Natasha's Red Wine Sauce

I normally don't make myself pasta or rice because it's high in carbohydrates and I consider that my cheat meal but today I was craving pasta for lunch. I didn't feel like making my typical tomato sauce so I decided to try a red wine reduction sauce. I'm not exactly sure what actually goes into a red wine sauce but I figured I'd wing it.  I don't watch very much tv but when I do, I watch the Food Network. Chopped is my all time favourite show, I'm sure I've mentioned it on here before, and I was somewhat inspired by that show to make my sauce.  Since I was eating bad I decided to add cheese to the sauce (sorry vegans!!) but the cheese can be omitted from the recipe and it will be vegan.

Ingredients

Olive oil- 2-3 tbsp
Garlic- 1/2 clove (you could add more but I work later and I don't want to smell like garlic)
Onions- 1/4 of a red onion
Red Wine- 1/2 cup
Flour- 2 pinches
Parmesan Cheese- 1 tbsp
Salt and Pepper- to taste
Black Olives- 2 tbsp sliced olives
Spinach- a hand full
Mushrooms- 4 caps

Whole Wheat Pasta- I used spaghetti 

Heat a medium size pan over medium heat and add the oil. While oil is heating up, boil water for pasta. Add garlic and onions and let cook for about 2 minutes. Add the red wine, flour (to thicken sauce), and cheese. Add salt and pepper. Stir around for 1 minute and reduce heat to a simmer. Add the olives, spinach and mushrooms. Stir occasionally.  When water boils add the pasta to the pot. When the pasta is almost done turn the heat back up on the sauce to medium low heat and add drained pasta to the sauce pan. Cook for about a minute. Add pasta to a bowl and garnish with more cheese.

All these measurements are estimates, feel free to add or subtract ingredient amounts based on your personal taste.

Quack

I haven't posted in a little while, I suppose I have a lot on my mind. I haven't really cooked much over the past week, I did just make a burrito but I wasn't inspired to give away my guacamole or salsa recipe... yet. I've been eating out a lot and on Saturday I had the most awful sushi experience. I for some reason always find the grossest sushi places!! They served me avocado salad with mayonaise as a dressing! Yes, JUST mayonaise. I couldn't finish or really start my salad and I felt like puking after the meal. So needless to say, I'll never be going back to that place.

Sometimes when I have a lot on my mind I take a walk to the lake by my house and feed the ducks. My ex boyfriend used to call me an "old man" for taking pleasure in this pastime. I think I enjoy it so much because as a child my aunt and uncle would buy a large brown paper bag full of day old buns and we would go down to Lake Ontario and feed the geese.
I feel so sad for the ducks this time of year, they seem so cold and hungry in lake. There are signs around the lake that very sternly say "DO NOT feed the water foul" but I pretend I don't see them and sneak a few pieces of bread in for my little duck friends. All the ducks quack loudly at the presence of food and I am afraid they will give me away. I fear that a homeowner will see me feeding them and scream at me from their window but it hasn't happened yet. Just in case it does, I go right at sunset and always bring my camera. If anyone were to ask, I would just say I'm an art student taking some pictures of the lake for a project. The lighting was perfect the last time I visited the ducks and here are the photos I captured for my "art project" ;).

 

Italian Chili Recipe

Last night I was feeling creative, so when I got home from work I heated up a wok and started digging through my pantry.  I wanted to make some sort of bean dish with a tomato broth. It ended up turning into an Italian style chili which was really delicious but I'll have to attempt my tomato broth again. As I was cooking I had the show Chopped playing in the background for some inspiration. The talent and creativity of some of the chefs on that show is mind blowing. I ate the chili with chips but you could add pasta or rice.

Garlic- 1 Clove
Red Onions- 1/4 of the onion
Olive Oil- 1 tbsp
Dried Oregano- 3/4 tsp
Crushed Chili Peppers- I added around 1 tsp but I love spicy food. You can add anywhere from 0-1 tsp depending on the amount of heat you like
Bay Leaves- 2 leaves, remember to remove once cooking is complete
Salt- 1/4-1/2 tsp depending on taste
Pepper- 1/2 tsp
Garlic Salt- 1/4 tsp
Carrots- 1 carrot
Green Peppers- 1/2 a pepper
Black Olives- 1/4 of a cup
Mushrooms- 4 caps
Tomato- 1 whole tomato
Kidney Beans- 1 cup
Tomato Paste- 1 can
Water- 1 cup
Balsamic Vinegar- 2 tbsp
Tortilla chips
Cheese- non vegans

Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat. Chop all vegetables. Add the chopped garlic and most of the onions and cook until the onions are transparent. Add all the chopped veggies, beans, and spices. Let cook for about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste, water and remaining onions, stir the chili. Let cook for another minute or so and then add the balsamic vinegar. Bring the chili to a boil and reduce heat to low, simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  While chili is cooking carefully taste the chili (careful it's hot!) and add more spices if needed.  When ready serve with tortilla chips in a bowl. Don't forget to find the bay leaves and remove them from the chili. Non vegans can add cheese if they wish.

