BFF Necklace Partners

Do you remember those ridiculously cheesy, and unfortunately clique inspiring, BFF necklaces that everyone was wearing back in the day? Do you remember how wonderful it was when someone gave you a chain with half of a heart engraved with the words "st ends ever"while they proudly wore theirs "be fri for" around their neck? Ah to live in simpler times...Times where a necklace offered you the protection of a never ending friendship. Well I'm bringing it back, and I'm friending my prep bowls. Yes thats right you read correctly, this once sane woman will be BFF necklace partners with her prep bowls. Without these little charming bowls that hold my chopped up veggies I would be lost in a sea of counter space!!

Look what prep bowls help make!!

I have a plethora of prep bowls, and I cherish them all. If you came to my kitchen and borrowed one and didn't bring it back; I would know. I would also call you often and leave passive agressive messages in your voicemail box like this: "Hey this is me, and I was just calling to see if you cooked what you were cooking. Maybe if you need any help cleaning all the dishes... You know just wondering..." Why passive aggressive you ask? Because confrontation and I are not BFF for life. It makes me uncomfortable, makes my face cringe, and possible makes my palms sweaty. That last part hasn't been confirmed, I'm still looking into it.

But enough about all that, let's talk about what wonderful foods my prep bowls help me "prepare"<-see that, that is where the word 'prep' comes from. You're welcome for pointing it out. Feel free to tell your friends what you have learned today. Maybe give them a necklace of half a heart with some gibberish on it while you are at it. You'll be the life of the dinner party..... Alright, no more side bar conversations! For your taste buds I present to you an entree for you and several friends!

Sweet Potato topped w/ Coconut Greens

serves 4 (adapted from thekitchn.com)

gluten free

Ingredients:

4 medium/large sweet potatoes

1 cup quinoa

2 cups water

1-2 tablespoons oil (I am a big fan of avocado oil as of late!)

1 yellow onion (chopped)

5-6 garlic cloves (pressed)

1 tablespoon ginger (grated)

1/2 cup dried golden berries (chopped)

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, and zest from one lemon

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 can chickpeas

1/2 can cannellini beans

3-4 stalks of celery (chopped)

1/2 pound spinach (chopped)

1/2 pound kale (chopped)

1 can coconut milk

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground ginger

2-3 ripe avocados

Cilantro or Basil to decorate

All right first thing preheat that lovely oven of yours to a whopping 400 degrees. Wrap your sweet potatoes up in some foil, poke the wrapped up potatoes each a few times with a fork, and then place them in the oven for an hour. 

Once you have the potatoes in the oven set up your quinoa on the stove. Pour the 2 cups of water into a pot, and add in your 1 cup of quinoa. Bring the water to a boil. Once it starts to boil, turn the temperature down to simmer and cover. It should take about 15 minutes to cook. Once finished you can let it cool off to the side. 

Now the fun part! Get out your prep bowls and lets start chopping! I placed my chopped onions in one bowl, the garlic, grated ginger, golden berries, lemon zest, and red pepper flakes in another. Then I have my beans and celery in yet another bowl. When we get to the cooking you will be so pleased these are all ready to rock'n'roll. 

Using a large pot pour a tablespoon of avocado (or olive) oil into the pot, and add in your chopped onions. Cook on high heat for 5-7 minutes, waiting for the onions to brown slightly. Next pour the bowl in with the garlic, ginger, golden berries, lemon zest, and red pepper flakes. Stir everything around blending all your flavors. Stir continuously making sure your ginger doesn't burn to the bottom of your pot. 

Cook like this for another 5 minutes. Now you are ready to pour in your beans and celery! Keep stirring often and cook the beans for about 5-7 minutes or until they look golden. 

You are almost done, next put the kale/spinach mixture into the pot. Keep up that stirring. 

Once the greens are wilted pour in the coconut milk and add the 2 tablespoons lemon juice, salt and ground ginger. Once you have stirred in the coconut milk add in your cooked quinoa. You don't have to add all of it, but put enough in to create a yummy texture. Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes.

