Never Enough

Raspberry Almond Upside down sponge cake

Sun, 05 May 2013 16:04:51 -0400

Ingredients
Raspberry layer
500g frozen raspberries – defrosted (I ended up using 800g!)
1/8 cup caster sugar

Cake layer
250g butter (or 1 package) – softened
2/3 cup caster sugar
2 tspn grated lemon zest (about 1 lemon)
1 vanilla bean – split and seeds scraped
3 eggs
1 cup (150g) plain flour
1 1/2 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn bicarb soda
1 1/2 cups (180g) almond meal
1 cup (250ml) buttermilk

Method
1. Preheat oven to 180C. Lightly grease and line 24cm round tin.
Insure you use a regular, non-springform cake tin. As the base can leak.

2. Layer raspberries over the base of the prepared tin. Sprinkle 1/4 cup caster sugar all over raspberries and set aside.

3. With an electric mixer or by hand with a fork or wire wisk, in a large mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla seeds until pale and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

4. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add almond meal.

5. On low speed, slowly add flour mixture and buttermilk to butter mixture. Mix until just combined.

6. Spoon mixture over prepared raspberries and smooth the top with a palette knife (or the back of a spoon).

7. Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, until cooked when tested with a skewer. Allow to cool to room temperature for a couple of hours or until just warm. Invert cake onto serving plate and carefully remove the tin (and stuck on baking paper) to serve.

The original recipe says to cover with foil after 45 minutes and bake for a further 40 to 45 minutes. The original baker didn’t have to do this, but I found that I had to and it turned out perfectly!

Followed this recipe almost to the letter:

http://fongolicious.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/raspberry-almond-upside-down-cake.html

My own touches included topping with a few sprinkles of slivered almonds (see first image) and serving it with ice-cream on the side while still warm (see below).

Spinach Pie: Simple, fast and fantastic!

Tue, 01 Jan 2013 14:55:00 -0500

main courses | serves 6

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4.
2. Cook the spinach in a closed pan over a low heat in the water that clings to it after it has been washed and drained. When wilted, remove from the heat, drain, cool, then squeeze out all the water between your palms. Chop.
3. In a bowl, combine the spinach, feta, parsley, dill and beaten egg. Season with pepper. Grease a 20-30cm round baking dish and line with half the filo, brushing each sheet with butter. Add the filling, then top with filo, brushing each sheet with butter. Sprinkle water on top to stop the filo burning OR brush top with egg yolk (which is what I do) and bake for 45 minutes or until top is golden. Serve hot or cold.

• 1kg spinach
• 350g feta, crumbled
• 1 bunch spring onions, chopped
• handful dill, chopped (20-40 g)
• handful of parsley, chopped (25- 50g)
• 2 beaten eggs
• 1 packs filo pastry or 12 sheets of filo, I like a thicker crust on top and bottom which usually calls for 1.5 - 2 packs of filo sheets. I make 6 layers for the bottom and 6 on top.
• Melted butter

adapted from:
http://www.jamieoliver.com/magazine/recipes-view.php?title=spinach-pie

Today I halved this recipie:
• 400 g of spinach or two large packages
• 1/2 package of feta or about 100-125 g
• handful of dill, chopped 20g
• handful of parsley, chopped 25g
•1 egg beaten
•1package of filo pastry completely thawed
•lots of melted butter, about 50/75 g to start

I make individual spinach pockets with this recipe by cutting the pastry in half once. See image below:

or you can just place cut the Philo sheets and overlap them in at least 3-4 layers in a pie pan:

Rice pudding w/ Coconut Milk

Tue, 01 Jan 2013 12:19:00 -0500

I would have taken pictures but it was eaten up too fast! (And for breakfast!)

based on this recipe:
http://thebreathingkitchen.com/forbidden-rice-pudding-with-coconut-milk/
..Which is for “forbidden rice” or “black rice” - Sorry, this couldn’t be found so I used regular Jasmine rice.

Ingredients for 4 people

Half a cup of Jasmine Rice
1 and a 1/3 cups of cold water
1 quarter of a cup of brown sugar
200 ml of coconut milk (stirred)
Pinch of salt to taste
Optional: you can add cinnamon, cardamom, golden sultanas or really anything that grabs your fancy during the initial boiling process to add extra oomph.