Blondies do it better

Normally I work on Saturday but because of Family day this Monday, I got the day off. Although I love sleeping in, this month I'd prefer the cash. I recently purchased a trip to BC on my credit card and I'm eager to pay it off. Either way, today I woke up at 11am and had the urge to get my bake on (that's a saying).

My next baking goal is to make up my own recipe because I've used other peoples baking recipes my whole life. I feel like I have the knowledge to come up with my own dessert. I've been thinking I want to make a raw dessert first and I have an idea stirring around my brain.  That post will come soon :).

Back to this morning, I woke up with the baking urge and consulted my cook book for a dessert recipe. I found a recipe for blondies and I had all the ingredients for it, so it sounded perfect. I've never actually baked a blondie before but I've definitely eaten them. I may have chosen to bake these blondies because I have a subconscious desire to dye my hair blonde again...

The recipe was easy enough, I gathered all the ingredients and started to bake.  

I mixed the dry ingredients first, followed by the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. I somehow found another recipe that uses dark rum ...drool drool. It was 11:30am when I bake these so I resisted the temptation to be day drunk (lol). 

Lately, I find it difficult to figure out what size pan to use. All the recipes are always in inches and I tend to eyeball it but I find I'm just way off. Today I lined three different glass pans finally finding one where the dough actually fits. Now I know what an 8 inch pan looks like. 

Ease of recipe: 5/5
The only thing I found difficult was the pan selection but everything else was extremely simple and easy to follow. 

Taste: 5/5
These taste pretty damn good. They are gooey, buttery and delicious.

Friends/Family thoughts: 4/5
I got a really good response with these blondies.

Likely hood to remake recipe: 3/5
I would remake these blondies again but not for a while, they are a little greasy and heavy and I assume high in calories :|.

Overall Cooking Experience: 4/5


Bonus Casey Points: 0/1
Casey was not around to judge this recipe.


Final: 21/25

I found the batter didn't seem to want to hold in the chocolate chips and nuts. I hand mixed the dough at the end but they kept popping out of the batter. I had to stuff them back in and mould the dough to the bottom of the baking pan. When I taste tested the blondies some chocolate still fell out. This doesn't take away from the taste at all it's just a little annoying because I want my chocolate to stay in the dessert.  In the photos above you can see a few rogue chocolate chips not mixing well with the batter. 

Despite the unruly chocolate chips and greasy texture, people will love you for making these blondies and the batch will be gone in seconds. Try to keep baking these to special occasions and birthdays, so no one puts on any blondie pounds.

xoxo

Valentinesss

Normally I roll my eyes on Valentines Day but I'm feeling quite festive today! I'm wearing a heart pattern dress and I have a little arts and crafts project drying as I write this post.
Just give me a moment to be cheesy..... I feel like loved ones in our lives can go unappreciated and Valentines Day is a day were you can remind the people in your life that you love them.  Sometimes you never get to tell someone how you feel until it's too late :(. So take sometime today and do something special for a friend or loved one.

Here I am channeling my inner Rebecca (my blogger idol http://theclothes.blogspot.ca/). I promise you clear photos one day lol, I'm still trying to figure out my Nixon DX or maybe I'm going for that artsy blurry look......

My friend Laura and I were talking about how much we miss Valentines Day in elementary school. Our parents would buys those dollar store cut out cards for us and on Valentines day we would give them out to our classmates.  I'm not sure what grade we grew out of that...
I have very fond memories of opening envelops and receiving a popular cartoon or boy band Valentines greeting.  Some of the cards were extra loving and I would strategically give it to the boy I liked. Not that it really mattered, I was such a mega nerd... even then.   If I was in elementary school today, I'd hand out these cards or if I had a child I'd make them hand these out!

Riker and Dr Crusher are my favourites <3 but  I'd give my crush the Captian Picard one ;).


xoxo

Sweet and Spicy Peanut Stir Fry

Today I left my cookbook behind and experimented with asian flavours. For lunch I made myself an Asian inspired stir fry. I always said if I was ever on death row my last meal would be Thai food :P. This recipe is based on vegetables and spices found in my kitchen and I encourage people to do the same with their meals. It is fun going out for dinner but it is very rewarding to create a meal from scratch.

