Three Things Thursday - Desserts

I really love desserts, but unfortunately, truly sinful ones are not included in my new diet. After all, that would totally defeat the purpose, right? Since I won't be posting any desserts until the baby weight comes off, here are three that I'd love to try.

Oreo Cupcakes

• Stephanie over at Stephanie Cooks is baking up chocolate mint cake batter cookies.
• Celeste at Sugar and Spice is whipping up a chocolate peanut butter cake that looks outstanding.
• Just in time for the cold weather, Nicole at three square is mixing up peppermint hot chocolate that sounds very tasty.

Happy Thursday, all! One more day until the weekend!

Three Things Thursday - Pancakes

If there's nothing I love more, it's pancakes on Sunday morning. Since it's Thursday, I thought I'd give you all (and myself) something to look forward to this weekend. This weeks recipes show how pancakes can be both good and good for you! GASP!

1. First up, from Simply Life are some yummy looking Blueberry Whole Wheat Flax Pancakes

2. Next, Stephanie, from Stephanie Cooks whipped up some Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes

3.Finally, another Stephanie at Macaroni and Cheesecake temped my tastebuds with her Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes

Want some more pancake ideas? Check out my pancake tag.

Not into pancakes? Try something from my breakfast tag.

Three Things Thursday - New Food Blogs

I know I'm super late with this, but you know what they say - better late than never! Today I give you three food blogs I've recently discovered through the comments on other blogs.

1. Erin has a great blog on food, travel and everything else called Travel Eat Repeat. Check out her Vegan Style Burger and Fries post.

2. I actually found this next blog through my own comments. Food by DB is a recipe blog by a stay at home dad in CA. His newest recipe for Pesto Risotto looks great!

3. I found Danielle's blog Coffee Run through Erin's blog above. Danielle is a vegan and a runner with a great blog! She's also convinced me that mustard greens might actually be tasty!

If you want to see more of my favorite blogs, check them out here.

What are your favorite blogs? How do you discover new ones?

Three Things Thursday - Pizza

Here are three recipes that feature one of my favorite foods: pizza!





1. First up is this lovely looking Roasted Vegetable Pizza from Cook with Sara.

2. Next a Whole Wheat Pesto Pizza from Simply Life.

3. And finally, Grilled Whole Wheat Pizza from Simply Sayisfying.


...and if you're still hungry for more pizza recipes, check out my pizza tag.

Three Things Thursday - Books about Food

Since I love to read, and I love to cook, I thought it would be appropriate to mix the two together for this Three Things Thursday entry. I give you, reviews by some of my favorite bloggers on the subject of food.



1. First up is a review of Farm City from the blog Muffin Top. It is the story of how Novella Carpenter turned a vacant lot in downtown Oakland into a farm. I've never heard of this book, but it certainly sounds interesting.

2. Jacki at lovely little shelf has reviewed The Emperors of Chocolate by Joel Glenn Brenner. This book tells the story of the big name chocolate manufacturers Hershey and Mars.

3. Lastly, a cookbook that Kim at Stirring the Pot reviewed. I just had to include this one because I love Giada so much. She never disappoints with a recipe, and it looks like Giada's Kitchen is no exception to this statement.

HAPPY READING!

Three Things Thursday - non-food bloggers

I follow a ton of blogs. So many, that I have trouble keeping up with not only the food blogs, but all the other blogs, too. All of them are awesome. Why else would I keep them in my reader? So this Thursday I want to showcase some recipes from my blog friends whose blogs aren't dedicated to food. It's always good to branch out!

1. Ally at CasuALLY musing cooked up some delicious looking Swedish Meatballs as part of her 101 in 1001 task list. She is working on learning 5 new dishes and doing a great job so far. Go Ally!

2. Arena at The Nerd's Wife is paying homage to the South with her Louisiana Chicken Pasta. Looks to me like it has just the right amount of creaminess and spice.

3. Hyperbole and a Half is by no means a food blog, but it might just be the only blog in my whole reader that makes me laugh out loud at least once during every post. Here is Allie's take on Cake vs. Pie. If you have time - check out her Spaghatta Nadle drawings. This girl is a laugh a minute!

Craving spaghetti after looking at that comic? Try some of the recipes under my pasta tag.

