Cozy, comforting vegan brown rice pudding

Every now and then I crave sweets, but I don't keep them around the house.  Earlier this week, I had eaten a fabulous dinner of grilled chicken and veggies topped with a light dressing of garlic, extra virgin olive oil and a little white wine vinegar.  I have been working out  hard and felt I earned a little treat.

I frantically began searching my mostly empty pantry. I knew I was going to have to put something together, but didn't want just anything.  I also don't like to eat empty calories.  If I'm going to eat something, I want it to have some benefit to my body.  Your body is not a trash can, so don't treat it like one.

I remember my grandmother making rice pudding for my grandfather.  I remember how he would warm it up slightly and top it with milk and raisins. I wanted to make that.  I wanted something simple, comforting and cozy.

Vegan brown rice pudding

In this recipe I used: 1 can full fat coconut milk, around 1 tablespoon of sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla and a few dashes of cinnamon.

I added all of those ingredients to roughly 2 cups of cooked brown rice.  I make brown rice in large batches in my rice cooker.  I keep it around, already made, for easy breakfast dishes and quick stir-frying.

Good coconut milk will separate, due to its high fat content.  Make sure when adding it to the rice to break any chunks up and ensure it is incorporated into the rice.  (Also add your sugar, cinnamon and vanilla.  These you could add more or less of any of those ingredients, depending on what flavor and level of sweetness you are looking achieve). 

• Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to medium low heat- or until it is simmering.  Your goal is to cook out some of the water in the mixture so that it will thicken, creating a pudding like texture.  Get comfortable and prepare to stand by your range for at least 30 minutes.  You need to be stirring it consistently so that it does not burn to the bottom of the pan.  *If you have ever made steel cut oats or oat groats, the process is almost identical*
• The pudding will slowly come together and have a more 'rice pudding' like texture.  You can make it as thin or as thick as you like- by controlling how much liquid you cook out of the pudding.

The finished product.  It might not look like much, but it was DELICIOUS.  It was low in sugar, and had fiber and protein because of the brown rice.  While full fat coconut milk is dairy-free and tasty, I don't recommend eating large portions of it.  It's great as a treat, but it has a high saturated fat content and certainly packs a punch with calories.

I LOVED this pudding.  I still have lots left over. It is very filling and it reminded me a little bit of creme brulee.  The little ramekin pictured holds around 5 ounces or so, I might have eaten a total of 2.  As I said, this little dish is rich and filling.

This pudding also would have been fantastic if a vanilla bean had been used in the cooking process or even topping it with nuts.



....in other news.

My coffee came in.  I use a coffee subscription service called Tonx.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE it.  I am very particular about food (shocking, I know) and even more particular with coffee. I hate stale coffee, I hate over roasted coffee *ahem starbucks*, I hate not knowing where my coffee is sourced from.

I love the coffee from Mountain Roasters ( in Buckhannon, W.Va.) but its not always easy to get my hands on.  

In a caffeine deprived state, I also don't like to concern myself when I'm running out of those chocolaty little beans of happiness. 

Enter: Tonx

Tonx allows me to get FRESH coffee sent to me twice a month.  I get something new and fresh every 2 weeks.  They source, roast and ship the coffee.  It is packaged and mailed out so that the beans reach you at their peak flavor (24-72 hours after roasting).  I also love that I get a little background on where the beans came from, why they matter, who they are supporting.  Its kind of like getting a surprise gift from myself twice a month in the mail.

I know it all seems like a shameless product promotion, but its not, I really do love this stuff.  I REALLY love not worrying about running out of good coffee.

Tonx is a great company and are easy to get a hold of.  I e-mail them frequently with coffee questions and they always get back to me promptly. Their customer service is top notch.

They offer a trail of 2 free ounces of coffee, and will mail it to you.  Yes, you put in your credit card info. Yes, you CAN cancel it if you don't like it (but chances are you will love it and wonder what kind of strange garbage you have been brewing up in your coffee maker lately). No hassle, promise.

If you are like me and really like coffee, or you just want some free coffee...give them a try. After trying Tonx and realizing that you have been drinking crappy coffee most of your life, you might also start to question what other poor life decisions you have made.  I can't help you with that.

