Recipe: Sweet Chili Spam Wraps

Take your taste buds on a trip to Mexico... wait, no Hawaii... actually, maybe it's Vietnam? I took some of my favorite flavors from these three places and combined them to make a delicious little wrap. Crispy, salty Spam is balanced with cool cucumber & avocado, and a sweet & spicy chili sauce. Layered on a simple cabbage slaw and a corn tortilla, this recipe is satisfying and gluten free!

Ingredients:

For the sauce

 ½ cup vinegar

  ½ cup water

 ½ cup sugar

 ½ - 1 Tbsp red chili flakes

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

2 tsp corn starch

For the slaw

 ½ a small cabbage, sliced thinly

 ¼ cup chopped cilantro

1 tsp black pepper

Juice of half a lime

1 can lite Spam

1 small avocado, sliced

 ½ cucumber, julienned

Small corn tortillas

Cilantro for garnish

Directions:

1. Make your slaw first so it has time to marinate. Slice up your cabbage, season generously with lime and pepper, then mix in the cilantro.

2. Heat broiler on high

3. In a small saucepan, bring vinegar to a boil. Add all dry ingredients to ½ cup of water and stir well. Add to vinegar. Boil, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens. Remove from heat.

4. Slice spam into 8 pieces. Line a baking sheet with foil and arrange Spam. Place under broiler, watching carefully. When the slices are brown and crispy, carefully flip and brown other side.

5. While the Spam is cooking, heat a small frying pan over medium. Heat tortillas, one at a time.

6. To assemble, place a few spoonfuls of slaw on a warm tortilla. Arrange the julienned cucumber and cilantro, then top with sliced Spam. Top the Spam with avocado slices and spoon chili sauce over everything.

Enjoy!

♠

Recipe: Buttermilk-Pear Bread Pudding

When was the last time you saw fruit for $.69 a pound? Yeah, I can't remember either, so when I drove past a fruit stand the other day with a sign that read "Pears $.69/pound" I had to stop. I had planned to make most of the pears into jelly or pear butter, but I had some buttermilk and lots of old bread to use up, so I decided to make a bread pudding as well. And of course I'll share the recipe with you!

 Ingredients:

About 5 cups stale bread

2 cups buttermilk

¾ cup sugar

1 Tbsp brandy or mead

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 Tbsp honey

¼ tsp ground cardamom

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

5 eggs

¼ cup cranberries

2 pears

Directions:

1. Cut up the bread into cubes and place in an oven set to 200º. This will dry the bread out so it doesn't fall apart when soaked in eggs. Alternatively, you can cut it up and leave it to dry for a couple days.

2. Whisk together the buttermilk, sugar, brandy/mead, vanilla, honey, spices, and eggs in a large bowl.

3. Add in the dry bread and mix until completely coated. Place in the fridge and let sit for up to 2 hours.

4. Chop up the pear into small chunks, reserving 2 or 3 slices if you want to decorate the top of your pudding like I did.

5. When the bread has soaked for an hour or two, mix in the chopped pears and cranberries.

6. Heat the oven to 375º and thoroughly grease a baking dish.

7. Pour the bread mixture into the baking dish and place in the oven. Cook for 25 minutes.

8. When the timer goes off, remove the pudding from the oven, but don't turn the heat off just yet! At this point you're going to butter the top of the pudding and sprinkle with a bit of sugar. Put back in the oven for another 25 or 30 minutes.

9. When the timer goes off, cut into the middle of the pudding to make sure it's cooked all the way. There may be a little liquid from the pears, but this will be clear-ish. If it still looks too gooey, put it back in, but make sure it doesn't burn!

10. Serve with buttermilk and a sprinkling of cinnamon.

♠

Recipe: Everything Cookies

These are basically oatmeal cookies, but with some improvements and additions. They vary a little every time I make them, since I usually use what's on hand, so this recipe can be tweaked to your taste.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Dash of cinnamon

-

1 stick of unsalted butter

½ cup coconut butter

1 cup white sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon maple flavoring

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

-

½ package chocolate chips

¾ cup dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, apricots, etc.)

½ cup chopped nuts

3 cups oatmeal or other rolled grain

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°f

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter, coconut butter, and the sugars. Add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the maple flavoring and vanilla extract.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and dash of cinnamon.

3. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture until fully combined.

