Hot Chocolate

I love warm beverages, tea, coffee concoctions, and hot chocolate.  As the weather gets cold and the skies cloud up, the warmth and comfort of a good hot cocoa can't be beat.

Here's how I make mine:

Gather your mug(s)

Put 1 - 2 table spoons of cocoa powder in each

Put 2 - 3 tablespoons of sugar in each

Add other spices as desired (I add cinnamon and chili powder)

Heat up just a bit of water, only about 1/4 cup per mug and add to the dry mixture, stir into oblivion

 Fill mug with milk to the brim

Microwave for 2 minutes and 30 seconds

Gather friends

Enjoy :)

How do you make your hot chocolates?

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I know I'm just one of a multitude of bloggers wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving here in the United States, but that doesn't mean that it's any less meaningful :)

I spent all of yesterday afternoon making pumpkin pies from scratch using the same recipe I used last year which you can find here.

I made three standard sized pies (only one homemade crust though, two of them were store bought) and a whole bunch of bite-sized pies, aren't they cute?

Tomorrow, I get to meet my brand new nephew!  And spend all kinds of time with my family eating loads and loads of food and watching Miracle on 34th St.

What are your plans for the weekend?  Fun, friends and relaxing I hope?

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!

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.

Recipe for Pumpkin Pie from Scratch!

Matt and I got a pumpkin with the hopes of carving it for Halloween. Well, that didn't happen, but we decided that we couldn't let it go to waste and made a pie out of it. Here's the recipe we used as well as helpful photos of the process :D If you make you own, please share your results, recipe, photos, or whatever in the comments!

Ingredients:

· For Filling:

o -Pumpkin (some recipes specify a pie pumpkin, but we used a normal carving pumpkin)

o -12 oz can evaporated milk

o -1 cup sugar

o -1 tsp ground cinnamon

o -1 tsp ground ginger

o -1 tsp ground cloves

o -1/2 tsp salt

o -2 large eggs

· For Pie Shell:

o -1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

o -1 cup firm unsalted butter

o -1/3 cup ice water

For your pie shell:

Step 1:

Cut the butter into the flour

Step 2:

Use an electric mixer to combine the ingredients. Pour in the ice water a little at a time (on low speed) until your mixture begins to clump and hold together.

Step 3:

Remove the formed dough from the mixer and sprinkle a bit of flour before wrapping in plastic wrap and refrigerating for an hour.

Step 4:

Remove the dough after it has set in the refrigerator and roll out the dough using a pie crust bag or placing it in between wax paper. Place the dough in your pie pan.

For Filling:

Step 1:

Cut your pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds and extra string.

Step 2:

Place both halves on a foil lined baking sheet and cover with foil. Bake your pumpkin at 350˚ for about 1.5 hours or until tender.

Step 3:

Scoop out the flesh, which should be quite soft and puree the pumpkin using a hand or regular blender (we had whole cloves instead of ground cloves and actually combined them with the pumpkin in the blender in this step) (also, see how the pumpkin is still steaming? and the steam above the blender? I don't have anything to say about that that adds to the recipe, but I think its cool :))

Step 4:

After pureeing, combine together the sugar, cinnamon, ground cloves, ginger and salt in a separate bowl.

Step 5:

In a separate bowl beat eggs and stir in your dry ingredients as well as your pumpkin. Mix well and slowly add in the evaporated milk while you stir. Make sure the filling is blended and smooth. Preheat your oven to 375˚

Step 6:

Pour your pumpkin mixture into your pie shell.

Step 7:

With your oven already pre-heated, bake pie in the middle of the oven for 50 to 65 minutes.

Cool and serve with whipped cream and cinnamon or whatever you prefer J

Worn Out

That's how I am right now. Busy busy Monday. It was stressful and crazy before even 10am. Then it was good 'cuz the mailman was extra nice today (you can see tomorrow hehe ;)) then it was crazy and stressful and long again because of classes and homeworks. Now I have to try to be productive to be successful tonight for the rest of the week but I just need a little bit of a break first.

Maybe a cup of tea...

A delicious muffin....

And a few minutes catching up on my favorite blogs :)

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!)

Spaghetti Squash

I am a carb-o-holic. I admit it. I love carbs, pastas, breads, crackers, all of it! As Matt and I are undertaking the No Plastic Challenge however, we can't buy pastas like we used to because even the pastas that come in the boxes usually have that little "window" with a plastic covering. I was feeling very deprived of my last of delicious pastas and then we decided to give Spaghetti Squash a try.


We may never look back to be honest. Ever. It is so delicious and much healthier than traditional pastas. We also made our own sauce, again, very simple, healthy, vegetarian and even vegan friendly.

One squash gave the two of us two very full meals. The second meal we decided to warm the "noodles" up by frying them some in olive oil over low heat.

I believe this would be a good meal to prepare with children because scraping the squash into spaghetti-like strands is easy and hands-on. It might even make them enjoy their vegetables ;)

Here is our recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 spaghetti squash
• 1 8oz can tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup diced onions
• 1/4 cup diced mushroom
  
• 1 large diced tomato
• 1 clove diced garlic
  
• oregano
• basil
• salt
• pepper

Instructions for Sauce

1. Saute onion
   
2. Mix tomato sauce with diced tomato, diced onion, diced mushroom, basil, oregano, garlic and pepper to taste
3. Heat over stovetop for 5 to 10 minutes
   

Instructions for Squash:

1. Cut squash lengthwise
2. Pierce skin with fork
3. Place cut side down and bake at 350 for 45 minutes
4. Run fork over inside of cooked squash to release spaghetti-like strands
5. Add sauce
6. Enjoy!

If you have any questions please feel free to ask them in the comments below!

Pizza Crust Recipe

Last night I decided I wanted pizza. I didn't want that sh***y pizza from that place that delivers nor did I want that cardboard pizza from that other questionable place. I wanted delicious, rich, fattening pizza with enough Ranch dressing to cover the plate.

and I got it :) I made it myself, from scratch. It was delicious, simple, and the recipe can be made healthier by any variety of methods. I don't have any pictures to show just now, but imagine the tastiest pizza known to man, fresh out of the oven with a bit of steam rising from it and the edges of the pepperonis browned and crispy. Yea. Now wipe that drool off your lip.

If you want to try and recreate your own delicious pizza, here's the recipe I used for the crust, feel free to change some of the flour to whole wheat or whatever suits you, its a very simple recipe to follow:

1 tablespoon of oil
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 package yeast

Mix the above and let sit about 5 minutes

Then mix together with 1 3/4 cups flour until it forms a ball.

Knead the dough on a lightly floured sheet so that it is stretchy but will not break easily.

Place in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap for about an hour, the dough will expand to about twice its original size.

Pound, punch, or otherwise flatten to about a 12 inch circle, top off with your favorite toppings and extra cheese and place in 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.

It is to DIE FOR!