Nutri Ninja Review

Blenders.  Never had one growing up and once I graduated I got a blender as a gift from my mom.  I thought there wasn't a huge difference between blenders.  Oh how wrong I was.  May I introduce to you my newest kitchen addition, Nutri Ninja Auto IQ.  

There was a ton of parts to this blender and at first sight I was thinking that this was ridiculous.  I typically only make smoothies and margaritas in my old blender so I think 5 different blender cups was over the top.

I started by making a smoothie using the togo cup.  The best part of this is the fact that you make the drink right in the cup that you are going to take with you.  When you are done blending you put the sippy top on and you are ready to leave for work.

The first smoothie had mixed berries and pineapple with some tart cherry noosa and a bit of orange juice.  YUM.  The nice thing about the IQ Ninja is that you just lock in the cup and press a button and it blends it for the perfect amount.  

I was really happy with my first attempt so I wanted to see how the smoothies would work out if I put spinach and kale in my smoothie.  With my old blender there would be chunks of spinach and there would always be some part of my smoothie that was blended.  With this bad boy everything was blended evenly.  WHAAA????...a blender that properly blends.  Who would have thought.  I am so impressed and it is a great way to hide my veggies.  I want to try carrots and cabbage in my next smoothies!

 Now onto the food processor bowl.  I already have a food processor and I have frankly never used anything that is marketed as a blender to make pie dough and to make Graham cracker crust.  I was very impressed.  Everything was evenly blended and the graham crumbs turned out great.  I even processed cranberries for a family recipe of cranberry fluff.  I love it.  I won't be getting rid of my food processor which slices and has a few other functions that this blender does not have but I was so impressed with this magical fancy blender.

 All this comes down to is...would I buy or recommend this to a friend. HELL YES.  It is a powerhouse of a blender.  The most versital blender that I have ever owned.  I can't imagine how I lived so long with my other blender (sorry mom).  

Go out with your gift cards from Christmas and buy yourself one of these bad boys!

© Kim Bohme and A Bohme Cooked Meal

Ariana- 5 year wedding anniversary

It is nearing the end of the year and I wanted to write a quick food porn post of my 5 year wedding anniversary!  First, I have to say that my husband is a saint to put up with my crazy antics!  I love him dearly and am excited to see what the next 5 years brings us!

Matt and I went to Ariana Resturant to celebrate!  This is one of my favorite places to eat!

These had a fancy name to them but it was a fried risotto cheese ball thing with a butter sauce on the bottom and crispy sage leafs.  It was weird but tasted good!

Carrot Soup with Cumin and a cilantro oil on top.  This was so good and I need to remember to try to recreate this when I get the chance!

I got too excited to take a picture of this before I started eating it.  This was pork picatta with arugula and a fried egg.  It was crunchy and delicious!

This is one of my all time favorite desserts.  This is an Almondrado Cake with a cherry sauce on the bottom.  I will master this cake one day.  I must!  I have dreams about eating this cake!  Matt got a trio of ice creams in the back!  I was really nice and shared!  This was the last little cake they had in the back!

© Kim Bohme and A Bohme Cooked Meal

Meatballs

These bad-ass balls of meaty love came out of the need to make a paleo friendly meatball that I could use in multiple types of recipes and was still yummy to eat!

I found this recipe on Pinterest and I knew right away that I had to make these.  I fell in love.  I think you can use them in pretty much anything.  I have frozen these meatballs and they are still great.  That's my kind of meal!  There are a million ways to use these meatballs.  I have put them in tomato soup to make it more hearty and filling.  I have served them on spaghetti and in Beef Stroganoff.  You could serve them in Teriyaki or BBQ sauce.  The possibilities are endless.

Make sure to add these to your go to meal list.  They are awesome flavor bombs!

Adapted from Damn Delicious
Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
1/2 cup Panko or gluten free break crumbs
2 large egg yolks
2 green onions, thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic
1 tblsp. ginger
1 teaspoon Soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 F.  Place a cooling rack on a cookie sheet. Spray cooling rack with nonstick spray,
In a bowl, add all of the ingredients and mix together with your hands.  Use a cookie scoop to measure out meatballs and place on the cooling rack. 
Bake until golden brown 20-25 minutes.

