Chocolate Art

For those folks in your life that love pretty things and loooove chocolate… and I’m sure that the people in my life closest to me will know that I’m talking about myself…I consider it a good day when it ends with a piece of rich dark chocolate.  I don’t need anything in the chocolate, except maybe sea salt, but I also wouldn’t turn away chocolate that has either mint or caramel… I’m not crazy!

Chocolate Editions Valentine’s Day Bars

How cute are these?!?  And they have a blog about candy, score!

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  Quick Breakfast Smoothie

 

Oh my deliciousness!  I just whipped up a quick breakfast shake with some new ingredients and I am full on loving everything about it.  I had stopped by Trader Joe’s prior to hosting my book club this week and I saw that they had packaged freshly cut mango.  Score!  I love mango but I hate cutting it up.  I know that sounds lazy but I never know when it is the right ripeness and then I always end up massacring it while cutting it up.  Anyway, I was excited about the mango, so I picked up my staple fruit (bananas) and headed home with no foreshadowing of the awesome smoothie that was in my near future.  Long story short I got up this morning and tossed into my trusty blender the following:

Three Slices of Mango

One Medium Banana

I scoop of Vanilla Whey Protein Powder

1/4-1/2 Cup of Coconut Water

2 Ice Cups

The result is pure heaven!  I believe I’m going to add a slice of whole wheat bread with a slathering of natural peanut butter and I’m good to go.

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  I Heart My First Bard

I had my first coffee, or should I say work of art, this afternoon at Bard Coffee on Middle Street in Portland.  I fell in love.  The staff was so friendly and helpful.  I’ve been ordering grande lattes and extra hot skinny whatevers for years but I didn’t always know exactly what I was ordering.  I spent some quality time with one of the baristas and they talked me through the milk to espresso ratios of each of their drinks and showed me the cup type and size for each drink.  I was fascinated that their was art and food science behind what they were doing back behind the bar.  Don’t get me wrong I never thought that just any joe schmo could whip up a really good cup of coffee, but I had been living in a bit of a dreamland on what was happening to create all those drinks I’ve had in my life.  Once I finally decided on what I was going to have they created the drink you see below (this is not some fancy photo I found on the Internet, just a little snapshot from my phone).  What you see below is a cappuccino with a blend of skim and whole milk.  Yum Yum!

I was inspired by the adorable heart they created out of the foam of my cappuccino and by the coffee.  So I spent a bit of time perusing Etsy to see what the artists out there created by blending these two things and here are some gems I found.  Perhaps you have someone in your life that loves coffee that you could spoil with an out of the blue gift… or I heard through the rumor mill that a heart inspired holiday is coming up soon.

Fancy Prints: Chocolate Men Coffee

Hair Brained Schemes: With Enough Coffee

Nan Lawson: A Couple Of Mugs In Love

April Bern Photo: Coffee Cup of Love

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  2012: My Cooking and Baking Adventure

In my New Year’s Resolution post I talked about wanted to learn to successfully master four dessert recipes and expand the vegetarian meals that I cook by at least four.  I did a ton of baking just before the holidays, and for the holidays, and at least 9 out of 10 of my attempts were complete failures. Thank goodness I had a household of my husbands buddies staying with us.  They were good sports and helped finish off the majority of these failures.  I would really like to be able to whip up a batch of Blondies and Hello Dollies that are truly drool-worthy for the next time they are in town.

After mulling it over for a week to figure out what I did wrong I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to be more patient (baking is an art), learn the ins and outs of my “new to me” electric stove and be much more precise when measuring out ingredients.   Having said all of that I do feel that I was missing a few key electric kitchen utensils that I know would have helped.

Now I’ve already had a wedding shower and wedding a few years ago and although all three of the items listed below were on my registry they were a bit too pricey for my guests (which I completely understand!).  So now it is up to me to slowly start saving to add these gems to my kitchen.  I currently have a red and silver theme going for my kitchen appliances so I think all these lovies will fit in nicely.

KitchenAid Design Series Standup Mixer

Classic for breads and cookies.  All the ladies in my family have one of these and they absolutely swear by them.  My Mom’s is at least 20 years old and still going strong.

