Delicious Food

I wanted to share a few recipes I have tried lately and loved!

Crunchy Cashew Thai Quinoa Salad with Ginger Peanut Dressing

Recipe here.  

I'm obsessed with this salad! It is like candy! It will likely be a staple in the fridge this summer.

I used peanuts since they are only a fraction of the cost of cashews. This one here doesn't look like the one on the website because I used green cabbage and forgot to buy a red bell pepper! It was still amazing. I love heat in most dishes and added finely diced Habanero pepper. It is a dish that you can play around with in terms of ingredients.

Avocado Feta Salsa

Recipe here.

I eat this as a salad. It is also great mixed with greens. The first time I made it, I found it a bit vinegary for my taste buds so the next time I made it I used 1 tablespoon less of vinegar and added another tablespoon of olive oil. It is not as flavorful after being refrigerated so eating it fresh is the way to go!

Arugula Pesto + Farro Pilaf

Recipe here.

This is quite the dish that can be changed with different veggies. I love the arugula pesto! There were no pumpkin seed in the store when I went to make this but sunflower seeds were a great substitute. Since gluten is not my friend, I used quinoa instead of farro.

Instant Frozen Yogurt

This looks like baby food but it is delicious mango frozen yogurt! 

I made this by chopping up a large, fresh mango and freezing it in the morning. By the end of the day it was ready. I put it in the food processor with approximately 1 cup of plain yogurt and a heaping tablespoon of brown sugar. It whipped to perfection! 

I can across this idea in a magazine. The original recipe says to combined 4.5 cups of frozen mango (or a 16 ouce bag), 1.5 cups of plain Greek yogurt and 1/3 cup of confectioner's sugar or brown sugar (that sounds like too much sugar considering how sweet the fruit is). 

Next time we will try it with Greek yogurt which would make it even creamier and play around with other fruits. 

I did try this with frozen orange wedges but had an issue with the texture (it came out soupy and pulpy). However, we froze the leftovers which turned into perfect Italian ice! I just love when mistakes have a happy ending. Now I know how we can make a delicious icy treat in the future.

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you feel inspired to make something in the kitchen! ~Val

Quinoa and Gouda Dish and Mixed Stone Earrings

Sesame Jasper and Snowflake Obsidian Earrings
I've never put these stones together before. It works!

Both stones have grey tones in their marking which helps them blend well. These are available at Miss Val's Creations.

Quinoa and Gouda Dish
This was a delicious and easy dish!

We started by cooking some quinoa. While that was cooking we sauteed mushrooms, spinach and sunflower seeds in olive oil. 

This was flavored with curry powder, chili powder, salt and pepper to taste.

We shredded a HUGE pile of gouda cheese and melted that in.

This made a filling meal! On the side we roasted some cauliflower on the pizza stone. Mmmm!

I hope you are all ready for the Christmas holiday if you are celebrating! Time is just flying by! Thank you for looking. ~Val

This Week's Blog Post

New Bracelets
I just posted a new green aventurine and a new black onyx bracelet! Available at Miss Val’s Creations.


Quinoa Lasagna Casserole
This was delicious.

I came across the idea of quinoa lasagna when reading recipes. The quinoa is layered in place of pasta for a much healthier dish. It tastes very close to regular lasagna but its texture is much different, like a casserole!

We cooked the quinoa first. Then added a layer of tomato sauce on the bottom of the pan, followed by a layer of quinoa. Next we added a layer of vegetables that included chopped mushrooms, diced red pepper and chopped zuchinni. Then we topped that with ricotta and shredded mozzarella.

We repeated these layers until the 13” x 9” pan was full. Then we baked this at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, until the veggies were cooked through. Mmmm! Where Jim likes to call our cooking making love in the kitchen, he felt this was wild sex in the kitchen (I agree). It is probably because neither of us had eaten lasagna in a long time!

Leftover Quinoa Idea

There was some leftover quinoa in the fridge to for dinner one night I scrambled a couple of eggs and added them to the heated quinoa with a little margarine and black pepper. Delicious!

Homemade Cheesecake
We had another couple over for dinner last weekend and I planned on checking out a bakery next to our favorite wine store. However when I looked online I read terrible reviews that it is way overpriced and lacking in quality! I looked at their website and they charge $4.75 for 1 cupcake! Is that nuts or normal? Anyway I cannot justify that since I am not wealthy!

So I then decided to attempt cheesecake for the first time!

