Product Review: Veggie Style

Most tried and true vegetarians would probably shudder at the thought of pre-packed and processed vegetarian options, but when it comes to lunch, I need something quick and easy. And while I’m only a part-time veghead (I’ve graduated from halfetarian to threequarteraterian), I really do enjoy vegetarian food. I can’t pass up a box of Morningstar Farms’ Black Bean Burgers, or Amy’s Organic Breakfast Burritos. So, while in Wegmans this past weekend, I decided to pick up two things for my lunch this week; Gardein’s Chick’n Santa Fe and also Light Life Smart Deli’s Bologna Style veggie meat. A mouth full, I know.

So let’s start with the Gardein Chick’n Santa Fe. The package comes with two chik’n patties, which are considered to be two separate servings. At just 140 calories each, I figured I could probably have two. However, in order to stretch my dollar, I decided to just bring one for lunch on Tuesday, and I paired it with the leftover mango cous cous I had. It actually turned out to be impressively filling, and I was glad I saved the other patty for later in the week. As someone that does still eat meat, I was shocked at how meat-like the chicken really was. Even my fiancé was impressed with it’s look in terms of color and texture. The patty was stuffed with corn and black beans, and came with a spicy(ish) tomato sauce to pour on top. It only took 2 minutes to microwave, and was perfectly cooked. Needless to say I was really impressed with it, and am looking forward to trying more Gardein selections!

Onto the veggie bologna. Growing up my go-to sandwich was Boars Head bologna with yellow American cheese, cut into quarters. I am salvating just thinking about it. But let’s be honest, for both the meat eaters and non-meat eaters, bologna is pretty gross. So, I decided to give the veggie (and hopefully more healthy) option a try, as my vegetarian friend loves it. I was a bit wary, considering I’ve had real bologna and it was one of my favorite deli meats growing up. I made my sandwich Tuesday night, paired it with some American cheese, and while I was tempted to have a taste, anxiously awaited until 12pm Wednesday to give it a try. While it isn’t real bologna, it definitely does a pretty good job imitating. If I hadn’t known it was veggie bologna, I probably would have assumed it to be legit.

It’s important to keep in mind when having vegetarian substitutes, they aren’t going to taste exactly like that meat you’re swapping out (in most cases). I think if you go into trying something with the idea that it’ll taste exactly like your favorite piece of chicken, hamburger, etc. you’ll be disappointed. However, if you’re willing to try some new flavors and expand your eating palate, veggie substitutes will be nice additions (or swaps)!

Grilling shrimp is hard – and delicious

Sometimes you find a recipe, and you know you need to make it as soon as possible. Those were my exact thoughts while perusing my co-worker’s Fitness Magazine late last week during lunch. There was a recipe for Grilled Curried Shrimp with Mango Cous Cous, and since I didn’t have a pen and paper with me, I took a picture of it with my iPhone so I could copy it down later.

While planning our meals for the week, I decided it’d be a nice Sunday night meal especially since it was a holiday weekend. I had to implore the help of my fiancé for the grilling, which turned out to be pretty difficult. I’ve always heard that preparing shrimp is some what of a pain, but I didn’t realize actually grilling them would be tedious as well. We decided to get frozen shrimp and I thawed it out in water for 15 minutes. They were already deveined but I need to peel it, which was annoying and a bit time consuming. After that, thought, the preparation was easy; cut up the mango, jalapeno, cilantro, and garlic, cook the cous cous, mix the curry and coat the shrimp with it, then grill.

Once I prepared the shrimp, I handed the reigns over to my fiancé to cook them. Well, we lost a few shrimp to the bottom of the grill, as they slipped through the grate. Thankfully, though, the recipe only called for 3/4LB. of shrimp and I used the whole bag which was a full pound. Other than losing a few shrimp, the meal went off without a hitch. And, since yesterday was such a gorgeous day, we were able to enjoy our meal outside with some home brewed beer! Such a nice end to summer (insert sad face here).

