Air Fryer Pound Cake

If you know me, you know I love my air fryer. My daughter and her boyfriend got it for me over a year ago for my birthday. I have used it almost every single day since. It has basically replaced my oven and frying pan. My air fryer has even been taken to the beach with us to use in the camper. 

Any thing you can cook in the oven, you can basically cook in the air fryer. Just in a smaller portion. I have made everything from steaks, to cobblers in that thing. When I realized I could make cake in it too, I had to give it a try. I decided to make a pound cake. I did not use my own pound cake recipe. I used one found online that called for yogurt since I was out of milk at the time. The recipe yielded 3 mini loaves, so I cut the recipe down to 1/3 to make just one. 

It turned out delicious. This did not compare to my moms or my daughters pound cake but I was impressed that I could make one almost as good using my air fryer. This one will be added to my recipe book. 

AIR FRYER POUND CAKE

(Makes one mini loaf)

1 Cup-All purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon- baking soda

3/4 teaspoon- baking powder

1/3 teaspoon- salt

3/4 Cup- Greek yogurt

1/3 Tablespoon- vanilla

1 egg

3/4 Cup- sugar

1/4 Cup- butter

Mix dry ingredients in one bowl

Mix wet ingredients in another bowl

Then combine the two and mix well.

Pour into a greased mini loaf pan

Air Fry 320 for 20 minutes. 

(Do the toothpick test to make sure its done through). 

Full recipe can be found at ForktoSpoon.com 

I plan to try more cake recipes soon. 

Do you own an air fryer? If so, what are some of your favorite things to make?

Sugar Free Chocolate Mug Cake

Today I want to share with you this delicious mug cake I made. Now you know from some of my past post that I love the little meals and desserts you can make in a mug. Simply because they do no ruin my diet. If I make a whole cake, I will eat the whole cake. I do not have a stop button on sweet stuff.

Not only is this a sweet dessert but it's also considered sugar free as it uses a natural sugar substitute. I'm all in with this one and I must say "this is one of the best mug cakes I have made. It had the same texture as a real oven baked cake.

Mine wanted to puff up and run over but it was an easy clean up.
I enjoyed eating it right out of the mug. It would have even been better with a scoop of ice cream.

Chocolate Mug Cake

1 egg (beaten)

2 tablespoons Cocoa Powder

1 tablespoon Almond milk or Cream

2 tablespoons Splenda ( I used Xylitol)

Pinch of Salt

1/4 Teaspoon baking powder

1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla

Mix well and pour into a greased mug or ramekin.
Microwave 1 min 20 seconds,
Top with powder sugar, icing, nuts or chocolate chips (optional)

ENJOY

There is only 130 calories in this little goody.
Go ahead, eat it all by yourself.

Valentine Date

Hope everyone had a happy Valentines Day. My Valentine surprised me with some candy, wine and reservations at a fancy restaurant up town called Webbs Custom Kitchen. The reservations were for 6:00 so I took off work a little early to make time. This was our first visit to this restaurant but it was not the first time inside this building.

Webbs Custom Kitchen gets it name from it's history that dates back to 1920 when it was a popular movie house call none other than the "Webb Theatre" housing one screen and 826 seats. 

Here it is back in the 70’s

Here it is today

The streets were blocked in front of the restaurant because they were filming a Hallmark Movie. I was hoping to walk in the fake snow but unfortunately they had already taken it away.....here is a secret. It was only cotton and they just toss it in the trash cans afterwards. 

Walking into the restaurant brought back some memories. I remember daddy taking me to my first movie back in 1976 here. The movie we saw was King Kong. It frightened me and had me in tears at the end. Feels like just yesterday. I also remember daddy taking me to this same movie theater to see the first Star Wars Movie.

As we entered, it was like walking back in time. The original projector was on display and there were other preserved pieces of  history displayed through out. Even though the old building has had major renovations and a new modern look, you can see flashbacks of the rustic brick walls, arched ceiling and balcony that still remain. They had a movie screen showing old black and white (silent) movies during dinner. It themed well with the atmosphere like live art work.

We were seated on the lower section but the staff insisted we go to the balcony seating to get a good view of the movie screen and open view kitchen. They also encourage you to walk up to the kitchen window and take a look at the cooks preparing the meals.

We started off with an appetizer  of “Duck Cigars’”. (We call them duck egg rolls.)

Excuse the blurry photos but I tried to be discreet taking photos at the table. But I mean, A blogger has to do what a blogger has to do.

For our dinner course, we both chose the filet mignon medallions topped with blue cheese on bruschetta.  

I fell in love with the taste of this chocolate Martini. This was the first time I have ever had a Martini. I’'m sure they are not all this good. It was so sweet and creamy.........and small. 

But I just had too...Did I mention it was Godiva?

 

Oh speaking of desserts, we shared a piece of New York Cheese Cake to finish off the meal.

We took half of our meal and cake home with us because we did not want to leave feeling stuffed, but did leave feeling satisfied and now Nick has enough left overs for another meal while I resort back to Nutrisystem. 

This was a nice valentine treat from my love and we talked about doing it again soon. The food was delicious and the staff was pleasant.

We had a Hollywood night.

Christmas Goodies

This is the only time of year I will spend hours in the kitchen baking cookies, cakes, candy and fudge.

This is the first year I have made sugar cookies. For some reason I have always felt it was a hard task. (or maybe I thought I might like it). I have put it off long enough. I usually always make pecan butter cookies or Biscotti. Not this year. I tried all new recipes that I have never attempted.

