More S'Mores!

I have had a great life so far, but on my short list of horrible experiences is any outdoor camping trip I have ever been on. I would never ever ever choose to do this to myself. Why volunteer to be homeless? I like indoor plumbing! I like having a bed! And as a young, aspiring vegetarian, there were not a  lot of easily portable food options, back in the day. As far as I'm concerned, there is only one item on the "pro" list in the pros & cons of camping: S'MORES.
These little s'mores bars will make you feel like you did all the horrible campfire building and mosquito swatting and are finally getting to sit down and enjoy the only wonderful part of camping. They are SUPER easy to make, and have been a huge hit with everyone I've introduced them to. Whip up a quick batch tonight! You won't be sorry!

Disclosure: My husband loves s'mores. He ate 4 of the 16 bars the first day, and these pictures are from the second batch I've made ;)

S'more Cookie Bars

from Baked Perfection

annotations by Adrienne

makes 16 bars

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (approximately 6-7 full graham crackers)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 super-sized (5 oz.) dark chocolate bars (e.g. Hershey’s) (I prefer the smaller bars - they are thinner, and I don't like too much chocolate in my s'mores bars)
1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows) (I usually use *most* of a small jar of fluff)

1. If you're like me and you like the small chocolate bars OR if the store is out of anything else ;) unwrap your mini chocolate bars first :)
2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan. I butter the pan, then line it with parchment, then butter the parchment. It seems like overkill, but it makes it SO EASY to get the whole thing out and make nice, evenly cut bars.
3. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.
5. Divide dough in half and press half of the dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. Two 5 oz. Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single layer no more than 1/4 inch thick. Spread marshmallow fluff evenly over the chocolate layer. (I eyeball this, because measuring fluff isn't a very easy task ;)

6. Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff. I like to put the second half of the dough in a gallon size freezer bag and roll it ouThis is most easily done by putting the second half of the dough in a gallon size freezer bag. Use your palms to flatten it out, and then use scissors to cut down both long sides of the bag, so it will open up book-style. Open it up carefully, and the dough will stick on one side of the bag. Then place the bag, dough side down, on the other three layers. From there peel the bag up and spread the dough where it is uneven.
7. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars. The bars looks sort of sloppy in these pictures because I had company coming and I needed to cut them before they were completely cooled. The first batch, which I actually left out overnight, covered with a towel, looked BEAUTIFUL. :)

All Photos ©2012 Patisserie d'Adrienne

I Work Out! (Tofu & Quinoa)

We need to BRANCH OUT around here!

I know with the typical amount of butter in my posted recipes it might be surprising to most people that I like healthy food a lot and the A & E household works out on an extremely regular basis. The lack of posts for the last months has been due to the massive amounts of P90X and not a lot of fun baking. We changed gears about a month and a half ago and started P90X2 and decided that it was time to try to adapt our diet as well. You definitely see more results from an "Extreme" workout program when you aren't coming home and eating loads of delicious snacks before dinner, then sitting down with a bowl of ice cream after. (Not that either of us ever did THAT :) WELL. Now I've decided it is time to adapt the blog. Posts can't be all unhealthy goodness, right? And this bakery can cook, not just bake! 

To share a little bit of what the last couple of months in our household has entailed: Lent started, and E decided (this was his own suggestion, which I LOVED) that we should give up TV as our lenten sacrifice, only watching on Sunday "the day of rest," more out of necessity to clear off our dvr than anything. And bonus: our electricity bill always goes WAY WAY WAY down when we give up TV for any amount of time. Starting P90X2, including the "eating right" part of the plan, has been great. We are fortunate enough to not have a lot of weight to lose, but we have both lost a few pounds and have seen gains in our workout stamina & recovery, providing we get enough sleep to tie it all together.

One thing I have found most challenging about changing my eating habits has been getting in enough protein. I have been a vegetarian for more than 14 years at this point and have probably never gotten enough of it, and it has been great trying to fit more of it into my everyday meals. I've found a great protein powder that I love, but you don't always want to drink ALL your protein. Even pre-vegetarian Adrienne loved her some tofu. But you can only consume SO MUCH tofu. The first couple weeks of P90X I went through 2-3lbs of tofu by myself and quickly found that I needed to branch out. P90X2 meal plan is great at allowing for different dietary requirements, but as a vegetarian you still don't have a lot of "Protein" options besides Soy-based protein, Veggie Burgers (again, often soy based), Protein Powder. (Before anyone asks, yes, legumes and dairy are allowed, but they are in a separate category of the meal plan, they are not strictly considered "Protein").

