Hazelnut cookies with Cinnamon Sugar (GF possible)

So the holidays have come and passed. Or for me, the season of baking and cooking non-stop has come and passed.  There's nothing like some free time and a huge kitchen at my parent's house to get me in the mood to bake.

While last Christmas seemed to be all about peanut butter cookies, this past Christmas was all about shortbread and hazelnut cookies.  I really got into the art of the slice and bake with  some real tests of patience in waiting for dough to freeze and thaw out again.

Adventures in baking: Christmas Stollen edition

I hope you all had a great Christmas!  This whole week has been a glorious week of relaxing, TV watching, and sleeping (following a not-so-fun beginning of the week where I suddenly got sick).  I didn't even workout until finally getting the strength to go for a short walk/jog this afternoon.

Baking cookies is easy enough for me, but bread....well bread is something I do less often.   Yet that didn't stop me from doing some Christmas baking because my family all loves any bread-related food...leading me to tackle a Christmas Stollen recipe.  

Keep reading for the recipe!

Quinoa salad - the lemon chickpea edition (Gluten-free, vegan possible)

I told you all that this summer would be the summer of quinoa salads, and although there was a little bit of a hiatus with all my traveling, I'm not quite done with them yet.  With corn coming in season, it's all I can think about eating.  There's nothing like the taste of fresh sweet corn mixed in with...well, just about anything I have in my fridge.

For the latest installment in my quinoa salad saga, I wanted to make a fresh, minty salad that would be filling and easy to eat.  This is another one of those salads that I make for the week and come home and eat after a busy day when the last thing I want to do is cook.

What I like about this salad is that I can eat it hot or cold, and it mixes well with so many things.  You could throw in some spinach in here for more greens, or some chicken for even more protein.  

My inspiration for this recipe came from Gourmet.com, but as usual, I added my own twists to it.

A Baking Conundrum - Cinnamon Sticky Buns for Father's Day

There are few things more wonderful than the smell of butter mixed into dough, slowing baking in the oven until something golden brown and delicious becomes the final product.

On another note, today was Father's Day.

On a related note, among my dad's favorite foods are desserts.  More specifically, he loves all kinds of baked goods, especially anything with raisins.  

Now since I love baking, especially when the aforementioned magic of butter and dough take place, it leaves me in a difficult spot when I can't really tolerate wheat flour...or excess amounts of butter.  And sticky buns definitely use a lot of butter.

My solution?  Bake for a crowd that can tolerate my recipes so that I get all my baking urges out of the way.  There's something about kneading dough and the scent of cinnamon and sugar and butter mixing together to create a tantalizing aroma and just an overall comforting atmosphere.  

So...to satisfy my need to bake and the need for some willing eaters, I tackled a sticky bun recipe for Father's Day.

Sticky buns aren't my own creation by any means, but after finding some recipes to reference, I set off on my own cinnamon and butter filled journey.

To see what I did, keep reading!

Quinoa Salad Variation #1 - Summer Quinoa Salad (GF, Vegan)

As the weather has been getting warmer, I have been obsessed with making quinoa salads.  Inspired by a bean salad recipe I found, I soon found myself playing around with different ingredients to add into my quinoa salads.  Over the past couple months, I've come up with countless variations, but wasn't able to get a good picture until the most recent one I made yesterday.

I love making a big batch of this so that I can take it with me to class or work throughout the week.  Since it's a cold salad and has a great balance of proteins, carbs, and fats, these are one of my favorite foods to make in advance.

Paired with some salmon, this was the perfect dinner!

To see what's in here, keep reading:

Frittata - A Second Try Success

I tend to not consider too many of my recipes complete fails except on rare occasions when my pancakes become scrambled almond flour/banana/egg mixtures and my GF scallion pancakes become crumbles....but there are a lot of things that I wouldn't exactly call successes, either.

My attempts at frittatas could be placed in the "not so successful" category.  My first attempt for my family a few months ago -- perfect.  I can't even remember what I put in it, but I just remember everyone loving it, and it had the most perfect texture.  I know that I didn't put it in the oven at all, and I just let the eggs slowly cook on top of the stove. My second attempt.....wasn't so successful.  I think I added too much liquid (eggs + egg whites), making it too thick.  It didn't really cook right, and the center took forever to set, even after broiling it for a few minutes.


