food: juicer pulp in baking

22 Jan 2013 1 Comment

by eat-drink-fly.com in food & cooking Tags: baking, coconut, food, healthy cooking, juice

my mission to use up my pulp from my juicer is slow going…
almost every internet source i’ve found so far is based around carrot pulp. and frankly, i feel like thats the easiest one to figure out.

my orange juice this morning gave me a couple cups of pulp… that really, is low on flavour but definitely high on fibre.
so i was going to add some of it to a blueberry muffin recipe i have that usually contains orange oil and orange juice. i figured it was the easy fix.

but my hesitation is that its hard to find out how much i can add before i throw the recipe out of whack.
muffins can be a precarious business if you don’t have your wet to dry ratio right. and most of the mentions seemed to be “i added my pulp to muffins” which obviously is lacking in specifics and makes me wonder if these people even do these things or if they just like to say they do online.

but at last i found a mention online that said you should be able to add 1/4 – 1/2 cup of pulp to any recipe without having to change the rest of the recipe. and thats news i can use.

so i started out on my muffin mission… but as i was pulling ingredients from the cupboard, i found this box mix from trader joe’s.

all you add is 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of oil and a cup of water. so i decided to short cut this bitch and just do the box for my first attempt at pulp adding.

naturally, since i don’t use vegetable oil, i subbed in coconut oil… and added a little coconut mana for fun too… then i added in 1/2 cup of orange pulp and baked it as per the box.

the results look lovely and smell divine, but i’ll have to report back on the taste test because i sent it out of town with my darling husband.

About these ads

travel and drink: waikiki edition

11 Dec 2012 Leave a Comment

by eat-drink-fly.com in booze & other drinkables, restaurants & dinning out, travel Tags: booze, coconut, hawaii, travel

ah hawaii… truly one of the few places on earth where a manly man can be seen with a drink garnished with flowers and umbrellas and not be mocked by his mates.
in fact, to not order such a drink is really just cheating yourself.

and the king of all drinks in hawaii is the mai tai.

and honestly, it just takes it to a new level when its served in a fun glass like this.
this is how it comes at dukes and hula grill. and good on them for keeping it extra real.

but at the end of the day, its really whats inside the glass that counts. so what you’re looking for is premium spirits… and fresh squeezed juices.
and of course, a pretty garnish helps.

the supposed “best” in waikiki is hotly debated. many many places claim it, but one place i kinda believe is the moana surfrider. first of all, its a fancy pants hotel. and they charge like $14 for it, so it had better be good… and it looks like this:

its gorgeous AND comes with a beachfront ocean view. so it wins.

and while every place does put a spin on the classic mai tai… this is basically the recipe.

1 oz. Dark Rum
1 oz Light Rum
1 oz Orange Curacao
2 oz Pineapple Juice
1/2 oz Lime Juice
Dash Orgeat
Dash Simple syrup

and then you have the blue hawaii…
this is definitely one of those garbage pants sickly sweet cocktails that you’ll suck back in record time and then pay for in hangovers the next day.
…buuuuuut its a classic. so you gotta have at least one.

original blue hawaii

3/4 oz light rum
3/4 oz vodka
1/2 oz Blue Curacao liqueur
3 oz pineapple juice
1 oz sweet and sour mix

something that i really enjoy is this little fella. they call it the lava flow in hawaii. but in las vegas they call it a miami vice. but same same.
its half pina colada and half strawberry daiquiri kinda layered together… and in vegas you get a strawberry garnish, in hawaii everything comes with a pineapple.

one thing about hawaii, is that at one point in your trip you really must have a ridiculous drink. like something giant or in a fishbowl or on fire… or all 3 if possible.

we went with this bad boy from LBLE (thats Lobby Bar Libations Extraordinaire – clever name, huh?)

it was a giant concoction filled with fresh juices and rum, rum and more rum. and then they lit some 151 on fire inside a lime on top. yup. it was awesome.

its a tough act to follow… but i followed it up with a straberry, basil & vodka drink topped with a floater of champagne. it didn’t steer me wrong.

from LBLE we were forced by the bartender to go to her favourite bar after. and i mean literally FORCED. she refused to serve us another drink and called us a taxi and sent us there.

