superbowl snacks

Even though I hate football, I always get excited for the Super Bowl, because it means I get to hang out in my sweatpants with my friends eating fatty snack foods all day. The commercials are usually pretty clever, but let's be honest, the Super Bowl is all about food, and today, our snack table is pretty impressive.

We have veggies, cookies, chips, hummus, Rachel Ray's 7 Layer Dip, wings for the carnivores, and my personal favorite, fried pickles! This is the second year for Super Bowl fried pickles, and I think it's my favorite new tradition. We made the recipe up as we went, and they turned out even better than last years.

Stuff you need

1. Pickle chips 2. Flour 3. Rice Milk 4. Bread Crumbs 5. Canola Oil

Start by heating up about an inch of oil in a wok of skillet. While the oil is getting nice and hot, pour the flour, breadcrumbs, and 1/2 cup rice milk into 3 separate dishes.

Now that you're all set up, you can start breading the pickles. First coat the pickle chip in flour, then dunk it into the rice milk, and then finally roll it around in the breadcrumbs. When the oil is hot and your pickles are prepped, toss them in the skillet and fry them up until they're golden brown.

Let them cool off just a bit on a stack of paper towels, and when you can't wait any longer, serve 'em up! They're great with ranch, but still delicious on their own as well. Drooooool.

So far, these are definitely THE BEST fried pickles we've ever made. Now if you'll excuse me, I have more binge eating to do before my diet starts again tomorrow. Ha :)

roasted pumpkin seeds

With only 4 days 'til Halloween, I've been running around like crazy sewing costumes, buying face paint, and of course, carving pumpkins! I don't think it matters how old I am- I will always love carving pumpkins. This year, pumpkin carving was extra fun, thanks to a handful of my favorite ladies, and a couple bottles of wine.

Top left down: the grim reaper by Julie, a wine bottle & glass by Molly, and a vampire by me :)

Top right down: ghosts by Jenna, a witch by Megan, and an experimental gangster by Lisa

After the pumpkins were carved, and the wine was consumed, there was only one necessity left- roast the pumpkin seeds! If you've never roasted your own pumpkin seeds before, you have to try it. It's a healthy, delicious snack, and it's another way to put that beautiful pumpkin to good use.

Stuff you need: 1. Pumpkin seeds from that jack-o-lantern you just carved 2. Olive oil 3. Salt & pepper 4. Other spices of your choosing

Remove all the seeds from your pumpkin, and wash them thoroughly- it may take a couple of times to get all the gunk off. While you're rinsing the seeds, preheat your oven to about 350 degrees.

When the seeds are cleaned, pat them dry, and spread them onto a baking sheet. Douse the seeds in olive oil, salt, pepper, and any other spice you'd like. For a regular batch, we used plain old salt and pepper. For our spicy batch, we also threw in cumin, chili powder, and hot sauce.

Finally, pop the baking sheet into the oven and cook until the seeds are golden brown. We didn't really keep track of how long they were in the oven- just check on them every 5-10 minutes to shake them around, and add a little extra seasoning. When they are baked to perfection, take them out, and devour!

The left bowl is the regular batch, and the right bowl is the spicy batch- special thanks to Julie, for the great photo! ♥ Lovely ladies, beautiful pumpkins, and delicious seeds! I couldn't possibly think of a better way to get in the Halloween spirit on a chilly fall evening. 4 days 'til Halloween! I can't wait! :)

roasted green chiles 2 ways

You know what I love? Summer produce. Everything is beautiful, in season, and delicious. When I went to the grocery store last night, I was excited to see that green chiles were cheap, so I scooped up a handful of Anaheims, and began to hunt for tasty recipes. After browsing all the great ideas on Central Market, I decided to make my own version of the black bean stuffed bell pepper, and then add a chili cheddar biscuit on the side.

