I want to be a billionaire...

 
Have you heard that song on the radio lately called "I want to be a billionaire" by Travie McCoy featuring Bruno Mars?  Its lyrics go:

I wanna be a billionaire so fricking bad
buy all of the things I never had
I wanna be on the cover of Forbes magazine
smiling next to Oprah and the Queen

Makes me wonder what I would do if I was a billionaire.  I'd probably stop working at my current job (which is probably telling) and travel more.  Maybe take my sister and I on a trip to New Zealand.  Donate a huge chunk of it to animal shelters.  Buy some shares of Tesla Motors. :)

Instead I spend my days enjoying my wee, inexpensive kitchen projects.  My recent projects have largely been inspired by Shari at Green and Crunchy.  I'm in love with her blog.  I want to buy a house so I can start buying bulk, organic goods and growing a large veggie garden.  The harvest from my pots on the stoop isn't cutting it for my vegan self.


I was intrigued by her interesting desserts she makes, and even more challenged when I discovered that she infrequently puts down recipes.  She may mention the ingredients, but she doesn't typically list out the corresponding quantities.  I decided the treats looked good enough to wing it.  Plus I just got my new Vitamix, so I wanted to try it out.

First up, raw banana chocolate cheesecake.  So good and so easy!

I'm Fruity!

I love breakfast!  I'm always looking for new meals to try, especially something that's healthy and fast.  I recently started reading the Raw on $10 a Day (or Less!) blog.  I can't really imagine myself going completely raw, but the breakfast ideas are wonderful for a summer day.  The one pictured above was quite scrumptious.  It consists of a raw "pudding" made of a half a mango, a banana, and an avocado blended in a blender or food processor.  Then you top it with sliced bananas, the other half of the mango, chopped, and some granola I made previously.  Soooo good!  Next time I make this, I'm going to add in some lime juice or lime zest.  I really enjoyed the tang from the mango and wanted to add to it.

My Secret Love

I love cookbooks.  I'm so weird that I will borrow all sorts and then read them in bed.  I'll get all excited and call out to my bf to look at some food photo or I'll rattle off an ingredient list.  Only recently have I started to try and cook meals of my own inspiration, rather than straight from a cookbook. 

My favorite vegan cookbook, hands down, is Veganomicon.  Practically every recipe I've made from this book is golden.  I've made enough of the recipes that I have a hard time picking one I haven't yet made vs ones I know are brilliant like snobby joes, leek and bean cassoulet, smoky tempeh, BBQ seitan sandwiches, the grain salads....I could go on.

That being said, I've recently made a new recipe out of this book that I thought was brilliant: the seitan picatta. 

Granola and Delta Force

Today's run involved listening to Stuff You Should Know podcast on the Delta Force. They sound so bad ass; these mystery "operators" that travel the world and put down the opposition in the name of the US. Considering I don't particularly agree with our current wars, nor do I like the idea of sending thousands of troops in, these Delta Force guys sound pretty awesome. If you want to read more about them, check out the How Delta Force Works article.

Now down to the good stuff: granola.

Run to Learn

I have a love hate relationship with running. I like running after it's over, however during the actual run, all I can think about is how I'm getting tired, how my foot itches, how my shoulder muscle is sore, etc. This quickly gets me down and makes me feel even more tired, like I can't go on.

I find this a strange phenomenon. When I run on an elliptical at the gym, I can go for much longer without this situation occurring, primarily because I can get engaged into a book. It may be weird, but I typically prop up a book on the machine while running. I realize that running in a gym is easier than running outside, but the differences are quite drastic.

I do have an iPod and I tried running outside with music, but music just doesn't suck me in, leaving me in the same predicament. Luckily, I've discovered a new way to take my mind off running: podcasts. More specifically, the "Stuff You Should Know" podcasts. The more recent ones are about 30 minutes long (earlier versions are only 5 minutes each). They are really interesting and amusing as well. I also get more excited to run, because I refrain from listening to them except when running. Today I listened to one today about counterfeiters. For example, did you know that the Nazi's were big into counterfeiting? It wasn't so they could have more buying power, but to undermine the Allies' economy via inflation. They counterfeit British pounds and then they dropped the money from planes. Crazy!

Question of the day: do you do anything to distract yourself while exercising?

