Apr
Strawberry Lemon Yogurt Parfait
I’m back. Did you miss me? Did you even know I was gone? Okay, so technically I didn’t go anywhere…but it has been quite a while since my last post. I’m making up for it in a big way though. With two recipes in one! A tasty almond coconut granola that you will want to eat by the handful, and a fresh and springy strawberry lemon yogurt parfait.
But before we get lost in a big ole’ serving of granola, yogurt and berries I need to tell you what I’ve been up to that’s caused me to neglect my poor little blog for over two weeks. Since the beginning I have tried to keep this space about food. Sure, sometimes I inject little bits about my life here and there, but in general I figure you don’t want to read about my trip to the eye doctor, or my day at work, or how excited I was when my husband replaced a part of the vacuum cleaner causing it to work like 100 times better. Or maybe you do, I don’t know…but I do know I don’t want to write about those things. I’m here to share with you my love of food, my passion for ingredients and my adventures as I try new recipes and taste new flavors. The funny thing about food and everyday life though is that you can’t have one without the other. Who I am, what I do everyday and where I live are all connected to the foods I cook and eat. Which is why this announcement is about my life, but also about my food journey and where it will take me next.
So here it is -we’re selling our house…and will be living and traveling in our Airstream for the next two to three years. The above photo is where I live now- where I’ve lived, and gardened, and cooked for the past 9 years. Below is our 25’ Airstream where I’m sooo excited to spend the next several years.
I told you this was big! Well, small actually. From a 2,300 sq. ft. home to a roughly 200 sq. ft. metal silver bullet. From a kitchen with big windows, ample counter space and enough cupboards to fit all my cooking utensils and gadgets, to a kitchen where the stove doubles as a cutting board and the only place to store my pots and pans is inside the oven. None of that matters though because what we loose in indoor living space we gain in outside living space. A whole wide world of it- wherever we want to go!
And yes, I will be continuing the blog. In fact, I have a whole new vision for the blog that incorporates my travels, new foods, new inspirations, and new adventures. I will continue updating you here on our travel plans as they progress. We’re also in the middle of renovating the airstream kitchen (as much as you can renovate such a tiny space) and I will share pictures very soon. So as you can see I’ve been busy. Painting, cleaning, mulching- all the things that will make someone want to buy our house. I have managed to find some time for cooking though. And my latest creation is a parfait healthy enough to eat for breakfast and tasty enough to eat for dessert.
This recipe was inspired by a strawberry lemon trifle I made for Easter. No I didn’t take any pictures, in fact I didn’t even write down the recipe. What can I say, I’ve been busy. It was amazing though- fluffy lemon mousse, tender angel food cake and fresh strawberries. Shoot…now I feel bad and I’m gonna have to recreate this recipe just so I can share it with you. How about we wait until it’s actually strawberry season somewhere besides Florida though? Which doesn’t happen until June up here in the chilly northeast, but I can never wait that long and as soon as these bright red berries appear in the store I have to buy some. I’m always kind of dissapointed though. Have you ever noticed that the bigger the berry the less the flavor? Which is why these early, and well-traveled, berries need to be combined with lots of other flavors… like lemon, and honey, and almonds, and coconut.
I used to make granola once a week. I would make a big batch, store it in a tupperware container and eat it everyday for breakfast. Since January though I’ve been on a smoothie kick and the granola has been forgotten. Until now that is. Feel free to play around with this recipe. Change the nuts, substitute dried fruit for the coconut, add chocolate, whatever you like as long as you stick with the same basic proportions.
Coconut Almond Granola
2 1/2 cups oats (not the quick cooking kind)
1 cup raw almonds, roughly chopped
1/2 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup honey
3 tablespoons virgin coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1. Preheat the oven to 325ºF. On a large rimmed baking sheet combine the oats, almonds, coconut. Spread in an even layer and cook for 12 minutes, stirring once halfway through.
2. A few minutes before the oat mixture comes out of the oven combine the honey, oil, vanilla and cinnamon in a small saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat just long enough to melt the coconut oil and soften the honey.
3. As soon as the oat mixture comes out of the oven pour the honey over it and mix well until all the oats are covered. Spread evenly in the pan and put it back in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove and let cool. The more you stir the granola as it cools the less chunky it will be. If you want big pieces don’t stir it at all and and break into chunks when completely cool.
Strawberry-Lemon Yogurt Parfait
serves:2
1 1/2 cups plain nonfat yogurt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
3-4 tablespoons honey
2 cups fresh strawberries, quartered
1 1/2 cups granola
1. In a small bowl combine the yogurt, lemon juice, half of the lemon zest and honey to taste.
2. In two tall glasses layer a quarter of the granola, a quarter of the yogurt and a quarter of the strawberries. Repeat with a second layer of all three. Top with a dollop of yogurt and and a sprinkle of lemon zest.
Mar
Roast Asparagus + Egg Sandwich {and a Liebster award}
Asparagus is practically a requirement of my spring eating and cooking repertoire. Never mind that the only thing around here right now that says spring is the calendar. Remember last week when I bragged about the unusually warm weather and even showed off my stellar grilling skills with this sweet potato and kale grilled pizza? Well…things have changed. The temperature dropped over the weekend and on Sunday night a bit of snow came down, leaving a fine layer of cold white stuff on my freshly raked lawn and budded daffodils. So much for summer-like weather in March. I’m a practical person though so I did what any hardened northerner would do. I turned up the heat and spent the week eating the most spring-ish food I could find- strawberries and asparagus.
