Robot Cake Pops

Have you heard of cake pops? They pack a calorie punch, being made up of cake and icing all mashed together and rolled into a ball, then dipped in icing or chocolate. But damn they are cute. Britt and I snapped this photo from a "Cake Pops" book at a store on Locke street. We felt all sneaky taking this photo. No we didn't want to buy the book, but we did want the idea. We are definitely going to make these, maybe for a wedding or baby related event.

Robots make everyone happy!

Rags to Riches

Every so often we make big updates to our Environmental impact. I think we are doing really well, but there are always ways to improve. I have role models in my life to look up to in this department, Environmental crusaders, so to speak. No Impact man went an entire year without, among other things, electricity. This was while he was living in down town New York City. I also read a blog by a couple who vowed to make NO garbage in one year, they called it The Green Garbage Project. This is inspiration!

The small steps we have taken recently, are to stop buying plastic sandwich bags and plastic cling wrap. It is easy to rely on disposable plastic to carry and store food but at what cost?
The amount of plastic consumed (as a percentage of total waste) has increased from less than 1% in 1960 to around 12% today. I blame this on how much food is sold in plastic these days, and alot of the time it is plastic that isn't recyclable.

We try to do our best and every day our best is getting better, its the least we can do. We get outdoors as often as we can camping and traveling. We'd never leave our garbage at the campsite because we can immediately see its impact. You don't leave garbage on the earth, it makes everything look crappy and the animals don't want it there either. So why are we so disconnected from our own trash in our household?

Another small step we made recently was to stop buying paper towels. Yes they are compostable in our area, but they are still a resource I don't need to consume, made of cotton/wood pulp and wrapped in plastic. So I pulled out some old t-shirts and the sewing machine and made my own light reusable cloths.

Being more environmental doesn't always mean making sacrifices. If you are creative you can always find a way to replace a disposable item with a reusable one. We do laundry regularly, so we throw in a few dirty rags every time and keep our cupboard full of usefull cloths.

What small step can you make in your home to reduce your impact?

cashews and chocolate

This recipe is one of my all time favourites, you can't make it wrong. It is quick and easy and the cookies taste good no matter how long you bake them. Pull them out early and you can eat them with a spoon with a big glass of mylk. Leave them in longer and they are perfect to dip in hot tea or crumbled over ice cream.

This time, I left them in the oven a little long. I blame the timer, which I set, but didn't start. It's the timers fault. But it wasn't a problem because they were still amazing and they were perfect to store in the cookie jar on the counter.

I love cookies. They are simple, hand held little treats. Not too sweet, not to high in calories. I bring cookies everywhere I go, and these ones, are always well received.

Cashew Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/3 cup almond mylk
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 TB arrowroot starch
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup cashews, broken up a bit

1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees F
   
2. Mix wet together in a bowl
3. Sift dry ingredients together
4. Add the dry to the wet and mix just until combined
5. Scoop batter onto a parchment lined baking sheet
6. Bake for 10-14 mins
   

The Fridge

FREEZER

FRIDGE

Everyone has a fridge, it ties the whole kitchen together. It's part of the pivotal triangular balance of the working kitchen. Sink - Stove - Fridge

A persons fridge says alot about them. Their eating habits, organization skills, wealth and even knowledge, can all be obtained from a glance into their fridge.

But can you judge a person by their fridge? Maybe. But only if we all go to the fridge with the same intentions.

What can be said about my fridge? It goes through periods of feast and famine. Times when we can't fit everything in without drawing on old Tetris skills, down on our knees. With a furrowed brow we try to piece together the food puzzle a certain way so that the door can shut. Then there are times when I stand in front of it aimlessly looking at the same bottles and containers, and with a sigh I reach for the grocery list and start writing down all the things I wish I saw inside it.

Today, my fridge has reached a purge point. I know there are too many forgotten items buried in its mist. A quarter of a waffle made on a long ago Sunday. A container with half a lime and half a tomato, leftover from what, I can't remember.

The freezer however, never really gets the same treatment. It always seems to be a mess, nothing stays in there too long, but it never seems to empty. The freezer, to me, is like a cryogenic storage facility where I feel I can stop time for many food groups. Nuts and seeds, containing so much oil, I don't want them going bad or stale. Really ripe bananas are stuck in time, in their little baggies, waiting for the ultimate thaw when they will sweeten and moisten my baked goods. We rely on it, however if a freezer ever fails (we've all seen that happen) it is a mad dash to preserve the contents. With the intensity of someone trying to save the world, you fly around grabbing ice and coolers out of thin air, desperately trying to maintain the freeze.