Determined to get it right again, I made it for a third time.

Success!

Adventures in cooking: Chinese Scallion/Green Onion Pancakes - Going back to the roots and a diferent kind of pancake stack

I don't often make "traditional Chinese" food, most because well..I never learned it.  As a child, I would always spend hours watching my mom make all types of food - garlic sauteed vegetables (which is about a daily occurrence in my house), steamed fish, stuffed tofu, dumplings, you name it, my mom would make it.  However, I never really had the desire to learn it on my own, and the most I ever did was help her chop vegetables.  Chinese food is also really labor intensive, even though it's not always actually that difficult.  All dishes have some food that needs to be chopped or sliced or julienned, and cutting the meat was always an exhausting job because most Chinese dishes have meat with the bone attached. I am eternally grateful for work that my mom puts in every single night to prepare multiple dishes, prepping for dinner about three hours in advance every day, and now when I go home and visit, I am sure to help out however I can...also with the added benefit that I can start learning how some of my favorite foods are made. 

I have to say, I haven't made toooo much progress on learning how to make some of my favorite dishes, but I'm starting to get a better idea just from watching how things are done. Now that I almost never go home, I'm having a desire to learn more about Taiwanese culture and to go back to some of the foods I ate growing up.  I'm doing the best I can with some recipes that I'm finding on my own, supplemented with memories of how things were done with my mom, but I definitely have some work to do.

So on to the food.  I needed to make something traditionally Chinese/Taiwanese (yes, they are different, but they also share many foods) for an end of semester party for the students I teach English to.  I was absolutely stumped for days, as I wanted something that wouldn't be too difficult to make, would be universally liked, and would be unique enough to not be a standard menu item at a typical Chinese restaurant.  It wasn't until yesterday that I had the idea to make scallion pancakes.

I should also note that I tried to make a gluten-free version......and failed.  I'm going to try it again, changing up what I did next time, but the results were pretty hilarious.  The taste was there, even if the texture was completely off.  See the end of this post for some real failure :p

Gluten Free + Dairy Free Irish Soda Bread - A Successful Experiment! + Going Gluten-Free for Real?

As much as I love soda bread, and always had it in the house around St. Patrick's Day (who knew...Asians eating soda bread?), I know surprisingly little about it.  All I knew was that my parents always really liked it and we would both buy and make it.  It was actually kind of a shock that some people had never had it before - but then again, it was the only aspect of St. Patrick's Day that my family ever celebrated...or "observed" might be the better choice here.  

Alas, when it came to being asked some trivia questions about St. Patrick's Day.....here's all that I could come up with:

Well...I tried.

All I know that Irish soda bread is one of my favorite breads....but after experimenting with some more foods in my house and eating regular soda bread and my mom's pasta...I can nearly confirm that I now have a gluten-intolerance.  I was always suspicious of it, especially after coming home from Europe last summer and realizing that everytime I ate anything gluten-heavy (breads, pastas, pizzas), I would feel nauseous and get a headache after.  I didn't really quite believe that it could happen to me - especially after four months of eating some type of bread, pasta, or pastry on a daily basis in Europe.  I kept experimenting and somewhat stayed away from anything that had a lot of gluten in it, but didn't follow it really strictly.  I'd say I stuck to about a 75% gluten-free diet but wasn't picky about it at all.  

Then I went home for spring break and was surrounded by all things gluten - pasta, bread, cookies, mom's homemade noodles and buns (which were delicious!).  I didn't go crazy, but I had two main meals - noodles and these Chinese buns filled with sauteed tofu, ground pork, and chives.  These were the only times I felt nauseous for the rest of the day and night after eating, leading me to believe that the use of regular white flour was what was causing my discomfort.  

I haven't seen a nutritionist, nor can I say 100% that gluten is causing my discomfort, but I think these experiences plus my discomfort in the summer say something about my gluten intake and my stomach.  I know now that I will be much more conscious about being gluten-free, and doing some more testing to see how much gluten I can tolerate.

Anyway, explanations aside, I managed to make this:

 A total experiment on gluten free Irish Soda Bread.  

A little non-traditional, I know, but I daresay I liked it BETTER than traditional soda bread.

Variations on a Mug cake (Gluten-free and Vegan options available!)

