Deliciocity Friday: BBQ Ranch Vegeburgers

Time for something a little more healthy!

(we can't live off sweets alone)

I made this burger using a can of meatless Vegeburger from Cedar Lake. It's vegan so no meat and much healthier then many options.

Ingredients:

1 can Cedar Lake Vegeburger

1 cup uncooked oatmeal

1/3 cup ketchup

1/3 cup BBQ sauce

1 Tbsp ranch dressing mix

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp dehydrated onions

A dash of garlic powder and salt

Many of the seasonings are a taste preference but it's a good place to hide the immunity boosting onions and garlic.

I mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, by hand or by fork.

While I'm mixing I have a frying pan warming up on medium heat. 

Shape the mixture into a patty and remember that is the shape and size you will end up with. (it doesn't shrink like ground beef) I usually get 5 large patties, however, if made closer to normal size it would probably end up making something like 7 or 8 burgers.

Cook on medium heat for a few minutes on each side. Since the Vegeburger is precooked, you are just heating, not having to worry about reaching a specific temperature.

 You may need a little vegetable oil in the pan to help keep the burgers from sticking and burning.

Dress your burger to your tastes and enjoy a very moist and healthier burger!

Find Vegeburger here, or at an Adventist Book Center near you.

 

Deliciocity Friday: Kryptonite Cupcakes

Yes, I realize that title shows some nerdiness. 

I'm alright with that!

This is another semi-homemade recipe but of course you could tweak it for your abilities and preferences.

I started by making a filling.

I used:

4 Tbsp cream cheese

1 tsp cocoa powder

1 Tbsp powdered sugar

Start with the cream cheese being soft (room temperature) and mix all these ingredients well. 

I started with a basic yellow cake mix. I prepared that as instructed but added mint flavoring, about 1/8th of a teaspoon. But you can make that more or less as you want. My goal was a slightly minty flavor, not over done.

I also folded in 1/2 cup chocolate chips.

I put most of the batter in first then added the cream cheese mixture. Finally finished off with the rest of the mixture.

Bake as directed on the mix.

For your frosting; start with a simple white frosting. Add green food coloring till you like the look and just a couple drops of mint. The frosting you can easily taste test but remember that you'll be adding the mint of the cupcake.

Allow the cupcakes to cool, then frost and try to eat just one at a time!  

Deliciocity Friday: S'mores Sticks

I recently came up with this idea because I wanted a snack on these cute appetizer sticks I got and I sometimes get a bit OCD about the crumbs that are created from regular s'mores.

Ingredients:

Mini marshmallows

Meltable chocolate

Graham crackers

Appetizer sticks or toothpicks

I used plastic appetizer sticks with little shapes on the end that matched the symbols and a deck of cards. Great for a game gathering.

I skewered three mini marshmallows on each stick.

Next I used the back of a spoon to crush a couple graham crackers onto a plate. 

I used semi-sweet chocolate chips but the traditional Hersey's bar would work also.

Melt the chocolate. 

I usually use my small double boiler but if you melt in small time increments you could melt your chocolate in the microwave. Just remember that chocolate will sometimes burn in the microwave if cooked too long at once.

Finally I used a spoon to scoop the chocolate over the marshmallows then roll in the graham crackers.

 Then place on a sheet of wax paper till the chocolate cools.

Simple, less messy and if you want to rewarm them, pop in the microwave for a few seconds!     

Deliciocity Friday: FriChik and Noodles

No, not fried chicken, FriChik.

Not a typo.

FriChik is a "fake meat" that I love. 

It's much more healthy then real meats and is so good I'll happily eat it straight from the can.

Find out more about FriChik here.

Besides "as is", I also like making it into a sandwich and makes a main dish called FriChik n noodles.

I've known this recipe longer then I can remember and just make it without much thought but I'll do my best to give instructions you can try.

Ingredients:

Package of noodles

1 Can of FriChik

1 Can mushroom soup

Mayo

Sour cream

Salt

I grew up on the noodles being wide egg noodles but I now usually make it with small shells and personally like that better.

Cook the noodles as described.

While cooking open your can of FriChik and cut or tear into small pieces.

In a large bowl mix the cooked and drained noodles with the FriChik and add in the can of mushroom soup. Next add about a half cup sour cream and about a cup of mayo/salad dressing.

Add salt and any more mayo to taste.

Mix well and serve.

Not that complicated but oh so delicious and creamy!

Deliciocity Friday: Taco Salad

I got this recipe from my dear friend Medrith, who I believe she said she got it from her Mother-In-Law.

I have tweaked a few small things though.

Ingredients:

1 Head lettuce

1 Tomato

1 Can olives

1 Can chili beans

1 Cup shredded cheese (approx)

1 Cup whipped salad dressing (approx)

1/2 Cup ranch dressing

Nacho cheese chips

 Taco seasoning package (optional)

Chop or tear the lettuce into smaller pieces and put into a large bowl.

I chop about half the tomato and set aside because hubby likes tomatoes, I can't stand them.

Next drain and chop up the olives.

Drain most of the liquid off the beans and add to the bowl with the olives and lettuce.