20100905_193905_E — As Bubba would say, "The Shrimps"

Both my fiancé and I aren’t huge shrimp fans – or fans of much seafood for that matter. We do love sushi and good salmon, but that’s as far as our seafood adventures seem to go. So, making this particular dish was a little out of character for us, but with ingredients like red curry paste and jalapeno peppers, I knew it’d be worth it. We’d definitely make it again, but with the difficulty we had on the grill, and the time it took to peel the shrimp, it’ll be an every so often recipe.

Grilled Curry Shrimp and Mango Cous Cous
– Serves 4 –

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat cous cous
1 mango, pleeled & diced
1 tsp finley diced jalapeno pepper
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
salt
pepper
2 tbsp red curry paste
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 tbsp plus 1/2 tsp finely minced garlic
3/4 LB shrimp, cleaned & shelled (tails on)
1 7-oz container 2 percent Greek yogurt
1 tsp grated ginger Lime wedges (optional)

Directions:
1. Cook couscous according to package. Combine w. mango, jalapeno pepper, 1 tsp lime juice and half the cilantro. Season w. salt & pepper
2. In large bowl, whisk together curry paste, vegetable oil, 1 tbsp garlic & remaining lime juice. Add shrimp & toss to coat
3. Mix together yogurt, ginger and remaining cliantro & garlic in small bowl. Add salt and pepper. Set aside.
4. Heat grill to medium high. Grill shrimp until just cooked through, about 2 minutes per side.
5. Arrange shrimp and couscous on a platter and serve w. yogur sauce, adding lime wedges (optional).

Baked Goods and (Vibram) Five Fingers!

For quite awhile now, both myself and my fiancé have been eyeing up Vibram Five Fingers. It seems like they’ve become a hit over night. I realize they’ve been around for awhile, as a lot of the running blogs I read have been jockeying them for quite some time, but the craze has definitely hit a high. My fiancé in particular has been interested in barefoot running for quite some time now. I myself, however, remember seeing a woman running through the park about two years ago barefoot and thinking to myself that she was crazy. After reading more, though, I was willing to give them a shot.

Apparently these bad boys are hard to come by. Luckily, one of the shoe stores in my hometown has been selling them for awhile, and even though they’ve been going like hotcakes (mmm, hot cakes), they just so happened to have a pair for both my fiancé and I! So, on our very last summer hours of the year this past Friday, we headed to pick up a pair for ourselves. We wound up getting the KSO’s in black, since they were listed to be good for everything; running, light hiking, water sports, every day use, etc. I expected to have a difficult time getting my toes into their individual pockets, but it was pretty easy. Maybe it’s because I’ve worn toe socks before, or maybe it was because I had an audience and felt like I had to succeed at the first try. Either way, they weren’t nearly as difficult to get on as I had imagined.

So, we set out for a short, easy, two mile run this morning to try them out. I had read on a lot of blogs to ease into them – no more than a mile or so was advised just to get yourself used to them. I had heard you’d feel muscles in your legs working you never knew you had. Needless to say I was a little intimidated by them. We decided to just feel the run out, and we wouldn’t do any more than two miles, even if we were feeling great. The first mile was a bit awkward – you could feel everything, so I really felt like I needed to watch where I was going. It also sounded weird, as though I was slamming my entire foot down with every step. I know that’s not what I was doing, though, because if there was one thing my mother taught me, it was not to slam my feet when I walked.

When the first mile marker popped up through my MapMyFitness, I was shocked that we did it in a 9:10/mile pace. It honestly felt SO slow. Granted, for a lot of runners out there that is slow. But last time I was training for my first half marathon, most runs were at a 9:40-10:40/mile pace, and that felt far from slow. After getting through the initial awkwardness of the first mile, our second mile felt even better. We ran it sub-9, and it seemed as though our legs and feet were finally communicating with one another and getting into the swing of things. I definitely think we could have kept going, probably for another 2+ miles. Being cautious, though, we decided to call it quits for the day, but we’ll be back out for a 4 miler tomorrow! So far, so good.

