Put a Spoon In It

Rosemary Butternut Squash Polenta Chips

2012-01-22T17:28:00.000-05:00

"The Modern Vegetarian", by Maria Elia was a 5.00$ secret treasure I found in Barnes and Noble one day when I was trying to return a book I never read. So I decided this weekend that I'd try a recipe from the book to make lunches more interesting. For this week's lunch menu I decided to go with a veggie burger, California style with avocados, greens, and cheese, and fries on the side. I really wasn't in the mood for potato fries, and for some reason sweet potato fries just don't taste right unless they're deep fried (and I don't own a deep fryer) so I decided to make make recipe from this book. OMG! These fries are so good. Not only are they nutrient dense with the butternut squash, but the texture and flavour are so different from the typical fry that it makes lunch more exciting. The only thing I did not do was deep fry the chips. I chose to heat oil in a frying pan and cook them instead.

Rosemary Butternut Squash Polenta Chips from "The Modern Vegetarian"

1.5 cups of finely diced butternut squash

2 tsp chopped rosemary

salt and pepper to season

6 cups of water

2 cups polenta (cornmeal)

In a large pot boil the water. Add the squash and rosemary and reduce the heat to a simmer. Slowly stir in the polenta and cook for about 3 minutes. Season well with salt and pepper. Once cooked, pour the batter in a greased rectangular baking dish and allow to cool. Once cooled, refrigerate for 1 hour. Take the block of polenta out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Cut into french fry size. As mentioned before, I didn't deep fry them. Instead, I coated a frying pan with extra virgin olive oil and, on high heat, I fried the chips until crispy. Trust me, you'll be replacing your regular side of fries with these real son.

Spicy Paneer and Spinach

2011-09-27T19:14:00.000-04:00

So my Dakota girls N and A (well, only A is a true North Dakota girl) came for dinner last Saturday. Instead of going out to eat, which we have been doing a lot, I decided to cook for my belles. So I pulled out my package Rasoi Magic Paneer Butter Masala mix, but made a couple of changes.

Take the Paneer mix and mix with a cup of milk. In a hot pan, heat the 2tbsp oil on medium head and instead of tomato paste, I used 1/2bag of fresh spinach and cooked it down. I then followed the remaining directions according the package which were to add the spice mixture to the pan, add the paneer, and 1 cup water and allow to simmer. OMG, it tasted so good. There wasn't a drop left. We poured the curry over brown basmati rice and as a side, homemade hummous with crackers. YUMMY!

Magic Carpet Ride

2011-09-21T20:56:00.000-04:00

Well, not exactly. While Kima was in Disney World taking her turn on Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride, I was in Fargo, ND, on a mission: find my spices to I can cook, and find a decent Indian or Middle Eastern restaurant to eat at as there are none in Bismarck (ah yes, I am currently living in Bismarck). So, hitting the road at 10am with my girl N, my Passat flew us into Fargo, where we did minor damage at the mall and Kohls before we decided that we were hungry. Well, relying on the magic of Garmin, we discovered two restaurants: Cafe Aladdin, and Aladdin Cafe. Well, deciding we'd try the first, I programmed the GPS and drove to the Cafe, which, turned out to be closed on Sundays. Alas, I re-programmed the GPS to Aladdin Cafe, and in about 6 minutes, N and I found ourselves in front of a sign that said Aladdin Cafe, but more importantly, OPEN! Well, how happy was I when the first thing I saw when I came in was a menu with the words: falafel, kibbe, kabobs, fatoush... oh yummy, this girl is so happy right now. The owner, a Palestinian man who has been in America for 30 years or so, greeted us with a big smile and began describing to us the various pastries that were on display in the glass case. You see, before any meal, one must choose her dessert. Well, N and I decided we were kinda hungry so we decided to split this delicious cashew treat. A paste made of sugar and cashews stuffed and rolled up in layers of phyllo with a syrup poured over- really, is that not heaven?
Anyway, as depicted below, we finally ordered our meals. As I gave up beef and N doesn't like lamb, we picked a couple of vegetarian dishes. Grape leaves stuffed with rice accompanied by a side of saffron rice, and lentils and rice with a side of hummous and pita. Oh, and we did get a side salad topped with fresh olives. The food was good, not hte best, but definitely good and makes your tummy happy. Why not the best? Well, when you've been spoiled as I have with homemade Middle Eastern foods, and MANY restaurants in the DMV, its very hard to find anything that compares, however; the grape leaves definitely had a nice lemon twang to it, and the saffron rice was fragrant and delicious. The hummous was a little think, and being Indian, I'm more used to yellow lentils than green (because dal is usually yellow), but it was still a good and satisfying meal.
So in the end, if for some reason you find yourself in Fargo, definitely check out Aladdin Cafe (which, by the way, is owned by the same people that own Cafe Aladdin)

Aladdin Cafe
1609 32nd St S
Fargo, ND 58103
701-242-4200

Vegetable Stir Fry and Coconut-Mango Sticky Rice

2011-08-22T18:40:00.000-04:00

Round 3! Ding ding ding!

This third cooking lesson with Randi was Asian inspired. The vegetable stir fry was so easy and quick to make it was ready in about 15 minutes. If you have any left over vegetables in the fridge you can add them into the stir fry. I knew I wanted to teach Randi how to make mango sticky rice because she's only had it once before at a restaurant. Verdict says...Randi will be making this a lot at home!

Vegetable Stir Fry
Adapted from Shape Magazine

2 tablespoons Asian (toasted) sesame oil
1 1/2 cup (1/2 pound) mushrooms, stems removed and sliced. We used a variety pack of shiitake, button, and oyster mushrooms.
1 of any color bell pepper, cored and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 1/2 cup (1/2 pound) sugar snap peas, trimmed
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
1 cup brown or white rice, prepared according to package directions

Directions

In a large skillet or wok, heat sesame oil over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, bell pepper slices, ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes, stirring constantly so the ingredients don't burn. (If they start to brown, pour a little vegetable broth into the skillet.) Continue to cook for about 5 minutes.
Add the snap peas and scallions to the skillet. Stir-fry for about 2 minutes. In a small bowl, stir cornstarch into soy sauce, then add the mixture to the pan.
Pour in the vegetable broth; cook for about 2 minutes, until the mixture comes to a boil and starts to thicken. Serve over brown or white rice.

Coconut-Mango Sticky Rice
Adapted from Food.com

1 cup jasmine rice or 1 cup other sweet Asian
1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 mango sliced

Directions

Cook rice according to package directions, but substitute coconut milk for half of the water, and add 1/4 cup of sugar. What we did here was filled the pot with water to the top of the rice and put half the can of coconut milk in the pot.
It should be fairly dry when you finish cooking it, without any liquid visible in the pot.
In a medium saucepan, boil the rest of the coconut milk with the second half of the sugar.
Keep this at a full boil until the rice is cooked, or until it reaches a thick, syrupy consistency.
Arrange the cooked coconut rice in a bowl or plate with the mango slices in some kind of pretty formation and dribble a bit of the sauce over the whole thing.

Silly Rabbit, Carrot cake is for grown-ups!

2011-08-16T22:27:00.000-04:00

So I was going through this, "I need carrot cake" phase the past weeks. Why? I have no idea. Thinking about the good ol' days and the family parties, where, for some reason, Indian people think American dessert is symbolic by carrot cake (I'd rather have apple pie... hmm, apple pie). So anyway, I started googling healthy carrot cake recipes and I found one that is was healthier, but I didn't have all the ingredients so I made some modifications with the recipe and came up with my own. It turned out pretty alright. I did not use whole wheat flour, because in all honesty, its nasty. Really, it is. I rather oat flour or soy over whole wheat. So I used enriched white as that is what my dad carries in his kitchen. The recipe wanted oat bran, which I also did not have, so I used flaxseed. They also asked for egg substitute, and I don't believe in fake foods so I used real eggs. I also used stevia because I'm sure Splenda is powdered cancer (or so says my friend Di).

So anyway, here's Lulu's Carrot Cake Recipe
1 3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup flax seed
1 cup stevia
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 eggs
1 package of shredded carrots
1/2 cup crushed pineapple
1/4 oil

I just dumped everything in the kitchen aid and let it swirl away. Once mixed well, place in two round cake pans and bake at 350 degrees for about 32 mins (it just seemed right in my oven). Once the cakes have cooled and are removed from the pan, they are ready of assembly. To make the frosting I whipped up 4 oz of tofu (silken) with 8 oz of cream cheese and a dash of vanilla, a small carton of heavy whipping cream and a cup of stevia. The first thing is whipping the heavy cream and stevia. Then slowly add the remaining ingredients. I decorated it with raisins.

Cooking Lesson 2: Fried Tofu with Green Onion and Cilantro Sauce

2011-07-25T16:54:00.000-04:00

Ever since Randi moved to the DC area from NC she started eating tofu. I knew the perfect dish for this cooking lesson but I needed the help of my mom who's been making this ever since I was little. This is a super easy recipe with very few ingredients.

Ingredients

A tub of firm tofu (I got ours at the local Asian market)
A bunch of chopped cilantro
5 stems of chopped green onions
2 cups of vegetable oil to fry
1/2 cup soy sauce

Drain the tofu water and place tofu in a strainer for about 15 minutes.
Chop up green onions and cilantro and place in a bowl. Add 1/4 cup of soy sauce and set aside. Put the rest of the soy sauce in another bowl.
In a frying pan, heat up oil for about 5 minutes. Don't let the oil smoke. We set the temperature at 400 degrees.
Add the tofu and cook for about 10 minutes on each side.
Once tofu is brown take the tofu out of the oil and immediately dip in the second bowl of soy sauce. Then place in the bowl of green onion and cilantro. You only need to coat the tofu on each side lightly.
Mix the cooked tofu and green onion and cilantro together.
Serve and eat!

Festive Corn Salsa

2011-07-04T16:15:00.003-04:00

Happy 4th of July! What a more festive way to celebrate is to make a colorful corn salsa. This recipe is taken from my wonderful mother and is made several times a year. My mom makes it with beans and you can opt in or out your own ingredients. I mix my corn salsa with pasta to make a pasta salad or you can eat them with tortilla chips. Bring this to a bbq, work party, or make it just because you're craving something good. This recipe always gets rave reviews and everyone will be asking you for the recipe.

Corn Salsa

1 bag frozen sweet corn (I use Trader Joes frozen sweet corn)
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 orange pepper
1 bunch of cilantro
1/2 red onion
1/2 cup Robusto Italian dressing (If you can't find Robusto then regular Italian dressing is fine)

Chop all the peppers, cilantro and red onion the same size as the corn. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. Enjoy!

Green Milk Tea Bubble Drink

2011-05-31T16:32:00.000-04:00

While at the Asian grocery store I decided to pick up a package of tapioca pearls and eventually think of a dessert to use with it. I was watching Sandra Lee's Semi Homemade and the theme was Asian food. At the end of her show she made a bubble drink but with...get this...vodka! No way jose I thought! haha So I remembered I had a package of tapioca I could use to make my own bubble drink...sans vodka. My favorite summer drink is a bubble milk tea from Maria's Hong Kong restaurant in Rockville, MD. Since the weather is getting warmer around here I thought I'd make it today.

If you're not familiar with what bubble tea it's a colorful blend of sweetened tea or juice with sweetened cooked tapioca pearls or coconut jelly and often a creamy addition or flavoring syrup or powder. The bubble teas you usually get at the store are big black pearls but I only had the small ones on hand. This would be great to prepare for a summertime bbq that's refreshing and your guests will love!

Prepare the green tea or any tea of your choice

4 cups water
Green tea, any brand

Boil the water and steep 5 bags of green tea
Let cool

How to cook bubble tea tapioca pearls

2 1/2 cups or approximately 6-10 servings
Use shorter cooking time if you plan to refrigerate the pearls several days

1 cup large black or white tapioca pearls
6-8 cups water

Never use less than 6 cups of water for each one cup of dry tapioca pearls. 8 or 10 to one is better.
Most people like the pearls a little soft on the outside but a bit chewy. If you like your pearls tender all the way through, measure them, then cover with water and soak them for a few hours before draining and cooking.
Bring the cooking water to a vigorous boil in a large pot.
Stir in the tapioca pearls slowly, so they do not stick together or sink into a clump. The tapioca pearls will soon rise to float in the water.
As soon as they float, boil covered for about 20-30 minutes depending on the size of the tapioca pearls. Stir two or three times during cooking.
Turn the heat off and let the tapioca sit in the cooking water for another 25 minutes. Stir two or three times during soaking.
Rinse the cooked tapioca pearls in tap water until the water runs clear and drain.
Cover with bubble tea sugar syrup or brown sugar syrup, stir to coat. Refrigerate covered if not used right away; they will keep three or four days before they get too mushy.
When you want some bubble tea, boil a cup of water and warm some refrigerated tapioca pearls for about 3-5 minutes. Then stir into the drink. Enjoy!

How to make bubble tea sugar syrup

This syrup is used BOTH to cover the cooked tapioca pearls and to sweeten the freshly made drink. Use all white sugar to flavor pearls for delicate fruit flavors and green tea drinks.
Use 1-2 tablespoons syrup for each 16 ounce serving.

1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups water

Mix sugar and water in a large pot.
Cook at medium to high heat.
As soon as the sugar dissolves and the mixture boils remove from heat.
Let cool and refrigerate or serve.

Pearl Bubble Milk Tea

This is the classic bubble tea drink. The most popular flavors are black tea and green jasmine tea. The cream may be omitted.

3/4 cup strong tea base  
2 tablespoons creamy ingredient  (milk, creamer, etc.)
1 tablespoon bubble tea sugar syrup 
1 cup ice
3 to 4 tablespoons cooked Bubble Tea Tapioca Pearls

Put tea, creamy ingredient and bubble tea sugar syrup in shaker and mix well.
Add in ice, cover shaker and shake for a nice froth.
Add tapioca pearls to the glass, and pour your drink over. Stir and enjoy!

Cooking Lesson Round 1 - Southwestern Stuffed Mushrooms

2011-05-22T16:25:00.001-04:00

I somehow convinced my friend, Randi, to do a cooking lesson with me. She is a vegetarian and doesn't cook that often. We're going to be cooking a vegetarian dish once a month and will be featured on this blog. Here we go!

Randi loves portobello mushrooms but has never cooked with them before. I found this recipe on Mommie Cooks! website that features a southwestern stuffed mushroom. We opted out the chicken and cilantro but if you like those ingredients go ahead and add them in. This recipe looked very easy for Randi to follow and delicious as well.

