apple crumb cake

You guysssss. I recently discovered Figgy Bakery, a gem of a blog/bakery, and have not been able to get enough of her recipes. They're an amazing take on whole foods and clean eating and she has a knack for making vegan baked goods and seemingly indulgent desserts just a bit healthier than they typically are. Anyways! I've made the below recipe a few times, modifying it a little each time, and this is what I've come up with:

Adapted from Figgy Bakery's recipe

Ingredients:

[topping:]  1/2 cup flour, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 

teaspoons cinnamon, 1 cup Earth Balance melted, 1/2 cup flour, 3/4 cup rolled oats

 [cake:] 3 cups chopped apple, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 3/4 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 3/4 cup Earth's Balance, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 2 eggs, 1 1/4 cups Greek yogurt, 1 teaspoon agave

Disclaimer: You need four separate bowls for this concoction 
as well as an 8x8 glass baking dish and perhaps a small loaf pan.

Begin with the topping. Melt Earth Balance (1 cup) in a medium-sized bowl. Add all other topping ingredients, mix and set aside.

Chop three apples into cubes, put into a bowl and add cinnamon. Set aside.

In another bowl, add flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and mix.

In a fourth bowl, beat Earth Balance (3/4 cup) until smooth. Add sugar and mix. Then add the eggs and mix. Next, add the Greek yogurt and agave. Once all of these ingredients are incorporated, add the flour mixture, little by little, until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed together. Finally, fold in the apple-cinnamon combination and transfer to an 8x8 greased baking dish. You may have left over batter (I did), so I made an extra little loaf. 

Add the topping and bake on 350 degrees for about an hour, testing with a toothpick to make sure the cake is done.

Note: mine took probably an hour and fifteen minutes to cook. I'd recommend setting the timer for 50 minutes and checking periodically after that.

spinach dip grilled cheese

I had no idea what to call this gluttonous creation and spinach dip grilled cheese is the only thing that made sense. Inspired by my new idol Joy the Baker, this sando is far from healthy but absurdly satisfying, which counts for something, right?

Ingredients:

Sourdough bread, cream cheese, parmesan cheese, jack cheese, plain Greek yogurt, two cloves of garlic, fresh spinach, butter, olive oil

First, sautee spinach with crushed garlic in a bit of olive oil until wilted. Transfer to a bowl. Add parmesan cheese, cream cheese and Greek yogurt and mix.

Butter bread. Place spinach and cheese mixture in the bread and top with slices of jack cheese. Grill in a small, buttered pan on medium heat until golden brown on each side. FEAST.*

*Caution: Feast in moderation. It's quite rich and cheesy.

pretzel crisps + the fourth of july

As the Fourth of July quickly approaches, I find myself brainstorming red, white and blue treats to share with my friends on the festive holiday. Besides raspberries, blueberries and the classic hotdogs and burgers, pretzels come to mind when I picture a Fourth of July BBQ or picnic.

Pretzel Crisps, quite the tasty and low-cal snack, was kind enough to provide the pretzels for this recipe and obviously, it was inspired by incredible Emily from Cupcakes and Cashmere.

With just three ingredients and a prep time of only a few minutes, these chocolate covered Pretzel Crisps are a delicious and easy treat and can be tailored for any holiday.

What you'll need: 

Pretzel Crisps (original flavor), one cup of chocolate chips and sprinkles of your choice.

Simply heat the chocolate chips in the microwave until they melt, dip Pretzel Crisps in the chocolate and while warm, add the sprinkles. I recommend putting these on wax paper and popping them in the fridge for 15 minutes or so to set.

Thanks Pretzel Crisps for the fun challenge!

guest post: avery from some blissful thinking

Today, I have a special treat (literally) from one of my March sponsors, Avery! With our similar outlooks on life and our shared love for food, Avery has quickly become one of my favorite blog friends (plus she's currently a senior at my alma mater...and we all know how much I wish I was still in college).

Anyways, she's an incredible blogger who really writes from the heart. From amazing baking escapades (example below) to heartfelt posts on self-improvement and life in general, I look up to her a lot. I hope you'll head over to her blog for some inspiration... but until then... coffee cake cookies?

Hi. Yes. Please.

---

I am an emotional baker. For me, a cupcake generously topped with cream cheese frosting is often enough to cure the worst of my bad days. A bite into a snickerdoodle makes me feel like I'm wrapped in a warm blanket, and the smell of banana bread baking is all it takes to send me into a nostalgic stupor.

