Thursday, March 29, 2012

Cookbook Lookbook

Sonny & Job's Buffalo Hummus.
This hummus is my all-time favorite. I don't really like hummus unless it is homemade, but this hummus is  SO. FLIPPIN. FANTASTIC. It isn't fully creamy and has some bits and pieces of Chickpeas in it. To me, this hummus is my replacement form of buffalo chicken. Buffalo chicken used to be my favorite food before my days of veganish and vegetarianism. 
To remind me MORE of buffalo chicken, I slather it on some celery, and it is absolute heaveennn. I use it as a healthier alternative to almond butter. Yes, almond butter is so good, but I like a lot of it, and sometimes it can be a little too filling for me. But this hummus is out of this world! Bill prefers it with Glutino Sesame Pretzels and he says it's amazing as well <3. OMNOMNOMNOM

For the Penn Staters' Out there...I got this at McLanahan's. WUDDUP :D


Happy Healthy Hump Day!!

Baked Mac and Cheeeeze
Yup, that's right. Baked Mac and Cheeze on happy healthy hump day. Seems impossible, but darling, you.are.WRONG. I made this baked mac for me and bill thinking that it would probably not make a grand appearance until the weekends, when the tastier recipes should be showcasted, but NO. With a little additions here, take out a little there, I give you a mac and cheese you will be pining over!

Now, if you eat this whole casserole of mac and cheese to yourself, then you might stir up some unhealthiness not appropriate for HHHD :P. However, I strongly suggest that you do save some, because leftovers are the greatest!
Look at that spatula! (Bill took this picture and edited it as well- he obviously is jealous of my popularity on my blog..jk lawlz).

Notes!
Some recipe BESTS
1. I used Annie's Elbow macaroni and cheeze, but omitted the cheese pack. 
2. My favorite cheese mixture on this is Daiya pepperjack and cheddar!
3. For the veggies, go for whatever you want! My personal favorites are broccoli and spinach NOMNOM
4. In my recipe, I used a lottalot of breadcrumbs, and althought it was very tasty, I'll probably reduce it to only 1 cup because it took longer to cook. 

Mac and Cheeze Baked Casserole
Serving: 6-8 
Time: approximately 45 minutes

Ingredients
- 1 box of elbow macaroni
- Any cheese you want: I use handfuls of Daiya pepperjack and cheddar shredded cheese!
- 1 cup broccoli, cooked (can be subbed if you want another vegetable!)
- 1 cup spinach, cooked (can be subbed if you want another vegetable!)
- 1 cup gluten free breadcrumbs (I used glutino brand)
- 3 tablespoon of vegan butter
- 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon ancho chili powder 
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1 tablespoon fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
- salt and pepper (to taste)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 F and spray a 9x13" casserole dish with cooking spray (make sure your cooking spray is gluten-free! Some might have wheat in it).
2. Cook your macaroni and follow the directions on the box
3. While you are cooking the macaroni, this would be a good time to cook your veggies (I steamed mine)
4. Once the macaroni is cooked, place it in the casserole dish, along with your cooked veggies
5. Mix in the butter, red pepper flakes, paprika, chili powder, coriander, salt and pepper until well incorporated
6. Top it with a HEAPING of your cheeze! (it is macaroni and CHEEZE :] so don't be shy)
7. Sprinkle on your breadcrumbs
8. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, and then set it to broil so the breadcrumbs get nice and toasted (keep an eye on it- the breadcrumbs toast fast!)
9. Once cooked, garnish with parsley and enjoy!

This is from Bill- he wanted me to warn everyone that this little parsley flake is iron-deficient :[. Turfgrass Nutrition 101 <3 <3

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Chocolate Covered Tuesday


Yes, it is indeed Wednesday, but I totally forgot to put up a post yesterday and I really wanted to put this up because this easy little creation tastes soooo amazing. And the simplicity is astronomical! All you need to do is melt your favorite chocolate for 30 seconds (mine is simple- dark chocolate! Fair Trade brand is my alltime!) and the spread that chocolate on a caramel rice cake (or any flavor preference you'd like..I wouldn't explore ranch though..ew) and voila you have yourself a low calorie snacker for the night! 

