated by crumble.

I can never get a perfect consistency.

But I’m working on it.

Maybe in a few years, I’ll be the crumble master.

The husband still seemed to enjoy them.

Immensely, actually.

It is Tuesday night and they are all gone.

If I liked baked apple, I would probably agree.

But I don’t.

I wanted to spit the bite out that I had.

Don’t let that stop you from making these babies.

Word on the street is that they’re yumtastic.

And so is the apple butter.

Homemade Apple Butter

  • 5 to 7 pounds Red Delicious apples
  • 2 1/2 cups apple cider
  • 4 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Cut unpeeled apples into quarters and remove cores.  Place in a large heavy stockpot.  Add apple cider.  Place over high heat.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low.  Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the apples are tender and puffy, about 2 hours. (Don’t be worried if it takes less or more time – mine only took an hour.)

Process the apple mixture in a food processor or blender until smooth to yield 6 to 7 cups of pulp.

Combine apple pump, granulated sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest, cloves and salt in a large heavy saucepan and mix well.

Place over medium heat.  Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 1 hour.

Spoon into 7 hot sterilized 1/2-pint jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  Seal with 2-piece lids.  Store in pantry or refrigerator.  (I did not have these and just used whatever containers I had.)

Aaaand recipe #2:

Apple Crumble Pie Cupcakes

For the cupcakes

  • 3 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup + 2 tablespoons flour, all-purpose
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 3/4 cup applesauce
  • 1 cup apples, diced (whichever kind you like)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place cupcake liners in muffin tin.

Beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy.

Add the egg, and then the vanilla.

Beat until well combined.

In a measuring cup or small bowl, whisk together dry ingredients, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.

Measure applesauce.

Add half of the dry ingredients, alternating with the applesauce.

Peel, core and chop apples into small pieces.

Fold apples into mixture.

For the crumble topping

  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 3 tablespoons butter, softened

In a small bowl combine all ingredients, then add softened butter.  Mix with fork until combined.

Add about 1/4 cup batter to cupcake liners.

Sprinkle on crumble topping.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

 

PDF Creator    Send article as PDF   

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Recipes

Costumes and Cupcakes

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Jessica| Leave a comment

Happy Halloween everyone!!

Hope everyone had a great time celebrating this weekend.

The husband and I went to a bar with some friends.

I dressed as a mail order bride, and he was Billy Mays.

No, those do not go together in some weird way.

lol

I took an older white skirt and shirt that I had and covered it in fragile stickers and foreign stamps that I printed on sticker paper from Staples.  I also wore my veil (from my wedding), and some flats and pearls.

The husband dressed in a blue shirt, did his hair like Billy Mays (he already has a beard just like him!), and carried around a container of Oxi Clean and a little baggie filled with cocaine confectioners sugar.  He also wore a name tag, just in case people didn’t get it.

We almost didn’t go because of the lovely weather (crazy snow and rain), but I’m glad we did – we had a blast!

Then yesterday, I came home and finished these awesome cupcakes!

“Broken Glass” cupcakes w/ blood.

Got this out of a Martha Stewart Living Magazine.

That oddly comes to the husband.

That has to be a joke someone is playing on him.

He despises Martha Stewart.

I’m glad we get these magazines though – so many great ideas!

We just got the Thanksgiving issue and I can’t wait to dive in. :)

For the broken glass (caramel), make sure you cook it long enough.

I didn’t the first time and it never set.

I let it cook for a good 10-15 minutes the second time until it started to turn a little gold on the edges (like it says in the directions), and it worked out great.

For the blood, I used strawberry topping (that you find by the sprikles, etc. for ice cream), and it was delicious.

Lastly, I didn’t realize that the recipe called for some unsalted butter in parts, and just used salted instead.  They tasted great to me, so I don’t know how much of a difference that made.

The recipe says that they  make 3 1/2 dozen (42), but they ended up only making around 36.  Maybe I filled the cups too much.