About this time your potatoes should be finished, and you are ready to create a masterpiece. Cut your sweet potatoes in half and plate them. (Be careful as they will be pretty toasty!) Next take your avocado that you purchased for this meal, and scoop it out onto the potatoes, about a half an avocado per potato. The heat will melt the avocado into the potato making you and your friends VERY happy. 

Once you have the avocado down, scoop the coconut greens mixture onto the potatoes. Pile as high as you would like. Then sprinkle with your chopped cilantro or basil (whichever you would like you're the boss) I decorated mine with sriracha as it is spicy and wonderful, you don't need to do that if you don't want to. :)

Sherlock Holmes... the Second

Last night I had a dream that I was a detective at a spooky abandoned resort area, and I was trying to track down a killer. Not only did my bad ass detective skills solve this grimy drama I was also able to save the resort and reopen it. Needless to say I feel insanely accomplished, and probably don't even need to do anything else productive today as I hit my quota with the awesomeness that is Detective Casey. However, I went to Farmer's Market yesterday with the mind set to make something delicious to share...and I cannot let these yummy veggies down!

Gorgeous bounty from Farmer's Market the other day should prove to be useful for this post :)

Now for those of you that are following us on Facebook or Twitter you know that the manfriend and I are doing a raw cleanse. This means that cooking up something in my home would be mean and torturous to our brains. It also means that raw cleanses might affect my dream scape at night....I should look into that. 

So let's talk cleanse for a second: why would you do that? Is it really all that great for you? Where do you get your vitamins/nutrients/anything filling from? These are all important questions that I will let important people answer: http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-2372/How-to-Juice-Fast-Safely.html. This information about juice cleanses is very important, and I hope you get a second to check it out. Now we aren't going full blown into the land of juice cleanse in our home this time, and instead have opted for 3 large raw smoothies as meal replacers and then snacking on raw fruits and veggies. 

This pic is too cool not to share! Yeah juice! Credit: http://jezebel.com/

Enter my yummy little work around so I can do a write up on a recipe, lol! I know you were worried that I might fail you this time around, but let me remind you that you are dealing with a true blue detective. (Sherlock eat your heart out.) I will get to the bottom of the problem, solve it, and be awesome! Here is a recipe for a salad PACKED with vitamins, nutrients, and overall fantastic for your health! Whether you are on a raw cleanse or just looking for an extra delicious healthy addition to your plate.

Insanely Healthy Salad!

serves 2

gluten free 

Ingredients:

2 small zucchinis

1 bunch of skinny asparagus

1 very ripe avocado

4-5 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice

The base of your salad is the zucchini and asparagus. Cut your asparagus up in small bite sized pieces. I like to do it on an angle so they look fancy. Then use a peeler and peel the zucchini long ways. Keep peeling till you have a good amount of zucchini 'noodles.' Place both in a bowl and set aside. 

To make your dressing place the pitted avocado in your blender. For best results you are really going to want to find a very ripe avocado. Add in the lemon juice, and blend. You are going to get a citrus-avo paste. Pour this into the bowl with the asparagus and zucchini, and stir everything together. **Note, if you aren't doing a raw cleanse feel free to add salt and pepper to taste. 

Presto, you are ready to serve your Insanely Healthy Salad. There isn't any oil in your dressing (huge plus), you have used all raw ingredients so your body can absorb all the nutrients (sometimes cooking can cook out some of the vegetable's nutrients), and all the ingriedents are insanely good for you!

Asparagus:http://www.eatingwell.com/blogs/health_blog/5_powerful_health_benefits_of_asparagus_you_probably_didn_t_know

Zucchini: http://www.livestrong.com/article/334127-the-health-benefits-of-zucchini/

Avocado: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=5

Lemon: http://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/fruit/health-benefits-of-lemon.html

Delish!

