Orange Poppyseed Bundt Cake

I'm going to admit... I made this at 1 am and forgot to put in the leavening agent...  But you'll forgive me, right? 

It's still pretty stinkin' good. 

Ingredients Americanized. 
120g poppy seed – ½ cup
250ml milk—1 cup
225g butter – 1 cup
220g sugar -- 1 cup + 2 T
3 eggs
300g flour – 2 1/3 cups
2 teaspoons baking powder (OOPS!)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tablespoon orange zest
4 tablespoons orange juice

Here's the original post:
http://junglefrog-cooking.com/orange-and-poppyseed-bundt-cake/

In hind sight I would have spent more time zesting oranges and added 2 or even 3 tablespoons.  1 just wasn't enough. 

I also don't think I got quite 1/2 cup of poppy seeds in it.  I had 2 Tones spices packages.  I'd say it was maybe 1/3 cup... But that was plenty.  In fact, I hope I don't get drug tested anytime soon... Because I've been eating a lot of this cake lately. 

So the cake turned out pretty dense, but it freezes well and was the perfect weekend splurge. 

Now, speaking of splurging.  This woman needs to STOP!  Just because I get my butt kicked in spin class doesn't mean I get a piece of cheesecake at the coffee shop. 


I'm making a statement here, in front of family, friends and God that I am going to start kicking butt and taking names at this healthy living lifestyle.  Logging my muchies on loseit.com (super user friendly and totally awesome and customizable) and adding pilates 3+x a week.  Sticking with this pescatarian thing till at least the end of November.  Working really hard to keep my carbs below 250g and my protein close to 100g. 

(Can we also note that blogger wants to change pescatarian to caesarian...)

Pesto Pizza

I found this idea on http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/ and I put my own little twist on it. 

I found a simple focaccia recipe here and mixed it up in the morning and let it grow all day. 

Half of the recipe got cut into buns because I'm working on a blackened chicken sandwich that my friend LOVES at the Continental here in Des Moines and it has a focaccia bun. 

The other half got flattened out on my pizza stone and covered in goodies. 

Instead of buying a jar of pesto, I bought a packet.  I remember my mom having these pesto packets at home all the time and I HATED them.  And now that I've actually tasted it (weird) I love it. 

I would have obviously rather made fresh pesto from basil and pine nuts, however, I was on a tight budget and I figured the pesto wouldn't exactly be the star of this pizza... It was more like a collection of semi-famous stars equaling a yummy pizza. 

The pesto was spread over my dough and then I put sliced roma tomatoes over that.  The yummy mozzarella cheese (okay, maybe the star) covered that and I baked it till the edges were brown and the cheese looked sufficiently toasted. 

I loved this pizza when it first came out of the oven, but it's not a killer left-over.  Pizza usually isn't my favorite next-day lunch.  And if I do it again I might just skip the tomatoes.  November tomatoes leave much to be desired. 

This was 100 times better than frozen fare, but not quite as good as Gusto.  mmm. 

She's a vegetarian...

I’ve been working out like a crazy person lately (pretty on par with my life) and I don’t seem to be losing any lbs. 

I’ve always been very athletic, playing sports every season, bla bla bla… But I don’t really look like an athlete. 

I will say I notice changes in my body when I’m committed to certain exercise regiments… like when I rode RAGBRAI I noticed my quads were solid gold.  And I went to do one of my least favorite moves (pushups) on Wednesday and noticed I could actually do a real pushup! On my toes! 

Now, I’m not going to sit here and pretend that I don’t know why I have a little extra junk in the trunk…  I like sweets.  I can take down a package of Halloween Oreos in 3.5 days.  I just like food.  I like looking at pictures of food, I like spending 2 hours cooking a meal for my parents, I like telling people about amazing restaurants… 

One thing that makes me a little queasy however, meat that other people have cooked…  I love a grilled steak or a curried salmon.  I have an entire small chicken in my fridge sitting next to three chicken breasts… But I just like to know what the meat looks like before it gets cooked… It’s just a phobia.  Carnophobia if you will. 

I’ve always said I can’t go vegetarian because of my intense love for meat… But in my old age (I’m 26…) I’m starting to wonder if there’s a whole new world out there full of quinoa burgers and tofu that I’m missing out on!

Mean girl side note- there was a girl on my floor in college who was a vegan and ate vegan cookies and pizza and didn’t touch vegetables… She wasn’t fit and fabulous.    

All this said, I’m considering a move to pescatarianism. (I’m a proud sushi junkie.)

So this is my plan: 3 days a week in November I’ll be a pescatarian, 5 days a week in December and if all goes to plan, a full-fledged pescatarian by New Years. 

If you know me, I make crazy plans like this all the time… so stay tuned to see how long this lasts. 

In other, but still slightly related news… here’s what’s on the menu for the next 2 weeks. 

Pumpkin oatmeal- I can’t remember where I got this recipe.  I’ll look for it and get back to you.

Roasted chicken- Hence the entire chicken in my fridge. 

Cajun Chicken Pasta- thepioneerwoman.com

Sweet potato and onion hash with an egg- A pretty customary go-to

Pesto pizza- budgetbytes.blogspot.com

Quesadillas- Just cheese.  Slightly over cooked.  Love of my life.