The Bowl

It all started with the Chipotle burrito bowl. When I ate meat, I'd get it with chicken. Now, I get it with grilled veggies. I always top it with guacamole rather than cheese, and add black beans and pico de gallo. With the bowl's base of brown cilantro lime rice, it makes for one delicious dinner.

After reading a bunch of vegan cooking blogs and cookbooks, I discovered that the bowl is a versatile and balanced meal, combining whole grains, protein and veggies. Although I'm not vegan, I often eat vegan when I make a bowl. I've just discovered smoked tofu which is a delicious protein to add to a bowl. But today, I'm skipping the vegan part and embracing dairy in my bowl.

Building the bowl

My lunch bowl today consists of quinoa, kale, peas and cottage cheese. I had a similar bowl yesterday, but added a quarter of an avocado on top. It was delicious, but sadly that was the last of my avocados and I haven't had time to go to the store.

This recipe is my basic bowl, but bear in mind that you can use any grain, such as rice, millet or bulgur, any veggie you have on hand, and any protein, whether it's meat, vegetarian or vegan. I chose kale and peas because they are quick-cooking and I don't want to spend too much time making lunch. Usually I use beans or tofu, but today I used cottage cheese because I had some in my fridge and I love it.

The finished bowl

Quinoa, Kale, Peas and Cottage Cheese Bowl

1/4 cup uncooked quinoa
2 cups kale, shredded
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup cottage cheese

Cook quinoa according to package directions. Meanwhile, steam peas and kale either in a steamer or in the microwave.

Once quinoa is done, top with veggies and dollop your cottage cheese on top. Mix well and enjoy!

Quinoa for Breakfast

Breakfast is probably my favorite meal of the day. Well, apart from lunch and dinner. And snacks. Perhaps it's easier to just say I love all meals, but I'm a firm believer in breakfast.

Usually I make oatmeal on the stove top, using almond milk, cinnamon, vanilla or whatever else I find that looks good. I've used canned pumpkin, cocoa, peppermint extract and even Baileys in my oatmeal. Since I eat it almost every day I need to mix it up sometimes to stop it being boring.

The thought of using a grain other than oats for my breakfast has crossed my mind more than once. There are plenty of grains out there you can sub for oats, like millet, amaranth or quinoa. Since I recently went on a quinoa shopping spree (it was on sale!) I decided to experiment with breakfast quinoa to see if it was something worthy of making again. It was.

It looks a little weird because I used tricolor quinoa, but let me tell you, it was delicious and filling -- exactly what I'm looking for in a breakfast food. You could mix it with anything; I used chia seeds, ground flax, bananas, coconut and raisins. Because the chia and flax absorb liquid I added about another 1/4 cup of milk to the quinoa to stop it drying out. I'm trying to eat less sugar so I didn't use sweetener but it would be delicious with a touch of honey or maple syrup. Once you have the basic recipe down, you can mix and match with whatever toppings you want -- that's the beauty of the breakfast grain!

Breakfast Quinoa


1/4 cup quinoa
1/2 cup milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla

Mix ingredients well in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until the quinoa has absorbed all the liquid. Add toppings and more milk if you like, and enjoy!

Quick and Easy Enchilada Casserole

So I saw this post on Fat Free Vegan Kitchen for microwave enchilada casserole. It sounded like the perfect thing for me to bring to work for lunch some day, but the problem was that I had leftovers coming out of my ears (not literally) and so I had no time to eat a microwave enchilada casserole for lunch! What a dilemma to have. So all last week, I had a craving for something similar. I even went out and bought a nice-looking jar of salsa with which to make said casserole, but before I knew it, Saturday was here and I was casserole-free.

Luckily for my craving, we had a super busy Saturday redecorating our living room and spending too much  money at Ikea, so I needed a quick and easy recipe to make for our dinner. Enter my oven version of the microwave enchilada casserole.

Fresh from the oven

It literally took less than five minutes to put this casserole together, so that left plenty of time to unpack our new furniture and get our new living room in shape while it was cooking. That's my kind of quick weekend meal!

Served with roasted kale

Enchilada Casserole

8 corn tortillas

1 jar salsa

1 1/2 cups frozen corn

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 jalapeno peppers, seeds removed and diced

1/2 an onion, diced

10 olives, sliced

3/4 cup shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Spread a thin layer of salsa over the bottom of a 9 by 13 baking dish. Top with four of the tortillas, cutting them if necessary to almost completely cover the salsa layer. Sprinkle half the corn and beans on top of the tortillas, along with the diced onions and jalapeno. Spread another layer of salsa over the bean mixture, then arrange the remaining beans and corn on top. Finish with the rest of the salsa, then top with shredded cheese and sliced olives. 

