TACO TIME

As you may well know I am a huge fan of Mexican food... like a super fan... as in I would hire a blimp to pronounce my love for said food group if it were socially acceptable (don't judge). My love language IS 75% tacos, burrito bowls and/or nachos (NACHOS win every time) after all. 

That being said, I wanted to share with you my recipe for taco meat. I know, I know, why would I not just purchase the McCormick packet like everyone else and get that 'authentic' (to the American childhood) taco flavor... it is partly because I am allergic... but ALSO because my recipe is better and thats all there is to it (granted I may be bias).

-TACO TIME SEASONING-

What you will need: 

1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp paprika 
1 tsp oregano 
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper 
*Optional 1 tsp chili powder

Enough seasoning for 1 lb ground beef. 

When you make your taco meat do as follows:

Brown 1 lb (quality) ground beef in 1 tsp olive oil in a skillet or cast iron. Drain off excess fat (pour it off carefully or do the not so eco conscious thing and absorb it into a paper towel). Add 2-3 cloves of finely chopped garlic and sauté until fragrant. Pour 3/4 cup water over the top and add seasoning, stirring well. Allow to simmer until the water is fully absorbed. 

I won't lie, I probably make this (ok, ok, I DO make this) recipe at least once a week... what can I say, it is delicious (and super easy). I use it on salad, mexican 'pizza', NACHOS... I mean, the options are endless. 

Tell me your favorite Mexican inspired dish, I'm always up for trying something new! 

xx

MEXICAN QUINOA SALAD

Every now and again you 'whip something up' for a quick meal, fate steps in and before you know it you are left with the realization that you are doing the wrong thing with your life and (like Jon Favreau in Chef) you need to abandon your day job, turn pro, and open a food truck (ok... to be fair, Favreau was already a chef when he did this in the film... BUT STILL). 

I had this moment this other day. I will admit it, I was stumped, I gazed into the abyss of my refrigerator and could not figure out what to eat. The beauty of my grocery shopping tendencies is that no matter what, when in doubt, I can turn to mexican food... so, as I stood there hopelessly looking at a mismatch of ingredients, I came up with a new version of an old favorite- mexican inspired quinoa salad.

Left overs are this dishes best friend, the measurements aren't perfect, but was so good I had to share it. 

-Mexican Quinoa Salad-

What you will need (yields one meal sized portion): 

1/4 cup prepared quinoa 
1 cup arugula
1/8 cup canned black beans (rinsed)
1/8 cup onion chopped
Juice from 1/2 a lime
1/2 an avocado
cilantro to taste
sea salt, black pepper, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika to taste (a dash of each)

Place arugula into your salad bowl, add quinoa, black beans, onion, cilantro and spices. Squeeze the lime directly over the top. Stir together to distribute the seasoning. Top with avocado and enjoy! 

That's it. 

If you make the quinoa fresh, allow it to chill before placing it on the salad (there is nothing worse than uptight quinoa am I right!? ok... bad joke... moving on), the flavor is completely different when it is hot. I do however recommend cooking large batches of quinoa* when you are in the mood for it and storing the leftovers in the refrigerator for such occasions as this; it makes life so much simpler. 

If you are still stumped by what is in your fridge, perhaps Lynne can help. 

Have a tasty week everyone! 

xx

*Trick of the trade- rinse your quinoa 2-3 times before you place water over it and cook it. This will give you a way better flavor in the finished product. 

PSL 2.0 or PSCP

This recipe goes out to all you PSL obsessed individuals. Those of you who can't wait to get your chemically charged cup of sugar in the fall, filled with everything known to man EXCEPT real pumpkin (ALSO PSA you guys... did you know the PSL isn't vegan friendly? Even if you order it with a alternative milk... I mean I love me some bacon and would eat ice cream if I could so it isn't a 'morals' thing for me, it's more of an allergic reaction/health kind of thing). 

Listen, I used to love me some PSL in the fall, it is FALL IN A CUP after all (next to chai-der that is) what isn't to love? But when you consider what it is doing to your insides, perhaps we should skip the lines at Starboo and opt for making this Chia Pudding instead.

