2013 July Archive - Simple Everyday Food

7/24/13 this week in review

Posted by :Amy On : July 24, 2013

Yikes. I went a whole week without making anything worth posting.

Now that I think about it, I don’t even think I made anything substantial in the kitchen since last week. It’s been a bad eating week for me, and I only have a hectic work and school schedule to blame. The first week of school was busy – getting back into the school mentality has been a challenge after a whole 4 weeks of summer off. Five classes, 7-8 big projects due in about 2 months, and a ton of reading to do. It’s only the second week and I’m sooooo behind already!

I promise I’ll be more active in the kitchen this weekend. I already have several things in mind to make, so stay tuned!

1. Because life has been so busy, I’ve been falling behind in my blog reading… my life has literally been revolving around school, work, studying, and trying to get enough sleep in between. I haven’t even really had time to spend time with Bentley or the hubs! I took this snapshot a few days ago. Since then, I did finally get most of my emails read, but my Feedly feed now has more than 360 unread food blog articles! Yikes.

2. I found this link called “21 Reasons Why A Dog Is The Best Investment You Will Ever Make“. A lot of them made me smile. Some made me sad. But it really made me realize how much joy Bentley has brought to our lives in the past 1.5 years :)

3. Have you ever wondered why “scratch paper” is called “scratch” paper? It’s not like we use it to scratch anything. We use it for taking notes, making paper airplanes, and do math calculations… why couldn’t it be called “recycled one-sided paper“? The name seems like it makes a lot more sense to me.

4. We went to a local goat farm yesterday as part of our Large Productions Animal class. Baby goats! They were so cute! We learned how to restrain, do jugular blood draws, and trim hoofs. I’m not a farm girl, but I definitely loved those little buggers.

5. I think I want to make these sometime. They seem simple on paper. And they include my favorite berries… so therefore I consider it a healthy dessert.

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

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7/17/13 this week in review

Posted by :Amy On : July 17, 2013

Category: Life's Randoms

Tags:this week in review

I decided to start this little section called “This Week In Review” that will document life’s random things as well as random thoughts that cross my mind during the week. I figured this can be a way for me to take a break from all the cooking, baking, studying, and working, and still be able to write something lighthearted on here on a regular basis…. so here we go!

1. I’m sure our bank account hates it when I shop at Bed Bath and Beyond. It doesn’t help that we get coupons in the mail all the time – they just have so many fun things in there! I finally broke down and bought a Silpat and a garlic press this past weekend! Woo hoo for new toys!

2. Yes, that was a donut pan you saw in the picture. Who’s excited to make healthier donuts? This girl sure is! My first experiment was making key lime donuts – they turned out to be a success!

3. My second to last quarter started on Monday. Back to wearing scrubs 4-6 days a week. Five classes – I hope I survive!

4. I’m very into iced tea lately. I found these at Kowalski’s a few weeks back and decided to make a quart of it a few nights ago. Although I’m all about being healthy, next time I’m going to be adding a little simple syrup to it. I’m sure that defeats the purpose of tea being good for you, but oh well.

5. Every year we have to do a Hazardous Material (HazMat) training for work – we review how to triage, set up decon tents, and don HazMat suits. I got to do mine today! Today’s main topic was about blast explosions, mass casualties, and radiation exposure. In addition to the 95-degree heat, we got to wear lovely suits that are anything but breathable and play with Geiger counters (did you know Secret deodorant can set it off?!)

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

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baked key lime donuts

Posted by :Amy On : July 14, 2013

Category: Breakfast

Tags:breakfast, donuts, keylime

I’m not sure why I’m so into key limes this summer. Before this June, I’ve never had anything involving key limes in my life. And all of a sudden, I’m making key lime pie bars, and now key lime donuts…

A few days ago, I went to Bed Bath & Beyond and bought myself a donut pan. Does anyone else besides me love that store?? I can probably shop there for hours and come out with hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of kitchen stuff. That store is seriously bad for our bank account.