Serve immediately.  If you don't want to eat these immediately you can cool them completely and then you can place them in the freezer. I recommend you place the cooling rack that you baked the meatballs on in the freezer until them are semi frozen and then you can transfer them to a Ziploc bag.  Make sure to label and date your Ziploc.


© Kim Bohme and A Bohme Cooked Meal

Cookie Butter cookies

I have had a jar of cookie butter sitting in my pantry for weeks...actually it's been months.  I am completely terrified of opening it.  I have no self control around the jar.  I will sit down in front of the TV and shovel spoon full after spoon full into my mouth.  It's not pretty to watch but it is damn tasty.  I figured that the cookie butter may be safer in cookie form.  I usually freeze the cookies I make for unexpected company or for those nights were dessert is NOT an option.  All you have to do is pop one in the microwave for 20 seconds and heaven awaits.

100% honesty here.  These cookies are good but I was expecting them to have more cookie butter taste to them.  I think if I were to do these again I would add cinnamon and ginger to the batter to make them a bit more spicy.

Please make sure not to over bake these.  I over baked the first round and I can say the crunchy version of these are not super enticing!

Overcooked but were good dunked in milk!

Either way...I love me some cookie butter and these were delicious.
Recipe from The Coterie Blog

Cookie Butter Cookies
1/2 c. cookie butter (Found at Trader Joes)
1/2 c. butter
1 1/4 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. vanilla
*extra cookie butter for drizzling at the end
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a mixing bowl beat butter and speculoos with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add 1/2 cup of the flour, the sugars, egg, baking soda, baking powder, and vanilla. Beat till thoroughly combined. Beat in remaining flour.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 8-9 minutes or till bottoms are lightly browned.

Cool cookies on a wire rack. After the cookies cool for at least 20 minutes, melt about 1/4 c. speculoos in microwave and drizzle over cookies with a spoon.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

© Kim Bohme and A Bohme Cooked Meal

My birthday cake of choice...Pineapple Upside Down Cake

My office was very expertly decorated for my birthday!

It was my birthday recently and I almost always have make myself a pineapple upside down cake.  It reminds me of home! I have made this recipe following this recipe through the cherry part and then using boxed cake mix for a quicker version.  I have made them into cupcakes.  But I find no need to try to make these into an updated/elevated version  I love the caramel that forms when its cooking.  It's so simple in it's old fashioned state. I love love love this cake!  

It ended up snowing buckets the night before my birthday so I woke up early and baked this cake and then let it cool while I shoveled the yard.  It smelled so yummy!

Must resist licking the cake.  MUST RESIST!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Adapted from Better Homes and Garden's Cookbook

Ingredients:

2 tblsp. butter

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tblsp. water

1 8oz. can sliced pineapple, drained

1 jar drained maraschino cherries

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp. baking powder 

2/3 cup milk

1/4 cup butter (room temperature)

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Place the first listed butter in the bottom of the pan.  Place in the oven until melted. Add the brown sugar and water to the bottom of the pan.  Stir until incorporated.  Place the pineapple slices in the bottom of the pan.  Then place cherries in the holes of the pineapple and in the open spaces in the bottom of the pan.

2. In a mixer place the flour, sugar, and baking powder.  Mix until combined.  Add milk, butter, egg and vanilla.  Stir until combined.

3. Scoop batter onto the pineapple brown sugar mixture in the bottom of the pan.  

4. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick (wooden) comes out clean.  Once completely baked, remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.  Cool for at least 30 minutes.  This cake is great served warm or cold.  Cake will last 3 days in the refrigerator. But is best served the day it is baked.

