Wrap it up

Have you ever found yourself fresh out of creative food ideas for the next family event?  I feel like we have hit up most of the classics.  We have had a bunch of salads and croissant sandwiches.  We have done the brunch with quiche, yogurt parfait with the most delicious homemade granola (recipe I must share someday), scones, cinnamon rolls, and crumb cake.  The soup bar with lots of yummy soups and good bread.  The pasta bar.  The small plates event with appetizers and desserts.  The taco bar, actually, I think we have covered most of the popular foreign cuisine.  Did I mention my family loves food?  When we hear that we have a family gathering coming up, the first question my mom asks is, "What are we going to eat?"

Well, a family event was approaching so my most darling sister-in-law and I were brainstorming what the food needed to be for our next family gathering, a baby blessing.  We went through the list and thought and thought.  As brainstorming goes, I don't know where it came from but we decided on a salad/wrap bar.  It was really fun and I think everyone enjoyed the meal.  We did get a few confused looks from the first ones through the line, but they soon caught on and were wrapping it up!

So I thought, if you are out of ideas like we were, here is a fun summer party idea or just something you can do for your next family event.  It is fairly simple and everyone can find something they like!

First we decided on three salads,

BBQ/Southwest Salad (she had cute dressing bottles with ranch dressing and BBQ sauce in them on the side of this salad)

An Oriental Salad

Last but not least, a classic Caesar Salad (I know the pear Gorgonzola was in vogue and there are other fancy salads you currently love, but I find that everyone loves a classic Caesar.  Take it to your next dinner and you will be surprised what a refreshing classic it is).

We put out the three salads and even though some of the salad recipes call for meat, we left it out of the salad and did a good ole summer grill on the BBQ.  She used grilled chicken and grilled tri-tip.  Just a basic salt and pepper feel so that they could match any of the salads/wraps.

She also had a few different flavors of tortillas/wraps.  So, the guests picked up their wrap, added the salad of their choice and added the meat of their choice folded and went of their way!  It was also nice because if they weren't into the wrap thing, they could just have a nice salad with some yummy meat on it!

On the side you can do as you please, but she went for a beautiful tray of fresh fruit and veggies.  She also had chips and dips.  A little something for everyone!

I thought it turned out wonderfully!  The great thing, is that you can use your favorite salads and make it your own!  We did pre-dress the salads, so they were getting the full effect of the wrap, but we also had extra dressings on the side.  Wa-la!  I hope you get a chance to try it out at your next family gathering.  Let me know what salads you use and how it goes!

Creamy Dreamy Orange Cupcakes

by andi

 

I've been making these cupcakes for years now and whenever I take them to neighborhood parties, church functions, baby showers, etc, people can't get enough of them. It's not uncommon to see all of them disappear off the serving platter within minutes of setting them down. People always ask me for the recipe, and frankly, I'm a little embarrassed to give it out because of how easy they are.

In a nutshell, I use a white cake mix but replace the water called for with orange juice and throw a little fresh orange zest in to bump up the flavor. The creamy, tangy frosting pairs perfectly with the cake. People are always surprised when I tell them how I make them because they really do taste fancier than they are.

Ingredients

• 1 box white cake mix
• Orange juice
• Oil
• Eggs
• Zest and juice from 1 orange
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 block cream cheese
• 4 cups powdered sugar

Directions

• Make the cupcakes according to the directions on your cake mix except replace the water with orange juice (my mix used 1 1/4 cups orange juice, 1/3 cup oil, and 3 egg whites). Zest the orange and add half into the batter, reserving the other half for the frosting. I usually add a little red and yellow food coloring too to make the batter a light orange color. I think it looks pretty that way!
• For the frosting, beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth and fluffy. Alternate adding the powdered sugar and the juice from the orange. You may not need to add the juice from the entire orange. Just add it until you reach the consistency you want. Add the remaining orange zest and beat again to incorporate.
• Once the cupcakes are completely cool, frost away! Decorate however your little heart desires. I like to add tiny orange pieces to the top of each cupcake so it's easy to tell what flavor it is.  

