The Green Goddess

My Mum turned me onto making these green smoothies as a great way to get some extra veggies into your diet.  She was the one that coined the name "Green Goddess".  Yes, I was skeptical at first - just look at that colour! - but one taste had me hooked. These smoothies are sweet, refreshing, and oh-so-good-for-you.

Quinoa For Breakfast?

In the morning time is essential, and I don't always have ample time to make myself breakfast (much to my horror, breakfast is my favorite meal!).  These quinoa filled breakfast bowls pack a ton of protein into one easy to prepare serving and keep you full until lunch.  They are perfect for busy days you want to continue to eat healthfully in.  Keep reading to find out how to make them!

"A Love Story" Michael Bastian

What is there to love about this love story?

The Fashion.

The Food.

The Couple.

The Architecture.

The Music.

The list goes on!

Make sure to view in full screen for full effect:


GANT by Michael Bastian - A Love Story from NEWNEW by Fashion Tale on Vimeo.
GANT by Michael Bastian “A Love Story” Spring 2011. Produced by NEWNEW.
Director: Carl-Axel Wahlström
DOP: Niklas Johansson FSF

The Cinematic Orchestra

The Cinematic Orchestra's song To Build a Home, is a beautiful impression on what it means to feel at home.
Give it a listen:

Easy Chocolate Cake

This week, I needed a chocolate cake recipe that could be easily prepared with very little mess.  I found this recipe, and as always made some adjustments.  Although it is not a super rich chocolate cake, it is very moist, and works as a perfect base cake if you have other dessert items to add to it.
Bonus: It's vegan!

One Pan Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups Sugar
• 1/2 cup Cocoa
• 1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 2 cups All Purpose Flour
• 3/4 tsp Salt
• 3/4 cup Canola oil
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 cups Water, with 1 Tbsp Instant Coffee or Espresso added
• 1 cup Milk 
• 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. sift all of the dry ingredients in an ungreased 9" X13" pan
3. add all of the wet ingredients and mix until well incorporated.
4. Bake for 25 minutes, and let cool before serving.

Notes:

• You could use vegetable oil, or even sunflower oil for this cake.  Just make sure it is a neutral tasting oil. 
• If you don't have lemon juice on hand, white vinegar will do the trick for this cake
• In order for this cake to be vegan, just replace the milk with water.  I used milk because i found it gave the cake a slightly richer texture, but it will be just as tasty with only water.

The cake it THAT simple.  The best part is there are no dishes to clean up after making this cake other than measuring cups, baking utensils, and the pan you cooked it in.  I think that this cake is delicious with the addition of:

• Raspberries and vanilla or chocolate ice cream (or both?!)
• Carmel sauce
• Any fruit
• Chocolate buttercream frosting
• Whipped cream

Enjoy!

How To Be Alone

An older video, but still refreshing to see nonetheless.

Brunch

My roommate and I very often host meals in our apartment.  Food is something we can enjoy and share with all of our friends, and gives us all a chance to talk and catch up with each other as we enjoy the food.  This past weekend we hosted a delicious brunch with six guests in attendance.  One of the challenges we encountered was how to get the eggs out all at the same time, and hot for everybody.  We came up with the solution of baking the eggs in a muffin tray in the oven, and it worked perfectly! We cracked eggs into a greased muffin tray and put them in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

We also made our brunch an optional pot-luck style.  Our guests contributed bagels, perogies, fruit, juices, and bacon in addition to our eggs, hash browns, apple crumble and tea.  Everybody was full and content by the end of the meal!

How do you share with your loved ones?

I Wanna Go

Summer Heart makes perfect summer sounds with their song I Wanna Go.  You can almost feel the heat waves bouncing off of you!




What is your favorite summer song?

Blueberry French Toast

Wouldn't it be lovely to wake up in the morning and have some french toast with Blueberries and custard waiting for you? I think so.

Tea Bag Cookies

There aren't many things that I like more than tea, or cookies.  But these Tea Bag Cookies are just the sweetest.  I think if I were going to make them I'd use a regular sugar cookie recipe and skip out on the chocolate dipping.  Don't they look perfect for a tea party?
Idea from Le Pétrin.