Bring the rice, water and a pinch of salt to boil in a heavy-based saucepan, cover with a lid and reduce the heat to simmer for 20-25 minutes or until the rice is cooked, but the mixture should still be wet. Add the sugar, coconut milk and possibly a sprinkle more of salt to deepen the flavours (taste it first). Bring the mixture to boil again, then reduce the heat and simmer for around 30 mins until you reach your desired consistency. Then allow the mixture to cool and refrigerate.

You can serve it with nuts sprinkled on top for breakfast, I like pistachios.. or eat it plain which is what usually happens! :D

current project: birthday black forest gateaux

Sat, 03 Nov 2012 18:07:00 -0400

From: GOOD FOOD
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2303676/black-forest-gteau

Ingredients
    •    300g plain flour
    •    1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
    •    25g cocoa
    •    200g bar dark chocolate
    •    2 medium eggs
    •    175g salted butter, plus extra for greasing
    •    375g golden caster sugar
    •    200g buttermilk or natural yoghurt (I used non-fat yoghurt, which doesn’t seem like much fun, but it does make the cake texture seem lighter)

TO ASSEMBLE
    •    425g can pitted cherries , 2 tbsp juice reserved, rest drained
    •    100g morello cherry jam
    •    4 tbsp kirsch (or more juice from a can if you want it to be non-alcoholic) (or Cherry brandy. We used both)
    •    500ml tub double cream
    •    3 tbsp icing sugar
    •    1 small punnet fresh cherries (optional)

Cook 40 mins
    PREP 1 hr plus cooling
    Sponges can be frozen before decorating

    1.    Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease and line the base of 3 x 20cm cake tins. Boil the kettle. Put the butter and 75g chocolate broken into chunks in a small pan and gently heat, stirring, until completely melted.
    2.    Mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa and bicarbonate of soda with a pinch of salt in a mixing bowl. Whisk the eggs and buttermilk or yogurt together. Scrape the melted chocolate mixture and egg mixture into the dry ingredients, add 100ml boiling water and whizz briefly with an electric whisk until the cake batter is lump free.
    3.    Divide the mixture between the tins and bake for 25 mins, swapping the tins round after 20 mins if they’re on different shelves. To test they’re done, push in a skewer and check that it comes out clean.
    4.    Prick the cakes a few times with a skewer. Mix together the 2 tbsp reserved cherry juice and the kirsch (or more juice) and drizzle over the cakes. Cool the cakes.
    5.    Mix together the remaining drained cherries and jam. Tip 200ml of the cream into a small pan and heat until just below simmering point. Chop the remaining chocolate and put in a heatproof bowl, pour over the hot cream and stir until melted. Set aside until spreadable.
    6.    When the cakes are cool whisk the remaining cream and the icing sugar together until softly whipped. Spread over two of the cakes, then spoon over the jammy cherries. Stack the cakes together. Spread the chocolate cream over the third cake and sit on top of the other cakes. Pile the fresh cherries in and around the cake.

You may serve this immediately but we found that it became even more amazing when given a day to sit in the fridge and let all the flavors combine and the layers settle.

PER SERVING (10)
859 kcalories, protein 7.2g, carbohydrate 93.7g, fat 48.9 g, saturated fat 29.9g, fibre 2.6g, sugar 73.6g, salt 0.7 g

Thai Peanut Lime Chicken..

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 04:18:00 -0400

Chicken with Coconut-Lime Peanut Sauce

The Perfect Minestrone Soup - from the Guardian

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 04:16:00 -0400

How to cook perfect minestrone soup

Minestrone is a big bowl of carb-based joy with a hefty garnish of vegetables to gladden the heartstrings of health. Is there a British equivalent of this soup for all seasons?

Felicity’s perfect minestrone. Photograph: Felicity Cloake for the Guardian

Until recently, I didn’t do minestrone. This prejudice was based on the powdered version we were served at school; brick red, strangely tangy, and studded with suety strands of pasta, yet which, despite these obvious handicaps, often proved the least of a veritable feast of evils – I must have eaten it at least twice a week between the age of eight and 13, and not once since.

Perfect: 68 Essential Recipes for Every Cook’s Repertoire
by Felicity Cloake

Turns out, however, that the school kitchen was not adept in the art of the minestrone – in fact, most Italians probably wouldn’t have recognised their effort as such. Far from a watery tomato sauce with unpleasant soggy surprises lurking in its depths, minestrone seems to be a soup-shaped excuse to get as many seasonal vegetables into one dish as possible, moistened by a light broth, and bulked out with beans, potatoes, rice – or broken pasta (which, with the benefit of hindsight, I believe the little white worms were supposed to represent). Incredibly simple, handily versatile – and, according to Giorgio Locatelli, “the best soup in the world”. And you know what? I’m with him. At least, it’s definitely in my top five.