All in all these were adorable Halloween treats (the icing is DELISH – i kept squeezing it directly from the pastry bag into my mouth), and people seemed to enjoy them.

I think next year, I’m going to make them with chocolate cupcakes.  I feel like it will make the icing/glass/blood stand out more.

“Broken Glass” Cupcakes

For the cupcakes

  • 4 1/2 cups cake flour
  • 2 tablespoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • salt
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
  • 7 large egg whites, room temperature

For the caramel

  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup water

For the frosting

  • 1 pound cream cheese, room temperature
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 6 cups confectioner’s sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • Garnish:  1 cup cherry preserves, strained

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Make the cupcakes:  Line cupcake tins with baking cups.  Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and 3/4 teaspoon sale into a medium bowl.  Combine milk and vanilla in a measuring cup.

2.  Beat butter with mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy.  Reduce speed to medium, and gradually add granulated sugar in a slow, steady stream.  Beat until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour.

3.  In a clean bowl, whisk egg whites with a mixer on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form.  Fold one-third of the whites into the cupcake batter.  Fold in remaining egg whites in 2 batches.

4.  Divide batter among baking cups, filling each halfway full.  Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of each comes out clean and the tops spring back when lightly touched, 18 to 20 minutes.  Let cool completely in tins set on wire racks.

5.  Meanwhile, make the caramel:  Bring granulated sugar and water to a boil in a small high-sided saucepan, stirring, until sugar dissolves.  Reduce heat to medium-high, and cook until mixture just starts to turn pale gold around edges.  Remove from heat, and immediately pour caramel onto a rimmed baking sheet.  Working quickly, tilt pan to spread caramel to edges to make a very thin layer.  Let cool to harden.

6.  Make the frosting:  Beat cream cheese and butter with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy.  Gradually add confectioner’s sugar and vanilla.  Beat until creamy and spreadable.

7.  Frost each cupcake using an offset spatula.  Twise pan to release and break caramel in order for it to resemble broken glass.  Place a shard or 2 of caramel “glass” in the center of each cupcake.  Drizzle or pipe cherry preserves where caramel has entered the cupcake.

PDF Printer    Send article as PDF   

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Fun Things To Do, Recipes

Playing Catch Up 2

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Jessica| Leave a comment

Meowsers.

Someone needs to slap me on the wrist for not blogging in a week!

Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you like this kinda thing), that means you get another overview post of my week.

I made this recipe that my mom gave me.

Lucky for you it’s simple and extremely delicious!

Un-lucky for you, I totally forgot to take photos.

Whoops!

Spaghetti with Garlic and Basil

  • 1 (16 ounce) package uncooked
  • spaghetti
  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 cup fresh basil, coarsely chopped
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Place spaghetti in the pot, cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente, and drain.

In a large bowl, toss the spaghetti with the olive oil, butter, garlic, basil, salt, and pepper until evenly coated. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

I made this with some garlic bread, which didn’t come out as good as my mom’s.

It will be better next time!  I swear it!

I baked some Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Muffins.

 

 

I would love to give you the recipe, however it was a “Recipe in a Jar” that I got when we went pumpkin picking the other weekend. 

I thought that the recipe was attached to the side, but unfortunately it was not!

I tried measuring everything in the jar, but it all started sifting together.

Alas.

I ran race #3 of the 30 Before 30.

This one was the 3rd Annual Michael Michelini 5K to Benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

 The website for their foundation is CancerSucks5K.com.

Love it.

I decided for this race that I was not going to wear my Garmin.

When I wear it, I am constantly checking my pace and time, and I feel that I am either beating myself up for not going fast enough, or going too fast.

This race I just wanted to run.

And it helped.  A lot.

 A few weeks ago, I was arguing with the husband about the way I run races. 

I like to be in the moment, enjoy the scenery, be happy that I am running a race and am able to do so.

He thinks I should just run.

And I hate to say this…but he was right.

Eeeeeeeek!

This past race, I didn’t look around (except for once in a while) to enjoy the scenery. 