My stir fry is a combination of salty, sweet, and spicy flavours.  This meal is very quick and very easy to make. I do not add rice or pasta to my stir frys because I like to avoid those kind of carbs. Feel free to add or change what you like. All measurements are estimates please change them based on your preferences.

Ingredients

• Olive Oil - 2 tbsp
• Garlic Powder (or fresh garlic if you have it)- 1/2 tsp
• Chili Peppers- 1/2 tsp 
• Pepper- 2 pinches
• Salt (optional, soy sauce is very salty)- 1 pinch
• Soy Sauce- 1- 1 1/2 tbsp 
• Natural Peanut Butter- 1 tbsp
• Ground Ginger- 1/4 tsp
• Onion- 1/4 of  the onion 
• Broccoli- 3-4 few florets
• Carrots- 1 carrot
• Green Pepper- 1/4 of a green pepper
• Kidney Beans- 1/2 cup
• Mushrooms- 2-3 caps 
• Mango- 2 slices
• Cashews- 2-3 minced (optional garnish) 

In a wok heat olive oil on medium heat. While the pan is heating up chop up all vegetables and fruit. Add onions and let cook until slightly transparent. Add the garlic powder, chili peppers, salt, pepper, soy sauce, natural peanut butter and ground ginger.  Stir around and add broccoli and carrots. Cook for 1-2 minutes and green peppers and kidney beans. Cook for another 1-2 minutes and add mushroom and mango. Carefully taste a vegetable and determine if it needs more spices... careful it's hot ;). Stir every minute or so and cook until vegetables are desired tenderness.
Plate and sprinkle ground cashews on top.


xoxo

Tiramisu Tuesday

I wouldn't consider myself a religious person but certain holidays and traditions I feel the need to celebrate. Like today, Pancake Tuesday ! I do prefer waffles over pancakes but I am not going to let that get in the way of eating pancakes. I kind of like a tradition where you stuff yourself silly....
Chloe's cookbook has a vegan tiramisu pancake recipe that sounded soo good I had to make it this morning. It's found on page 25 from her book "Chloe's Vegan Desserts".

Any recipe that calls for coffee and booze sounds good to me ! Especially for breakfast ;).
The recipe was easy to follow and it took me about 25 mins to make (cooking time included).

I did not have instant espresso powder or canned coconut milk. I omitted the coconut whipped cream and used instant coffee instead of espresso.

I mixed the dry ingredients first.

Then I mixed the wet ingredients. I like that the recipe uses maple syrup instead of regular sugar.

In goes the booze... save a shot for later hehe.

Then I added the wet to the dry ingredients.

Then added the chocolate chips .. mmm.

The recipe says do not over mix, so I tried not to. It ended up looking like this after I was done mixing. It smelled really good, just like tiramisu. I could distinctly smell the coffee and rum.

I cooked the batter in a lightly greased pan using about 3 tablespoons of batter for each pancake. My pancake flipping skills are questionable... also my photography skills, I'm working on it :).

The smell of the cooking pancakes filled up the whole house. I tried to make mine look like the the picture in the cook book.... close enough :P.

I added powdered sugar and more maple syrup to finish it off.
I finally put my camera down and tasted them. They were really good but unfortunately I didn't get a strong rum or coffee taste once cooked, I'm not sure if it was partly my fault for not using espresso. If I was to make them again I would double the amount of rum and coffee. I mostly tasted dark chocolate...not a bad thing. Also I would make the pancakes thinner but that's my fault not the recipe.

This is my cat Casey judging the pancakes, I always get her opinion on my baking. She looks mad but it's just the flash. Casey approves.

Ease of recipe: 5/5
Simple ingredients and simple instructions.

Taste: 2.5/5
They lost points because I couldn't taste the coffee or rum but they do taste good don't get me wrong!!

Friends/Family thoughts: 4/5
My mom tried them even though she wasn't hungry, she really liked them.

Likely hood to remake recipe: 3/5
Usually I have Vega One for breakfast but on special occasions I would like to remake these pancakes.  I would also like to remake them with more rum and coffee.

Overall Cooking Experience: 4/5
The pancakes were really fun to cook up. Booze, coffee, and dessert really makes sense to me.

Bonus Casey Points: 1/1
Casey came and sat on my lap when I went to eat these... she approves :).


