My Christmas Wishlist, Santa Approved.

1. 42" TV
2. Opi Skyfall Colletion
3. Trip to Paris
4. 2013 Kia Optima

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Ertha Kit- Santa Baby

The 2nd Annual Food Bloggers Cookie Swap!!!!

2nd year participating, How excited I still am from this experience, how can you not enjoy the sense of community; being apart of such a fun activity in cyberspace and the great cookies you send and recieve makes it all worth it.

Thank You so Much Ladies:
( Left: S'more Cookies @failsweetly ; failsweetly.wordpress.com

Center: White Chocolate dipped Pistachio and Key Lime Biscotti @fatgirlhedonist; FatGirlHedonist.com

Right: White Chocolate, Pecan & Cranberry chip cookies @duchessoffork ; duchessoffork.com)

This year, I really pushed myself to create a great cookie, Here, I present to you world and #fbcookieswap particpants.

 

Cashew Choco-Nut Cookies 

Yield = 4 dozen cookies

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup granulated sugar 

3/4 cup brown sugar

 1 cup butter or margarine, softened 

 1egg

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tspn baking soda

1/2 tspn smoked salt 

 1 Tbspn ground ginger 

1 cup coarsely chopped cashews

1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

 2 cups white chocolate chips, or coarsely chopped 

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

INSTRUCTIONS:

Step 1:  Cream butter and sugars, add egg
Step 2:  Sift together the dry ingredients; flour, salt, baking soda, ground ginger
Step 3:  Add chopped cashews, shredded coconut and chocolate
Step 4:  Scoop cookies and place on an ungreased cookie sheet approx. 2 inches apart.

Bake cookies for 6 minutes or until lightly golden brown. (centers of cookies will be should be soft).





The Great Cookie Swap Recipe Round Up ~ part 2

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Nate King Cole - Christmas Song

Glad you asked...

 

Pear Applesauce

I used a sweet pear (Bosc) and a tart, crisp apple ( brauburn)
The best way to eat bruised or forgotten about fruit, make applesauce.
This recipe was very easy, I tested with one arm tied behind my back so easy.

Using 2.5 pounds fruit, cut to a uniform size; large diced or slice. This is will make the cooking process a breeze. To the fruit add a cup of apple juice and 2 T med. brown sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon, cover and let boil over med/low heat. for about 40 mins, or until fruit is fork tender. stirring occasionally. Once fruit has cooked down to the desired consistency; taste and adjust sweet and spice. At this point your pear/applesauce is complete. The final step is to blend mixture to desired texture. You can let mixture cool or proceed with caution, and ladle fruit mixture into food processor and pulse to smooth or slightly chunky texture. 
yield = 4cups

----------------------------

Simple Strawberry Preserves

2 # strawberries cleaned and quartered
3T Orange Juice
1 c white sugar

Combine washed, stemmed and quartered strawberries and sugar in to 4 qt pot, stir until sugar is incorporated. cook mixture over med/low heat. stirring every 10 mins. for about 40mins. Until strawberries have no shape. Careful pulse mixture with an emersion blender. until desired texture is reached, I chose to have a slight chucky texture. Taste preserves to adjust sweetness, stir in orange juice. let cool completely before storing.
Storage options: Canning, or airtight jars in fridge for about a week, or freeze.
yield 4 cups

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Bill Withers- Use Me

As we say Goodbye September and Hello October; I achieved some awesome eats in the meantime...

(Top image: Pear - Applesauce, Bottom Left image: Beef & Broccoli Lo Mein, Tomato soup  and Grilled cheese, Turkey Hash Scramble)

(Top image: Apple Chicken Salad, Bottom Left image: Spicy Spaghetti, Skillet Kale and Rotini, and Quinoa Herb Chicken Caesar Salad)

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Rihanna - Diamonds

Hassleback Potato

2 Russet baking potatoes
Olive Oil
butter
Black pepper
thinly sliced garlic

After washing potatoes, rub potatoes with  olive oil, just to moisten skin. Take a sharp knife, and very carefully cut thin slices about 1/8" thick, along the tops of the potatoes, about two thirds to three quarters of the way down. Be careful not to slice all the way to the bottom. Slide a garlic slice or two into a couple of the slits of each potato. Season potato with pepper, smear potato with butter.
Bake in 350 oven until fork tender.

