Posts by admin:
- Pecan Sandies
- Lemon Ricotta Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cake Pops
- Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake
- Chocolate Chip Pie
Veggie Chilaquilés with Molé Sauce
September 8th, 2011
Since I knew I was going to be out of town I knew I needed to get some things done before I left. Besides cleaning and arranging I finally got the nursery completed. Now, when I talk about the whole nursery I mean only half. We are using Ryan’s office and splitting it in half and making it half a nursery. It was at first hard to envision placing a crib and trying to make it baby-friendly.
Let’s talk about inspiration. It feels like I have lost all inspiration or creativity since getting pregnant. I have been so indecisive and changed themes, colors, and many other things but after several trips to different stores I FINALLY was inspired. Ryan was able to give his 2 cents an really helped.
I have always liked greens and yellows and I thought that would be a unique color for my little girl but the more I kept on looking at magazines,outfits and such I really was drawn more to pink. I have never really been a pink person, but a soft pink with brown sounded nice. Then I realized I like the Parisian theme but I did not want to make the baby’s room too serious or more like an adult’s room.
I am finally happy with the final product and I cannot wait to have our little girl enjoy her room, even though she will be in a bassinet toward the begining.
The other task at hand was completing a recipe for a contest. Remember I promised an enchilada recipe back in July? I am so bad with keeping up and following through with recipes but I get caught up. I decided to use this contest to make a NEW recipe.
Marx foods sent me an invitation to be part of a recipe contest called the Blogger Chile Recipe Challenge. I happily accepted even though I knew I would have to pop in some TUMS after eating my own dish. Ha ha ha. They sent me 6 different types of chiles and I decided to use 3 of them in a recipe that would combine well.
In Mexico there is a traditional dish called molé that is made with chicken and served with tortillas and white rice. Sometimes you can serve it as a sauce and place it on enchiladas. I decided to make a different recipe taking the traditional chilaquiles, which are fried corn tortilla chips usually served with tomato sauce, shredded chicken or eggs, with cheese and cream, and make a healthier version and richer in flavor by subsituting it with a molé sauce.
Molé sauce is typically different in every region of Mexico. My sauce is all vegan and is tomato and chile based with very simple ingredients but robust flavors.
Instead of frying the corn tortillas, I pan-fried them with little oil to crisp them up. The tortillas are left out to dry for a day so they do not soak up too much oil.
Instead of the shredded chicken I used fresh veggies and sauteed them in olive oil, garlic and oregano. In a dish placed the crisp tortillas, topped it with molé sauce and added the fresh veggies and then drizzled it with sour cream and cotija cheese. The dish is completely vegan using vegan sour cream but vegetarian if using cotija cheese. All in all this dish was so filling and delicious.
Thanks Marx Foods!
For Molé Sauce:
Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large non-stick saucepan over medium heat. Add the tomatoes, whole, onion, garlic cloves, and bay leaves. Fry the veggies until the chilies finish soaking and the veggies are roasted. Drain the chilies with a slotted spoon but KEEP the chile water. Add the chilies to the pan and continue frying the chilies with the veggies for another 5 minutes.
Assembly:
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Fresh Blackberry Cake with Blackberry Frosting
September 7th, 2011
I can feel fall trying to make itself comfortable. It is cloudy and and cool and perfect weather for a big bowl of oatmeal and some coffee. Has anyone had a pumpkin latte yet? I must make it soon!
I have been looking at my potted herbs and realized I have to plan more accordingly so I will not waste these precious herbs. I have some basil, mint and rosemary. As I was looking at my basil and mint I realized that something has been getting their teeth or jaws on the leaves. They looked chewed on!
Guess what I saw the other day?
Is this praying mantis not beautiful?? I promise you it was posing for me because as I was taking photos it stopped chewing and climbing over leaves to stop and look at me. It was pretty amazing!
Stay tuned to see what I make with these leftover herbies. I usually make a basil lemonade but I am not quite sure that I can ingest too much basil with being preggers.
This past Sunday we had the new grad students come over for a little dessert and wine get-together. Everyone was to bring their favorite dessert or wine. We had a total of 11 people and lots of desserts! We had:
I made sure to add some pretzels to the mix just to add some palate cleansing.