Cover the dish with foil and bake for 40 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for a further 10 minutes to allow the cheese to crisp up slightly. 

Slice into 6 pieces and enjoy with guacamole, sour cream or any other sides you have on hand (I roasted some kale because I love kale with everything!)

Kitchen Makeover and Falafel

Last week, I went a little overboard. For months now I've been talking about getting new kitchen appliances. My original plan was to buy good quality items, one at a time to save money. However, this was before the shopping gods delivered a 30% off voucher for Kohl's to my door. For those who don't know, Kohl's is the most awesome department store, where everything is on sale and store card holders always get either 15%, 20% or 30% off everything. Plus, for every $50 spent, you get $10 back to spend on anything in-store.

Oops.

I ended up with a Cuisinart food processor, a Cuisinart waffle iron and a Kitchen Aid hand mixer. I figure if you're going to go crazy, it's best to do so with quality brands that should last a while.

Blueberry waffles

So, last weekend I tested out my new toys. I made waffles in the waffle iron (using the hand mixer to mix the batter), then I brought out the king of all food processors. I made homemade vegan nutella (see recipe here), then I made some falafel for dinner. The verdict? I love all my new kitchen gadgets and want to use them every day!

Better than the original... although the photo looks quite disgusting

Last but not least, I had $40 Kohl's cash to spend, so I went back and got a Cuisinart griddle/grill/panini press dealy that is also most awesome. Not looking forward to that credit card bill!

Falafel
Recipe from Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 cloves garlic
1 shallot
1/4 cup dried parsley
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons hot sauce
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 Fahrenheit.

Process chickpeas and garlic in food processor until finely chopped. Add shallot, parsley, olive oil and hot sauce. Process until smooth, then decant chickpea mixture into a separate bowl. Add the spices and flour, and mix well to combine. Form into 12 balls, then squish to make patties.

(If you don't have a food processor, chop onion small and mince garlic, and smoosh chickpeas and other ingredients in a bowl. The mixture shouldn't have any chickpea lumps in. Then proceed as usual, or go buy a food processor because they are awesome).

Bake for 16 to 18 minutes on a cookie sheet sprayed with oil. Flip, then bake another 8 to 10 minutes. Alternatively, use a skillet or grill to cook the falafel. Enjoy with pita bread, tzatziki, spinach, or whatever tickles your fancy.

Quiche Delight

I know it's Valentine's day next week, so technically I shod be planning cards, gifts and romantic surprises for my hubby. But I honestly don't really care for Valentine's day. I'm just not the romantic type, nor did I marry Mr. Romantic... Thank God! So rather than planning some ridiculously over-the-top evening of luuuurve for me and the man, I decided to just cook something nice and have a night in. Which, come to think of it, is what we do most Saturdays. Fine with me!

I decided to make a quiche tonight. I had a leftover whole wheat pie crust in the freezer from when I made pumpkin pie over Christmas, so it was begging to be used up. The hubby is a huge quiche fan so he was just fine with this plan. He suggested using cheese and tomatoes as a filling. I had grape tomatoes on-hand, and we took a trip to Trader Joe's to purchase some good cheese. We ended up buying gruyere, a personal favorite of mine. This means we can have French onion soup with the leftover gruyere, yum!

What could taste bad with these ingredients? :)

I didn't really follow a recipe for the quiche, except to figure out how much liquid to use. The recipe I looked at used heavy cream and ricotta, but I had neither so I made some slightly healthier replacements with what I had on-hand -- plain Greek yogurt and skim milk.

Before baking

We had a salad on the side, which was yummy but had some slightly odd ingredients. Ben requested grated carrots and olives, and I wanted mushrooms. With the addition of some Greek dressing, we had ourselves a weirdly wonderful side salad.

After baking -- deliciously golden

All in all, a successful meal, no doubt finished off by something Ben sneakily picked up at Trader Joe's... not that I put much effort into stopping him!

Trader Joe's, you've done it again!

Tomato and Gruyere Quiche

Pie crust, either homemade of store-bought
1 shallot, sliced
4 eggs
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup gruyere or other cheese, grated, plus some for the top
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
Approx. 15 cherry or grape tomatoes, halves and the seeds squeezed out

Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit.

