I was in a Sweet and Spicy kinda mood!

March 24, 2013

Today…

I ran.

I bought groceries.

I gardened.

Today…

Although, I did all of the above, I will admit, I spent most of my day playing in my kitchen…

I was in a Sweet and Spicy kind of mood…

so I baked these…

These are homemade Ginger Cookies, from my favorite cookbook, Super Natural Every Day, by Heidi Swanson. If you have been following my blog, then this book will be familiar to you, for I have shared with you several of her recipes. She’s the best!

Sweet Tooth

Because I am an endurance athlete, I normally crave healthy fats and salty food. However, sometimes, I desperately desire something sweet – I am human.

Ginger and Cacao

Along with sweet, my all time favorite ingredient is ginger! I love, love, love ginger – can’t even express how much. Ginger also has many health benefits, including being an anti-inflammatory, and improving digestive health. Lately, I have been cooking with it quite a bit. So when I came across this recipe, I just had to try it. This recipe also includes Cacao, which is known for being rich with disease fighting antioxidants. I am a chocolate lover, so this was definitely a plus. I mean, if I am going to indulge in something sweet, I want to go all out, and have a pastry made from high quality ingredients. I also think everything taste better when you cook or bake it yourself. It is true, give it a try.

So here we go…

Ingredients

1/2 cup raw sugar
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate (70 percent cacao)
2 cups spelt flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons ground ginger
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
2/3 sugar
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
1 large egg beaten
1 cup dried apricots chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Shave chocolate into large bowl.

In another large bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, ground ginger, and salt.
Heat butter, molasses, sugar and fresh ginger in a pan on medium heat.
beat egg, mix into warm mixture in pan. Note: The yolk is very deep in color, because they are organic and from a local east coast farm. It makes a big difference in flavor.
Chop dried apricots.
Pour mixture from stove over flour mixture. Add apricots. Stir.
Stir in chocolate.
Scoop dough with a spoon and roll into little balls. I dipped every other dough ball into sugar. Place each dough ball onto parchment paper cookie sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool. Enjoy!

These Ginger Cookies definitely met all of my standards. They are made from all of the highest quality organic ingredients. They not only taste amazing because I made them from scratch myself, but they also made my whole house smell sweet and spicy.

So if you are in a sweet and spicy kinda mood… these are a must try!

What Sweet and Spicy combos are your favorite?

Black Bean Pasta

March 14, 2013

About two weeks ago, I was browsing the isles of MOM’s Organic Market, and I came across this…

Black Bean Spaghetti!

This pasta is amazing. It is gluten free, organic, and contain 20.5 grams of protein per serving. The ingredients listed are two things, organic black beans, and water – it is that simple.

For those that are clean eating or consuming a plant based diet, this pasta is an amazing protein option.

Pasta Toppings

Sometimes when trying a new pasta, one may question what to top it off with. Well tonight, I literally used whatever I had on hand.

Ingredients

onion
sweet potato
olive oil
carrots
mushrooms
cilantro
avocado
egg
2 tbsp of rice vinegar
1 tbsp of sesame oil
1.5 tbsp of shoyu
sea salt

This dish is salty, sweet, delicious. It is colorful too! A must try!

Vegan Strawberry Waffles

February 10, 2013

“That’s when I heard part of the secret. What we eat is a matter of life and death. Food is who we are.” – words of wisdom by Scott Jurek

Along with doing Jamie Eason’s, Livefit trainer, I am currently reading Eat and Run, by Scott Jurek. I have to get my run fix in somehow, and because Phase 1 of livefit bands running, I decide to read about ultrarunning.

Eat and Run, is about Scott Jurek’s life as a ultramarathon runner and his transition of becoming a vegan. This book is perfect for me because I too am a runner, who eats mostly a plant based diet. I am always challenging myself to cook as many vegan dishes as possible, and this book is full of amazing recipes.

