Tag Archives: foodie

Mini basque cheesecake with homemade strawberry topping

During the holiday season, it is sometimes a challenge to stick to a diet when there is so much good food to have. Cheat days are nice, but then I had a thought of what can be done to still make a dish that is enjoyable year round without too much guilt. That’s when I decided to revisit the cheesecakes I’ve made in the past, but this time with less sugar. The basque cheesecake photos i have seen online inspired me to make my own sugar-free varient.

For this recipe you will need the following: cheesecake: 1 block Philadelphia light cream cheese, 1 1/2  cups plain Greek yogurt, 5 1/2 table spoons zero calorie sweetener of your choice, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon of cornstarch and 2 table spoons of vanilla extract all at room temperature. Strawberry spread: 1 pound of strawberries halved and hulled, 1/4 cup zero calorie sweetener, 3 tablespoons of corn starch, 2 tablespoons of water, and a healthy splash of lemon juice.

To start your cheesecake, you will need to preheat your oven to 480. While that’s warming up, start to mix the cream cheese until smooth. Once that happens, mix in your Greek yogurt, vanilla, cornstarch, and sugar and continue stirring. Once incorporated, add one egg and carefully mix into the batter at a time and mix until smooth. I’ve seen these prepared with mini ramekins, but I only had full size available to me as well as a stunning lack of parchment paper, so I had to improvise with lightly greased aluminum foil. Bake for 15 minutes on the top rack and let them chill in the fridge for 3 hours.

No parchment paper? No problem.

While the cheesecakes chill, let’s make our spread. Chop the strawberries into halves (or finer if desired) and set to the side. Add your cornstarch into a small cup and mix with the water to make a slurry to add to the strawberries. Get a small to medium sauce pan and mix in the strawberries, cornstarch slurry, lemon juice, and sweetener over medium heat. Stir and break down the strawberries with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula of your choice. Once mashed down, place the mix under a low simmer for 5 minutes, stirring constantly and remove from the heat as the spread will thicken up as it cools. I stored mine in a mason jar for safe keeping and chill in the fridge with the cheesecake.

Guilt free goodness right there

Once 3 hours have passed with the cheesecake in the fridge, remove them from the foil and onto a place and give it a generous spread of the strawberries.

A little messy getting out the foil

This was an excellent  and guilt free dessert, and with the Greek yogurt, it had a nice little dose of protein hidden in there. The spread can last for a week, and the cheesecakes can last 3 to 4 days. This is a healthy and delicious dessert that you and loved ones can enjoy anytime! Until the next time, dear readers, excelsior!

3 ingredient low calorie  bread

I’ve been bitten by the cooking from scratch bug in recent weeks. There have seen many recipes i have had a want to create over the years and have tried recipes from various regions of the country and a few overseas.  I have decided to take on a challenge in the kitchen of which I’ve never undertaken: making bread. This was a beginner friendly bread that I created using a few simple ingredients: bread flour, rapid rise yeast, and pink hymilayan sea salt.

To start, you will want to heat 1 and a half cups of water on the stove. Next, you will need 3 and a half cups of bread flower to go into a large bowl. Once this has been placed in the bowl, you will need to add a table spoon of rapid rise yeast and half of a tablespoon of pink Himalayan sea salt

Dry ingredients ready to rock and roll

Once the dry ingredients are done the water should be nice and hot. Pour the water into the bowl and mix around until the flour is fully incorporated into the mix and form it into a ball.

I’m having a great time.  A ball if you will

Once this is shaped into a ball, cover it and place it somewhere warm and let it sit for an hour to build up in size. Once that is done put it into a bread pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray and form it into the pan and let it sit for another hour.

Two hours later

Once the hour has passed, put your oven on 450. Once the oven is heated bake the bread for 20 minutes to completion and remove to cool.

Bonus tip: I forgot that scoring the bread helps the bread expand more.

Once the bread has cooled, you will have a nice loaf of low calorie bread. I let a piece of this sit, but this bread lasted me about 5 days before it started to turn. I would recommend eating this right away while it is fresh.

Even without scoring the first time the bread looked great.

This was a wonderful first take on making a new dish. I realized this was rather small but I am looking to make it into larger loafs for the next time. This makes a very good peanut butter sandwich and with no preservatives, it was the most  guilt free pb&j that I have had in a while. Until the next time, dear readers, excelsior!

Benefits of juicing

Recently, I went to a juicery for the first time. I enjoyed the diverse mixes of fruit and veggies and felt the need to get another mixed juice. I then took a look at the price of the juice and asked myself: What if I just did this at home to save myself some money? Fast forward a week, and I purchased this lovely little tool.