Also, just to be clear, I realize I sound like a health crazed freak of nature, and I kind of am, but you guys it is not my fault I swear. Also also, I so don't judge your consumption of the PSL (unless you're a five foot nine ex-military guy who refers to them as a 'world famous drink'... then I judge, but just a little). 

-PUMPKIN SPICE CHIA PUDDING-

What you will need:

1/2 can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling... also it equals out to about a half cup) 
1/2 cup full fat coconut milk (canned)
1/2 cup unsweetened hemp milk (or alternative milk of your choosing) 
2 tbsp honey
1/4 cup chia seeds
1.5 tsp cinnamon
.5 tsp nutmeg
.5 tsp all spice
dash of ginger
1 tsp vanilla 

Combine the pumpkin, coconut milk, hemp milk, and honey into a medium sized bowl, whisk together until smooth. Add in spices, vanilla, and chia seeds, stirring until all the seeds are evenly distributed through the mixture. 

Place in the refrigerator and allow to chill for 8-10 hours (preferably over night). 

You guys, this is pumpkin pie pudding... it is... amazing. I wanted to eat the entire bowl! I have a 'thing' for pretty much anything associated with autumn especially breakfast foods and desserts, needless to say this gem will be in my 'heavy rotation' this season (for breakfast AND dessert)! 

What are your favorite pumpkin filled things? Share a link to your favorite recipe in the comments below! 

xx

P.S. Here are a few of mine: 

Pumpkin Pancakes, I MEAN just stop! 
Pumpkin Coffee Cake... I can never get over the idea of coffee cake... it was the best as a kid... you got to eat CAKE for BREAKFAST! 
Pumpkin Muffins, classic. 
Paleo Pumpkin Bars with Goat Cheese Frosting... yes these are thing. 
Martha makes a mean Pumpkin Pie (duh). 
And of course, where would we be without Pumpkin Doughnuts!?

SUN BUTTER BABIES

I won't lie to you, the first time a friend of mine told me to try sun butter I nearly laughed in their face. SUN BUTTER!? Who eats sun butter?! I thought (whilst I rolled my eyes internally and second guessed our friendship). 

Well friends, today, I will (literally) eat my words. Sun butter is f*&$ing good... seriously. As much as I want to be a hater I just can't... you can hate all you want, but for those of us who live in the sadness that is a peanut butter free world, sun butter is like mana from heaven (also as the old adage goes, 'don't knock it till you try it'). I can't tell you why it's good exactly, it just is. It will never be peanut butter (don't be ridiculous! and those of you who say it's better are just plum crazy) but I will say, it has done a pretty ok job at filling the pb shaped hole in my heart. 

Last week, when I made that ridiculously addictive mint chocolate chia pudding, I was really craving cookies... Like a cookie I could dip into the pudding... and so I came up with these- Sun Butter Babies! They are (essentially) a grain free short bread, which seems like a bad idea at first, however, give them a try and they may just change your mind. 

-SUN BUTTER BABIES-

What you will need: 

1/2 cup unsweetened sun butter
3 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp honey (or coconut nectar to make them vegan)
1 tsp. vanilla
2-3 tbsp unsweetened hemp milk (almond or coconut would be fantastic as well)
1/4 cup quinoa flour
1/2 cup coconut flour (to be honest I used a little less than 1/2 as coconut flour is so dense)
pinch of sea salt

Combine all ingredients into a medium sized bowl and stir well, until all lumps are removed and the dough has cleaned the edges (it should be light and fairly 'sticky') 

Place the dough onto wax paper and shape into a rectangle or square. Chill for 30-60 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Remove the dough from the fridge and cut into small bars. Place the cookies slightly apart on parchment paper and bake at 350 for 9-11 minutes until they are light golden brown around the edges.  

Allow to cool fully. 

