Thanks Pru at Perfecting Pru for next week’s pick: Roasted Fall Vegetable Soup. It should be a great choice as fall moves in.

Thanks Pru at Perfecting Pru for next week’s pick: Roasted Fall Vegetable Soup. It should be a great choice as fall moves in.

What could be better than brownies that are almost, sort of, kind of healthy? I chose this week’s project, from Sept Everyday Food.

I cheated in two ways on this recipe, ok I actually cheated many ways. I used sweetened applesauce, since that was what I had. I also forgot to add the baking powder! Eek. I never mix my dry ingredients separately, I melted the chocolate in the microwave, and I forgot to reserve 2 oz of chocolate to put on top, so it all ended up in the brownies.

Despite that, I think I liked these. Actually, the more of them I ate, the more I liked it. The first one tasted a little weird. Dude Martha said he didn’t like it because it tasted like dark chocolate. Teen Martha said it tasted like wine. Mr. MarthaAndMe doesn’t like chocolate (I know, but I married him anyhow). Which left me alone with a pan of brownies. A dangerous situation. Thank goodness they were almost, sort of healthy. The texture is weird and they were very moist – not really cakey and didn’t really get that crunchy, crumbly thing happening that you get on top of brownies or at the edges. It didn’t stop me. Let’s just say I took care of the brownie situation so no one but me could get hurt (I actually froze some for a later chocolate fit).

I think I would probably not make this again though – I would rather have regular brownies given the choice. But it was fun to try.

6 tbsp butter, melted

1/2 cup flour

1/2 whole wheat flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 cup brown sugar

1 1/4 cups unsweetened applesauce

1 egg

8 oz semisweet chocolate

Use an 8 inch square pan. Mix dry ingredients. Mix sugar, applesauce and egg. Melt butter and 6 oz choc in a double boiler. Stir into sugar mixture. Add flour mixture. Sprinkle remaining 2 oz chocolate on top. Bake at 350 for 40 min.

If I can add a note here about Martha Mondays. Several people have asked how to join. I’ve responded to all of you directly, but never heard back that yes, you’d like your name added to the blog roll and list of days to choose. If you want me to add you, I need to know. Anyone can join, but I just need to know so I can add you to the list.

What could be better than brownies that are almost, sort of, kind of healthy? I chose this week’s project, from Sept Everyday Food. I cheated in two ways on this recipe, ok I actually cheated many ways. I used sweetened applesauce, since that was what I had. I also forgot to add the baking powder! … Read more →

The Martha Mondays project for Monday Aug 23 is Apricot Chicken, chosen by Karen at At Least Twice a Week. I’m looking forward to getting back in the swing with the weekly projects and hope you are too!

The Martha Mondays project for Monday Aug 23 is Apricot Chicken, chosen by Karen at At Least Twice a Week. I’m looking forward to getting back in the swing with the weekly projects and hope you are too!

Today’s project was chosen by Lyndsey at Tiny Skillet: Zucchini Lasagna. I haven’t had lasagna in a while, so this was a welcome dish. I scratched my head reading the recipe though. There’s no tomato sauce in it at all. It’s noodle, ricotta/cream cheese mix and zucchini. Well that wasn’t going to fly here at Casa del MarthaAndMe, so I cheated and added some tomato sauce to mine. I also added mozzarella cheese on each layer instead of just on the top. Ok, and I added a few broken up meatballs too.  So maybe I doctored it up quite a bit, but I’m glad I did. It was yummy and it would not have been good without all those extras. I liked the zucchini in it. I often add veggies to my lasagnas – whatever I have hanging around, like spinach, mushrooms, or broccoli.

I cut this recipe in half and made a second lasagna for Teen Martha without any zucchini since she was horrified at the thought. Dude Martha refused to eat either and I boiled some spaghetti and he ate it plain (blech).

Remember there will be no Martha Mondays for the next two weeks, but we’ll be back8/23 with a pick from At Least Twice a Week.

Today’s project was chosen by Lyndsey at Tiny Skillet: Zucchini Lasagna. I haven’t had lasagna in a while, so this was a welcome dish. I scratched my head reading the recipe though. There’s no tomato sauce in it at all. It’s noodle, ricotta/cream cheese mix and zucchini. Well that wasn’t going to fly here at … Read more →

Today’s Martha Mondays project was chosen by Sarah at Mum in Bloom. Avocado Chocolate Pudding sounded a little scary to me, I must admit, but I was intrigued. Pudding with no dairy? Fascinating. So I gave it a try. My big food processor is broken (and I’m waiting to replace it until after I overspend while we’re on vacation) so I was stuck using my mini Cuisinart, which actually worked well for this. The recipe is pretty simple. Put the dates, avocado, vanilla and cocoa powder in and whiz it up. Then add the water. That’s it. One thing is missing from this recipe – sugar! I tasted it and it wasn’t sweet at all, so I added some sugar to it. It was sweeter, but I could definitely still taste the avocado. I stuck it in the fridge, thinking it might taste better cold. The texture is exactly like that of chocolate pudding and it looks exactly like it too, so in that sense you wouldn’t ever know the difference.