Okay, back to donuts…

If I can have something sweet for breakfast for the rest of my life, it would probably be donuts.

Or blueberry muffins.

Probably donuts. I looove donuts to a fault, and I’m glad I don’t eat them for breakfast all that often (my favorite is the ones with chocolate glaze and sprinkles on top!) There are a few donut shops around the metro that I’ve been wanting to try for a while. When we were in Seattle last month, we were so busy checking things off of my to-do list that we didn’t have a chance to try out their famous Top Pot Donut Shop. Also, a few years ago, there was a huge donut craze back in Taiwan when Mister Donut opened. There would always be a line of people out their doors and around the corner, just to buy half a dozen of their donuts.

I guess what I’m sayin’ is that people love donuts regardless of where they’re from and how old they are.

Now that I have a donut pan, I can make homemade donuts in the oven that is healthier compared to their fried counterparts. And I can eat half a dozen of them for breakfast without feeling guilty….

baked key lime donuts

2013-07-14 20:40:14

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For the donuts

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
6 ounces plain Greek yogurt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon key lime juice
1 tablespoon lime zest

For the glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup key lime juice
1 cup crushed graham crackers

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease a donut pan and set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, beat the egg, then add in the yogurt, oil, milk, key lime juice and lime zest. Whisk until thoroughly combined. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix.
Transfer the batter to a large Ziploc bag. Cut off the corner and pipe the batter into the donut pan, filling each well about 1/2-2/3 full.
Bake for 10, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the pan and allow to cool completely on a wired cooling rack.
Meanwhile, make the glaze: mix together the powdered sugar and key lime juice. After the donuts have completely cooled, dip the tops of the donuts into the glaze, then dip the donut into the graham cracker crumbs.
Makes 14 donuts

By Simple Everyday Food

Adapted from Taste and Tell Blog

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

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Watch these…

Go from this…

…to this!

These donuts use vegetable oil instead of butter, only has 1/2 cup of sugar, uses Greek yogurt, and has key lime juice in it. All in all, I consider it as a healthy donut. It’s soft and airy, and the Greek yogurt gives it a slightly chewy texture. The crushed graham crackers on top almost reminds you of the graham cracker crust of a key lime pie – it’s like an up-side-down key lime pie in donut form! It’s also super easy to make – I didn’t even use my KitchenAid stand mixer for this – everything is mixable by hand!

Now, what kind of donuts should I make next……

Enjoy!

© 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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rhubarb-lemon ice cubes

Posted by :Amy On : July 11, 2013

Category: Drinks

Tags:drinks

There sure are a whole lot of rhubarb recipes out there lately. I have to admit, I’ve never worked with rhubarb before. I guess I’ve never had the desire to make a whole pan of rhubarb crisp or crumble, simply because my little 5′, 96-lb frame cannot finish a 8×8″ pan of rhubarb crumble myself.

…So this is what I made with rhubarb for the first time ever:

I first encounter with rhubarb was the rhubarb strawberry crisp I had from Good Earth a few years back. That was the day when I decided that I liked rhubarb desserts. The sweetness of the strawberries balanced out the tartness of the rhubarb. The warm crumbles on top contrasted with the cold vanilla ice cream on the side – it was heavenly.

My coworker Shannon has a rhubarb plant in her backyard, and every year during rhubarb season, she would bring a bagful of rhubarb stalks to work for those that are interested to take home. She would set them on the tables in our break room, and within hours, they were all claimed and gone. It’s almost like she’s our department’s sole provider of rhubarb in the summer. Thanks Shannon! :)

Since this summer is all about trying new things, I decided to ask Shannon to bring some extra rhubarb stalks in for me. I got the inspiration for this recipe from Carpe Season’s sparkling rhubarb lemonade – incorporating rhubarb into a summery drink sounded like such a good idea! That way I won’t have to worry about finishing off a whole dessert myself within a few days (not that I haven’t done that before….).

