Other Easter highlights:
-Dinner (to be posted later)
-My seeds finally sprouted!!
-My love bought me new seeds for Easter!
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Hoppy Easter
I woke up early to get things to make my sweet an Easter basket (yes he is 28, no I don't think anyone is too old) and while hunting for anything besides an egg shaped container of m&m's I came across a treasure from my youth, the crayola 64 pack with the built-in sharpened for only $3.74, I couldn't leave it. I've always wanted one but they were too expensive so I'd have to settle for either a crayola 16 pack or a 64 of Roseart and no one wanted that. So I go home all excited to set up the Easter treats and hop back in bed with my love. I told him I think the Easter bunny had left him and oh by the way I bought myself a 64 pack of crayons. Now let me say this, I have only been married for 9 months but I can say with certainty that every single day I love this man more because he constantly surprises me. In that moment his face lit up and he demanded I get out of bed and go get the crayons. It was like we were little kids all over again, pulling out all of the colors trying to remember their names, telling each other stories of our childhood that were inspired by hearing the names "carnation pink", "burnt sienna", and "sea green". We also discovered we both shared the same favorite crayon, beautiful magical Cerulean. It's the little things that you both enjoy that really make you appreciate the one you're with. Although this was the first Easter I've ever spent away from my family it was definitely one of the best.
Other Easter highlights:
-Dinner (to be posted later)
-My seeds finally sprouted!!
-My love bought me new seeds for Easter!
Other Easter highlights:
-Dinner (to be posted later)
-My seeds finally sprouted!!
-My love bought me new seeds for Easter!
The most important multi-cultural meal of the day
With my husband and I both being mixed we like to try and combine our cultures as often as possible when it comes to food. Luckily, with him being half Persian and me being half Palestinian some foods aren't so different. I grew up with my dad throwing together a pretty standard Arab breakfast on Saturday mornings and that's something I want my future little ones to have. A few of the usual suspects are hummus (made from scratch and served hot), foul (pronounced "fool", made of smashed fava beans), falafel, cheese of some variety, olives, pita bread , sautéed tomatoes and peppers and allll kinds of other goodness. This Saturday we had to help our family move but we ha enough time to squeeze in some breakfast.
We had foul which is cooked fava beans smashed and mixed with garlic and lemon, you eat it like a dip with your pita bread. Zaatar (a dry mixture of oregano, thyme, sumac and sesame seeds) and zeit (olive oil), you dip the bread in the oil then in the zaatar. I introduced this to my husband and he puts it on everything now, even makes zaatar and zeit sandwiches. We also had some of my favorite feta which is so hard to come by in Northern California, God bless SoCal's middle eastern population and my favorite and probably the strangest looking of all things, Makdous which is pickled baby eggplant stuffed with walnuts and peppers and stored in olive oil. I had this for the first time when I went to visit my family in the Middle East. My grandma opened up a cabinet and it was filled with all these items she had pickled, I've been hooked ever since.
Last but not least you have to have your tea, no breakfast is complete without it .
We had foul which is cooked fava beans smashed and mixed with garlic and lemon, you eat it like a dip with your pita bread. Zaatar (a dry mixture of oregano, thyme, sumac and sesame seeds) and zeit (olive oil), you dip the bread in the oil then in the zaatar. I introduced this to my husband and he puts it on everything now, even makes zaatar and zeit sandwiches. We also had some of my favorite feta which is so hard to come by in Northern California, God bless SoCal's middle eastern population and my favorite and probably the strangest looking of all things, Makdous which is pickled baby eggplant stuffed with walnuts and peppers and stored in olive oil. I had this for the first time when I went to visit my family in the Middle East. My grandma opened up a cabinet and it was filled with all these items she had pickled, I've been hooked ever since.
Last but not least you have to have your tea, no breakfast is complete without it .