Once I tried it cold, it was definitely better, but there was still a weird taste of avocado at the end. I couldn’t eat more than a spoonful. The only other person willing to try it was Dude Martha and he thought it tasted like baking cocoa powder and he had some tiny pieces of date that ruined the texture.  Overall, I could not get past the avocado flavor.

I took a photo of this but then left the camera at my parents’ lake house so I don’t have it to put up right now. It looked exactly like chocolate pudding – you would never guess it wasn’t. I’m sure one of our participants took a photo they can share!

Today’s Martha Mondays project was chosen by Sarah at Mum in Bloom. Avocado Chocolate Pudding sounded a little scary to me, I must admit, but I was intrigued. Pudding with no dairy? Fascinating. So I gave it a try. My big food processor is broken (and I’m waiting to replace it until after I overspend … Read more →

It was my turn to pick this week’s project, which is in July/Aug Everyday Food: Peanut Butter Chocolate Semifreddo. Now I must confess something. My favorite thing in the entire world is Perry’s Peanut Butter Fudge ice cream. In high school, I worked at an ice cream parlor and one of the girls I worked with used to make us little hot fudge sundaes on the sly – a tiny scoop of Perry’s PBF in a plastic water dixie  cup topped with a bit of hot fudge. Sometimes I would buy a sundae and eat it in the car on the way home after work. Heaven. Thankfully, Perry’s is a local company and still makes PBF, although they only make it in the summer. The rest of the year I am in PBF crisis mode. It can get pretty ugly. Do not even suggest to me that I should try peanut butter cup ice cream. It is not even close.

So, when I saw the recipe for PBF semifreddo, well, you can imagine my excitement. Semifreddo is not ice cream, but it is  similar. I had semifreddo once before when my mom made it. It was ok, not great. I was willing to try this.

The recipe was a little confusing and involved halving and then halving again a peanut butter and whole milk and sugar mixture, which I found confusing. You whip some cream and mix in some of the PB mixture. You melt chocolate in water (which I think is nasty). Then you fill the pan halfway with the whipped cream/PB mix. Then you put in straight PB mix and choc in the center, cover with the rest of the whipped cream stuff and put PB and choc on top, then you swirl and freeze for 5 hours.

I had way too much for my loaf pan – I ended up dumping some and my loaf pan overflowed in the freezer. It was quite a mess. I also used a silicone loaf pan and then ended up cutting through it with a knife, trying to get this out!

The peanut butter/whipped cream part was pretty good. Semifreddo is not ice cream, but it isn’t bad – cool, creamy, and sweet. I thought the chocolate part was awful – mine was grainy. If I made this again, I would use hot fudge instead.  So, with all of that being said, this wasn’t bad and was kind of fun. And in the winter if I’m desperate for Perry’s PBF, I think this might work as a poor man’s substitute.

I’m feeling tired and lazy this morning so I’m not going to retype the recipe. Those of you who requested it, got it by email. If you’re reading this blog and would like a copy of it, just let me know. As soon as the recipe is up on Martha’s site I’ll come back and stick the link in.

It was my turn to pick this week’s project, which is in July/Aug Everyday Food: Peanut Butter Chocolate Semifreddo. Now I must confess something. My favorite thing in the entire world is Perry’s Peanut Butter Fudge ice cream. In high school, I worked at an ice cream parlor and one of the girls I worked … Read more →

It’s my pick for the next Martha Mondays. My choice is Peanut Butter-Chocolate Semifreddo from July/Aug Everyday Food (if you need the recipe, let me know – it’s not online yet).

Here’s the schedule for the next round:

July 26 Mum in Bloom

Aug 2 Tiny Skillet

Aug 9 and 16 we’re skipping

Aug 23 At Least Twice a Week

Aug 30 City Interlude

Sept 6 Megans Cookin

Sept 13 Sassy Suppers

Sept 20 Perfecting Pru

Sept 27 Homemade Iowa Life

Oct 4 Brenda’s Canadian Kitchen

Oct 11 Stirrin It Up

Oct 18 Sweet Almond Tree

If I missed anyone, let me know. If you want to be taken off the rotation, let me know. And, as always, new members always welcome so just leave a comment or email if you’d like to be added.

