Knead to Cook

Food & fitness obsessed girl.

Archives for July 2012

Double Stuffed Mexican Sweet Potatoes.

by Filed Under: Potatoes, Vegetarian Leave a Comment

Meatless Monday here again.  I had some huge sweet potatoes that I needed to use up from the Farmer’s Market last week.  I wanted to make a great, filling dinner for my carnivore family & this one was satisfying & quite delicious.

Ingredients:

3 large sweet potatoes, washed
3 ears of corn on the cob, husked with silk removed, removed from the cob
3 teaspoons of ground cumin
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
Olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 15 ounce can of low sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 jalapeño, finely chopped
1 handful of cilantro leaves, washed and roughly chopped
1/3 cup of non fat plain Chobani
1/4 cup of cheddar/jack shredded cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with foil and place the sweet potatoes on the sheet.  Bake for 40-50 minutes or until fork tender.  Remove and set aside to cool.

In a dry sauté pan over medium heat, roast the corn kernels for about 10-15 minutes or until roasted.  Toss with cumin & cayenne pepper.  Remove from the pan and set aside.  In that same pan, drizzle a bit of olive oil and sauté the onions until golden.  Mix them with the corn kernel mixture.  Then add the black beans, jalapeño and cilantro leaves.  Stir to combine.


When the potatoes are cooled, scoop out the center of each potato adding that to your stand mixer bowl.  Try to leave enough flesh of the potato in each skin so it holds it shape. Add the Chobani to the potato and blend.  When creamy, add the corn mixture and stir gently.  Fill each potato with the mixture and top with a small amount of shredded cheese.  Broil for 5 minute, keeping a watchful eye, until the potato is heated and the cheese melts. You can make this without the cheese as well.

— Knead to Cook

Chobani Blueberry Bread. {totally healthy}

by Filed Under: Breads, Desserts, Snacks, Vegetarian 6 Comments

Chobani sent me 6 tubs (new size) of their yogurts on Friday.  I was tied up all weekend with swimming and today is my first day at home, relaxing and conjuring up new recipes.  I started out wanting to use peaches but found that my family ate them all.  Having blueberries and some blueberry Cho… I got crackin’.  This recipe smells & tastes heavenly.  Whole wheat flour.  Flax seed meal.  Low sugar.  No oils.  Protein-packed courtesy of Chobani.  Can’t go wrong!!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon of all purpose King Arthur’s flour (the 1 tablespoon will be used to toss/coat blueberries)
3/4 cup of King Arthur’s whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup of blueberry Chobani yogurt (you can use plain, vanilla or lemon)
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon of sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce
2 tablespoons of flax seed meal
1 pint of fresh blueberries, washed and tossed with 1 tablespoon of of all purpose flour)

For the oatmeal top:

2 tablespoons of cold butter
3.5 tablespoons of flour
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup of rolled oats

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a loaf pan with nonstick flour baking spray.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl combine, flours, powder and salt.  In your stand mixer, whisk attached, blend yogurt, sugar, eggs, vanilla, applesauce and flax seed meal.  Whisk until combined. Then pour the dry ingredients into the wet and blend without over-mixing.

By hand, add the flour coated blueberries to the mixture and stir.  Pour into your prepared loaf pan.

In a separate bowl (you can use your dry ingredient bowl) – blend all of your oatmeal top ingredients together with your fingers.  Pour over the top of the batter in the loaf pan.  Bake for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let cool.  Slice and enjoy.

— Knead to Cook

Whole wheat soft pretzels.

by Filed Under: Breads, Snacks, Vegetarian Leave a Comment

My kids love soft pretzels, well really, who doesn’t?  I thought I would give a basic recipe a whirl before our swim meet tonight (good carb loaded snack) and then I’ll test some fun flavors the next time I make them.  This recipe is an adaptation to Alton Brown’s recipe.  They are very versatile and melt in your mouth delish!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
1 tablespoon sugar
3 teaspoons kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
2 cups of whole wheat flour
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil, for pan
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Sea salt

Directions:

Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 6-7 minutes or until it begins to foam up.  Add the flours and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Increase the speed to medium-high.  Knead to 5-6 minutes.  Then place the dough in a oiled bowl and cover with a towel.  Store in a warm, draft-free location (I use the microwave).  Let rise for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.

Over a burner on high heat, bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.  This is extremely messy as the baking soda seems to go virtually everywhere.

Meanwhile, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 8 inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.

Once all of the pretzels are shaped, place them in the boiling water mixture for 30 seconds each.  Remove with a spatula and place on your cookie sheet.  Brush each with egg/water mixture.  Top with salt, sesame seeds, cinnamon and sugar or whatever you would like.  Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

 

 

— Knead to Cook

Fresh tomato sauce.

by Filed Under: Pasta, Vegetarian 5 Comments

This is one of the easiest, freshest dishes you can whip up courtesy of your garden or farmer’s market.  Two pots for dinner.  One fabulous dinner!