Southwestern Stuffed Portobelo Mushrooms

Ingredients

6 Portobello Mushrooms, Stems Removed

6 Tbsp Olive Oil (about 1 Tbsp for each mushroom)
1 Tbsp Butter
1 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Coriander
1/2 tsp Chili Powder
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Oregano
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Bell Pepper, Chopped (whichever color you prefer)
3/4 Cup Corn
3 Oz Fresh Spinach, Roughly Chopped
1 Tomato, Chopped
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
1/2 Lime, Juiced
1 Small Bunch Cilantro, Chopped
2 Green Onions, Chopped
6 Ounces Cheddar Cheese, Shredded

Directions

Brush the portobello mushrooms with olive oil and let them bake in an oven heated to 350 degrees for 5 minutes.
Heat up the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat and add in the chopped pepper and corn.
Add in the cumin, coriander, chili powder, garlic powder, oregano, and salt.
Cook another minute or two until the peppers are tender.
Add in the spinach and stir it a few times until it wilts.
Remove the pan from the heat and add in the tomato, sour cream, lime juice, cilantro, and green onions.
Add the mixture to each of the six mushrooms and top with cheese.
Bake the finished mushrooms in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Lulu's Redo Chocolate Chip Cookie

2011-05-09T19:27:00.000-04:00

So I decided to take a twist on the chocolate chip cookie and this is what I came up with. Its healthier than your average cookie. Its soft and chewy, and well, its yummy too.

1.25 cups white all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 bag of Ghiradelli white chocolate chips

2 bananas

1/4 cup brown sugar

6 oz plan Greek yoghurt

2 oz canola oil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

So first preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Then mash the bananas and mix well with the sugar, yoghurt, oil, and vanilla. Once completely mixed, add all the dry ingredients except the chocolate chips. Once well mixed and the chips. This recipe makes 12 LAGRE cookies. Spoon the batter on a cookie sheet (not greased) and bake for 10 minutes. All the cookies to cool down and enjoy!

Pretzel Dogs!

2011-05-02T00:20:00.000-04:00

Sports game nights in our household usually entails beer, snacks, and pretzel dogs. The Caps game was on tonight, so I thought the perfect dinner would be this. Unfortunately the Caps lost, but I won in making these. Don't get intimidated by the name and I know it seems easier to go buy these at the store but you guys won't be disappointed!

Makes 8 bun size pretzel dogs
Adapted from A Dash of Sass
Adapted from Alton Brown’s Homemade Soft Pretzels

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 package dry active yeast
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 cups water
2 tablespoons baking soda (this is what makes the pretzel crisp)
1 large egg yolk, beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Pretzel salt (or kosher salt), for topping

Directions

Combine the warm water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes, until the yeast is foamy and begins to smell of yeast.
Add the flour and butter to the yeast mixture. Attach the dough hook to the stand mixer and, on medium-low speed, combine the mixture until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and appears shiny, roughly 4 to 5 minutes.
Spray a large bowl with non-stick spray (or lightly grease with vegetable oil) and place dough in greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap.
Place bowl in a warm area (near the oven, perhaps) and let dough rise for about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a large pot, bring the 3 cups of water and the baking soda to a roiling boil.
Place the dough on a greased surface, and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a long rope, roughly 12 inches long. Carefully wrap each piece around a half hot dog. Pinch the ends together to seal the dough.

Alternatively, to make regular pretzels, shape the rope into a U shape, cross the ends over each other and fold the twisted ends back onto the bottom of the U. Again, pinch the dough together to form a seal. Place each shaped pretzel on the parchment lined baking sheet.

Boil the shaped pretzels and pretzel dogs, one at a time, in the baking soda water for 30 seconds each. Using a flat spatula, remove each pretzel dog from the water and place it on a drying rack to allow any extra baking soda mixture to drip off.
Place the boiled pretzel dogs back on the parchment lined baking sheets.
Brush with beaten egg yolk and sprinkle with pretzel or kosher salt.
Bake until golden brown, roughly 14 to 15 minutes. Transfer pretzel dogs to a cooling rack for a few minutes before serving. Serve with a variety of mustards.

Homemade Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins...not fried!

2011-04-02T13:48:00.000-04:00

Sugar donuts are an all time classic. I've always wanted to make donuts but always afraid of frying food...Until I found this recipe. These donuts are baked and take a total of 30 minutes from prep to in your mouth. You can find all of these ingredients in your kitchen and even experiment with it different flavors. KStead says...light and air, cake like center, and gone in seconds.

Adapted from Kirbie's Cravings via Baking Bites

(Yields approx 24 mini muffins)

Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking power
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup fat free milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease mini muffin tin with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, whisk together sugar and egg until combined. Add in flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Mix until combined and smooth.
Then mix in vegetable oil, milk and vanilla extract.
Fill each mini muffin cup about 3/4 full.
Bake for 10-12 minutes. Pop them out of the tin and roll in a cinnamon sugar mixture.

Jamie Oliver's Cheat Sponge Cake With Summer Berries And Cream

2011-02-13T16:07:00.000-05:00

So as I was planning this week's menu, I grabbed my Jamie Oliver cookbook for some inspiration. Flipping through the dessert section first, as it is the most important meal of the day, I found this beautiful cake with almonds around it and raspberries and chocolate on top. So of course I had to have it. Well, making my grocery list, I jetted to the market only to find that the strawberries and raspberries were over priced, and there was no panettone in site. Well, so I modified. I bought some blueberries, used the banana I got from temple earlier that day, and baked an angel food cake in two cake pans to compensate for the missing ingredients. Well, I won't lie, I'm pretty delighted with my end product.

The original recipe can be found in Jamie's Food Revolution, but recipe is pretty simple.

Cheat's Sponge Cake- REMIXED!

One box of angel food cake mix

I cup of blueberries

1 banana

24 oz of heavy whipping cream

4 oz of dark chocolate

few tbsp of sweet white wine

1pk of sliced almonds.

So first I made the cake according to the box directions and baked in two separate round cake pans. Once the cake cooled, I cut the edges to make sure the two cakes would fit nicely on top of each other. Place the bottom layer on a plate and cover it with sliced bananas. Place the top layer and drizzle with white wine so that cake soaks it up, but not too much that wine is floating on top. In a mixer, whip the cream until its stiff and then frost the cake. While the cake was baking I had toasted the almonds on the stove top on low heat (be careful not to burn them). Once done frosting, pat the almonds on the sides of the cake. Top with blueberries and chopped or shaved chocolate.

Beef, rice, and french fries! What more can you ask for?

2011-01-24T23:13:00.001-05:00

Lomo Saltado

La Buutique, is my older sister who made the best lomo saltado I've ever had. She also made a bomb dot com cilantro sauce to go with it. This was a quick and easy meal that she whipped up last week when I went over to her house. Lomo saltado is a Peruvian dish with Asian influences. Can it get better than that?

Ingredients

1 (16 ounce) package frozen French fries
vegetable oil as needed
1 pound beef tri tip, sliced 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick
salt and pepper to taste
1 large onion, sliced into strips
2 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and sliced into strips
1 yellow chili pepper (preferably Peruvian aji amarillo)
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1 dash soy sauce to taste
Choice of rice
1/2 cup of chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 clove of garlic
2 teaspoons mayonnaise

Directions

Prepare the bag of French fries according to package directions.
Cook your choice of rice as desired according to package. We used jasmine rice.
While the French fries and rice are cooking, heat the oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Season the sliced meat with salt and pepper to taste. Fry the meat until just cooked, and the juices begin to release. Remove the meat from the frying pan.
Then cook the onions, with additional oil if needed, until they are transparent. Stir in the tomato and aji amarillo; cook until the tomato softens.
Pour in the vinegar and soy sauce, cover, and cook until the beef is done, about 3 minutes.
For the sauce, add the cilantro, garlic, mayonnaise, and lime juice in a mini food processor. Mix until desired taste.
Season to taste with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with chopped cilantro and French fries to serve.

Butternut Squash Pie

2011-01-06T20:32:00.000-05:00

So I decided that this Christmas I wanted to make a different dessert. The pops and I were heading to Madison to visit family and see my cousin's new baby. Since they were making dinner (which included a very yummy goat curry), I decided, even though I was post-call and exhausted because the stupid pager was going off all night, that I would make dessert. So after Googling online for various pie recipes, I found one I liked @ a blog called Farmer's Daughter, and made a few changes to make my own and this is what I came up with:

Lulu's Butternut Squash Pie

Ingredients:

Pie crust (frozen)

1/2 butternut squash

1.2 tsp salt

2 tbsp water

1 cup skim milk

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 banana

2 eggs

In the oven I baked the squash @ 325 degrees for an hour. I then let it cool and scooped out the squash from the skin and placed it into my Kitchen Aid mixer bowl. I added all the remaining ingredients (except the pie crust) and mixed well until everything was well combined. The oven was preheated to 425 degrees. I rolled out the pie crusts (I used two) and placed them inside a 12 x 8 baking dish (something like that) as I didn't have a round pie pan. I then filled the crust with the squash filling and placed the pie in the oven for 10 mins. After the first 10 mins were over I decreased the temp to 350 degrees and continued baking the pie for another 50 minutes. Once the pie was done baking I took it out to cool, et voila! The pie was a BIG hit at dinner. There was only two pieces left by the end of the night because I had to steal them before anyone else tried as I wanted some for breakfast the next day. I really hope you guys give this one a try.

Christmas Pear Custard Pie

2010-12-26T16:32:00.001-05:00

This Christmas, KStead's sister, who lives in Milan, Italy, sent us a Harry and David gift. The Taste of the Valley basket consisted of Royal Riviera Pears, smooth Red Pears, award-winning Rogue Creamery Smokey Blue cheese, buttery Havarti and a walnut-handled spreader, this uniquely designed trivet made of sustainable bamboo unfolds into a pear-shaped basket. KStead engulfed a few pears and they were so juicy. We decided to make a pear pie since I had a frozen pie crust in the freezer. I wanted a recipe that didn't require me to leave the house, so I found a custard pie recipe from Martha Stewart. The pie turned out great! I usually don't eat seconds, especially with desserts, but I kept on going back for more.

Pear Custard Pie

3 Royal Riviera or Red Pears, peeled, halved, cored, and sliced
1/4 cup melted unsalted butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs
3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees; Prick pie crust with a fork and cook for 5 minutes.
Peel, halve, and core 3 pears; slice 1/4 inch thick lengthwise. Arrange slices, overlapping slightly, in crust.
In a blender, process 1/4 cup melted unsalted butter, 1/3 cup each granulated sugar and all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 3 large eggs, and 3/4 cup milk until smooth.
Pour batter over pears; bake until golden and firm to touch, about 45 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

The Great American Bake Sale

2010-12-14T18:53:00.000-05:00

First of all, I have to thank those that participated in the great American Bake Sale which I organized at my jog along with the help of the fabulous Nurse J. I thought, "What a great was to help raise money to end childhood hunger" because I love sweets and so do our patients at the clinic. But our patients are primarily obese people with diabetes and hypertension and hypercholesterolemia, so I thought, "Why not do a bake sale of all our favourite holidays treats, but make healthier versions of them?" So here's what we came up with and soon to come... The Cook Book! Big thanks you to the Milwaukee Cupcake Company for donating TWO DOZEN gluten free cupcakes to the bake sale.

Nut Clusters

Cupcakes from Milwaukee Cupcake Company

Chocolate Truffles

Mini Sweet Potato Pies courtesy of Dr. I

Even the medical student joined in by baking granola bars

Slllllooooow Cooker Asian Short Ribs

2010-10-08T23:30:00.001-04:00

The weather has been getting a bit chilly here in VA: that's a sign for warm comfy homemade food. I've always wanted to make short ribs but was scared I wouldn't get the same "fall off the bone" effect as in restaurants. Until now! I found this recipe on Real Simple and... it's real simple. I ended up making this dish twice within a week. Kstead and I gobbled this up the first night and the second night we had my parents and Kstead's mom over to meet for the first time. Prep time took no more than 15 minutes!

Ingredients

1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
8 beef short ribs (about 4 pounds)
4 medium carrots, peeled and halved crosswise
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon sesame oil

Directions

In a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, combine the soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, garlic, ginger, and red pepper. Add the short ribs and carrots and arrange in a single layer.
Cook, covered, on high for 5 to 6 hours (or on low for 7 to 8 hours), until the meat is tender and easily pulls away from the bone.
Transfer the short ribs and carrots to plates. With a large spoon or ladle, skim the fat from the cooking liquid and discard.
If the slow cooker is on the low setting, turn it to high. In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of water until smooth. Whisk into the cooking liquid and cook until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the sesame oil. Spoon the sauce over the short ribs and vegetables and sprinkle with the scallions (if using). Serve over jasmine rice.

India in Milwaukee

2010-09-11T17:43:00.000-04:00

So last month CP and her man JP came over for dinner for CP's birthday and we decided we celebrate with a home-cooked Indian dinner. So we raided the grocery stores and got all the ingredients to make vindaloo, naan, mango lassis, cilantro chutney, cucumber salad with yoghurt dressing, and basmati rice. OMFG, the dinner was beyond awesome! all the food tasted fantastic, which it should have after the way we slaved over the stove... well not really slaved. We actually totally enjoyed the evening making dinner and drinking Malibu with mango lemonade on the rocks (which, my friends, is a truly delicious drink and makes cooking even more enjoyable). So we couldn't get our hands on any lamb or goat that day for the vindaloo so we used beef instead. Totally perfect substitution. And instead of grounding all our spices manually, we just bought the pre-grounded spice mix. Umm yes, just because we used pre-ground spices the meal is still considered homemade, And why not? We cut all the veggies, the meat, cooked the sauce, cooked the dish.

We even made our own naan bread. That's right, we baked bread! It really wasn't that we baked it, because actually we grilled it on the grill pan. Basically it was water, yeast, white flour, sugar, salt. Following the standard rules of making bread, we let the dough rise and then divided it into small balls, flattened them out with our hands, brushed oil over them, and then threw them on the grill.

So what do you serve with Indian food? Umm no, its not ketchup. Eww! So we made some cilantro chutney. Basically all we did was dump a lot of cilantro, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, garlic, and a little bit of cumin, tumeric, and chili into a blender and let it whirl and whirl and whirl until you've got a sauce :o) Ahh, isn't Indian food just so easy? So yeah, that was CP's birthday dinner. After that we made a stop @ Kafevino for some red wine... some yummy Australian red wine. I think it was a 10 point birthday dinner. Sorry I don't have the recipes typed up step by step, but honestly, there are so many variations to these recipes I suggest just google a basic recipe and just putting your own twist to them. If you don't like spicy then don't use green chili. If you prefer chicken instead of beef, or lamb instead of goat, or maybe fish or tofu, go for it. Just be creative and bon appetit.

