Dessert | Healthy and Sane

Oh hi, pumpkin!

November 2nd, 2011

Hi blog friends. How’s it going? I have three, THREE days left at my full-time job and my mind is in full force about all the things I will now have time to do. I actually have to slow myself down because it’s important for me that the next few months are a time of reflection. I need to make sure there is enough space for me to explore all sorts of things. One thing I know there will be plenty of – that’s cooking (and dish washing, lol). I can’t wait!!

So let’s talk pumpkin for a minute, shall we? I hope you don’t roll your eyes because well, there certainly have been plenty of pumpkin recipes here on the blogosphere (and magazines and cooking channels). It seems like most of you have been quite obsessed. I’m banking on it because I have a sweet few recipes to share with you too. They are my first of the season (yup, just as the season is ending).

We’ll start with something a little more indulgent and quite special (scroll down for something healthier if you’ve had a little too much candy for Halloween) – chewy chocolate chip pumpkin cookies [made with pumpkin butter]. Just like Jessica, I’m not really into muffin top-like pumpkin cookies. I want softness in that chewy sort of way… the slightly underbaked and gooey, plump-cookie sort of way. Does that even make sense?

See how plump these are? Don’t mistake this for having a muffin-like texture. These are melt-in-your mouth, buttery pillows of heaven. Bonus: Scoop the dough into little balls, then freeze. That’s how you get to enjoy freshly baked cookies any day in just 13 minutes of waiting time (and no dirty bowls).

Make them now. You’ll thank me (and Jessica!). I promise.

PS – I’m loving the blue afternoon light in these pics. So perfect for fall!

Now onto something a little healthier – chocolate and peanut butter chip pumpkin pie muffins. These were actually requested by Adam – the only time he’ll ever ask for anything-pumpkin (I may now have to add those cookies to the list. What do you think, Adam?).

He was asking for me to make these muffins (which apparently I made back in November 2008!!! and he’s still asking for them) but Tina’s recipe no longer exists. The key ingredient is definitely the peanut butter chips. Have you ever had them? The Sunspire peanut butter baking chips have no junk ingredients and taste like mellow butterscotch kissed by peanut butter little candies. They are soft and melt beautifully. I’ve been scouting every Whole Foods for over a year to find them (I don’t know why they’ve become such a commodity!). Thanks, Shannon, for buying me 3 bags. Our future will now be much sweeter with my pantry full of pb chips

Anyways, back to the muffins… Tina’s “original” muffins were super moist and full of chips. I went with my go-to pumpkin muffin recipe (by Ellie Krieger) which is very light and almost cupcake-like, reducing the brown sugar down to 1/2 cup and adding 1 cup of chocolate and peanut butter chips (combined). The result were these beautiful babies, which I dressed up for Halloween

Hi pretty!

I’ve been having one of these for breakfast for the past week and let me tell you – it’s definitely one sweet way to start the day!

Are you into pumpkin? Any favorite moist muffin recipes or special treats?

Perfecting pie making (baking advise needed!)

September 16th, 2011

I love cooking and eating and sharing it with friends and family. I love telling YOU about the most delicious meals that recently came out of my kitchen (so that maybe you can make it, eat it, and share it with your loved ones… if they’re lucky!). That’s how this food blogging thing works, right?

Sometimes the meals are incredible but the pictures just don’t do it justice. I’m sure every food blogger in the world can empathize with that. You want so badly for the picture to make the reader drool. To make you wish you still had some leftovers to devour. Pictures really are worth 1,000 words. They are powerful.

Sometimes the stars align and your favorite meals accomplish just that (that chocolate chip cookie picture even got accepted by Tastespotting!!) Other times the lighting is perfect but the dish is just okay.

Adam and I went peach picking a few weeks ago and I could not be more excited to make all sorts of peach goodies with our 10lbs of local peaches. Making a pie is one of those things I have yet to master (last time I attempting this was back in 2009 for Thanksgiving <—whoa, I look different. Also, the perfect example of unfortunate picture quality of delicious food) so I decided to that a peach pie was the perfect little project!

