Last Valentine's Day, my husband and I went on a typical kind of February 14th date - which is rare for us. Normally, we like to do something adventurous, like kayaking or hiking together, but other years I've cooked one of his favorite meals and we'll stay in and pop open a bottle of nice wine. But last year was our closest thing to a cheesy candlelit lovey dovey V-Day date... only it actually was super memorable and not at all the norm that most people probably think of for a dinner out on the holiday of love. On V-Day night, we ventured over to the La Jolla area of San Diego for a rooftop dinner at Trilogy Sanctuary, a vegan cafe and yoga studio that I adore. We were expecting a 3-course dinner with live music on the cafe's relaxing outdoor patio, and Trilogy did not disappoint. From ... [Read More]
desserts
Dark Chocolate Drizzled Salted Caramel Rice Crispy Treats [Gluten Free & Vegan]
Today is the birthday of the wonderful, amazing man that I'm fortunate enough to spend my life with. Birthdays are celebrations, and celebrations call for dessert, so today I'm sharing with you guys a new sweet tooth creation I've come up with. Meet my latest food obsession: chocolate drizzled salted caramel rice crispy treats. Lately, as I stand in my kitchen deciding what to make for a meal, I find myself somehow breaking off a piece of one of these rice crispy treats as a pre-meal snack. While having a conversation with my hubby the other night, I all of a sudden found myself with one of these babies in my hand. It was like I blacked out and awoke with a sticky, delicious treat in my possession. Okay, perhaps I'm being dramatic... but I just love these! The recipe ... [Read More]
Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Butter Stuffed Strawberries
In honor of Valentine's Day taking place in a few days, I have a delicious dessert recipe to share with you all today. It all started when I heard about Davida's Valentine's Day Bake Off. Naturally, I wanted to participate, but there weren't any baking ideas immediately popping into my head....and then I thought of making a homemade version of Nutella. Since it's V-Day, the idea of strawberries were also on my brain. Technically there isn't any baking involved in this recipe, but I figure that there's no room to be a stickler for rules when chocolate is involved, right? ;-) I think many people would agree with me when I say that Nutella is heavenly tasting. I think it's slightly ridiculous that people see it as a "nutritious" thing to eat for breakfast, but I do not pass up the ... [Read More]
Peppermint Fudge
Hello and Merry Christmas from the East coast! My time in Jersey so far has been tons of fun. We've gotten to spend time with both my family and Adam's family, and I'm looking forward to a lot more great times this week. Here are a few of my favorite photos from this week thus far: I spent a good amount of time having fun in the kitchen the first few days of being back in NJ, especially since we spent Christmas Eve at my parents' house this year. I made some yummy goodies to share with family and friends for the holidays: My favorite dessert creation was peppermint fudge: I found the recipe on a blog called A Spicy Perspective and immediately knew I wanted to try it out. This fudge did not disappoint! You can check out her original recipe here, but here is how I made it: First I took ... [Read More]
Crispy Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Treats
''Leave your drugs in the chemist's pot if you can heal the patient with food." - Hippocrates A work event today took me out of my home office and near the beach... and a Sprout's farmers market. I obviously had to make a stop there to see what foods caught my eye. Besides picking up some spirulina tablets (I just recently discussed algae here) and getting excited to find my favorite kind of apples, Macintosh, for the first time since I've lived in California, I spotted brown rice syrup and immediately knew what I'd use it for: This recipe is from Alicia Silverstone's book, The Kind Diet. I've played around with some of her meal recipes and haven't been crazy about any yet, but I really like the desserts I've made from the book. All of her recipes are vegan, but I always seem to sub a ... [Read More]
Pumpkin Pecan Banana Bread
Earlier today, my father-in-law flew into San Diego to visit my hubby and me for a long weekend. Whenever loved ones come into town, I have a fun time making goodies in the kitchen. My signature drink to make when I have guests is sangria, while I like to mix up my homemade meals and treats. Last night, this is what I whipped up in preparation for his arrival: Holy pumpkin, this bread is delicious! I've adapted this vegan recipe from the Skinny Bitch cookbook, and it comes up insanely moist and delicious. Pumpkin Pecan Banana Bread Makes 10 servings Ingredients: 2 cups all purpose flour (I usually do 1 cup of whole wheat flour, 1 cup of white) 1 large ripe banana, mashed 1 1/2 c pure pumpkin 1/2 c canola oil 1/2 c almond milk 1 c evaporated cane ... [Read More]