Cachupa - Trying again

So, I wanted to try this again with some tweaks to make it a bit healthier and also make it better from my first try. Here is what I did: 

The meats: 

• 3 slices of bacon
• 2 chorizo sausages

The spices and aromatics: 

• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 onion (diced)
• Garlic and Onion powder
• 2 Bay leaves
• Some cayenne (just a little)

The vegetables and legume:

• 2 peeled and diced sweet potatoes
• 1 cup of hominy corn (rinsed and soaked overnight)
• About a cup of beans more white navy beans than kidney beans and lima beans (rinsed and soaked overnight)
• 1 28 oz of crushed tomatoes
• 3/4 of a HUGE cabbage

This time, I tossed most of the items in the crockpot and filled the pot with water, I didn't dice up the meats at first. I let everything cook for a while and when I saw the meats had cooked through, I chopped them up into manageable sizes. It took a long while for the navy beans to cook. 

This time it turned out much better because: 

1. The quantity of ingredients was approximately half the amount as before so it didn't over stuff my crockpot. 
2. It wasn't as oily since there was less fat
3. It wasn't overcooked because of having such a huge pot. Therefore, each ingredient's structural integrity was maintained. 

My next try will be to make this a vegetarian recipe. I found this recipe: http://globaltableadventure.com/recipe/peasants-cachupa-cachupa-pobre-vegan/ that looks pretty close to what I want to do. 

Experimentation: Vanilla Extract

I have been thinking about making my own vanilla extract ever since I saw on Claire Saffitz makes her own with random clear alcohols. 

Since I am allergic to vodka, I would like to make mine from white rum. 

I have a post from earlier considering Tahitian vanilla. I think I will use this bean to create the extract. Ideally, I would like to make this as a gift for people since the quantity of beans I need to purchase will make more than I can probably use for a long time. I don't use a lot.

I also like the idea of making this from gin, however, I'm concerned that gin's juniper berries would alter the flavor too much. 

YouTube video reference: 

• SuburbanHomesteaderWY: Making the best Vanilla Extract you have ever tasted. 

I will update you as I accumulate ingredients. 

Update: 9/14/2020

I was able to procure some Grade A Tahitian Vanilla via Amazon.com. And have commenced with the making of the Vanilla Extract. I read and heard that it should be soaked/steeped/brewed? for a couple months before you begin to use it. One video I saw suggested waiting 6 months. I don't know if I'll wait that long! 

Trying new recipes: Cachupa - a dish from Cape Verde

I am learning Portuguese. This means I come in contact with a wide variety of people. One friend of mine recently mentioned not being able to get Cachupa due to the quarantine. I never heard of it and told her I would learn to make it. After hours of research, I think I have a recipe that I can make. I'm using most of the ingredient list from a recipe suggestion from this friend, but also making a few substitutions. 

The recipe comes from: https://afrotourism.com/travelogue/recipe-wednesday-cachupa-celebrating-in-cape-verde/

Caveat: I'm cooking this with a crockpot. It is not traditional. However, I am too busy to be babysitting food on the stove. 

Here is what I am using for this recipe: 

Ingredients: 

2 cups of hominy corn (I could only get the broken pieces, I am sure this would be so much better with the whole corn)
1 cup large dry lima beans
1/2 cup dry stone beans (after my research I've determined any small white bean will do, so I'm using small navy beans)
1/4 cup dry red kidney beans
1 package of salt pork (skinned)
2 links of chorizo sausage (gluten free)
2 links of andouille sausage (gluten free)
1 small cabbage cut in quarters
1 acorn squash (peeled, seeded, and chopped into about 2 inch pieces)
I only have an elephant garlic head- so just one clove (It was so huge I sliced it with a mandoline!)
2 ripe tomatoes (I'm using roma tomatoes)

1 large onion (halved then I sliced it with a mandoline.)
2 bay leaves

1/2 c. olive oil (I eyeballed this)

The night before, I rinsed all my corn and beans and then soaked them overnight. I sauteed the sausages and pork. Then I sauteed the onions and tomatoes in the same pan to get "extra flavor". 