I plan on trying every recipe in this book, and so far I have tried the Vegan Chili, and the Apple Cinnamon Granola. What I love most about his recipes is how full and satisfied you feel after eating them. When people think of vegan meals, most of the time they think it will be a light meal, lacking protein – but that doesn’t have to be the case. Scott Jurek doesn’t just proof that, but he out does himself with each new recipe I try.

Today, I attended my friend’s baby shower, which in our world, is translated into a vegan brunch. So I woke up early to prepare the food I was bringing. Normally I don’t plan ahead, but because others would be eating my food, I decided to test it first. So earlier this past week I whipped up a batch of Scott Jurek’s Vegan Strawberry Pancakes.

“Then one Sunday morning, after a 20 mile run… I served them my first batch of banana-strawberry vegan pancakes. They were golden brown and sweet dense, and hearty. The fruit flavors met on my tongue, then tangled together in a way fruit flavors had never done before. That is when I decided I could live without butter and eggs. ” – Scott Jurek

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup spelt flour
1/4 cup buckwheat flour (I didn’t have this one, so I just omitted it and added extra oat flour.)
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup oat flour. (I used a 1/2 a cup of oat flour to make up for the buckwheat flour I didn’t have.)
1/4 cup millet flour
1/4 cup rye flour
1/4 cup barley flour
1/4 cup corn meal (You can use either yellow corn or blue.)
1/4 ground flax seed or chai seed (I used flax seeds and ground them up in food processor.)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoons sea salt
2 cups of rice milk
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons agave nectar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
strawberries and bananas (I used fresh strawberries not bananas, but you can do any fruit you would like or add nuts.)
wheat germ (I added this, for additional nutrition.)
maple syrup for topping

DIRECTIONS

Combine flours, baking powder, salt, wheat germ, and ground seeds in a large mixing bowl.
Add rice milk, olive oil, agave nectar, and vanilla. Mix well.
Grease a skillet with coconut oil and heat for 3-5 minutes.
Pour 1/2 -3/4 cup of bater onto the skillet for each pancake.
Cook until golden brown and then flip.
Top with strawberry or maple syrup or both. I made strawberry topping by throwing a bunch of strawberries in a food processor.

I was beyond impressed with this batter, however for the baby shower, aka, the vegan brunch, I used the same batter recipe, but made waffles instead. The reason I went for the waffle over the pancake is simply because it looks prettier. I guess it is my artist side coming out, but no matter what I make or create it has to be visually beautiful. And although, Scott Jurek made pancakes, my pancakes always look sloppy, while my waffles always look perfect.

At the brunch everyone loved the waffles.

As for a brunch beverage, I juiced a bunch of minneolas. Minneolas is a fruit that is part of the citrus family. It is a mix between a grapefruit and tangerine. They are very juicy, so they make for a good fruit to juice. I bought them fresh and organic from MOM’s organic market. One of the employes there let me sample one, to make sure it was sweet and not sour. They ended up being very sweet and made a wonderful juice.

Both the batter and the juice are two recipes that you have to try.

Questions for You?

What is your favorite fruit juice?
Do you like pancakes or waffles better?

Granola… made from scratch!

January 14, 2013

Granola is a great addition to your breakfast greek yogurt. It is also a great snack item you can pick on through out the day. However, store bought granola can be very fattening and overloaded with sugar. So that is why I am suggesting you make your own. You become in complete control when you mix your own batch. You can also get very creative by using any spices and flavors you desire. For example, my cousin Shelly, mentioned using spices you would find in Chai Tea, in your granola.

In the last week, I randomly came across two different granola recipes in two different books I have been reading. It must be a sign, right? I thought to myself, I must try to make this. So I did, and it was super easy, satisfying, tasty.

This Granola recipe is from the book, Eat and Run, by Scott Jurek.

