Creamy Sweet Potato Soup

As hot summer days begin turning into cooler, cloudier days my thoughts cannot help but turn to fall! It’s the time of year I begin dreaming of all things cool and comfort; sweaters, hot apple cider, crisp dewy mornings, and creamy warm soup.  So even though it’s still not exactly cool here in Kansas City, fall soup just sounded way too good to resist.

(And it was way too good to resist!)

This soup is very simple. Not many ingredients but packed of flavor, and surprisingly filling.  The star of the show is one of my favorites … sweet potatoes.

Creamy Sweet Potato Soup                                                                              Yield: about 6 servings
Ingredients:

• 6 small sweet potatoes
• 2 onions
• 1 stalk celery
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• 1/3 cup, then 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (alternatively, I’m pretty sure coconut oil would be fabulous too!)
• Water
• Pinch of nutmeg
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

• In a small saucepan, let about 1/3 cup oil come to medium heat.
• Finely chop 2 onions, 2 cloves of garlic and a stalk of celery. Add to hot oil. Reduce heat to medium low and caramelize for about 25 minutes, salting lightly.
• Peel and chop sweet potatoes into cube sizes. Bring large pot of water to boil. Add salt and 2 tablespoons of oil into water along with sweet potatoes. Boil until cubes are tender.
• Strain the sweet potatoes and put into high powered blender or food processor along with 4 cups water and rest of oil.  Once finely blended, pour back into pot and add  3 more cups of water or to desired thickness.
• Mix in caramelized onions, garlic and celery. Whisk together for a few minutes until soup begins to coagulate. Add pinch of nutmeg, and salt and pepper, to taste.

Have a great weekend!

Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies

A recipe?

What?

Yes. A recipe. It’s been awhile, I know. But finally, I had time to get some baking done. 

We’ve been on a serious chocolate and banana kick lately. It all started with chocolate covered banana pops. And then some more. And then some more. We literally haven’t gone more than a few days without some in the freezer the past few months.  I’m not complaining. (Unless Erik eats the last one. Then I might complain).

Sometimes there’s just nothing better than the wonderful combination of chocolate and bananas. Add some flour, sugar, and a mixer and you’ve got some delicious cookies! So here we go.

Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies

* Makes about a dozen medium-sized cookies 
Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter (To make them vegan, I used Earth Balance organic soy free coconut spread)
• 1 cup organic cane sugar
• 1 large ripe banana
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons almond milk (or any other milk)
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Instructions:

• Preheat oven at 350 degrees.
• Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
• In a mixer (or using hand mixer) cream together the butter and sugar. Then add your ripe banana, vanilla, milk, and beat.
• Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet, continuing to beat until just mixed.
• Fold in chocolate chips.
• Place on a cookie sheet (I cover my cookie sheet with parchment paper to make for easier clean-up), press down, and bake for about 10 minutes or until golden.

Vanilla chocolate chip cupcakes

Hello,everyone!

 

Hope you all had a great weekend. I’ve been a complete slacker in the baking world lately, and finally got a chance to make some cupcakes this Sunday. This food blogger needs to get with it!

 

Anyways,I decided on a simple vanilla cake and added some chocolate chips at the end,because chocolate makes everything better. Yes, it does.

 

Now onward …

 

Vanilla chocolate chip cupcakes
** makes 12 cupcakes,adapted from food.com

Ingredients:

• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons arrowroot (or cornstarch)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• 3/4 cup organic cane sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• Chocolate chips, as desired

 

Instructions:

• Preheat oven at 350 degrees.
• Mix together milk and apple cider vinegar inlarge bowl.
• Beat the milk mixture with coconut oil, sugar,vanilla extract and almond extract until smooth
• Sift in your flour, arrowroot, baking power and baking soda, and salt then mix ‘til smooth.
• Mix in desired amount of chocolate chips (I used about 1/2 cup in mine), and place evenly into lined cupcake pan.
• Bake 25-27 minutes.

Note: I topped my cupcakes with simple icing and some shaved chocolate. Not the prettiest topping, but as delicious as ever!

 

They turned out really moist and delicious!

 

More blog posts coming soon!

 

Vegan Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookies

How’s daylight savings time treating everyone that it applies to?

It happened to be a rainy day here in Kansas City, so it just kind of went along with the loss of an hour of sleep. I happened to drink a can of very caffeinated tea right before bedtime, so I easily stayed up until waaaay too late. This week is looking amazing, though, and I’m so ready for 70 degree weather all week long!

Anyways … while it was busy being all gloomy outside, Erik and I had quite a delicious Sunday evening. It consisted of pizza made by him, and cashew ice cream and cookies made by myself! Needless to say … I’m stuffed!

Let’s get down to business, it’s cookie time! These cookies would best be described as, when sugar cookies meet chocolate chip cookies.