That morning, I threw nearly everything else in the pot (except the squash and cabbage) and let it cook in the crockpot on low for probably 6 hours, then I added the squash and let it cook for a few more hours. 

This was A LOT of food. The beans and corn expanded and was so full, the cabbage couldn't fit. I had to remove (ahem, eat) some of it first before I could add the cabbage. 

Photos: this was BEFORE I added the cabbage. 

Here is what the final result looked like:

Thoughts: 

I definitely would make it again. 

I also never had lima beans like this. I always had the green lima beans when I was a kid and hated them, but this, this was delicious.

Things I would change to make it better/healthier: 

1. Use more Chorizo - it wasn't spicy enough. I was afraid that the chorizo would be too spicy. But I was wrong.
2. Get rid of the Salt Pork, it was very oily. Bacon might be better, but I think just more sausage would be best. 
3. Use more salt and pepper. It was good as it was, but I think more salt and pepper would really help it along. 
4. Halve the recipe, it made so much food. And you can only eat one thing for so long before you can't eat it anymore. 
5. Add more squash, the squash kind of melted into the sauce, which made it more delicious but also I think that it would have been nice to bite into some of the squash. 

Shrimp Tacos

I haven't had shrimp tacos in a long time. I had plans for this shrimp for something else, but tacos sounded better today.

I used this recipe loosely (mostly cuz I didn't have all the ingredients): https://www.delish.com/cooking/a21271308/cilantro-lime-shrimp-tacos-recipe/

Taco ingredients 

(I eyeballed everything, cuz who has time for measuring?)

• 1/2 cup of lime juice
• a few sprinkles of dried cilantro (At my house, the fresh never gets used before it goes bad...)
• 1/3 of an elephant garlic clove (Those jokers are huge, I ordered regular garlic for my delivery, but all they had was this kind. Need proof of its enormity? Click here: Wiki for Elephant Garlic)
• 1/2 tsp.  cumin 
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• Kosher salt 
• 12 oz. shrimp, peeled and deveined (mine was frozen and had shells on)
• 6 tortillas

Slaw (aka dressed cabbage)

• Couple of large leafs from a green cabbage - sliced thinly
• Some lime juice
• 1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• A dash of Brianna's Cilantro Lime Dressing (TOTAL COINCIDENCE that their current advertisement on this page was shrimp tacos. Wow...)
• Kosher salt

Used Sriracha instead of the lime/mayo in the recipe. (I figured I kind of already added it to the slaw.) 

Procedure: 

1. Thaw the shrimp. So, on the bag of the shrimp it says you can run cold water over it for like 8 minutes to thaw it. So, I did that and then shelled them. They were already deveined. 
• If you never deveined a shrimp before check this video out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOTMQ2oXdLE
2. Marinated the shrimp. (Everything but the tortillas, threw it into a bowl tossed it haphazardly around and then went away to do something else.) Be careful not to leave it too long or the marinade will literally cook the shrimp. I left mine in there a bit long and my shrimp was already turning pink.
3. Cooked the shrimp. I don't own a grill, so I cooked it on the stove top but bonus, I also threw in the juice of the marinade so that was delicious. Place in a vessel with the marinade until ready to serve. The warmed marinade will help keep the shrimp warm also.
4. Make the slaw. Clearly, I had almost nothing to make the slaw with. Thought I had onions, but nope. So, I washed and sliced thinly the cabbage leafs and tossed it in the slaw. I'm not normally a slaw person. But this turned out creamy and delicious. 9/10. (If I had onions, it would have been 10/10.)
5. Warm up the tortillas and then assemble your taco.

It was delicious. 9/10 would make again.

None of the links in this post are affiliate links. 

Underrated foods: the Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Sandwich

Everyone sings the praises of bacon. As rightly, they should. It is delicious. 

Sometimes though, you kind of want a salad to go along with your bacon. So what's a person to do? Make a sandwich. 

I feel like a BLT is underrated because of its simplicity. It isn't talked about much because of how easy it is to make. But think about it, it is one of the cheapest sandwiches that has vegetables, protein and grains. 