Give them a try, because if I like it...you know it has to be good 

https://tonx.org/430bc169

I like mine with my SoDelicious Dairy free Coconut Creamer.

Thanks for reading this weeks blog, fellow food lovers. 

Please eat good food this week,
-Caitlin

Going bananas

We have all been there.  We go to the grocery store, we buy some bananas thinking that we will eat them before they go bad.  Then you forget about them and they are sitting on your counter all brown, squishy and should probably be thrown away.

Don't. 

Bananas that are almost rotten are the best bananas for baking and freezing. 

It was Sunday morning and I found myself in this situation, bananas that sat neglected on my counter top all week.  I hate wasting food and I hate wasting money, so I got to work.

(side note: I also had very little food in my house because I had been avoiding grocery shopping.  What happened below required a bit of creativity.)

Mostly, I was hungry.  It was breakfast time and I had coconut creamer and some juice in my fridge.  Food was nowhere to be found.   I contemplated going to iHop, but then realized I hated wasting money again.

What could I do with bananas and what I had left in my cabinets?

Banana muffins. 

-1 1/2 cups all purpose flour ( I used 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup homemade oat flour)
-1 1/2 tsp baking powder
-1/4 tsp baking soda
-1/8 tsp salt
-1 cup mashed bananas ( roughly 1.5 medium sized bananas)
-3/4 cup sugar ( I usually NEVER use white sugar, but I am trying to use mine up)
-3 tablespoons oil ( I used safflower)
-1 teaspoon lemon zest
-1/4 cup chopped walnuts, plus more for topping

Step one: preheat oven to 350 degrees, line muffin tin with liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Step two: mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt until combined.

Step three: mash bananas into bowl until smooth, add sugar, oil, and lemon zest.  Add wet mixture to dry mixture and stir to combine.  Add walnuts. 

Step four: fill muffin tins with muffin batter (roughly 2/3 the way full).  Top with chopped walnut.
Step five: Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.  Allow to cool slightly before serving.

(While muffins bake feel free to sip coffee and watch half an episode of Doctor Who.)

My lovely bananas falling apart, 24 more hours and they would be garbage.

Too add nutrition and flavor, I made oat flour (which you can also buy) and used it in place for some of  the regular flour.  If you have a blender capable of doing this, I blend rolled-oats until they are a flour consistency.  I do this a lot.  It's one of my little 'clean baking' tricks. 

Dry ingredients to the left: flour, oat flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda.  And bananas.

Dry ingredients on left. Wet ingredients on right: sugar (yes, sugar is a 'wet' ingredient', lemon zest, safflower oil and mashed bananas.  I REALLY like adding a little bit of lemon juice or lemon zest to any recipe that uses banana. To me, banana has a weird taste on its own.  The lemon helps balance that out and adds a little 'pop' to the recipe.  I opted for zest rather than juice in this recipe as to not mess up the liquid to dry ratio.

Filled up 2/3 the way and topped with smashed walnuts.

Fresh out of the oven mostly 'clean' banana muffins.  My kitchen smelled AMAZING.  Pair one of these muffins with some scrambled egg whites and call it breakfast!

The final product.  Warm, banana-y, fresh, nutty delicious homemade banana muffins. 

So, what do you do with the rest of the bananas? FREEZE THEM.  Bananas freeze extremely well.  I keep mine around for green smoothies.  Make sure you chop the banana into slices before freezing- or it won't freeze right.  I think green smoothies always taste a lot better when it has a really ripe banana added to it, this makes it so I always have a 'ripe' banana on hand for my smoothies. 

For more on green smoothies, check out my post here http://caitlineatsandbakes.blogspot.com/2012/03/green-smoothies.html 


I hope you enjoyed my mis-adventures into leftover bananaland!

-Caitlin

Peace, Love and Dairy Free (mostly...)

I'm always trying to find new ways to feel and look better. 

I knew that cutting dairy out of my diet was something that I hadn't tried and that I wanted to give a shot...but  never had the guts to follow through.

My skin was breaking out and not clearing up, I knew I had to change up what I was eating.  In particular, my forehead was breaking out. Which was not normal for me.  This was a sign of a digestion problem- slowly I have been cutting dairy out.

