New recipes!

I know I went MIA on ya'll this week. I don't have any excuses...just feeling uninspired. Luckily, a relaxing weekend has cured that and I have some fun ideas for post this week. And I'll do my summer goals update and pushup challenge post ASAP. Promise.

 What have I been doing? Well...I made the cookies I donated to Tina's blogger bake sale. They sold for $35.00, but the donation that the winner sent was $100.00. That officially makes these the most expensive cookies I've ever made!

Since I know you also want to make yourself some $100.00 cookies, I thought I'd share the recipe.

Crispy Almond Wafer Cookies
2 egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
1.25 cups almond flour


With an electric beater (or really strong arm), beat the sugar and egg whites together until they form small, soft peaks. You can also add a little cream of tartar to make it easier. When they form loose, glossy peaks, mix in the almond flour (or equivalent amount of crushed almonds for a crunchier texture).

If you like the plain flavor (which is delicious, really) you can spoon or pipe the cookies into small mounds on parchment paper and bake at 400 for 10 minutes...but you can also flavor these and they turn out so amazing, so delicious, that you may not be able to keep your fingers out of them. 

Our favorite flavorings: 
Mocha: 2 tsp dutched cocoa, 1/2 tsp espresso powder
Lavendar: use 1/2 tsp lavendar buds (organic if you can get them)...that's it. It's amazing. 
Rosemary/Lemon: zest of 1/2 a lemon, 2 tsp rosemary 

Once cooked, they will be flat, crispy on the outside, chewy in the center. You can cool them and make sandwich cookies by filling them with chocolate ganache or buttercream frosting. Both are really good, I swear!

I also tried out a salad recipe that was sent to me via one of the Women's Health e-mail services. They had some summer salad recipes, and this one caught my eye: Curry-Lime Biryani Salad. Highlights are that it's vegetarian, can be either a meal or a side, is COLD (good for hot days), and high protein.

Also, for all you doubtful folks, the fiance raved about the mouthfeel, the flavor, and the substance of this salad, so it's not just my crazy tastebuds!


As you can see, I made some substitutions. Here they are, in list format:

Black quinoa for plain
1.5 c garbanzos for 1 tbsp of olive oil in the quinoa
Key limes (10) for regular limes (2)
extra 1/4 c almonds for 1 tbsp olive oil in the dressing
Added shredded green pepper for extra crunch


The substitutions keep the calories in the dish about the same, but just cuts the fat and builds up the protein and fiber. I don't like to consume tbsps of olive oil that I won't enjoy when I can get more beans/almonds for the same nutritional "price".

Also, this is a standard soup bowl and it contains about 1/6 of the recipe, which is under 300 calories. Not bad. It made a nice snack...and it's suprisingly filling. I need to push back my run another half hour...oooff.

Finally, I made some bread to go with our cabbage rolls (recipe here) on Friday night.

This is beer bread. That's right: Two of our favorite food groups - beer and carbohydrates - in one amazing mixture. It's delicious, soooooo easy, and quick.

The recipe comes from this book, which is one of my favorite food nerd books every (paired with its prequel of the same name). It's written for people with minimal science education, and there are some recipes interspersed for fun. I highly recommend it.

The beer bread was a recipe that followed a discussion on leavening agents - baking soda, baking powder, yeast, etc. It's so simple: beer, self-rising flour, and sugar. No rising time, bakes for an hour, slightly sweet, and goes well with saucy foods. Yummmm.

Ok, I'm almost done. We should have a new recipe later this week. It's inspired by the fiance's dish at The Cheesecake Factory - Shrimp Franchese....very good, very simple. We're going to try to recreate it in the kitchen this week.

I won't be gone long this time. Enjoy your Sunday, everyone!