As Giorgio says in his excellent recipe collection, Made in Italy, minestrone is one of the few dishes to unite the country – “yet everyone makes it differently, with whatever vegetables are in season”. As confirmation, the classic Italian cookbook the Silver Spoon gives no fewer than 10 versions (although admittedly, one of these is a minestrone alla russa – aka borsch): one from Puglia, in the far south, based on their beloved turnip tops, or cime di rapa, a Neapolitan take heavy with Mediterranean peppers and aubergines, which makes an interesting contrast with a recipe from Milan, with its bacon lardons, parmesan and sage. What follows is thus intended as basic guidelines, to be cut to whichever cloth commands your allegiance.

Stock answers

Given the simplicity of minestrone, the liquid element, in which all the other ingredients are cooked, is supremely important. The most basic recipes use water – after all, if the stuff you’re adding is flavourful enough, it should become a tasty vegetable soup on the job. This is a method employed by Elizabeth David in the minestrone verde recipe given in Italian Food, and also mentioned as a possibility by Locatelli, but despite the pedigree, the result needs an awful lot of seasoning to lift it from the blandness that many Marie Antoinettish proponents of cucina poverachoose to ignore in their favourite peasant dishes.

Giorgio doesn’t make any such scrimping in the Locanda Locatelli kitchen however (and, with minestrone selling at £9 a bowl, nor should he), using a “good vegetable stock” instead. He gives a recipe, but also suggests making a quick variation using the trimmings, plus a few peas for sweetness. Wanting the full Michelin-star experience however, I make the bells and whistles version which also includes peas alongside some of the more usual subjects – the restaurant’s “secret ingredient”, according to its chef. This gives the broth a much better flavour, and the finished soup needs less salt.

Angela Hartnett’s recipe minestrone.

Photograph: Felicity Cloake for the Guardian

Angela Hartnett admits the possibility of using vegetable stock, if vegetarians are involved, but insists it tastes best using the chicken version – and I have to agree with her. The broth is richer and more savoury in flavour, so it doesn’t get lost in the mass of beans and leaves; you can really taste it in every mouthful.

Jamie Oliver, meanwhile, has a secret ingredient of his own. “Minestrones can be made with water or vegetable stock,” he writes in Jamie’s Italy, “but the most memorable ones I’ve eaten have been made from the light broth that you get when making bollito misto”. Although chicken stock is fine, he reckons that, “to knock people’s socks off” cooks should boil up a knuckle of gammon with some smoked pancetta, wine, peppercorns and bay leaves, eat the meat with beans, and use the liquid as a base for a minestrone.

It seems like an extravagance, but then, I’m tireless in the pursuit of perfection, so I follow his instructions – and conclude that, although minestrone shouldn’t be shy and retiring, this version might have gone too far in the other direction. The salty, smoky flavour of the pork dominates the soup: I’m left pondering whether it would be acceptable to stir in a spoonful of mustard instead of the pesto common in its homeland.

Hearty = meaty?

Minestrone is often lauded for its hearty qualities (the name means “big soup”), evoking romantic visions of peasants as brown and gnarled as their olive trees (Italian soups are “rough and crude and full of personality” according to Jamie, “very much like some of the old Italian faces”) – but, in keeping with its thrifty origins, many are largely vegetarian. Jamie, however, adds smoked pancetta or bacon to his soffritto (the melange of sweated vegetables that forms the base of so many Italian dishes), as does Elizabeth David in two of her four minestrone recipes (a third uses gammon).

I’m not keen however; the meat seems to be surplus to requirements here, and I’ve never been a fan of rubbery boiled bacon in any case. There’s enough olive oil in this dish without adding anything else. (On that note, Angela uses a mixture of butter and olive oil, while the Silver Spoon talks of the “essential butter, bacon fat, oil or lard” in the recipe. Given all my recipes call for a drizzle of olive oil to finish the dish off (as Locatelli recalls from his childhood, “we weren’t a family big on olive oil – at that time, olive oil wasn’t used much in the north – but you couldn’t have a minestrone without olive oil over the top.”), and that I can’t taste the butter in the final dish, I decide to keep things simple and stick with oil.