I decided to make a cake. It has been a while since I had made a cake but guess what I scored at the grocery store? 3-4 pounds of FRESH blackberries for 2 bucks! Yes. So apparently the store bought too many and they were almost going bad so they were selling each pint for 0.18.Crazy people because they looked great.
I decided to freeze half of the berries and then use some for breakfast and some for a special dessert. A blackberry cake sounded sensational! I know that a new recipe should not be tried on company but I decided to risk it. I like taking risks.
I stumbled on a recipe from Living Locurto that described a one-of-a kind blackberry cake and I was sold. I veganized the recipe and cut the sugar back and decided to add a blackberry frosting instead of using a plain buttercream frosting. I was so excited to make a colorful dessert!
It is a 3 layer cake, requiring 3 cups of berries divided between 3 cake pans. Once they are baked there is a crispy layer on each cake that is delicious. The smell of the baked cakes is also pretty dang good.
Everyone knows that blackberries are the worst when it comes to the seeds. How was I going to ge rid of the seeds for the frosting? I whipped the berries in my Vitamix and it blended the seeds into the puree very well!
I got lots of compliments about this cake. If anything, it is a great party dessert, but I also think it would be a great birthday cake too. It also really does NOT take tha much time. Between whipping the cake batter and making the frosting as the cakes bake, I believe this was an easy recipe and this is saying something coming from a pregnant woman! Go and make it!
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Baby Shower and Labor Day Eats
September 6th, 2011
This weekend I had to catch up on grocery shopping for the next 2 weeks in addition to shopping for the little one AND getting the nursery completed. Did I get it done? YES! I probably tired myself out more that I should have but once I get going I cannot stop. Ryan reminded me not to overdo but better said than done.
I am cherishing my nap time, obviously not as much as I should but I am getting more tired and my feet are killing me, especially when I run errands from 1 pm to 7:30pm. Yes, I know, I know.
This past Saturday I had my 1st Michigan baby shower. I say this because my mother had thrown me one back in May when I headed to Houston for my sister’s wedding. The ladies at church got a wonderful shower and games together and we had a lovely time.
How about some yummy punch with crustless mini quiches, lemon cheesecakes, fruit cheesecakes, fruit-filled chocolate bowls? Yes, I was all very delicious! We played 2 games where the ladies had to guess who the baby would look like or be most like either Ryan or me. The game was very amusing.
It was nice to receive more of my items from the baby registry and it inspired all my arranging I did on Labor Day. I finally updated my registry on Babies ‘r Us and Amazon, so I know all that I have left. It is pretty amazing the things that one needs to bring a new life into this world. There are so many CUTE things too. Either way, I was blessed and grateful with th baby shower my church family put together. It was nice visiting too!
Monday I worked on the half nursery I have. The wall decorations are all up and finished but the bedding for the crib is not so I will wait till tomorrow to show you an update. It has been a huge relief to get another huge part of getting ready for the little one. It is exciting!
I took a break from decorating on Monday to make a delicious lunch. I made burgers along with some crispy potato wedges and a carrot and kohlrabi slaw that was delicious. Ryan claimed that the fries were the best I had ever made. That is really saying something. Really.
Here are the quick recipes for the Potato wedges:
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Pimento-Basil Hummus
September 1st, 2011
Well the humidity has finally hit but luckily I am in A/C! I woke up after only getting up once during the night which means I got a good night’s sleep! Thank the Lord. I quickly got up and put on my tennis shoes and went for a 45 minutes walk and then stretched on my yoga ball. How about that for a great start to the morning?
Well, it was not complete until I finished my morning devotional reading from Joel 2 today and enjoying a strawberry, golden raspberry, banana smoothie made with soy milk.
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Gone Pie Bakery Review
August 31st, 2011
What a beautiful overcast day. Somedays it is nice to have a gloomy day with cool weather. Am I preparing for fall, you might ask? Perhaps, but there is this sense of peace and quiet solitude especially when one is by the lake.
We are really blessed to have great friends who have opened their homes to us when we make our trek from Lansing to Holland. It is a good 1.5 hour drive one way and sometimes our rehearsals go until 10pm, so it is not an ideal drive getting back home.