Pina Coloda Cupcakes

2010-09-11T17:14:00.001-04:00

So my girlie CP and I were tempted to create our own version of a Pina Colada cupcake after we tasted the ones made @ Milwaukee Cupcake Company (which, by the way, are awesome. Sorry H and K, you guys should have called me in advanced and I would have happily got the Lady Gaga cupcakes for you). Anyway, so on one of our many girls' weekends we hit Whole Foods and got all the ingredients to make Pina Colada cupcakes following the Coconut Rum Cupcake recipe from the How Sweet It Is blog. We did make a few changes for instance we used brown sugar instead of white (because that's what we had in the kitchen) and unsweetened coconut. We also sweetened our frosting with maple syrup (maybe because CP and I are Canadian we just love that maple syrup). So anyway they turned out yummy yummy in our tummy. Not too sweet, but not so alcohol-y either (but oh HUNNY, that Malibu tasted oh so fresh and so clean). I think our next cupcake experiment is going to be in the peanut butter category...

Pina Colada Cupcakes (adapted from the Coconut Rum recipe)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
1.5 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup Malibu rum
Preheat the oven to 359 degrees. In a bowl, cream the butter, sugar and eggs until it becomes white and fluffy. Add the vanilla and coconut extracts and mix them well. Mix the dry ingredients separately and slowly add half to the wet mixture, combining the dry to the wet 1 cup at a time. Add the coconut milk and then the rest of the dry ingredients. Make sure it is all combined. Add the rum and shredded coconut. Pour the batter into a cupcake tray and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
When the cupcakes are cooling make the frosting. We decided to take a separate approach to the frosting from that in the original recipe. We went ahead and made a cream cheese frosting. In a mixing bowl we combined one package of cream cheese softened with 1/2 cup of maple syrup, 1/4 cup Malibu and 1 tablespoon vanilla. When it was all mixed I put it in a plastic baggie and did my best to pipette it on top of each cupcake while CP sprinkled coconut on top. Et voila!

Oh Canada!

2010-06-16T14:59:00.000-04:00

So recently, well like two weeks ago, I went back home to Montreal to take care of some business and visit old friends. Well, there's nothing as amazing as the food in Montreal (except the shopping, and night life, and the hockey!). So my first day there I travelled down to Boul. St. Laurent for breakfast @ Cafe Sante Veritas which is a health food cafe that caters to both meat eaters and vegetarians. Everything is cooked to order (except the muffins and cookies, but they're baked fresh). ATTENTION NON-HEALTHY PEOPLE: they don't serve soda. By the way, why are you drinking soda anyway? Its so bad for you. All that sugar, artificial sweeteners, food colouring. I mean, is water that frightening to you? But if you're not into water, they have a wide range of fresh fruit juices, Odwalla smoothies, fresh smoothies and coffee and tea. So anyway, breakfast, right. I had the Belgian Porridge which was delicious! Porridge with oats, mixed nuts, raisins, apricots, and apples topped with soy milk, its just a bowl of happiness.

But if you're not in the mood for oatmeal, they have the fluffiest egg white omelettes you'll ever see (I think they whip up the egg whites in a mixer first) with all sorts of mixings like sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach...

Cafe Sante Veritas

480 Boul. St-Laurent

Montreal, PQ

514.510.7775

So later that evening I needed to find somewhere to have dinner. Well, unfortunately they rain decided to show up during my stay so that night I decided to have dinner @ the Petit Opus in the Omni Hotel (where I just happened to have been staying). Well, like most hotel restaurants, vegetarian options are usually hard to find, but this one, most likely because it is in Montreal, and a really nice vegetarian stir-fry dish with tofu. What I really liked about this dish was that the sauce wasn't thick and didn't over power the meal. A lot of times I have found that restaurant chinese food is drenched in sauce and that the sauce is usually too sweet and over powering. Sprinkled with some black sesame seeds, the Omni's Petit Opus satisfied my appetite and my vegetarian diet.

Omni Mount-Royal Hotel

1050 Sherbrooke St West

Montreal, PQ

514.284.1110

Well my last night in Montreal I had to go to my favourite Italien restaurant growing up: Wienstein & Gavino's. I knew right away what I was going to have: Risotto Con Pera (risotto w/ pear). OMG! It was the best risotto I have had in the longest time (and had me set on a risotto cooking escapade when I returned home). So creamy topped with warm slices of pear. every bite was just bliss. Unfortunately, the dish was a a la carte item so it may not always be there.

After my fabulous risotto dinner I had to go for some gelato. I mean, how can you leave Montreal without having dessert? So the waiter brings my friend and I this HUGE cup that contained two scoops and vanilla gelato and two scoops of chocolate gelato. I'm sure she have one scoop and I completed the other three scoops. It was so good though, I couldn't let it go to waste.

Wienstein & Gavino's

1434 rue Crescent

Montreal, PQ

514.288.2231

Lulu's take on Pad Thai

2010-05-25T19:42:00.000-04:00

So last week some family from the mommy's side crossed the Atlantic Ocean and came to visit. It was an interesting week filled with a lot of food (mostly out) and a lot of excuses of why I didn't want my uncle to cook for me (polite excuses). I'm sorry, but there are very, VERY few men in my family that can cook. Well, let me rephrase that, there are very few men in my family that can cook well. Its why they're all married.
ANYWAY, on our last day we went to this Thai restaurant in midtown Savannah called The King and I. I ordered the pad thai w/ tofu (without the egg) and LOVE IT! Well, honestly, it was the first time I ever ate pad thai so I'm sure there's better out there, but I really enjoyed my meal and cleared my plate. I have to admit, it was a little sweet (even when I asked the waitress to ask the chef to make it hot) because I think there was quite a bit of brown sugar and peanut butter. Eh, still enjoyed it enough that I decided I would try and re-create the dish at home. So the moment we left the restaurant I pulled out my trusted iPhone and started Googling (yeah, I just don't care for Bing, sorry) and found a pad thai recipe from vegetariantimes.com. Well, I went to the store, bought the ingredients, but for some reason it just didn't taste right when I made it last night. It was missing that PA-POW!. So I made the dish again tonight, but made a few changes and HELLO! we had success. I hope you guys enjoy my version of the original.

Tofu Pad Thai
8 oz of rice noodles
2 tsp olive oil
2 minced garlic cloves
1 thinly sliced bell pepper
1 cup of halved grape tomatoes
4 oz of snow peas
4 oz of tofu (firm)
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/2 tsp natural crunchy peanut butter
1 tsp pickled chili (from the Indian grocery)
2 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp sliced green onion
chopped cilantro
1/4 cup slivered almonds
2 oz mung bean sprouts

Bring a pot of water to boil and add rice noodles and cook to soften. While the noodles are cooking, in a hot skillet (unless you've a wok) add the olive oil. Add the garlic and bell peppers and cook until soften. Next add the tomatoes, snow peas, and tofu and stir fry them. Add the soy sauce, peanut butter, and pickled chili, and lime juice and stir well. Cook for 203 minutes. Add the rice noodles and mix well. Turn the heat off and add the green onions, cilantro, mung sprouts, and almonds and toss well. Divide the pad thai into four bowls and serve.

The King and I
7098 Hodgson Memorial Drive
Savannah, GA 31406
912.355.2100

Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake

2010-05-19T06:59:00.000-04:00

So its my puppy's first birthday and I wanted to make him a beautiful birthday cake for us adults to enjoy :o) but its ok, my baby got some treats and presents to enjoy. So I decided to make a cheesecake since it seems to be the cake of choice in my family. I thought at first, how about Hershey's website for a cake recipe? I LOVE chocolate. I wanted to make a chocolate cheesecake. There was one, bit it looked a lil' too simple so I thought: GODIVA! And that's where I found a beautiful chocolate cheesecake recipe. Well, my family members have some dietary restrictions so I decided that I would take the liberty to adapt this recipe to my family's needs. For instance I made a few changes to the crust, I used Splenda (R) instead of sugar and a few other minor changes. In the end, I got a beautiful, HEALTHY version of the Godiva Cheesecake.

Godiva Cheesecake
Crust:
1 cup dates
8 Enjoy Life Double Chocolate cookies
Cake:
2 packages of fat free cream cheese
1/2 cup coffee
1 cup Splenda
11.5 oz Godiva Milk Chocolate chips melted
1 cup egg whites
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Greese a springform cake pan (mine is 10") and wrap the bottom in aluminum foil. In a food processor, mix the dates and cookies into a paste and then pat into the bottom of the cake pan and refridgerate. In the processor beat the cream cheese. Slowly add the sugar while mixing. Add the egg whites. Dissolve the salt into the coffee and then add the coffee to the cream cheese mixture and mix again. Add the vanilla and melted chocolate and mix well. Pour the cream cheese chocolate mixture into the cake pan and place the cake pan into a roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with boiling water so that its half way up the cake pan and then bake 60-70 mins (when cake is set). Turn the oven off, hinge open the door and leave the cake alone for an hour. Remove the cake from the oven and cool. Once cooled, cover the cake with foil and refridgerate at least 6 hours.

Soy Delicious

2010-05-11T19:31:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I never product reviewed before, but its food so I'm gonna talk about it. I LOVE THIS STUFF! Wow, so I was craving ice cream for a very long time, but I knew buying a tub I'd just sit there with a spoon and temporarily have portion control amnesia so I decided to go with an ice cream bar. Well now there are TONS of choices when it comes to ice cream bars, but this one caught my eye as it was only 70 calories and 3.5 grams of fat and, umm, COCONUT! I love coconut (is it because I'm brown?). Yes, the coconut flavour is strong, but with the mild chocolate coating on top, its just the perfect balance of sweetness. Give it a try, I'd love to know what you think.

xo

Tofu with Pineapple and Cilantro Sauce

2010-05-04T17:05:00.000-04:00

Umm, so I decided to give vegetarianism another try. This time I am NOT going vegan and I am NOT wasting my money on "fake meat". As I am starting my new job in July and will end up with TONS of expenses (rent, student loans, dog food, my food, cable, utilities...) I decided I needed to cut out certain things in my life to save money. I found that I really do spend a lot on meat considering I eat a lot of goat and lamb (ehh, chicken really isn't my cup of tea). So I found this lamb dish from Claire Robinson's show 5 Ingredient Fix called Lamb with Pineapple Mint Sauce and decided to change it to a vegetarian version. The outcome was very tasty and I think veg people out there will enjoy it.
Tofu w/ Pineapple and Cilantro Sauce
1 package of firm tofu
1 pineapple chopped into tiny pieces
1 bunch of cilantro chopped
1/2 cup water
two cloves of garlic minced
olive oil
salt and pepper
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Heat a olive oil in a pan. Season the tofu (make sure you've drained off the water with a paper towel so no oil splashes when it hits the pan) with salt and pepper and place it on the hot pan and allow to brown. Flip over and brown other side. Place the tofu on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.
While the tofu is baking, add a little bit more oil into the pan and add the garlic. Cook the garlic until soft and then add the pineapple. Stir the pineapple around to make sure its well coated w/ the oil and add the cilantro and water. Reduce the heat and cook down the pineapple. It will take about 30-40 minutes. You'll now its ready because the pineapple will be very soft.
Take the tofu and with a very sharp knife slice it and arrange it on a place. Pour pineapple cilantro sauce on top. I took my tofu and served it with some spinach and pearl barley.
Bon appetit!

Ele Fine Fusion

2010-05-04T16:52:00.001-04:00

So like two weekends ago my friend P stopped me in the middle of the street while I was walking my dog on a scortching Saturday afternoon (well, actually she saw me walking puppy and texted me). Her friend was having a birthday party at an Asian fusion restaurant on Wilmington Island called Ele Fine Fusion.
The restaurant is actually a very beautiful building. With a glass floored entrance above water (lol, I was a little hesitant to make the first step thinking I was going to fall into the water) and interesting layout- one side regular diners sit in individual closed off booths while the other side is the party room. We, of course, were in the party room. Large and lovely, the room's walls had paintings on the wall that had a modern flair as well as a wall of wine bottles.
Ok, so the food. Well, first of all, you better bring a fat wallet if you plan on having dinner here. The prices are definitely on the higher end- which actually I expected considering what was on the menu and how it was presented. The menu had everything from lamb, vension, mahi mahi, king crabs, bbq chicken.... well I had the mahi mahi special which was pan-seared and served with organic vegetables. The mahi mahi was then stuffed with fresh pulled crab meat. Overall, the dish was beautiful, but I have definitely had better at local seafood restaurants (so remember, expensive doesn't necessarily mean better). The fish itself was actually cooked really well, and the vegetables were really nice. I found that the crab was kind of dry and the overall dish was too oily (which isn't good for someone like me who eats very healthy and isn't used to such oily food). P, her sister, and I also ordered the sampler plate of appetizers which included sauteed beef, tempura shrimp, and dumplings. I stuck to the beef because I don't eat pork or deep fried food. The beef was tasty; however, we all noticed that the peanut dipping sauces were definitely on the sweet side.

Anyway, if you're in Savannah and you decide, "Hey, I want to go to Wilmington Island for dinner and Uncle Bubba's is too packed, AND I don't mind spending the $$" then by all means go to Ele. The food was decent.

Ele Fine Fusion
7815 East Highway 80
Savannah, GA 31410
(912) 898-2221

Mushroom with Orzo

2010-04-26T21:52:00.002-04:00

Over the weekend I went to H&R block (not the tax preparation business) for a small gathering. It's been too long since I've seen Obi and I was excited to spend some time with them. H requested a mushroom and orzo salad, so I thought I would jazz it up a bit and add some more veggies to it. I recently bought The New Mayo Clinic Cookbook for healthy eating and I saw a quinoa with mushroom dish I thought I could twist with orzo. This recipe took 10 minutes to prep and 15 minutes to cook. This is the easiest recipe I've ever cooked!