its a place called the Pint & Jigger and it was really everything she promised it would be.
they served me the best manhattan of my life. the glass was smoked, the booze premium, the ice cube singular and giant and the garnish was a homemade maraschino cherry.

last but certainly not least… hawaii makes some good beers.
most prevalent is the kona brewing company, and they’re damn fine, but don’t stop there. head over to Yardhouse for a great selection of local brews. or dukes also has a beer sampler that will scratch your itch for local.

my personal favourite, which i don’t have a picture of is the Hawaii Nui Mehana Volcano Red Ale. but then again, i love me a red ale.

travel: the delights of waikiki

07 Dec 2012 1 Comment

by eat-drink-fly.com in booze & other drinkables, food & cooking, photography, restaurants & dinning out, travel Tags: booze, coconut, comfort food, hawaii, organic, pig, pork, restaurants & dinning out, seafood, travel, waikiki, whats for dinner

aloha!
once again, i must hang my head in shame and apologize for my absence. i was away for 9 days, but the rest of it has just been real life and a giant black hole of stress sucking my inspiration. but this morning, i’ve committed myself to posting my hawaii roundup before i head off to seattle for the night.

november saw me return to waikiki for the 5th time. but this trip wasn’t about sightseeing or anything important… it was about getting some sun and relaxing with my husband. …and special guest appearances by my bro & his buddy and the puss & her family. all around, it was a great time.

we stayed at the aqua bamboo, which was new for me. it was actually my first time not staying at a beachfront property right on waikiki beach. for those familiar with the area, the bamboo is on kuhio, pretty much in line with the surfrider. so it’s not far to the beach… lets say a 5 minute walk (2 blocks), but i will still stand by my preference of staying beachfront.
the hotel itself was good… cheap and cheerful as they say… nothing fancy, but absolutely fine for a week stay. the hotel had an adorable little pool and the world’s tiniest hot tub, which was a factor in choosing the hotel, but at the end of it all we never actually made it in to either.

i did enjoy that the bamboo had a very affordable massage place that was poolside. my husband i both had a 50 minute massage for just under $80 including tax & tip. a great bargain. and boy did it ever feel good after that hike to diamond head.

ah the diamond head hike… its turned into a must do for me. you know… i must punish my body for so many mai tais. somehow it makes me feel better. this trip, i literally woke my hangover up, did the 45 minute walk to diamond head, then did the hike and back and then ate a giant burger and then swam in the ocean, then went for a massage.
overall, i’d say it was a hawaii win. cured my hangover, thats for sure.

so, beverages will come in their own post, because in hawaii, there is no shortage of happy hour and tropical delights… but this one is all about the food.

hawaii’s food is a unique style of cuisine that defines melting pot. it has strong influences from asia, polynesia, north america and when its mixed in with the traditional foods native to the area, you get things you can’t find anywhere else. my husband’s favourite is loco moco.
basically loco moco is rice, a hamburger patty, 2 fried eggs done any style and smothered in gravy. for breakfast. and its delicious.

you know how they say; when in rome…? well, when in hawaii, you’d best eat some loco moco. and my husband did. 5 times. lol. he was on a mission to sample the local favourite at as many places as possible… and his verdict was that every place did it a little different, but at the end of the day, it was all delicious. some places had a homemade gravy, sometimes adding mushrooms and/or onions… some places garnished with chopped green onions… some places put the gravy on top of the eggs, others eggs last. some burger patties were clearly frozen from a box, others were hand formed and fresh. but the base for all of them never changed… this delicious hawaiian style white rice. i’m not too sure how they make their rice taste so good, but it sure does. and for me, it’s one of my LOVES about hawaii, is that i can get this yummy sticky almost sushi style rice with my breakfasts.

so while my husband was eating his weight in loco moco, i was eating things like this:

and i can’t forget the magic of this…

ahhhh pancakes in hawaii. another random thing to be in love with, but i never ever order pancakes at home. i just don’t care for them much. but in hawaii its a different animal. topped with things like pineapple, coconut, macadamia nuts and other local treats… and then smothered in coconut syrup instead of maple? oh man, put a fork in me, i am DONE.

and let us not forget the papaya that much accompany every breakfast no matter what your main of choice is:

yup, thats the stuff.

