Healthy Snack Time

Made these bars today and they are so good, very filling and sugar and oil free to boot!

Carrot Oat Snack Bars (Gluten Free Vegan)
Preheat oven to 350.

Mix together in a bowl:
::  1 Cup Chopped Dates
::  2 Ripe Bananas Mashed
::  1/2 Cup or one small shredded carrot
::  1 tsp Vanilla
::  1/2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
::  1 tsp Cinnamon
::  2 1/2 Cup Old Fashioned Oats (I used gluten free oats)
::  1/2 Shredded Coconut
::  1/2 Cup Raisins
::  1/4 Cup Chopped Walnuts
::  1/4 Cup sliced Almonds
::  1 tsp Orange zest
::  Juice from 1/2 of an orange

Line 9x13 baking pan with parchment (or you can spray it).
Press mixture into pan and bake for 20-25 minutes until brown on edges.
Cool on rack completely, cut into bars and enjoy!

I put the dates in the food processor until small pieces. Blended banana, vanilla and spices in it too and used it to shred my carrots  - easy!

Afterwork Snack

I made these potato chips for the Mr. afterwork yesterday and he flipped over them! I had one idea and it sort of went it's own way and turned into these lovelies.
Super easy to make.
I had baked potatoes left over from the night before in the fridge so I sliced them at an angle, heated some olive oil and a drizzle of my garlic oil (here) and fried them up. When they were done, I put them on a cooling rack and salted them while hot so the salt would stick.
Served with hot mustard and catsup.
I handed them to him, answered the phone and when I was done...they were gone.
Good thing I snagged one before handing them over.

Hearty White Bean Soup

Hearty White Bean Soup
16 oz cannellini beans (soaked overnight)
3 large carrots chopped
3 celery ribs + heart with greens chopped
1 onion diced
2 cloves of garlic minced
drizzle of olive oil
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 sprig of rosemary
1 bay leaf
1 cup white wine (optional but has a lot of flavor)
6 cups veggie broth (or chicken if you'd like - I use the non-chicken, chicken broth)
ground white pepper (optional)
salt (if needed)

In a large pot, add a drizzle of olive oil, onions, celery, herbs, garlic and white wine and simmer together for about 2 minutes until fragrant.  Add carrots, beans and broth and simmer together until beans are soft and ready to eat. Mine took a couple hours and my house smelled amazing!
This usually last us a few meals - feel free to cut it in half if you need to it does make a lot.
Easy. Cheap. Delicious.

Studio Clean-out Fun

I found a box of tags the other day when going through some stuff in my studio.
I made this picture to use when playing phone tag.
Feel free to save and reuse.

GFV Chocolate Chip Bars

Made these last night and got rave reviews from the Mr.
They are gluten free and vegan but are by no means low fat or low calorie but they sure are delicious.

GFV Chocolate Chip Bars
Preheat oven to 350.
Grease a 9x11 baking pan - I just wiped mine with the buttery sticks wrapper.
::  1 Cup Melted Earth Balance buttery sticks
::  1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
::  2 Cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
::  1/2 tsp. Xanthan Gum
::  1 tsp. Salt
::  1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
::  1/2 Cup White Sugar
::  1 bag vegan Chocolate Chips

Sift dry ingredients together in a bowl.
Add melted "butter" and vanilla and mix until everything comes together.
Add chocolate chips and mix again.
Press into baking pan.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.
Cool, cut and enjoy!

Garlic Saver

I don't know about you, but I never go through an entire head of garlic and I hate throwing it away! So I devised a plan and so far, so good!

Here is what I did:

• On a solid surface lay the head of the garlic down with the point facing up.
• With a heavy bowl - bash the entire head and it should seperate or even come apart pretty easy.
• Pull the cloves off of the head and put them in a stainless bowl.
• Take a second stainless bowl and put it on top of the other (opening to opening so it looks like a globe).
• Shake it violently - you can count this as cardio for the day if you would like, I won't tell.
• When you peak inside - most of the skins should have come right off of the garlic!
• Take out the peeled cloves and keep shaking the remaining until the skins are off.
• Put peeled cloves in a small jar.
• Add a spring of thyme or rosemary if you want.
• Cover everything completely with olive oil.
• Close jar and store in a dark, dry place.
• When you need a clove fish it out with a fork and use it.
• The cloves will last a loooong time as long as they are covered in the oil.
• When the cloves are gone, use the oil for something yunmy. As my garlic disappears, I like to sprinkle a spoonful of the delicious golden garlic oil on popcorn!

Yes, I buy this brand of jam because I love to reuse the jars!