Photo courtesy of Angry Asian Creations

Mushroom with Orzo

Serves 8

3 cups of orzo pasta
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 of broccoli slaw (can be found in the produce section. Contains broccoli, carrots and red cabbage)
2-3 cups of diced mushrooms (any kind, I used button, shitake, and portobello)
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Directions:
Boil water and cook orzo to desired texture. While the water is boiling, put oil in a saute pan and saute onions and garlic for a minute. Add in mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes until tender. Add broccoli slaw and cook for another 2 minutes. When pasta is done rinse with cold water to stop from cooking. Add orzo to the vegetables and mix together. To serve you can sprinkle with a little parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Lamb & Mint Meatballs

2010-04-22T18:54:00.005-04:00

I randomly browse through Food Gawker and Tastespotting when I need a little food inspiration. To be honest, if the picture looks good that's when I click on it. I noticed a picture that caught my eye and it was lamb and mint meatballs over farro risotto. I've never cooked with ground lamb before so I thought I'd give it a shot. The aroma of the mint while cooking the meatballs was incredible. I opted not to use risotto because KStead and I usually eat our meatballs like kabobs. We ate them with rice and naan. I am a huge fan of Greek food and especially tzatziki sauce. Below is my homemade version. I eat this with pita bread, veggies, and now with lamb meatballs.

Lamb & Mint Meatballs
Ingredients:

1 pound ground lamb
2 handfuls mint (chopped)
1/4 cup red onion (diced)
1 egg
1/4 cup breads crumbs

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon coriander (toasted and ground)
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil for pan

Directions:
1. Mix the lamb, mint, onion, egg, bread crumbs, cinnamon, coriander, salt and pepper.
2. Form the mixture into balls.
3. Heat the oil in a pan.
4. Add the balls a few at a time, without crowding the pan, and brown on all sides until the middle is cooked, about 10 minutes.

Adapted from Closet Cooking

Homemade Tzatziki Sauce

Ingredients:
Greek yogurt (any brand, any %)
Handful of dry or fresh dill
3/4 cup diced cucumbers
Pinch of salt and pepper

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix until combined. Add more salt or pepper to taste.

Goat Vindaloo

2010-04-12T19:56:00.000-04:00

So last week I flew home to Canada (Ottawa to be exact) to take care of some business and spend some family time with the cousin and her family. Well, my cousin, being as cute as she is, insisted on cooking everyday in attempts to make me eat (let first say, I DO eat. I eat a lot, just not large amounts in one sitting). Anyway, so we had all this goat in the fridge (how much does it suck here that I've to drive two hours away to get fresh goat and they can go like 10 minutes?!) So yes, we had all this goat so we decided to make some vindaloo. How accurate our dish was to what you find in the restaurant, well that'll be for you to decide, but this is what we came up with.

Goat Vindaloo

Make a paste in a food processor of a small/med onion, garlic, and ginger
Make a powder w/ cumin seeds, black pepper, salt, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, two dried chilies, tumeric, coriander, and paprika (I used about 1 tsp of each)- stir in about 2 tbsp of rice wine vinegar (if you want, use distilled) and make a paste
2 lbs goat chopped in pieces
1 can of tomato paste
1.25 cups of water

Brown the goat in olive oil in batches and drain on a paper towel
Cook the onion paste to get the rawness out and then add the spice paste and mix well.
Add the goat, tomato paste and water and stir well
Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer, cover, and cook ~ 45 minutes

Strawberry Cookies

2010-03-03T08:04:00.006-05:00

For our friend's 25th birthday, Angry Asian Creations made Hello Kitty faces out of fondant and we put those on top of these strawberry cookies. They were pretty in pink!

Strawberry Cookies
Makes ~ 24 cookies

1 box strawberry cake mix, any brand is good
1/3 cup vegetable oil 
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1-2 tablespoons of water
1 cup shredded sweetened coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, mix cake mix, oil, coconut extract, and eggs until just combined.
3. With a medium scoop, scoop onto a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet. Do not press down.
4. Take a pinch of coconut flakes and lay on top of each cookie. Do not press down.
5. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until cooked through. Let stand for 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. 

Frosting (optional)
4 oz softened cream cheese 1 Tablespoons softened butter
1 1/2 Cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoons milk
Place cream cheese and butter in a large bowl. Whisk until smooth and creamy. Slowly add in powdered sugar, vanilla and milk until smooth. Spread frosting on top of cookies then sprinkle toasted coconut over top of frosting.

Adapted from Picky Palate

Sweet Potato and Avocado Salad w/ Chicken

2010-02-22T18:28:00.000-05:00

So my girl A and I decided we are going to create the best diet and exercise plan to get our bodies into bikini shape for Miami and the summer. Well, we totally are doing it! If there are any chicas that want to give it a try (or guys) lemme know how it works for you.
Here's our plan:
Breakfast- oatmeal with berries, fruit and skim milk
Snack- whole grain toast w/ peanut butter and fruit
Lunch- lean meat and veggies (salads are the easiest way)
Snack- fruit
Dinner- leam meats, tons of veggies, and 1/2 cup grains
Dessert- a little bit of chocolate to fix that sweet tooth

We run three days a week and some time of muscle toning workout another three days

So, today I decided to make a large amount of salad to last me the week so all I have to do is cook the chicken at lunch and be done. I have a Jamie Oliver cookbook where he makes this salad with new potatoes, watercress and avocados. Well I didn't have all the ingredients, but I think my version came out pretty nice.
Sweet Potato and Avocado Salad with Chicken
1 lb sweet potatoes
4 cups of mixed greens
2 T olive oil
2 T lemon juice
salt and pepper
1 avocado
1 lb chicken tenders
Clean the potatoes well and boil them until tender. Peel and cut the avocados in however size pieces you prefer and put in a big salad bowl. Take the potatoes and cut them into good bite sized chunks and add to salad bowl. Add the greens. Add the salad greens, the oil and lemon juice. Toss. Season to your liking and toss again. Pound the chicken tenders so they're flat and season with salt and pepper. Lay them on a well oiled pan and cook completely on one side then flip over and cook the other side. Make sure chicken is thoroughly cooked. Slice them and top the salad.

Turkey-Apple-Barley Risotto

2010-02-14T18:13:00.000-05:00

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

So I wanted to make a special dinner for me and my baby (my lil' puppy) so I needed to make something not too spicy and no wheat or corn). Well RICE! I wanted to make risotto because its a dish both he and I could enjoy (normally I do not feed my dog people food). Well, first I googled healthy risotto recipes and I found one by Mario Batali which called for green apples, white wine, and a few other things I don't have so I took the recipe and re-invented it. Plus, I had to had protein in there too.
Enjoy!

Turkey Apple-Barley Risotto
3T margarine
2T EVOO
1/5 cups pearl barley
1/2 cup thinly slice red onion
1 thinly sliced gala apple
10 oz ground turkey
3-4 cups of low sodium vegetable broth
1 cup water
salt and pepper
1/4 cup parmesan reggiano
handful of cilantro
In a deep pan over medium heat melt 2T of better with the EVOO and sautee the onions. Add the apple and meat next. Cook few more minutes and then add the barley. Once the meat starts look pretty cooked and the barley is nicely coated with the oil (4-5 minutes) add 1 cup water (I used water because I can't give alcohol to my puppy). Once the water has been absorbed, add about 1.5 cups of broth. Stirring occasionally, continue to add the broth when you see its mostly absorbed. The total amount of liquid will depend on your barley (keep adding liquid until its cooked). Add the cheese next and stir. I add salt and pepper next because the parmesan is kinda salty so if I add salt first the dish may turn out too salty. Turn the heat off and stir in cilantro.

Penne with Spinach and Ricotta

2010-02-06T18:18:00.000-05:00

So first of all, no this recipe is not vegetarian, nor is it vegan. I, Lulu, have decided to go back to eating meat. Why? Because we humans are designed to eat meat. Our bodies need the amino acids from the breakdown of protein which comes from animal protein. And although yes, I could get sufficient protein from a vegetarian diet, I have to eat way too many soy and bean products. And honestly, there are so many chemicals and preservatives in vegan/veg products, I'd rather eat healthy and NATURAL. More important to me than eating veg is eating natural.

Ok so here's this recipe I adapted from Fitness Magazine. The original recipe calls for broccoli rabe and lean turkey sausage. I had neither and so I used ground lamb (mmm, lamb how I missed thee) and spinach.

Penne With Spinach and Ricotta
1/2 cup frozen spinach
3 oz whole wheat penne pasta
1 tsp olive oil
3 oz ground lamb
1/8 of a red onion sliced thinly
1 garlic clove thinly sliced
1 tablespoon of fat free ricotta
1 tsp parmesan
salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste
Boil a pot of water seasoned with salt. Once the water reaches a boil add the spinach and cook about 4 minutes. Remove the spinach and add the pasta to the pot. Cook the pasta al dente. Save a little bit of the pasta water when draining the pasta.
In a skillet heat oil and cook the onions, garlic, and lamb with the chili flakes ~ 8 minutes. Add the spinach. Lower heat and add the pasta. Toss all the ingredients well. Add the ricotta and parmesan and mix well. Add black pepper to taste. Et voila, a terrific meat dish (just to show that not eating meat for three months doesn't diminish my abilities to cook the yumminess).

Tasty travels in Phoenix, AZ

2010-02-04T08:53:00.000-05:00

So last week I was in Phoenix, AZ, to visit a hospital where I applied for a job. I decided to spend a couple of days there to get familiar with the city if I get so lucky to move there. Well of course, in those four days I needed to eat. Phoenix just developed a light rail system. Its nothing compared to DC's and NYC's, but its new and still the baby phase. Well, it was good enough to take me to Mill Ave in Tempe, AZ, where there is quite a bit of shopping and some delicious places to eat. And of course, having a weakness for the Middle Eastern meal, I stopped at Med Fresh for a falafel dinner.

For barely nothing, I got a huge plate with five delicious and crispy falafel, salad, two whole pitas, tahini, hummous, and this red chili sauce. I promise I cleared my entire plate (well, of course I only had a bowl of cereal that day so I was famished). Anyway, the food is great there. I definitely recommend it if you're looking for something delicious, yet inexpensive while out shopping at the cute boutiques (and Urban Outfitters). They also have various kebabs and stuffed grape leaves that are worth taking a bite into.

Med Fresh Turkish Grill

414 S Mill Avenue, Suite 117

Tempe, AZ

(480) 642-9709

The next day I decided to have dinner @ the hotel. I was staying at the Radisson Phoenix City Center. Well, the menu was definitely for meat lovers so I asked if it was possible if they could make me something vegetarian. So this is what they brought out of the kitchen for me:

No its not a veggie burger. Its a beautiful mound of grilled pineapples, red bell peppers, red onions, eggplants, salad greens and avocado on a toasted hamburger bun. Oh, with a side of greens and raspberry dressing. MMMM! So, no I'm not telling you to stop at the Radisson for dinner, but I'm just saying, when you think there's nothing on the menu you can eat, just ask. Lots of kitchens are willing to make some changes to make you happy (because getting your money makes them happy).

Pop Rocks Chocolate Lollipops

2010-01-30T15:44:00.006-05:00

Take your childhood candy plus chocolate and whoa-la! MyMy Bijoux adapted these lollipops from the Top Chef finalists' Bryan and Michael Voltaggio. These pop in your mouth with the fantastic taste of chocolate. If you want to order these in milk chocolate, dark chocolate or both, email My My Bijoux at mymybijoux@gmail.com.

Tropical Oatmeal Brownie Cookies

2010-01-23T19:00:00.000-05:00

So I'm off to visit some people in Phoenix tomorrow and I wanted to take them a thank you gift. I could buy something local like pralines, but I think the best gifts are homemade (when giving food. Fellas, never give your girl something homemade when you can get her diamonds!). So I decided to make some oatmeal cookies (because I am craving oatmeal for some reason), but I wanted to make them different. How? How can I make them different? Well. I scrambled through my cupboards and pulled out everything I could find and see how I could add them into a cookie. Well here's what I cam up with.

Tropical Oatmeal Brownie Cookies
2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup agave nectar
2/3 cup oat flour
1 cup old fashion oats
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup dried chopped tropical fruit
1/2 cup coconut
1/3 cup Hershey Dark Chocolate cocoa powder
1/2 cup soy milk
Preheat the oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet with wax or parchment paper and lightly grease it.
In a mixer, beat the eggs white until they peak then add the agave and vanilla. Continue to beat for a few more seconds to make sure the ingredients are well mixed.
In a separate bowl add flour, oats, cocoa, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Stir well then slowly fold in the egg white mixture. Add the dried fruits and coconut and stir well. Slowly add the milk- I add the milk last because maybe 1/2 cup can be too much. It just depends on your batter. You want it to be moist, but not runny. Once everything has been incorporated, grease your hands slightly and make balls out of the batter (I get a dozen cookies out of this recipe). Place the cookies on the cookie sheet leaving about an inch between each cookie and bake for 10 minutes.

Why did I use oat flour? Well, certain people that will be enjoying these yummies has a wheat allergy. You can totally use white flour or brown (when using whole wheat flour remember to do half white. This is because whole wheat flour can have a bitter taste).

Tofu and Hummus Sandwich

2010-01-18T21:05:00.000-05:00

First of all, I apologize for the blurriness of the picture. After today I'll start using my camera instead of my iPhone to take the pictures (turns out when you blow up iPhone pics they get fuzzy a bit).

So I went to Brighter Day Foods last week and had this tofu tahini sandwich and I thought, "self, maybe I can re-create this somewhat". Well, I could easily have bought all the ingredients, but for some reason tahini is like 8$ a bottle, whereas hummous is 2.99$. And as for the bread, well I decided to get a little creative. I decided, instead of making a sandwich on bread, why not put it on a scone? I think its because every time I turned on the Food Network everyone was making scones. So here's the scone recipe I used:

Dried Fruit Scones

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oats
1.5 T ground flaxseed
1/2 T baking powder
1/4 t salt
2/5 T margarine
1/4 cup soy milk and 1 T
1/4 cup chopped dried fruit
1/3 cup agave nectar
1 egg white

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. I mixed all the dry ingredients in the food processor except for the dried fruit. Then add the margarine and pulse the food processor to mix well. Add the dried fruit and pulse. In a separate bowl mix 1/4 cup milk with aganve nectar and egg white. While the food processor is on, slowly add the liquid via the feed tube on your machine. Flour your surface well (and your hands) and roll out the dough to 1/2 inch thickness. I used a drinking glass to cut out rounds in the dough (so six scones total). Place the scones on a greased sheet and brush them with the left over milk. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

When the scones are cooled take one, slice in half and spread some Nayonaise on one side and hummous on the other. Add some sprouts, tomatoes and bell pepper. For the tofu I drained the water and added some tamari, parmesan, salt and pepper, chili flakes, and cumin. I took 1/4 cup of the tofu mix and put it over the veggies then topped the whole sandwich with the other half of the scone.

No, your eyes are fine... blurry pictures

2010-01-18T19:50:00.001-05:00

So I realize some pics are a little blurry. Well, I've been using my iPhone to take the pictures and turns out that when I try to enlarge them, they get a little blurry. Sorry. I'll leave them @ normal size.

