Wow! I haven’t posted since January 10th! Miss me? ;)


Long time no see huh? I thought I should post to inform you guys that no, I have not fallen off the face of the earth or been eaten by human eating zombie dolphins. Or something like that.

I’ve had a bunch of different stuff going on at the same time in my personal life that has made it impossible for me to update regularly. Long story short lets just say that life has not been nice. And I will be accepting your prayers. ;) Heres hoping that things will get better soon! (On a side note! My horoscope said that I’ve been going through a lot the past few months, but that there are new great changes coming for the better! So fingers crossed ;))


Anywho, enough about me. How have you all been? I have soooo many things I need to do food blog related wise. I was in the midst of a ‘blog renovation’ before life started sucking, so I will definitely be trying to get back to that! I also need to go check out a bunch of food blogs for all those posts I’ve missed!

Now, on to the yumminess! Growing up, making pizza was a standard in my house. On weekends my mom would ‘wing it’ and make some dough, and we would slather on some ketchup and sprinkle on some cheese and veggies. Now that I’m more of a, what would you call it….food snob? This simply wont do! I have been searching for a good pizza dough for a while now, and a little while ago I stumbled on this beauty. Pizza Hut crust clone? Yes please! I’ve got to say I was pleasantly surprised! The crust was puuuurfect … I promise you best pizza dough you will ever taste. If its not, I want YOUR recipe!


What I love about this is you can toss in the ingredients into the bread maker and have it do all the work. Do you work all day? Toss in your ingredients into the dough maker, and set your timer so that when you get home you have ready made fresh dough. Spread your pizza sauce on top and sprinkle on your toppings and you have prepped dinner in 5 minutes!


Now what do I mean when I say this crust is awesome? My definition of a perfect crust is to have a nice ‘sound’ when you tap it…nice and crunchy on the outside and soft hot bread on the inside. Mmmm…..pizza crust….

Copy Cat Pizza Hut Dough Crust

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups water
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons cornmeal ( I used semolina)
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

Directions:
1. Add ingredients (except for cornmeal (or semolina)) to machine bread pan in order as per manufacturer's instructions. Set to "Dough" cycle.

2. Lightly grease your pan and sprinkle with cornmeal.

3. When the dough cycle is complete, roll out dough and place in pan. Let rest in pans for 10-15 minutes. Add toppings of your choice.

4. Bake at 350°F until done (approximately 20 minutes, depending on the thickness of toppings).

Berry Citrus Smoothie 

(Adapted from here)

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups fresh berries
• 3/4 cup low-fat plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup orange juice
•  Milk (as needed)
• 1-2 tablespoons Flax Seed
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place berries, yogurt, orange juice, Flax Seed, honey and vanilla in a blender and blend until smooth. If its too thick pour in a little bit of milk at a time to get the consistency that you like.

It's been awfully hot here, the kind of weather where turning on an oven is probably illegal. And a suicide mission. Probably both. Ottawa has never had this hot a weather and we broke quite a few records! (Something I wish I could be proud of)

All this to say that I haven't been able to bake for about a week, but thankfully I have a few recipes I have yet to post on...so...I uh...will. ya. :D




Ok so as I have shared with you guys before, I have a series of recipes that, if I say so myself, taste really really REALLY good. And for some reason that is somewhat foreign to me I feel a bit 'over protective' of these recipes, almost like a 4 year old who doesn't mind (in fact loves) to share all her toys with the neighborhood kids, but for some reason clutches greedily to that one special doll. And lord have mercy on your soul if you try to yank that doll away from her.

But I've been trying to be a good girl and learn to share a bit more. So from my list of uber secret recipes (that coincidentally happen to be my most requested recipes) I am slowly but surely trying to share a few of these with you. So if Banana isn't quite your thing (the insanity!:O ) then why not try my cinnamon bun recipe? Or perhaps some Hummus?




I made these babies to take to a family friend's house where we were invited for dinner. The final product was quite adorable (think little chocolate squares in cupcake liners topped with a swirl of chocolate frosting and a slice of banana!) but I wasn't able to catch a picture of them, so you will just have to take my word for it. :)

TIP: These banana squares taste EVEN BETTER the next day. So let them sit for a while...if you can stand it

Blogging is a way for me to connect with other foodies around the world and 'write down' my experiences and life through food, but it also serves the purpose of helping me keep track of my favorite recipes. Long story short I thought I had lost this recipe forever, and hopefully by writting it here I never will lose it again!