I have a promotional cookbook from Philadelphia Cream Cheese and thought who better to write the perfect recipe! This one was great since it did not require a springform pan which I do not own since I am not much of a baker!

This is a great beginner recipe if anyone would like to whip up this tasty treat!
6 honey graham crackers crushed (about 1 cup)
3 tablespoons of sugar
3 tablespoons of butter or margarine, melted
5 packages (8oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs
1 can (21 oz) of pie filling of your choice

Heat oven to 325 degrees

Line 13" x 9” pan with foil, with ends extending over sides (I had to use a 9" x 9" pan since the big one was needed for eggplant parmesan)! Mix graham cracker crumbs, 3 tbsp sugar and butter. Press onto bottom for pan and bake 10 minutes.


Meanwhile beat the cream cheese, 1 cup of sugar, flour and vanilla until blended. Add sour cream, mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time until blended. Pour over crust.

Bake 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool completely and refrigerate 4 hours. Use foil handles to lift cheesecake out of pan before serving. Top with filling.

I laughed when writing this because I realized I screwed up badly when preparing the filling. I only used 1 package of cream cheese versus 5!!!! What was funny is that it tasted great and the texture was perfect. So I know that making the recipe accurately will be phenomenal. So I will definitely be trying this again when cheesecake seems appropriate!

Alice
My girl Alice is pretty much afraid of her own shadow. I do not know if she had been abused or was born on the streets, but something prior to my adoption made her this way.

I was so proud of her because she came out from hiding and was letting my friend pet her! She is making great strides to be a braver girl!

Saved Dolphins
If you did not see this video from March 5 yet and are in need of something uplifting, this is worth the 4 minute viewing!

Approximately 30 dolphins began to beech themselves on a coast in Brazil. Luckily there were plenty of bystanders willing to give them a hand. All appeared to be saved and unharmed. It brought a happy tear to my eye!

Have a wonderful week! ~Val

This Week's Blog Post

Smoky Quartz Necklace
I love these assembled magnesite beads that are red, brown and grey in color.

I paired them with large 14mm smoky quartz beads to make them pop! This is available at Miss Val’s Creations.

Making Love in the Kitchen
Our favorite Saturday night consists of making love in the kitchen….not literally, but figuratively. Get your mind out of the gutter! Jim came up with this term since we really enjoy cooking together, sharing ideas and accommodating each other’s food likes and dislikes. Of course we do this with the red wine flowing for added fun. It also gives us plenty of time to chat and laugh with each other.

We experimented with Quinoa last weekend by making stuffed peppers and tomato. Mmmm! We sautéed finely diced mushrooms in olive oil and tomato sauce along with grated parmesan. We added some heat to this with curry and chili powder until will were both satisfied with the flavor. The quinoa was cooking while this was going on. Once that was ready we mixed it all together to create a delicious stuffing.

We sliced a red bell pepper lengthwise and hollowed out a massive tomato I scored at the grocery store to accommodate the stuffing. Then we baked this around 350 or so. It took a while to cook. Towards the end we added fresh mozzarella.

Neither of us had experience with quinoa. What a great food! This South American grain is very high in protein, amino acids, fiber, magnesium, iron and more. It can take place of rice for a much healthier alternative. It can be added to soups, salads, stir fries and can even be eaten as a cereal. So we will continue to experiment with this goody in the kitchen.

Grammys Fashion
Here are a few of my favorite gowns from the Grammys. Taylor Swift looks gorgeous in Zuhair Murad. I would have appreciated it more without the train which is distracting, but the gown is stunning regardless.

Rihanna totally rocked Giorgio Armani!

This Alberta Ferretti gown on Kelly Rowland is perfection....my favorite from the evening! I love how it is accented with the bold ring and large earrings.


Stress
It has been a very long time since I have had a cold or any other health ailment and I just read this interesting article that stress can help ward off colds and the flu! I thought it had something to do with drinking a little antioxidant rich red wine each night but maybe it has to do with stress. The wine routine is here to stay though!!!

I basically work 2 jobs so I guess this positive stress and adrenaline is doing me some good!!! Stress also helps prevent tumors (sounds good to me), enhances memory and more! Of course the article does mention that if the stress is prolonged it is not a good thing so maybe the stress needs to be monitored!

Owl Love

I came across these sweet owls on Pinterest. A belated Valentine’s Day photo! .

Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful week! ~Val