Tartlets

This past Friday I made some delicious and adorable little tartlets following this recipe.  I opted to top them with blueberries, strawberries and blackberries before using a Peach glaze as opposed to the apricot glaze recommended.

Don't you think they came out super cute?  The recipe is so easy and quick, especially if you can find pre-made tart shells.  Not to mention, it was a big hit with guests!

Recipe: Curried Quinoa

As vegetarians, we have to find protein wherever we can and quinoa (pronouced Keen-Wah) is a great food to find it in.  It is (I think) the only complete protein found in nature that isn't an animal, you don't have to mix it with other foods to get all of the necessary proteins for your diet like you do with, say, black beans and whole wheat tortillas.

One of our favorite ways to cook up this delicious food is to put it in curry.  We made this recipe the other night and I thought maybe ya'll would like to make it for yourselves :)  You can use whatever vegetables please you, like most of my recipes, this one is very easily customizable.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup dry quinoa
2 tbs olive oil (olive oil because I've heard that vegetable oil causes cellulite, does anyone know if this is true?) 
1 chopped onion
2 chopped bell peppers (we used green and red)
1 cup chopped carrots
1 stalk chopped broccoli
2 gloves diced garlic
1 cube of Curry
curry powder to taste
just a smidge of ground ginger

Rinse the quinoa in cold water and save any grains from going down the drain with a fine mesh or coffee filter. The quinoa must be rinsed because it is naturally covered with a substance called saponin that will repel birds and insects.  Rinsing this substance off (and soaking for twelve hours (this isn't necessary, but it does help)) allows for the quinoa to be digested more easily. Do you see the sudsy-lookin' stuff on the top of the water? That's how you know that you've rinsed off the saponin.

Moving on, when you are ready to cook, after the quinoa has been soaked or rinsed, saute the onion, bell pepper, carrots and other veggies in the oil until they are soft

At the same time, cook the quinoa, removing any sudsy saponin (we do this by simply spooning it out as it boils)

As the veggies are softening, add a bit of curry powder and ground ginger to them to let it seep in.

To make the sauce, we break off one of these curry cubes, mix it with some water, salt and flour to thicken it up. Feel free to make your own version of the curry sauce, when we don't have these blocks, we mix curry powder, a bit of milk, egg yolks, salt, sage and ginger together.

After the sauce is prepared, add it to the veggies and let them simmer for 5 or 10 minutes.

Serve the quinoa as a bed for the veggies and sauce and enjoy your nutritious, protein-filled meal!

Quinoa is a great rice substitute, it will mix in with stir fries, soups and salads as well as make a delicious dish by itself, if you haven't tried it, I encourage you to!

Free Circle Scarf/Cowl Pattern

 *I am traveling today, I'll be in Paris tonight!

Its about time for a free pattern wouldn't you say? I wrote up this one with the coming fall season in mind, large cocooning knits are in style and the cowl neck is always chic and cozy.  The stitch pattern provides a bit of texture and interest and the size gives ample room to double it around your neck.

The pattern can be made with a wide variety of yarns and gauges, so make something special for you!

Materials:
Worsted Weight Yarn (1 skein of Berroco Vintage was used in this example)
Size 11 circular needles
Stitch marker

CO 152
Knit in seed st pattern for 9 rows
*Knit for 7 rows
Purl 1 row
[YO P2tog] across row
Purl 1 row
Repeat from * 3 times more
Knit for 7 rows
Knit in seed st pattern for 9 rows
BO loosely

Finishing:
Weave in ends
Wear fashionably

Ravelry Details Here.

Vegetarian Gumbo - A Recipe

Two weeks or so ago Matt asked me to make him some gumbo and I finally got around to it. Now that classes are over and finals are taken care of, I have time to cook again!  I love it :)  I've made some delicious banana bread (or so I'm told, I don't actually like bananas, but my honey loves the bread) and have bought ingredients and supplies to continue making delicious, healthy meals.

Here is the recipe I used/invented for the gumbo, I used mostly what I had on hand and a few "specially bought" items.

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This photo has most of the ingredients, but not all, the beans were in the crockpot, the okra on the stove, rice in the cooker, etc

Ingredients:
Large Onion - Chopped
Green and Red Bell Peppers - Chopped
Scallions - Chopped (I had them on hand, they needed to be eaten)
1 Cup Carrots - Chopped
4 Celery Stalks - Chopped
3 Cloves of Garlic  - Minced
2 14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes
1 package (4) Tofurky Kielbasa - Cut length wise then sliced
2 Tbs Oil
1 10 oz package Okra
1 lb Kidney Beans (mine were dry so I cooked them accordingly first)
2 Cups Rice
2 Bay Leaves
Garlic Powder
Oregano
Thyme

• Saute the onion and garlic until soft and yellow
• Add Bell peppers, celery, carrots, scallions and tofurky and saute until tender
• Add tomatoes, undrained and heat until boiling
• Season as desired and lower heat to simmer for 45 minutes-ish
• Cook rice on the side
• When the 45 minutes-ish is up, add rice, okra and kidney beans and heat through
• Serve with loaf of delicious bread 

 So clearly this makes a whole ton of gumbo, but its all good because the food is delicious, filling and pretty healthy.  It will also freeze well so you can make some and save it for later to avoid getting sick of it after eating it for a week straight hehe.

Everything's Better Miniaturized!

Especially muffins :)

I made some lemon poppyseed mini muffins a few days ago and needless to say, there were maybe, 3 left the next morning. I will definitely be making more of these, and I'm sure you'd like to know how too ;) So here is the recipe I used, its very simple, very quick, and super duper delicious!

1 box lemon cake mix (see? I told you it was easy!)
1 C boiling water
1/2 C oil
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
4 eggs
1/3 c. poppy seeds

I only preheated my oven to about 350-ish since I was making other food and this was the temp required for that...Then I mixed all the ingredients together, poured them into their little tiny muffin papers in their little tiny muffin pan until the papers were about half full, stuck them in the oven for 10ish minutes and let them sit after I pulled them out of the oven.

They practically melted in your mouth! SO delish! Now stop licking your computer screen and get your butt in the kitchen to make yourself some!

Tuesday Learn Something New Day - Easy Peasy Icing!

Yesterday was my birthday and I decided to make myself a cake. I hadn’t had a birthday cake in the past two years so this year, I was having one. I didn’t care that I had to make it myself, it was being made.

Matt and I found this vegan cake mix at the store the other week, it was on sale and we’re always up for trying new things so it became my birthday cake. Super easy to make, the batter tasted legit (what? We had to test it just to make sure hehe). We didn’t, however, get any icing!

What is a cake without icing? I had to whip some up real quick to top off the cake and this is the recipe I used:

One egg white

The same amount of water ~1/4 cup? Ish? Maybe?

Confectioners sugar

First, mix the egg white and water together well, then add sugar.

There is no specific amount of sugar as I'm sure you noticed....you just keep pouring until the batch is the consistency you want. If you want a ball park figure...I used a LOT. Like, more than half a bag? Not quite sure how much that is...Anyways, it was delicious but I gotta warn you, its very strong, very sugary so you really only a little, tiny, smidgen bit to top off the cake. We also added crumbled pecans that we had lying around, it was delicious :)

(see that mug? its my most favoritest mug ever!)