B-b-b-baking: Mini Guacamuffins

I'm going to be honest. I've been feeling pretty down lately, so I haven't ventured far from my books and bed. Today, I decided to ease my mind a bit with one of my favourite things to do - baking. I find it so soothing to bake things and watch them change over time in the oven. Let's face it; science is pretty cool.

I had a couple of avocados I picked up. I've been a little bit obsessed with the idea that they are a "natural butter". Good fats? Yes, please.

So it got me thinking...if avocados are basically butter, they can probably substitute for butter in a recipe for cakes or cookies or something of the like, right? Well. According to Google, yes they can. Luckily for me, I can justify my urge to bake tonight because there's some sort of baked goods potlucky thing at Job #1 tomorrow. Another great opportunity to create something weird that doesn't have gluten, eggs, nuts, or dairy. Challenge accepted.

Things I have learned today about avocados:
- Their creamy texture makes them easier to bake with than bananas (despite the fact that I used bananas as well).
- The taste of an avocado is so minute that you can hardly detect it in a baked good if only using the senses of taste or smell. Unless of course you are a professional food person. I am not, just like many people in the world who enjoy eating things.
- The only setback to baking with avocado is that the green colour sticks out unless you were to cover it with chocolate/cocoa. A lot of people seem to have done this, but I'm not as bothered about the green. The green is kind of faint... It can look really pretty when incorporated into a chiffon cake like Kirbie's Cravings did.

Today was all about trying new things...
I made mini cupcake/muffins.
I baked the mini muffins in candy cups. (Because I felt like I could buy a very nice dinner for the price of a Wilton 24 Mini Muffin Baking Pan.)
I used chia seed egg replacers. (Because flax is still gross.)
I made gluten-free, vegan muffins.

Serenity...

They came out looking kind of like little green brioches. I ate one to make sure it didn't taste bad. It didn't :)

Avocado Banana Mini Muffins (adapted from Gluten-Free Goddess)
*Celiac and Vegan-Friendly*
1 avocado
1 banana
1 cup golden yellow sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 chia egg replacers
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp table salt
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum

*Of course, you can always use regular eggs or other egg replacers instead of chia seeds. As well, you can substitute other types of flour in place of the rice flour and starch. If you use any gluten-containing flours, you won't need xanthan gum.

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Line a 24 mini muffin tin or spread 24 paper candy cups on a cookie sheet.

• I was a little bit cautious because of all the new things I was trying all in one go, so I only baked 12 at a time in a deep dish (in case it exploded or something crazy like that).

2. To make chia egg replacers, put 2 tbsp of chia seeds in a cup with about 6 tbsp of warm water. Let stand until ready to add eggs.
3. Mash or puree avocado until smooth and creamy, and mix in sugar until combined.
4. Mash banana and add it to the mixture. (You don't have to add the banana. I was just unsure of how the pure avocado taste would come across, so I added the banana. I was thinking about leaving it out at first, but maybe green muffins are scary enough as it is.)
5. Add vanilla to chia egg replacer, stir, and add to wet mixture.
6. Sift all dry ingredients together into another bowl, and add half of it to wet mixture, folding until just combined. Add and incorporate 1/4 cup soy milk. Repeat with remaining half of flour mixture and soy milk.
7. Fill mini muffin tins/candy cups until level and bake for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

• The first 5 minutes are kind of suspenseful because you don't see a whole lot going on. 7-8 minutes in, they start blooming from their cups.

8. Enjoy your gluten-free, egg-free, nut-free, dairy-free mini muffins!

-M

Cardio and Cooking: Summer Rolls Before It "Falls" (ba dum tish!)

I wanted to try something new today. I decided to pay tribute to summer before autumn officially hits, after being inspired by one of my new favourite food blogs, Broke Ass Gourmet. First of all, I love the title. Secondly, in addition to your typical recipe prep and cook times, the author, Gabi also provides her readers with the individual costs of each ingredient she has used. It goes to show that you don't have to spend that much to eat well and I like that idea :D

Things I have learned today about summer rolls:
- They are called summer rolls. I've always just called them salad rolls because that's what the English on menus in Vietnamese restaurants say.
- They are a super fast, easy, and inexpensive lunch idea! Ideal for students ;P
- They will magically transform into spring rolls if fried (or baked)!

I wish I could have put all the typical fixings in them (i.e. carrots, glass noodles, beansprouts, cilantro, shrimp, etc.) but I didn't have any of those things at home. I just decided last night that I wanted to make them, which is about as convenient as most of my ideas are. So. Mine were what you would call more...improvisational...and..."contemporary"...?

So, I saw that Gabi had used avocado in her rolls. I happened to have a ripened avocado~ (And I was not going to make the same mistake as last time where I put the whole thing into a blender and smoothie-fied it.) I also have this thing where I need to keep an aesthetic balance in terms of colour. I thought of using a peach instead of mango because it's...kiiind of similar? :/ And then, I wanted something orange-ish. I had no carrots at home, so I settled for...eggs. I don't like eggs, but it looks nice, no? So, there. I ate an egg today.