A little tip- don't put the rice cake in the microwave. It's like styrofoam and will burn in the middle..woopsies 

my new favorite snackk YUMYUMYUMYUM DELICIOSOO :]

Hope y'all are ready for happy healthy hump day :D



Monday, March 26, 2012

A much better latte!

Friends, I give you Monday's tip for the week! The temptation of the mocha soy latte, or the cinnamon soy dolce cappuccino ... but are the calories really worth it? I have the solution to curve the temptation- which definitely keeps my cravings curbed! The Cafe Misto with XTRA FOAM! It's the greatest thing ever. It's half coffee, half milk and foam. Then, sprinkle on some unsweetened cocoa for the mocha flavor, vanilla for the vanilla latte, and cinnamon and nutmeg for the cinnamon dolce! I love mine with soy milk, and I always ask for extra foam because It's my favorite and it is not as dense as straight milk...and look at the difference in calories

Venti Soy Cafe Mocha = 340 calories
Venti Soy Cafe Misto with Unsweetened Cocoa Powder Sprinkled = 130 calories!!!

The difference is that the mocha latte is more than 2x greater calories! 340 calories is like a SNACK! And i don't know about you guys...but a coffee can't curve my appetite! So next time you are craving that latte, try for a misto and skip the flavored syrups and go for the sprinkly dinklys :]

omnomnomnom <3

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Rainy Days

The weather has been so beautiful this passed week, it was bound to rain someday to cool things off. Bill and I (and iggy) took advantage of our rainy day and made a comforting dinner! Friends- I give you tofu jambalaya with garlicheesy bread!
Oh, sweet deliciousness. When I was home, we have this gluten free grocery store (it's very tiny, but packed full of goodness!) and they had this spice mix for jambalaya! And, instead of using shrimp and andouille sausage (uhm..yuckk!) I decided to cut tofu up into 1/2" pieces and saute them and rub in my special spice mix- ancho chili powder, coriander, and cayenne powder! Saute them til they are brown, then follow the directions on the box and voila! You have an amazing, comforting dinner in 20 minutes (literally). Even iggy smalls enjoyed
Oh, I just want some more! Now, it serves 8 (me and Bill take big portions, so probably 4 in our terms :P), so you will definitely have leftovers if it is just for 2 people. The best part about jambalaya is you can reinvent your leftovers! Tonight, I plan on putting it in some corn tortillas and created jambalaya tacos! WHATTT! I can't wait!

Oh, and the garlicheesy bread? Simplee. I strongly suggest that instead of going out to the grocery store and getting this just use whatever you have in your fridge! Now, if you are like me, I always have soy cheeze and garlic in my fridge, and some gluten free bread (I used the parbaked ciabbatta bread!). I'm sure you have somee type of cheese and somee type of garlic on hands, so this garlicheesy bread should not be a project- more about using it for an extra UMPH to your meal! 

What to do?
1. PREHEAT oven to 350
2. SPRAY some olive oil on your bread of preference
3. SPREAD on 1/4 teaspoon of minced garlic on each of your bread (if you are using one huge bread, eyeball it! If you love garlic, add more, if you don't add less. Simple yup!)
4. SPRINKLE your mozzarella cheese
5. BAKE for 10 minutes, until golden brown
6. EAT :D*

*Don't forget to share with the kitty :]


Thursday, March 22, 2012

Kickin` It

Wooooo weee! Spring is in the air and I hope it never leaves! Not having classes on Thursdays really pays off because I get so many errands in and I can spend time with my boyss <3 

It was such a beautiful day that Bill and I had a "grillout". I live in an apartment, so we had to be creative. Crack open the windows, pump up the fan, heat up the grilling skillet, and we have ourselves vegetable burgers on a ciabatta roll. YUP. And we made a huge feast- our "grillout"- all in my little kitchen!

