Cookies and Cream Cake

Ah, Memorial Day weekend...did you have fun?  What a great day to enjoy the warm weather, and of course be grateful for all the troops working hard to keep us safe.  My weekend was filled with long walks with Lady, catching up on housework, laying in the sun, a touch of studying (too little of that...whoops), a little bit of work, a barbeque with great friends, and of course baking!!

This is what your ganache will look like when you chill it
then beat it up

I made this cake for Mr. Adam Hughes, one of my favorite people, who was be in town and wanted to stop by to see us.  It also happened to be his birthday, so of course a guy needs a cake!!  The leftovers were a big hit at the Memorial Day grill out we attended.  When you make a big cake, it's always best to have an occasion or two to share it at!!

As a side note, I have about 2 1/2 more weeks of third year left....do you know what that means?  It means no more adult medicine, possibly for the rest of my career!!  My fourth year is jam-packed with pediatric extravaganzas...I'm so excited.  But don't worry, if you're an adult and need medical advice, I'd be happy to tell you that no, you don't need an antibiotic, and yes, you should just take some ibuprofen and have a nap :)

Cookies and Cream Cake
1 box white cake mix
2 vanilla beans, scraped
2 containers white frosting
1/2 tsp almond extract

For the Ganache Filling
1 cup heavy cream
1  1/4 cup chocolate chips

1/2 package oreo cookies, crushed, plus 6 cookies cut in half

Prepare cake batter as instructed, and beat in vanilla bean seeds.  Bake in 9" or 8" round pans as on the box.  Allow to cool, then cut the cakes in half lengthwise so you basically have 4 round cakes.

To make the ganache filling, heat the heavy cream in the microwave until very hot but not boiling.  Place chocolate chips in a large bowl, then pour hot cream over chocolate chips.  Allow to melt without touching it, then whisk the cream into the chocolate until it's smooth.  Refrigerate for 30-45 minutes, stirring once or twice until cool and more firm.  Beat with a handmixer until fluffy like thick frosting.

To decorate the cake, stir almond extract into white frosting (put both tubs into one bowl).  Add about 1/4 of the frosting to a quart-sized zip top bag, and cut an end off.  Place the bottom of one of the cakes on a cake plate.  Pipe a circle of white frosting around the periphery, then spread 1/3 of the chocolate ganache frosting inside that circle.  Sprinkle some crushed oreo cookies on top of that.  Add another layer of cake on top and press down gently.  Repeat two more times, ending with a cake top.  Frost the whole cake with the remaining white frosting.  Sprinkle some crushed cookies on top, then stand the oreo cookie halves around the periphery.

Seems complicated, but you can do it!

Buffalo Chicken Chili Mac

Do you like chicken wings, like the kind you order at a bar?  Ugh, Peter does, and unfortunately he passed that love onto me.  They are DELICIOUS...but unfortunately they are deep fried then rolled in a butter sauce (did I just wreck wings for you?  So sorry).  They're great as an occasional treat, because moderation is really the name of the game, but I have a recipe that will echo those flavors in a much healthier way.  Ready?  Let's do it.

Buffalo chicken chili mac...a recipe created by Rachael Ray and shared with me by my friend Kara.  Boneless, skinless chicken breasts in a "chili" buffalo sauce with carrots, celery, and cheese, with whole wheat noodles as the base.  It's pretty quick to come together, making it perfect for a weeknight dinner.  Plus, it makes like a million servings...I took a little tuppy-ful to work the next day, and we had it for a whole other meal.  Plus I have a casserole full in the freezer for some rainy day when I don't have the strength to cook :)  Give this one a try, you'll like it.

Buffalo Chicken Chili Mac
Adapted from Rachael Ray

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 lb chicken breasts, cut into cubes
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
5 large garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp smoked paprika (or normal paprika, if that's what you have)
2 cups chicken stock
1/4-1/2 cups hot or buffalo sauce
1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 lb whole wheat macaroni (I used shells :)
1/2 cup pepper jack cheese (add blue cheese too, if you have some)

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain.  In a super large skillet or big pot, brown chicken in olive oil.  Add carrots, celery, onion, garlic, paprika, salt, and pepper.  Cook veggies, stirring frequently, 3-4 minutes.  Add chicken stock, hot sauce, and tomatoes and bring to a bubble.  Simmer chili 8-10 minutes to thicken slightly.  Toss cooked pasta with chili then transfer to casserole dish (or a two small casserole dishes to save one for later**).  Sprinkle with cheese and place under broiler until cheese is melted.