And so it begins

Before I begin, there are many reasons why juicing was an appealing method to amd why a juicer was a wonderful investment. The first part is that without extra sugars and preservatives, it is lower in calories, and I can enjoy it guilt free compared to regular store bought fruit juice. Keeping in mind this juice typically should be consumed in 24-48 hours due to the lack of said preservatives. Additionally, this helps more of the nutrients from the fruits and vegetables get into your system more easily than the body needs. During the summer months, this is a refreshing way to keep hydrated . Also, there are good natural additives one can use, such as cinnamon and tumeric, for aid in weight loss and better digestion. And lastly, it’s just fun coming up with different flavors and mixes.

I then began reading up on different juicing combinations and ideas and decided to give it a give it a try. My first juice was an apple, pineapple, and strawberry juice mixed with a little bit of cinnamon for the extra kick.

The Tiki glass really set the tone for me

I then got to brainstorming and looking for inspiration for the next juice. That’s when things got a little…..wild. Early on a Sunday morning, I felt the creative urge to whip something up, and I had the great idea to make another juice. But this time, there was a twist. The first juice was a pineapple, cherry, strawberry juice with cinnamon.

This was insanely sweet

Next, I decided to try vegetables, so I made a green juice with green apple, spinach, cucumber, lemon, and tumeric.

Added a little too much lemon but excellent nonetheless

Once I finished juicing , I realized I had pulp left over. Then my wheels began to turning and I went to the net for different ideas on how to use the pulp. My first creation was adding a little extra frozen fruit to make a smoothie bowl

Can never go wrong with fruit and granola

Once I devoured my smoothie bowl, I wondered what I could do with the veggie pulp. Then, after some digging, I decided to make it into a dip akin to a spinach artichoke dip. A little cottage cheese as a base (and extra protein to boot) and a little cheddar cheese really brought this together.

Before
After

There are many benefits to juicing. This was a wondeful experience for my first few times trying it, and I look forward to trying more combinations in the future. This would be a wonderful tool for anyone’s kitchen and the possibilities for not just juicing but also what can be done with the pulp alone are numerous. Until the next time, dear readers, excelsior!

Easy Peach Cobbler Cinnamon Rolls

It’s been a while since I last shared a dessert recipe. In recent months, I’ve been coming up with various dishes, but a sweet treat is a must with the summer coming up. This is a quick and easy recipe for a tasty dessert combining two of my favorite desserts: peach cobbler and cinnamon rolls.

To make this you will need the following ingredients: 1 package of your favorite 8 count cinnamon rolls, 1 can of peaches ( sliced or whole or fresh to make 15 Oz worth), 1/4 cup heavy cream, 5 tablespoons of butter, 1/2 cup flower, 1/4 cup brown sugar.

First you will need to preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. While the oven is heating measure out 1/4 cup of peach juice and cut up the canned peaches (Alternatively just cut the peaches if they’re fresh) if not already sliced.  Mix this juice with your heavy cream and place the mixture into a greased baking pan.

Secondly, place the cinnamon rolls into the pan with the mixture and top with the sliced peaches. Once this is done, place the butter, brown sugar, and flower into a bowl and mix until combined and crumbly. Once the topping is ready, place atop the rolls evenly.

Thirdly, once assembled, place the cinnamon rolls into the oven for 45 minutes. Once out of the oven, pour the icing that came with the cinnamon rolls and enjoy!

A little messy but not bad for a first time

And there you have it in about an hours time you have tasty cinnamon rolls you can enjoy any time. This was a fun and simple recipe to make, and I highly recommend it if you’re a fan of unique cinnamon rolls. Or just love a good sweet treat once in a while! This recipe makes eight tasty cinnamon rolls perfect for sharing… or not. I hope this summer starts for you well, dear readers. Until the next time, excelsior!

Ending summer on a flavorful note

With back to school season approaching (or in some cases already starting), time is winding up for summer activities. With such limited time, back to school shopping, work, last-minute family vacations, and the like, it’s hard to take a seat and get some things done. In honor of the end of summer, I would like to present a quick, tasty, flavorful, and healthy: quick and easy chicken fajitas!

First, we’ll need chicken breasts (size will vary depending on how many you have to feed, but for this recipe, I used 6 Oz chicken breasts). The chicken breasts must ve sliced butterfly style, after which each half must be cut into strips. Once cut provide a generous seasoning of your choice (for this recipe, I used garlic powder, pepper, Mrs dash seasoning, onion powder, paprika, a little cumin and cayenne pepper) and set aside.

Next, we will want to get our veggies. I used yellow and orange peppers and half of a white onion for this batch. Cut all of the vegetables into strips and sit the vegetables to the side once sliced. After chopping up the vegetables, pour a light coating of vegetable oil into a skillet and cook the vegetables to your desired tenserness and set aside.

