Baking Break

May 12, 20109 Comments

It feels like Saturday in November.

It’s 43 degrees out, and I went to a bar last night. That does not scream May in the middle of study week. But don’t go thinking I’m some sort of hoodlum. I managed to write a full draft of a 15 page paper on urban gardens and get through a poster session. A gin and tonic or two was earned.

This morning, while I edited my paper and waited for the gym to open (1pm, seriously?), I decided baking was in order. After all, what makes a cold study day better than a warm muffin?

Apple Muffins

1/2 cup almond butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sour milk (or probably regular milk, juice, water, etc)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt (unless your AB is salted)
3 small apples, peeled, cored and diced

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine wet ingredients, add dry ingredients (minus apples) and combine. Fold in apples. Fill lined or greased muffin tin (almost full) and bake 20-22 minutes. Allow to cool and then give them away to all your studying (or hung over) friends!

Anyhoo… hope you’re all having a fantastic week. Back to paper editing and studying!

Chipotle Homefries

March 10, 201011 Comments

Hellooooo! Today was another busy day! My work day plan is working out pretty well. I got home around 6:00pm and was ready for something quick and easy.

Last week, I baked a few potatoes to eat throughout the week. Tonight I ended up using them. The theme was Mexican Breakfast, because I had a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce that needed to be used leftover from my Ginormous Chipotle Beans Extravaganza. Here’s my creation:

Chipotle Homefries

2 potatoes, baked (or cooked in the microwave) and chopped into large chunks
1-2 tsp adobo sauce, from can of peppers
1 chipotle pepper finely chopped, optional or less if you want it less spicy
1/2 tsp garlic
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp onion powder
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix around to coat. Add some oil (I used about a tsp of coconut oil) to a pan and heat. Add the potatoes turning every few minutes and cook on medium/high heat til heated and crispy.

Serve with sour cream (or Greek Yogurt like I did) and eggs.

These were picante but delicious and much healthier than any homefries you would get at a restaurant! I bet these would be even better if you let them marinate in the stuff before stir frying.

Perfect meal enjoyed in front of the laptop, catching up on Lost!

I’ve been behind on the blog reading but hopefully I’ll catch up soon! Hope you’re all having a great week! It’s half way done! Have a great night!!

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

March 7, 201016 Comments

I hate letting food go to waste. Yesterday’s zucchini was starting to mold and the bok choy was turning yellow but I still used them.

I have a sizable container of ricotta leftover from my Eggplant Parmesan. I don’t want it to go bad, so I’m trying to figure out ways to incorporate it. On Friday, I spread some on my sandwich… delicious. Today, I thought… pancakes… It’s Sunday, why not? Thus…

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

adapted from Bobby Flay’s Recipe

1/3 cup, heaping of whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cardamom powder, optional
pinch of salt
1/2 cup of ricotta
1/3 cup milk
zest + juice of half a lemon
1 tbsp agave
coconut oil

Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl, the wet ingredients in another bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix to combine.

Add some coconut oil to a skillet/griddle/pan, melt on low heat. Add 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake, cover with a lid/foil. Once you see the pancakes get “holey” on one side, flip them over and cook for a few more minutes (maybe 2). These pancakes are pretty delicate so low heat is essential. These are the varying degrees of heat I used… low is best 🙂

I got 8 pancakes out of this recipe. I immediately froze 4 to be reheated in the toaster oven on a rainy day!

I topped my pancakes with some extra lemon zest, shredded coconut and a mixture of greek yogurt and maple syrup (1/4 cup yogurt + 1 tbsp real maple syrup). DELICIOUS!

O.M.G.

Make these. Now!

While I say the cardamom is optional on there (Bobby Flay used nutmeg but I thought lemon and cardamom sounded great together), it really makes the recipe that much better. Cardamom is one of those underused spices in the US that is just amazing in my opinion. Best ice cream I ever had was Cardamom Ice Cream at Ici in Berkeley. I might venture to say that cardamom is my favorite spice…

Now I’m stuffed and ready to conquer my pile of reading and methods problem set!

Any suggestions on what else to do with my ricotta?

See you next time for Sunday baking! I’m making a vegan treat tonight!

Have a great Sunday!!

First Run in the Cold + The Giving Tree

January 23, 2010January 23, 201018 Comments

I’m not a runner, but I am occasionally known to go on a jog. I usually prefer to do so with someone else, a running buddy if you will. This morning, Rhoda told me she was going for a run, so I tagged along!

I was a little concerned because the last time I ran outside it was 65 degrees (few weeks ago in California). This morning when I went for a run, it was 17 degrees… kind of cold. Rhoda is a pro. She trained for a marathon in Michigan in the winter so she gave me some pointers.

1. Dress in layers. I wore a shirt and a jacket with slightly below the knee running pants (I really should invest in full length pants for this weather!).

2. Wear gloves and something to cover your ears. Forever I had no idea what those big headbands were for. Guess what?? They cover your ears!

Do you have any tips for running in the cold?

So I headed out and met up with Rhoda. Honestly, it wasn’t bad at all. I didn’t feel cold throughout the entire run. At one point I even pushed my ear warmers back to let my ears breathe a bit and removed my gloves (though only for a few minutes because the back of my hand started to get REALLY cold).

I didn’t really get cold until I was walking home after having cooled down. Then I was sweaty/wet and in below freezing temperatures. See the problem?

It was great though! We did 4 miles and chatted the whole time! It was also beautiful! I forget how picturesque it is here, especially in the winter. I wish I had brought my camera to take pictures! Oh well, next time! Thanks for letting me slow you down, Rhoda!

After lunch, I came home and showered then met up with some people for lunch at a new cafe in Ithaca called The Giving Tree. The cafe is a local, vegetarian place. Very cozy and cute with mismatched chairs and such!

At this point (around 1:30pm), I hadn’t eaten since breakfast at about 7:30am; I was ready to chew my arm off. I had a really hard time choosing what to order, because the entire menu was vegetarian so there were a ton of options to choose from! I got some coffee and a plate of eggs, home fries and toast, which is probably my favorite food on the planet! A bit boring, I know, but I had to go with an old favorite.