Vegan Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookies
Inspired by Oh She Glows

Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• 3/4 cup organic cane sugar
• 1 EnerG egg replacer (a flax egg or chia egg would work just as well – or of course a regular egg if not vegan)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (I used WonderFlour)
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Instructions:

• Preheat oven at 350 degrees.
• Mix together egg replacer, and set aside. Beat together the coconut oil, cane sugar. Add egg replacer. The mixture will be crumbly looking, but will stick together when pressed into balls.
• Beat in the vanilla extract, baking soda, sea salt, cinnamon, and flour.
• Fold in chocolate chips.
• Shape large tablespoon sized balls and place them on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for about 10-11 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Note: Don’t bake any amount over that time or the edges will become too crispy when cooled!

Makes about a dozen. Store in air-tight container so they don’t get too crispy.



Yum! These cookies have a crunchy thin edge with a chewy, chocolaty middle tasting like the perfect hybrid of sugar cookie and chocolate chip!



Enjoy,

lesley

Baked sweet potato fries

I think if asked to pick one food as my favorite, sweet potatoes would have serious potential for winning.

Since I was little, I’ve absolutely loved them. I used to go to my grandma’s house when I was little, have her cook me the biggest sweet potato she had, and I would douse it in tons of butter and salt.

Don’t worry, I have since reformed my ways and eat them in a bit healthier way. One such way is in form of fries. Who doesn’t love a good sweet potato fry?

Exactly.

I like to chop my sweet potatoes in pretty large chunks. Once chopped, I toss them in a bowl with olive oil and sea salt. They should be lightly rubbed with the mixture, not saturated.

Place them on a baking pan (I lined mine with parchment paper for easier clean up). Make sure they're not overlapped or they will not evenly cook. Here’s the part you have to pay attention to, lest you burn your sweet potato fries to a complete crisp.

Bake at 450 for 15 minutes. Turn fries over, and bake again for 10 minutes. Repeat this step two or three more times depending on how brown you want them. I like to get mine as close to burnt as possible without actually burning them into the above mentioned “complete crisp”.

We had our sweet potato fries with brown rice and lentils topped with sautéed kale and onions, served with a large portion of guacamole. If you put a bite of everything in your mouth all at once, the combination is delicious!

What’s your favorite way to eat a sweet potato?

Also, any tricks to getting baked sweet potato fries perfectly crispy?

Simple Citrus Guacamole

Guac, anyone?

I absolutely love avocados as of about a year ago. Before that, I just didn’t really got into them for some reason or another. But now, they are fabulous! And there’s so much you can do with them.

Of course one of the simplest and most delicious ways to eat an avocado is via guacamole! Eat it with rice and beans, eat it with salads, eat it with chips, eat it on burritos, it’s just as delicious each and every way!

This is our very simple guac recipe with little ingredients that’s great when you just want a quick edition with dinner or lunch. In the most delicious way, it has a perfect hint of citrus that gives it great, fresh flavor.

Simple Citrus Guacamole

Ingredients:

• 2 large avocados, peeled & pitted
• Juice from 1/2 lemon
• 1/3 medium onion, diced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

Instructions:

• Throw all ingredients into a blender or food processor, and blend until smooth. Feel free to leave in some chunks if desired.

Note: Feel free to add some cilantro for an extra kick of flavor!

Next up, Valentine’s Day … who loves it, who hates it??

Either way … have a great day, everyone!

Avocado & banana fruit smoothie

Today, I’d like to introduce you to my newest favorite smoothie.

I’m sorry to admit that I just now tried the addition of avocados in smoothies. I’m now convinced it’s the secret to the perfect creamy consistency!

Avocado & banana fruit smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1 ripe banana (good frozen or not)
• 1/2 avocado, peeled and pitted
• 1 cup fresh or frozen fruit (strawberries just may be my favorite!)
• 1 tablespoon sweetener (honey, agave, dates, coconut sugar, etc)
• 3/4 cup water or almond milk

Instructions:

• Throw it all in a blender, blend until smooth, and enjoy!

What are your favorite must-have smoothie mix-ins??

Rice & Lentil Loaf

Hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend!

Who didn’t watch the Superbowl?

I didn’t! I’m sorry, it probably makes me lame and uncool but please, don’t hate me because of it.

Moving right along, I thought I’d share a delicious dinner we had last week. I wanted something different, so I went with a rice and lentil loaf. I had never made one before, because let’s be real, they sound a little bit scary and don’t always look all that appealing. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and was pleasantly surprised.

We ate our lentil loaf with sautéed veggies and sweet potato fries (complete with homemade ketchup). I always, always love sweet potato fries, and it was a perfect side to the loaf.