My first try at summer rolls. I need practice on folding them without tearing the rice paper...

Today's Summer Rolls Version 1.0
(Makes 5 rolls)
Half of an avocado
Half of a white peach
2 eggs
5 rice paper circle sheets (called spring roll wrappers or "Banh Trang")
Warm water

1. Boil your eggs. After they have boiled, place them into a bowl of cold/ice water until cooled. Then, peel the shell, and slice into halves, and then halves again.

• To boil your eggs, set however many eggs you want into a pot, and fill it with cold to room temperature water just an inch above the eggs' surfaces. Make sure that if you are making a lot, you only have a single layer of eggs in your pot. Don't stack them. Bring to a rolling boil without the lid for a 2-3 minutes, then remove it from the heat, cover with a lid, and set aside for about 12 minutes.

2. Pit, skin, and slice half of the avocado into strips.

• Of course, you can use the whole thing, but you'll just need more fruit, more rice paper, and more eggs. I knew already knew it would be too much, so I used the other half of my avocado and peach for breakfast. I pureed them together, spread that onto two slices of toast, and drizzled it with a teaspoon of honey. Sorry, I didn't take a picture because I was too hungry. It was good though. :)

3. Pit and slice half of the peach into strips.

• If you don't want the skin on the peach, you can blanch it. Do so by adding it to your pot of eggs when the water is boiling, and remove it with a slotted spoon after about 1 minute. Place the peach into a bowl of cold water for a bit before removing the peel, and it should come off very easily. You can do this for tomatoes as well, but tomatos are much faster and take only about 30 seconds.

4. Pour some warm water into a pie dish. Place one rice paper circle into the warm water for about 10-15 seconds until soft enough to use. Remove the rice paper and put it onto a plate to arrange your summer rolls. Don't leave the rice paper in for too long or it will get soggy and tear and die. I found that out the hard way today...
5. Arrange strips of avocado, peach, and egg in a row. And...roll and tuck like Peking duck!
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until all of your ingredients disappear. Serve with peanut sauce or hoisin sauce and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Et voila! C'est magnifique! (But not really...I would say put something crunchy inside too. All of my fillings were soft, so it wasn't as awesome as it could have been. :/)

• My peanut sauce wasn't very fancy. It was essentially melted peanut butter...

So there you have it! I will try again soon enough but with the real goods at some point because I now have a stack of rice paper circle sheet things in my pantry.

-M

Cravings: Thick Toast

I've been having serious munchies for toast lately. Not regular toast though. Fluffy, warm, gooey, thick toast. You know, the Asian comfort food kind.

I could have posted about one of my new favourite Asian snack places, Gama Store (10418-82 Avenue), but that will have to wait for another day because I haven't been pausing to photograph food before consuming it entirely. They happened to be one of my stops for thick toast, not that I have many options in Edmonton to begin with...

I made E take me for thick toast 2 days in a row. I could have taken the time to do some sort of comparison like a thick toast throwdown if only my appetite wasn't so barbaric.

On Monday, we went to Tasty Choice (#107, 2920 Calgary Trail) for toast. According to some other Edmonton food blogs, their toast was pretty good, but after mine and E's experience, I beg to differ. It wasn't bad per se, but it definitely want what we expected. We picked two kinds: I got Matcha and E got coconut. E made the wiser choice...the coconut was better. However, in both cases, they gave us two slices of your typical Safeway bread toast cut in half diagonally, drenched in butter, with clumps of Matcha or coconut topping stuff. E and I both agreed that it totally would have been fine if the toast was thick like it was supposed to be...but in their defense, the menu just said toast and not thick toast, and they did give you 2 slices of toast. Each order costed 3.50 (plus tax)...a little much for what we got :/ but enough to satisfy the munchies.

On Tuesday, we went to Gama Store and it was much better. I picked Coconut Taiwanese Toast, crossing my fingers. Then again, I've never had a poor experience at Gama as of yet. I will do a post on them the next time we go. Back to the story. The toast was thick just like it was supposed to be, rounded on one side instead of square, but I can live with that. The coconut spread was delicious and they gave you a good amount. The inky wilted thing was that the guy put chocolate sprinkles on top in such a way that it kind of resemble mouse poo. But yum. That was the toast that I wanted. Their thick toast is generally 2.50 (including tax!) and they know how to do it correctly, so I'd recommend going there if you're in the pickle I was in.

On Wednesday, we decided to go get a loaf of Texas Toast. Even though Gama had slightly cheaper thick toast, as usual, things are more economical if made at home. Luckily for us, it happened to be on sale at Safeway for 2/$4. I have peanut butter, condensed milk, and shredded coconut at home so I was pretty prepared.

