2013 August Archive - Simple Everyday Food

soft and chewy coconut lime sugar cookies

Posted by :Amy On : August 31, 2013

Category: Desserts

Tags:coconut, cookies, dessert, lime

I’ve been on a real huge “lime” kick this summer. I’ve been adding it in drinks…

In main dishes…

In appetizers…

…And in an assortment of baked goods such as bars…

(okay, these are key lime pie bars, but still close enough to “limes”)

Donuts…

And now… cookies!

I’m a big fan of coconut and coconut flavored anything, so even though the recipe says to toast 1/2 cup of shredded coconut, I “accidentally” spilled a little bit more onto the baking sheet…. oops :)

If you’ve never toasted coconut before, you really have to stand right by the oven to keep an eye on it. It was my first time toasting coconut – I set the timer for 5 minutes, and when I peaked at it after 2-2.5 minutes, they were already brown and on the way to being burnt! The second time I only had them in there for 1.5 minutes and they turned out way better.

Before you put the cookie dough balls into the oven, slightly press the dough balls down with a few fingers to flatten them out a bit. This allows the cookie to spread out a bit more as they cook in the oven, resulting in a nice round flat cookie complete with little crinkles and cracks on the top :)

soft and chewy coconut lime sugar cookies

2013-08-24 20:56:37

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Ingredients

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1 ½ cups white sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Zest of one large lime
3 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
½~1 cup sugar for rolling cookies

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
First, toast your coconut. Place the shredded coconut on a baking sheet. Spread it out as much as possible. Place in oven and toast for 1-2 minutes, keeping an eye on it the entire time - they can burn fast! Once done, remove from oven and let cool.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
In an electric mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar on medium~medium high until smooth and fluffy. Add in the egg, vanilla extract, lime zest, and lime juice. Mix well.
Slowly add in the flour mixture and toasted coconut while mixing under medium speed until everything is thoroughly combined.
Drop tablespoon sized dough balls into the sugar and place onto the baking sheet, about 1.5" apart. Gently press the dough balls down with your fingers so they're slightly flat. Bake for 8-9 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on cookie sheet for 2-3 minutes, then remove cookies onto wired cooling rack and cool completely.
Makes about 4 dozen.

By Simple Everyday Food

Adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything

Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/

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These cookies are light, chewy, soft, with a hint of lime and coconut – it’s “summer” in a cookie! The coconut flavor isn’t super pronounced, but as you chew on every bite, you get hints of coconut with the shredded coconut flakes inside. If you really want the coconut flavor to pop, adding a few drops of coconut extract wouldn’t hurt either. The lime zest gives it a slight tart flavor which really balances out the sugar cookie itself. Nothing is too sweet, too overpowering. It’s a delicate balance in flavors.

I even had a little visitor during my photoshoot :)

Even Brian, who complained I didn’t make something “more traditional” (a.k.a. peanut butter cookies), ended up having at least 5 or 6 as they sat on the counter to cool. I don’t think he was as disappointed with my choice of cookie in the end… he even admitted that they were pretty good, even though I was secretly hoping he wouldn’t like it so I could have all of it! Mwahahaha!

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything

© Simple Everyday Food. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use any of my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or kindly link back to this post for the recipe.

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8/29/13 2013 minnesota state fair

Posted by :Amy On : August 29, 2013

Category: Life's Randoms

Tags:others on the side

Warning: lots and lots of pictures ahead!

Today we had our annual visit to the Minnesota State Fair! When we go to the Fair, I don’t buy any merchandise. I don’t go look at the exhibits. I don’t even go look at all the cute animals. My goal for the Fair has always been eating, and eating only.

I’ve been waiting for this day the entire month of August, so much so that not only did we buy our discounted tickets (and our Blue Ribbon Book) from work a few months ago, I also made a list of foods I wanted to eat this year.

Now this isn’t your ordinary list, you guys. First I went on the official State Fair website and scrolled through the entire list of food vendors. I found all the foods I would like to try and added them to my list, and I wrote down their location. Lastly, they’re also organized in roughly three categories: new foods this year I’d like to try, our regulars, and those in the Blue Ribbon Book I want to have, complete with their corresponding coupon number. And if that’s not OCD enough, I typed it up on Microsoft Word… and the list ended up to be an entire page long. #NerdAlert!

Here’s a complete list (with pictures) of things we’ve had today.

We started out with the portobello mushroom bites from Minnesota Wine Country

And just like every other year, we got some cheese curds from the Mouse Trap in the Food Building

I tried out this year’s new food – Comet corn from the Blue Moon Dine-In Theater. These are basically caramel corn made with liquid nitrogen. They were good – super crunchy and fun to eat. The liquid nitrogen smoke just makes it that much cooler.

Walleye cakes from Giggle’s Campfire Grill were also on the agenda. Walleye, smoked salmon, wild rice with dipping sauce. Yum.