We made some delicious morning star veggie burgers with vegan mayonaise, arugula, soy cheeze and roasted peppers. Absolutely divine. Even Bill enjoyed- he usually likes to go for the meat option but he loved the veggie burgers!
I decided to whip up some honey roasted carrots because I had an awkward amount of carrots that wasn't enough for a meal, but wasn't enough for a hearty side. It's so simple- preheat your oven to 375, coat your carrots with honey, cook for 12-15 minutes and you've got an excellent side/salad topper/condiment/anything! I topped it on a little salad with balsamic and it was soooo goood- they were probably my favorite!















Dessert..was something that turned out to be an awesome mistake. This morning, Bill and I slept in a little and instead of making a good breakfast before we took Iggy to the vet, and the strawberries and blueberries I had in the fridge that I took out to defrost ended up getting a little soggy :[. So instead of just refreezing them, I knew that I would use them in some way because I wanted to have them in yogurt, so I just threw some yogurt in a jar with the strawberries and blueberries and put them in the freezer. After dinner, I cut up a banana, put some flax cereal on top and voila! I have frozen yogurt for two. How perfect and simple? My tip of the day- never waste- there's always a way to save!
Even Iggy thought it was pretty cool :]<3

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Hellooo Spring!!

The best feeling in the world is definitely the first day of spring...and thankfully here at state college we've been blessed to have spring start a few weeks earlier! It's been so gorgeous here it's the best feeling! Unfortunately, I've been cooped up in my apartment because of homework, but it always is so much pleasurable now that I have my iggymonsterr rawr rawr <3 <3 It's also a pleasure to have Bill- we've been doing so good being with each other now that we have iggy on our hands!

Bill and I spent the entire day together running errands. It was actually really nice because everything we did was just so out of order- and I actually didn't feel any stress at all! For lunch we went to Panera and got the U Pick 2 and ended up bringing our soups home to save for dinner. Although it seemed expensive at first, we were actually pleased with ourselves since we ended up making a feast out of our soups for dinner! I got the Black Bean Soup- which is gluten free AND vegan and makes my little heart happy :]. We did our extreme grocery shopping, as well. I managed to make it out of Wegman's without buying the premade food, which makes me so fluffy inside! But, the hardest part about going into wegman's is the bakery aisle- I wish I could just gobble up everythinnggg. 

When we got home, we made PIZZA! It was actually the best pizza I've ever had, and I really don't enjoy pizza. I got the pizza crust as a gift from www.littleaussiebakery.com - this online bakery is so awesome...My favorite is their Flax Loaf, and now their pizza crusts! Bill and I made a huge pizza and slathered on some spicy tomato sauce, soy cheeze, spinach, peppers and pepper flakes, and it was a party in my mouth. We paired it up with some crinkly fries, and I made Bill his favorite Parmesean Croutons from his old Baguette that he got at Panera and brought home. It was probably our best creation by far, and we are so excited that we're probably going to do it multiple times!! WOOP! 

My little tip for the day is- when you go out to eat, sometimes buying more doesn't mean it can be expensive. If you get a to-go and split half of it, not only can you have the rest for dinner/snack, but you can jazz it up with your own recipe!!!

For Bill's croutons- it was SO simple. All I did was cut up his old baguette (you can use gluten free baguettes, or any type of bread for this as well!), put it in a bowl with ~1/4 cup olive oil, a heaping of soy parmesean cheese, and 1 teaspoon of herbs de provence and I made sure all of the croutons were coated well with this. My oven was set to 425 and I just put my croutons on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and put them in their for 6 minutes- rotating them halfway. SO easy and your crusty, old baguette just turned into a delicious snack! yumyumyum

Oh and the best part? Iggy Smalls is now my partner in crime in the kitchen! :] LOVE THIS BABE <3 What a wonderful way to start spring- with or without the free Rita's!