Why are our fridges so important to us? Well we inherited the habit of using them from our parents, and them from theirs. We feel we need them, because the food we buy is designed to be stored in them. "Refrigerate after opening" is one direction followed to the letter. "Expiry date" is unbending for many people not knowing how to smell if the freshness remains. But how many things in our fridge don't even have to be refrigerated? Have we forgotten how food works? Fresh food ticks like a clock, a short count down to when it will ultimately go back to the earth. This is what it is meant to do. The older a food is or the more it is handled, the less nutrients it contains. Even chocolate has nutrients, but what Hersheys offering has so few of those nutritive properties left, than say, raw cocoa. If its in your fridge, chances are it will be in you.

A freshly laid egg left at room temperature for 1 day, is not as fresh as an egg that has been refrigerated for 1 week. Isn't that incredible? Yeah its all scientific with bacteria forming in warmer climates, yada yada. But it all comes back to that big electric box that takes up so much room in my kitchen.

I wonder if I could live without a fridge? I think I could, but where would I keep the cat food?

Coconut Curry

I love a good fridge, except ours in NOT a good fridge. Dinner last night needed to be creative, because all of our vegetables were frozen, some of them solid, like the beets. The carrots, however, went soft like a damp rag. We don't ever waste food. We save our leftovers and get creative with ingredients to make the most out of every dollar we spend. So it was pretty sad to see those lifeless icy veggies in there.
In the fridge, next to the eggs, I had frozen rapini and radishes. In the bottom drawer, limp carrots and zucchini. What could I possibly do with these?




Vegetable Coconut Curry

• celery
• carrot
• golden beet
• shitake mushrooms
• broccoli
• rapini
• zucchini
• jasmine rice
  
• 1 can coconut mylk
• 2 Tbsp red curry paste
• 2 lime kaffir leaves, dried
• Soy sauce and salt to taste.

1. Start rice in cooker, as per directions
2. Saute veggies in frying pan
3. In a small pot, mix together coconut milk, curry paste and lime leaves. Heat the mylk until it is just hot enough to burn your finger, then turn the heat off.
4. When the veggies have softened add them to the coconut milk. I added some leftover tofu to the mix to get some protein into the mix.
5. The rice should be ready around the same time.
   
6. Put the two together and viola!
   

A Rice Cooker is cheap and saves a ton of time, i think this was $20.

Lime kaffir leaves smell like lime and add a tasty lime flavour. Find them at asian grocery stores. Add these to your pantry and treat them like a spice.

Who knew that all those lifeless sad veggies could make such a great dinner. I could have thrown them in the compost and ordered take out, but I had all the ingredients in my pantry for curry, and I wanted curry. Its simple to make dinner when you have a stocked pantry and some creativity.

Vegan Pea-ni cookies

I made these cookies using Peanut butter and Tahini. They are like a hybrid, and anything hybrid is always good. I can't guarantee that these cookies will give you better fuel efficiency but damn they are tasty. This recipe makes a whole lot, so be ready to share! A Mylk and Beans original.

Vegan Pea-ni Cookies

• 1/2 cup tahini, unsalted


• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter, unsalted (I used chunky)


• 3/4 cup vegetable oil


• 3/4 cup brown sugar


• 3/4 cup almond milk


• 1/2 tsp cinnamon


• 1/2 tsp ground ginger


• 1/4 tsp clove


• 1/2 tsp salt


• 2 cups self-rising cake and pastry flour


• 2 tbsp coconut flour


• 1 bar (100g) Dark chocolate (or semi-sweet chocolate chips)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F


2. Mix wet ingredients together briskly, I used my stand mixer.


3. Sift dry ingredients together and add to wet.


4. Let sit 5 mins, so the flour can absorb all the moisture


5. Roll into 1-2" balls. Place on a parchment lined backing sheet. Then smush the balls flat with the bottom a cup. Use a small piece of parchment between the balls and the cup so they don't stick together. Not too flat or they wont be strong enough once baked. Use your judgement.


6. Bake for 10-15 mins, then transfer to cooling rack.


7. Step #2: When all the cookies are baked, you can start melting the chocolate.


8. Find a pot and a heat safe bowl, that fit together = double boiler


9. Melt the chocolate over simmering water, until silky. TIP: Don't get any water in your melting chocolate, or you'll have to start over, new.


10. Dip each cookie in half way, and place on a parchment lined sheet to cool. There were so many cookies that I made some as sandwiches with a spoonful of chocolate in every centre.

I would keep these refrigerated since the chocolate isn't tempered.

Granissimo and breakfast

I have never seen this before. It is a mix of Black quinoa, millet, amaranth, red lentils and long grain brown rice. The grains are all organic and gluten free by default. So yesterday I followed the instructions to cook it, 1 cup Granissimo to 2 3/4 cup broth. What I ended up with was enough grains to feed an army! It tripled in size and cooked up perfectly. But it was just a giant pot of grains, so I didn't know what to do with it. So there it sat.

