smoothies and such

a little while ago, mom and i experimented living without dairy. she lasted two weeks, while i started a week later and caved in after a week. 

i'm not going to lie, it was really, really hard. i like dairy too much and i know i need to cut back. 

we both couldn't bear to let the boys eat pizza in front of us!

one of the things i learned through this is that you can still eat things like smoothies without yogurt, etc. 

this smoothie involved: 

- trader joes pure mango juice

-frozen mango

-frozen bananas

- fresh spinach

and that was it. it was super creamy and tasty. 

today i made a smoothie that involved: 

- flax seed

- plain yogurt

- frozen mango

- trader joes pure mango juice

-frozen bananas

and to top it off, i added a couple sprinkles of cinnamon. i wish that we had cardamom too, but cinnamon certainly worked at bringing out the flavor. 

try it sometime! 

*grace from davidson, nc.

fabulously easy pumpkin chocolate muffins

ready for this? 

the only ingredients are: 

- 1 box of devils food cake mix

- 1 c. mini chocolate chips 

- 2 cans of pumpkin

c'est tout!

mix together. cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. . . enjoy!

isn't that incredibly simple? 

plus, they're fabulous. i'm eating one as i write. . . {mom just said that she is already on number 4!}

* grace from davidson, nc.

an all-time favorite - garbanzo bean salad. 

today i used: 

- garbanzo beans 

- chopped red pepper

- chopped celery

- parsley

- 2 T. olive oil

- 1 T. lemon juice
- salt and pepper

- two cloves of garlic

mix together and put in the fridge. please try this, i guarantee you'll love it! 

*grace from davidson, nc

saturdays are for making applesauce

 farmer's market apples + pinch of sugar + toss of cinnamon + lemon rind 

*grace from davidson, nc. 

food in london

we certainly did not eat like royalty in london the first time around!

we lived of a steady diet of clementines, cornish pastries, carrots, and crackers. by the time we reached france, we were ready for real meals.

that said, we did experience a fair amount of pub grub {including overpriced and somewhat flavorless fish and chips!}.

*grace from davidson, nc.

pad thai

the future scares me, but the one thing that excites me is the hope computers will one day spit out a free sample of the food you read on blogs! i wish that everyone could try this right now.

mom's pad thai

1 {12 oz.} pkg. rice noodles

2 T butter

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces

1/4 c vegetable oil

1 T white wine vinegar

2 T fish sauce

3 T white sugar

1/8 T crushed red pepper {i always add a lot more to mine}

2 c bean sprouts

1/4 c crushed peanuts

3 green onions, chopped

1 lemon, cut into wedges

soak rice noodles according to pkg. drain and set aside. 

heat butter in a wok or large, heavy, skillet. saute chicken until browned. remove, and set aside. heat oil in wok over med-high heat. crack eggs into hot oil and cook until firm. stir in chicken and cook for 5 min. add softened noodles, vinegar, fish sauce, sugar, and red pepper. adjust seasonings {add more red pepper!} to taste. mix while cooking, until noodles are tender. 

add bean sprouts, peanuts, and the lemon to finish off.

enjoy!

*grace from davidson, nc.

weekend plans

spiced apple cake, from joy the baker (photo also from joy the baker.)

she's funny. and her recipes are almost always delicious.

OR

chocolate raspberry swiss cake roll, from food and wine (photo from the village cook).

requested by one of my co-workers, because his mom used to make it back home in iraq.

(i probably can't prevent my co-workers from burning out with baked goods, but why not try??)

also, photos and a review of the guinness cake later this weekend. it was delicious.

*kandyce in denver, CO

funny moments in paris

out of all the incredible, world-renowned food in france, {in particular, PARIS}the only thing k specifically requested was a hot-dog with cheese! i know, i couldn't believe it either, but i agreed. 

it was just a disgusting as we thought it would be. 

this still makes me laugh and i doubt either one of us will eat another hot-dog again for a long, long time.

more interesting recipes to come, i promise.

* grace from davidson, nc.

guinness cake!

i tried to make (excuse the offensive title) irish car bomb cupcakes over saint patrick's day, and, well, they were a bit of a failure. they bubbled up all over the stove, spilled out of their muffin cups and then, after pulling them out of the oven, flattened out and looked rather unappetizing.

this guinness cake, though, looks ridiculously good (and, when hubs finds out about it, i think he'll revisit his request for cheesecake.)

i'll probably be reviewing this recipe next week after making it this weekend. :) it just looked too good not to share right now!

*kandyce in denver, CO