Dark cherry and white chocolate pound cake

This was good and totally bad for you but never mind that. The recipe was changed from the original that came from allrecipes.com. For a pound cake it is incredibly airy and fluffy. I think using coconut oil to replace butter is a smart move, not only is it much better for you but it gives amazing results. The og recipe called for maraschino cherries which, while totally yummy are totally rotten for you. A better and tastier way is to use a jar of Trader Joe's Dark Morello Cherries or even fresh or frozen sweet cherries..... maraschino cherries are best left to Manhattan's (hold the vermouth) and Fruit cake (ewww!) This is a perfect little holiday treat!

Enjoy!


2 cups white whole wheat flour, King Arthur Brand
3 tsp aluminum free baking powder
pinch of salt
dash of allspice
1 cup organic virgin coconut oil or unsalted butter (coconut oil gives great results and interchangeable with butter)
1 pkg cream cheese, room temp
3/4 cup organic pure cane sugar
4 fresh organic eggs
tsp of pure vanilla extract
tsp of pure almond extract
1 cup Dark Morello cherries, drained well
1 cup good quality white chocolate chunks.
few tbl of flour for dredging cherries in

preheat oven to 350F. Grease tube pan or bundt pan.

Combine flour, b powder, salt and allspice.

Cream coconut oil/butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat eggs one at a time. Scrap down sides and add extracts. Beat in flour.

Sprinkle just enough flour to coat cherries. like with blueberries, this helps the cherries from falling to the bottom of the cake and keeps them scattered throughout.

Fold cherries into cake along with white chocolate.

Bake 60 min. Insert knife if not ready. Cool a few minutes than turn out and eat or cool or eat and be cool!

caramelized onion and olive pizza

this was, as littlefoodie put it "big people" pizza. normally he eats whatever we put in front of his chubby little mug but he snubbed us this time...however, that just meant more for daddy and myself.

i lifted the recipe from cookinglight.com but switched it up as always to make it even better! the dough was painfully easy to make and just too minutes. while it was rising i prepared the veggies and cooked them up. as soon as the bread was done rising the toppings were all done. easy as pizza pie. actually, the dough was very similar to the herb pizza crust from trader joes but its homemade which always makes it tastier but in a pinch the tj's will work. i plan on making a couple batches to freeze and whip out quickly.

there is pretty much an infinite amount of toppings for this but squash, herbs, kalamata olives, onions and goat cheese were what i had on hand. next week i want to throw some eggplant and make a spicier pizza.

enjoy!

the pizza dough:

1 pkg organic yeast
3/4 warm water, divided
2 1/4 cups organic white whole wheat flour, divided
2 tbl milk
2 tbl olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
generous cracklings of black pepper!
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
cornmeal

sprinkle yeast over 1/4 cup of warm water in a large bowl and let stand for 5 min to bloom. add 1/2 cup of warm water and stir. stir in 2 cups flour, milk, olive oil, salt, cracked pepper, and herbs. stir until combined.

flour board and turn out dough. knead until smooth about 8-10 min and dough is elastic. add enough dough, 1 tbl at a time to prevent sticking.

grease a large, clean glass bowl with olive oil and turn to coat the dough all over in it. cover with wax paper and let rise in a warm place with no drafts for 40 minutes. after that punch down and let sit 5 minutes.

sprinkle cornmeal to covera greased cookie sheet. shape dough out into a large rectangle and crimp edges

preheat oven to 400F.

toppings:
4 slices nitrate free bacon (neiman ranch), diced
4 yellow onions, thinly sliced
1 tsp chopped rosemary
4 garlic clvs, sliced
1 cup halved heirloom or small tomatoes
2 yellow squash, halved and sliced
3/4 cup chopped, pitted kalamata olives
1 pkg goat cheese
cracked pepper

heat pan and saute bacon until crisp. remove. add onion to pan along with rosemary and garlic and squash. cook on med high heat stirring occasionally until onion is golden and caramelized. add in tomatoes and olives. season with salt and pepper.

top the pizza crust with onion mixture. sprinkle with bacon and then goat cheese. sprinkle with fresh cracked pepper.

bake 35 min until crust is crispy and toppings are brown and gooey!

hey little baby kiwi...littlefoodie pick of the week

on our bi-monthly ginormous trader joes/wild oats shopping trip we picked up, at trader joes, these tiny little baby kiwis. oh my love, were they good. tiny like a big fat grape and sweet like honey. i snipped off the tiny little ends cause they were a bit tough and then ate them whole...sweet green skin and all. littlefoodie ended up eating the whole package so were heading back

this afternoon to by about 4 more so we have some to last for the week.
(and on another trader joes note...they have their pumpkin butter back and in full swing!) it may be the last time we buy it although we love it casue i think its time to start making our own!)

enjoy!

mojito marinated chicken with mango, edamame salsa and coconut couscous

i jar trader joes cuban mojito sauce
1 green onion, chopped
4 boneless, skinless organic chicken breasts
1 red organic bell pepper, sliced

1 mango, diced
half of 1 onion, chopped
handful of chopped fresh mint
1/4 cup organic grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup cooked and cooled edamame
squeeze of 1 lime
sea salt to taste

organic whole wheat couscous
organic light coconut milk
water
bunch of parsely, chopped
1/4 cup organic, unsweetened shredded coconut

combine sauce and green onions. marinate chicken overnight or for a few hours. throw chicken onto grill pan with sliced peppers and cook until done. 10 min or so.

cook couscous according to package but use half light coconut milk and half water for liquid. add coconut while cooking. when done toss with parsely.

combine mango thru sea salt and let sit.

throw on a plate and eat!