Cheeky Caprice

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Sexy Vegetarian Thursday: Vegan Peach Muffins

Hello, lovelies!

I have so many incredible things to share here on C.C. in the coming weeks. Besides the usual delicious recipes and fun crafts, I will be telling the tales of our recent trip to Ireland and England! This trip was the reason I was completely absent during the month of February, and why I have yet to share the rest of the homemade Christmas gifts. Mr. J and I had the most amazing time! I'll share pictures, funny stories, tips for traveling on a budget, must-sees in the cities we visited, and of course, the food!

In the meantime, let us celebrate Sexy Vegetarian Thursday. I don't know about you, but I am so sick of winter. I am dreaming of the day I can wear capris and sandals, shop at the farmer's market, and walk outside without cursing about how cold it is. I started looking through my recycled recipe journal for recipes that scream warmth and summertime. In August 2012, I was messing around with vegan recipes to find the balance between healthy and delicious. I created these divine fruity muffins without eggs, milk, or honey. Let me tell you, these bad boys are so good that they taste like a desert.

If you're looking for other vegetarian and vegan recipes, check these out!

summer tomato pasta
onion potato frittata
grown up grilled cheese
feta potatoes patties
creamy tomato feta penne
chilaquiles
vodka sauce ravioli
lime stir fry
lemon tofu sauce with rice
leek, spinach, & blue cheese frittata
stuffed twice-baked potatoes
garbanzo bean spaghetti
sweet and spicy black bean quesadillas
baked Italian eggs
chickpea curry
tomato basil pasta sauce

pumpkin puree and seeds

Vegan Peach Muffins

Vegan Whole Wheat Peach Banana Muffins
Moist, whole wheat muffins filled with bananas and juicy peaches. No animal products here! Delicious served warm or cool.

Serving: makes 12 muffins

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Total time: 50 minutes

Ingredients
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2-3 bananas, mashed
1 lb. ripe peaches, peeled and cut into chunks

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, whisk the first five ingredients together. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine the last five ingredients.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Fold until just combined.
5. Divide batter into a greased muffin pan.
6. Bake muffins for 25 to 30 minutes.

Alterations
- Use 1 1/4 cup whole wheat or white flour and 3/4 cup old fashioned oats.
- Replace maple syrup with 1/2 cup honey, or use 1/4 cup of each. (not vegan)
- Replace vegetable oil with 2 eggs and a splash of milk. (not vegan)

Enjoy!

Much love,
Danni

ONE YEAR AGO: Vegan Bean & Tomato Pasta

Check out these awesome link parties where I shared this post:
Link Party @ Bloom Designs
Live Laugh Linky Thursday @ Live Laugh Rowe
Riverton Housewives Roundup
Homemade Mondays @ Frugal By Choice, Cheap By Necessity

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Recipe Wednesday: Baked Turkey & Cheese Chimichangas!

Hello, lovelies!

The weather here in New York State has been ungodly for the past few weeks. Ice storms, feet of snow, below zero temperatures, and wind chills, just to name a few. We have a space heater both downstairs AND upstairs in our small duplex apartment just to maintain a somewhat livable temperature of 64 degrees. Imagine me in 3 layers of clothes and huddled under blankets...and I'm still cold. Mr. J and I keep trying to come up with new ways to talk about how cold it is outside, but my favorite remains when my normally straight-laced J says, "It's colder than a witch's tit out there!" Gets me every time.

Naturally, I have been looking for excuses to turn the oven on. I baked whole wheat bread yesterday and was pretty pleased to open the oven door and stand in front of it after the loaves were done. What is more joyful (and painful) than feeling your toes thaw?

If you're also looking for a soul-warming meal on a cold night, you're invited to try this baked turkey and cheese chimichanga recipe. I adore the word "chimichanga," especially because it makes a fabulously funny appearance in Shrek Forever After:

Someone once told me that chimichanga translates as "thingamajig" in Spanish, which makes me like it even more. Does anyone know if that's true? Speaking of translations, this recipe is a bit of one. Chimichangas are traditionally deep fried and filled with chicken, beef, or pork. This simple version reduces calories but retains tons of flavor. The filling is rich and creamy thanks to the refried beans and cheese, and the salsa adds a tangy kick. Bonus: the tortillas still have a bit of crunch as they are baked uncovered without a topping!