Vegan lasagna rolls
Cooking is my therapy. I come home from work, put on my apron, get some French music going and just slip into the zone. Problem with that is I usually forget within the next few days what I cooked. I'm hoping I can actively make notes on here of my creations because its rare that I can cook the same thing twice. I make dinner based on what I have on hand. I go grocery shopping once a week and I buy what I like, not based on what meals I want to make. So every night I pretend I'm on Chopped and open up the basket (my fridge) and get going with my secret ingredients. For whatever reason in the last 9 months that I've been married we have managed to make Thursday our pasta night, it just sorta happened because Thursday is my longest work day and pasta is quick. So anyway, we had: (be warned I do not measure anything, cooking is a heart science)
1/2 pkg of lasagna noodles
1 jar of spaghetti sauce
1/2 pkg of Baby Bella mushrooms
1 bag of fresh spinach
1 pkg of soft tofu
1 onion
Minced garlic
Spices:
Himalayan sea salt
Black truffle sea salt
Coarse & fine black pepper
Crushed red pepper
Basil
Oregano
Roasted garlic powder
1. Boil and drain the noodles. For best pasta results put the water in the pot and cover it, it'll reach it's boiling point much faster, do not salt the water until its boiling rapidly otherwise it will take longer to boil. Add your oil and noodles and stir frequently, lasagna noodles stick quick
2. Sauté spinach with salt and garlic, drain completely
3. Slice and sauté mushrooms with garlic, salt, pepper and onion, place in a separate bowl, you'll need the pot later
4. Drain tofu and place it in a bowl, using a fork you can smash it into the consistency of ricotta cheese. Add garlic powder, oregano, basil and salt, I used black truffle salt for that extra depth
5. Using the mushroom pot, heat up up your pasta sauce and season to your own liking. I always add extra garlic, basil and crushed peppers to my sauces.
Once all the components are done it's time to assemble.
-Put a layer of sauce in the bottom of the the baking dish
-On a separate plate lay out the noodle, spread some tofu-cotta on it, then sauce, then spinach, then mushrooms. Very carefully roll from one end and place into the dish seam-side down so it doesn't unroll. We made about 6 hefty rolls
-Pour sauce over the top of the rolls assembled in the dish and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. You could sprinkle some cheese or soy cheese on the top but we've become more sauce people.
The picture didn't come out too great but I get the idea
1/2 pkg of lasagna noodles
1 jar of spaghetti sauce
1/2 pkg of Baby Bella mushrooms
1 bag of fresh spinach
1 pkg of soft tofu
1 onion
Minced garlic
Spices:
Himalayan sea salt
Black truffle sea salt
Coarse & fine black pepper
Crushed red pepper
Basil
Oregano
Roasted garlic powder
1. Boil and drain the noodles. For best pasta results put the water in the pot and cover it, it'll reach it's boiling point much faster, do not salt the water until its boiling rapidly otherwise it will take longer to boil. Add your oil and noodles and stir frequently, lasagna noodles stick quick
2. Sauté spinach with salt and garlic, drain completely
3. Slice and sauté mushrooms with garlic, salt, pepper and onion, place in a separate bowl, you'll need the pot later
4. Drain tofu and place it in a bowl, using a fork you can smash it into the consistency of ricotta cheese. Add garlic powder, oregano, basil and salt, I used black truffle salt for that extra depth
5. Using the mushroom pot, heat up up your pasta sauce and season to your own liking. I always add extra garlic, basil and crushed peppers to my sauces.
Once all the components are done it's time to assemble.
-Put a layer of sauce in the bottom of the the baking dish
-On a separate plate lay out the noodle, spread some tofu-cotta on it, then sauce, then spinach, then mushrooms. Very carefully roll from one end and place into the dish seam-side down so it doesn't unroll. We made about 6 hefty rolls
-Pour sauce over the top of the rolls assembled in the dish and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. You could sprinkle some cheese or soy cheese on the top but we've become more sauce people.
The picture didn't come out too great but I get the idea
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Spring has sprung...I think.
I've been patiently waiting since February to plan the seeds my husband gave me for valentines day and as soon as we had 3 consistently sunny days I jumped on it. I found a little terrarium/planter box at TJ Maxx and was all geared up to throw some succulents in it but decided in the meantime I'm going to use it as a makeshift greenhouse nursery for all my seedlings. I had already gone out and gotten little galvanized metal pots for $1 to transfer them into as they grow, but until then they are taking up roots in some china sake bowls I found at the thrift store. My mom asked me to test out the seeds from the $1 bin at target so some of those guys are in there too. Also in this tiny box is my most prized possession, an avocado seed with a root! I have been trying, unsuccessfully, to sprout an avocado seed since kindergarten and its finally happening. Although judging by the upcoming forecast I think I might have planted a little prematurely, fingers crossed.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Mental Cleanse
Taking some time off from social networking to rework my priorities. It's become so easy to get caught up in the lives of other people, especially ones you don't REALLLLLLY know and to start comparing what they're doing to what you're doing. It's like comparing your everyday face with the ones you see in magazines. People on FB or Instagram rarely showcase their lives as what they actually are and instead broadcast their most appealing or "photoshopped" moments. When you're seeing only the very best of someone's life it's easily discouraging. So before the beast gets ahold of me and takes me down, I'm going to take a step back and continue enjoying and appreciating this wonderful, hectic, beautiful and chaotic life I'm living with the best husband I could have ever asked for. A byproduct of this will most likely be more blogging as I am obsessed with documenting this first year adventure.
