Food In Many Forms

One of our last purchases from Costco in preparation for our self-isolation was Greek yogurt. We were able to get the low sugar Chobani for less than $1/ container. The low sugar variety is especially delicious in combination with Bear Naked Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Granola . But our supply of granola is running low, so I tried my hand at making my own. If the homemade version is actually healthier, I would make it more often! According to their website, 1/2 cup of the store bought version has about 300 calories, and 17 g of fat. The original recipe made 5 cups, suggesting 1/10 of my new recipe would be about 1/2 cup. In actuality, this new recipe has even more calories and fat - 400 calories and 19 g fat per 1/2 cup. INGREDIENTS 3 cups Trader Joe's quick cook steel cut oats 1 cup sliced almonds (or any nut) 1/2 cup chopped pecans 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 cup Nutella 1/4 cup pure maple syrup (or honey) 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup semi-swe...

Happy Valentine's Day from your favorite blogging RD! I melted chocolate in a double boiler and molded them in cupcake liners for the holiday. It was a ton of fun mixing and matching cranberries, walnuts, sprinkles, and white and milk chocolate! For more inspiration, check out these Youtube videos: How to Temper Chocolate How to Pick a Chocolate Mold How to Add Filling to a Chocolate Mold

... you can dip almost anything into it, including coconut macaroons.  In an effort to use up my shredded coconut leftover from Valentine's Day, one of my good friends from college proposed baking up some coconut macaroons . Right as I was walking out the door on my way to her house, I sent a quick text, "anything else you need before I head over?". "A double boiler ," she replied, "I want to dip the macaroons in chocolate ." It was like music to my ears. Ingredients 2/3 cup all-purpose flour 5 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut 1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon salt Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, coconut and salt. Stir in the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla using your hands until well blended. Use an ice cream scoop to drop dough o...

... it's delicious. And difficult to do well. Here's what I've learned: 1) Add butter to the melted chocolate to improve the consistency for dipping.  2) Toppings are delicious and add variety (ever seen  Shari's Berries ? Good source of inspiration). Also use different types of chocolate, like dark and white chocolate.  3) Keep your chocolate-dipped creations in the fridge , especially when you are OCD, like me. Just try to keep the moisture level down in the fridge, and wipe off any condensation that appears.  4) Buy twice as many wrappers as you think you need, some will get messed up.  5) White chocolate does not like to cooperate . My white chocolate would not stay melted for more than 15 seconds, and then I had to stir it again vigorously. From all the forums I read, there is a small consensus that Trader Joe's makes the most meltable white chocolate. Also see rule #1.  6) Keep the double boiler dry and free of excess water - any...

For the past couple of years, I have always stayed in and cooked for Valentine's Day. I never wanted to face the crowds or the extra expense, and in college these things just don't seem as important. When I would go to the grocery store on February 14th, I always laughed at the poor husbands and boyfriends struggling to find that last ingredient, or agonizing in front of the spice rack for 20 minutes before finding what they need. I love grocery stores, and learning how to cook new foods.  It will be nice to take a year off and go out to dinner tomorrow night to celebrate, but since I can no longer pretend that my gift is the dinner, I actually had to think of a gift. Luckily, I had an extra night to plan and prepare. I ended up making mostly milk chocolate and dark chocolate strawberries because the white chocolate was not cooperating. I had no idea white chocolate was so difficult to work with!  I'll be sure to post the recipe after I've been thoroughly romanc...

Peppermint Bark reminds me of Christmas. Well,  I could say that about a lot of sweets really.... but it seems as though one of the other dietitians at my internship agrees and brought in an identical-looking batch of dark and white chocolate peppermint bark just last week. Happy coincidence, since my stash had just about run out!  Ingredients: 8 ounces Nestle dark chocolate morsels 2 teaspoons canola oil, divided 8 ounces Nestle premier white morsels 25 peppermint candies, crushed Directions: Lightly grease a 9x9 inch pan and line with waxed paper, smoothing out wrinkles; set aside. Place the semisweet chocolate and 1 teaspoon of the canola oil in the top of a double boiler over just barely simmering water, stirring frequently and scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula to avoid scorching. When the chocolate is melted, stir in 1/4 teaspoon of the peppermint extract. Pour the melted chocolate into the prepared pan, and spread evenly over the bottom of the p...

