Food porn! Christmas edition II

More yumminess from this Christmas...

Food porn! Christmas edition I

In case you're missing Christmas already, here's some yumminess I helped my mom make this past Christmas.

Nut-butter Banana Wrap

Nut-butter Banana Wrap
A recipe really isn't needed for this simple snack.


Instead of using a tortilla, I used swiss chard leaves, smeared them with a tablespoon of almond butter, a drizzle of honey, and wrapped them around half a banana.  The swiss chard leaves don't add much flavor, it's just another sneaky way I like to get in more veggies (and less processed food/carbs).

Protein Nut Butter Ball

Protein Peanut Butter Ball

This recipe was originally found on this website but here's my version.  My version is a little too sweet for me so I'm constantly tweaking it till I get the taste and consistency right.  Right now this is my most recent recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 1/4 cup nut butter (I had plenty of peanut butter to use but normally I stick with almond butter)
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup agave

Mix all ingredients together.  Scoop out 1-tablespoon size portions and store in the refrigerator for about an hour to set.  THAT'S IT!!  Using the recipe above, it will make about 10 protein balls, or 5 servings.  I always make them in batches of 20 balls or more... the boyfriend and I like them a lot. =)

Food porn!

Banana coconut bread

Pumpkin pie pudding

Now, this recipe uses tofu as one of main ingredients but don't knock it till you try it! I promise with the right tweaking of pumpkin pie spice/cinnamon/sugar, this tastes exactly like pumpkin pie filling! EXACTLY! I didn't include it in the recipe, but I topped my pudding off with vanilla almond crunch granola and it was SOOO yummy!

Ingredients:
(this recipe makes 1 serving)

• 0.5c pumpkin puree
• 0.5c soft silken tofu
• 0.25 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 0.25 tsp cinnamon
• stevia/agave/sugar to taste

1.) Combine all ingredients into a food processor and blend till smooth.


2.) Pour into your container and sprinkle a little more pumpkin spice on top and ENJOY!

Mini-Review
This is so good... I always make it! I'm gonna add in some vanilla protein powder to boost the protein amount but this is good as is! Maybe I'll try chocolate protein too!

Sweet and Salty kabocha

Kabocha. I love it! I've eaten it a ton of times but never gave it a thought to prepare on my own. Kabocha is a Japanese squash closely related to the pumpkin and if you didn't know better, you'd think it was a small pumpkin. Taste/texture wise it is just like pumpkin so can easily be substituted in recipes. These recipes (yup - I'm giving out two recipes today!) are not meals, but rather appetizers or side dishes. Both are easy and use very minimal ingredients.

Ingredients:

- 1 kabocha, quartered

- olive oil spray

- salt and pepper

- cinnamon and stevia

1. Being extra careful and using the sharpest knife you have, quarter the kabocha.
2. On two of the quarters (so half of the kabocha) spray with olive oil spray and sprinkle with salt and pepper. On the other half, spray with olive oil.
4. Bake all quarters in a 400 degree oven for 30 - 45 minutes, or until flesh is easily pierced with a fork.
5. After baking, sprinkle cinnamon and stevia on the half of kabocha
that only had the olive oil spray.

6. ENJOY both versions of kabocha with any meal!

Garlic kim chee

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds Napa Cabbage, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup rock salt
• 1 quart water

• 2 tsp. minced red chili pepper
• 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp. minced ginger
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1 tbl. sugar

1.) Dissolve rock salt in water in large container (I only had a pot).

2.) Wash cabbage and roughly chop. Add cabbage to salt water and let soak 3 to 4 hours at room temperature, stirring once every hour. Drain and rinse cabbage a couple of times.


3.) Add all other ingredients and mix well with cabbage. Let stand at room temperature two to three days and chill before serving.
** Don't let the cabbage stand out a day longer because I did and it went BAD!**

Mini-Review
Well, since I left it out too long and the kim chee spoiled I have no review for the end product. Anthony and I did try it on day two or three and it was good then! A little too much garlic but that's what I liked about it. Most kim chee dishes don't have a garlic taste so it was different. Will try it again and make sure to throw it in the refrigerator by day three!

Vietnamese rice pudding (che dau trang)

Ingredients:
(makes 8 servings)

• 0.5c dried black eyed peas (I used adzuki beans because that's what I had)
• 0.75c short-grain white rice - mochi rice prefered
• 0.5c sugar
• 3c water, divided
• 1 15oz. can coconut milk, divided
• 1 tsp. vanilla

1.)  Sort, rinse and soak beans overnight.  Drain and rinse water.  In a large pot, bring beans to boil in two cups of water, cover, and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes.

2.)  Add rice, half the sugar, and about 3/4 of the can of coconut milk.  Simmer for 15 minutes covered, but watching for boil over.  Stir mixture halfway through cooking time.

3.)  Add rest of sugar (more or less to taste) and more water to your preferred consistency.  Continue simmering, stirring every few minutes, with cover ajar until rice is cooked about 15 - 25 minutes.

4.)  When rice is done, turn off heat, add vanilla and allow to site, covered, for 15 minutes.  Serve hot or cold with a tablespoon of remaining coconut milk over rice pudding.

Mini-Review
So YUMMY!  Not the healthiest thing for you but it's one of my guilty indulgences.  I'm working on getting it 'healthified' so when that happens I'll be sure to post about it.

Food porn!

Nori wrapped port tender loin

Baked kale chips

Ingredients:

• a big bunch of kale, torn into hand-size pieces
• olive oil spray
• salt and pepper to taste

1.) Preheat over to 375 degrees. Lay kale on cookie sheet and spray with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

2.) Bake kale for 15 minutes and flip. Spray other side with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for another 15 minutes, keeping a close eye for singed leaf edges.

3.) Cool off and ENJOY!!

Mini-Review
Actually really good! A huge bag of kale cost $3 at the local farmers' market so I pick one up whenever we go because we love it so much. Just another way to get in veggies right? I bet a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese over the kale before baking will be even better!

Honey cornbread muffins

Ingredients:

• 1/2 stick butter, melted
• 1.25c flour
• 0.75c cornmeal
• 1.5 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 0.5 tsp baking soda
• 2 large eggs
• 1c soy milk
• 0.33c honey

(1 serving = 1 muffin)

1.) Heat oven to 375 degrees and line a 12-muffin muffin tin with baking cups. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

2.) In another bowl, combine eggs, soy milk, honey and melted butter. Slowly add in the flour mixture, a little at a time until well mixed.

3.) Pour batter into baking cups.

4.) Bake in oven until golden brown and when a toothpick inserted into the muffin comes out clean. About 30 - 35 minutes.

Mini-Review
These were delicious and wish I had made them for Thanksgiving! A little over-baked, but that has nothing to do with the recipe and everything to do with the baker!

Primal egg "cupcakes"

Super easy and super quick!

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• half an onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 4 or 5 cups of spinach
• half a pound of ground meat, cooked
• tbs. of fresh herbs (I used oregano)
• butter/oil for greasing

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Heat pan on medium heat and add oil to pan.  Saute onions and garlic until almost well done.  Add in cooked meat and spinach.  Cook till spinach is wilted.

2. Let spinach mixture cool a bit.  In a mixing bowl, add all eggs and lightly scramble.  Add a spoonful of the spinach mixture into the eggs and stir.  Add another spoonful and mix.  When eggs are tempered, add rest of spinach mixture to the eggs and mix completely.  Pour into muffin pan.

3.)  Bake 20 - 30 minutes or until eggs are set.  Let the eggs cool in the pan for a good 15 - 20 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.  Store in an airtight container and enjoy as a snack or meal.