Fresh Spring Rolls

We realize we have been seriously slacking on our baking and dinner posts. We are terribly sorry, however recently we've been trying to really clean up our eating habits, so there have been no delicious desserts and dinners are usually quite boring. Well, I'm over it now. There's no reason healthy shouldn't be fun and exciting, right? It does take a bit more work and creativeness than just dumping a bunch of lettuce in a bowl and drowning it in dressing, but it's totally worth it.

Here is one of our fave dishes: Fresh Spring Rolls!

You would be surprised at how easy it is to make these. Best of all they allow for total customization. You can add or take out pretty much anything inside of them to make them just how you like. Honestly, the most difficult thing about these is the prep time. You need some patience to cut up all the veggies (if they're not already pre-cut), if you are using uncooked meat and/or seafood to cook that also and time cooking the noodles.

So here is what we use to make ours:

Rice Paper

Fried Tofu

Shredded Carrots

Cucumbers (peeled and thinly sliced)

Bean Sprouts

Mint

Green Onions (thinly sliced)

Vermicelli Noodles

Once your Fresh Spring Roll assembly line is formed, you basically have the hardest part out of the way. Now for the fun part, putting them together!

I normally fill a pretty large bowl with warm water, where I will be submerging the rice paper in to make them soft. This happens pretty quickly, takes about 20-30 seconds.

Once they're soft act quick, they're easier to work with while still wet. Note: be gentle as they can tear easily. Lay them out on a flat surface and smooth out. Now, assemble! I usually start out by laying down my mint leaves in the middle, they tend to stick better to the rice paper, then my tofu, then the cucumber, green onions, carrots, bean sprouts and noodles. Keep your portions small, especially if you are using more ingredients than me to help keep the roll from unraveling or tearing through the rice paper. Now you're ready to roll!

I roll mine burrito style, must be the Mexican in me. I fold one half of the rice paper over the middle, then tuck the ends in and roll to the end, all while gently tightening and shaping the roll. This is important. Trust me, a loose roll is very hard to eat, gets all over the place. 

When you've made your desired amount, eat and enjoy! Buy or whip up your favorite Thai peanut sauce or sweet and sour sauce and you're set! Yummy, fresh and healthy treat!

Lesli's Bake Shop and Sweets

So, my very first post about baking has absolutely nothing to do with baking. This is due mainly to bad planning on my part and for which I apologize greatly. However, in order to incorporate it into my original "Bake Shop" idea, I have added "and sweets" to the title to make it work! That's what we do here at "What's Bippin?", we make it work! Did Tim Gun trademark that phrase? Hope we don't get sued.

Anyway, I am excited to feature the oh-so delicious Red Velvet Hot Chocolate with Cream Cheese Whipped Cream! A nice twist on traditional hot cocoa and perfect for the cold weather during these winter months. Brrrr... Besides, how can you go wrong with anything red velvet? I mean, really! And on that note, God bless the South for this creation and damn them too! They are the ones responsible for red velvet, right? 

I should start off by saying this recipe was stolen from another blog (give credit where credit is due) and you can see it HERE.

What appealed me to her version was how minimal the ingredients were (I had all but 1 ingredient already!) and how quick and easy it seemed. I've said it before, I'll say it again, the "What's Bippin?" team loves "easy"!

Ingredients:

• 4 cups
 Whole Milk

• 1 dash
 Water

• ¾ cups
 Premium Of Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

• 1 teaspoon
 Red Food Coloring

• 1 cup
 Heavy Whipping Cream

• 1 Tablespoon
 Sugar

• 1 teaspoon
 Whipped Cream Cheese

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk over medium heat. 

Add a splash of water and the chocolate chips, constantly stirring gently. 

When almost melted, add the red food coloring paste and stir some more. 

The color should be a deep red, similar to the picture above.

 When the chocolate chips are all melted, pour the hot chocolate in four mugs and top with the whipped cream.

Preparation Instructions:

In a medium mixing bowl or a stand-up mixer, pour in heavy whipping cream and sugar. Whip on medium with the whisk attachment for 2-3 minutes. Just before it peaks, add the teaspoon of whipped cream cheese and whisk for another 2 minutes. Taste the whipped cream and add more cream cheese to taste. If you like it more tart, I’d say add another 1/2 teaspoon, just be careful to not over-whip or you’ll have butter on your hands in no time.

Following her measurements gave us about 3 full cups. You can maybe stretch 4 by not filling them up all the way, but really I would probably just suggest you add one more cup of milk, make the 3/4 cup of chocolate chips a full cup and add a bigger "splash" of water. I will most likely be trying it that way next time. Another tweak I did was top the cups off with marshmallows right be serving for an added sweetness. We piled those babies sky high and just let those calories roll... or become rolls, whatever, it's delicious, drink it up, who cares, enjoy!

Voila! Easy peezy! All you need now is a good movie, a cozy blanket and someone to snuggle close to.

Love,

Lesli