Back In The Swing With @VegaTeam

31 Jul posted by

Three weekends in a row of out of town visitors will do a number on a health kick.  So much eating, so much house cleaning, and not nearly enough gym have been the story of my life lately.  And although I wouldn’t have had it any other way (I miss all of my guests like crazy), having some me time is feeling pretty pleasant right now.

The kind folks over at Vega couldn’t have had better timing in sending me some smoothie samples.  Non-dairy days and green smoothie nights are exactly what I need to feel like a normal person again.  Oh and gym, lots and lots of lunch hour gym.

FoodFash Tropical Vega Smoothie

1 serving of Vega Tropical Tango

1 cup of almond milk

1 cup of frozen kale

1 cup of frozen fruit (I used a mix of bananas, mango, and strawberries)

Blend til smooth and enjoy!

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Personal Pie

30 Jul posted by

I’m not completely evil with my pies, you know.  I recognize how dangerous dropping off a boat load of sweets to a two-person household could be.  So today, I split a traditional pie recipe into two cobbler-esque dishes and caused a semi-food-coma at two separate homes.  That’s what you call spreading the evil love.

The white peach rhubarb pie that I made for my last dinner party was such a hit that I figured it was the perfect personal pie to deliver to Clay for his 30th birthday.  Then I moseyed on down Lamar to drop the second personal pie off to Matt and Max, who were busy painting an Olympic yard sign.

FoodFash White Peach Rhubarb Pie (yields 1, 9″ pie or 2 small cobblers)

2 pastry shells

1 lb of rhubarb, chopped into 1/2″ slices

3 white peaches, skinned and sliced

1-1/2 cups sugar

3 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Mix sugar, tapioca, salt and nutmeg in a small bowl.  Place sliced fruit in a large bowl and top with sugar mixture.  Stir until all of the fruit is coated with sugar.  Let stand for 30 minutes.  Line your pie plate(s) with one of the pastry shells, fill to the top with fruit mixture, and use the second pastry shell to prepare your lattice top.  Bake for 35-45 minutes or until lattice is golden brown.

Not only am I obsessed with this pie, but I think I now have half of Austin obsessed with it as well.  I’m also digging the adorable ceramic dishes that I swooped up from Homegoods today.  Is it just me, or does fabulous presentation make a pie taste that much sweeter?

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Farewell Muffins

29 Jul posted by

Once upon a time, I let a Tampa friend borrow my muffin tray.  A few months and a few ugly muffin recipes later, I decided it was time to bite the bullet and buy a new tray.  I also decided it was time to bake a Joy the Baker recipe and use Matt’s temporary move as an excuse.

I was excited to try Joy’s lemon poppy seed muffin recipe partly because I love a good lemon poppy seed combo, but mostly because I had never baked anything using browned butter.

The browning butter how-to seemed like common sense.  But after a while of butter that wasn’t browning, I started googling on my phone.  I came across this instructional and was glad I did.  The time it takes to go from unbrowned to almost burned butter is… not that long.  I tasted my browned butter to make sure it didn’t taste torched before pouring it into the batter.

After mixing in the poppy seeds, I scooped a big ol’ spoonful of batter into my mouth.  I blame a lifetime of impatience for my love of dough and lack of fear for raw eggs.  I poured the rest of the dough into muffin cups, knowing a dough this good would yield a delish muffin.

I couldn’t decide whether or not I wanted to ice these muffins until taking a bite (sorry Matt, you only get 11 muffins).  I came to the conclusion that if you wanted these to be a breakfast muffin you should skip the icing and, in turn, skip the associated AM sugar coma that would follow.  However, if you want to deliver dessert muffins to friends, then icing these muffins is the way to go.

I’m off to deliver these sweet treats!  Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

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Quinoa Meatless Balls

28 Jul posted by

Ever since the grape leaves and quinoa recipe, I’ve become a ton more confident cooking with quinoa.  Quinoa tabbouleh, truffled quinoa and cheese, and now… Quinoa meatless balls.       

I’ve also become severely addicted to using my food processor to “chop” veggies.  Shredded, chopped, same difference to me if it means tear-less eyes.

FoodFash Quinoa Meatless Balls (yields 12 balls)

2 cups water

1 cup quinoa, rinsed

1 Not-Chick’n Bouillon Cube

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 yellow onion, shredded

1 green pepper, shredded

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

2 eggs

1 cup whole wheat panko breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a small pan, bring water, quinoa, and bouillon cube to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 15 minutes.  While the quinoa is cooking, brown garlic in olive oil over medium heat.  Add shredded onion and green pepper and continue to cook over medium heat until the onions are wilted and transparent.  Stir in seasonings and quinoa.  Pour mixture into a bowl and stir in the eggs and breadcrumbs.  Form into 2″ balls and place on greased cookie sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes and serve.

I was super happy with the way these meatless balls turned out.  I had tried a couple store-bought varieties over the years and was never happy enough to buy them again.  In this recipe, the egg and veggies keep the quinoa moist and held together, while the bread crumbs add a crispness to the outside and texture throughout.  And there aren’t 16 unpronounceable ingredients in these, which is a huge plus.

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