Things I have learned today about thick toast:
- Thick toast is relatively easy and inexpensive to make. It would be even easier and more energy efficient to make with a toaster oven.
- Thick toast is good at any time of the day.
- There are only 2 places that offer thick toast that are not in Edmonton Chinatown. I haven't tried places in Chinatown. I don't even know where those places are, if they do exist.

I ended up making my peanut butter brick toast this morning for breakfast as you can see below. It was my attempt to stay in the lines but satisfy my craving all in the same.

Peanut Butter Thick Toast
1 slice Texas Toast
1 tbsp peanut butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Prepare a small pie pan with parchment paper.
3. Use a knife to score a "#" pattern onto the bread but not all the way through. Just enough to let the peanut butter seep everywhere.
4. Slather on the peanut butter across the surface of the bread.
5. Bake for 6 min.
6. Turn it 180 degrees and bake again for another 4 min. You can also take this time to throw on some chocolate chips or shredded coconut. I didn't have time, and that would easily add extra taboos into my breakfast. :/
7. Top with fruits or whatever else to your liking or eat it as is.

Mmm...toasty, smooth, fluffy goodness...

-M

Cardio and Cooking: "Clean out the fridge", he says.

I slept in a bit this morning by accident, so I needed to put together a quick breakfast. One of my summer go-to's has been the 3-cup cereal routine featuring blueberries! Boy, do I love blueberries...I am saddened that they are almost out of season...but that's why you selfishly stock up on them and freeze them. Frozen blueberries are great on their own, as additions to salads, smoothies, toppings on frozen desserts, and substitutions for ice cubes!

Things I learned today about blueberries:
- You should check to see if there are still stems in your blueberries while washing them so that you aren't surprised while eating your cereal.
- Blueberries might be the only things to get me to eat cereal. I suppose oats are a cereal too...in that case, smoothies will get me to drink cereal, but the chances are increased infinitely if there are blueberries in the smoothie.
- Wikipedia says that blueberries are native to North America! Yay us! :D

3-cup brekkie: 1 cup fresh blueberries (may contain stems), 1 cup Honey Nut Cheerios, and 1 cup unsweetened soy milk.

3-Cup Breakfast
1 cup cereal
1 cup fruit
1 cup milk (non-dairy for me)

Add all ingredients into a bowl and consume before the cereal gets soggy.

If I eat cereal and milk without fruit or other fixings, I will have two bowls - one for dry cereal, and one for milk. When eating it, I will sprinkle a single layer of the cereal onto the milk and eat all the pieces of cereal floating in the milk before adding another layer. I will continue doing this until all of the cereal in my bowl has disappeared. I do not like soggy things. To me, breakfast cereal only tastes good when it's crunchy. Putting oats into a smoothie is a different story because you generally blend the smoothie until it's homogenous and you don't have single gritty grains of oats. I am a very texture-y person. I like foods and objects based on textures.

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Pesto, like most foods, tastes better when consumed within three days of being made. I'd been working through the pesto for my lunches. On Monday, I tossed a couple tablespoons of pesto with a half cup of gnocchi, and the second half of the red bell pepper from my omelette that morning. On Tuesday, I tossed another couple tablespoons of pesto with the remaining half cup of gnocchi, and half of a zucchini, chopped and stirfried with some black pepper. As well, I packed pesto with some spaghettini and the other half of my zucchini for my mom (she likes pesto because she thinks it's super fancy). As an attempt to switch things up, I thought of using the pesto as a sauce for flatbread. My brother, V helped me assemble these beautiful personal pan pizzas for everyone's lunches tomorrow. This required the making of some flatbread...

Things I have learned today about flatbread:
- Flatbreads can be made quickly without yeast, although yeast would provide for an airier, more elastic flatbread. Buuuut...I still had piano practicing and reading to do tonight. (I did do it before writing in my blog, I swear.) Generally, the yeast-free recipes entail cooking the dough in a frying pan or griddle. I could try using the panini press for this too, I'm sure. I remember there being a setting called "griddle".

I think life would be easier with a toaster oven. Some day, when he's not looking, I will steal E's. >:)

My brother is good at topping pizzas. Mmm...

It's funny how the first one we made was the closest to a circle we had. The shape of each pizza became more and more irregular as we progressed... We'll just say they're Neapolitan! That's why no one pizza is the same! I learned that from Famoso. Don't get me wrong though - Famoso is awesome. :)

Quickie Personal Pan Pizzas (based on Griddle Flat Bread from About.com)
(Makes 4)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting and shaping (remember when you follow a recipe that uses flour, that Edmonton is super dry.)
3 tbsp corn oil, plus more for cooking
1 cup water
5-6 ice cubes
2 tsp table salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
4 tbsp pesto (if you use another kind of sauce, you probably want more...It's just that pesto is rich, so less is better.)
4 slices of deli blackforest ham
*Of course you can add whatever toppings and however much your heart desires.

