I'm Moving this Blog....

Sorry for the short notice... but we are moving this blog. I have two blogs right now and it is time to combine them into one! So I am starting a new blog called Love Big, Bake Often! So you can reach me here at http://lovebigbakeoften.blogspot.com. I will send out msgs to everyone to adjust their blogrolls to find me here!
Thanks for your patience as I get the new blog rolling.

Tania
Love Big, Bake Often

Tuesdays with Dorie

Ok, so a little disappointing, but I cannot seem to get my camera to work with my new lap top to download pictures for my first TWD baking. Today's recipe was the Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes. YUM!! The recipe was very straight forward, the house smells wonderfully chocolatey. I am going to decorate them for Halloween and take them to Jakob's school on Thursday. I made up some cream cheese frosting - since it does go with everything and there will soon be many mummies in my kitchen! I think I am really going to enjoy participating in Tuesdays with Dorie. I always have all kinds of baking ideas going around my head and I think that having someone else make the decision for me once a week is going to be a relief. Silly eh?

Anyway... Next week I promise to have figured out how to get the pictures to work on my new laptop - not really sure why it wouldn't read my card. hmmmmm....

Watch for more recipes from TWD, every tuesday!! Thanks for letting me participate!

Tania
Love Big, Bake Often

Fixation Friday

Ok, So I am actually "stealing" this idea from another blogger (AbbySweets.blogspot.com). My fixation when it comes to food has always been chocolate. Any kind of chocolate. I love it. In all it's glorious forms. So I have decided that every Friday I will either bake with chocolate, or try a new chocolate treat. Sounds yummy, eh? Today I baked some old fashioned Toll House Cookies. I had a playdate with some friends and little T always looks for cookies when she sees me coming, and I hate to disappoint her. My time was a bit limited this morning, therefore I went with an old standby recipe - the one on the back of the bag of chocolate chips! Lame, I know, but I didn't have the time to look up anything else, and I had a half bag of milk chocolate chips left over. I am also going to try to find better chocolate ingredients. I brought a tin of really yummy cocoa home with me from Toronto, and I would like to find some more. I could always order it online, but I love to touch and ponder before I purchase. I love to smell things before I purchase them, even if it's a perfectly wrapped chocolate bar and there is no way I can actually physically smell it. I like to thnk I can. It makes me happy.
So tune in on Fridays for Fun, Fabulous, Fragrant, Phenomenal Fixations.

Tania
Love Big, Bake Often

I'm Back!

It has been a very long time, but I am back online and anxious to get going. Stay tuned for more recipes and life tidbits as the days go by. Lots to report - lots of recipes tried and lots more to try.
Thanks for your patience!

Love big, Bake often
Tania

Veggie Brownies

I am going to post this on both my blogs – this one is good for baking and for mommies!

Brownies made with veggies! I will admit that as I am typing this I have not tried them. But wow, do they ever smell yummy. I can’t wait to try them, and usually I would be digging into them as they were still warm, but the recipe says that they need to be completely cooled before the spinach taste dissipates. So the taste testing part will have to wait. But in the meantime here is the recipe for those interested. I got it from “Deceptively Delicious” cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld. I have been reading it again and am on a mission to make more good for you dishes for my family. I had purchased a “log” of chocolate chip cookie dough to make with Jakob last week. I realized that it was still in the fridge yesterday and thought to myself “oh no, I had better make these soon”, and much to my disgust I read that the expiration date wasn’t til the middle of SEPT!!! So it got me thinking about all the preservatives in food. I have promised myself and my boys (all three of them) that I will do my best to make as many things fresh and from scratch that I can. I am going to see how much more organic products we can afford to switch to when grocery shopping. I already do a little bit of organic purchases, but there is a lot more that I could do for us. And I really do have more time to make more homemade meals – I just have to get myself more organized and plan ahead. But that is a whole other blog. So let’s get back to the recipe:

Brownies

3 ounces semi sweet chocolate
½ cup carrot puree
½ cup spinach puree
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tbsp trans fat-free soft tub margarine spread
2 tsp vanilla
2 large egg whites
¾ cup all purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Coat an 8x8 baking pan with cooking spray.
2. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or over a very low flame.
3. In a large bowl, combine the melted chocolate, vegetable purees, sugar, cocoa powder, margarine, and vanilla, and whisk until smooth and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes.
4. Whisk in egg whites. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt with a wooden spoon.
5. Pour the batter into the pan and bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely in the pan before cutting into 12 bars.

Remember – leave them to cool completely before eating. The cool info about these is that each brownie only has 133 calories and each has a whopping 3 grams of fiber! And each is packed with antioxidants! Cool, eh?
So that is my tasty, healthy treat for my family.

Love Big, Bake Often

Banana Bread

Banana Bread

I am excited about a new recipe that I have “acquired”. My great friend Janine has given me her Meme’s family recipe for banana bread. It is such a simple recipe, very, very easy to make, and super duper yummy. I am looking forward to expanding this recipe – adding a little spice, chocolate, maybe nuts, and possibly a frosting of some sort. I need to try it in a square pan rather than a loaf and see if it keeps its moistness. Moistness – is that really a word? Sounds weird to me. But anyway… I didn’t take any pictures this time. Jake and I were in a hurry to make it so that we could gobble it up. We each ate quite a big piece. It’s hard to resist. I had to wrap it up and put it out of sight so that I wouldn’t eat the whole loaf. I am suffering from so brutal PMS and just want to binge on everything. I hate this time of the month. Throws my healthy attempts right out the window.
Ok, back to the recipe. I don’t think Janine would mind me sharing. I will be sure to ask her and if she does I will take this down right away.

Banana Bread
Makes one loaf, or two small loaves

1 cup sugar
1 stick butter
2 eggs
2 cups flour
4 ripe bananas
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt

Soften butter. Mix in eggs and add sugar. Mix until fluffy. Add flour ½ cup at a time, fully incorporating after each addition. Add baking soda and salt to the last ½ cup of flour. (not in original recipe but I find it ensures the baking soda is evenly distributed) Mash bananas and add to mixture. Mix well.

Grease loaf pan(s) and dust with flour.

Bake in a preheated oven for 70 minutes (approx). or 40 minutes for 2 small loaf pans.

This is a great banana bread recipe. I just love it. It doesn’t last long in my house. I imagine it will be gone by the end of day tomorrow.

Thank you Janine for sharing. Thank you Janine’s Meme for passing it down.

And I look forward to making this banana bread for my boys over and over again. We always have bananas in the freezer. Jake seems to go through phases of his love for bananas. Some days he eats two or three, or goes days without wanting one. So when Jake decides he wants to bake, chances are there will be banana bread to be made.

Love Big, Bake Often

Sidebar on Raspberry Ricotta Cupcakes

Ok, mental note to self - don't bake in cupcake liners! The paper sticks alot and right now Jakob is digesting a little bit of paper!

That might be why quirky cupcakes photos are of them baked without liners and there is no mention of liners in her blog! Hmmmmmm......

Oh, well. Live and learn.

Love Big, Bake Often.