Alright it has been a while...but I do have an excuse!

English summer work...

End of story. Three books, Three essay's, all major crap but done at least.

So now that they are done I can tell about my hand pies little adventure! Well I tried this twice...the first time it didn't turn out all to well. The pies kept breaking open and ooey gooey blueberry juice leaked out all over my counter! But then I got smart! Well not exactly really smart just more like common sense, I made them more of a half pie rather then a rectangular and made them thicker. Tah Dah fabulous small hand pies that tasted good. but only good. I needed just a little something else. Icing. And then is was done.

The recipe is from VeganYumYum.

I used her recipe for the pie dough and the filling but my process was a little different from hers. but not much just a little...

Ok so I rolled out the dough like she did but instead of making it into a rectangle I formed mine into an oval. I rolled it out to about the thickness/thinness I thought would be about right. Before I added the filling I lifted up one side of the oval, or the side you would turn over, and made sure it would come up easy. Once this was done I added the filling but don't add to much! Leakage is not good! But it probably will happen as you can see below blueberry everywhere. Parchment is a good idea to place underneath before you start. It just makes cleanup and leakage manageable! So anyway once you have added your filling fold over one end carefully. Pinch the ends together so they hold and use a fork to press down on the edges just for extra hold. Careful you don't puncture your pie! It does happen, believe me!

Now slowly.....transfer the pie to a baking sheet....SLOWLY....this is by far the moment when all your yummy filling is bound to fall out. I had a spatula with me but most of the time I just used my hands but which ever works best for you go ahead and do that. Now once one the baking sheet insert little slits on top.

Keep making pies until the rest of the dough is all used up.

Then put them into the oven (The degrees is on her website). When I put mine in I just watched them really closely to see if they were done or not. I think my timing was around 10 min to give you a ball park.

Now they are complete, well almost. The icing must be added. To make the icing I just took powdered sugar and the liquid from my filling and mixed them together until I got the right consistency. The icing really made them amazing. Not too dry but not too sweet either just perfect!

These were originally made for my friend's birthday and she did get some but so did a lot of other people...They all liked them a lot! Especially with the icing of them. So the verdict was DELICIOUS. Thank you Veganyumyum! I love your blog and I love your food!

It was experiment day.

Plan: Make beet ravioli with poppy seed butter using homemade pasta dough, plus make kalamata olive bread with oregano.

Beet Ravioli with Poppy Seed Butter

(This recipe came from Bonappetit.com)

Ingredients

• 2 large red beets
• 1/2 cup fresh whole milk ricotta cheese
• 2 tbs dried breadcrumbs
• 1 1/4 fresh egg pasta or wonton wrappers
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 tbs poppy seeds

To begin we must first make the fresh egg pasta. You will need 2 3/4 cup soft wheat flour (Cake flour) and 4 large eggs. Mix flour until clumps of moist dough form but do not make it into a ball. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface and work into a ball. Knead until smooth using flour if it begins to stick. Wrap in plastic and let rest at room temp for at least 20 min and up to 2 hrs.

Now we can begin the actual recipe.

Roast beets in oven, preheated at 400 degrees, wrapped in foil for about an hour. Cool beats and peel skin. Grate the beets into a bowl and add ricotta cheese and breadcrumbs. Add pepper and salt if needed.

Roll fresh egg pasta into thin sheets (use pasta maker if you can, I lacked one and you can tell). Using a 3-in round cutter, cut sheet into 7 rounds. There will be a total of 56 rounds. If you are not using the pasta but wonton wrapper just cut them accordingly and follow the same instructions.

Spoon about a tsp of the mixture onto one side of each round or enough to be able to taste it but not overflow when shut. Dampen edges with water and fold dough over. Try to get as much air as possible out and seal shut. Make sure they are sealed shut very well, you don't want them to open up while you cook them!

Melt butter and add poppy seeds to butter. Cook ravioli in large pot of boiling water for about 2 min or until they seem ready, stirring often. Transfer cooked pasta to dish with butter coat and serve! Sprinkle Parmesan on for an extra layer of flavor.

Kalamata Olive Bread with Oregano

Recipe courtesy of Cooking light magazine

Ingredients

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 2 tbs butter, melted
• 2 large egg whites
• 1/4 cup kalamata olives, chopped
• 1 tbs chopped fresh oregano (I used dried, worked out fine too)

Preheat oven to 35o degrees. Heat oil in a skillet and add onion. Saute until tender.

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in center of mixture. Mix buttermilk, butter and egg whites with a whisk and pour contents into well. Stir until just moist. Fold in onion, olives, and oregano.

Spread batter into a 8 x 4 in loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Cook for 45 min.

