Almon Half-Moon Cookies and Peanut Butter Balls

I was up until 11:30 pm last night completing these two batches of cookies. I finally got the moon cookies right!...well almost. I added more flour this time but I think I added a little too much; such a delicate balance! I also spent half and hour grinding the roasted almonds myself to get the texture and look the same. They turned out pretty good, and after a toss in some icing sugar they will be just like Nonna's!

The peanut butter balls were pretty time-consuming. I probably should have just done half a batch but I wasn't thinking clearly...clearly. I have 65 peanut butter balls in the freezer now. I hope they get eaten at the party in a week and a half. I used natural peanut butter for these which actually worked for once. The only difference is the softness of the ball when you first roll them. I refrigerated them for a bit before coating them in chocolate so they would be easy to handle but they were still a little difficult.

I used dark chocolate for the coating for most of them until I ran out, and then I used semi-sweet chocolate chips. The dark chocolate was definitely easier to temper the chocolate. It hardened much nicer and was smoother when dipping the balls. Also, it is much more delicious. Using a double broiler also made the process a little more fool-proof.

So now I just have one other batch of cookies to make to complete the cookie section of the book. I will probably make those this week so that they can be eaten at the party next weekend.

Tomorrow I will be making one of my favourite dishes. It is a lentil dish from 101cookbooks. I made some substitutions due to what I had on hand and I have been making it the same way ever since. While I normally eat it as a meal in itself, it will make a great side dish for my Mom's 49th Birthday dinner tomorrow night!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Salad Two Ways

Salads are a big part of my daily life. I usually have one, sometimes two. So easy to make, and when made properly can be a balanced healthy meal. Today I had two salads; two very different salads.

The first I had for lunch and mostly contained some fresh baby leaf and head lettuce from our backyard garden. We have so much lettuce sprouting right now. Most of it isn't mature, but can still be used in it's infant stage. I also picked a baby radish. They aren't very big yet but this little guy was mostly out of the soil so I thought I would just pick it. Chives (right) and sorrel (left) also came from the backyard herb garden.

Green Garden Salad:

fresh lettuce
2 chives, chopped
1 baby raddish
1/4 avocado, chopped
5 leaves sorrel, chopped
1 carrot, shredded
1/2 tsp olive oil
balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper to taste

I tossed this salad and sprinkled a bit of nutritional yeast on top. I am really liking this stuff as a topper to dishes.

For dinner I had planned on eating a can of tuna, but wanted to do something different then just eat it straight from the can (my normal fare). I finely chopped up some veggies, tossed in some lemon juice, seasoned, and served in radicchio leaf boats.

Zesty Tuna Salad

1/2 can flaked tuna
1/4 orange bell pepper, chopped
3 tbsp chopped onion
1/4 avocado, chopped
1 piece celery, chopped
6 hot pepper rings (the jarred ones), chopped
dill to taste
1-2 tbsp fresh lemon juice (to taste)
3-4 radicchio leaves

After mixing all the salad ingredients together I let this marinate in the fridge for a couple of hours. I only did this because I had to go out, but I imagine it did the salad good. I then scooped the salad into the radicchio leaves. It makes it easier to eat if you sort of wrap them up and eat them like little tacos.

My day (or should I say evening) was also filled with baking. I managed to finish two batches, and both were a success. I will post about these delicious treats tomorrow.

Happy Chopping

Come One, Come All

I hope everyone likes the new format of the blog! I think it is pretty. I was going to make it food related but this theme made me feel happy just looking at, so I knew I had a winner. I wish I could design every detail myself but I am no website designer and this is blogspot afterall. Maybe one day I'll get adventurous and start using wordpress. I also decided to make the blog public. I am not sure how many readers I will actually get but at least it is out there.

I have the day off today which is desperately needed. Working 3 days in a row on a weekend is exhausting! I am not used to working in general right now. I much prefer being a student and am much looking forward to September. The weather doesn't look so good in Hamilton, and I am quite certain the bike trails are extremely muddy, so I think I'll skip my planned big bike ride today. I have plenty of things to do around the house today as well as make a few batches of my Nonna's cookies! I still have a lot of baking to do for the photography for the book.

On today's agenda:

Moon Cookies - The last batch was a fail! My Nonna told me afterward that they are very tricky to make. The key I think is the texture of the ground almonds used in the recipe. Last time I used blanched ground almonds. The cookies I know and love have speckles of almond skin in them, BUT I cannot find ground almonds with skin on anywhere! I think I am going to grind them myself, even though that is going to take a lot of time and effort. It better be worth it!

Chocolate Balls - Involves a tricky process of melting chocolate to then later harden. Normally people use paraffin wax to do this but I cannot bring myself to bake with it.

I think I will also make more oatmeal cookies and almond biscotti, as those are easy to make, and will be good for my parent's 25th wedding anniversary party in two weeks.

