these salted peanut butter cups are where it’s at

it’s not all kale and cucumbers around here my friends, these *vegan* peanut butter cups have also become a staple in this house. they win every contest my mouth has ever held, hands down. sweet, salty, peanut butter & chocolately goodness, a batch of these cures my sweet tooth for weeks days. the recipe was adapted from one in alicia silverstone’s book the kind diet. i’m on a dessert kick my friends, let’s enjoy it! i’ll be back with some meals to balance these out with soon, i promise.

the what:

1/2 cup earth balance vegan butter

3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter (organic, unsalted, no added sugar)

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (i found an organic, naturally sweetened kind at whole foods that did the trick)

1/4 cup turbinado raw sugar or other granulated sweetener

1 cup vegan chocolate chips (preferably the kind that are naturally sweetened)

1/4 cup rice, soy or nut milk

sea salt to sprinkle on top

the how:

- line a  muffin tin with papers. i used a mini-muffin tin and filled it up twice- 24 cups of heaven!

-melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat and then stir in the peanut butter, graham cracker crumbs and sugar.  when it’s melted/mixed, spoon the mixture into the muffin tins. you can play around with the peanut butter to chocolate ratio. i prefer more peanut butter with a thin layer of chocolate, and lou prefers them to be equally peanut butter and chocolate.  we’re so complex.

-in a separate pan combine the chocolate and milk. stir over medium heat until the chocolate has melted.

-spoon the chocolate over the peanut butter, filling the papers almost to the top.

-sprinkle with sea salt and then refrigerate *if you are using the mini muffin tin, i recommend sticking the first batch into the freezer for 10 minutes or so to get them to harden up so that you can remove them and make another batch. i also melted a little more chocolate/milk to satisfy lou’s ratio preference. ok, i doubled the chocolate. he made me.

-there are two schools of thought on how these are best eaten: 1. taken from the refrigerator one at a time, thawed and savored- a classy approach 2. eaten straight from the freezer by the handful, with the occassional bit of wrapper stuck to the cup {mine}.

bon appetit my friends!

if willy wonka made cauliflower

i’m pretty sure it would look like this. but alas, it wasn’t willy that came up with this purple delight, it was mother nature herself. the antioxidant group anthocyanin, {also found in red cabbage and red wine} turned these pretties this punchy color. and you can bet your hot ass i’ll be cooking up something tasty with this beaut! stay tuned….

a fancy treat: blood oranges with rosemary infused honey

some winter days i just need a taste of summer, you know? this is the lightest, most simple and yummiest treat for those days when summer feels oh so far. you’ll forget for just a second that it’s cold outside. or serve it for dessert at your next dinner party, your friends will be impressed, it’s one of those dishes that tastes so sophisticated even though it’s incredibly simple.

the what:

{makes 4 servings}

6 blood oranges  

1/2 cup honey

3 tablespoons of water

3-4 rosemary sprigs plus extra for garnish

the how:

-use a small sharp knife to cut both ends off one orange. stand on board and run the knife from top to botton, cutting away the peel until just the juicy fruit is showing. place orange on side and slice into rounds. remove seeds and arrange oranges into little stacks, adding rosemary for garnish.

- pound rosemary with a rolling pin or the side of a large knife until the rosemary is bruised and extra aroma and flavor has been released

-combine water, honey and rosemary in a pot and heat on very low setting (avoid boiling).  let mixture cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. 

-remove honey mixture from heat and let sit for 10 minutes

-remove rosemary from honey mixture and drizzle onto orange stacks.

eat up!  or, you can refridgerate the orange stack sand set the honey drizzle aside, and bust it them out to impress your guests later

*recipe interpreted from My Favorite Ingredients by Sky Gyngell

 

tested and loved: red lentil coconut soup

just yesterday i was saying that i don’t often bust out a recipe that requires more than two pans or that i have to grocery shop especially for. but this recipe from 100 cookbooks was on my pinterest board, calling to me, for months. so i finally made it and our mouths are so, so happy i did. it was easy. and delicious. best of all, lou loved it too! so i guess i’ll be adding coconut milk and tomato paste to my pantry staples and throwing this one into the rotation. i give it 4 out of a possible 5 stars in the “things that make me want to eat until my pants don’t fit” rating system i’ve been developing since I was 3. make it, you won’t be sorry. (ps- i added extra golden raisins, preferred it with about a 1/4 cup more than the recipe called for and substituted earth balance vegan butter for regular butter)

my favorite places to find foods to make!

yesterday i created a whole new page to share a very personal story with all of you. what i realized after reading comments, emails, facebook messages, etc is that so many of us are in the same boat together! thank you so much for taking the time to write, for sharing your stories with me, for reaching out. it means the world to me. i’m so sad to hear the stories of those of you who suffered for years taking drugs, having surgeries, struggling with western medicine. it’s so frustrating to feel like there might be other answers and the medical community at large fails to acknowledge them. it’s so important to me to get this information to as many people as possible, to prevent more people from going through what i’m reading about in these emails. if you would, please send my story to anyone you know who could benefit from it.

one of the questions that kept popping up was where i find my recipes/ideas for what to cook. before i got sick i always thought cooking involved lots of ingredients, technique, fancy equipment, time, cookbooks, etc. i don’t have the patience for most of that on an every day basis. i prefer to keep a pantry/fridge stocked with grains, fruits and veggies, seasonings and throw things together based on what’s seasonal and what i’m craving. truth be told, i make a lot of dishes that don’t taste that great! but i’m learning, and it’s part of the process. i get excited when i create a dish that’s tasty (like this one!). and then when i hit a creative wall, i pull out a recipe and get inspired! so here’s some places to pull recipes/ideas from (they aren’t all macrobiotic, or even vegan, but there are recipes on each that are…and i often find that i only really need a recipe for the inspiration, i take the ideas and run with what i have on hand /fits my dietary needs). please, leave your favorites in the comment section and i will make a MASTER LIST. yes, a master list. EXCITING! 

interweb:

green kitchen stories

101 cookbooks

my pinterest food catalogue

foodgawker

<—- that link that says FOOD

with style and grace

books:

the kind diet

the hip chick’s guide to macrobiotics

veganomicon

*photo by lou

beet hummus: the best thing since pajama pants on thanksgiving

i know this might not look or sound like the most appealing snack but TRUST ME, it totally is. even lou {who had never met a beet he liked} happily chowed it down. it’s garlicky, a little sweet, and oh so good for you! it’s delicious mixed with salads, on a sourdough baguette, eaten with just a carrot, as a condiment on your veggie sandwich…you really can’t go wrong. i may or may not just eat it by the spoonful when i’m standing in front of the fridge trying to figure out what to make. and on top of all that, it’s easy like kelly taylor. OH SNAP!

the what:

one very large beet (or two medium beets)

2 tablespoons of tahini

2 cups chickpeas

2 medium cloves are garlic

1 small lemon

1 tsp sea salt 

the how:

{this recipe requires a food processor!}

 

peel and chop beets into medium cubes, put into sauce pan with just enough water to cover beets and simmer until beets can be easily pierced with a fork, then drain the water.

combine beets, chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, sea salt and tahini in food processor and blend. add a little water if consistency is too thick for your liking.

if you’re not a garlic lover, leave a clove out and maybe add a little extra salt.

serve any of the ways mentioned above. this is a giant batch so get snacking!