I used Joanne’s recipe for a peach dream pie but used a crust recipe I got from a pie making class I took at the Brooklyn Kitchen this past summer. The crust came out flaky and delicious but the filling was pretty soggy. Here is the deal: I have no idea what went wrong since I’m not really a pie-making expert. I need your help!!

Do fresh peaches have too much moisture? Should I have made a lattice top to let some of the moisture escape? Was the yogurt based filling (mixed with the peaches) too wet to begin with? Should I have cooked it somehow prior so that it baked better? Should I have cooked the pie longer? I was scared the crust would burn on the bottom. Any other suggestions? I’m totally clueless about this stuff!

I sliced this pie the day after making it and was disappointed with the texture but the taste was fantastic. The yogurt mixture baked into something resembling a light cheesecake (mmm). It was even more delicious with a scoop or 2 of vanilla gelato! Smile

How are your pie-making skills? Help me figure out what went wrong!

In other random “news” – look what I just scored at Trader Joe’s for $4.99.

What should I make?!

New and old favorite recipes

September 11th, 2011

How many of you have cooked a delicious meal, vouching to make it again… soon, only to forget of its existence days (or months later)? As someone known to live in the black & white world, I’m either not into cooking at all (bring on snacks, takeout and meals out!) or trying to make as many recipes as humanly possible in one night and/or weekend. I rarely, very rarely repeat recipes. That gives me the ability to test out more of the inspiring recipes I am constantly exposed to. The flip side, of course, is that those old favorites get forgotten. And it’s a shame. This is why I have decided that each new favorite recipe must be photographed and shared with you all on Healthy and Sane (check out the favorite recipes category on the right for previous favorites). I’ll get a chance to have a go-to place to find them again and you get to hopefully discover some new favorites of your own. Win-win!

So here we go – 3 new favorites from the past few weeks

Healthified zucchini bread from The Sweets Life

I made 2 loaves of this bread last weekend and have been enjoying a slice (or 2) each morning with some Greek yogurt and a cup of coffee. I can’t imagine a better breakfast to wake up to! This bread/cake is slightly sweet, moist and full of cinnamon flavor. And who doesn’t love hidden veggies for breakfast?

In the perfect world, I’d start my morning with the above zucchini bread and have these grilled pork chops with peppers and capers from Mario Batali’s Italian Grill cookbooksince these were the best pork chops I’ve ever made!!

The secret is brining the pork chops overnight (actually since salt is a preservative, I left them in the brine for a few days since I was too busy to cook – extra bonus points for ease!). You know how salt makes you retain water and bloated? Well brining does the same for meat. The water retention makes them super juicy!

These peppers with capers were fantastic as well – smoky and briny. Yum! And no, these aren’t onions – they’re purple peppers from the farmers market. Cool, right? I have not made one thing out of that cookbook that I wasn’t completely head over heals for. LOVE.

How about something packed with veggies for dinner? When I saw Ranjani blog about this grain salad with corn and poblano peppers, I knew those wheat berries all the way in the back of my pantry had to come out of hiding.

I will take advantage of the last days of summer, fresh corn, heirloom tomatoes, local hot peppers and all! Smile

I went light on the olive oil, used goat cheese instead of queso fresco (when is goat cheese not the way to go? amiright??), added chickpeas for extra protein… and apparently forgot the toasted pumpkin seeds. Oops. (I didn’t miss them though)

I loved the chew from the wheat berries, the sweetness of the corn, spice from the 2 kinds of chili peppers and the wonderful garlic infused olive oil dressing the grains. It’s fantastic room temperature but even better warmed (the goat cheese gets all melty and seductive. Do it!)

Oh and as proof that I’m committed to reinstating some old favorites – here is an oldie but goodie. My favorite chocolate chip cookies. Everyone needs a go-to choc chip cookie recipe. Could this one be yours?