© Kim Bohme and A Bohme Cooked Meal

Chocolate Orange Almond Cake

About 6 months ago I tried the whole 30 diet.  This diet is supposed to remove all processed food out of our diet and give your body a jumpstart.  Matt and I are not ones to try fad diets.  I wanted to try the diet to see if Matt and I had any allergies that we were unaware of.  Long story short, this diets wasn't sustainable for us long term but we have cut ALOT of gluten out of our diet.  Most of our dinners consist of meat and 2 vegetables.  The one thing I have struggled with this diet is how much time it takes to prepare food and the lack of yummy desserts.  However, this is a great recipe that most people would NEVER realize is dairy free and gluten free,  I have gotten this recipe from a family member.  Most of the prep work is done in a food processor!

I highly recommend this!  The cake has a refreshing orange taste to it and the chocolate is not overpowering. 

I brought this cake to work and everyone loved the cake so much!  This one is a real winner!

*Please note that there is some preparation with the oranges that can be done the night before.

Ingredients

1 large thin-skinned orange.  ( approx. 14 oz)
6 eggs
1 heaping tap baking powder
1/2 tap baking soda
2 c ground almonds
1 1/4 c sugar
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa
1/4 c oil

Directions

Put oranges in a pan with cold water, bring to a boil and cook 2 hours or until soft.  Drain and cool.  Half oranges and remove any big seeds.  Throw the entire orange into the food processor and run until it is smooth.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8 inch spring form pan.  Add eggs, baking powder, baking soda, almonds, sugar, cocoa, and oil.  Run until you have a evenly blended cake mixture with little flecks of puréed orange.

Pour and scrape batter into cake pan and bake for 45 minutes- 1 hour.  A toothpick should come out clean.  Cool cake completely on a rack. 

Makes 12 or more servings.  

© Kim Bohme and A Bohme Cooked Meal

Spaghetti Pudgy Pies

 

One of my favorite summer activities is camping.  I love being outdoors with great company!  I have fond memories of camping with my sister and nephews.  My specific camping job as a kid used to be making toast in the morning.  I don't have a problem grabbing things that are hot.  I was really good at it. 

My sister used to have this contraption called a pudgy pie maker.  We used to make camping apple pies.  I have even made s'more pies and cherry pies!  NomNom!

 

Now I get a little more adventurous and make more savory pudgy pies.  This past summer I went camping with my friend and her daughter and I thought they would really enjoy these! 

 

What I love about these spaghetti pudgy pies is that you can make the garlic butter and the spaghetti in advance and then freeze them separately,  When you are ready to have them for dinner all you need to do is to pull out the spaghetti out to the top of your cooler in the morning so it can thaw and then when you are ready for dinner all you need to do is assemble these bad boys.

 

We devoured these bad boys.  They do take a while to cook so if you make these just buy more than one pie maker.  I have 3!  Walmart has these makers or you can Google pudgy pie makers!

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

1 cup Margarine

2 cloves fresh Garlic

1 tsp. oregano

 

1 loaf of bread

1 box spaghetti

1 lb ground beef- cooked

2 cups chopped cheddar

1 jar spaghetti sauce

 

Directions

1. Make the garlic butter- Put first three ingredients into a bowl and mix until incorporated.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

2. Cook spaghetti according to package. Drain and chop spaghetti into bite size pieces.  Add ground beef, cheddar, and spaghetti sauce.  You can freeze this mixture at this point or you can just place into an air tight container.

 

Assembly

1- Butter the bread like you would a grilled cheese sandwich,

2- Place butter side down on the pudgy pie maker and add a large heaping amount of the spaghetti mixture onto the bread and add another piece of buttered bread on top of the spaghetti and hook on the other metal piece of the pudgy pie maker.

3- At this point you can put the pudgy pie maker in the fire to toast.  It usually takes about 5 minutes on each side. (Depends on how hot the fire is!)

4-  It is ok to peak to see how it is cooking,  It will be done when you have nicely browned bread.

5- Wait a bit to bite into the "pie" or you will burn your hands.

© Kim Bohme and A Bohme Cooked Meal

Wine Maker Dinner Benefiting KIDS Center 2014

Back in July, I attended a Wine Maker Dinner for Cork & Barrel benefiting KIDS Center at 10below in Bend, Oregon. The food at these dinners are so great and it is always a great experience to get to meet the wine makers in an intimate setting.  Take a closer look at the menu and food porn.

