Audience Participation!

I realize everyone reading this might not be former FoodNetwork addicts like myself, but does anyone remember the show “Calorie Commando” with Chef Juan-Carlos Cruz?

We’ll look past the fact that Chef Cruz is now in jail for trying solicit homeless guys in a murder-for-hire scheme (sheesh)…because aside from that venture into CrazyTown, I loved this show.  Watchers would write in with their favorite not-so-healthy dishes and good ol’ Juan-Carlos would whip up a recipe to make a healthy version of that dish.  Be it lasagna, bacon cheeseburgers, cheesecake, or chicken fried steak, Juan-Carlos had the answer.  And he’d bring the watcher who had suggested the item onto the show to taste his re-creation of the dish to let them decide if it was a decadent enough replacement of their supposed favorite dish (though, I mean, really, you’re on national TV.  Who’s going to say, “Sorry, Juan-Carlos, this tastes like crap”?)

Anyway.  That show was on back when I first started cooking a lot, a college senior exploring life beyond frozen & boxed dinners.  And it’s that show that has inspired me to constantly look for ways to “health-up” the dishes I already love.

Plus, now that the holidays and our winter ski vacation are out of the way, my household has snapped into “pre-beach season” mode… meaning the hubs & I are back to using our nutrition trackers, (trying) to get our butts to the gym 3 times a week (he’s better at it than me…I’m a big-time rationalizer, and have been known to think, “well, if I power-walk while I’m thrift store shopping, it counts as exercise…”) and cutting out the decadence.  So I figure if that’s going on at our house, then we’re probably not alone, and maybe some of you are slipping into that mode as well.  But hey—we’re human, and we like to eat what we like to eat, right?  I love me a good salad…but doggonit if those fries and cookies aren’t tempting.

So, I’m channeling my inner Juan-Carlos (the “healthy chef” Juan-Carlos, not the “hey bum, would you kill my spouse for a thousand bucks” Juan-Carlos) and asking YOU, the reader: 

 

What would YOU like to see appear in a future post on The FeauxCajun Kitchen? 

It doesn’t have to be a Cajun dish. 

Leave your response in the Comments Section, and check back often to see if your craving is featured!!!

 

Thanks!!!

Monday Morning Shoutout: AmyCakes!

Hi folks!  I did a good bit of cooking this weekend, but thanks to a bit of a hectic work schedule it’ll be a day or two before I can get everything typed up & posted.  So instead, I figured I’d just do a quick shout-out post to my dear friend Amy of AmyCakes here in Springfield!

I met Amy about 2.5 years ago while we were playing together on a trivia team at Finnegan’s Wake (which happens to be right around the corner from Amy’s bakery).  Back then, Amy was just getting her bakery up & running, after purchasing the bakery from Barb Baker (formerly The Bakehouse). 

(308 W. McDaniel in downtown Springfield, MO)

Prior to buying the bakery in 2009, Amy concocted her craveable creations using the kitchen at Finnegan’s (then “South Avenue Pizza”).  During the last 3 years, Amy’s made a big name for herself & her business around town by doing what she does best—making some of the most amazing baked goods on the face of the planet.  And I’m not just saying that because I’m biased or a fiercely loyal friend.  It’s a fact, Jack.  And I’ve had my share of cupcakes & other baked goods from AmyCakes (I’ll spare you the photo of my muffin top that proves it), because one of the fringe benefits of hanging out with someone as awesome as Amy is that aside from just generally being a super fun, super sweet, super creative person who hosts the best Murder Mystery parties in town, is that, well, Amy brings cupcakes. :)  And I, for one, have NO problem whatsoever in being my friend’s guinea pig when it comes to sweets. 

 

(The only REAL question is, which one to start with???)

 

Last year, my husband & I hired Amy to make the cake & cupcakes for our wedding.  We got married in July…on what ended up being the hottest day of the year to date at that point.  And yes, we had an outdoor wedding.

 

And when people come up & talk to my husband these days, after the inevitable (and utterly trite) question of “So how’s married life?”, the topic always shifts to discussing a) how hot it was that day, and b) how we had some of the best wedding cake said person had ever had.

We did a small cake with about 40 servings, and then the rest was cupcakes.  Our cake was vanilla with a tart triple berry filling and vanilla buttercream:

(The combination was AMAZING—sweet & tart & fruity & delicious.  I hungrily eyeball the top layer that’s still sitting in our freezer, taunting us until our 1st anniversary)

And for the cupcakes we did a “strawberry lemonade” (lemon cake w/strawberry filling) and a cookies-n-cream (chocolate cake w/a whipped cookie crumble frosting).

 

And birthdays with Amy have never been boring!

 (Death by (mostly) Chocolate: Double Chocolate, Chocolate Mocha, Junior Mint, Chocolate Peanut Butter…and Strawberry, to round it out.)

 

And during a recent Murder Mystery Party, which was pirate themed, even Amy’s cupcakes got into character!

(Blood red velvet, of course!  YAR, MATEYS!!!)