Three Things Thursday - Breads

This week I'm featuring some recipes for bread. I'll be honest, making bread scares me, so while I have a ton of bread recipes bookmarked in my reader, I'll probably never get around to trying them. Over the past two years, I've learned that my strong point is cooking, not baking. I think it's because baking seems to be all about 'exacts', while you can be a little more liberal with cooking. Then I thought to myself, maybe some of my readers would want to try out some bread recipes. So, here you go!


picture courtesy pkurecipes.com

1. To start out, try Mrs. Messi's Super Easy Bread for Beginners

2. Then move on to this Cinnamon Swirl Bread from Straight Up Good Food.

3. For something sweet, try the Monkey Bread over at Smitten Kitchen.


Like I said, I don't bake much bread, but I did try my hand at croissants last year. Check out my experience!

Three Things Thursday - 3.18.10

It's Thursday again! That means it's time to post some excellent recipes I've been meaning to make, but haven't quite gotten to yet. This weeks theme is the ever elusive side dish. I always have trouble pairing sides up with main dishes. We usually end up with some rice and a steamed veggie (broccoli or green beans, most likely). Here are some new ways to spice up your sides:

1. Green Beans Marinara by Lauralop at edible ventures

2. Butternut Squash and Vanilla Risotto by Stephanie at Macaroni and Cheesecake.

3. Japanese Cucumber Salad by Stephanie at Stephanie Cooks.




Want some more side dishes? Check out my side dish tag.

Three Things Thursday - St. Patrick's Day Recipes

St. Patrick's Day is coming up next Wednesday, so I thought it'd be nice to gear you up with some excellent recipes.



1. First up, how about a drink? A lovely Guinness Float from The Hungry Mouse.

2. Next, some hearty Irish Stew from Savory, Spicy, Sweet.

3. Last, but certainly not least, have some dessert! Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes from Cook Like a Champion.

Erin Go Bragh!

Don't like Guinness? Try this recipe for a Bailey's and Amaretto cocktail.

Three Things Thursday - 3.4.10

This week I'll link to three recipes that would be great for lunch. In my constant quest to avoid a turkey sandwich for lunch, I am always starring recipes in my google reader for salads and soups that I can make large quantities of and feast on all week.

1. Escarole and Butter Lettuce Salad with Pomegranate Seeds and Hazelnuts posted on Epicurious.com

2. Quinoa Salad with Cucumber posted on Liz's Cooking Blog

3. Mediterranean Chopped Salad posted on What's Cookin', Chicago?

Well, there you have, 3 fabulous salad recipes for you to impress your friends with. Those recipes not enough for you? Maybe you'd like some soup to go with it? Check out my soup recipes by clicking here!

Three Things Thursday - 2.25.10

It's Thursday again! This week, I'll link to some recipes that feature asparagus.



Asparagus is probably one of my favorite vegetables. It's great with some balsamic vinegar drizzled across it, or just steamed with some salt and pepper sprinkled on top. These recipes take asparagus to a new level, though.

1. Grilled Asparagus with Prosciutto, Torn Croutons, Poached Egg, and Aged Balsamic Vinegar - Ad Hoc at Home by Celeste at Sugar & Spice

2. Asparagus and Zucchini Quiche by Stephanie at Stephanie Cooks

3. Cook Yourself Thin Cookbook Review: Mini Turkey Meatloaves with Roasted Root Veggies by Kim at Stirring the Pot

Three Things Thursday - 2.18.10

This week I'll share some of the dessert recipes that had me wiping drool off my keyboard. Happy baking!

1. Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Chocolate Covered Peanuts? yes, please!

2. From smitten kitchen, Chocolate Souffle Cupcakes with mint cream. In case you haven't noticed, I seem to be partial to chocolate!

3. Lastly, from Macaroni and Cheesecake, Red Velvet Whoopie Pies.

Three Things Thursday - 2.12.10

Three blog posts for the week. Since I love it so much, the theme is Mexican!


First up, from Elly Says Opa! is some delicious looking pork.

Next, an interesting spin on Mexican inspired ingredients from Simply Satisfying. A Mexican Chicken Crescent Braid

Lastly, some Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas from Stirring the Pot.

Three Things Thursday - 1.28.10

I think I'm going to modify this feature just a bit. Each week, I'd like to highlight three random recipes that I bookmarked in my reader.