I grew up sitting on the kitchen counter and watching my mom cook. She made dinner for our family every night, from thick pans of lasagna to plates of chicken and big bowls of build-your-own Cobb salad. For special occasions or simply when it was cold and snowy outside and we had nowhere to go, she would bake. I loved these days. I had my own little apron I tied around my waist and a stool to stand on. When I was deemed old enough, my mom would hand me measuring cups and ingredients to add to the bowls, teaching me how to crack an egg and use the hand mixer. My favorite part of the process is sneaking pinches of dough and licking the spoon.

The other night I found myself in a baking mood after perusing Pinterest (when am I not in a baking mood?). I came across these coffee cake cookies and just knew I had to give them a try. These sweet confections pair my favorite Starbucks treat with a traditional sugar cookie which happens to be a combination made in baking heaven. While I am usually one to forego mixes and instead whip my sweets together from scratch, I decided to give the packaged Pilsbury sugar cookie dough a try for times sake.

The result? Well, the plate of warm, cinamon-scented cookies hardly lasted through the night as my roommates (myself included) snuck into the kitchen multiple times for "just one more." I'd love to try them again with from-scratch sugar cookie dough next time. Click here for the recipe.

-Avery

kale & cannellini beans

Besides having my friend in town this past weekend, another highlight was taking an Italian cooking class taught by a friend of friend, a native Italian, Stefania. If you're ever in Tuscany, I highly recommend taking her class. She makes amazing, fresh and authentic dishes and combines flavors and ingredients I never would have dreamed up. I'll be sharing everything I learned here so get ready for some pretty amazing recipes. First up is a simple kale dish, full of flavor and nutrients and even vegan friendly!

Ingredients: 

One can of cannellini beans (drained), fresh kale, one large can of crushed tomatoes, 

three cloves of garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper

First, remove leafy part of the kale and throw away the stems. Roughly chop the kale. Then, in a medium pan, add olive oil and diced garlic. Once garlic is cooked, add the can of crushed tomatoes. Add the chopped kale and cover until wilted. Finally, add drained cannellini beans and set aside for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to meld. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve!

the best tortilla soup there ever was

Ingredients:

Six cups of chicken broth, one can crushed tomatoes, one can of corn, 

one can of black beans, one small can of green chiles, a small onion, cilantro, avocado, 

two chicken breasts, three cloves of garlic, one cup of shredded Monterey Jack cheese, 

two teaspoons of chili power, one teaspoon of oregano, olive oil, at least six corn tortillas

(I know I know... the list is a little long. But trust me! It's easy and worth it!)

First, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut corn tortillas into strips, drench in olive oil and baked in the oven until crisp. Set aside. In a small pan, heat olive oil and cook chicken breasts. Once cooked, shred breasts. In a large pot, add diced onion, chopped garlic and olive oil and sautee until soft. Pour in chicken broth, tomatoes, black beans, corn, green chiles, oregano and chili powder. Add in the cooked and shredded chicken. Stir and bring to a simmer. Cover and leave on low heat for two hours, if possible. Take individual serving bowls and slice avocado for the bottom. Add a handful of crispy corn tortilla strips and a heaping serving of soup and top with shredded Monterey Jack cheese and cilantro. 

{FEAST!}

prosciutto & arugula cheese ravioli

If you're culinarily challenged, a working woman without much time on your hands or if you just want to jazz up some store bought cheese ravioli, this is the recipe for you. It's easy and doesn't require a whole lot of time or ingredients. Nonetheless, it's quite tasty! My kind of recipe!

Ingredients

Cheese ravioli, prosciutto, arugula, shallots, olive oil, garlic, parmesan cheese

In a small frying pan, heat olive oil and add crushed garlic, chopped shallots and prosciutto and cook until mildly crisp. Set aside. Boil and cook raviolis for no longer than five minutes. Drain ravioli and return to pan. Add prosciutto, a handful of arugula and a bit of olive oil and toss. 

Top with parmesan and serve!

cilantro lime chicken tacos with homemade tomatillo sauce

I had a craving for some craft tacos and since a trip to the city wasn't going to happen, I took matters into my own hands. Based on a recipe from Bobby Flay, I came up with these feastly cilantro lime chicken tacos. Now, I don't like to toot my own horn but these tacos were definitely brag-worthy. Times 100. A little labor intensive but absolutely worth it in the end.