Sprinkle the sliced shallots into the bottom of the pie crust. Meanwhile, beat the eggs in a medium bowl, then add the milk and yogurt. Beat until well-mixed. Add the salt, pepper, cheese, basil and oregano and mix to combine.

Pour the mixture over the shallots, then place the tomatoes, one by one, cut-side down, into the mixture, pressing down slightly on each one to ensure it's nicely emerged in yumminess. Sprinkle with the rest of the grated cheese and bake for 45-60 minutes, or until the quiche is golden and set. Remove from oven and let sit for 5-10 mins before cutting.

Superbowl? What Superbowl?

I am a self-confessed football hater (American football of course). I hate that there are commercials every two seconds and that a one hour game takes about six hours to complete. I hate that it's called "football" when it has very little to do with feet, meaning that football as I know it has to go by the name "soccer." I hate the commentators (although that is true of every sport). I hate the drawings they do on the TV to show you exactly what they're talking about. I especially hate the fact that it's on every Sunday for months on end, resulting in my DVR recording the wrong shows. So today is a celebration for me -- the end of football season for at least a few months!

Another reason I like Superbowl Sunday is that we always eat chili, which is one of my favorite things to do. Usually we make a chicken taco chili in the crockpot which is to die for, but that was out since I don't eat meat anymore. So Ben found a recipe for veggie chili that sounded delicious. The addition of chocolate and beer to chili? Score! We followed the recipe to a T, and I made some cornbread and guacamole to go on the side. And you know what? It was good! The tempeh gave it a meaty texture, although we couldn't really taste the mushrooms. Next time I'd either omit the mushrooms or use more, and I'd add corn to the chili, which is a personal favorite of mine.

We got the recipe from Slate so I won't reprint here, but click on the link if you want to check it out... which you should.

Apart from "football," today was about making beer (for Ben) and making hummus (for me).

Tomato Herb Hummus

1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon tahini
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon powdered chile
2 tablespoons tomato paste
Handful sundried tomatoes
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, or a mixture of basil, oregano or whatever your tastebuds tell you
1/2 cup water

Dump all ingredients into a food processor and blend. Add water a bit at a time until you get the desired creamy consistency. Eat!

Birthday Eats

Today is the hubby's birthday. On any given year, you can find us celebrating quietly, at home, perhaps with a nice bottle of wine and a home-cooked meal. This is in direct contrast to my birthday, which I start to look forward to at least two months in advance. Ben thinks birthdays are stupid, and wants them to be over as quickly as possible. So I decided we needed to do something fun to celebrate this year for a change.

Since Ben travels so much for work that he has about a squillion hotel points. We took advantage of this by booking a room at the Hilton Netherland Plaza in downtown Cincinnati for a night on the town. Ok, I know it's only Cincinnati and not somewhere exciting like New York, but it's infinitely more interesting than Dayton. Our room was free because of the points (yay!) so we splurged on an awesome meal and way too many cocktails.

We went to a really nice restaurant called Local 127. To start, Ben had French onion soup and I had potato and celeriac soup. Unfortunately, the soup was eaten before I even thought to take a photo. Moving on, Ben had a pork-intensive dish which he claims was delicious, with sausage, bacon and cheesy foam!

There weren't any vegetarian options on the menu, so I went with the scallops. I've never been a fan before but these babies changed my mind. They were huge, not tough at all, and they came on a bed of lentils with crispy rice on top! 

I insisted we have dessert, of course, and this is why.

Deconstructed sour cream cheesecake! It was orgasmic. The crust was buttery, the filling was creamy yet light, and caramel sauce was out of this world. And it came with a maraschino cherry made by the original makers of the maraschino cherry (according to our server, who was most excited about this fact). When it was over, I cried. Well, not really, but I definitely was sad that it was over so soon. 

Today we decided to go by Cincinnati's Findlay Market on the way home for some breakfast. We got Belgian waffles with chocolate syrup and blueberries which made my morning.

Post-breakfast, we wandered around for a couple of hours and got some chews for the pups, some handmade beeswax soap and some honeycomb. After experiencing my first vanilla chai tea, which might be my new favourite drink, we decided to grab a light lunch at a Vietnamese cafe. Light lunch my butt! I had the vegan pho with mushrooms and bamboo shoots, and it had so many rice noodles that I was stuffed afterwards. It was delicious though!