another island favourite is “pupus” which as far as i can tell is just hawaiian for appetizer. which makes for hilarious (warning: may only be hilarious after several mai tais) jokes about needing to “take a wicked appetizer”. haha.
anyhoo…. we had a lot of pupus. because happy hour is cheap! and if you do it right, you don’t really need a proper dinner.
one of my favourite destinations for pupus in waikiki is hula grill in the outrigger waikiki on the beach. its upstairs from duke’s and often overlooked in favour of dukes. but here’s the thing. the decor is just as awesome upstairs, the food is pretty much the same and the drinks are waaaaay cheaper during happy hour. so the hula grill is where you’ll often find me at happy hour…. eating things like: kahlua pork potstickers and ceviche and crab & mac nut stuffed won tons…

and my personal favourites: crispy pork belly bao

and the honey chicken lollypops which were ridiculously sticky sweet goodness.

and at the end of a several hour long happy hour… we weren’t much worse for the wear financially.

then there’s downstairs. duke’s. what can you say? if you’ve gone to waikiki, you’ve gone to dukes. you just… have to. yes, its loud and crazy and filled to the brim with pasty tourists and there’s children… but it’s dead centre in waikiki beach and makes a wicked mai tai and has good food and live music and, well, it’s just fun.

i am particularly in love with their salad bar. there’s not a lot of good salad in waikiki, and dukes scratches my itch for fresh crispy lettuce and tons of good toppings so that i can construct my picky girl salad of choice.
but the fish entrees should never be overlooked. you get the list from the server of whats in season and fresh right now and you choose from one of 4 preparations that they offer and chow down. the fish entrees are always well cooked, perfectly seasoned and just fucking delicious.

we had the following: mine is the opah with mac nut crust and butter caper sauce (i just drooled typing that)
SAUTÉED MAC NUT AND HERB CRUSTED – Lightly dusted in parmesan cheese & bread crumbs, topped with lemon and caper butter

and my husband dinned on the ono done duke’s style…
BAKED “DUKE’S STYLE” – Baked in a garlic, lemon and sweet basil glaze

both were giant portions of fish so fresh, it may have been swimming yesterday… and at a fair market price. plus it includes salad bar. did i mention the salad bar?

my last category for hawaiian eats is pop ups, food carts & beach shacks. yes, food is everywhere in waikiki. on two occasions this last trip, my husband and i grabbed some fish tacos & pork tacos from the food hut right on waikiki beach beside the surfrider and deemed it one of the best deals around. $19 got us 4 giant tacos and a house brewed iced tea with pineapple juice in it to share. not too shabby.

a few days into our trip, on the way back from the beach to the hotel, we were surprised by a pop up market of sorts… except it was all food stands. it wasn’t selling groceries, like our markets here, but selling fresh baked delights and pad thai and poke and even empanadas and dim sum treats. so we stocked up and went back to our balcony with some local beers and made our own happy hour.

last, but certainly not least… once can not forget that hawaii knows its food trucks. possibly the best one i’ve ever seen… the malasadas truck. leonards is famous for its malasadas which are basically like a big round dounut rolled in sugar and sometimes stuffed with creme or fruit filling. they’re DELICIOUS. and leonards is the king. buuuuut we didn’t quite make it to leonards proper, so we were thrilled to stumble across their food truck on the way to sandy beach one day.

so while we did this:

we also go to eat this:

a clear win win situation.

and off course, on our quest to enjoy this beach:

we also got to enjoy this shrimp shack on the north shore.

there’s a lot of shrimp options, and generally we go to giovanni’s, but this one lured us in with their option to have local shrimp, while a lot of stands have switched to the cheaper and inferior thailand shrimp. the difference slapped you in the face. these were almost like my beloved spot prawns. sooooo worth the half hour wait. (this place was BUSY – also a good sign)

and of course, i had to have my coconut… and this time i also may have had a corn on the cob at the roadside pit stop…

mmmhmmm. and thats how i do hawaii.
oh, but before i wrap up, i’d like to give a surprising honorable mention to buba gump’s shrimp. yes, it is a chain theme restaurant and generally that goes against my better instincts, but my husband loves it and he actually sold me on it with this:

thats a pound and a half of hot fresh cooked peel & eats with half caijun spice and half butter and garlic. ya, we slayed those in a few minutes flat. they were messy and buttery and so fucking delicious.