This is the second batch I made and they turned out to be beyond dreamy (good for you guys, bad for my waist line). Dip them in chocolate or eat them on their own, either way they are a tasty treat to satisfy your (my) cookie cravings. 

xx

CHOCOLATE MINT CHIA PUDDING

Cha-cha-cha-chia!!!!! If you were born before 1994 you remember the oh so catchy commercials with terra-cotta statues growing chia 'fur' coats or chia 'hair'... I'm sorry if this gives you flash backs of bad hair days and dated carpet, but you know what? In my mind (just for like... five minutes, any longer and I start to believe mom jeans are ACTUALLY a good idea*) I believed those were the days... it was a simpler time, don't you agree?

In those days, chia seeds were used mostly for niche (read tacky) home decor and bird seed. The only people who actually ate chia seeds were hippies or had a health condition (now I am a mixture of both sooooo, I can't judge). Some how, over the last decade or so (two... two decades) chia seeds became an 'it' food. You can find them sprouting up absolutely everywhere! (pun intended). Pinterest is teaming with chia recipes, you can buy them in bulk at Wholefoods, get them in your kumbucha (double the 90s hippie vibes), add them to your oatmeal, your smoothies or shakes. Use them as egg replacer in vegan baked goods. Add them to your breakfast for a little added protein. All of these things are amazing uses for these magical little seeds... however, today I am using them to make dessert!  

Chia pudding is like cheating the dessert gods out of all they represent; aka something full of sugar, fat, and (while divine) bad for you. Chia pudding, while nutritious and delicious, is also bad news. You see, the danger with this whipped, fluffy, creamy bowl of temptation is that we believe it to be a 'health food' therefore there is no harm in eating the ENTIRE bowl... you will make yourself ill by doing so, I promise, so please don't do that. Just because something IS good for you does not mean you should gorge yourself on it; food for thought (literally).

-CHOCOLATE MINT CHIA PUDDING-

What you will need: 

1/4 cup chia seeds
1 cup unsweetened hemp milk (almond or coconut would also work) 
1/2 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk (chilled)
2-3 tbsp raw cacao powder
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp peppermint extract* 
1-2 tbsp honey

Whisk all ingredients together in a medium sized bowl and chill for 6-8 hours... preferably over night. 

I won't lie to you, this is like a Girl Scout thin mint cookie in pudding form! If you have them, sprinkle a few cacao nibs over the top for a little added texture, it is divine to say the least (also it is full of nutrients and 'super food' ingredients... so tell your guilt to take a hike and come back later!). 

Im not going to sit here and tell you to make this dessert... but you should probably make this dessert. 

Have you made chai pudding before? What is your favorite flavor combo? I'm always looking for more! 

xx

*In place of the mint you could add a tbsp or two of pb2 for chocolate peanut butter pudding, you may just need to add a bit more liquid to balance out the powder. 

A LITTLE NUTS

I won't lie to you, all this travel has left me without much time to create new recipes to share. While I love all my adventures and I am excited to see where they will take me next, I am also looking forward to getting back into the kitchen and creating some edible magic (and no, that does not mean pot brownies, despite my trips to both Denver AND Seattle). 

For today however, I am going to share one of my favorite snack mixes with you. It is simple but extremely effective for curbing that "oh my god if I don't eat something I will die" feeling. I won't lie, this snack mix came together out of absolute desperation. When I went on my candida diet my 'quick fix' options were all but obliterated. Granola bars were no longer an option, fruit was off the table and normal nut mixes were all made with ingredients I could no longer enjoy without feeling like death was knocking at my door (too dramatic?). And so, I give you my nuts (insert giggles here). 

-YOU'RE NUTS-

What you will need: 

1/4 cup raw walnuts
1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup raw cashews (optional)
1/4 cup puffed quinoa 
Himalayan sea salt to taste

Combine all ingredients and sprinkle with sea salt... Seriously... that's it. If you are feeling twirly and you want a sweet treat, toast the mix in a little coconut oil and raw honey... it is delicious! But you have to watch it carefully so it doesn't burn (also allow it to cool fully before eating it).

