Sorry Everyone!

It's been a hectic two days back and I left my camera at Matt's house :(  So I will hopefully blog tomorrow.

I Can't Follow Recipes: Vegan, Not-vegan Butternut Squash Enchiladas

For some random reason, I decided to abandon meat this week.  Well, not entirely, I did have two pieces of general Tso's chicken that Matt gave because I was really craving protein.  Or meat.  But that's just me trying to  listen to my body and what it wants.

However, this recipe I found on the internet when looking for things to do with squash and pumpkins.  And oh man, y'all are in for a treat.  Why can't I follow recipes?  I did not feel like buying canned tomatoes pumpkin if I had most of a butternut squash lying around.  Since it wasn't enough for the recipe, I also added a sweet potato.

The colors go, it's okay.

The rest of the filling, I kept the same. Wait, that's a lie.  I have a pecan allergy, so I added almonds because I think those are similar in texture.  I also don't have spinach in the house right now, so I skipped those.

Almonds are the best

Sixteen tortillas went into this meal.  Six were Trader Jose's and ten were La Banderita.  The La Banderita tortillas help up a lot better after filling and wrapping, so I might exclusively buy those from now on.  Layering was creative because those 16 did not neatly fit in a row.

GUESS WHICH ONES ARE LA BANDERITA

Since I also could not come up with a pounds of salsa verde, I mixed it with some hot goya salsa to make the 16-ounces of salsa.  It tasted so good though, highly recommended.  Before popping these into the oven, I sprinkled some non-vegan shredded cheddar.  Hence the non-vegan part of the meal, but honestly, those could have been omitted all together.

Look at my food, my food is amazing.

Put a dollop of sour cream.

And now for the outfit.  I always associate vegans with edgy-dressed girls who may or may not like other girls, I tried to emulate that look with some cargo pants and combat boots.  I thought this look was awesome.  Except for the people who asked about my cleavage.  Screw you guys.

Shirt (American Eagle), red shirt (Abercrombie), pants (uniqlo), and boots (doc marten's)

On Sunday, I might not get around to blogging because I'll be out of town (Ithaca-town), but regardless, the entry will be about navigating cuisines that are inherently not gluten-free (I'll be at a Ukrainian restaurant for brunch and those meals are typically sandwich and flour-heavy).

Keep it yummy,
Jo

Keeping Warm and Cute: Blueberry Pie with Spelt Crust

I had the biggest urge to bake a pie. Seriously, it was intense.  But last time I tried making a pie (which I somehow forgot to blog about, my apologies), it did not come out very pie-like.  It looked more like a cobbler, but was still delicious.

Arrowhead Mills Spelt Flour

The crust recipe comes courtesy of the About.com page about Scandinavian baking, which was so simple, I figured, why not give it a shot?

Lauren whisking the flour with the butter

I did not feel like making two pie crusts, so I halved the recipe.  My friend, Lauren, brought a stick of butter, of which we used 2/3 of cup of to make the dough, which looked like this:

My little ball of dough: pie is magic

While the ball of dough was refrigerating, we decided to make the filling, which consisted of frozen strawberries, frozen blackberries, frozen blueberries, frozen raspberries, agave nectar, and arrowroot.  In hindsight, I should have used MORE arrowroot for more gelatinization.

I used the Blackberry Cobbler filling recipe from Babycakes NYC

After half an hour, it was time to roll out the dough!  I am legitimately amazed that show much dough arose from just a cup of spelt flour, but food can be made of magic like that (not really, it's more the proteins in the spelt that cause that, but hey, magic sounds better).

Rolling out the dough!

We spooned the pie filling in the pie and poked three holes so that vapor and whatnot have somewhere to go and my pie didn't explode int he oven.  We had a ton of leftover dough, so Lauren and I decided to be creative.

Two friends worshiping Death?  I dunno what we were going for.

So after thirty to forty minute, our pie was ready!  And leaky.  Due to the lack of gelatinization.  But that just made the whole Death-worship thing that much more legit.

