Monthly Archives: September 2012

September 25, 2012 · 1:30 pm

CRISPY SMASHED POTATOES

For the life of me I can’t remember where I first saw this method of roasting potatoes…was it Pinterest, or another blog I subscribe to, or a website I stumbled upon?  Not sure.

What I am sure of is the fact that my family and I couldn’t get enough of these taters.  When we got down to the last yummy crispy smashed potato we all looked at each other and in such a civilized manner offered it up to each other (all the while wishing it was ours).

We will definitely be eating these again.

INGREDIENTS

Small roasting potatoes, or fingerlings
olive oil
Garlic salt (I use Simply Organic Garlic Salt)

METHOD

  • Season with a TINY bit of oil and garlic salt to taste
  • Bake 25-30 minutes at 425 degrees (they need to be soft)
  • Cool to room temp
  • Top roasted potatoes with another cookie sheet and SMASH them (get some weight behind it)
  • Bake smashed potatoes for 15-20 mins at 425
  • Flip and bake for another 10-15 mins

Serve with ketchup or condiment of choice.

For a printable version of this recipe click here.

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Filed under Gluten Free, Recipes, Sides, Vegan, Vegetarian

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September 21, 2012 · 7:20 pm

swim spot’s Q & A With Me

(Lisa Vogel, Suzanne Yeo, & Gretchen Tseng)

SwimSpot ran a quick interview / Q & A with me on their website today…I thought you might like to hop on over to learn more about my Fall favorites.

Click HERE to read the interview.

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September 17, 2012 · 1:30 pm

End of Summer, Grain-Free?, & BIG NEWS!!!

It has been a busy few weeks.  The kids and I made the trek up to my parent’s house in Santa Cruz for our Nana and Papa time.  We had a lot of fun at the Boardwalk, exploring new beaches, and hiking to the amazing natural pool pictured above (It is called the Garden of Eden).

We also took a ride on the Roaring Camp Railroad which I hadn’t done in years.  The picture below is of my kiddos and parents on the railroad.

We headed from my parent’s house straight over to my sister and brother-in-law’s house near Tahoe for some serious cousin time before the school year and crazy schedules began.

We had a fantastic time and capped it all off with some tubing on Lake Tahoe (That’s my sister and I below…we screamed like little girls!) before making the LONG roadtrip home (It was so worth it).

Prior to going on the trip I had just finished my 80-10-10 trial and was all gung-ho to continue eating grain-free.  I managed to do so through our stay at my parent’s house and then began eating grains at my sister’s house.  Guess what…I felt great!  No bloating, no problems.  I did remain gluten-free though.  Maybe my body just needed a reset and the 80/10/10 did that for me.

Bottom line, I plan on eating what feels right (vegan and gluten-free…with the exception of some egg whites from time to time), and I will play the grain thing by ear.  I don’t feel like restricting myself or labeling myself grain-free.  When I want them and they digest well, I will have them.

AND now the BIG NEWS.  We have a new member of our family.

Meet “Dug.”

Could my kids possibly be MORE excited???  To be fair, my grin was just as big.

Dug will be 11 weeks old on Wednesday and is seriously the cutest Goldendoodle we have ever seen (Think we are biased???)

We are so in love and thrilled that he is rounding out our family.

Off to potty-train…

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Filed under Grains, Vacation

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September 13, 2012 · 1:30 pm

TEACHER GIFTS – Summer Fun

Clearly it has taken me a while to write this post…

The school year is long gone (and another has begun), however I wanted to share with you the Teacher’s  Gifts that we handed out to my children’s wonderful teachers at the end of this past school year.

These gifts were inspired by a pin I saw on Pinterest which led me to THIS blog post.  I had a lot of fun putting these bags together.  The funny part came when I e-mailed both teachers to find out their shoe size (They must have thought I was crazy!).

I wished I thought to take a picture of the contents while not in the bag, but I didn’t.  Here is a list of the contents (as I remember them):

  • Snacks – Baked green bean crunchies, freeze-dried grapes, light kettle corn, nuts, some chocolate covered goodies
  • Re-usable drink container along with chocolate coconut milk
  • Magazines
  • Beach towel
  • Flip-flops
  • Sunglasses
  • Sunscreen
  • Aloe
  • Cooler Bag

I placed all of the goodies into a cooler bag which can also be used at the beach, pool, park, etc.

I did all of the shopping at Trader Joes, Big Lots, and Kohls (with a 30% off coupon), so I was able to keep the costs down and still give a nice gift.

Maybe a version of this could be made as a beginning of the school year gift…some sort of “Survive the School Year” bag.

What sorts of gifts did you give to your children’s teachers this year?

To follow my boards on Pinterest, click HERE.