I don't know why I love this mix so much, I just do. It is satisfying and delicious, also it has saved my ass from fainting of hunger (or having a hangry outburst) on many an occasion. 

What is your go to snack? Do tell the class in the comments below. 

xx 

THE RAW CHOCOLATIER

While I don't crave sweets all that much there is something about chocolate which will always call my name. Perhaps it is that I am (despite my gamine persona) a woman and supposedly all women are addicted to chocolate or perhaps it is that my mother raised me to believe that a hand full of chocolate chips could cure all that ails you; who knows. What ever the case may be, every now and again I crave that luscious, smooth, chocolatey flavor and up until a week ago I was unable to find a cure for my craving. 

ENTER RAW CHOCOLATE 

Drew and I had just landed back in LA from traveling and we needed a few things from the grocery store. It was late and we were famished! While waiting in line for a juice (bc we are that 'LA') I spotted these raw chocolate balls (insert giggle here). They were amazing AND low enough in sugar for my defective insides to process (actually they were made with coconut nectar... sooooo). Needless to say, these little balls of bliss changed my candida-fied life. Obviously, they were copiously expensive (as these things are) and so I became determined to recreate their magic from the confines of my kitchen... 

-RAW COCONUT CHOCOLATE BAR-

What you will need:

3/4 cup raw (large flake) coconut OR 1/2 cup coconut mana
1/2 cup raw cacoa powder
2-3 tbsp raw honey (sweetened to taste, you could also use coconut nectar)
2 tbsp raw (cold pressed) coconut oil
*sea salt, finely shredded coconut or chopped nuts to top* optional 

Place your coconut flakes into a vitamix or food processor and run until a paste is formed. Combine all of your ingredients in a medium sized bowl, stirring until a smooth texture is formed. Spread the chocolate in a 1/4 inch thick layer upon parchment paper (works best if you have a plate or other smooth surface under the chocolate). Sprinkle with shredded coconut, nuts or a little sea salt (sparingly) over the top. Chill for 1 hour in the refrigerator OR if you are like me and have no patients, place in the freezer for 15 minutes (until hardened). 

Prepare to have your minds BLOWN. 

I feel like Willy Wonka, bringing happiness to the masses through chocolate rivers. You are welcome. Now if only I could find a couple of Umpa-Lumpas... too far? 

If you are craving anything you 'can't' eat, let me know! I would love to help you find your cure. 

xx 

CASHEW MILK + YERBA MATE LATTE

Back in the day (you know, like 2009) my older brother worked as a barista at the coffee shop around the corner form my salon. This was both convenient and incredibly detrimental to the balance in my tip drawer.  

Every day (that is not an exaggeration) I would walk over for a little afternoon pick me up... you know I'm an addict, what do you expect? On one such occasion, he handed me my latte and in that magical moment everything I thought I knew ceased to be true. This wasn't a latte made from espresso and steamed milk... this latte tasted like magic... like a cookie in a cup. I then found out, that 'latte' was made with yerba mate TEA! I felt betrayed, duped... but also, I wasn't mad at it. 

-RAW CASHEW MILK + YERBA MATE LATTE-

What you will need for the cashew milk:

1.5 cups raw cashews soaked for several hours or over night
4 cups filtered water
1 tsp pink himalayan sea salt
2 tsp vanilla (optional)
2 tsp honey 

Nut Bag- Optional (if you didn't giggle like a 12 year old boy at that sentence, you may leave). 

Combine all ingredients into your Vitamix (or high powered blender), starting at 1 and increasing the intensity every couple of seconds until you reach 10. Leave at this level for (no less than) 45 seconds or until a milk like consistency has been reached. 

Strain the pulp away with your nut bag and pour your freshly made cashew goodness into a mason jar or jug for safe keeping. 

Should you be feeling twirly and in the need of a mid day pick me up follow these next steps: 

Brew a strong cup of Yerba Matte tea (at least 2 tea bags to 1 large mug).  

