Category Archives: General

May8

5,844 Days Old

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5,844 days old, and I remember every one of them!

My baby boy turned 16 today, not a baby anymore, on a brink of turning into a man yet still very much a child especially to his mother. A strong and willful spirit, a true Taurus born in a year of a Bull (double horns anyone? :) ), an independent thinker who marches to his own drum, a sensitive boy (deep inside visible only to those who love and know him well), my one and only, my everything!

As a whole life awaits you up ahead, I know you’ll have some turns and twists, some set backs and disappointments and hopefully many many joyous days, just as life is in general. For a mother, all those hard moments are a real gut ripping experience but as our children grow up and go through their own trials, you know that they are dealt their cards and have to win or lose sometimes to gain a perspective what it is they want in life and who they are in their true self.

Happy big 16th, baby!

And many many more happy and healthy ones up ahead for you!

What’s Cooking This Week

As my usual food-tester, the kid has tried his share of many tasty dishes (and some that did not turned out as planned). So today I’m making something that he actually requested. I was almost sure that he’d ask for chocolate (my true child), but I guess not, he asked for a pie. A pie, kid, for a 16th birthday?! Yep! The recipe below is a combo of his requested food and mom’s quest to make it a bit more festive.

Mini Fruit Pies with Almond Whipped Cream

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For the crust (makes about 18 mini pies):

2 cups of flour (I used Cup4Cup gluten free mix)

2 sticks of cold butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 cup of iced cold water

1/2 tspoon of salt

Filling:

1 cup of any cut up fruit (I used strawberries)

6 Tbspoons of sugar

1/2 tspoon of lemon juice

1 Tbspoon of flour

variation: fruit jam

1 container of Healthy Top Mimic Cream (or 2 cups of dairy whipped cream)

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In a bowl combine the flour and salt and mix well, add cut up butter and start mixing in with your fingers untill it resembles a coarse meal with pea-like small crumbs. Pour cold water over and let it soak in, mix well, make a rough dough ball, place it on a floured surface and let ir rest for 10 minutes.

Start kneading it on a floured surface, then make a couple of folds, cover the dough with parchment paper and roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick. Use any large cookie cutter (I used a star) to cut out the mini pies.

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Carefully lift each cut out and place it inside a muffin or mini pie pan (I used mini tart pan) and mold each pie inside. Prick small holes with a fork.

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Place the pan into a fridge for about 30 minutes. In a mean while mix in cut strawberries with lemon juice, 1 Tbspoon of flour and sugar, let them sit. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Take the pan out of the fridge and bake for about 10-15 minutes or untill the edges become slightly golden. Fill each pie with the strawberry mixture or jam.

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Bake for another 15 minutes, let them cool before removing from the pan. Whip Healthy Top or dairy cream according to the directions. Place about 1 Tbspoon each on top of mini pies or decorate with sugar and fresh fruit.

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Happy Birthday Baby! Hope you enjoy them!

May3

Oh The Drama!

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In the past couple of weeks my life seems to be invaded by people with too much drama. And it makes the Peddler cranky and prone to drama herself. And this is one of those periods when I have zero desire to be involved in even a drop of high emotions (like there’s ever a time when you’d love the drama in your life)! Sometimes it could be fun though, mostly to just watch it unfold from the sidewalk, pull the chair up, munch on some popcorn… You get the picture!

Not one of those times! Especially if drama involves grown men behaving like little boys, for the 1000th time…

Now, I definitely know how to deal with grown-up drama, there are valid reasons sometimes to feel what you feel and act as you do if serious circumstances have entered your life. I’ll be right there to offer my professional advice and just support on a human level. I can also deal with girlfriends’ meltdowns and crying spells, been there many times myself. Usually a good “heart-to-heart” slightly mediated by wine and chocolate helps.

I do NOT know how to respond to grown men having “one of those moments” except to just walk away after offering a few words of “condolences” on having an obvious disconnect between mental and emotional functioning. And by the way, I tried employing the same tactic as with females, suggesting sweets and alcohol, it did not work!

