Mother’s Day Waffles

Here’s a delish breakfast for those of you in search of a good way to surprise your mom for mothers day. If you missed breakfast, well, who doesn’t like brupper (breakfast for supper)? Either way, she’ll think you’re the best kid in the entire world.

Ingredients (makes 8 six inch waffles):

2 cups almond milk (vanilla or plain), or any non-dairy milk
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (all purpose works, too)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup sliced bananas
1 cup sliced almonds
2 cups greek yogurt (can leave out the yogurt or use non-dairy yogurt if you want to leave the breakfast entirely vegan)

Instructions:

  1. Combine almond milk and apple cider vinegar, set aside to curdle.
  2. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl.
  3. Add the flax seeds to milk mixture and mix vigorously until frothy (approx. 30sec-1min)
  4. Add milk mixture, water, olive oil, maple syrup, vanilla, and half of the bananas to flour mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon until mostly combined then fold in half of the almonds until all ingredients are moistened.
  5. Preheat waffle iron and let the batter rest. Cook according to waffle iron directions. Be sure to spray waffle iron with oil or cooking spray between each waffle.
  6. Garnish with extra bananas, almonds, and a spoonful of yogurt. (as an idea, drizzle the whole thing with honey instead of maple syrup, it’s so good!)

Green Tea with Lemon and Blueberries

This holiday season my grandmother gave me an adorable tea pot, and I’ve been obsessed with tea ever since. Many say that tea offers a range of cleansing effects and health benefits but all I know is that the many comforting cups of tea have definitely been good for my soul. Messing with different blends and experimentations has been a fun and tasty adventure. I began to spice it up recently with the addition of fruit. Here is one of my favorite, antioxidant rich, energizing creations. Drink it hot or stick it in the fridge for a refreshing iced tea – perfect for summertime!

Ingredients:

2 Teaspoons of green tea or two green tea teabags

2 Cups of boiling water

2 Thin slices of ginger

2 Lemon Wedges

¼ Cup of lightly mashed blueberries

2 Tablespoons agave nectar or honey

Preparation:

  1. Prep all ingredients and put water on to boil
  2. Place everything together into a pitcher
  3. Once the tea is fully brewed (about 5 minutes) remove green tea & enjoy!

Morning Glory Toast

There is no meal I love more than breakfast. Maybe I’m a bit too enthusiastic, but I truly believe it has magical powers – who’s not happy after a delicious morning meal, right? Case in point, my “Morning Glory Toast.” It’s a simple recipe that I made up the other day to cheer up my roommate and best friend who was having a rough weekend, and it was a big hit! I think it made her feel a little better & hopefully it can bring some sunshine into your lives too. =)

Ingredients:

1 Slice of multigrain bread

1 Egg

¼ Avocado

3 Half slices of tomato

Salt & Pepper to taste

Instructions:

  1. Grease skillet and crack an egg into it. Cook the egg sunny-side-up style. Salt & pepper egg while in pan.
  2. While the egg is cooking, place bread in toaster, slice tomato, and cut up avocado.
  3. Once toast is ready, spread avocado, place tomato slices on top of avocado, and then top it all off with the sunny-side-up egg.

I like to slice the entire thing in half and pair it with a glass of OJ. Hope you like it!

cream spinach soup & cornbread

today’s recipe comes from our new intern naomi! i haven’t had a chance to “formally” introduce you guys to her yet but i will soon :)

These random days of gorgeous spring weather we’ve been experiencing, have me thinking one thing – SUMMER. My friends and I have already jumped the gun and pulled out the vinyl records and grill for summer-like evenings outside. My mind is on warm weather and night time meals, so I wanted to share a simple soup recipe paired with some delicious cornbread. I especially love this cornbread recipe because it is made with yogurt instead of butter. The meal is simple, light, and perfect to eat at the picnic table in the backyard with friends!

Both recipes come from my Moosewood (an organic and vegetarian restaurant based in Ithaca NY) cookbook which has proven to be a favorite of mine.

Cream Spinach Soup

Ingredients:
1 Large Onion
2 Medium Potatoes, peeled & chopped
3 Cups of Water
2 Tsp Salt
1lb. Spinach, cleaned & stemmed
5 Med Garlic Cloves, peeled only
1.5 Cups Milk (can be low fat, I like 2%)
White Pepper and Nutmeg to taste

Instructions:

  1. Place onions, potatoes, and water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer until potatoes are fully cooked.
  2. Remove from heat, add spinach and garlic, cover and set aside.
  3. Heat up milk in a large skillet.
  4. Puree spinach and potato mixture.
  5. Once pureed, stir in heated milk, white pepper, and nutmeg.