First and foremost. Stop everything you're doing, and roast your peppers! I didn't know this was necessary, but a chat with my mom confirmed that roasting your chiles is the best way to go. Simply plop your peppers onto a baking sheet and let them cook under the broiler approximately 5-10 minutes or until they're brown and blistering. Make sure you flip the chiles half way through to get both sides cooked, and when they're looking browned to perfection, take them out, peel off the skin, and use them up!

You can immediately use them in your recipes, or seal them in a plastic bag for future use. Tonight I did a little bit of both-I used 2 for my dinner, and stored the rest for stew, or burritos, or something else amazing.

For the quick-fix chili cheddar biscuits you need: 1. Bisquick Heart Smart mix 2. Milk- I used rice milk 3. Cheddar cheese 4. Roasted green chiles

I know using Bisquick is like, half cheating, but when you work all day, and want something delicious and fast, then shortcuts are often the answer. Besides. The Box said Heart Smart, so it can't be all bad, can it? :)

Follow the directions on the back of the Bisquick box stirring together the dry mix with your milk product. Add a healthy 1/2 cup of sharp cheddar cheese, 1 diced, roasted green chili, and pop those babies in the oven. 9 minutes later you will have yourself 5 soft, moist, cheesy biscuits, with just a slight hint of heat. They were absolutely to die for, but note for next time: more cheese & more chiles. Yummm

For the stuffed bell pepper you need: 1. 1 Bell pepper- I used red 2. Cous cous 3. 1/2 cup black beans 4. Cheddar cheese 5. Your favorite salsa 6. 1/4 diced onion 7. 1 roasted green chili diced

Start off by preparing your cous cous. You can also use rice, or any other grain, but I used cous cous since I had it on hand, and it cooks very quickly. While your grain is cooking, cut off the top of your bell pepper and scoop out anything that's inside. Now chop up your onion and green chili, measure out your cheese, black beans, and salsa, and when the cous cous is ready, mix everything together in a bowl and stuff it inside of your hollowed out bell pepper. You will definitely have lots of extra filling, but you can serve it as a side, or snack on it while your pepper is cooking.

Place the stuffed bell pepper into a baking dish with about 1/4 inch of water in the bottom, and put it into a 450 degree oven for about 30 minutes. The recipe I based mine off of said 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven, but just check on it occasionally, and when the pepper is soft and the stuffing is heated through, you're good to dig in!

Biscuits and stuffed peppers? A slightly strange combination, but both fantastic uses for my roasted green chili peppers. The slight hint of spicy heat in both recipes was perfection. I think my first time roasting peppers was incredibly successful, and now I can't wait to try my roasted green chiles in all sorts of new recipes! Yayy!

overnight oats & homemade chips

I am not a morning person. In fact, I'm a total night owl, finding that my most productive hours are between 10 pm and 1 am. Because of this, I find it incredibly helpful to pack my gym bag, lunch, and anything else I can the night before. Enter, overnight oats. I made this recipe a lot last summer, and it's absolutely one of my favorites. Healthy, sweet, filling, and the perfect chilled breakfast for these hot summer days. The original recipe idea comes from Lorna Sass' cookbook Short-Cut Vegan, but I've altered it a little as well.

Stuff you need: 1. 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats 2. 1 8 oz can crushed pineapple 3. 1.5 cups milk- or a soy milk of some sort if you'd like to make it vegan 4. cinnamon 5. Nutmeg6. 1 Banana

Just before going to bed, combine the oats, pineapple, and milk into a large bowl. Spinkle with a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg, cover, and pop in the refrigerator while you sleep. In the morning, scoop about 1 cup of the oats into a bowl, top with 1/2 a sliced banana, and dig in. No really, that's it!

It's so nice to have such a tasty meal already made for me in the morning, while I'm rushing around trying to get to work at a decent hour.The original recipe suggests using cardarmom and topping with toasted nuts or flax seed, but I like my changes as well. It still needs a little tweaking, but I think flavor perfection is almost there.