**If you're going to save a casserole for later, place chili mac in a casserole dish and allow to cool slightly.  Sprinkle with cheese, tightly cover, and place in freezer.  To serve, thaw in refrigerator overnight, then reheat in 350 degree oven until warmed through.

Happy Birthday, Lady Bug!!

One year ago today we adopted our little Lady Bug from a cocker spaniel rescue in WI.  She has been such a joy and we are so lucky to have her :)  We don't know her actual birthday, but she was determined by a few vets to be about 4 when we got her.  A girl needs a birthday to officially celebrate, so we decided to make her adoption day her birthday (so May 22 it is!)

Here's a picture tribute of some of my favorite moments with her.  Tonight, she gets a special "birthday cake" of plain yogurt and mom's cereal (she LOVES my cereal...like goes nuts).  Here's to many more years with our best friend!!

Happy Halloween!!  

Checking out the action

Resident nap expert

Mom's best study buddy

Tolerating bath time...kind of

"I know how to shake!!!"

Rox Visits Chicago (and Sour Cream Strawberries)

So I had Saturday off (and a lighter day on Friday), so my mom and I planned a quick trip for her to come down to Chicago to visit, Thursday-Sat.  Incase you're curious, here's a little of what we did :)

Thursday, my mom rolled in right as I was getting off work.  Traffic wasn't bad at all, and I was concerned about that, considering NATO is in town=crazy protestors, who knows what we'd be working with....Nothing special that day, just a long walk with Lady, fun catching up, and a great homemade dinner (complete with my zucchini brownies for dessert...more on that later!!)

On Friday, I worked, but Rox and Pete enjoyed a leisurely 18 holes on a golf course downtown.  She even got some action shots of his game.

Afterwards, I took her to Whole Foods, one of my favorite places in the city.  I know, it's a grocery store (what lame-o takes a guest to a grocery store as a tour stop?) but I knew she'd appreciate all the fun stuff and beautiful presentations.  

I adopted one of these herb gardens...Complete with basil,
thyme, rosemary and parsley.  Lets hope I don't kill it.

 We went out to eat at Thalia Spice, a Pan-Asian restaurant about a 20 minute walk from our apartment.  It was a beautiful night, and the food was amazing!  We all got adventurous with our ordering, and everything we tried was beautifully presented and great.  We also got to dine outside, one of my favorite summertime activities.  We'll definitely be back there.

Dessert was at our place: a simple one of strawberries, light sour cream, and brown sugar (yes, this is the recipe portion of this post :)  It sounds weird, I know, but my aunt and uncle introduced it to us last summer and I can't get enough when berries are ripe.  Please promise you'll try it...it's really pretty and super easy (obviously...you scoop some brown sugar and sour cream into separate bowls, plop strawberries on a plate and voila...dessert!)

Saturday was a leisurely morning complete with pedicures (I have blue toes now....not cyanosis, but paint, thank you very much).  I love our time together, even though it is much too infrequent :(

On a side note, NATO is crazy....we have dignitaries/leaders from 60 countries here, including Obama...plus all the protestors.  We just watched live news coverage of a protest that almost went south...the riot police kept it from getting out of hand (our good friends live blocks from where it happened).   Cook County Hospital has both of their mass casualty triage semis ready and raring to go, and when I was in the ER today admitting a patient, they looked eerily organized (Cook's ER is never very organized).  Lets hope we can just put those trucks back in the garage when this is all over Tuesday.

Double side note:  Congratulations to my brother, Tyler, for graduating last weekend with a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering!  He's packed it up from Platteville, WI and is making the move to Weston, WI where he'll start his first "big boy" job as an engineer.  I'm super proud of you!!

Homemade Granola

Ok so there is a big movement out there to buy less pre-packaged foods and make more homemade.  That's really great in theory I think...less packaging waste, less added crappy ingredients, more fun in the kitchen, etc.  However, being a busy med student/wife/dog mommy (and I'm sure you can relate, being busy doing whatever you do) usually makes me go more for convenience.  I'm really trying to convert, however, starting with this homemade granola.