Jalapeno cheese corn dogs, another new Fair food this year. I was pleasantly surprised at how good these were. It’s a jalapeno and cheese infused corn dog dipped in spicy batter, served with sliced jalapenos and cheese sauce. It wasn’t too spicy, but had enough of a noticeable kick to make it tastier than a regular corn dog. I probably could’ve went back for another one. I’m glad I didn’t though.

It was a hot day and all I wanted was ice cream…. we started out with an orange creamsicle float that was uhhhhmazing!

Then some sweet corn ice cream that I had to have again this year…

…and we ended the day with some more ice cream! Izzy’s, an ice cream place owned and operated locally, came out with a new flavor this year for the fair – mini donut batter ice cream!

Mini donut chunks + cinnamon + ice cream. Oh. My. Gah! Hands down, best ice cream at the Fair. I’d like a whole pint of that to-go, please.

I think I’ve had enough ice cream to last me a while though.

I wasn’t brave enough to try these though. I’ve never had Spam before, and Spam curds just don’t sound all that appetizing at the time. Maybe next year…

Not only did we eat new foods this year, we also did something we’ve never done before at the Fair – we sat in the audience in the Kare 11 Barn during the 5 p.m. news!

Julie Nelson and Randy Shaver – two of my favorites!

And I got to meet the cardboard version of Sven!

When we came home and watched the news, we spotted ourselves in the audience.

Yep, I sure looked pretty embarrassed in that last frame. Maybe going to the Kare Barn to sit through a live recording wasn’t such a good idea after all……

So I ended up not eating everything on my list, but maybe that’s better for our wallets and my body. I’m pretty sure I could’ve crossed off a few more things if we had stayed another couple hours more. I’m already looking forward to next year’s State Fair! I wonder what kind of new foods they’re going to create…… :)

© Simple Everyday Food. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use any of my images without prior permission.

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8/28/13 this week in review

Posted by :Amy On : August 28, 2013

Category: Life's Randoms

Tags:this week in review

1. You probably won’t believe me when I tell you this, but this past weekend, I had my very first experience with self-serve frozen yogurt. I know – I’m 27 years old and never been to places like Red Mango or Cherry Berry before – I’m sheltered. Anyway, that’s beside the point. I went to a local fro-yo shop called Free Style and absolutely looooved it! There were about a dozen different flavors to choose from, and don’t even get me started on the gazillion different toppings they had! I think one of my favorites was the cake battered one. Yep, we found our new favorite after-dinner dessert joint.

2. Remember a few posts back I mentioned about the different items different McDonald’s around the world has on their menu? (the post can be read here) Well, apparently not only Canadian McDonald’s has the iced chai frappe, they also have the McLobster! Has anyone had them before? What did you think of it?

(photo source)

3. A few days ago I discovered our local Caribou Coffee came out with their pumpkin drinks already…. whaaaat?! It’s still August. August means summer, NOT fall. Pumpkins are for the fall, and therefore should not be allowed when it’s still 100 degrees and sunny outside. It’s like a competition between all the large chain coffee shops to see who can bring out their fall drinks out first. Don’t get me wrong – I like my pumpkin coffee, but I’m not ready for fall yet! I’m still clinging on to every moment of summer.

Well, since the drinks are out, I couldn’t say no to $2.50/large drink promotion they had going on today. Even though I wasn’t happy that it’s a sign that summer’s winding down, I unwillingly dragged myself there and they had to twist my hand to make me order a pumpkin spiced iced chai. Ha! Who am I kidding – I ran there as fast as I could after I got back from class :)

4. Our equine class got a special behind-the-scenes tour at our local horse racing track this morning! I’ve never been to a horse race before, but it was cool getting to see the trainers and jockeys with their horses doing a bunch of different training exercises. My favorite part was seeing the horses in the training/rehab pool! Definitely a cool experience considering these parts aren’t open to the public to tour.

5. About 3.5 months ago, I was diagnosed with de Quervain’s tendinitis in my wrist that I sustained from repetitive motions from work. I had to wear a wrist brace this summer for 3 months, had hand therapy sessions, tried iontophoresis, and ended up with a cortisone injection which promptly resolved the issue three days later. You really don’t realize how important your opposable thumb is until you can’t use it anymore. It was painful to hold a pen to write, to put my hair up, to button up pants, to hold a knife, to wash my back, and to do little everyday things. I had to modify how I did a lot of things because of it. Now that I’m finally pain-free after 3.5 months, I’m finding myself trying to adjust to the thumb I can finally now use. I still find myself still holding the steering wheel how I did 3 months ago, and just the other day, I texted with two thumbs for the first time in 3.5 months – it felt weird and unnatural.

Moral of the story: keep your body healthy and don’t take anything for granted.

© Simple Everyday Food. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use any of my images without prior permission.

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mini taco cups

Posted by :Amy On : August 27, 2013

Category: Appetizers/Munchies

Tags:appetizer, mexican, tacos

Well, fall is just around the corner… and you know what fall means?

