Superbowl Sunday Recap

One of my roommates and I kind of went nuts with the Superbowl goodies. We actually ended up not having too many leftovers! It was totally worth spending the money and battling the massive lines on Superbowl Sunday at Shaw's, our local grocery store.

Menu:

-Erica's Mom's Seven Layer Dip (with minor changes): Refried beans, avacado, sour cream, taco seasoning, tomatoes, cheese, cucumber, lettuce

-Tostito's Lime Chips (SO good by themselves! We suspect there may be crack involved.)

-Fried Ravioli (Bertolli's because I can't really get fresh Ravioli in Allston.)

-Caprese Salad (Always a simple and easy crowd-pleaser. I was disappointed, though, because Shaw's ran out of fresh basil leaves! What is that?!)

-Homemade Pizza (Dough was only $1.50 from T Anthony's- a local, and only decent, pizzeria.)

Look at me throw the pizza! Just like the real Italians do it! I also made my own sauce (canned tomato puree, basil, oregano, garlic, salt, pepper- yum!) and grated my own fresh mozzerella. It was awesome.




-Veggies and Hummus

-Football Shaped Cookies (Complete with the most delicious chocolate frosting, ever! No pics available. :( )

Ode to Nutella

So my awesome friend Leah (we call her Naka) just summed up most people's feelings about Nutella:

"But I would eat Nutella on tissues."


She made this awesome Strawberry-Banana Bread last night, and she had expressed interest in experimenting with different topics. Apparently, the bar for what Nutella tops isn't set very high. I agree. Let's all just take a minute and thank whoever invented Nutella (the Italians?) for making the world a tastier place.

Take 2: Baking with Apples!

Due to certain New Year's resolutions (which haven't been adhered to very strictly...), I was searching for a great low-fat recipe with which to utilize my new mixer!

I was looking through the community cookbook, and found a low-fat apple cake. It sounded awesome, and doesn't use any butter at all. I'm really not one to favor any lack of butter- especially with baking, but I figured I'd give it a try because my sweet tooth is just plain out of control. I really don't think I'll be breaking any copyright rules posting the recipe, so here it is:


Pat's Low-fat Apple Cake

3 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 c sugar
1 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
8 oz applesauce
splash of milk
2 or 3 apples
Confectioners Sugar

Topping:
1/2 c brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tbs flour

Preheat the oven to 375. Spray square or round cake pan with cooking spray. Beat egg whites and vanilla together. Add sugar a little at a time. Sift together in a separate bowl flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to first mixture. Add applesauce and splash of milk. Beat until smooth. Add apples of your choice and pour into square or round cake pan. Mix topping ingredients and sprinkle on cake; bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar.

This cake is super moist and delicious! I really don't even miss the butter at all, and I didn't use any confectioners sugar. I think this is definitely something that'd be better served warm. It's interesting, because of the applesauce and all the apple slices, the texture reminded me a little bit like kugel. It's delicious!

I also started to think that I could make this for my dad, who is diabetic. I'm sure I could substitute both sugar components for the Splenda stuff, and get the no sugar added applesauce. This would be a much better option for him in the morning instead of pastries and coffee cake! I'm also thinking I could add oats to the recipe to give it extra texture, and extra healthiness.