Cuisinart Elite Food Processor

This item would be much more helpful for cooking than baking, but I can still see myself chopping nuts or dicing veggies for breads in this guy.

All-Clad Immersion Blender

The all mighty immersion blender.  I spend a ton of time telling everyone I know that they MUST own one of these and I’m embarrassed to admit that I don’t even own one! Yes, this one is purely for smoothies and soups…. but come on… how can you not want one of these!!!

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  Vegan Stir Fry

Vegan Stir Fry

Note: Feel free to use as much or as little of each veggie ingredient as you would like.  I don’t hold tight to any measurement when it comes to veggies.  At my house the more the merrier.

Cauliflower (cut into chunks or spears)

Mushrooms (sliced)

Bok Choy (I like to each leaf about six times on the diagonal)

Yellow Pepper (diced)

Brussels Sprouts (take a bit of the stem off and cut in half)

Yellow Onion (diced)

Ginger (cut into small spears… if I can get the hubby to take the time to make the spears… if not it’s all about cutting tiny chunks)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (1 tablespoon)

Sesame Oil (1 tablespoon)

Gluten Free Tamari (2 tablespoons… or more if you’re using tons of veggies)

Sliced almonds (1/4 cup to sprinkle raw over top of veggies once plated over rice)

Jasmine Rice (how ever much you enjoy.  I’m a 1/2 a cup kinda gal)

Instructions:

Prepare jasmine rice per the directions off the bag/box (I’m partial to using my amazing rice cooker).  Mix oils and heat until sizzling.  Add ginger and onion and cook until onions start to tenderize and become glassy.  Start adding veggies.  I like to give my cauliflower the most amount of time to cook.  I then add the peppers and brussels sprouts and end with the bok choy and mushrooms.  They tend to just soak up all the liquid and wilt quickly.  Half way through adding the veggies sprinkle the entire dish with the Tamari.  I cook the entire dish about, after the onions and ginger are finished, about  5-7 minutes.  The best way to test is using your eyeballs for the bok choy and mushrooms and your taste buds to check on the cauliflower.  Serve over rice and sprinkle with almonds for a shot of protein and crunch.  Enjoy this 100% vegan dish!

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  Cinnamon Oatmeal To Start The Day

Today is a day that will be chock full of errands.  It’s that time of year when we need to rake up the remaining leaves, mow the grass one last time, put the golf clubs away and get the garage organized for winter…. we need to at least clear enough space to pull the car in during the major snow storms!  I personally love days like these.  It feels good to fill one of weekend days with chores, it makes all the Sunday loungy time feel more deserved.  I think it always helps to feed yourself well to start off a day like today.  Here is my go to energy breakfast recipe for the fall.  The good news is that it’s both vegan, includes some protein to keep you full longer, and it’s low-calories (250 calories).  Win, win and win!

Image Credit: Vegan Yum Yum

Cinnamon Oatmeal with Chopped Walnuts and Golden Raisins

1/2 cup dried oats

1 cup boiling water

1 teaspoon cinnamon

10 grams (about 1 tablespoon) chopped walnuts

10 grams (about 2 tablespoons) golden raisins

1 teaspoon raw granulated sugar

Optional Garnish: Sliced Apple… tis the season

Mix all dry ingredients into your favorite mug, slowly add boiling water, stir and most of all enjoy!

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  Smoothie Recipe

I’ve been playing around with different smoothie recipes the past few weeks and I made a super yummy berry variety this morning that I thought I would share with you.  It took about 3 minutes of prep time, it was delicious and good for you.  I know we’re heading into the chillier seasons but every now and then a smoothie just hits the spot.  It’s a fabulous way to get a large portion of your daily fruit, and sometimes veggie requirements, and if you add a protein powder you’ll feel satiated until your next meal.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of Orange Juice (your choice of brand, if you can find freshly squeezed that would be best, the more pulp the better)

1/2 cup frozen mixed berries

1 chopped ripe banana

1-2 tablespoons of ground flax seed (I like the Spectrum Ground Flaxseed)

1 scoop of protein powder of your choice (I like the fruit flavors from Tera’s Whey)

Notes: Depending on how thick or thin you like your smoothies you may need to adjust the amount of orange juice.  I recommend sticking with the 1/2 cup and adding some water to make it thinner.

 

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