I would also love some more Martha on Demand suggestions – a recipe from her site is easiest.

It’s my pick for the next Martha Mondays. My choice is Peanut Butter-Chocolate Semifreddo from July/Aug Everyday Food (if you need the recipe, let me know – it’s not online yet). Here’s the schedule for the next round: July 26 Mum in Bloom Aug 2 Tiny Skillet Aug 9 and 16 we’re skipping Aug 23 … Read more →

Sarah at Mum in Bloom asked me to make Golden Crab and Papaya Salad from Martha’s Healthy Quick Cookbook for Martha on Demand (where you pick a recipe and ask me to test drive it for you).

This sounded sort of complicated, but it actually wasn’t hard to make at all. The only problem I had was finding papayas – I had to buy one giant one and use that but it worked out.

You start with making a lime caper vinaigrette which was easy: 2 tbsp oil, 1/4 cup lime juice, 1/4 cup parsley, 2 dashes Tabasco, 2 tsp capers, 1/2 tsp dried hot pepper flakes, salt and pepper, 1 tsp sugar.  Then you mix together 1 lb of crab, 1/2 lb of snap peas, 1/2 small red onion and salt and pepper and put the dressing on it. Serve it in the papayas, seeds removed. Martha said to peel the papaya, but I didn’t. I also did not add Tabasco and used only a little red pepper.

I LOVED this. Really and truly thought it was fantastic. I think it would be perfect for a summer luncheon with your girlfriends. Mr. MarthaAndMe did not enjoy this but could not say why. He said it tasted ok, but he just didn’t want to eat it. It’s girl food, not guy food.  So thank you Sarah for requesting this one – I adored it and will make it again.

Do you have a Martha recipe you’ve been thinking of making but weren’t sure? Post a comment and tell me what it is and I’ll test it for you.

Sarah at Mum in Bloom asked me to make Golden Crab and Papaya Salad from Martha’s Healthy Quick Cookbook for Martha on Demand (where you pick a recipe and ask me to test drive it for you). This sounded sort of complicated, but it actually wasn’t hard to make at all. The only problem I … Read more →

Confession: I generally don’t like coconut, but I have learned I don’t hate it like I used to. My kids like it, so I made this coconut cream tart for them, chosen by Brenda at Brenda’s Canadian Kitchen.  It was simple to make – make the crust, toast the coconut then make the cream which is just milk, eggs, cornstarch, and salt.  No brain science needed for this one. It looked pretty and the kids liked it. I tasted it and thought it was good (for something made with coconut!).  This is a nice recipe and definitely looks more complicated than it was.

Confession: I generally don’t like coconut, but I have learned I don’t hate it like I used to. My kids like it, so I made this coconut cream tart for them, chosen by Brenda at Brenda’s Canadian Kitchen.  It was simple to make – make the crust, toast the coconut then make the cream which … Read more →

This is part of my ongoing series where you ask for it and I make. I’m calling it Martha on Demand and the idea is that I’ll be your guinea pig and try any Martha recipe you suggest so you can see if it’s worth making (if you have a request, leave a comment!). Almost Slowfood suggested I make Mrs. Kostyra’s Meatloaf. Mrs. Kostyra was Martha’s mom (Big Martha, as she called her) and often appeared on her show to make her recipes, and so far every one I have tried has been very good. I hadn’t tried her meatloaf though, so this was a fun experiment for me. I don’t make a lot of meatloaf. In fact, I hardly ever make it. And when I do I have two recipes. One is a turkey and rice meatloaf that I stick some veggies in and serve with a cheese sauce. The other is meatloaf the way my mom taught me, which is just a lot of dumping – ground beef, breadcrumbs, ketchup, onion, herbs, cheese, Worchestershire with mozzarella on top.

Martha’s meatloaf is truly fantastic. I think I like it more than the way my mom taught me. It comes out dense and moist. It’s even better cold the next day for lunch. I cut the recipe in half and it made enough for 4 people. It was pretty easy to make, even if it involves chopping some veggies (carrots, celery, onion, garlic). I think that using some real bread instead of breadcrumbs really adds to the flavor and texture as well. The only thing missing in my opinion is cheese. I missed the mozzarella on top and so if I make this again, I will probably add that to it, but otherwise I thought it was truly fantastic.

This is part of my ongoing series where you ask for it and I make. I’m calling it Martha on Demand and the idea is that I’ll be your guinea pig and try any Martha recipe you suggest so you can see if it’s worth making (if you have a request, leave a comment!). Almost … Read more →