Procrastination at its best!

wow! So this post is 3 years in the making!
And I don't even have something in particular to say.
Well, I guess I'll just leave this here!

As of tomorrow, the movie Back to the Future will have taken place in the past! Hehehe !

Peace!
One love xoxo

My cakes

For the past year, I have been baking and decorating cakes.
I haven`t taken a class or anything it`s really just for fun.
It just happens, to my luck, that people like my cakes and have been asking me to make some :O)
YAY! It makes me SO happy!
Here is the link to my Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gens-Homemade-Cakes/121729464601356

Check it out and like it :O)

Peace <3

May 15th National Chocolate Chips cookie day

How I love this day!
Chocolate Chip cookies.
I don't know many people who don't like them cookies.
Classic. Delicious. Versatile.

There are SO many great chocolate chip cookies recipes out there it's craaaaaaaaaazy!!!

To celebrate, I made the delightful ones:


CHOCOLATE CHIP OATIES

Ingredients:
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, room temp
Generous 1/2 cup of muscovado sugar (or brown sugar)
1 egg
2/3 cup oatmeal
1 tbsp milk ( I used coconut milk)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup flour ( any kind, gluten free, whole wheat, all purpose..)
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
6 squares bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces (or 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips)
6 squares milk chocolate, broken into pieces (or 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips)
(really, you can use the kind of chocolate your palette desires!)

Preheat oven at 350F/180C
Grease or place parchment paper on 2 large cookie sheets.
Place butter and sugar in a bowl and beat together with a wooden spoon until light and fluffy.
Beat in the egg.
Add the oatmeal, milk and vanilla.
Beat together until well blended.
Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder into the mixture and stir.
Stir in the chocolate pieces.
Place dessertspoonfuls of the mixture on the prepares cookie sheets and lightly flatten with a fork.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, until they have slightly risen and firmed.
Remove from the oven and let cool on the cookie sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks to cool completely.

**After baking, it is IMPORTANT that the cookies be left on the cookie sheets for 2 minutes, because this ensures they do not fall apart when transferred to a cooling rack**

Makes 20 cookies

Funny how the cookies match my counter perfectly! :O)

Homemade pizza sauce

One day I really wanted to make pizza, but I didn't have any pizza sauce.
So I made this sauce and it was really good!! :O)

PIZZA SAUCE

Ingredients:
1 can Tomato paste
Dried Oregano
Dried Basil
Dehydrated Garlic (or powder, granulated, minced, even fresh would do)
Dehydrated onions (or powder, granulated, minced, even fresh would do)
Salt and Pepper
Sugar, Stevia, whatever sweetener you like

Mix in all ingredients to taste.
Start with 1 tbsp of each (except salt, pepper and sugar) and work your way up to taste.
I use less salt and pepper, maybe 1tsp each. If needed I'll add more.
Add sweetener to counter the acidic tomato taste.
Start with 1 tbsp and work your way up is necessary.

Let stand 10-15 minutes and use on Pizza Crust.

Homemade pizza crust

So I have this buddy of mine who, in my opinion, is a bread expert! hehehe
He gave me this pizza crust recipe.
It's great. I have used it plain for pizza crusts, made little garlic breads, some basil bread sticks, some nutella hazelnut and raspberry rolls, etc.

VERY versatile, easy peasy to make.

I urge you to never buy pizza again and just made this crust over and over again! It is fantastic!

PIZZA CRUST

Ingredients:
1 package (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
1 cup hot water(105-115F)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp Olive Oil
2 1/2 - 31/2 cups flour
1 tbsp cornmeal (optional)
Roasted garlic, crushed peppers, basil, etc for seasoning (OPTIONAL)

Mix yeast in hot water in the bowl of a stand mixer.
Wait 5 minutes.
Add salt, Olive Oil, and flour.
Mix until all is properly combined and not too sticky to the sides of the bowl.
At this point, if you want, add the roasted garlic or basil, or what ever seasonings you want (OPTIONAL)
Place dough in an oiled bowl.
Cover and let rise for 1 hr or until it's doubled in size.
Flour the counter and your hands.
Punch the dough down on the floured counter.
Roll it to the desired size and thickness.
Oil a pizza pan and sprinkle some cornmeal (cornmeal optional)

Add Topping and cook at 425F for 15 minutes.

Homemade Cool Whip

I got this recipe from The Chocolate covered Katie blog (WHICH I SUPER LOVE!) a while ago.
This is pretty much all the whip cream I use now!
It is delicious and very easy and stress free to make it!

Ingredients:
1 Can coconut milk (get a good quality, it'll work better)
Sugar, Stevia, Icing sugar... to taste

Open the can of coconut milk. (don't shake the can before opening)
Once the can is opened, do not stir the milk.
Put the can as is in the fridge over night (12 hours) uncovered.
Pour the content of the can in a bowl.
Mix in a little sweetener (about 1-2 tbsp but really is to taste)
Either use a fork or whisk to mix it or a hand mixer.

You can discard the water in the can for a thicker consistency. (I keep it.)

This whipped cream is especially fantastic on crepes/pancakes!

How to thicken Coconut milk

I love the taste of coconut milk.
I use it a lot in recipes when they call for milk.

But what about when they call for heavy cream????
I made an experiment and it worked wonders!

Here is how I make my very own "coconut heavy cream"

Ingredients
1 can coconut milk
a pinch of stevia, sugar, icing sugar...

Open the can of milk.
Once opened, do not stir the contents.
Leave it in the fridge for 6 -8 hours.
Pour the can into a bowl.
Mix in a pinch of sugar.
Blend it for 5-10 minutes to get the consistency you desire.

And Voila!! :O)

I pour the heavy cream in a mason jar and use in baking/cooking!

Enjoy!