So, any men reading this post, please help, let me know what does work for you in these situations, so I’ll know for the future! As practice shows, this is not the last time I’ll be dealing with male meltdowns.

So walking a tight rope here, trying to remain drama-free myself is difficult, my over-stretched emotions have spilled out a few times also. Yes, wine and chocolate did help a bit :)

Peddler is in search of a tranquil spot, untill all the storms and all the volcanic eruptions are finally settled down…

What’s Cooking This Week

Has to be something sweet, right?! To medicate yourself from the very morning. But I’m putting a slightly healthier approach to the usual cake or chocolate offerings. The recipe below combines the sweetness and wholesomeness in a drama-free fashion to bring you a great “pick me up” breakfast food.

Apple and Plum Muffins

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(Makes 12 muffins)

2 cups of flour (I used gluten free Authentic Foods classic mix plus 3/4 tspoon of xanthan gum)

1 large apple, cut into smaller pieces

2 small plums, cut into pieces

2 eggs

1 cup of milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)

3/4 cup + 2 Tbspoons of light brown sugar

1/4 cup of oil

1/4 cup of chopped pecans

1 tspoon of baking powder

1/4 tspoon of salt

1/2 tspoon of cinnamon

1/4 tspoon of ground cloves

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In a bowl combine cut apple and plums with 1 tspoon of lemon juice, chopped pecans and 2 Tbspoons of sugar and set them aside. In two other separate bowls combine all the wet ingredients and all the dry ones.

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Mix in the wet ingredients into the dry ones, then add about half of the cut up fruit. Pre-heat the oven to 35o degrees, line the muffin pans with liners and distribute the batter between 12 muffins, top each with some of the remaining fruit.

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Bake for about 15-20 minutes or untill the cake tester comes out clean.  To avoid any internal drama, have more than one :)

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Enjoy!

Apr22

Any Given Day or Time

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And that is truly so I think! Everything is an experience we learn during our lifetime, the good, the bad, the happiest and the most ugly ones, all days come together to create a unique path that each of us follow. No life is ever alike, some we might say are easier than others, though never judge “the book by its cover”, the most ferocious battles are held inside that do not depend on how much money you have or how successful others view you. And  the “richest” people in the world are the ones who feel they have enough to be happy and fulfilled on all possible levels.

To strike a balance between your inner world, your needs, wants, aspirations and the environment around you, which includes people in your life, is truly a happy place. Emotional independence is that balance where you know who you are and how exactly to lead your life without any outside influence, be it in a relationship, work front or a chance encounter, that would knock you off your feet, bring anxiety and make you question yourself, the value of your being and the validity of your choices.

So then if you have a great day, you bask in all the glory of that happiness, no matter how fleeting it may be. And if you have a less that stellar day, you gain an experience, even if only to contrast and to recognize that when the next good day comes, you should enjoy it, and not question whether you deserve it or not, or when your luck is supposed to run out. And when a black period strikes, seemingly full of lost hopes and bleak outcomes, you learn a lesson of what mistakes were made and how possibly to avoid them in the future, and what always remains including your spirit and the most important life values, who is still “in your corner” and which people are gone to follow their own road.

In the big “Bingo of Life” we never know which number comes up next and whether you lose or win at the end or on any given day. We don’t always have any control over it, sometimes we think we do, but life is so illusory, we all get surprised with how fast the “sand castles” can topple over or be blown off by the wind.

Then what does still stand when everything is disappeared or gone with the wind? The answer is always the same: YOU! Your spirit, your inner strength, your value of yourself, your faith, your dreams.

So, no matter good, bad, ugly or the most blissful, the time and circumstances will always pass, the one who stands and maintains a balance despite the mad scale swings is the one who is an ultimate winner!

What’s Cooking This Week

Not all meals are created equal, some are more elaborate than others, and other ones are made for specific occasions. Though probably nothing is better than to shake that “Bingo bag” and have something unexpected or at a “wrong time of the day”. This recipe I feel is pretty versatile, it’s really whatever you want it to be, a filling breakfast, a great addition to your lunch soup or even a savory side dish for a weekday dinner. And it won’t take a lot of your time in the kitchen too.