I plugged some numbers into Random Integer Generator, and it pulled up the following:

Here are your random numbers:

18 29 49
Timestamp: 2010-01-28 19:09:12 UTC

So here they are. Recipes 18,29, and 49.

18. Simply Great Chicken, Chewy Sugar Cookies, and Cosmo Popsicles: Lucky you, you're getting three great recipes from Bunny's Warm Oven

29.Italian Rice Balls by Stephanie at Stephanie Cooks

49. Bobby Flay's Wild Mushroom Burger by Joelen at Joelen's Culinary Adventures

I hope these enjoy these recipes. If you get around to cooking them up before me, let me know what you think!

Three Things Thursday - 1.14.10

Oops! I forgot to post this yesterday. Anyway, here it is a day late. The three things I'll talk about today are three recipes bookmarked in my google reader. Of course, I have over 100 bookmarked, but today I'll pull out three random ones.

1. Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies by TPOX at Proceed with Caution.

Yum! These cookies look divine. I love chocolate more than words can say, but alas, even though they are a "clean eating" cookie, cookies are something that will really mess up my diet! I'll have to save them for an occasion where I won't be the only one eating them. For now, I will just gaze at TPOX's lovely picture.

2. Butternut Squash Risotto by EJacks at Simply Satisfying.

Yes, this recipe is from September of 2009, but I never got around to making it. I'm still seeing some butternut squash in the stores, so maybe I will try it soon. I've never made risotto before, but this one certainly looks delicious.

3. Whole Wheat Cinnamon Muffins by Stephanie at Stephanie Cooks.

Now these are something I can really get on board with. I'm always rushing out the door on the mornings I have to be at the office, so muffins are a perfect "grab and go" for me. On top of that, they're made with whole wheat flour.

Three Things Thursday - 1.7.10

Guess what! It's Thursday again. Sorry I didn't get around to posting about the delicious brunch I hosted last Sunday, but I came down hard with the flu Sunday night (darn germy houseguests!) and my first day out of bed was Wednesday - and it wasn't all that stellar. To start, I missed the exit on the highway that I need to take to get to work. Luckily, there is another exit further up that doesn't take me too far out of my way. My medicine head almost got the best of me again when I narrowly missed taking the eastern instead of the western spur of the highway. UGH! Go away you stupid cold!

Anyway, today I'm going to write about my Three Kitchen Items I Want to Purchase in 2010:

1. Emulsion Blender - I did a couple recipes in 2009 that called for an emulsion blender. While it is possible to use a regular blender and yield similar results, it is much much messier. I'd love to try my hand at some more pureed soups like the butternut squash soup I made back in October, but it's just too darn time consuming to cook it and then transfer it - cup by cup - into the regular blender.

2. Zester - More recipes than I can count on my "to make" list call for the zest of some fruit. Without a zester to complete this step, I've been skipping these recipes. I've read that the zest really makes a difference, so I don't want to try them until I have one of these.

3. Silicone Whisk - my non-stick pans are just begging me to pick one of these up. Any time I make a gravy and need to whisk it, I have to use this old metal pot that my metal whisk won't scratch. Having one that I could use on a non-stick surface would be mighty helpful!

Maybe now that I've committed these things to writing, I'll actually remember to buy them the next time I'm out!

Three Things Thursday - 12.31.09

I have a lot of blogs in my google reader. A few of them have a feature called Three Things Thursday, where they list three things they want to talk about.

In honor of the new year that is upon us, I thought it fitting that my first "Three Things" should be the things I'd like to change about myself going forward.

1. I want to blog a recipe at least twice a week.

Sure, this sounds really simple, but when life gets in the way, as it usually does, this becomes really hard. Blogging about a recipe twice a week means I'll actually have cook (or bake) twice a week. This we become difficult in February, March and the beginning of April, since I'll be working 70-80 hours a week. This sort of lines up with my next goal, though.

2. Only eat dinner out once a month.

Keeping this goal will make goal #1 a little easier to acheive, as well. If I'm not eating at a restaurant, that means I'll HAVE to cook on the weekends, right?

3. Complete the Broad Street Run

For those not from the area, the Broad Street run is a ten mile race through Center City, Philadelphia. While I know this will be my most difficult task to complete, I'd like to give it a try. As of now I have five months to go from running 3.2 miles to ten. If I keep up the running at least three times a week, I think I can do it. Wish me luck!