Recipe: Cashew Milk

Since getting married, I've definitely let my diet go. I'm very sad to say, none of my dresses fit anymore. While I'm not on a path to get back to wedding skinny, I do want to feel better and have more energy. I did a three day DIY juice cleanse about a year ago, and I have been researching new recipes to try.

One juice cleanse drink I came across over and over again is cashew milk, specifically from Blueprint Cleanse. My version costs about $2.00 to make. The best part of using cashews is that you don't need to filter the milk like you do with almond milk. Just blend and drink.

Cashew Milk

Makes 4 cups

1 cup raw cashews

4 cups water (plus more for soaking)

1 tbsp vanilla extract

2 - 3 prunes

A pinch of cinnamon

Soak cashews for 2 - 3 hours. You can soak it for longer if you'd like.

Rinse soaked cashews under water until it runs clear.

Place drained cashews, and 4 cups of water, and the rest of the ingredients into the blender.

Depending on the type of blender you have, blend for 2 - 5 minutes until smooth.

DRINK!

I chose to use prunes as my sweetener. You can also use dates, figs, or syrups, such as agave and brown rice. You could also use different types of extracts, or use real spices.

What's your favourite nut milk?

xoxo

~meesh

Review: Lee Kum Kee - Sauce for Spicy Garlic Eggplant

When I was young, I used to love Western food. Anything that wasn't Asian, I'd love. As I have gotten older, I feel more and more connected with my culture. I can't go a week now without having some sort of Asian cuisine. While I am always trying to learn how to cook Chinese food, it just isn't easy to master.

Luckily, there are many sauce and spice packets on the market now that can replicate the flavours of a dish that was made from scratch. I have tried other brands for Indian cuisine, so when I saw Lee Kum Kee, a trusted Chinese brand, I had to give it a try.

The packet was $0.99, and it's meant to serve 4 people.

In addition to the packet, the recipe on the back requires 2 eggplants, 3 oz of pork, and oil.

I had some okra in the fridge, so I through those in too.

I served the dish with some noodles, it would also go really well with rice.

All in all, I really like this packet. It was easy to cook, and took about 20 minutes to make. It tasted like the spicy eggplant dish I order from Chinese restaurants. I would definitely buy it again, and also try other flavours.

Have you tried these before?

xoxo
~meesh

Frozen Banana Ice Cream

We've been waging the war against fruit flies, and our bananas are always first to fall victim to this war. So we've been freezing a lot of bananas. While I love a good smoothie, and banana bread, I wanted to find something new. Off to Pinterest I go. I've always wanted to make my own ice cream, but I don't want to invest in an ice cream maker. So I was ecstatic when I found this pin.

All you really need are bananas, and any other flavouring you want to add to it. I didn't think bananas would give me the creamy texture like ice cream, but I was pleasantly surprised!

Ingredients

3 - 4 frozen bananas

Optional Ingredients

2 tablespoons Nutella

1/4 chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Break bananas into smaller pieces
2. Whiz it up in the food processor - about 30 seconds
3. Add flavourings (optional)
4. Transfer into a freezer safe container, and freeze for about one hour to firm up the mixture.
5. EAT!

What would you flavour your banana ice cream with?

xoxo
~meesh

Korean Pancake - Hoddeok

It's summer time in Vancouver, and that means night markets are in full swing! Chris and I were at the "old" night market, AKA The International Summer Night Market, when I first discovered hoddeok.

 It is Korea's version of Beaver Tails! I would say Hoddeok is BETTER than Beaver Tails! It has the chewy texture of Asian pancakes, like green onion pancake, but filled with brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts!

Naturally, I wanted to learn how to make it. I turned to my newest obsession, YouTube, for a recipe. I came across this amazing channel, Maangchi. She has so many videos of her recipes, I can't wait to try them all. Her video for Hoddeok made it look so simple, I just had to try it out.

For the full recipe, head over to Vancity Buzz!

You need to cook and serve these right away. The first time I made Hoddeok, I got too excited, and cooked all 8 at once. Unfortunately, they get hard pretty quick. The filled dough can be kept in the fridge for a couple of days.

This dough is so easy to make! You can fill it with anything. I might try filling it with meat sauce next time.

What's your favourite Korean recipe?