A question of starch

Silver Spoon recipe minestrone.
Photograph: Felicity Cloake for the Guardian

One of the things I like most about minestrone is its sheer bulk: it’s really a big bowl of carb-based joy, with a hefty garnish of vegetables to gladden the heartstrings of health. Locatelli explains that “whatever ingredients you use, a good minestrone has to have the right balance between the starchy element … and the vegetables.”

That element, however is up for debate: Angela Hartnett uses potato and suggests pasta as an option, Jamie opts for pasta and cannellini or borlotti beans and the Silver Spoon goes for long grain rice or short pasta. Locatelli himself comes down in favour of potato and borlotti beans. Interestingly though, he admits in the introduction to the recipe that, at home “I like to make minestrone the way my grandmother did it, adding rice – which makes it so thick that you could stick your spoon into it upright and watch it fall down slowly.” (“I have never done it in the restaurant” he continues sadly, “a little too rustic.”) I try his version with arborio, which, as he says, makes the broth “really creamy” – and it’s wonderfully thick and comforting.

Extras

Jamie Oliver’s recipe minestrone.
Photograph: Felicity Cloake for the Guardian

Most recipes for minestrone follow the same basic pattern – soffritto, vegetable, stock, starch – butJamie stands out by sticking in tinned tomatoes and a glass of red wine. (The Silver Spoon’s Genoese version has fresh tomatoes, but as these don’t break up so easily, they remain part of the vegetable matter rather than the sauce.) It smells good, but it’s a completely different animal to the others – the broth should be savoury, but understated, rather than this garlicky, almost Frenchified beast.

The same recipe in The Silver Spoon features dried mushrooms, which I dismiss for the same reason: no one ingredient should dominate here, and porcini have a distinct tendency to bully. The same, in my opinion goes for the pesto such north-western recipes often add at the end (Locatelli included): pesto takes over, while a sprinkling of parmesan and a few basil leaves only enhance.

Keep it fresh

Finally, a word about cooking times. I love Italian food, but it can’t be denied that they love their meltingly soft veg (if they were British of course, they’d be accused of murdering them, but such is gastronomic relativism). The Silver Spoon minestrone cooks for over two hours, by which time the French and broad beans are reduced to mush – I found Locatelli’s advice, about only adding the vegetables gradually. “You can cook all the vegetables together if you are in a hurry, but the proper way to do it is slowly, adding [them] in stages, so that they are all cooked to the same consistency and keep their own identity, with the potatoes only just soft. It’s up to you.” For my taste, the vegetables should be softened, but still firm enough to present some challenge to the teeth, or the whole thing becomes more of a savoury rice pudding for the infirm.

Perfect minestrone

Felicity’s perfect minestrone.
Photograph: Felicity Cloake for the Guardian

Minestrone is a wonderfully versatile dish that works with whatever seasonal vegetables you happen to have to hand – just make sure the broth is flavourful enough to give the dish character, without overwhelming the other ingredients, and there’s enough starch to satisfy even the most active Tuscan goatherd.

Serves 4

3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to serve
1 onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed
2 carrots, cut into 1cm dice
2 sticks of celery, cut into 1cm dice
Seasonal vegetables of your choice (at the moment, 1 courgette, diced, handful of fresh peas or broad beans, half a head of fennel, diced, 3 large leaves of cavolo nero, shredded)
1.5l good quality chicken stock
1 potato, cut into 2cm dice
100g cooked and drained borlotti beans
200g risotto rice
Grated parmesan and a few basil leaves, to serve

1. Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan and add the onion and garlic. Soften over a medium heat for 5 minutes, without allowing them to colour, then add the carrots and soften. Repeat with the celery.

2. Add the rest of the seasonal vegetables in order of cooking time (courgette and fennel will take longer than peas or fresh beans for example) and allow to soften slightly – they don’t need to cook through at this point. Stir in the potato.

3. Add the stock, the borlotti bean and rice. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes until the potato and rice are cooked. Season to taste.

4. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil, a grating of parmesan and some torn basil leaves. (If you make this ahead of time, you’ll find the rice swells to absorb much of the liquid, so it’s best to make it without the rice, then add it when you reheat it. Alternatively, you can loosen it with more stock.)

Minestrone is surely the world’s most versatile soup – is there anything you wouldn’t put in yours, and what do you like to top it with? Does anyone like theirs chilled, and is there a British equivalent of this soup for all seasons?