Rice & Lentil Loaf
Inspired by Vegetarian Lentil Loaf Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup lentils (I used green lentils, but any will work!)
• 3 1/2 cups water
• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 2 medium onions, diced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 cup ketchup (plus a little more if you wish to top your loaf with ketchup before baking)

Instructions:

• In a large pot, cook lentils in the 3 1/2 cups water for about 30 minutes, or until tender. Drain and half mash them (it’s okay to have some chunks left)
• Sautee the diced onions for about 7 minutes in the olive oil.
• Place the sautéed onions with the mashed lentils, add your cooked rice, sea salt, and ketchup. Mix together until combined.
• Transfer mixture into a greased loaf pan, and bake for about 1 hour, and let cool for about 15 minutes before slicing.

Note: Cooling is important to help keep the lentil loaf in tact.

It was a delicious dinner, and I think I’ll definitely be making this rice and lentil loaf again.

Simple Fresh Salsa

Hola!

Hope everyone is doing well! We’ve definitely been feeling global warming or something here in Kansas City, especially the past few days. It seriously feels like spring and it’s just the beginning of February! I love it.

It’s funny, yesterday my friend who lives in California text me saying her weatherman had just said “it’s going to be a cool one today but warming back up tomorrow (cool is a high of 69)”.

HA!

I said, yeah, it’s going to be extremely warm here with a high of 66! Funny how different perspectives can be.

Okay, I’m not actually here to talk weather. I’m actually here to talk salsa. A slightly unconventional version, but oh-so-fresh and delicious! Here we go.

We love eating this salsa on tacos, with salads, atop some cold quinoa, etc. It’s quite versatile!

Simple Fresh Salsa

Ingredients:

• 4 medium sized tomatoes, finely chopped
• quarter to half an onion, finely diced
• 2 stalks celery, finely diced
• 1/2 bell pepper, finely diced
• 5 mushrooms, finely diced
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• juice of 1 lemon

Instructions:

• Chop everything very finely, and throw it all together!

Note: This is obviously a very mild salsa, if you like it hot, feel free to throw in a couple jalapenos and it’ll do the trick!

Very simple, very fresh, very delicious!

Raw Strawberry Cheesecake

Good news.

Instead of more iPhone photos, I finally have a real recipe with real photos! It’s been far too long since I’ve made anything exciting in the kitchen, and I was really craving some dessert yesterday so I knew it was about time. What came to mind? Raw cheesecake. With strawberries. Oh, yes.

One of my already favorite desserts is this raw raspberry cheesecake so I leaned heavily off of this recipe and was also inspired by The Rawtarian’s Raw Cheesecake Recipe as well.

Without further ado …

Raw Strawberry Cheesecake

Ingredients
Crust:

• 1 cup raw almonds (I only had roasted when I made this, and they were delicious too)
• 1 cup pitted dates
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Filling:

• 3 cups cashews (it may help to soak these for about 5 hours, especially if your blender isn’t very powerful)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• Juice of 3 lemons (about 3/4 cup)
• 3/4 cup coconut oil
• 3/4 cup honey, agave or coconut nectar

Topping:

• 2 cups strawberries (fresh or frozen)
• 1/2 cup dates

Instructions:

• Using a food processor or powerful blender, blend crust ingredients together until fine and will stick together. Place crust mixture into a 9-inch spring form pan and press down until an even crust is formed
• Place all filling ingredients into food processor or blender and pulse until completely smooth (you may have to add a tiny bit of water if it’s not wanting to blend, but add as little as possible so the mixture stays thick)
• Pour mixture on top of pie crust and smooth out.
• Next, blend together the topping of strawberries and dates (keep it slightly chunk if you’d prefer, or pulse until smooth) and pour on top of filling.
• Place in freezer for about an hour, or until hardened and enjoy.

February 14th is coming up rather soon … this would be a delicious Valentine’s Day treat!

A definite winner!

What have you been cooking up, baking, or blending lately??

What we've been eating

Hey everyone!

Hope your week has been great. Mine has bit a bit busy, hence the lack of blogging. And we’re actually going to Nebraska this weekend to see my family so I thought I’d stop in before we leave to share a little bit of what we’ve been eating during my absence, via iPhone photography.

• Soup! The weather has still been pretty nice but we’ve had a few days of really bitter wind. This delicious, comforting veggie soup came in handy. Word on the street on my Facebook page is yesterday was even national soup day.

• Kale chips! If you’ve never had kale chips, yes, they sound a bit unappealing and tend to look like leaves. But they are oh-so-delicious!!

• Other recent meals of deliciousness
  • Quinoa & walnut tacos (these are going to be made again soon, and I’ll share more!)
  • Veggie and cashew cheese stuffed sweet potatoes
  • Our own version of potato skins stuffed with veggies, served with peas and a cauliflower/carrot puree

• Fresh juice, pre stir & a random self portrait

• Last but not least, carrot cake smoothie!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! I’ll probably be back with a similar update of our weekend. I’m excited to visit my little nephew who is just over 1 years old now.
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