CuteKittyPunk

Sometimes I post recipes to Food.com - just to see how many calories or grams of protein a recipe has, etc. And in the past I've shared some recipes live - because that's what I do. Anway, it's always really exciting when I get an email in my inbox that says someone has reviewed one of my recipes... and I'm even more excited when I see they gave it 5 stars. Woot! So, here in my vanity I gotta post a screen shot of my reviews :) Only 3 reviews... but they all gave me or my recipe rather, 3 stars. Yes! This is one of our family favorites. I have also Primalized this recipe. To do it, use sunflower seed butter in place of peanut butter. I also sometimes add extra spinach... but I like to follow the 80% rule of the primal blueprint - and I often use home-made peanut butter and pita bread when I serve this meal - that's just the way I like it. Here is the original recipe on my blog - African Peanut Soup . And on food.com - it's here .

This month's  Sugar High Friday theme is "layer cakes" sponsered by Zucchero Dolce - sweet sugar. What is Sugar High Friday? Jennifer of the Domestic Goddess fame says it's my best excuse to bake something sweet each month. Although... I don't really need an excuse. This month I chose to bake Spumoni Cake. Here is a cake that I've had my eye on baking for years. It's from one of my most favorite cook books - Make-A-Mix Cookery. I've slightly adapted it and it's super duper sweet - perfect for achieving a sugar high on Friday or any day for that matter. I recommend baking this for a special occasion or when having friends over - don't eat it alone - may cause an overdose! It's a delightful blend of flavors and colors. I didn't have a few ingredients on hand, so I slightly altered the recipe. Adapting a recipe to your liking is best for experienced cooks anyways - my husband didn't like the peppermint in the recipe - so next time ...

What do you do when your 39 weeks pregnant, it's summer vacation, the kids are stuck inside cause of the rain and if you lay on the couch you just know you'll fall asleep? Bake! So, that's just what I did. I got up off the couch, and I walked to my shelf full of cook books and I looked for something to make. I felt like having something chocolately... I let the kids turn the living room into their house/tent for the day - they got all the blankets and pillows they could use for that - and while they played, I baked. I have a friend that has been posting a lot of links related to Baltimore Berger  (Bergers) cookies on facebook lately, and I found a recipe for them some time ago, so I finally decided to make some. Luckily, I even had all the ingredients on hand (as long as I cut the recipe in thirds - which I did)... then I also decided to make some chocolatey fudge gelato as well. If you are not familiar with Baltimore Berger cookies - let me just tell you - they are pil...

Several years ago I clipped this recipe from a Woman's Day magazine - August 2004 - this recipe is adapted from Mario Batali's Ziti with Pesto. I have never seen ziti pasta in a regular grocery store so I always make it with penne. It's delicious served warm or cold. Personally, I like it warm with extra mozzarella melted on top. It's easy to make and will remind you of eating at some place special like The Macaroni Grill. My changes appear in the brackets in red. PESTO : 1 cup fresh parsley leaves 1/2 cup each fresh mint and basil leaves 1/2 cup fennel fronds (optional) [ I've never used them ] 2 cloves garlic 2 tablespoons salt-packed capers, rinsed and drained 4 medium plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped [ I always use the cheapest budget tomatoes available ] 1/2 teaspoon each fresh ground black pepper and crush red pepper [ I like short cuts - so I use whatever I have on hand... and I almost always use Sambal Oelek in place of crushed red pepper ] 1/2 cup ex...

While browsing through my facebook feed I found a friend that commented on some recipes from a friend. I asked her so nicely if she could pass them onto me, too. Here are two of the recipes I made. One uses chicken but I used a soy-meat replacer and a few other changes - see below in red. Nevertheless - it was delicious - awesome chili and I loved every bite. I paired it with the corn bread. I was told that the chili has even won a chili cook-off... and I'm not surprised because it is so creamy and yummy in the tummy :) I will also add that Ella - my little 18 month old loved the beaniness of the chili - she's such a good eater - hooray! WHITE CHICKEN CHILI

 from Megan Marriott 1 lb chicken breast (cut in 1/2 inch cubes)
[ soy-meat replacer for us vegetarians ] 1 med. Onion 1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
 1Tbsp. veg. oil 
 2 can white beans(rinsed and drained) (next time I make it I will put 3 cans in...just depends on how beany you want it)
 1 can chicken broth
[ 400...

I'm due with child #3 in 22 days. Of course, the baby probably won't come for 27 days because I'm not that lucky. But this is the reason for my lack of posts this month of July. I have been cooking though - I have to otherwise, we don't eat. I'm not just baking all the time - although I have been busy with Sweet Rolls that Rock.  In the last couple of weeks I have made some really yummy meals and I share one here with you today. I call this the "Bakbanaan Broodje" in Dutch... because these green or very ripe yellow-blackish large bananas are for baking - hence "bak" "banaan." I've had the fried plantain chips a few times and those are really yummy but I wanted to try a recipe using this baking banana that was different. I set out on a search online and found this . I've made it twice now. I think it's delicious and you can pretty much use any sandwich dressings you like. We made ours today with salsa, lettuce, sprouts, f...