Bringing NYC Ramen Home :)

I recently was in NYC for a week and began a love affar. The kind you read about in novels....well novels that have recipes, and brightly colored pictures of food...like a cookbook novel. The food in that city is devine, and the creme-de-la-creme was the Japanese food -> Ramen! I'm not talking about the $0.12 bag of instant salty noodles you find on the bottom shelf at any quickie-mart that make you gassy and feel self-loathing after eating. No, no, I am talking about the deeply satisfying, cooked to perfection, overflowing flavorful soup that you can only really find at a true Japanese restaurant.  

Look how cute the avocado acts as the "egg" with the corn as the "yolk" in traditional ramen :)

Now, you could quite possibly be asking yourself "I am fairly certain ramen is a pork based soup, what is this vegan lady ranting about?" Well yes, you would be correct, it is a pork based broth with large amounts of said pork used as a topping in the soup. I was told that I would never fully appreciate the joy of ramen if I didn't eat the pork filled version. However, I am stubborn (and also quite squeamish when it comes to the idea of eating pork) and I fell in love with the vegan/veggie friendly versions of this soup. This was much to the chagrin of my dining companions. Ah one of the many joys of ordering food as a vegan...

I wanted to prove that a person opting to not eat pork can not only enjoy this soup at a restaurant, but also in their home!! Enter my grand master plan to bring this soul warming, belly filling, fantastical delight to my home kitchen. This plan brought me to the local Asian Food Market (a.k.a my new favorite establishment) and opened my eyes to trillions of tasty treats! Most of these treats, however, were labeled in languages I will probably never master (forgive my ignorance) and I had to pester a kind woman working there to walk with me to help pick out ramen making fixin's. Did she love having a crazy lady as a shadow for 25 minutes... I'd like to think so...

My bounty, thanks poor woman I pestered! Hope the rest of your shift was crazy lady free!!

Yes this recipe is a little out of the box, and will take you to far corners of your supermarket comfort zone, but the end result is well worth it! I can barely stop to type this out as I am shoveling ramen into my face at the moment. And yes, turns out that is hard to do when you are eating with chopsticks. Oh yeah, we're real authentic over here :)

Super Spicy Mushroom Ramen

serves 6-8 people

can be gluten free if you purchase rice noodles (read your labels please!)

Broth Ingredients:

4 cups mushroom broth (I used Organic Pacific Natural Foods)

4 cups water (from your soaked mushrooms)

3 large tablespoons of red miso paste

2 tablespoons sweet rice seasoning

2 tablespoons minced ginger

8-10 minced garlic cloves

Half a stalk of lemon grass cut in thirds (strictly for flavor do not serve with soup)

Toppings:

2 cups dried shitakii mushrooms (soaked in warm water for 30min)

1 bunch of green onions

1 head of broccoli

1/2 a head of red cabbage

1 & 1/2 cup of shredded bamboo

1 can of corn

3-4 avocados

1 package of japanese noodles 

Spicy Paste:

3 serrano peppers

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon lime juice

1/2 tablespoon chili garlic sauce/paste

salt to taste

Oh yes, get ready for a labor of love. But stick with me on this one, you and whoever is lucky enough to be on the receiving end of this dish will be SO happy!!

Pre-Step: Set your oven to broil.

Step one, heat up a pot full of water, but do not let boil. When it is hot to the touch turn the heat off and put your dried shitakii mushrooms in the water. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes. While you wait you can chop up your other toppings and set them aside (broccoli, green onions, and cabbage). 

Step two, in a large pot pour your 4 cups of mushroom broth. Then once the mushrooms have finished soaking drain and take 4 cups of the water and add to the large pot. Place the drained mushrooms in a boil and set aside.

Step three, turn the heat to high on your broth and add in the red miso paste, ginger, garlic and sweet rice seasoning. Bring to a boil for 10 minutes. 