Baked Turkey & Cheese Chimichangas

1 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
1 lb. ground turkey
1/4 cup diced onion
1 tsp. chili powder
1 16-oz. can refried beans
1 3/4 cups salsa + more for topping
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack or Colby-Jack cheese
6 to 8 tortillas
1/2 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 13 x 9 inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add turkey, onion, and chili powder. Cook until turkey is no longer pink.

Stir in the 1 3/4 cups salsa and the beans. Cook until heated through. Stir in cheese. When cheese is melted and combined thoroughly, turn off heat.

Spoon at least 1/2 cup of filling into each tortilla. Fold two sides of the tortilla over the filling and roll up to connect two remaining sides.

Place chimichangas seam-side down in baking dish. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes until crisp and browned.

Serve with salsa and sour cream on top!

This recipe will fill 6 tortillas to make very full chimichangas, or 8 normal-sized ones.

*Our favorite tortillas are the Food for Life brown rice frozen tortillas.
**Use whatever cheese you fancy, but I like Colby-Jack the most for its flavor and meltiness.
***I prefer organic and reduced sodium refried beans. I've yet to make them myself but it's on the to do list!

Much love,
Danni

ONE YEAR AGO: Baked Honey Brie

This recipe is linked to:
Kitchen Meets Girl

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Project Sunday, Holiday Edition: Peppermint Bark & English Toffee Bark

Hello, lovelies!

I hope you all had an enjoyable and festive holiday season! Happy New Year to you all :) I cannot believe 2013 went by so quickly. It was a whirlwind of a year with many highs and lows. I hope 2014 brings new adventures and opportunities for everyone. I don't have any crazy driving stories for you this year because we finally lucked out with good weather on the days we were driving across the state. I had a great time traveling with Mr J. to see our families for three Christmas celebrations. It was a crazy ten days with lots of miles covered and sugar eaten. Spending quality time with our loved ones is something we treasure, and I am the type of person who LOVES giving gifts.

Like I did last year, I am sharing the homemade gifts I gave to family and friends for Christmas. (For last year's posts, see here, here, and here.) We've been battling a virus in our household since the 30th, so out of convenience this post will be about the quickest of the gifts I made in December. I warn you, they are both delicious and addicting, hence why I only made them for the holiday season! We brought these treats to every house we visited and they were very well received.

This has to be the easiest treat to whip up. It's faster than any other candy or dessert recipe I have, and you only need three ingredients: dark or milk chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and candy canes.

Crush 10 to 20 candy canes, depending on your preference. Set aside.

Melt one or two bags of chocolate chips in the microwave in a microwave safe bowl (stir the chips every 30 seconds until completely melted and smooth). Two bags will result in a thicker bottom layer and sturdier pieces of bark.

Pour the chocolate into a baking sheet and use a spatula to create an even layer. Refrigerate until firm.

Melt the white chocolate chips until smooth. Allow to cool slightly, then pour over the hardened chocolate layer.

Sprinkle the crushed candy canes over the melted white chocolate. Refrigerate until hardened.

Using a butter knife, break up the candy by firmly inserting the knife to create random pieces.

This bark is a little more involved but still easy! You will need a candy thermometer to make the toffee.

Place a baking sheet in the oven at 100 degrees to keep it warm. This helps the toffee spread easily.

In a saucepan, melt 1 cup of butter, 1 cup of granulated sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Cook over medium heat and bring to a boil. Continue boiling and stir quickly and continuously with a wooden spoon.

When the mixture reaches 300 degrees, remove from heat and add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. (The liquid should be almond-colored. It takes 5-7 minutes to reach this temperature.)

