Fun With Your Food

The Food Network and I are great friends. We hang out all the time, we learn from each other (sometimes I get the feeling I learn a lot more from her than she does from me) and we eat together.

…

Okay. That joke has gone far enough!

No, I’m not actually insane but I did hear about this amazing cake shop from the Food Network.

Let Them Eat Cake

This shop is literally across the street from me and I didn’t realize it. Thank you for showing me the oven light Food Network!
Once inside, I wanted to spend hours looking at the displays and reading the WALL of cook books there. I resisted and walked away with only one chocolate bunt cake.

This is photographic evidence of the quality of the cake.

I’m not one for milk of any kind, soy, cow, almond… I had that hunk of dark chocolate with a tall glass of water, you may want some milk though!

If you’re in town, give it a shot.

Teddy

Avanti Cafe in Newport Beach is a whole in a wall gourmet vegetarian restaurant. Although I’ve said it before, I must repeat it again, I love this place.
Crystal and I were hanging out this weekend and I suggested we try Avanti’s breakfast menu- neither of us had it before.
That days special was south-western crepes with KALAMATA POTATOES. I don’t know why I haven’t thought of placing these salty gems with a starch before but one bite and I was sold on the idea. The crepes were wonderful as well but neither of us could get enough of the potatoes.
I prefer my potatoes salty as can be anyways and this way, I feel less guilty about it for some strange reason.
You can bet I’ll be attempting a home-made version of these at home

Teddy

Red curry with tofu

Let’s face it, going out for Thai food adds up. This girl loves her some good curry. So what am I to do? Suppose I should learn to cook eh?

I have made curry about a handful of times (when I say handful, I really mean about 3 times- if that) and they have been less than stellar. I expected no different this time around- but hey, it’ll save this girl-on-a-budget a few bucks right?

Success! I loved this curry. Perhaps it was the new tofu I used or the added thai basil, whatever it was, I enjoyed and hope I replicate it often!

Teddy

Okay… I have a new love- not technically a NEW love but whatever. COCONUT

We can all thank WholeFoods for this healthy obsession. Leave it to them to make coconut a convenient food.

Coconuts have always been delicious but a pain in this girl’s be-hind to open. I know there are a million tips on how to crack them but face it, you need some sort of TOOL or strength to jimmy them open. Since I am lacking in both of those categories, coconuts are a rare delicacy had only when someone else wants one (preferably someone stronger and with the proper tools).

Back to the main point, WholeFoods sells fresh pre-cracked/opened/what-have-you coconuts! Now… it’s very possible that every store sells this and I never noticed but I’m excited so don’t rain on my parade Either way, I have a great new snack at work with a LOT less hassle

Teddy

This soup is a variation of a sweet potato curry soup I’ve made a couple of times. I still have bunch of pumpkin in my freezer and I need to whittle it down some (to make room for more food of course). The basic ingredients are pumpkin, curry paste, coconut milk and cilantro.

Pumpkin curry soup gave me a reason to break out my NEW food processor again. I’ve been trying to get as much use as possible out of it. Smoothies, soups, snacks, whatever I can throw in there!

Teddy

I made my 2nd ever Pecan Pie a few weeks ago. It was not vegan but it WAS tasty.
Now there is a bit of a dilemma though, I seem to have a bunch of left over pecans.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I should make with them? Or do you have a tried and true recipe for vegan pecan pie? I’d love to try that out.

Happy Hump Day!

Teddy

Popcorn is a great, low calorie snack. I get tired of the plain old butter flavor. I decided to change up the toppings and this time I went with hot sauce. Since I only put a couple of dashes on top, the popcorn doesn’t get soggy.
It’s darn near impossible for me to eat an entire bag of popcorn. I divided into two plastic baggies and then I get two flavors of popcorn! The second bag was flavored with a few shakes of Salt Free Spike.

What do you top your popcorn off with?

Teddy

Today is Whole Foods Sundays and I’m preparing for my weekly outing there with Cara. Today we will sip mimosas and munch on breakfast. Well, enough of all that- that’s for another post I suppose.

I’m not a traditionalist when it comes to cooking. When I was craving miso soup this week and I happened to be jonesing for some onions as well, I combined my two cravings. Thus, above is a picture of miso soup- heavy on the nori and the onion. To make a meal out of my miso I like to add some rice (preferably brown) to the dish.

Be back soon!

Teddy

Now that I’ve officially slacked off enough, I did myself some grocery shopping so I would have fresh cooking ingredients.

A play by play of what I’ve bought is below:

Bell peppers (red and green)
Onions (red white and yellow)
Potatoes
Jicama
Tomatoes
Cilantro
Zucchini
Summer Squash
Spinach
Radishes
Jalapeño
Pear
Lemon juice

Stay tuned to see what I can whip up

Teddy

It’s good to be back! And don’t be surprised if the page changes drastically soon. I have plans in the works