Oct 27 2011

Candy Corn Fudge

I thumbed through magazines on my bro’s coffee table and found a recipe for Candy Corn Fudge in the October Woman’s Day. My Mom divides up her old magazines between the kids and we all share.  I knew the fudge was going to be the second item on my holiday treat “to do” list.

The Ingredients:

  • 8 oz. Cream Cheese – at room temperature
  • 2 Cups Confectioners’ Sugar
  • 2 Teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
  • 3 Cups White Chocolate Chips – we used Nestle Toll House Vanilla Chips (about 18 ounces)
  • 2 Cups Mini Pretzels or Broken Pretzel Pieces – we broke up our mini pretzels – so there!
  • 1 Cup Dried Cherries – you could also use dried cranberries
  • 1 Cup Candy Corn

Directions:

  1. Line an 8 or 9 inch square pan with 2 sheets of parchment paper, leaving an overhang on all sides.
  2. Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl until smooth, about 2 minutes; beat in the vanilla
  3. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate/vanilla chips in the microwave according to the package instructions – (I melted it using 30 second intervals at 60% power) – I went through 4 cycles, stirring in between with a rubber spatula.
  4. Add the melted chocolate to the cream cheese mixture and beat until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.
  5. Fold in the pretzels and cherries.
  6. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and top with the candy corn.
  7. Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.
  8. Using the parchment paper overhangs, lift the fudge out of the pan and transfer it to a cutting board and cut into 1 inch pieces.

I wasn’t in my own kitchen, so I kept getting distracted when it came to progress/step-by-step photos… sorry about that!

Vanilla chip and cream cheese mixture in the KitchenAid…

Mixture added to prepared 8 inch square pan…

Topped with candy corn…

While the fudge seemed really sweet (mostly because I haven’t had much sugar over the past 3 months) – I really liked how the flavors balanced out. The sweetness from the vanilla chips/sugar, teamed with the tanginess of the cream cheese – the salty punch from the pretzels and a touch of tartness from the dried cherries. It worked well together. Would I change anything? Yes… the pieces I cut were way too big. The recipe said you should get 64 pieces from the pan – I now understand why. It was just really hard to cut through the candy corn, probably should have used a sharper knife.

All in all, a success! I brought some into work for co-workers to sample and nobody died ;).

Question: Are you a milk chocolate/dark chocolate fudge person, or can you handle white chocolate, vanilla or other flavored fudges?

Permanent link to this article: http://foodiddy.com/?p=6207

Oct 26 2011

Caramel Corn Apple-O’s

I spent the last 2 nights creating holiday treats with a friend for her upcoming beach trip. I’ve been collecting those grocery store checkout stand Halloween Food, Fun & Crafts books for the past 4-5 years. I have found some fun recipes over the years and wanted to try some new things this year. We headed to the Nugget Market with our shopping list and then set out to create the first on our “to do” list – Caramel Corn Apple-O’s.

Ingredients:

  • 7 Cups Popped Butter-Flavor Microwave Popcorn – We used Pop Secret Butter – it took 1 bag and a cup from a second bag
  • 2 1/4 Cups Apple Jacks Cereal  – any apple-cinnamon cereal rings will work
  • 1/2 Cup Dried Apricots – the recipe would also work with dried apples – we cut our apricots into quarters
  • 1 Package Soft Caramels – 14 ounces
  • 2 Tablespoons Butter or Margarine – we used butter
  • 1 to 2 Tablespoons Water – we used 2
  • 16 Cinnamon Sticks or Wooden Craft Sticks – optional – we used cinnamon

Directions:

  1. Place 16 paper baking cups on a baking sheet.
  2. Combine popcorn, cereal and dried apricots in a large bowl.
  3. Place caramels, butter and water in large microwaveable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 2 1/2 to 3 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring after each minute.
  4. Pour caramel mixture over popcorn mixture and toss with buttered wooden spoon to evenly coat. Let set until cool enough to handle.
  5. Using damp hands, shape mixture into 16 balls. Gently insert cinnamon sticks.
  6. Place in paper baking cups  and serve.

