What I ate :: Cookie Bowl & Ice Cream

Those of you who follow me on instagram may have seen a snap of my dessert last Saturday night. Jack and I had my sister over and we got a little ambitious. We started our meal off with savoury waffles topped with steak, peppers, onions mushrooms and a provolone cheese sauce - which we named... wait for it... Philly Cheesesteak Waffles! uh-yeah, we went there. After such an AMAZING meal [which will be posted next week] our dessert had to be equally amazing. Enter, pinterest.

I had pinned the cookie bowl recipe a while back knowing that it was sure to come in and handy - and boy did it ever! The process is as simple as the recipe and even though we tossed in some chocolate bits - weakening the structure of the dough - they still held up beautifully. I think my favourite ingredient for this one was the touch of almond extract which adds an amazing roundness to the whole flavour.

Mixing the dough with your hands is an obvious must if you lean towards the impatient, as I do. This also allows you to feel if the dough is too dry - which mine was. If this is the case just add a tablespoon of milk and then give it another try. I think I added two all said and done.

When it came to rolling out the dough, I placed mine in between two sheets of saran wrap. I was a little nervous my dough was too sticky after the milk and didn't want to deal with the rolling-pin mishaps because of that. I rolled out the dough to approximately an 1/8" - I may suggest you go a little thinner. Although there are no added rising agents in the recipe I'm guessing my flour had some and personally, I prefer a dainty bowl to a sturdy one.

I used the cutter from my Breville Personal Pie Maker to get the 4.5" rounds I needed but I think a larger rimmed bowl would have worked just as well. As we were trying to be good - or at least not full-on gluttons [remember this was proceeded by Philly Cheesesteak Waffles] - we only cut three bowls. We then separated the remaining dough into individual portions and froze it for another time- or to be eaten frozen at midnight, tomato - tomahto.

This part was a little tricky as the chocolate would cause tears in the dough where it folded over the edge of the muffin mold. I just tried to patch it up as best as possible and gently push the edges of the dough in closer so they were resting against the mold and less likely to hang. We used coconut oil to grease the molds.

We baked at 350 for about 13 minutes and then let them cool for 10. We then gently pried them from the pan using a spatula and stuffed them full of ice cream, strawberries and chocolate. I have no regrets. 

   

ingredients below 

 

INGREDIENTS:

2 3/4 cup flour	1 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter	1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 egg	1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

mmmMonday :: Taco Salad

I'm all about the layered salads. There's something about hiding certain ingredients below all the fresh veggies that just makes it so much more exciting to eat. This specific salad is one I ate on repeat during the weeks leading up to our wedding last summer. It has the perfect combination of protein, legumes and fresh veg to keep you healthy, stuffed and satisfied.

MEAT

Although incredibly less photogenic than the other ingredients, the salad just isn't the same without it. We make our own taco-esq spice using powdered chilli, cumin, salt, oregano and chilli flakes. We usually we this as our base and then edit depending on which ingredients we forgot to restock.

To prepare ground beef [we usually use a 1/2 pound for 3 - 4 salads], begin by sauteing diced onions. Add ground beef, taco spice and 1/4 water. Mix together and let beef brown until cooked. Set aside. 

GUACAMOLE

I'm a sucker for a fresh guacamole, especially if I'm going to skip cheese and sour cream. All the ingredients in my guacamole are roughly the same as what I put in my fresh salsa, minus the avocado and times a bunch more tomatoes.

1 avocado 

2 Tbsp diced tomatoes

2 Tbsp diced green peppers

2 Tbsp diced onions

1 clove garlic

1/4 lime

1 Tbsp chopped cilantro

1 tsp chilli flakes

dash of salt and pepper

Mash avocado. Add the rest. Stir. All done!

Whether you're using dried or canned, black beans [or turtle beans] really round out the dish. Once ready, heat a pan with 1 tablespoon oil. Add diced onions and saute. Once softened, add black beans and cook until warm.

Now for the layering. Add black beans to the bottom, top with cooked taco meat and mounds of fresh veggies on top. Finish the dish with a spoon full of salsa and guacamole on top and enjoy! 

Food Friday: Strawberry yogurt bites

This week's food friday is a quick and easy summer snack to cool you down and keep you away from the ice cream*. I first saw this idea on Pinterest [obviously] and knew right then and there that I would be eating them soon - the fact that there were no directions was just a small hurdle to be overcome. 

I mean it's not like you really need directions since the original image is pretty straightforward - dip strawberries in greek yogurt, freeze [for 40 minutes]. That should be it. Directions = done. Problem is, the photo on pinterest makes them look oh-so-perfect and mine turned out a little fugly. 

I did what I could. I used my mini muffin pan to hold them each separately so they didn't freeze together. I used my tea measurement spoon to roll them in the yogurt and then scoop them out for optimal coverage, but they just aren't incased in a round ball of yogurty goodness... it's more like a misshapen lump. Still tasty, but not pretty.

I'm still trying to figure out how to get them pretty. Perhaps the girl has a circular mould that shuts on the top and allows them to maintain that shape... or maybe, she goes into the freezer halfway through the freezing process and rolls them in the palms of her hands. At this point, I have no clue, BUT I will definitely let you know if I figure it out because, I mean, who wants fugly delicious yogurt strawberry balls when they can have pretty ones? Stay tuned...

*Results may vary. This is a day-by-day battle