After the veggies are done, nexr we cook the chicken strips that were placed aside to soak in their seasoning. Cook the chicken until completely cooked through. Once cooked throughly, add in the veggies and mix well for several seconds and remove from heat. Additionally, you can warm up your tortillas to make them easier to roll up as well.

Once the tortillas are warm, take the veggies and chicken mix and apply a generous portion to the tortilla. Once the tortilla is filled use and topping to add to the mix to complete it (I ueed spinach and tomatoes as well as salsa and sour cream to top it off). Once everything is together you are ready to eat in no time!

This quick and easy recipe is easy for anyone of any skill to cook. This is a fun recipe to get the whole family in and is always a crowd pleasing dish that is also super filling depending on the size of the fajitas! Until the next time dear readers, stay healthy and safe. Excelsior!

A holiday treat idea

The holidays are a wonderful time to spend with family and friends. This is a good time to eat all kinds of delicious dishes and for those who are fitness fanatics a cheat day or three for one’s diet. I have a simple holiday recipe that will be sure to leave a smile on your family’s faces: oreo cheesecake.

I made this once with just normal chocolate oreos but you can substitute with any oreo you want. This time I elected to use chocolate and golden oreos. I will list the ingredients I used: (for filling) 3 large eggs, 2 8 ounce blocks of plain cream cheese, 1 1/2 cup of plain Greek yogurt, 2/3 cup of sugar, 2 teaspoons of lemon juice, 1 table spoon of vanilla extract. (For crust) 1 3/4 cups of Oreos (any kind will do), 5 table spoons of melted butter, 1 tablespoon of sugar.

To start things off you want to make sure that the ingredients are all at room temperature to avoid a lumpy mess. Next, remove the frosting from the oreos and crush them and add the sugar and melted butter and mix. Once mixed bake this in the oven at 350 degrees for 9 minutes.

This was more tedious than it looked

While the crust is baking mix cream cheese, Greek yogurt, vanilla extract and lemon juice, sugar together in a large bowl. Add one egg at a time until the mixture is smooth, be careful to not over mix. (I will also add that I took an extra step and crushed up more oreos to mix into my filling for this so this was a bit of an experiment). By this time the crust should be done so remove from heat and reduce the oven temperature to 325.

It looks gross but it will taste good trust me.

There is an extra optional step depending on if there is topping or not (or depending on how much you care) of adding a one inch layer of water to a roasting pan. This gives your cheesecake a “water bath” to create a steamy environment to bake in to avoid cracking. (This is a step I normally skip because I never had cracking in my cheesecakes but I believe I should have done one this time)

Should have had a water bath

Once the crust is out of the oven, pour the filling into the pan and place into the oven for 45 to 55 minutes or until the filling is set and juggles in the middle like jello. Cut off the oven and Crack the oven door open slightly and let sit for an hour. Take any remaining oreos and break them into crumbles or halves and place over top before chilling for at least 8 hours.

The finished product, should have had a water bath but was delicious nonetheless.

The finished product was pretty good. I suspected I had a hint too much of lemon juice but it was different from my previous cheesecakes and a water bath could have been useful but it was a different take than last time I made cheesecake. It was still devoured by everyone for Thanksgiving so I will take that as a win. Until the next time dear readers, stay safe and healthy this holiday season. Excelsior!

Gone in 60 seconds

Adding a little spice

This month I want to take a brief detour into another personal development skill: cooking. I enjoy it thoroughly and i find it therapeutic to be able to create new dishes in the kitchen. My latest culinary adventure has led me to a nutritious and flavorful low calorie meal: creole shrimp.

For this recipe you will need the following: 1/2 cup of chopped onion, 1/2 cup of chopped green pepper, 4 chopped mushrooms (I had chopped a good two handfuls of pre sliced mushrooms), 1 cup of canned tomatoes, 1/4 teaspoon of oregano, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/8 teaspoon of pepper, 1 pound of shrimp peeled and deveined. Outside of this original combination for the recipe I also added 1 teaspoon of old bay seasoning, 1 teaspoon of Mrs. Dash original blend seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon of paprika. 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes and 1/4 teaspoon of chili powder to spice things up. I also forgot to get bell pepper so I substituted this for asparagus.

To get things started, combine all of the vegetables and spices in a large saucepan. Cook the veggies and spices for 10 minites over medium heat. In the meantime, cook the shrimp over medium heat for the same time with the seasoning blend from above. Once the shrimp has been cooked and the vegetables are nice and tender combine all ingredients in the saucepan and stir. After 5 minites remove the saucepan from the heat and serve!

Soups on!

Cooking is a vital skill all need to keep in their repertoire. This meal is a quick, healthy and nutrient dense meal that is low calorie and it absolutely delicious. Until the next time dear readers, excelsior!