After the run, I got back to my second love – the kitchen. I quickly started whipping up Chocolate Chip Pretzel Bars from Baking Serendipity, to bring to a pool party. Of course I’ve started to make a name for myself in bringing baked goods to parties, so I always have to make sure I’ve got something with me. These seemed different, and pretty straight forward. Since I was pressed for time (as always) the simplicity was much appreciated.

I think I’m finally getting the hang of creaming things, too. I still cringe when I see that listed as part of the directions, but I’m a little more confident. Up until recently every time I turned on my hand mixer, bits and pieces of butter and other ingredients would go flying. So today I decided to hold the bowl in the middle of the kitchen (or as far as the cord would reach) so that way it would only go on the floor, or me. Of course I got it on both, but it was definitely a lot less than usual. I really just need to get married so I can get myself a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer.

The bars have a brownie-like consistency (and shape), but are essentially chocolate chip cookies with pieces of pretzels in them. I for one am a huge fan of the salty and sweet combo, so this was right up my alley. Everyone at the pool party seemed to feel the same way too! Unfortunately they were a little difficult to cut (the pieces of pretzel were hard to get through, some spots were crumbly) so they weren’t cut evenly. No one seemed to notice, though, and they were pretty much all devoured. They would probably be great with different chips too – white chocolate, peanut butter, butterscotch, etc… the possibilities are endless! We have some leftovers, and I’m looking forward to enjoying them as a snack this week.

Chocolate Chip Pretzel Bars

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (heaping) cup broken pretzel rods

Directions:
1. Break pretzel rods and set aside.
2. Cream butter, sugars and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt. Add gradually to wet ingredients, mixing well.
3. Fold in chocolate chips first, then pretzels, being careful to stir the pretzels gently to keep from breaking them.
4. Spread batter evenly into a greased 9×11″ baking dish and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

More Breakfast for Dinner: Santa Fe Breakfast Bake

On Tuesday night, I had made Mexican Stuffed Shells courtesy of You Are What You Eat or Reheat, and blogged about it. Apparently, though, my fiancé didn’t think I drove home the point of the true deliciousness. I mean, I’m not quite sure what else I can say. It’s meaty, cheesey, and delicious. It’s a nice variation from typical stuffed shells, and I really think it’s a fun alternative to a more “common” dish. Now don’t get me wrong, good ole Italian stuffed shells are delicious as well. But if there’s anything you know about me from this blog, it’s my love for Mexican/Spanish food. So seriously, you need to make these. Now.

In keeping with the Mexican/Spanish food trend, I decided to make a Santa Fe Breakfast Bake for dinner on Thursday. Yes, breakfast for dinner! Growing up I was never a big breakfast fan. My parents would coax me into eating dessert for breakfast, just in order to get something in my system before school. That meant a Little Debbie brownie, an Entemann’s chocolate eclair, chocolate milk, etc. I would only eat pancakes if they were filled with chocolate chips, waffles were used for ice cream sandwiches, and you could forget about eggs. Come college, though, I discovered the wonderful world of brunch – veggie stuffed omlettes, fried and over-easy eggs with cheese on bagels, hash browns, and all those other fun (and filling, aka bad for you) breakfast deliciousness. My fiancé is a huge breakfast fan, and he’s really added to my tolerance for it. I definitely need to be in the mood for breakfast, but I’ll at least give it a shot, without it being coated in chocolate.

So, when I found this recipe on Sweetly Serendipity’s blog, I immediately added it to my to-make list. While there was an egg recall, thankfully the eggs that I bought were okay. So I figured it wouldn’t be a bad idea to take advantage of my a-o-k eggs. Of course, being the spice fiend that I am, I added not one, but two diced habanero peppers to this dish. Oh yes, it was spicy. I also got a package of spicy Bob Evans breakfast sausage, since, you know, you aren’t doing it right unless your gut and mouth are on fire.