4. Add the oatmeal (rolled rye and barley are great, too!) and dried fruit, followed by the chocolate chips and nuts.

5. Make golf ball-sized balls of cookie dough and place 1 to 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to cooling rack or plate and let cool.

Notes:

These can be dairy-free by using all coconut butter instead of regular butter, but make sure the chocolate chips are dairy-free, too!

Needless to say, if you have a nut allergy, leave out the nuts!

Breakfast basics made better

-The Basics-

Oatmeal, eggs, toast. Pretty basic breakfast fair, but it doesn't have to be boring or bland. Here are some ideas to switch up your morning routine!

Oatmeal

Try different grains! Most oat-alternatives aren't much more expensive than your regular rolled oats and are especially affordable when bought in bulk at places like Whole Foods Market.

Try rolled rye, barley, Kamut, or spelt. Steel cut oats are another delicious, high-fiber option. It takes a little longer to cook, but has a nicer texture than the rolled variety.

Try new toppings!

-Miss Melba: Dried apricot, raspberry, almonds and yogurt (pictured above)

- Cinnamon Roll: Cinnamon, brown sugar, raisins, butter and low-fat milk

-Maple Walnut: Toasted walnuts & maple syrup or a little bit of maple flavoring

Tip: Cook dried fruit, such as apricots & raisins, in the grains. They plump up really nicely!

Eggs

In my opinion, eggs are pretty much perfect. I like them all ways. My mom turned me onto a different way to eat my poached eggs: Wrapped in crepes! They're amazing! Of course, that tends to happen when you wrap things in crepes. A little salt and pepper is all that's needed.

 I recommend the Jacques Pépin crepe recipe my mother has been using for years

French Toast

I usually put a little vanilla in the egg batter, but these other flavors are delicious too:

-Maple flavoring

-Lemon flavoring

-Orange flower water

 (my mom used this last flavor to death, so I don't like it any more)

-OR- use coconut butter to fry the toast. It tastes delicious and is not any worse for you than butter (remember there's no such thing as low-fat fat)

Warning: this next tip is not low-fat!

One time I was making french toast and I ran out of egg mixture. I had a couple dry spots on the slice of toast I was trying to fry, and the only thing left in my fridge was a half-pint of heavy whipping cream. One thing led to another and I was soon eating the most amazing piece of whipping cream french toast! So the next time you're planning a birthday breakfast or just really feel like calories don't matter, try using whipping cream in your egg mixture instead of milk!

Recipe: Tacos Foster

This is another recipe I developed using leftover bits. My husband and I can never seem to eat our way through an entire bag of tortillas before they go bad, so I'm always looking for new ways to use them. Bananas are another thing I have trouble using up before they go "bad" (I only eat them when they're still a little green). I've ended up with this simple, delicious recipe that is the perfect sweet finish on Taco night.

Tacos Foster

Ingredients:

Makes 1 serving

1/2 a banana

2 small corn tortillas

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp brown sugar

2 tsp coconut oil

2 lime wedges

Directions:

 You don't have to follow the directions word for word; this one can be free-styled. I didn't do a great job of timing everything, so these are all estimates. Just use your best judgment.

1. Place a frying pan over medium heat. Place 1 tsp coconut oil into pan.

2. Slice the banana into10 or so pieces. Place half the banana slices in the pan along with one of the tortillas. Cook for 3-5 minutes, or until the bananas have started to brown. Flip everything over and let cook for another 3 minutes or so.

3. When the bananas have browned to your liking, place them all on the tortilla. Now put the second batch of bananas in the pan, with a little bit more coconut butter.

4. While the second batch is frying, sprinkle the tortilla with cinnamon and sugar and squeeze one of the lime wedges over the sugar mix. Let cook for 2 minutes or so.

5. Remove the assembled tortilla from the pan and set aside. Now, add the rest of the coconut butter and second tortilla. Turn to coat.

6. Once the bananas have browned on both sides you can flip the tortilla and top with the fried bananas. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and a squeeze of lime. Let cook for 2 minutes or so.

7. Remove from pan and serve with a slice of lime. Enjoy!

Tips & Facts:

1. This recipe is vegan, but check the tortilla ingredients beforehand. Sometimes they are made with traditional lard.

2. This can be made with as little or as much sugar as you prefer, and would also be delicious made with honey or agave syrup.