Nutrition: Calories 133, Fat 4.6 g, Fiber .8 g, 3 points per serving (12 servings)

My two experiments for the day. One was...interesting. The other successful! The pasta was a really interesting task. I will not lie it did not turn out anything like the picture but it did taste incredibly good! Just didn't look that way. My biggest problem was making the pasta dough so thin. It was incredibly thick. When I cooked the pasta it grew in size to about double! It was fun watching them though! I tried using the wonton wrappers instead and those turned out a little more like the picture but they kept breaking open! So eventually my butter turned pink and then my noodles turned pink...The bread was really good though and looked like it should have! The olives made it kind salty but in a good way, if that makes sense...

The conclusion is I tried, I failed, I conquered..

and made a mess.

So before I go to bed I decided to give you one more recipe.

This one is of course low in fat but still relatively good. It is the classic full of bread calzone that I made yesterday evening. I LOVE bread. Actually it's beyond love. I can't even describe my addiction and desire for bread. Yeah...it's not good. Why does bread have to be soooo good and sooo not good for you?! Of course I have to like the things that I shouldn't...

Corn and Broccoli Calzones

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups chopped broccoli florets


• 1 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels
  
• 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella
  
• 2/3 cup nonfat ricotta cheese


• 4 scallions, thinly sliced


• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil


• 1/2 tsp garlic powder


• 1/4 tsp salt and pepper


• 20 oz prepared whole-wheat pizza dough


• 2 tsp canola oil
  

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray.

Combine broccoli, corn, mozzarella, ricotta, scallions, basil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.

On a floured surface, divide dough into 6 pieces. Roll each piece into 8 in circle. Place as much filling on one half of each circle as you can, leave a border of dough so as to be able to close and seal the calzones. Brush border with water and fold edges over. Seal together with fingertips. Make two slits on the top of each for ventilation. Spray with olive oil cooking spray to give it a nice color when put int he oven. Cook for about 15 min.

Makes 6 calzones (334 calories, 5 g fat, 4 g fiber, 6 points)

This recipe is from the book EatingWell For a Healthy Heart. I liked the bread part of course and the insides were pretty good but my biggest complaint (which was probably my fault) was adding the basil. I used basil from my own garden and knowing me I probably planted some kind of basil only meant for decoration...

Another problem I had was the dough WOULD NOT STAY PUT! I had the hardest time keeping the dough to stay at the 8 in and ended up just quickly putting on some of the mixture an closing the thing up. I also would tell you to watch the cooking time. Since its so high of a temperature I made sure to watch the calzones really carefully in case they burned.

My parents liked them and apparently my friends did as well. After we watched the meteor shower I offered the left overs and they wanted more! At least someone enjoyed them!

Next time no basil...

I am tired...

Last night I stayed up until 3, attempting to watch a meteor shower with some friends. I saw maybe four... It was fun though. I hung with my buddies and it was really calming to just lay out and look at the stars. I never have enough time to do that anymore. It's kind of sad....

But that's life.

Awhile back I made that delicious looking macaroni and cheese. And trust me, it was delicious. How can you resist mac and cheese? It is pretty much the one thing that I think everyone must like. This was a really great recipe because of the toasted bread crumbs that went on top and the little pieces of onion. Every bite you just hoped you could have a little crunch of an onion!

Don't even get me started on the cheese....

It was pretty much heaven in my mouth and it was extremely difficult to not eat the WHOLE ENTIRE THING!

Oh and guess where this recipe is from? Correct! Weightwatchers!

Baked Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli

Ingredients

• 12 oz uncooked pasta, gemeli or other twisted pasta


• 10 oz broccoli small florets


• 1 tsp butter


• 1/3 cup fresh bread crumbs


• 3 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese


• 2 1/2 cups fat-free skim milk


• 1/3 cup all purpose flour


• 1/2 cup onions, diced


• 1 cup low-fat shredded cheddar cheese, sharp-variety


• 1 tsp Dijon mustard


• 1 1/2 tsp table salt


• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a 2 quart baking dish with cooking spray.

Cook pasta according to package while adding broccolli about 3 minutes before it is done so as to cook the broccoli as well. Drain the pasta and broccoli and return to pot (make sure your pot is big! It needs to be able to hold the liquids too!).

Melt butter over medium heat and add breadcrumbs. Cook the breadcrumbs, stirring often, until light golden. DO NOT BURN. They should just be lightly toasted. Remove from heat and transfer crumbs to small bowl. Stir in 1 tbs Parmesan cheese. In same saucepan, whisk together milk and flour until blended, add onion. Bring to a boil, whisking frequently. The sauce should begin to thicken in itself. Reduce heat to low and simmer until thickened.

Remove from heat and whisk in cheddar cheese, mustard, salt, pepper and rest of Parmesan. Pour over pasta and broccoli. Mix and transfer to baking dish. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and bake until bubbly at edges, 20 to 25 min.

Serving size: 8 (1 Piece equals to be 5 Weightwatcher points.)