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Monday, November 30, 2009

Kettle Corn

Okay.  So I lied a little.  I said I would post something healthy but I became addicted to Joy's Kettle Corn and kind of made 2 batches just last night and one two nights ago with my sister, Brittney.  I also lied...I said this would be up last night but unfortunately school work comes first.

It is super simple.  Take some vegetable oil and place into a pot.  Make sure the pot has a lid that fits, you will be shaking the pot later on.  It calls for 1/4 cup oil but in my attempts to be "healthy" I did less the second time around.  Probably around 2.5 tablespoons.

Once the oil gets hot add 1/2 cup poppin corn and sugar. 


First time: used 3 Tablespoons of the Splenda/Sugar blend --tasted so yummy, but super sugary
Second time: 2 Tablespoons of the Splenda/Sugar blend --less sugary but still very sugary (if that makes sense)
Third time: 1 1/2 Tablespoons Splenda/Sugar blend --I thought this was perfect, but the rents thought it was still sugary, but what do they know (wink wink)




And shake every 30 seconds to avoid burning the bottom layer.
Once its starts popping shake then put back on burner for a few seconds and repeat until stops popping.

By the way...That's my sister shaking the pot.  She started her own blog called Dumbblondies. Check it out...it's pretty funny!

Pour into a giant bowl and sprinkle with salt.  Stir with spoon and indulge.  I suggest leaving the pot out because you will want more.  I am not exaggerating when I say ADDICTING!


Now reflect on how it just took you 4 minutes to devour the entire thing while making yourself another batch.

Recipe is below with my calculations of calories!

With love and cupcakes,
CookTeen

Recipe (adapted from Joy the Baker):
Ingredients:
  1. 2.5 Tablespoons of Vegetable Oil
  2. 1/2 Cup Corn Kernels
  3. 1 1/2 Tablespoons Splenda/Sugar Blend (equivalent to 3 TBSP of regular sugar)
  4. Sprinkle of Salt

Directions:

  1. Heat oil in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat.  Make sure that it’s a pan that you can easily lift and shake in the air.  Yea… you’ll also want to have two pot holders on hand.
  2. Once the oil is hot, pour in the popcorn, sprinkle sugar on top and cover.
  3. It will take a few minutes for the first pops, but once the popcorn starts popping, shake continuously until the popcorn is popped.  This means that, once the popcorn really starts going, you’ll want to grab the pot with your pot holders, securing the lid, and shake the pot above the flame of the stove for a few seconds, return to the heat, and repeat this process several times throughout the popping process.  This will prevent the popcorn from sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning.
  4. Transfer to a serving bowl and salt lightly.  Mix with a big spoon.  The sugar will still be hot, and the popcorn may be sticky.  Don’t burn your hands on hot sugar.  The popcorn will dry as it cools.  Makes 8-10 cups.
Nutrition:  The entire bowl has 710 calories.  This includes the oil and sugar that stays in the pot.  So feel free to subtract a bit based on your judgement.  Also...calories are based using the recipe above WITH the Splenda/Sugar Blend

Sunday, November 29, 2009

9,000 calories later

I don't know about you, but Thanksgiving for my family ends up lasting two days...and boy do I love it.  We got to my aunts house at like 3:30 and she had a table filled with appetizers.  Delicious appetizers.  Personally, I am not a fan of sausage, but she made sausage balls she saw on the Food Network the night before.  Everyone devoured them! I tried to stick with veggies because Thanksgiving meal is the best meal all year!

We began dinner around 5:30.  Holy cannoli! look what was for dinner!!

 Butternut Squash Pie (made by my mom and I)


Delicious stuffing...


Cesar Salad


Sausage Stuffing


Broccoli and Cheese Casserole (made by my mom and I) recipe to come!


Blintzes


Green Beans with cream of Mushroom soup and fried onions...yum!


Filet Minion and Turkey in back


Sweet Potato Pie...with LOTS of Marshmallows


The Bird..