My favorite cookbook right now is Veganomicon. This is somewhat surprising because it has so few pictures (I typically like pictures to inspire me), however each recipe I've tried, and I've tried quite a few, has turned out great. Recent I made a few recipes out of it: the smoky tempeh and the baby bok choy. Both were delicious. I also made an interesting carrot and arame side dish from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, which was surprisingly tasty. I also heated up some leftover brown rice to serve as a side.



I've also been getting into raw desserts. I made another dessert from Ani's Raw Food Desserts, the chocolate ganache "cake". I had read online lots of good reviews, so I decided to give it a whirl. The best thing about raw desserts is how quick they whip up if you have all the ingredients. The cake was quite tasty, but my favorite part was the delicious chocolate frosting. Mmm!

Feelin' Hot Hot Hot

Out in Colorado it's supposed to be 90 degrees today. Somehow, seemingly overnight, we went from getting a foot of snow to 90 degree weather. Unfortunately, after going through the whole winter without even a hint of a sniffle, I have contracted a cold. What the heck?!

My favorite ways to soothe my symptoms (hot drinks, hot showers, hot soups) don't sound that fantastic in blazing summer heat. On top of that, it's a 3 day weekend! I've been pounding those smoothie drinks like Naked Juice, Bolthouse Farms, Odawalla, etc. that have large quantities of vitamin C. I drank one this morning that was 2000% of my RDV of C. I am determined to blast this bug right out of my body.

One of my favorite things about summer is being able to eat cold treats. I love ice cream, smoothies, etc., but I don't really feel like eating them when I'm freezing my butt off during the winter.

Alas, this is the first summer where no dairy is allowed. How will I survive? Well I found this cookbook, Ani's Raw Food Desserts, where she has some ideas for raw ice creams. Mine is a variation of one of her recipes and is sooooo good.

(Almost) Raw, Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream
- 1 c soaked cashews
- 1 c water (not the soaking water from the nuts)
- 1/2 c dates (I used medjool)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp peanut butter
- handful of chocolate chips (I didn't have raw cocoa nibs, so this is why it isn't raw)

In a blender, preferably a high powered one, blend cashews, water, and dates. Blend until it's a smooth consistency. If you have a normal, kitchenaid type blender like me, you may have to blend for a bit, scraping down the sides occasionally.

Once it's at a very smooth consistency, add the vanilla. Blend for a couple of seconds to combine and give it a taste. If it needs more vanilla, add it. If it isn't sweet enough for you, add more dates, etc.

Pour the finished mixture into a tupperware container. Add the peanut butter and chocolate chips and mix them in. Pop into the freezer for a hour or so. After an hour, you can transfer it to your ice cream maker, or you can just mix it up, and put back into your freezer. If you decide to do it by hand, you'll need to take it out every hour or so to mix it up. When I'm ready to eat it, I like to let it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes to thaw a little bit.

This made about 2 servings. P and I sat down and ate the whole batch between the two of us. Very tasty, very easy, and healthy for you too!

Unfortunately, we ate this so quickly I forgot to take any pictures of it. If you are familiar with Dairy Queen, it looked a lot like a chocolate peanut butter cup blizzard.

This recipe is pretty easy to customize for your own tastes. If you want mint chocolate chip, add some mint extract and chocolate chips. For chocolate ice cream, add some cocoa powder. Coconut? Could be awesome... The variations are endless!

Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go back to laying on the couch while watching 30 Rock. Have a good holiday weekend!

Weekend Cooking

I don't know about you, but it's usually the weekends when I decide to make something involved for dinner. It's hard to get motivated to spend significant time in the kitchen making something brand new during the week. It's after work, weeknight shows are on, etc. etc. Plus you never know if this new, involved recipe, will turn out as a total flop.

Last weekend, our local grocery was having a sale on potatoes, 10 lbs for a dollar. I sent my bf out to purchase some and he came home with 2 bags (we already had some potatoes in the fridge). Now I'm looking through all my cookbooks and favorite sites to see what I can make with potatoes. There's always the classic baked French fries, roasted potatoes, baked potatoes, etc. etc., but I don't want to eat 20 lbs of French fries.