Mix in the cheese, whipped salad dressing (miracle whip) and ranch.

Adding the ranch was one of my edits and not required, just gives a little extra flavor.

Another one of my adds was the taco seasoning. I probably add about a tablespoon or a bit more.

For the chips I usually crush them in the bag but only add them to the individual plates, this keeps them from getting too soggy. If all of the dish is getting eaten quickly then it's safe to add the chips to the dish.

Easy and delicious. Makes a great dish for when it's too hot so you don't want to slave over the hot stove! (aka all of summer hehe) 

Deliciocity Friday: Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

Few things go together as perfectly as peanut butter and chocolate.

These bars are no bake, fairly easy but very rich so cut them small to easy your guilty feelings for the delicious indulgence! hehe

Ingredients:

1 stick butter (half a cup)

2 cups crush graham crackers (about 1 sleeve)

2 cups powdered sugar

2 Tablespoons honey

1 cup creamy peanut butter

Also:

1 & 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Crush the graham crackers.

One way is to put them in a large ziplock bag and roll over with a rolling pin.

If you're having a bad day feel free to throw the crackers in the ziplock bag at the wall a few times.

Free stress reliever!

In a medium bowl melt the butter then add the cracker crumbs and mix throughly.

Next add the powdered sugar and peanut butter and mix well.
Add in the honey, stir the press into an 8x8 baking pan (or something close to that).

Put the chocolate chips and peanut butter either in a double boiler or microwavable bowl.

If you use the microwave method only cook for a few seconds at a time, then stir, chocolate can burn in the microwave.

In a double boiler keep on low heat and constantly stir till melted.

Pour on top of the peanut butter and graham cracker mixture and smooth out to cover.

Refrigerate long enough to harden the chocolate (at least an hour). Then dig in! 

Deliciocity Friday: Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

This is one of my semi-homemade ideas.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cup Cookies.

 

I started with a bag of chocolate chip cookie mix and the ingredients it called for.

I also used 10 small Reese's peanut butter cups.

Using a sharp knife I cut up the Reece's cups, but not too finely.

Next I prepared the cookie mix as directed.

I folded the chopped cups into the cookie dough then spooned onto the baking sheet and baked as directed.

A rather simple addition but so good. 

It adds just a hint of peanut butter flavor without being too dense.

For the last bit of dough I also added a little creamy peanut butter just for a little extra kick.

Deliciocity Friday: Easy Bread Recipe

My hubby loves bread.

Sometimes if you give him bread and cream cheese he's his perfectly happy.

So I wanted an easy recipe that I could whip up without too much trouble.

This recipe is about as easy as it gets.

 

 

Ingredients:

2 cup warm water

1 package yeast

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons sugar

4 &1/2 cups flour 

(I used all purpose)

 

Start with the warm water in a medium bowl, add the yeast and stir thoroughly. Let sit for a few minutes.

 

Then add the salt and sugar. Next add the flour. I added a half cup at a time, continually mixing. I believe I added four and a half cups. Basically you want the dough a bit sticky but not bad.

 

Cover and let sit. After a little wait mix and kneed the dough some more. Then cover and let sit a little while longer.

 

Preheat over to 450 degrees.

Grease a regular loaf pan (or form into a loaf shape on a flat baking sheet) and place the dough in the pan. 

Bake for approximately 40 minutes.

 

It makes a dense, moist bread that tastes wonderful with a little butter.

 

(Sorry for lack of an after picture of the whole loaf, it smelled too good so I dug in before remembering to take a picture!)

Deliciocity Friday: Unbelievable Banana Bread

Peanut butter cream cheese filled chocolate chip banana bread.

Yeah, I'm going to let you think on that for a moment...

It's like all the best things together in one.

I started with a simple banana bread recipe.

 Then added the filling into a well cut out of the middle of the bread loaf.

Bread Ingredients:

Wet:

1/2 stick butter, softened
2 eggs
  2/3 cup sugar

Dry:

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Plus:

3 very ripe bananas

1/2 cup chocolate chips

First blend all the wet ingredients with a mixer.

In another bowl mix the dry ingredients then slowly mix them into the wet ingredients.

Lastly fold the mashed bananas and chocolate chips into the batter.

I poured these into well greased little loaf pans and I think baked about 25 minutes. A regular sized loaf pan would probably bake for closer to 50 minutes.

When you stick a clean tooth pick in it should come back out clean.

Once done baking I turned out onto a cooling rack and when cooled I cut into the top to create a well for the filling.

Filling:

8oz cream cheese

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk

3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

(peanut butter was a guesstimate based on taste)

Blend all together, you want a slightly thick but creamy filling so adjust the peanut butter for best look and taste.

Pour into the well in the loaf then cut off the top that you cut out and replace.

It is unbelievable how creamy and delicious this turns out!  

Deliciocity Friday: A&W Root Beer Float Cupcakes

I'm still working on getting over my illness from the past week, then yesterday I nearly cut off the end of my pointer finger on my right hand.

As such I'm still a bit out of it and have no use of my most used finger.

So sorry for lateness again and if there are any typing errors.