Sausage, Cheddar and Chives Muffins

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Makes 12 muffins:

1 package/4 links of sausage, cut up (I used chicken apple sausage)

4 eggs

3/4 cup of milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)

3/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese (I used daiya)

1 3/4 cups of flour (I used multi-blend Authentic Foods gluten free mix)

1 Tbspoon of Dijon mustard

3 Tbspoons of chopped fresh chives

2 tspoons of baking powder

1/4 tspoon of salt

1/2 tspoon of basil

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In a bowl combine together flour, salt, basil and baking powder. In another bowl beat up the eggs and mix in cut up sausage with milk, mustard, chives, then add shredded cheese/daiya. Gradually combine with the flour mix.

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Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees, grease the muffin pan and fill almost to the top. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or untill the tops are lightly golden, cool off completely before removing from the pan.

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The muffins are slightly crusty outside but soft and very moist inside, almost impossible to have just one, so indulge, for breakfast, lunch or any other given time.

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Enjoy!

Apr8

Get Your Cheer Pom Poms Out

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What do we really mean when we say ” I’m there for you”?! Do we mean I’m there till the road gets tough, or do we mean till you decide to turn the wrong direction?

Then “there” becomes just a particular spot in life where WE feel you should be. And if you’re not, you’re on your own kid!

Much is talked about “unconditional love” (in a greater sense of it), very little is actually seen in real life. When you love somebody, whether romantically or not, you have that person’s best interest at heart. You show care, concern and appreciation that you have that person in your life. You listen, comfort and console when they need to vent or are seeking emotional connection. You set your needs aside and concentrate on what’s important if your loved one is ill or in a crisis. You offer what’s needed and when it’s needed.

Pretty “straightforward” and surely conventional.

But what about all the times when you’ve provided the care, listened to all the concerns, voiced your advice and offered some assistance, yet they are still not there where you want them to be, or even turning the wrong way (despite your desperate pleas and help in trying to get them back on a road)?!

What do you do then, do you turn and walk away (not looking back at the wreckage just about to happen)? Or do you stay and continue to offer the same care, concern and assistance as you did when things were going the way you wanted them? Well, it’s up to you of course, whatever it is that you can actually master. But don’t talk about love then if you decide to turn away, it doesn’t work that way, you don’t get to choose if and when, you just do!

So if you truly love somebody unconditionally, you simply get on a sidewalk and cheer. You support the person no matter what, even if you don’t agree with their actions. You support whatever big or small aspirations they set out for themselves, whether it’s a marathon or a sprint distance, if it’s hot or cold on that sidewalk, you put your best cheerleader uniform on, get the pom poms out and just cheer!

Yes, it is very possible (or even probable) that they are making a mistake, and yes, some mistakes are way more costly than other. Your job is to continue providing encouragement along the road so that they don’t feel abandoned and let your love carry them (possibly towards a speeding freight train).

If anything, you should be nearby as most likely you’d be the one helping to clear out the wreckage!

What’s Cooking This Week

In honor of “love” post, I thought it’d be nice to continue the theme and make some dessert to show my appreciation to the ones I love. As always gluten free yet completely delicious, and the heart shape adds nicely to the whole picture.

Vanilla and Strawberry Coconut “Heart” Cake

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Cake (makes 4 mini heart cakes):

 6 eggs, room temperature

1/4 cup of almond or coconut milk

1/4 cup of coconut oil, melted

1/2 cup of coconut flour

6 Tbspoons of honey or agave nectar

1 tspoon of vanilla

1/2 tspoon of baking powder

1/2 tspoon of orange zest

1/2 tspoon of salt

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In a bowl whisk together milk, eggs, vanilla and orange zest, then add honey/agave and melted but slightly cooled off coconut oil.