Kitchen Inspiration

French music inspires me in the kitchen, always has. Stacey Kent, Edith Piaf, Serge Gainsbourg, you name it - if it's French, it's playing when I am cooking dinner.  I sing along mostly knowing what the words mean (thanks to Madame Ogle, my High School French teacher) the others I just mimick (one of my secret talents).  I have always had a love for international music - I am also a lover of Arabic and Greek music. I can sing an entire Greek pop song and have no idea what I am saying which I think is pretty funny!

Besides my new La Chamba pot mentioned in my last post, my boss also got me a great knife for Christmas that has left me chopping as fast as Jaques Pepin (again with the French).  New tools lead to kitchen inspiration, wanting to try new recipes and venture out a bit but I am telling you - that pot beckons me each week to make a one pot meal and I always follow. This week's was a doozy and so delicious. The Mr and I each ate two bowls full and he even took some for lunch today! SCORE! Luckily he doesn't have a picky palette and is willing to try anything.

I got the recipe here - check it out, make it and get ready to taste something so lovely and warm.  I added an entire bunch of Tuscan Kale (stripped of the spine and chopped). I also served mine with some steamed jasmine rice on the side of the bowl. My mouth is watering now and I must heat some for lunch.

See that turmeric there? I had to buy it at Safeway - ech! It is organic at least and no harm done - unless you count that I left Korra out of her crate while I ran down the hill and when I came back the cat food was mysteriously gone. She was still in her bed, but licking her chops...sneaky little pup.

What inspires you in the kitchen?

La Chamba

Let's act like I have not posted in over and month, kiss and make up and just move forward.

I have to share my new love...my La Chamba casserole dish with lid that I got for Christmas from my parents. I wanted something multipurpose and this is the best! I can make soup or beans in it on the stove stop and also bake in it, in the oven. It is gorgeous as well. Nice and deep and about 4.5 quarts so good size for 2-4 people.

More information here Toque Blache.

So far I have made my pinto beans ole, roasted tomato & rosemary soup with kale & potatoes and a cannellini bean stew (no link, I didn't write the recipe yet).  They all have been wonderful and cooking in this pot always makes me happy.

Next time I make the Cannellini Bean Stew I promise to share the recipe because it was delicious!

So Many Outlets

With so many social networks out there it is hard to keep up.
I have to admit a lot of my time spent on pinterest, twitter, facebook and instagram.  They are all quick and fun to use and easy to get sucked into.
With that said, that explains some of my absence from this blog.
The other reason is my writing project. I am finally making some good headway and once I am inspired to write, I have to write which has made this little place on the web fall along the wayside per sea.

I hope to post more this year even if it is something completely random that I want to share. I hope everyone is having a good new year so far.

BayLee Singing by the Tree

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I got a wild hair and put on Christmas music the other day (which I usually don't like) and decorated my house.  Everything seems so early this year since Thanksgiving was earlier than usual - seems like the weekend after Thanksgiving is usually the first weekend in December but not this time. I have never been this far along by the end of November.  Kind of nice for a change. I am trying to embrace the holiday's this year. I have had too many bummer holidays to be honest. Here is a sneak peak - not too much this year, but enough to make it seem like the holidays. Not so great photo of my wee tree, it was dark in the room and I didn't want the flash used.

My vintage skaters had to go up, every year I must have them to honor my Aunt Mary who was so kind to give them to me - I even put up the lights!

I love my kitchen shelves that my Dad put in, they are a great place to stash little holiday things.

I even was motivated enough to swap out my dishes...yes, I have holiday dishes.  I don't get them out every year, but wanted a change so I did it this year.

Nothing says your old like bringing up boxes of decorations from the basement and putting them back down there once you have taken out what you want to use. For those of you who have seen it, I have a tiny staircase to my basement that curls on the way down which is a little scary when you are carrying things. But I did it! Phew!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving.
I hope you all had a great day.
Small and simple here at our house since Tim had to work.

I didn't keep gluten free but I did stay vegan and it was super yummy.
Here is a sneak peak...started off making a pumpkin pie on Wednesday night.

Still had the baking bug, so I made some rosemary rolls - this recipe plus rosemary salt on top (mix 50/50 salt and rosemary with a mortar and pestle).

Then came the real food - I decided to make stuffing and added sauteed onion, celery, apple and kale.

I also made some cheezy garlic mashed potato casserole, steamed green beans and veggie gravy. Oh, don't forget the cranberries.  I love this meal so much, I could have it every day!
Hope you all had some great food and fellowship.