Greener Pastures

I’m back!

Sorry for the hiatus . . .summer has been in full swing, and frankly, the last thing I want to do is be in front of my computer on a sunny, 80-something degree day.

While I was away . . .

Jon and I went to the Electric Forest - it’s a 4-day music festival in Rothbury, Michigan.

 Besides the music, the highlight of this place is the incredible Sherwood Forest. The forest is lit up every night with lights and they have hammocks hung up everywhere for public use. There are little nature scenes scattered about and lots of shaded seating.

I went here back when it was just Rothbury music festival in 2009 and the experience literally changed my life. The experience made me see what kind of person I always wanted to be, I was just too timid to let it out. After that experience in 2009, my life changed drastically, and I couldn’t be more happy with the path it led me on…it led me to Jon!

This Electric Forest experience, however, was a tad different. That music scene has been changing and getting away from the original “peace, love, and happiness” feel ofthe2009 Rothbury, and moving towards a “party with sluts” attitude (that was literally printed on a T-shirt I saw.) Not my idea of good company.

While Jon and I had some really good moments and saw some good shows, that scene has changed so drastically, it was kind of disappointing…we both agreed.

But, on to greener pastures.

I turned 26 on July 3^rd, and it was a great birthday. My parents got me a juicer and Jon got me passes to Ellicottville’s aerial park! It’s something I’ve always wanted to do….I cannot wait.

I haven’t been cooking much lately because we’ve been gone, but I was asked to make a vegan cake for a birthday celebration at work. I jumped at the chance.

Chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting
For the cake, you'll need:
2 cups + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 cup regular cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 & 1/8th cup sugar
2.5 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 & 3/4 cup water
1/8th cup balsamic vinegar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup canola oil

To make cake:1. Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl
2. Combine all wet ingredients in smaller mixing bowl
3. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients slowly using a hand mixer.
4. Mix until smooth
5. Divide batter into 2 greased 8'' round pans
6. Bake at 350' for 33 minutes

For the frosting you'll need:
1 cup natural peanut butter
1/3 cup non-hydroginated shortening
1 3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup almond milk

To make frosting:
1. Beat together peanut butter and shortening until smooth
2. Add vanilla and mix in
3. Add 1/2 of the powdered sugar and mix until smooth, adding a bit of the almond milk to help smooth out the texture
4. Add the rest of the powdered sugar and almond milk and mix until smooth. Frosting will not be runny, it will be quite firm.

To assemble:
1. Place 1 completely cooled cake on plate and evenly smooth a good spatter of frosting on the top
2. Place other cake ontop of the first and smooth frosting on top and on sides

Monster From The Deep? Nah, Just Breakfast.

Mostly everyone who reads food blogs has stumbled upon a post/recipe/discussion about overnight oats. This dish is usually prepared the night before you plan to enjoy it because the ingredients need hours to settle, combine, and work their magic before being eaten.

The pictures that accompany these kind of recipes, are kind of monster-from-the-deep looking (i.e., gooey, chunky, kind of scary), however, I have seen some lovely (vegan) overnight oat displays from Angela over at Oh She Glows (see below.)

I've tried to make overnight oats a la vegan, but the consistency never really jived with my tastes. I could very well have been making it wrong, but even though I'd follow the recipe, my oats would turn out too liquidey and be more like sweet oat soup.

After some thinking and playing around with ingredients, I think I stumbled on a gem.

Ultra Creamy, Super Easy Overnight (or in a few hours) Oats
(Makes roughly a one 1 cup serving)
You'll need:
1/2 C plain Greek yogurt
1/3 C quick oats
2 T Jelly or fruit preserves
1 T chia seeds
(optional: 1 - 2 T honey)
1/4 + 1T plain unsweetened almond milk

To make:
1. In a medium-sized dish, combine the yogurt, oats, jelly, chia, and optional honey (if you'd like your oats to be on the sweeter side). Mix until thoroughly combined.
2. Add almond milk and stir gently until mixture is mixed through.
3. Place in the fridge for at least 4 hours before enjoying.