but then we followed it up with some shrimp tacos…

and the calamari that they swore was the best ever and you know, it actually was like top 5 in my life and i’ve eaten a LOT of fried squid in my day.

theirs had half squid, half rock shrimp and also deep fried red peppers and pepperoncini peppers. well played bubba gumps, well played.

and so, i leave you with my last view of hawaii for this trip… diamondhead from my brothers suite on the 33rd floor of the sheraton. yes, it was a grand time had in hawaii, and yes, i’ll be back as soon as i can.

food: breakfast

24 Jul 2012 Leave a Comment

by eat-drink-fly.com in restaurants & dinning out, travel, vancouver Tags: breakfast, coconut, hawaii, healthy cooking, restaurants & dinning out, vancouver

i have long complained of a lack of decent breakfast in the suburbs.
it seems to me there is only 2 choices.
either is greasy and disgusting like IHOP or a greasy spoon… or its a chain restaurant like milestones or browns or whatever and so painfully uninspired.

i crave the breakfasts of the city.
vancouver is a breakfast city.
every saturday and sunday, restaurants are packed to the brim and lined up outside with devotees.

there is no room in the vancouver breakfast scene for a mediocre offering.
it simply would not survive.

vancouver-ites crave healthy options.
we’re more fruit than greasy hashbrowns.
turkey sausage options is a must. turkey bacon is so 2005.
and if your eggs aren’t free range, then you have some explaining to do.
salmon finds its way into everything, beyond the west coast special smoked salmon benny… its in omlettes and other applications that we see as so normal, but tourists find quirky.

yes, vancouver loves its breakfasts.
and yes, we are snobs about it.
the coffee must be from fair trade organic beans… and if its not french pressed, well, it’ll do… if thats all you have.
are your potatoes local? they’re in season, you know.
is the bacon house cured with no nitrates? and what farm are the pigs raised on? is it within 100 miles of here?

i joke, but not really.
we are a city of food snobs. but i can’t fault us for it.
we expect the best quality when dining out and don’t settle for anything less.
and i think if more people thought about their food that way, we’d be in a better place as a society.
respect for food translates into respect for yourself.
it stands to reason that if you have standards about what you’re eating, you won’t find yourself scarfing fast food or junk food. you’ll take the time to think about the chemical cocktail of what you’re actually consuming.

but as usual, i digress.

until recently, whenever i wanted breakfast out, it always ended in frustration.
like i said off the top, its all either super unhealthy or super lame.
option 3 is chinese. there is some spectacular dim sum around my area. but again, super unhealthy. i honestly can’t eat it anymore, it just makes me ill, no matter how good it is on the way down, it culminates in the rest of the day being miserable and full of regret.

breakfast is also tough for me because i’m not really an egg lover.
the idea of an egg on its own… like sunny side up, is gross to me.
eggs done up, like an omelette… okay…
eggs smothered in hollandaise sauce? well, now i’m interested. but i still like them poached hard so the yolk doesn’t dilute my delicious sauce.
as well, since i ditched the bread, eggs are even less interesting. i mean, wasn’t the best part sopping up the runny yolk with your toast?

basically my breakfast of choice was often toast, meat and fruit. not a big potato lover, especially when its those “breakfast french fries”. if its deep fried, its not a hash brown, okay?

to me, my favourite breakfast ever is in waikiki. at the Kani Ka Pila Grille poolside at the outrigger reef on the beach.
i ate here almost every morning for 10 days and bitterly regretted the days i chose other destinations.

the devil that tempted me most here was the coconut toast.
try to imagine… as a (now recovered) carb fiend and a coconut obsessed girl, this was my perfect breakfast.
in fact i was quite certain i could happily live off this and only this until the end of days.

she is a thing of beauty.
the empty being that is white bread… but hawaiian white bread. which has a lovely inherent sweetness in it…
slathered in coconut oil and coated with fresh coconut and then grilled face down on the flat top.
the result is chewy and sweet and bready and crunchy and so aarggsaiuffhauouilsagbndsNGDKSJBN

i was obsessed.