Now...before you start thinking I've gone crazy.  I still haven't cut out EVERYTHING.  I love cheese. I would eat cheese every day if I felt like it, so I still have cheese.  If you offered me ice cream, I'd still probably eat it. My general goal is to eliminate the things that I can easily substitute with non-dairy options, on a daily basis.

My biggest challenge was finding something to put in my morning coffee that could take the place of  half and half.  I had tried coconut creamer a few years ago, the French vanilla kind, but I just didn't care for the taste.  So, I went back to the half and half. 

I was at Whole Foods a little while back and I saw the same creamer- but there were different flavors available.  So Delicious Coconut Creamer- Original.  I bought it thinking "What the heck? If it works, awesome. If it doesn't, I'll just cook with it."

It ended up being just the thing I needed to eliminate the half and half from my morning coffee.  It is by NO means half and half, but it is 10 kCal per tablespoon and it is the best non-dairy option that I have been able to find.  ( and I am pretty sure I have tried them ALL.)

I've used this in my scrambled eggs as well, I use to throw in a touch of half and half- so i put a little of this in one day to see if it would still give a nice 'creamy' texture to the eggs.  It did.  No weird coconut flavor.

I have found this at Kroger and Whole Foods.  They have 3 different flavors: Original, French Vanilla, and Hazelnut.



My next obstacle was to substitute my 8 ounces of low-fat chocolate milk after I worked out.  I knew that this wasn't something that I could just get rid of, or my muscles would have a hard time repairing. I needed to find a non-dairy solution to my protein needs.

Enter: Sunwarrior Classic Protein (chocolate)

I was extremely skeptical about this stuff.  Again, my plan was that if I didn't like it, I would either send it back or use it to bake with.  I mix one scoop of this with 8 ounces of unsweetened chocolate almond milk in a blender bottle and 'shake it like a Poloroid picture.'  With other non-dairy proteins I've tried, its like drinking a mixture of sand in milk. Totally gross. 

This stuff is SMOOTH.  It has the texture of powdered sugar. Sunwarrior Protein is made from fermented brown rice protein, which is the difference between it and other brown rice proteins on the market.

Does it taste super amazing? No. It is tolerable, absolutely.  I have been using it for about 2 weeks now and have noticed that my stomach is less bloated and that I am looking a bit leaner.  The taste takes a bit of getting use to, but its well worth it. 

Bottom line? I have ordered another bag in the vanilla flavor to use for baking and smoothies at home.  I'll continue to order the chocolate to use after workout ( just because I feel like chocolate is a nice reward after a hard lift session).  Its not too expensive and it digests really well (aka no bloat or gas like with most dairy).  


Now...what can I use to put on my cereal and use for milk in my smoothies or baking? 

Blue Diamond Unsweetened Almond Milk

This is the stuff I like to mix my protein powder with.  I buy it when it goes on sale and stock up.  I always have a few in my cabinet, and a few in the fridge.  It is inexpensive and it has a good shelf life- also dairy free. I use the original or vanilla flavor on cereal or my smoothies- I keep the chocolate strictly for mixing with chocolate protein.  

Cutting out dairy can seem like a daunting task, it's not for everyone.  From my personal experience, making these small changes has left my skin 'glowing,' bags under my eyes are slowly going away and I have more energy ( possibly because my system isn't bogged down with trying to digest dairy all day).  I still won't give up cheese, it won't happen. 

Try substituting something you eat with a non-dairy option, notice how you feel, maybe taking some of the dairy out of your diet will benefit you as well.

Lots of love and coconuts,

Caitlin

***DISCLAIMER: I HAVE NOT BEEN PAID TO ENDORSE OR GIVEN ANY OF THESE PRODUCTS FOR FREE. THIS IS MY PERSONAL OPINION.***

 

High protein, low carb, clean, turkey tacos

Sometimes I'm tired and I don't really want to cook dinner.  This is one of those 'go-to' meals that I cook when I'm not feeling like making something complicated.

Disclaimer: while I do post lots of things about sugary, salty, delicious junk food.  I don't eat like that all the time.  I eat as clean as I possibly can and try to limit my carbs and increase my protein.  This is just what works for me.  Everybody is different. Do what works for you.

Turkey tacos are a quick and easy weeknight dinner.  It doesn't take a lot of time and it doesn't cost a lot of money.  

