Recipes

Recipe: Caramel Corn

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Last night the hubby was craving something sweet and I thought how about some caramel corn?  I remembered a little while back that Mama Pea had posted a recipe for Caramel Kettle Corn and I was inspired to create my own version.

Caramel Corn

adapted from Mama Pea’s Recipe

In a small saucepan, melt coconut oil over medium heat. Add brown rice syrup, palm sugar and salt, and bring to a boil. Simmer over medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove caramel from stove CAREFUL IT’S HOT! and carefully pour over popcorn. Quickly toss together so that the popcorn is evenly coated.

And the Verdict…….

The crazy eyes say it all….NOM NOM NOM NOM…..GOOOD!

Q: What is your favorite way to eat popcorn?

Cafe Gratitude and Yummy Flax Fries

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Dinner tonight included a recipe from Cafe Gratitude ‘s recipe book I am Grateful and had fries inspired by Carrots ‘N’ Cake .

First the hubby and I started with a lovely salad from I am Grateful:

The dressing for this salad was Peppery Avocado Caesar Dressing from I am Grateful, capers and gomasio.  It was nice light and yummy. There is a caesar salad recipe in I am Grateful which also includes their almond bread.  I would have loved to make this but didn’t have the ingredients for the bread but hope to make it next time.

To go with this salad we had quinoa with peas, corn, Braggs and hot chili sesame oil.  We also had these amazing fries:

Baked Parsnip and Sweet Potato Flax Fries

Tina of Carrots ‘N’ Cake inspired this recipe

  • 2 sweet potatoes, cut into fries
  • 4 parsnips, cut into fries
  • 1T olive oil
  • 3T flax meal
  • 1/2t garlic salt
  • 1/2t chili powder

Preheat the oven to 425F. Place the parsnip and sweet potato fries in a large plastic bag and toss with olive oil.  Add in the flax meal, garlic salt and chili powder and toss with the fries to evenly coat. Pour out onto a baking sheet to form a single layer.  Place in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until soft, flipping after 25.

Mochi Wraps, Vita Coco and a Poll

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I recently decided to purchase a package of mochi (pronounced mo-chee) to try but have been having a hard time figuring out what I wanted to do with it. Finally last night I made a savory version of it but heating a small amount of sesame oil in my cast iron pan putting in the mochi (making sure they didn’t touch) and then turning the heat down to low and covered for 4 minutes. After 4 minutes I flipped them and sprinkled with soy sauce then put the cover back on for another 4 minutes. At this point the mochi gets nice a gooey almost like cheese and I wrapped them in nori and served along some colorful stirfried veggies. (I apologize now for iPhone pics I can’t seem to find the charger for my digital camera battery).

This morning I forced myself up after a few too many Wolaver’s Pat Leavy’s All-American Ale and jumped on the elliptical for a quick sesh.  I have a hard time waking up and just drinking a glass of water especially when I go to work out when my eyes are barely open so I usually turn to coconut water.  It is great for hydration and a healthy alternative to those sugary sports drinks. I have tried a number of different kinds of coconut water and currently I have been sipping on some samples of Vita Coco.  Vita Coco has a number of different flavors of their coconut water which include: acai & pomegranate, pineapple, peach & mango, tangerine and regular.  My favorites were the regular and peach & mango; as for the others I didn’t care for them the flavor just wasn’t right for me.  I did really enjoy the regular coconut water though.  My husband who is not crazy about coconut water decided that the regular one of these is his favorite kind, success!

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Disclaimer: Vita Coco provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

Creamy Miso Morel Pasta with Peas & Leeks

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Creamy Miso Morel Pasta with Peas & Leeks

Ingredients:

  • 4 servings of homemade dried fettuccine pasta (feel free to use fresh)
  • 1 oz. dried morels
  • 1T olive oil
  • 1/2T fresh thyme leaves, minced
  • 1 large leek- white only, minced
  • 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup reserved morel soaking water
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • 2/3 cup soy creamer
  • 1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
  • 1T red miso mixed with 2T warm water
  • salt and black pepper, to taste

Directions:

  1. Soak the morels in water for a 5 minutes and then drain and rinse them off to remove any dirt that they may have on them.  Then soak the morels in enough HOT water to cover them and let them sit for 1 hour.  Drain and reserve 1/4 cup of soaking liquid.
  2. Cook pasta according to the directions.
  3. In a medium saute pan heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and then add the leek and thyme, saute for 5 minutes.
  4. Add the garlic and morels and saute for a minute and then add the morel soaking water.  Bring the mixture up to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 3-5 minutes.
  5. Stir in the nutritional yeast, soy creamer and peas and let simmer for 5 minutes.
  6. Take the pan off the heat and add in the miso mixture and stir until combined.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
  7. Toss the morel sauce with the pasta and serve.