Instead of mixing the rhubarb syrup with the Sprite and adding in the ice cubes, I decided to freeze the rhubarb syrup into ice cubes! If you freeze the syrup into ice cubes and add them to your Sprite, it not only still retains the lemony-rhubarb-fizzy goodness, it also prevents your beverage from being watered down. And any beverage that doesn’t get watered down over time is a win in my book.

rhubarb-lemon ice cubes

2013-07-11 10:24:40

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Ingredients

1-1/4 cup water
1-2/3 cup chopped fresh rhubarb
1/4 cup sugar
1-2" strip lemon peel
A handful of mint leaves
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 liter bottle of Sprite, more or less depending on how much you want

Instructions

In a small saucepan, combine the water, rhubarb, sugar, lemon peel, and mint leaves. Bring to a boil, them cover and simmer for an additional 20-30 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
Using a strainer, strain the rhubarb mixture over a medium bowl - I used a Pyrex measuring cup with a pour spout to make it easier for my next step. Discard the solids and stir in the lemon juice.
Pour the rhubarb/lemon mixture into an ice cube tray. Freeze until solid, about 3-4 hours.
When ready to serve, place a few ice cubes in a glass and top it off with Sprite. Garnish with a few extra mint leaves, if desired.

Notes

The rhubarb/lemon mixture turns out to yield about 1-1/3 cup and filled about 12 ice cube wells in our tray.

By Simple Everyday Food

Adapted from Carpe Season

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

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This drink sure hits the spot on a hot summer day! I had to quick shoot these photos before a showing on our house, placed them in the fridge and took Bentley to the dog park. After we came back from the hot summer sun, I downed both glasses within an hour… oops.

Too bad Bentley couldn’t have any – he looked like he could’ve used something nice and cold and refreshing after playing in the sun for an hour…

Enjoy!

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happy 4th of july!!

Posted by :Amy On : July 4, 2013

Category: Life's Randoms

Tags:holidays

First things first:

(photo source)

I must say, 4th of July is perhaps one of my favorite holidays (right behind Thanksgiving and Christmas). We don’t nearly anticipate it as much as our winter holidays – stores don’t hype it up as much as Thanksgiving or Christmas, and everyone is usually too busy enjoying the summer… next thing you know, it’s 4th of July and it’s time to celebrate.

I like to think 4th of July as a laid-back, summer version of Thanksgiving: friends and family get together, there’s food and lots of fun involved, but it lacks the formality (and stress) of those winter holidays. The days are long, the sun is hot, the nighttime skies are decorated by colorful fireworks, there’s no snow on the ground, there’s none of the hype of holidays (no letdown if things don’t turn out as well as anticipated), and there’s no stress of having to make the perfect meal, nor the stress of gift shopping for 50 different family members.

The hubs and I have been lucky enough to have the past two 4th of July’s off together. That’s the downfall when it comes to working in healthcare – a lot of times you have to spend the holidays working and taking care of other people rather than spending time with your own family.

Since this is the only holiday we’re going to be able to spend together for the rest of the year (soooo lame!), we figured we would go all out and have a good ole time, even if it’s just the two of us and our two furry babies.

Bentley showed off his holiday spirit today.

I made some red white & blue cupcakes yesterday and they turned out wonderful! They might’ve been the best cupcakes I’ve ever made. The cake was spongy, fluffy, and moist, and the frosting was smooth and velvety – they were amazingly delicious!

I also attempted to make some red white and blue pinwheel cookies, inspired by Just A Taste. I couldn’t get the colors to be as vibrant as hers, and although it didn’t turn out as pretty either, the final product actually looked a lot better than I was expecting (I really wasn’t expecting it to turn out at all). Oh well, more room for improvement next time!

The hubs slaved away over our grill for 6 hours to make these Kansas City style ribs – it was his first time using a little smoke box for applewood chips, and they turned out pretty good! We were in a hurry to devour these that this was the only picture I was able to get…