Also, on another late night note, I'm pleased to say that as of this evening, I have successfully prepared breakfast, lunch, and a snack for tomorrow. Less chaos for me in the morning! Currently, my favorite snack is homemade tortilla chips. If you've never made them yourself, you must try it.

Stuff you need: 1. Whole wheat tortillas 2. Olive oil 3. Sea salt

This is so incredibly easy and delicious, I may have to start making these all the time! Take your whole wheat tortilla and slice it into little triangles. I simply continuously folded my tortilla until I had little bite sized pieces. Place these tortilla chunks into your toaster over- or on a baking sheet in a real oven. Lightly coat with olive oil and coarse seal salt, and pop them in the hot oven at 325 for 5-10 minutes. Check on them often, making sure they become golden, but not brown. When golden, flip them over and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes.

They are crispy, yet buttery, with just a hint of saltiness. You can serve them with salsa or guacamole, but I eat them plain cause I think they're that good. Mmm! Seriously. Bestest, most easiest snack EVER.

Oh! And one last thing-see how this late-night energy really kicks in? Tonight I also rummaged around in my craft bin, looking for something fun to make in honor of this festivity-filled weekend ahead of us. I found a tub of round beads in rainbow colors, popped in Julie & Julia, and 2 hours later, I'm filled with good-chick-flick vibes and half a dozen fun bracelets for my accessorizing pleasure. Pre-made meals, a heart-warming movie, and a little bit of crafting to boot. What a lovely Thursday evening, indeed!

basic miso soup

I think miso must be one of my favorite soups of all times. I love the unique, fresh, flavors, and it makes a perfect appetizer or light meal. I bought a tub of miso a while back, but kept forgetting it at my friend's house, so when I finally reacquired my miso paste, I was excited to make a big batch tonight. I mostly followed the recipe from The 30 Minute Vegan's Taste of the East, but tweaked it to my own liking a little bit too.

I won't give away all their published secrets, but I will tell you what I did differently. The book and most other recipes I found online call for dashi stock, but I'm poor and lazy, so I used vegetable broth, and I think it turned out just fine. I also used more tofu than it called for, and added strips of nori as well- hint: use scissors instead of a knife on nori sheets. It's way easier!

Maybe a little sodium-heavy, but honesty, I was craving it, and it was so worth it! In the book, the nori sheets were an optional addition, but it wouldn't have been as good without it. It was also nice that the recipe made a ton of soup, so I froze a little, and packed a portion or two for lunch this week. If I can figure out how to cut back on the salt a little, I will happily made this soup on a weekly basis. Not quite as good as the restaurants, but still tasty and satisfying! :)

easter festivities

A Happy Easter to everyone binge-eating jelly beans and dying Easter eggs today. I may be 24, but nothing makes me happier than pretending I'm 5, and painting silly things on eggs once a year.

I come from a large Catholic family, so Easter is always a big deal. This large family, mind you, is not vegetarian, and we always have the traditional Honey Baked Ham. Minus the meat, there's always tons of great food and way too much candy. In fact, here's a great list of vegan candy from PETA. I had no idea that a lot of my favorites were vegan! Total score.

Also, for my family celebration today, I brought a citrus quinoa salad that I found at Tall Green Grass. It's a pretty tasty dish, but definitely needed some tweaking. I doubled it, cooked the quinoa in vegetable broth, added another 1/2 lemon of juice, a little more siracha, and a pinch of salt for serving. Otherwise, I was pleased to introduce a large number of my family members to quinoa, since they had no idea what it was. I think they liked it too :)

On a crafty note, I wanted to pass along a super cute sewing pattern I found last week. My Grandma is in the hospital right now, and since she couldn't make it to the Easter celebration, I thought I'd bring a little Easter to her. The pattern and tutorial are here at Craft Gossip. I'm a total novice when it comes to sewing, but it was a moderately easy project that only took me a few hours to do during one of my late night spurts of energy.