In a separate bowl combine together flour, salt and baking powder. gradually mix in the dry ingredients into the wet ones.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Oil four mini heart cake pans and distribute the batter evenly between the pans. Bake for about 25-30 minutes.

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Strawberry and vanilla frosting:

5-8 strawberries, thinly sliced

1 1/2 cup of organic Spectrum shortening

1/4 cup of seedless strawberry jam

1 tspoon of vanilla

1 + 2 cups of powdered sugar

(optional) red food coloring, pink sugar crystals, sugar pearls

Whip shortening until light and fluffy, then divide it in half. Combine one half with strawberry jam and then gradually whip in 1 cup of powdered sugar, add a couple of drops of red food coloring to make it a deeper pink color. Combine the other half with vanilla and whip in 2 cups of powdered sugar for vanilla frosting.

Once the cakes are cool, slice the top parts off to make two even layers. Spread some strawberry frosting on the bottom half and place sliced strawberries on top.

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Cover with the top layer and frost the entire cake with strawberry frosting. Then use vanilla frosting to decorate each cake as desired. This barely sweet cake pairs perfectly with a combo of two “sugar rush” frostings.

A variation on strawberry cake can be this vanilla and blueberry one.

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Enjoy! And share with the ones you love!

Mar29

Party Like a Professional

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“It’s my party, and I cry if I want to”…

Well, not really. But it does feel like I’ve shed a lot of tears in the past several months, many job-related in a post-Sandy reality.

March is a professional social work month, so, yes, we partied like it’s our job. :)

With some good news at least, the first clinics have finally started moving back to our hospital in the city, the inpatient medicine will hopefully be moving back sometime between May and July, and though plans may change as the process goes along, at least there is an end to this seemingly long tunnel. We are all moving to a different floor when back in the hospital, but our offices have nice bay windows with a gorgeous view overlooking the East River. We will have to share office space with another coworker, but there is some glimpse that maybe sometime in the future we will all have separate offices like we’re used to. As long as there is a glimpse of hope, I’ll surely take it.

But for now it’s party time!

And, yes, I’ll cry if I really want to! :)

What’s Cooking This Week

It’s party, so you definitely need some sugar overload. Something that makes you forget you’re supposed to eat healthy and only nibble on dessert. Forget that! Have five of these at once! (One of my coworkers actually did :) )

Nutella and Strawberries Cupcakes

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For cupcakes, I used my chocolate cake recipe found here Every Day Should Be A Birthday, substitute water for Amaretto (or not) in this recipe. It’s gluten free of course using Cup4Cup flour mix.

Also have extra Nutella and cut up strawberries, makes 24 cupcakes.

For two types of frosting, Nutella and strawberry:

1 stick of unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup of shortening (I used organic Spectrum shortening)

1 cup + 1/4 cup of powdered sugar

3/4 cup of Nutella

1/4 cup of seedless strawberry jam

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Prepare the cake batter according to the directions in the post above. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the cupcake pans with liners and fill them about 3/4 full. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or untill the cake tester comes out clean, let the cupcakes cool off before removing from pans. Using a knife or a cupcake corer, remove the inside of each cupcake, stuff them with cut up strawberries.

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Place about 1 tspoon of Nutella on top of strawberry and cover it again with the removed cupcake core.

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Make two types of frosting. First cream together butter and shortening, then divide the mix in half. To make Nutella frosting, add Nutella and cream together with butter and shortening, then gradually add 1/4 cup of powdered sugar (more or less depending on your taste).

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To make the strawberry frosting, add jam to the butter and shortening mixture and then gradually add powdered sugar. Add a couple of drops of red food coloring if you want a deeper pink color.

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Decorate with both frostings as desired. All packed and ready to be transported to the party.

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Enjoy! Definitely have more than one! :)

Mar19

I’m Not a Happy Camper, Take 2

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This winter was particularly difficult for NYC dealing with really bad flu cases. The city usually gets hit pretty hard with any winter viruses as it’s really like the middle of the Earth where the constant flow of tourists and other visitors literary come from all the world and share whatever nasty strains they happen to carry around.

