Simple Roasted Vegetables

I have been obsessed with roasting vegetables lately. Namely carrots. I do a huge batch Sunday night and eat them throughout the week. Usually, they don't last a week though. 

I'm not even going to use a recipe because it's that easy. Ready?

Choose your vegetable. 

In this case I used parsnips, carrots, and onions, 

1. Spray baking pan with oil spray.

2. Add vegetables.

3. Spray with oil spray. (You can drizzle with olive oil, but since I am a fatty, I try to cut out anything extra in my diet.)

3 1/2. Add seasonings... definitely salt, pepper, or can be creative with Old Bay (Yay Baltimore!!!), oregano, dill, or nutritional yeast.

4. Cook at 450 degrees. Check and stir every 10 minutes. 

5. When charred and moist, remove from oven. It usually takes about 30 mins. I try to busy myself with other tasks like dishes while they are cooking, so I usually have no idea how long they've been in there. I moniter them. 

6. (Optional) if I feel like speeding the process, I will flip my oven to broiling. I am kind of in love with the broiling, charred flavor. I always crack my oven when I do this though, because otherwise the smoke alarm in my apartment goes off. 

And tadaa!!! Devour.

Now, if you want to change up your vegetable to a non-root type (broccoli, cauliflower, etc) I might bump the temp down to 350 degrees. I do the high temp because I like the way they char. Weird, I know. If you prefer the low and slow method, go for it. 

Have a happy week! Any suggestions for what I can tackle next?

Chocolate Bread Pudding

I am the queen of repurposing things. 

I made "brookies" the other night. For those of you wondering, that means a brownie and cookie together in one. The recipe that I used was a "healthy" recipe, which I am guessing is my first mistake. Anyway, it called for whole wheat flour and they were pretty dry. I was not pleased. Usually I make some tweaks in recipes... But this one I did not. And they were STILL dry/not sweet enough. 

So I put icing on them. Good, but still not good enough. 

Then I remembered: Bread pudding fixes dry things. Sooooooooo this was ultra experimental, but I went for it. I thought the idea turned out awesome. 

I halved it because of the amount of brookies I had. I was amazed at how simple it was. This is the recipe from AllRecipes.com:

Ingredients 

Original recipe makes 1 - 8 inch square panChange Servings

• 6 slices day-old bread

• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)

• 4 eggs, beaten

• 2 cups milk

• 3/4 cup white sugar

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I omitted this because I had chocolate in my recipe)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  
  

  Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Break bread into small pieces into an 8 inch square baking pan. Drizzle melted butter or margarine over bread. If desired, sprinkle with raisins. (I omitted these).
   
3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Pour over bread, and lightly push down with a fork until bread is covered and soaking up the egg mixture. 
   
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly tapped.

Check out those bubbles. Results were great. Decadent, moist, and dense. It is something I might serve at a party of for a group with ice cream. Eating it on its own might be a little much. 

Because of the whole wheat flour, I will confess, it was a little "chewier" than a normal bread pudding would be. I didn't mind it. Boyfriend ate it but said "I don't know..." The reason I did this was just to see how things other than bread can work in a bread pudding. I have used bread, cinnamon rolls, and even bagels before. You can experiment on your own, see what else can work. It just needs to be a relatively stiff before you use it. 

All that mattered to me was that there was chocolate in it. Late Saturday night alone in the kitchen, I really didn't care about how chewy it was.

And with that, I'll leave you to your week. Love!! And Happy Mother's Day!

Kahlua Fudge

I have been trying to get some posts under my belt for like two weeks now. With the end of the school year coming, it has been one big ol' cram session. It will continue being one for the next month. 

So I was naughty and made some fudge.

Lawdy, this stuff is dense. And sinful. 

The recipe I followed was pretty complicated, and was also meant for bourbon instead of Kahlua. I simplified it, and changed up the toppings (chopped creme filled egg, semi-sweet chocolate chips). I wanted to add nuts also but the boyfriend wrinkled his nose at that, so it was a no go. But since I am poor and had Kahlua on hand, this is the recipe I ended up making. Fortunately, it didn't require any candy thermometers and can actually be done all through the microwave rather than the stove top. 

This is the recipe I used:

PRINT 

SAVE

Loaded Chocolate Bourbon Fudge

YIELD: MAKES ONE 8X8 PAN, ABOUT 16-20 PIECES OF FUDGE

 

TOTAL TIME: 1 HOUR

ingredients:

20 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1 (15-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3-4 tablespoons bourbon
10-12 caramel-filled chocolates/fudge, such as truffles of Ghiradelli squares, chopped
3/4 cup chocolate toffee pieces, like Heath toffee chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
4 ounces milk chocolate, melted

directions:

I covered a pan in plastic wrap rather than spraying it with non-stick spray. It made for MUCH easier clean up.

Add semi-sweet chocolate to a double boiler, and melt completely. One melted, remove from heat and slowly add in sweetened condensed milk and vanilla extract, stirring with a large spatula until mixed. The chocolate will be thick. Begin in stir in bourbon 1 tablespoon at a time - mixture is going to get super thick but slowly stir and just fold the chocolate mixture over until combined. Use the spatula or a large spoon to spread the chocolate in the pan. It will be thick! Don't worry about the top looking pretty because we are going to cover it up. Just spread it evenly. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes to set.

Melt the milk chocolate and remove the pan from the fridge. Take a few small spoonfuls of the milk chocolate and using the back of a spoon, spread it evenly over the top of the fudge. 

Immediately cover it with the chopped caramel-filled candies, chocolate chips and chocolate toffee pieces. Take remaining milk chocolate and drizzle it over the top to set some of the loose candy. You can also use any additional sweetened condensed milk that may be left in the bottom of the can and drizzle it over top. Let set in the fridge for 30 minutes or so.

When ready to cut, fill a large cup with hot water. Dip a sharp knife into the water, then blot on a towel. Use knife to cut fudge into your desired size of squares.

Note: the melting can also be done in the microwave. I suggest melting the chocolate first on medium power in 30 second increments, stirring after each time. Once melted, add in remaining ingredients and stir until smooth. (I actually pushed the toppings directly into the top layer, rather than rebel ting and adding another layer of chocolate. Plus, I was running out of chocolate).

[adapted from my mocha coconut fudge]

I halved this recipe, and I still had a lot. Way more than my waistline needed. I kept coming back for more. If you want to try fudge, I definitely recommend trying this! And with that, I'll sign off.

Hang in there. It's almost Friday.