Ingredients:

3 lbs of fresh tomatoes (I used yellow and red), washed and chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 handful of fresh basil, chopped
Optional:  Grated parmesan (1/4 cup of loosely packed)

Directions:

In your sauté pan over medium heat, add olive oil, cut tomatoes, garlic and seasonings.  Simmer for about 15 minutes.  Then puree with a immersion blender.  If adding cheese, add that now along with basil.  Stir and taste.  Adjust seasonings as necessary.

In a separate pot, boil your water and add salt.  Cook the pasta according to package directions.  Top pasta with the sauce and enjoy!

— Knead to Cook

The Addictive Blog Award.

by Filed Under: Awards. 7 Comments

Any award received is always extremely special. It means that you get noticed and acknowledged by fellow bloggers and by bloggers that you in turn admire and respect. I feel so honoured to receive this from Krista, know to the Blogger world as The PaperCup Kitchen. I have been following Nel since I began blogging last summer.  Nel is one of those sweet, lovely, funny, caring, fabulous friends that you wish you can hang out with every single day.  Plus she cooks, bakes and is all around fabulous!  I’m so thankful we’re friends in this crazy food blogging universe.

And this award is all about the addiction of Blogging. And lets face it…..Blogging is addictive and as soon as you take that plunge…that’s it…It’s your baby and you have to take care of it everyday, you have to feed it with posts and ideas and you have to make sure you give it the attention and love it deserves. And that can be soooooo hard to do. We all have a “private” life, filled with kiddies, family, friends, shopping, 9-5 jobs, school runs, lawn mowing, baskets filled to the brim with washing, baking, cooking and everything else that life troughs your way…it can be hard to find the time to nurture your Blogger Baby. I sometimes wish that I did have more time to be on here and post more often BUT I have a day filled with everything and anything and at the end I know that my blog and my fellow bloggers will be waiting for the next post, patiently, because they are going through the same roundabout as I am . We all know how much hard work this is…how time consuming it can be and we all LOVE the reward. Giving the world a little of ourselves, letting our Foodie voices be heard by fellow food lovers and the best thing…making the world so small it fits into our computers…and all my friends are there with me. Sharing their days, a little of their life and their love of food.

I started this blog last year August…for the simple reasons: I wanted to share my recipes with my friends.  I wanted to reach out and inspire people to try new things.  I wanted to be a positive force.  I wanted to be apart of an amazing group of men and women who inspire and lift me  up.  Mission accomplished and I am happier than ever….and with that….

Today I am standing proud and tall…stating that I am: Robin Runner and I am addicted to Blogging :D

1. Thank the person who nominated you and link them back.

2. Share a little bit about why you started blogging.

3. Copy and Paste the award onto your own blog.

4. Nominate up to 10 other bloggers you think are addictive

enough to deserve the award.

The 10 Gorgeous Blogs I award:

1. GroO NY – Jill

2. Cupcakes & Kale Chips – Brianne

3.  The Fountain Avenue Kitchen – Ann

4. Full Belly Sisters – Justine

5. Frantic in the Kitchen – Sofia

6. Sumptuous Spoonfuls – Ann

7. Sweet Heat Chefs – Monica

8. Let’s Eat – Chantal

9. Lauren Kelly, Certified Nutritionist – Lauren

10. A Bachelor & His Grill – David

— Knead to Cook

Mexican Pizza. Meatless & fabulous.

by Filed Under: Pizza, Vegetarian 4 Comments

I’m always looking for fun pizza recipes.  I wanted to do a meatless version combining our favorite taco favorites.  I struggled with what I wanted to use for the base and came up with a wonderful cilantro pesto.  From there we topped it with our favorite taco toppings sans the meat.  All on a lovely whole wheat crust.  Delectable!

Pizza Dough Ingredients:

1 c whole wheat flour (I use King Arthurs)
1.5 c all purpose unbleached flour (King Arthur)
2 and 1/4 tsp of yeast
1/2 tsp of sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil
Cornmeal, for sprinkling

Directions:

Mix the sugar into the warm water. Stir to dissolve. Then sprinkle the yeast on top and let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes. Pour into your mixer bowl. Then add flours, salt and olive oil. Combine. Knead the dough (with your mixer attach the dough hook) for 8 minutes. Then place the dough in a bowl that has been sprayed with a nonstick olive oil spray. Let rise for one hour.

Punch down. Then divide the dough in half. Turn out onto a flour surface and roll until you achieve the desired thickness. This crust is great rolled out really thin.  I then prick the dough with a fork all over the surface.  Brush olive oil on top and sprinkle with your favorite pizza herbs (I use a mix of Italian seasonings).  Bake for about 5-7 minutes or until lightly golden.  Remove and top with sauce and your favorite toppings. Sprinkle the cornmeal onto your peel before you place in the oven for easy sliding.

Please note: I preheated my oven at 425 degrees for one hour with my pizza stone. I pre-bake the crust for 5-7 minutes.  I then topped my pizza and grilled it at 450 degrees for until the crust was golden and the cheese had melted perfectly.