Earlier in the day I double checked the recipe to see how much time I’d be spending in the kitchen. It’s only then that I saw the dreaded words “chill overnight.” Whoops! That definitely didn’t happen. I’m always afraid when I’m making an egg dish they won’t be fully cooked. So, I left them in the oven for about 5-10 minutes longer than suggested, and it turned out perfectly! Unfortunately, that pushed our dinner time to about 9:45pm. We ran 8 miles after work, and then by the time we got home (there was some traffic from Rutgers’ first football game) and I started with everything and it cooked, we were finishing up just in time to watch Jersey Shore.

Speaking of running, my fiance and I are officially signed up for the Disney Half Marathon in January!! We’re both super psyched, but nervous. It conveniently falls right in the middle of an already planned vacation there with a group of friends, so we felt like we couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I’m not looking forward to starting a race at 5:50am, but it’ll be cool to run through Epcot and Magic Kingdom. I’m hoping to have a pair of compression socks by then, so I can at least enjoy the rest of the trip! We’re doing our own training plan this time around, upping the mileage a bit, and starting earlier to make sure it’s as easy of a run for us as it can be. Once we get back, we’ll have a little break and then it’ll be time to gear up for the second annual Rutgers Unite Half Marathon!

But back to my breakfasty dinner. This thing was awesome. It called for 8 tortillas, but I think I only probably wound up using 2-3 burrito sized tortillas. The recipe suggest to use corn tortillas, and I would definitely agree. I used your average Chi-Chi brand torillas, and while they were delicious, they were a bit soggy after cooking. Of course, for me, adding the spicy sausage and habaneros brought it to another level that was greately appreciated by both myself and my fiancé. Aside from those minor tweaks I stuck to the recipe, and we have lots of leftovers! So much that we each brought a big portion for breakfast at work on Friday, and will probably have it for breakfast on Saturday morning as well. Since it suggests you chill over night, I think this would be a really great dish to have for a brunch, etc. You’re able to prepare it the night before, so you can focus your attention on the things that need to be made the day of instead. I can picture this working really well with some veggie sausage as well.

Santa Fe Breakfast Bake
– Serves 4-6 –

Ingredients:
1 pound pork sausage
1 cup salsa
1 cup canned black beans, drained & rinsed
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
8 corn or flour tortillas, cut into 1-inch strips
1 cup shredded mexican-style cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
2 egg whites, beaten
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup green onions, thinly sliced
Sour cream, guacamole, salsa (all optional, but recommended!)

Directions:
1. Brown sausage in a large pan, and drain grease, if any. Combine salsa, sausage, beans, and corn, and set aside.
2. Place one-third of tortilla strips in a lightly greased 11×7 baking dish.
3. Top with 1/3 cup cheese and one cup salsa mixture. Repeat layering with one-third of tortilla strips, 1/3 cup cheese and remaining salsa mixture, ending with remaining tortilla strips.
4. Whisk together remaining ingredients except green onions. Pour egg mixture over tortilla strips; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover with foil and chill overnight.
5. The next morning, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Remove dish from refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes.
6. Keep covered and bake for 20 minutes. Then, uncover and bake for an additional 15 minutes or so until the top is lightly golden.
7. Serve with salsa, sour cream, and/or guacamole, and some scallions for garnish.

Back in the kitchen and on the running path

There are two things I can’t believe – it’s been a whole week since I last blogged, and it’s already September! I was a bit under the weather last week, so I took a break from really cooking, as well as running. Plus, my little sister finally went off to college, so we went out to dinner (twice!) to see her off. After my week hiatous, I was back and ready for some serious running, and of course, serious eating. This past weekend my fiancé and I joined some of our friends for a camping trip alongside the Deleware River. We grilled, hiked, and relaxed by the water all weekend – it was really great. However, I was more than happy to have a real shower, and a comfy bed come Sunday night!

