FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

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It seems I have two choices…  Either continue to re-check The Conscious Cook out from the library every couple weeks for the rest of my life orrrr purchase a copy for myself.  The latter sounds a lot less complicated.

I’m not the biggest fan of meat substitute products, at all, but when my friend Ginnean mentioned that her husband would let her make Gardein for dinner, I figured it had to taste pretty normal.

And then I saw The Conscious Cook’s Gardein “Chicken” Scalloppini recipe when I was flipping through the pages this morning and couldn’t wait to test it out.  I decided to leave out the Udon Noodle Cakes and Pea Shoots in order to make it less gourmet and more every day.

LOVE.  MUSHROOMS.

This recipe was the perfect combination of easy and still feeling like you’re being chef-like.  My current foodie hero, Terry Walters, better watch out cause Tal Ronnen is oh so close to being my Number One – the Gardein “Chicken” Scalloppini was RIDIC!

I honestly planned on roasting brussels sprouts as a side tonight, but the crusty goodness in the background was dominating the oven.  The result of my second ever Kitchen Aid use and my first ever bread making trial was a smashing success too.  Check back tomorrow for crusty goodness deets!

Supermarket Sweep

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Why I’m soooo lazy this weekend, I haven’t a clue.  I wanted to stay in bed longer, much longer, but the thought of browsing through the cookbooks I swooped up from the library yesterday was motivation enough to start my day.

My finds?  The Vegan Table, The Voluptuous Vegan, and The Conscious Cook.

The Conscious Cook instantly grabbed my attention.  I settled on a recipe, created a list, and headed to Whole Foods.

Notice the completely botched spelling of bouillon? I have an insanely difficult time spelling/typing that word.  I suppose the important thing is that I knew what I meant…

And then someone (I guess that would be me) let me loose in Whole foods, alone in a browsing mood, with no time limit.  Eek!  $113 later…  I had a TON of “cool” finds, but not so sure a week’s worth of food is hiding in these sacks.

The first item in my cart?  Abita Strawberry Harvest Lager.  It was on display as I entered the store and I couldn’t help myself.  I’m a big Purple Haze fan, so I have big hopes for these bottles.  Big, hoppy hopes!

My second group of finds came from the international aisle, which a fellow food blogger referred to as the racist aisle (made me laugh, a lot): Black Pearl Sticky Rice, Toasted Coconut Fortune Cookies, and Roasted Seaweed.

Next?  CHOCOLATE!!  Occasionally I find myself in a super chocolatey mood, the weirder the better.  I just can’t get enough.  I tossed Dark Chocolate Quinoa and Spicy Chile Dark Chocolate in my cart.

And lastly, a glimpse of some of the only legit purchases of the entire trip.  Shiitake Mushrooms for the Conscious Cook recipe I plan on making tonight and a side of Brussels Sprouts.  As happy as I am that it’s about free yoga time, I’m even more excited to cook when I return!

Today, I felt like a contestant on Supermarket Sweep, in slow motion, but I had to foot the bill.  So really nothing like Supermarket Sweep, I just love the show and felt the need to reference it somehow.

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend!!

Get This Chocolate Out Of My House, In Pictures

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Breakfast:  Sliver of Yesterday’s Chocolate Tart (that I may or may not have dreamt about last night) and…

An Apple (to justify eating chocolate tart for breakfast)

Lunch: Chopped Spinach, Green Pepper, Red Onion and “Feta” Salad

More Lunch: Amy’s Vegetable Barley Soup

Dinner:  Yellow Miso Quinoa with Wilted Spinach and More “Feta”

Not pictured?  A bowl of peas with a dab of yellow miso that I ate about an hour before fitting in a little cardio.  Why peas?  Because also not pictured are the additional slivers of chocolate tart that I helped myself to after each meal and I felt the need to balance the abundance of sweet with a little green.

I sent my mom home with a  hearty portion of the remaining chocolate tart, but honestly…  The tart needs to go!  I can’t stop, won’t stop.

Chocolate Lover’s Tart

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In all honesty, I started the morning thinking the most exciting thing about V-day 2011 was going to be the submission of my itemized taxes.  Then I thought to myself, if Terry Walters (my foodie hero) has an easy chocolatey, Valentines appropriate dessert, I’ll allow myself to get in the holiday spirit.

It doesn’t get much more Valentines than ‘Chocolate Lover’s Tart’.

I read down the list of ingredients and determined I had enough like ingredients in my pantry for this to be a pretty cheap treat.

Gluten-free all purpose flour instead of brown rice flour, olive oil instead of canola oil, and peanut butter instead of cashew butter.  I also had cocoa powder, pure maple syrup, and vanilla on hand.

The only items left to purchase?  Tofu and pecans.

This recipe tops the list of most simple baked goods ever created in my kitchen.

And I bought this handy dandy tart form at Ikea for $7.99!

I knew it would be good because I couldn’t stop eating the tofu batter while the pecan crust was in the oven.  But… I waited til I arrived at Val’s house to test it out the finished product.  O-M-Geee!  So much chocolatey goodness!  This will be my go-to guest dessert for parties from this point forward.

Side note:  If you use gluten-free vanilla extract, you can add this recipe to your gluten-free recipe collection.