Cranberry Chocolate Cheesecake

2010-01-10T18:57:00.002-05:00

Yes, that's right. I made a cranberry chocolate cheesecake. Simply, I used the recipe for the Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake from Vegetarian Times and replaced the can of pumpkin with a can of cranberries and instead of 3 eggs I used 3/4 cup silken tofu, and dark chocolate instead of bittersweet. For the crust I used one package of chocolate GoldFish graham crackers and I used Earth Balance instead of butter. Oh, I used fat free cream cheese and cottage cheese as well.

Black Bean Veggie Burger

2010-01-10T18:37:00.004-05:00

So I'm finding that veggie burgers are just the easiest, most healthy form of dinner for me due to my schedule. I'm up at 630 am everyday and by the time my day is done its 530pm and I'm really not in the mood to go all gourmet and make a sexy plate of food. So I grabbed a few things from the kitchen, dumped them into a bowl et voila, bean burgers. So what did I put my quick and easy dinner this time? Well, I dumped a can of black beans with half a chopped onion, minced garlic, salt and pepper, cayenne powder and grilling seasoning, 1 package of spinach (defrosted and liquid squeezed out) and one chopped zucchini. For my binders I used 1/4 firm tofu and 1/2 cup TVP (already soaked in 1/2 cup water). Using my hands I mixed the ingredients well and them formed them into five thick burger patties.

Once the patties were formed, I heated some oil in a skillet and placed the burgers in the skillet. it took somewhere like 5-7 minutes for the burgers to cook well on one side, and once they were browned and looked like they wouldn't fall apart, I flipped them over and cooked the other side.

I served up the bean burger with a cup of brown rice topped with a 1/4 cup of tropical dried fruit and a cup of steamed broccoli seasoned with a lil' salt and pepper. Really, its so easy to be creative with veggie burgers that I think I can def be eating them for a long while.

Mom's Granola- Courtesy of Alicia Silverstone's mom

2010-01-09T19:35:00.004-05:00

So I wasn't planning on making granola, but I was rummaging through the pages of Alicia Silverstone's "The Kind Life" and I came across a granola recipe that her mother made for her when she was a child. Well, since its after to make a batch of granola one time and eat it throughout the week rather than making oatmeal on a daily basis, I decided to give it a try. I made a few small changes which I've underlined just because I used what was available in my kitchen.

Hope you enjoy!

Mom's Granola

Ingredients:

6 cups quick cooking oats
1/2 cup maple sugar (I used 1/4 dark brown sugar)
3/4 wheat germ (I added 2 tbsp of ground flaxseed as well)
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup sesame seeds (I used pumpkin seeds)
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup safflower oil (I used 4 tbsp Earth Balance)
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

So spread the oats on a sheet pan and bake for 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Then remove the oats and mix them with the other ingredients in a large bowl. Spread the mixture evenly divided between two sheet pans and bake for 10 minutes, stirring at 5 minute mark. Let the granola cool and then break and store in an air tight container. My version a half cup serving is 204 kcals 29 grams carbohydrate, 9 grams fat and 4 grams protein.

Birthday Cupcakes

2010-01-08T23:15:00.001-05:00

My birthday is in a few days and E Lo gave me a nice surprise...CUPCAKES! She had these delivered to my door today and I had 2 tonight they were so good. These cupcakes are from Free For All Cupcakes located in Fairfax, VA owned by 2 sisters. As soon as I opened the box the smell of the chocolate cupcake and buttercream icing leaked through the air. Thank you E Lo for a great bday treat!

Homemade Bean Burgers

2010-01-07T18:46:00.003-05:00

So my friend J came over last weekend and we decided to have dinner @ Ruby Tuesday's as I had one of those "Buy One Get One Free" coupons. Well, its not much of a restaurant if you're vegetarian. The ONLY vegetarian meal- besides the lame salad bar- is the Veggie Mini Combo, which is two veggie sliders with fries and a salad bar. The burgers, not that bad, made of rice and beans, but nothing special. There really wasn't much going on in terms of flavour, and the burgers didn't hold well. So that's when I decided that I was going to try my hand at the bean burger. I looked up some recipes and I found this pretty awesome one on Whole Foods' website. I decided to make a few changes to the recipe because I really didn't feel like going to the store and planned on using what I had @ home.

Homemade Bean Burger

Ingredients:

1 can of mixed beans
1 cup of rolled oats
1/2 cup of apple sauce
1/2 a chopped onion
2 minced garlic cloves
sea salt, black pepper, thyme, oregano
1 cup shredded carrots
lettuce and tomato
Joseph's whole wheat flax pita

So I took all the ingredients, except for the tomato, lettuce and bread, and mixed them well with my hands. Add as much seasoning to your taste I prefer to use fresh herbs, but dry is just as good. Remember though, dry herbs are more pungent. Mix the ingredients well and form 5-6 patties (just depends on how big you make them). Heat olive oil on a pan at med-high heat. Once heated lay the patties on the pan and cook until browned then flip and cook the other side.

Warm the pita then cut in half. Spread a little Nayonaise or Veganaise on the pita with whatever else you like. I like grainy, spicy mustard. Then place lettuce and tomato on one pita, then a bean burger, then top with the pita.

I roasted some broccoli and asparagus and served it as a side (because I'm not into french fries much).

Bone appetit!

Mixed Bean Croquettes and Lulu's Waldorf Salad (remixed)

2009-12-29T08:05:00.002-05:00

I found a Black-eyed peas Croquettes recipe in Alicia SIlverstone's "The Kind Life". Since I didn't have all the ingredients in my home, I made a few changes like changing up the beans and the dipping sauce from rice syrup to tamari.Hope you enjoy it!
Mixed Bean Croquettes
Ingredients

1 cup of tri-bean mix
1 cup of garbanzo beans
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp tamari
2 tbsp cilantro
1 tsp cumin
oil for frying

DIPPING SAUCE

6 tbsp tamari
1 tbsp mustard

1. Put the beans in a food processor and add cilantro, salt, tamari and cumin. Process it until mixed well, but NOT mushy.
2. Form into balls/egg-shaped (about 12).
3.Heat your oil and fry your croquettes (about 4 minutes on each side). Let them drain on a paper towel.
4. Mix sauce ingredients in a small sauce pan over low heat until bubble.
5. Serves four people
THANKS ALICIA!

So I don't know where you live, but we have a grocery store here called Publix. Every couple of months they mail out a magazine that contains a bunch of healthy tidbits and recipes. One of the recipes in this latest issue was a Waldorf Salad. Now, I've never had one before, but it looked really good, but I didn't have all those ingredients and it wasn't vegan so I decided to give it a twist. Well, this is what I came up with.

Lulu's Waldorf Salad

Bob's Red Mill TVP, 0.75 cup
Celtic Sea Salt Fine Ground, 0.75 tsp
Nasoya Nayonaise, 6 tbs)
Lemon juice, 1 tbsp (remove)
Brown Sugar, Dark (Domino), 0.25 tsp
Tomato, grape (3oz = appro 12 tomatoes), 3 oz
Apple, Gala (medium), 1 serving
Bunny-Luv Organic Shredded Carrot, 1 cup
Almonds, 0.25 cup, whole

Soak the TVP according to directions anding 1/4 tsp of salt. In a separate bowl mix sugar, lemon juice, remaining salt, and nayonaise. Add barley, tomatoes, apple, and carrots. Spoon mixture over lettuce leaves to serve (serves 8).

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake- Veganized!

2009-12-27T16:42:00.006-05:00

So my friend N sent me this email for a chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake. Well, it was fabulous, but as I've decided to give this vegan diet a try, I was now faced with the challenge: How to make this cake vegan... and taste good? Oh, and I had to make it healthy because I am on this never ending quest to lose 5 lbs (the same 5 lbs I've been trying to lose my 27 years of life). Hahahaha, Lulu is the next Iron Chef! Well I did it and I'm going to show you how.

Chocolate Chip Cookie dough Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Filling-

Vanilla extract

Mori-Nu soft silken tofu

1/3 cup agave nectar

2 T flour

32 oz Tofutti "cream cheese"

Crust-

1 pgk of Joseph's Sugar free Pecan Walnut Brownies (bite size)

2 T Earth Balance "butter"

Truffles-

1/4 cup agave nectar

4 T Earth Balance "butter"

2 cups flour

1/2 cup Sunspire non-dairy chocolate chips

1/4 cup soymilk

1/4 cup Mori-Nu silken tofu

1. Make the truffles but combining all ingredients in the food processor and MIX WELL. Put the dough in an air tight container and let it sit in the fridge for 3 hours. After 3 hours roll the batter in mini balls and lightly roll in flour so they're not too sticky.

2. Preheat your oven at 350 and combine the brownie bites and Earth Balance together in the food processor to make the crust. Press the mix tightly on the bottom of a spring-form pan (preferably 9") and bake for 10 minutes.

3. While the crust is baking, mix the filling ingredients in a mixer or food processor (I just find it easier to rinse to food processor each time instead of using so many bulky appliances). Drop in 3/4 of your truffles and stir into your batter. Then your batter into the cake pan and drop the oth

er truffles in.

4. Bake 45- 60 minutes (the original cake is for 90 minutes, but vegan cream cheese cooks faster so keep an eye on it and watch for cracking).

5. Cool overnight.

So I like to slice my cake into 16 slices because it is sweet and creamy so a small piece definitely goes a long way.

I hope you enjoy!

Khichuri

2009-12-22T17:55:00.004-05:00

Khichuri is an Indian dish commonly made with rice and lentils (which we call dal). Commonly we Bengalis make it during puja (a religious celebration) as we aren't supposed to eat meat during these times. There are all kinds of variations to this dish so I decided I'd give it a try and put a Lulu twist on it. I'd love for those who try to re-create it to tell me how it comes out and what other variations you've tried or may try.

Khichuri

Ingredients:

1 onion thinly sliced

3 garlic cloves minced

1 tsp minced ginger

masala spices

1 cup channa dal (or use what yellow lentils you can find)

1 cup rice

1 14 oz can vegetable broth

1 can roasted tomatoes (diced tomatoes)

2 cups fresh spinach

1 cup shredded carrot

Boil the dal in about 4-41/2 cups of water. Once its boiled, reduce the heat and cover letting it simmer for 10-15 minutes. In a frying pan, cook the onions in oil. Once they soften, add the garlic ginger, carrots, and rice and cook for about 3-4 minutes (when you can smell the flavours developing and the rice is getting coated in oil). Next you want to add the canned broth and tomatoes and about 1/2 cup of the warm lentil liquid (if you use brown rice like I do, you'll want a little more liquid). Add the lentils and give everything a good stir then let it come to a boil. Once the dish is boiling, reduce the heat and cover until all the liquid has been absorbed. My khichuri took about 90 minutes to make.

Season it with as much salt and pepper and you like and enjoy it.

Mini Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

2009-12-19T17:34:00.006-05:00

Today marked the start of blizzard 2009. What else is there to do stranded in a condo but BAKE! I had all the essential ingredients to make a simple dough. I looked on Foodgawker and found a recipe from America's Test Kitchen, Chocolate Chip Cookies. Although, I didn't use chocolate chips. The only thing I had in the pantry close enough to chocolate chip cookies were Trader Joe's Mini Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups.

The recipe makes ~30. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups Trader Joe's mini chocolate peanut butter cups

- Fold the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl and set aside.
- Beat the butter and sugars in a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed or in KitchenAid mixer on level 2 until combined, ~ 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla until combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl and beaters as needed.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly mix in the flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds. Mix in the mini chocolate peanut butter cups until incorporated.

- Working with 1/4 cup of dough at a time, roll the dough into balls and lay on two parchment-lined baking sheets, spaced 2 1/2 inches apart. Baking until the edges are golden but the centers are still soft and puffy, 15-18 minutes, rotating and switching the baking sheets halfway through baking.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool and then serve.

Mac & Cheese - Vegan Style

2009-12-16T17:39:00.004-05:00

Ok so I was looking @ Alicia Silverstone's site The Kind Life, and she posted an entry challenging people to come up with their own vegan mac & cheese recipe after she posted one that she really enjoyed. Me, not one to back down from a cooking challenge (I totally should be on Iron Chef) decided to give it a go. So this is my version of macaroni and cheese.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup whole wheat elbow pasta

dash of salt

black pepper

3-4 dashes of tamari

1 oz vegan mozzarella

1/4 cup soy milk

chili flakes

dried thyme and cilantro

Boil pasta is water. Once cooked, drain and put pasta back in pot with milk. Add the rest of the ingredients (except the dried herbs) as much as suited to your palate. Once the milk has reduced and the mac & cheese is at the thickness you desire add the herbs. Plate the pasta in the bowl. I just bakes some broccoli florets in the oven with a lil' olive oil, salt and pepper and placed them around the mac & cheese.

So I think it turned out pretty well. Yes, I am the only one who ate it, but I liked it and I'm not one to eat nasty food, even if it comes from my kitchen.

Chocolate Cake w/ Mint Whipped Cream

2009-12-15T18:33:00.007-05:00

Like most of you know my now, I'm trying to cut out as much animal product out of my daily diet because I'm doing my best to live a healthier lifestyle. So today I decided to experiment with chocolate cake on my venture of making my favourites healthy. I've to admit it totally took well.

Lulu's Chocolate Cake
2 1/2 cups of flour sifted with 1t salt
3/4 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup vanilla silken tofu
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 T dark cocoa powder
1 t baking side
1 cup milk
1 t pure vanilla extract
1 tub whipped cream
1 t vinegar
1 t pure mint extract
Preheat oven @ 350 degrees. In a mixer, combine the apple sauce, sugar, and tofu. Then add cocoa powder. Once mixed well add the flour/salt mix alternating with the milk. Next add the vanilla, baking soda, and vinegar.
Pour mixture into a cake pan and bake for 30 minutes.
Once the cake has cooled cut it in half. Add the mint extract to the whipped cream and mix well. Use 1/2 the tub of whipped cream and spread over bottom layer. Put the top layer of cake on and then top with remainder of whipped cream.

I'd love for you guys to try it out and let me know how it goes. And if you have any suggestions (like, frosting suggestions, or toppings or different flavours...). I'd love any new cake recipes to try out too. Thanks much!!!

Oh Goody... GRANOLA!

2009-12-12T09:39:00.004-05:00

Hehehe, so yeah I made granola again. If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm addicted to this stuff. Its the perfect breakfast, snack, or any other meal. My favourite way of eating granola is chopping an apple, dumping it in a pot with a cup of soy milk and cooking it down then pouring it into a bowl over 1/2 cup of granola.
So what's in this week's mix?