3. As far as fats go, coconut oil is amazingly good for you! Read more about its benefits here 

4. Don't fall into the trap of thinking vegan=super healthy! This recipe still has a lot of fat, so I recommend eating only two :)

Recipe: Easy Beans & Rice

It's been a while since I've posted a recipe, so I've been experimenting. After failing horribly with a curry-style lentil dish, I decided it was time to simplify things. The results: this delicious and easy bean dish.

I cooked mine in a crock pot, which meant the least amount of effort. We found a 2-person crock pot at Fred Meyer's (it's like Target) for $10. It's been one of our best purchases yet! When you use a slow-cooker, there is no need for cooking oil, which can help if you are trying to eat smart. You can cook this dish in a sauce pan too, but you will need to soak the beans over night, or use canned beans.

Ingredients:

1 medium carrot

1/2 onion

2 cloves garlic

1-2 slices wood smoked bacon (this can be omitted)

1 cup beans, any kind

Water or broth

Salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes, to taste

1 cup rice

1 can beets

Cilantro & lime

Step 1.

Chop up the onion. Cut the carrot lengthwise and slice. Add to pot.

Step 2. Peel the garlic. An easy way to do this is cut off the end and then use the flat side of the knife to slightly crush the garlic. This helps loosen the skin so it can be removed easily. Chop up the garlic and add to pot.

Step 3. Rinse the beans and cut the bacon into small pieces. What's nice about bacon is you don't need a lot to add flavor to a dish! The bacon can be omitted if you want a vegetarian or vegan dish, but add some smoked paprika or smoked salt so you're not missing out on that lovely smokey flavor! Put the bacon and beans into the pot.

I used Anasazi beans for this recipe simply because they're beautiful! Black beans would work, too.

Step 4. Stir together all the ingredients, add salt, pepper, and pepper flakes, and add roughly 2 1/2 cups water or broth, or enough to cover. Now cover with the lid and let cook for 3 to 4 hours, or until beans are tender. Stove top cooking time will differ.

Step 5. Serve over rice with cilantro, lime, beets, and hot sauce.

I used fancy black rice that I found at the co-op that my mom shops at. It has lots of vitamins and a nutty flavor, similar to brown rice. How cool is this rice??

If you opt for black rice, here are the cooking directions:

2 cups water for 1 cup rice

Soak the rice while the beans cook.

When you are ready to cook it, bring the 2 cups water to a boil

Add in the rice and reduce to simmer

Cover and cook for 25-30 minutes

Note: If you don't pre-soak the rice, you will need to cook it for 60-70 minutes!

DIY Food

Let's make this:


OK!

You will need:

• A bunch of pots, pans, bowls, dishes, utensils, etc.
• A 10 oz. container of fresh garbanzo beans
• Cooking oil
  
• 1 small red onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 small lime
  
• Salt & pepper
• 1 can of refried black beans
  
• 1 small tomato
• 1 small avocado
  
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro, stems included
• 2 tbsp Mexican queso fresco (see below for sources)
  
• 2-4 sopes (see below for sources)
  
• Radishes & hot sauce optional

(Makes about 2 servings)

Warning: Turmeric stains like crazy!

Step 1:
Shell the garbanzo beans. This is kind of time consuming, since there is usually only one bean in each pod, so it should be an activity you share with a friend. Otherwise you will spend 30 minutes talking to yourself while you pop garbanzos. Next, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and throw your shucked beans in. Boil them for 3 to 4 minutes and then drain.

Step 2:
Put about a tablespoon of cooking oil in a saute pan and place over medium heat. While the pan is heating up, slice the onion into thin pieces. Add this to the pan when it is hot and stir to coat. While the onion cooks, slice your garlic cloves, but save for later. Optionally, you can just stick them in a garlic press when the time comes. When the onion is just starting to turn translucent, add the garbanzo beans. Stir. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally so they don't stick to the pan. Now add the turmeric, more oil if needed, salt and pepper, the garlic, and the juice of half of the lime. Turn down the heat and let cook while you prep the other ingredients.


Step 3:
Place the refried beans in a sauce pan over low-medium heat. Stir occasionally. Put a little more than a teaspoon of cooking oil in another saute pan and place over medium heat. This will be for the sopes.

Step 4:
All of the following ingredients will be prepped and set aside. Dice up the tomato, chop the cilantro, crumble the queso, and slice the rest of the lime, and the radish if you are using it.