Cilantro Pesto Recipe:

2 cloves of garlic
1/2 of a jalapeño
1 cup of loosely packed cilantro leaves
1 cup of loosely packed basil leaves
1/4 cup of olive oil (or a bit more)
Juice from one lemon
1/3 cup of whole raw almonds
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Into your food processor, blend the garlic and jalapeño.  Then add cilantro, basil, lemon juice and raw almonds.  Blend.  Then through the spout, slowly drizzle the olive oil.  This should help the paste turn into a creamier consistency.  Then season with salt and pepper.

Pizza toppings:

I pre-cook my crusts until just lightly golden on a pizza stone.  See the dough recipe above.

On the pre-cooked dough, I add a thin layer of pesto.  On top of that I added fresh corn removed from the cob, one green pepper chopped, two roasted red peppers, olives, black beans (washed/drained), green onions and some Mexican blended cheese.  Use what you love and have on hand.  Whatever your favorite taco toppings are or go crazy with it.  It’s all up to you!  Bake for 6-8 minutes.  Enjoy!!!

 

— Knead to Cook

PB2 Chocolate Chip Cookies.

by Filed Under: Cookies, Desserts 41 Comments

OHHHHH MMMMMM GEEEEEE!  These turned out so good, I’m still in cRaZy love!  My kids are addicted.  They are over-the-top!

Adapted from Guittard Super Cookie Chip Cookie Recipe.

Ingredients:

1 cup of all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup of butter, softened
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
6 tablespoons of light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of PB2 chocolate peanut butter
10 ounces of Guittard Super Cookie Chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, soda and salt.  Set aside.

In your stand mixer, paddle attached, cream butter and sugars.  Then beat in the egg and vanilla until creamy.  Add the flour mixture, blend.  Then add the PB2.  Blend well.  By hand, stir in the chocolate chips.  Drop rounded cookie dough onto your baking sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly golden.  Let cool and then store in a container with a lid.

— Knead to Cook

Cake batter dip.

by Filed Under: Desserts, Dips, Snacks, Valentine's Day, Vegetarian 20 Comments

I always make this super fun dip for my kid’s birthdays or for fun parties.  The kids, and adults, LOVE it.  It’s very simple.  Relatively low cal and is protein packed thanks to the Chobani yogurt inside.  Give this one a try… you will be so thankful you did.

Ingredients:

1 package of Funfetti or vanilla cake batter mix (box variety)
2 cups of vanilla Chobani yogurt (non fat)
1 1/2 cups of non fat Cool Whip (or any other whipped cream freshly made or store-bought)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of rainbow sprinkles

Directions:

In your stand mixer, paddle attached, blend all of the ingredients.  Place in a tupperware container, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  Serve with graham crackers.  Enjoy!

— Knead to Cook

Baked egg in an avocado.

by Filed Under: Breakfast, Egg dishes, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Vegetarian 24 Comments

 

I’ve been making eggs in avocados for about two years.  Lately, I’ve been seeing a plethora of food bloggers sharing their recipes lately along with their leaky exploits of egg whites in the process.  My way, I believe, is the easiest way to execute a perfectly baked egg in an avocado that has easy clean-up making this a perfect weekday breakfast idea for your repertoire.

Recipe is simple.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Halve each avocado giving each person one or two halves.  Remove the pit.  Scoop out a bit of the avocado from the inside, to make room for all of the egg, and reserve it.  Take some tinfoil and make a bowl for the avocado.  See picture below.  Crack the egg into each carved out space in the avocado.  Top with some cayenne pepper (if you like it), salt and pepper.  Place the avocado on a cookie sheet and bake in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes.  You can determine how cooked or undercooked you like your yolks.

While the eggs are baking, I place the extra removed avocado in a bowl with one small tomato, 1/2 of a jalapeño chopped and some cilantro.  I cut that up using two sharp knives.  I make some whole grain toast and use it to top my bread and egg/avocado mixture.  Super protein-packed breakfast.  Wonderful post run recovery  🙂

— Knead to Cook

Quinoa Banana Pancakes.

by Filed Under: Breakfast, Vegetarian 9 Comments

 

 

I love being on the pursuit of healthy pancakes for my family.  So post-run this morning, I was cleaning out my fridge and found a cup of leftover quinoa that I used for dinner this past week.  I thought I would try a combination… pancakes/quinoa and see what my kids thought.  The result… they loved them!  Didn’t even realize that I put quinoa in them.  Healthy.  Delicious.  A great way to start the day!

Quinoa Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 cup of cooked quinoa
1 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons of baking powder
2 tablespoons of flax seed meal
2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
1/2 cup of milk (almond or regular)
2 tablespoons of melted butter + additional for cooking
1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce
3 ripe bananas
4 tablespoons of honey

Directions:

In a mixing bowl blend the first five ingredients.  Set aside.  In a large measuring cup or separate bowl blend the milk, butter, applesauce, bananas and honey.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk.

Over a medium flame, place a pat of butter in your sauté pan.  When melted, add a ladle (1/3 cup) of batter into your pan.  When it starts bubbling (about 2 minutes) flip.  Cook on both sides until golden.  Serve with your favorite topping.  Optional:  You can add chocolate chips, nuts etc. to add to batter.

— Knead to Cook