How do you make your bacon? I like to cook mine in the oven if I can. Just at 400 for about 15 minutes. I like mine extra crispy. 

So for my traditional sandwich:

Bread (white is traditional, but whatever is on hand is fine)

2-3 Slices of Crispy Bacon (get outta here with the soft bacon)

Tomato, sliced (heirloom is fantastic)

Lettuce (green leave or Romain preferred, never iceberg)

Mayonnaise (miracle whip preferred)

Sometimes, just sometimes, I'll get fancy with it and put a little mustard or some seasoning on the mayonnaise before assembling the sandwich. 

Trying New Recipes: Southern Skillet Black-Eyed Peas with Quick Buttery Biscuits

So, during this quarantine Zoom has become pretty popular. I was thinking of an activity that might be really fun to do with friends. One is to cook together. So what I did was purchase this vegan cook book from Chloe Coscarelli for myself and a family member. It is Chloe's Kitchen: 125 Easy, Delicious Recipes for Making the Food You Love the Vegan Way. I watched Chloe on cupcake wars and knew if she could beat out typical cupcake makers with her vegan versions, she must be a good chef. 

Since the recipes are copyrighted, I will not be posting the recipe directly on this page. However, I will document my journey of it. 

The spices in this is surprisingly close to the kitchari I just made the other day. With a few exceptions. (Such as soy sauce and sugar.) So I was intrigued because to be honest I didn't really read the recipe until I began to make it. With exception of buying the main ingredients.

I did my best to follow the recipe exactly. And it ended up turning out to taste kind of like sloppy joe sauce on cauliflower and beans. But that was delicious! 

The biscuits in the recipe were fairly standard except I've never seen so much baking soda in a recipe for about 9 biscuits. 

I liked the flavor profile so much I made it the next day with some kitchari that needed to be recovered. And it was equally delicious.

No photos because it was too delicious. Sorry maybe next time. 

Trying new recipes: Kitchiri with Chapati

I love making Mujadara. So a 2 am decision for me was to make this dish with whatever I had on hand. 

I got the book What to Eat When You Can't Eat Anything by Chupi and Luke Sweetnam a long time ago. Nine years ago to be exact. However, I never really tried any of the recipes. I do this a lot with various recipe books. I love to read them like novels. 

When it comes to looking for a recipe, I don't look in the cookbooks I have, I look online. So, this is a two part effort on my part to (1) catalog all the recipes I've tried in my collection and (2) document my experimentation that I have with them. As the book is copyrighted, I am only going to link to the book and write down the things I did that I substituted and the results.

I doubled the recipe because I was making it in the rice cooker and had a lb of lentils. This as you will see, was a mistake....

Step 1: Prepare the Ingredients

Kitchiri: (Page 108)

So, this recipe I had most of it- the tumeric, cumin, cardamom, fennel seed (I know right, who has that?!), salt, pepper,  and bay leaves. 

I didn't have black mustard or coriander. I looked online and it said that you could substitute coriander with more cumin and the black mustard with more tumeric. So I did. 

I placed everything in a container.

I also chopped one large onion and stored it in the fridge. 

I had 1 lb of lentils so I used 3 cups of brown rice. I rinsed both and let drip dry over night. 

Chapati: (Page 160)

For this, the recipe is so simple, I decided to use up my ground oats for half of the flour. 

I mixed it together, divided it and placed it in the fridge for later.

Step 2: Cooking

Kitchiri:

I added all the ingredients to my rice cooker with enough water to cover it about an inch. And set it to the "whole grain" setting of my rice cooker. I use a Hamilton Beach rice cooker. 

It looked a little dry to me when I checked on it nearing the end of cooking so I added more liquid.

Chapati:

I rolled this out between some plastic wrap (as suggested in the recipe). This allowed me to get it pretty thin. It turned out to be a pretty good little bread. On it's own it is lacking some seasoning. The fact that the main dish it is accompanying is fairly spiced, that's a good thing. 

