Food – Page 3 – Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic

Décor February 6, 2015

TGIF

Wow. What a week! Sasha was in Austin, which I’ll share now that it’s Friday and he’s returning (seems kind of creepy else wise). I have a serious respect for single moms or mothers whose husbands work out of town (yes, you, Alexis!). It is tough doing it solo, and fortunately, I don’t have to often. Tables will turn today, as I’m heading to Austin for a bachelorette party, leaving Sasha alone with Isla for the afternoon and night. He’s never had her for more than 3 hours alone, so it’ll be interesting! He’s the best dad, so he’ll be fine… but exhausted, I’m sure. I’ll be back on Saturday morning, as one of my best friends is having a wedding shower in Houston. Throw in a 1 and 2 year old boy birthday party at the zoo and then lingerie shower at night, and we’ve got ourselves two busy days ahead. So maybe TGIF should be more like – holymolyitsFriday. I’m excited about all of the wedding festivities though, so cannot complain at all!

In lieu of ‘Favorite Looks of the Week’ (laundry, dishes and packing took precedence), I’m sharing a few of my favorite links and outfits (sort of copying this from my good friend Mara at Hook, Thread & Tinker).

I hope y’all enjoy your weekend! xo

Julia Engel’s ‘His & Hers’ Valentine’s Day post – I am waiting for someone to tell me that she’s not actually human. Because… really? Why is she so perfect?

The Poppies for Grace blog makes me excited about kid’s birthday parties (4 months away… oh gosh).

Obsessing over everything Kate Spade, like this coat, black dress and backless killer.

Recipes December 16, 2014

Christmas Peppermint Cocktail

On Friday evening, I had three of my closest girlfriends over for a Christmas dinner and catch-up. Like I mentioned yesterday, these ladies make me cry with laughter. Isn’t that just the best? We had some wild moments back in high school, all of which are totally cringe-worthy now and are funny to reminisce over.

I tasked Brittany to come up with a Christmas cocktail, and she outdid herself by in turn tasking her entire work department to submit the most delicious cocktail they could find. She arrived at our house with a large bag from Specs, filled with three fancy liquors and candy canes. I knew we were going to enjoy ourselves.

These candy cane cocktails literally taste like candy canes, so you would be tempted to drink them quickly… and to have too many. Warning: Do not do this. They are strong. But delicious. So I highly recommend you pull these out at your holiday party, because you won’t regret it.

Food November 18, 2014

Healthy Raw Vegan Mini-Cheesecakes

I’ve been searching for healthy vegan cheesecake recipes on Google for ages, and I kept finding ‘healthy’ recipes that include tons and tons of maple syrup or sugar, which, in my books, isn’t healthy. I also found a number of recipes that involve freezing the cheesecakes (which qualifies them as being raw), but I think frozen desserts to have less taste than that of warm or room-temperature ones.

Given that I could not find my perfect healthy vegan recipe online, I decided to do some experimenting and oh-my-goodness, y’all… I love these cheesecakes so much. They may not be low fat (think quite a bit of nuts), but they are low-carb!

Sasha and I demolished these over the weekend – our favorite toppings were raspberry jam (we love Bonne Maman Raspberry Preserves) and just plain raspberries. As explained below, I mistakenly tried adding the toppings after they had already set, which should be avoided (although they still tasted amazing).

Food November 4, 2014

Vegan Everything Bar

If you live in Houston and haven’t tried Sinfull Bakery, you are truly missing out. I first tried their delicious treats at Catalina Coffee, when I grabbed a vegan Everything Bar while checking out. i intended to eat only half at first, but on that specific day, I learned a very important lesson: It is impossible to only eat half of an Everything Bar.

Last weekend, Isla and I ran into Catalina while Sasha was at Martin’s Tailors (best in Houston!) getting new pants hemmed. Recognizing the fact that I could not get a coffee without reaching for the Sinfull treat, I grabbed a bar and decided that I would share it with Sasha (ha, well he ended up getting 1/6th). I looked at the ingredients on the back – all healthy, but some ingredients that I avoid from day-to-day, like flour and brown sugar. After church on Sunday, I thought to myself, ‘Why don’t I make an everything bar?’ After all, these desserts are supposed to be just a gathering of lots of healthy ingredients from one’s pantry.

Alas, my everything bar recipe. This first attempt included a lot of: ‘Oh, that needs some salt…’ and ‘Yikes, too dry… needs coconut oil.’ Once they came out the oven, Sasha and I couldn’t keep our hands off them. I’m pretty darn proud of this Ailee-invented-Everything-Bar (as always, vegan and gluten and refined-sugar free). Please try it at home and let me know how it goes!

Recipes October 21, 2014

Healthy Vegan Crustless Apple Pie

I have been toying with the idea of a healthy apple pie for ages now, as anyone close to me knows I adore stewed apples. What exactly is a stewed apple? Simple. It’s when an apple is skinned (optional), cored, diced and popped into the microwave for about 2 1/2 – 3 minutes. It comes out soft and sweeter (how? I have no idea). I eat a stewed apple almost every single night after dinner. It’s the best dessert.

After scouring the internet, I found a lot of vegan apple pie recipes online, but none of them were to my liking (i.e. healthy enough). You don’t need all of that added sugar if you bake with a delicious apple (namely Honey Crisp).

I baked three batches of these vegan, gluten-free, refined-sugar-free, crustless apple pies, adjusting little things each time, and the recipe below is the winner. The ingredients make two servings – baked in little ramekins (I used these from Sur La Table).

PS Isla’s nursery is one of the finalist for Project Nursery’s project of the month! I would love your vote.