my other breakfast obsession at this place was their banana pancakes.
weird, because i’m not a real banana lover. nor am i a pancake lover.
but its safe to say that the hot macadamia nut syrup was the clincher.

naturally, the fact that everything was served with a luscious piece of papaya was just icing on the cake.
i adore the tropical fruit in hawaii.
(you know as opposed to all those other things in hawaii i just hate, lol)

anyways… back to local.

i have finally stumbled upon a suitable option right here, only a few blocks from my house.
the place in question is Cora’s and they call themselves breakfast enthusiasts. which i dig.

but most of all, i dig that there’s nothing deep fried in the whole joint.
and that everything comes with an absolute mountain of fruit.
i love that there’s a fruit cocktail of the day that changes constantly.
i love the slight quebec twist on all the foods, heavy on the crepes.
i just straight up love this place.

the only negatives about it is that i find the wheat-free options few and far between.
i’ve resorted to modifying items, like getting a benny without the english muffins…
this is the mushroom & brie benny. but i like the asparagus one too.

but sometimes i get tired of modifying menus.
so i just cheat on my no-wheat and regret it later.
this is one of my other faves.
its delicious lean sausages wrapped in cheese & buckwheat crepes.

i can never finish this meal. i get through 2 sausages and half my fruit and pack up the rest for the next day. two breakfasts in one, and not an egg in sight.

thanks cora’s for making me believe the suburb breakfast can make the cut.

food: coconut banana bread with lime glaze

05 Jul 2012 2 Comments

by eat-drink-fly.com in food & cooking Tags: baking, coconut, recipes

the banana and i have a love/hate relationship.
well… more accurately its a tolerated/hate relationship.
i’m not a lover of the banana (wait – did that sound weird?) and my palate is especially offended by faux banana flavourings.
maybe it harkens back to days of the medicine not-so-cleverly-disguised.
or maybe its just gross.

as for the banana itself… i avoid it.
years back i had my gallbladder removed and prior to that surgery i was suffering from some pretty regular and horrible heartburn. the banana was a prime culprit.
even a bit of banana in anything would cause me a pretty significant amount of suffering.
so i stopped eating them.
you know, like someone who has the capacity to learn a lesson might.

but then i had my surgery, recovered, and found i could eat some foods i’d been avoiding.
so i decided to give the old banana another chance.
this my friends, was a mistake.
i don’t have the capacity to accurately describe the acute pain i experienced, but i would akin it to having your internal organs in a vice.
i experienced straight up violent pain.
like stabbing cramping pains so painful i felt nauseous and had to lay down.
cold sweats, shaking hands kind of pain.
fun times.

but, i thought to myself, it must have been something else that factored in. i mean, how could a banana, a piece of fruit for pete’s sake, make me have such an awful reaction?
so i tried it again. and again.
and i literally ate a banana every day for a two week period trying to convince myself it was not the source of this ridiculous agony.

but, it really was.
i can’t eat bananas.
i don’t know what it does to my insides, but i kinda figure its taking some sort of blender to them.

so, this recipe, is not for me.
in fact, since it’s a “healthy” recipe, but still contains the wheat, its definitely not for me.

but, recently my mom made this and i had to sneak a piece.
because when you put lime & coconut in the same thing, well that my friends, is magic time.

and i won’t fuck around here. this recipe is outstanding.
so if you’re a banana bread lover, get in there.
because this was even worth me laying on the couch all night moaning in pain on account of wheat meets banana (terrible idea natalie.)

Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze

Cooking Light SEPTEMBER 2007

Yield: 1 loaf, 16 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour (about 9 ounces)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
3 tablespoons dark rum
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon flaked sweetened coconut
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.

Place granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, yogurt, rum, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Stir in 1/2 cup coconut.

Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon coconut. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan.

Combine powdered sugar and juice, stirring with a whisk; drizzle over warm bread. Cool completely on wire rack.

Nutritional Information

Amount per serving

Calories: 193
Calories from fat: 21%
Fat: 4.6g
Saturated fat: 2.8g
Monounsaturated fat: 1.1g
Polyunsaturated fat: 0.3g
Protein: 2.9g
Carbohydrate: 35g
Fiber: 1.1g
Cholesterol: 35mg
Iron: 1mg
Sodium: 179mg
Calcium: 15mg

food: larabars, chickpeas and oil. not together.