I found that it cooked better the thinner I made it and also let it cook on low in the pan. 

Step 3: Results

I tried eating the Kitchiri and it was pretty bitter and very dry. I couldn't figure it out what went wrong since this was pretty successful cooking method for Mujadara. So I posted it on a local recipe group I'm in and got many suggestions. I also looked up some YouTube videos on how to make it to see where I had gone wrong. (Besides not actually following the recipe.) Here is what I identified: 

1. It needs more moisture. This dish is more of a soup/porridge. The consistency was too dry meaning there was not enough liquid. Based on the cooking method, doubling this was a mistake since there was no possible way to put more liquid in the rice cooker. 
2. It is missing important ingredients. The spices I lacked actually were some of the most important spices to complete the dish. 

I separated the amount of food into about 12 portions. The original recipe says that one recipe makes 4 servings. 

Suggestions I received to fix the dish: (highlighted ones I used or combined with other suggestions)

• Add more salt
• Add ghee/butter/oil
• Add more tomatoes/tomato sauce
• Add lime juice (or other acid) and some salt
• Add some hot peppers (thai chili peppers were suggested)
• Add a little sugar
• Add dry mustard/mustard
• Add add yogurt/garlic yogurt sauce (greek yogurt + garlic + salt and pepper)
• Make fried rice out of it (adding additional vegetables to it)
• Add coriander (or sub for celery salt)
• Fry some onions, tomato and add chicken bouillon or chicken broth

Experiment 1:

• I took one serving and added: 
• Tomato soup (one can and one can of water) (for moisture and balance flavoring)
• A dash of yellow mustard (to attempt to make it more like the original recipe)
• A little white vinegar (to help balance the flavors)
• I cooked this for a while until the grains opened and the liquid reduced. This tasted phenomenal! 

Experiment 2: 

• I added: 
• Water and Chicken broth (I let it cook down twice) (for moisture and added flavor)
• A dash of yellow mustard
• A few dashes of coriander (I bought some)
• A dash of cayenne
• A splash of lemon juice
• Salt and Pepper
• Dried Parsley
• Butter
• I cooked this for a while until the grains opened and the water reduced. This tasted much more traditional and I really enjoyed it. With this one, I made the garlic yogurt sauce and used it to dip the Chapati in while enjoying this one. (Sorry, no photos of the Chapati.)

Experiment 3: 

• I added: 
• Water and Chicken broth
• A dash of yellow mustard
• A few dashes of coriander
• A splash of vinegar
• Salt and Pepper
• Butter
• An 8 oz can of green chilies (New Mexican Hatch chilies)
• I cooked this until the grains opened and liquid reduced. This was good, but not as good as experiment 2. Somehow I think the green chilies threw off the spices.

I plan to try and use it as a fried rice concoction and also I know of a recipe where they use tomato sauce to poach eggs in, so I thought that would also be a cool experiment. If I end up trying either of these, I will update this post. 

YouTube Video References: 

• The Tadka Project: How To Make Kitchari
• Simnett Nutrition: Kitchari

Secondary recipe Reference: (I looked at a few of them, but this was one I could remember reading)

• Kitchari - The Ayurvedic Institute

Note: I do not make any money of any of the links in this post. I don't know how to do that yet.

Product Reviews: Protein Powders

I've been toying with the idea that a protein powder drink for breakfast would be the easiest way for me to get a good breakfast in. I am often in a rush and don't have a lot of time for breakfast and this is easy for me. When I do get in the protein shakes, I feel better and often do lose a little weight just from this change up. So being allergic to dairy and avoiding all things soy, I've been trying different powders. Here are a few reviews (in order of date of purchase):

Nature's Way Alive! PEA Protein Shake (Vanilla):
http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Way-Alive-Protein-Vanilla/dp/B000OP5ZHE/ref=cm_cr-mr-title
This protein powder was grainy and left everything to be desired when it came to taste. Whoever thought Peas and vanilla went together should get their head examined. This stuff turned my stomach to smell it, but since I was trying to be a good sport, I still tried to make various shakes and it was awful each time. The only thing that it kind of tasted better or even kind of palatable was when I tried to adjust it to make it a savory drink. I've commented on Amazon's website with my exact recipes. One great thing though is that the company has great customer service. I called and let them know what a bad experience I had and asked them if I can get a different product and they sent me daily vitamins that have similar benefits. I am loving the vitamins.