Last time I was dealing with anything major was in September, so I thought that maybe, this time, it all passed me by. Almost…

It’s been ten days, I’m still dealing with many symptoms, as it often happens with me, my immune system just never seemed to recover post-chemo, so anything minor sometimes become major, and major stuff tends to just linger on. Le sigh…

One of these days the scientists will have a breakthrough to find a cure for colds and flu and eliminate all the viruses, or at least find some quick boost for your immune system to quickly recover after you’ve had one, and maybe, while they are at it, they’ll find the cure for cancer too, so there wont be a need a chemo and post-treatment side effects…

OK, I digress, or more like whine, or rant… I’m allowed though, my blog came with a warning that some posts will be like that, so read at your own risk!

The first few days, I completely lost the sense of taste and smell, thus eating was more like window shopping, I just looked at food and turned away until hunger pains became more overwhelming than my food indifference. But once the taste came back (still working on the smell though), I figured, I needed to entertain my taste buds a bit to make them more motivated to chew some protein as I’m one of those strange people who can literary become anemic after just a few days of no animal products.

I always say “play with your food”!

Actually play with a lot of other things too! :)

What’s Cooking This Week

Any time you need to wake up your taste buds, make sure you have something spicy. I’m not a huge fan of anything too hot, I have a pretty low tolerance for the heat index, but it was one of those times, especially considering that my buds were still half numb anyway. Plus I was just in a mood for something different. If I was too sick to play with other things, I might as well just play with food at least. :)

Southwestern Pumpkin Burgers

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1 lb ground beef

1 tomato, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1/3 cup of pumpkin puree

1/3 cup of bread crumbs or flour (I used Better Batter gluten free seasoned flour)

1 tspoon of seasoned salt (I used Herbamare)

2 tspoons of crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 tspoon of paprika

1/4 tspoon of ground nutmeg

2 Tbspoons of fresh parsley, chopped

olive oil, shredded cheddar cheese (I used daiya)

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Heat up some olive oil and saute onions and tomato until lightly golden, add chopped parsley and saute for another minute.

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Let it cool off a bit and then combine with ground beef, add the flour/bread crumbs, pumpkin and all the spices. Form the burger patties.

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Cook according to your preferences. Top with cheddar/daiya and ketchup. I serve it open style on a toasted Udi’s gluten free bread alongside with kale leaves and tomatoes to add an extra immune boost.

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Enjoy!

Mar8

Happy Birthday, Peddler!

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Today is Peddler’s birthday! Food n Thought Peddler that is. My blog has turned 1 year old today! And it is my 100th post, so big double celebration!

What a year it has been indeed! I laughed, and cried, and whined, and celebrated… Oh, and cooked and baked of course! :)

My enormous “Thank You” to all the readers, those who’ve joined to follow my blog and those who just happened to pass by! Your “likes”, comments or simply knowing that you’ve stopped by and read my posts is a huge motivation to continue on paving a road of delicious healthy and gluten free eating heavily sprinkled with sweet indulgences, but what life is if not to allow yourself some detours and rest stops?! :)

To recap what happened in the past year, 81 recipes have been written plus several restaurant reviews and tips on traveling while eating gluten free. I had 2 series posted, one was the Italian series and the other were Pink recipes to spread the awareness of breast cancer screening and treatment options. My blog was visited and “liked” by Chef Lena Kwak, who along with Chef Thomas Keller, developed Cup4Cup gluten free flour blend that I often use in my recipes. She also featured two of my recipes using the blend on their website. :)

I have several families who contacted me via the blog and now often order gluten free cupcakes or other baked desserts for their parties or family gatherings. It was the greatest acknowledgement of my hard efforts in the kitchen!

And most important, this past year, I had FUN FUN FUN cooking and baking and (flopping sometimes) and creating!

So, let’s send the Peddler off, away from its babyhood and onto a new exciting journey in the 2nd year!