Ingredients

Chicken, two limes, olive oil, cilantro, six tomatillos, two serrano peppers, 

one large yellow onion (diced), corn tortillas, cotija cheese, pepper jack cheese, avocado, garlic

First, marinate chicken in lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and cilantro. In the meantime, shuck and wash tomatillos, then roast in the oven on 400 degrees until blackened, turning periodically to blacken all sides. In a food processor, mix tomatillos, two cloves of garlic, half an onion, one serrano pepper and the juice of one lime until a salsa forms. Transfer tomatillo into a medium sauce pan. Add marinated chicken and one-fourth of the remaining onions and cook on medium heat. Once thoroughly cooked, shred chicken and simmer in sauce on low heat until ready to serve.

In a small bowl, mash avocado, lime juice to taste, salt and pepper, the remaining onions and a bit of cilantro to make a guacamole mixture.

Next, take your corn tortillas (I love Trader Joe's Corn/Wheat Tortillas) and sprinkle a small amount of pepper jack cheese on them. Broil until cheese melts. Add shredded tomatillo chicken, a bit of guacamole, cotija cheese crumbles and any other ingredients you like (I chose some more serrano peppers and sour cream) and FEAST.

(not weiner) schnitzel

Recently, my family found this fantastic recipe and we decided to try it ourselves. Needless to say, it was the perfect chicken dish, combining both zesty and peppery flavors. Plus, it was quick. Winner winner chicken dinner!

Ingredients

4 boneless chicken breasts, 1/2 cup flour, 1 cup plain panko breadcrumbs, 

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, 2 eggs, salt and pepper, 

olive oil, fresh lemon juice (about 4 teaspoons), 

3 cups arugula and 1/2 of a small red onion, thinly sliced

First, cut chicken breasts in half (vertically) and open. Cover with plastic wrap and pound out the chicken until thin. Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Place flour in a dish; panko and parmesan in a second dish; and eggs (beaten) in a third dish. Dredge chicken in flour, dip in egg wash and dredge in panko mixture. Cook cutlets in olive oil on the stove, two minutes each side. Continue until all chicken breasts have been breaded and fried. Place in a pan and keep in the oven. 

In a small bowl, whisk one tablespoon olive oil with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Add this dressing mixture to a bed of arugula and the thinly sliced red onions. Arrange chicken and top with arugula mixture.

For an extra kick, add a bit of lemon juice to the egg wash to bring out the lemon in the salad topping. 

{Seriously one of the best chicken recipes ever... try it out and let me know how it turns out!}

protein salad

In the spirit of trying to be healthy during these feastly holiday times, I created this delicious and nutritious salad that's packed with protein. Hope you like it!

Ingredients:

chicken breasts, balsamic vinegar, apple, candied pecans, goat cheese,

rosemary, olive oil, onions and spinach (if you want to get really snazzy,

add a few pieces of bacon, too)

First, marinate chicken breasts in balsamic vinegar, rosemary and olive oil for several hours. Then, top with a little extra balsamic vinegar and roast in the oven (covered) on 350 degrees with chopped onions for 30 minutes, then uncovered until lightly browned and cooked inside.

For the salad, put spinach, candied pecans, apple cubes and goat cheese in a bowl. Once chicken is finished, top the salad with the chicken and use the juices from the chicken as the dressing for a warm and hearty meal-in-one. 

tofu lettuce wraps

In the spirit of eating healthy, I concocted a pretty delicious and low-cal recipe for tofu lettuce wraps... plus the ingredients are relatively cheap to buy! Bursting with flavor and nutrients, this dish is deliciously satisfying and great the next day for leftovers.

Ingredients:

tofu, butter lettuce, soy sauce, garlic-chili paste, 

onion, zucchini, peanuts, olive oil, mushrooms, garlic

Two hours before begininning your meal, dice tofu into small cubes and marinate in soy sauce and garlic-chili paste in the refrigerator. Once marinated, chop garlic, zucchini, mushrooms and onions and sautee in a bit of olive oil until soft and lightly browned. Then set aside. Sautee tofu with marinade in a little olive oil on medium heat until tender and lightly brown on the edges. Add cooked veggies, peanut halves and a splash of soy sauce to the tofu and toss together. Serve in a cup of lettuce and top with crumbled peanuts.