© Kim Bohme and A Bohme Cooked Meal

Cranberrry Tart and IFBC

During my weekend at the International Food Bloggers Conference I went to many different break out sessions.  I went to one that was all about beef.  I cook with it all of the time and it is probably my favorite meets to cook with.  It is so versatile. Here are a few things I learned during that session.

Top Sirloin is a great value and is the least expensive

Chuck roast is cheaper but great to braise

Eye of round steak is super lean and cheaper.  This is best if you marinate.

Beef Grade

USDA Prime- Has the most marbling.  It is typically sold in high-end restaurants

USDA Choice- Have less marbling and is most widely available in the grocery stores.

USDA Select has the least amount of marbling, is leaner and a bit less juicy.

Picture from here

 

My favorite part of the trip was where I attended the Sur la Table/KitchenAid excursion before the start of the conference.  We watched a kitchen demo where they made pasta (I have always been intimidated by pasta) and watched them make Warm Cranberry Crumble Mini Tarts.  They had passed around the cranberry mixture and I knew that this would be one that I would be making soon.  I did make a few adjustments to their recipe and made one large tart out of it. 

I have to say I am not a huge cranberry fan.  I don't like it with my turkey.  And the only way I have been able to eat it is with marshmallows, in what Matt's family calls fluff.  I was so happy when I tasted the mixture at this event and when I tasted the cooked tart at my house I was elated.  I will be adding this tart to my holiday pie round up.  It is nice and tangy and will be a good addition to the overly sweet pies I tend to make.  Note:  I used Kerrigold Butter for this recipe and I think it makes a world of difference!

 

You need to try this tart!!!

 

Warm Cranberry Crumble Tart

Adapted from Sur la table test kitchen

 

Ingredients

Tart Dough:

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 teaspoon almond extract

3 tablespoons ice cold water

 

Topping:

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

 

Filling:

12 ounces fresh cranberries

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Finely grated orange zest from 2 oranges

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

2 apples (peeled) and cored

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

1 tart pan

 

Directions:

Tart Dough:

Put flour, sugar, salt and butter into the food processor and pulse the mixture until it is fine breadcrumbs.  Then add the almond extract and cold water to the mixture.  Run the food processor again.  The flour mixture should quickly turn into a ball.  When this happens turn off the processors and dump the flour ball  onto your work surface and shape into a flat circle disk.  Wrap the disk in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

 

Topping: 

Clean out the food processor and the flour, sugar, salt, and butter in the bowl of the food processor and pulse the machine until the butter is the size of small peas.  Make sure not to over pulse this mixture.  Place this mixture in a bowl and put it in the refrigerator.

 

Filling: 

Clean the bowl of the food processor and add the cranberries, sugar, orange zest, cinnamon, flour, apples, and vanilla extract.  Run the processor a few times until the cranberries are chopped coarsely. 

 

Assembly: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Either flour your work surface or put down wax paper.  Roll out the pastry dough until it is as wide as the tart pan.  The dough would be about 1/8th inch thick.  Place the rolled out dough into the tart pan and press the dough into the sides of the pan.  Make sure to trim the edges. 

Spoon the filling into the crust and spread evenly into the pan.  Sprinkle the topping over the cranberries.  Now you can place the tart in the oven.  Mine took 50-60 minutes.  You know the tart is done when the topping is golden brown.

Remove tart from the oven and let it cool on a rack for at least 10 minutes. 

Serve as is or with ice cream.

 

The tarts will last for 1 day at room temperature.  You can store with plastic wrap for 3 days.  You can reheat in a 350 degree oven for 5-7 minutes.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

© Kim Bohme and A Bohme Cooked Meal

Torso Cake

My good friends 40th birthday was not too long ago and she happens to also be my Zumba instructor.  So what better than to make her a boob cake!  It was a spice cake with cream cheese frosting!  No recipe but there are awesome pictures of the assembly!

Maybe my next fondant experiment needs to be a butt cake!?!

© Kim Bohme and A Bohme Cooked Meal