Peaceful Planet Organic Inca Meal Sprouted Rice Protein(Peruvian Vanilla):
http://www.amazon.com/Inca-Meal-12-6-oz-Powder/dp/B003LAQXAM/ref=cm_cr-mr-title
This one has a good texture as far as protein powders go. It has a good but very distinct flavor because there are other ingredients in it to make it a complete meal. It is sweetened with stevia for those concerned about artificial sweeteners. This powder is very thick (on account of the chia seeds I believe) and gets thicker the longer it has been mixed, so you want to drink it immediately after making it.

MLO Vegan Brown Rice Protein Powder:
http://www.amazon.com/Rice-Protein-High-Fiber-24oz/dp/B000GX86BQ
This is terribly grainy.The flavor is neutral, and of course tastes like rice. I have a whole canister, so I am going to figure out what to do with it. Pancakes did NOT work. I am glad it is non-dairy, but it is not very palatable.

Sunwarrior Raw Vegan Protein Rice Powder (Vanilla):
http://www.amazon.com/Warrior-Protein-Powder-Vanilla-Flavor/dp/B0039DAUKA/ref=sr_1_2?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1337707180&sr=1-2
This powder is grainier than Peaceful Planet, but is much smoother than MLO. So it is tolerable, as long as you know you are drinking protein powder. The flavor is good too. I tried it in a fruit smoothie without sugar to see if the stevia would sweeten it enough and it sure did. If you do not like very sweet powders, I would avoid this one. I like this one and am seriously considering buying this product. (I e-mailed the company and requested samples to try since Sunwarrior is crazy expensive.)

Soups and sides: Non-dairy creamy Tomato Soup

2 tablespoons of coconut oil
3 carrots
4 celery stalks
4 cloves of garlic
2 small onions
2 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock if vegan)
2 cans (about 28 oz each) crushed tomatoes
Salt and Pepper
a few basil leaves

Dice carrots, celery, onions and garlic. In a pot melt coconut oil (you can use any type of oil you prefer), add your diced vegetables and cook until onions are translucent, careful not to burn. Add your chicken stock and tomatoes and a little water (to your preference). Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook on low simmer until carrots are cooked through. Blend about 75% in blender until smooth. Serve with basil on top.

We paired this soup with the traditional grilled cheese sandwich. My husband with his Colby and white sharp cheddar and me with my daiya cheese, mozzarella flavored. We both thoroughly enjoyed our food.

Girls Night Dinner Party

So, I wanted to have a few friends over, so here are the recipes we used- these are not originally mine, but I have tweaked them. Everything got good reviews from everyone. :) The hamburgers were much better than I expected- a tomatoe slice on the bun w/ a little mustard and ketchup was all it needed!

(Sorry no photos today.)

Meatloaf Hamburgers
24 oz Ground Beef
4 slices of Wholewheat Bread (tossed in the food processor to make fine breadcrumbs)
1 Egg
1/4 Green Pepper (diced into small peices)
1 small Onion (finely chopped, I used a food processor)
3 cloves of Garlic(finely chopped)
Salt and Pepper
A dash of Ground Red Pepper
A few dashes of dried Basil and Oregano

Mix together and form patties of about 5 oz each. (Makes approx 7 patties)
Cook as you would your normal Hamburgers.

Savory Mashed Acorn Squash

1 Acorn Squash
Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder to taste

Oil pan and slice squash in half oil squash on both sides.  Bake at 450 for 60 minutes cut side down. Take out and let cool for a few minutes, take out flesh and mash it and add spices to taste. If it is watery, cook it down in a sauce pan.