I really love these potatoes. So easy and toppings are endless.

Decisions, decisions....

Early in the week, after a melt-down over what to make for dinner. Vegan Sloppy Joes happened.
And now what to do with the leftovers...

Genius!

Vegan/Lazy Sloppy Joes

1-2 cups Brown lentils cooked according to package
1 (14 oz) can of Manwich sloppy joe sauce; or make your very own.

After lentils are cooked to perfection, add sloppy joe sauce, heat thru and serve as desired.

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Janet Jackson - Nasty

Cheesecake...
a great segway into the next phase of food for Moi 
As summer comes to a close on the calendar, but not in weather...

Grapefruit Curd Swirl Cheesecake with Gingersnap crust

**Grapefruit Curd I am not a fan of, just wanted to try it, for kicks.

Gingersnap Crust

16oz gingersnap cookies

1/4 c melted butter

** Process cookies in food processor to crumbs, drizzle in melted butter until crumbs are moistened

Cheesecake - 8in square pan

2 pkg.  (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1/2 c  sugar

1/2 tsp.  vanilla

2 eggs

* Cream cheese and sugar in stand mixer until smooth, add eggs one at a time; scrape bowl periodically to ensure all ingredients are incorporated. Pour batter over prepared crust

** Swirl in curd, jam or any topping: I use Grapefruit Curd

*** Bake in a 325 oven for 40 mins or until cake is set.

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Lucy Pearl - Dance Tonight

Easy &Delish!! 

This one needs no intro, look at the picture... 

 

French Bread Pizza ~ 4 servings

You will need; 1 loaf of French Bread or any bread of choice.
Spinach Artichoke dip (recipe below) and grilled veggies:
* red onion
* portobello mushroom
* 1 of ea red & green bell pepper
* 1 bag of fresh spinach
* 2 minced garlic cloves
Olive oil

Spinach Artichoke Dip

 * frozen chopped spinach; thawed

 * 1 jar of marinated artichokes

 * 1 chipotle pepper in adobe sauce

 * lemon juice

 * 8oz cream cheese

 * Parmesan cheese

 * 2T nutritional yeast

 * fresh parsley

 * cracked black pepper

Dip_How2:

1. Combine all ingredients and blend in food processor or blender; process until smooth or desired consistence.
2. Transfer Dip to a ramekin for baking, bake in a 350 oven until bubbly; approx. 10-15mins

Pizza_How2:

1. Quarter bread loaf and drizzle with olive oil. Sandwich bread pieces between two sheet pans, this will make allow bread to toast without burning and shrink in size a little. Broil in oven for 5mins.
2. While bread is toasting, saute red onion, bell peppers and mushrooms together with minced garlic and olive oil, until soft. Set sauteed veggies aside and proceed with spinach.

**TIP: Sauteing veggies in batches makes for a faster cook time and a helps with the layering of veggies in the following steps.


3. Once bread is toasted, set aside to cool enough to handle. Smear spinach artichoke dip on each bread quarter, just enough for an even spread.

4. Begin layering veggies on bread. (Not in this particular order;  have fun building at this point)
[In the image this was the layer sequence]

Sauteed Spinach
red onion
Bell peppers
mushrooms
I added  a few slices of fresh tomato, a dusting of Parmesan cheese, Queso Fresco and cracked black pepper.

Once pizzas are assembled, return to broiler for an additional 5 mins until tomatoes are blistered and cheese melted.

...A simple Spring Salad rounds out this meal.

Spring Salad
2 handfuls torn green leaf lettuce
1/4 sliced cucumber
1/2 avocado
1/2 roma tomato
1 handful carrots
1 handful red grapes
drizzle of bottled sweet balsamic dressing

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Travie McCoy - Back Home

To the beginning of summer's best... cheers!!! (**glasses clanking**)
 

This was a great creation, a peach & cherry galette.
I seem to always get creative when its time to clean out the fridge, so here you have it.

