Tag Archives: black beans

Coming Together

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First order of business

I got another armload of chocolates! I spotted the Vosges Marzipan bar in the sale bin so that was an instant grab. I was interested to know what the world renowned Leonidas Feuilletine chocolate was like. It was a milk chocolate with tiny crushed up biscuit pieces for a little crunch–done very well! I loved the Coco Chocopod so much I had to get another one, plus the panko flavor. The panko flavor is dark chocolate with panko breadcrumbs and sea salt. I’ve been wanting to get back to dark chocolate and sea salt. I think that’s my tried and true variation. That’s where the 72% dark chocolate with sea salt and caramel comes in. I haven’t tried it yet, but the trusted guy at the store told me he loves it. We’ll see!

This week I met up with my lovely friend for a baking date!
She had lots of carrots, so we wanted to make something using them.

Any guesses? We were going to make carrot cupcakes, but then I saw a picture of cinnamon rolls. So I exclaimed, “why don’t we make carrot cake cinnamon rolls?!” Carrot cake cinnamon rolls it was.

We loosely followed that recipe since it was in metrics and conversions can be quite tricky when it comes to baking. Baking can be tricky in itself.

Making dough with our hands.
And now the funnest part!

Kneading dough is one of my favorite things to do.

Matilda trying to be sneaky.
She made smoothies while we waited for the dough to rise.
So delicious! This is what the gods drink when the weather gets hot.
The dough was done rising, and then it was time to get rolling.
So cool! I’d never done anything like this before.

I loved this part of the recipe “use a serrated bread knife to cut the dough into 12-18 sections – depending on how long your roll is or how fat you like your buns.” We didn’t want them to be too squished, since we wanted them to have room to get nice and fat! That is indeed how we like our buns.

They had to proof for 15 more minutes, and then into the oven they went.
And 15 minutes later, out of the oven they came!
Spread on some homemade cream cheese frosting…
Hats off to carrot cake cinnamon rolls aka the best cinnamon rolls ever.
Then later that day I had plans to cook dinner for some friends of the family.

I was whisked away to their house, and got to prepping, cooking, spilling water and wine, and dancing! A lot can happen in a kitchen.

So colorful!
And we finally had dinner close to 10 pm–not too tired to eat yet.

I made Coconut Rice with Black Beans and Fried Plantains. I didn’t use the bacon though, a common ingredient in latin recipes for flavoring. Anyway, they loved this dish and even asked for the recipe! The recipe says that it serves 8, but the only thing there were barely leftovers of was the rice. I think that speaks for itself.

In good company

This goes back to the question in my last post: if you consider yourself a baker or a cook… or both! This time around it was nice to cook for my family’s friends, and it was a way for me to show I care. I picked out a recipe that would share a side of my heritage, something everyone could enjoy, and not too fussy. Afterall, I wasn’t trying to impress anyone, just have a nice time hanging out with my friends.

When was the last time food brought you together with people you love? Or perhaps it’s a quirky eating habit you and someone you know share.

Magic in the Kitchen

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Hello everybody! Yesterday was a pretty upsetting day for the German team and everyone rooting for them. I was sulking around for awhile, but I decided to bake and my friend came over–Sex and the City marathon! I don’t know what it is about the World Cup, but my heart goes into it. I’m going to be sad once the games are over. Every four years this tournament becomes a big part of my life, and I find that my conversations are about the games or somehow find their way to that topic. Moreover, I loved reading all of your answers on my last post about style. And thank you so much for the compliments! I can tell that one of those shirts is “my new favorite thing”. I also saw that many of you commented on how nice the pictures look. Well, one thing I’ve been taking more into consideration is lighting and composition. The third eye never closes! It’s funny though how these little changes are noticeable. Anyway, here’s some candy for your eyes!

Vanilla Macaroon Granola... you are so good to me!

When I was at the bulk bins the other day I went over the granola selection to see if I spied anything new and interesting. Then I saw the words “vanilla macaroon” and I nibbled on a bit to see if I approved. Yes, very much so! Oh! And those little raspberries came from our garden. It was so exciting to see that our plant was finally producing fruit.

Sleeping baby got a new bed.

This is something I definitely have to make again!

This was a spicy curried sweet potato and tofu dish. I sautéed some onions, then fried the baked sweet potato and tofu in coconut oil with some freshly ground spices and curry leaves. Next, I added the spicy coconut milk mixture I made and let everything absorb it. Towards the end was when I added the spinach till it wilted, salted to my liking, and sprinkled some toasted coconut shreds on top. Voila!

Something else orange in my life, recently!

