Lovin' From the Oven

Spiced Up Ramen & Winner

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First of all, the lucky winner of the $50 Drugstore.com gift card is comment number 45, Melanie! I’ve sent you an email, so please check your mailbox and respond ASAP!

Next, I’ve pretty much been living out of a suitcase for the past week and a half because of training. I’m either staying in Burlingame or fighting traffic to get home and sleep/study… only to wake up at 5 AM the next morning and do it all over again. The last thing I want to do when I get home from a 12 hour day of training is cook. What’s my solution? Instant ramen! There are so many things that you can do with a bag of ramen to spruce it up. Here’s one of my favorite ways:

Ingredients

  • 1 bag of Maruchan Instant Ramen, any flavor (I used chicken)
  • 1 egg, beat
  • 1 precooked sausage
Directions
  1. Boil water as directed on package of ramen. 
  2. Slice your sausage and toss it into the boiling water.
  3. Add the ramen and seasoning from package.
  4. With the water still boiling, slowly pour in the egg until cooked. 
  5. Serve once the ramen is thoroughly cooked. 

Baked Maple Donuts with Cinnamon Sugar

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Are you drooling yet? No? Okay, i’ll keep going.

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baked and flipped!

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How about now?

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If you’re not drooling by now, then I’m pretty sure you’re a zombie who only craves human blood.

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Two words for you: Heck. Yes.

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. It’s the first week of training and my schedule’s been a bit hectic. Grappling through the 5 million cars during rush hours on the Bay Bridge, I haven’t had a chance for “me” time quite yet. I really don’t have any time right now either, but I needed a break from airport acronyms.

What’s a great distraction from studying? Donuts. They’re the ideal sweet treat/meal for when you’re studying because they’re cheap and quick. Unfortunately for me, the closest donut shop to my place is not one that I love. A lot of people rave about King Pin Donuts, but to me, it’s just a tad too greasy and extremely heavy.  I was determined to make my own. I ordered a donut pan on Amazon and two days later, I’m making my own donuts!

I ordered the Norpro 6-Count Nonstick Donut Pan (as pictured above) and cannot hype about it enough. My donuts baked and rose beautifully, while slipping out of the pan effortlessly. There was not even a tiny scrap that stuck to the pan. Can you believe it?! I might have to order myself a second pan for when I have guests.

This recipe from Cooking With My Kid played an important role in my first and successful attempt at making baked donuts. They were light, flavorful, and fluffy. You couldn’t even tell the difference between these baked donuts vs the ones that are fried except for the lack of greasy flavor. I was surprised at how easy it was. If you’re tired of sub par donuts, then I highly suggest making your own!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour 
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder 
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 
  • pinch of salt 
  • 1 egg (lightly beaten) 
  • 1 6 oz container of non fat organic vanilla bean yogurt 
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil 
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice 
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons real maple syrup 
  • 3 teaspoons cinnamon 
  • 1/2 cup sugar 
  • 2 tablespoons butter (melted) 

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Mix the cinnamon and sugar together and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  3. In a separate bowl stir together egg, yogurt, oil, lemon juice, and maple syrup.oil. Make a hole in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the hole. Gently fold everything together until just combined.
  4. Divide batter evenly into a greased 6 donut pan. The batter will be pretty thick and airy.
  5. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for a minute or two and then flip over onto a cooling rack while still warm. Use a pastry brush to butter your donuts and then dip each donut in the cinnamon sugar mixture to coat.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls

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Happy early Halloween! What are everyone’s plans for the holiday? Dressing up? I’ve always been a Halloween home body, giving out candy to kids that go trick or treating. I can’t believe how fast this year is going! I’m already starting to listen to Christmas music on Spotify. What can I say, it gets me in the baking mood. Michael Buble’s new Christmas CD is definitely a keeper!

As I’ve said before, I’ll never stop trying chocolate chip cookies, regardless of how great of a recipe I have. This one was just different enough to entice me into baking. They’re from Chic Life and are bite sized, cakey cookies. It’s not very sweet on its own, so it’s great for the ones missing a sweet tooth. The texture reminded me of a shortbread. If you like your cookies on the sweeter side, roll the cookie doll balls into sugar just prior to baking. This recipe is a keeper for many, but it just wasn’t for me (only because I’m a fan of sweet sweets!).

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 
  • 1/2 tsp salt 
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder 
  • 1/8 tsp baking soda 
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar 
  • 3/4 stick butter, softened/room-temp 
  • 1 tbsp sugar 
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla 
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. 
  2. Cream together the butter and sugars. Mix in the egg and vanilla.
  3. Add in the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
  4. Fold the chocolate chips into the dough and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.
  5. Roll the dough into balls and bake for 10-14 minutes. 

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