No, not apples and cinnamon. Not pumpkin pie. Not hot apple cider, Halloween, or falling leaves.

In our household, fall = football. And football = Minnesota Vikings. Brian is a die-hard Vikings fan (Skol Vikings!), so during football season, weekend plans around our house usually revolves around when the Vikings play.

And we all know the best part of watching football is the game food that goes with it. Half the time when I’m watching the game, I’m more interested in what I’m eating or what I’m eating next. That’s why this football season, I’m going to try to make an effort to make some simple finger foods/game day foods on Sundays, so be sure to check back every so often this football season! That way you’ll have ideas on what to make next time when it’s your turn to host football Sunday – I’m sure your guests will be impressed!

Even though it’s only preseason doesn’t mean you can’t have yummy game day foods! Let’s start the season out right with some super easy mini taco cups – they’re small, bite-sized, transportable, delicious, and toppings are optional (but highly recommended).

And who doesn’t like tacos anyway? These are your everyday tacos shrunk into a small miniature size. They might be tiny, but they sure don’t lack in flavor!

You use wonton wrappers, place them into mini muffin tin wells and shape them into a cup. Spoon taco meat mixture into cup and top with shredded cheese.

Bake for 8 minutes, and wa-la! Happiness in a bite.

If you want, you can even have a variety of topping choices on the sides for people to dress up their taco cups – tomatoes, green onions, diced onions, sour cream….

mini taco cups

2013-08-24 19:58:49

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Ingredients

One 12-oz package of wonton wrappers
1 pound ground turkey
1 package 40% less sodium taco seasoning
1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese (you probably won't use all of it)
A variety of toppings (tomatoes, onions, green onions, sour cream, etc), if desired

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Brown the ground turkey in a large skillet. Drain the fat, and then season the meat with the taco seasoning according to package directions.
Using a mini muffin tin, line the wells with wonton wrappers, so the wrappers are shaped into little cups inside the wells. Spoon the taco meat into each cup, about 1/2-2/3 full. Sprinkle the tops with cheese.
Bake for 8 minutes, or until wrappers are slightly turning brown.
Serve with additional toppings, if desired.
Makes about 30 cups

By Simple Everyday Food

Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/

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Because these are so tiny, you really don’t realize how many you’ve had until you go back to the pan and realize that there’s only 4 mini cups left (this is totally from personal experience!). But hey, it’s made with ground turkey and reduced-sodium taco seasoning, so that totally cancels out eating more of it, right?

Enjoy!

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orange creamsicle puppy chow

Posted by :Amy On : August 24, 2013

Category: Appetizers/Munchies

Tags:creamsicle, munchies, no bake, puppy chow

Puppy chow.

I remember the first time I heard of those two words about 10 years ago, I thought it was something the dogs ate. Well, I guess it could’ve been considering there is a brand of dog food out there named Puppy Chow.

I remember when my friend gave me a bag of peanut butter chocolate puppy chow she made, I smiled and said thank you, but wondered deep down inside why she made food for a dog and gave it to me to try… reluctantly, I popped one in my mouth and fell in love.

“These things are called puppy chow?” Now I’ve learned some people call them Muddy Buddies. Either way, both names still make no sense to me whatsoever. It doesn’t look like any dog food I’ve ever seen, and I don’t even see the relation between these little yummy squares and being “muddy”.

I guess what it’s called doesn’t really doesn’t matter. What matters is that there’s a gazillion different ways you can make these and the possibilities are endless… and they’re delicious!

I’ve always stuck to the traditional peanut butter and chocolate combo, so today I decided to try something new. Something fruity, sweet, and doesn’t involve chocolate. These babies are bursting with orange flavors! It doesn’t require artificial food coloring or artificial flavors – they’re 100% made out of real oranges and are a refreshing change to the traditional flavor combos.

orange creamsicle puppy chow

2013-08-09 10:15:40

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Ingredients

1 box Rice Chex cereal
16 oz vanilla coating
2 tablespoons orange zest
2 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

Place the cereal in a large bowl.
Melt the vanilla coating using a double boiler. Once it's completed melted, pour immediately over the cereal. Stir to make sure cereal is evenly coated with the vanilla mixture. Sprinkle the orange zest over the cereal. Mix some more.
Add in the powdered sugar to the cereal. Stir to combine, making sure all surfaces are coated with sugar. Add more sugar if needed.
Makes approximately 9 cups.

Notes

Another common method is to add the cereal in a large Ziploc bag and mix everything else in that way. It is an easier way to get all the cereal coated with the powdered sugar.

By Simple Everyday Food

Adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything

Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/

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Is there anything that beats something sweet, yummy, and easy to make? I think not! I think from start to finish, these took me less than 30 minutes. I’m all about being efficient and nowadays. It does turn out to be quite a lot of puppy chow in the end, so either pack some in Ziploc bags and give to your friends, or store them in an airtight container and save for yourself!

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything

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