Homage

I feel like an old woman, beginning some many posts with

“When I was in Australia….”

But there is a reason for all of these memories and homages (hint hint…..my big news?)

Yea I still need to wait a little longer till I tell the world officially, but I don’t think I’m gonna last another three weeks. So expect me to cave relatively soon.

One of the many foodie reasons I luuurve Australia:

They share an equal (if not greater) love for pumpkin and dates.

Seriously, they put pumpkin in everything.

Lovin’ it.

One of the items I would get a lot from the store was this Pumpkin, Cashew and Parmesan Dip.

I can’t really find anything like that in US stores, so i figured: why not create it myself

I had a bit of extra pumpkin left from some baking and cooking I’ve done recently so now was the perfect time to take it for a test drive.

I didn’t make any *exact* measurements, but I can kind of guess how much of what I used.

1/2 c cashews

1 t cumin

1 capfull of oil

1/2 t garlic

1/4 t of kosher salt (might have been more….I like it a tad saltier than the regular person)

I didn’t have any parm on me so I added some chopped Australian white cheddar

I don’t think the cheddar gave much to the flavor but I’m going to buy some parmesan for the next go ‘roud. (I just bought all the necessary ingredients at Whole Foods tonight, so I’ll get crackin’ over the weekend!)

Grind that baby up!

My food processor is on its last leg.

(read: it’s a hand-me-down)

So I just settled to have some of the cashews chunky. Though I kind of like how the cashew chunks added to the texture.

*FYI this is a savory dip

Soooooo sumptuous. I’m never going to buy a homemade dip again.

(Don’t quote me on that. But I mean, if I have a food processor, there’s really no excuse. Play like a champion!)

I’m going to make a bigger batch with proper measurements in the near future but for now here is the tentative recipe

As far as the love of dates?

I’m planning a homage to sticky date pudding this weekend. There will be multiple trials as I’m creating this recipe from scratch too!

 

I also made some Flaxy French Toast recently.

Sometimes, eating vegan is so handy. I never seem to run out of flax or chia seeds.

Baking crises averted!

I used Whole Foods whole grain seeded bread.

Topped with a mixture of heated jam and mixed berries.I am a flax french toast convert.

Eggy french toast doesn’t hold a candle to this perfection.

I;m rather tired after the Whole Foods “Cooking Class”. So I’ll recap tomorrow!

 

Ta!

 

Casey

 

 

 

 

The Trifecta

Simple and reliable brekkie.

I can make this bad boy in a snap before my 8am class or an early gym sesh.

Smashed Avocado and Feta

Toasted on Seeded Whole Grain Bread

• about half a (very ripe) avocado
• Feta
• Bread
• S &P

1. Smash up (lazily for people who like it chunky) the avocado on the bread
2. Top with feta
3. Get on that toaster action
4. Sprinkle with a little S&P and a little love
5. Stuff (your face, that is)

 

I did a ton of research for my Flax-a-thon, oh and for that paper too ;).

It had only reaffirmed my devotion to the plant and to healthy fats.

I loved learning about vegetable oils in my Botany class the other week and because I also love my healthy fats equally:

I am going to try to make a conscious effort to get a decent dosage of healthy fats (polyunsaturated and monounsaturated) a day and try to sneak them into more meals.

For dinner I turned to an old stand by sauce. It is spicy, sweet, AND salty.

The trifecta.

Mustard, Brown Sugar, Soy Glaze

• 2 T Whole Grain Mustard
• 2 T Brown Sugar
• 1 T Tamari (soy sauce)

Combine all the ingredients and spread onto your vessel of choice and pop it in the oven!

I would try it with salmon, chicken substitute, tofu, broccoli, other green veggies.

My mom would spread this on top of salmon all the time. It’s really the bet pairing with it, but once its baked turns into an even BETTER glaze.

This salmon was local and wild-caught. Score for lowering my eco footprint!

Flax Fact of the Day: Flaxseed’s fat profile is : 9% saturated 18% monounsaturated and  57% Alpha Linolenic Acid   17% Linolenic Acid } both are polyunsaturated

ALA’s = omega 3   LA’s = omega 6

57%!!!! the next highest concentration is canola oil with 11% ALA

The ratio of total Omega 6 to Omega 3 we should be getting is somewhere between 5:1 and 10:1. We probably get around 15:1 to 30:1 which can be a bad thing.

Flax has a ratio of 1:3 and has wayyy more EPA’s and DHA’s then even the fattiest of fish.

Gotta love statistics sometimes. 😉 I’ll be back with more flax facts pertaining to more interesting things, like skincare, soon

Casey