{Now feast!}

fancy schmancy salads

Ingredients:

cherry tomatoes, garlic, olive oil,

rosemary, feta, almonds, basil, spinach, balsamic vinegar

First, slow roast cherry tomatoes, rosemary, garlic and olive oil on 275 degrees for about two hours. Remove from oven and set aside. Then, broil sliced almonds on high until golden brown [just a few minutes]. Add almonds and feta cheese to the spinach, throw in a few basil leaves and top with a heaping helping of roasted tomatoes and drizzle a good balsamic on top and there you have it! Another simple and healthy salad. Recipe by Lauren Millslagle 

{If you have any salad inspiration for me, leave a comment! I'm kind of loving this new feature!}

fancy schmancy salads

In an effort to get back into shape, Lori and I have started fancy salad nights to force ourselves to: a) eat more salads, b) expand our salad-making skills and c) rid our minds of salad's bad reputation. I think that salads often get a 'meh' rep because they almost always don't include enough treats. The lettuce or spinach or arugula is secondary for me... I'm always more interested in the veggies on top. This particular experiment came out well and was pretty easy to make. 

Ingredients

asparagus, avocado, cherry tomatoes,

onion, balsamic vinegar, goat cheese,

almonds, olive oil, garlic, butter lettuce, arugula

First, toast almonds by broiling them on high for just a few minutes. Then, in a separate pan, roast asparagus with olive oil and garlic on 400 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes or until soft. On the stove, heat balsamic vinegar, olive oil and a pinch of brown sugar with a heaping handful of diced onions and caramelize. Slice other raw veggies and throw it all in a bowl with butter lettuce and arugula and ta da! A feastly salad. 

tomato-basil spaghetti squash

With the help of my healthy friend Johanna, I created this new low-cal recipe... since the amount of weight I've gained from covering all of these feastly feasts is really not even funny, but I'll pretend it is to make myself feel better. Anyways, for being so healthy, it was actually really satisfying and flavorful. I've come to realize that although not a friend to whomever you're kissing, garlic is definitely your friend when it comes to cooking. It easily spices up any dish without adding the extra calories.

Plus, this dish was super easy to cook. I'd say the hardest part was cutting the squash in half. It took two knives, 30 minutes and all of my strength. Quite the task but well worth it.

Ingredients:

spaghetti squash // fresh basil // trader joe's everyday seasoning // 

cherry tomatoes // parmesan cheese // olive oil // garlic

First, cut spaghetti squash lengthwise and place face down in a glass pan. Fill pan with water so that it covers about 1/2 an inch of the squash. Cook on 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Once cooked, flip over so the "cut side" is face up and cook for 15 more minutes.

While you're waiting for the squash to cook, in a bowl mix olive oil, chopped basil, tomatoes and about four cloves of crushed garlic in a bowl. Mix until everything is coated in olive oil and set aside to allow the flavors to meld.

When the squash is finished, remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes. Once cool, scoop out the seeds and throw away. Then with a fork, take the squash out from its shell and put in a large bowl. Toss with tomato-basil mixture, top with parmesan cheese and serve. 

finished product! 

&& in other news... 

me and my amiga from college, rachel

{How was your Fourth?}

happy thursday!

Hi nuggets! Today I'm over at Shannon's blog sharing a recipe I concocted this past weekend: Gruyere and Spinach Bakes. They were perfectly savory and pretty dang delicious if I do say so myself... so you should pop over to her corner of the blog-o-sphere, say hello and start creating your own version of "the bake." Nomnomnom.

{Yum dood.}

mac n' cheese muffin cups

A while back, I found a recipe for mac n' cheese muffin cups so obviously I tried it out...immediately. I have been trying to perfect these little bundles of cheesy joy for a while now and I THINK I've finally discovered the key: asiago cheese. Though it shouldn't be the main ingredient of your mac, even adding just a tad of asiago really binds the other cheeses together (in my case I used mozzarella, a shredded jack/cheddar mix and quality parmesan). Nom.

Ingredients: 

various cheeses, milk, elbow macaroni, 

butter & breadcrumbs.

First, boil macaroni until cooked al dente and strain. Turn heat down and add macaroni back to pot. Add cheeses of your choice [I recommend incorporating asiago], 1/4 cup of milk and a tablespoon of butter. Mix on low heat until macaroni is coated in melted cheese. Spoon macaroni and cheese into muffin tin. Top with panko and broil until top is browns.

{Don't forget to grease the muffin pan!}

fig + goat cheese pizza

A couple weeks ago, I went to my cousin Molly's house in Pasadena to stay for a night with her, her husband Schuyler, their two adorable kids [most likely the only children that aren't in India that I'll ever love] and my other cousin Clare. Here's the thing about my cousin Molly. She's essentially what every young woman strives to be: she's a successful marketing consultant for Nestle, she has impeccable taste in home decor, children's clothes and her own clothes, she's married to most girls' dream guy and she is a FABULOUS chef. Though she rarely has time for herself, Molly made homemade pizza for dinner, complete with homemade crust. Though I'm usually skeptical of sweet-ish pizzas, I could not get enough of her fig, goat cheese, prosciutto and mozzarella cheese pizza. It was absolutely perfect.