 

Alas, a few weeks ago, AmyCakes made the announcement that they were no longer going to offer a walk-in case, and would be moving to custom orders only (with the exception of downtown’s First Friday Art Walks, when the case will still be open & you can buy an individual cupcake…or seven).  I know it really troubled Amy to do so, but she wanted to be able to have more time to focus on her custom cakes and cupcake orders, which have really been picking up.  While it saddens me that I can’t run by & grab a cupcake any time I feel like it anymore, I’m so excited that she’ll be able to use this opportunity to grow her business (and perhaps have time to come play trivia with us a little more often).

FYI—as a small compromise to her regular walk-in customers, AmyCake’s famous giant cinnamon rolls (which topped the charts in 2011 as one of 417 Magazine’s Five Best Cinnamon Rolls) are now available in the cooler for take-and-bake. YUM.

Of course…this DOES afford me something of an opportunity to try out some of the other walk-in cupcake eateries around town.  As previously mentioned, I’m a fiercely loyal friend, so I actually haven’t tried any of the other cupcakes that are available here in Springfield, because it felt like “cheating” on Amy’s bakery (plus, I mean, why go searching when you already have a great go-to cupcake???).  And while I can still pre-order 6 or more cupcakes from AmyCakes if I need to bring something amazing to a party (or just pig out at home with the hubs), I DO, on occasion, just NEEEEEEEEED a cupcake “likeOMGrightnow”.

Soo…maybe some experimentation + reviews are in order, yes?  :D

Fresh Avocado Salad

On a gray, murky day like today, when I’m trapped inside an office for 9 hours, there’s a good chance that any of the following could happen:

- I succumb to the Winter Blues & conk out at my desk

- I attempt to fight the Winter Blues with coffee, overcaffeinate myself, and subsequently chuck a stapler at a coworker due to Print Errors at the copier

- I pass out while working on invoicing & wake up to discover I accidentally emailed an itemized Excel spreadsheet detailing costs for operating a food blog to my boss

…or, I can stop after one cup of coffee, avoid printing anything all day, and make myself a bright, happy, delicious lunch that is so bursting with color that I think I’m in Playa del Carmen rather than Missouri.

 

And that’s what I opted for today.

This is one of my favorite lunch options—although I don’t make it too often because there’s so much avocado in it…not that I don’t LOVE avocado (because I SOOOOOOO do), but you can have too much of a good thing, especially when that good thing is the 13 grams of fat that accompanies half of an avocado.  Granted—it’s mostly unsaturated fats which works wonders for your cholesterol, and our creamy green friend is chockablock full of vitamins like A, B, C, D, E, K, and even a healthy dose of fiber.  And they have a NuVal score of 89 (which is definitely better than the “Angry Birds” gummy snacks that I’m currently snacking on while typing this blog).  This is almost a bit like a deconstructed guacamole—since I love the creamy & acidic flavors associated with guac, but I don’t love the texture.

Ingredients: (makes one salad)

1/2 avocado, cubed

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

About 10 cherry tomatoes, quartered

juice of 1/2 lime

dash of cracked black pepper (or Cajun seasoning, whatever’s handy)

NOTE: Sometimes I add diced purple onion or a wee bit of garlic powder when I make this—entirely up to you.

 

Directions:

Toss all of the ingredients together.  Nom to your heart’s content.

(JUST LOOK AT THOSE COLORS!!!)

I’m sure this goes without saying, but I’m a fan of fresh produce, and I’m a fan of jamming as much (natural) color into your food as possible (again, unlike these gummies sitting next to me…I know, I’m such a hypocrite).  And while this particular mix is a bit high on the fat content, it’s full of texture and the richness of the avocado is really filling & satisfying. And at under 180 calories, it’s a really reasonable, decadent side dish for a quick lunch.  (Another note:  Once I’ve juiced the lime, I throw the lime half in with a big glass of water—there’s usually just enough juice left in the wedge to give a nice hint of flavor to an otherwise boring cup o’ eau.)

I try to keep my meals at about 400 calories each (with 2-3 100-calorie snacks scattered between meals).  With the above salad, I had 3 oz of venison summer sausage (150 calories, 15g protein, 1.5g fat) and a 2% milk mozzarella string cheese (50 calories, 6g protein, 15% daily calcium).  If I had wanted a more substantial protein portion of my meal, or a starch, it would be very easy to only use 1/4 of an avocado, add 1/2 – 1 cup of mixed greens & the juice of a whole lime, and this salad would drop to about 100 calories. There’s so much flavor in the cilantro & lime juice that no real “salad dressing” is needed.

 

NutriFacts:

Calories 179.2

  Total Fat 13.4 g

  Saturated Fat 1.8 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 1.6 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 8.5 g

  Cholesterol 0.0 mg

  Sodium 7.3 mg

  Potassium 880.8 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 15.9 g

  Dietary Fiber 8.0 g

  Sugars 5.1 g

  Protein 3.4 g

  Vitamin A 34.2 %

  Vitamin B-12 0.0 %

  Vitamin B-6 13.0 %

  Vitamin C 63.6 %

  Vitamin D 0.0 %

  Vitamin E 6.6 %

  Calcium 1.7 %

  Copper 8.4 %

  Folate 20.7 %

  Iron 3.7 %

  Magnesium 16.7 %

  Manganese 7.4 %

  Niacin 18.7 %

  Pantothenic Acid  13.4 %

  Phosphorus  4.9 %

  Riboflavin 8.1 %

  Selenium 0.5 %

  Thiamin 4.9 %

  Zinc 4.4 %