Lunchbox #1

I am so excited to be back in my college town and apartment. Moving from a home with seven people to three is definitely a change for the better in my mind. It's basically always nice and clean are there are less competing opinions on how to arrange the posters around the living room. It's quiet, the fridge isn't so full, people do their dishes, and our home is happy place. 

I'll be honest though. As much as I was looking forward to a clean house, that amount of excitement was nowhere near my excitement in coming home to a brand-spanking-new lunch box sitting on my bed! I literally looked forward to making my lunch all day and now I'm looking forward to eating it tomorrow! It'll be a delicious start to my first semester of my fourth year (wow!) of college. 

Top left: Leftover Ma po (no clue how to spell that) tofu, broccoli with garlic sauce, and white rice.

Rop right: Inside out carrot cake cupcake with cream cheese frosting filling-made by my housemate and  best buddy Corrina. She tossed it into my lunch box while wishing me a "Happy first day of school!" What a sweetheart.

Bottom right: Fruit salad of blueberries, grapes, and three cherries. 

Bottom left: 50/50 spring mix and spinach salad with cherry tomatoes, walnuts, and light champagne dressing on the side. I'm planning on packing some feta crumbles under the lettuce for some extra yum. Pretty sure the odds are against me for remembering...wish me luck! 

Stir Fry Eggs with Onion

The camp I work at this summer is unique in that it hires many people from outside of the country. This particular weekend I've been lucky enough to have some of the international staff stay at my house for their time off. We've got Tony from Mexico, Michael from England, and Yang from China residing all on the same dog-hair-ridden couch. Yang, as a token of appreciation for the free housing, decided to cook some of his favorite dishes from home to share with us. Of course in China most people eat meat, so the first dish Yang decided to make was Chicken Wings. Lucky for me, he was kind enough to make some additional vegetarian egg dishes that I could eat too!
Here's my favorite of the two that he translated the best he could as "Stir Fry Eggs with Onion".

This dish was so great because it didn't taste like eggs. It tasted like China. Or at least what I would want China to taste like. Soy saucey, gingery, garlicy, and of course, oniony.

Here are Yang's instructions for making this dish.
1. Heat vegetable oil in a wok.
2. Add in chopped garlic, onion, ginger and green onions. Cook for a few minutes.
3. Add in the eggs and cook until about 80% done.
4. Add more oil, ginger and garlic.
5. Cook another minute until done. Add soy sauce and salt.

Fun fact: Apparently the term "wok" means nothing in Mandarin. We silly Americans basically just attached a "Chinese-sounding-word" to a fancy, deep-rimmed pot.

This is a great recipe. I've never eaten a dish that transformed the flavor of an egg so much. I highly recommend giving it a go.

Make sure to thank Yang with your thoughts for his delicious and authentic cuisine.

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites

I found this recipe via Pinterest on this girl's blog. The fact that her URL said to "love veggies and yoga"served as a very quick message to me that this blog was going to hold some treasures. Sure enough, these cookie dough bites are to die for! They are such a great way to get a little taste of dessert in your chomper while not having to feel bad about filling up on butter and sugar and oil. Plus it allowed me to play with my new CuisinArt that I love oh-so-much. Seriously, I've been seeking out recipes solely so that I can use my food processor more often. Is that weird? Doesn't matter. Anyway...

Here's what's in these babies:  

Does that look deceptively healthy to you? Good. Because they are! 

The base is oats and cashews with just a little of the agave, maple and vanilla. 

I don't think I can lie to you and say there aren't a lot of chocolate chips in this recipe...but is that really a bad thing? It's definitely not to me. If I'm going to eat dessert, I'd prefer that it has a nice healthy dose of chocolate.

I also think you should know: the only important change I made to the Averie Cooks recipe is that I used mini chocolate chips. As small of a discrepancy as this might seem....you're wrong and it's not. I'm sorry. I'm getting defensive. The mini chocolate chip idea feels genius to me though. You get quadruple the chocolate-per-bite, thus making it feel more dessert-y and less health-foody. 

Isn't it a pretty little bite? 

The only other difference between mine and Averie's recipe is that I doubled her recipe and made 22 balls. Her single batch made 17 balls. I suppose by nature I like to make desserts with chocolate in large portions. More like 5-10 little bites instead of 2-3. Your balls are your balls though, and you can make them as large or small as you choose!

Makes 22 balls

Ingredients

1 1/3 cup raw cashews

2/3 cup oats

4 tbsp Agave

2 tbsp maple syrup

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Procedure

1. Combine cashews and oats in food processor and blend until a fine powder (like flour). 

2. Add agave, maple, and vanilla into the food processor and continue to blend until the mixture forms itself into a moist ball of dough. 

