Off to a Good Start

Posted on September 13, 2009 by Katharina

I’ll start this post off the same way I start my day – with breakfast!

: I baked some lemon poppyseed mini-muffins.

I tried some samples of the Artisana nut butters. I’m going to make a bold statement right now, but I’m just gonna go right ahead and put it out there. I haven’t tried all of the samples, but I feel that I can officially say that these nut butters are the bomb! If you’re a nut butter person, you will love these no questions asked. The nuts are all ground to perfection and have such a great consistency. I can actually taste each nuts’ unique flavor! I’m using the word “nuts” too much! So let’s move on, shall we?

: A delicious bowl of Zoe’s Honey Almond granola with extra almonds, coconut shreds, and mango over yogurt.

Next up is a recipe I got from a website called Culinary Competitor: Vegetarian Black Bean Chili with Bulgur.

: The chili with a dollop of sour cream and cilantro, and a side of buttered peas and…

I also got to try something new! A Vitalicious Golden Corn VitaTop. I’ve always wanted to try this flavor because I love cornbread and these VitaTops just look so dainty! This was really good, and went perfectly with my meal. Oh gosh, almost forgot to review the recipe for you guys. TRY IT! I loved the addition of bulgur, which made it heartier. Eat it with some cornbread, or if you’ve got one of these yummy Tops on hand. I’m getting bossy! But for real guys…

Since we’re on the topic of VitaTops, I’ve been able to try a couple more flavors out.

: Double Chocolate Dream – those are white chocolate chips.

Doing it up photo collage style like Angharad! I admit that I was hestitant to try these because I read the words “double chocolate dream.” And for the most part, I’m not a big fan of double chocolate anything. However, I do love white chocolate and I think the addition of those chips really made it awesome. Not to mention this was warm, pillowy, moist, and gooey!

: About to enjoy bite number two… after I put the camera down!

: I decided to try another uber-chocolate flavor…

Deep Chocolate! I didn’t like this one as much as the one with white chocolate chips. But I did enjoy the melted chocolate! For some reason I look yellow in that picture (flash?). I’ve also tried the brownie, and I was happy that they were bigger than the VitaTops. The only complaint so far that I have about the VitaTops is that they’re just a few bites of goodness. I guess that’s the trade off? For myself, I enjoy these as part of a yummy snack, or an extra to my meal. If I were having these as part of a breakfast I would definitely have to have two. I’m not a calorie counter, but I do know that my breakfast carbs have to be over 100 calories… unless I want to be hungry again in an hour. I actually have a question regarding morning hunger, that I’ll get to on another post. Anywho, I’d imagine that these are wonderful for dieters because you don’t have to “splurge” to have a flavorful treat (they don’t skimp on flavor). You can have your cake, and eat it too! (Any cake really, whatever your little tastebuds desire!)

Let’s see… what else have I been eating lately? Oh! The other day I marinated some tempeh to make a “BLT”. If any of you guys have any awesome tempeh recipes, please, send them on over!

: This meal just looks funky!

: Close-up

I just followed this recipe for the tempeh marinade.

: This one I decided to glaze with maple syrup.

First Friday was awhile ago over here in my corner of the world. First Friday is when the galleries around here show off the new works they have up, and tons of people walk around and take it all in. Sometimes you see some real characters – the area’s eccentrics. Love it! Anyway, as you all know Matilda is practically attached to my hip so of course she went to this event with me! No one at any of the galleries has ever objected. I think it’s because she’s so freaking cute. But here are some pictures after the art and a show.

: My friend calls her “little bean”… “get back in your can.”

: I spy a 40!

Another furry friend!

Matilda would be so jealous if she saw this picture up. I think Sophia looks funny with her bat wings and squinty eyes. This was the night my entire zipcode experienced a blackout, so I went to my friend’s house. When the power came back we watched this murder mystery called Brick. This movie was so classical in the way it was shot… don’t really see mystery films made this way anymore.

Back to some more eats! The other day I was at the bookstore browsing through magazines that I didn’t want to pay for. I had my handy dandy Moleskin and copied down an interesting recipe I saw in a Vegetarian Times issue: ginger-miso yam wraps. This was my first time trying collard greens, and I tried them RAW!

: Look how pretty!

This was so nice to look at and prepare. Collard greens remind me of the Cabbage Patch Kids. I made a slight change to the recipe, and poured in some coconut milk.

: Filled with so much goodness.

: with a side of carrots sautéed in coconut oil and later toasted some coconut shreds and cinnamon.