Chipotle Coleslaw
1 bag of Coleslaw mix
about 1/2 cup mayo
1/2 of juice of lemon
couple dashes of chipolte hot sauce
about 1 tsp brown mustard
pinch of sugar

Mix up all but the coleslaw mix well in the bottom of a bowl, add vegetables. This recipe is especially delicious with roasted pecans chopped up and added.

Mimosas
1 part orange juice
1 part sweet spumante italian sparkling wine
Grenadine

Mix wine and juice and place in wine glass drop a little grenadine in the glass after it has poured. This will make the drink two toned and add a little more flavor. (For our girl's night, we also used wine charms to tell our glasses apart.)


Well, now I guess I should do the dishes...

Product Review: Organic Nectars Cashewtopia non-dairy frozen dessert

So I'm at my local grocery store- and I see this non-dairy dessert on sale for half price. I couldn't resist. As stated before, my very favorite is coconut based non-dairy desserts. Though after discovering I am allergic to coconuts, I was again in search for a good frozen dessert.
This is a decent frozen dessert. I'd give it 4 stars. Not 5, because it's texture leaves a little to be desired. But the flavor! It's so delicious! I would never call this gelato. (On the container it calls itself "vanilla raw agave gelato.") To me gelato is this extremely decadent and creamy frozen delight. While this is very delicious, it does not fit that description. If this continues to be on sale, I will buy it again. However, at the prices they wish to charge for a raw, organic, soy-free, dairy-free, gluten-free item... It might just have to stay on the shelf.

http://www.organicnectars.com/products.html#

Product Review: Amande cultured almondmilk

Yogurt! I love yogurt. And this is finally non-dairy yogurt that tastes like yogurt! I am in love with this yogurt. It's simple but delicious. I've tried soy yogurt and coconut yogurts and they tend to be grainy and lack a certain something I just can't pin down. But this almond yogurt made by Amande is great. It has a good texture, a slight tanginess that yogurts are supposed to have, and just enough sweetness.The only caveat is that it can be a little watery- but I've experienced this with regular dairy milk yogurts. I'm giving this yogurt a 5 star rating. Normally I say that the best thing is that I can have it- well, that's just not true- the best thing is it tastes delicious! So far I've only tried the vanilla- but I can't wait to try the other flavors!
http://amandeyogurt.com/

This is dairy free, soy free, gluten free, and sweetened w/ fruit juices.

Have a great day all!

Soups and Sides: Pressure Cooked Split Pea soup with Beer Bread

1 lb dried split peas
about 8 cups water
2 pork chop loins (cubed)*
1 onion (diced)
1 potato (cubed)
2 carrots (chopped)
3 cloves of garlic (chopped)
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp lapsang souchong tea
Salt and pepper (to taste)

Fill Pressure cooker with all ingredients. Make sure the pot is no more than half full. Place pressure cooker lid on pot and lock in place, also place the weight/rocker on top. Bring to high pressure and cook for 30 minutes.  Let cool a few minutes- it will thicken up.

*For more flavor, cook up in a pan prior to putting into your pressure cooker.

Simple Beer Bread:
3 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar*
1 12 ounce bottle beer (I used Kirin Ichiban Wheat beer)
a pinch of salt
Heat oven to 375* Mix all ingredients well, place into bread pan, Bake for 45 or so.

*I recommend reducing the sugar content- as this bread is very sweet. I got this recipe in the comments of this http://www.farmgirlfare.com/2005/11/beyond-easy-beer-bread.html blog. I think the blogger's recipe would be delightful.


(I will be tweaking this recipe to see what happens. I really liked how this turned out but I can tell there is room for improvements. I may even try to make a gluten-free bread to eat with the soup, I haven't decided yet.)

