National Bundt Day

Today is National Bundt Cake Day!  To celebrate, I thought I'd share one I made a while back, for my boyfriend's birthday last summer.

Bundt cakes are by far my favorite.  It could be because I grew up in the Midwest, and they're the standard cake made by Midwestern women.  It could also be because I like things to look pretty, but not be too complicated.  With their fluted edges and interesting shape, Bundt pans make everything look decorative - but they're still just simple pans, no filling or springforms necessary.  Bundt cakes are also just MADE for cake-takers, don't you think?

For this cake, I used the Betty Crocker recipe for Silver White Cake (direct from the cookbook - you can find it here), and mixed 3 tbsp cocoa and 1/8 tsp baking soda into part of the batter to make a marble cake.  I think marble cakes are terrific - they look fancy and don't require much extra work. 

For the frosting, I used the Betty Crocker recipe for Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (found here) - BEST FROSTING EVER!  I just added in crushed chocolate to both the cake and the frosting - I've used either mini chocolate chips, or a crushed chocolate bar, both with great results.

In the pan, before baking:

After baking - you can barely tell it's a marble cake from this angle!

After frosting - doesn't it look kinda vintage?

There you have it!  Happy National Bundt Day :)

Veggie Shepherd's Pie

I rarely make meat dishes, since I live alone and they require so much time (and money!).  I also try to limit my meat consumption in general, since it's the eco-friendly (and animal-friendly) thing to do.  Sometimes, though, I'm in the mood for comfort food - and a lot of comfort food is meat-based.  What's a girl to do when she craves something warm and hearty, but there's no meat in the freezer?

Enter Veggie Shepherd's Pie.  For me, it was a dish inspired by what was around the house....but it's totally flexible, and can incorporate anything you have in the pantry or freezer.  I had a sweet potato that was a bit past it's prime, a bag of frozen mixed veggies, and a Gardenburger.  You may have a regular old Idaho potato, corn on the cob, and some ground turkey instead - but go without fear, for the recipe will accommodate you!

(excuse the terrible picture - apartment lighting late at night doesn't make for a good shot!)

Veggie Shepherd's Pie

1 sweet potato, peeled & cubed
2 tbsp milk
1 tbsp butter or Smart Balance
1/2 cup mixed vegetables
1 Gardenburger (Boca crumbles or ground meat of any sort work)
salt & pepper to taste, plus cayenne or garlic if you'd like

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Place peeled, cubed sweet potato into a pot filled with cold water.  Bring water to a boil, and boil until the potato cubes fall off the fork when you pierce them.  Drain, and put potatoes into a mixing bowl with milk and Smart Balance.  Mix with hand mixer on low speed, or with potato masher or fork, until you have mashed sweet potatoes of your desired consistency.  Set aside.

Heat mixed vegetables in microwave as directed on package, and cook Gardenburger in skillet as directed.  Crumble Gardenburger, and mix in vegetables.

Fill two ramekins halfway with mixed vegetable/Gardenburger mixture.  Top with mashed sweet potatoes.

Place ramekins into oven and bake for 20 minutes, until potato starts to brown on top.  Allow to cool a bit, then serve!

My favorite breakfast

Every weekday morning when I get up, the first thing I think about is breakfast.  I know some people skip breakfast and some people just have coffee, but I MUST have food to start the day.  And according to several studies, breakfast is the most important meal....so I think I'm healthier this way :)

I used to mix up my breakfasts every morning, but lately I've been sticking to the same general thing each day.  Oat bran is my go-to meal because it's packed with fiber, protein, and iron (all very important for a woman in her 20s!) - and also because it's low in fat and relatively low in calories.  1/3 cup of Trader Joe's oat bran has 130 calories and 3 g of fat....about even with a bowl of low-sugar cereal with milk.  If I add in extra protein and vitamins by mixing in fruit and peanut butter or almond butter, I've got a meal that's totally balanced, and also incredibly delicious!  One bowl, which with mix-ins is around 280 calories, keeps me full from breakfast (around 7 am) until lunch time (around noon), so I keep myself from snacking all morning long - that way, I save my snack for the 3pm slump :)

To keep my breakfasts a little varied, I change up the mix-ins for my oat bran all the time.  My absolute favorite so far is white peaches and blueberries with almond butter.....but since both of those fruits are out of season now, I'm sticking with apples or pears these days.  Today's bowl was one of my best....pears, pomegranate seeds, and almond butter.  I hope you try this.....you'll love it, I promise!

Oat Bran with Pears, Pomegranate Seeds, and Almond Butter

1/3 cup Trader Joes oat bran
1 cup water
1 pear, cut into bite-size cubes
2 tbsp pomegranate seeds  (I removed all seeds from a pomegranate and stored in the refrigerator)
1 tbsp Trader Joes creamy, unsalted almond butter

On stove top, heat up oat bran and water.  Start with burner on high until the oat bran starts to bubble, then turn down to medium-low and stir frequently until the oat bran reaches your desired consistency.  While oat bran is cooking, core and slice a pear.  Add oat bran, pear, and pomegranate seeds to a bowl, and top with a little bit of almond butter.  Mix, then enjoy!

I leave you with a picture of Mimu, enjoying the sunshine!  Hope your weather is as nice as mine today :)

Back on the wagon...and lasagna rolls!

So I admit, I clearly fell off the wagon on this one.  Life gets REALLY busy in bursts during grad school (as it does for everyone, really), and things just got too hectic.  I'm going to try to update whenever I can, and hopefully anyone who enjoys the blog will just stick with me through the thin patches :)

With colder temps coming upon us here in Philly, I've been craving warm comfort food.  This recipe for Lasagna Rolls, from Giada DeLaurentis, certainly hits the spot.  I used skim milk instead of whole milk, and left out the prosciutto (seriously, what single person has prosciutto lying around the house?).....and the rest of the ingredients are all relatively normal!