Here's what you need:

-1 pound ground turkey
-Taco seasoning of your choice (I used Vann's Taco Seasoning, that I bought at Whole foods.  You could EASILY make your own Taco Seasoning- I just didn't feel like it.)
-Romaine lettuce (whole leaves)
-Cheese of your choice (I had goat cheese crumbles lying around, so that's what I used.)

Here is the ground turkey I used.  I don't like using red meat all the time, however, use any ground meat of your choosing.  I try to buy my meat when it's on sale, then I freeze it.  I'm always using ground turkey or chicken breasts, so it never goes to waste.

Add a bit of oil of your choosing, I used safflower oil, to the pan before heating.  Turkey is very lean and will burn to the pan without a little oil- but don't get crazy! Cook the ground turkey, it will turn white when it is cooked.  Since you brown ground beef, do you white ground turkey? haha  Anyways, after its cooked I added around a 1/3 cup of water to the cooked meat.  Then about 1.5 tablespoons of taco seasoning.  

This is what the taco seasoning I used had in it.  I bought it because it was already put together and didn't have any 'junk' in yet.  When this runs out, I'll probably blend my own together.

I think its cool to use the romaine leaves at 'taco shells'.  I used goat cheese crumbles to top it off.  Use what you have in your fridge.  Sometimes the best meals come happen by accident this way!

Turkey tacos, plated and ready to be eaten!  If you find this too messy, tear up the lettuce and throw it all in a bowl and make a salad out of it!  If I had tomatoes or peppers I would have thrown those in with this too.  But, its close to the end of the week and my fridge is looking a little empty.

I hope you enjoyed tonight's quick blog.  Healthy food doesn't have to be complicated!  Don't be afraid to experiment with food and discover something new.

You are what you eat, so eat the good stuff,
Caitlin

Things I would not want to live without: TEA

There is one thing that my friends and family members know that I love, that thing is TEA. 

My love for tea started when I was young.  I fell in love with the tea at Chinese restaurants and started drinking different types of tea (as opposed to Lipton black tea) when I was around 10 years old. I wanted to enjoy that same tea at home.  So, my parents bought me some oolong tea in tea bags for home use.  That sparked my tastebuds at an early age for a variety of different teas. 

At Holidays, rather than gifts, there were numerous occasions where I was given exotic loose leaf teas, cups, mugs, kettles and fancy sugars that you couldn't find in grocery stores.  Even now, when my friends or family go places- they bring me back cups, tea balls, different kinds of tea.  I have an entire section of my kitchen dedicated towards storage of tea, tea making vessels and kettles.  I am not joking when I say that I LOVE tea.

Random facts about tea:

• Tea is the most popular drink worldwide, water being the most popular. 
• Tea was accidentally invented in 2737 BC when Chinese Emperor Shen Nung spotted some tea leaves blew into a pot of boiling water and produced a pleasing aroma.
• By 1800 England alone was consuming 24 million pounds per annum of tea of every type from white and green to oolong and black, all of it organically grown and hand-made, much of it fit for Emperors and kings. Most tea consumed in England between 1650 and 1850 was green and oolong - not black
• An average of three billion cups of tea are consumed daily worldwide.

There are many different kinds of tea, the basics being: black, white, green, oolong.  All teas come from the same plant, Camellia sinensis.There are also herbal and rooibos teas, but those are not actually made from the tea leaf. 

White tea- is the lightest of all teas.  It comes from the bud of the tea leaves, the youngest leaves.  This kind of tea has the lowest level of caffiene and hightest level of antioxidants.  Good for skin and complection.  Brewing temperture of 160 degrees.

Green tea- is made from the same parts at white tea, when the leaves are a bit more mature.  Green tea contains between 5%-10% caffiene.  It can also help reduce cholesterol. Brewing temperture of 180 degrees.

Oolong tea- is a semi femented tea, this is the kind you come across in Chinese restaurants- usually a blend.  Oolong tea is a good digestive tea and is also linked to weight loss.  Brewing temperture of 190-200 degrees.

Black tea- this is probably what you grew up drinking.  This is the most popular tea in the US.  Black tea is fully fermented, containing up to 20 percent caffiene per cup.  Brewing temperture of 200-220 degrees.