Spices: Tahitian Vanilla

If you are like me, you thought there was only one variety of vanilla, you know, the kind they make the extract from and that was basically it. Well, my friend, we were very wrong. There are a million kinds of vanilla! (Well, million is a bit much, but there is a lot! just look at this website: http://www.beanilla.com/vanilla-beans-c-1.html)

The normal everyday vanilla we use is typically Madagascar vanilla. Well, in research for a special recipe(more on this once he perfects it), my husband ran across this ingredient- Tahitian Vanilla. We ordered some to see what the difference was. It is definitely more smokey than Madagscar Vanilla, the vanilla is more delicate and the scent is a bit floral. It's good with sweet things, but because of the smokiness, it is also good with meats and savory dishes. Now a word of caution- a little goes a LONG way so don't use too much of it. We have been grinding the whole pod- which is really great for that smokey flavor, if you don't want that much of it, you could just take the seeds out and use those. This stuff is extremely fragrant, it fills the room for hours after we've ground it. All in all, it's a nice spice to add to your pantry. Something that comes in handy if you are looking for a little variety in your food. I hope you enjoy it as much as we are!

Breads: French Toast with Strawberry Lemon Syrup and Tahitian Vanilla Powdered Sugar

This morning we wanted some french toast- but we couldn't just have normal french toast, we had to jazz it up a little. This is a fun collaboration, I made the french toast, and my husband made the toppings. P.S. We eyeballed most of this.

French Toast Recipe: 

about 7 pieces of whole wheat bread (or however much takes up your batter)

about 3 Egg whites

2 Eggs

a splash of vanilla

a few sprinkles of cinnamon

1/8-1/4 cup Buttermilk

1/8-1/4 cup Almond Milk (Equal to Buttermilk)

Mix all ingredient except bread. Heat up a pan medium heat, oil or butter the pan. Dip bread each side and then cook in pan on both sides. You could easily substitute any kind of milk you would like. Also, if you don't want to use egg whites, you can use another egg in place of it.

Strawberry Lemon Syrup: 

1 cup (approx) Frozen or Fresh Strawberries

2-3 tablespoons water

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp balsamic vinegar

half of lemon zest (to taste)

Place water, sugar, vanilla, and balsamic vinegar in pan and reduce until syrup consistency. Turn the pan off and add lemon zest and strawberries. The heat from the syrup will cook the strawberries. 

Tahitian Vanilla Powdered Sugar:

1/2 a vanilla bean (we used Tahitian but it would be equally good with Madagascar vanilla)

White Sugar

Grind up vanilla bean, pod and all, and add sugar into the spice grinder. If you don't have a spice Grinder, you can use confectioners(powdered) sugar with just the seeds from the bean, give it a good whisk and let it sit for a few minutes.

Product Review: Follow Your Heart Mozzarella Vegan Gourmet Cheese Alternative

First off, can you tell it's my day off??? lol!
In general, I do not eat soy. That is to say I don't avoid it either. So if there is soy in a normal product I would probably eat it (such as chocolate...). I just believe since we eat enough of it in our everyday foods there's no need to seek it out as a food source. Until, that is of course, about one month ago I found out that the favorite vegan cheese, that tastes like and melts like cheese, I was eating at my new favorite pizza restaurant(http://brixxpizza.com/home) was soy-based. Oh and, by the way, they also carry gluten free crusts.
There is another cheese that is very awesome that is not soy-based: Daiya Cheese I might possibly do a Product Review of that cheese as well.
Well, out of the package, it is very soft. It easily shreds and is a very similar to mozzarella in consistency. Tasting it before melting is kind of like mozzarella but a little bit powdery tasting. From many times experience on pizzas and other items melted it is very delicious and is the best non-dairy cheese I've had out there. Many times they end up tasting like powder or some weird flavor. This is the best one cause there is not really an aftertaste, and it really does taste and feel like mozzarella when you eat it.
I give this a 5 out of 5 and now that I've found it in the grocery store, I am most definitely going to make things like Mac and Cheese, Lasagna, and other various items I haven't been able to have.
Yay me!
Have a great day all!
http://brixxpizza.com/wp-content/uploads/Vegan-Cheese.pdf

Soups & Sides: Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Recently I've renewed my love of the Sweet Potato. I really wanted to find something I could top with my new found amazing whipped cream. The salt really sets off the flavors of the spices. So delicious! Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

3 small sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped up

A little water and a splash of your choice of milk

A dash of cloves, cinnamon, and ginger

1 tablespoon or so of butter or margarine

Approx 1 teaspoon of honey

A pinch of kosher salt

Whipped topping

Instructions:

Either boil in a pot or put in a large bowl and microwave with water and milk for 8 minutes or until soft. Mash to smithereens. Add butter. You can spice here, or if you want a smoother texture place in food processor or blender and blend. (I did this.) Add honey and spices to taste. Enjoy!