After lunch, we stopped back into the market to grab some whole grain bread, paprika salami for Ben, and double Gloucester with onions and chives for me. This is, without a doubt, the best cheese in the entire world. That might be a bold statement, but it's true, and it's also true that I never buy it because I literally cannot keep out of it. But for the occasional treat, I'll buy a small chunk to tide me over.

Cheese heaven!

We headed home late afternoon and presented the pups with their chews, which consisted of a kneecap and a knuckle, ick! They spent most of the rest of the night chewing obsessively.

For dinner I used our newly bought bread, cheese, salami, plus some hummus and veggies I had on hand to make a Ploughman's of sorts. It was delicious, especially with the addition of some Branston's pickle, the best invention ever.

Mission: Enjoy Ben's birthday was complete. We both had an awesome weekend and I'm sure I won't have trouble convincing Ben that we need to celebrate his birthday properly each year from here on out!

Lentil Shepherd's Pie

It's been another week of mostly cooking for one on account of Ben traveling for work. Last night I did make a delicious veggie and miso stir fry, but it was a quick meal and I was too tired to note what went into it and to take photos... I was hungry and the meal was gone before I even thought of getting my camera!

But this weekend is the start of hubby's birthday celebrations. His actual birthday is Sunday. He hates his birthday and the most we ever do is invite his parents over and cook, but they had the nerve to disappear to Hawaii this year so we had to get out of our rut (I'm totally not jealous that they're in Hawaii... I just love cold weather and rain!)

Tomorrow night we're off out for a meal, but tonight is a night in. I decided to make shepherd's pie with lentils and mushrooms since I'd seen the recipe somewhere, but when I found said recipe it seemed like too much. I just bought some large ramekins and wanted to make two individual pies for fun, so I made this up and hoped it would work... And it did!

Perfect night in!

Deliciousness was mine (and Ben's) and it was pretty easy. The pies turned out very big so I didn't have to make any veggies to go along with them. You could also double the recipe to make a regular-sized pie if that's what floats your boat.

Underneath the taters....

Lentil Shepherd's Pie

1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 cup brown mushrooms, quartered
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup French (green) lentils
2 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/4 cup sharp cheddar, shredded

Sauté onion and garlic in some olive oil for about 2 minutes. Add celery and mushrooms and cook until the onions are translucent.

Add peas and lentils to pan, then pour broth over the top. Add the tomato paste and stir to combine.

Cook for about 20 minutes, or until the lentils are tender and have absorbed most of the water. Meanwhile, boil the sweet potatoes until tender, then mash and add the butter and cheese, stirring well to combine.

Divide the lentil mixture between two large ramekins and top with the sweet potato mixture. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 Fahrenheit for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes start to brown. Eat, and enjoy!

Pesto Perfection

It's been a looooong time since I've posted here, due to a mixture of pure laziness and travelling. We went back to the UK for 3 weeks over Christmas to visit my family and best friend, and had the most awesome time. It was depressing to come back to the US but it was surprising how quickly I got back into my routine of food, exercise and watching other peoples' dogs hump each other frantically.

This weekend we did a lot of exercise and celebrated with the world's yummiest pizza. We make our own dough and had some in the freezer which was awesome because it meant much less work. While I'm a fan of the regular tomato-based pizza, I have to say my favorite pizza sauce topping is pesto. It's so delicious, especially when it's fresh and homemade.

I baked the pizza crust for 10 minutes at 425 Fahrenheit, then I spread a generous amount of fresh pesto on top, followed by sliced onions, diced tomatoes, black beans, sauteed mushrooms and crumbled feta. I let it bake for about another 15 mins, then we chowed down. I had plenty of leftover pesto which made me very happy. My mum likes to make sandwiches with hummus spread on one slice and pesto on the other, so I did that this week and filled the sandwich with cucumber slices and lettuce leaves. Yum!

This photo just makes me hungry

Pesto

2 cups basil leaves, loosely packed
1/2 cup fresh Parmesan
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 garlic cloves, minces
1/4 cup olive oil, or to taste

Put pine nuts, garlic and Parmesan in a food processor and grind well. Add the basil leaves a little at a time, processing as you go. Add the olive oil slowly until the pesto reaches the desired consistency. (I used about a half of the 1/4 cup I measured out because I didn't want it super oily)

Pesto should keep in the fridge for a week or so.