3. Remove from the processor and mix in the chocolate chips on a cutting board or wax paper. I used a plastic spatula to the mix in the chocolate so that the dough wouldn't stick to my hands. 

4. Roll the dough into little balls and store on wax paper in a tupperware. Refrigerate and eat when hungry. :) 

What's your favorite kind of cookie? I'll try to make more recipes like this in those flavors!

Stuffed Shells with Mushroom, Spinach and Shallots

This recipe is great because it makes SO much! I made these for dinner one cold, rainy school night and shared it with several of my roommates and friends, then continued to stick 3 in tupperware every day for a week to eat at school for lunch...and was disappointed when they were gone. This is one of those recipes where having a lot of a good thing is so not bad. Even better to share with your family or at a potluck! 

I will admit this recipe is relatively putzy. (Putzy. Can't believe I've inherited that word from my mom!) The prep works takes a solid hour, but none of the work is difficult or easy to mess up. Definitely a keeper. 

Serves: a bunch!

Ingredients

1 box jumbo pasta shells

1 (15 ou.) container ricotta cheese

2 shallots, diced

8 button mushrooms, diced

3 cups fresh spinach
~1 tablespoon butter

1 (28 ou) jar tomato spaghetti sauce
1 bag of pre-shredded mozzarella cheese


Procedure
1. Cook your shells according to the instructions on the box. Meanwhile heat the butter in a pan. Once its melted, add in the shallots and mushrooms, cook for 5 minutes, then add the spinach. Heat until the spinach is totally wilted.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 
3. Mix the mushroom mixture into the ricotta cheese. 
4. Spoon about 1/4 of the jar of spaghetti sauce into the bottom of the 12 x 9 x 2 inch baking dish and spread it around to cover the base of the dish.
5. Now grab your shells and start stuffing a couple of tablespoons of the mushroom-ricotta mixture into each of the shells. As you go, place the shells into the baking dish on top of the spaghetti sauce. 
6. Once the dish is full (you'll probably have extra leftover pasta shells) cover the shells with as much pasta sauce as you'd like and finish it by sprinkling the mozzarella cheese on top. Make sure not to skimp on the mozzarella! 
7. Place the dish in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and starting to brown. 




Do you have a favorite go-to potluck dish? How about a favorite dish to eat as leftovers? 

A Successful Sick Day

I've decided today that the only way I can reasonably expect myself to reach my 50 blog post goal this year is by being more flexible with what goes into each post. Even though this is not a recipe per say, I wanted to share this meal with the world as it was just that fantastic. What was the occasion you ask? A gnarly summer cold that got me free from the Fantasy themed Friday Funday at camp. As excited as I was to take part in the festivities (that was sarcasm, if you weren't sure) I had a great day finishing my book (Room by Emma Dougherty, I highly recommend it!), napping, and walking to Whole Foods to sit out in the sun while I eating this uber healthy lunch. 

From their salad bar and hot foods bar I got a little slice of Sesame Tofu with an incredible thick and spicy sauce that I tried my hardest to spread out over some of the salad. The salad itself got a little crazy, as I added basically everything I could see that sounded either delicious or to-healthy-to-skip. Healthy greens mix, spring salad mix, sliced carrot, broccoli, quinoa with cranberries and chives, shredded zucchini, beets, jicama, soy nuts, teeny tiny cubed squash bits, red cabbage, the best croutons I've ever eaten, and most likely some other goodies I can't think of. Plus blue cheese dressing! On the side of course. 

I also got a Naked juice which tasted delicious, but I realized after purchasing that it is really just juice with minimal added health benefits. All the fancy stuff they put in the drink is listed in milligrams on the back. Sure 1200 mg of spirulina might seem like a lot... but when converted to 1.2 grams (which is slightly heavier than a paper clip) in the whole bottle, the "boost" seems less significant. Still tasty and refreshing though. 

For dessert I got myself a Chocolate Coconut Chew Larabar. I've been on a real Larabar kick recently. I eat almost one a day at camp for a snack, but am stuck with the 3 flavors that come in the Costco pack: Peanut Butter Cookie, Cashew Cookie, and Blueberry Muffin. Blueberry Muffin, if you were curious, kicks the other two flavors in the butt. I'd say Blueberry Muffin is about on par with the Chocolate Coconut Chew bar. I can't help but love anything chocolate flavored though. Next on my Larabar list to try are Banana Bread, Orange Float, and Coconut Cream Pie. Yum!

I like to think I made the perfect choice for a healthy lunch to strengthen my immune system and feel better after a tough week at camp. 

Today I will leave you with a picture of my favorite animal in the whole world. I only get to see him on the lovely occasion that I drive back into Fremont to stay at my parent's house. Meet Bug Henry Rufus De Stigter, who has been snazzified by the groomer with his mohawk haircut. My mom says next time she takes him back she'll get the mohawk dyed blue. Does she know how to make her daughter happy or what? 

