dinner and dash: couscous with veggies!

Simple. Fast. Delicious.


Did I mention it only took five minutes to make?

I actually feel dumb posting the recipe, but here you are...

1/2 cup dry whole wheat couscous

(Boil water. Take pot off hot eye. Pour in dry couscous. Stir and fluff for a few minutes till it's all soaked up.)

3/4 cup veggies (little corn cobs, carrots, peppers, onions, whatever)

Sautee. Add couscous. Stir until all moisture's gone.

Oh, and add salt or your choice of seasoning. 

Eat.

Pat yourself on the back for eating healthy food like a good girl instead of going with your friends to have fried chicken and the best fries in Nashville at McDougal's. 

You just saved $8 and a guilty meal.

darkest chocolate crepe cake... oh my martha.

Oh my Martha! She's done it again.
And what better to showcase a culinary piece of excellence than a CREPE CAKE on Sweetstacks Crepery?!?!

Martha's Darkest Chocolate Crepe Cake

Tell me you aren't freaking out right now.

I sense a possible V day experiment... ;)

new substitution on the crepe front!

Everyone who reads this or ever has should know I have a healthy addiction to crepes. I fill them with nutella, raspberries, Cool Whip, peach butter, and beyond. I mix them with oats, drizzle them with chocolate syrup, stick a scoop of ice cream atop of them... I don't think there is a way I DON'T like to serve them! 


I took a hiatus from making crepes for a couple months (you CAN get burned out, believe it or not), but they have come back with a vengeance and a new variation!


Wait for it.... wait for it...

OAT BRAN CREPES! I think you can pretty much substitute it for anything that calls for any type of flour. I want to make oat bran cakes, oat bran cookies... you get the point. I don't know how everything else will turn out, but the oat bran crepes? Phenom.

Here's the newfangled recipe I used:

1/4 c natural toasted oat bran

1/4 c almond milk (unsweetened)

1 tbsp egg whites

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp honey

Mix. Spread on skillet. Cook until combined and slightly browned. Flip and repeat.

Serve with natural almond butter, peanut butter, nutella, or whatever you fancy!

Yes, even ice cream. :)

avocado toast

Yum yummm. I just had the most delicious, satisfying lunch of my life.


Avocado + Wheat bread + Sprinkling of Garlic Salt = Heaven on a Plate.

I got my massive avocado and a petite wheat loaf at Harris Teeter. So so so good.

"hot mess" cupcakes

So, Father notoriously despises cupcakes. He likes cake, but not cupcakes. I figure it's the ratio of frosting to cake (and the placement). Well, turns out, there is a cupcake that can win over his heart!

Franklin bakery Iveycake makes a chocolate ganache cupcake called "Hot Mess." It's a moist cake with cream cheese frosting (piped into a huge mound) and then dipped in chocolate ganache.

Mom and I brought him back one (after we enjoyed one ourselves!) Thursday after our annual Franklin holiday outing.  And sure enough, he loved it!

It was my duty today to recreate the "Hot Mess." While it's not the same, I think it's pretty awesome!

For the Cupcakes:


6 tbsp unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp vanilla extract
5 tbsp of Dutch cocoa powder
3/4 cup water
1 1/3 cups self-rising flour


Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Line 20 cups in a muffin tin. Cream butter and sugar, until well mixed (about 2-3 mins). Add eggs one by one until incorporated. Add vanilla extract and then add cocoa powder one tablespoon at a time. Add water and flour; mix to smooth consistency. Bake 15 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Let cool.

For the cream cheese frosting:


8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Place cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl. Using a rubber spatula, soften cream cheese. Gradually add butter, and continue beating until smooth and well blended. Sift in confectioners' sugar, and continue beating until smooth. Add vanilla, and stir to combine.

For the ganache:


8 ounces good-quality bittersweet chocolate
¾ cup heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp butter, at room temperature


Melt chocolate and cream in a heavy saucepan. Add butter, stir until smooth.


Frost cupcakes, then spoon ganache over them. Enjoy!