I am unsure how far I will get on this, but I will share my results with you soon!

Something else to look forward too: I could potentially have peas and cucumbers from the garden this week!

Garlic Scape Quinoa with Basil

Finally I was able to cook with the garlic scapes which I picked up at the Locke St. Farmer's Market. This plant is the green portion of the garlic plant, and is therefore also called green garlic. I have never seen this vegetable until this year, but will definitely track it down next season. I removed the ends and also the white bulb end. I am sure this is edible, but most sources said to remove the bulbs. There isn't too much information out there for garlic scapes.

I then cut up the middle curly portion into 2 inch pieces. I took a little nibble and the flavour was strong! Initially it was a mild garlic flavour, but then got spicy. Definitely want to cook these, unless you chop them up and use as a condiment.

A lot of recipes out there use garlic scapes similarly to beans in a stir-fry. I know I said I was going to make a garlic scape pesto, but I did not have parmesan cheese, or the time to make the vegan parmesan cheese. That will be for the next bundle of garlic scapes I get my hands on.
Once the green is cooked it has a much milder flavour, and a similar texture to a green bean. I kept the seasoning to a minimum for this recipe becuase I really wanted to see what these bad boys could do on their own. I added fresh basil near the end which was fantastic with the scapes. I would add double next time.

Garlic Scape Quinoa

1 small bundle garlic scapes, ends and bulbs removed, chopped into 2 inch pieces
1/2 stalk brocolli, cut into bite sized pieces
9 white mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup freshly chopped basil (double this if you like)
3/4 cup cooked quinoa
1 tbsp nutritional yeast



1. Heat the oil over medium-high heat. Sautee the onion for 3 minutes until fragrant.
2. Toss in brocolli and garlic scapes. After 3-5 minutes add mushrooms. Sautee until brown and vegetables almost cooked. Reduce to medium-low.

3. Add quinoa and basil and toss until vegetables soft.
4. Plate and sprinkle with nutritional yeast.

Quinoa is a fantastic grain because it contains all 8 essential amino acids and has lower amounts of carbohydrates than other grains (Edible by National Geographic). It has a nutty flavour and is perfect for adding to stir-fry and sauces.

If you can't find garlic scapes substitute beans and 2 cloves of garlic. This vegetable is nearly finished its season around here so beans it may have to be in the near future. If you don't have the luxury of a few basil plants in your backyard, pesto would be another option (best when purchased in the refrigerated section). Another option is to add sweet corn. I don't know what it is but corn and basil go wonderfully together.

Using the nutritional yeast as a condiment added very little flavour, but did add some texture. It could be substituted with some parmesan cheese, or left out all together. This ingredient still intrigues me and I am really wanting to see how it works in making sauces. This is not the end of the road for nutritional yeast.

Slacker!

I have been slacking. But not ACTUALLY. While I am unsure how many of my invitees actually read this blog, I hope I am being missed somewhat. I have had a busy week with my graduation, grad party, work, and trying to exercise. The last few weekends have done a number on my eating habits, so this week I was trying to get back to normal. I have been eating some pretty plain food, nothing too exciting. Lots of overnight oats, veggies, cottage cheese, and legumes.

I finally tried the popular trend of overnight oats and I was delighted! They really are quite good, and you can play around with the recipe to suit your taste. A good change from regular oatmeal. I have been adding 1/2 cup soy milk to 1/3 cup oats, 1/2 tbsp ground flax seed, and cinnamon. It is also good with mashed up banana (add 1/4 cup more milk).

With regards to cottage cheese, this food has gone from an intolerable enemy to a yummy favourite for me. I choose the 1% fat variety to make it more satisfying. It is good with veggies, fruits, or nuts!

In searching for a post-bike ride high protein lunch, I mixed 1/2 cup red lentils, 1/2 cup quinoa, and 1/4 cup cottage cheese. It was delicious! I don't have a photo for that one, but it isn't very pretty anyway.

I am going to try some new recipes this evening to have for tomorrow. At the Locke St. Farmer's Market I picked up some garlic scapes, which is the green portion of a garlic plant. I also picked up some nutritional yeast at Goodness Me, which I have been wanting to get for a long time. These are both foreign ingredients for me so this should be interesting!

I'll post with the results soon!

Birthday Cupcakes, BBQ Raddichio, Bean Pepper and Corn Rice...and some more

So it has been a week since I've posted and boy has a lot gone on in the past week. A string of McMaster convocations, a visit from a best friend from Alberta, parties galore, and my own convocation finally! I wont go into too much detail on some of the things I've made or else this post would be way too long.

Last Friday we celebrated a friend's 22nd birthday, and I was in charge of the cupcakes. I decided to make two kinds. I have been wanting to make this Old-Fashioned Blueberry Cake from 101cookbooks for a while. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, or whether people would like it, so I also made a classic Vanilla Cupcake with Buttercream Frosting. I followed both recipes completely and was fairly satisfied with both. I make the buttercream frosting purple, and dusted the blueberry cupcakes with icing sugar. The vanilla were a hit at the party.