We found that these were really easy to make. I would suggest if you want to go the cinnamon stick route like we did, purchase them from the Mexican spice section of your local grocery store. McCormick Cinnamon Sticks were really expensive and too short in length. We got a bag of 6 long ones from the Mexican spice section for $1.09. They do vary in width, but we made it work. We found that the damp hands are “key” to getting them to mold into a ball around the cinnamon sticks.

Caramel, salted popcorn, apricots and cereal – sign me up! I will definitely be making these again.

I can’t wait to share the other Halloween treat recipes and photos with you.

Permanent link to this article: http://foodiddy.com/?p=6192

Oct 25 2011

17 Day Diet Update-Round 2 Cycle 2

It’s been 86 days since starting the 17 Day Diet and I just completed the second round of cycle 2. I’m still plugging away and finding that this really has become a way of life for me. I look forward to the short daily workouts and my body responds very well to eating this way. I did go off the plan for a quick trip to Vegas over this past weekend and that also included a family birthday celebration – but other than that, I pretty much stuck to cycle 2 for 13 of the 17 days. On the exercise front, I worked out doing treadmill intervals (35-45 minute sessions) 12 of the 17 days and I walked a lot in Vegas for the additional 3 days.

I am officially down another 3.1 lbs. and very happy with that result. (Especially after 3 days of vacation) – It’s easy to get caught up in how fast it was coming off in the beginning, but I am nearing the end and getting close to my goal weight. It’s understandable that the numbers aren’t as big and have slowed down.

17 Day Diet Stats
Cycle 1: -15.2 lbs.
Cycle 2: -5.3 lbs.
Cycle 3: – 4.7 lbs.
Cycle 1 Round 2: -4.4 lbs.
Cycle 2 Round 2: -3.1 lbs.

Total Weight Loss: -32.7 lbs. 

Enough diet talk – seems like these updates are more frequent than every 17 days, but they aren’t.  One highlight from this last cycle was making some delicious homemade chicken and veggie soup.

Foo’s Homemade Chicken and Vegetable Soup

I was craving soup and I had a lot of veggies that needed to be used up before my Vegas trip.

 The Ingredients:
2 Organic Chicken Breasts
2 Teaspoons Olive Oil
Organic Fat Free Chicken Broth (32 ounces)
2 Carrots – roughly chopped
1 Small Yellow Onion – roughly chopped
1 Cup Frozen Spinach
1/2 Cup Frozen Yellow Corn
1 Bunch Broccolini – chopped, some stem included
1 Can S&W Ready Cut Tomatoes (Diced with Roasted Garlic)
1 Tablespoon Bon Appetite Seasoning
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Note: I added cooked brown rice on Cycle 2 days

Directions:
I pounded my chicken breasts – I don’t like super thick chicken in my soups, but didn’t feel like shredding it – so I pounded it and then cut it into small pieces.

I seasoned the chicken with the bon appetite seasoning and salt and pepper and then browned/cooked it with a teaspoon of olive oil over medium/high heat. I then transferred the cooked chicken to a bowl while I prepped the veggies.

I used another teaspoon of olive oil to brown the roughly chopped onion in my dutch oven. The oil also works for the fat requirement of the diet.

I used my super fast microwave method to pre-cook my carrots and broccolini.

Just fill a small glass bowl half way with water, cook on full heat for 2-3 minutes and then flip bowl over to drain. Yes, I’m too lazy to get out a colander. I did the same thing with the broccolini and then added the carrots to the onion over medium heat.

Then add the broccolini and corn – stirring frequently.

Next up – add the chicken broth and the canned tomatoes. I drained 1/2 the liquid from the tomatoes. I let the soup simmer on medium/low for about 20 minutes.

I decided to add brown rice to it the next day since it was a cycle 2 day.

Just a couple of spoonfuls of already cooked brown rice and I was good to go. The soup made 6 servings and I froze a couple of containers for future meals.

I’ve now moved on to round 2 of cycle 3 – going to keep my workouts pretty much the same, might add some more elevation on the treadmill – but other than that, I’m just going to continue on this path until I reach my goal. BTW, still can’t get my dang wedding ring off… I refuse to get it cut off, I’ll keep going until it slides off – hopefully that will be soon.

Permanent link to this article: http://foodiddy.com/?p=6121