We decided to take it easy for dinner on Sunday (frozen pizza) and Monday (homemade chili dogs), but I kicked it back up for the rest of the week. So, yesterday I made Mexican Stuffed Shells. I found this particular recipe on You Are What You Eat or Reheat’s blog. She’s got some really awesome (and fun) recipes, and this one was right up my alley. It was super easy too, which is something I’m always up for. Since there were multiple steps (browning the meat, cooking the pasta, baking it all together) it was a little time consuming, but well worth it!

Instead of using an entire packet of taco seasoning, though, I used about 1/4 a packet of chipotle flavored taco seasoning, 1/4 packet of hot & spicy taco seasoning, and then my usual dash(es) of chili powder and adobo. I also threw in a diced jalapeno pepper for added heat – yum! After anxiously awaiting for about 40 minutes, my fiancé and I devoured the deliciousness. I’d say this recipe can serve between 3-4 people, depending on how many shells everyone has (we each had three). The recipe says to make 12 shells, but I suggest cooking a few extras, as some of mine broke and I couldn’t really fill them properly.

Mexican Stuffed Shells

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 package taco seasoning
4oz cream cheese
12 jumbo pasta shells
1 cup salsa / taco sauce (I wound up using 2 cups)
1 cup mexican cheese blend
scallions (I used 2 stalks)

Directions:
1.Brown ground beef. drain. return to saute pan. add taco seasoning. prepare according to package directions.
2. Add cream cheese, cover and simmer until cheese has melted. mix well. set aside. cool completely.
3. Meanwhile, prepare shells according to directions. drain , then set shells out individually on a flat surface (cutting board, etc.)
4. Pour salsa/sauce on bottom of 9×13 inch baking dish.
5. Stuff each shell with meat mixture. place shells open side up in baking dish.
6. Cover shells with taco sauce.
7. Cover and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees
8. Add cheese blend and bake another 10-15 minutes.
9. Top with diced scallions.

Somewhat unrelated, you should check out my fiancé’s blog. I know I talk it up often, but seriously, you should check it out. As you can see on my pictures from yesterday’s meal, he’s added a snazzy watermark to his pictures. He’s been really building on his photography skills since he scored himself a DSLR for Christmas, and recently revamped his entire site (mine is next!). Not to mention he has some entertaining movie reviews, and other fun things. It’s pretty cool. Just sayin’.

Meatless Monday: Fajita Mac ‘n Cheese

As I’ve been trying to incorporate a more veggie friendly diet, I’ve found quite a few delicious and wallet friendly meals along the way. This past Monday, in honor of “Meatless Monday,” I whipped up Fajita Mac ‘n Cheese from Naturally Ella‘s blog. I actually found the recipe from a cart I was following on KartMe, and as soon as I saw the word fajita combined with macaroni and cheese, I knew it had to be good.

Quite a few months ago I made a Buffalo Chicken Mac ‘n Cheese which was absolutely amazing. The only thing was that it was pretty time consuming, so I haven’t made it since. Since this recipe was meatless and had quite a few less ingredients, I figured it would be an acceptable Monday night dinner, especially since we had the luxury of not running (hello rest day!).

The recipe calls for fresno peppers, but I grabbed two jalapenos instead. It also notes queso fresco, but I used just a regular Mexican blend of cheese, and that worked well. The only other modification I made was adding some spices while sautéing the onions and peppers. It didn’t call for anything, so I added my usual arsenal of spices; chili powder, chipotle flavored taco seasoning, and spicy adobo. I also didn’t sauté the jalapenos with the onions and peppers, to try and keep some of the heat. I’m finally getting the hang of making roux-like sauces, and this cheese sauce had a perfect consistency! Slicing up some fresh avocado added a nice extra creamy touch as well.

As usual there was enough for lunch for both my fiancé and I, and we definitely made our co-workers jealous with our yummy re-heats. I’ll take that over a Lean Cuisine or Smart Ones any day!

