Speculoos Pie

Peanut butter may be my #1, but speculoos aka cookie butter is a close second. While speculoos is now as ubiquitous as its nut-laden cousins, I like to think I am ahead of the curve on this one. Seth and I first tried speculoos at the Wafels & Dinges truck a few years ago. Long before it was available at Trader Joe's, Seth actually ordered speculoos off Amazon for me as a gift. Also, I am and have always been obsessed with Delta cookies.

When Seth requested a new dessert last night, I immediately knew that I wanted to bring speculoos into the mix. After googling speculoos cheesecake and speculoos trifle and coming up with few results that interested me, I decided that speculoos is enough like peanut butter to substitute it in a classic peanut butter pie recipe.

This dessert feels like fall. It would be excellent for Thanksgiving. It is the type of pie you walk by and slice a bit off each time to even it out. And, it is a super easy no-bake dessert.

Not that any of the photos on this blog are worth writing home about, but the above does not dignify the deliciousness of this dessert.

Ingredients:

• about 1.5 cups of speculoos cookie crumbs
• 4-6 Tbs melted butter
• 8 oz block of cream cheese
• 1/2 cup of speculoos
• 1/3 cup of powdered sugar
• 8 oz tub of Cool Whip
• mini chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

1. Make the crust. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix cookie crumbs with melted butter, and if you like, a large handful of mini chocolate chips. Press into a greased pie dish. Bake for about 7 minutes and let cool.
2. Make filling. Beat cream cheese and powdered sugar. Add speculoos. Fold in Cool Whip.
3. Assemble pie. Pour filling into crust. Top with mini chocolate chips. 
4. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours before serving.

You're welcome.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Box Cake aka Happy Birthday 'Murica

Nearly a month past Independence Day, I'm sharing my AMAZING (if I do say so myself) Fourth of July dessert.

1. Since this blog has very few readers (hi, Seth!), there is no shame in posting a festive holiday dessert weeks after the holiday.
2. There is nothing Fourth of July about this dessert beyond its nifty American flag design.

Inspired by the Chocolate Chip Cookie Pudding at Sugar Sweet Sunshine, I created my own version of this delightful treat. I'm also currently obsessed with pudding desserts and take every opportunity to whip out the J-E-L-L-O. Note: Sugar Sweet Sunshine makes their pudding from scratch, but their version of this pudding does not,  I repeat DOES NOT, include cookie dough balls.

This dessert could be classified as a pudding or trifle depending on how one layers its ingredients. For my purposes, it is an ice box cake, since they ingredients are layered twice in an 8"x8" pan. (To make this a pudding, mix all of the ingredients in no particular order; for a trifle, double the amount of pudding and Cool Whip and layer in a trifle dish.)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Box Cake

• 1 box of butterscotch pudding prepared per package instructions
• 1 tub of Cool Whip (real whipped cream would also work; I just like Cool Whip)
• 1 recipe of egg-free cookie dough balls (I used this recipe and had more than I needed, but I don't think that is a bad thing)
• 1 recipe of soft chocolate chip cookies or blondies (I used this recipe replacing the candy bars with three types of leftover chocolate chips (I only needed 1 cup of the chips) and had more than I needed, but again, is that really a bad thing? Or you could use store bought cookies.)
• Crushed Heath Bar

Once all the components are assembled, cut/break the cookies/blondies into small squares (mine were about 1"x1"). Place the cookies/blondies into even rows at the bottom of the pan. Layer half the pudding on top of that. Add rows of cookie dough balls, and sprinkle Heath Bar bits over that. Spread half the Cool Whip over the layers. Repeat! Use left over cookie/blondie pieces, cookie dough balls and Heath Bar bits to decorate the top of the ice box cake. Place in the fridge a few hours for the layers to set - up to overnight. Grab a spoon, and dig in!

P.S. If you love cookie dough as much as I do, check out this recipe compilation. 

Mish Mosh Mini Muffins

Update: I started writing this post almost a month ago. We've since finished all but one of the initial batch of mish mosh mini muffins, and I need to make more today. So thank you, Seth, for asking me to write down this recipe, as I am not sure I would remember this otherwise. And now I will finish writing this and post!

Now that I have been a mom for over a year, I'm back to blogging food! While I am sure there will be a mom thing to blog every now and then, the hormones (oh, the hormones) have lifted and my child now eats solid food. A lot of solid food.

Since my blog is just for me (and Seth's Facebook friends), its name will remain The Weekly Salad, but I will blog about whatever I want! (Insert evil laugh here.) Today, I will blog about baby muffins. My daughter LOVES muffins (and muffin-like bars)! I've made her banana oat, banana chia, pumpkin, pumpkin-peanut butter and carrot (update: and carrot-banana, unexpectedly delicious). When baking for my toddler, I strive to use little to no added sugars. The muffins are sweetened with bananas, maple syrup, and my new go-to sweetener, dates.

Notice the subtle green tint from the kale!

The beauty of baby muffins is that I can pack all sorts of healthy things into the recipe, but they still seem somewhat treat-like. My daughter doesn't yet have the dexterity to use utensils, so muffins plus some fruit on the side allow her to feed herself breakfast and shave precious minutes off our morning routine. Most mornings, we sit at the table (and high chair) and have breakfast as a family, and the muffins allow all of us to actually eat. Muffins are also wonderfully portable

My recipe was inspired by this recipe, but note, the below recipe is only a base as most ingredients can be subbed out for other fruits or vegetables.