1. Measure 1 cup of water before adding ice cubes so that you actually have at least a cup of ice water, and set aside.
2. Prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Mix flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl.
4. Incorporate ice water and oil into the flour mixture in small additions, until you have a soft dough. You may or may not need all of the water.
5. Divide dough into 4 equal sections. Flouring your hands in between, shape each dough section into a ball, and flatten it into a round disk with your palm.
6. Lightly brush both sides of each disk with oil and use a fork to stab holes on the both sides of each as well. This helps the dough puff up while cooking.
7. Cook each flatbread individually in a pan on medium heat until golden brown on each side, then remove from heat and place on a baking sheet. I put 2 flatbreads on each baking sheet for convenience and efficiency.
8. Once griddled, have your brother spread 1 tbsp of pesto on the top of each flatbread and also have him cut each slice of ham into smaller pieces to put on top of the pesto.
9. After he finishes artistically topping your pizzas, bake for about 8 minutes so that the parmesan in the pesto melts a bit, and the ham crisps up on the edges like..."healthier bacon".
10. Cut each pizza into 4 slices and set onto cooling racks until ready to put away into tupperware containers.

Things I cleaned out of the fridge today:
- Fresh blueberries
- Soy milk
- Deli blackforest ham
- Pesto

You're welcome, Dad.

- M

Cardio and Cooking: Little, But Large

This morning, I got up to run for an hour and a half to make up for my blatant overindulgence at last night's potluck. Then...I felt like rewarding myself with a decent breakfast.

I made use of the egg white from yesterday and made a scramble paired with 2 slices of toast and some juice. Somehow, my breakfast was still under 400 calories?

Things I have learned today about egg whites:
- Only cooking an egg white is almost like cooking nothing. About a third of the egg disappears when you take away the yolk!
- The gelatinous texture of the egg white makes you realize why they are in meringues, macarons, and all the light, fluffy things.
- Without the yolk, it looks like a blob of mucous.

A pretty full-looking breakfast: A glass of Oasis Wild Berry Pomegranate Juice (yay antioxidants), 2 slices of white toast with 1 tsp of margarine, and my egg white scramble.

Simple Egg White Scramble
1 egg white
Half of a red bell pepper
1 thin slice of deli blackforest ham
1 tsp corn oil
Salt and pepper

1. Prepare a pan on medium heat and add the oil.
2. Dice the bell pepper and cut the ham into smaller pieces as you would for an omelette.
3. Beat the egg white and add it along with the peppers and ham into the pan.
4. Scramble until just cooked. I like it when bell peppers are cooked, but still crisp.
5. I can sometimes have a blander palette than most, so be sure to adjust with salt and pepper to taste as needed.
6. Pop a couple slices of bread into the toaster, and pour yourself a nice glass of milk or juice to enjoy with your scramble!

Does anyone else know any good breakfast ideas made with egg whites? Or any good breakfast ideas in general? I'd love to hear about them!

-M

P-p-p-partayyy: Comfort Food Overload

Today, I completely broke all the rules of my "diet", so to speak. I've been really good about it for the past 3ish months, but today, I went all-out on comfort and junkie foods. Breakfast was A&W's Sausage 'n Egger, lunch was a hotdog from the BBQ at my volunteer event, and dinner... Well...I'll just go back to being good tomorrow~

Some friends and I had a nice potluck dinner tonight. It all started last last summer when we all worked for the Government of Alberta and had something called Office Communicator. It's like an internal MSN you can use to talk to anyone else who is a government employee. From there, we created a small group of 5 including myself and would chat every day at work during our downtime. We had a potluck that summer, and vowed to do it again, which was tonight.

I decided to try something new...gnocchi. Gnocchi is like a potato pasta dumpling. It's very soft and doughy, but rich, and rather filling. I had never eaten gnocchi, storebought nor from a restaurant, and after browsing through some food blogs in my daily routine, I decided to give it a shot from scratch! I originally wanted to make a nice buttery mushroom sauce to accompany the gnocchi, but we didn't have mushrooms, and I decided that since I was going with a rich pasta, I should go with a lighter sauce. So...I chose pesto.

Things I have learned today about gnocchi:
- Gnocchi is pronounced, "Nyo-kee".
- There is a reason why the pieces are so small. They are reaally filling. My friend, Joshie even commented that he only had 5 pieces and it was so filling. Thankfully, I only made a half-batch.
- It is also commonly made with sweet potato, squash, or pumpkin, as well as cheese, and other mixtures of vegetables.
- They cook very quickly! Pretty ideal for a quick put-together-dish for a potluck or party!
- While many recipes for other dishes require only egg whites, this one only needs the yolk, so it's a great way to make use of your egg yolks :)
- Pastry cutters make for amazing potato mashers.

Things I have learned today about pesto:
- While pesto is often made from basil, you can use cilantro instead, and probably any other kind of leafy herb.
- Pesto can easily be thrown together in a blender! Like many sauces and dips, actually, now that I think about it...sweet.
- Parmesan cheese is the most expensive ingredient in pesto, second to pine nuts.

I warned my friends of my new food blogging habits beforehand...

I love potlucks!