~meesh

Nutella Bites: Tried and tested Pinterest recipe

I bought Nutella from Costco. This means I have A LOT of Nutella. When I need a recipe, my go-to resource these days is Pinterest (follow me!). I decided to go with this pin because I already have all the ingredients, except the powdered sugar.

The directions are so simple, I had to make it right away, even though it was 9:30pm. All you have to do is whisk all the ingredients together, spoon 2 tablespoons of the batter into a muffin tin, bake for 20 - 23 minutes at 350 degrees until a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean.

For the full recipe, head over to Vancity Buzz!

How do you eat Nutella?

xoxo
~meesh

Lemon Blueberry Loaf!

It's been a while since I've posted about my epicurean adventures here. That's because I've been contributing to Vancity Buzz. A local lifestyle blog about all things Vancouver.

I baked this Lemon Blueberry Loaf recently as part of my series "Pinterest Recipe Wins". I love this recipe because of the intense lemon flavour. If you're not a lemon fiend like I am, you can still make this recipe without the lemon extract.

For the recipe, head over to Vancity Buzz! I'll post some of my other Pinterest (follow me!) recipe experiments soon!

What's your favourite lemon recipe?

~Meesh

Grain Free Almond Flour Waffles with Strawberry Compote

It's been a while since I posted. I've been busy making my engagement party invitations. I will share those once they're complete.

I've been trying out a grain free diet the last week or so because I noticed that I never feel very good after I had pasta. I haven't done much research in regards to the technical terms, so please forgive me. I just know how I feel after I eat, so I based my adjustments on that. It first started out as a no flour (I guess gluten-free?) diet, that was fine enough, I didn't crave pasta even though I used to have it about 4 times a week. Then I went for sushi one night, and I just felt soooo bloated and uncomfortable. I realized that I always felt like that after having sushi, and I had always put it off to me eating waaaay too much. I also looooooove sushi. It was after that dinner that I decided that I should try to go off all grains. It wasn't too difficult as I had done various "low-carb" diets before. However, the hardest meal for me to adjust to was breakfast. I used to eat a bowl of oatmeal everyday for breakfast, so now what can I eat?? I've been sustaining myself in the morning with various fruits and veggies, but it didn't really cut it for me.

So off I went to Google-land. I found great recipes for grain-free breakfasts. I found a lot of egg recipes, but what I was really after was the carby breakfast. I was super excited to see that there were also lots of options for waffles, scones, even PORRIDGE!!! My first recipe was the Almond Flour Waffles. All credit goes to Comfy Belly. I didn't change a thing on this recipe. It took me about 5 minutes to make the batter, and I made my strawberry compote while the waffles were cooking. We were eating within 20 minutes of me breaking the eggs.

Almond Flour Waffles with Strawberry Compote

Inspired by Comfy Belly

Yield: 2

4 eggs

1 cup Almond Flour

1/4 teaspoon Vanilla

1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (or to taste)

2 tablespoon honey (I used agave syrup)

Strawberry Compote

1 cup fresh strawberries - quartered

1/2 lemon

1 tablespoon agave syrup

Preheat waffle iron.

Beat the eggs, vanilla, and honey (agave) until smooth.

Mix in dry ingredients.

Cook in waffle iron.

How easy can it get??

The strawberry compote is just as easy.

Put the cut strawberries in a small pot.

Add agave syrup.

Add lemon juice.

Stir continuously, and cook until desired softness is achieved in the strawberries.

Here is the finished product!!

Chickpeas quest continued...

I've made another dish in my quest to diversify my love of chickpeas. Like many of my other recipes, I used what was available in my pantry. I had made plain quinoa last night as a side dish, and of course I made enough to last a couple days. So here it is:

Chickpea Quinoa Salad

Serves 4

2 cups COOKED quinoa

1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

1 bunch mint, chopped

1/2 red onion, chopped

1 cup tomatoes, chopped (I used grape and roma tomatoes)

2 - 3 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 lemon

1/4 extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

This is another simple recipe. Mix all the ingredients together, squeeze lemon over the salad, and drizzle the olive oil. You're set to go!

German Cucumber Salad

This is one of my favourite salads. It's so fast and easy to make. And guess what!!! I didn't get the idea from Pinterest! hahaha. This recipe is actually from Cal's mom. She makes it all the time when we go for family dinner.

German Cucumber Salad

Serves 2

1 cucumber

2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon of sugar

1 teaspoon of salt

1 tablespoon of dried dill

In a bowl, combine vinegar and sugar.