Low Fat Healthy (morning) blueberry muffins (easy peasy)

Wed, 09 May 2012 06:58:00 -0400

For the most part, I find blueberry muffins too soft, sweet and even too greasy for the morning. I made this batch which is must less sweet, and a bit more wholesome and ‘bread-like’ which makes a perfect starter for the morning!

These are amazing with butter!

Preheat oven to 175 C or 350 F.

You’ll need some silicon or non-stick baking cups or a well greased or paper lined muffin tin.

To START:

in a medium sized bowl.. you’ll need:

160 g Fat-free Vanilla Yogurt (I used a small yogurt cup bought from Marks&Spencer)

1/4 c to 1/3 milk.. stir into yogurt until a thick liquid.

one egg beaten into above ingredients

one teaspoon of honey

(image above: of the yogurt I bought from Marks&Spencer)

in a larger bowl mix the following dry:

two cups of whole wheat flour

1 Tbsp Baking powder

1 Tbsp Baking soda

1 Tbsp Cinnamon

1 pinch of salt

Mix the wet into the dry. Don’t worry about completely blending. No more than ten turns of the the spoon should get all the wet and dry ingredients in contact with each other.

Add a handful of blue berries, I used about 3/4 of a cup. and just barely stir them in, until just evenly distributed in the batter.

Spoon batter among the 12 muffin cups.

Bake until just browned on top and a knife comes out cleanly when inserted into one of the muffins. I think I baked them for about 15-20 minutes.

The recipe is a major modification of this:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/715635/fat-free-muffins

UPDATE:

See also the Strawberry & Raspberry versions I made the other day!

"Rock Lava" Chocolatey Brownies w/ Walnuts for 2-6 people

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:10:00 -0500

Adopted from the recipe here: http://www.cacaoweb.net/brownies3.html

For my last dinner in Hamburg, before heading back to London for work, James and I ate at a new Mexican Restaurant, El Picosito. Contrary to all our doubts about a Mexican restaurant in Hamburg, the food was amazing. We split a dish of tacos. After the savory dinner as usual I was craving something sweet. Unable to do more shopping for ingredients, I looked in the cupboard to figure out what I could bake. I found the above recipe for brownies only using cocoa powder, which is the only thing I had..

I took the original recipe and cut it in half.

My theory is that these are lower fat than normal brownie recipes as the only source of fat is the butter.

Yield: 9 servings

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1/3 cup all-purpose flour (85 g)
1/2 cup cocoa powder (50 g)
1 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt (optional)
1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Method

Preheat oven to 350 deg F (Gas mark 4 or 180 deg C).
Line a 4 x 9 in baking tin with grease proof or other non-stick paper and grease the tin. Melt the butter.(I used a bread loaf pan)
Beat eggs with sugar, and add vanilla, flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt (optional) and melted butter - in this order.
Add chopped nuts.
Bake at 350 degrees until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, approximately 20-30 minutes.
Cool the cake. Dust with powdered sugar or glace with your favorite chocolate frosting. (I used additional chopped walnuts)

Variations

Instead of all-purpose flour + baking powder you may use self-raising flour.
Instead of eggs you may use 3/4 cup med firm drained tofu (suggested by Jennifer, March 2008)
Instead of using nuts use a mars bar. Freeze the bar, smash it and the sprinkle it on top before baking (suggested by Thea, August 2008)
To make a more cake-like brownie, bake in a square approx. 9x9 in metal pan. Cooks about 5 to 10 minutes longer, but turns out more fluffy, soft, and cake-like (Suggested by Lucy Sinogeikina, September 2008)

Rustic Bread from Scratch

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:45:03 -0500

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2764/rustic-bread

Ingredients

250g strong white bread flour
1 tsp fast-action dried yeast
1 tbsp olive oil , plus extra for drizzling
200ml sparkling water
semolina , for sprinkling (optional)
finely chopped rosemary and Maldon salt, for sprinklng

Method

Cut the dough into 8 pieces, then roll out into rough rounds about 16-17cm in diameter. (Don’t pile them on top of each other or they will stick together.)
Sprinkle a baking sheet or two with semolina if you have it, otherwise leave plain. Lay the breads on the sheets and let them sit for 5 mins, then scatter with rosemary, salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Bake in batches for 8-10 mins until puffy and golden. Can be made 3-4 hrs ahead.

per bread

137 kcalories, protein 4g, carbohydrate 24g, fat 4 g, saturated fat 1g, fibre 1g, salt 0.94 g

Improved Low-Fat Vegan Ginger Molasses Cookies.