Since the visit, I had been dying to recreate the recipe and on Friday, I took the plunge and invited over Lori, Chris and Vanessa as my guinea pigs. Needless to say, it was essentially a disaster and they were great sports.

Since god forbid I read the recipe in advance, I didn't exactly realize that I needed to make the pizza dough two or more hours ahead of time [I know I know I know, some foodie I am] and realized about 10 minutes before everyone was coming over that there was no way I could pull it off. So I rushed to Fresh & Easy to pick up their pre-made dough and alas, they were sold out. In a slight panic, I sped down University Ave. to try and make it to Trader Joe's before they closed when I had a brilliant beyond brilliant idea: URBN.

Now, URBN pizza and I have a very special bond. I eat and/or drink there around three times a week and I have made friends with almost all of the bartenders. So in my frenzied state, I stopped my car essentially in the middle of University Ave. with my hazards on and made a slightly crazy phone call to URBN, begging for pizza dough. Turns out, URBN is even better than I thought and they sold me two pizza dough balls [!!!]... saving the day, yet again.

nom to say the least and topped with thyme

Ingredients: pizza dough, fig dalmatia, goat cheese,

mozzarella cheese, prosciutto, onions, 

flour & olive oil

First, lightly coat a cookie sheet with olive oil. Roll out pizza dough using flour and stretch out to cover the cookie sheet. Layer fig dalmatia, prosciutto, goat cheese and mozzarella cheese. Cook on 375 degrees  until dough is cooked and cheese lightly browns.

In the end, the night was not a total fiasco [minus I forgot to grease the pan and the pizza stuck pretty badly] and I learned a lot; for example that it's pretty hard to grocery shop and then cook a full meal after a work day and it's always a good idea to read the recipe [at least] a night before. But everyone had a full and happy stomach and those are pretty much the only goals I have when hosting a dinner party.

{Did I mention I had some pretty great beer too? Happy Almost Monday!}

seven layer 'crack' bars

This treat is one I've been making for a while. It pretty much combines every deliciously sweet ingredient that you could ever imagine. [Even for you skeptical nuggets who claim to dislike coconut, I can almost promise that even you will be convinced of these bars' crack-like powers.] I've heard them called seven layer bars or cookie bars. I like to refer to them as crack bars because they are truly addicting. They're easy, decadent and the perfect end to any meal.

Ingredients:

Graham crackers, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips,

shredded coconut, sliced almonds, butter &

can of sweetened condensed milk

Melt half of a stick of butter in the microwave. Using a large ziplock bag, smash 10-15 graham crackers until completely crumbled. Pour crumbled graham crackers and melted butter into the bottom of a pan to create a crust. Layer chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, coconut and almonds. Evenly pour sweetened condensed milk on top. Bake on 250 degrees for 15 minutes [covered] and then uncovered until coconut and almonds lightly brown.

{Then eat them all. You gotta. They're crack.}

sauteed spinach and goat cheese lentils

I'd like to take credit for this recipe but I can't, because it's definitely not my own. It was invented by my best friend and other half, AJ [I'd link to her blog but it's currently under construction]. But anyways, this dish... though it may sound a little strange... has been a crowd pleaser at pot lucks, work events, date nights and family dinners. It's healthy, satisfying, easy, cheap and so dang delicious. It's great as a side to any chicken or fish dish... or it can be eaten as the main course. [versatile too!] Seriously, I can't say enough good things about it. So without further adieu, behold blogger world... THE recipe.

Ingredients:

Steamed lentils [Trader Joe's], garlic, spinach,

olive oil, salt, pepper & goat cheese

In a medium skillet, heat a couple of teaspoons of olive oil and crushed garlic over medium heat. Add a half of a bag of spinach [or more] and sautee with crushed garlic until spinach is wilted. Season lentils with salt and pepper and in a separate bowl, heat for three minutes.Add wilted spinach and however much goat cheese you like. Mix and serve!

{FEAST}

nutty tacos

continuing on with "inspired veganism," I whipped out an old favorite, an influence from one of my best friends, Hillary. when i visited her hometown, we went to an adorable all-natural food stand called Sunflower Drive-In. known for their nutty tacos, Hillary swore on her life that they'd change mine. skeptical, I agreed to try them. Turns out she was right... they did change my life. I have tried, time and time again, to recreate them. They'll never be quite like sunflower makes them, but I think I've gotten pretty close.

{p.s. it's almost Friday!}