I've kind of made a recent discovery - I love mug cakes.  They're way quicker than trying to bake an entire cake (along with the risk of me eating the entire thing), but I find that they're so much easy to play with.  I love trying out different ingredients together, and since the ingredients are in much smaller quantities, messing up ingredients is a little more forgiving.  It also allows me to have the illusion that I'm eating something completely decadent, when I really am just sneaking some healthy ingredients in there.  I've used them as a post-workout meal with oats, peanut butter, and eggs (carbs, fat, proteins!).

I've been tweaking several recipes and have come up with two variations that yield a slightly different consistency, but are both wonderfully delicious.

The first version is a bit more brownie-like. It's slightly gooier, and when a bit of peanut butter is added in the middle before microwaving it, it has something like a molten cake consistency.

Look at this.  How does this not make you run to the kitchen and start throwing ingredients together?  You would never guess that it's actually about 75% healthy..

 Read on for the ingredients (and a bonus version!)

The Opposite of Losing My Cookies and (Healthy) Addictions featuring Avocados

I'm back.  And by "back," I mean I've been finally cooking again. More time = more experimenting.

A new year means new inspiration and ideas - and a fully stocked pantry is certainly giving me motivation to do something with it!  My obsessions recently are quinoa, sweet potatoes, chickpeas, and kale..convenient that I find a recipe using all of those!  But..not convenient that I didn't take a good picture of the AMAZING salad I put together incorporating all those ingredients.  Don't worry though, it'll come up again in the very near future.  Because I'm obsessed.

In the meantime, I tried out some recipes from a handy cookbook that I found recently.  It's the Gluten Free on a Shoestring: Quick and Easy by Nicole Hunn.  I know nothing about her, but I've been enjoying the quick and easy recipes in it.  I'm also not a gluten-free eater, but like to reduce my white carb intake in any way I can.  Here is her chicken fajita recipe that I modified into a pseudo fajita bowl...ish thing.

Read more to see the recipe, more food, and COOKIES!

Leaving cookies out for Santa....

Christmas time = Christmas cookies.  Nothing gets me in the mood for baking like the holiday season does. It fills the house up with a tantalizing scent of butter and sugar, and as we all know, food brings the family together. 

Even while trying to eat clean, I took a liiitle break and took a few more liberties than normal.  Those that know me well know I almost never use butter, sugar, or flour in my baking.  This week I used all three.  What a shocker, right?  In addition to the traditional shortbread cookies that are oh so classic for Christmas, I decided to feed my addiction of peanut butter by making peanut butter cookies. 

I messed around with a few different recipes, and am extremely happy with how they came out.  They were dad AND brother approved.  It's a pretty basic peanut butter cookie recipe and absolutely loved it.  

I tried snapping some pictures while baking and afterwards, but the lighting was pretty dismal wherever I went.  I did my best though..

A warm plate of cookies for Santa!

Click after the jump to see what I did!

New (food) Obsession: Cinnamon Toasted Almonds

It is a widely known fact that I am obsessed with almonds and all almond products, so when I started experimenting with toasting almonds, I went into almond heaven.

I toasted almonds in cinnamon and honey and I've already eaten a ton of them, as seen in the almost half empty jar above.  They aren't as sugary and heavy as the candied almonds you might buy, yet they pack some great flavor and sweetness, and it's a super easy recipe to top it all off!  The hardest part by far was waiting for them to cool down before I ate all of them. ;)

 Here's what I used:

2 c. raw almonds
2 T. honey or agave nectar
1 T. olive oil (make sure it's regular, not extra virgin, or just use canola oil, or even coconut oil)
1 T. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 F.  In a large bowl, pour honey, oil, and cinnamon.  Mix well, then add almonds.  Mix until all the almonds are evenly coated, and then pour into either a cooking ceramic/glass dish, or straight onto a flat baking pan.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.  After 6 minutes, toss the almonds to make sure they are evenly toasted.  At this time, I usually add more cinnamon to add on some extra flavor, but if you want your almonds to be more mild tasting, feel free to skip this step!  Let the almonds cool about 20 minutes since they will be soft initially after baking.  Enjoy.  Try not to eat the whole batch.

The perfect breakfast, snack, or topping on salads and yogurts! 

Excuse me while I go grab another handful, and think of new ingredients to toast my almonds in....

