Hazelnut Macaroons

First off don't forget about the fabulous giveaway going on in my last post!!! Go enter now! You have until midnight on June 5th to enter :)

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Secondly, I know it's saturday and I never post on the weekends... but this recipe had a deadline!! And I was determined to meet it!


OK now onto the post! I've been a cookie carnival slacker as of late... but not this month!! I made it with 1 whole day to spare! Kate of The Clean Plate Club hosts it each month and for May she picked Hazelnut Macaroon sandwich cookies. You can download the PDF recipe on her blog here.

Want to know a shocker? I followed the cookie part of the directions!! I know I know... pretty crazy... since you know me and messing with recipes!

Oh, important side note, USE the parchment paper like the recipe tells you, silicon baking mats... they don't work as well... whoops! Lesson learned :)

I did however change the filling... You see I had just made my homemade nutella... how could I NOT use it for the filling? Read about the seriously easy recipe here.


If you make these I HIGHLY recommend making the nutella like filling instead of the plain chocolate ganache... seriously fantastic... I am not lying... no really... go make them now :D

OH and don't try to make these by hand... a kitchen aid or other type of mixer is your best friend... because in order to get stiff peaks...


you need some kitchen aid love :D Unless you want to have some beastly huge muscle arms by the end of making these... in that case, hand beat away!!

Another important note... these are super light, which makes them easy to just pop in your mouth and chow a ton without realizing it... not that I did that or anything....

CHOW!

OK off to catch our plane to DC!! Looking forward to seeing the family, relaxing, chowing, and exploring DC!

Giveaway to celebrate 20,000 in a month

OK ladies and gents... in the month of April we had almost 20,000 hits!! 19,979 to be exact, but seriously close! How crazy is that!!! To celebrate this I think it's about time for another giveaway! Actually there will be TWO giveaways coming up in the near future!

I'm all about helping spread the word when I find a handmade product that I love, especially when the person selling said product is wicked nice! With all these hits, what better way to help them spread the word! And in return, you loyal readers get some booty! Seriously thank you guys for coming and reading and commenting!! I LOVE IT!

Let me introduce you to Anne of Gardanne. She lives here in Rochester NY and designs and makes glass beads.

You can purchase her beads at her etsy shop here.

After making all of these beautiful beads she decided to start creating jewelry with them!


You can take a look at more of her beautiful necklaces earrings and bracelets at her other etsy shop here. I purchased a pair of her earrings a few months ago and LOVE wearing them!! They are such a great statement and I'm always getting compliments on them. Check them out:


Here is the best part! Anne has graciously agreed to give away a pair of earring to you dear readers!! Here is a sneak peak:

I totally want to go use my cool old cookbooks as jewelery holders now!!

These glass beads are handmade (by Anne!), they have glass enamel, and real gold foil and silver on them. The beads are a half inch in diameter and from the top of the ear wire they are 1 3/4 inches long. All of the finding used in these earrings are sterling silver.

Anne doesn't mess around, these are 100% handmade, no parts from the jewelry aisle at Micheal's Crafts.... these things are the real deal!

The winner will be chosen using random.com OH and good news all of my international readers, you are included too!!! So everyone can try and win!

There are a bunch of ways to enter (the more entries you have the better your chances of winning... but you already knew that), here is how to enter:

1. Go to Gardanne's etsy shop and then comment here on which piece is you favorite.
2. Become a follower of this blog (it's in the left hand column) and then comment to let me know you did (if you already follow me just comment saying you already do)
3. Become a follower on Anne's blog (it's in the right hand column) then comment back here to let me know you did (if you already follow just comment saying you already follow her)

FYI on the following since multiple people have asked. It's different then having the blog in your google reader, you can find the link on the left column under the Dancing Flamingos Ad :)

You can comment up to three times if you do all of the above things. If you only want to do one of the above and leave it at that, no worries that's fine too!

You have until midnight EST on Friday June 5th to do any of the above and comment to let me know (think I said that enough). Good luck!!

I'm out of town next week traveling to DC to visit my family but I'll be back next weekend just in time to pick the winner and let you know first thing Monday the 8th! So check on back to see who the winner is, and then stay tuned for ANOTHER giveaway!!

Depending on my access to a computer I will hopefully still be updating with posts next week about all the yum chow in DC John and I are enjoying!