This dish is awesome because, in the summer time, it's a sneaky way to get your protein, calcium, and healthy breakfast carbs, and still stay cool. This recipe produces a cool, thick, creamy oatmeal that is sweetened/flavored by the jelly (and optional honey). The 1 cup serving may not seem like it would keep you feeling full and energized, but the combination of protein from the yogurt and carbs from the oats processes slowly in the body and produces a steady, slow releasing stream of energy.

Please forgive the utter grossness harshness of this photo - it was hastily taken at work. Half my co-workers already think I'm a nut for eating things like this...I can't even imagine what they'd think if they saw me taking pictures of my food at my desk. Haha.

Falafel Pie

This week is shaping up to be pretty good . . .and it's only Tuesday! It's restaurant week in Buffalo, Jon and I have reservations at 2 places, The Buffalo Sabres just took the 8th spot in the Eastern conference playoff race, and I won tickets to the Buffalo Niagara Wine festival this weekend!

First, Monday night, Jon and I had our first reservation for restaurant week at Sole restaurant on Elmwood Ave.

It's a Spanish-themed restaurant that just opened a little under 2 years ago. We both got the turmeric roasted vegetable empinada as an appetizer, the shrimp vatapa as the main course, and then Jon got avocado trifle and I got the dessert enchiladas and we split them both for dessert. While it all sounds tasty and fine, we were a tad disappointed. Aside from waiting nearly 40 minutes between courses, the flavors fell a little flat, the portions left one wanting, and the waitress even forgot to bring glasses of water.

Oh well . . .tomorrow we have reservations for AcQua restaurant.

It's supposed to be sunny and this place promises a beautiful view of Lake Erie, so maybe this experience will be a bit more pleasant. I'll let you know how it goes . . .

Another awesome part of my day was winning 2 tickets to the Buffalo Niagara Wine Festival for this Saturday evening! Jon and I have been to this festival since their premiere year and were thrilled to be able to go for free this year. This event features wineries from all over New York State and the tastings are endless. I'll let you know how this goes, too!

But, one cannot live on restaurant food alone - how about a healthy dinner recipe to help keep you on track during the week? With a little help from The Vegan Stoner . . .

Falafel Pie
You'll need:
1 box of Near East falafel mix
1/2 C water
1/2 - 1 C hummus
1 C Fat Free Plain Greek yogurt
1 Roma tomato
1 Cucumber
1/2 c pitted, chopped kalamata olives
1/2 t Lemon juice
1/4 t Garlic powder
1/4 t Onion powder

To make:
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Mix the entire Near East falafel mix with the water. Stir until combined. Press falafel mixture into a greased pie pan. Bake for 15 minutes.
3. When falafel 'crust' is done, take out of oven and slather on the hummus.
4. Next, slice the tomato and half the cucumber; arrange evenly on top of the hummus.
5. Add the sliced olives evenly on top of the pie.
6. In a blender, combine the yogurt, the other half of the cucumber (sliced and chopped), lemon juice, garlic, and onion powder. Blend until smooth (this will be liquidy).
7. Slice yourself a portion of the pie and serve in a bowl. Add yogurt sauce on top of your pie.

Does your city offer a restaurant week? Have you ever won tickets to anything?

Low Fat (Yes! Low Fat) Peanut Butter Smoothie

Peanut butter is addictive. I have a hard time keeping a jar in the house for more than 2 weeks because I'll steal a spoonful whenever the mood strikes me - and with peanut butter, the mood strikes often.

While peanut butter has good protein, healthy fats, and is generally good for you in moderation, the line has to be drawn that peanut butter cannot be eaten every day . . .or can it?