I read so much about barbecuing veggies and fruit and it often looks so delicious. I love barbecued zucchini and eggplant, but I haven't really ventured further than that. I have seen some people barbecue radicchio so I decided to give that a try. It was really quick and browned easily on the BBQ after brushing the wedges with olive oil. Afterward I drizzled them with balsamic vinegar and it was quite tasty. Radicchio does maintain it's bitter flavour however so it would be best to serve the wedges on a plate of greens.

The next day I had nothing to take to work for lunch and I was again, craving mexican food. So I tossed some olive oil, onions, garlic, chilies, pepper, corn, and black beans into a pan and seasoned with chili powder. I had this over rice and it was quite good! This would have made a great filling for a burrito, of course with some added cheese and quacamole.

I had a busy day on Wednesday, I officially graduated! Afterwards some friends and their parents put together a wonderful potluck celebration and there was lots of great food! I did not think I would enjoy convocation day as much as I did, and I LOVED IT!

I drove home from Waterloo the next day and I picked up some farm fresh strawberries off of highway 52. They smell delicious, and I cannot wait to have some in my oatmeal tomorrow, and with yogurt, and then maybe some more on their own...

My mom and I also began preparing some things for Saturday. While at the grocery store, I picked up some yellow and red tomatoes on the vine. They were good, but I cannot wait to get some straight from my backyard, nothing compares. I chopped these colourful tomatoes up and tossed them in olive oil, balsamic vinegar and fresh basil and chives from the garden. It was very refreshing.

Hope to see you all on Saturday!

Almond Bread Results...and a Big Red Cabbage Salad

Yesterday I tried to find a way to use the almond flour that cost me an arm and a leg. I found a recipe for gluten free bread on this website, www.elanaspantry.com. There are tons of baked goods on this website that are gluten free. Almond flour is often used in gluten free recipes so this was a good place to look. I varied a bit from the recipe since I didn't have arrowroot powder. I used whole-wheat flour instead. The repercussions of this were just a more dense bread I think. I also used maple syrup instead of agave, and white vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar.

It tasted delicious while still warm. It made about 14 thin slices. This bread is low-carb, high-protein and high in good fats. This makes it a very hearty bread that I am not too sure I could handle for use in sandwhiches.

Today I had some warmed up with natural peanut butter and it was still delicious.

I also made a big red cabbage salad yesterday. I really like red cabbage. You can buy a head and make 2-3 dishes out of it. Very economical. Inspired by the cabbage salads on www.101cookbooks.com I decided to make one. I chopped up half of the red cabbage into thin strips and bite sized pieces, added 2 carrots shredded with a peeler, 4 radishes sliced and chopped into thin strips, 1/2 a white onion chopped finely, 4 pieces of celery chopped up thinly, and some mushrooms sliced thinly. The thinner and smaller the veggies, the better it turns out.

The dressing is the fun part for this salad. Cabbage salad to me means Asian flavours. With my newly acquired sesame oil I winged a dressing based on some of the ones on 101cookbooks. I juiced 2 limes, added about a tbsp of olive oil and about a tsp of sesame oil. I added some finely chopped ginger, scallions and salt and pepper. It is best to whip it up in a bowl or give it a shake in a jar. I usually make dressings by eye and taste it, adjusting it to my liking. I recommend you do the same; overtime you get better at it. Side note: very little sesame oil is needed to give a good asian flavour, you want olive oil to be the main oil. If you don't get enough lime juice, substitute in some white vinegar and red wine vinegar (about a 2:1 ratio). You want to end up somewhere between a 1:1 and 2:1 ratio of acidic component to oil.

I only made enough dressing for about half of the salad that I made, but you get the idea.

A great crunchy addition (as if there isn't already enough crunch) is toasted peanuts. I recommend buying raw peanuts, chopping them up, and then toasting them on a dry pan on medium-high heat. They burn fairly easily so keep them moving. These will taste so much better than purchased roasted peanuts. Add some of these on top of this salad to add a nutty flavour.

Today I had some leftover salad without peanuts (they were all gone...). Still delicious.

I also had something else for lunch. Now I'm going to start off by recognizing that I eat weird foods sometimes and enjoy weird combination of foods. The other day, Jenna looked in our pantry and said, "Who's sardines are all those?" looking at a stack of about 6 cans of sardines. "Mine..." I replied wearily. To answer her next questions, yes I do eat them and yes I do like them. They are delicious and full of omega-3's! Eating them for lunch today made me think of this so I thought I would share my wacky lunch with you becuase this is the weirdest it has gotten on the sardine front, for me anyway.

Sardines canned in tomato sauce, on Ryvita rye crackers, topped with sliced pickles and hot peppers. Loved it, but I can't say that everyone will.