Category: Food & Cooking

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Picnic Treat

We always called it camping cake and for as long as I can remember, it was a part of Sunday fishing trips.

Not sure whose recipe it was, but this date rich cake, topped with walnuts and chocolate chips, is the perfect sheet cake for summer outings.

The start of summer seemed like a good time to pull out the recipe along with the green cookie bowl … nostalgia for Schommer kids. In case you’re one of the unlucky few who don’t have the recipe, it’s included at the end of the post.

The recipe uses dates to sweeten the cake. This also means the cake stays moist for much longer. When you include the ‘frosting,’ nuts and chocolate chips. this is really the perfect summer picnic treat.

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Camping Cake

Sheet cake that is perfect for picnic baskets

Ingredients

  • 1 cup chopped dates
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup shortening
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 ¾ cup flour
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa
  • 10 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup walnuts coarsely chopped

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9 x 13 cake pan.
  • Mix together dates, boiling water and soda, set aside.
  • Cream shortening with sugar and then add eggs.
  • Sift together flour and cocoa, blend all ingredients together and spread evenly in cake pan.
  • Top with walnuts and chocolate chips.
  • Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
  • Allow to cool, then cut into 2 inch squares. Cake keeps well in closed container for 4 or 5 days, but also freezes well.
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Almond Cake with berries

Just in time for summer berry season, this recipe has everything I love about cake. It is light, fluffy and moist,  making it a wonderful canvas for fresh, seasonal fruit. Better yet, it is relatively guilt-free. Having only 140 calories and 15 grams of carbohydrates per slice.

I was excited to try out my new Charlotte baking pan, which features a ladyfinger-style rim. And sure enough, the center indentation holds the fruit beautifully.

The addition of a baked in dusting of sugar in the center, gives this cake a light, crispy topping that is delicious. Love it!

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Almond Cake with berries

Tender, fluffy cake topped with fresh fruit. Gluten free and low carbohydrates.
Servings: 12 servings

Ingredients

  • 4 eggs, separated
  • 1/2 cup sugar, divided into 1/4 cups
  • 2 tbsps sugar, for dustiing bottom of baking pan
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cups almond flour
  • 1 tbsp coconut flour You can replace coconut flour with 1/4 cup almond flour.
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2-2 cups berries, for topping

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8 inch round pan with butter or coconut oil. Make sure to cover up the sides. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the sugar into the bottom of the pan.
  • Beat together eggs yolks, 1/4 cup sugar, and the vanilla, until smooth.
  • Using a stand mixer, whip the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Slowly beat in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Set aside.
  • Whisk together the dry ingredients (flours, baking powder and salt), and add to the egg yolks. Stir to form a thick dough.
  • Fold in the egg whites, 1/2 cup at a time, incorporating them fully between each addition. The final addition should result in a smooth, fluffy batter.
  • Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake on the center rack for 30 to 35 minutes, until it's golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  • Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Turn the cake out onto a serving plate.
  • Allow cake to cool before topping with sliced berries, or fruit of your choice.
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Banana Sushi

We’ve been working with almond flour in muffins and cookies as a means of reducing carbohydrates. JQ landed on this recipe … OK, this might not be the “healthiest” snack… but not the worst either.

You can use any nut butter. We chose peanut butter as the underlayer. We microwaved chocolate chips to make melting the chocolate easier. Slowly heating the chocolate while stirring puts it into temper, giving it a shiny appearance. We used milk chocolate, but I think that a quality semi-sweet would be really good.

Frozen bites of chocolate enrobed banana pieces are a treat on a summer day and hopefully, a bit of a healthy one at that.

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Banana Sushi

A fun, healthy snack which is quick and easy to make.
Course: Snack
Servings: 2

Ingredients

  • 2 bananas
  • 4 tbsp peanut butter or nut butter of your choice
  • 1/3 cup chocolate chips
  • 1 handful wooden skewers
  • 3 tbsp topping of your choice (chopped nuts, toasted coconut, crushed cereal, seeds)

Instructions

  • Peel bananas. For easier handling, cut bananas into smaller chunks and thread with wooden skewers.
  • Coat with nut butter and chill in freezer for a couple of minutes.
  • Heat chocolate chips in microwave at 50% for 2 1/2 minutes. Check and stir every :30 seconds until melted.
  • Spread melted chocolate over the top of nut butter coating.
  • Sprinkle or roll coated bananas on all sides with topping of choice (i.e. toasted coconut, seeds, crushed granola, nuts. In this case we used pistacios.
  • Slice and enjoy.
  • This snack can be stored in the refrigerator or we love it frozen. Freeze for a quick, frozen snack.