We were going to eat it for dinner, but the way the day went, we ended up eating banana's with peanut butter and cereal. It was a lazy day but I had just finished working a 7 day stretch and my allergies were going nuts. It was a nice day to enjoy the sun and sit around.

This morning for breakfast, is where the Granissimo took centre stage. I pulled out the Tupperware dish from the fridge, turned the heat on high under my cast iron pan, and started forming patties with the grains. I didn't add anything to them, they have a dense sticky consistency that held up in the frying pan. I flipped them a few times and pressed them down onto the hot oiled skillet until they were crispy and heated all the way.
I love tomatoes sauce with eggs, so I started a little pot of sauce leftover from pizza the other day. Since I was frying the grain patties, I wanted the eggs to be a little lighter, so I poached them. Just a pinch of salt and pepper and breakfast was served. We ate outside on our deck, with slippers and our warm beverages, we wait for spring to ramp up and welcome summer.

We both can't figure out how all these grains, with different cooking times, all managed to work together so well in one pot. With 15grams of protein per serving, no one reading this should wonder where vegetarians get their protein from.

Grains are one of the least expensive things you could ever buy, that give you so much in return. Grains are seeds, the are alive. If you soak them in water, they will sprout green life and then you can eat them. If you soak them in water, blitz them in a blender, strain, you have grain milk. You can boil them, toast them, stew them.....

Get into the grain!

a collage of ideas

If I sneezed and my thoughts escaped, this is what you would see

Black Figs

I knew figs only as the sweet puree with crunchy little seeds inside a delicious cookie. For years I thought figs only existed in Fig Newtons. I loved those cookies, they were so innocent and sweet, I thought figs must also be.

Until I saw a dried fig... i couldn't have been more wrong. They are shriveled and black scary little things. Needless to say I didn't eat a dried fig for many many more years, surviving only on Fig Newtons. Then as an adult, as I delved more and more into appreciating the treats nature provides, I began eating dried figs. They were delicious! Packaged in perfect rows, jammed up against each other under plastic, I loved that they lasted forever in the cupboard. I didn't need to eat a cookie to get that figgy deliciousness anymore. Yet I still had not tasted a fresh fig.

I'm sure I saw them in the 'exotic' fruit section of my urban grocer, but how did I know what to look for? Are they ripe, or over-ripe? Do I peel the fresh fig? Is there a big seed in it I don't know about? I just never jumped in. Then at a party one day, I saw them. Fresh figs sliced in half displayed on a cheese dish. I can't eat cheese, so as everyone around me was dashing for the brie and aged cheddar, I reached out for the fig. It has been called an aphrodisiac and for good reason. It was one of the best foods I have ever eaten. It is faintly sweet with a smooth texture and a fresh feel. I think I ate almost every fig on the plate. And I threw caution to the wind, I just bit into it, ate the skin and everything. It all tasted good, and the skin was surprisingly thin and blended in with the fruit perfectly.

I am not a fig connoisseur by any means, and I haven't even researched the ins and outs of fig selection, but I bought some today. I gave each fig a gentle squeeze with just my thumb and forefinger. Some felt squishy and i tried to imagine how that would feel in my mouth and I didn't like the thought. So I stayed away from the wrinkled ones and misshaped ones, and selected only 3 that felt a little soft, like a fresh mango, but that still had their shape and luster.

I brought them home and dove in, eating them while leaning against the kitchen counter. Groceries still on the floor, cats meowing for dinner. I stood there and relished the amazing goodness of something so simple. No added salt or sweetener. It wasn't packaged with an expiration date. Just a fig, in my hand, cut in half. Figs are beautiful, try them fresh, or dried, but I URGE you to try a fresh fig!

Breaking Ground

This is the first steak to a new garden frontier. Too seek out new life and new vegetable creations, to boldly go.... lets not get to carried away.

Ivan and Brittany, my friends, have decided to have a vegetable garden in their back yard, and have kindly offered to share it with me. We have been talking about it for months. Yelling out vegetable varieties, and excitedly writing them all down. But it all has to start somewhere, and this wooden paint stir stick, is our beginning, our breaking ground.

We decided the size and shape. There needs to be enough room to still move around in the backyard, and get the lawn mower out of the shed. We talked about the direction of sun travel and daydreamed about preserving and all the things we could eat from the garden.

Growing my own food is one of my first interests. The pride and satisfaction I get from watching the seeds sprout and then mature into healthy plants, is unmatched. It takes time, patience, a little bit of skill, research and then a little luck. But the rewards are priceless.

This small portion of land, and a hand full of seeds will keep us away from the produce section of the grocery store a little more this summer. It will feed our body and soul, and give us something rewarding to do in the midday sun.

Come on SPRING!