Quick (ish) Friday Dinner

After a long week, I came home with plans to make a curry. These plans were quickly abandoned when I realized I didn't have any canned tomatoes, and the curry I was planning would be impossible without it. So I dug out my trusty cookbooks and found a recipe that looked promising.

The recipe I used is The New Vegan Cookbook, found in the bargain books section of my local bookstore. This was the first recipe I made from the cookbook, although didn't follow the recipe step-for-step. The premise was the same: Kabocha squash stew with Moroccan spices. The original recipe called for spinach, chickpeas and dried apricots, but I had none of these ingredients on-hand, so I used red lentils and dried figs instead. And it turned out deliciously!

Kabocha Squash Stew


1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced into rings
1 1/2 tablespoons peeled, minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 tablespoons ground coriander seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of cayenne (depending upon desired heat)
3 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon salt
5 dried figs, sliced
1 cup red lentils, rinsed and drained
1 kabocha squash, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes (can also substitute another type of winter squash)

Heat olive oil in a skillet and fry onions until tender, about 5 minutes.

Add spices and mix to combine. Cook for about 30 seconds.

Transfer onions and spices into a larger pot if necessary, and add the broth and salt. Bring to a boil, then add the lentils, figs and squash and cook for about 30 minutes, or until squash is tender and lentils are cooked through.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Slow Cooked to Perfection

What to have for dinner on a cold day when you feel like poop? Something made in the slow cooker, obviously. This week an old health issue reared its ugly head. I've had trouble with swollen glands on occasion ever since I had mono in my early 20s, and this week the gland monster showed up to ruin my week. It's just one gland, but it is painful, tender and makes it really difficult to move my head. Luckily, I recently bought the most awesome of slow cookers, with a fancy timer to prevent overlooking.

I had some leftover sweet potatoes, squash and onions lying around, so I chopped them up and threw them in the crockpot for a few hours with some tomatoes and spices. I was fresh out of beans, or I would have thrown some of those in as well. This chili was yummy, comforting, and had a slightly smoky spice thanks to the chipotle chilis I added at the last minute.

I've had this for dinner two nights in a row now, and plan on eating it for lunch tomorrow too. I actually got way too excited about eating it tonight and almost forgot to take a photo, hence the half-eaten bowl and PB sandwich!

Veggie Chili

1 onion, chopped
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1 winter squash (I used buttercup), peeled, seeded and chopped
1 cup frozen corn
1 15oz can chopped tomatoes
4 cups water
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 package taco seasoning
2 chipotle chilies in adobo, chopped

Combine ingredients in a slow cooker and mix well. Cook on low for 6 hours. Serve with wheat berries, brown rice or a plain old PB sammich!

Seriously Yummy Winter Soup

Is there anything more perfect and tasty than a butternut squash?

Natural beauty

I think not. In fact, I'd be so bold as to say that butternut is probably my favorite variety of squash. As you've probably gathered, I'm a huge fan of winter squash, so I'm in my element this time of the year.

Our local healthy supermarket, Earth Fare, has a soup bar featuring the delicious-sounding butternut squash and apple soup. I haven't tried it myself, but the hubby assured me it was yummy when he had it. Since I had a butternut squash on hand, I thought I'd give it a go myself.

Cooking up a storm

The smell of butternut squash sauteing in olive oil is deliciously sweet, and once I added onions, garlic and apple my mouth was watering.

Identity crisis

Once the soup was ready and pureed, I served it with my failed bread rolls, which look weird but taste yummy! We ate the soup for dinner Saturday night, lunch on Sunday, and there's still leftovers for me to take to work one or two days in the week.

After a soupy lunch today, I dug the Christmas tree out from the basement and got decorating.

Christmas tree + advent calendars = happy me!

It's probably a bit early by British standards, but we always decorate the tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. Speaking of British standards, it wouldn't be a real Christmas tree without a cameo from the Union Jack.

My patriotic decoration

Among my other decorations, most of which are pretty boring and have no stories, were a few knitted decorations care of my talented mother.

Knitted glory

Now I know it will be a good week, since I'll have Christmas tree lights to look forward to every night!

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and roughly chopped

1 onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 apple, cored and diced

5 cups vegetable broth

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 tbsp curry powder

1/2 cup milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)

Heat olive oil in a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Throw in butternut squash and saute until slightly tender, about 5 minutes.

Add onions and garlic and saute for a further 2 minutes. Add apple and stir to combine.