THIS PIE HAS COME FOR YOUR SOULS

You know how the filling was funny?  I think we forgot to have the pie set a bit, so serving it was a huge mess.  But, whatever, it was delicious and satisfied my pie desires.

Mmmm, pie.

The fashion was definitely inspired by the colors of the pie filling and the fact that it was deathly cold outside. So how do you keep warm?

Sweater (Free People), Skirt (H&M), yoga pants (Lululemon), collared shirt (Cooperative), and hat (knit by Indigo Hare)

Layers.  Like ogres and onions.  Since that day I had a presentation to give, I wanted to dress well.  But it was also in the single digits Fahrenheit, so I had to be smart about how I looked.  The fact that I had to bike a mile round trip between classes did not help either.  I put the sweater over the collared shirt, which kept my core nice and warm.  The yoga pants are so much thicker than regular leggings and have more structure, rendering them appropriate even if I did not have a skirt on.  And of course, I wore my warmest jacket with a circle-scarf wrapped three times around my neck to keep my face warm.

On Thursday, we continue the saga of I Can't Follow Recipes with an awesome recipe for vegan enchiladas and a super-edgy coordinated outfit to go!

Keep it yummy,
Jo

I Can't Follow Recipes: Turkey, Quinoa, and Green Snap Pea Salad

Before I left to come back to campus, my parents decided to roast a turkey. The turkey was delicious but there were more leftovers than two people (my parents) could eat before it goes bad, so they gave me some.  It made eating the actual day I got back a whole lot easier, but then for dinner, I wanted to be creative, but did not have the energy to follow the exact recipe.  So I heavily modified the Chicken Quinoa Salad from Jane Hornby's Fresh and Easy book.

Quinoa, vegetable broth, frozen snap peas, an onion, turkey (in aluminum foil), agave nectar, lime juice, thyme, garlic paste, salt.

I  love cooking quinoa in vegetable broth.  I, for some reason, prefer the taste of vegetable broth, mostly because it isn't as salty to me.  But first, we had to cook some onions and garlic for the most aromatic of flavors.

Onions caramelizing (by onions, I mean, half an onion)

Cooking quinoa in vegetable broth.

My dressing before mixing: olive oil, lime juice, agave nectar.   YUM.

I'm starting to learn that I am becoming a big fan of self-made, oil-based dressing for salads and the such.  It's lighter, full of omega-3's, and does not take away from the dish itself.  Most of the reason why I have an aversion to Chicken Caesar salad now is how gross the dressing tastes to me.

Threw in some snap peas.

A dish, to me, always has to include some kind of vegetable.  I don't know how I made it through my childhood eating not too many vegetables.  Snap peas live up to their name by giving a nice change in texture to the grainy quinoa and soft onions.

"I've watched enough Food Network to know what good plating is" - Matt

I mixed the dressing and then added it to my dish.  I then elegantly layered the turkey on top of it, which soon turned into a mash-up of all components that got ferried into mouth with a fork.  It was so delicious though, I can't even begin.  Not reheating the turkey added a great textural difference, though I'm sure it tastes awesome with some freshly roasted meat.

Onto the fashion.  It was around 0 degrees F at the time this meal was being made.  And the entire week following.  I'm so happy I got a bunch of sweaters for Christmas and located my fingerless gloves that turn into mittens that keep my thumbs warm.  I went with this sweater to mimic the brightness of the snap peas and the brass tones in the necklace match the quinoa.  I wore thigh-high socks under my pants and combat boots make pretty awesome snow shoes.

Sweater (thrifted), pants (BDG), boots (Doc Marten's), gloves (urban outfitters), and necklace (bought at BronyCon) 

I like working with leftovers.  It makes the most of your food and prevents over-eating, which is a win-win.

Keep it yummy,
Jo

Being Assertive: Gluten-Free in Miami

As I mentioned yesterday, I went to Miami over break and had no access to a computer.  Getting around without one was hard, so that encouraged me to fall asleep early and whatnot.  Anyway, an important lesson I learned was to be more assertive in asking for my gluten-free foods (or foods that inherently do not have gluten in it) for fear of my stomach freaking out.

