FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Better Breakfast Quinoa

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Breakfast Quinoa

I’ve never completely bought into that whole eat something just because it’s good for you thing.  I’m not saying it doesn’t happen – I powered through that Dr. Oz breakfast quinoa like it wasn’t a thing.  Barely.  I knew, instantly, I’d never make that version again.  Thankfully it’s the bad, good for your stuff that inspires me to make the good, good for you stuff, so I’ll take it.

How To Cook Quinoa

FoodFash Strawberry Banana Walnut Breakfast Quinoa (yields 3 servings)

1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed

1-1/4 cups almond milk

1 banana, smashed

1/2 cup walnut pieces

1 cup chopped strawberries

1/4 cup white chia seeds

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Bring quinoa and almond milk to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes.  Mix the smashed banana with the cooked quinoa.  Add walnuts, strawberries, and chia seeds.  Serve right away or refrigerate for breakfast throughout the week.

Strawberry Banana Walnut

If I can’t have an over medium egg with avocado and toast, this breakfast is surely next in line.  The banana added an all around subtle sweetness while the walnuts and strawberries added occasional bursts of flavor.  I dug it.  I even dug it again around 3:00 when that afternoon ravenous hunger hit.

Shrimp & Peach Summer Rolls

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Shrimp Summer Rolls

I had a free night tonight for the first time in… forever.  Seriously, forever.  It was such a foreign feeling that I didn’t even know what to do with it.  Had I forgotten how to be a blogger?  A little.  But a little muse motivation from miss Emily got me back to it.

Chopped Veggies

Shrimp, peaches, and some veggies – that was my summer roll mission.  I walked over to Whole Foods and soaked up the last of the day’s heat.  It was sweaty.  This Florida girl enjoyed every minute of it, picked up all of the ingredients, and then enjoyed it again on the way home.

Sauteed Shrimp

Because  summer rolls aren’t as much of a recipe as they are an assembly of goods, below is a list of unquantified ingredients and steps.

Ingredients:

Shrimp sautéed with salt and red pepper flakes

Rice vermicelli noodles prepared per the directions on the package

Rice paper wrappers

Peaches

Cilantro

Already chopped veggies from a salad bar: cabbage, diakon, cukes

Peanut sauce

Assembly:

1. Fill a large frying pan with water and place over low heat.

2.  Soften two rice paper wrappers, one at a time, by placing in the hot water.

3.  Set softened wrappers on top of each other (staggered about an inch) on a flat surface.

4.  Place filling ingredients on the half of the wrappers closest to you.

5.  Fold the short end of the wrapper over the filling, pulling tightly, and roll.

6.  Tuck the sides in and continue to roll.

7.  Serve with peanut sauce.

Click here for the first ever (rough) FoodFash video demonstrating how to make summer rolls.

Homemade Summer Rolls

Firstly, already prepped salad bar veggies for summer rolls is where it’s at.  They were totally cheap and totally convenient.  Secondly, shrimp, crunchy veggies, sweet fruit, spicy red pepper flakes, and salty peanut sauce are a whoa good combo.  Whoa good.

Mango Basil Ice Cream

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Mango Basil Ice Cream

Ever since the Chobani dinner during SXSW, I’ve had mango basil ice cream on my mind.  Like so on my mind that I looked forward to any conversation turning to ice cream/summer/food so I could casually mention my desire to experiment.  And even though this is one of the quickest, most simple desserts ever – it took a holiday weekend to getter done.

mango basil

FoodFash Mango Basil Ice Cream (adapted from this recipe)

1 cup half and half

1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1-1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar (I used beet sugar)

16 ounces frozen mangos

5 to 7 basil leaves, chopped

Add all of the ingredients to a Blendtec blender in the order listed above, press the ice cream button, and serve!

Blendtec Ice Cream

I packed the ice cream into a jar and headed down the street for a final Memorial Day weekend meal.  I stashed the jar in the freezer, unsure of how I felt about the mango (does mango ever make your mouth feel funny?).  After dinner, I walked to the kitchen for a final test bite to make sure it was serve-able and, before I knew what was what, I heard the Dickster say “I already snuck a few bites and it was reaaaallllll good, KV!”.