Thursday, July 31, 2014

Kakaós csiga

I finally did it, Kristof!!  Now, let me explain to the rest of you all.  Kristof is a Hungarian that came to live with us for a while as an exchange student.  He made me promise before he left that I would make Kakaós csiga, a Hungarian "Chocolate Roll".  So here is my attempt...

I had to convert the recipe to US measurements...since in America we have to be different...and at times difficult. ;)  (so this is my "version" of Kakaós csiga)

The Recipe:

Dough
Mix:
2 1/2 C unbleached all purpose flour
1 T. sugar
pinch of salt



Add
2 egg yolks
Warmed 3/4 and 1/8 C almond milk with 1 T. active dry yeast dissolved




Mix until a dough is formed, then let rise for about 1 hr. (should double in size)
 


Divide dough in half and roll out each half into a rectangle (like you would cinnamon rolls)




Brush with melted butter

Mix 6T cocoa powder and 12 T sugar and spread half of this over each rectangle of dough and roll up like a cinnamon roll.  Cut in 1-2 inch sections and place on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes.





Now the finished product with and without powdered sugar :)



My next attempt will be to "veganize" this recipe...not sure if the egg yolks make a difference or not?


Thursday, July 24, 2014

Ice "Cream" Cake Project...

I have some friends who are moving from Maryland to Arizona next week, and just realized they have been living here for 2 years and have never tasted our vegan "ice cream".  So their "going away" lunch is Saturday, time to make an ice cream cake (haven't done that in YEARS!).  So I have a "vision" for this cake...I don't want just a plain cake...I want a 2 tier ice cream cake...with fillings and flavors...ambitious...yes! :)  So the plan (for now) is a large "cake" on the bottom made with a layer of almond ice cream then almonds and chocolate chips then topped with a layer of chocolate ice cream.  Then for the second tier, a smaller "cake"   with a layer of almond ice cream then almonds and chopped strawberries, topped with a layer of strawberry ice cream. The actual decorating of the finished product is still being worked out in my head. Now, I can't actually put it all together until Saturday, but I will start this post with what I have so far and update the end result...*fingers crossed*

Mixed up and froze some almond ice cream and spread it in a large springform pan. (all that time at the DQ paid off here)

Then sprinkled a layer of almond and vegan chocolate chips...

Up close...looks so yummy :)

Same almond ice cream in the bottom for the second (smaller) tier.  This time almonds and chopped strawberries sprinkled on top.

yummy :)

Then these guys went into the freezer overnight...

And now, the reason I am up way too late again tonight...mixing and freezing the ice cream for top layers of each cake.  IF I don't do this tonight, the cakes won't be ready to assemble on Saturday, well at least not with the current daytime schedule I've been keeping!

Here is the top layer of chocolate ice 'cream' on the large cake.

....to be continued....


And here it is....


And the lovely family that the cake was made for...I will miss you ALL!!



"Burger" Cupcakes

In the midst of the cooking classes, I had an evening at home...the kids wanted to make cupcakes.  And the adventure began...

with a pan of brownies, some cupcakes, red and yellow frosting, green colored coconut...

and a couple of crazy kids...(missing two--they must have been eating already!)

And we ended up with "Burgers"

Thank you, Nerdy Nummies!!




I am BACK (again!)

I have just finished an exhausting 2 weeks of helping with a "rawsome" cooking class.  It was a great deal of fun, but we were working from 8:30am until between 7:30 and 8:30pm...thankfully I was able to skip out a few evenings early!  We did several raw recipes with a few cooked items mixed in, ALL vegan.  I am just going to post a few pictures of the finished products for now...I will post recipes and procedures later as I re-make some of these at home.


 Adam's Garden Burger
Up close ;)

 "Taco" (Homemade Tortilla-easier than I thought)

Thai Wrap

"Sushi" and Zucchini chips

Waffles and berries, homemade vegan "butter", and coconut cream

These were just a few of the pictures I had a chance to take...

Below is a picture of me with the wonderful group of ladies I worked with!  Remember to forgive the dark circles under the eyes and the over all "tired" look...this was taken after the last night of the 2 week stretch of classes :)




Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Juicing


I have had a few folks ask what exactly is in my "green juice", well, it just depends on what is in my fridge that day.  Today, cucumber, carrots, tomatoes, celery, bell pepper, apples, oranges, and ALWAYS kale.

This picture is showing my Omega Juicer.  It was purchased SEVERAL years ago, but wasn't used more than a few times...that is until the last few months.  Now it is used almost daily.

Up close of the first batch of veggies going thru the juicer.

And for anyone who is curious this is the end result of that entire bag of kale, maybe a cup of juice.

So after juicing all the veggies from the picture above, I decided it wasn't enough veggie juice, so this is the next batch of veggies--more carrot, celery, cucumber, and I added an orange bell pepper.

This is a one gallon pitcher, with just the juice from the two batches of veggies.


And then I added some apples and oranges to add a bit of sweetness to the juice.

 This is the end product of all the veggies and fruits.

I like to store the juice in glass pint jars, so I can grab and go whenever.

So, for someone "new" to juicing, or someone who is accustomed to store bought fruit juices (or combination fruit/veggie juices), this particular juice I made isn't nearly as sweet.  Sometimes, the cucumber or celery will overpower the other flavors.  For a first time fresh juicer, you may want to use more fruits than veggies to start with, and slowly increase veggies while decreasing fruits.  
Some things I've learned:
-Use organic where possible, or wash and/or peel your veggies.
-Use "young" beets, if you don't like the "earthy taste" (I don't use beets very often and when I do, I use small amounts.)
-Use the "rainbow"--the more colors, the better
-You don't need a recipe :)
-I like my juice better "cold"
-Fighting a cold? Add garlic or ginger--but start with small amounts (it can get spicy)
-Diabetic? Go easy on the fruits and sweet veggies, like carrots and beets, sugar is still sugar.

Some things I've juiced:
-Greens, kale, spinach, leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce
-Cucumber
-Celery
-Carrots
-Beets (note, above)
-Tomatoes
-Bell Peppers (all colors)
-Apples (all kinds)
-Oranges (peeled)
-Grapefruit (peeled--but can still make a bitter taste in the juice)
-Pears
-Peaches
-Berries (the seeds will come thru)
-Pineapple
-Plums
-Watermelon
-Ginger
-Mint





Garden Boxes July Update


It has been a while, some of these pictures are a month+ old.  

Filled the boxes with dirt...

This was a few weeks AFTER we put some of the plants in the boxes

Yellow Squash

Sweet Peas

Then about 2 weeks ago I painted the outside of the boxes,
which would've been easier done about a month sooner!


Here are some pictures of my "babies"...

Spaghetti Squash

Yellow Squash

Sweet Peas


Cucumber

Kale or Bok Choy...they look the same in the beginning ;)