Thursday, September 26, 2013

Caleb Blood

I've been listening to Reverbnation a lot this week and wondering why I haven't done a local music post in a while. I have so many artists I want to feature still so I choose one today from the song that's been in my head. I've had Caleb Blood's song Lovely Obsession, along with others of his, on my playlist for a couple of years. Love it! Caleb is a BYU student and has been playing at Velour in Provo, The Wall at BYU and other places recently.

Check out his website (not updated much) or like him on Facebook to find out when he's playing next so you can check him out in person. He even had an article written about him recently in The Salt Lake Tribune. He has a great pop sound and his music sure sounds radio-ready and very catchy. He is very talented and I can't wait to see him make it big nationally.

Caleb's new album is called +one and you can listen to the whole album on Spotify (some songs are on the player below, but there are others too) or buy it from his website or on iTunes. Support artists so they can keep making music! And check out his older music there too! He also has a YouTube channel. How did I not blog about him before???

I've posted one of his videos and his Reverb Music Player where you can listen to several of his songs.




Saturday, September 21, 2013

Mini Caramel Glazed Apple Bread

I didn't get to my giveaway yet. I've been sick, just a cold, but still feeling yucky and have to push through it for classes, studying and my internship. I have several posts in the works (okay, in my head), but I'll have to catch up later. As as I post this, I'm watching the BYU-UofU game! Go, Cougars!!!
 
I made some mini loaves of this moist, easy quick bread to give to the ladies I visit teach and I still had lots extra. Culinary Concoctions by Peabody had this on their website and the photos made me drool! Great fall recipe, but I'll be making it year-long! 
 
Mini Caramel Glazed Apple Bread
 
1 1/2 c. shredded peeled apples
1 1/2 c. brown sugar, loosely packed
1/2 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. vegetable oil
4 large eggs
3 c. flour
2 t. baking soda
2 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. salt
1 t. ground nutmeg

Glaze:
2 T. unsalted butter
1/4 c. packed brown sugar
1 T. apple cider
1/2 c. powdered sugar, sifted

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Spray three mini pans (5.75L x 3.25W x 2.25H inches) with baking spray.

In large bowl, stir together apples, 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, the buttermilk, oil and eggs. Stir in remaining bread ingredients just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour into pans (each pan takes 4 regular size ice cream scoops).

Bake 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes on cooling rack. Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans and place top sides up on cooling rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

In 1-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in 1/4 cup brown sugar. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly; reduce heat to low. Boil and stir 2 minutes. Stir in cider. Heat to boiling; remove from heat. Cool to lukewarm, about 30 minutes.

Gradually stir powdered sugar into glaze mixture. Place saucepan of glaze in bowl of cold water. Beat with spoon until smooth and thin enough to drizzle. If glaze becomes too stiff, stir in additional cider, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, or heat over low heat, stirring constantly. Drizzle glaze over loaves. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days, or refrigerate up to 10 days.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Harvest Chicken Chopped Salad with Creamy Honey Balsamic Dressing

As soon as I saw the photo of this salad from Lilikoi Joy, I knew I would love it since salads with a of veggies, fruits, berries and nuts are my favorite and the dressing sounded so good too. Oh, it was! I halved the recipe, but will make a full recipe next time so I can keep eating it for days. I left out the cheese and green cabbage in the salad and the fresh herbs I used in the dressing were basil and parsley. Love how you can grill up some chicken for this or use leftover or even rotisserie chicken.

And I will have a giveaway on my blog coming up next week, so stay tuned, any readers I may still have after my blog posting has gone way down. I still love y'all.


