Archive | November, 2012

Fired Up Friday Nov 30

30 Nov

Guess what? It’s my TWO month blogiversary. How’s that for fired up? I’m surprised I haven’t included a Kyle Minogue song yet for Fired Up Friday since I’m pretty much obsessed with her music. So let’s go with the latest single, Timebomb, which until today I didn’t realize has an awesome video. Probably because MTV doesn’t play videos anymore or MTV2 for that matter. Although, they do play Saved by the Bell reruns now. I’m so excited! Right Jessie? You have no idea what I’m talking about, so quick explanation…

Most gripping and emotional episode of Saved by the Bell ever, with an Emmy-worthy performance from Elizabeth Berkley.

But back to Kylie, who is going to motivate you to drop it like its hot this weekend since a) she’s hot, b) she’s a breast cancer survivor and c) she’s 44 people! I’m not a big fan of the leather jacket with a giant heart, but damn, I’d be lucky if I looked that good at 44.

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Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

29 Nov


We’re winding down our post-Thanksgiving detox and that means it’s time for dessert. “But Erin, isn’t vegan taking this a bit far?” you ask. What are you afraid of? It’s almost a dirty word isn’t it? Vegan. It conjures images of tofu, alfalfa sprouts and soy burgers, or drum circles and communes. Please, that’s so 1975. The vegan diet has been brought to a new level, one that includes macaroni and cheese, scrambled eggs and meatloaf. Yes, all of those can be veganized and no, they don’t taste like paste.  You would be shocked at how good vegan food has become, including these Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, which you’d never guess are egg and butter free.

I am not vegan. I like to say I’m vegan curious. I enjoy cooking vegan dishes and eating at vegan restaurants because I’m constantly amazed by a)how you can get non-meat to taste like meat and b)how you can get vegetables to taste so delicious. It’s not just making vegetables or soy taste like meat, eggs or ice cream etc., it’s how it looks remarkably like the real thing too. Taste begins with the eyes after all.

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Applesauce Oatmeal Bread

28 Nov

Applesauce Oatmeal Bread | Adventures of a Hungry Redhead
Sometimes people do amazing things: change your flat tire, give you rides to the airport, fly on the trapeze with the greatest of ease. These occasions call for bread. These heroes need your bread. Many times these heroic deeds happen without much warning and your pantry is not prepared with say, bananas or pumpkin or cream cheese. Enter Oatmeal Applesauce Bread to save the day. And no, you don’t need to bake your oatmeal applesauce bread a loaf of bread for saving the day, but you could, in which case you would have a loaf of bread all to yourself after you bestow the first one upon the deserving hero.

This bread rocks because you don’t need softened butter (who ever remembers to take it out of the fridge anyway), you don’t need to use a stand mixer  and you’re more than likely to have oats and applesauce lying around. If you don’t, I suggest you restock your pantry. Continue reading →

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Brussels Sprouts Salad

27 Nov

Brussels Sprouts Salad | Adventures of a Hungry Redhead
The detox continues with more green vegetables and today I choose brussels sprouts. I think brussels sprouts get a bad wrap. They have the stigma of the vegetable you feared your parents making you eat, or worse still, a vegetable so bad your own parents wouldn’t dream of forcing it on their children. People seem to think brussels sprouts belong in the same food group as buttermilk, radishes, pickled eggs and liverwurst — a.k.a. food only people who lived through the depression eat. This is only true if you chose to boil and overcook your brussels sprouts without any seasoning, thus leaving your kitchen smelling like senior housing.

Brussels sprouts get a bad wrap because they’re generally not cooked right. First of all, never, ever, ever, ever get the frozen ones, even if they say they come in a butter sauce. No amount of frozen butter is going to make that taste good – get fresh ones.

Second, don’t boil or steam them. Something that already smells funny  is made worse by being soggy and squishy.

You know what we do to vegetables to make them taste right? I already told you yesterday : we fry them! The moment I had brussels sprouts with a crisp brown char to them was the moment the mystery was unlocked. From that point forward I could eat bowls of brussels sprouts on their own (usually with a little bacon for good measure).

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Kale and Quinoa Cakes

26 Nov

Kale and Quinoa Cakes | Adventures of a Hungry Redhead
Okay, let’s be honest: you just spent the last four days stuffing yourself didn’t you? If not, discontinue reading, because you’re obviously at the wrong blog and potentially not even human. If this is the case, then today you have another reason to be thankful — I am making you detox all week.  Yes, you have to thank me for this.

We begin detox with Kale and Quinoa Cakes. STOP IT! Stop freaking out right now. Stop making your puss face. Stop making gagging noises. Stop thinking about logging onto Pinterest instead. At least read through the rest of this post before you cast your judgment.

