Lightened-up Corn Muffins

We are almost mid way through the first month of the new year and many of us have already broken our resolutions. I tried to make my resolution this year as attainable as possible. Walk a little more, be nice to strangers, put myself out there more, and eat more natural, non modified or processed foods.

The latter is probably the hardest to achieve, only because of the very ready availability of said foods... I found high fructose corn syrup in BREADCRUMBS the other day...wait...now I have to make my own darn breadcrumbs too? Come On!

When it comes to the munchkins, we always feed them the best because their little systems haven't been destroyed by Oreos and Fast foods like me and the hubs... But it's just as important to take care of us that way too, so we can be healthy for them.  One really great thing about our move is that, just eating out here and there we definitely notice a difference in menus and healthy tasting foods. Which is probably why Colorado has one of the lowest if not the lowest obesity rates in the US.

Long story short...lots of the corn muffin recipes out there have a ton of sugar and a ton of butter or they have no butter and no sugar and taste terrible... The key to eating lighter is to actually enjoying it enough to stick with it!

So without further adeu-lightened up corn muffins

You need:
1 cup cornmeal( corn is a huge GMO'S factor so please buy organic and read the labels!)
1 cup flour...for an even healthier version, use whole wheat
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup  milk
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 cup honey

Sorry the butter isn't pictured, it was in the microwave, oh and I happened to have a helper today.

Preheat your oven to 400 and get your muffin cups ready, I use reusable mini cups and a small brownie pan, that way we have a kid sized version and a regular version...my way of being a little more "green".

Mix all of your dry ingredients in a large bowl and slowly pour in your melted butter and honey, whisk until smooth.

Add in your milk and eggs while whisking to incorporate. Your batter should go from thick and lumpy to thick and smooth.

If you are using mini cups, fill almost to the top so that you get adorable little dome tops. If using regular sized cups fill about 2/3 up.

For the minis, bake for about 10 minutes..regular size should be about 12-14 minutes and a 9x9 brownie pan is 15 minutes :)

Enjoy :)

Dark Hot Chocolate

January is well under way and once the sun goes down its pretty darn cold around here.  Hot chocolate is always assumed to be a kids drink. You know the old story of the children playing in the snow and momma has a cup of cocoa waiting for when they come inside to get toasty. It's even been a cool trend for parties recently. Well, I love chocolate and I think it's time for a hot chocolate update. A more gourmet, grown up style cocoa that, with just a little effort could be a really delicious dessert drink on a cold wintery night.

There are a ton of cocoa mix recipes all over the web right now, and if you love Pinterest as much as I do, you've seen them.  Mine is just a little bit different, with ingredients you may not have thought to put in a cup of hot chocolate.

This recipe serves 1 but it is easily doubled or even quadrupled for great party dessert beverage. 

You need to start off with a quality unsweetened cocoa powder. I am all for buying budget friendly ingredients but when it comes to an ingredient being the main focus of whatever you are making, it needs to be quality stuff...save the grocery store cocoa for that batch of brownies you are planning for your next PTA meeting.

Just a quick side note:
I recently replaced all of my run of the mill spices for a full refresher from The Spice House . I've been very satisfied with the quality of every spice I've used from them so far, and if you have your own spice jars, their bulk options are more than reasonable. 

You need

1 tablespoon+1 tsp dutch processed cocoa powder

1 teaspoon espresso powder

1 tablespoon sugar

1 cup milk

1/4 tsp orzata (almond syrup)

1 heaping teaspoon sweetened condensed milk.

House of J homemade vanilla bean marshmallows-optional 

Start with milk in a small sauce pan on low heat and gently whisk in cocoa,espresso and sugar until the mixture starts to simmer and bubbles form around the edges.

Add in your almond and sweetened condensed milk and let it come to a very slow rolling boil. 

Pour into  your favorite mug, get cozy and enjoy.

Steakhouse Style Creamed Spinach

Long long ago, in a land without poopie pants and boogies and toys all over your living room. Hubby and I celebrated New Year's Eve by enjoying our favorite meal at any one of the few notorious steak houses in Manhattan.