Mish Mosh Mini-Muffins

• 1.5 cups oats (ground fine in food processor)
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1 small apple
• 1 ripe banana
• handful of carrots and kale, steamed and food proccessed
• 2 Tbs chia seeds
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 5 dates
• 2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place all ingredients in food processor. Order does matter, depending on what ingredients you use. The items that need more processing (oats, dates, raw apple) should go in first. Ingredients that require less breaking down go in last and can be pulsed in. Bake about 15-20 minutes until muffins feel springy when tapped. Muffins will be dense. Makes 24 large mini-muffins (is that an oxymoron?).

Another update: since I am out of bananas, today's recipe will use 3 large carrots, 1/2 cup apple sauce (no apple) and a large handful of steamed mixed power greens. Instead of pumpkin pie spice, I will use 1/2 tbs of cinnamon and 1/2 tbs of nutmeg, and instead of dates, I will use a 1/4 cup of maple syrup.

10 Months In: 10 Things I've Learned

In honor of David Letterman's last few months at the helm of the Late Show, I present you with The Weekly Salad's very first top 10 ten list (in descending order of course, but don't take the order too seriously). I've learned a little about parenting and a lot , about myself in just over 10 months of being a mother. This isn't one of those "what I wish I had known" lists. While yes, it would have been nice to have known a few of these things before baby, the learning process is part of the journey. After all, I am nurturing my growth mindset. (Read Mindset by Carol Dweck - it is so worthwhile for parents, managers and just about everyone.)

Without further ado, here are the 10 things I've learned in the past 10 months:

10. The stretch marks fade. The female body is amazing. I grew a baby. How cool is that? Pregnancy is not always comfortable nor is birth or that first postpartum month, but it is worth it. Stretch marks and wider hips be damned; it is a small price to pay for the joy my daughter brings into so many people's lives.

9. My daughter's favorite toy is a paper cup, but our house is filled with baby products. Every parent or grandparent will defend their baby must-haves (I am not a immune. There are a few newborn must-haves I swore by, and my daughter is obsessed with this giant toy). The truth is there really are very few must-haves, but you are going to have a lot of stuff anyway. It is just how it is.

8. Powdered formula isn't sterile. So what? Despite the fear-mongering instructor's warnings in my breastfeeding class, powdered formula is indeed safe for babies (she was right though, it isn't sterile, but then again very little in our lives is sterile). If you live in New York City, go ahead and mix that unsterile powder with tap water, and if your little one doesn't complain, give her the bottle cold.

7. I am ardently feminist. The older I get, the more comfortable I am calling myself a feminist.Whether it is the daily struggle to be a mom and a working professional, the need for national paid maternity leave, the fact that I want to be a good professional role model for my daughter but feel like I am already too close to the glass ceiling or that am scared that 30 years down the line, my daughter will face that same glass ceiling, I feel deeply that women are not equal. And, I want to do something about it.

6. I am different and don't seem to be going back. This article proves it.There must be people out there who have babies and return to their pre-baby selves, but I am not one of those people. I feel totally and utterly changed by motherhood.

5. No, I can't nap when the baby naps. Before my daughter was sleeping through the night, I heard this advice often. It never worked for me. I like my sleep at night Sleep is key to my sanity. Studies have shown that most adults need seven to eight hours of sleep a night. I am one of those most adults. While some people function successfully with less nighttime sleep, I do not. I am my best self, mom, wife, professional, friend, etc. with seven to eight (okay, eight) hours a night.

4. I care too much about what others think. Carl, the wise gigolo on Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce, said "Nobody truly interesting is universally liked." I know Carl is right, but I am constantly working on not needing to be a people-pleaser and letting go of the dwell. Women dwell more than men, and it makes us less confident; read about it in The Confidence Code. Since becoming a mom, I find there are issues and situations from which I am unable to distance my emotions even after months of dwelling. This is new for me, and something I am working on.

3. I am scattered. I was so together before my daughter. I made lists, checked them off and rarely forgot anything. Over the holidays while baking, I left a tray of cookies in the oven after turning it off. Hours later, post-clean-up and cooling, I noticed I was missing a cookie sheet, which is when I found the missing cookies. My husband attributes my scatterbrain/mom-brain/(post)-pregnancy brain to the new priority in my life. My daughter comes first, so the cookies moved down in the list of what I devote my brain space to.

2. I value my partner more than ever. Sometimes you need to hand the baby over and take a break. Other times, you want to eat before 9:00 pm. My husband does laundry and the majority of our cooking. His work schedule is flexible and cares for our daughter while I often need to work late. We really are 50/50 partners (I do stuff too!), and it makes all the difference. Sheryl Sandberg would be proud. Whether it is a partner, parent or other caregiver, support has been an essential part of my parenting journey.

1. There are no universal rules. Every day, there is a new study on pregnancy and babies. My bottom line is that a baby should be loved and cared for. There are many ways to get to that bottom line, and what works for one parent or baby may or may not work for the next. Advice can be helpful, but it can also be worrisome (see #4). Daycare/nanny/stay-at-home parent. Stay-at-home mom/working mom. Breastfed/bottle fed. Cry it out/don't cry it out. Cosleeping/crib. TV/no screen time. There are a million different ways to parent, and in the past 10 months, my greatest learning has been finding a way that works for our family. A huge part of that journey is shutting out the noise from everyone else. (The one exception is our pediatrician who we happen to agree with on most matters, but even doctors are not right all of the time. Find one that works for you.) My husband and I are writing our own parenting rules in pencil. They change a lot, and that's okay, too.