Step 5:
The oil in the second saute pan should be hot by now, so now it's time to heat up our sopes. Fry for 3 minutes on each side.

Step 6:
Now to assemble! Take a hot sopes and spread a 1/4 to 1/2 inch layer of refried beans on it. The next layer is the garbanzo and onion mixture. I put about a half cup of this on my sopes, you may need less or more depending on the size of your sopes. Next, comes some tomato, a few slices of avocado, some cilantro, and queso. Garnish with a lime wedge and the optional radish.

Step 7:
Eat it!

The little radishes are from my mom's garden :) They are her first crop!

Sources:
Sopes- They are like tortillas, but thicker. They vary in size. Mine are about 4 1/2 inches across, but I've had smaller ones at restaurants, so it depends on where you get them. I bought these at the mercado (Mexican grocery store) next to my apartment. I imagine they are available at most international food markets and mercados or you can make them yourself! Try this recipe!
Queso- This is a crumbly, mild cheese. It's considered a fresh or "farmer's" cheese. It's available in most supermarkets, but I like to buy it from the mercado, which means I can buy as little as I want, since they sell it by the pound. Queso fresco, queso blanco, queso panel, and oaxaca will all work.

Recipe: Peaches & Toast

A recipe post is long overdue. I thought I would share one of my favorite breakfast recipes with you. I grew up eating peaches and toast, but other than that I don't know where it originated from. It could be my grandmother's invention; it could be Dutch; who knows!

Bacon is the perfect side. It goes so well with sweet fruity or caramel flavors. but if you're like me and hate smelling like bacon all day, or don't have room in your diet for bacon (especially since you ate 2 1/4 pieces of pie last night), a soft-boiled egg is a nice side of protein.

One of this recipe's best features (other than being delicious), is that it's fast and simple! This makes it perfect for all different sorts of breakfast situations. Live by yourself? Having 10 people over early in the morning? (Goodness, why would anyone do that?) It can even work when you're camping! Anyway, I will give you the recipe and you will see how easy it is!

(This version serves 2 people)

Ingredients:

-Two 15.25 oz. cans peaches in light syrup

-1/4 tsp cinnamon

-Sprinkling of nutmeg

-4 pieces of good whole wheat bread

-Butter, to taste

-Bacon, to taste

1. Empty both cans of peaches into a saute pan or sauce pot. Mix in cinnamon and nutmeg. Bring to a very small boil over medium heat. Let bubble for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to low.

2. While peaches are cooking, make your toast. A nice wheat or oat bread works best, as it holds up well and the nuttiness of the grains goes very nicely with the peaches. Toast to preferred darkness and apply butter as necessary (avoid eye contact).

3. Serves peaches over toast. Spoon a little extra syrup onto the corners. This will soften them a bit. You don't want the bread swimming in syrup, though, because it gets too soggy! I mean, if you like really sloppy sloppy bread soup, by all means, add more, but I prefer it just slightly softened.

For larger quantities, get those giant cans of peaches. They can also be used as doorstops and camera stands.

Variations:

If you have more time, use fresh peaches. Water and sugar will make a nice syrup.

Add sliced bananas and use coconut butter on the toast! My mom made this variation last summer when we were breakfasting in the garden. It was the perfect morning.

Let me know if you have any questions, because I undoubtedly left something out.

Gather 'round class

It's time for sharing!

Time to rethink this ol' blog. As much as I love changing outfits and posting photos about my indecision, it's high time I share my other hobbies and thingies that I'm fond of. I wasn't sure exactly where this blog would go when I started it, but I definitely believed that, at some point, it would involve my craftiness.

I've been changing outfits since I figured out how to open a dresser door. The next things I learned to do were drawing and making. Again, thanks mom, for the things you subjected me to as a child. Subscriptions of Victorian Magazine and Martha Stewart cookbooks were always around. My mom made Croquembouche for my sister's baptism, which is a bit higher than I aim, but inspirational nonetheless. Anyhoo, Martha Stewart's beautiful creations are cemented deep in my memory (and of course, I have a subscription).



My point IS, I'm gonna start blogging about the stuff I make! I am more prolific in the Winter, so it makes sense. Fashion in the Spring, Summer, and early Fall, and crafts and as much fashion as I can fit in, during the dreary months.

A How-To post is coming very soon :)