Cooking failures, more camping, and delicious hummus

Good to see you, it's been a little while...

Guess why? More camping! The Husband's days off and mine rarely line up, so when they do, we have to take advantage of it.

Coziest camping ever!

Nothing screams vacation like ice-cream

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Lately, when it comes to cooking, I had been on a roll, my experiments successful and delicious. I was due for a FAILURE. Or a couple.

I attempted a vegan "quiche" the other day. Most recipes call for tofu, but tofu might just be the only kind of food that I do not like! So, full of confidence from my recent experiments, I thought "no problem, I'll just tackle a vegan French Onion tart, replacing your traditional quiche filling with a mixture made of processed cauliflower and chickpeas". Well, kids, do not try this at home. The poor Husband struggled to eat the thing, and although I seemed to have an easier time of it, I would never make it again! Needless to say, you guys are NOT getting this recipe.

It looked good...looks can be deceiving. 

Then I made a double batch of my gluten free crackers, this time with sundried tomatoes and basil. They tasted great, but I had a few hiccups in the process!

Oops!

Anyway, one successful venture was a batch of home-made hummus. So easy, so much cheaper than store-bought, and just as delicious!

Roasted Garlic Hummus: 

- 4 cloves roasted garlic (25mins at 350F, in foil and drizzled with olive oil)

- 1/4 cup tahini

- juice of a whole lemon

- 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

- 1/2 tsp cumin

- 2 tbsp water

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

- salt and pepper, to taste

In a food processor, process roasted garlic with lemon juice and tahini first. When smooth, add chickpeas, cumin and olive oil. Process for a minute or two, then add the water, vinegar, salt and pepper, and then process some more!

Refrigerate before serving. 

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When we came back from camping, we were craving something fresh...and it doesn't get much fresher than a salad with lettuce from our garden! So good.

Good night everyone! All this sun and fresh air has us exhausted! I wish you a happy and healthy weekend (tomorrow is my Monday). 

Camping break!

Hello everyone,

I do not have much cooking to report because of THIS:

The Husband and I finally got to go camping, for the first time this summer. What a relaxing couple of days we had!
And when we camp, The Husband does the cooking.
Chili-cheese dogs by the fire - works for me!

Because no post would be complete without a recipe though, I will share one that I have made many times. A healthier version of your average banana bread, just as delicious, and yes, with added chocolate chips :)

Banana/Apple Bread, No Fat Added: 

- 2 ripe bananas, mashed
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 apple, peeled, cored and diced

Optional: 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F and grease a loaf pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together mashed bananas + honey + applesauce + vanilla extract.
In a large bowl, combine flour + baking soda + baking powder + salt + cinnamon.
Stir wet and dry ingredients until just combined - be careful not to overmix.
Fold in the apple and the optional ingredients. A few walnut pieces can be sprinkled on top.

Transfer to loaf pan and bake for about 45 minutes.

This recipe has become a staple in our house!

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Have a fantastic weekend!

Apple, Rum and Chocolate Bundt Cake

Cake, cake, cake, cake.

One of my favorite things in the whole wide world is cake. I love making cake, and I love eating cake.

On Saturday night, we were invited for dinner at a couple of friends', and I had volunteered to make dessert. Actually, I pretty much said "You don't have a choice - I'm making dessert, and too bad if you were planning on making it".
I was having a lazy Saturday, so I decided to find a cake recipe that would call for ingredients that I had in my fridge/pantry (apples, dark spiced rum, and chocolate chips). And then I remembered my awesome silicon Bundt Cake Pan, which I had never used. Which meant finding a Bundt cake recipe that included apples, rum, and chocolate chips.
I found a couple, but ended up straying so far from the original recipes, that I will call this one my own :)

The cake turned out perfectly - I am glad I wrote down ingredients and quantities as I went!

This is my happy place, making a huge mess in the kitchen!

Apple Bundt Cake with Rum and Chocolate Chips:

For the cake:

- 4 medium apples, peeled, cored, quartered and finely chopped
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup applesauce
- 3 eggs
- 1/4 cup dark spiced rum
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips

For the glaze: 

- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup dark spiced rum
- 1 cup icing sugar

Making the cake: 

Preheat oven to 325F and lightly grease Bundt cake pan.
In one bowl, mix all-purpose flour + whole wheat flour + baking soda + baking powder + salt + cinnamon + brown sugar.
In another bowl, whisk together eggs + rum + applesauce + butter (the mixture may look a bit curdly - that's ok!)
Combine wet + dry ingredients ***DO NOT OVER MIX***, then fold apples and chocolate chips into the batter.
Pour into pan, and bake for about 1h10 -1h15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted close to the centre comes out clean.