What’s Cooking This Week

Since this is the 100th post and a big 1 year celebration, I was thinking of making something special. Dessert of course comes to mind, any time you think of a celebration, but I also had some of my specifications. It had to be gluten free of course, and at least not too over-loaded with fat and sugar, then it just had to be chocolate, and it just had to be pink. The possibilities were endless of course. And I think this recipe perfectly combines all the specifications in one light yet indulgent little treat.

Chocolate Tartlets with Strawberry Almond Whipped Cream and Berries

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Chocolate tartlets (makes 18)

1 1/4 cups of flour (I used Cup4Cup gluten free blend)

1/4 cup of powdered sugar

1 large egg yolk

3/4 tspoon of vanilla

a pinch of sea salt

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Mix together flour, salt and cocoa powder. In a food processor, pulse together butter and powdered sugar, then add vanilla and egg yolk, pulse again. Combine wet and dry ingredients and roll the dough into a ball.

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Wrap the dough in plastic and let it rest in the fridge for about an hour. After that, let it warm up again, flatten it and start rolling between the two sheets of parchment paper (as the dough is sticky and resembles play dough). Cut small pieces and roll them out to fit the size of mini tartlet pans. You can make them thin or thicker, I rolled mine pretty thin, it also made fitting them inside the tart holes much easier. Shape the tartlet and cut off the extra dough, you can re-roll and use it for the next tartlet.

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Bake the tartlets in a pre-heated oven at 325 degrees for about 15 minutes or until they are firm to the touch and the sides are slightly puffed. Let them cool off completely before removing from the pan as they are pretty fragile.

In a mean while, make strawberry whipped cream.

2 cups of made Healthy Top (cashews and almonds cream), or regular whipped cream

1/4 cup of pureed fresh strawberries

1/4 cup of powdered sugar (or more if you want the cream sweeter)

berries and pink sugar for garnish

(optional) 3-4 drops of red food coloring

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Prepare Healthy Top according to directions: chill the carton along with mixer beaters and metal bowl in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Then whip the cream for 3-4 minutes. Add pureed strawberries, whip again, then add powdered sugar and whip until all is well combined. Add food coloring if you want the cream of a deeper pink color.

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Fill each tartlet shell with about 1 Tbspoon of cream, garnish with different berries and sprinkle pink sugar on top.

The combination of semi-sweet chocolate tarts and light strawberry cream hits all the right spots in a healthy yet indulgent union. They taste like little pieces of chocolate and berry heaven.

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Enjoy!

Mar1

Drunken Chicken

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This past week has been kind of stressful and over-run with numerous glitches, broken schedules, attitudes and other not overly pleasant surprises. Blame it on Mercury retrograde squaring Mars in emotional Pisces combining with Full Moon (and whatever else was happening in the cosmic desert and other people’s lives), but I think I need a vacation just to decompress from the past 7-10 days.

Last Friday, I got home after especially stressful two days at work covering surgery. Let me tell you (and I hope I’m not offending any surgeons, as there are definitely many who are not only skillful doctors, but also have great professional and human attitude), but I’ve worked with far too many “cut and run” surgeons to say I HATE working in surgery. There, my very personal “Full Moon influence” moment!

My coworker who covers surgery is the most respected and revered among us all, as she is the only one who seems to handle the responsibilities with her no-nonsense attitude, perfect attention to details and caring demeanor. When she is out, all of us pray for her health or immediate return from vacation and our reprieve from her line of duty. I hope to find some kind of youth serum to offer her so she works for a long long time, and none of us are ever faced with a necessity to cover surgery permanently! :)

So, I got home last Friday and was met with yet another pleasantry, aka cranky teen. What’s a girl to do?! With my boots still on, I marched right into the dining room and poured myself a nice shot of Amaretto. That took the edge off!

But the pleasant evening didn’t end there. The cherry on top was the kid having an immediate allergic reaction to whatever it was in those sushi that he had 1000 times before. So the evening actually ended with a Benadryl cocktail (for the kid) and me holding my own EpiPen praying I won’t actually have to use it.

Yep, it was fun indeed!