Chickpea Salad and Garlic Lovers Pasta

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Yesterday my hubby and I took a drive to Lake George NY to visit the Coleman Outlet.  We are heading up to Acadia for our anniversary at the end of May and were in need of a new tent  since ours is small and old.  Since we have eaten out WAY too much lately I decided to make us some lunch for the road.  I packed up some chickpea salad sandwiches, Hint water, veggie straws and a couple Jazz apples.

Chickpea Salad

  • 1-15oz can of chickpea, drained and chopped into small pieces (a food processor works well for this
  • 1/4 of a medium red onion, minced
  • 2T chopped dill pickle
  • 1-2T vegenaise (I like to use the reduced fat kind)
  • 1t triple blend flakes or kelp flakes
  • 1t lemon juice
  • 2T finely chopped parsley

Mix this all together and serve it on a sandwich, salad or with crackers

This is a blend of dulse, laver & sea lettuce- you could always use crumbled nori or kelp flakes - you also could change the flavor a bit and use dill

We had a successful trip to Lake George and came home with a new tent, a few new camping plates and bowls and a camping mattress (I know, I know but hubby is old and his back hurts haha).  We also picked up a few new spring duds at the J.Crew outlet which we both love.  Dinner was a quick and easy meal to put together.  It was hubby’s favorite Garlic Lovers Pasta and a small side salad.

Garlic Lovers Pasta

  • 3 servings of pasta of your choice- I used spinach spaghetti tonight
  • 6 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2T olive oil
  • 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
  • 3T nutritional yeast
  • salt and pepper to taste

While the pasta is cooking place the garlic and olive oil in a large saute pan and heat over medium low until the pasta is finished.  DO NOT DRAIN PASTA, rather using a spaghetti spoon or tongs take the pasta out of the boiling water and place into the sauce (the starch in the water helps to create a sauce).  The sprinkle in the parsley and nutritional yeast and salt and pepper and toss together to coat evenly.  ENJOY!

So I’m off for the day to a committee meeting a few hours away and I’m anxious since it’s only my second day of work and I have to take the minutes, eek!  However you should stop on over to my Spring Giveaway post and enter to win this great giveaway.  If you already have entered remember you can tweet once per day BUT make sure you go back and post a comment letting me know you did.

An Afternoon of New Beverages

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Today I got a few new beverages in the mail from Inko’s Iced Tea and Hint Water so I was excited to try both of them.  While I did a little wishful thinking vacation searching I enjoyed some Peeled Pine-4-Pineapple and the Inko’s White Tea Honeydew flavor.

After wasting part of the afternoon looking at vacations that we probably won’t go on I decided I should jump on the elliptical for awhile.  So I did 30 minutes on the elliptical while reading a trashy magazine and contemplating dinner.  For dinner I decided on making some Lotus Foods Jade Pearl Rice which smells crazy like a bamboo forest (as described on the package).  I cooked some wakame with the rice and then tossed it all together with some steamed carrots, mushrooms, peppers, chickpeas and topped with a miso tahini sauce.  This sauce is crazy good and I can’t wait to make it again.

Miso Tahini Sauce:

  • 1/3 cup warm water
  • 1/4 cup tahini
  • 2T sweet white miso
  • 2 cloves of garlic chopped
  • 2T lemon juice

Put everything in the blender and blend until smooth.  You can heat this if you would like but make sure to do it on low as you should NEVER boil miso.

I enjoyed my dinner with a bottle of Hint Mango-Grapefruit.

Tonight I am just going to try and relax and mentally prepare for my first day at work tomorrow. I am a little nervous but I am excited at the same time. How do you prepare for your first day at work? What do you wear on your first day?

Recipe: Kimchi Spring Rolls

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Kimchi Spring Rolls

Makes 10-15 Rolls

  • 1/4 cup vegan kimichi
  • 1 T hoisin sauce
  • 1/2 T soy sauce
  • 1 carrot, shredded
  • 1 parsnip, shredded
  • 1/4 cup brown rice
  • spring roll wrappers
  • 2 T oil for frying

Directions:

  1. Fill each spring roll wrapper with 1 tablespoon of filling and tightly roll. Repeat until all the fillings is used.
  2. Heat oil in a sauce pan over medium high and fry the spring rolls until they are lightly browned on all sides.
  3. Drain on paper towel.
  4. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.