Soups & Sides: Thai Curry Pumpkin Soup

This is a very delicious recipe. Infact, I made this more than 2 years ago and I cannot believe I haven't posted this photo and recipe. It's actually making me crave it just looking at the soup. YUM! This recipe is an adaptation to several recipes that I combined to get the ideal flavor.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter/margarine

1 tbsp finely chopped lemon-grass

3 cloves of garlic chopped

1 onion

1 granny smith apple (cored and peeled)

48 oz of cooked of pumpkin

12 oz of coconut milk

8 to 10 oz of chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon of red Thai curry paste

Instructions:

Put oil and butter to melt, cook garlic, lemon-grass, onion, and apple until all are translucent, add chicken broth, be careful not to burn vegetables. Add coconut milk and pumpkin. Cook covered for about 20 minutes (can be more if you need). Let cool a few minutes and then place in blender and blend all of the soup (it will take more than one go to blend it all). Place back in pan or in new bowl and add the curry paste. Stir. For a thicker soup, decrease the chicken broth, for a thinner soup increase it. For a vegan soup, substitute vegetable broth. For a less spicy soup, you can add yellow curry paste OR less red curry paste. Enjoy!

Product Review: Healthy Top from Mimiccreme

First off, I LOVE Mimiccreme. So, I might be a little biased. It is a great cream substitute for coffee and making frozen things. Several months ago I e-mailed the company with a question, and they personally called me and when I asked them about possibly having a whipped cream substitute, they told me they were working on it, but it wasn't ready yet. Well, it is now! So, when I saw in the grocery store that they made a whipped cream substitute, I HAD to try it.

This has Coconut oil, Almonds, Cashews, and Almond oil according to the website, among a few other ingredients. It is soy and dairy free, no casein(a milk protein) in sight which is GREAT cause even the "non-dairy" whipping creams have caseinate or casein in it.

Well, on to the review: The instructions say to let it sit in the fridge for a little while before whipping, as well as the typical whipped cream instructions of chilling the bowl and beaters. Which I did. It is not a resealable container so you will need to either find a storage container for any you did not use OR put your whipped cream in a container to keep for later. If you do choose to whip the entire container, use a LARGE bowl. I used one that was just adequate and I'm going to have to clean the floor, walls, and cabinet doors because of the mess it created. It doubled in size after a few minutes of whipping. Please note this is presweetened. This would make an excellent frosting for a cake, but it's not too sweet. If you would prefer to make this a little less sweet, you might be able to add some more coconut oil, though I'm not sure what that would do to it. It's delicious! The flavor is very good- it taste like almond flavored whipped cream.

I'm going to give this a 5 out of 5 stars because it is a perfect replacement for whipped cream. Sweet but not too sweet and not fake sweet. It's creamy but not oily. It whips up and stays whipped for quite some time. Below are some photos of the whipped cream afterwards and a link to the official website.

Hope you have a great day and enjoy your own food adventures!

http://www.mimiccreme.com/healthy.html

Breads: Pretzels

As a promise in a contest at work, I agreed to make a treat for everyone at my job. It was a close tie between Pretzels and Banana nut bread. Well, the Pretzels won out. Much to my delight! I've been meaning to make these in a while. These are my first attempt in a while and I am so pleased! I've made two recipes this is one:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/homemade-soft-pretzels-recipe/index.html

And the other is: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/almost-famous-soft-pretzels-recipe/index.html (These did not turn out NEARLY as well as the Alton Brown recipe.)

OH, I should note that I substituted coconut oil for the butter in both recipes, mostly because I didn't have enough butter to be using like that.

Well, I hope you enjoy your baking adventures, and I am thinking about making some more of these delicious pretzels!