I had just frosted these cupcakes beautifully with a piping bag and a decorative tip.  I had them all arranged on a beautiful blue pedestal and they looked gorgeous.  I walked out of the room for 5.47 seconds to grab my camera and when I came back in to take some pictures of them, my 3 year old exclaimed, "Mommy!  Look what I did!"  And I saw this:

In an effort to help himself to one of my delicious cupcakes, he had tipped the serving plate over and they all slid off! My first instinct was to think, "Oh no!  They're ruined! Now they're going to look so ugly and none of the Doe A Deery readers will be impressed!" But then I remembered that we're all friends here and this blog is all about being real. So instead, I laughed, snapped some pictures, and helped my son unwrap his cupcake. I salvaged what I could of the frosting and rearranged it with a butter knife.  No harm done.

I know they're not the prettiest cupcakes you've ever seen, but I like to think of them as "rustic." Plus, it doesn't matter what they look like, anyway! All that matters is what they taste like. And I promise if you make these, you won't be disappointed. The cake is light and fluffy, the frosting is tangy and creamy, and because you're using a boxed cake mix, they couldn't be easier! Happy baking, everyone!

Quick and Healthy Breakfast

by Rachel A.

In an effort to lose a few extra [extremely stubborn] pounds of baby weight, I've been really watching what I eat and have been trying to find ways to make what I eat more healthy.  With two little kids running around, eating healthy can be a challenge. Here's one option for breakfast that is super easy to put together, tastes good, and leaves me with lots of energy to chase those kids around.

First, I start with about eight ounces of unsweetened vanilla almond milk.

Next, you'll add your dry mix-ins. Most of these can be measured out and put in a sandwich bag ahead of time, for more time-saving. I typically use the following combination, but feel free to use your imagination. If something seems like it would taste good - try it out!

Mix-ins:

Chia Seeds - This is the one essential mix-in to this drink. When soaked in a liquid for more than 30 minutes, the Chia seeds form a gelatin shell, which makes the liquid more yogurt or jello like. Chia offers many health benefits including being a great source of Omega-3 and helping keep you hydrated. However, claims regarding it's ability to aide in weight loss have been disputed. Regardless, I love the stuff! I usually put about 3 TBSP of Chia in my 8-oz glass of almond milk, and let it sit for an hour or so (this takes a bit of forethought), if not overnight.

Slivered Almonds

Cinnamon

Unsweetened Coconut - make sure it's unsweetened!

Fruit - In the picture above I show dried cranberries (make sure they are simply dried cranberries—most brands are loaded with extra sugar), which is one of my favorites, especially in the winter when fresh berries are hard to come by. This summer I've been using blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and even nectarines. I imagine frozen berries would taste great too, but I've never tried it. The fruit adds the sweetness you may feel you're missing with all the other unsweetened ingredients.

Other ideas:

Stevia - On days that I'm wanting a little extra sweetness, I'll add in a small squirt (a little goes a LONG way) of this Stevia sweetener. It doesn't quite taste like traditional sugar sweetener, but it is so much better for you to avoid the sugar!

Flax Seed - Lately I've been throwing in a tablespoon or so of flax seed, which is being called one of the most powerful plant foods around. This does add a bit more grit to the drink, but if you can get past it, the health benefits are huge.


Once you have all your ingredients together, throw them in your almond milk and stir it up. If you haven't let the Chia sit in the almond milk yet, you'll need to let the whole mixture sit for a little while to set up. I usually put this together as soon as I wake up, then help my kids get breakfast, or jump in the shower and it's ready by the time I am done.

As a heads up: I usually get hungry a couple of hours after breakfast when this is what I have. If this happens for you too, be prepared with a banana or LARA Bar (I'm a new lover of LARA Bars thanks to my friend Kristie Belliston of The Belly Fit Club) to hold you over until lunch.

Let me know how you like it! I'd love to hear if you have more ideas for mix-ins, or if you have other quick & healthy meal ideas.

National Pi(e) Day

by Rachel A.

When I was young, I used to watch the the digital clock in my bedroom as I fell asleep. I would wait until the clock read something like 7:35 or 8:16 to try to slam my eyes closed and fall asleep in that minute. You see, those numbers seemed to fit together (7X5=35 or 8X2=16 ... hopefully that makes sense), and somehow that made falling asleep at that time magical. Even better was if the numbers would divide out to equal the time I was supposed to wake up. For example: 7:49pm would look like 49 was being divided by 7, which equals 7, and therefore I could wake up at 7am and the whole night—and probably next day—would be perfect. 

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