Most store bought granolas are loaded with fat, calories and added lameness.  Granola by definition is not a "light" cereal, which is why it's best just sprinkled over yogurt or as a small handful for a snack.  However, I love it, and the store bought stuff is also really expensive.  So, I combined two recipes (from Kara's blog and Annie's Eats) to come up with this.  It's crunchy, lovely, and thanks to the egg whites, there are more chunks, obviously the most desirable form of granola.

Hopefully this is just the start of my "less store-bought, more homemade" adventure.  I saw a recipe for homemade yogurt (yes, starting with just milk...God help me).  Maybe that's next on the list.

Homemade Granola
4 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 cup shredded coconut, toasted
1/2 cup nuts (I used sliced almonds)
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 Tbsp canola oil
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 egg whites, beaten until foamy
Dried fruit, if desired

Preheat oven to 350.  Combine oats, wheat germ, coconut and nuts in a large bowl.  In a small saucepan, combine syrup, oil, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt.  Bring to a boil.  Pour over oat mixture and mix well.  Fold in foamy egg whites.  Spread onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.  Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown, stirring once or twice.

The Brazilian Steakhouse

As promised, here's a peak into our Brazilian Steakhouse adventure.  We went there with a classmate and good friend of Peter's, Keaton (who also whalloped the boards :) and his wife Jamie, and we had a blast.  There are at least three restaurants like this in Chicago, but Keaton heard that Texas de Brazil is the best, so that's where we went.  A disclaimer: the pictures are a bit dark and not super clear because there was weird lighting and my phone is less than professional, but you'll get the idea.  Here's how it works:

For a set price per person, you get unlimited access to the huge "salad bar" and all the meat you can handle.  Before you say, "this sounds a lot like Old Country Buffet...how is it different?", the food is just, amazing.  The salad bar has tons of specialty vegetables, cheeses, ahi seared tuna, salmon, salads, soups, traditional Brazilian dishes, I could go on.  Then the meat...oh God the meat...

There are at least 15 different styles of meat: bacon wrapped chicken breast, prime rib, filet minion, lamb chops, loin of lamb, special Brazilian sausages, pork, you name it.  They use a special grilling/cooking process for each kind, with Brazilian seasonings (salty and a little spicy), and put them on huge skewers.  Gauchos wander around and slice a sample of anything you want off their cut of meat.  That is, when you are ready for it.

We got these tokens, one side red and one side green.  I'm sure you can extrapolate what to do with them...After our first trip to the salad bar, we decided to flip from red to green (Jamie exclaimed, "Oh God I'm scared!) and sure enough, about 5 gauchos descended on our table, offering us amazing samples.  You can turn them down of course (if you're dying for a lamb chop you might say no to the chicken guy), but it is super fun to see what they bring around.

You could literally eat all day, but obviously this is a super bad idea.  We did a round at the salad bar, a round of meat, and then repeated before we threw in the towel.  Really fun, obviously satisfying, and a great way to celebrate Keaton and Peter's accomplishments on the optometry board exams.

We decided that we'd take the long way walking home to shake off some of our fullness...and I'm glad we did.  We were slow moving, but it was a beautiful night and we took some fun pictures.

Zucchini Ribbons

First of all, I would like to congratulate my wonderful husband (and all my ICO friends :) on doing a fantastic job on Step 1 of their boards!  Incase you never heard me complain loudly about boards (and God knows you never heard Peter complain about them...he's borderline saintly about trudging through this crap), they are a part of licensing requirements, and basically, they blow to prepare for.  It was literally a "final exam" of all the stuff Peter has learned during the last three years...and he knocked it out of the park!!   To celebrate, we're going to a Brazilian steakhouse on Friday with friends.  Not familiar with Brazilian steakhouses?  Maybe I'll post about it...it's a protein-laden, wear comfy pants type of affair you could experience vicariously through me if you don't happen to have one down your street.

Do you need a super fast veggie side?  This little number takes literally minutes to prepare and is fresh and light, plus looks kinda fancy :)  Just please, please, please don't cook the snot out of the poor zucchini ribbons.  Most people have a tendency to overcook vegetables (myself included), but I think that's one of the reason some people find veggies unappealing.  So trust me when I say, cook the ribbons super fast, while tossing them with two forks until they are basically warmed through.