Matthew's Thai Peanut Chicken Thighs totally won me over...I would really like to get the recipe off of him. I remember him saying that there was peanut butter, Hoisin sauce, soy sauce, and sesame oil. The sauce was so delicious. It went well with everything...

Charlotte's Taco Rice. We made a pot of steamed rice but it stayed in the kitchen because the table was so full that we almost didn't have space for our bowls and glasses. It was so delicious and hearty! Ground beef, onions, red bell peppers, and corn. Mmm...there is something so good about corn...

Janice brought two dishes. One was whole wheat texas toast smothered with aioli sauce. Aioli sauce is like that "chipotle dip" you typically get in restaurants with your sweet potato fries. I can't quite remember the brand that she used. This one had a little bit of a kick from the chilis. So simple, but so good. What a luxurious lunch idea ;P

Janice also made punch from fruit punch, 7-Up, and some frozen berries. Again, something very simple, but it was very delicious and refreshing! I don't remember the last time I helped myself to 3-4 glasses of a carbonated beverage...

Joshie made bowtie pasta with a cream of mushroom soup sauce base, cauliflower, shrimp, and peas. Like peanut butter, you can't go wrong with a good creamy mushroom sauce!

Here are my homemade pesto sauce and gnocchi! The pesto had a little kick in it, I think from the garlic. I think it was a bit lighter than the prepared pesto sauces I've had...I think I will add a bit of salt and pepper the next time. The gnocchi was nice and doughy, but some of the pasta's shapes were slightly obscure. Partly due to my rushing while cooking them, and because I was smart enough to not bring a non-stick pot/pan to fry them in. Not bad for a first attempt, but I think I could make them a lot better than I did.

 Potato Gnocchi (adapted from Food Nouveau)
(I only made approximately half of the batch from what was in the recipe, and it was already a lot.)
2 medium-sized white potatoes
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup all-purpose flour (plus 1/3 cup for dusting and shaping)
1 tsp table salt
1 tbsp corn oil (plus more for cooking)

1. Wash and peel the potatoes. Starting with cold water in a pot, boil the potatoes until fork tender. As suggested by my friend, Joshie, it's probably a good idea to chop the potatoes so that they cook faster.
2. Mash your potatoes with a potato ricer, potato masher, fork, or...pastry cutter in a wide baking dish. A wider dish means a bigger surface area allowing the potatoes to cool faster. Allow the potatoes to cool to room temperature.
2. Separate your egg yolk, and be careful not to break it! You can put the egg white in a bowl covered tightly in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge.
3. Once your potatoes are cool, incorporate the egg yolk and oil until just combined.
4. In a bowl, sift together flour and salt. Add the flour mixture into the potatoes 1/4 cup at a time and mix until just combined.
5. Dust some flour over the potatoes just to coat the top, and add some on your hands. Separate the dough into 4 or 5 sections and work with one section at a time. Roll a section of dough into a finger-width log, and cut into 3/4" pieces. I rounded the edges of my gnocchi because the asymmetry of my cutting bothered me. Continue doing this until all of your dough has been formed into little gnocchi.
6. If you aren't cooking the gnocchi right away, you can store them in the fridge or freezer. I rushed over to Joshie's place, so I just stuck them all in a ziploc bag, and coated them with flour beforehand to keep them from sticking to each other, which didn't really work.
7. To cook gnocchi, bring a medium-sized pot half-full of water to a boil on high. Place 10-15 gnocchi into the pot. When the gnocchi float to the top, they are done. Remove with a slotted spoon and place into a bowl.
8. You can serve the gnocchi as they are, or to make them crispy, you can quickly fry them in a pan or the same pot with a bit more cooking oil until golden brown.
9. Enjoy your homemade gnocchi with your choice of sauce. Some people just like melted butter and sprinkles of parmesan, others like tomato sauce, and others like pesto. It's completely up to you!

Cilantro Pesto (adapted from Little House in the Suburbs)
(makes 2 cups)
2 handfuls of cilantro
2/3 cup corn oil
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup sunflower seeds (no shells)
4 cloves of garlic
$3.19 worth of grated parmesan from Sobey's (I just picked the smallest package - it looked like about 2/3 cup?)

1. Wash the cilantro, and chop each handful into thirds.
2. Peel and chop each clove of garlic into thirds.
3. Throw the cilantro, oil, nuts and seeds, and garlic into a blender, and pulse until almost smooth, but small, green leafy bits are still visible.
4. Stir in the parmesan cheese until combined. I felt that the parmesan cheese was strong enough of a flavour, but you can definitely add salt and/or pepper if you'd like!

Pesto can be a bit rich. As a guideline, I would say about 1/2 cup of pasta will be well-coated in 2 tbsp of pesto.

Buon Appetito~

-M

P.S. You may notice that the second half of this post is different from what it was before...somehow, my blogger mobile app deleted parts, and I had to re-type the recipes. Hopefully, they are just as clear for you!