Also, how pretty was my "sassy water"? Frozen berries instead of ice, lemon and mint. Here's to the future.
Also, how pretty was my "sassy water"? Frozen berries instead of ice, lemon and mint. Here's to the future.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Salad extravaganza
Saved myself from having to do meal preps this week! Salad on sale for 99 cents so broiled some mushrooms and eggplant slices to go with them and I'm set.
T.J.'s salad
Felt today would be a good day to duplicate my favorite salad from Trader Joe's, turned out perfect! Used meftool instead of bulgur since I had so much left. Saving moneyyyyyyy!
1 cup dry bulgur
2 cups vegetable broth
1 roma tomato, seeded and chopped.
1/2 of a small eggplant
1 can of garbanzo beans rinsed and drained
1/2 cabbage thinly sliced
1/2 tsp cumin
Salt, pepper and cayenne
Dressing:
2tbs avocado oil
1 tbs apple cider vinegar
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 small lemon, juiced
Himalayan salt and pepper.
Put bulgur and broth in a saucepan with a pinch of salt and boil. Once boiling remove from heat and cover.
Once all of the water is absorbed add garbanzo beans and 1/2 tsp of cumin to pot and stir together, set aside to cool
Slice eggplant very thin, brush with oil and season with salt, pepper and cayenne. Broil on a baking sheet for 5 minutes.
Cut into small pieces once cool.
Combine all ingredients in a bowl along with chopped tomato and dressing ingredients and serve over shredded cabbage
1 cup dry bulgur
2 cups vegetable broth
1 roma tomato, seeded and chopped.
1/2 of a small eggplant
1 can of garbanzo beans rinsed and drained
1/2 cabbage thinly sliced
1/2 tsp cumin
Salt, pepper and cayenne
Dressing:
2tbs avocado oil
1 tbs apple cider vinegar
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 small lemon, juiced
Himalayan salt and pepper.
Put bulgur and broth in a saucepan with a pinch of salt and boil. Once boiling remove from heat and cover.
Once all of the water is absorbed add garbanzo beans and 1/2 tsp of cumin to pot and stir together, set aside to cool
Slice eggplant very thin, brush with oil and season with salt, pepper and cayenne. Broil on a baking sheet for 5 minutes.
Cut into small pieces once cool.
Combine all ingredients in a bowl along with chopped tomato and dressing ingredients and serve over shredded cabbage
Stuffed acorn squash
Acorn squash stuffed with cauliflower "rice" and almonds
1 head of cauliflower either hand grated or in the food processor then steamed with salt and pepper to taste. Toss in chopped almonds.
2 Acorn squashes cut in half, seeded, drizzled with oil then baked at 375 cut-side down.
Stuff, dress and enjoy
1 head of cauliflower either hand grated or in the food processor then steamed with salt and pepper to taste. Toss in chopped almonds.
2 Acorn squashes cut in half, seeded, drizzled with oil then baked at 375 cut-side down.
Stuff, dress and enjoy
Banana Stuffed Sheepherders French toast
French toast made from sheepherders bread with blueberry syrup
slice bread, soak in mixture of milk, egg, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and honey powder. Drain, cook in buttered pan.
Blueberry sauce: 1/2 c. sugar and 1 container of blueberries on medium high heat.
Banana filling: 1 sliced banana, 1/4 c. brown sugar, 1tbs. maple syrup and cinnamon to taste on medium high heat
slice bread, soak in mixture of milk, egg, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and honey powder. Drain, cook in buttered pan.
Blueberry sauce: 1/2 c. sugar and 1 container of blueberries on medium high heat.
Banana filling: 1 sliced banana, 1/4 c. brown sugar, 1tbs. maple syrup and cinnamon to taste on medium high heat
Sushiritto
Sushiritto with carrots, cucumber, avocado and tuna
One of our favorite quick go-to dinners.
You need sheets of seaweed, julienne cut cucumber and carrots, steamed rice, avocado and your choice of meat.
While the rice is warm spread it over the seaweed, in the middle assemble your remaining ingredients, roll and eat!
One of our favorite quick go-to dinners.
You need sheets of seaweed, julienne cut cucumber and carrots, steamed rice, avocado and your choice of meat.
While the rice is warm spread it over the seaweed, in the middle assemble your remaining ingredients, roll and eat!
King oyster mushrooms and yu-choy
King oyster mushroom scallops cooked in garlic, Himalayan salt and coconut oil with garlic rice and sautéed yu-choy.
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