Poppy Chow

"Poppy Chow" is similar to the popular cereal snack “puppy chow,” but made with popcorn instead of Chex cereal.

And it is deee-licious!

Did you know that popcorn contains more than 40 different nutrients, has more iron than eggs, peanuts or spinach and has the most protein of any cereal grain?

Internet, popcorn is your friend.

So why not generously cover your healthy popcorn in chocolate and peanut butter and then drench it with powdered sugar? A healthy snack with a twist. I'm sold.

It is the beginning of a New Year so if you're still on the healthy eating bandwagon (I applaud you), I'm helping you justify a little treat. Work with me here, friends!


Poppy Chow
Adapted from: Two Peas And Their Pod

Ingredients

9 cups Air-Popped Popcorn
1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
½ cups Natural Peanut Butter
¼ cups Butter (1/2 Stick)
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1-½ cup Powdered Sugar

Directions

In microwave or double boiler, melt chocolate, peanut butter, and butter until melted. Stir in vanilla. Place the popped popcorn* in a large bowl and pour the chocolate mixture over all. Stir until evenly coated. Add the powdered sugar and stir until each piece is covered. Spread out on cookie sheets to set the chocolate. Try not to eat the whole batch immediately. If you have any leftover, store in an airtight container.

*Be sure to first remove any unpopped kernels from the popcorn! We don’t want any broken teeth!

{Mom's} Amazing Cranberry Pie

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! I hope you had a joyous time with your family and friends!

Have I told you about my mom?

My mom is Martha². Honest. Hand to heaven. Martha has a team and my mom’s creative genius is all her own. Not only does she bake incredible desserts (desserts that put mine to complete and utter shame) but she cooks the most creative, flavorful and delicious meals. She’s the full package deal and the first place I visit after I walk into her home is the fridge. Oh sweet, wonderful, delicious leftovers. Just to get my hands on anything that she has created. Unfortunately, especially for my darling husband, I didn’t inherit the cooking gene. There are still a few people praying (and take out is a Godsend).

You know what else is awesome about my mom?

Care packages.

They are probably more for her “Oh my, why don’t you feed him something else other than cookies” son-in-law but I happily accept whenever the care packages are offered (and may pack them and pretend to take credit for his lunches).

This Cranberry Pie was something of that form. She was sick and still managed to bring a few desserts to a family dinner. She packed the leftovers up and they got sent home with me. Once home, I snapped a few pictures before eating the en-ti-re c-are pack-age. Oops. It was divine.

I attempted to recreate this dessert using this recipe (which was good) but no where near as great as hers.

I have to start thinking of something good to bribe her with to get the recipe and it’s going to have to be something better than homemade dinner and dessert.

Here’s to amazing moms and a new year! Happy 2011!

PS - I  hope your New Year's resolutions work out better than mine did last year! :-)

Updated with Mom's recipe. Thanks, Mom!

Ingredients

3 cups fresh/frozen cranberries
3/4 cup pecans (toasted and chopped)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar divided
1 cup all purpose flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsp orange flavoured liqueur
2 tsp grated orange zest
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 ­ 3/4 c melted butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and lightly flour a 10 inch pie plate.

Place cranberries in pie plate and sprinkle with pecans and 1/2 cup of the sugar.

In a bowl, whisk together the remaining sugar, flour, eggs, butter ,liqueur, orange zest and baking powder until smooth. Pour over cranberries.

Bake for about 45 minutes or until top is golden and a tester inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let cool slightly on a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Serves 8.

Soft Gingersnap Cookies with White Chocolate Chunks

You have to add these cookies to your Christmas baking list!

These are phenomenal.

These soft ginger cookie are coated in sugar, strong in spice and studded with white chocolate chunks.

It's all kind of wonderful.

Make these. You'll be thanking me!


Soft Gingersnap Cookies with White Chocolate Chunks
Adapted from: Two Peas and their Pod

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup molasses
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 large eggs
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chunks

1 cup granulated sugar-for coating cookie dough balls

Directions

Preheat oven to Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment papers or with a silicone baking mat. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until smooth and creamy.