We are now in uncharted territory, having to deal with the kid’s food allergies, which are unfortunately creeping up. I always knew he was allergic to cats and to some long-haired dogs, which was easy to control as we don’t have any pets, and if we were visiting any home with pets, he’d get a Claritin before, and would be fine for that day. A few years back, we found out he was allergic to melons, which again, was easily avoidable. We’d have found out even earlier, but the silly kid was afraid to tell us that he was having a reaction every time he had a melon. I guess, we should count our blessings that he finally did say something, before we had one of those EpiPen moments. Over the last summer, he’d undergone what we thought was a thorough testing confirming his pets and melons (but not watermelon) allergies, but clearing every else, only to have a reaction to watermelon also a few months after that. And now to whatever it was he reacted to in those sushi.

So, we’re going back to see the allergist next week to re-do the whole food panel yet again. I’ll keep you posted. And if it is shrimp, the kid would be greatly disappointed, as he loves shrimp, but I know he will adjust (to whatever the allergy is) and most definitely survive!

What’s Cooking This Week

Since the theme of the last week seemed to be running around like a chicken without a head and then chasing it all with alcohol, I figured it only made sense to combine both and actually make something comforting out of it. And when food allergies are involved, you may sometimes think that certain dishes are out of your reach, but really you don’t have to, you can adjust it all and still enjoy the foods you love.

Baked Chicken in Vodka Sauce

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1 lb boneless skinless chicken (I used thighs)

32 oz can/carton of crushed tomatoes (I used Pomi)

1 1/2 cup of brussels, cut in half

1 1/2 cup of baby Bella mushrooms

1 small bell pepper, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 cup of unsweetened Mimic Cream (or regular dairy cream)

1/4 cup of vodka (I used Liv potato vodka)

2 Tbspoons of fresh chopped parsley

1 tspoon of Italian seasoning blend

1 tspoon of brown sugar

salt, pepper, olive oil

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Start by heating up some olive oil, saute the onion until lightly golden, then add tomato sauce and heat up on a low heat until it starts to boil. Add vodka and slowly boil until alcohol is evaporated, then stir in cream, salt, pepper, seasonings and brown sugar.

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Spray a baking dish with oil spray, lay out the chicken pieces and vegetables, lightly season them with salt and pepper, pour the sauce on top and sprinkle chopped fresh herbs.

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Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, or until brussels are soft.

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Serve it over pasta for an ultimate comfort level.

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I had it on a bed of kale leaves and thought it was still outstanding on its own.

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Enjoy!

Feb21

Playthings

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It’s the end of February, that often frustrating time when you just want to be done with winter and move on into warmer spring weather and more exciting things happening. So what do you do?

I say be a kid again and if sick with cabin fever, find some playthings to occupy yourself with.

Remember Little People playhouse? Yep, my kid had it, I too spent numerous hours playing the little figures with him, entertaining his every kiddie desire to be a rescuer, or a fireman, or every imaginable hero that was popular on TV at that time…

I say they need to have a grown-up version of these toys, let bored and impatient adults play “house” during long winter months.  So what kind of people would you populate your mini-society with?

First, you need “the boss” of the house, somebody in charge to make all the main decisions. I say a female makes the best boss! :) We are already in charge of all the big and mundane things in the household anyway, that in addition often holding a job and being a caretaker to a million other people and projects.

Then of course you’d need somebody to enforce the house rules, like a police force, or at least a person who is familiar with the task even if he’s moved on to other things in life.

You definitely need a doctor, to make sure everybody is safe and healthy and just to be ready to jump and help if an emergency occurs.

You’d then need an intellectual, to read and know all about everything and just ponder life in general.

I say you also need a “free spirit”, a bit of a hippie and a rule-breaker to shake everything up and make it more interesting.

And, as in any modern society, you need a visiting international traveler, let’s say from France (just because who wouldn’t want a French man staying in your house?!), to entertain the lady while the rest of them are gone rescuing people or making sure the societal rules are strictly enforced.

When you’re bored in winter, make your own Play House and spin the Russian Roulette to see where your luck lands.