15 Jun 2012 3 Comments

by eat-drink-fly.com in food & cooking, paleo, wheat free Tags: coconut, food, healthy cooking, paleo, resolutions

hi friends. the last week has been busy which has led to some serious food-time lazies.
i did get my homemade larabars done and they are quite a delight.

i know they don’t look that exciting, lol…

but they are honestly really tasty.
and very filling. i’ve been eating one for my mid-morning snack or breakfast and its been keeping me full until lunch. and since making my own was so damn economical, i feel okay with this.

i ended up using a base of just dates which i had to do in batches in my new mini food processor.
and i used walnuts, almonds and cashews for the nuts. and coconut, natch.
and that was basically it.

i did add a spoonful or chocolate almond spread just because i had it around and it seemed logical… but also because that stuff is so damn sweet, like eating icing, and i don’t know what to do with it.

i wouldn’t add it again. it made the bars crazy sweet and the dates alone add loads of natural sugar.
but honestly, i wouldn’t buy that spread again either. so, ya. needless to say, i need to stop shopping at trader joe’s before lunch.

but besides that learning lesson, i was damn happy with the results.
and this weekend i’ll be making a trader joe’s run and will stock up on other dried fruits to try out some new combinations.

my other culinary adventure this week was roasted chickpeas.
this was born of some late night munchies and the absence of popcorn which would normally fill this void.

see… i think i’m being clever when i don’t buy snack food because then i won’t be able to eat it… but really, it just means i end up cooking or baking something different. which i guess is an okay trade off too…

anyways, i wanted a snacky salty carb. and right now, the pickin’s are pretty slim for that in my house.
so after about half an hour of opening the cupboard, opening the fridge, opening the freezer, opening the cupboard again, back to the fridge… you know how that goes…
i finally came up with the idea to roast the can of chickpeas.

i knew i’d seen it online somewhere, so i did a quick google and came up with some ideas and a temperature guide.
i drained and rinsed the chickpeas and dried them off. then i tossed them in olive oil, fresh garlic, rosemary, paprika and sea salt.

and then roasted them for about 20 minutes at 400.

they turned out pretty delicious, but the garlic & most of the rosemary burned.
after some further google research, it seems that a lot of people will dry roast them and then toss them in an oil/butter/herb/whatever mixture after they’re cooked to avoid this issue.
next time i’ll try that.

but, at the end of it all, my salty carby snack was achieved and all was well with the universe.

the absence of carby snacks is my paleo downfall.
but, i figured that somehow, eating a chickpea seems better than eating a corn chip. and i stand by my logic.

i read a really interesting and scary article about eating vegetable oil last week and its stuck with me.
Why you should NEVER eat vegetable oil

this article was very WOW for me.
it’s long, but it’s very thorough and i appreciated that. it sites real references and just plain made sense to me.

it also made me go to my fridge and assess exactly how many products we own with vegetable oil in them. because we don’t buy bottled salad dressings, thats not a worry… but we do use mayonnaise.
and there’s a few sauces & such that we have in the fridge that contain vegetable oils.

so my project for this upcoming week is going to be making my own mayo and seeing how we like it.
my husband uses mayo on his daily sandwich, so he gets to make the ultimate decision, but he was down to ditch the veg oils too if possible.
it seems that i can make mayo out of any oil, but olive oil is the most common choice… so that will probably be my first try. but i do have this lovely hemp oil that has a great grassy flavour… and my walnut oil might make a nice add in too. so i’ve got some ideas.
i’ll try this mayo thing and report back.
also, its a great excuse to play with my cute new mini processor

which is filling the void until this KitchenAid architect series food processor magically shows up in my kitchen.

sooooo… if anyone can make that happen, that would be super….

food: new addiction

08 Jun 2012 Leave a Comment

by eat-drink-fly.com in food & cooking, paleo, wheat free Tags: coconut, food, gluten free, healthy cooking, paleo, wheat free

while as a general rule, i avoid any sort of “meal bar” type foods… i’ve found myself recently indulging in larabar for when i’m out and on the go without a proper meal.

man, those things are tasty.
and expensive.