The staple of any fancy steak dinner are roasted hash browned potatoes and creamed spinach.

Well,  my creamed spinach is so good, it makes missing those fancy restaurant date nights just a little easier. 

It's very simple to make but requires a little bit of attention to detail, starting with a rue.

Of course I forgot to put the butter in this picture...I had the best of intentions.

Yes, I know I need to refill the k-cups. 

Just so we are clear...You need the following:

Fresh Spinach...Rinsed, drained and patted dry

Milk

Flour

Butter

1 garlic clove...minced

Parmigiana Reggiano

Salt 

Pepper

Start with 1 tablespoon of butter in a small sauce pan until melted and your minced garlic. Add in 1 tablespoon flour. Mix until combined and little bubbles start forming. The rue should be a tan-yellowish color.

Slowly pour in 1/4 cup of milk and simmer on low heat until it starts to thicken. Add in your spinach and cook until most of the liquid has been absorbed.

Spinach absorbs lots of the liquid. Once it is thickened up a bit,  add in your Parmigiana Reggiano

Simmer on medium-low heat until cheese is melted and smooth

Sorry For the blurry photos...the steam was fogging my lense! Oh and don't forget to season with salt and pepper :)

Steak optional but delicious.

Have a Happy Healthy and Prosperous New Year. May 2013 bring nothing but happiness and joy-

Love,

House of J

Greek style Roasted Lemon Chicken Soup with Rice

We are loving Colorado. It is gorgeous, so much so that driving home from Whole foods today I am still snapping photos of the Mountains at red lights. It really takes my breath away.

We have a backyard here with a grill, a far cry from the high-rise city-esque condo we were used too. Needless to say hubby has been grilling almost every single meal. Even in SNOW!

But the weather is really lovely, there may be snow on the ground but that sun is so hot you are almost tempted to put the air on. Crazy I know.

I received my first magazine to our new house today, one of my favorites..Martha Stewart LIVING.

She had this AMAZING looking soup recipe that called for roasting a whole chicken while cracking breast bones and laying them out just so, and it seemed extremely complicated.

I used the recipe as a guide to create one of the best soups I've ever eaten, accompanying probably the best pork chop I've ever had. GRILLED of course!

----side note---

I am really trying to stick to locally produced non-gmo groceries. You can read about GMO's HERE

You need:

1 package of chicken breast tenderloins ( it's what I had on hand, feel free to use any cut of chicken you like the best)

1 cup diced carrots

2 large celery stalks

1 full carton chicken broth and 2 additional cups

1 cup water

2 Lemons(meyer pref.)

2 Bay Leaves

1 tablespoon black peppercorns

1 large yellow onion cut into big chunks

salt and pepper to taste

2 egg yolks

With a 375 degree oven. Slice your lemons into quarters, skin side down on a cookie sheet. Roast for 15 minutes or until skins are charred and fruit looks puffed and juicy.

While your lemons are roasting( and might I add making your kitchen smell AMAZING) Add your chicken, broth, carrots, celery, peppercorns, bay leaves and water in a heavy bottom pot on medium low heat and bring to a boil.

Your chicken will produce little white floating pieces of rendered fat, just skim the top as you go along. 

When your lemons are done, squeeze the quarters of 1 lemon into your broth and throw in the rinds as well.

Simmer and cover for 45-60 minutes depending on how soft you like your veggies.

Strain your broth to remove peppercorns, bay leaves and most of the onion and the lemon rinds. Shred the chicken or slice into bite size pieces. By this time your chicken will practically fall apart on its own. Add your chicken back into your broth and let simmer on the lowest setting while you cook your rice.

1 cup long grain rice should be cooked with 1.5 cups of water on low heat for 18 minutes.

Once the rice is finished, take your egg yolks and the juice of the other lemon quarters and whisk into the broth. Turn the heat up slightly just to cook the yolks a bit. Continue to whisk while the soup gets to serving temperature.

Add in rice before serving. Sprinkle a touch of parsley on top and Enjoy :)

ThredUp.com- A Review

Let me start off by saying that I had intended to review this service when I first sent out my toddlers  clothes. I was so excited at the idea and really thought what a wonderful way to have someone else's munchkin get good use out of her things...I even took this picture of the bag filled to max capacity in preparation to write a POSITIVE review.

