PW Devil Dogs

True confession time: I've been a little uninspired in my cooking lately. I think I need to shake up my normal routine and go-to recipes a bit. This probably means I should hit pinterest pretty hard; don't you think?

One reason for the cooking funk is a weekend of hiking and walking. Let's just say by Sunday night there was a lot of complaining of sore legs coming from my mouth. Isn't spring a kick in the mouth? I was hiking every weekend just a few months ago. In my own defense there were a lot of stairs and hills. Ugh. Check it out.

I can't wait for spring to bloom. Won't this be an even more stunning view when the trees are full and vibrant?


Even in my cooking-funk I do have a new treat to share with you....Devil Dogs! It is a Pioneer Woman special. For that reason, I'll happily link up the recipe but I didn't change a thing so check out PW's website for the details.

It starts with the frosting that begins on the stove top. Hang in there with me.

Then you dump it in the creamed butter and sugar.

Look how fluffy this look? It's surprisingly delicious and a welcomed departure to the too-sticky-sweet frosting and a more subtle and amazing treat.

Then I whipped up a Texas Sheet Cake. Why are they called that? Who knows. Again, I did as PW told me. But I will say that in the future I might add some espresso or coffee. The chocolate-coffee combo is so beautiful.

Speaking of beautiful....

Go make this today. Report back. Please. My muppets loved these and I know you and yours will too.

Apple Pie Oatmeal

On the weekends I like to make breakfast a bit more special than a rush weekday breakfast. Most weekends that includes steel cut oats. It takes a bit longer to cook up and last weekend I was in the mood to dress it up a bit. I ventured over to Oh She Glows and found an oatmeal recipe for Apple Pie Oatmeal. I was in! 

An aside, Oh She Glows has really great recipes and they tend to be "clean" and vegan.  She is also a very sweet and body-positive which I really appreciate and enjoy! 

On to the goods. I did tweek the recipe a bit based on what I have on hand. Check it out. 

This is a non-recipe-recipe because it's so easy and mostly throwing a few things together. It turned out deliciously!  I hope you give it a try.

 

Apple Pie Oatmeal

Adapted from Oh She Glows

2 servings

1/2 cup steel cut oats

1/2-1 cup milk

1/2 cup no-sugar added applesauce

2 apples, chopped

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon chopped walnuts

1-2 tablespoons maple syrup

Simmer steel cut oats in water until almost cooked through (this takes about 20 minutes). Add milk and applesauce. Simmer until cooked through you may need to add more milk to cook oatmeal through. Add cinnamon, ginger, lemon juice, chopped apples and stir through. Place in bowls and add walnuts and syrup on top. 

Enjoy!

Very Berry Sorbet

Lately I've been craving a frozen treat and I realized my ice cream maker was getting a little dusty from neglect. I searched for inspiration and found it with Tartlette Blog.

As a quick aside, how beautiful is this woman's photography? It blows me away. So gorgeous.

I switched up a bit of her recipe by reducing the sugar and adding a smidge of vodka. Why vodka? Well my good friend Gretchen is an experienced ice cream and sorbet maker  and tipped me off to this trick. Homemade icy treats that lack fat will freeze like a rock. Umm, not exactly the consistency I'm going for and as Gretchen clued me into vodka helps the treat not freeze all the way solid. Score! I add a very small amount, about one to two tablespoons of vodka.

Ok I'm getting ahead of myself. Start by combining 1lb of berries, I used frozen, with two cups of water, 1/2 cup of sugar in saucepan.

Bring to a quick boil and then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes.

Now add the vodka and the juice of one lemon and blend in blender. At this point you may want to run through a strainer to rid the mixture of seeds. You know how I roll and I clearly skipped this step.

Process in ice cream maker for about 30 minutes. I suggest a very cold ice cream maker - I froze mine over night - if you haven't allowed for that then I suggest allowing the berry mixture to cool in refrigerator.

Doesn't that look fabulous? It was so refreshing and a delicious treat.

I stored the sorbet in these cute little freezer bell jars, another handy tip from Gretchen, that I found at Wal Mart.

Oh and since the entire mixture wouldn't fit I had to eat some straight-away. Such a hard life I know.

I think I'm going to whip up sherbet next, yum!