but when i look at the ingredients, there’s only 5 things or so in most of them…
my current obsession is the chocolate coconut chew that contains dates, walnutes, almonds, coconut and cocoa powder.

which inevitably led me to think… gee, these must be dead easy to make.

and sure enough, a quick google gave me a bazillion recipes for making your own larabar in the food processor.

roadblock 1: i don’t have a food processor.
its on my list of kitchen gadgets to get and increasingly over the last few months i’ve really been able to make a case for having one. so i think this weekend, i’ll get one.

roadblock 2: actually, no other roadblocks exist.
according to the recipes, they can be made in minutes, with no baking or special processing required.
so really, the only other roadblock is my own laziness.

my nom nom paleo ap for my ipad has a recipe for “liar bars” which are their version of larabar and they look pretty simple… and then this post- how-to-make-homemade-lara-bars had all sorts of recipe variations that sound awesome.

so i think i need a trip down to trader joe’s to stock up on some dried fruit without sugar in order to mix myself up some tasty treats.

my other food obsession lately is coconut.

this one is by no means new… i’ve always been a fierce coconut lover, but lately, it’s been super serious.

everything i cook in oil is in coconut oil or coconut mana… coconut milk goes in my soups and stews… coconut water is my bottled beverage of choice… and just plain coconut is finding its way into my mouth at every given opportunity.

i totally believe this may be nature’s perfect food.
and if not, it’s definitely one of nature’s most delicious ones.

a friend posted a few links last week that i thought were interesting reads that gave me some good ideas on how to further use this superfood.
160 uses for coconut oil
healing properties of coconut water

if you’ve ever had a bad hangover and drank some coconut water, you’re probably already sold on its healing properties, but i always enjoy a little science.

but beyond the nutritional value, it’s damn tasty.
especially when fresh.
if this can be my meal accompaniment, then its happening.

also, just looking at that picture of shrimp truck food from hawaii is making me hungry.
thats from the north shore of oahu on my trip in 2010. yum yum.

but anyways… my point is that its not unusual to see me like this on vacation:

and if you really want to get crazy, then you also throw some rum in the coconut and it makes you very happy.

anyways… coconut obsession is full on right now.
so if anyone has any amazing coconut recipes that they’d like to share, please, bring them on!

food: peach blueberry paleo crisp

26 Apr 2012 1 Comment

by eat-drink-fly.com in food & cooking, paleo Tags: coconut, paleo, recipes

whats a girl to do when she has a late night sweet craving and seemingly nothing in the house?
scour the cupboards and invent something.

so i saw a bag of okanagan peaches and some local blueberries from last summer in my freezer and thought to myself, gee, you should probably use those before they’re totally useless.
but since they’re already getting a bit of a freezer burn, maybe you should cook them…

but paleo = no pie…
but i thought i could macgyver myself a crisp/crumble of sorts.

and hooray, i did it!

essentially, i basically just put stuff together that i thought would work in the same way as the usual crisp would…

for the filling, because i didn’t use flour or cornstarch it was a bit runny. but still delicious.
peaches, blueberries, a little cinnamon and coconut sugar was all it needed…

the topping was made with some dried coconut, coconut flour, almond flour, coconut sugar (it’s basically like brown sugar but from coconut sap instead – tastes like a maple syrup/brown sugar love child – delightful) and some butter. oh, and a sprinkle of cinnamon and a little vanilla extract.

baked it for about half an hour at 375 until the smell was killing me and then we chowed down.

it was a great sweet snack and definitely satisfied my “junk food” craving.

food: chicken & fennel stew

07 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment

by eat-drink-fly.com in food & cooking, paleo, wheat free Tags: beer, chicken, coconut, gluten free, paleo, recipes, whats for dinner, wheat free

i’m getting great mileage out of the primal blueprint cookbook.
i must say, their recipes are really good.

when i initially bought it and flipped through, this chicken & fennel stew jumped out at me.
it’s not that different from dishes we usually make… chicken thigh in some sort of vegetable heavy sauce is a pretty normal meal for my husband & me, so this was definitely nothing out of our comfort zone…
nope, it was just pure comfort food. (see what i did there? i know, mad writing skills)

anyways, as usual… this recipe met all my criteria for making it.
ingredients i liked, pretty healthy… and stuff that i had on hand. mostly.
it was also filled with green loveliness.