Now that I have adapted to eating better, I have gone back to Tofu as a regular part of my diet. This recipe for Tofu & Quinoa is from the P90X2 food guide. I was extremely skeptical of quinoa at first because small, grainy type food (rice, couscous, quinoa) has never been in my food wheelhouse. Luckily, this is a delicious recipe that I turn to week after week as an easy lunch to reheat for work, and a nice simple way to get in a couple of proteins and a legume. :)

There is fresh ginger in this picture...but I ended up using pickled "sushi" ginger because this ginger wasn't good anymore. Make sure you freeze your fresh ginger before it goes bad!

Tofu & Quinoa
Adapted from "Asian Spiced Tofu" recipe by [Beachbody]

Marinade for Tofu:
3 Tablespoons Low Sodium Soy Sauce
3 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar
2 teaspoons Agave Nectar
2 teaspoons Sesame Oil
1 (heaping) teaspoon minced garlic (or two garlic cloves, minced)
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons chopped pickled ginger (the recipe asks for fresh ginger, but I use what I've got :)
1 lb. organic, extra firm tofu, drained and pressed, cut lengthwise into 5 cutlets (My favorite variety is Trader Joe's, it seems to hold up best to the draining and pressing, and seems to be one of the only ones I've tried that holds up to the "extra firm" claim.)
1 c. uncooked quinoa, cooked according to package instructions. (Typically: rinse, put in pot with 2 c. water, boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and white grain spiral is visible, fluff with fork, enjoy!)
Directions:

One way of draining tofu...But read below for my preferred method!

• Combine all marinade ingredients in a glass baking dish (I like to use my pyrex 5x9, which fits all 5 pieces of tofu nicely side by side) (Sometimes I double the marinade so I can pour the extra over the quinoa when I divvy up my leftovers...up to you!)
• Drain your tofu! Here is how I do it: Cut tofu package being careful not to actually cut the tofu. Drain off all liquid, rinse the block of tofu. Get a couple of microfiber towels. They are awesomely super absorbent, and have really helped with my tofu prep. Cut tofu lengthwise into 5 fairly even "steaks". They'll be a little wonky, it doesn't matter. Lay them flat on the microfiber towel, fold the towel over the top of the tofu and lightly press out as much liquid as possible with your hands, a weighed board, whatever. You might have to remove the tofu, re-fold the towel so you can utilize some of the dry spots, and re-press. As long as it is pretty dry, it will soak up the marinade better and be a little easier to work with.
• Place tofu cutlets in the glass baking dish and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. I like to turn them over once around the 15 minute mark if I have time. If not, I just flip them once more after I take them out of the fridge.
• Preheat oven to 400ºF
• Bake tofu for 20 minutes, then flip and bake for 10 more minutes.
• Serve each cutlet with 1/2 cup of your cooked quinoa. Enjoy!

All Photos ©2012 Patisserie d'Adrienne

One Bowl PBCC Cookies!

Peanut butter and chocolate are a favorite flavor combination for SO MANY people...understandably so, they may be some of the most complementary flavors in the universe :) And as much as I like a complicated, entire weekend-consuming recipe, sometimes I want something quick and relaxed with no intense prep-work or resting time. When I stumbled upon this AWESOME recipe from the Inventive Vegetarian, I just couldn't resist. And they are well worth it. They are also versatile enough that they can be made vegan by changing a few simple ingredients, which is great for people with food allergies as well. So give these a shot - they whip up fast, you don't even need to mess up the kitchen much.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 20 using the Medium Pampered Chef Scoop

instruction notes and photos by Adrienne

recipe from the Inventive Vegetarian

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 stick butter at room temperature (or margarine/dairy free butter product for vegan option)

1/2 cup peanut butter (either creamy or crunchy works)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg or 1 ripe banana

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup rolled oats (not instant oatmeal, real rolled oats)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt (i used kosher, you can use whatever you want :)

6 oz. semisweet chocolate chips or chunks

Preheat oven to 350F

1.  If using a banana, mash it in a large mixing bowl. If using an egg, just put the egg in the bowl :)  Add the sugars, butter, peanut butter, and vanilla to the bowl and mix until everything is well combined. Use some elbow grease - it only takes a minute or two as long as your butters are soft enough ;)

Everything in one bowl! Love!

2.  Mix in the flour, oats, baking powder, and salt.  Stir until everything is just combined, then add in the chocolate chips and mix again.

3. Prepare your cookies and cookie sheet using your preferred method. I like parchment paper and a cookie scoop, but feel free to grease up the pan and use two spoons if that is what you like. Make sure all cookies on the same pan are approximately the same size, but make them whatever size you'd like. If you used a banana instead of an egg, you probably want to mash the cookies down with the back of a spoon a bit because they will not spread much during baking.

This is my preferred cookie layout, especially when it is a "new" recipe and I'm not sure how much they are going to spread.

4. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown (this will vary based on what size you made the cookie.) Then cool them for about a minute on the cookie sheet before transferring to a cooling rack. Enjoy!

My kitchen helper...he obviously ate a cookie (without my permission.) Don't worry, he's fine ;)