Fajita Mac ‘n Cheese
– Serves 4 –

Ingredients:
1 medium onion
1 green pepper
2 fresno peppers (or any other hot pepper you like)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup cilantro
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups queso fresco
1 cup cheddar cheese
8 ounces pasta
1 avocado and cilantro for topping

Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 375˚.
2. Prepare pasta according to box and drain In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Cook peppers and onions until they begin to soften. Stir in cilantro and cook for 1-2 more minutes. Set aside.
3. In a small sauce pan, melt butter over medium low heat (be careful not to walk away- you don’t want browned butter.) Whisk in flour and salt/pepper- create what looks like a paste. Finally, whisk in milk and turn the heat up to medium. Continue to whisk, making sure you get the edges of the pan, until the mixture begins to thicken. The sauce should look slightly creamy. Remove from heat and stir in the queso fresco.
4. Mix pasta and veggies together in a 9 x 11 baking dish(or feel free to use whatever baking dish you have around.) Stir in cheese sauce and sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes until cheese is bubbly. Remove from oven and top with avocado/cilantro.

Reese’s Chocolatey Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Sometimes you need a relaxing weekend where you don’t do much. That’s exactly what my fiancé and I did this past weekend. Saturday included sleeping in, a solid 6 mile run in the middle of the day (outside, without sweating to death, mind you!), some more delicious pizza, and cupcakes!

I hadn’t made cupcakes since our wedding party BBQ (a whopping two weeks ago), so I figured it was time to make another batch. I found this recipe on Something Shiny’s blog, which was linked to by Cupcakes Take the Cake. I’ve always wanted to make a stuffed cupcake, but have been wary since I don’t have the right tools. This was the next best thing – shove a mini Reese’s peanut butter cup inside a yummy chocolate cake – sold! Considering I love chocolate and peanut butter, this was a no brainer – I knew I had to make them.

The recipe also has a pretty awesome chocolate magic shell, but I tried to keep it basic. And considering I still haven’t replaced my pastry bag, the frosting was less than stellar. So if you want to see really awesome and delicious looking pictures of these cupcakes, I suggest looking at Something Shiny’s. While mine aren’t the most visually appealing cupcakes I’ve ever made, they sure did taste great!

Per the usual I didn’t have all of the ingredients necessary when I first started getting ready to make the cupcakes. So, I had to put the perishables back in the fridge, and run out to the store to pick up some more cocoa powder and sour cream. Mind you, this was after just literally walking in the door from a three mile walk. Oh well, turns out I walked about 4 miles that day – no biggie! I also love hitting up this particular Stop & Shop for items here and there, because they seem to be the only grocery store around me that has Amy’s Organic Breakfast Burritos! Every other store I’ve been to offers some of their other variations, but not the breakfast one. So I’ll be enjoying one of those later this week.

Back to the cupcakes. The recipe was super easy, and the batter was light and fluffy so I knew it was going to be decadent. I popped the little Reese’s cups into the center of the cupcakes, and into the oven they went! After a mere 15 minutes they were done baking and ready to cool. We waited a few hours before enjoying them with the peanut butter frosting (which calls for a creamy variation, but I went chunky). The recipe only made 12, which was perfect for my fiancé and I; we’ve enjoyed one every night after dinner, and they’re keeping well in an air-tight container in the fridge (cupcake and frosting are separate).

Now that I’m a little more comfortable with putting things into the middle of my cupcakes, I’m probably going to experiment a bit. It’ll probably stay pretty basic, but I might come up with a super sweet combination – we’ll see!

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes (With Reese’s PB Cup Center)
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated
– Makes approx 12 –