What’s Cooking This Week

It’s cold and often snowy, and sometimes you need to comfort yourself. In that case, nothing is better than a stew. You can just see what’s already available, aka Little Play People, and maybe add a few things to spice it all up. :)

Country Style Veal and Vegetables Stew

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1 lb of veal cubes

4 potatoes, cut

1 1/2 cup of baby carrots

1/ 1/2 cups of sliced mushrooms (I used cremini)

1 cup of white pearl onions

1 medium eggplant, cut

2 tomatoes, cut

2 cups of vegetable stock

1/2 cup of white wine

3 Tbspoons of olive oil

1 tspoon of lemon-pepper seasoning

1 tspoon of French mixed seasoning

7 small bay leaves

1/2 tspoon of fennel seeds

salt, pepper

fresh herbs for garnish

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In a large Dutch oven, heat up olive oil and start by browning veal cubes (I usually cut big pieces in half). After a few minutes, add potatoes, pearl onions and carrots,, add some salt and pepper and brown them for a couple of minutes also.

Add vegetable stock and wine, cover and slowly bring it all to a boil.

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Add bay leaves and seasonings, mix it all well, cover and cook on low heat until about half way done. Then add mushrooms, eggplant and tomatoes, bring it all to a boil.

Transfer the pot into pre-heated oven and cook at 325 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Warm and comforting yet not overly heavy and full of nutritious vegetables.

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Enjoy!

Feb14

Sweet Valentine

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Happy Valentine’s Day! No matter if you are attached or single, savor the air full of love and joyous feelings and appreciate the relationships (be it love related or not) you have in your life. Every human connection is a gift that’s brought into your life by the Divine Order, however, long or short that may be, to enjoy each other, possibly learn from each other and continue on your own path of growth and self-development.

If you are in a relationship, take a moment to let your partner know how much they mean to you, even if not every day is all “kisses and roses”. As a matter of fact, reach out to every person in your life who is important and do the same. Love is never just intimate relationship related, love is Love, it just is!

And if you’re single this Valentine’s Day, be gentle on yourself and take it lightly, just go out and celebrate, have fun with your un-attached status. Make sure to have a princess dress and a tiara at hand and get in touch with your “inner child”. Sing it like Sophia Grace and make moves like Rosie :) .

What’s Cooking This Week

Valentine’s Day is inevitably associated with sweets and chocolate in particular. If you ask me though, chocolate is pretty much a daily necessity in my menu, it’s my BFF, Valium and an alcohol-chaser, it’s just one of those things that makes life much more tolerable. So it was a no-brainer what to make this Valentine’s Day. Yet I felt it didn’t have to be necessarily rich and void of nutrients. This recipe is a great “bridge” without compromising the sweet cravings for something decadent, or spending a lot of time in the kitchen. Use that time to be with your Valentine!

Chocolate Almond Torte with Strawberry Rum Sauce

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(makes 3 mini heart cakes):

3 eggs

1/2 cup of plain yogurt (I used coconut yogurt by So Delicious)

1/3 cup of almond flour

2 Tbspoons of coconut flour

2 Tbspoons of cocoa

2 Tbspoons of sugar

1/4 tspoon of cinnamon

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Sauce:

1 cup of chopped strawberries

2 Tbspoons of rum

2 Tbspoons of sugar

1 tspoon of lemon juice

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Beat together eggs, sugar and yogurt. In a separate bowl, combine together both flours and cinnamon, add into wet ingredients and incorporate well. Oil 3 mini heart cake pans and fill each about 3/4 full.

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Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Let the cakes cool off a bit before removing from pans.

While they are baking, make the sauce. Blend together strawberries and lemon juice in a blender. Transfer the mixture into a small pan, add sugar and cook on a slow heat for a few minutes until sugar is dissolved, then add rum and cook until alcohol is evaporated and all the liquids are reduced. Let the sauce to stand for a couple of minutes before serving.

Serve the cakes and sauce slightly warm to fully enjoy their soft texture and rich flavors.

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Enjoy! Share with your Valentine!