Monday, March 19, 2012

Iggy Smalls is the Illest

Oh my goodness what a WEEKEND! Bill and I celebrated State Patty's day a whole new way. March 17 is Bill's nephew's birthday. Evan (his nephew) is the cutest- he is 2 years old and smarter than most people! On Thursday, we headed to Philly to go to Bill's house and on Friday we went to the Sixers vs. Heat game- where we came up with the name for our new kitten that we ended up getting on Sunday, Iggy Smalls ("Iguodala + Biggie Smalls")! On Saturday, St. Patrick's Day, was Evan's birthday, which actually turned out to be a blast! It was so fun. After that, Bill and I along with Bill's cousin and her boyfriend went out to an irish bar in philly- Paddy Whacks (I'm sure you've heard of it). Overall, the weekend was a blast.



My new baby boy <3 isn't he the cutest!! He loves to help with the dishes, and after me and Bill made a delicious dinner, he loves to lick the plates before I put them in the dish washer. 

Thankfully, Iggy's 2 other brothers are with Bill's cousin, so they will never be separated!



Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Viva la Sun!

Wow! This weather could not be any better. Over the spring break my mother and I escaped from the poconos into the beautiful land of Naples, Florida. We went on a spa getaway and had some of the greatest food my palette has ever experienced!
Every morning I woke up I would have the greatest oatmeal with the freshest fruit- and every day they had a different variation of fruit! And in the hotel they made sure to prepare my oatmeal Gluten Free. It was so appetizing! And then I also had some fresh squeezed grapefruit juice- YUM!
This was my favorite drink! It was an orange mojito. The vodka they used was distilled from fresh florida oranges and it definitely made a difference in taste- WOW. I wish I could've brought some home
The seagulls enjoyed the drink too :]
Before the beach, I would run on this beautiful boardwalk that was approximate 6/10 of a mile. My mom is a walker, so what I'd do is sprint all the way to the end and sprint back to my mom and kept on repeating that until my slow mother made it to the beach :]. This part was my favorite view it was gorgeous!
Couldn't get enough of this! Such a beautiful spa! It felt so nice after spending the day on the beach and then enjoying a relaxing massage ahhhhhh living the life
My new favorite cafe- the sunburst cafe. They have an amazing soy cappuccino and I had the greatest veggie omelette ever!
Cheers! I'll begin to write more recipes and stuff, I've just had a very busy spring break full of relaxation and what not :} xoxo




Friday, March 2, 2012

Spring Break Woo Woo!

          Yesss!! I'm free for 10 days! And I'll be heading to Florida with the momma luzz for a lovely spa weekend! I'm sooo excited- it's been a long time since I've seen my old hometown (yup, before I lived in the Poconos, I lived in Naples, Florida until I was 12 years old!), and I've heard that it is definitely a totally different town.  It's going to be nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of State College and school- let's just hope it's warm!
My favorite part of the day is the early mornings- especially because of breakfast. Now I know there are soo many blogs that stress the importance of breakfast, but lemme tell ya- I absolutely love breakfast. Not only is it relaxing, but it also puts you in a better mood throughout the day and doesn't make your blood sugars get too low. I have noticed that if I don't eat breakfast, I pig out later on- which is NOT a feel good! :[
          My favorite favorite favorite breakfast food is grapefruit. Not only does grapefruit, have soo many benefits to your metabolism, but it is just soo yummy! And my favorite way of eating it is cutting it in half and sprinkly some stevia and cinnamon on top, broiling it and it is just oh my goodness. So quick and easy too! If you don't like grapefruit, just promise me this and try it this way. Also! When cutting a grapefruit, here are some little helpful hints:
1. cut along this little lines that separate the pieces, from the inside out
2. then cut around so you can scoop it out with a spoon easy peasy!
Time for me to get myself ready for spring break! yayay!
yuuummmmmmm <3