My strawberry recipe needs a little refining before I can share it with you (translation: I had a recipe flop), but the roasted asparagus atop scrambled eggs with chives is was just divine! Simple fresh flavors and a super easy preparation have just made this my go to spring meal. There are two components to this sandwich. First the asparagus is roasted with a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of salt and pepper and a dusting of freshly grated parmesan.
Next the eggs are mixed with chives and a tiny bit of milk and scrambled until fluffy. At the end a bit more parmesan is added because…well because it’s cheese and more cheese is always better.
A scoop of egg goes on top of a whole wheat English muffin.
Pile on the asparagus.
There you have it. The perfect spring breakfast, lunch or dinner sandwich.
Roast Asparagus + Egg Sandwich
Makes 4 sandwiches
3/4 pound asparagus
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
salt and fresh ground pepper
2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan, divided
5 eggs
2 tablespoons milk, cream or half & half
2 tablespoons chives, minced
1 teaspoon unsalted butter
4 whole wheat English muffins
1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Snap off the tough ends of the asparagus and pile them on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Arrange the asparagus spears in a single layer. Roast for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle one tablespoon of parmesan evenly over the asparagus. Roast for another 5 minutes or until the spears are tender and the cheese is crispy.
2. While the asparagus is roasting prepare the eggs. In a medium size bowl whisk together the eggs and milk. Add the chives and a dash of pepper (you can add salt if you like but I like to leave it out because I think the parmesan that you will add at the end provides more than enough saltiness). Melt the butter in a medium size skillet over medium-high heat. Add the eggs and turn the temperature down to medium. Cook, stirring almost continuously, until they are are fluffy and cooked through. Remove from the heat and add the remaining one tablespoon of parmesan.
3. Toast the English muffins, pile each with a quarter of the eggs and a quarter of the asparagus. Serve immediately.
An award and a confession:
I was given an award..twice. And I feel kind of bad about it. See the thing is you’re not supposed to get this award twice. A Liebster (it means favorite or beloved in German) Award is given to bloggers from other bloggers. I was first given the award from Gerlinde at Cooking Weekends. The idea is that you give the award to 5 bloggers and they in turn give the award to 5 more bloggers. It’s a great way to acknowledge the blogs you love and share them with others. Of course, this chain of blog love only works when everyone follows the rules. It’s been over a month since Gerlinde gave me the award and I’m just now doing my part by announcing it here and in turn giving out my five awards. I know, I know, it’s ridiculous and I have no good excuse for waiting this long. What finally spurred me into action was when last week Julie over at Tastefully Julie also awarded me the Liebster!
So here’s a big Thank You to both Gerlinde and Julie for nominating me ♥
There are a few conditions of accepting this award:
Thank the person (or persons) who gave you the award and link back to them
Copy and paste the Liebster Blog award onto your blog
Give the award to 5 blogs with 200 followers or less and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog
Here are my choices in no particular order:
Texanerin Baking
My Little Table
Seaweed & Sassafras
Sweet and Salty
Cupcake Design
Hope you all enjoy these blogs as much as I do!
Feb
Strawberry Orange Yogurt Smoothie
I think I have spring fever. Except that it’s not spring. Not even close. Last week it was…I swear. The signs of spring were impossible to miss. Little green daffodil shoots coming up on the side of my driveway, patches of grass poking their way through the melted snow and glorious sunlight streaming through my bedroom window at the happy hour of 7 am. Surely this meant spring was just around the corner. Wrong. So very wrong. Nearly three feet of snow dumped on us last weekend and more is expected to arrive tomorrow. So much for my early spring wish. I was determined not to let it get me down though. The first thing I did was go out and enjoy the fresh snow. Finally some white fluffy stuff to play in!
The second thing I did was make a smoothie with the most spring-like ingredient I could find…strawberries. So what if they had to be shipped all the way from Florida for me to enjoy them. Sometimes a girl has got to let herself indulge. In addition to strawberries and oranges from far away places I also added some ground flax meal to my spring fantasy smoothie. I pretty much always keep some of this stuff around because it’s an easy way to add fiber and healthy Omega-3 fats to your diet. I recently discovered that my favorite flour brand, King Arthur, makes a ground golden flax meal that is perfect for baking with and adding to smoothies. I always use my immersion blender to make smoothies. For one because l I don’t own a regular blender, and two because it requires less clean up and who can argue with that! I like to make the smoothies one at a time in the plastic cup that came with my blender. It’s kind of a necessity because the immersion blender won’t quite fit all way down in the bottom of a tapered pint glass, and as a bonus the plastic cup has handy measuring marks on it. Strawberry Orange Goodness
Strawberry Orange Smoothie
makes 1 large or 2 small smoothies
4 ounces (1/2 cup) plain non-fat Greek yogurt
1 orange, peel and pith removed cut into chunks
1/2 cup strawberries, stems removed cut in half
1/2 frozen banana (not frozen is okay)
1 heaping tablespoon ground flax meal
1/2 cup vanilla almond milk (or use regular milk, soy milk, rice milk, etc.)
Combine all the ingredients in a blender or an individual cup and blend until frothy.