During a recent grocery shopping trip, I was browsing the natural nut butters when a woman and her child came into the aisle and took a spot next to me, looking at the nut butters and spreads. She took something off the shelf, looked at its packaging for a second, turned to me and asked if I had even tried this. I looked at what she was holding and I had never seen it before - powered peanut butter.

She said that a friend told her this stuff was great to mix into plain Greek yogurt and then put in the freezer; she said it turned out like peanut butter ice cream!

I told her I've never heard of it, but that little trick sounded great. I took a jar of my own, inspected the label, and what a surprise - it was. . .low in fat! Peanut butter - low fat?!? Jackpot.

 

Into my cart it went.

While I haven't tried the Greek yogurt "ice cream" invention yet, I've developed a little smoothie treat!

Low Fat Peanut Butter Smoothie

You'll need:

1 banana, chopped, frozen

2 ice cubes

1/4 - 1/3 c plain Greek yogurt

2 T powered peanut butter

1 - 2 T honey

1 T chia seeds

1 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk

To make:

1. Place ice cubes and frozen banana in blender

2. Next, add Greek yogurt, honey, powdered peanut butter, and chia seeds

3. Last, add vanilla almond milk

4. Blend on crush ice setting first for about 45 seconds, then liquefy for another 45seconds.

5. Pour into large glass and enjoy!

This smoothie turned out thick, slightly sweet, and with a peanutty flavor! You'll satisfy your peanut butter craving with (like the jar says) 85% less fat!



What's your favorite thing to make with peanut butter? Have you ever been randomly introduced to a product that you absolutely love?

Subtly Sweet High Protein 'Milk Shake'

Since I've been trying my best to keep up with training for the Buffalo Half Marathon, I've been experimenting with my diet to help increase energy, build and maintain lean muscle, and most importantly, stay full and satisfied with healthy meals throughout the day.

I've found that with an increase in miles run comes an increase in appetite. After I run, later during day, I get ravenous . . . I want to eat everything I can get my hands on. And, having a sweet tooth, I tend to reach more for the 'naughty snacks'. I never really learned how to fuel my body while training at a pace of at least 15 miles per week, but I think I'm beginning to get a hint of what to do.

I'm learning it's best to eat a good portion of carbohydrates for lunch (anywhere from 12 - 1:30 p.m.) if I plan on running after work (around 6:30 p.m.). On a day where I'm doing a core workout or weight training, I've found it great to snack on some plain Greek yogurt with fruits mixed in (I prefer pineapple and peaches). Although, I've yet to figure out what/if to eat before I run in the morning on weekends. I like to workout on an empty stomach because it saves me from cramps and also, on the weekends, I prefer to workout not too much after I wake up and have a cup of coffee. It gives me the rest of the day to do fun weekend stuff!

One thing I do know is, this new little ditty will be a regular part of my weekend routine after I knock out a good long run. This recipe is not vegan, it's vegetarian . . .and that's alright with me. 

High Protein 'Milk Shake'

You'll need:

1 frozen banana (chopped, then frozen)

1/2 golden delicious apple (chopped, then frozen)

6oz. Plain Greek yogurt

1 hand full of fresh baby spinach

3/4 C plain, unsweetened almond milk

1 T Chia seeds

To make:

1. Place frozen banana and apple into blender; then spinach.

2. Next, add the chia seeds

3. Last, add yogurt and almond milk.

4. Blend on "Crush Ice" setting to work through frozen parts on bottom. Once the blender has grabbed everything and the mixture is mixing through, change to "Liquefy" and let blender mix for about 1 minute. You want to be sure this drink is smooth and mixed well.

This produces a lot of "milk shake", so be sure you have a large glass ready to go (I used a lovely 6'' beer mug my sister gave me for Christmas).
 

This drink is thick and creamy like a milk shake. It is sweet, but not overpoweringly so. It kept me feeling full for about 3.5-4 hours (which is pretty good for a smoothie!)

By using plain Greek yogurt, you're saving yourself a lot of unneeded sugar that's found in the flavored Greek yogurts (plain=7g, flavored=14-16g), and you've got enough natural sugars from the fruits to give it a nice sweet finish.