: Some more mock tuna goodness.

I decided to add some variety to my eats by getting a bag of tortilla chips. Yay! I wish I had a cheese grater so I could make nachos. Well, I kind of made some the other day by cutting squares to put on each chip haha. But I prefer a messy, melted, gooey explosiong when it comes to nachos.

Then I added some goat cheese after I started eating...

I happened to be reading Janetha’s blog while I was eating this, and saw that she made a tuna melt sandwich with goat cheese. Awesome idea, girl!

An apple, cheddar, "bacon", and roasted onion sandwich.

An apple, cheddar, "bacon", and onion sandwich.

I also spread some pumpkin butter on this great bread. This spelt bread tastes really good – perfect for sandwiches. On the side I sautéed some yellow squash in coconut oil and toasted some coconut shreds. To melt the cheese I put my sandwich in the toaster oven since I don’t have a griller. The crispness from the apple and onions, the crunch from the bread, and the smoky “bacon” with cheddar were awesome all together!

A chocolate banana pop.

Oops! It looks like I didn’t really clean the mold that well… there’s some OJ at the tip. For these pops I just added some chocolate sprinkles to the warm, melted banana + coconut milk/shreds mush. Naturally, the sprinkles melted and spread their love throughout. I love the creaminess of these pops, and the texture the coconut shreds add to them as well.

A cup of hot cocoa made with coconut milk and some cinnamon.

Do you love the foam? I use the chocolate tablets that you have to put in the blender with boiling milk. Nothing beats my grandma’s hot chocolate though. She does it the old-fashioned way by boiling the milk on the stove. Then she pours it into her old tin pitcher and gets to crackin’ with her over-sized pestle to crush the chocolate. Then she whirls it around to make it foamy. My grandma has such strong arms: hot cocoa to strength train = lots of great hugs for the granddaughter.

So now the moment you’ve all been waiting for! It’s time to announce the winner of the U.S. Mills giveaway. First off, I loved reading everyone’s ideas – most of you enjoy it with yogurt and fruits. If you haven’t tried it yet, I suggest you make peanut butter balls by just coating a blob of peanut butter in cereal. Example, if you guys have a cereal that tastes corny you can also add in some coconut shreds to the peanut butter blobs. Anyway, I’m like an annoying commercial right now when all you want is to get back to the show! Okay, okay, and the winner is…

Aileen!

Congrats girl! I’m going to send you an e-mail to notify you. Thank you all for participating. I hope you all enjoyed it, and maybe some of you with a gluten intolerance now know there are cereals for everybody! Moreover, I was able to stumble on to some blogs I haven’t read before – maybe I should have more giveaways?

I hope you all enjoy the rest of your Sunday, and don’t forget to give yourself some TLC.

Marching to the Beat of Your Own Drum

Posted on July 4, 2009 by Katharina

Matilda told me to send you all kisses!

In my last post I wrote about doing things that suit you. I feel like this has been an interesting topic for discussion in the blogging world. People are trying out new ways of eating, and seeing what works for them. I think that’s wonderful that people are a) trying out something new, b) becoming more aware of what their bodies can or can’t handle, and c) listening to that internal cue. What I like to do is read about different takes on food, and add it to the filing cabinet in my brain – either it stays in a folder, or I apply it to my own little thang. Often times it’s hard to listen to ourselves because we’re bombarded with things telling us “this is the right way”,” what you’re doing is wrong!” Infomercials anyone? Anyway, I’ve been very curious about food for awhile now, but before I use to be very shy about trying new things. Of course part of the reason was that I didn’t cook. I just ate what was put in front of me. If I didn’t like it then I made a fuss. Okay, okay get to the point already! What I’ve learned works for me so far is… almost everything! The only dietary limit I put on myself is no meat, chicken, or fish. I wouldn’t really call my decision to be vegetarian a “limit” though, I see it as more of a personal choice. Vegetarianism has actually opened so many culinary doors for me, that’s partly why I’ve been able to stick with it for nearly 7 years. I haven’t gotten bored or frustrated! I also know that my tummy can’t handle eggs, or cow’s milk – unless it’s in yogurt form, and cheeses are kept to a minimum. However, I know that if I were to cut out dairy completely, the low level of tolerance I have for it already, would probably diminish to nothing. And I love cheese and yogurt too much! Another example for me is pasta. I use to have a horrible time digesting it. But I’ve learned that in smaller amounts, I can handle it just fine. My mom on the other hand can barely tolerate flour breads and pastas. For the most part, she is very adamant about not eating foods she knows will cause her trouble afterwards – but sometimes things just taste too good to pass up. My dad is lucky and was born with a stomach made of steel. He can handle anything! My uncle is a wonder to watch while he eats. I usually don’t watch people eat, but this is like a show I swear! For breakfast he will have a jug, yes a jug, filled to the brim with oatmeal and topped with fruits. Then he’ll have a massive plate entirely covered with rice, eggs, and fish. But his body needs that for fuel since he’s an athlete. He knows that if he were to eat less than he does, he can forget training because his body won’t run on anything less. So, as you can see, everyone is different. Food can spark curiosity in people, but sometimes it gets a bad rap. I hope for you all that food is not seen as the enemy, just remember to stay true to yourselves – and your tastebuds!

