Soft Pretzels

Have an urge for soft pretzel but don’t feel like going out and don’t have any yeast in the house well lo and behold a recipe that does not require yeast. After searching the web for yeast-less soft pretzels, I found one with good ratings and that seem to have ingredients that would make good pretzels. I didn’t salt my pretzels but they turned out good nonetheless. Also, unlike the original recipe I used bread flour instead of whole wheat flour along with the all purpose flour. The pretzels were soft and have a little sweetness to them. I am very satisfied with this recipe. You guys should give it a try too if you like pretzels:)

Yummy Brownie Mix

When I was talking to one of my friends about brownies, she asked if I ever tried Ghiraradelli brownie mixes. I said no. She claimed that they were one of the most delicious brownies she has ever eaten and that they could give bakeries a run for their money. Being curious, I had to try it. I bought a box of double chocolate brownie mix and followed the directions on the box. To add a little something extra, I topped the brownies with crushed M&M’s. The end result was awesomeness. The best brownie mix I have tried thus far in the twenty-one years assuming that I remember what and how things tasted like when I was a toddler. They were soft, very fudgy, moist, and dense. I would say they are comparable to gourmet brownies. I wanted to take a picture of the whole tray, but I forget and started to eat the brownie (to be exact I forked the brownie). I did not want to scare you with the mess I created so I cut a slice for the photo. This mix is a 200% thumbs up for me. You guys should try it!!!

Surprisingly Delicious Chocolate Cupcakes and Buttermilk Cupcakes

I wanted to make cupcakes for a graduation party, but didn’t have enough butter so I searched the internet for oil based cupcake recipes. Surprisingly, I was able to come across a vegan recipe for chocolate cupcakes that overall received a great rating. At first, I was really skeptical of the recipe because it did not require eggs or milk (but then again it was a vegan recipe) and used distilled vinegar instead, but after carefully reading a handful of reviews and looking at pictures, I decided to try the recipe and I am glad I did. However, I made some changes based on the reviews. I incorporated semi-sweet chocolate chips and more cocoa powder into the recipe because many reviewers commented how the cupcakes were not chocolaty enough. Many reviews said the batter is more liquidly than a normal cupcake batter, but I thought the consistency of the batter was comparable to other cake batters. This can be due to the fact that I added chocolate chips as well as more cocoa powder. 

The cupcakes turned out really well. They were very chocolaty, a little dense, moist in the inside, and harder/drier on the top---very delicious. I topped these cupcakes with homemade vanilla butter cream frosting.

Just in case people did not like chocolate, I wanted to have another favored cupcake. I decided to make buttermilk cupcakes since I had a lot of buttermilk leftover. I was able to find a recipe on a blog that required ingredients that I have. When searching for buttermilk cupcake recipes, I learned from reviews that you can actually make buttermilk by adding 2 tablespoons of distilled vinegar to a cup of milk. Next time, I shall try this instead of purchasing buttermilk. After whipping the ingredients together in the recipe, a very fluffy batter like whipped cream formed. This was my first time ever making a batter as fluffy as this one, but the cupcakes turn out very good. It reminded me of sponge cake---very light and tasty; however, I would have been more satisfied if the cupcakes did not shrink after cooling. To top these fabulous cupcakes, I used homemade chocolate butter cream frosting.

After frosting all the cupcakes, I placed them in tray pans and decorated them. At the party, these treats goodness were a huge success. Many of the attendees praise how good they were and I saw many people taking seconds. I will definitely use these recipes in the future again---maybe I will try to make cake versions next time. The recipe to these wonderful delights are below. Enjoy:)

Pasta Salad with Homemade Italian Dressing

For a potluck, I made pasta salad. I was thinking about just adding bottled dressing to some pasta and vegetables but decided against it. Bottled dressings are load with sodium so I thought it would better to make my own Italian dressing. I found a recipe for zesty Italian dressing on GrouponRecipe. However, I made some changes since I did not have some of the ingredients---I used garlic powder instead of garlic salt, I used Italian seasoning in place of oregano, thyme, dried basil, and I omitted the celery salt. Below you can find the recipe for the pasta salad and homemade Italian dressing. I made two batches of the homemade dressing separately but of course you can just double the recipe. Overall, I like the dressing and pasta salad. It was good, light, and not salty. Also, I receive positive from my friends at the potluck. Therefore, this recipe is a keeper for me.

Food Pictures

I found some pictures of food on my cellphone so I wanted to share them with you. Below are the pictures and below the pictures are brief descriptions.

Oatmeal with Dried Longan

A great way to start your day is by having a bowl of oatmeal. Oatmeal is excellent source of fiber, vitamin E, zinc, selenium, copper, iron, manganese, and magnesium. Foods high fiber keep you fuller for a longer period and can also help lower bad cholesterol levels; therefore, I highly recommend the consumption of high fiber foods to improve health. To make the oatmeal tastier, I added Dried Longan and some brown sugar. Dried Longan provides a number of health benefits as it have been said to improve concentration and memory, stomachache, insomnia, and amnesia. It is also a good source of fiber and iron. Try eating oatmeal with Dried Longan and tell me what you think. You can find the simple recipe below.

Bread Base Pizza

Sometimes for a snack or for lunch, I would make something that can be classified as a downgraded version of a pizza. I would use whole wheat bread slices as the base, ketchup as the tomato sauce, and top them with various ingredients. Then I would bake them in a 350 degrees Fahrenheit preheated oven for about 10 minutes to melt the cheese and toast the edges of the bread. One time, I topped the slices with shredded mozzarella cheese, basil leaves, sliced cherry tomatoes, diced red peppers, and grated Parmesan cheese. During another occasion, I used onions, sliced cherry tomatoes, chopped onions, shredded mozzarella cheese, grated Parmesan cheese, ground black pepper, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning to top the bread. I think these are fun to make. You should give them a try especially when you have an urge for pizza.