It starts with me and my friends going to South Beach for the day before going out.  I dressed so cute because I was hoping for some shenanigans.

Tee shirt (urban outfitters), skirt (Pacsun), sandals (century 21), bag (free people)

So Caroline, one of my friends, the one I was staying with the week, proposed going to Mangos, which is this bar/live-music stage/restaurant full of funny people and known for food.  I looked down the menu, which was full of standard bar fare, until I saw shrimp tacos, which said they had corn tortillas.  So I ordered it.  And man, I was disappointed.

That, my friends, is a flour tortilla.

 So, I should have been more assertive and asked for corn tortillas, but it was so loud and it was hard to flag down the waiter--crap, I am making too many excuses, but either way, I did not speak up to have it changed.  What's the least logical thing that I did?  Ate it all anyway.  And cuddled with myself for a while.  But, after several trips to the bathroom, I was fine, but it was such a damper on my day.

So the take-home message is: when you're away from home and going to restaurants you've never been to, don't be afraid to change dishes and get what you want!  That's my rant.  And probably the person who had the best time was the waiter who gave me his number...

And this 70-year-old woman rocking her ass off.

Keep it yummy,
Jo

I Am The Worst At Posting (I'm Sorry)

Hello all!  Sorry for not posting for so long.  I went to Miami (which I will post about sometime between tonight and tomorrow), had some personal stuff to deal with, and now school started, so I am once again trying to set up a schedule.  To force me to do things, the most probable schedule will be Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday.

So, tomorrow, look forward to a charming post about Miami and being assertive about your allergy (while looking cute despite major bloating), Sunday will feature some delicious leftover turkey with quinoa and dressing (with an outfit to go with it), and Tuesday will be about blueberry pie that I made with a spelt crust and tips of keeping warm and adorable in sub-zero temperatures.

Look forward to writing it all (whilst taking 19 credits, aka, six classes).

Keep it yummy (and warm),
Jo

Taka Taka

Sorry for the really late post!  I've had a friend over the past few days and was just everywhere all the times. I did not have much access to my laptop when Jil was over, but now, sadly, she went home and is going to Italy for the whole semester.

But I digress.  I was strolling through SoHo the other day, listening to Grimes, I looked across the street to find a place named Taka Taka, which serves Japanese tacos and Mexican sushi.  I just had to go there.  I went with my friends, Danielle and Jil, and we had the greatest time.  It was a fun-seeming place: the music was trendy and the decor made it seem fun.

Look how trendy!

There was also a conveyor belt from which to take traditional sushi rolls for appetizer.  What they also gave was a sampling of spicy sauces.  When I say spicy, I mean, I wish I had milk at the table to cool my mouth.  And I hate milk.

Conveyor belt sushi color-coded by price.  Avocado, cream cheese, cucumber and crab masado.  YUM!

Clockwise from top: pickled serrano chiles, jalapeno mayo, and chipotle mayo.  Ouch!

I was most interested in the Japanese tacos, so I ordered the Miss Carnitas.  It was a taco with Japanese-style cooked meat with guacamole and pico de gallo.  I loved it!  It was, however, not a lot of food for $21, but I would definitely get it again, considering I was there for dinner, which doesn't necessarily have to be pricey, but if I'm in the city with a friend who I'm not seeing until August, splurging a bit is allowable.

Japanese tacos.  Corn tortillas = delicious + gluten-free

Polka dots have been super popular and trendy over the last few years and, for Christmas, Danielle got me a pair of polka-dot sweater tights.  I wore this outfit the other day, but as with the gray-scale outfit, I think this outfit provide a nice contrast from colors present in the foods.  And if you just stick with tradition sushi, the black bottom and white top mimic the black seaweed and the white rice.  You are what you eat, right?

Hat: Staring at Stars; Shirt: Free People; Shorts: American Eagle; Boots: Minnetonka; Bag: Renaissance Fair; Tights: gift

Keep it yummy,
Jo