Beat in the molasses, canola oil, vanilla, baking soda, salt, and spices. Mix until well combined.

Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until smooth. Slowly add in the flour. Next, stir in the white chocolate chunks.

Scoop the dough into balls and roll in granulated sugar. Place on lined baking sheets, about two inches apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes, the cookies will still be soft. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on the baking sheet for five minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

Tortellini Spinach & Veggie Soup

Yes, I get that this doesn't look like soup and I blame that on that fact that I was sick and probably consumed most of the chicken broth for dinner. So bare with me.

This is soup. I promise.

This was so easy to make, is chalk full of delicious veggies and is a substantial main course with the help of the cheese filled tortellini.

My husband informed me that it was so good that if I would just make this soup and this he could easily live off of that.

Righhhht.... ;)

Top this soup off with some grated cheese and enjoy!


Tortellini Spinach & Veggie Soup
Adapted from: Apple Crumbles

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
1 carrot, peeled and chopped small
2 ribs of celery, chopped
8 oz sliced mushrooms
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
14 oz can diced No Salt Added tomatoes
32 oz Vegetable Stock
6 oz baby spinach, chopped
9 oz pkg Whole Wheat tortellini with 4 cheeses
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large soup pot. Add the onions and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and let cook another minute.

Add the carrots, celery, mushrooms, oregano, thyme, pepper flakes and cook about 6 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and broth. Bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to simmer for 10 –12 minutes.  Add the spinach and tortellini and cook for 6 minutes.

Apple Cranberry Cobbler

Cranberries and apples are a welcome addition in my kitchen anytime so I'm not one to complain about the abundance of them at this time of the year. The sweetness of the apples paired with the tartness of the cranberries is a wonderful combination and the baking possibilities are endless. For this cobbler, rather than opting for my usual favorite crumb topping I made the biscuit topping and it certainly did not disappoint.

This was delicious, with all the the festive spices, and tasted best served warm out of the oven and topped with vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!


Apple Cranberry Cobbler
Adapted from: Sugar Plum

Ingredients

6 cups thinly sliced peeled apples
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground clove

3 cups cranberries
1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
4 ounces cold reduced fat cream cheese, cut into chunks
2 large eggs
2/3 cup milk

Directions

Heat oven to 375°F. Butter bottom and sides of a 13x9-inch baking dish.

In a large bowl, stir together apples, 1/2 cup sugar, and spices until well combined; set aside.

Stir together cranberries and 1/3 cup sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat; cook 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently, until cranberries start to break down and get juicy.

Pour apple mixture and cranberry mixture into baking dish and stir until combined.

To make the biscuit topping, in a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder and salt until combined. Knead in butter and cream cheese using fingertips or a pastry blender until well incorporated and mixture starts to clump together. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and milk until well combined; add wet ingredient to dry ingredients, and stir until just combined.

Drop spoonfuls of biscuit topping evenly over fruit. Bake 45 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

It's Christmas Month!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

It's December 1st! Time to eat the first chocolate out of your advent calendar!

I love (x infinity) the Christmas season!

Truth be told, my tree was up the first week of November (don't judge!) but I held off on the Christmas baking. Until now.

I made these adorable snowmen cupcakes last year. They were a huge hit and will definitely be made again this year

I'm going to continue sipping on my gingerbread latte while I brainstorm some festive treats and count down the 24 sleeps left until Christmas morning!

Ho ho ho!

For the recipe and instructions for the Snowman Cupcakes, please click here!

Meal Planner

Life gets so busy at this time of the year!

Most days I'm feeling frazzled, beyond busy and unorganized and as a result I find myself eating ice cream out of its container and calling it dinner.

This meal planner is a great freebie and a great way to begin a new (and potentially healthy), organized week.

Meal planning is great because you can plan for busy days, you will eat a variety of meals and you will save money.

While this meal planner won't give me the self control to step away from my favorite ice cream I can at least plan to have a salad on the night I'm going to indulge in some decadent dessert!

To download a full size of the image above, click here for further instructions.

Enjoy!

Created by graphic designer Alma @ Ollibird.