 

Look at his little tail a'wagging!

He's such a handsome guy. :)


What do you like to do on your sick days to feel better? 

Shallot, Sausage, Basil Pizza

So this is definitely best pizza I've ever made. How many pizza's have I made, you ask? Well that's not the point. The point is that this pizza has mouth-watering caramelized shallot, fresh basil, and veggie sausage chunks lightly coated with Sriracha-the goddess of all condiments. 

Not to mention that its still got the basics: bread and cheese. Oh yeah, that makes you happy doesn't it? Me too. For the bread part I used this recipe and I highly recommend it. Alternatively, if you're feeling not-so-ambitious just grab a ball of dough from Whole Foods! Or even Boboli! Don't worry, I won't tell! :P 

As for the cheese, I used mozzarella, but am tempted to ask...does it really matter? I mean of course I wouldn't go with gorgonzola or brie...but if you want to throw on some cheddar or parmesan or asiago or goat (yummm) in addition to the mozz, I would say you are a wise individual. Couldn't you just talk about cheese forever? No? Ok fine, then I suppose I'll mention the sauce. It was not thrilling, but definitely did its job. A jarred pasta sauce will be what I use next time instead, I think. 

This pizza. It's seriously yummy. Go make it. It's a real crowd pleaser...and I'll actually be able to say that with some authority after I make it tonight for the boyfriend and his housemates! Austin and I have a deal going that while I'm cooking, he has to work on the enormous stack of dishes festering in the sink. Little does he know how long caramelized onions take to make themselves delicious ;) Booya! Maybe we'll actually have a mildly clean kitchen in this house full of 5 guys and me...it could happen...right?? 

Makes 1 pizza (about 8 slices)

Ingredients

1 cup freshly chopped basil

~2 1/2 cups grated mozzarella

1 large shallot, sliced

1 tbsp butter

4 Morningstar vegetarian sausage links

~1 1/2 tsp Sriracha chili sauce

1 (8 ou.) can tomato sauce
1 pizza crust

Procedure
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 
2. Toss your sliced shallots into a pan with 1 tbsp butter at medium heat and let them caramelize for at least 15 minutes, agitating them every couple of minutes. You want them to get nice and brown.
3. Cook the sausage links according to package instructions (I just nuked them).While they're still hot, break them up into either little sausage chunks or slices. Then toss them in a bowl with the Sriracha chili sauce.
4. Assemble! First spread out the tomato sauce on the pie, then add the cheese, shallot, sausage, and basil on top. 
5. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese and crust are golden brown. 


Enjoy!

Jalapeño-Paprika Hummus

Wow! Sorry about the hiatus, friends! Last few months were totally nuts! Finished my third year of college with flying colors, if I do say so myself. Even managed to snag a B in my dreaded Bacteriology class! Hallelujah! I also just celebrated my 21st birthday! My ID has been heavily scrutinized every time I've bought alcohol since the big day. I sweat a little bit whenever the cashier stares down my drivers license...despite there clearly being no issue in what I presented him/her. I guess that's what happens when you go 21 years of life not buying alcohol. Nevertheless I had a great time celebrating-went camping with friends and the boyfriend and drank lots of coconut Malibu and rum. I also baked some beer bread! And oh how delicious and legal it was ;) Plus I got to order a big 'ol margarita from the local mexican restaurant. What a great day...


Anyhow! Now that I've talked your ears off about my birthday, I've got to hurry up and get on my goal of 50 blog posts this year! What am I at? 7? 9? Pathetic. (Speaking of pathetic, sorry about these tupperware-ridden photos! I just wanted to get something posted!)


Despite these ugly pictures....this hummus is delicious!! Particularly if you like a sinus-clearing heat in your hummus like I do.

 This uber-dip has a fully-seeded jalapeño, garlic, and paprika for color and smoke. I omitted olive oil, as is usually used in hummus because, frankly, it was awesome without it. And who doesn't want to save a few fat calories? Especially in the midst of swimsuit season!

Like my chipped nail polish? I promise none of the chips got in the dip! (Ha ha!) 
I ate this straight out of the food processor with sugar snap peas and pita chips...you should eat it in any way that'll make you happy. Let me know if you come up with any great dippers! 


Servings: a whole lot!
Ingredients
1 can garbanzo beans
1 jalapeño (seeded, for the weak of mouth...just kidding!) 
2 cloves garlic
2 tbs tahini
~1 tsp paprika
~1/2 tsp cumin



Procedure
1. Throw all the ingredients into a food processor or blender and let that baby grind, grind, grind! You'll be amazed how yummy :)