Squash Cornbread:

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
2 Egg Whites
¾ Cup Greek Yogurt (can be nonfat)
1 Cup Cornmeal
1 Cup Unbleached White Flour
½ Tsp Salt
1 Tbsp Baking Powder

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350˚F
  2. Grease an 8”
  3. In a large bowl, beat together the brown sugar, yogurt, and eggs until frothy.
  4. In a smaller bowl, mix together cornmeal, flour, salt, and baking powder.
  5. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet until just mixed together.
  6. Pour batter into pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Enjoy!

reading terminal

i grew up in the city for the earlier part of my childhood, and i’ve always felt really fortunate to have that experience. we lived at the end of a quaint, tree-lined street where everyone knew each other, us kids all played together, and block parties were a common occurrence. i took art classes (and went sledding) at the museum of art, loved riding what i called “accordion buses” and playing at cherry street park, and regularly went shopping at reading terminal. i can’t say that i always loved going there, as it was typically a crowded weekend day, but it always seemed so full of activity and excitement, and of course, delicious food.

it was recently named one of the top ten public markets in all of the united states, so i thought i’d take a trip down memory lane and visit for the first time in years to take some photos.

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reading terminal is located on 12th street between market and arch in philadelphia – check out the website here.

lemon pasta

i have a confession… i am a terrible, awful cook.  i burn everything.  but one thing i can do is pasta, and one of my favorite spring/summer dishes is lemon pasta. i know it sounds really simple – and it is – but i’d never had it until a guy made it for me and to this day i still can’t make it as well as he did, but i’m sure you guys can.

all i really do is make pasta as i would normally (my favorite kind is angel hair pasta), and for sauce i mix together some butter, olive oil and lemon juice  in a pan and drizzle on top, add some pepper and that’s it. but i was looking around online, and i think this would be amazing with some snow peas or edamame mixed in, and apparently some chopped parsley makes a great garnish :)

i found a few yummy recipes around the web if you want to try them, here, here and here.

image source.

tie dye cupcakes!!

one of our fp girls sent me these photos the other day, saying she was inspired by my vintage loves bag post last week me to make these cupcakes! she made them for the staff and customers at roosevelt field this weekend. don’t they look amazing?! i totally want to try to make some.

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here’s how to make them!

buy a box of yellow cake mix and separate the batter into 6 bowls. add food coloring for red, orange, yellow, blue, purple and green. fill the cupcake liners with a little bit of each color – but don’t mix the colors! and there you go… tie dye cupcakes :)

acai bowl

today’s recipe is from one of our fp girls, who says she first learned about the acai bowl in san diego, where all the little coffee and sandwich huts along the beach served them.

ingredients:

frozen acai sorbet

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fresh fruit- my favorites: bananas, strawberries, peaches, blueberries

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mix together in a bowl and enjoy! this makes a delicious breakfast or snack :)

green pea alfredo pizza

i don’t want to overload you guys with the vegan recipes, but i found this one and i could not resist sharing it – it looks unbelievable.

this recipe is made with socca crust, but if you’re not into the vegan thing, this could easily be made with regular pizza crust.

socca crust:
3/4 cup chickpea flour
3/4 water
2 tbsp olive oil

pour into oiled cake pan. bake on 375 F for 40 minutes. set aside.

the next step is the couliflower based alfredo sauce – something i didn’t know about until just recently when my friend told me, but apparently tastes just as good as cheese-based alfredo!

cauliflower-almond garlic alfredo sauce:
1 cup steamed cauliflower
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp water
4 cloves garlic
1/3 cup soaked almonds
salt and pepper

blend until smooth and spread on crust.

top with green peas, green peppers and onions. drizzle additional sauce on top and a sprinkling of oregano and shredded basil. bake for 20 additional minutes or until topping are cooked through.

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yum.

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source.

the perfect pair

in my mind there are few things better than grilled cheese and tomato soup.  especially when it’s cold out – but really, it’s good any time. while i’m perfectly content with my usual campbell’s tomato soup and wheat bread + cheddar, i found some recipes online that look pretty out of this world.

this tomato basil soup looks sooooo good – love the idea of topping with fresh basil and thin slices of parmesan cheese!

recipe here.

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now for the grilled cheese part – this one stopped me dead in my tracks.  its made with homemade beer bread, sharp cheddar and fontina cheese, dijon mustard and caramelized onions – and though i’d probably do it without the onions, it looks incredible – not to mention combines three of my favorite things ;)

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recipe here.