Do you like yogurts in your smoothies? What do you eat to help you get through your workouts with a high energy level?

Sneaky Greens

Technology can be both a blessing and a curse.

In my case lately, I've been doing a lot of cursing at it - my cell phone is on the fritz and computer is struggling to stay afloat. Between the past few weeks when we had no internet, to now having access but nothing wants to keep a battery charge long enough to receive a text message, it's all quite frustrating.

But we've done it to ourselves, right? Remember when texting first became mainstream?!? Now, it's become most common to ONLY use a phone for TEXTING. Who talks on the phone anymore - HA! (Kidding, of course).

I try not to get too bothered by this lack of technology because this is not who I am, but there's just so many exciting things happening right now, and I have a lot to researching to do!

Exciting thing #1: I'm going to have to get a new phone and new computer. Thanks, tax money.
Exciting thing #2: Jon and I are trying to figure a trip to California in the near future. It will be our first time there.
Exciting thing #3: I signed up for my first 1/2 marathon in May (that's 13.1 miles, baby!) Let the training begin.
Exciting thing #4: The Buffalo Sabres finally won a game in a shoot out (while this really does not impact my life in the grand scheme of things, it makes me happy)

With all these exciting things happening and, all the while having  to work with broken technology, I've been back to basics in my cooking lately.

Using simple ingredients and some fun extras make all the difference to battle a mid-day slump. Also, being sure to get enough vitiamins and minerals is essential in being able to keep moving throughout the day.

I've been kale-ing my little heart out.

Kale is commonly used for garnish in chain restaurants, but it's very well known as a side dish or lunch around this house!

Kale is a great way to help get some iron and protein into a meatless diet. Check out that Vitamin A and C percentage, too! Wowzers!

(This is for 1C kale; raw, cooked, baked, or boiled)

It's versatile, too!

Sweet Sauteed Kale:

A very simple, beginner way to have kale is to saute de-stemmed kale leaves in a tablespoon on olive oil, and then add some raisins and walnuts.

You'll need:
Roughly 3 cups washed, de-stemmed kale leaves
1/4 raisins and or dried cranberries
2 T chopped walnuts
1-2 T olive oil
Dash of salt
To make:
1. Warm olive oil in saute pan
2. Add kale leaves and cover. Stir occasionally.
3. When the kale leaves begin to let out moisture and become soft, add the raisins. Cover and let cook for about 3-5 minutes. The raisins will absorb some of the moisture from the kale and become plump.
4. Add the walnuts and dash of salt (if desired) and let cook for about 2 minutes.

While raw kale is a little bit bitter and tough, when it's cooked, its flavor and texture becomes softer and more enjoyable. The raisins in this dish help bring out sweetness cut any leftover bitterness, and the walnuts add some crunch-factor and extra health benefits, too.

You can also choose to add more veggies to your veggies!

Salty Sauteed Kale

You'll need:

Roughly 3 cups washed, de-stemmed kale leaves

1/2 C sliced baby bella mushrooms

1-2 T olive oil 

1 T Earth balance (to make it vegan) or 1 T butter (to make it vegetarian)

Dash of Adobo light seasoning (or roughly 1 t garlic powder, 1 t onion powder, a few shakes of salt, and a few shakes of pepper)

To make:

1. Warm olive oil in saute pan
2. Add mushrooms and cook until they begin to soften.
2. Add kale leaves and cover. Stir occasionally.
3. When the kale leaves begin to let out moisture and become soft, add the butter. Stir and cover.
4. Last, add the spices, stir and let cook for about 3 minutes.

Pictured here next to the lentil burger and tomatoes.

If you've never tried kale as a main component of your cooking, it's time to give it a try. If anything, it's a good excuse to get a lot of vitamin C and fight off any winter colds!






Do you use kale often? You have a favorite dish to make using kale?