Zucchini Ribbons
2 Zucchini
1 garlic clove, finely minced
Olive oil, salt and pepper
Juice from half a lemon

Cut off the ends of the zucchini.  Using a vegetable peeler, make zucchini ribbons, stopping just before the seeds.  Dry the zucchini with paper towel.  Heat a skillet over medium high heat.  Add olive oil, and quickly sautee garlic until slightly softened.  Add in zucchini ribbons, and toss using two forks for 2 minutes or until just tender.  Season with salt, pepper, and lemon juice.  Add basil or chives if desired.  Serve immediately!

Hawaiian Wedding Cake

So, how was your cinco de mayo?  Mine was woefully devoid of margaritas, but we had a good time anyways.  After finishing the first of only two finals, Peter, two classmates and their wives and I went to a Mexican super dive called Carbon (literally a hole in the wall...under the highway, serving tacos in Chinatown kind of place).  Ok, these were THE BEST tacos I've ever had...they have several flavors, but I tried their tilapia and roasted vegetable tacos, which were to die for.  Peter had a couple of steak tacos, and after a small sampling, were fantastic as well.  


After dinner, I offered to bring dessert, so we all headed to our friends' apartment for this lovely  Hawaiian wedding cake.   I've been meaning to try this recipe for a while after my mom emailed it to me, and it was light and refreshing, perfect for post-taco sweetness.  Then, the main event: the Avengers!  I'm not a comic book nerd and I really am not a huge fan of sitting through entire movies ( I usually like to have an "out"....like a computer, magazine, book, etc...) but this movie was really amazing.  And besides...combining Thor and Ironman?  Hard to argue with that.


Hawaiian Wedding Cake

1 package yellow cake mix

1 ¼ cups buttermilk*

4 egg whites

1 egg

1 package (8 oz) reduced fat cream cheese

1 cup cold 2% milk

1 package (1oz) sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix

2 cans (one 20 ounces, one 8 oz) unsweetened crushed pineapple, drained

1 carton (8 oz) Cool Whip

½ cup flaked coconut, toasted

Beat dry cake mix, buttermilk, egg whites and egg.  Bake in a 9 x 13 pan that’s been sprayed with Pam at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Beat cream cheese until fluffy.  Gradually beat in milk.  Add pudding mix.  Fold in about half of the pineapple.  Spread over cake.  Spoon remaining pineapple over pudding mixture.  Top with Cool Whip.  Sprinkle with coconut.  Store in refrigerator.

*I make it by adding 1 TBSP white vinegar to the milk.  Let it stand for 5 minutes.

BLAT: Bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato sandwich

The BLAT...what a name :)  Peter is a big fan of BLT sandwiches, but we also share a love of avocado.  Umm..lets just add avocado to BLT and make a BLAT!  Obviously this is a super easy weeknight meal, and yes, it has bacon but a few pieces won't kill you, and the flavor is really robust so you don't need 10 pieces per sandwich (I think 2-3 slices is perfect :)

Also, we buy the fully cooked bacon you can get in the boxes...go ahead and use raw bacon, but I find that the trauma of dealing with a smoke-filled apartment while the bacon pops away in a pan or smokes out the oven is a bit too much for a Tuesday night :)

In other news, medicine is going just swimmingly.  I really like it (again, no, not jumping the peds ship), but compared to surgery this is equivalent to a Caribbean vacation: hours are better (generally 6ish-3?), people are nicer, I learn a lot, and get to have a pretty big role in the care of my patients.  In preparation for fourth year and (gasp!) life beyond as a real doctor, I ordered this super sweet new stethoscope.  Littman is kinda like the Cadillac of stethoscopes, plus this one is dual sided....adults and peds.  As a pediatrician, I didn't want to carry around 3 stethoscopes (infant, pediatric, and adult)...so this takes me down to two.  Why three scopes?   Think about a baby's chest vs a 5 year old vs a burly post-pubescent 15 year old male...I love my patient population :)

BLAT
Bacon (preferably the precooked kind)
Lettuce (I like Boston lettuce)
1 avocado
Ripe, good quality tomatoes (try to find heirloom if you can)
Whole wheat bread
Mayo, if desired (we used chipotle mayo)

Toast the bread.  Meanwhile, slice the tomato and avocado, and tear up the lettuce leaves.  Microwave the bacon, and assemble the sandwich (not too complicated, right?)  Serve with a side salad or cup of soup.  Enjoy!