The Better Chia Seed Pudding

To say I have a minor obsession with chia seeds, is a bit of an understatement. I put them in everything: smoothies, fruit juice, oatmeal, yogurt. You name it, chia seeds are in it. I so desperately hate jumping on food trend bandwagons because I like to think I'm above that. But apparently I'm not. Here is one new creation I have added to my repertoire: coconut chia seed pudding. 

I love all my readers dearly, so I have to be honest with you: this recipe really isn't for everyone. I couldn't even get my loyal taste tester to give it one bite. He said it looked like alien food. I'm well aware that this is not a glowing review one hopes to find on a blog that frequently discusses food. However, that less than stellar opinion is just the thought of my father. And let's be honest-- you don't come here to read about his thoughts; you come here to read about mine! My whole hearted opinion is that you should at least give it a try. God forbid you hate it too, then you can just give it to the nearest dog. 

 
I chose to use Truvia for my sweetener, but you can use a myriad of things like agave, sugar, or honey.

Same goes for the flavoring. I kept it simple with vanilla extract, but there are so many options out there. If you're feeling super crazy toss in a little cocoa powder!
 
I've found that the best ratio is about 3 tablespoons of chia seeds to 1 cup of liquid


RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

¾ cup cup chia seeds

4 cups of coconut almond milk (or any milk of your choice)

Scant ¼ cup of Truvia (or sweetener of your choice)

2 teaspoons Vanilla extract (or flavoring of your choice)

DIRECTIONS

1. Thoroughly mix milk, sweetener, and extract 

2. Stir in chia seeds

3. Refrigerate for 5 hours stirring twice (at the 1 hour point and 3 hour point)

The Better No Machine Ice Cream

    

 

For the longest time I have refrained from making ice cream since I lack the storage space for an ice cream machine. I often look longingly at ice cream recipes on Tastespotting and pass the ice cream appliances in Bed Bath & Beyond while shedding a lone silent tear. For the sake of storage (and my wallet), I have to be ruthless when deciding whether or not to make any kind of purchase for our kitchen, and I know an ice cream machine just wouldn't see enough use.

 

Then I started thinking how people have been making ice cream far before Kitchen-Aid or CuisineArt stepped in to help with the job. The process is a bit more tedious, but in the end you'll end up with a delicious ice cream and guess what? The $70 you would have spent buying an ice cream machine will still be in your pocket. 

 

This recipe calls for a bucket ton of egg yolks! Maybe it seemed a bit excessive to me since I tripled the recipe-- if I was going to do this by hand I wanted to have a lot of ice cream to show for my efforts. But anyway, you'll have the makings of a beautifully creamy custard before it goes into the freezer. 

 

In fact I made so much ice cream that normal mixing bowls for the ice bath wouldn't work. I had to get a little creative and use a soup pot and a dutch oven.

The vanilla ice cream recipe cake from David Lebovitz's blog. Oh how I love that man! What I would give to be his best friend that he bakes for. I'm sure he has a sparkling personality, but if I'm totally honest I just want to take his food and return home to eat and watch Netflix. Does that make me a bad person? Oh, it does? *Shrugs with indifference*

When my vanilla ice cream was at soft serve consistency I added some cherries that I soaked in sugar, lemon juice and whiskey (cherry recipe to come later). Summer is winding down at an alarming rate so make your ice cream before the chilly season comes around. But then again, does it really matter what season it is when it comes to ice cream? Answer: hell no!

The Better Panini Cupcakes In a Mason Jar

This week my mom took me to the toy store (Bed Bath & Beyond) and allowed me to pick out a few items. It had everything to do with her guilt for still not pick out an oven, but who am I to deny a free gift? I ended up getting a Cuisinart griddler, (product review to come after a few more uses) and have been madly panini-ing everything in sight. Left over take-out in the fridge? Bam! Now it's in a panini. Craving french toast? Hizzah! French toast panini sandwich. You get the idea. 

So when I saw a post on Panini Happy showing how to make cake on a panini grill, my eyes twinkled, and I got to work. 

This is one of those kitchen marvels that you just don't believe until you make it yourself. I modified the  recipe from how sweet eats, to make lemon cakes and I loved it!  At first I tried icing them like normal cakes, but that was a Britney circa 2007 train wreck. Instead I put it in a mason jar and managed to make it look presentable. I am rather partial to this recipe because it is scientific fact that calories don't exist when food is in miniature form. Don't try arguing with me on this one, it's a fight you just won't win. 

The Better (Semi) Homemade Snickers Bar

For a person who takes great pride in baking everything from scratch and ironing her curtains, I am actually very very lazy. Lazy to the point of doing more work than necessary to avoid doing something small. You know what I mean, right? Like when you want to turn off the light. But instead of getting up and walking to the switch, you stay in bed, stretch your leg as far out as you can, point your toes as straight as possible so you can flick the switch off just with the very end of your toe? 

Great! I knew I was not the only one. These semi-homemade Snickers bars were a total toe-to-light-switch experience. I so badly wanted a candy bar, but I so badly did not want to change out of pajamas to go to the store. 

Luckily I had most of the ingredients in my fridge and pantry, then I convinced my mom to purchase everything else while she was out running errands. It is only as I write this post now that I realize I could have just as easily asked her to buy me one candy bar. But there's no fun in that. In the words of Edna Mode, "I never look back, darling. It distracts from the now." 

I consider this recipe to be semi-home made because the caramel was not made from scratch, nor was the nougat (since I used marshmallow creme). I didn't want to deal with scortching hot liquid and candy thermometers. And frankly who has time for that when they are binge watching old episodes of Monk on Netflix? Not I. 

