A visit to my mom yesterday to take her on errands. She treats her pedicures like medical appointments and I imagine that her pedicurist of the past 30 years, a lovely, effervescent woman named Eliana has become her therapist of sorts. I came back from walking around Broadway in Millbrae to find that she was giving her customers these cookies. When she told me she had cookies for me, I thought, I won't be able to eat these (not gluten-free) and they will torture me in traffic on the way back to Berkeley. Then at closer glance, I realized these were egg-white cookies...no flour, yay! I ate about 5 of them and save the rest for the boy. And they (and Eliana) were a little sunshine in an otherwise hard day.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Monday, August 6, 2012
Visiting with Hummus
Hummus is made up of Tahini,
Garbanzo Beans, Lemon Juice and garlic, just five ingredients but everyone
makes it differently. Just five ingredients and it can turn out right or so
wrong. At some point I got lazy and instead of just reserving part of the
garbanzo bean water for the recipe, I started throwing the whole can in
recklessly. I didn’t think anyone would notice it’s less-than-creamy
consistency in the Tupperware container. At first, the recipient, I’ll call her
“Mother”, taking a stab at it with her pita bread merely said, “It’s the taste
that matters,” and ate heartily. She asked me to make some every other time we
spoke. Life happened those next three weeks and I couldn’t. Sometimes I didn’t
have the Tahini and sometimes I ran out of lemons. Her voice became more and more strained each time she asked
about my next batch. When are you going
to visit me next?
A month went by and I thought about
making the hummus for her all the time. I became resentful. Why does she love Armenian food so much?
She’s Argentinian. I almost never had Tahini on hand, that key ingredient
because it would always go bad just before I needed it, the contents of the jar
turning dark with anger. Finally one day I got desperate and a light bulb went
off. I would make my own Tahini.
I’ve always been resourceful in a pinch, remembered the bag
of sesame seeds in the pantry and Googled. Make your own Tahini with toasted
sesame seeds and olive oil, the first page promised. I dumped the seeds onto
the black cast iron pan and toasted with desperation. I hope this turns out.
Here's my simple version:
Toast half a cup of sesame seeds until fragrant and slightly brown. Watch carefully as they burn quickly. Place slightly cooled sesame seeds into food processor and slowly add olive oil until you make a pasty consistency. Refrigerate up to a week or sell at Farmer's Market for ten dollars.
Here's my simple version:
Toast half a cup of sesame seeds until fragrant and slightly brown. Watch carefully as they burn quickly. Place slightly cooled sesame seeds into food processor and slowly add olive oil until you make a pasty consistency. Refrigerate up to a week or sell at Farmer's Market for ten dollars.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Cafe Gratitude and Peach Smoothie
If I could have three meals a day here I would. I added Maca powder to this yummy peach smoothie.
Basically, the menu as a whole is the ideal clean way of eating and is packed with all the superfoods
like Kale, Acai, Beets, and Raw Cacao (think milkshakes and agave-sweetened desserts). I may be
back for lunch.
But because this can get really expensive, really fast here's my at-home peach smoothie recipe:
1 ripe, organic peach
1 tablespoon organic almond butter
1 teaspoon organic agave syrup
2 cups organic coconut milk
Blend until smooth.
Basically, the menu as a whole is the ideal clean way of eating and is packed with all the superfoods
like Kale, Acai, Beets, and Raw Cacao (think milkshakes and agave-sweetened desserts). I may be
back for lunch.
But because this can get really expensive, really fast here's my at-home peach smoothie recipe:
1 ripe, organic peach
1 tablespoon organic almond butter
1 teaspoon organic agave syrup
2 cups organic coconut milk
Blend until smooth.
Friday, July 6, 2012
Plum Cake
I promised my aunt that I would make cookies for my grandmother's 40th day memorial. It's hard to
think of going to her house without her being there, and baking while on Clean seems just as ridiculous.
I'm in one of those use-what-you-already-have moods and just came away with two big bowls of
plums from our backyard. It's hard to bake and not lick the spoon. Until I have better sweet alternatives
for the family, I'm going to stick to the traditional stuff. Rome wasn't built in a day or even 6.
I had two smoothies today and made falafel from all that wonderful Bob's Red Mill garbanzo flour. The
recipe is right on the bag. Dr. Junger recommends that you have the non-juice meal for lunch, but it's
just easier to feed all of us at the same time some days.
Regardless of the diet over-haul I'm enjoying having some edibles in our yard.
think of going to her house without her being there, and baking while on Clean seems just as ridiculous.
I'm in one of those use-what-you-already-have moods and just came away with two big bowls of
plums from our backyard. It's hard to bake and not lick the spoon. Until I have better sweet alternatives
for the family, I'm going to stick to the traditional stuff. Rome wasn't built in a day or even 6.
I had two smoothies today and made falafel from all that wonderful Bob's Red Mill garbanzo flour. The
recipe is right on the bag. Dr. Junger recommends that you have the non-juice meal for lunch, but it's
just easier to feed all of us at the same time some days.
Regardless of the diet over-haul I'm enjoying having some edibles in our yard.
Plum Cake recipe:
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Clean
About four days into the Clean program and I tried this socca recipe that we just devoured. I also got a
trainer three weeks ago, so clearly I am serious about something. I even (barely) made it through a
county fair yesterday without so much as a deep-fried morsel passing my lips.* Okay off to read
Chocolate Fever to little guy.
*The previous weekend I spent making cupcakes and a cake, licking chocolate frosting off my fingers and eating pizza and the best veggie corn dog, purportedly the best in the world thank goodness because it will probably be the last one I eat for a long time. I admit, in the middle of munching on a slice of pizza this past Sunday, in the midst of reflecting on my sins, I thought, oh, Middle America, this is how people become obese.
trainer three weeks ago, so clearly I am serious about something. I even (barely) made it through a
county fair yesterday without so much as a deep-fried morsel passing my lips.* Okay off to read
Chocolate Fever to little guy.
*The previous weekend I spent making cupcakes and a cake, licking chocolate frosting off my fingers and eating pizza and the best veggie corn dog, purportedly the best in the world thank goodness because it will probably be the last one I eat for a long time. I admit, in the middle of munching on a slice of pizza this past Sunday, in the midst of reflecting on my sins, I thought, oh, Middle America, this is how people become obese.
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