Pour broth into pot and mix well. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 5-10 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.

Add salt and curry powder and mix well. Add milk and stir to combine.

Using a blender or immersion blender, puree soup until it's a smooth, creamy consistency. Serve immediately, or cool and reheat as needed.

Makes approx. 6 servings.

Experimenting with Leftovers

So yesterday was Thanksgiving. Yay! While I didn't grow up with this holiday, I have come to enjoy it since living Stateside. The best part of Thanksgiving, hands down, is the double whammy of homemade stuffing and pumpkin pie. Well this year, Ben's family did not deliver on the pumpkin pie (although they did deliver on the awesome apple pie), but I wasn't about to let that happen to the stuffing. Since it's the absolute best part of the meal, I make it my duty to bring it every year, without fail.

This year I'm not eating meat, so turkey and ham were out for me. But the sides more than made up for it. I made stuffing with celery, onions, carrots, apples and fresh cranberries, plus some veggie sausage. It was delicious, if I do say so myself (and I do!), and I was excited that there were leftovers for me to bring home.

Usually I'll eat leftover stuffing cold straight from the Tupperware, but this year I decided to attempt a meat-free loaf. I made up the recipe myself, which didn't quite turn out as I expected.

Veggie loaf fail!

It was way too moist, so although it was delicious, it wasn't pretty and didn't hold its shape. So, no recipe this time, but I WILL succeed in making a great vegetarian loaf that sticks together without being too mushy!

Bisto makes everything OK

Even though the loaf was weird looking, it was delicious with roasted acorn squash and carrots, and of course, onion gravy made with Bisto gravy granules! How this stuff has not made it to the U.S. I'll never know.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Yep, that's what happened for breakfast last Sunday. I meant to post about it sooner but we had an open house and my camera was locked in our safe. This week, I was too lazy busy to retrieve it, hence the seriously late posting of the awesome recipe.

Mixin' it up...

Anyway, I'd bought some chocolate almond milk because it was on sale and because it is awesome, and had been eating it with my Lucky Charms. Ben's response: "What are you, five???" Well yes, but I have to admit that I was getting a little bored of using the milk that way. I made hot chocolate with Bailey's a couple of times but it seemed like the milk carton was bottomless. Enter chocolate chip pancakes, please.

Eat me!

I used a basic whole wheat pancake recipe from Skinny Taste and built upon it using my own kind of chocolately magic. With the addition of chocolate chips, this was one recipe I'd gladly make again. We ate the pancakes with homemade applesauce I'd made in the crockpot earlier in the week and it was utterly magical.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes


2 cups whole wheat flour
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup applesauce (can use 2 eggs)
2 cups + 2 tbsp chocolate almond milk (can use regular chocolate milk)
2 tsp vanilla
4 tbsp chocolate chips

Mix flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and sugar together in a large bowl. Add applesauce, milk, vanilla and chocolate chips, and stir until just combined.

Heat a nonstick skillet over a medium heat. Spray some oil into the skillet and pour in 1/4 cup pancake batter. When batter starts to bubble, flip and cook the other side until golden. Repeat with the rest of the batter. Top with maple syrup, fresh fruit or applesauce. Enjoy!

Makes approx. 7-8 pancakes.

I Heart Curry

It's been a while since I posted -- it's turned out to be a crazy busy week for me, with work, dentist trips, running and yoga. So the food I'm about to rave about was mainly cooked last Sunday. But even though it was a while ago, the yumminess is still fresh in my mind and I want to share the joy.

I managed to check off everything on my Sunday list. The bread I made was pretty disastrous since it didn't rise and I might have baked it for too long, but it was still edible and actually tasted pretty good. My first experience with making chutney and canning went well, but I have to wait two weeks to see how it turned out because that's how long it apparently takes for chutney to become uber-delicious.

For breakfast on Sunday I made a favorite -- steel-cut oats. I used pureed pumpkin instead of milk and added raisins and bananas. It was yummy, although I think the apple and cinnamon is still my favorite.

Eat me!

We had leftover soup for lunch as planned, and I rustled up a quick afternoon snack while baking bread and making chutney. Pita bread cut into triangles + olive oil spray + baking for about 7 minutes = yummy pita chips to go along with the red lentil masala dip I got last week from Trader Joe's.