You're kitchen is going to be as messy as mine, nah-nah-nah-nah ;-p

Step four, while you are blending the base of the broth, start in on the spice! Place your whole 3 serrano peppers on a baking sheet and place in the oven for 10-12 minutes. You are looking for the peppers' skin to start to bubble. Once they are ready remove from the oven, and turn it off. Wait for the peppers to cool slightly, and remove the skin. Then cut the peppers open and remove the seeds (leave a few if you want a spicier broth). Place your skinned and seeded peppers into your blender, and add the rest of the spicy paste ingredients. Blend until a paste has formed. 

Step five, carefully add the spicy paste to your broth. I suggest doing it a spoonful at a time and tasting the broth as you go. It gets pretty toasty pretty fast! Also add the lemongrass to the broth for additional flavor. Boil for 5 minutes. 

Step six, add the mushrooms and the broccoli to your broth and boil for 5 more minutes. 

Step seven, cook the noodles in a separate pot per the package instructions. Once they are done you are ready to create your ramen masterpiece!

Assembly time: Pour 2 cups of broth into a bowl (making sure to get mushrooms and broccoli in the bowl too). Add a large bunch of noodles to the bowl. Place a handful of the green onions, red cabbage and bamboo on the sides of the bowl. Cut an avocado in half and place a half in the bowl (you can be adorable and put corn in the middle of the avocado to act like the egg you see in traditional ramen). Also add in the corn to one of the sides of the bowl as well. And TAH-DAH you have done it! A yummmmmmy ramen meal for you and 5-7 other people!

YUM!

A Written Letter of Apology to The Cookie Monster

Dear Mr. The Cookie Monster,

Ever since I was a child I found your character on Sesame Street to be gluttonous and over the top. Your desire to stuff your fuzzy blue face with all the cookies in the world seemed not only selfish, but also a terrible case of eating your feelings away. Every time you would gobble down all the cookies and proceed to lick your ridiculously blue face I was appalled. Please Mr. Monster (may I call you The Cookie?) forgive me for my egregious error in judgment of character. It wasn't until recently when I made a batch of gluten-free, vegan, chocolate chip cookies that I fully understood what exactly fueled your cookie eating fire. When something is that delicious, and is right in front of you, the only option is to devour it completely and stab people with a fork to keep them at bay. <-That last part they didn't show on S-Street, but I can only assume there is behind the scenes footage of this barbaric display.

It is with an extremely uncomfortably full belly of cookies that I write this letter of apology to you dear The Cookie. Please forgive my foolish ways, and please also direct me to your diet coach (as my belly is so full I am not entirely sure what to do with myself).

Sincerest Apologies,
Casey

Yes, that is my written letter of apology to the one we call The Cookie Monster. I never fully understood his obsession with eating all the cookies he could find until recently, and now that I know I fear I can never go back to regular cookie eating. The other night I created my cookie masterpiece! A combination of gluten free flours, maple and brown sugars, chocolate chips, and heaven. This recipe makes about 2 dozen cookies, and I can swear under oath that only one cookie made it to see the light of day. You may think thats not a big deal, but there were only three people in my apartment that night... you do the math.

So I share this recipe with you, and I share a warning with you as well. Do not make these cookies unless you are fully prepared to either eat your weight in wonderful cookie heaven, OR have a gathering of friends that can help you eat the cookies. These cookies have the ability to throw all your self-control not only out the window, but they are waiting outside the window ready to beat the crap out of your self-control, curb stomp your self-control, and then throw your self-control into on coming traffic. The result is you waking up on the kitchen floor covered in cookie crumbs, and a slight cookie hangover. (Maybe I'm over exaggerating... but you at least have been warned.)