See you guys in a bit!
:: steph chows ::

No time to cook - chocolate edition

So I read about this NTTC (no time to cook) challenge over at Gel's Kitchen. It sounded like fun so I figured I'd give it a whirl!


Of course I needed to use some of the hazelnut spread I posted about yesterday! So with that as my inspiration I came up with this quick single serving dessert!


Chocolate hazelnut cake with strawberries in a hurry [Serves 1]

Checklist : small Pyrex bowl / 3 Tbs low sugar chocolate cake mix / 2 Tbs water / hazelnut spread / strawberries

Task : Mix cake mix and water in your small Pyrex bowl until smooth without lumps, microwave for about 30-45 seconds (may be more/less in different microwaves) top with a dab of hazelnut spread and a strawberry.

CHOW!



And don't forget about the giveaway... TOMORROW!!!! So come back and see!

Homemade nutella and giveaway teaser

Nutella, oh how I love you... I'm assuming you all know what Nutella is right?? Seriously if you don't know... I am so so sad for you, and you MUST go make some now, because it is the best thing. Recently I started seeing commercials on TV for Nutella toting it as a healthy breakfast... wait what?? Are we talking about the same product? It's hazelnuts... and chocolate... in a spreadable form... you're telling me if I put this on toast it's a well balanced breakfast... OK whoever the marketing team was on this one... nice job LOL...

Ingredient list for commercial nutella: "sugar, modified palm oil, hazelnuts, cocoa, skim milk, reduced minerals whey (from milk), soy lecithin: an emulsifier, vanillin: an artificial flavor."

You know it's a good breakfast staple when the first ingredient is sugar! How about we make it my way and have it taste delicious AND be better for you?? Hey and this way is vegan to boot!

As you might have guessed, this recipe starts with roasting some hazelnuts (350 degrees for about 10 minutes). Once they are roasted and slightly cooled it's time to remove their skin... I discovered hazelnuts don't all like to get naked... some hold onto their little frail pieces of clothing for dear life!! For those little guys, I said fine you can keep your dignity... into the blender with all of you!

This really is a quick and easy recipe that doesn't involve many ingredients. The batch I made fit perfectly into a small 1/2 pint mason jar. Feel free to double the recipe, since it WILL go fast.

Nutella ::steph chows:: style
1/2 cup roasted hazelnuts
2 Tbs cocoa powder
3 Tbs maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract

Roast hazelnuts whole in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. Let cool a bit and remove skins by rubbing them between a dish towel or your hands. Grind nuts in a food processor until they form into a thick butter. Add remaining ingredients and process until smooth.

Spoon into a jar with a tight fitting lid and refrigerate.


There are so many ways to enjoy nutella... I'll tell you about a few of my favorite ways later on :)

OK now onto the really fun stuff! I just wanted to tip you off to a fabulous giveaway that will be happening here later this week! Here's a little teaser :)

go ahead... click on it, you know you want to...

Wicked easy home made granola

Granola is one of those "health foods" that can be really high in fat, sugar, and calories depending on the brand. SO you go to buy the organic all natural stuff and realize you have to sell your first born in order to buy some... So why not make some delicious and nutritious granola at home for cheep?! It really is easy. Mix together your favorite ingredients with a little maple syrup and a little juice of your choice, into the oven to brown and DONE!


(as we like to say... those easy recipes sure do get around!)
Low-Fat Granola
Here is my version that was inspired by Mise en Place who was inspired by Everybody Likes Sandwiches who was inspired by Mark Bittman

6 cups oats, not quick cook
1/2 cup regular, uncooked quinoa
1 cup dessicated coconut
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup flax seeds
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup almond chunks
1 heaping tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup POM juice
(just realized I didn't type in that I added raisins and dried dates to the granola once it cooled off... SO GOOD!!)

1. Heat oven to 300F.

2. In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Add the maple syrup and POM and stir well with a wooden spoon to get everything coated. If you feel that it needs more liquid, add a bit more maple syrup or POM.

3. Spread the mix out into a large baking dish (I needed 2) and bake for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally to make sure that nothing burns. When the granola appears “golden”, remove from the oven and let cool. Store in an air-tight container.


Looking back I didn't really taste the POM at all, so save it to drink and use another type of cheaper juice instead... It was the only juice I had on hand so that's why I used it.