Ingredients:
8 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 oz bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped (I used Ghiradelli)
1/2 cup (1.5 oz) Dutch processed cocoa (or regular if that’s what you’ve got handy)
3/4 cup (3.75 oz) All-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
3/4 cup (5.25 oz) granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (4 oz) sour cream (you could use reduced fat, but really…why bother)
12-15 mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line tin with cupcake liners.
2. Combine butter, chopped chocolate and cocoa in a small bowl. Microwave 30 seconds then stir. Microwave at 15 second intervals until smooth. Don’t overheat! Alternately, you can get fancy and use a double boiler, or a glass bowl over a pot of simmering water.
3. Cool until barely warm.
4. In small bowl, combine flour, soda and powder.
5. In a medium-ish bowl, beat the eggs then whisk in the sugar and salt. Add the cooled chocolate mix, beating until smooth and well combined. Sift 1/3 of the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture. Whisk until fully combined. Add sour cream, mixing well, then add remaining flour mixture, whisking till flour is fully incorporated and batter is thick.
6. Scoop batter into lined tins using you preferred method—spoon, ice cream scoop, measuring cup. Place a mini Reese’s cup in the center of each cake. Press into the batter until nearly level with the top.
7. Bake 15-20 minutes (15 was enough for me).
8. Cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan, then move to a wire rack to cool thoroughly before frosting.

Fluffy Peanut Butter Frosting
Adapted from browneyedbaker.com
Easily covers 18 cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 cup creamy peanut butter (like I said, I used chunky)
5 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 – 2/3 cup whipping cream (heavy cream) adjust as necessary – add more if it looks like it needs it. Go wild.

Directions:
1. Beat peanut butter, butter and powdered sugar until thoroughly combined. Add cream and beat until light and fluffy. Give it a few minutes to get nice and pale and lovely. Lick the beaters. No, really. Do it. It’ll make you feel like a kid again.
2. Spread onto cooled cupcakes or pipe with your preferred decorating tip.

I’ll grill anything – including pizza

I found a recipe for grilled pizza a few weeks ago, and after finally procuring a grill, we had to try it. I’d heard of grilling pizza before (I mean heck – you can grill lettuce) but had never actually done it. I was excited, but a bit nervous for it’s outcome. I had visions of an extremely charred and barely edible crust, or the opposite, a just warmed not crispy crust. My fiance and I somehow managed to grill it pretty perfectly – a nice crunch around the edge of the crust, and keeping it crisp, but not over or under cooked towards the center. Plust, all of the veggies and cheese were just the right temperature.

This “Smoky BBQ Grilled Pizza” comes from Eating Well, which YumSugar had linked to a few weeks ago. I saved it in my Dinner cart on KartMe until the perfect moment, which was this past Thursday. I grabbed a package of pre-made pizza dough from Wegmans’, and it actually had two pizzas in it – enough for a breakfast pizza on Saturday! The recipe calls for tomatoes, but I forgot to grab one at the store (story of my life), so instead I caramelized some onions and tried to salvage what I could of the wilting Jamaican hot peppers. That added a nice sweet kick to the already tangy pizza.

It literally was grilled for 10 minutes, and though a little charred around the edges, overall a decently cooked pizza. My fiancé and I devoured the whole pizza (hey, it was kind of small) with a salad, and we were stuffed! Sure, it’s supposed to serve 6, but after a solid run and a long day of work, the pizza was no match for the two of us! I know BBQ sauce in place of tomato sauce sounds kind of odd, but it works – especially with that smoky grilled flavor! Either way, you can really put whatever you want on your pizza. I made a breakfast pizza Saturday with scrambled eggs, onions, peppers, corn, beans, salsa as the sauce, and cheese. It was equally delicious!

Though we’re out of dough for now, I have every intention of grilling up some other pizza concoctions, so suggestions are welcomed!

bbqpizza — Pardon the less than stellar iPhone picture!

Barbecued Smoky Corn & Black Bean Pizza
from Eating Well

Ingredients:
1 plum tomato, diced
1 cup canned black beans, rinsed
1 cup fresh corn kernels (about 2 ears)
2 tablespoons cornmeal
1 pound prepared whole-wheat pizza dough
1/3 cup barbecue sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella, preferably smoked mozzarella

Directions:
1. Preheat grill to medium.
2. Combine tomato, beans and corn in a medium bowl. Sprinkle cornmeal onto a large baking sheet. Stretch the dough into about a 12-inch circle and lay it on top of the cornmeal, coating the entire underside of the dough.
3. Transfer the crust from the baking sheet to the grill. Close the lid and cook until the crust is puffed and lightly browned on the bottom, 4 to 5 minutes.
Using a large spatula, flip the crust. Spread barbecue sauce on it and quickly sprinkle with the tomato mixture and cheese. Close the lid; grill until the cheese is melted and the bottom of the crust is browned, 4 to 5 minutes.