Lulu's Granola Part 2:

3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup craisins
1 cup fresh cranberries
1/2 chopped dried apricots
1/2 chopped pecans
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup maple syrup

So I just dumped all this stuff in a mixing bowl and mixed VERY well. Then I spread it on a baking sheet and popped it into a 350 preheated oven for 24 minutes, stirring the mixture every 6 minutes. Then cooled it down and stored it in an air tight container. Mmm, granola!

Meat in a Box

2009-12-08T21:07:00.009-05:00

KStead and I were craving kebabs for dinner tonight. We usually go to our spot in Arlington but didn't feel like going out that way. We found a place located in Falls Church, VA called Meat in a Box. Clever name, yummy meat!

The menu is pretty simple. You choose either shish, beef, chicken or combo (beef + chicken) skewers in either 2, 4 or 10 in a box. It comes wrapped in bread with tomatoes, onions and parsley. I got the shish, which comes with green peppers, zucchini and onions grilled with the meat and KStead got the chicken.

The staff is really nice and friendly. Kitchen is spic and span. The menu also includes other options such as a veggie wrap, soup de jour (minestrone soup is home made by the mother-in-law), ice cream sandwich (home made saffron and rose water infused ice cream served in between wafers), dolma, baklava, and ayran (Persian yogurt drink).

If you're in the Falls Church area we highly recommend this place.

Meat in a Box

312 S Washington Street

Falls Church, VA 22046

(703) 533-9070

Lulu's Vegan Attempts- Turned out pretty nice :o)

2009-12-05T20:02:00.006-05:00

Ok, so for reasons explained log before, I've been cutting meat out of my diet. Well I'm trying to take the next step and cut out animal products. Now I'm not saying I'm going to be a devoted vegan, but I'm definitely going to do my best when possible. So today I made my first vegan banana cheesecake and granola (well that's always vegan though).
So here are my recipes. ENJOY!

Lulu's Banana Cheesecake
Ingredients:

two 8oz Tofutti cream cheese
1 box of silken tofu
2 mashed bananas
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 pack of graham crackers
2 tbsp Earth Balance melted

Set the oven at 350 degrees. Make crumbs of your graham crackers and mix well with the melted Earth Balance. Press in the bottom of a 9" greased springform pan. Bake for 10 minutes. In a food processor mix all the other ingredients until its creamy and well blended. When the crust has cooled down pour the batter in and bake again for 90 minutes. Let the cake cool down before cutting into it.

Lulu's Granola
This is just so simple. In a bowl I added 3 cups of rolled oats, 1/4 cup craisins, 1/4 chopped dried apricots, 1 chopped up apple, 1/2 cup chopped pecans, 1/2 cup maple syrup, 1/4 oil. Mix it all together and spread it onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Put in the oven for 18-24 minutes @ 350 degrees stirring it occasionally. Cool down and place in an air tight canister/container.

1/2 a cup of granola with some milk make a great breakfast! I hope you guys try it out and if there are any vegans reading it, I'd love your feedback. Thanks bunches.

Spruce up your pancakes

2009-12-05T09:37:00.003-05:00

So you wake up one morning, open the pantry and find a box of pancake mix but as much as you want pancakes, your mouth is craving tons of flavour. So what to do? The other day I was in the same predicament so I decided to accessorize the pancake mix. I added some dried cranberries, raisins, chopped pecans to the mix and soy milk instead of water. Well the final product was muito delicioso. So next time you get bored @ breakfast, just throw in some of your favourite fruits and. It's give that same ol' same ol' a new look.

xox remember, breakfast is an important meal so DON'T SKIP IT!

Thanksgiving @ Lulu's

2009-11-27T16:00:00.009-05:00

So I hope everyone had a fabulous time yesterday filled with good food, football, holiday movies, family, friends, and WINE :o) There's nothing like a glass of red wine to go with that turkey. So like I promised, here are the yummy goodies that were set at my table. First I'm going to start with what I believe was the best part- THE CHEESECAKE. Mmm really what's better than dessert? I found this recipe for pumpkin-chocolate swirl cheesecake from vegetariantimes.com.

The ingredients were pretty easy to find:

I love using Libby's Pumpkin filling because there are no preservatives or added sugar. Just pumpkin.

The crust was graham cracker crust with melted butter. I couldn't find chocolate graham crackers like the recipe asked, but hey, regular ones are just fine. I baked the crust for 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

I mixed the remaining ingredients (minus the chocolate) in the Kitchen-Aid. I used fat free cottage cheese and cream

cheese because I knew there would be people at the table (myself included) that'd be like, "oh no, calories I can't eat dessert. At least not a whole slice". So I tried to take care of that problem. I also used brown sugar rather than white.

I took about a cup of the batter and mixed it with chocolate, which I melted in the microwave. After that I poured the non-chocolate mixture over the crust and then the chocolate mix was spooned onto and swirled around with a knife.

And the finished product was FANTASTIC and DELICIOUS and just a party of itself in the tummy of me and my guests :o)

Ok, so what else did we eat? Well I saw this broccoli with pecan brown butter recipe on Down Home With the Neely's and decided to make this as one of the sides.

So I couldn't get a picture of the turkey because it was torn up and inside people's belly before I could pull my camera out. So the other sides? Because broccoli isn't enough. I made stuffed acorn squash. Kima actually emailed me this recipe. Stuffed Acorn Squash:

In a 350 degree oven bake a squash cut in half (pulp and seeds removed) for 30 minutes in a baking dish filled with 1/4" water cut side down

In a bowl mixed 1-2 chopped apples (skin removed) with 1/2 cup dried cranberries, some cinnamon, salt and pepper to taste and two tbsp butter (chopped up in pieces makes it easier to mix).

Remove the squash and fill each half with the apple mixture then bake for another 30 minutes or until cooked.

Et voila...

We also had steamed asparagus, green beans with fresh cranberries and potato wedges. And in the end, it was one of the tastiest Thanksgivings I've ever had. I hope you guys give these recipes a try, and I can't wait to see what Kima had on her table yesterday.

xox Lulu!

Thanksgiving-all kinds of yummy goodness to put your spoon into!

2009-11-24T18:11:00.003-05:00

What's up everyone?! Two days until turkey, tofurkey, and/or ham day. If you're like me then you've up-ed your workout intensity to make room for that extra spoon of stuffing and the whipped cream on top of the slice of pumpkin pie (or cake). Well I wanted to give you the heads up- by the end of the week Kima and I will have posted up various recipes and pictures of the colourful tastiness coming out of our kitchens (and the kitchens of loved ones) so that you may add them to your collection for next year's dinner (or to your Christmas meal plan or for dinner next week when you realize leftovers are getting, well old).

S0 HAPPY THANKSGIVING and bon appetit!

Pumpkin Cupcakes

2009-11-18T15:00:00.002-05:00

My pumpkin cupcake recipe was recently added to the Trader Joes Fan recipe collection. You can check out the post here http://www.traderjoesfan.com/Trader_Joes/pumpkin_cupcakes/details/.

I've been making these for years and it's the talk of the office when I bring them in for my co-workers. It's super easy to make and people will think you spent hours working on it! Happy pumpkin trails!

Pumpkins- good for Jack O' Lanterns and Tofu Sandwiches?

2009-10-28T06:52:00.004-04:00

Mais oui! So I decided because Halloween is coming up I wanted to cook something "autumn-y" this week and what denotes fall and Halloween better than a pumpkin? So I found this basic pumpkin bread recipe off Vegcooking.com and and threw in some toasted pumpkin seeds (from the pumpkin I carved) into the batter. Et voila, pain de citrouille! So, now the tofu? Well, so maybe for those that didn't read the previous posts, I've kinda stopped eating meat. We don't know how long it will last as I have been having dreams of goat, but for now I'm trying to be as creative with tofu as I can.

Ok, so I cut the loaf into 8 slices. I took one slice of pumpkin bread, spread a VERY thin layer of cream cheese to act as a glue then placed alfalfa sprouts on top. On top of the sprouts I layered tofu (extra firm) and chives. With a side of oven roasted veggies, its a great vegetarian dinner. Even if you're a meat eater I think you should definitely try it out (tofu won't kill you, I promise!).

Pumpkin Bread Recipe from VegCooking.com

1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup pumpkin purée
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Egg replacer equivalent to 2 eggs
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. cloves

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Sift together the flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda in a large bowl. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, combine the pumpkin, oil, egg replacer, water, and spices.
• Pour into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
• Pour into a greased 9- x 5- x 3-inch loaf pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from the pan and let cool on a rack.
• Keep wrapped in the refrigerator.

Makes 8 servings

The Coffee Underground- Really it is!

2009-10-22T09:02:00.002-04:00

So I was recently in Greenville, SC for a residency interview. The drive from Savannah, GA was about 3.5 hours so when I pulled into town, the first thing I did after dumping my bags in my hotel room was get out and about and look for something good to eat.

Ok let me give a backdrop. At the beginning of this month I decided to give up meat. My reasoning was, I don't believe in clenses and detox diets. I think they're insane and dangerous so I decided to just take meat out of my diet and consume tons of fruits and vegetables. Well, as I was looking for vegetarian recipes I cam across various articles about American farming and the cruelty to animals that goes on in these farms. I DO know what cruel free farming is as I lived in the Caribbean for two years and witnessed it there. I know animals don't need to be caged, they don't need to be clusterd and tortured and abused and pumped with antibiotics and hormones. So I've decided I am not eating meat or animal products unless 1. I can guarantee that they came from cruel-free farms and 2. I'm out at a restaurant and I really don't any alternative option (but that's a very unlikely situation).

Ok, so here I am walking around downtown Greenville thinking "I'm hungry, but I don't want to eat something that's going to pit me to sleep". So as I came to Coffee St, I see this sign saying Coffee Underground. It was a chilly day so I thought a nice cup of coffee would do me good and I don't like Starbucks (that's right, I don't). But where was this cafe? I didn't see it, just the sign pointing to a staircase. So like Alice in Wonderland I followed. Well At hte end of the stairs was this door that led to a dim lighted warm and cozy cafe. The smell of chocolate and coffee just swept throw the air. So I get to the counter and am greeted by the sweetest girl and she asks what I want. Well. my eyes caught the words "Mexican Mocha" and I figured, well I bet it as a kick because I know hispanic people put chili in the chocolate so I asked her for one. She asked if I wanted something to eat (OF COURSE I DO!) so I asked what wer ethe vegetarian options. She suggested the Thai Tofu Wrap with peanut sauce.... ok so when my name was called up (lol it never gets old how they compare it to a Disney character's) I got my coffee and wrap and sat at my table and started surfing the web while I let my coffee cool a little so I wouldn't burn my mouth. Seriously, one of THE BEST cups of coffee I ever had. So good that I actually started putting cocoa powder and chili and cinnamon in my coffee ground. Ok so yes, great coffe- now the wrap. The tofu was marianted in soy and the flavours just soaked into it. SO GOOD. The wrap stuffed with the tofu, sprouts and other greens with that warm peanut sauce (with nuts in it), PLEASE ef go there. I told you there's always vegetarian options wherever you go, and sometimes they're even better than the meat!

Coffee Underground

1 East Coffee Street

Greenville, SC 29601

864-298-0494

OMG- This lamb dish is to die for!!!

2009-10-10T19:45:00.000-04:00

So my friend Dr. Haque has a great lamb recipe which she has agreed to let us post on our blog. Being of the South Asian background, lamb and goat are definitely part of our dining experience. I hope you all give this one a try. Thanks for the contribution chicky!

Have the butcher cut a leg of lamb into two small pieces osso bucco style- 1.5 pounds

You will need:

grated carrots

fresh oregano

fresh basil

1 cup white wine

2 small baking potatoes

2 cans diced tomatoes italian style 12oz

dry rosemary

10 pieces fresh garlic cut into slivers or chunks

shallots

Place in bottom of slow cooker garlic, shallots. Rub all sides of lamb with rosemary and a little salt. Sear on highest heat top and bottom of lamb pieces on the stove- no more than 1 min per side. Add meat to slow cooker, Add herbs, generous garlic, grated carrots, potatoes whole or chunks, finish off with splashes of a white wine keeping the free liquid level to a minimum. Cover and cook for 6 hours on low. At this point you may add diced fresh eggplant if you wish. Cook the last two hours on warm. Let this cool and sit in fridge overnight. Serve warm the next day over rice or orzo pasta...absolutely divine.

Enjoy.

C is for COOKIE

2009-10-09T16:55:00.000-04:00

So I've been trying to crave my sweet tooth without 1 lb of sugar. Actually, I kinda am backing away from animal products as much as I can just to try and live a healthier lifestyle and keep a cleaner body (on the inside. Not to say I'm not clean on the outside, which I so am).

So I found these two cookie recipes which I had to try out. One came from Wholefoods.com which is a Chai Spiced Cookie and the other is from goveg.com and its a peanut butter ball cookie. I'm a big fan of chai tea. Well of course I am, I'm Indian. So I was totally interested by the fact that someone decided to incorporate the chai spices (which includes cinnamon and cardamon) into cookie batter. Once again I took the liberty to make a few changes to the recipe. For instance, in the chai cookie I placed a small piece of chocolate in the cookie to give it a gooey centre. Its so good when you take a bite and that warm chocolate just oozes out.

With the peanut butter balls I used raspberry extract instead of vanilla. I think both cookies came out great. Definitely go check out the recipes. Its a def tasty alternative to the regular peanut butter cookies. When you take a bite they melt into your mouth.
I think next time I'm gonna try the sugar cookies. I wonder what I can do to jazz it up some...

Lasagna Soup for the Soul

2009-10-01T20:48:00.001-04:00

Cooked Kstead's favorite tonight...lasagna soup! Today really felt like Fall and what a perfect meal to have on a chilly day. You can choose any small pasta you would like. I started off making this about a year ago with farfalle but Kstead suggested ditalini tonight. You can find it at any grocery store.

Lasagna Soup
Serves ~6
1 large onion, diced
5 links of mild Italian sausage, remove casing
2 cups dry ditalini pasta
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 dried basil
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 can fire roasted crushed tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
4 cups chicken broth
Grated Parmesan cheese and/or provolone cheese to garnish

In a large pot over medium-high heat, add sausage and cook until browned - crumble the sausage as you go with a wooden spoon. Add the onions and cook for 3 minutes. Mix in the garlic, basil, oregano, red pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute. Pour in broth, tomato sauce, and fire roasted crushed tomatoes. Bring to a boil and add in the pasta. Simmer soup until the pasta has cooked - about 12 minutes.