INGREDIENTS

rolled oats
hemp milk
coconut oil (to coat bottom of baking pan)
apple, cored and sliced
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup dried coconut flakes
2 tbsp of maple syrup or 1 tbsp of agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
sea salt
1/2 cup raw almonds, chopped
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
2/3 cup golden raisins
wheat germ (I added, not from original recipe)
flax seeds (I added, not from original recipe)

DIRECTIONS

Soak four cups of rolled oats in hemp milk over night. Make sure hemp milk is covering all of the oats. Hemp milk softens the oats, and adds a creamy sweetness. Hemp milk is also rich with omega 3 fatty acids.
After oats have soaked in hemp milk overnight. Drain excess milk, that wasn’t absorbed from oats.
Cut apples.
Add coconut flakes, apples, cinnamon, sweetener, vanilla, and salt to the oats.
Put mixture into food processor. Process for 30 seconds. Scrape sides and process for another 30 seconds, if necessary.
After processed, transfer to a mixing bowl. Add pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, almonds, raisins, and wheat germ.
Coat bottom of baking pan with coconut oil. Spread mixture to pan and bake for 2 hours in oven heated to 250 degrees. Check sporadically flipping granola ever so often to make it into crispy golden clusters.

Final Result

So there you have it! This recipe is really easy. And although, it took 2 hours to bake, it is well worth it because it makes your home smell like amazing apple cinnamon!

What is your favorite flavor of Granola!? Lets trade recipes!

Beans magically transformed into Vegan Chili

January 8, 2013

A couple Saturdays ago, I woke up to a gray sky and a light dusting of snow. Immediately, I felt like comfort food, but along with comfort food comes the butter, gravy, FAT. Finding something that would satisfy my craving for comfort, warm me up, but still be healthy, became my saturday mission.

My boyfriend had mentioned that Chili sounded really good, and that there was no need to run to the grocery store for ingredients. Among his stash of canned soup, canned fruit, and jarred spaghetti sauces, he had a gigantic can of chili waiting to be opened and warmed up in the microwave.

YUCK! Absolutely NOT! There is little to none, nutritional value in any canned goods. I don’t eat anything canned. Honestly, I don’t know why anyone would. Making soups and sauces are not only my favorite things to cook, but it is also one of the easiest things to cook.

So that snowy morning, I went to MOM’s Organic Market to pick up the ingredients I would need to make my homemade Chili.

I used the recipe Spicy Heirloom Been Chili from Rachael Tibbits as a reference. I did change it up a bit to put my own twist on things.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups of dried beans
salt
olive oil
3 yellow onions diced
1 green pepper
garlic cloves diced or minced
carrots
sweet potato
1 tbsp. chili powder
1 tbsp. cumin
1 tbsp. oregano
1 can crushed tomatoes 28 oz. (In this case, it is okay to use a can, but only here. Canned tomatoes are full of flavor.)
chipotle in adobo peppers, diced. (I used 2. But use as many as you would like. The more you use the more smoky hot your chili will be. Illuminate seeds to reduce spice.)
1 tbsp. of raw cocoa powder
lime
cilantro
harissa

DIRECTIONS: Vegan Chili

When it comes to dry beans, it is better to soak them over night. However, if you didn’t plan in advance, you can fill 2 cups of dry beans, whichever you like or have on hand, with 4 cups of water. Tip you can also use a dry bean soup mix.
Do not salt the beans. Bring that water to a boil and then simmer for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Try a few beans to make sure they are tender.
When beans are tender drain any extra water.
In a separate skillet, heat olive oil, saute onions, green pepper, and garlic over medium heat.

Add sweet potatoes and carrots to onions.

When tender and golden brown add these to the pot of beans.
Add chili powder, cumin, oregano.
Add 1 cup water.
Add tomatoes.
Add diced up chipotle in adobo.
Add cocoa.
Simmer for 1 hour.
Serve, topping the dish off with lime, cilantro, and harissa.

The finished result.

So my boyfriend refused to eat vegan chili so I had to make him a side of meat. This is how I added meat to his meal with out contaminating my vegan chili.

DIRECTIONS: A side of meat for the meat lover!

The ingredients for this was bought at the local grocery store, not an organic market.