Slice the cucumber thinly into the bowl. You can do this with a knife, or use a mandolin. Salt the cucumber. The salt will draw out some of the liquid from the cucumber.

Sprinkle dill over cucumber. You can also use fresh dill.

Let it marinate for 20 minutes before serving.

Easy peasy!

xoxo

~Meesh

Chickpea salad...AKA unblended hummus

When I was on vacation in Cuba with Cal and his family, the dishes we really enjoyed all had chickpeas. I didn't think much about it though, it was just really good and that was that. The only thing I ever made with chickpeas was hummus. My hummus is very delicious, if I say so myself! haha. I'll post the recipe next time I make it. But, what inspired this post, and the following recipe, was Pinterest (Follow ME!) of course. Hopefully, this will be the first of many things I try to make with chickpeas.

Here's the original inspiration:

(Source)

I followed this recipe pretty closely.

Cilantro Chickpea Salad

Inspired by Oh She Glows

1 can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained

2 cups of fresh spinach, chopped

1 cup of cilantro, chopped

1/4 cup of sweet onion, chopped

1 lime

1/2 teaspoon of cumin

dash of red chili flakes

2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

salt and pepper to taste

Whisk lime, mustard, olive oil, cumin, chili flakes, and garlic together until it comes together.

Toss with chickpeas, spinach, cilantro and onion.

I don't have a food processor, so I chopped everything by hand. If you have a processor, by all means, chop the spinach, onion, and cilantro with that.

Here's how it turned out:

Let me know if you like it!

xoxo

~Meesh

Pinterest Strikes Again!!...Peanut Butter Banana Drop Cookies

When I went to the grocery store a few days ago, I had a few things I wanted to make. One of them was the Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cookies:

(Source - via Pinterest)

I didn't make too many tweaks to this recipe, but as usual, I substituted what I had in the pantry instead of buying more product.

Peanut Butter Banana Drop Cookies

Inspired By lux hippie

3 ripe bananas

1 tablespoon vanilla extract (you could substitute any other extract you think might go well with bananas)

1/2 - 1 cup of peanut butter (I had natural smooth PB, use whatever is in your pantry)

2 1/2 tablespoons of blue agave syrup (could substitute honey, maple syrup, brown rice syrup etc...)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 cups rolled oats

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips (I love dark chocolate, so I used dark chips. You could use white chocolate, semi-sweet, you get the idea)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine bananas, vanilla, peanut butter, and blue agave syrup. I bought mine from Home Sense, you can also buy it at health food stores, and also Costco!!

Once the banana mixture is a smooth consistency:

Add the dry ingredients. I didn't combine the dry ingredients in another bowl because I didn't want to wash another bowl. But you can if you wanted to, of course.

Once all the ingredients are combine, add in chocolate chips, and I also added 3 tablespoons of chia seeds since I had some in the house. 

The batter will be sticky, I recommend using two tablespoons to help you drop them on the cookie sheet instead of trying to wrangle the batter off with your fingers.

Bake for 15 minutes. I used a silpat mat (the best investment EVER!! You can also find these at Home Sense once in a while). If you don't have a silpat, use grease the cookie sheet, or use parchment paper. The cookies don't spread, so you can put them pretty close together.

Here's the finished product!

Let me know what you think!

xoxo

~meesh

OMG!! So deeeelicious! Thanks Pinterest...AGAIN

Continuing with my Pinterest (FOLLOW ME!!) obsession, I've been eyeing the chocolate chia pudding for a couple weeks. I've been eating chia seeds for almost two years now. I have only ever mixed 2 tablespoons of seeds each morning with water and gulped it down. I didn't mind the texture or taste, so I didn't think much about what else I could do with it.

When I saw the recipe for chocolate chia pudding, I was hooked, obsessed really, with finding more recipes. I finally decided on the original recipe I had found:

(Source)

But I switched it up a little, cuz who wants to be confined to what's on the page? So instead, I made chocolate chai chia pudding!! Honestly, I opened the fridge looking for almond milk, and saw my chai syrup as well. So I thought, what the hell? Chocolate and chai goes well together, might as well give it a go!