The peaches and cherries were macerated in brown sugar and allspice. While I whipped up a quick whole wheat crust in my Kitchenaid 7-Cup Food Processor.

 

After rolling chilled pie crust to desired diameter, to accommodate the amount of macerated fruit filling, gentle fold dough around filling in a sort of pleated or draping fashion. Finish with a little egg wash and sugar sprinkle over the entire galette, and into the oven she goes.

Bake @ 350 for about 20-25min

 This was so tasty!!!

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The Fresh Prince& DJ Jazzy Jeff - Summertime

     

Hello followers,

Can you hear me??!?!

StylishFOOD is currently under construction, I will be back up shortly. So please be patient with you me. I have alot of posting schedule for release in the coming days. So stay tuned. Its Summer and alot has happened thus far and to come.

Thank you for your patience,
MeganB.

Not a big fan of Cauliflower, I've given myself a challenge each month to add a once neglected veggie to my plate.

So Cauliflower is the star today!
What shall I make with thee?... Mac n' Cheese?... Cauliflower Mash with Mushroom Gravy, perhaps?



Cauliflower Mac n' Cheese

1/2 Large head of cauliflower broken into florets
8oz Penne Pasta
1 (4oz box) silken tofu
7oz colby cheese
2-Tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
1 handful fresh parsley
1-1/2 chipolte pepper in adobo sauce
1 tsp adobo sauce
1/2 roasted red pepper
S&P to taste
2 tsp Dijon Mustard
1/8 red onion
2 cloves minced garlic

Cook pasta according to package. Add C-flower to pasta water during last 4-5mins.
In a food processor blend: parsley, garlic, 1-1/2 chipotle pepper and tsp adobo sauce, roasted red pepper and red onion. Pulse to a fine chop consistency. Add tofu, mustard, 1/2 shredded colby cheese and nutritional yeast flakes. Blend until smooth.
Pour cheese mixture over hot pasta & cauliflower, add additional cheese if desired.
Bake in 350 degree oven until uniformly melted and golden brown.

Cauliflower Mash w/ Mushroom Gravy

After this testing session, I fell in like with cauliflower again. Until the next post. Enjoy!

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Eric Carmen - Hungry Eyes

!!!!...Strawberry Fields Forever...!!!! For as long as I can remember, I have always associated strawberries with Valentine's Day. So to keep the tradition going. Here are some sweet treats...

Strawberry//Banana Smoothie

5-6 large strawberries 2 med banana 1/4 c plain yogurt splash of V-8 fruit juice Wash strawberries, remove stem and leaves, half to make blending easy. Add bananas, yogurt and splash of juice ( in this order). Blend until smooth. Enjoy!!

------------------ Soundtrak of the Day ------------- Maxwell - For Lovers Only

Happy Birthday to Me!!! My favorite cake in the whole world, Sour Cream Pound Cake! #BestBirthdayEver

Recreating my favorite chicken salad. Its a cross between chipotle bowl burrito and el pollo loco tosada salad. My fave chicken salad**( oven roasted chicken breast, green leaf lettuce, avocado, cilantro salsa, carrots, rice and black beans, greek yogurt, montrey/cheddar cheese... Yes in that order!) I will make this again and again...

------------------ Soundtrak of the Day ------------- Stevie Wonder - Happy Birthday

First post of the new year! New year full of new challenges, and aspirations. I have taken on a new challenge to really change my lifestyle as far as eating and working out. So far it has been pure bliss. I am kickboxing my way through 2012... Amazing TUNA salad As a lover of many salads that are not the healthiest. Going along with my healthy lifestyle challenge this year, making small changes for the better. I made this creation. Tuna Salad 2(5oz) cans of albacore tuna in water 1 carrot 2 celery stalks 1/4 red onion 1 T relish handful of parsley dash of coarse black pepper dash of lemon pepper 3 T earth balance mindful mayo with olive oil Drain tuna, combine tuna and mayo in a bowl. In a food processor, pulse carrot, celery, parsley, and onion until desired consistence. Combine pulsed mixture with tuna, season with pepper and lemon pepper. Chill before enjoying!!

------------------ Soundtrak of the Day ------------- Otis Redding - Try a little tenderness