No food wasted!

My "thought process" for the week's menu usually starts with going through my cookbooks, cooking magazines or food blogs on the weekend, but sometimes, I start by opening the fridge and try to make something out of all the odd things I have. This week, I was able to turn in some of my son's "leftovers" into something yummy!

Plain yogurt was on sale a few weeks ago, so I stocked up, but Tyler couldn't finish it all, so I was stuck with half a tub of yogurt.  I was determined to find a recipe to use up the yogurt, and decided to do a version of this recipe from Bon appetite magazine. I didn't have any Aleppo pepper (don't even know what that is), so I used red pepper flakes (which is a stable in our house) instead. Tyler's Balkan style yogurt is pretty thick, so it worked really well as a marinate, and instead of making chicken skewers, I used chicken legs and baked them in the over instead. The end result was really juicy, I marinated them over night, and the yogurt really kept the chicken super moist. I would've liked the chicken to be a bit more spicy, but it works out since Tyler was able to enjoy it as well. Next time, I would slather the chicken with more of the marinade before baking them, the sauce was really tasty. This would be a perfect summer BBQ recipe!

Tyler's yogurt marinated spicy chicken legs

• 2 teaspoons dried red pepper flakes plus 2 teaspoons  paprika
• 1 cup plain yogurt, I used Balkan style
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled, flattened
• 1 thinly sliced lemon into rounds
• around 15 chicken legs

 

1.Place the red pepper flakes and paprika in large bowl and stir in 2 tablespoons warm water and let stand until paste forms, about 5 minutes. Add yogurt, olive oil, red wine vinegar, tomato paste, 2 teaspoons coarse salt, and 1 teaspoon black pepper to spice mixture in bowl; whisk to blend. Stir in garlic and lemon slices, then chicken. Cover and chill overnight.

2. Place the chicken legs, with slight coat of marinade in baking pan, and bake at 375F for around 20 - 25 min. Pierce the meat with knife tip, if the juice runs clear, the chicken is done.

Another thing I stocked up on last week was strawberries! I couldn't resist, I love strawberry season...but Tyler is on a total strawberry strike, so I had to come up with a way to use up all the strawberries. Since we are going to have a few playdates this weekend, I decided to bake some cupcakes to share with my fellow mommies!

This recipe  for strawberry cupcake was super easy and the great thing is that I already had all the ingredients in the pantry. I am usually a chocolate kinda girl, but I think this recipe has totally converted me.  I still love chocolate, but this strawberry cupcake is light, not-too-sweet, fluffy and perfect as a mid-afternoon morning, midnight, eating one right now snack! The cupcake is great on it's own, but is divine with the icing. This icing recipe is surprisingly simple, and is adapted from the famous Sprinkles bakery.

Martha Stewart's Strawberry Cupcake

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups milk
•  1 1/2 cup small diced strawberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 1/2 standard 12-cup cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside.
   
2. Into a medium bowl, sift together flours, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
   
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in eggs, one at a time, and then beat in vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until combined after each addition. Fold in strawberries.
   
4. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cups so that each is about two-thirds full, about 2 ounces each. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through, until the cupcakes are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and cool completely on wire racks. 
    
   Sprinkles' Strawberry icing (Adapted)
   • 1/2 cup strawberries
   • 1/2 cup of butter
   • 1/2 cup of vegetable shortening
   • Pinch of coarse salt
   • 3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
   • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

   Directions

   1.  Place strawberries in the bowl of a small food processor; process until pureed. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce mixer speed and slowly add confectioners' sugar; beat until well combined. Add vanilla and 3 tablespoons strawberry puree (save any remaining strawberry puree for another use); mix until just blended.