To serve, place diced provolone cheese in the bottom of the bowl and pour soup over top. Or sprinkle with Parmesan cheese over soup.

Okay...this picture may be a year late but the fact that I am still making this after a year's post means that this is still damn good ;)

Mmm MIAMI!

2009-09-09T07:31:00.000-04:00

So we're back!! After four fabulous days in Miami, Kima and Lulu have returned to the Blogspot.com. I hope everyone had a wonderful Labour Day weekend: we did! So where to begin? Well after being stuck in the plane for an hour and half Saturday afternoon because of the rain, we finally got to our hotel. Well lunch already passed so we needed to figure out what to eat for dinner. So being the tourists that we are, we asked the guy @ the front desk where he suggested for some "home-cooked Cuban food that's worth every penny". And so we made our walk from the 20th block to the 7th for dinner at Puerto Sagua. So its definitely NOT the high heels sparlking dress restaurant you may be expecting to be eating at in Miami (no paparazzi at the window) but if it is delicious, mouth-watering Cuban food you're looking for, this is the place. A nice sized diner/cafe, Puerto Sagua offers a menu (in English and Spanish) that covers Cuban cuisin from chicken, fish, beef, pork, and eggs (so yes, vegetarians can enjoy a bite or two as well). and items range from 8-14$ approximately. With the amount of food put on your plate, you can't help but eat here.
Let me start with the plantains. OMGCBin3D!! Sweet plantains that are still warm (and I say this because the food comes out within 5 minutes of ordering which makes you wonder if they have huge vats of stew and vegetables in the back- eh, who cares!) are some of the tastiest things on the menu. LOL I even suggested that nex time I'll just order a large plate full. Ok, so Kima chose the beef stew while I chouse the ground beef. For someone who is a meat lover, and doesn't like the overwhelming taste of spice, these are dishes for you. Both meat dishes were on the milder side. I can't be sure of what, if any seasoning besides s&p, is in there, but the taste was definitely on the light side so there was no problems tasting the olives and vegetables mixed in the beef. And pour in on top of the MOUND of rice given to you and you're set.
Puerto Sagua
700 Collins Avenue
Miami Beach. FL 33139
305.673.1115

Well, the next day we decided we deserved a fancy, beautiful dinner after our relaxing day @ Lapis Spa @ the Fontainbleu (I know this is not a spa blog, but seriously, if you're in Miami, I must suggest that you mae a stop at this spa if even only for one service). So we went to Ola Miami, a Latin-Fusion restaurant (mixing Colombian, Cuban, and other Latin flavours). While we were in Miami there was a food fest going on called Miami Spice. Basically, several restaurants were offering a set menu which displayed the tastes/flavours of Miami. Yeah, we didn't do that. We chose to just order off the menu. Let me tell you first- THE NICEST STAFF. The guy who seated us (who I believe is the owner) is great for helping you pick out the right wine. I wish I could remember what he suggested for me, but it was definitely one of the best red wines I've ever had. I just remember it being from Spain. So I can't tell you much about the duck Kima ordered (girl, please feel free to FILL THIS IN) but my plantain crusted mahi mahi was delicious and EXTREMELY filling. The fish was mildly seasoned and then coated in mashed plantains and fried to form a hard crust on top. OMGCBin3D so good! So, so good but it took me almost over to finish it, and when I did I was pretty sure it was bed time (but maybe that was partly due to the wine?). The fish was placed over a spoonful off oxtail stew (the first time I've had oxtail and I'll never hate on it again. Oddly sweet and savoury at the same time) and tomato escabeche. Ok and the bread they serve. So its called pandebono which is a Colombian cheese bread. There is a hint of sweetness in the bread which is from the sugar and tapioca, but its the mild queso in the dough which makes you go, mmm! After dinner Kima and I Googled the bread and found various recipes for it, but the waiter was the sweetest man and gave me four raw dough balls so that I could have some @ home. In the end dinner for two and wine for two came to smething like 85.00$+ tax, but an experience totally worth it.
Ola Miami
1745 James Ave
Miami Beach, FL 33139

SEE YOU MIAMI!

2009-08-31T21:06:00.000-04:00

So Miss Kima and I are heading to Miami, FL (South Beach actually) for the Labour Day weekend and I promise we're going to be trying a lil' bit of everything (especially the mojitos) so look forward to a bunch of reviews for some of what he hope are Miami's best (on our budget). And don't worry, we're def still on the cooking boat. I'm actually gonna try out this peanut butter cookie recipe soon. I'll let you know how it goes. And if there's anything you'd like us to make, let us know.

xoxoxo

CHARCOAL KABOB!!!

2009-08-15T08:21:00.001-04:00

So this is the happiest place in Herndon, VA. Charcoal Kabob!! I don't even know where to start. I started eating here since what, senior yr of high school so that's like nine years ago. Dude, I don't think I've ever been so faithful to a restaurant. But the food is so beyond delicious here, how can I resist coming back over and over again. Ok, so yeah the prices have definitely gone up since I first started going (from 6-something a plate to around 8.50$) but for the amount of food that they serve, its definitely worth it.

So lets start with the Kabobs. I'm sure you all already know the lamb kabob is my favourite, but I will admit, the vegetarian kabob (made of a potatoe mixture) is really good too. All the kabobs are make in a hickory charcoal oven so it has that truly smoked meat feel. Not that "made in a conventional oven" flavour. You know what I'm talking about. You just don't get that true meat flavour in a regular oven. That rustic, deep flavour that makes you want to sink your teeth into that piece of meat and tear it apart like a lion to a gazelle. Did I mention I love to eat meat? Ok, so they also have chicken kabobs- pieces and chapli as well as keema kabobs and beef lamb ribs and fish.

Now that your kabob is on the plate, what else are you getting? Well, after you are topped with a oven baked naan (can it get any better?) you get some basmati rice and your choice of vegetables (chickpeas spinach, mixed veg).

There are some new changes to the menu since my VA days like gyros are now on the menu along with hummus, kaharis, and low-carb options (but really, why would you substitute naan for a salad?).

So where is it?

Charcoal Kabob

394 Elden St Herndon, VA

703-435-2400

Who Says Butter Makes Everything Better?

2009-08-15T07:21:00.000-04:00

Just when I was convinced that it was law in Savannah for a meal to have a 50% fat content and calories over 1000, I came across two restaurants that restored my faith that people everywhere do believe in healthy eating. So let me start with my friend's restaurant: Caraway Cafe & Market. Definitely a place worth eating. On Paulsen St, this lil' hideaway is definitely the spot if work in mid-town and want a pick-me-up lunch that not only gives you that energy boost to get through the rest of the day, but it won't weigh you down or make you feel like nap time should be coming up. And if the work day ends up to be longer than thought, you won't be consumed with how long/fast do you have to run when you get home so that you can still have dinner and catch "The Bachelorette" (don't lie, you KNOW you watch it). So what do I recommend? Well, I definitely love the Portabello Pita- a warm pita stuffed with mushrooms, feta, sun-dried tomatoes....mmmmm! And for about 8.00$ the sandwich comes with a side of house salad, pasta, or potatoe salad. Ok, are you drooling yet? Are you becoming a fan or organic yet? Uh huh, you know you are :o) But if you want meat then go ahead, order meat. There are different sandwich choices and wraps like the Baja Fish Taco and the Fajita Steak sandwiches which will totally satisfy the carnivore in you. Oh, and if you're not a fan of chicken, but love apple in your salad, ask for the "Kelly Salad" and they'll switch out chicken for Turkey.

Caraway Cafe & Market

5002 Paulsen St, #105

Savannah, GA

912-691-1266

So let me now tell you about Firefly Cafe. So I first saw this place-well heard of it, when I was flipping through Urbanspoon.

Then I saw it on an episode of "Ruby" (this show about an obese woman in Savannah who is trying to lose weight the RIGHT way with diet and exercise). So my friends and I decided to go check it out and 3 of the 4 of us ended up ordering the same thing: The Mediterranean Tofu Sandwich. Baked tofu with eggplant, feta, tomatoes and olives on toasted baguette- OMGCB so good! With your choice of side (yes, I picked the house salad) its definitely a dish worth every penny. Oh, let me tell you. I'm not a fan of sweet tea (yeah I know, what am I doing in GA then?) so I asked for half and half (sweet and un-sweet) and I've to tell you- so refreshing. As for it with a slice of lemon. Firefly Cafe is kind of hidden, but if you look closely, its on Habersham St on the corner where it intersects with Harris St.

Firefly Cafe

321 Habersham St

Savannah, GA

912-234-1971

Ok, so these are just two of the hidden secrets of Savannah. I promise I'm going to do my best and track down as many healthy spots in this city as possible. And stay tuned for upcoming posts- Kimi has some chocolate brownies coming up and we're going to hit Miami in 3 weeks, so you know there's going to be some uber deliciosos goodies coming up.

xoxoxo Ate Lago!

Yoplait Whips are .60$ a cup- I can do better!

2009-08-02T19:44:00.000-04:00

So I'm a yogurt freak. An absolute yogurt freak. Its everything from savoury to sweet. I love the creaminess of European and Greek yogurt. I can't stand that watery-excuse of of dairy they sell at most super markets. I mean, there's the gelatin like mass with some liquid floating at the top and on the occasion something that kinda resembles fruit. As Greek yogurt is over 1.00$ PER CONTAINER (and that's single serving) I turned to something different. I found Yoplait Whips and to quote a kinda annoying tv food personality: "YUM-O". Well, not that .60$ is much, I mean its basically 4.20$ a week + tax, I decided to make my own whipped yogurt. Well, Googl-ing whipped yogurt wasn't helpful when looking for recipes so I did the next best thing" Yogurt Mousse. Well, that definitely produced results. My favourite recipe contained kiwi and a lot of sugar, so still trying to get Miami ready, I took the liberty to make a few changes. For instance, the recipe was a cake and yogurt mousse, and as I didn't want cake, I just used the mousse part. Next, I eliminated the 70 gm of sugar and I used 1 tbsp of sugar in the whipped cream. Now, I know, you're like, "WTF! No sugar, how can it taste sweet?" Simple. After I made the mousse I layered it in a glass with fresh strawberries.And for a ta-da. drizzle a lil' honey. Now how is that not a great, healthy dessert? Plus umm, The tub of yogurt was 2.00$, the whipped cream was 1.00$ and I had sugar and gelatin at home. So yeah, say it all came to 7.00$, but its definitely enough ingredients to make more than one week. Enjoy!

Put A Spoon In It Before You Leave For Work

2009-08-02T18:38:00.000-04:00

Yes breakfast truly is an important meal of the day. SO EAT IT. Don't think you ate a large dinner that it'll get your through lunch the next day. It won't. Sweeties, your body is breaking down the foods you ate and is using it for all different purposes to keep your body function. By morning that fuel has been used up. You need to have breakfast to get glucose going to the brain in the morning so you can function again. So you don't get sleepy and dizzy behind the wheel, so that you can concentrate on your work and not lose your job, so that your body doesn't collapse due to low blood sure. Oh, and did I mention that it helps you lose weight? For instance, eating a well balanced breakfast gets all the right things in your body, keeps you full until the next meal time, and keeps you from snacking on crap (no, Cheeze-Its are not considered a part of your daily dairy intake). If you don't believe me, and maybe its because I'm a new doctor and you'd rather get advice from old docs that have been around the block a few times about this topic, then here are a few links that will back up my reasons.

MayoClinic

WebMD

Beyond The Bend

So now you hopefully realize that yeah you have to eat in the morning, so what are you going to eat? I'm guessing there's no convincing you to get up a lil' earlier than normal to cook yourself something, and perhaps the cold cereal thing isn't your deal. Its ok, I found this link with some helpful ideas. BTW: Pancakes don't really go bad so you could just make a whole bunch at one time and warm them up in the morning. I'm a huge fan of "protein pancakes" which basically is just adding more protein to the pancakes via the tasteless product known as cottage cheese. Yes, that's right. That curdly stuff that no one wants to eat (myself included). So here's how I deal with it.

Lulu's Protein Pancakes

Recipe makes 2

1/4 cup of fat free cottage cheese

1 full tbsp of whole wheat flour

1 tsp ground flax seed

1 full tbsp of pancake mix

1 egg white

milk

So I mix the first five ingredients in a bowl until smooth and then I slowly add milk until its at the consistency I like.

When the pan is hot (I use a nonstick with a lil' butter 'cause nonstick is never really is it?) I pour half the mix. When its covered with air holes I flip it over and let cook for about a minute. Remove from heat and make the second the same way. I'm a lover of PURE maple syrup. Now for a twist, sometimes when I pour the batter in I add a few thinly sliced strawberries, or chocolate chips, or nuts and bananas. Add whatever you want.

So here are quick b-fast recipes.

iFoodtv

Mr. Breakfast

Can You see What I See?

2009-07-26T10:15:00.000-04:00

So last night was the first night in a LONG time that I got to go out with my girls and just have fun. So after getting all dolled up we hit the road for downtown Savannah. After driving in circles (so yeah, if you want to park on River Street on a Saturday night, I suggest you get there early, otherwise its street parking homefries) we managed to get back onto River St and decided on some seafood for dinner (well, when in Savannah...). So where did our hungry bellies take us? To One Eyed Lizzy's of course! So lets start off with the drinks. So I'm off to Miami in a month which means its "beach body diet time" and we all know that yummy cocktails are evil calorie adders, but its ok 'cause Lizzy's has a Skinny Margarita.

And hey, its actually very fresh and clean tasting with that crisp tang taste of lime. There's two pages of drink concoctions to chose from, but if they don't please your palate, the bar tender is pretty awesome at creating something for you as he did for my friend. This pretty lil' pink palate pleaser has SoCo, cranberry, and some other liquid goodness :o) Now food. Trying to find the healthiest thing on the menu I opted for the Char Grilled Salmon Salad.
So basically it was salmon on a Caesar salad. First of all- YUM! The salmon was delicious. It was grilled to perfection and wasn't over powered with tons of seasoning which was great because their salad dressing was probably the best Caesar dressing I've ever had. It definitely had a kick. The garlic and black pepper were very bold flavours which I definitely enjoyed. And of course, like everything in the south, the portion was HUGE. So yeah, Dinner was great. I'm not going to say it was the best seafood restaurant ever, or the best in Savannah, but if you're looking at fair prices (8-18$) with casual fare (po' boys, salads, grilled chicken, peel & eat shrimp, snow crab legs...) its definitely a place to eat at. And if you get there early enough as for a table on the balcony. Nothing better than eating dinner with a view of the water front.