Then me and my cousin went to her room and decided to lie down for a bit before desert began.  Here's how it all looked layed out on the platters me and my mom decorated.

 
 
Cookie Platter (Clockwise from back left to center: Boccia di Nonna, Sugar Cookies, rugelugh, cowgirl cookies, chocolate covered Oreos, s'mores bars)


 
S'mores Bars






Apple Tart


PB&J Linzer Tart


Cheesecake!

The people only wanted the Cheesecake.  We had a little disaster with the cheesecake.  Actually two.  We were EXHASUTED when it finally came time to make the cheesecake so I accidentally added the full 3 packages of cream cheese instead of 2 and quarter.  But we decided that it would just make it creamier and not to tell anyone.  Now the true disaster developed when my sister and dad called 23 times on their way home from work while me and my mom were placing the cake in the oven.  As my mom was placing the cake on the baking sheet and carrying it to the oven it begins to slid off.  Luckily I was right there and caught the cheesecake mid-air.  I arms were shaking after.  If there was no cheesecake, I don't think we could show up for Thanksgiving...it was THAT inportant.


Anyways, the other guests left and it was just family in the house.  Time for poker.  Except there were 13 of us who wanted to play this year, and no way we could all fit at one table.  So we spiced things up and picked a number to which table we would be at and then would join up when 8 people were left.  Thank goodness I wasn't with my mom, aunt or my cousin, Nicole.  They are the best players and there was no way I would  have lasted.


But, I made it to the final table and ended up tying for second with my sister (even though I had more chips then her).  My uncle Derek had all of the chips though, no way we were winning so we decided to end it right then.


Our poker snack was Joy the Baker's kettlecorn.  Oh.  My.  God.  Go buy popcorn and make this now.  It is so delicious that I wanted to eat the ENTIRE batch after I just ate Thanksgiving dinner and dessert!  That means a lot!

My uncle, Stewart, woke up the next morning at 4:30 to go to Target.  He got there, parked and when he got out he saw that the line wrapped around the block 3 times!  How early do you have to get up?  Or do you just not go to sleep?


My other aunt and uncle make the post-Thanksgiving breakfast or scrambled eggs, bacon, English Muffins and their homemade applesauce.  I had half and English Muffin with some eggs and A LOT of the applesauce.  It was sooo tasty! They even picked the apples themselves!!!

Oh yeah...and my mom put out some desserts from the night before so I ate lots of Peanut Butter and Jelly tart and Apple Tart!  Yummy...SUGAR!

Then it was off to the mall...Now how silly could we be!? Mall? Black Friday! What were we thinking...

Now today begins with getting on back on track with my eating....Later I will post a healthy snack to curb that sweet tooth!

With love and cupcakes,
CookTeen

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Wrap up!

First and foremost, I want to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving today!

I wasn't able to post everything before the holiday, but you can be sure to get all the recipes in the next couple of weeks and more!

As we wrap up to go to my aunts house, want to give you a wrap up of most of what we did...

Cookie Gifts for some Family and Friends:


last minute chocolate covered strawberrys...


you can see, I am starting to get tired...how do mom's do it?


Pioneer Women's Chocolate Cake...can't wait to bite into it!



 


Joy the Bakers Smores...


 
 
Mom's easier then pie Apple Tart



 
Low fat, Broccoli and Cheddar Casserole...

 

Mom's PB&J Tart...


Me drizzling...




Pumpkin and Chocolate!


Great, Great Grandma's Cheesecake!


Joy the Bakers, Lemon Tea Cookies...


 
Sugar Cookies!



Mom's Chocolate Rugelech...(rolled cookie)



Blueberry Muffins


Cowgirl Cookies.


the best blueberry and white chocolate biscotti...




Bocca Di Nonna...ciao!


Chocolate chip brownies for the little kiddies...



 
 
That's a wrap...Happy Thanksgiving!

With love and cupcakes,
Cookteen




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