I always find projects to start, but rarely finish them, so I'm really excited that I actually finished this little guy and he turned out great to boot. Most importantly though, my Grandma loved him, and it totally brightened her day.

It was a delicious day, but a long and busy one as well. It's time to eat some left over quinoa and a few more jelly beans before bed. Happy Easter! ♥

lettuce wraps

Driving home tonight, I had a mad craving for Morningstar Farms' sausage patties. Omg if you've never tried them, stop everything you're doing and go buy a box right now. The taste is phenomenal, the texture is dead on,and they're good in everything- quiche, burritos, scrambles, breakfast sandwiches, and now apparently lettuce wraps. I definitely wanted some veggie sausage tonight, but I was in the mood for something light. Enter, lettuce wraps! Kind of like the ones you find at PF Chang's, but way better :)

Stuff you need: 1. Onion 2. Bell Pepper 3. 2 Veggie sausage patties 4. Lettuce- iceberg or romaine, either will do

First and foremost, gently defrost the sausage patties in the microwave, just enough so you can cut them up into bite-sized pieces. Meanwhile, dice the bell pepper and onion, and throw them into a skillet for a minute or two. When the sausage is ready, add it to the skillet as well, with some garlic salt and any other spice of your choosing.

When the veggies and sausage are warmed through, and spiced to your liking, take a piece of lettuce and spoon some of the mixture into the middle. Continue filling lettuce leaves until you're out of the veggie/sausage mix. Grab. Wrap. Consume.

Voila! That's all there is to it. The entire process took me less than 20 minutes, and the outcome was spectacular. It was exactly what I was craving, but better! Not only does this make a nice light meal, but I'm positive it'll be an awesome appetizer or snack too. Vegetarian lettuce wraps- total success.

quick & simple spring rolls

Ever since I went to Uoki last week with my friend Jenna, all I want to do is eat Asian food. I had the stone bi-bim-bob, and I'm totally hooked. All I can think about is reproducing that recipe and eating it every night! Instead of acting on my new obsession, purely because I'm too lazy to walk one block to the store, I dug in the pantry and made something that would satisfy my cravings for now.

Stuff you need: 1. Spring Roll Skins 2. Veggies for the inside 3. Your favorite Asian-themed sauce

Start by cutting all your vegetables into matchsticks- aka julienning. I used carrots and spinach since that's what I found in the fridge, but you can use anything you'd like. When all your vegetable filling is cut, fill a pie pan, or any large flat receptacle with warm water.

Take one of your spring roll skins- it'll be hard and brittle- and soak it in the warm water. When it's nice and soft, pull it out of the water bath, place your vegetables in the middle of the wrapper, and roll it up like a burrito. Don't forget to tuck in the ends!

Keep rolling until you're out of vegetables and your plate is full. I put my sauce directly into the rolls, but if you prefer, you can have it on the side for dipping- dealers choice. Soy sauce is great, hoisin is my favorite, but tonight I discovered this peanut sauce hiding behind the mustard.

They look all fancy and stuff at the restaurants, but seriously, these are so simple to make. Cutting included, this took me maybe 10 minutes. It's a great snack or appetizer, and it's ridiculously healthy to boot!

fried pickles & dip

Even though I know little to nothing about football, the Super Bowl is always a good time. Fun commercials, hanging out with great friends, the Puppy Bowl is on Animal planet, and most importantly,there's always binge eating tasty finger foods all day. Usually beer is on this list as well, but due to this morning's hangover, alcohol was substituted for Mountain Dew:)

Today's menu items included fried pickles and six layer dip. We got both the recipes from Food Network, and let me tell you, everything was delicious. Granted, I ate way too much, and now my stomach hurts, but it was so worth it.

It's also nice to know that there are great sporting event foods out there that are vegetarian. Wings and hotdogs are great and all, but have a couple fried pickles with ranch, and you won't even miss the meat.