Fry bacon over the stove in a large skillet. Once bacon is crispy remove from heat and set aside. Pat dry access oil.
In the same skillet, saute diced onions, green peppers, and garlic.
Add corn.
Add ground beef
Once everything is cooked add bacon in cut up pieces.

For your meat lover. Put meat mixture at the bottom of a bowl. Layer it with the Vegan Chili. Top off with cheese and sour cream.

BEANS I use to hate them…

It is funny how our taste buds change, or maybe, it is just our personalities maturing, but as a young adult I never cared much for beans. I never liked Chili. I never put beans in my burritos. When eating out at a Mexican restaurant, I always substituted my side of beans for an extra side of rice. However, now that I am eating mostly a plant based diet, I am exploring the wide variety of beans that are out there. And the more I branch out the more I am finding that I am not only enjoying them, but actually loving them.

Also beans are super nutritious. They are low in Saturated Fat, Sodium, and Cholesterol. They are a good source of Vitamin B6, Iron, Magnesium, and Potassium. They are rich in Protein and Fiber. They are also a mild inflammatory. Lean the difference nutritional value between canned beans vs. dried beans here.

As you may know, ever since I bought the cookbook Super Natural Every Day, I am now currently obsessed with recipes by Heidi Swanson. One of my favorite quotes of the book is…

“I like to get to know each individual type of bean, and when I’m trying a new one, I prepare it simply so I can acquaint myself with its unique flavor, texture, and personality. This helps me develop a sense of what I might do the next time to highlight the uniqueness of the bean. Some beans are thin-skinned, some are thick, some lend themselves to a pureed soup, while some are better whole.”

This year as I continue on with my last year’s New Years resolution- trying one unique food a week. I am now going to try more varieties of dry organic beans. I have a feeling that this will lead me to many stored mason jars of different types. Call me a nerd, or maybe I am becoming a true foodie. Who knew my interest in vegan cooking and nutrition would lead me to a collection of beans.

Questions for You…

What is your favorite comfort food?
What is your favorite beans?

Pumpkin!

November 30, 2012

I know… Thanksgiving was soo last week.

But I can’t help it, I have to share with you, this amazing pumpkin pie I made, ate, and now keep wishing I still had some left.

It is funny, how the mind works… When I was thinking about what I was going to prepare for my portion of my family’s thanksgiving dinner, I kept thinking about the Oprah show.

Back in the day, I remember watching Oprah, and this amazing pie was made on her show. So I went to her website and with a simple search of the word pumpkin, there it was… I was so thankful the recipe was still there on her site.

PUMPKIN CHIFFON PIE

click here for recipe found on Oprah’s site.

INGREDIENTS – exactly the same from original recipe on Oprah’s site, except for those in bold text.

1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. giner
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 cup milk
2 large egg yolks, beaten
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (I used organic, or better yet make your own pumpkin puree with a real pumpkin.)
2 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped
1 (9-inch) graham cracker crust ( I did not store buy my crust, I made mine from scratch. I will teach you how below.)
Whipped cream for garnish

DIRECTIONS

Now this is how we do it…

Part 1 – Pumpkin

In a pan, over the stove, combine gelatin, sugar, salt, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg.
Then stir in egg yolks, milk, pumpkin.
Cook over heat, until bubbles and thickens.
Remove from heat, chill in fridge until it is partially set, no less than 1 hour.
Remove chilled pumpkin mixture and give it a stir.

And this is what your pumpkin filling should look like so far.

Part 2 – Whipped Cream

Pour heavy cream into a bowl.
Use an electrical better and whip it until whipped cream forms.

Whipped Cream

Part 3 – Pumpkin Filling

Use a different bowl and beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.
Add sugar until stiff peaks form.
Combine both fresh whipped cream and egg whites and sugar with pumpkin.
Fold ingredients together until totally combined.
Pumpkin filling should be light and fluffy.
Set aside.

