While the Dogs are Away, the Cats will Play!: recipe

Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts

Sunday, December 29, 2013

0061 -- xmas recap

X-mas has come and gone and what a nice one we had! It was one of many firsts-- our first married, our first without our families, our first in Portland, our first with the CatCamp. The day started with the CatCamp all waking up and exchanging gifts and having coffee. Marp and Stephen had some family stuff to do so off they went and we had some cinnamon rolls followed by a walk since it was sunny!

I love our street!

We got some really stuff from our friends all around!

Spoke to the fam back south!

Our orange glazed cinnamon rolls, nom!

Mom Cat sent us a tree since we can't have a normal one because Larry will eat it...

Had to play a few rounds of Boggle!

Most of the rest of our day after our walk was spent in the kitchen making X-mas dinner. A peking duck that Marp and I had made the brine for the day before, home made maple butter, lavender cookies, wreath cookies, roasted veggies...

I made a new cocktail that was crazy yummy! Just rose lemonade (you could make your own by mixing lemonade with rose syrup), a few shots of vodka, and just a dash of rose water liquor! Yum!

Sorry for all those who don't eat meat, but this bird was crazy yummy!

Roasted butternut squash, roasted carrots and broccoli with peanut sauce, veggie stuffing, and duck!

After dinner Marp and Stephen headed out to get their puppies and we headed over to Lyndsay and Wesley's for a little X-mas dessert! Their daughter Phelyn and I are just becoming the best of friends! <3 aly="" an="" auntie="" being="" love="" p="">

My folks are in town and work has needed tending to so I appologize for being absent!
Update again soon!!

xxo

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

0058 -- wreath treats

Jordan and I had some last minute running around to do this morning including a stop at the grocery store. Since the holidays are here and that means treats galore we decided to grab the ingredients for holiday corn flake wreaths!! Super easy and sure to bring a little cheer!!

4 cups mini marshmallows

1/3 cup butter

1 teaspoon green food coloring

6 cups corn flakes

some cinnamon dot candies

Melt butter on low heat in a stock pot. Add in marshmallows and allow to fully melt. Fold in food coloring. Once fully combined stir in corn flakes.

We wore gloves since we didn't want green fingers and sprayed them with a bit of oil and then formed little mounds on wax paper. Top off with the cinnamon dots and you're done!

Of course you could put any topping on these so we did some nightmare before christmas, Zelda, and plain chocolate sprinkles too!

Update again soon!

xxo

Thursday, December 5, 2013

0054 -- back to reality

It's back to reality for me lately. I've started working again and my days are filled back behind a huge computer screen editing files and preparing things for print...oh the life of a designer! Other than work and learning to wake up when it's dark and be functioning, we've finally found a hot yoga studio we like! We've only gone to one class but are heading to a different flow class tonight!

The holidays are coming up quick and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with what in the world to do for gifts this year. Jordan and I agreed that it will be a thrifting/vintage/DIY x-mas this year. I've been looking for all kinds of ideas...are you doing anything fun for x-mas gifts this year?

As in my last post I said I would share the recipes for our Vegan Apple Pie and our Vegan Mexican Wedding Cookies, so here you go:

Apple Pie with Granola Dutch Topping:
Pie crust of your choice (we just make a really simple one) 2 ½ lbs assorted apples, peeled and cored Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cut apples into 1/4 inch slice. In a large bowl toss the apples with lemon juice, sugar, and spices. Pour the apple mixture into the crust.
For the crumble combine all ingredients into a bowl and press together with fingers until large chunks form. Sprinkle crumble on top of pie. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes or until the crust turns golden brown. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Vegan Mexican Wedding Cookies (also known as Russian Tea Cookies):
1 c Earth Balance (or vegan butter substitute)
2 c powder sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 c flour
1 c coarsely chopped nuts (I used almonds, but walnuts and pecans are super yummy too)

Beat butter butter until fluffy, add 1/2 cup powder sugar and the vanilla. Beat until well blended. Add in flour and then nuts and combine. Divide dough into two balls and wrap with plastic wrap. Allow to cook for about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With the chilled dough roll balls (we did smaller bite size ones but you could do up to two tablespoon size balls) onto baking sheet. Bake 11-15 minutes until the balls are golden brown on the bottom and just lightly changing on top. Roll the warmed cookies in the remaining powder sugar and allow to cool on a wire rack! Voila!

Friday, November 8, 2013

0046 -- vegan pesto thai wraps

Two nights ago we went out for vegan pizza that really knocked off our socks off, but we found it to be so rich that dinner last night needed to be simple, fresh, and filled with veggies.

Jordan and I became obsessed with these Vietnamese spring roll wrappers while living in LA.

They're a bit of a pain to build (soak in water, fill with veggies, and then try and wrap/roll it up before the wrapper sticks to itself), but so worth it and a great vehicle for veggies!