I won’t beat around the bush; these aren’t full of sugar, they’re not frosted, nor do they contain chocolate, but, oddly enough, they still manage to taste good. They’re from Joy the Baker, so I wouldn’t expect anything less. If you have not met Joy, please go visit and say hello.  So what are Kale and Quinoa cakes? Let’s break it down word by word: Continue reading →

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Fired Up Friday Nov 23

23 Nov

I’m all for speed and going fast — it’s my preferred modus operandi — but sometimes things pick up too much speed and you can’t keep up, or worse still, you can’t enjoy the moment. I’ve been feeling that way lately and even more so with the holidays. You want everything to be perfect and you get so caught up in the details, schedules and making everyone happy that when it’s all over, you feel kind of empty. Don’t do that. Slow down. It’s Thanksgiving after all, so just take a moment, breathe, and appreciate whatever moment you’re in: the run, the climb, the airport, the crazy family, the Black Friday shopping lines. No, scratch that last one. That’s just a waste of time.

Get some Tritonal – Still With Me fired up in your headphones and breathe in the moment.

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Layered Pumpkin Squares

21 Nov

Layered Pumpkin Squares | Adventures of a Hungry Redhead
Ok people, we’re in the homestretch of pumpkin week, so let’s go out with a bang. Here’s the scenario: you love pumpkin pie, but a pie isn’t enough to feed your crowd and pie crust is too obnoxious to fathom making more than one pie. The solution: layered pumpkin squares.  What do I mean by layered? I’m not talking layered like a green Pixar ogre, I’m talking graham cracker crust, cheesecake, pumpkin mousse, whipped cream. Layers of love my friends, layers of love.

Redhead math fact: anything made in a 9×13 pan is infinitely easier than a pie crust. I standby that statement even though this recipe has four layers and requires the use of gelatin. Guess what? I’d never used gelatin before I made this – nailed it. Don’t be intimidated by the mousse layer. Mousse is your friend. Egg whites and gelatin make mousse happy. C’mon, make the mousse happy. And the whole double boiler trick – don’t be afraid, just don’t let the top bowl with the ingredients actually touch the boiling water below. Remember, we did this with the white chocolate brownies and those turned out delicious didn’t they?

I made these bars for an office function and it was the first time I happily took the leftovers home because I wanted them to be MINE ALL MINE! Plus, I was in between my first and second half marathons at the time, so what harm could there be in eating them straight from the pan? How could I not – these bars are like pumpkin silk pie, like a pumpkin ice cream cake, like pumpkin pie parfait. Continue reading →

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Chocolate Pumpkin Marble Cake

20 Nov

Chocolate Pumpkin Marble Cake | Adventures of a Hungry Redhead
Pumpkin Week continues with Chocolate Pumpkin Marble Cake! If you want your sweet something pumpkin to be a showcase piece at Thanksgiving, this could be it. I mean look at those ribbons of chocolate floating through the moist orange pumpkin. Fancy comes at a price though ? just ask the Real Housewives of Orange County. This cake is a labor of love because of the two separate batters and the need to get excess moisture out of the pumpkin.

I realize I’ve nearly talked myself out of a sale here, but bear with me. I’m going to be honest, this is one of those recipes I second-guessed the whole way. I have to strain water from the canned pumpkin? I have to split how much in half and add half of what to which? But, when I finally got to the point of pouring the batters into the pan, I couldn’t stop myself from eating most of it as I went (especially the chocolate), which in my mind is the first sign of a good recipe.  In the end, the cake was exactly what I wanted (minus my sub-par marbling skills). So, like I said, fancy comes at a price: your time and patience. If I have no patience does this mean this cake was half off or twice the price?

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

19 Nov

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars | Adventures of a Hungry Redhead
You know how Discovery Channel has Shark Week? Well get ready, the Hungry Redhead proclaims this to be: Pumpkin Week. Ahhh! Get the kids out of the kitchen! Toss me the oven mits! The oven mits! We’re about to step into a giant cage and be lowered into the depths of spicy, squashy baked goods.  And when I say it’s “Pumpkin Week,” I mean there will be pumpkin recipes today, tomorrow and Wednesday. Thursday is a holiday and Friday will be another fresh Fired Up Friday pick. So it’s a pumpkin trilogy then. I hear the kids like trilogies.

Up first is Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars. I get lots of requests for this recipe and it pains me to admit that it’s a Martha Stewart recipe. Well, it used to pain me to admit that when I thought Martha Stewart was a pompous wasp of a woman and it was an act of desperation to use her recipes. As it turns out, the former felon knows what she’s doing (or her editors do anyway) and I’ve learned that if you need a solid recipe – Martha is the place to start.

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Fired Up Friday Nov 16

16 Nov

I’ve been in Miami the past couple of days, a city I don’t particularly like. One of the things I don’t like about it is the traffic. I hate driving here. The roads are weird and don’t make sense to me, the highways all seem to be tollways (without cashiers) and I might have to give Florida the “worst drivers in the U.S.” award. It’s not rush hour, we’re on the freeway, speed limit is 65… why are we all driving 55? I’ve found music is the best way to combat Miami traffic, with Feed Me’s “One Click Headshot” being the best fit. Be thankful you’re not stuck in Miami traffic and go for a run, a hop, a skip or a jump.

You can also just blast this song in your car, bob your head and feel really cool.

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