Harvest Chicken Chopped Salad with Creamy Honey Balsamic Dressing

Dressing:
3/4 c. mayonnaise
2 T. balsamic vinegar
2 T. honey
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1-2 T. fresh herbs, minced
Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Ingredients for salad:
4-6 c. chopped romaine lettuce
1 c. chopped green cabbage
1 c. chopped red cabbage
2 c. cooked chicken breasts, cooled and cubed (about 2 breasts)
1/2 c. chopped red onion
1 medium apple, cored and chopped (tip: add 1 Tablespoon lemon juice to apples to reduce browning)
1/2 c. dried cranberries
3/4 - 1 c. hazelnuts, walnuts or pecans, toasted in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes, then roughly chopped 
4 oz. gorgonzola or other bleu cheese, crumbled
4-6 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
1/2 c. fresh blueberries

Prepare the dressing: In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, balsamic vinegar, honey, garlic, and fresh herbs and whisk until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. If too thick, add 1-2 teaspoons of water to thin it down.

Assemble the salad: In a large bowl, combine the lettuce, cabbages, chicken, red onion, apple, dried cranberries, hazelnuts, gorgonzola cheese, and bacon. Add about 1/2 the dressing and toss to combine. Keep adding more dressing until the flavor and creaminess level is right for you. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Gently fold the blueberries into the salad at the end so they don't break up during the mixing process. Serve.
Yield: 4-6 servings

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Mini Blueberry-Lemon Bundt Cakes

Saw these from Tutti Dolci and couldn't stop craving them, so I gave in and made them. I thought my Bundt pan was a mini, but her little ones are much tinier than mine, so I guess mine is a medium-sized Bundt pan. Mine made 7 and hers made 28.

These are cute and moist and I love all the bursts from the abundance of blueberries. I already wanna buy the ingredients for it again so I can give some away this time...and eat another one in that batch too.

Mini Blueberry-Lemon Bundt Cakes
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/4 c. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 c. sugar
Zest of 1 Meyer lemon
1 large egg
1/3 c. low-fat buttermilk
1/4 c. plain fat-free yogurt
3/4 t. vanilla extract
1 T. Meyer lemon juice
1 1/2 c. blueberries

Glaze
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 t. Meyer lemon zest
1 T. Meyer lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350° and spray a mini bundt pan with nonstick spray. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Beat butter, sugar, and lemon zest in a large mixer bowl at medium speed until well blended; add egg and beat well. Combine buttermilk, yogurt, vanilla and lemon juice in a small bowl. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in

3 additions, alternating with buttermilk mixture; fold in blueberries.

Fill each mold just over half full. Bake for 16 minutes, until edges are golden and cake springs back to the touch. Cool in pan on wire rack for 4 minutes before popping mini cakes out of pan to cool completely. To prepare glaze, whisk together powder sugar, lemon zest, and juice in a small bowl. Set rack with mini bundt cakes over a piece of wax paper and drizzle with glaze; let set before serving. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 2 days; serve warm.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Tomato Balsamic Ravioli

Last week I started classes and my longer internship hours and after a long day of that, I had visiting teaching appointments. When I got home at 7:30, my daughter Sabrina asked if we could order pizza since they were hungry. I was happy to have this meal planned, knowing that it was so quick and easy. The recipe is from Dinners, Dishes and Desserts. I used a chicken and spinach ravioli, but you can use whatever kind you like. It was so good that night and then reheated the next day too.

When we were at the store buying groceries for the week and I picked up the refrigerated raviloi, Elisa asked me why I didn't just make my own ravioli. Yeah, I have time to make fresh pasta right now. Crazy girl. She's used to eating just about everything from scratch, but this still tasted great and it will save me from having to order pizza on another busy night sometime.


                        
Tomato Balsamic Ravioli
1 (14-oz) can petite diced tomatoes
1 large tomato, diced
¼ c. red onion, diced
1 T. olive oil
2 T. balsamic vinegar
¼ t. salt
¼ t. black pepper
12 oz. refrigerated ravioli
2 T. fresh basil, chopped
 
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the can of diced tomatoes and onion. Saute for 5-7 minutes. Meanwhile, cook ravioli according to the package directions.
 
Add balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to the tomatoes. Stir in the fresh diced tomato. Cook for 5 minutes. Toss cooked ravioli with the tomato mixture. Serve with fresh basil, and top with Parmesan cheese, if desired.