Chocolate Chai Chia Pudding

Adapted from Food Doodles

2 tablespoons of chia seeds

1/2 cup of almond milk

1 tablespoon of chai concentrate

1 tablespoon of blue agave syrup

1 tablespoon of cocoa powder

Mix all the ingredients together, and let it sit for 20 mins. I found mixing it intermittently helps as well.

My picture isn't as pretty as others, but it's still deeeeelicous!! This recipe makes one serving.

When I first started eating chia seeds, I was buying them from organic grocers for about $23 a pound. As it has gained more popularity, national chains are carrying it, but they still sell for about $12 for 12oz. You can also find chia seeds at discount stores such as Home Sense, but I've recently discovered that Costco now has chia seeds!!! They are about $12 for 32 oz...AKA TWO POUNDS!!!!

I have a feeling I will be making a lot of chia puddings in the near future. Maybe a chocolate almond flavoured one? Maybe earl grey!!! Ooooh, the possibilities are endless!!!

What flavours do you want to try?

xoxo

~meesh

Pinterest and Nutella

I've been addicted to Pinterest (FOLLOW ME!!!) for a while now. I use it to browse wedding ideas, and also for food ideas. I noticed an influx of pins about nutella the last little while (turns out it was National Nutella Day on Feb. 5), so of course, I had to go and buy myself some nutella. My original inspiration/push to buy nutella was this:

(Source)

While that looks mighty delicious, I was also in the mood for some cookies. So pin searching I went for a good nutella cookie recipe. There were some "serious" cookie recipes with butter, sugar and eggs. But there were also some super simple 3 - 4 ingredient recipes. I ended up googling for a recipe and came across this:

(Source)

I liked this recipe because there was no added sugar. I'm pretty sure nutella was sweet enough as it is. Plus, this recipe was super simple. I had all the ingredients, so why not?

I decided to "health" it up a little, and added a cup of oats to the recipe too. I also added baking powder and soda, and vanilla cuz those seem to be in all cookie recipes I've made before.

Nutella Oatmeal Cookies

Inspired by Kirbie Cravings

1 cup flour

1 cup nutella

1 cup oats

1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Throw everything together in the mixer with the paddle attachment, and mix until it looks well mixed. The batter comes out crumbly, but it will come together when you roll the it together to form small balls. I made my batter into about 1" balls, and flattened them a little on the cookie sheet. I used a silpat, if you don't have one, I recommend using parchment paper, or grease the cookie sheet with some butter or canola oil.

Bake for 8 minutes.

Here's what they look like!

They are chewy, and dense, and fudgey! Nutella heaven!! They are definitely sweet enough without any added sugar, and the oats help give it a little bit of texture.

Try it out and let me know how it works out for you!!

xoxo
~meesh

Clams!!!

I have always loved eating seafood. Everything from lobster, oysters, seabass, tilapia. EVERYTHING!! I started baking in my teens, and started really cooking, like following recipes and having it taste good, in my early twenties. I never cooked seafood at home. I'm not sure why not. Maybe it was because I loved it so much, I didn't want to mess it up. But anyway, I recently started making seafood dishes at home. Here is my first attempt at spaghetti alla vongole!

 It was so simple, I couldn't believe it! I sauteéd some garlic and onions, threw in a sprinkle of red chili flakes, then threw in 2 pounds of clams, and a cup of white wine. I steamed the clams until they're open, and tossed it with the pasta, and garnished with cilantro. I think the most time consuming part of this recipe was cutting the garlic and onion.

Last night, I decided to try making something else with clams. Here is the outcome:

It is clams in tomato broth. I first sauteéd garlic, onions, and celery. Really, it was just what I happened to have in the fridge. Once the onions softened, about 5 mins, I added a 28-once can of diced tomatoes, 1 tablespoon of tomato paste, and 1.5 cups of water. I threw in some worcestershire sauce too, since I had some in the fridge (see a trend here? lol). Oh, I also threw in red chili flakes. I brought the sauce to a boil, then simmered for about 30 mins. Then I added a handful of chopped parsley, and threw in the clams. I had 3 pounds of clams this time. I meant to buy 2 pounds, but the supermarket I was at was self-serve, and I thought I had scooped 2 pounds, but clearly I need help estimating weight. I let the pot simmer until the clams opened, and served. I had mine plain like the picture above, but I made some pasta for Cal's clams.

All in all, cooking clams was not as hard as I thought it would be. I think next time, I will substitute mussels, and make some garlic bread too!

xoxo
- Meesh