I did however, come across gnocchi. I've never had homemade gnocchi before. I've only first had it recently (in the past year or so) and each time it was either at a restaurant or from a box. Gnocchi is surprisingly vegan; you only need flour and potatoes. Some recipes also call for egg and butter, but you really don't need that. The key with good gnocchi is to get as much of the water out of the potato as possible. You do this through a series of steps, which aren't very complicated.

I decided to bust out a batch yesterday to see how it goes. I served them with pesto sauce.

Gnocchi with Pesto
- 2 lbs of potatoes (~2 large russets or 4 smaller potatoes)
- 1c bread flour (you can use WWPF or All purpose, however the higher gluten content will help the dumplings stay together)

- Your favorite basil pesto recipe (I like the one from Vegan Planet)

Step 1: Bake the potatoes
Set your oven to 400F. Wash the potatoes and pierce with a fork. Then take a knife and lightly score the potato with an "X" at each end. Connect the X's along the side of the potato. This will make peeling the hot potato a lot easier when they are done.

Pop into the oven in a baking dish. I did not wrap mine in foil as I wanted the potatoes to dry out as much as possible. Cook for 30 minutes. Flip them over. Cook for another 15-30 minutes depending on size. The potato should be easily pierced with a fork when done.

Step 2: While you're waiting...
While the potatoes are cooking those last minutes, set up a pot of boiling, salted water. Salt should not be added to the dough, as that will pull moisture into the gnocchi, which we don't want. Instead, to get the seasoning, you will want to generously season the water.

Also set up a bowl of ice water near the pot.

Set up a floured surface to create and roll out the dough. Flour a plate, where you will set your raw gnocchi. Get out a fork to roll the gnocchi on (to get the ridges). Get out your ricer, grater, or food processor with grater attachment.

Step 3: Prepare the potatoes
Now that the potatoes are done, quickly peel the potatoes while they are still hot. You will probably need a dish towel to help you handle the potatoes. If you are having trouble peeling the potatoes, you can use a veg peeler or the back of a knife to help you out.

Once the potatoes are peeled, ideally, run them through the ricer. If you don't have a ricer, grate them. I was having problems getting them box grated, so I popped them in my food processor with the grating attachment.

Once grated, spread out the potato on a flat surface so the steam can come off (try not to compress it, you're just giving the breathing room it needs to air out). Leave for 15 minutes.

While you're waiting, make sure all your stuff is ready to go.

Step 4: Dough
Once the potato has cooled a bit, you can now make the dough. You want to use as little flour as possible to get a good dough you can roll. Basically you're getting it to a point where it doesn't stick to your hands or work surface.

Pull all your potato into a flat ball. Put a 1/4c of flour over it and work it in. You should work it in like pastry dough, rather than kneading it. You don't want to overwork the dough. Once it's worked in, continue to add in 1/4c at a time until it reaches the right consistency. I only used about 2/3c of flour.

Pull a chunk off the dough ball and roll into a long, skinny tube, about the diameter of your finger. Cut into 3/4 inch "pillows". Roll the cut piece down the back of a fork to get the ridges and place in floured plate. Once you have enough of them, put in your pot of boiling water. They will sink for 30 seconds or so. Once they pop up, let them boil for 1 minute. Scoop out with slotted spoon and put in ice water bath. Let sit for 30 seconds. Scoop them out with slotted spoon onto a dish. Repeat until all the gnocchi is made.

At this point is where you can either combine with sauce or freeze them for later use. From what I have read, freezing the raw dough (pre boil) doesn't turn out so great when you reheat. Instead you should do the initial boil and then freeze.

I popped my finished product into the fridge until dinner. If you're making sauce, save some of the potato water. The starchy water makes the sauce stick better to the pasta.



For dinner, I pulled out my thawed basil pesto and put in a hot pan with the gnocchi. Once heated, I added a couple of ladles of potato water. I let it simmer for 7 minutes or so. I made a side salad of spinach, sprouts, sunflower seeds, and raspberry vinaigrette. Very tasty!



The gnocchi was a little softer than I remember it being at the restaurant, but I wonder if that was due to my food processor method, vs using a ricer. I'm going to go investigate my local thrift store to see if they have one.

For dessert, we had a delicious, practically raw, chocolate chip and peanut butter ice cream. Directions to come in my next post!

Question of the day: What would you make with 20 lbs of potatoes?