Enjoy!

The Most Addictive Best Ever Banana Cake


3 bananas
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup vegetable oil
¾ cup chocolate chips (optional)
1 ½ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt

1. Mash up the Bananas really well. Beat in the sugar, egg and vegetable  oil.

2. Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a separate bowl.

3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and make sure you mix REALLY WELL. You can also stir in some chocolate chips if you like.

4. Bake at 350C until lightly brown on the edges and toothpick comes out clean.


"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine

2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

Recipe Review: This is (clearly) one of my all time favorite recipes. It converted my banana hating sister into a banana cake eating crazy person! (To the point where you have to hide it from her!) What I love about this is its SOO easy to whip up, can be made in one bowl if you like, is fool proof and most importantly its SO yummy. When you have your first bite, you wont think oh my god insane! You will be like" hmm...this is good banana cake. nothing crazy...not sure what she was going on about..its just banana cake." But thats where you are wrong laddie. Ten minutes later you will find yourself reaching for another bite....and another...and another...They really are THAT addictive!

We all have our secret recipes. Recipes that we are proud of, that we offer to bring to get togethers, and that everyone adores and coos over. After the party is over the bowl has been scraped clean and everyone is asking - nay begging- for your recipe. Naturally you are flattered that everyone has loved it so much to not only finish it all but to beg for the recipe, and you begin sharing the recipe with everyone.


Except when it is a secret recipe. When it is a secret recipe you hesitate. You know you should share the recipe, I mean, its only the right thing to do. But damn it, sometimes I feel like keeping it all for myself!I've been reflecting back on this lately, and realized I have no idea why I don't like to share. Maybe the 'share with your friends' idea that we were taught as kids didn't quite sink in all the way for me. It's odd for most recipes I would love to share, but for a few, a select few, I don't like to share.


Thousands of dollars funding my education in political science has helped me self-diagnose myself as a 'realist' who believes in 'zero-sum gain', as in they feel like only one person can win while everyone else loses. (See mom?! I AM learning =D ) However, that too is ridiculous since it makes no sense when it comes to sharing recipes for chocolate cupcakes!

So, I have concluded that I am probably insane, and like most insane people I need to rehabilitate back into normal society. To do so I have decided to start sharing my 'secret recipes' with you all, slowly but surely, so that I can get over this disease of mine.

Especially since it seems that when I share my secret recipes everyone else seems to love them as much as I do! (For example my cinnamon bun recipe is one of my 'secret recipes' and is probably in the top 3 most viewed posts in my blog of all time!)




Today I am sharing with you my 'secret' but now not so secret hummus recipe. This is amazing. THIS is how hummus is supposed to taste like. Not that icky liquidy consistency stuff you get packaged at the deli aisle of your grocery store, and the thick stuff canned down the specialty foods aisle. Hummus should have a perfect in between consistency, and a hummus snob like myself can taste the lemon, garlic, and tahini in it! I don't know what the best part about this recipe is, that it is SO easy to make, or that it produces a perfect taste/consistency each time?

Tips: Make sure to follow the recipe to a T and it should be awesome. If you are like me and are daring to experiment, make it as suggested and add extra lemon or olive oil if its a bit stiff for your taste or chickpeas to thicken it up (though its easier to thin than to thicken! so be careful! :) )

**I also prefer mine with a bit more garlic so feel free to add em as you like!




The Best Hummus You Will Ever Eat

1/4 cup tahini (sesame paste)
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 tbsp olive oil
2 or 2 cloves of garlic (minced)
1/2 tsp ground cumin ( I have never had this on hand and have thus never used it...but it tastes great without so its ok if you don't use it either)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp hot sauce
1 1/2 cups of canned chick peas, drained and rinsed

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and puree. Place in bowl, sprinkle with paprika, and serve with pita wedges and chopped veggies.



So tell me foodies, what is YOUR secret recipe? Do you love to share? Or are you more like me? ;)