Life Lesson: Don’t feel guilty.

If you are sick, take care of yourself. Don’t feel guilty when you lounge around all day and watch bad tv.

Food: Creamed Blackberry Ginger Lemon Scones.

I love scones. But I am picky when I choose them. And they can be hard to choose.

I had a scone this weekend from the airport. Yes, I know I should probably know better but when a girl is hungry she’s got to eat. Well, let me just tell you that the bottle of water I bought…it was consumed right away. Wow, was that scone dry.

It crumbled the second I bit into it.

I don’t like scones like that.

Enough of my venting. These scones are cakey and not the crumbling type!

It is the egg.

Egg + cream + butter = a delicious consistency!

Creamed Blackberry Ginger Lemon Scones

adapted from The America’s Test Kitchen Cookbook

Makes 8 scones

Ingredients:

• 2 cups unbeached all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons cold salted butter, cut into cubes
• 2 tablespoon chopped crystalized ginger
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3 oz Blackberries

Method:

Preheat oven to 435 degrees.

1. Place flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in bowl of food processor. Pulse six times.

2. Add cubed butter evenly to flour mixture and pulse 12 times (each pulse is 1 second). Add ginger and lemon zest to bowl and pulse three times.

3. Transfer mixture to medium-sized mixing bowl. With a rubber spatula fold in heavy cream and egg until is begins to come together. Transfer dough to a floured surface. Fold until incorporated. Pat out dough to a rectangle. Add half of blackberries to one side of the dough. Fold the side without the blackberries over the blackberries (make sense?) They will squish, but that is okay. Form dough into another rectangle, roughly 3/4 inch thick.

4. Cut into triangles or any shape you prefer. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Add remaining blackberries to the tops of each scone. Bake until scone tops are light brown, 15-18 minutes. Cool on wire rack for at least 10 minutes.

Lemon Glaze

Whisk together 1/2 powdered sugar, 1-2 tablespoons cream (1/2 and 1/2 or milk works great too) and 1 teaspoon lemon zest. If it isn’t thick enough, add more sugar. Spoon over cooled scones.

 

Life Lesson: Adelle Davis

We are indeed much more than what we eat, but what we eat can nevertheless help us to be much more than what we are.

-Adelle Davis

 

Food: Mexican Tofu and Spinach Stir Fry.

Are you looking for a good lunch?

Here it is.

Full of fiber, protein, vitamins and spice!

You won’t fall asleep at your desk after this lunch.

Mexican Tofu and Spinach Stir Fry

Makes 1 hearty lunch portions

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon Olive Oil
• 1 tablespoon Red Onion, roughly chopped
• 1 heaping tablespoon Red Pepper, roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup Tofu, cut into cubes
• salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground Chile Pepper
• 3 heaping tablespoons canned black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 tablespoons Green Chile Salsa (use your favorite store-bought)
• 2 handfuls fresh Spinach
• 1/4 Cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 cup Cheddar Cheese, grated
• pinch Red Pepper flakes
• 1 scallions, chopped

Method:

1. In a medium sized non-stick saute pan heat over medium heat olive oil, red onion and red pepper. Saute for 2-3 minutes, until slightly softened.

2.Turn heat up slightly. Add cubed tofu and a pinch of salt and pepper. Let Tofu brown on 1 side, then flip. Add chile pepper, black beans, and salsa. Stir to combine.

3. Add spinach and cilantro. Saute until Spinach is almost fully wilted. Turn off heat.

4. Serve in bowl, add cheese, red pepper flakes and scallions to garnish. Eat right away when hot!

Life Lesson: Willy Wonka.

There is no life I know to compare with pure imagination. Living there, you’ll be free if you truly wish to be.

-Willy Wonka

Food: Twice Baked Sweet Potato with Curry and Almonds.

If you make this, you will thank me.

I’m snacking on almonds a lot lately and adding them to the top of these sweet potatoes did the trick. It was the prefect consistency.

Silky sweet potato, salty cheese, spicy cilantro and crunchy almonds. I tried to use a lot of ‘y’s’ in that sentence.

These potatoes were large and long. I had one for lunch the other day and I’m going to have the other for lunch today.

 

 

Twice Baked Sweet Potato with Curry and Almonds

Makes enough for 2 portions, 1/2 potato each

Ingredient:

• 1 sweet potato
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt (Greek works best)
• 1 teaspoon medium Yellow Curry powder
• 1 teaspoon Tikka Masala
• 1 tablespoon Cilantro, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated
• 1 pinch Kosher Salt
• 1 pinch freshly ground black pepper
• few drops Sriracha
• 6-8 whole almonds, rough chopped

Method:

1. Bake/Roast whole sweet potato in oven at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until tender to the touch. Remove and let cool.

2. Once cool enough to handle, cut in half. Remove center of potato and place in bowl. Be careful to not rip the skin (it is helpful to leave some of the ‘meat’ inside to keep the sides/skins in tack).

3. Combine all ingredients together. Add mixture back into each potato skin. Sprinkle chopped almonds on top. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until center of mixture is warm/hot and almonds are toasted. Eat while it is warm.

 

Life Lesson: Network.

Networking is a powerful tool.

You never know who your friends know. Their friends have more friends too…..