We decided to change these up by putting a cashew pesto in them that was a really nice contrast to the peanut dipping sauce.

For the filling:

1/2 red bell pepper, cut in slivers

1/3 English cucumber, de-seeded and cut in strips

Handful fresh spinach

1/4 c shaved or finely diced red onion

1 juillened carrot

1 avocado, sliced

1/3 c cooked and cooled quinoa

I used a mandolin to cut my veggies, but a regular knife works just fine as well!

Peanut Dipping Sauce:

3 T peanut butter

1 T coconut oil

1/4 teaspoon fresh or ground ginger

1 T rice vinegar

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

Salt & pepper

Sprinkle of red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper

1 cove garlic, minced

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir well.

This sauce could easily be made thinner with a bit more oil or water and would be great on a Thai salad!

Cashew Pesto:

1/3 c cashews (you can use any nuts you have around the house or even try pepitas)

1/4 nutritional yeast

1 1/2 c basil

3 cloves garlic

Salt & pepper

1/4-1/3 c olive oil

Squeeze of lemon juice

Combine all ingredients into processor or blender and pulse until desired smoothness is achieved. Adding more or less oil will aide in the thickness and texture.

Saves for a week in the fridge and a month frozen.

I literally just throw all the veggies into the soaks wrappers and prolly up as fast as possible. You can add more or less to your tastes. Enjoy!

Thursday, November 7, 2013

0045 -- lavender (lemon) cake

my husband went on a man date last night so i had the house to myself. i indulged in a killer salad, watching my favorite bad tv shows, and made the yummiest lavender loaf!! the recipe called for lemon but i didn't have any around the house and i wasn't feeling up for hitting the store. as well, i was going to make this vegan since we've been finding that it actually tastes better, but failed when i realized the only milk i had was half and half (i loathe milk and only had it for my morning coffees). either way, this cake was super delicious with all my substitutions!

lavender (lemon) cake: 1/2 cup coconut oil 1 cup organic sugar 1.5 cup flour 1/2 cup apple sauce 1/2 cup coconut milk (or any milk substitute) 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 tablespoon lemon zest (i omitted) juice of 1 large lemon (i omitted) 1 tablespoon dried lavender buds
cream coconut oil and sugar until fluffy. add apple sauce slowly until combined. in separate bowl whisk flour, salt, and baking soda. combine milk, lemon zest, and lemon juice together. alternating between flour and milk combine into sugar mixture. once combined add lavender buds and allow to fold in.

pour dough in greased bread pan and cook on 325 for 35-45 minutes or until a knife inserted in center come out clean. frost immediately after taking out oven.

lavender frosting: 1 cup powder sugar 1 teaspoon dried lavender 1/4 c coconut milk (or any milk substitute) 1 teaspoon lemon zest (i omitted this time) 1 tablespoon lemon juice (i omitted this time)
heat milk to low boil. remove from heat and add in dried lavender. allow to steep for 5 minutes. strain lavender from milk. whisk together powder sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and lavender milk until desired consistence is created.

adapted from here.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

0044 -- november

Well November is here and with it came some pretty big changes! We are all moved into the new house and slowly but surely getting it put together. I don't have many photos of the kitchen or the back of the house, but here's a fe others:

I'm looking avidly for jobs and in my spare time I find myself in the kitchen baking cookies. Well, the cookies have spawned from this home made apple sauce (it's amazing)! Anyhow, I thought I'd share these easy (and vegan) recipes!

Country Apple Sauce:

2 lbs cored, peeled, and sliced apples

1 cinnamon stick

2 tblspoon lemon juice

3/4 c water

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cardamom

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

In Dutch oven or heaven bottomed skillet combine water, apples, cinnamon stick, and lemon juice on med-high heat until boiling. Lower temp and simmer until apples are tender (7-15) minutes. Continue cooking uncovered until apples are mashable. Add in seasonings and allow to cook through.

Saves in fridge for 3 days. 1 week in freezer.

Molasses Vegan Cookies:
2 c flour
2 tea baking soda
2.5 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 c coconut oil
1/4 c veggie shortening (we use crisco as it has confirmed they use only vegan product in their shortening)
1 c brown sugar, packed
1/4 c apple sauce (we used the above, but you can use any)
1/4 c molasses
1 tblspoon orange zest/grated orange peel

Sift flour, spices, and baking soda together. In another bowl cream coconut oil, shortening, and brown sugar until fluffy. Add in apple sauce, molasses, and orange peel. Once combined slowly add in dry ingredients until just combined. Allow dough to refrigerate for a few hours or 1 hour in the freezer. In preheated 350 degree oven spoon 1 tablespoon balls of dough on cookie sheet and allow to cook 7-11 minutes until just slightly golden (they get dark quick so I would watch them that last 2 minutes).