Memorial Day Pizza

Happy Memorial Day everyone! I hope you are all having a beautiful work free day filled with ice cold drinks and lots of time to relax! I leave you today with a nice home made pizza. You can find the quick and easy dough recipe here. And the no cook sauce here. I covered this bad boy in roasted red peppers, turkey pepperoni, part skim cheese, mushrooms, and fresh parsley.

Chow!!

So what are your Memorial Day plans??

B is for Brakes and Brownies

Do you name your car? I never did until my current car, her name is ice skate, in case you were wondering. Why ice skate you ask? Well she's got all wheel drive (since it's snowy half the year here). And the first time I drove her in the snow she did a fun little maneuver where I found myself traveling down the road sideways, thankfully I pulled out of it... but yeah she was riding more like an ice skate than an all wheel drive car... I soon figured out the issue, it wasn't ice skates fault, it was her shoes... she had high heels on and needed her winter boots. So a set of snow tires later and she's been doing just fine ever since :)

Ice skate is getting a little old, she'll be 10 at the end of the year, and I plan on driving her for as long as possible... although as the mechanic bills add up... it gets a little frustrating. She went in for and oil change last week and with a list of a few weird issues I'd been having... new brakes/rotors & a battery later I was all set ... until the check engine light went off 2 days later... I was not too pleased. The guys took care of her and cut me some slack on the labor/diagnostic charges, so I had to thank them in someway... you guessed it, baked goods!

When I dropped these off at the garage Brad and Wally were all smiles, thanks again guys!! I hope they enjoyed them... little did they know they contained some whole wheat flour and the recipe came from cooking light... although if you look at the ingredient list... they really aren't that light, 1 1/3 cups of sugar?? I followed the recipe except for a few things... Kahlua anyone?? They came out super chewy and moist with an amazingly crisp thin layer on top... mmmmm


Fudgy Mocha-Toffee Brownies (with Kahlua!)
recipe by Cooking Light, slightly adapted by me

• Cooking spray
• 2 tablespoons instant coffee granules (I used 1/4 strong brewed senseo coffee)
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (plus 2 Tbs dark chocolate chips)
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1/2 whole wheat 1/3 AP flour)
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (I only had 1/4 cup in the house... hence the addition of extra chocolate chips above)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (I used less)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• glug or 2 Kahlua :) (my addition)
• 1/4 cup toffee chips

Preheat oven to 350°.

Coat bottom of a 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray.

Combine coffee granules and 1/4 cup hot water, stirring until the coffee granules dissolve.

Combine butter and semisweet chocolate chips in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH for 1 minute or until butter melts; stir until chocolate is smooth.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, unsweetened cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Combine coffee mixture, butter mixture, vanilla extract, (Kahlua if using) and eggs in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add coffee mixture to flour mixture; stir just until combined. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle evenly with toffee chips. Bake at 350° for 22 minutes (mine took about 35 minutes). Cool on a wire rack.

PS: this leaves your house smelling so amazingly intoxicating... YUM!!!

Ravioli, I love ravioli...

...ravioli, it's so good for me! Anyone else remember that song from when you were a kid?

I've been blogging about a lot of baked goods lately so I figured it was time to tell you something to have for dinner. I had received a package of Buitoni fresh not frozen ravioli through Foodbuzz awhile ago. I had great plans on making something with them and never got around to it... until the other night. I arrived home from the gym and had no clue what I was having for dinner. A quick look in the fridge and I noticed the pack of ravioli still hanging out (don't worry it hadn't reached its expiration date yet!). I looked around to see what else I had to put with it, because lord knows if I had made just the ravioli I would have eaten the entire package by myself no questions asked :)

My veggie drawer was looking a little sparse... collard greens... eggplant...random... these will have to do.

I must say I'm pretty picky about my ravioli, my mom dad and I make a seriously mean ravioli from scratch, super thin pasta, amazing filling... so I don't eat ravioli other than home made very often... they tend to be too thick and doughy for my taste. These Butoni were pretty good though I must say, good flavor mix inside, and the dough wasn't too too thick (it wasn't crazy thin though).

Here's what I did to make a quick dinner!

Ravioli with eggplant and crispy collard greens
serves 2

1 package Butoni wild mushroom ravioli
4 leaves collard greens
1 small eggplant cut into medallions
olive oil
salt pepper to taste
couple glugs of white wine (plus more for drinking with your meal... I know I used good wine to cook with... but I didn't have any crap cooking white wine on hand. plus it added a seriously nice flavor... ok don't use crap wine, mom made a great point in the comments... use the good stuff!)