Samosa Wraps

2009-07-06T14:58:00.001-04:00

So I was in the mood for samosas, but I really didn't want to eat anything deep fried (and I wasn't in the mood to making dough) and I needed to figure out what to do for lunch. Searching online I came across a pretty cool looking recipe for samosa wraps. Being on this health kick (you know how it is, bikinis telling you that KFC is a nono) I decided to make a few changes to the recipe. For instance, I used sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes and I used Ezekial Wheat Free tortillas. And since I had no tomatoes, I just used eggplants. In the end, I've to admit it was a pretty tasty sandwich which I really hope you guys try.

Magical Nutella Goodness

2009-06-20T19:14:00.000-04:00

I haven't baked in a while and thought it would be nice to bake something for KStead that included 3 of his favorite foods; Nutter Butter cookies, Nutella, and cheesecake. Behold...Nutella Cheesecake Bites!

Yields 24
Ingredients

8 Nutter Butter cookies, crushed
2/3 cup Nutella
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
16 oz cream cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line miniature muffin tins (tassie pans) with miniature paper liners.
In a zip lock bag, crush the Nutter Butter cookies and place 1/2 teaspoon of the crushed cookies into each paper cup.
In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. I used my Kitchen Aid for this but a hand mixer will do the same job.
Melt the Nutella in the microwave for a few seconds for better handling. Place 1/2 teaspoon into each paper cup.
Fill each miniature muffin liner with cream cheese mixture, to the top.
Bake for 15 minutes. Cool and enjoy!

Ay ya ya Mexico!

2009-05-23T20:10:00.002-04:00

My older sister, BLT, and I went on our first vacation together to Cancun, MX. No we don't have the swine! We stayed at Ambiance Villas which was the 2nd to last hotel on hotel zone. Very quiet and relaxing. The staff were wonderful and we would definitely stay there again. We decided not to get the all-inclusive and to venture the local cuisine.

Our first night, we strolled into Mextreme! Apparently, Tom Cruise's movie Cocktail was not filmed here. haha we had to take a picture.

Our next night we went to a restaurant which I don't even know the name of. We walked by the restaurant and it smelled so good we had to eat there. I ordered bbq pork buritto. It actually tasted like Vietnamese bbq pork (thit xa xeo). It was really good and I like the fact that before we ordered they gave us a bowl of homemade chips with 2 different sauces, fresh tomato and a cilantro sauce.

On our last morning, we walked to a local cafe/sandwich shop. It was actually a French/Mexican cafe. They served sandwiches in french baguettes. They had pretty good traffic so we knew it was good. I ordered una croissant con jamon y jugo de naranja. I ordered in Spanish because the waitress didn't know English. The food was delicious! I wish I knew the cafe's name though. If I go to Cancun again I'll definitely take note :)

Two Smart Girls find Two Smart Cookies ... Plus Some!

2009-05-17T18:32:00.000-04:00

The diamond in the rough... Kimi and Lulu's adventures in Savannah, GA, lead them to Savannah's guilty pleasure: Two Smart Cookies. Honestly people, these are some of the best cookies I have EVER had (well, M/ Felix and Mr. Norton back in Canada def takes the cake). On White Bluff Rd right before the intersection with Stephenson, is this lil' white house with a green sign on the roof hidden behind some trees. The smell... OMG! The smell when entering the bakery is more than heavenly. What makes a grown-up regress back to childhood faster than the smell and warmth of freshly baked cookies? Missing those hugs from mommy yet? The first things you see in the glass case are the adorable sugar cookies shaped as seahorses, fish, and even a lil' bikini frosted in pinks, greens, and yellow (well, it is beach season). Can we say adorable. What marvelous treasure do we see on top of the glass case but a tray of samples! Now Kimi is gonna tell you that the oatmeal cookies with craisins and toffee are da bomb diggity, but umm, Lulu here says YAY SMART COOKIE! How can you go wrong with a warm, soft chocolate cookie with pecans? You just can't. I mean, my tummy was singing "Just Dance" as that cookie made its home in my stomach :o) Ok, so here's their website: http://www.twosmartcookies.com, but unfortunately this treasure chest is only open Mon-Fri from 10 am to 5 pm so I guess if you work you better make most of your lunch hour. Oh! btw- you can even ask for milk for your cookie! Now really, how cute is that?!

Turkey Kibbi w/ Sweet Potato Fries

2009-05-17T07:32:00.000-04:00

So what happens when Kimi and Lulu are in the same house? One very busy kitchen! Second night of Kimi's visit to Savannah, the two of us were inspired to make healthy variations to our favourite items after vegetating on the floor while staring at the tv when "Cook Yourself Thin" was on. Hey! We can make our food healthy too ... and if we actually needed it, we could lose a dress size - but we'll take just being healthy and not clogging our arteries.
SO: I love kibbi and she loves fries. I don't eat beef and potatoes are very starchy which, if not burned, gets converted into sugars in your body and stored as FAT! There's no need for that. So we bought one package of ground turkey and a sweet potato. Ground turkey is almost fat free (better to use 95% fat free than 99% because the meat is a lil' more moist) and sweet potatoes are a complex carb that's high in fibre.
AIIGHT! So this is what we did.

KIBBI:
1 package o ground turkey meat
1 cup of bulgar wheat
whatever seasonings you like (we did salt, pepper, dried herbs, and a lil' cumin)

Preheat oven at 350.
Pour the bulgar wheat in a bowl and add water just to barely cover the bulgar and let it soak until the water is absorbed. IT usually doesn't take more than 30 minutes, but its just easier to do it in the morning, through it in the fridge, and take it out when you feel like cooking kibbi.
Divide the ground meat and put half in a hot pan w/ oil. Cook the meat adding whatever seasons you want. Make sure the meat is thoroughly cooked. Add the other half to the bulgar and mix well. Then form into balls- I make mine somewhat large-say round enough to fit in the palm of your hand.
Deeply indent a ball and spoon in a teaspoon of cooked meat filling into it. Close up the ball and roll in your hands to make sure there are no cracks and its smooth. line on a baking sheet. Keep on doing it with all the balls you made. Once they're lined up on a baking sheet, coat with olive oil and throw them into the oven. Ours took about 45 minutes, but every oven is different o periodically check and remember it is ground turkey so it can dry up if kept too long in the oven.
As for the sweet potato fries- just cut a sweet potato into slim sticks and season anyway you like, coat in olive oil, spread evenly on a baking sheet and throw in the oven. keep an eye on them again, but I'd say about 30 minutes.

What to eat with kibbi? Hummus of course!

Chicken Tangine and so healthy too!

2009-04-26T17:45:00.000-04:00

So I'm on a total health kick a well more than normal a since beach season is coming up so I've been looking for recipes that are filling, but light on the fat/kcals. I was going through www.FitnessMagazine.com and I found a recipe for Chicken Tangine. With only 405 kcals, 10 g fat, 49 g carbohydrates, and 32 g protein, the meal was definitely tummy delight. Now I did make some alterations to the dish. I didn't have any chopped cooked chicken on hand, and I was not about to start cooking chicken so I boiled up chicken tenders and then chopped it up. I didn't have olives, so I took a healthier route and substituted it with edamame. And instead of diced canned tomatoes, I used fresh grape tomatoes. I totally loved this dish and I hope to all the ladies out there getting bikini ready (and the guys who want to show some skin) y'all definitely need to try it out.

So here's the ACTUAL recipe. Go ahead and make your own modifications to suit your taste buds.
Chicken Tangine from www.FitnessMagazine.com
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/4 cup coarsely chopped pitted kalamata olives
1/3 cup raisins
10 ounces cooked chicken breast, diced (2 cups)
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
DIRECTIONS
Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, ginger, cumin and cinnamon; cook, stirring frequently, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, broth, peas, olives and raisins; simmer 7 to 8 minutes. Add the chicken and chickpeas; cook 3 to 4 minutes, until chicken is heated through.

Casbah Moroccan Restaurant

2009-04-04T12:18:00.000-04:00

So you're wandering around downtown Savannah and all of a sudden you decide, "Hey, I want some lamb. And you know what, I want practice my belly dancing moves in case one day I get asked to perform for the Sultan." then I suggest you try Casbah. Now, if you've have Moroccan in DC (which I have) or perhaps in Morocco, well then I can't say this place is outstanding, but its definitely pretty good. The dishes are in the 20$-range, but they do have set menus where you can pick appetizers, entrees, and a dessert and that's around 30$ which I saw go for. I had the lamb w/ caramelized apricots. Its a mild curry, so if you're looking for spicy you may want to try the spicy roasted lamb. But if you're looking for an interesting, yet complientary flavours, go for this dish. The unique flavour of lamb mized with stewed fruit is actually nice as the sweetness of the apricots cut the sharpness of lamb.
So besides the food, I definitely think you'll enjoy the experience of the place. The tables are low set and you sit on cushion like couches giving you that feel of eating in Morocco. The waiters come to your table with warm water for you to wash your hands as it is customary to eat with your right hand (but if you're not into that, they've utensils). Then come the belly dancers. The girls are fun to watch as they dance around the diners and totally welcome everyone to come dance with them. Its customary-although not required-to tip the dancers if they come up to you. Eh, why not. If you're a guy I'm sure you'll be thrilled to slip a dollar bill into the dancer's belt. Overall its a fun and tasty dinner experience, but I suggest you make reservations prior because the place is PACKED all the time-especially weekends.
Oh! And if you like the music, or the costumes, there's a lil' boutique near the entrance of the restaurant for you to purchase these items as well as their sauces, tobacco for your hookah, and other lil' goodies.

Casbah Moroccan Restaurant
118 E. Broughton St, Savannah GA
912-234-6168

Lazy Sunday

2009-03-22T20:22:00.000-04:00

Today was a very lazy Sunday. KStead is still sick and I have a sinus infection...no fun. We decided not to leave the house today and just stay in and get better. I always try to make a home cooked dinner on Sundays. Since we didn't leave the house I had to make due with whatever we had in the kitchen.

The staples in my house are jasmine rice, a bag or 2 of Trader Joes frozen sweet corn, and Trader Joes roasted salsa. I can always find something to make with those 3 ingredients together or by themselves. I decided to make shrimp and sauteed vegetables over rice.

Ingredients
1 lb of shrimp, I used a bag of large frozen cooked shrimp from Trader Joes
1 cup Trader Joes frozen sweet corn
Half red and green peppers, diced the same size as the pieces of corn
Half a white onion, diced
1 teaspoon of garlic
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Trader Joes roasted salsa
Cilantro to garnish

Heat a large pan and coat the bottom with olive oil.
Add garlic and heat for about 15 seconds.
Add the red and green peppers, onions, and corn. Sprinkle salt and pepper on top. Saute until onions are translucent. About 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and place in a bowl.
Add a little more olive oil to the pan and heat up the shrimp. Sprinkle with pepper. If you are using fresh shrimp, cook until shrimp is pink.
Add the vegetables back to the pan.
Add a teaspoon of lemon juice and mix well.
Serve over a bed of jasmine rice and garnish with cilantro and salsa.

Challah Back Girl

2009-03-15T21:25:00.000-04:00

The one and only Angry Asian from Angry Asian Creations made pumpkin challah dough and was kind enough to give me a quarter to take back and make at home myself. All I have to say is genius! I have never made bread dough before and quite frankly I don't have the patience for it. I love the fact that she gave me pre-made dough to take home and bake myself.

I took strict directions to knead the dough and let sit in room temperature for 1 hour, brush the top with egg wash, and bake for 35-40 minutes. I found a blog a while back that made holiday wreath bread and i love what they did with the dough. I decided to take a chance and cut the dough into a wreath. Low and behold it turned out wonderful...and delicious! Thanks Angry Asian!!

Don's Seafood Hut

2009-02-25T09:31:00.001-05:00

Catfish stuffed with crab-really, you can't get any better! There are tons of places to get seafood in Lafayette, but ask the locals and they're gonna tell you to go to Don's. Now don't be confused, there is a Don's Seafood in downtown (apparently the owners of the two are related) but the cozy lil' spot on Johnston St is definitely the one to go to. From the outside it looks like it might be a sports bar, but inside feels really cozy. Ok, so besides the stuffed catfish (and all the other stuffed dishes) there's boiled shrimp and, when in season, crawfish and we all know how much we love crawfish down here. The seafood salad has more than its share of seafood (which is all good with me 'cause why for crab and crawfish when all you get tons of lettuce). My friends had the seafood gumbo (as they're anti-pork) and raved about it, so there's another reason why you need to try it out. Now, ordinarily you don't associate seafood with desserts but the apple cobbler...OMG! Yes, definitely make room for it. Warm apply cobbler with vanilla ice cream is the perfect way to end the meal. But yeah-the stuffed catfish is so amazingly yum. The stuffing is NOT 90% breadcrumbs 10% crab. Its crab and so so good crab. I promise you will lick your plate clean-oh yeah, not only is the crab stuffing delicious, but so is the fish So when you're in Lafayette and you're in the mood for some Cajun goodness, drive to Don's Seafood Hut and dig in!

Don's Seafood Hut 4309 Johnston St, Lafayette

Athena -3551 Ambassador Caffery Parkway, Lafayette LA

2009-02-17T07:55:00.001-05:00

Mmmm, now who doesn't like some delicious lamb and hummus? There are several restaurants in Lafayette to eat Lebanese (well...most are chains) but if you don't like your food drenched in oil or garlic in everything then I definitely suggest dining at Athena's. I'm definitely the fan of both the lula kabab plate and the kibbi plate. The salad is perfect-just enough feta and dressing so that your mouth doesn't feel like you ate a block of cheese and washed it down with oil. The lamb is cooked just right-juicy, tender, not chewy ('cause they don't leave a slab of fat attached to the meat). Every meal is served w/ a complimentary lentil soup-which is the best in town (trust me on this one) and all plates include a salad and rice-although if you're like me and are not a fan of rice, they'll happily switch it for anything else on the menu. The menu also includes falafel, tabouleh, grape leaves (both vegetarian and meat) and sandwich plates for those who don't want to eat a large plate (the plates are definitely large enough to satisfy you for hours). And at lunch time there's a buffet so YAY! for "all you can eat". And if there's still room in your belly after clearing your plate order some Turkish coffee and baklava-or pay the check and munch on a Jordan almond (SO YUM!).

Athena's
3551 Ambassador Caffery Pkwy, Lafayette LA
(337) 988-7618

Premire of Put A Spoon In It

2009-02-16T22:54:00.001-05:00

Welcome and thanks for visiting Put A Spoon In It blog. This blog is about 2 best friends who met in college and have the same passion for food. We live in separate states now but food brings us together. We hope you enjoy our blog!

~K to the PH & E to the LO