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September 10, 2012 · 5:19 am

VEGAN GIFT BASKET

My friend, Andy (check out her clothing website HERE), is on the Board of the charity Hope for SMA.  They held a sold-out fundraising dinner in May at Franciscan Gardens where they also held a silent auction.

I was able to put together a Vegan Gift Basket to donate to the auction and was bowled-over by the generosity of the companies I contacted to donate.  The response was overwhelming and humbling…I feel honored to work with so many wonderful vegan friendly companies!

Here is what was donated to the basket:

  • 10 Teatulia Organic Tea Canisters ($10.99 each) – $109.90
  • 6 MEALS to Veggie Grill – OVER $60.00
  • Musewear Flip Flops & Voucher for ANOTHER free pair!!! – $60.00
  • So Delicious coupons, 2 FREE Vouchers, & 3 singles – $30.00
  • Plant Fusion Vegan Protein Powder Canister & 3 Singles – $28.00
  • $25.00 Voucher to VeganCuts (online discount vegan product retailer) – $25.00
  • Nava Atlas’s VEGAN HOLIDAY KITCHEN cookbook – $24.95
  • SIGNED COPY Garlic Onion Beet Spinach Mango Carrot Grapefruit Juice (Vegan Children’s Book) – $20.00
  • Healthy Made Delicious DVD – $24.97
  • Chef AJ’s UNPROCESSED – $19.95
  • The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition by Julieanna Hever – $19. 95
  • EnviroKidz Koala Crisp & Panda Puffs (donated by me) – $11.98
  • 2 Theo Chocolate Bars (donated by me) – $8.00
  • The China Project (donated by me) – $8.00
  • The Shopping List Bag (donated by me) – $5.00

TOTAL – $450.70

When you go to the store, please consider supporting these wonderful companies…

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September 6, 2012 · 1:30 pm

YONANAS

I have been going bananas for YONANAS.  A few months ago I learned about Yonanas through the Dole newsletter.  I looked into the product and when I learned it was only around $50 I thought I would give it a whirl (I was NOT sent this product to review…I paid for it myself).

I adore this product.  It takes frozen fruit and turns it into ice cream!  Bananas and mangoes tend to come out the creamiest, but all of the frozen fruits I try turn into a yummy AND healthy frozen treat.

I have even been known to eat Yonanas for breakfast…why not…it is only fruit!  I used Yonanas A LOT during my 80/10/10 Diet trial.

Have any of you tried Yonanas?

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Filed under Dessert, Frozen Treats, Product Reviews, Recipes

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September 3, 2012 · 4:00 pm

SRC – PEACH ICE CREAM

I was assigned the blog, Feeding Andy, for my September Secret Recipe Club assignment.  The blog’s author, Peggy, is a culinary student and her blog follows her progress through school as well as her daily exploits working at Louisville mainstay, Jack Fry’s.

I bookmarked a lot of recipes when trying to decide which recipe I would go with.  Some of the finalists were Rice Pilaf, Spicy Pickled Carrots & Asparagus, and Indian Spiced Lentils.  I ultimately decided to make her Peach & Clove Ice Cream after my latest trip to the farmer’s market since the peaches there were so ripe it felt like I was slapped in the face with their wonderful perfume.

What a perfect Summer dessert!

INGREDIENTS

1-1/3 lbs ripe peaches; peeled, pitted and coarsely chopped
1 peach; peeled, pitted and finely chopped
1/2 cup water
1 Tbs. Triple Sec (I dislike the taste of alcohol, so I eliminated it)
1 teaspoon ground cloves (I wanted the flavor of the peaches to take center stage, so I eliminated it)
3/4 cup sugar (I used 2Tbs. SweetLeaf Sugar Leaf stevia/sugar replacement)
1/2 cup Greek yogurt (I used 1 single-serve container of So Delicious Vanilla Almond Milk Greek Yogurt)
1/2 cup heavy cream (I used So Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer)
1/2 cup milk (I used So Delicious non-dairy milk)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
juice from 1 lime (I used the juice from 2 tangerines)
.

Combine the coarsely chopped peaches and water in a medium nonreactive saucepan. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until peaches are soft and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat.  Mix in SweetLeaf Sugar Leaf stevia, and set aside to cool to room temperature (or speed-up the cooling process with an ice bath).

Add the cooked peach mixture to your high speed blender with yogurt, cream, milk, vanilla, and tangerine juice. Process until smooth. add the finely chopped raw peach and blend VERY briefly so some chunks of peach remain.  Chill thoroughly in refrigerator, about 6-8 hours (or speed-up the process once again by pouring the mixture into a glass jar and cooling it in an ice bath). Once chilled, transfer to ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions.

For a printable version of this recipe click HERE.



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Filed under Cooked Fruit, Dessert, Frozen Treats, Fruit, Gluten Free, Ice Cream, Kid Friendly, Recipes, Secret Recipe Club, Vegan, Vegetarian

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