I'm going to tattle on my husband a bit.

Shhh, don't tell! 

hehe

Before my husband and I started dating, were just barely friends at this time, I had an opportunity to look in his fridge.

The entire contents of his fridge were, multiple bottles of A&W soda...

In his freezer were carton after carton of partially eaten containers of ice cream.

That was it.

Yeah, he had some interesting food habits before we got together! lol (don't get me started)

So suffice to say, if it involves A&W root beer or ice cream, the hubby is happy!

So when I came across a mention of root beer cupcakes I figured I could do something really big and awesome with the idea.

Since I'm a semi-homemade kind of girl I started with a yellow cake batter. 

I made the cake mix as described but where it called for water I used the same amount of A&W root beer. I also used a few drops of root beer flavoring for candies. I often find these little bottles of flavorings at Wal-Mart. Try looking in the craft area if not found in the food aisles.

Next I made a vanilla cream filling. I followed a recipe I found but I have no idea what the creator was thinking, it was way off and I had to edit it a lot. So I'm going to tell you as best as I can remember what I did to make the recipe, forgive me if I'm slightly off and tweak your own to get the right consistency.

Ingredients:

Approx. 1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1-2 tsp vanilla extract (to taste)

possibly some powdered sugar for individual preference.

First heat the milk well, microwave will work. Then thoroughly stir in the flour and set aside.

Blend the warmed butter and sugar till well mixed.

Next add the milk mixture to the butter mixture and add the vanilla and beat thoroughly.

To fill the cupcakes, wait till they cool after baking and using a sharp knife, cut a cone from the center of the cupcake. Cut the top of the cupcake off the cone. Fill the well then place the top back on top of the cupcake.

Since the filling is fairly sweet I wanting something not too sweet for the topping. Hubby also happens to love cool whip.

I added the root beer flavor to some cool whip and mixed. I think I added 7 or 8 drops for about one and a half cups of cool whip but add as much as you like for best taste.

I then piped the cool whip on top of the cupcake and added a cherry to top it off. Alternatively, if you have root beer candies you could crush them up and add them on top of your cool whip.

As for verdict. Hubby loves them! I poured him a glass of A&W to drink with the cupcake. He ate the cupcake then took a drink and said the drink actually tasted a bit weak after the cupcakes! 

   

Deliciocity Friday- Multi-Colored Rice Krispies

Earlier I posted about the Splatter Paint Party I hosted.

In that post, here, I mentioned that one of my foods was multi-colored Rice Krispies.

These are pretty easy to make and the extra color makes them more fun.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup (half a stick) of butter

7oz container of marshmallow fluff

4 cups rice puff cereal

1 Tbsp dry cake batter

Multi-colored sprinkles

Start by melting your butter in a small sauce pan over low heat.

Add the entire container of fluff.

And 1 tablespoon of cake batter straight from the box. I used white but I'd suggest yellow.

Also, ignore that my measuring spoon says 3 tablespoons, my measuring spoon actually has a typo.

 Mix thoroughly, then pour in cereal, and mix more till fully combined.

Last, sprinkle on your sprinkles, as much as you want and mix enough to get them spread out.

Grease an eight by eight baking dish.

I used cooking spray but covering with vegetable oil would work as should lining the dish with wax paper.

Let cool then cut with a butter knife.

Deliciocity Friday: Blueberry Sorbet

Difference between sherbet and sorbet?

Sherbet is allowed 1 or 2 percent dairy content.

(Ice cream must have at least 10% dairy)

While sorbet is dairy free.

This makes a delicious treat to cool off with (what is with these summer temps at the end of winter!?) without being overly fattening.

Ingredients:

3 cups blueberries

1/2 cup water

3 tbsp honey

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/8 tsp salt

a little lemon zest

This makes about 2 and 1/2 to 3 cups of end product, or about 3-4 small treats.

Blueberries can be fresh or frozen but if frozen allow to thaw some.

If you don't have a lemon zester (raises hand) you can still get some zest.

One option is lightly grate with a small holed cheese grater. 

Another option is to lightly rake the tines of a fork back and forth, and up and down along the outside edge of the lemon (carefully, you don't want the white part of the lemon). Then use the side of the fork to scrape it off the lemon and into your blender.

Put all the ingredients into a blender and mix well. 

When you think it's mixed well enough, mix some more because the blueberries have "shells" that need to be cut up very small.

Now pour into a freezable container and freeze for an hour, then mix well and freeze again till solid. Leave it out of the freezer for a couple minutes before serving.

Of course this can be done mostly the same with any other fruits besides blueberries, that's just what I had on hand.

 Pst, have the kids leave the room. I'll wait.

Oh and if you have any adults with kid tastes (overly picky) have them leave too.

Okay, I've got a secret for you.

This treat is actually pretty good for you!

Blueberries have all kinds of antioxidants and other health benefits.

Lemons have vitamins and such.

Since using honey instead of processed sugars you avoid a lot of the unhealthy junk that companies put into everything.

Also since there is no dairy or other animal products it is vegan too.

So enjoy a cool treat without the guilt and without the worry of what you are giving to your kids!