Fun With Your Food

Hello!

Hope every one’s holidays were fantastic and full of great food. I was still sick on christmas but I managed to get myself up out of bed for the festivities and some cooking.

As promised, food porn aka the truffles I made. There are truffles rolled in peanuts and the others are sprinkled in coconut. The peanut truffles were made with peanut butter and the coconut ones are dark chocolate with a little bit of a coconut twist. If no one else enjoyed them, I certainly did.

I contributed two dishes to hour holiday feast. One from Fat Free Vegan and the other from Gluten Free Goddess. I was just searching around their sites looking for festive dishes and stumbled upon these two. I quickly scribbled down the ingredients and glanced at the methods before heading to whole foods. Unfortunately when I got back I had troubles finding the actual recipes again so I just did it from memory. I hope these photos do the recipes justice!

From Gluten Free Goddess: Roasted acorn squash filled with a granny smith cranberry cornbread dressing.

The dressing came out marvelously and there was plenty left over to eat on it’s own.

From Fat Free Vegan: Mushroom Barley Soup with Butter Beans. I had some of this for breakfast today too. We purposely made enough for leftovers and I almost think I should have brought more for my family to eat. It was the first thing to run out at the table and people were going back for seconds!

My family does christmas crackers every year thanks to the influence of my english step father . This tug was a draw because all the goodies fell on the floor. Don’t you love Mom’s hat? I was wearing one earlier. You can tell by the “sexy yet messy” look I’ve got going on with my hair.

Now that I’ve finally got the internet working at my parents house I can catch up on blogs. Be seeing you soon!

Teddy

I recently learned how to make truffles in school and as soon as I did I knew they were part of the gifts I was giving out this holiday season. For now I can only the wrapping technique I used (I haven’t given them out yet!)

I’ll come back and post some actual pictures of the treats soon. I’m still sick. I flew home to southern CA last night and I feel about a million times worse. I guess the travel took a lot out of me. So, short post- a teaser if you will- and I’ll be back with pictures of the truffles soon! And don’t tell any of my friends what I made! *Shh* They don’t know yet

Everyone in Austin has told me to that I *must* try this fast food type restaurant. I have to say, I was less than impressed. The service was nice and quick- just what you’d expect from any fast food establishment but I don’t think this lived up to the hype for me.
FreeBirds is the same set up as any Chipotle. You come in pick a tortilla and point at what you want them to put in it and they charge you accordingly. There are a few things that differentiate FreeBirds from Chipotle.

1) Different sized burritos and different flavored tortillas
2) Different hot mild salsas
3) Refried beans- last time I went, chipotle didn’t have them

Yes, FreeBirds is slightly better and not the same as Chipotle. But I still wouldn’t call it great Mexican food. If there was one next to my work I would consider it a decent option for a quick lunch. I am not rushing back there though.

Teddy

Well I’m minor-ly ill here. Sore throat, achy body and a terrible mood to boot. But that doesn’t mean I don’t eat
I’m trying to be creative in what I bring for work lunches. I cooked these noodles and sautéed some vegetables this morning and will be making them into a soup at work with some hot water and miso.

I sprinkled the noodles with some toasted sesame oil so they won’t stick together by the time I eat them at lunch.

We’ll see if the hot water we have at work will be able to reheat this tempeh onion and burdock sautéed from this morning. I’m confident the noodles will be great. We’ll see how the rest holds up.
Have a nice day!

Teddy

Finding quick homemade lunches that aren’t leftovers or sandwiches can be a challenge. This has been the year of the noodle lunch for me. Noodle dishes are something I’ve enjoyed but never really enough to make myself. I think I’m just a rice-lover but brown rice (my rice of choice) takes a while to cook. Hence, noodles have come into my life in a big way.

This tahini, water, lemon and a dash of ume vinegar “dressing” brightens up my greens and creates a kind of faux Alfredo on these noodles. I blanched some veggie and added them for some additional color , texture and nutrition. Some fried tempeh or tofu would have been a nice addition as well.

What are your ideas for quick lunches?

Teddy

Like my new bowl?? Yea me too…

Here how it is- It’s cold (anything under 50 is cold) and that requires soup. Adzuki beans are new to me and I’ve only had them served to me, not cooked them myself.

I wasn’t sure what to do with them so I threw them in a pressure cooker this morning with butternut squash, onions, garlic, sage and oregano. I pressure cooked everything for about an hour while I got ready for work.

I think this dish needs a little more fat in it next time. Now that the temperature is dropping I am craving fattier foods.

I still have a whole bunch of beans left. Any recipe suggestions?

Teddy

Ps- Did I mention I’m seeing Love Actually tonight at the Draft House with Cara? Yes, I AM excited. Thanks for noticing

A friend of mine has been insisting that I try this Java Noodles place for far too long. Last night he came to my house and dragged me down the street to have dinner.

Spicy red curry coconut and tofu soup. WARNING this is SPICY but I like that.
I wanted tempeh but they were out. I’ve noticed that most non-veg places do not know how to cook with tofu. It seems that most of them buy the pre-fried stuff which is not as good because it doesn’t soak up any of the dishes flavors. Have you noticed tofu= not so tasty unless you know what to do with it?

Java Noodles house special.
I would have preferred brown rice other than that, this was pretty good. The veggies were still crisp. I hate soggy over cooked veggies. It had a similar, less spicy, red curry sauce as the soup.

Price- Reasonable: $8-10

Would I go back? Yep. I want to try their tempeh and find my fav item on the menu b/c it’s only a mile from my house.
Teddy

The most important thing first. It SNOWED in Austin last night- for the first time since 2004 I think (don’t quote me on that). At aruond 11pm i heard a commotion outside. When I looked I saw that my neighbors were just excited for the snow that was flurrying down on our cars.

Gourmet Desserts class was last night. Is it a shock that my favorite item is the chocolate truffles? I now have hope of making these as gifts for some friends back home. I’ve attempted to make truffles one other time and it did not go well. The chocolate never set and was far too mushy. I know the secret now… use an oil that is solid at room temperature! Duh- why didn’t I think of that? Of course when I made them over a year ago I used coconut milk (it’s my secret ingredient in too many dishes).

Brace yourself for something odd. Last night I was at work until almost 7 and when I got home I wanted some form of sushi. Of course I didn’t have any rice cooked or ready so what in the world was I to do? I opened my pantry doors and polenta literally fell out at me.

Hmm dare I? Well I did. Polenta (corn grits) take zero time to cook compared to brown rice and all my other filling items would be ready in the same amount of time. Thus I had a polenta, tempeh, carrots and greens “sushi handroll” last night.

Rice is definitely better but when in a pinch the polenta was not bad.

What is the weirdest thing you’ve done to modify a dish? I’d say this is pretty odd wouldn’t you?! haha

Teddy