Yes. The time is here when the Holland Chorale comes back in session. Ryan has been in meetings, auditions, and hearings for the new year and I could already sense the excitement! I had my audition, singing one of Dvorak’s pieces from his song cycle called the Biblical Songs. I also had to try out and be placed for a small chamber choir that Ryan directs. It was all pretty fun because as you know, I have not done tons of singing this summer. It has been a pretty busy one. I do have a voice lesson tonight so I am looking forward to that!
Anyway, while we are in Holland we get to stay with friends from the choir and usually we get to stay with a couple that live very near Lake Michigan. Last night we went for a boat ride after dinner. I had had a walk prior to dinner so it was nice and relaxing to putt putt around the lake. Nothing to rough though!
There was some nice wildlife on our way back from our ride too!
Being here has allowed me to relax in the way I should even though I have PLENTY on my mind. I have been working on a to-do list and I have been getting things off my list too! One of smaller things is having my nails done. This morning my friend’s granddaughter was nice enough to paint mine just in time for the opening MSU game on Friday. How fun is that? Thanks Ellie!
So how about this review? I was able to sample some delicious and wonderful goodies by my friend at Gone Pie Bakery. We have met several times and even when she came to visit her family in Michigan. Gone Pie Bakery has been in business in the New York area for over 25 years specializing in vegan and gluten-free baking.
What started as a storefront business quickly evolved to an on-line / wholesale business catering to those with specialized diets. I know for a fact as well that many businesses around the area carry her products too! Gone Pie has also shared recipes on her blog and really keeps her readers updated on seasonal goodies that are being baked in her kitchen.
What did I get to try? Oh my goodness, where do I start? I think I should start with the Ginger Cookies. These are probably the most delicious ginger cookies I have eaten. They melt in your mouth and have a really fresh and natural ginger flavor that no other ginger cookie has been able to deliver. It is soft and very moist and perfect with a cup of tea.
The beauty of this is that the ingredients are shared with the buyer. How great is it to know what you are ordering especially when you know everything is nautral! The best! YUM! Here is a sample of the ingredients:gluten-free flour blend (organic brown rice flour, tapioca flour, potato flour, gafarva four, sorghum flour, organic coconut flour, organic buckwheat flour, organic quinoa flour, organic amaranth flour), organic vegan sugar, organic apple sauce, organic coconut oil, Gone Pie vegan organic crystallized ginger, organic brown rice syrup, organic lemon, organic coconut milk, organic vanilla, spices, n/a baking powder, baking soda, sea salt.
My next favorite were the Vegan and Gluten-free Coconut Brownies. Yes…let’s take a moment to digest this. Imagine the smell and the flavor….ok. Do you have a sense?
This has got to be the moist decadent and moist brownie I have ever eaten. It took me a while to finish the pan because I cherished each bite. There was not a single dry crumble. It is amazing to be able to eat something so delicious and natural that tastes so good but does not leave you wanting or craving more. This I think is a sign of natural baking not lacking in flavor! Here are those ingredients: organic brown sugar, gluten-free flour blend (sorghum flour, organic rice flour, garfava flour, potato flour, tapioca flour, organic buckwheat flour, organic coconut flour), dates, organic coconut milk, gluten-free chocolate chips, chocolate liquor, organic coconut, canola oil, organic tahini, organic unsweetened/non-dairy cocoa powder, organic coconut oil, n/a baking powder, spices.
If you are a coconut lover, these should definitely be your pick, even though the shop has other brownies options to choose from.
My last and most favorite of the three goodies I received were the Vegan Peanut Butter Cups. I used to eat the occasional Reese’s peanut butter cups but I was always left with a lingering sore throat because of all the refined sugar and processed chocolate.
I took my sweet time eating these beauties because not only were they ginormous but they were decadent and satisfying. If I could only make them multiply! Here are the simple ingredients for this gourmet treat: vegan bittersweet chocolate, organic peanut butter, organic agave nectar, organic coconut flour, organic coconut oil
Do you know what is the plus about these treats? You can order them on-line and choose from a slew of other goodies that Gone Pie Bakery offers.
Please consider trying these reviewed products or even ordering some of the seasonal items under Special Treats a pan of their vegan Fruit Bars. Have I tantalized you enough?
Thanks Barbara for having a great business and wonderful products!