Making the glaze: 

When the cake is just out of the oven, melt butter on a pot over low heat. Stir in buttermilk, rum and icing sugar. Turn heat to high, and bring to a rolling boil for 1 minute.
Pour over the cake while still in the pan. Move the pan around to make sure the glaze finds its way down the sides and the middle of the cake.
Let stand for an hour.

Turn cake over onto a wire rack and let cool completely.

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Take care, dudes and dudettes!

Turkey burgers (and coffee?)

Coffee, a love story:

I cannot, for the life of me, remember when I first started drinking coffee. I had hot chocolate with breakfast every single day as a kid (how French of me) and well into my teens. I switched to black tea in my late teens, and kept drinking it every morning until a few years ago.

I must have tried coffee during that time, and I don't ever remember hating it, but I clearly wasn't hooked enough to make the ol' cup of joe a daily occurrence. 

Here is the thing though - I now find myself drinking multiple cups of coffee as soon as I wake up, every day. 

When and how did that happen? Couldn't tell ya.

I do think that there is nothing wrong with A cup of coffee, especially since I drink it black, which means no unnecessary dairy or sweeteners.

Caffeine, when consumed in moderation, can be a good thing:

- it contains anti-oxidants, which fight free radicals in the body (in short, lots of free radicals over time = diseases such as cancer)

- it obviously improves alertness and boosts energy and mood

- it improves athletic performance (a given level of intensity feels easier while caffeinated)

However, I have never been known as The Queen Of Moderation.
Bottom line is, I need to cut back on the coffee drinking, limit myself to a cup or two, and ideally not every day.

Here are some of the not-so-cool things about caffeine:
- caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant, which temporarily raises blood pressure and heart rate. It will temporarily increase metabolism and lower blood sugar levels, but once the initial stimulation is over, blood sugar levels will spike up. All this blood sugar yo-yo-ing can lead to dysglycemia, sugar cravings, and diabetes
- coffee is a diuretic and a mild laxative, leading to loss of minerals such as potassium, magnesium and zinc, as well as vitamins including the B-vitamins and vitamin C
- coffee is acidic, leading to heartburn through increased hydrochloric acid production in the stomach (clearly a problem for people with ulcers)
- caffeine is addictive!

Speaking of which, I'm going to warm up the rest of my second cup of coffee.

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I made turkey burgers yesterday (team effort actually - I made the patties, and The Husband barbecued them), and I thought I would share the recipe:

- 1 pound ground turkey
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 handful fresh basil, chopped
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tsp rosemary
- 1tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1/3 cup applesauce
- 1 cup oats
- 1/3 cup breadcrumbs
- salt and pepper, to taste

Mix it all together and form patties! This will make 7 or 8 patties.

Oh, and because I loved my chocolate-espresso tart so much, I made it again - this time even cuter! That same recipe makes 4 small tarts.

Have a wonderful day, and don't drink too much coffee!

Running snacks

Hola,

Another blustery day here. Is summer ever coming? We did get a bit of a teaser with two beautiful sunny days on Friday and Saturday. Yesterday, The Husband and I hiked the Fish Lake trail. My ankles are feeling it today (I still ran my 6 miles this morning though).

Thank you Patty, a.k.a. The Best Mother-in-law Ever, for leaving us with lots of your delicious oatmeal cookies. It was so nice to enjoy them at the top of the mountain!

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Being in the early stages of marathon training, it's a good time for me to experiment with snacks until I find the "fuelling strategy" that will work best for me on race day. The snacks have to:
- taste good (I'm not forcing anything down my gullet that I don't enjoy)
- be portable
- be easily portioned into small bites
- replenish carbs, but also some salt

Last year, when I was training for the Vancouver marathon, I mostly used sports "gummies" during my runs, such as Honey Stingers and Clif Shot Bloks (see picture below). However, I also struggled with a lot of nausea and gastro-intestinal upset during long runs (usually above 12-13 miles).

This time around, I am trying new things, hoping to find snacks that will not upset my stomach.
So far, it seems like Larabars are working well. I LOVE Larabars, for their great taste, of course, but mostly for the simplicity of their ingredients. The cashew Larabar, for example, contains dates and cashews. That's it. Which, of course, brings me to the conclusion that I should really try making my own, but that's an experiment for another day.

I recently picked up Gin-Gins all natural ginger candy. They are individually packaged chewy candies made with ginger, sugar and tapioca starch. I am hoping that the ginger will help with the nausea - I haven't yet tested them on a day when I actually felt sick though.