Part 4 – Crust

In the recipe found on Oprah’s site, they used a store bought crust. I made my own. This is what I did…

Take a box of graham crackers, remove two packs from the box.
Crush and crumble graham crackers.
Melt one stick of butter in the microwave, or over the stove. Whichever method you prefer. I quickly melted my butter in the microwave.
Add graham cracker crumbs to a pie pan.
Add melted butter to the graham cracker crumbs in the pie pan.
Use your hands to mold the graham cracker and butter combo in shape of the pie pan. Making sure the bottom and walls of the pan are completely covered. Make your crust as thick as you want by adding more crushed up graham crackers.

Part 5 – The Pie

Pour pumpkin filling mixer into pie crust.
Chill for at least one hour.
Top the pie off with extra whipped cream when serving. TIP: If you put the whipped cream on to soon and it ends up sitting out the whipped cream may melt. So I always just put the whipped cream on each slice when serving.

Pumpkin Pie! Yum! Enjoy!

I hope you choose to make this pie. Enjoy it during your next holiday party!

My sister and I on Thanksgiving! Finally you can see me without my running clothes on.

Questions for You…

What is your favorite holiday food?
Is it pumpkin pie?

Food… doesn’t have to be fatty.

November 24, 2012

I hate to admit it, but I was getting into a rut, ordering the same take out food, from the same Thai restaurant everyday. The only reason I didn’t get fat was because I was only having time to eat one meal a day. But just because I wasn’t fat doesn’t mean I was healthy. A person can still be skinny, by eating processed meats, fatty dairy, and simple carbs, if the calories consumed don’t exceed far from their BMR. However, being skinny does not equal to healthy, with a diet that consists of daily Thai take out. With a diet like that, one will have a high body fat percentage, high LDL cholesterol- clogged arteries, an unhealthy heart.

But thankfully I am an athlete. Being a runner saved me from the health risks. But I still needed to find a way to get out of these bad eating habits, because they were making me feel bad about myself. Yes, I was so busy at work, that finding time to plan meals began to seem nonexistent, so I decided to make meal planning a priority.

In the beginning of January 2012, I, along with everyone else in America made a New Years Resolution. But this time, I was not going to be typical. I wanted to choose a challenge that I could be creative with. So I decided my New Years Resolution would be to try a new exotic food once a week. This was actually a really fun and easy resolution to stick to. It forced me to explore Whole Foods, MOM’s Organic Market, the local Farmer’s Markets, and Trader Joe’s, in search for a new and different flavor.

Most of the time, I bought a unique piece of produce, beets being on the top of the list. However, I also tried Almond Milk, different types of tea, grains such as quinoa, beans such as lentils, and many more. I cooked with organic pumpkin for the first time. Sometimes I picked up a piece of produce and pondered what it was, but most of the time I was familiar with the food, but never stepped out of my comfort zone, to purchase it and try to cook with it. Trust, me I have read all of the books, watched all of the documentaries, and although I learned a lot from them, what I really needed were recipes. So I started following tons of vegan and food blogs to get ideas.

Boy, what a difference a year can make. Now I can’t remember the last time I had Thai take out. And when I do have any sort of heavy unhealthy food like that, I regret it and feel sick. My stomach just can’t tolerate it. By having that New Years Resolution, I am now planning more meals, cooking more, eating clean healthy whole foods.

So now to the point of this blog post…

Although, everyone now is probably just finishing up with their Thanksgiving leftovers and starting to shift into the Christmas/Hanukkah spirit. I wanted to share with you the dishes I cooked this Thanksgiving.

I cooked a side dish of Roasted Root Vegetables.

I didn’t use a recipe. I just kind of made it up along the way.

Ingredients

purple beets
golden beets
shallots
garlic
carrots
turnip
olive oil
sea salt
pepper
rosemary
sage

Directions

Preheat oven for 350-400
Wash the beats and cut the ends off.
Peal the skin off. Some people cook the beets with the skin on. It is okay to eat the skins.
Wrap each beet in foil with olive oil and salt.
Place each foiled beet on a baking sheet or cupcake pan.
Place beets in oven – cook until beets are soft and sweet, about 1 hour 45 minutes.

turnip and foil.