Food: Gingered Chinese Five Spiced Eggs with Spinach.

Popeye called me the other morning.

Asked me where spinach was in my diet.

I decided to reply with this!

This is good. So good, that I didn’t even need a mid morning snack. It kept me going all morning…until 12:01!

No cheese? I know, no cheese. It really didn’t need it.

Gingered Chinese Five Spiced Eggs with Spinach

makes 1 serving

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tablespoon butter
• 2 slices white onion
• 1 handful of spinach, cleaned and dried
• 3 eggs
• 2 tablespoons milk
• small pinch of Chinese Five Spice
• 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (2 grates on the microplane)
• 1 pinch Red Pepper Flakes
• 1 pinch of freshly chopped parsley
• Salt and Pepper

Method:

1. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and saute for 2 minutes. Add spinach on top of the onions – cook for 30 seconds, until just beginning to wilt.

2. Scramble eggs, milk, chinese five spice, ginger, red pepper flakes and parsley together. Sprinkle in some salt and pepper. Add to the onion and spinach mixture. Cook until it reaches desired consistency – I like my eggs cooked – so a little dry.

3. Serve right away!

*After the first bite, I added another pinch of red pepper flakes and Kosher Salt..you can see that in the below picture!

 

Life Lesson: The secret.

The secret of happiness is to count your blessings while others are adding up their troubles.

Food: Soba Noodle and Tofu Soup with Baby Bok Choy.

I had this for lunch and dinner. In one day. It is that good.

Talk about refreshing. I had the beginning of a cold or the end of a cold – I have felt ‘stuffed up’ for the last couple of weeks, so I’m not sure if it is coming or going. Don’t be worried about me. I’ll live.

Back to the soup. It made me feel so much better. The fresh ginger (I just typed fresh finger :)), soy and hoisin kicked the ‘stuffiness’ out of my system. Plus the heat from the Sriracha knocked everything out of the door.

Enough of this sick stuff. Just look at this.

I want more right now..but it is the morning, so I might have to wait.

Soba Noodle and Tofu Soup with Baby Bok Choy

makes 1 1/2 quarts

Ingredient:

• 1 tablespoon dried crimini mushrooms
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 1 quart vegetable stock
• 1/4 white onion, sliced
• soba noodles (a quarter – the coin- amount of noodles)
• 1-2 baby bok choy’s, separated into individual pieces
• 1 heaping teaspoon freshly grated ginger
• 1 heaping teaspoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce (low-sodium)
• 1 squirt (or more) Sriracha
• 1/4 of a extra firm tofu block, cut into small cubes
• 1 heaping pinch of freshly chopped cilantro
• 1 scallion, chopped

Method:

1. Reconstitute the dried crimini mushrooms in hot water, in a small bowl. Let sit.

2. In a medium-sized stockpot, pour vegetable stock. Bring to a rapid simmer. Add onions. Bring back to a rapid simmer and add soba noodles. Cook noodles for 4 minutes. Remove crimini mushrooms from liquid, chop finely. Add 1 tablespoon of the mushroom liquid to the vegetable broth and noodle mixture on the stove. Add the chopped mushrooms as well.

3. Then add ingredients bok choy through Sriracha. Mix to incorporate sauces. Cook for an additional 1 minutes or until soba noodles are done.

4. Turn heat off. Add tofu and stir carefully. Add half of cilantro and chopped scallion. Serve in large warm bowls. Garnish with remaining cilantro and scallion. Enjoy hot!

 

Food: Roasted Cauliflower with Spiced Coconut Milk.

Do you like Cauliflower?

Cauliflower steaks are all over the food blog world right now. In an effort to be apart of the cool crowd, I made these. My take..and of course since my current obsession involves curry (and cilantro), I had to add some to this.

Cutting the cauliflower head into ‘steak’ gives this dish more of a meaty consistency…you need a knife.

The caramelization (whoa, that’s a long word) that comes from roasting makes fireworks in your mouth. The depth of flavor that is brings to the cauliflower – that can be somewhat bland – is bland no more!

Love this picture. Look at the detail!

Roasted Cauliflower with Spiced Coconut Milk

Enough for 2 heafy portions.

Ingredients:

• Olive Oil
• 1 Cauliflower head
• 1/2 can coconut milk
• 1 heaping teaspoon ground Garam Masala
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 squirt of Sriracha
• pinch of each salt and pepper
• 1 large pinch of freshly chopped parsley

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Olive oil a sheet pan with sides.

1. Cut the end with the leafs off of cauliflower head. Cut into ‘steaks’, approximately 1 inch thick. Place on prepared sheet pan. Put in oven for 18 minutes – or until browned on the bottom.

2. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Combine the remaining ingredients (not parsley), in a small saute pan. Whisk to combine over medium-low heat. Once a slow simmer begins and it is heated through, turn heat off. Place cauliflower steaks in pan, one at a time. Flip over to coat each side with the sauce. Repeat until all steaks are coating, adding the steaks to a serving plate.

3. Top with parsley and remaining sauce. Eat right away!

Life Lesson: Always Remember.

Always remember to tell the people in your life that you care about….that you care about them. It only takes seconds for them to be in heaven. Hugs. Emails. Cards. Random acts of affections.