Put water on to boil for ravioli (they only take 4-6 minutes to cook so that makes this a super quick meal). Rinse collards and tear into small pieces. Place in a pan with a little olive oil and toss until wilted. Add eggplant and let brown on both sides. Ok now season with salt and pepper and glug in the wine! They will steam up a bit and the longer you cook them the crisper the collards will get. I took some of mine out early and left some in to get them to a potato chip crisp quality. YUM. Once ravioli are done cooking toss them with a little olive oil and pepper and top with collards and eggplant. CHOW!

Eat your veggies... in a muffin

As you may have guessed, I try to eat healthy, whole grains, veggies, lean protein... although if you talk to John he says all I eat are carbs, a very normal conversation about dinner is him asking "Where's the protein?" Anyway I'm always trying to get John to eat more veggies so I like to stick them in where you might not expect them... like muffins. YUM! Maybe I should change this blog name to steph chows muffins :) My coworker makes a seriously mean delicious zucchini bread that I love, and I've been wanting to try to make a version without all the olive oil... then I found this recipe on Fat Free Vegan. Perfect! I couldn't wait to try it out so I ran over to the farmers market to get some fresh zucchini to use.

The results:

Delicious! Although eat these ASAP, after maybe 3 days... they get pretty dry. But as long as you don't wait that long they are great!

I did however forget one thing while making these... John HATES... wait is there a stronger word... DESPISES raisins... I love them, and wasn't thinking about his distaste for them while I was mixing these up... so he got a little surprise when I dropped some off with him at work one day.

*phone rings at my desk*
Hello Stephanie speaking
BLEHHHHHHH why do these have raisins in them?? Are you trying to kill me??
HAHAHAHA whoops! Sorry sweets!
I don't make you eat quiche, why you trying to get me to eat raisins... that's not very nice. And why are there green specks in this????
It's true I'm purposfully trying to get you to eat raisins :) That is grated zucchini. It's yum.
Maybe when you blog about these you should call them barf muffins with raisins...
Oh yeah I'm sure the readers will want to click to read about that :)


So I present to you John's barf muffins with raisins... hopefully you enjoy these more than John did :) I sure liked them!

Click over to Fat free Vegan for the recipe. Amazingly I followed it!!! Although I did add a little sprinkle of coconut on top of half my muffins... totally a good idea :)


I was inspired to make this recipe to be part of Tried and Tested over at Zlamushka's Spicy Kitchen! So much fun :)

Mother's Day Quiche

I know, I know, Mother's day was a good two weeks ago... but I'm just getting to post this... and hey I posted the cinnamon muffins I served along with this quiche and fruit salad yesterday :) So I'm not thaaat behind... wait yes, yes I am.

I title this picture, "Did you take a picture of the quiche... nope... better hurry because it's about to be gone"

This crustless quiche doesn't have an exact recipe... and that is why you should love it. Beat eggs together with some skim milk and a little powdered milk (to make it creamier). In a pan saute things like spinach, garlic, tomatoes, onions. Let veggies cool a bit, fold into egg mixture along with some cheese of choice. Pour it all into a greased baking pan and toss it in the oven for 40 minutes at 400 degrees. Yup that's it. Then chow... or in my case eat lots of muffins and fruit salad because quiche makes me want to *bleh*. Everyone else really enjoyed it though so woohoo!

strawberries, cantaloupe, banana, a little lemon juice to keep it from browning, and a little dash of cinnamon. YUM

I'd take muffins and fruit salad over quiche ANY DAY!

Cinnamon Roll MUFFINS

Shall I continue the muffin obsession? Yes I think I shall... And since you asked so nicely on Friday for these... Here you go!


The recipe comes via Fat Free Vegan (awesome site, go check it out!). I adapted it slightly... so the one below is my version of it. I made a batch of these for Mothers Day brunch, between John myself and his parents... they were all gone by the end of brunch... so I made up another batch later in the day :) In that batch I subbed a ripe banana for the pumpkin (since I had no pumpkin left...) and had a really good banana-y cinnamon roll muffin YUM!