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:40:00 -0500

This recipe is for a smaller batch than the last post. This makes very gingery and light cookies. They are great out of the oven with a glass of milk. I tried to keep it as low-fat as possible by only adding ‘just enough’ oil, rather than the full 1/4 cup amount. This batch also “spread” less after baking, making a fluffier, chewier cookie.

1.25 C flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/3 C maple syrup
1/4 C molasses (I am very liberal with this measurement..)
1/4 C oil (tasteless, like sunflower)
3 T fresh ginger, grated
1 t cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the maple syrup, molasses, and ginger. The “low-fat” part of the recipe: add oil until slowly until all ingredients are just moistened enough. Scoop teaspoon-sized portions onto a lined cookie sheet (tin foil or baking paper) and bake for 12-15 minutes. Makes 28 normal-sized ginger snaps.

above photo: Ginger molasses cookies before baking

Low-fat Vegan Ginger Molasses Cookies

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 18:00:14 -0500

This is low-fat and vegan. I love ginger.. enough said.

This recipe was modified from:
http://www.maenad.net/recipes/desserts/ginger_snaps.html

2.5 C flour
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
3/4 C maple syrup
1/4 C molasses
1/2 C oil
5 T fresh ginger, grated

(additionally I added 1/8 t of cinnamon, ground white pepper, and ground powdered ginger)

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the maple syrup, molasses, oil, and ginger. Stir together gently until “just mixed.” Scoop spoon-sized portions onto a lined cookie sheet (baking paper) and bake for 12-15 minutes. Makes 24 normal-sized ginger snaps.

— How it All Vegan, Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer, Arsenal Pulp Press, Vancouver, 1999

Thick Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies with Walnuts and Choc Chips

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:52:00 -0500

Modified from this recipe here

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick or 4 ounces) butter, softened
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt (I often use a half teaspoon, but I like more salt in my baked goods)
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup choc chips

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C)

Directions:

Cream Butter, Sugar, Vanilla and Egg in one Bowl.

In another larger bowl, mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, oats, raisins, choc chips and chopped walnuts.

Chill dough in fridge - my dough wasn’t very ‘warm’ to begin with so I chilled it for about 10-15 minutes.

1.5 inches apart, set Teaspoon-to-1.5Teaspoon sized balls on a lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 12 minutes.

or until browned around edges and just set on the top.

Remove from oven and let cool on the tray for another 10 minutes before removing to a cooler surface.

Banana Muffins: the midnight experiment

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 18:04:00 -0500

(low fat and low sugar)

On a whim and a late night sweet tooth, I decided to make some muffins with whatever we had in the kitchen. We had a bunch of bananas.. and I thought I’d try to make some simple banana muffins. I admit the bananas were not overripe as they should have been to bake with but I really needed sweets and there was nothing else.

Preheat oven to 360 F.

Ingredients:

3 bananas, mashed with a fork

3/4 cup Maple syrup for the sweetener

1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1 egg

1/4 c milk.

Mix all ingredients together and fill a non-stick or well greased x 12 muffin pan.

Bake for 25 minutes.

muffins are currently baking so, to be continued in a few minutes with the results!!

..Okay, I posted the key photo at the top just now. They turned out great! Perfect when eaten warm right out of the oven with a cold glass of milk.

Simple Vegetarian Pad Thai

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 12:31:00 -0500

The most attractive thing about this recipe to me at first was that all the ingredients were simple and I did not have to go on an elaborate treasure hunt to find ingredients.

The next thing about this was that it was fantastic! It actually served two people (x2 servings each!)

As long as you use a gluten-free soy sauce, this is a gluten-free recipe.
Vegetarian, even. Skip the eggs for vegan.

TAKEN FROM:
http://browniesfordinner.com/2010/05/11/easy-pad-thai/

(adapted from Brownies for Dinner)

Serves 4

8 ounces dried, wide and flat rice noodles
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus wedges for serving
— one well squeezed lime for the sauce and one lime cut into wedges for serving.
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 squirt (about 1/8 teaspoon) Sriracha (optional)
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
— I used 1 T vegetable oil and 1 T sesame oil.
3 scallions (green onions), white and green parts, separated and thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 large eggs, light beaten (optional)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
— I used about 3/4 cup
1/4 cup chopped roasted, salted peanuts
— I chopped 1/2 cup and mixed some in during that last part of cooking.