Heat 1/2 cup cashew milk in a sauce pan until warmed through. Add 1tsp honey and 1/2 cup tea (add more tea/milk depending on the strength of flavor you prefer). Enjoy! 

You can also chill the tea and add it to cold milk making an iced latte that is to die for! OR if you are feeling twirly, freeze some of the cashew milk and blend it with the iced tea for an amazing 'milk shake' of sorts (I would recommend adding a Date or two for sweetness and texture) 

However you make it, I hope you enjoy this alternative option for your caffeine craving needs. 

Happy Monday everyone! 

xx

ON BEING PREPARED

Today I was not prepared... it is a Monday... I post recipes on Mondays... and I don't have a recipe. I am currently in Denver for work (and a little play) and frankly my brain is distracted and preoccupied and in the midst of travel prep I forgot to come up with a recipe. 

I'M SORRY! 

Ok... that being said, I figured I would, instead, feature a few of my favorite food blogs and their amazing recipes. 

Starting with breakfast, because... duh 

Half Baked Harvest made a harissa, smashed avocado, goat cheese, poached egg piece of heaven worthy of any breakfast occasion (especially if that breakfast is indeed a brunch). 

Lunch is best kept simple right? So I would go with this insane Moroccan carrot noodle salad by A Cozy Kitchen, light and so so flavorful (my mouth is watering... also if you haven't seen her pancake cookbook you are missing out!) 

**

Since you had such a healthy lunch, splurge on these bonkers amazing Bahn Mi FRIES! UM HELLO! I Am a Food Blog read my mind. Say please and thank you then stuff your face with all the amazing goodness that are these fries!

You are welcome. 

Finally... since dinner was a little on the heavy side how about a 'healthy' desert, just for fun. How Sweet It Is pulled together a whipped, double chocolate, chia pudding that looks to die for (and it has chia so it is TOTALLY a health food... right?). 

While I feel bad that I didn't cook for you this week, I also feel like I am expanding your culinary horizons in ways that I (more than likely) am unable to do on my own (from my own, slightly defective kitchen). 

Go, EAT, enjoy. Be well my friends, may your week be filled with amazing moments and even better food. 

xx

*Photo by Half Baked Barvest

** Photo by I Am a Food Blog

TOMATILLO SAUCE

You know, the times when you feel like there is nothing that quite goes together in the fridge and then you realize you have all the fixings to make something magical... or at least palatable. In these moments I can't help but think the foodie-gods are smiling down on you and are pleased with their (your) creation. What can I say, sometimes life just brings about happy accidents. 

My fridge, no matter how poorly stocked, usually has some form of mexican food in it. Perhaps it is the California influence on my life (that is a lie... I have always loved mexican food) or perhaps it is simply because peppers, onions and avocado are the life blood of my diet, whatever the case may be, I came up with a rather tasty 'tomatillo sauce' on fateful day last week. I'm not sure how authentic it is... but it definitely does the trick to satisfy your spice cravings.

-TOMATILLO SAUCE-

What you will need: 

8-10 tomatillos husked
2 jalapeños
10 (or so) sheshito peppers
1 small onion, chopped
4-6 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp honey
3 tsp oregano
2 1/2 cups water

*1-2 tbsp cilantro 
juice from 2 limes

In a cast iron skillet or saute pan, toast your tomatillos, jalapeños, and sheshito peppers until lightly blackened (in spots), rinse away the burned skin, stems, and seeds (from the peppers) and place into a medium sized pot. Add the water and seasonings, *save the cilantro and lime until after the sauce is cooked. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and allow to simmer for 20-30 minutes. 

Once the onions are translucent and the peppers completely soft, purée the sauce with the lime juice and cilantro in a Vitamix or blender.  

Allow to cool throughly. 

This sauce is amazing over garlic lime chicken, as a dip (salsa) with chips,  atop quinoa and avocado or over roasted sweet potatoes! However you have it, make it your own- add more sweet, more spice, more heat. It is a sauce I am still working to perfect, so let me know how you go about it, after all, if Tesla has taught us anything, it's that sharing is a good idea. 

xx