When I was at the market the other day I spotted a kabocha! I haven’t seen one or had one in months. Maybe even since last year? Anyway, I was so excited that I practically hugged it in my arms instead of simply putting it in the my basket.

I wanted to make something special.

I was inspired by Amanda’s Pumpkin Chili Mexican Scramble recipe. I grinded up some spices often used to make garam masala (as far as flavor goes, grinding spices yourself is the best). I fried the spices first, then I sautéed the onions and garlic. After that I threw in the kabocha with some water and let that cook. Once I could stick a fork in the cubes and the water was absorbed, I threw in diced red and yellow bell peppers.

What could this be?

On the side I mixed together a “scramble” concoction with: tofu, garlic powder, onion powder, soy sauce, nutritional yeast, turmeric, and black beans. That mix went into the pan as well with some coconut oil. I had almost forgotten the two ingredients I definitely wanted to use for this dish–hickory smoke and vegan worcestershire sauce. The deal was pretty much sealed by then and I knew I was going to be serving a delicious Friday night dinner to my family.

Bon appetit!

For the finishing touches I threw in a diced tomato, cilantro, crumbled corn chips, avocado, and cottage cheese (you could use sour cream, but I didn’t have any on hand). Magic in the kitchen! And now for some more magic…

I used the banana bread recipe from the "Veganomicon" to make muffins instead.

I changed the recipe a bit by using coconut oil instead of vegetable oil, and using half rye flour and half whole wheat. I love the flavor coconut oil lends, and I wanted to see how baking muffins with it would turn out. Scrumptious, delicious, and it reminded me a bit of Lebkuchen because of the rye. I have some more recipes in mind using rye. They taste so yummy plain, with coconut oil, peanut butter, ghee, and…

Crumbled over my breakfast.

I’ve been putting chia seeds in my breakfasts every morning now, and I also got a new protein powder: Jay Robb’s vanilla rice protein. I just wish it weren’t so pricey! I tried a few to see which one I liked the most. I’ve come to realize that there’s no escaping the slight texture change that a lot of plant-based protein powders give. Also, notice the different colors? When you can’t choose, just choose them all! I went ahead with pumpkin seed butter, peanut butter, and Cacao Bliss to top the melting banana soft-serve.

I cant tell that these muffins will be frequenting my breakfasts.

Another batch of bars!

This time I used a variety of nuts: pistachios, cashews, hazelnuts, walnuts, and almonds. For the dried fruits I used banana chips, dates, and dried cranberries. Of course the usual coconut shreds went in the mix. I also added some honey. Other than that I kept the recipe the same pretty much since I liked how my second batch turned out. I plan on going to the store and getting some chocolate chips and who knows what else!

Oops these got a bit burned, but they taste good anyway.

Perfect for snacking on-the-go

My mom has been loving the weekly batches I’ve been baking.

The other day when me and my dad went shopping we stopped by the Lindt store.

It’s great because it’s basically like a buffet of chocolates. You can choose from all of their Lindor truffles and European specialities, then just pay by the weight. Not to mention they were having a sale going on–10 bars for $15! I chose their Tiramisu petits desserts, and the dark chocolate Mozartkugel. On the topic of sweetness, how about I leave you off with this one… tomorrow is Friday!!!

A Million Reasons to Celebrate

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How to survive a summer of days where the mornings are also steaming hot…

A medley of fruits: blueberries, peach slices, and banana chips over a crumbled homemade bar, Greek yogurt + peanut butter swirled in.

And all of my bowls of oats lately have been cooked and then put in the fridge to cool down. It’s funny how I crave different foods, textures, hot/cold depending on the seasons. Sometimes it really varies from day to day, or meal by meal. Like lunch for instance, I don’t mind having something warm, but I’ve noticed that I’ve been letting my food cool down for a bit just in general.

Perfecting these bars still!

These are way better than my first batch. I made some changes like using macadamia nuts and cashews, dates, banana chips, and a flaxseed mixture.

When in doubt, go with egg noodles!

I couldn’t decide what to serve with the chickpeas and mushrooms with mango chutney, so I opted for these noodles. Not only are they super quick to cook, but you get to bust out the chopsticks!

My mom was curious about spaghetti squash...

I was so delighted when she asked me about it! Each time I cook spaghetti squash I’m wowed by how this vegetable can really look like that stringy, long pasta! I remembered seeing a recipe in the Veganomicon that used this squash: spaghetti squash Mexicana with tropical avocado salsa. This alone sounded yummy! I opted to take them up on the suggestion of using papaya for the salsa. Afterall, we had a whole bunch from our backyard.