Cardio and Cooking: Panini-Pressed Nachos

I left the house earlier this morning to buy my textbooks for the semester. I am not one for waiting in lines, so yes, I would prefer getting up earlyish on a weekend instead.

Apparently, while I was gone, my mom decided that she wanted to clean out the oven and stove, rendering it unusable for lunch. Thanks, Mom... I still prefer hot lunches to sandwiches considering how often I brown bag my school lunches. This left one of two options: the microwave...or the panini press. A few years back, my parents decided to redeem their Save On More points in order to get a panini press, which they have used a total of...no times. This also goes for the food dehydrator, the blender, the pulverizer, and the coffee grinder. Who has used all of the above? Hmmm...

We didn't have any bread in the house, and I was too lazy and hungry to go through the 3-hour-long process of making a fresh loaf of bread, so I browsed the rest of our inventory. And...aha! Corn tortilla chips! I decided that I would like a nice nacho cheesy lunch today.

Things I have learned today about nachos:
- I could have had homemade guacamole if I was smarter with my avocado earlier this week... :( Fail.
- Most vegetarian nacho recipes incorporate black beans. I should try that.

Nachos for lunch with a few tablespoons of fat-free sour cream, and a glass of Oasis Wild Berry Pomegranate juice (it was on sale at Save On - 2 for $6~).

Vegetarian Panini-Pressed Nachos for One
(This was a decent-sized lunch for me, but you may need to adjust if you have a larger appetite than a 5'2" Asian girl.)
10 corn tortilla chips
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
1/4 cup corn niblets (I used frozen ones and popped them in the microwave for about 40 seconds.)
1/2 cup shredded part skim mozzarella cheese

1. Heat up your panini press, and lay a sheet of aluminum foil on the bottom grill pan. I turned on the grill/panini option, and set it to medium high heat.
2. Place the ingredients in whichever order you like for nachos. I generally like the nachos first, all the assorted fixings, and cheese on top, but it's totally up to you.
3. Cover the nachos with a metal pie plate, and close the panini-press on it. This makes it bake the nachos without squishing them flat, and makes for easier cleaning. If your panini press is not as stubborn, you can just have the bare top grill pan hover just over the top of your nachos. Keep baking until all the cheese is melted and gooey.
4.  Enjoy with some salsa or sour cream or guacamole and your own choice of beverage!

Happy Panini-Pressing!

-M

P.S. I am so lucky that I used under 1 cup of dairy today because I wasn't even paying attention. I don't handle dairy very well most of the time if it is more than that. Phew! > <
P.P.S. I know that I've been consistent in posting every day since I started this thing, but believe me...it will slow down a lot. Unfortunately, food blogging does not excuse you from research papers and exams. Rats.

Cardio and Cooking: Oreo Smoothie??

No, it's not actually a smoothie made with America's favourite cookie. But it looks like it is! The difference is that it's much healthier for you!

I've told you about my love for food blogs, but I also find enjoyment in watching cooking channels on YouTube!

The recipe I used today was from a Japanese cooking channel on YouTube called "Cooking with Dog". Essentially, there's a lady referred to as "Chef" who does all of the actual work, and a dog named, Francis hosts the show in English, of course with a Japanese accent because he is Japanese. Despite the bizarre setup, Cooking with Dog provides easy-to-follow tutorials for the less experienced quote unquote chefs such as myself.

I made their black sesame smoothie to cater to my Asianized palette this morning. I just happened to have all of the ingredients, so lucky me!

Things I have learned today about black sesame seeds:
- Black sesame seeds actually taste good with banana...
- I don't have to wait until I eat glutinous dessert rice dumplings in order to indulge in the deliciousness of black sesame seeds. Excellent...

Black sesame is one of my favourite flavours for anything dessert-like. Yum...

I thought I would follow the recipe as is but as usual, I didn't. I would like to claim that it's a sense if improvisational creativity, but sometimes I just misread things...

Cooking with Dog's "Healthy Black Sesame Smoothie"
1 banana
1 cup sweetened soy milk
2 tbsp black sesame seeds (because I didn't read the word, ground.)
1/2 tbsp pure honey
3 ice cubes

Just liquify everything in a blender until you find out it's taking longer than you thought since you added whole black sesame seeds and not ground ones.

Enjoy your Oreo-coloured smoothie full of potassium, calcium, protein, and yumminess!

-M

B-b-b-baking: Mocha-Choco-Coco? Chya.

I know this is my second post today, but this was so post-worthy.

(Note: This cannot count as "Cardio and Cooking" because it is a dessert that contains sugar and sugar and sugar and chocolate. This will not help you drop the tummy unless you've been on a cupcake-only diet for your whole life, and you somehow have survived up until now.)

Guys, I have a confession to make...

I don't like chocolate.

But. BUT! I have just made a chocolate cake I would eat more than one piece of. Delicate, dark chocolatey goodness. OH yes...