(sorry for the kinda lousy pictures....for some reason the shots without the flash weren't working!)

These were warm, cheesy, and actually pretty healthy (spinach + lowfat ricotta and milk = pretty good for you!).  Next time I might add something else.....maybe for fall, a little pumpkin in with the cheese?  Definitely YUM, especially with some extra nutmeg :)

I really liked that with this, you end up with portion-able food.  I ate three....but the others were saved individually in the freezer, so that I can take one out at a time if I want to eat them with something else.  That way, I can enjoy the deliciousness of this dinner food, but in a lunch portion - and if I mix it with a side salad or something, it'll be plenty filling.

The best part is, most of the ingredients are pretty shelf-stable, and can be easily modified.  With the leftover noodles and cheese, I could make a more traditional lasagna......or just break up all the noodles and mix them with sauce and cheese later for a quick dinner.  And the rest of the spinach I can save for another meal, or use in a smoothie a different time!

Best Recipe of the Week

When I am in the midst of a zillion things at once - right now, revising my first first-author paper, and prepping for a committee meeting, AND starting grant-writing class - I am always thankful for a good, simple recipe, and happy to not have to come up with my own ideas for cooking as well as at lab.

This one, Fusilli with Spinach and Asiago Cheese, was actually my effort at using up the end of my cherry tomatoes (which I'd used for a different pasta dish earlier), and also using up some of the large amount of spinach I still have in the freezer. It calls for fresh spinach, but I found that the frozen stuff was just fine - might be better with fresh, but who has time to go to the store in the middle of the week to pick up spinach?

Other substitutions I made were: gemelli instead of fusilli, and the Kraft parmesan/asiago mix out of the green can(!). I know, I know - but it still tasted really good, and while I'd rather not have all the preservatives and excess salt, sometimes when it's crunch time at work you have to do what you can to make dinner fast and easy.

I don't have a picture today, but I promise more yummy recipes soon!

The Absolute Best Substitution

Have you ever looked at a recipe you REALLY wanted to make, only to find out you don't have half the ingredients you need?

Since I live alone (and on a grad student's salary), I find myself in this position all the time. There just isn't enough need, or enough money, to buy everything I could possibly need for cooking and baking. Thus, in the past few years, I have become the queen of substitutions.

Take, for instance, the Starbucks chocolate cinnamon bread recipe, which they gave out on recipe cards last fall. The bread is rich and delicious, but it calls for buttermilk - something which is just not practical to keep around the house when you live alone. If you're as busy as most grad students (or others with crazy jobs) are, there isn't even time to head to the store to pick up a carton of buttermilk - not to mention, shell out the cash for what will inevitably be waaaay more buttermilk than you need.

Enter the mother of all substitutions: plain, nonfat yogurt. While it may seem simple and unassuming, yogurt is incredibly multifaceted. I have used it as sour cream for tacos or nachos, and substituted it for buttermilk in baking recipes - and, if you are a fan of No Pudge Brownies (in my opinion, the ultimate dessert for singles - fat free, very yummy, and you can make them in single servings), you can use yogurt to make these delicious treats, too. I keep yogurt around at all times, since I can use it for so many things - and of course, it's delicious on its own, with some fruit and a little honey, so I can always eat up whatever's left from my baking adventures.

The best part of this substitution is that you definitely get all the rich flavor of buttermilk, without all the fat. In a recipe like the chocolate cinnamon bread, which calls for 5 eggs and 3 sticks of butter, you can use all the nonfat substitutions you can get!

I made the chocolate cinnamon bread last night, and discovered a few more recipe substitutions along the way. Because I cut the recipe in half and didn't want to waste eggs (the half recipe calls for 2 1/2 eggs), I used Egg Beaters to replace the half-egg. Of course, this isn't entirely cost-effective, as eggs are cheaper than Egg Beaters - but since Egg Beaters bring less cholesterol and fat, I felt that it was justified. I also managed to run out of cocoa powder, and found that 1 oz of unsweetened chocolate can substitute for 3 tbsp of cocoa powder (I actually used a dark chocolate square, since it was all I had around!).

The result, even with all the substitutions, was a delicious, indulgent treat to bring to work:

If you decide to try the recipe, I recommend baking for at least 50 minutes, if not more - otherwise, the bread collapses on itself a little, and may be incredibly pudding-like in the center. Believe me, I know from experience!

I hope all is well with everyone - and happy start to the school year, for those of you still in classes!

orientation: way past ramen

Hello and welcome to the inaugural post of Way Past Ramen. I hope that you will find your stay pleasant, sometimes amusing, and often helpful.

As a third-year immunology grad student, I have been through the transition from college to grad school, and have had a few years to gather my bearings and adjust to grad life. The struggles are many, hours of sleep are few, and of course, times are sometimes desperate during grad school. But there are ways of coping, and for me, an education in saving time and money is probably equally as important as what I'm actually learning in school.

Lacking money, time, or general desire for exerting effort, I have often searched for quick and easy meals. Heck, I've even given up and just ordered in. But I firmly believe that even in hard times, one should never have to resort to ramen - there are always more soul-satisfying solutions, and soul satisfying is exactly what grad students need. And of course, this principle applies to all parts of life, not just food.

So I am here to share my struggles, triumphs, and tips for surviving life as a grad student. I hope that you will enjoy sharing with me!