Saturday, April 23, 2011

Kitchen experiments.

Hello!!

I haven't touched the frozen foods a.k.a. gourmet-to-go meals in a couple of days, which means you're in luck! I spent the day doing homework and the such, and took some breaks to experiment in the kitchen.

The experiments resulted in one failure and two successes. Not too bad!

First was breakfast. If you haven't noticed, I have a strange obsession with chia seeds. The texture reminds me a lot of tapioca, and I love tapioca! Chia seeds are incredibly nutritious, so I take full advantage of them. I've seen a several renditions of chia pudding (from Lori & Michelle, Gena, Ashley, to name a few) and I finally got around to trying it today--combining what I've seen into my own creation!


I combined the ingredients (3 tablespoons chia seeds + 3/4 cup almond milk + 1 scoop chocolate protein powder) in a bowl, and stirred every few minutes until the mixture became gelatinous, as shown above. It took about 20-ish minutes total. I tasted it, and I really liked the texture! I felt that it needed something more, though...

So, using my handy immersion blender, I plopped a frozen banana (chopped) into the bowl and blended away. I blended just enough that the banana had the soft serve-like consistency but the chia pudding still kept its texture.


This was SO GOOD. I can't even tell you how much I enjoyed this! It was like chocolate tapioca pudding and ice cream combined. For breakfast! I'm definitely doing this again. Probably tomorrow.

Oh, and it kept me full for a really long time. Those chia seeds are something!

Next experiment was lunch. After I was challenged me to make some vegetarian-friendly meals for Passover, I've been thinking of what could be done! One thing that came to mind was coconut. So today, I attempted to make crepes out of coconut flour.

Uh...big fail. Coconut flour does not bind well. I made the batter and put it on the skillet and it ended in a soggy crumbled mess. Gross.

I still had coconut on my mind, and crepes! So I still made crepes for lunch. Two vegan crepes, to be exact.

Vegan Whole Wheat Crepes

Ingredients:
  • 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/8 cup almond milk (or rice, soy, etc)
  • 1/3 cup water 
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • optional: salt, pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl until batter is smooth. More water may be necessary so the batter is able to be poured. 

The first crepe I made was filled with spinach and swiss cheese! (I realize that completely negates the idea of a vegan crepe. Oh well). And it was drizzled with hot sauce.


This was the experiment crepe...which is why the filling did not stay inside the crepe. It was still delish.

The second was the dessert crepe.


Coconut Filling:

Ingredients:
  • 1/4 cup almond milk
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
  • optional: dark chocolate chips

In a pot over medium heat, combine almond milk and sugar. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Add the coconut and vanilla, stir until most liquid has been absorbed. Add chocolate chips just before pouring mixture onto crepe.

I decided to get a little fancy and shake some cinnamon on top. 


Let's take a closer look...


I may or may not have drizzled some maple syrup on top after the photo shoot.

I totally deserved it after yesterday's TurboKick sesh. Seriously. If you think TurboKick is easy (please see me and I will change your mind instantly, heh) do the workout with some 2 pound weights. I don't know why, but something possessed me yesterday to teach with weights. I know 2 pounds sounds ridiculously light (I thought so and almost picked up the 3 pound weights) but something about flailing your arms around with weights in hand makes it seem a lot heavier!!

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