Dip that chip

After all that work I felt crazy for even attempting to make dinner. But I did anyway, and I'm glad I did. It turned out amazing. I recently got an Indian cookbook and was dying to try out a recipe or two. The one I chose was for zucchini (courgette) curry, but I used kabocha squash instead (also known as Japanese pumpkin, it's green on the outside, orange in the middle, and sweeter than a regular pumpkin).

Almost too pretty to eat!

This recipe is not actually very spicy, but it has a wonderful flavor that I imagine would be equally tasty with a regular pumpkin or butternut squash. I made the whole recipe, which serves 4, and had the leftovers for lunch on Monday and Tuesday.

Kabocha Squash Curry


1 kabocha squash, pumpkin or butternut squash
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds (I used Colman's mustard powder instead)
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon tomato paste
14-oz can chopped tomatoes
2/3 cup water
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon garam masala

Cut squash in half, remove seeds and chop roughly. If using pumpkin or butternut squash, peel before chopping. If using kabocha squash, leave the skin on.

Heat oil in a large heavy pan and fry cumin and mustard seeds for 2 minutes. If using powder, skip this step.

Add onions and garlic and saute for 5 minutes.

Add cumin, mustard powder (if using), turmeric, chili powder, coriander and salt. Fry for 2-3 minutes.

Add squash and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Mix tomato paste and chopped tomatoes, and water with cornstarch, and stir both into the pan. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the sauce starts to thicken.

Add chopped cilantro and garam masala and mix well to coat. Cook for a further 5 minutes, or until the squash is tender. Serve over brown rice.

Makes 4 servings.

Spaghetti Squash Saturday

It's Saturday, and I had big plans. Get up, go for a run, make lunch, go out to buy canning supplies, make dinner, drink wine and veg. Well, I ran 4 miles after a hearty breakfast of Lucky Charms and a banana, made potato and onion soup in the crock pot for lunch, got my canning supplies, made dinner, and now I'm sitting down with a big glass of white. Mission accomplished.

I was out for longer than I'd planned, since I had a $20 coupon for DSW and spent way too much time dithering over whether or not to buy boots I didn't need just because I had the money. I decided on no, and was about to leave when I came across the slipper section. So I am now the proud owner of some seriously comfy Dr. Scholls, complete with faux fur, for the delicious price of $5. Needless to say, once I'd done the Kroger run on the way home and unpacked my groceries, I was famished.

The only produce left from my last veggie box was a spaghetti squash. When I've had one previously, I've made "spaghetti" and meatballs, or stuffed spaghetti squash with black beans and yummy spices. This time, I wanted to try something different. I came across a recipe for Moroccan spiced spaghetti squash and thought it sounded like a winner. We served it with cous cous cooked in veggie broth, and ate the entire squash between the two of us! The recipe says it serves 4, but I figured since my squash was smaller than average and we both ran today, we deserved a large dinner. It was seriously yummy, definitely a meal to repeat.

I heart spaghetti squash

While I was waiting for the squash to bake, I used up some papaya that had been sitting in my fridge for a week by making some papaya coconut muffins.

Deliciousness

All in all, an awesome Saturday. Sunday's mission: go for a run, eat leftover soup for lunch, make bread, make chutney and can it, drink wine.

Moroccan Spiced Spaghetti Squash


Recipe from Eat Drink Better

1 spaghetti squash
5 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
3 tablespoons golden raisins or sultanas
Half a 15-oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat oven to 400 F. Cut squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds using a spoon. Brush 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over the inside of the squash, then place face down in a baking dish and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the squash is tender.

Heat remaining oil in a skillet, then add the garlic and saute until fragrant. Add spices, salt, raisins and chickpeas, stir to coat and heat until warm, then remove from the heat.

Remove squash from oven when done, and rake a fork over the flesh, separating the strands as you go. Toss the squash with the olive oil mixture and serve over cous cous.

Serves 4 as a side dish, or 2 hungry hippos.

Papaya Coconut Muffins


Adapted from Skinny Taste

1 cup papaya puree
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup coconut flakes
1/4 cup pumpkin puree (or 1 large egg, beaten)
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp melted vegan spread (can use butter or marg)

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Toss papaya in a blender and blend until smooth. Add a small amount of water, if necessary to get the papaya moving.

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and coconut.

Combine egg or pumpkin, melted butter or spread, vanilla and papaya puree in a medium bowl. Add to the dry mixture and stir until just blended.

Using a teaspoon, divide batter between 12 muffin liners. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.