Cinnamon Swirl Muffins
(adapted from Fat Free Vegan)

1 cup unbleached flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (also made a version with a medium mashed ripe banana)
1 cup soy milk (or other non-dairy milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup splenda granulated (or use 1/2 cup agave nectar like she does)

4 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray muffin tin with non-stick spray. (I find it best not to use paper liners--the muffins will stick to them.)

Mix together dry ingredients (flour through flax seeds) in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, mix wet ingredients (pumpkin through splenda). In an even smaller bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon.

Pour the wet mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until thoroughly moistened. Do not beat or overmix. Spoon about 1 heaping tablespoon of batter into each muffin cup. Sprinkle each half-full muffin with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar and fill with remaining batter. Sprinkle remaining cinnamon sugar over each muffin. Take a toothpick or thin knife, insert it into the batter and swirl gently.

Bake for 17-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool for a few minutes before serving.

If you make them this way here are the stats:

A little strawberry with your muffin?

Where did this week go?? I have so many more things I made that I need to post about... like the mother's day quiche, fruit salad, and cinnamon roll muffins I made... and then there are the strawberry muffin adaptation... and the zucchini muffins I just made the other night!

Is it just me or am I on a COMPLETE muffin kick... alright... I guess I'll tell you about those strawberry muffins first, since I have the picture off of my camera already... and the rest are still stuck on my camera... and I'm lazy and don't feel like bending over to find the cord and plug it all in :) Aren't I a sweetie? :)


These were made out of necessity... yes muffin necessity. John asked if I'd make some of those blueberry yogurt muffins... (side note: john rarely asks me to make something, I'm constantly bugging and asking him what I should make and he always says "whatever you want" so him asking is AWESOME and highly recommended and preferred!! you hear that john... keep the requests coming! yezzir!) Unfortunately I had no lemon yogurt and a trip to the grocery had already been made... what's a girl to do... that's easy, substitute the 2 containers of lemon yogurt for strawberry and toss some chopped up strawberries in with the blueberries.

Result = YUM! Totally making them again :)

Grilled Cheese and Asparagus

Grilled cheese, what's not to like... carbs, cheese, butter... yeah, not so much health food, but still tasty!

So what to do to health this one up...

• Whole wheat bread
• Shred your cheese (taste goes WAY farther this way without using as much)
• Add a condiment to kick up the flavor (my choice: mustard!! and I don't mean the crap neon yellow stuff)
• Add a heaping side of grilled veggies
• Grill it in a pan with a tiny tiny bit of butter, or a light spray of olive oil
  

So I introduce you to mr grilled cheese:


Why hello there good looking...how are you today.... ok enough small talk, lets chow!

Can't you just smell them?

How awesome are friends? Pretty awesome. How awesome are friends who roast their own coffee beans and then share them with you?? WICKED AWESOME!!!

I worked with Tim a few years back, but then he went off and moved away! How dare he :) Thankfully due to this wonderful thing call the internet, we stay in touch. Tim was in town for a concert a few weeks back and we met up for coffee and he came bearing gifts!!

Description of his coffee:

Sweet Maria's: Guatemala San Jose Pinula - La Trinidad
Full City ro FC+: A classic Central profile, great body, bittersweet chocolate, intense, tangy roast notes and a twist of lemon rind.

I seriously think he should start selling the stuff. TIM START SELLING THIS!! You'll make $$$!!! Thank you so much for the coffee and let me know when you want to start selling!! I'll design your logo in exchange for beans ;)

Black-Eyed Pea and Quinoa Croquettes

I fell in love with quinoa before I even knew how to pronounce its name... but now I do!! Even though I prefer my original pronunciation better ;) OK time to fess up... who knows how to pronounce it for real??

This recipe comes from vegan with a vengeance... who's pad thai recipe I wasn't a fan of... but these tiny pucks are tasty little buggers! She says to bake them... for 40 minutes... who has 40 minutes?? I want to chow NOW. So I just sprayed a pan with olive oil and cooked them that way, just a few minutes each side to brown and warm them up... it's vegan, so there isn't anything that needs to get cooked up like raw eggs... although they do need some pan time... I wouldn't eat these straight up raw.