Herbal teas and Rooibos tea aren't technically 'tea'.  Herbal teas can include chamomile, peppermint, herbs and other spices blended together for enjoyment or a medicinal purpose.  Rooibos tea, also known as red bush tea, comes from a plant native to Africa.  Rooibos tea is extremely high in antioxidants and boasts a sweet, red cuppa tea.  It has similar benefits to white tea.

Ok, so there are all these kinds of teas, but how in the world do you properly brew them?

You have a few options here.  Best case sceneario: you have loose leaf tea and a kettle with either a little basket for the tea or a tea strainer.  This is ideal because it allows you to immerse the loose leaf tea in the kettle giving the tea time to 'bloom'.  When the tea has room to move around, it will brew beter. 

I like to do this by getting my water ready (usually by electric kettle), warming the tea pot (let the hot water sit in there a few minutes) then dump that water down the sink.  I then add my loose leaf tea, whether directly to the pot or in a little tea basket.  I add a little water, enough to moisten the tea- then I give it a second to 'open up'.  Tea is dry, you are essentially rehydrating it when you add the water. By giving it a little dose of water before filling the pot- it can 'open up' better.  Thus creating a better flavor.  After the tea sets for 10 seconds or so, I add the remaining water to the pot and let it brew for the desired time.  Usually this is dictated on the package of tea or you can google on the internet


This is important (to me at least) take the tea out of the water! DO NOT let it sit there and steep for the duration of the time you drink the tea.  This not only burns the tea, but it causes tannins which will make the tea taste bitter.  The only exception in this is with herbal or rooibos teas.  The longer you steep those teas, the stronger the flavor and the higher the concentration of tea in the water. 

Ok.  Now for my favorite kinds of teas (in each category) and why I like them. 

White tea:  Silver needle, I get mine from Teavana.  I like this tea because it has no frills, no fancy flavors, just pure white tea.  It is a little earthy in flavor, but sweet and subtle at the same time.  I like to enjoy this tea before I go to bed, usually with a few piroline cookies.   http://www.teavana.com/the-teas/white-teas/p/silver-needle-white-tea

Green tea: ok, so this isn't technically a straight up green tea.  Pouchong tea falls somewhere inbetween green tea and oolong tea. Consider it a lightly oxidized green tea.  My favorite is Coconut Pouchong, from Golden Moon tea.  This tea was introduced to me by my favorite yoga teacher and healing lady extrodinare- Melita (hi Melita).  It tastes like the beach.  There is enough coconut flavor that you get the point, but its light and not overwealming.  http://www.goldenmoontea.com/coconut-pouchong.html

Oolong tea- Oolong tea will always be my favorite. I LOVE it with a ton of sugar, but I don't drink it that way very often.  My favorite comes from Golden Moon.  http://www.goldenmoontea.com/imperial-formosa-oolong.html 

Black tea- there are MANY different varieties of black tea out there.  Black tea has two purposes for me, and I like different brands and blends for those.  For hot tea, drinking by the cup I like PG Tips.  This is your typical, English style, blended black tea.  It is smooth without being bitter and they have a monkey as their mascot (who can't love that)? 

For ice tea, I will not brew anything besides Luzianne tea.  It is the perfect tea for your 'sweet southern tea' on a summers day, while sitting on your theorhetical porch in your therhetical rocking chair. 

I hope you enjoyed this little journey into the world of tea with me.  Broaden your horizons today and try a new blend or variety that you have never had before!

Rainy day cream of tomato soup and Asiago cheese croutons

Yesterday was one of those 'blah' days where it was rainy, dreary and just not a nice day outside.  One of those days where you don't want to get out of bed and the thought of putting on "real" pants seems like a daunting task.  All I could think was how perfect it would be to make soup.  

I consulted with the refrigerator and pantry to see what I had that could be used.  It just so happens that I had many tomatoes that were about to spoil. In addition to that, my mom had made bread that was going stale and needed to be used.  So....tomato soup it was.

As I had never made cream of tomato soup before, I referred to Ina Garten's recipe for guidelines on how to create this masterpiece.  