I was really excited...

Sorry to say that I am no longer excited, I am hysterical. I almost threw up when I received there email reviewing my merchandise..It seems as though they put the very basic, lower end goods up for sale on the site, paid me minimally-($12). And said that all the other goods were not fit to sell and that not only would they be keeping my stuff, but they aren't compensating me for it. I even offered to pay for the shipping so that my items could be returned to me at no additional fee to them. They still declined and vaguely said it would be "recycled".

They are very clear to send them top brands and items with tags...to steal?

DO SEND US

• Clothing in new to like-new condition
  items should be in pristine condition. Learn more about our high Quality Standards here.
• Clothing that's freshly laundered
  clothing should look and smell clean. Please wash and fully dry all clothing before placing it in the bag. Clothing that is still moist does not travel well in a sealed plastic bag
• Top brands

  such as Oiliy, Mini Boden, Tea Collection, Hanna Andersson, Guess, Ralph Lauren, Janie & Jack, Hanna Banana, Baby Lulu and Baby Nay
  NWT (new with tags) items
  we pay more for items that are so new that they still include price tags - however, we do not guarantee we accept all NWT tag items, as they must still meet our standards and be free of imperfections

Check these pictures out, these are items I sent, that they deemed, unfit to sell. $80 Geox boots and $60 Geox sneakers, Merrell sneakers that were worn ONCE.. Jackets and Dresses...

This outfit was also sent- These are organic thread pants from a vegan store in Williamsburg, Bklyn.

Needless to say, I have been in tears since I they told me what they were going to "compensate" me for.

Accepted Items	Size	Price / Payout
Baby Gap Shrug 12-18 Mo	12 mo	$ 9.99 / $ 3.00
Baby Gap Rash Guard 12-18 Mo	12 mo	$ 5.99 / $ 1.20
Baby Gap Long-sleeve Shirt 18-24 Mo	18 mo	$ 5.99 / $ 1.20
OshKosh B'gosh Short-sleeve Shir...	12 mo	$ 3.99 / $ 0.80
Baby Gap Tank Top/sleeveless Top...	12 mo	$ 3.99 / $ 0.80
Little Bitty Dress 18 Mo	18 mo	$ 3.99 / $ 0.80
Carter's Tank Top/sleeveless Top...	18 mo	$ 2.99 / $ 0.60
Baby Gap Hat 12-18 Mo	12 mo	$ 5.49 / $ 1.10
Baby Gap Sandals 7	7	$ 7.49 / $ 2.25
↩ Converse Sneakers 5	5	$ 4.99 / $ 1.00

The site is a huge scam.. if you google reviews...everyone has the same complaint. expensive things with tags, not paid out.

In hindsight I should have went into the FAQ section of the site and read every single line. But I moved across the country with 2 babies, I read all the rules and all the guidelines. Nowhere on those areas of the site is their "sorry we keep your stuff and don't pay you" policy listed..

here is a link to more reviewers, they also have 30 complaints filed against them with BBB.com I will be number 31, unless another mommy beats me to it.

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/ThredUP

I don't care about the money specifically but any and every mommy out there knows that for some odd reason, your babies clothes are special to you, so when you feel that they were stolen from you, They could have instead been sitting in that bin in your basement for blissful memories.

Double Chocolate Cake

J's Double Chocolate Delight.

We are moving...ACROSS THE COUNTRY!

It is very exciting, but I was quite sad to pack up my kitchen tools and call it quits until we are settled into our new place.

My sisters birthday only comes but once a year so I figured why not use up the rest of my ingredients and make a delicious cake.

I was working from scratch and had ZERO thoughts on the flavors and fillings.

What does a stumped mommy do when she wants an idea for a cake? She asks her two year old.

Me-"What kind of cake should mommy make for Aunty Kya?"
Munchkin-"Choc Choc"
Me-"OK good idea, what kind of frosting?"
Munchkin-"Choc Choc"
Me-"got it, so double chocolate?"
Munchkin-"YES!!! Double Choc Choc is my FAVORITE!!!"