Mediterranean-style Cashew-cucumber Dip page 66 Veganomicon (V-con) Recipe Review - and a new way to enjoy it my way! This is a dairy-free variation of the classic Greek cucumber yogurt dip tzatziki and it is oh so good. First I made it and paired it with Greek-style Tomato-zucchini Fritters with Fresh herbs page 52 V-con . That was good. But then I found a new and even better way to enjoy this most delicious dip. I paired it with fried eggplant - which is something I've been eating together with hummus and tortillas a lot. But now I've found a really good bread - which isn't too hard to find here in the Netherlands - from of all places, the Lidl. They call it Sunflower Panini bread - although it's quite big and very filling. So I make a batch of the Cashew-cucumber dip, then I slice and fry my eggplant and then I eat this all week long for lunch with my bag of Sunflower Panini bread - it's enjoyable every time - and to mix it up I just eat different fresh fruit wit...

Masala... and muffins! I met this other mom at Kailea's pre-school a while back. She seemed different from most of the other moms there - different in a way that I can best describe only as "cooler" than the others - or atleast, perhaps - more like me. One of the better English speakers -that probably had something to do with it. Well, she's got a little girl Kailea's age. And now that it's summer vacation - we set a time up for our girls to play together. I noticed a lot of buddha's in the house. I asked if she practiced Buddhism. She said no - I practice Hinduism. Oh. Tell me about that. So she told me a little bit. She said we eat vegetarian once a week. I think she's not too into it because she loves fish and shrimp and stuff like that. But she gave me a bunch of vegetarian Indian products to try because I told her I was vegetarian - but Latter-day Saint. I'm really excited to try some of the stuff she gave me. The Chickpea curry mix looks so y...

Scrambled Tofu: A recipe review From: Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, p 12 This is the first recipe in the book. And when I first saw it I scoffed at it. I mean, I can see not using eggs in recipes like Spanokopita and muffins and cupcakes - but to totally use tofu in place of a 100% egg recipe - that's just ridiculous... or is it? So, I was talking to my sister about it and we laughed it off. Then as time went on and one day when I was enjoying some spiced up store-bought tofu reepjes - I was thinking - this does kind of have an egg-like texture to it and it tastes so good. So it got me thinking about this recipe. So, I tried it! I left out the mushrooms and added in yellow paprika. I didn't have any nooch (nutritional yeast) but used Parmasan in it's place and oh my! This even looks scrambled eggish - but the suprising thing is - it tastes so much better - it's better for you - and best of all - it was so filling. One serving of it on a large tortilla...

Mint & Peppermint Treats Delicious recipes that are perfect at Holiday time or anytime Chocolate Mint Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World Recipe Review As always, delicious. All of Isa & Terry's recipes turn out so good - especially from this little tiny cookbook - it's no wonder that it won "Cookbook of the Year" from VegNews and that everyone else is raving about it, too. I couldn't quite get my frosting to set up and hold it's texture - that's because I couldn't wait till they completely cooled... I wanted to eat one so badly. No biggie - the taste is what counts - and it tasted fabulous. My husband who does not generally care for mint flavored items - really liked these... he's becoming converted to more and more mint desserts. Peppermint Stick Ice Cream Just some stuff I threw together in the food processor Recipe Review Yup, that's right - I just threw some stuff together in the food processor. I think the easiest way...

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake I know a lot of people like cheesecake and to be honest, I was one of those few rare people who did not. I even have a best friend who use to work at the Cheesecake Factory in Baltimore, Maryland and she worked in the dessert section. So I had access to really good cheesecake but I never ate any. I think that is because there are two kinds of cheese cake. One kind of cheesecake is made with cream cheese and it tastes good. Then there is this other kind made with a different kind of cheese and it's more crumbly - less smooth and that is the kind I did not like. So, in 2007, I was visiting the U.S. and we were there for my brother's birthday. He is one of those guys that doesn't want a traditional birthday cake. He got a Cheesecake Factory sampler from Costco Wholesale and everyone had a good time. Initially, I was not going to have any... but then someone mentioned the words: White Chocolate Raspberry... and I was like - I'll give tha...

"You Got Peanut Butter in My Chocolate" Cookies by Dreena Burton from cook book Eat, Drink & Be Vegan recipe review: YUMMY First off, I like that most of her cookie recipes make just enough - one or two batches in the oven and your done. They are fairly simple to put together. She does use some expensive ingredients though - like maple syrup and agave nectar. But I just happened to have them so I got to make these yummy treats. I think they would turn out okay with an alternative ingredient like appelstroop in place of the maple sryup - if I were to do this I'd probably add a bit more sugar to the mix. So a few months ago, I think it was August, I was considering going Vegan. I bought 4 vegan cookbooks to help with the transition. I really love Vegan with a Vengeance. It's been my favorite so far and I've tried more recipes from that one than the others. Okay, my second favorite is Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World - it's all desserts so of course, it...