Final: 19.5/25

My final thoughts on these pancakes are try them tonight! Celebrate Fat Tuesday with tiramisu pancakes. Even if you aren't vegan you will not notice the difference. Put that Aunt Jemima mix away and open your cook books! Baking from scratch with this recipe is easy. Tash and Casey approved. 

xoxo

tash



Coscarelli, Chloe (2013) Chloe's Vegan Desserts. New York, NY: Atria Paperback.

The Vegan Bake Sale

A few weeks ago I heard The Toronto Vegetarian Association was having their Annual Vegan Bake-off so I signed up ! I've done a few bake sales before but never a baking competition and I was really eager to try one.  They needed my entry right away and raw food was a category.  I made this really yummy no bake raw coconut banana cream pie over the summer and I thought that would be easy to make and delicious, so I entered it :). A few weeks passed and the bake sale date rapidly approached. I bought my supplies over the weeks and set them up close to my brand new food processor.

Finally bake day came!! I started with the crust and made 6 batches. As I moulded the crusts into a minnie cupcake tin I realized how many 100 samples actually is...a lot. It took me and hour and a half just to make the crusts. I put them all in the freezer and started making the whipped topping. I feared that the desserts may turn mushy and I knew freezing sliced bananas made them slimy and unappetizing.
So I decided to wake up early on the day of the bake sale to fill the pies with coconut whipped cream and banana slices. Probably not the best idea. Slicing took way longer than I thought and I had to dip all the sliced bananas in lemon juices because they started turning brown. This is when I began to FREAK OUT. I ran out of bananas and I was meeting my friend in less than an hour to drive us downtown to the bake sale. I assembled most of the samples and then packed them, a knife and some lemon juice in my car and sped off. I ran into Whole Foods bought two bananas, picked up my friend and raced to Toronto. In my car before the event I sliced the remaining bananas and finished my dessert! I ran into the building where is was being held and set up my entry. Of course I panicked for no reason because there was only one other entry there.

Before the event began Raw Key Lime Pie and my Banana Cream Pie

 My treats were set up and finally I could enjoy the event :). As a baker, I received one ticket for free, so I got to choose which category of treats I wanted to try. My friend and I walked around the room and looked at all the samples. The categories were raw desserts, donuts and pastries, gluten free, professional vegan classics, professional gluten free, brownies and bars, cookies, cakes and cupcakes, and pies and squares.  We ended up testing the cakes and cupcakes.

The cupcake and cakes sample I ate MMMMM

 All entries looked as yummy as they tasted. I didn't stick around for the winners announcement ceremony but on monday night I received an email saying I came in second in my category !!! SO happy :)

The Raw Desserts sample platter
1. Raw Vegan Blueberry "Cheese" Cake
2. Zesty Sexy Key Lime Pie
3. Coconut Banana Cream Pie (me!)
4. Fruit Sushi
5. Tijana's Tropical Treat

Raw Desserts.. I wish I could have tasted them !

I went to the Toronto Vegetarian Assocaitions main office and picked up my prize. I won the coolest vegan cookbook Chloe's Vegan Desserts by Chloe Coscarelli.

This is when I got MY IDEA. My goal is to bake every recipe in this cook book and I am going to document it all on this blog.

SO excited. Hopefully I'll get out one recipes a week.

xoxo tash

The Food Processor

Every christmas Santa (my parents... they still think I'm five) asks me what I want for Christmas. Being a working 25 year old, I pretty much have everything I need, so I usually ask for something I normally wouldn't buy for myself. For Christmas 2011, I asked for a panini press.. yes nerdy I know BUT so useful. Now all my sandwiches are warm and gooey and they have those fun grill marks on them.

Over the summer I went vegan and began experimenting in raw food recipes. I found that most recipes called for the use of a food processor. I went into a few kitchen stores and discovered that a good food processor is pretty pricey or a price I'd rather spend on new shoes. Christmas came around and "Santa" asked me what I wanted this year.  Keeping up with the kitchen supply tradition, I asked for a food processor.

I woke up with an awful cold Christmas morning and opened my presents lethargically. The last gift I opened was the food processor and it was more exciting then I could imagine.  My face showed misery but inside I was freaking out! It slices and mixes and it's pretty much a bakers dream item. SO happy.  I recommend it for all bakes/ cooks out there. I can't believe I've gone this long without one.

Unfortunately, I was too busy to use it until last week for the Vegan Bake off....

Hello !

This is my first official post. I am still trying to figure out how to navigate around the website. This blog will document creative adventures around the GTA. 

Bear with me while the blog is in it's infancy! More posts to come :) 

xo
tash