Some More Food to Show Off! Smoothies, Stir-fry, breads, and Spaghetti Squash Galore

 Although I seem to be cooking all the time now, I now need to work on taking actual, aesthetically pleasing pictures before I devour all of it.  This seems to be a serious issue for me, but it just shows my impatience to eat all the time.  For now, you'll have to deal with some hastily snapped pictures, but now my new goal is to improve my food photos!

 Keep reading to follow my food adventures!

The Smoothies Continue! SOTD

 So I'm happy to report that my life is actually not over and I am making smoothies without a Vitamix.  Sure, I can't blend in ice or anything too crazy, but I'm making everything I need.

Here is the easiest and most basic smoothie possibly known to man while being so delicious at the same time...even though I forgot to take pictures of all the ingredients.

 Ingredients needed (aka ingredients found in almost everyone's fridge):

1/2 banana

1 c. original almond milk

1 1/2 c. spinach

1/4 c. 0% Greek yogurt

1 T. almond butter

1 T. hemp seeds

The result?  Sweet and perfectly creamy. The best possible refreshing smoothie after a trail run in 90 degree heat.

SOTD and no-bake energy bites (aka peanut butter heaven)

I'm now happily in Maine, where I've gone for vacation countless times.  It's the first vacation I ever remember going on, and I used to come here every year until I became too busy in high school.  We started coming here again last year, and I am glad to be back at my favorite vacation spot. 

But, before we came, I had to prep lots of food for healthy snacks for the road trip up an hiking.  I started out with this to get my day started:

Continue reading to see what I used and other food noms..

SOTD, NOTD, and dinner

Okay, last food post before I post something beauty related, I promise!  I tried out a new smoothie again, wanting to add some extra protein.

Presenting, a thick protein smoothie:

In goes avocado, a banana, cocoa powder, protein powder, kale, and frozen blackberries!

Continue reading for my newest recipe, nail polish love, and dinner!

Crazy for Pineapple and Some More Food

Looks like I'm getting domestic...I've been on a whirlwind of cooking and baking lately.  I think it's the boredom of being at home and having nothing better to do, but my family's certainly not complaining!

Starting with some cupcakes - we had some extra pineapple on hand and wanted to get rid of a box of cake mix so I added them together for some pineapple cupcakes.  Super simple, and no one can get boxed mix wrong.

Continue reading for some more food deliciousness!

Crazy for Chia Seeds! + A New Highlighter to Love

Chia seeds have quickly gone to the top of my list of foods to be eating everyday.  I add them to everything - tea, milk, oatmeal, granola, smoothies.  Its omega-3 and fiber content make it a great addition to everything, especially because of its mild flavor.

I had previously heard of chia seed pudding, but never tried it out until yesterday.  I didn't get very creative, and I only followed a recipe from Peanut Butter Fingers, but it was DELICIOUS anyway!  I can't wait to get more fruits to incorporate into it. 



I used the same recipe, but added slightly more of everything. A little mishap also caused me to add more sugar than intended...I meant to only add 1 tsp, but it ended being around 2 1/2.  It wasn't too sweet, but it didn't quite make it into a low sugar dessert like I planned to.

Chia seed noms.

 Continue reading to see my recipe, and a new highlighter that gives me a perfect glow!

Experimenting with green smoothies...

Having a vitamix at home is something I'm definitely going to miss when I go back to college.  They effortlessly make smoothies and juices, turning them into a perfect liquid where other blenders can only purify.

I love making all types of smoothies, especially a post workout peanut butter and chocolate protein smoothie, but today I felt a little more adventurous.  

I made a green smoothie from things I had around my kitchen...possibly a recipe for disaster, but I say my only downfall was that I made far too much for just two people.  Try three or four...

 That moment you have so many ingredients, you need to blend half of them together first to make room for the other half

 Already half gone!  Oops.

mmmmmmh....

Here's what I used for what ended up being 3-4 servings

4 c. spinach
2 medium/large pears
2 medium bananas
1 large apple
3/4 lemon, juiced (told you I took what I had laying around..)
1 c. cold water

It was originally just going to be bananas, pears, and spinach, but then I added too much spinach, which caused me to add another apple, which caused the quantity to go way over the intended two.

I confess, I'm after all the qualities a green smoothies can give - better skin, better energy, with a ton of nutrients added in, but it was absolutely delicious.  Spinach flavor, gone.  Hallelujah!