Black-Eyed Pea and Quinoa Croquettes
from Vegan with A Vengeance

For the Croquettes:

1 1/2 cup of cooked black-eyed peas
1 generous tablespoon of olive oil (totally forgot to put this in... they still came out good!)
1 generous tablespoon of tamari or soy sauce
1 cup of cooked quinoa (I used the red kind this time)
1 red or green chili, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon of dried basil
1 teaspoon of paprika

For the Coating:
1/4 cup of bread crumbs
1/4 cup of cornmeal
pinch of sea salt
freshly cracked black pepper
1/2 teaspoon of grated lemon zest

In a medium-large bowl, mash the black-eyed peas with a fork or potato masher. Mix in the olive oil, tamari and hot chili. Add the quinoa to the bowl, along with the spices and herbs and stir until well combined.

Combine the ingredients for the coating in a small bowl.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease the sheet.

Shape the bean and quinoa mixture into small patties, roll in the crumb mixture and transfer to the baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 40 minutes. Turn them after 20 minutes have elapsed. (Ok I didn't feel like waiting 40 minutes, so I packed them in 1/4 cup measuring cup to shape them, rolled them in the crumbs and pan fried them with a spray of olive oil... tasty!)

Serves 4. (HA more like 2.5 peeps)

Korean House

You know a Korean restaurant is authentic when you are the only person seated in the place that isn't Korean.

Korean House, now called Sodam is not easy to find... lets face it, if someone didn't tell you in a very detailed matter of how to get there... you'd never find it. Take the entrance off of Jefferson road (in Henrietta) into the Genesee Valley Regional Market. You will be in the middle of a random industrial park. To the left you will see Lori's Natural Foods, turn down this alley and keep going... all the way at the end on the left you will see a small metal door and a small sign for Sodam... park and go on in... don't be scared, it doesn't look like an entrance... but it is :)

Sodam is a treat. A fellow grad student from Korea first told me of this place and I've been hooked ever since. The service can be on the slow side, and they aren't the best at refilling your water glass, but don't let that bother you, because the food is AMAZING. And very authentic (so tells my Korean born friend... who sadly is back in Korea and not here anymore).

Each meal starts with a traditional assortment of kim chi (the offerings have changed over the years):


John loves the different types of sprouts, and the seaweed salad best. I love the spicy fish cakes best.

Don't be afraid of mispronouncing things when you are there. The waitresses are very understanding, unlike my friend who gained much amusement at trying to get me to pronounce all types of Korean words... ahhh good times. John and I both love the chicken bulgogi, it's super spicy but can be a little heavy on the oil (we always ask for light oil and it's perfect that way!). So also don't be afraid to ask for light oil, or lighter spice if you aren't crazy into spice :) Depending on the waitress they will ask you if you want it Korean spicy, or American spicy... just a note to you... Korean spicy is VERY spicy :)


Chicken bulgogi, served sizzling hot with white rice on the side. Seriously good chow!

Sodam is a great place to try something new, if you are in the area, make sure to try it out!

French Toast

Just in time for mothers day (it's sunday... don't forget!) I'm a sucker when it comes to breakfast for dinner (or lunch, or brunch). I could happily chow down on all types of breakfast carbs every night... but I'd probably be rather large if I did! I had some delicious whole wheat bread left over from a few weekends ago. As you might guess, it was pretty darn stale by this point, so what does one do with stale bread?? No, don't give it to the birds! You make french toast!

I grew up topping my french toast with a little butter, sugar, and cinnamon... no maple syrup here (not that I don't love maple syrup). French toast is strictly a cinnamon and sugar thing for me :)

How do you top your french toast?

French toast is one of those things that I never measure anything out for, toss together some eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, good to go! I did learn something interesting though the other day... it's a heavy cream substitute, that's darn creamy!! Want to know the secret? Dry non-fat milk solids. You can find them in the baking aisle, but here's the deal.

1 cup milk + 1/4 cup dry nonfat milk solids = 1 cup heavy cream

So if you have a great french toast recipe that uses heavy cream (tasty) but want to skinny it up (bikini season is coming) without getting rid of the cream factor, TRY THIS. Did it last night... and am SO happy I did. I mean look at that stack in the picture above, totally creamy!!

Brie cheesecake with fig and tahini

Man sometimes I wonder how my kitchen mojo gets messed up... maybe I should hit up a yoga class??? This was a total fail... I had this beautiful thing of brie. Remember I talked about it back here. And you all gave me fantastic ideas to use it! Well I only ruined half of the wheel... I still have the other half... well most of it, I chowed some and it's wicked tasty!