Sorry no photo of the sugar cookies yet because technically it’s only 8:00 in the morning and I haven't made them yet. I wanted to get my post out before I start with all of my Christmas Eve festivities. 

I made a batch of Italian Canestrelli cookies. They turned out delicious! The slight taste of lemon and powder sugar, set these cookies away from the typical butter cookie.
Since I have an Italian husband, It's always fun to throw in a special Italian recipe in the mix.

Recipe

I'll never be able to compete with my mom or the little Italian grandmother that once held this green handled rolling pin. But its always fun to take a shot at it.

I have been wanting to try out my extra large muffin pan so I made a dozen apple muffins. I did not have any large muffin cup liners so I made my own using parchment paper. They looked like they were right out of the bakery. Dontcha think? I ended up eating one and giving the rest away. I may make some more of these later. My dad has requested some. I can't say no to daddy.

Recipe and liner instructions

I also made some shortbread cookies. These were the easiest ever! With just three ingredients they turned out great. Perfect with morning coffee. 

Did I say "only three ingredients"?

Recipe

Then there was the Fudge. I have an easy fudge recipe, but when I saw the award winning peanut butter fudge recipe over at Andrea's blog, I had to give that one a try. I love peanut butter fudge and when she mentioned it could be made in the microwave, I was sold! Mine did not turn out as pretty as hers but it was still delicious! Thanks Andrea.

Recipe

Today we will make a trip to a few neighbors and hand out boxes of homemade goodies. Later we will head over to mom and dads for some family time with dinner pickups and gifts for the kids. 

Before I close, I want to show you this darling Christmas ball that my favorite friend made me. The movie “Die Hard” is one of my favorite Christmas movies....Ok not really, but it is the most exciting Christmas movie....Ok maybe technically I should call it a Holiday Movie....

Anyway, she made me a Christmas ball that represents one of the main phrases in the movie. You have to see the movie to understand. 

I love it. Thank you Anne!!!

Yall please remember the true meaning of Christmas. 

Jesus is the best gift of all.

I WISH YOU ALL A MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Acorn Squash-Two Ways

Today I want to introduce a new food I discovered. The Acorn Squash. Now if that name does not scream Fall, then I don't know what does.

I have seen Acorn squash in the grocery stores but I have never tried them. They just always looked like an ornamental gourd to me and I had no desire to eat one. I want to add new foods to my diet so I thought I'd give this baby a try.

As I looked around online for directions on how to cook them, I also seen several recipes. It started getting interesting. I never knew these things had such a good reputation.

I experimented with recipes and created this delicious way to enjoy an Acorn squash.

Cutting it in half was the hardest part. Seriously.

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Preheat oven to 475.

Cut the acorn squash in half and scooped out the seeds. 

(I put the seeds aside for roasting).

Coat the inside and outside of the squash with melted coconut oil 

Place on a cookie sheet or shallow baking dish.

Add a layer of cinnamon to the inside.

Bake 45-55 minutes or until soft when pierced with a fork.

Remove from oven and.........

STOP RIGHT THERE: 

The squash is good just like it is at this point. It has the same flavor as a sweet potato but sweeter! This will make a great side to any dish. 

But lets make it better.....

Trust me on this one.

Add vanilla Greek yogurt to the center. 

Mix a little so the flavors of the cinnamon combine in with the yogurt. 

Drizzle with Honey and top with walnuts.

OH MAN this was soo good. I do not like yogurt, much less vanilla yogurt but something about this mixture was so sweet and delicious, my tongue almost slapped my forehead.

I would consider this either a breakfast or a dessert.
YES! Squash for breakfast. Bring it on.

Since discovering that these acorn squash taste like sweet potato, I did something different with the other half. I added some melted butter and marshmallows. I placed it back in the oven to brown the marshmallows. It tasted like a little personal sweet potato casserole.

I got a thumbs up on both from Nick. It was a toss up between which one tasted better. Both were as good as the other but I think I liked the yogurt way best as it was more healthy in my opinion.

Oh about the seeds.

I salted and roasted them in the oven for about 15 minutes.They made a great snack to nibble on while dinner was being prepared.

Cherry Cups

I'm fixing to share with you a sweet and simple recipe you can whip up in a jiffy.

I had a package of tortillas in the breadbox that seemed to be ignored. I did not want them to go stale so I decided to make some sweet crispy cinnamon cups. Oh this so easy, your kids could do it. 

Here is what did.

I sprayed a muffin pan with cooking spray then placed a flour tortilla in each muffin cup. 

Then I used some spray butter and coated the tortillas. Then sprinkled with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. You can do both of these steps before you add them to the cups if you wish.  

Bake 350 for about 15-20 minutes or until brown and crispy. 

That's it! Now go find some ice cream, baked apples, or......

Cherries! 

Cherry is my favorite flavor of anything from candy to doughnuts. When I saw a can of cherry pie filling in the pantry I knew cherry cups would be born.

I spooned a glob of cherry pie filling in each cup. I would normally top with whip topping, but I was out. That was probably a good thing because I did not need the extra calories. 

Each one of these cups are approx 120 calories each.

Your turn...Go experiment. There is so many things you can make with those flour tortillas, besides tacos! 

Check out a couple other recipes I made using these little floppy pieces of Mexican dough!

HERE↓

cinnamon doodles

mini taco salads

Enjoy!