The Clif Builder's bars are not a "during the run" kind of snack, but they work well as a recovery snack when I don't have time to sit down for a proper meal. They contain 20g of protein and no freaky ingredients, even though the ingredient list is longer than I like to see it.

Soon, I'd like to experiment with snacks that do not taste sweet, like pretzels, or maybe nuts.

If anyone has suggestions, fire away!

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I haven't had much time for cooking and baking this week, but I have finally found a pizza dough recipe worth copying in my recipe book. You can find it here.

I followed it to the letter, and the crust turned out very well: not too thick, not too thin.

I splurged on some good quality whole wheat flour, and I am looking forward in using it in other recipes.

There are few things as satisfying as kneading a nice ball of dough!



I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Walnut Chocolate Espresso Tart

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am so excited, I cannot contain myself. I improvised big time on this recipe, and I am so incredibly proud of the result! 

What we have here is a chilled dessert, with a crunchy crust and a smooth filling, sweetness from the chocolate and bitterness of the espresso....pure magic. 

Oh, and because The Best Mother-in-law Ever got me a piping bag set and I just couldn't wait to try it, I added some banana icing. Just for kicks. 

I have broken down the recipe into three parts: crust, filling and icing. 

Walnut Chocolate Espresso Tart

The crust: 

- 1/2 cup butter, softened

- 1/3 cup sugar

- 3/4 cup coarsely ground walnuts

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- pinch of salt

- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350F. 

Process walnuts in food processor until coarsely ground (see picture below) and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add walnuts, salt and vanilla and stir until well combined. 

Mix in the flour, 1/3 cup at a time, until dough is smooth. 

Press dough into a tart pan with your fingers and bake for 18-20 minutes, until edges start to brown. 

Let cool completely before filling. 

The filling:

- 1/2 cup cashews, soaked for a few hours and drained

- 1 cup walnuts, soaked for a few hours and drained

- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

- 1/2 cup cocoa powder

- 1/2 cup espresso or brewed coffee

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 1/2 cup maple syrup

- pinch of salt

Soak the cashews and walnuts in a bowl of water for at least 2 hours (can be done overnight). 

In a small pot on low heat, melt chocolate chips with cocoa powder, espresso, salt and vanilla extract. 

When melted and smooth, pour chocolate mixture in a food processor and add drained cashews and walnuts, as well as maple syrup. 

Process for a few minutes, until thick and smooth. 

Pour filling into crust, smoothing the top with a spatula. 

Freeze for at least 4 hours, until set. The icing is optional, but can be piped on before freezing. 

Let stand for 10 minutes at room temperature before serving, but keep dessert in the freezer otherwise. 

The icing: 

- 2 tbsp butter, softened

- 1 small banana, mashed until smooth

- 1/2 tsp lemon juice

- 1 cup icing sugar, divided

Cream the butter with 1/2 cup icing sugar. 

Add mashed banana and lemon juice. Mix until fully combined, the add the rest of the icing sugar. 

Beat with an electric mixer until fluffy. 

Have fun with it!

I sure did. 

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Oh, and by the way, after sitting in the back of my car for over two weeks while I was deciding on its fate, the good old scale is finally GONE.
I left it at the "free store" of the local recycling depot today. Hopefully it serves a purpose for someone out there other than being an instrument of torture.


Take care of yourselves, everyone!

How green is your pasta?

Good morning!

I present to you two of my new loves today: avocado pasta and homemade pesto.

I was a little skeptical of a recipe that basically called for guacamole mixed into noodles. So, being the nice wife that I am, I tried it while the husband was out of town. I loved it! So fast and easy to make, satisfying, healthy and creamy. And, because I am a nice wife (as established previously), I made it again for The Husband - this recipe also got his stamp of approval.

You can find the original recipe here.
I used spinach pasta, because I just really like green stuff.

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I had never made pesto before. The Husband came back from the store with 3 packs of gnocchi the other day (also called potato-dumplings). I love them simply served with pesto. Since we had no pesto but a lot of basil, I decided to give it a shot!
I used a combination of several recipes, but pesto is very forgiving so there is definitely room to play around with ingredients and proportions:

- 1 cup fresh basil leaves
- 1/3 cup fresh mint
- 1/4 cup fresh dill
- 1/3 cup pine nuts
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp parmesan cheese
- about 1/3 cup olive oil
- salt and pepper, to taste

In a food processor, combine herbs, pine nuts, garlic and parmesan until smooth. Add olive oil in a steady stream while still processing (you may have to scrape down the sides a few times) until desired consistency is achieved. You may choose to add more or less olive oil.
Season with salt and pepper.
Done!

Next time we have a gnocchi craving, I will attempt to make my own.


I wish you all a happy and relaxing Sunday!