 

 

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Another Cooking Tip

It is summertime and we are thinking about making potato salad.

But wait, don’t boil the eggs in with the potatoes. I’ve discovered a method for perfect hard cooked eggs that are also easy to peel. No more pock-marked whites.

Start with about an inch of water in a sauce pan, sized to hold a steamer basket with the lid on. Bring the water to a boil, add the steamer basket with half a dozen eggs (works best with 4 or more). Reduce the heat and cover the pan.

Cook (steam) for 12 to 15 minutes (longer for harder yolks). Have a bowl of ice water handy, and when the time is up, transfer the eggs to the water bath.

After five minutes or so, pull out, tap and roll on hard surface to pre-crack the shell. then peel. You are going to be amazed at how easy the shells come off. You’re welcome!

 

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Enchiladas with a difference

We’ve been attempting to reduce the amount of carbohydrates in meals and to this end have started working from meal plans. Most of these menus started with material pulled off “eatingwell.com.“ In the process a lot of great recipes are getting discovered. The most recent is a different kind of enchilada.

The key to a good pan of enchiladas is sauce and for this we don’t use EatingWell. Recipe is attached and it is best if you use Gebhardt’s Chile Powder which isn’t easy to find, but worth the search.

Now the part that is different is … these enchiladas are wrapped in thin strips of zucchini. A mandolin or even a nice sharp vegetable peeler works. The long slices need to be 0.5mm or an ⅛ of an inch thick. Test by wrapping a slice around a couple of fingers if it doesn’t break it will work.

Our take on the original EatingWell recipe is attached and it makes 16 enchiladas with 4 being a serving size. These are actually about half or two-thirds the size you’d get from regular tortillas so you can plan accordingly.

 

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Zucchini Enchiladas

Ingredients

  • 2 T olive oil
  • 1 medium onion - chopped
  • 1 Poblano pepper seeded and chopped
  • ¼ t salt
  • 12 oz cooked chicken breast canned chicken works great
  • 2 cups shredded cheese
  • 1 ½ cups enchilada sauce *Southwest Enchilada Sauce"
  • 3 medium zucchini
  • 2 cups shredded romaine lettuce
  • ½ cup cilantro chopped (optional)

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 425. Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and Poblano with a dash of salt. Cook until it starts to brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to large bowl.
  • Mix in chicken, ¾ cup cheese, and ½ cup enchilada sauce.
  • With mandolin or peeler slice zucchini lengthwise into thin strips. You need 48 unbroken pieces.
  • Spread ½ cup sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Lay out groups of 3 strips on a clean work surface overlapping the edges by about ¼ inch. Place 2 tablespoons measure of filling on the end of a group of strips, roll up and place seam side down in the baking dish. Repeat until you have 16 enchiladas. Top the zucchini rolls with the remaining 1 cup of sauce and sprinkle the remaining cheese.
  • Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling.
  • Serve on a bed of lettuce and garnish with cilantro.

 

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Southwest Enchilada Sauce

Ingredients

  • 2 cloves garlic smashed and chopped fine
  • 1 oz butter ¼ stick
  • 6 T Gebhardt's chile powder *note
  • 5 fresh ripe tomatoes or a can of diced plum tomatoes
  • 1 T tomato paste
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 1 cup water
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • In 2 quart sauce pan saute the garlic in butter over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes. Reduce heat and stir in the chile powder. Cook, stirring constantly for 2 to 3 minutes to remove the raw chile taste. Watch carefully because chile burns easily. Pull off heat.
  • Stir tomatoes (diced), tomato paste, chicken stock, water, salt and pepper into the chile powder and return to medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes.
  • Take off heat. Mix, with hand blender, to a smooth consistancy. Sauce is ready to be used, can be refrigerated for 3-4 days or frozen for longer storage.

Notes

Ground Chile powder can be subbed to increase or decrease "heat" of sauce. You can also add cumin and/or dried chile pods to alter the flavor.