I just moved to Baltimore so naturally I had to break in my new kitchen with a little baking! A friend from University of Maryland gave me this recipe for Chocolate Muffins and they always turn out moist and delicious . Plus, they are full of vitamin A and fiber . I wonder what I'm having for breakfast tomorrow? Ingredients Duncan Hines Devil's food cake mix 15 oz can of pureed pumpkin 1/3 cup water Dark chocolate chips (optional) Directions Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine pumpkin, cake mix, chocolate chips (optional) and water. Grease 2 muffin tins and fill them half-way up with batter. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until a fork comes out clean. Allergens: Wheat, gluten, soy, milk

I don't pretend to be an expert on gluten-free foods , but I thought I knew a thing or two, considering my background. I have been compiling and checking the allergen information for the menu items we serve at my hospital for the past few weeks now. It was really frustrating when I realized how many allergens there really were in our foods, and how difficult it would be to eat a gluten-free or soy-free diet. Last week, I had a lesson in the difficulty of finding products absent of gluten, soy, coconut, dairy and many other mischievous allergens .  I made a false assumption that Rice Krispies were made of rice and hence were gluten-free. I was excited to blog about a delicious gluten-free recipe that I could share with one of my friends with Celiac disease. Before I sent it to her, I went on the Celiac Foundation's Website , only to discover that " malt ", a component in many cereals, contains gluten. Kellogg's does make a gluten-free variety from brown r...

One of my good friends is a chocolate fiend and we thought this would satisfy her craving because of the 4 ounces of chocolate that goes into it (about 1 Hershey's chocolate bar ). However, the resulting taste was more like a coffee cake than a birthday cake. I don't recommend shaving the chocolate by hand with a cheese grater - it was very messy!! But Wiki Answers says the best methods are with a potato peeler or a melon baller: Vegetable or Potato Peeler - Hold the chocolate with a paper towel and pass the vegetable peeler over the narrowest side of the chocolate block. The chocolate will curl up like wood shavings. Melon Ball Scoop - Position the bar of chocolate on a parchment paper covered pan and hold it down with a paper towel. Scrape the melon ball scoop across the surface of the chocolate. You will get curved shavings. OLD WORLD CHOCOLATE SPICE CAKE WITH CITRON A tempting tube cake with a rather heavy crumb. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Hav...

I'm not sure when my obsession with Earl Grey tea started, but tea time in my apartment at school is a regular ritual morning, noon and night and I have had the opportunity to try a lot of different teas. Earl Grey is the only tea that I can ask my parents for because no matter whether it's made by Twinings, Bigelow or Celestial Seasonings, I know it will be wonderful. Essence of bergamot was a big mystery to me for a while, I couldn't quite place the flavor, but with a little research I learned bergamot is a citrus fruit in between a lemon and a grapefruit. In fact, Lady Grey tea is almost exactly the same as Earl Grey except it also has lemon added. Bergamot is also used in perfumes and soaps - right next to jasmine as one of my favorite scents. With so much passion for tea, and having just made guiness cupcakes, I am determined that my next baking project will contain earl grey. How lucky for me this recipe was in April's Food Network Magazine... http://www.foodnetwo...

The University of Maryland probably got 3 feet of snow yesterday, and barely any stores are open. However, with my determination to bake, I found a recipe that only required a minimal number of ingredients. The recipe we used to make meringues is a very basic one - egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar, lemon zest and salt. But we added in cocoa powder and instant coffee to some of them to create a little more variety. They turned out amazing! We made the cookies really big, so we left them in for ten extra minutes, but other than that the recipe was really easy and accurate. I thought it would be funny to keep them in an old empty meringue container - but I am probably the only one who finds it immensely cool!