{First chocolate peanut butter layer}


{Layer of caramel being poured over the nougat}

 

By the copious amounts of gratuitous food pictures showing up on your feed, I'm sure some of you may have realized that I got (and am obsessed with) Instagram. 

This great recipe was taken from How Sweet Eats! It's really simple, though it requires some patience for the cooling in between layers. As each layer cooled in the fridge, I took the time to rinse out my pot and start preparing the next layer. Give it a try! This will impress everyone. How many people do you know that make their own candy bars on the reg? Not many. That's what I thought.

The Better Bread Pudding: A Story In Three Bites

Generally when I make bread pudding it's generally because I want something from my dad. I find that in his sugar induced haze he generally isn't too resistant to giving me what I want (like this beauty). Some may call it manipulation I call it a fair trade agreement. 

 

I love how the texture is like a really dense, moist hydrated cake. Oh and don't get me started on the rasins that absorb the liquid. NOM!

 

{Bite 1}

 

{Bite 2}

 

{Bite 3}

I was very proud of how the bread pudding came out, but I was in LOVE with the sauce, a heavy cream, dulce de leche, and Cinnamon Spice Kahlua. I made quite a bit more than needed and it works wonderfully in milkshakes, as a cake filling, or drizzled over ice cream.

The Better Banana Bread

This is another one of my dad's favorites. From experience I have learned that making one loaf is never enough since it serves a breakfast treat to accompany coffee and a mid afternoon snack when he gets home from work. 

The key to the perfect banana bread is using overly ripened bananas. The peels should be primarily black; the bananas should be too soft for eating, but they shouldn't show any signs of rotting. 

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

4 cups flour

2 tspn baking soda

½ tspn salt

1 cup butter

1½ cup brown sugar gently packed

4 eggs

4¼ cup mashed bananas (approximately 2¼ lbs peeled bananas) 

½ cup honey

1 cup raisins 

DIRECTIONS

1. In stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment beat sugar and butter until creamy then add eggs one at a time making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl

2. Add bananas, baking soda, salt, raisins, and honey to the mixture 

3. Add flour in three additions and mix until just combined make sure to scrape down sides of bowl 

4. Line a 9x13 pan with foil and spray with cooking spray

5. Pour batter into pan and bake at 350℉ for 50 minutes (or until toothpick comes out clean)

The Better Simple Chocolate Cake

For every non-baker out there, this is for you. A cake that requires no serious skill or effort and no leveling or frosting. Really, this is as simple as cake gets folks, so you have no excuse for those store bought atrocities that pass as dessert. 

If you have managed to stick to your healthy new year's resolution, I'm afraid that ends now. Please put down that carrot and or celery that you are sadly gnawing on. Chocolate cake may not be healthy per se, but you'll be in a great mental state once you take a bite. 

 

I am in LOVE with this recipe because I have never been a big frosting lover and the clean up that comes with decorating a traditional cake is never fun. Like seriously, who wants to deal with a sink full of dishes when they have a chocolate cake waiting to be eaten?

 

Again I was struck with the desire to bake at 3 o'clock in the morning while everyone in the house had gone to bed. I have such a great mother; she doesn't mind (too much) when she wakes up to a sink with my dishes. With a glass of milk, this made a perfect treat as I watched The Hunger Games before the sun came up. 

If you can be bothered to put in the extra leg work, a sprinkle of powdered sugar and a dollop of fresh whipped cream add a special touch.

*adapted from Smitten Kitchen 

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

½ cup (1 stick or 4 oz) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (6½ oz) firmly packed dark brown sugar
½ cup (4 ounces) granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups (6¾ oz) all-purpose flour
¾ cup (2⅝ oz) Hershey's special dark cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Beat butter and sugars together until fluffy

2. Add in egg, vanilla, and buttermilk (batter will look curdled)

3. Sift in dry ingredients and mix until just combined (DO NOT OVERMIX) making sure to scrape down sides of bowl

4. Grease a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan and pour in batter

5. Bake in 325℉ oven for 65 minutes (or until cake passes toothpick test)

The Better Trip to Bottega Louie

The best part about living in Los Angeles is that absolutely everything you could possibly want (and didn't even know you wanted) is at your fingertips. Today I took a trip to downtown LA with one of my best friends from college, Rosie. We both needed to get dressed and go out since we had (happily) spent most of our winter break lounging in pajamas yoga pants and watching TV.

We chose Bottega Louie, a chic Italian restaurant/bar/bakery as our destination for the day. 

Rosie and I met through a mutual friend a week before we went off to college. Any time we got home sick we'd talk about our favorite LA spots, and she promised she'd take me to Bottega Louie when we returned to California. I am absolutely in love with this place! It's chic without being snooty, and it's luxurious without being overpriced.

This dessert was my favorite. It's a vanilla macaron with a Tahitian, vanilla crème brûlée sitting on top and covered in raspberries and pistachios. I was going to take half home to share with the family, but after the first bite my plan was tossed out Bottega Louie's floor to ceiling glass windows.

They also have a wonderful array of macarons. From top to bottom in my box: passion fruit, strawberry, lemon, salted caramel, vanilla. From the first few bites of dessert here I could feel the sugar coursing through my veins, but oh it was so worth it. Absolutely no regrets.

Rosie

As a self proclaimed foodie, I really appreciate the open kitchen that can be seen from the cafe and bar section of Bottega Louie. It treats the chefs like performers, and allows people like me to marvel at the what they make. 

BOTTEGA LOUIE

700 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90014

213.802.1470 

Monday	6:30 am – 11:00 pm
Tuesday	6:30 am – 11:00 pm
Wednesday	6:30 am – 11:00 pm
Thursday	6:30 am – 11:00 pm
Friday	10:30 am – 12:00 pm
Saturday	8:00 am – 12:00 am
Sunday	8:00 am – 11:00 pm