Pour the toffee onto the warm baking sheet (be careful!). Let cool for about two hours.

Melt one bag of dark chocolate chips (see above). Pour the chocolate over the toffee.

Sprinkle with ground almonds or nut of your choice. Break the toffee bark into pieces.

Store both kinds of bark in airtight containers.

This is our door, Jon Snow, and he wishes you a Happy New Year!

Much love,
Danni

This recipe is linked to:
Jam Hands
C.R.A.F.T.
This Gal Cooks
Skip to My Lou

ONE YEAR AGO: Organic Turkey Goulash

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Project Sunday: Nightstand Makeover

Hello, lovelies!

So much has happened since the last post (I know it's been forever...sorry!), and on another day I'll write about the whirlwind that has blown through our lives since November 10th. There's been so much joy and sadness in these past weeks, and I need to collect my thoughts before I can write about all of it. In the meantime, I have a backlog of things to blog about, and I'd like to introduce a new schedule so there's a project and a recipe every week. There will be lots of great additions to CC in its second year.

Past Project Sundays: lamp revamp, desk makeover, braided hairstyles, button earrings

I love free stuff, and useful stuff. The only thing better than free stuff is inexpensive stuff. I'm very happy that I only spent $16 to makeover two nightstands, which we needed in our bedroom to house a random collection of books, paperwork, jewelry, etc. I wasn't willing, however, to spend a small fortune to get them.

The stars seemed to align after I cleaned out my childhood bedroom and rediscovered these two white nightstands. They're not glamorous, but they're durable and I won't be heartbroken if we have to sell them or leave them behind the next time we move. As you can see, my 13-year-old self started a beautification process, but I never finished it.

Check out that stellar palm tree. Skills, my friends, skills.

A second big break came in this project after I visited a friend who had somewhat recently painted a vintage dresser olive green and had leftover paint to spare. SCORE!

It took some brainstorming before I knew what else I wanted to do with the nightstands. I felt a military-ish vibe and knew that I could achieve that look with brass nailhead trim. With a coupon at Joann's, I spent $16 on the trim, and used all of it on the nightstands. Here's what I purchased:

I couldn't take photos of the process because I was working in the basement. There was no way I was going to sand and paint outside in New York State November temperatures. No thank you. I'll stay in the concrete, dark basement.

I sanded the nightstands, wiped them down with a damp towel, then painted two coats of olive green paint. I let them cure overnight before nailing on the trim.

Before and After:

Hurray for crooked pictures! This is what happens when you try to take photos in a small room.

To make our bedroom a bit more festive, I dug out the red down comforter. Here's what the stands look like in our room.

We clearly need some artwork in there.... Maybe that will be a future project! Any suggestions? Usually we have a gray comforter on the bed, so I think a bright piece above the bed would look interesting.

Here's a very bright photo of my stand:

And Mr. J's rather naked stand:

Neither of the lamps are very exciting, as they were both gifted to us, and the blue mosaic candle holders are from Pier One.

How is your Project Sunday?

Much love,
Danni

This project was linked to:
Frugal By Choice, Cheap By Necessity
C.R.A.F.T.
This Gal Cooks
Skip to My Lou

ONE YEAR AGO: Easy Christmas Fudge

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Project Sunday: Button Earrings

Hello, lovelies! Happy Project Sunday!

Past Sunday Projects: lamp revamp, desk makeover, braided hairstyles

I'm not sure exactly how it happened, but somehow I became my family's "button lady." I never had any intention to collect buttons, nor any inclination for that matter. My mother had a basket of buttons that perpetually remained in a closet somewhere; I have no memories of her actually using said buttons, though she did sew curtains every few years for the house. The first time I myself used buttons was four years ago to decorate scrapbook pages. Until this year, I never thought of buttons as remotely interesting.

Over the summer, however, my grandfather handed me a small cardboard box and told me to take a look inside. If my Papa tells me to investigate something, it almost always involves chocolate or history. In this case, it was history. The box was filled with buttons. Some were loose, some matched, some were still attached to the paper they were sold on, and others were in tiny envelopes. There was one envelope mailed from a New York City button company to my great-grandmother Doris in the 1950s.