This week, I was thinking about this can of coconut milk sitting in my basement pantry. I wanted to make Thai Coconut Rice for E, but he didn't want me to, so scratched that plan. Then, BAM! One of my new favourite food blogs from this summer, "How Sweet It Is" (www.howsweeteats.com), has this amazing-looking cupcake recipe for "Mocha Coconut Frappuccino Cupcakes", and it has coconut milk. SCORE.

Things I have learned today about coconut milk:
-You can actually make your own coconut milk from scratch by using shredded coconut, hot water, and a heat-resistant blender, cheesecloth, and a sieve. I didn't do that though. I don't have half of those things, so I went with a good ol' can of Aroy-D.
-Coconut milk seems to make cake more fluffy and light. This is good because I don't have any fancy cake flour, and I have found that the flour and cornstarch trick doesn't totally work. Buttermilk works better, but I don't want a whole big carton of buttermilk. I've already experienced that.
-1 14 fl. oz. can of Aroy-D Coconut Milk is good enough for 2 batches of these bad boys. >:)

It's on a plate. It's just that my stove top and my plate are both white, and they're both clean. Yay for sanitation!

Mocha-Choco-Coco Cupcakes (adapted from How Sweet It Is)
1 egg
3/4 cup golden yellow sugar
3/4 cup (+ 2 tbsp extra) coconut milk
1/2 cup corn oil
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3 tbsp instant coffee
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp table salt
1/3 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a muffin pan with 12 large paper liners.
2. Whisk egg and brown sugar in a large bowl until smooth.
3. Add 3/4 cup coconut milk, corn oil, and vanilla, and mix until just combined.
4. In another medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, instant coffee, baking soda, and salt.
5. Sift dry ingredients into wet ingredients, and fold with a spatula until just combined.
6. Fold in remaining 2 tbsp of coconut milk.
7. Fold in chocolate chips.
8. Use a leveled off 1/4 cup measure to fill each muffin cup. (That lady is amazing! 12 perfect cupcake portions!)
9. Bake for 20-25 min.
10. Remove from oven and space cupcakes out on cooling rack.

Once cooled, enjoy right away, or pack them for you friends at badminton! Whatever floats your boat! ;)

-M

Budget-Friendly Bites: On Campus, Episode 1

Us students are always looking for ways to save money, so I want to do a segment on economical, affordable food places. Let's start off right at home, on the U of A campus. I'm sure a lot of people are familiar with HUB Mall by now...(fortunately or unfortunately).

Technically, it would be much less expensive and healthier to bring your own food every day, but realistically...not gonna happen. Even for me, someone not so big on fast food, I still buy food once in a while because I forget to bring my lunch or my snacks or both.

Today, I learned that 4 classes in one day really works up an appetite. I was so hungry, I had to do that sucking in and pressing my stomach during my last lecture so that it wouldn't growl (as violently). I hate that annoying person sitting in the back seat that pretends not to notice the belching beast protruding from his or her abdomen. I hate it even more when I have to be that person. :(

Back on topic...This afternoon, I decided to satiate my hunger with a salad. In HUB Mall, there are three places that provide decent salads, but of course they all differ in price. I'll do little features on the other two, but today, I opted for the middle man, "The Jacket Potato Man". I know, I know. Sounds super weird. Why would I go to a jacket potato man not to get a jacket potato? Well, this place is run by an Asian lady (big surprise there), and aside from her baked potatoes layered with sour cream, cheese, and all the fixings, she serves a homey beef curry, and a few different salads. The Jacket Potato Man is probably one of the only food places in HUB that doesn't reek of grease and oil and fat.

The Jacket Potato Man. Complete with a tuxedo, fancy shoes, and a hat!

The salad I ordered was a small "Plain Salad". For $5, you get a small boxful of fresh lettuce, crisp tomatoes, bell peppers, green onions, sliced almonds, and these strange little wavy "croutons" reminiscent of an Asian noodle snack. I always order my salad dressing on the side so that if the salad is overdressed, it's totally my own fault. She makes this homemade balsamic vinaigrette that's slightly more on the sweet side. I couldn't really tell what was in it because a) I was hungry and it tasted good and b) I'm not good at identifying things in a homogeneous liquid. It's hard to tell from my picture, but these salads are not pre-packaged. She will assemble the salad right in front of you when you order it! I really should learn her name so that I don't have to keep using generic pronouns...

The small salad doesn't look like a lot, but I always have to shovel over half of the salad into the other side of the box so that I have space to toss my salad in dressing. Not bad for a healthy $5 snack on campus! I will warn you though. I am a girl and I love veggies, so for some of you, this may not calm your stomach a whole lot. But fear not! More good, cheap eats are soon to follow! :)

-M

Cardio and Cooking: Green and Red

This is the first of a segment that I am going to call "Cardio and Cooking". They will be little episodes of my trail and error baking and cooking as I learn more about the world of food!

For instance, this morning, I decided to try something new - avocados. I've had avocados before in things like guacamole and California rolls, but never in a beverage, so this was going to be different.