I just listened to my music, focused on the road down in front of me, and ran.

Double Yellow Line Road

The first time I looked up, I was at the Mile 1 marker – and very surprised to have already gone that far!

I felt extremely strong until around mile 2.5, when my legs started to get a little tired.  (Thank you, strength training.)

And I am proud to say that I only took two walking breaks!  One at mile 1.5 where the water station was, where I walked for about 2 minutes.  And one at around mile 2.5 for about 60 seconds.

The last half mile was a little rough, and I kept fighting the internal battle of “I ran most of the way, I can walk a little more” vs. “C’mon, you only have a half mile to go.  Just finish it and then you can walk all you want.”

 

Luckily, the second mini-Jess won, and I stuck it out.

And I am so glad I did!

I shaved two minutes off my last time, and came in at 35:26!

I was very proud of myself.  :)

I ran week 7 of the Couch to 5K twice so far this week.

I was very intimidated this week.

Last week, I was still doing intervals (5 min run, 8 min run, and 5 min run – with 3 min walking breaks in between).

This week went straight to running for 25 minutes.

No walking.

I was less than confident to say the least.

But Monday, I pulled out the 25 minutes at 5.0 on the treadmill (12 min mile – I wanted to start slow).

And yesterday, I did it at 5.2 (11:30 min mile).

Yesterday, I felt really strong.

For the third run this week, I’m going to try it at 5.5 (11 min mile).

We’ll see how that goes!

And last but not least, the husband and I carved our pumpkins.

 We decided to do it outside, because Sunday was such a gorgeous fall day!

Hint:  mine is the one that looks like a 5-year-old did it.

Ha.

Well, I shall try my best not to wait another week to blog.

This Sunday is race #4, and in the next few days I will be signing up for a few November races!

Enjoy your Thursday :)

 

PDF Download    Send article as PDF   

→ Leave a comment

Posted in 30 Before 30, Couch to 5K, Fun Things To Do, Recipes, Running

Peanut Butter Truffle Brownies

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Jessica| 1 Comment

I just got back from my run at the gym.

Where I successfully did the correct week from the Couch to 5K schedule.

I was a little on the slower side today, but I am still happy with my workout.

However, I probably should have stayed there for another 2,456 hours to burn off the delicious treats I baked on Sunday.

Layer 1:  Brownie

Layer 2:  Peanut Butter Filling

Layer 3:  Chocolate-Peanut Butter Ganache Topping

Unfortunately, there is a lot of waiting in between each step – which is almost impossible to endure.  (I had to stop the husband from just eating the 1st brownie layer as they were cooling)

Fortunately, if you do make it, it is worth it.

These are literally the richest things I’ve ever tasted.

And possibly the most delicious.

Thank you, Christina, for making my decade with this amazing recipe.

Peanut Butter Truffle Brownies

For the Brownies:

  • 1 cup butter
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

For the Peanut Butter Filling:

  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 2 cup powdered sugar
  • 2-3 teaspoons milk

For the Ganache Topping:

 

  • 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9 by 13 inch metal baking pan. Put a long piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, letting the parchment extend up two sides of the pan and overhang slightly on both ends. (This will make it easy to remove the bars from the pan after they have baked.) Butter the parchment.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Remove from heat and add the sugar; stir to combine. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Mix in cocoa, baking powder and salt. Add flour and stir until just combined and no streaks of dry ingredients remain. Pour into prepared pan and spread into an even layer. Bake for bake 25-30 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on a cooling rack.

While the brownies are cooling, make the peanut butter filling. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the ingredients and beat until smooth. Add more milk if necessary to make it spreadable. Spread in an even layer over the brownies. Place in the refrigerator until filling is set, about 30 minutes.

While the filling is setting, make the ganache, combine the ingredients in a double boiler or in a microwave safe bowl. Melt together and combine. Pour the ganache over the top and spread gently. Return to the fridge until set.

 

PDF Download    Send article as PDF   

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Couch to 5K, Recipes