kim, Author at Lovin' From the Oven

Perfect Baked Salmon

January 22, 2014 by kim 4 Comments

Making a wedding registry is tough. Since my DF and I are living in an apartment and about to move in a couple of months (and again a couple of months later), it’s difficult trying to register for things. We have enough “stuff” overflowing our current apartment, how would we go about asking for more “stuff” that we don’t need? Do you just skip the registry completely?

Thank goodness for wedding blogs that can answer every question that may cross your mind, no matter how ridiculous the question may be. Chances are, it’s been asked before at least ten times. Whatever would I do without the internet?

I started a registry with Williams-Sonoma, but a month later and it seems as if half of the stuff on my registry is out of stock, not sold anymore, or only available online. That’s not good. I nixed that idea and am now looking for different alternatives, if anything at all.

Oh well.. on to my next wedding adventure.

This recipe is so simple that it shouldn’t even be a recipe. Salmon is easy to cook and great for your health. With this standard recipe, your food will come out perfect every single time.

Perfect Baked Salmon

Ingredients

salmon
olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Place your salmon on a baking sheet.
Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Place in your oven and turn the heat up to 400 degrees. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

https://lovintheoven.com/perfect-baked-salmon/

Bakery Style Banana Muffins

January 19, 2014 by kim 8 Comments

A little advice for you fashionistas: Do not wear wide-legged, flowy pants that are a tad too long for you while walking uphill. It’ll result in a face plant right into the dirty, cracked concrete. I admit that I sacrifice comfort for sake of fashion more often that I should (not saying that I’m fashionable, I’m definitely not). It’s so not worth it.

Yes, this happened to me yesterday. I tripped on my pants once, but caught myself right before I ate it. As I was making a comment to my DF how I was totally gonna go crash-landing, it happened again mid sentence. This time, I wasn’t able to catch myself.

I was holding a cup of Philz coffee, which I miraculously managed to hold upright while my knees bashed the ground and my chin bounced up and down. My DF was quite impressed with how I managed to only spill a couple of drips of iced coffee out of the top of the cup.

I, on the other hand, had various elementary school days flash before my eyes. Scraping your knees was a weekly thing for me back in the day, but I haven’t done that in twenty years. Let me tell you, it hurts!

I got up as fast as I could manage without falling over again, crossing my fingers that my DF was the only witness to my clumsiness. Lucky for me, the meter ticket officer saw the whole event from my across the street and shouted, “Are you OK?!”

As I scrambled to reply, “Yes,” I realized that I couldn’t even finish the uphill walk to the car without the aid of my DF. I grasped his arm in hopes of hiding my face from the lady and cars passing by. No suck luck.

As I got to the car, I couldn’t help but laugh at myself. I’m the idiot that trips over her own pants and completely eats it, spending more effort saving my drink than my face. Looking at my heavily bruised and scraped knees, it’s a wonder how the rest of my body escaped from scarring. As I put antibacterial gel on my hands and my knees, it all came to me.

The only reason that I fell so gracefully was because I did a volleyball dive from my high school days. I wasn’t quick enough to remember to always “lift your chin” when diving, therefore it did bounce off of the sidewalk once. Thank goodness it wasn’t anything major. I could barely sit down or get up for the next 24 hours. My body was just doing its job of reminding me how old I am.

Moral of the story: Always wear comfortable clothes… especially if you’re going to be walking a lot in unexpected territory.

As for these banana muffins, they’re “bakery style” because of how nice and fluffy their tops are. Mine didn’t come out quite as big as Girl Meets Kitchen‘s, but they’re still good!

Bakery Style Banana Muffins

Serving Size: 18 muffins

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups plain low-fat yogurt
3 bananas, chopped fine
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup turbinado sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 425. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.
Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg in a medium bowl.
In another bowl, beat sugar and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs and yogurt, beat.
Reduce speed to low and add dry ingredients until just moistened.
Carefully fold in chopped bananas and peanut butter chips. Don't over mix!
Pour into prepared muffins tins, filling them up to the top.
Sprinkle cinnamon and turbinado sugar on top.
Bake for 5 minutes at 425, and then lower oven temperature to 375. Bake another 15 to 18 minutes, or until muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

https://lovintheoven.com/bakery-style-banana-muffins/

Avocado Salsa

January 15, 2014 by kim 2 Comments

If I could only have one fruit tree in my backyard, it’d be an avocado tree. I would eat guacamole all day… along with avocado smoothies, avocado pesto pasta, BLT sandwiches with avocado, and now avocado salsa. I could make every meal with avocados!

Also, it’s true what they say about California avocados. There’s simply nothing better. Hooray, another plus for living in California! My DF is surely missing out by not eating anything green.

The best avocados are available in the summer, which was when this salsa was made. I’m realizing how old my post queue is and I’m attempting to clean it out to keep my blog more up to date with current kitchen adventures. It’s actually works perfectly because this coming month is going to be one big whirlwind, leaving me with very little time to bake. Actually, I’m pretty sure this whole year is going to be like that.

Agenda for February: baby showers, older sister’s wedding, blog trip, celebrating birthdays, Hawaii (possibly?), and trying to get my work schedule off so I can make it to all of these events. I’m tired just thinking about it all. Before I know it, I’ll be boarding a plane to my honeymoon!