Feel the burn

I admittedly have pretty sensitive skin, and as I’ve gotten older, my eyes have joined in the sensitive club as well. I like to thank the countless hours that both my skin and eyes spent submerged in heavily chlorinated water as contributing factors, but genetics are playing the lead role (thanks mom!). So “feeling the burn” when it comes to my eyes or skin is definitely not welcomed, where as a hard arm or leg burning workout would be.

My knack for getting my eyes to burn seems to follow me in my two recent passions – food and running. Everyone experiences some eye irritation when they cut onions, right? Well, for whatever reason mine has gotten progressively worse, and I use onion in almost everything I make. A few weeks ago while making my Summery Tomato Salad and Black Bean & Corn Salads for our BBQ, I couldn’t take the burn from both the yellow and red onions. So, in order to continue with the recipe, I had what I like to think of as a genius idea. I remembered seeing a post on Foodie Wannabe’s blog about onion goggles, so I made my own.

By make my own, I really mean I stopped chopping, ran to my closet, and whipped out a pair of swimming goggles (thanks Speedo!). As I ran back to the kitchen and started chopping with my blue tinted goggles on, my fiancé started hysterically laughing. I was far from embarrassed, since I could finally keep my eyes open and continue chopping. I’ve since employed this new tactic every time I have to chop more than just a few slices of onion, since trying to cut something with your eyes closed can’t end well.

So to tackle my other eye pain problem, I’ve turned to a cooler version of a sweatband. For whatever reason, when I run the sweat pours into my eyes and burns big time. Since it’s been so incredibly hot this entire summer, I’ve worn tank tops instead of t-shirts on most of my runs, leaving little room for me to wipe my eyes. While racking my brain after a particularly painful run last Sunday afternoon, I noticed a fellow runner/foodie’s tweet about Bondi bands, which are essentially headbands, that seemingly wick away sweat. I immediately placed an order with The Wannabe Athlete, because they’re for an awesome cause. As someone who has lost loved ones to cancer, but also watched others fight and win their battle, I am always more than happy to help any way I can. So, by purchasing a Bondi Band that will hopefully shield my eyes at least a little from sweat, I’ve helped a wonderful woman pay for some of her radiation treatments. I couldn’t have found a better way to keep the sweat out of my eyes!

So, my fellow food and running fiends (combined or separate), do you experience eye burning when chopping onions, or when running? If so, how do you get around it, or avoid it all together?

And the winner is…

Last week I was fortunate enough to have another giveaway on my blog, this time for a TERRA Chips “fire up the flavor” prize pack! I had always thought that anyone would like something for free, but apparently not! While I only had four entries for the contest (insert sad face here), they were all delicious, and I’m probably going to try my hand at each of them. It was a really hard decision, so much so that it took me nearly a day to deliberate. But after a lot of consideration, asking for my fiancé’s opinion and then turning it down, I picked a winner!

Though I didn’t win her giveaway when she offered up a sweet pair of CEP Compression socks, Shelby over at Eat, Drink, Run is the winner of the prize pack! I’ve seen the way she puts together nachos, and my mouth waters every time! A little side note is that my absolute favorite cheese is gouda which I discovered my freshman year at The University of Scranton, and have had a love affair ever since. So, the suggestion of “Fancy Nachos” with the blue potato chips smothered in melted gouda and caramelized onions won me over, big time! Send me a direct message on Twitter or e-mail me at foodosaurusrex [at] gmail [dot] com with your mailing address, and I’ll have the prize pack on it’s way!

Thanks again for everyone that entered, and I’m definitely going to give Jordan’s jalapeno poppers, Lauren’s sweet potato shepherd’s pie, and Sharon’s (Serial Baker) breakfast casserole a try – they all sound delicious!