Anyway I wanted to be crazy creative so I started thinking about silken tofu cheesecakes... and thought to myself, "self, why not a silken tofu brie cheesecake!" a quick search and I couldn't find anything... ok cool, something new! I'm IN lets do this!!

I then started thinking about other flavors that I love paired... graham cracker crust sans butter... use honey instead to make it stick (seriously good idea!! the crust was AWESOME!!!) so at least something good came out of this. Next pie you make... use graham cracker crumbs and honey!! SO GOOD!!

Another thing I learned... tahini and fig jam are freaking tasty paired together! Seriously go have a fancy PB&J with them. AMAZING. So I guess two good things actually came out of this fail...

But this cheesecake...

silken tofu brie cheese cake... with fig jam and tahini...

Oh yeah it was a fail for sure. LOL. I had issues with beating the brie so there weren't chunks left in the batter...
Anyone have any suggestions for the future??

Once the batter was mixed it actually had a really nice flavor to it, the tahini and fig jam tasted wonderful with the brie/tofu mixture... (i was hopeful at this point!) but once it was baked... I don't know WHAT happened in that oven but all the fig/ tahini flavor flew out the window and I was left with some sweet cheese with random surprise brie chunks... not pretty... not pretty at all. Oh and I used a small heart shaped spring form pan... that's why the shape of the cake looks totally busted. :D

Hope everyone is having a nice week... now go and make yourself a tahini and fig jam sandwich :)

I'm an Alfafa Sprout Farmer!!

I mentioned trying to grow alfalfa back in my mung bean post. Well the time is here, it's official... I'm an alfalfa sprout farmer!


Awww look at all those little babies... so cute.

I learned something since growing my mung beans... sprouts need good air circulation. Cheese cloth although easy and cheep, doesn't allow for as much air flow as needed. A few days into growing I realized my sprouts weren't growing as fast as I thought they would. I opened the lid and moved the cheese cloth down so about 1/2 inch was open to the air... no joke, the next morning, DOUBLED in size!! So just remember, air flow = good... but don't go with no lid... you'll let too much moisture out! Or you can also buy sprouting jar lids if you don't want to have to mess around with the cheesecloth, those will allow for better ventilation too!

this is 1.5 Tbs of seeds... that cost pennies... amazing!

OK here's how you sprout your own! Place 1-2 Tbs of alfalfa seeds into the mason jar and cover with water, cover top with cheese cloth and place jar ring on to hold the cloth in place. Let soak for 4 hours. Once they are done soaking drain the water (it's full of great nutrients so use it to water your indoor plants or something) then fill the jar to the top with new water let it sit 1 minute, swirl them around and drain it again. (When you put the cheese cloth back on at this point leave 1/2 inch open on one side) Place the mason jar in a bowl so it's tipped on its side somewhat (jar mouth facing downward) and place in a warm partially sunlit place. Rinse them again at night and repeat each night and morning for 3-4 days. Your sprouts will be around 1/2 - 1 inch when they are full gown. The hulls of the seeds will fall off at some point, you can toss them out. The only thing to watch for is mold, if you keep them to moist they may grow mold (GROSS) so keep an eye out!

Pretty to look into... just don't leave your sprouts totally open to the air, they will dry out and not grow.

OK now that you have your sprouts, what should you use them in??

How about some homemade hummus, homegrown sprouts, grated carrot, on toasted honey whole wheat... YUM!

Kitchen Sink Muffins

As other food bloggers know, us food bloggers think about chow 24/7 (well at least I do...). If I'm not cooking or writing up blogs in my free time, I'm reading others' blogs, looking for new ideas, or just drooling all over my keyboard. I came across a kitchen sink muffin recipe on Bake and Destroy the other day and knew it sounded tasty :) Since you all seem to be fueling my obsession of baking muffins with positive comments I figured I'd reward you all with another new fun muffin! And don't worry it's healthy - VEGAN even if you like it that way :) No butter, no oil!