Vegan Brown Sugar Cookies:
2/3 c coconut oil
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tblspoon water
1 2/3 c flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Cream butter and sugars. Add dry ingredients, water, and vanilla. Allow dough to refrigerate for a few hours or 1 hour in the freezer. In preheated 350 degree oven spoon 1 tablespoon balls of dough and allow to cook for 13 minutes!

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

0019 -- eating greek!

summer cooking is some of my favorite. i'm not sure if it's because the days are longer so i'm cooking (and usually eating) while it's still light out, or maybe it's because the produce selections are so lovely. either way we've been eating some really simple and really delicious food lately! i'm still on my crazy health kick, actually i don't think i should call it a kick since we don't think we'll ever go back to eating all the crazy calorie filled processed foods that we were once so tempted by.

one of our favorite ethnic foods lately has been greek. we cannot get enough of it! we used to be avid garden patch falafel buyers but recently when at the store we saw a "make your own" falafel balls. jordan of course was as giddy as a school boy so we tried it and man was it ever easy and so fun!
sadly i have no pictures of our actual process making them but i do have a photo of the outcome and the recipes! so enough chatter and enjoy!!

roasted garlic hummus:
2-15 oz. cans of chickpeas, drained & rinsed
1/3 cup tahini
1 lemon, juiced
1/3 cup water
3 T olive oil
1/4 t cumin
1/8 t black pepper
3/4 t salt
10 cloves roasted garlic (or 2 cloves fresh garlic)
combine ingredients in a food processor and plus until smooth. we add in our oil and water slowly as i find it help it mix better. this saves for about a week and half in an air tight container in the fridge! the thing we love about making our own hummus is you can really put anything you want into it, roasted garlic, sun dried tomato, peppers, cilantro, avocado...you get the idea!

tzatziki dip:
7 oz plain Greek yogurt
1/2 large English cucumber grated coarsely
1 tbsp minced fresh dill or mint
1 clove minced garlic
after cucumbers have been grated squeeze out as much extra water from them as possible. in a medium bowl add the rest of the ingredients to the cucumber. combine and stir. this will save for about a week in an air tight container in the fridge.
here's a photo of my falafel lettuce wrap complete with hummus, tzatziki, cucumber, avocado, and spinach!

Monday, June 17, 2013

0012 -- working it out

less than 90 days to the wedding so i'm in crunch time for my workouts, clearing up my skin, making sure my hair is somewhat healthy (although let's be honest, i've had 4 very drastic color changes in the last year so it's a bit beat up). last week i had a seriously menacing cold so unfortunately i worked out only twice, leaving me feeling like i have a ton of catching up to do.

i've been working out via FaceTime with my maid of honor and dearest friend, marissa. every day at 6:30 i get home change into my sweats and running shoes and we do something isometric routines to help keep up our bums and make sure our arms aren't wiggling when we wave. here are a few of our favorites (of course we add in some sumo squats, lunges, and planks too):

along with our 6 day a week workouts we've also been trying to drastically change our eating/drinking habits. instead of drinking 4 nights a week, we've curbed it to one or two and our food intake has changed from meat with most meals, to meat once or twice a week. it's been a bunch of big changes, especially for jordan but he's been a great sport about it all! i've always been a big salad fan, so i've been making this AWESOME mango dressing that reminds me of the one at native foods. i would strongly recommend it and it's good on everything from salads to quinoa!!

mango dressing (raw & vegan):
1 cup chopped fresh or frozen mango
1/2 cups safflower or sunflower oil (i used a nice olive oil that we have and didn't use the full 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup maple syrup (i used organic agave)
1/4 cup lime juice (i subbed for lemon since it's all we had)
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
blend in a small food processor or blender. extra dressing can be saved for few days too! enjoy!!

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

0002 -- mango pesto

these days i don't tend to cook as much as i did, although still find myself constantly perusing tastespotting for some super yummy recipes. i should take a minute and plug tastespotting since it's got to be the most visually stunning foodie site i've ever been on. as well, they have the best search feature options, just type in what you craving (say ginger carrots) and every recipe related will pop up, brilliant!

in our house we love making our own sauces and dips. most store bought condiments these days have too much sugar, sodium, or preservatives for our liking and why not do it fresh! last week we were craving pasta something fierce but it was too warm for just our usual red sauce so we agreed on pesto.

we've made pesto a few times now and it's always so good and keeps so well! this time we decided to switch it up and do something a little sweeter and more refreshing than our basic pesto and added in mango. talk about a game changer!! i would have never expected it to be so good and so addictive and really so simple to make!

Mango Pesto (adapted from Love & Lemons)
1.5 packed cups of fresh basil
2-3 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts
2/3 cup diced mango
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/3 cup olive oil
pinch of red pepper flakes (we used cayenne powder instead)
a good pinch of salt & pepper

we enjoyed it over veggie pasta, mozzarella balls, diced red onion, and some fresh avocado for dinner. it was so simple and took us maybe 15 minutes to throw it all together. since then we have used it as a dip for veggies and even just a spread on sandwiches!