Cook Turnips the same way as beets.

Wash and peel carrots.
Cut off ends
Place carrots in a glass baking pan with olive oil, garlic, shallots, rosemary, sage, salt, pepper.
Cover with foil.
Place in oven.
Cook for 1 hour.
Unfold beets and turnip from foil.

Cut beets and turnip into small chunks
Combine with carrots and other vegetables.

Greens

Wash the greens from the beet tops
Place greens in a stove top skillet with olive oil.
Let greens wilt.
Add balsamic vinegar.
Combine with other root vegetables.

Final Result

This was a pretty healthy and delicious, side dish! Not to hard to prepare. I highly recommend you try it!

My whole house smells like pumpkin…

October 15, 2012

I have always had a love/ hate relationship with food.

Let me explain…

Here is the love part: I love food. I have always considered myself some what of a foodie. When I was a child, I hated Mac & Cheese. I hated grilled cheese. I just wasn’t down with the kid’s menu. Instead, I always indulged with maybe a plate of hot wings, mussels, or a half dozen Maryland Bay Crabs. The point is I have always enjoyed unique food with big flavor. I am not scared to explore, and I am always open to try new foods from all nationalities.

Now here is the hate part: The problem with enjoying a variety of different foods, is that sometimes I feel that I have a hard time disciplining myself to eat a certain way. I would love to be vegan, and although I know eating a plant based diet is by far one of the healthiest ways to eat, I just can’t label myself. I’m not going to lie, some mornings I just want an iced Chai Lattes with skim milk. So for now, I am eating mainly plant based, and meat/dairy is consumed in moderation – some days are meatless, some days are dairy free. Plus I try to purchase all of my meat/dairy as organic, and on the rare occasions when organic isn’t available I go for kosher.

Some nevers and always: I rarely eat red meat. I rarely eat pork products. I never eat ground meats of any kind. I never eat processed meats or eggs. I never buy milk. I always buy wild caught fish.

More of the hate part: I don’t think I am a bad cook, but I am still learning, and sometimes my 30 minute meals takes two hours. So as you can see, cooking is time consuming. It also takes a lot of planning. You need to plan the meal, buy the ingredients. All of this is a struggle for me. Sometimes it is just easier to eat out.

My favorite types of Blogs

So my new obsession is actually health food blogs, especially vegan ones. I love reading them, and learning new ways to prepare veggies. One blog that I just recently came across is called Super Foodie Adventure. Last night, I actually made one of the recipes found on her blog and it came out awesome. The recipe is called Beetroot and Pumpkin Dahl with smashed Avocado and Coriander.

Here are some pictures of my attempt of cooking this recipe.

chopped up onions, good in most meals.

3 garlic cloves, smashed up, way better than finely chopped.

By cooking this soup, I got to use pumpkin for the first time. I never took a whole pumpkin and pealed it and cut it into cubes, until now. My whole house smelled lovely.

Also in my recipe I used golden beets instead of the purple ones used in the original recipe. This was my first time cooking and eating golden beets. They have less messy juice, and they taste a little less strong.

Everything in the pot cooking.

I really also love the Indian flavors used in the dish. I also found it really shocking of how satisfied and full I felt.

I used this rice and lentil medley in the soup as well. Everything is very healthy, filling, full of flavor. When all ingredients are cooked you put the soup in a blender or food processor to blend and pulse the soup, then you top it off with smashed up avocado and cilantro.

Anyway, those are the pictures I have so far of the healthy ingredients I used for this recipe. I am really enjoying reading food blogs. It is making me try new food combos I would have never thought of trying. It is also educating me on healthy foods especially produce I would have never bought or cooked.

Always open minded, and pushing my limits physically and mentally.

Questions for you…

Who is your favorite food blogger?
What is the most interesting veggie dish you have prepared?

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