The basics behind a kitchen sink muffin is all about imrovisation! So use whatever you have on hand and have fun with it! I had some cherrios laying around, so in they went! I bet they would be fun with other random cereal you have around too... ooo cocopuffs could be a fun idea... The recipe uses flax seed meal to replace an egg... so if you don't want them vegan... or don't have flax seeds on hand, use 1 egg in place of the flaxseeds and water. As for the soy milk, skim milk works just as good... but again then they aren't vegan. So do it up and have fun!! Let me know if you make these and what you did to change it up with what you had on hand!

and yes... that IS a Cheerio stuck on top there...

stephchow's version of Kitchen Sink Muffins
original found on Bake and Destroy (this girl rocks check her out, love it!)
makes 12 muffins

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup splenda granulated (or use 1/2 cup white sugar) if you like things sweet you may want a little more sugar/splenda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup apple sauce (I use all natural unsweetened)
2 1/2 Tbs flax seed meal plus 3 Tbs water (or 1 egg)
1/3 cup light/fat free soy milk (or skim milk)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup mashed bananas
1/2 cup cheerios
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup sweetened coconut

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a 12 cup muffin pan. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the bowl.

In a small bowl, beat together the flax seed meal and water- it will get thick and gooey. Mix this with the milk, vanilla applesauce and mashed bananas. Then add it to the flour mixture. Mix, scraping down the sides of the bowl - do not over mix. If it's looking a little dry, add a splash more of milk. (I needed to do this)

Fold the cherrios and coconut into the batter. Spoon batter into muffin pan. Sprinkle tops with additional cherrios or coconut if desired. Bake 20-25 minuted or until tops are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly and remove from pan.

As for the nutrition facts... if you make them with splenda granulated and the flax seeds, here they are for 1 muffin:
Depending of brand/type of milk along with what kind of stuff you toss in will change up the stats. You can figure out your own version here. Just a note, sometimes it thinks it knows what you are talking about... but it's wrong. So once it tells you the stats you can click on each of your ingredients and see if it's linking to the right information. When I first inputed these I just said Splenda and it thought I meant the splenda for baking... which has a TON more calories then the straight up splenda I used... Also if one of your ingredients has a red flag next to it... that means it doesn't know what it is, so those calories aren't calculated into the equation... so make sure you don't have any red flags to make it accurate :)

restaurant week - Pane Vino

It's restaurant week!! I'm always so jealous of the DC restaurant week that my family gets to go to each year... but finally Rochester has one! Although not well advertised John heard about it and promptly sent me the website last week. After scanning the different options Beth and I decided to hit up Pane Vino for their restaurant week lunch special.


Set Price: $20.09 for two
plus tax and tip

Includes choice of Salad or Soup / Panini or Pizza / and a glass of wine (or soda if you are like me and can't drink wine at lunch because you wont be productive at work the rest of the day... lol... yup I'm a lightweight).

How amazing is that deal?? There are a bunch of places participating. Some deals are amazing, others... not so great. Make sure to check out all the details before you decide where to go :)

As for the atmosphere... It has a high class feel to it, but at least at lunch time didn't seem overly pretentious. There is a well stocked bar when you first walk in with plenty of space if there is a wait for dinner (which it sounds like there normally is). The floors are this really cool old old super wide wood with rope linning the cracks between the boards. Large windows line one full wall of the eating area looking out onto the river, lending a nice view and good light. The crowd leans to the older side, when we arrived we were the only ladies in the entire place (male server, and all older business men dining). By the time we left it was mostly business men in their late 40's early 50's and a table of salt and pepper ladies with one older gentleman (what's going on there??). Beth and I (both in our 20's) were a bit out of place, but the server sure seemed to be happy to see us :D

OK onto the chow!
Beth started with the Pane Vino Salad, it had an amazing Balsamic Vinaigrette and was HUGE. I went with the Lentil Soup which unfortunately (for Beth) was not vegetarian so she couldn't try any. Turns out it was spiked with bacon - YUM, the chef was a bit heavy handed with the salt, but otherwise the flavors were amazing.


For our main dishes we both chose pizza. Beth went with the Vegetable pizza (minus the cheese) Roasted peppers, broccoli, artichokes, & mozzarella. I went for the Chef Special of the day: Feta cheese, a garlic oil sauce, artichokes, tomatoes and spinach. It was heavy on the garlic (totally a good thing in my mind) but also a bit heavy on the salt (not so good)... but otherwise very flavorful. The crust was a grilled pita which made for a wonderfully crisp crust.


The specials go through Sunday so if you live in Rochester make sure to check out somewhere new!

Mac and Cheese... with tofu?

You can find the recipe here, but you want to know a secret?


I still like the stuff in the box with the fake powder better.... what's wrong with me????

Any other foodies out there that love love the gourmet... but also have a spot in their heart for a totally un-foodie food? What's your poison?