so here’s the ingredients:

8 chicken thighs
1/2 onion, chopped
1 small fennel bulb, chopped (i used 1/2 a large)
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, crushed (called for 2, but i like garlic)
1 tsp fennel seed, crushed
1/2 tsp saffron
2 cups beer or chicken broth (i used beer – harp)
1/2 cup coconut milk or heavy cream (i used coconut milk)
2 cups kale, chopped
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley chopped

additions – i added some chili flake and a pinch of salt, since i used beer instead of chicken stock. and black pepper. also i had a leek end, so i threw that in too with the vegetables.

first off, brown the chicken thighs on both sides and remove from pan.

then saute the fennel, onion & mushrooms in the chicken fat. add a little oil if needed (i use coconut oil).
when they’re getting soft, add beer to pan and bring to a boil.
add saffron and spices.

add the chicken thighs back into the pan, put the lid on and left cook for 25 minutes or so.
when the chicken is cooked through, remove from pan.
at this point, i put mine on a rack in the oven for a few minutes to crisp the skin back up.
this totally optional but lets face it, no one likes soggy skin.

remove the pan from the heat.
stir in kale, parsley and coconut milk or cream.

and serve…

once again, can i mention how much i love my ipad for cooking?
the cover that doubles as a stand is the best idea ever.

food: dark chocolate pumpkin muffins

04 Mar 2012 2 Comments

by eat-drink-fly.com in food & cooking, paleo, wheat free Tags: coconut, gluten free, paleo, recipes, sweet treats, wheat free

this one definitely gets a solid gold star under paleo baking.

i downloaded another paleo cookbook for my ipad, this one was The Primal Blueprint Cookbook

and can i just veer off for a minute to mention how very much i love having cookbooks on my ipad. it’s awesome and takes us far less space in my bookshelves than regular cookbooks. i’m not sure i can ever go back to hard copy books.

anyways. i saw this recipe for Pumpkin Nut Muffins and i thought to myself, yes, i would like to eat that.
the biggest thing about paleo baking is that it takes a lot of eggs. not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s weird to wrap your head around cooking with 1/2 cup of flour and 6 eggs. but, it makes for a delicious protein packed muffin that tastes like dessert, but satisfies you like a meal.
so without further ado, here’s the recipe as i made it… and since i doubled the chocolate chips, they make the title now.

Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins

1/2 cup coconut flour, sifted
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup cooked pureed pumpkin
6 eggs
4 tbsp of coconut oil or melted butter
1/3 cup maple syrup or honey (i used honey)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 cup good quality dark chocolate chips

Makes 12 muffins

preheat oven to 400. grease muffin tins well. i used a circle of parchment at the bottom to help them remove easier as well. it worked excellently.
sift to combine dry ingredients; flour, baking soda spices & salt in a separate bowl
beat pumpkin puree and add eggs one at a time until well blended. add vanilla, honey and melted butter/coconut oil. mix thoroughly.
add dry ingredients to wet and stir until no lumps remain. add nuts & chocolate chips
spoon into muffin tins and made for 18 minutes or so (mine were done at 15 mins)

the end result was far less pumpkin-y than i imagined, but really really good. not crumbly like my paleo brownies were, but a perfect balance of dense and fluffy. great texture overall.

they were best right out of the oven (what isn’t?) but i just microwaved a leftover one for a snack and it was still great.
even my super skeptical, pumpkin heating husband scarfed one down in short time and declared them tasty.

this made for a nice weekend treat and will make a great breakfast for work over the next few days or afternoon snack.
now that i know the recipe is a winner, i’ll make a double batch next time and freeze some for quick reheats later.

eat. drink. fly.

food: juicer pulp in baking

travel and drink: waikiki edition

travel: the delights of waikiki

food: breakfast

food: coconut banana bread with lime glaze

Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze

Ingredients

Preparation

food: larabars, chickpeas and oil. not together.

food: new addiction

food: peach blueberry paleo crisp

food: chicken & fennel stew

food: dark chocolate pumpkin muffins

subscribe!

friends & lovers

tweets

tag cloud

like this blog on facebook

search this blog

calendar

Follow “eat. drink. fly. ”