Would I do it all again... heck yes I would. These cookies are better than any I have ever had (and I haven't been vegan or gluten free my whole life). Here it is, from my kitchen to yours:

The Chocolate Chip Cookie Monster Cookies

makes about two dozen

gluten-free

Wet Ingredients:

1 cup apple sauce

3/4 cup maple sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 teaspoons vanilla

Egg Ingredients:

2 tablespoons ground flax seed

6-7 tablespoons warm water

Dry Ingredients:* 

1/2 cup sorghum flour

1/2 cup gluten-free rolled oats

1/2 cup sweet rice flour

1/2 cup quinoa flour

1/4 cup arrow root powder

1/4 cup tapioca flour

1/4 cup potato starch

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

1&1/2 cups vegan dark chocolate chips

*Whoa whoa whoa, I can only assume I lost some of you after the second or third listed flour. You are more than welcome to use 2&1/2 cups gluten free flour blend (be sure if it has xanthan gum in it to NOT add more). However, I feel like if you are baking gluten free due to allergy, or for health reasons these are all flours you are going to want to have in your kitchen. Plus when you add in the different flours the taste ends up being much better. I have used store bought blends before and just feel kind of 'blah' about them.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Step One: In a small bowl blend together your egg ingredients. Whisk the ground flax seed up with the warm water till it is a little frothy, and set aside for about 5 minutes. 

Step Two: In a large bowl blend all the dry ingredients except for the chocolate chips. Stir the flours/powders together so they blend well. 

Step Three: In another bowl blend all your wet ingredients including your egg mixture. Stir everything together really well!

Step Four: Pour your wet ingredients into your dry and stir away! Once you have a nice looking cookie dough consistency add in your chocolate chips and fold them in the dough nicely. 

Step 5: Last but not least prep your cookie sheet (with spray or with parchment paper). Using two spoons scoop the dough into golf ball sized mounds onto the sheet. Make sure you are getting enough chocolate chips in each cookie. We don't want one of them to feel left out. Then bake these little cookie loves for about 9 to 11 minutes, or until lightly golden on top. Set on a cooling rack and enjoy. 

I would like to tell you how long you can keep them for, but If you pay any attention to my ramblings you would know I didn't really have to save any... But I'm sure in an airtight container you can keep them for up to a week. Good luck with that! ;)

The Smoothie Series (cont.)

At first I thought 3 posts 3 days in a row would be easy, maybe even fun. Turns out I only have enough creative juice to last me through 2 posts back to back, and this third one is creating such a sense of writers block I'm starting to doubt my brain's abilities. Vanity is an ugly thing, and my desire to appear witty and gregarious to you people is crippling me further. I feel like every sentence I type looks like this: "me want blog awesome, smoothie drink healthy belly happy." 

 Sigh, in a last ditch effort to not become a sad cavewoman blogger that scares you all off I did what any sane person would do... I googled "foods that are good for your brain" and went to this BBC link: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/wellbeing/features/boost-brainpower/1/. Those crafty Brits are saving the day. Blueberries and nuts are both on that list. I formed a plan to mix the two, and finish this post before I curl up in bed and bemoan my failure as a smoothie author. <- This is what bone-crushing reality I could befall. Just think of the therapy bills I could wrack up!

If we are being completely honest, I can now tell you that after I typed that last paragraph I left my apartment, drove to the store, and purchased frozen berries, frozen mango, and vanilla almond yogurt. I have since then, returned home, made a smoothie and am sipping on it now as I type. 

There she is folks, the Berry Brainy Beverage. I don't feel smarter as I drink it through my fancy green straw, but I do like the way it tastes so I am more inclined to continue typing about it. And isn't that what this adventure is all about? That is a rhetorical question. 

Berry Brainy Beverage

serves one self defeated blogger (or one person who likes berries)

gluten free

Ingredients:

1 cup frozen blueberries

1 cup frozen rasberries

1 cup frozen mango

1 cup vanilla almond yogurt

1 heaping spoon full of almond butter

All right you know the drill! Throw this list of fantasticalness into your blender and blend away! Blend... BLEND I say! Then you too can sit by your computer while drinking this delightful concoction. 

Note, this smoothie is a wee bit thicker so you may want to add a little almond milk if you like your smoothies to be sucked up a straw with ease. 

Nom, nom, nom, this one is like a dessert. I am a happy cave lady. Me drink you read, bye bye. <- Whoa, my deepest apologies for the explosion of unfortunate cheeseball humor. It was like a force of nature that couldn't be stopped. Now go forth and smoothie away.