There you have it folks, the next culinary genius...

Starting with a saucepan. Melt 1 and a half sticks unsalted butter and add in 1/4 cup of dark chocolate cocoa powder. I used basic grocery store cocoa but the better the cocoa the better this cake will be!

Pour in 1 cup of warm water once chocolate and melted butter have smoothed and remove from heat.

In a separate bowl combine 2 cups flour, 1 cup white sugar,1 cup brown sugar and 4 teaspoons baking powder.

While the butter/cocoa mixture cool down a bit, in the bowl of your electric mixer add in 2 eggs 1 cup milk and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract. If you want to "adultify" your cake, replace vanilla with Kahlua or rum or brandy.YUM!

Mix on low speed until milk, vanilla and eggs are well combined. Slowly add your butter/cocoa mixture to the flour mixture, once that is combined add in to your eggs/milk mixture.

Mix on low speed for about 5 minutes, until batter is smooth and resembles brownie batter.

Bake at 350. I used a 9x3 inch circular cake pan and baked for about 45 minutes. If you are using a bigger, flatter pan, it will cook for less time.

For the chocolate frosting, I used a combination of crisco and butter, as a full butter recipe is much more finicky and does not always hold a good shape. Most wedding cakes/bakery cakes use crisco so don't be turned off just yet :)

All ingredients in the bowl of your mixture, low speed until smooth and creamy-

1 stick butter,softened
8 tablespoons shortening(crisco)
3 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons heavy cream
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Once the cake is cooled, frost with a small layer (called a crumb coat) and refridgerate for 15 minutes or so, once that base layer has hardened a bit. continue frosting to your liking!

If you make a large round cake, you can even cut the cake in half and put a frosting layer inbetween for a more gourmet feel.

After I frosted I rolled used chopped walnuts to coat the sides. It was DELISH!
I even made little cupcakes using the same recipe.

If you decide to do cupcakes as well, fill your liners half way, bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes.

frost and enjoy!

J's Jalapeno Cornbread

Hubby is always laughing at me because...well, we live in NJ. We are both originally from NYC and I act like I'm from Mississippi (not that I've ever been there, but its a guess). I love when hubs buys flannel, even though its not 1994 and Kurt Cobain is long gone. I love BBQ and cornbread and fried chicken.. Oh and we went to Memphis once and had FRIED PICKLES OH MY GOODNESS.

I love the Pioneer woman, I want to homeschool our kids AND I even like some country music. So I'm thinking I was born in the wrong state.  I also think I was born in the wrong decade too, because. I love being a housewife, and there is nothing better then hubby going Mmm Mmm Mmm after hes eaten something I made.

This cornbread, is to die for...Its got heat, its got buttery crumbles and a deliciously crunchy edge that just melts in your mouth. SO GOOD!

This is a little tedious because you are not allowed to use your mixer... I know I know. stinks, sorry. But you will appreciate the hard work and upper arm exercise once you've tasted it...I promise.

Preheat oven to 350

In a large bowl goes 1 stick of butter, room temperature. I usually stick it in the microwave for 20 seconds and its good to go. Who remembers to take the butter out? not me.

1/2 cup of sugar and beat with a whisk until fully incorporated.

Add in 1 egg 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup cornmeal. 1 tablespoon baking powder and about 2 teaspoons of salt.

mix mix mix until your arms hurt and all the ingredients are like a sticky paste. Slowly stir in(or have your toddler do it) 3/4 cup of milk.

Whisk until its nice and creamy and incorporated. I used jalapeno cheddar slices from the deli. Delicious, but feel free to chop up fresh jalapenos and use regular cheddar cheese.

I crumbled 5 slices of jalapeno cheddar and mixed into the batter. In a well greased pan (I used a 8x8 brownie pan) pour your batter and good for 30-35 minutes.

I cooked mine for 32 minutes and it was PERFECT. moist, golden and oh so fabulous. But all ovens are different.

Enjoy with pork chops, uncooked baked beans (thats another story) or whatever your heart desires :)