Directions

Soak noodles according to package instructions. Drain.

In a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar, lime juice, soy sauce, and Sriracha.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.

Add scallion whites and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Add eggs and cook, scraping skillet with spatula until eggs are almost se (about 30 seconds).

Transfer eggs to a plate.

Add noodles, scallion greens, and sauce to skillet. Cook, tossing constantly, until noodles are soft (about 1 minute). Add egg mixture and toss to coat, breaking eggs up gently.

Serve noodles with lime wedges, topped with cilantro and peanuts.

Notes and variations

Per serving:
315 calories, 7g fat (0.9g saturated fat), 3.6g protein, 60.5g carb, 1.4g fiber
Per serving: $1.50 or less.

If you’re a carnivore try this: While the noodles are soaking, cut up 1 small chicken breast (or half of one of the colossal ones) into bite sized pieces. Marinate the chicken in a little bit of soy sauce and garlic (or make a little extra of the sauce for the noodles and marinate the chicken in that). OR: use shrimp (marinate same as chicken)… heck, use both. Cook them before you add the noodles to the pan.
Leftovers: heat in the microwave or toss in a hot skillet for a minute to warm the noodles. Not as good as the first day but with a little extra lime juice, it makes a nice leftover-lunch.

The most amazing carrot cake recipe

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:56:00 -0500

This is by far one of the best recipes for carrot cake. I have made four of them now and all have been devoured by my ‘guest tasters’ :)

The icing is fantastic as well. Note that in that image above, I had not finished icing the cake completely. I do suggest using two 6-8 inch circular layer cake baking pans with a removable bottom. Similar to the pan image below.

I just uploaded my first video on YouTube. This tutorial shows...

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 06:05:06 -0500

I just uploaded my first video on YouTube. This tutorial shows you How to Make Simple, Quick and Easy Pancakes. (No Measuring!)

Some very healthy, not too sweet vegan blueberry muffins.

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 19:13:00 -0400

These are good but there are tastier vegan recipies out there. Still, I do like the lemon zest in this recipie. I would try to add more sweatener next time perhaps. I also thought the Vinegar in this recipe was interesting and I could not taste it at all in the final batch.

Ingredients

2 cups Unbleached All Purpose Flour (I used bleached)
2 teaspoons Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 Lemons For Lemon Zest
1/4 cup Honey
1/4 cup Soy Milk
1 cup Unsweetened Apple Sauce (I used pureed Apricot)
1 tablespoon White Vinegar (I used Apple Cider Vinegar)
1 and 1/2 cups Fresh OR Frozen Blueberries

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375F. Grease Muffin Tin.
In a medium bowl, combine together flour, baking soda, salt and lemon zest.
In a large bowl, combine the web ingredients: honey, Soy milk, Apple sauce and vinegar. Mix well.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stir until just combined. Don’t over stir.
Gently fold in the berries using a rubber spatula.
Fill the muffin tins about 2/3rds full.
Bake until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, about 22 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let it cool for 5 minutes. After that remove the muffins from the tins and cool on a wire rack.

Reiki Session with Natasa

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 15:48:00 -0400

Today I want to get a Reiki treatment from my friend Natasa, who as been studying and practicing seriously for a few years now. We started out on the floor, on yoga mats doing some stretching and breathing exercises. I think this helped increase the internal blood and airflow. After a half an our of doing this, my body and mind felt more relaxed and open. Then to begin the reiki session, we washed our hands with salt to remove the excess fat, oil and dirt. She had me close my eyes and lay on the massage table. She started to perform the reiki, the way I had been trained as well in my reiki Tummo class. For the most part, I found the experience very relaxing. I could feel at times heat and energy coming from her palms. By the time she got to my feet, I could feel the energy circulating in me again in small circular patterns, tingling throughout my body. Then she had me turn and lay on my stomach, and she performed reiki to the back of my body. I felt quite relaxed and almost fell asleep. My body jolted at one point in the session, as my relaxing muscles were shooting off excess synaptic signals. After the session I felt fantastic. Natasa said that I would be feeling the effects for the next few days and I should be aware of the way my body and my energy is feeling as well as my dreams. Already, I have had a crazy dream this afternoon. It was so real and intense that I woke up realizing that it wasn’t real. I was glad for it thought, because I was upset in my dream! Despite the anxiety, stress, and unhappiness that I have been feeling this week, I think the reiki session has helped me feel okay about everything. Somehow I feel like Im being “protected” from really feeling the anxiety that I know I would normally be experiencing.