This is a recipe that you can adjust to your likings

I accidentally let my hand go with adding the spices–oops! I loved all these flavors though. It was so fresh (perfect for summer) and you can use the salsa for other dishes or even just as a dip for chips! And now my mom knows why a spaghetti squash has its name.

Another fresh idea... like a banana pie

Inspired by raw desserts--I love how flavorful they usually are.

This isn’t completely raw, just inspired. But if you do want to make it raw you can omit certain things or use vanilla bean instead of vanilla extract, for example. I made a crust by mixing medjool dates, cashews, walnuts, cinnamon, and unsweetened coconut shreds in a food processor. Then I whipped up some cashew cream and mixed in the banana, honey, a bit of lime juice, coconut milk, and vanilla extract. Then I started layering: crust, filling, and then topped it with banana slices, coconut shreds, and cinnamon. You want to let it sit in the fridge or the freezer so it solidifies. You pull it out when your patience has dwindled down to nothing, and enjoy!

This plate of food may be mistaken for a palette of vibrant paints!

I baked some sprouted tofu with leftover herbed bread crumbs, olive oil, and soy sauce. I sautéed some squash, red onions, mushrooms, and dates. Served it with jasmine rice, sliced sun-dried tomatoes, chopped scallion, and avocado slices! This was so random, but delicious and awesome to look at before I dug in.

Now this dish isn't nearly as nice to look at.

But it doesn’t mean that it tastes bad! Hey, Indian food doesn’t always look the most appetizing, but in my opinion I think it’s the most delicious cuisine out there. Anyway, I cooked some amaranth in a chipotle broth, then added black beans, sliced mushrooms, onions, garlic, spices, hickory smoke, brown sugar, vegan Worchestershire sauce. I also added some flax oil in the end since I’m trying to incorporate more omega-3’s into my diet. After seeing my mom’s amazing glow and all of the salmon she eats, I want that too! I’ve also started sprinkling toasted hemp seeds on to some things (today it was on some nachos), and chia seeds as well.

The girl with the goods!

Remember when I tried the ChocoVine way back when? Well I saw it at the store the other day and it was on sale! I mentioned it to my dad, and he actually confessed that he had been eyeing it for quite some time but wasn’t sure if he would like it or not. Uh Dad… they’res only one way to find out, duh!!! And if it so happened that he wouldn’t like it well there’s a little young lady that would happily finish the bottle off for him! Oh and we can’t ignore that jar of peanut butter. It’s my favorite peanut butter in the whole wide world and it just made sense to get the “big-as-my-head” size instead of the regular one. I definitely look like the happy bear that found the jar of honey whenever it’s opened!

No I didn't finish that big jar quite yet!

This was another jar of the same peanut butter that I had. Instead of using oats though I used a 10-grain hot cereal mix. So would this be called 10G’s-IAJ? Aka 10-grand in a jar? This sounds like something Jay-Z would enjoy, oh and me too. Jay-Z, care to join me for breakfast? Oh, and I found a book the other day called Extreme Beauty in Vogue. It’s so inspiring and wonderfully bizarre. You can find out more about it here.

Speaking of Vogue… here are some recent purchases I made that I can’t wait to wear out and about!

I love the neckline.

And let's talk about the back...

Perfect for the summer when the last thing I want to wear is... clothes haha!

A breezy silk top... weakness.

And a beautiful scarf marked down from $100 to $9--clearly that deal needed to be taken advantage of!

These are called "Broken-in Boyfriend Shorts"... I can pretend.

The "Hello! I still have arms in the winter" top.

And this shirt for the win!

I think my style overall is pretty eclectic, and I can’t quite pinpoint it because I just get what I really like. One thing that I have noticed though is that I’m a sucker for sheer things, silk, beautiful detailing, uniqueness, and I unintentionally don’t own a single pair of jean pants. Someone once asked me where my style comes from, and this is what I said, “My style comes from different past eras, nature, and what I think the future would look like.” I guess this is why I consider it eclectic–all over the place! I’d like to know how you would describe your style!

I think you can guess where we went for the recent Argentina vs. Germany match.

I love going out to watch the games because everyone around you is as into the game as you are! Lots of hands flailing, cheering, clapping, and thinking out loud… very out loud. Oh! And I can’t forget plenty of chocolate cappuccinos and black forest cake with fresh whipped cream m’mmm.

I believe this game is going to go down in the history of soccer!

I tried to capture the cheering, but really... the entire restaurant was filled and I could only remember to take a picture after the outbursts.

Auf gehts Deutschland!

Oh my goodness, I am still so happy about their victory. I can’t wait till Wednesday when Germany plays Spain! I hope you are all enjoying your weekend and celebrating in one way or another. So many reasons to celebrate, right? Happy Independence Day, America!