Okay, so enough of that! On to something visually digestible.

Check out those huge kernels! This corn hails from Bogota, Colombia.

Check out those huge kernels! This type of corn hails from Bogota, Colombia.

I thought this deserved it's very own plate.

I followed this recipe to make Black Bean and Rice Cakes with Chipotle Remoulade and Roasted Corn Salsa. I was surprised that my attempt at making cakes actually worked!

Mixing it up with a black plate.

Over the French green beans I made a quick sauce out of Dijon mustard, almond oil, some sugar, roasted garlic, rice wine vinegar, and s&p. It tasted wonderful with the green beans! Oh, some 411, (my dad wasn’t aware of this) remember to boil your green beans!

The other day I got a knock on the door just as I was about to leave to make my delivery. “UPS!”

A package from Amazing Grass!

I got some more goodies to review. So far I’ve tried one of their GREENSuperFood packets. At first I thought I wouldn’t enjoy it, and I was preparing my army of tastebuds for defeat. My army was surprised with another victory! I mixed the powder with orange juice, so I know that combination is a winner. However, I couldn’t imagine just mixing this with water. Blegh! They have flavored varieties as well, but I haven’t tried those yet. I, of course did my taste test in the convenient cup they sent me. Thanks guys! You can check out what they have here. I’m looking forward to trying out more things. I have a trip coming up this week, and I think these will come in handy since I’ll be kitchen-less and on the beach the whole day. I’ve got to balance off the piña coladas and Stoli cosmos with something!

Speaking of my trip, I’ll be leaving on Wednesday afternoon and staying here for some nights. I’m so excited. My family and I have gone on little weekend trips, but we haven’t been on a real vacation in a long time. Even though we’re only two hours away from our vacation spot, it’s still going to seem like we’re away from it all. I can’t wait to wake up, and the only thing I have to do is whatever I feel like doing. I’m definitely going to indulge! Indulge is such a seductive sounding word isn’t it?

Two nights ago dad juiced again, so I had some more leftover pulp to work with. What’d I decide to do this time?

I baked a loaf of carrot cornbread.

After seeing Gena’s Guacanara recipe, I couldn’t help but come to the realization that the pulp – being mostly carrots – would be a wonderful addition to a marinara sauce!

It gave so much body to the sauce.

The pulp is basically all fibre so it’s very filling! It ended up reminding me more of a bolognese sauce since it was so thick! I opted to serve these on top of some corn noodles and with some balsamic baked tofu. And on the side I came up with a little something that tasted so much like pizza! It was so easy and quick to put together it could be a perfect snack.

A mini-bagel with muenster cheese, avocado, and some of the "sauce" I made.

Mom approves!

Remember how I mentioned Edy’s Yogurt Blends?

A few scoops of Tart Honey with pineapples and some Zoe's Honey Almond granola bits.

Diva bowl!

After dinner I decided to give myself some more nourishment and put on a French green clay mask.

Another trick I learned in beauty school is to brush masks on with a flat paint brush.

Yesterday I went on an adventure with my dad. We were on the prowl for kabocha, which I will now call the elusive kabocha! I was also on the look-out for some fresh figs. I really want to make a bowl of oatmeal inspired by Eliza and Maya with these little beauties! Alas, I found neither, but I did find some other wonderful things, which I’ll be sharing with you guys tomorrow. Much like Napoleon I don’t accept defeat easily, so the search is still on! Vive la recherche!

I hope you all enjoy this beautiful Saturday and the holiday!

Katharina's Food Adventures

Tag Archives: cornbread

Off to a Good Start

Marching to the Beat of Your Own Drum