For the first time, I felt a nostalgic wonder as I handled buttons. Each button was collected by my great-grandmother and a few other relatives. It was strange and wonderful to hold the same buttons that Doris had held, particularly because I was not close to her while she was alive. She was ill for most of my childhood and then moved out of state to a full-time care institution before she died. By contrast, I was very close to my grandmother's mother, Geraldine, or Bam as all her great-grandchildren called her. I visited Bam almost every week for 13 years. Bam and I shared inside jokes, lots of stories, and many memories. It's easy to recall her face and her voice because we had so much together. It was very powerful to have a piece of my other great-grandmother, too.

Since I received this box, I've received a tin of other buttons found in the church I spent so much time in as a child. Apparently, the older ladies in the congregation thought of me when they found them. How sweet is that?! I have yet to clean and sift through the new buttons, but I will. I quite enjoy being the button lady now, especially because it means I can use them to create pretty things, like earrings!

Here's a close up of some of the buttons from my great-grandmother and other family members:

Aren't they gorgeous? I'm saving some of them for when I finally start sewing clothing, but I wanted to use some of them immediately. I made 11 pairs of earrings in 15 minutes for less than $1, and I'll show you how you can make your very own button earrings in just minutes.

3 steps: Clean. Glue. Wear.

You need to prep your buttons first! Wash them gently. I put baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and water in a small bowl and soaked the buttons for a few seconds. Then, I used a cotton bud to wipe off any leftover residue, and dried them with a cotton towel. I used a pair of pliers to remove hooks from the back of the buttons to make a smooth area for gluing.

You need flat pad earring posts with butterfly clutches, like these. I purchased two different sizes at Joann's.
The 48-pack of surgical steel posts and 2 10-packs of gold posts cost less than $3 total (sale & coupon).

Attach the posts to the buttons using a strong glue, like E-6000. I used a cotton bud to apply the glue.

Let the glue dry for at least 30 minutes before use. Clean the posts with rubbing alcohol to disinfect before wearing your new, vintage earrings!

Here are some pics of the other earrings I made.

And here's what my new earrings look like on! I love that they're big and loud and 80s.

I want to see your button earrings. Show them off!

Much love,
Danni

Linked to parties here:
Nifty Thrifty Things
Flamingo Toes
Sew Many Ways
The Girl Creative

ONE YEAR AGO: Vanilla Bean Cheesecake

Thursday, November 7, 2013

How to bake pumpkin guts! Sexy Vegetarian Thursday.

Hello, lovelies!

Decorating for fall and celebrating Halloween may have left you with some smaller pumpkins around the house. You can quickly turn those fellows into delicious roasted seeds to snack on and yummy puree to use for baking. Imagine how delightful your holiday pumpkin pie will be when made with homemade puree!

For a flavorful puree, you'll want to use pie sized pumpkins. I used two small pumkins to make just over 3 cups of puree.

Carve a small circle around the stem and remove it. Cut the pumpkin in half, remove pulp and seeds (set seeds aside!), and slice pumpkin into roughly equal wedges.

Place pumpkin wedges on an ungreased baking sheet. You do not need to put anything on the pumpkin; this way, you will get the purest pumpkin puree possible (yay alliteration!). Bake in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes until tender.

Remove the skin from the wedges.

Cut pumpkin into smaller chunks and place in blender or food processor. You may need to add some water as you blend to smooth out the puree. I needed almost 1/4 cup of water. Add 1 tablespoon of water at a time.

Blend and scrape down the sides until you have lovely, smooth puree.

You can use the puree right away or freeze it for later use. I found it was easiest to turn down the sides of a freezer bag and sit it upright to scoop the puree into it. I filled 2 quart size bags.

Carefully lay the bags flat and press out the air before sealing. Now they're nice and flat so you can stack them in your freezer! I labeled how much was in each bag and when the puree was made.