According to the internet and numerous food bloggers, avocados are a good source of magnesium and healthy fats. They also happen to give things a creamy consistency alike bananas. I don't like bananas very much, but they are a good source of potassium, and sometimes you can hide the taste, so it's not so bad. But from my baking experience, if you don't want your bread/muffins/cakes/etc. to have a banana taste, don't add bananas. Whenever you add a banana, the product will then become "Banana whatever-you-just-made", and to me, that is undesirable :P

Things I have learned today about avocados:
-Pitting an avocado is actually that easy. Just use a knife to slice it down the middle all the way around, swivel the two halves back and forth so that they come apart. To remove the pit, hack it lightly with your knife, and it pops right out!
-Avocados are very rich. It makes for a nice creamy beverage, but like anything, too much of a good thing can be kind of gross. Do not use the whole avocado (like I did...durrr) unless you are serving more than one person.

Hooray for IKEA mugs! Unfortunately, the one glass glass in my house was being used, so I couldn't properly exhibit the magical wonder of my avocado smoothie.

My Avocado Breakfast Smoothie (Makes 3-4 servings)
1 ripe avocado
1 1/2 cups unsweetened soy milk
3 tbsp quick-cooking rolled oats
3-4 ice cubes
1 tbsp pure honey

I just throw everything in the blender at the same time and then liquify. I know...no finesse, but it gets done!

Super simple, but super rich. Seeing as I am the only maker and drinker of smoothies in my house, I will be drinking an avocado smoothie after my morning runs for the next couple of days. I have learned my lesson > <

------------

I only had to work a half-day today, so E and I went grocery shopping so we could make dinner together tonight. We haven't had one of these days for a long time...probably about a year, so it was really nice.

There were some decently-priced steaks, so we picked up a package of filet mignon, some mushrooms, and garlic bread.

I hadn't cooked or eaten filet mignon in a long while, so man...it was good. I don't eat red meat very often because I'm not a huge fan of it. Luckily, I was in the mood for beef today, and well, you might as well go big or go home, right? :P

Things I have learned today about filet mignon:
-Filet mignon tastes good with any kind of spice, even if Clubhouse says the spice mix is for salmon.

Medium-rare filet mignon, white mushrooms, and garlic toast. Yum!

Filet Mignon for Rookies
1. Turn on the broiler. If you need to, set your cooking temperature to 450 degrees F (Does anyone know how to type the degrees symbol? I am a total noob when it comes to computers. :/)
2. While your oven is pre-heating, take the time to marinate your steak if you haven't done so overnight.  Brush all sides lightly with whatever cooking oil you use so that it doesn't burn. Dress with spices you like. I just took random stuff in my boyfriend's cupboards...Clubhouse "Salmon", black pepper, and sea salt.
3. Lay a sheet of aluminum foil on a baking pan, and spread your steaks on the pan.
4. Our steaks were about 2 inches thick, so you may need to adjust things accordingly. If your steaks are about 2 inches thick like ours were, leave at least 4 inches of space between the heat source and your steaks in the oven, and broil for 8 min.
5. While your steaks are broiling, take this time to prepare your side dishes. (I just tossed mushroom slices in some honey, soy sauce, and black pepper. We threw the garlic bread in the toaster oven.)
6. Remove from the oven and flip the steaks over. Broil for another 6 min.
7. Remove from the oven and allow the steaks to rest for a few minutes so that all the juices can run through the meat evenly.
8. Enjoy!

I think this should suffice for a second blog entry, don't you think? ;)

-M

Hi

So. I'm kind of new to the biz - the whole food-blogging thing, I mean. To be honest, I'm more of a bloggee.

More things about myself... I am a full-time student (therefore I am far from being wealthy), I live under a traditional Chinese household, I enjoy sales and bargains, I have two part-time jobs this semester, I play the piano and badminton in my free time, I laugh at lame jokes, and I have a terrible addiction to food blogs.

I love to learn and try new things - new foods, especially. I will be posting my attempts at cooking and baking as a life-training mechanism for when my parents finally allow me to leave the nest. Also, I love supporting local eateries, so I will gladly share budget-friendly places to enjoy great food experiences in the not-so-exciting city of Edmonton.

(I hope you enjoy reading because I write a lot.)

Feel free to share your stories, recipes, and FOOD BLOGS (but preferably not around exam season), and anything else you may see fit!

In case this blog wasn't exactly what you were looking for, thanks for visiting me anyways! As an act of gratitude, I will refer you to an amazing site where you can find almost anything!

-M

P.S. Please excuse me while I learn how to operate Blogger properly. I am not good with computers.
P.P.S. I tried starting a food blog about half a year ago, and forgot my login information. Thanks to Google, I probably will never get to update it ever again. :/
P.P.P.S. There will be a noticeable inconsistency in the quality of my photos because I am not a photographer, and I am slightly less equipped than most food bloggers. All of my pictures are taken with the camera on my Samsung Galaxy SII.