All of my friends and family know I’m a self-proclaimed disaster in the kitchen. Once, in an attempt to make rice, I cooked it with the lid off to “speed things along”. My biggest excuse for me being such a kitchen klutz is that before the mister became a web designer, he spent many years working in the restaurant biz. He made every dinner. My thinking has always been, why bother because how can my cooking even compare? Well, with some help from him, a cookbook or two and some fabulous food blogs, I’m no longer a disaster! I highly recommend the two recipes below. They are easy for sure and super tasty.

Black Bean-Mango Salad
via Maria Menounos’s EveryGirl’s Guide To Life

Ingredients:

* 1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and diced
* 1/2 cup Italian dressing
* Two 15-ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed
* 1/2 cup chopped red onion
* 1 small green pepper, seeded and chopped
* 1 small red pepper, seeded and chopped
* Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

In a food processor or blender, take 1/4 cup of the mango with the Italian dressing until smooth. In a large bowl, combine the remaining mango with the beans, red onion, and peppers. To the bean mixture, add the mango puree. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and chill until ready to serve.

Turkey Burgers with Zucchini
via Skinnytaste.com

Ingredients:

* 1.25 lbs 93% lean ground turkey
* 1 small zucchini, grated
* 1/4 cup seasoned whole wheat breadcrumbs
* 1 clove garlic, grated
* 1 tbsp red onion, grated
* salt and fresh pepper
* oil spray

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, zucchini, breadcrumbs, garlic, onion, salt and pepper. Make 5 equal patties. Heat a large skillet on high heat. When hot, lightly spray oil. Add burgers to the pan and reduce the heat to low. Cook on one side until browned, then flip. Flip over a few times to prevent burning and to make sure the burgers are cooked all the way through.

Whoopie pies are pretty common here in PA. I tried my hand at making the traditional chocolate ones last year and they turned out great! Last week when I found myself with too many ripe bananas, I found a recipe for banana whoopie pies at Baking Bites. I used their recipe for the cake part but swapped in the misters family recipe for the filling. They were fantastic!

Banana Whoopie Pies

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cups mashed banana (2 medium)

Preheat oven 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vegetable oil, followed by vanilla and mashed banana. Add flour mixture and stir until just incorporated. Drop 2 tablespoon balls (approx 1 1/2-inch balls) and bake for 12-14 minutes, or until cookies are lightly browned around the edges and “set” in the center. Remove to a wire rack to cool.
Makes about 2 dozen cookies (1 dozen sandwich cookies).

Filling

1 unbeaten egg white
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 Tbsp. flour
1 Tbsp. milk
3/4 c. Crisco
1/2 lb. Confectioner’s sugar

Combine egg whites, vanilla, flour, milk and Crisco. Beat until smooth. Beat in confectioners sugar. Spread ½ inch of filling between two cookies. Wrap individually with plastic wrap.

I’ve always thought that rainbow cakes were so cute and then I saw this pink one that is absolutely stunning. Here is the recipe:

Swiss meringue frosting

Makes enough to frost a 15 cm or 20 cm cake. Add 225 grams of butter to make Swiss meringue buttercream

•5 large egg whites
•200 grams sugar
•1 tsp vanilla extract

Put egg whites and sugar in a heat-proof bowl in a double boiler. The water in the saucepan should be simmering. Whisk with a hand whisk continuously until the mixture reaches 65 degrees C. Remove from heat. Start whipping the egg whites with a stand or hand mixer until they become fluffy and white and the bowl is cool, this can take about 10 minutes.

Vanilla cake

Makes five 15 cm, or four 20 cm layers

This recipe is adapted from Sweetapolita.

•1/2 cup (113 grams) butter
•2 cups white sugar
•3 1/2 cups flour
•1 teaspoon salt
•3 teaspoons baking powder
•1 1/2 cups ice water
•1 teaspoon vanilla
•4 egg whites beaten stiff

Add sugar to the butter and beat until light. Sift dry ingredients and add alternately with ice water and flavorings, beating thoroughly after each addition. Fold in the beaten egg whites. Pour into greased layer pans and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 30 minutes.

source: call me cupcake

(Pyrex pieces featured: Snowflake Garland Loaf Pan, Dots Mixing Bowl Set & Pink Stripe Bowl)

What a difference a few days makes! Friday it was a gorgeous but windy close to 70 degree day. Obviously that was a tease because this is what it looks like outside my window.

I love the snow but at this point, like most of you, I’m over it and cannot wait for Spring. In preparation for the warm months I’m doing my best to eat healthy, drink more water and fit in more exercise. I’ve got some real workout inspiration from Danielle of  Sometimes Sweet. Her words on fitness, self-acceptance and motivation are super inspiring. I’ll leave you with a photo of my lunch or part of it anyway. The rest is carrots with hummus with a low-fat string cheese.

I’m off to measure dresses for the vintage shop and then I have tons of photo editing ahead of me. Let’s hope I can fit in a chilly walk around the neighborhood or an at home workout via Netflix. Enjoy your day!

I’ve had this goal for awhile now. I tried once and lets just say it didn’t go so well…so this week I’m hoping to get this macaron making right!

images via weheartit