Vegan Gluten/Wheat Free Banana Bread

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 18:45:00 -0400

Ingredients:
3 very ripe bananas
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 canola oil or melted butter (i used butter, so mine was 1/2 vegan)
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups rice flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 F / 180 C
Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan

Mash the bananas in a large mixing bowl well.
Add applesauce, oil or melted butter, and sugar.

In a separate bowl mix 1 cup of the flour with the salt, baking powder and cinnamon.

Add the 1 cup of flour to the banana mixture.
Next, add the remaining 1 cup of flour and mix again.
Add the 1/2 cup shredded coconut

Transfer the batter to the baking pan and bake for 45 minutes, or until top is golden brown and a knife inserted through the center comes out clean.

The Grinberg Method: First Visit

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 14:09:00 -0400

Martyn had suggested to me last week that I try this new therapy method called the Grinberg method. He emailed me the address and I got immediately in contact with Rivka for my first free trial session. I was lucky, the office was just down the street from where I now live. I was early so I sat in the waiting room and read some of their information materials on classes and training sessions. Finally the client before me was finished with his session and Rivka showed me into the room. It was a large clean room, with white walls and a new parkett floor, a lot like the rooms I see in most german apartments and yoga studios. Rivka had me sit up on the massage table that was set-up in the middle of the room. I sat straight up with my legs sticking out in front of me, with my ankles hanging over the table. Rivka came and sat down in front of me in a chair so that she had a perfect straight-on view of the bottom of my feet. I sat still and perfectly on the table. She asked me some simple questions, such as where I am from, how long have I been living in Berlin, and how old I was. Her eyes traveled quickly. She looked at my face, my eyes, my body and my feet. She started her analysis immediately. She told me she saw the tightness in my shoulders and neck. She saw that I had a lot of worry. She said that I am adventuruous and very curious, but that something is holding me back from being free and really being who I want to be. I said that this was true although none of this information was new to me. She wanted me to talk about it. She went on. She said that I do like people and I desire to be near them, but then I dont trust people and I pull away, or I keep them at a distance. This was true and good for me to think about again. She said that when I am with people, and I first meet them I am ‘checking’ on them seeing what they are all about. I thought about how I met someone new last week, and yes, I was doing this during the conversation. She said I pull myself out of the moment by being objective and then when I do that then I am not all there in the moment with them. She said that Im not in love right now but I would like to be, but I keep myself at a distance or my thoughts to myself a lot and when I am with them, I think to myself, that this relationship will be over one day.. She said I had a poker face, that she would not be able to read me.. if she hadnt had all her experience. We talked about that formality in my nature, and pointed to the fact that it was from my father and mother. We talked about how I feel like an outsider to things a lot, that I dont fit in and how I would like to be a part of the group. She said that it could be from growing up. Perhaps I got this from my parents, this feeling of not being a part of any group and that I have to work really hard to fit in. I dont trust people and that keeps me constantly apart from people. She mentioned that I like to help people, and that I feel like people only like me because of what I do for them, not for me and it leads me to trusting them less… That is all of the session that I can remember so far. Her adivice was to start breathing more. Basically I think the most important thing she said to me was that I keep a separation between me and other people. She also said that right now the only thing I love is the creative work that I am doing. Which does seems true and sad at the same time. She said that if I stop thinking so much, I can allow myself to be more naturally me, then I might be happier and allow more people to be close to me. Somehow I have to stop feeling like such an outsider and allow myself to be who I am. She also said that there is a divide or a split in me.. that I both want to be left alone, and I also want to be well known and successful. And these two things are fighting inside of me.

I think she said a lot of true things about me that it was good for me too hear again from somebody who is neutral. So, the next day I took a day off from work. Meditated and read a book. I did not do a lot of work. I tried to concentrate on relaxing my mind and opening myself up. I thought the visit was good, but if I did not already practice Reiki and meditation, I dont know what anyone else would have done with her advice, to just ‘quiet the mind’. Mostly I think this method of healing does not really allow someone the independence to heal themselves, and therefore it is not really a wholistic practice the way Reiki is, which incorporates a philosophy and a system of practice.