Although I did add a full cup of half and half to the recipe, I stand by that it is still a relatively healthy soup.  With five pounds of fresh tomatoes, fresh carrots, fresh onion and fresh basil, the indulgence of the half and half is minor when it comes to the nutritional value of this soup.  ( Tomatoes= lots of lycopene and vitamin C)

The basis of this soup was two large carrots, a medium red onion and roughly five pounds of fresh tomatoes. I chose to use solely organic ingredients for this soup.  Anytime you eat the skin of a fruit or vegetable, I think that is an important choice to make.

As I have many picky eaters in my family that have issues with texture, I ran ALL the ingredients through the Vitamix. This is the carrot and red onion post Vitamix.  As said before, I love using the Vitamix, not a day goes by that I don't use it for something.  When making this soup I found it to be especially handy and prepping all my ingredients.

The carrot and red onion were sauteed until tender in some extra virgin olive oil.

I put all the tomatoes through the Vitamix prior to cooking as well.  This is the end result.

Chicken stock, garlic, fresh basil, pureed tomatoes, half and half, salt and pepper are added to the pot.  This was brought to a boil and then allowed to simmer for approximately 40 minutes.

Who wants to have soup without some awesome homemade croutons?  My mom had made a few loaves of bread that were going stale.  I cut them into cubes here and coated them in olive oil, garlic and freshly grated Asiago cheese ( yep...I ran it through the Vitamix too.  I wasn't about to grate all that cheese by hand.)

Croutons in the oven.  Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

Croutons and soup ready to be served.

By the end of cooking this, I was really hungry and forgot to take a "pretty" picture of the soup with the croutons.  So, this was my actual plate about midway through eating.  Once the soup was finished cooking, I ran the whole batch through the Vitamix again so that all the ingredients blended together perfectly.  

 My first adventure with making soup using the Vitamix and only fresh ingredients proved to be a success.  The croutons were the perfect pairing for this soup adding a little bit of pizazz with the Asiago cheese.  The soup was eaten last night and for lunch today as well.  It made for the perfect meal on a rainy, gross and dreary day.  


Lots of vitamin C,
Caitlin

My Melting Pot Birthday Celebration

The Melting Pot is unquestionably one of my favorite restaurants to go. Unfortunately, I don't go very often because I don't find myself having $100+ dollars to spend on a meal.  Thankfully though, my family likes to treat me to dinner at The Melting Pot for my birthday.  


The meal consists of 3-4 courses, depending on what you order.  While the food isn't the most amazing cuisine, the ambiance makes up for it.  While at The Melting Pot, you get an opportunity to linger over your food and interact with those you are dining with.  


On this occasion, we got a cheese course, salad, meat and dessert ( my favorite!).


For the first course, we had Swiss cheese to dip a variety of 'dippers' in.  Dippers include bite size piece of bread, vegetables and Granny Smith apples.  The Granny Smith apples are my favorite dipper; the mix of salty and sweet is really good. 


My second course was a traditional wedge salad, which consists of a 'wedge' of iceberg lettuce topped with bacon and blue cheese dressing.


The third course was the meat course.  I had 6 oz. filet mignon, but I also photographed a family member's sirloin teriyaki.


The final course was the chocolate course.  I decided to use my birthday wish and get all white chocolate.  My family members, for comparison, ordered half milk chocolate and half white chocolate.  


The staff brought my dessert 'dippers' with a birthday candle in a mini piece of cheesecake.  Check out the photos below to see what a dinner at The Melting Pot is like!  

You can't have cheese without wine!  This is just a basic 'by the glass' Pinot Grigio.

For my main course I had filet mignon, asparagus and Portabello mushrooms. 

Will had sirloin teriyaki, which is his favorite.

This is what the meat course looked like before we demolished it.  The meat is cooked on the table in various liquids.  Ours had a white wine base, broth, garlic, mushrooms and a touch of cherry kirsch.

Ying-yang chocolate!  Yum.

The best part of the whole meal, dessert!  The Rice Krsipie treats dipped in chocolate are amazingly good.

This is the table before the havoc of our hunger wrecked the table setting.

I would recommend everyone try fondue at least once in their life.   I probably won't get to go back to The Melting Pot until my birthday next year, but it makes it all that more special.  


If I lived closer to Pittsburgh, The Melting Pot would be my regular Friday or Saturday evening hang out for dessert fondue and cocktails.


Chocolate covered everything,
Caitlin