My Pantry

I love this topic. When you have a stocked pantry it is easy to just whip something up without having to go to the grocery store.
There is no use in having pantry items that you don't like eating, or don't know how to use. Use this list as a jumping point.

I have ordered the book Urban Pantry so I can streamline my pantry even better. I have aspirations to do my own preserving, more than just jam!

I hope this book comes soon!

I also registered today for a Bread Making course at Mohawk College. It is all a worthy investment of my time and money.

In my pantry I always have...

OILS & ACIDS

• vegetable oil (good for frying, high smoke point)
• olive oil
• apple cider vinegar
• Rice vinegar
  
• Tamari or soy sauce
• Franks Red hot sauce
• always have a bottle of white wine on hand!

SPICES

• thyme
• herb d provence
• fennel seeds
• tarragon
• ground ginger
• cinnamon
• cardamon
• ground cumin
• chili powder
• cayenne
• gomasio (a sesame seed, seaweed mix. comes in a shaker)
• poultry seasoning (makes things taste like thanksgiving)
• black peppercorns (in grinder)
• sea salt

... and a million more, but I've built up my collection from needing to use a certain spice in a certain recipe. Then since I have it, I start adding it in to everything randomly and find that random spice mixes are always good, if you start small. The ones I listed are ones we run out of regularly

SYRUPS & PASTE & BUTTER

• maple syrup
• raw honey
• agave syrup
• miso paste (refrigerated)
• red curry paste (refrigerated)
• tahini-peanut butter
• almond butter
• unsalted regular butter
• vegetable broth cubes **always useful!DRY GOODS

SEEDS, NUTS & GRAINS

• pumpkin, sunflower, flax and hulled hemp seeds (kept in freezer)
• cashews, almonds, walnuts, pecans and pine nuts (kept in freezer)
• pasta
• soba noodles
• long and short grain brown rice
• arborio rice (for risotto etc.)
• wild or black rice
• quinoa
• barley
• chickpeas (soak over night, then boil to cook)

DRIED FRUIT

• raisins (sultana, golden)
  
• dried cherries
• unsweetened shredded coconut
• dates
  
• figs
• prunes (dries plums)
  

CANS

• coconut milk
• all kinds of beans
• tuna
• cat food, hahaha

FLOURS

• whole wheat
• all purpose
• spelt
• gluten free all purpose
• coconut
• almond (which is actually ground almond meal)
• quinoa
• chocolate chips, mini and regular sized
• chocolate bars (for melting)

BAKING

• baking soda
• baking powder
• arrowroot starch (like cornstarch)
• xanthan gum (for gluten free recipes)
• vanilla extract
• brown sugar
• instant dry yeast
  

What do you aspire to?

Imitation-Crab Salad

Crab Salad Sandwich
1 regular sized package of imitation crab meat
3 Tbsp mayo
2 Tbsp dijon mustard, or honey dijon

5 green onions, sliced as thin as you can

salt and pepper to taste

• Chop up crab meat into little pieces, this helps it stay in the sandwich better.
• Stir all ingredients together briskly.
  
• Toast and butter 2 slices of bread. Scoop about 1/2 cup of crab salad onto the bread. Form a sandich and Enjoy!
  

Also tasty on a cracker.

Take Out!

This is our favourite place to get Viet-Thai food. B&T is one of the first places Steve and I went when we first started dating. I had recently come back from Taiwan and the food brought me right back there, in the park with my little bowl of take-out noodles. We have been eating there ever since. The portions are so big that we usually share an order of Pad Thai or Seafood Noodles. But tonight we had our favourite 140Large and 1 order of 602. I love the simplicity of ordering with numbers. 140 is the Laksa Noodle Soup with seafood and 602 are the MOST AMAZING Vegetarian Spring Rolls in Hamilton.

Some nights, you just gotta get Take Out!

Umami

The fifth taste alongside the well known four of sweet, sour, bitter and salty. Umami is a Japanese word that is often translated as "meaty deliciousness", and that about sums up its appeal. You just learned something new! or maybe you knew that already, but I didn't!

This week I made a recipe from the latest yoga journal. It was a miso glazed eggplant dish, full of UMAMI! I also made a video of me cooking it, but it was a bumpy first go, long and lots of info to digest. I actually really liked it, but I know I can do better. I am going to get a tripod and gather my thoughts for the next one.


Click HERE to WATCH the VIDEO

But just for fun, here is the Intro to the Cooking video, if you want to see into my kitchen and my video skills.

Try some Umami of your own on for size! And what do you think of the video?

91 Birthdays

Tonight we celebrated my Granny Oliver's 91st Birthday. Slices of Raspberry lemon cake were passed around the table until everyone had a slice. We sat, enjoyed the cake and the special woman who brought us all together.

So for dinner I had a simple grilled cheese sandwich with pesto, on sourdough bread.