Food – Page 5 – Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic

Food May 23, 2014

5 Ingredient Raw Vegan Brownies

I am not a baker. But seriously, every vegan dessert I try fails (except these beet muffins – yum!). So when I came across a recipe for a simple, raw vegan brownie bite recipe, I jumped at it. I made some slight adaptations to the version I found online, and both Sasha and I love the result! These have five ingredients – raw cashews, organic honey, pitted/chopped dates, coconut oil, and unsweetened cocoa powder. They take five minutes to prepare (minus recommended refrigeration time) – and they are healthy-ish (no refined sugars!). Perfect tiny snack to fill your sweet tooth cravings!

Ingredients: 1 cup of plain cashews, 1 cup of pitted or chopped dates, 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder, 1.5 tablespoons of coconut oil, 2 teaspoons of honey

Step 1: Add 1 cup of raw, unsalted cashews to your blender and pulse until finely chopped

Step 2: Add pitted or chopped dates to cashew powder and pulse until completely mixed (should get kind of solid)

Step 3: Add 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder

Step 4: Add 1.5 tablespoons of coconut oil and 2 teaspoons of honey to the blended mixture – may have to stir with spoon vs. blend (depending on how strong your blender is!)

Step 5: Lay down stick-free parchment paper or aluminum foil and make into small brownie bites

Optional (but I recommend) Step 6: Add to fridge for an hour so the coconut oil hardens – then enjoy!

If you try them, let me know how they turn out!

Décor April 7, 2014

Favorite Houston Blogs

I haven’t had much time for blog reading recently, but when I have a free second, I typically run down my blogroll – which used to only include big fashion bloggers (i.e. Pink Peonies, Gal Meets Glam, Cupcakes and Cashmere, Atlantic-Pacific), but has recently featured many Houston-based bloggers. I consider this my version of “going local.” I’ve compiled a list of my favorite Houston blogs, which range from party planning to photography, interior design to baking. So many pretty pictures to look at! I highly recommend you check out these blogs.

KiKiMac: I love Christie’s blog so much. KiKiMac is the perfect combination of creative party ideas, delicious food pictures and restaurant recommendations, and style. My favorite thing about this blog is the online (and in person!) friendship that has stemmed out of me posting one of her Adair Kitchen pictures!

Sugarlaws: Katy’s style is always spot-on, and given that she’s only a few weeks ahead of me in her pregnancy, I’ve loved looking to Sugarlaws for maternity style advice. Sugarlaws is a great collection of fashion and lifestyle – i.e. makeup and recipe too!

Sugar and Cloth: My eye-candy obsession. Ashley is so talented at styling and making me very hungry with her amazing food posts. I could spend all day scouring through Sugar and Cloth posts.

Ketchup on Restaurants: Patricia knows the way to my heart – through food! I absolutely love following along as she tries out new restaurants in Houston that I very often go to after she posts about them. I recently won a pie from her contest and got to meet her in person! What a treat (no pun intended). Feast your eyes on this blog if you want to stay up-to-date with the Houston food scene.

Hellogirl*: Chelsea’s blog is wedding meets fashion meets pretty design. I love reading her posts – you’ll learn about new fashion trends, her upcoming nuptials (this July!), makeup tips, and more.

Kimberly Chau: Kimberly is an amazing photographer, and her blog is a perfectly curated platform of pretty images. Kimberly posts engagement, wedding, food, and lifestyle pictures on her site, and it’s a pleasure to follow along.

Perpetual Perfection: Words of inspiration and an interior designer lover’s paradise. Cathleen’s home is dreamy, as is the rest of the content on this beautiful blog!

Brighton the Day: Brighton’s style is always, always spot-on. Whether it’s animal prints, neons, or florals, I am obsessed with her styling. I always forget she lives in Houston (that is, until I recognize a location post!). Brighton the Day is definitely a blog you need to bookmark.

Pretty Shiny Sparkly: Kristina post topics range between makeup, food, health, and style – and she does a great job detailing all. The blog is most certainly pretty, shiny and sparkly.

Featured image via Sugar and Cloth, taken by Kimberly Chau

Décor February 4, 2014

Valentine’s Crafting + Baking

Last weekend, I headed over to Christie of KiKiMac‘s gorgeous house with Danielle of Goat and Spoon, and we had a perfect “Galentine’s Crafternoon.” She had posted some Valentine’s craft ideas here and here. As you’ll see in Christie’s post, we ended up creating these pretty hearts. Please soak in all of her gorgeous touches – like the place settings, menus, and delicious vegan, gluten free food!

Of course, with this festive holiday approaching us quickly, there are lots of DIY and decor inspirations posted across the web. Oh So Beautiful Paper’s Valentine Crafting Party ideas include some of my favorite! I adore these printables from Oh So Pretty x Sugar & Cloth.

If you’re looking to have or host a Valentine’s girl’s brunch, be inspired here. This Glitter Guide get-together is seriously perfect. I love the bubbly bar and the glitter LOVE letters.

Another gorgeous Glitter Guide crafty party is featured here. Every single detail (and craft) is perfect. Every one.

I also love this cupid’s arrow cake idea! Sasha and I would never finish that big of a cake, but I think a scaled down version would be perfect. I could even use our new favorite vegan chocolate beet muffin recipe for the cakes!

Another fun vegan Valentine’s Day recipe are these chocolate cake balls. I love finding vegan and gluten free recipes – perfect for a dinner with me and my brother-in-law, Carl, who has Celiac disease.

Food January 29, 2014

Vegan Chocolate Beet Muffins

I think that everyone needs their signature baked good. Unfortunately for me, I’ve never had one, and as a health-focused vegan, it has been hard to find recipes that fit the bill for nutrition while tasting delicious. That is, until I came across Minimalist Baker. This blog is my everything! I found two chocolate beet muffin/cupcake recipes and have fallen in love (as has Sasha, my toughest vegan critic!). I slightly adapted this one – replacing the all purpose flour with Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free flour, using Stevia vs. sugar, canned beets, and adding Attune bar chocolate crumbles. Sasha gave them two big thumbs up. I highly recommend you give this recipe a try! If you do, please let me know what you think.

Ingredients

3/4 can of beets (pureed)
1 cup unsweetened soy milk
1 tsp white or apple cider vinegar
 3/4 cup baking Stevia (or coconut sugar)
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup + 1 heaping Tbsp gluten-free flour (or regular all-purpose if you don’t want them GF)
scant 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
3 vegan Attune bars (found at Central Market or Whole Foods next to probiotic yogurts)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F
Open can of beets and puree them until they are in liquid form. Measure out 1/2 cup and set aside.
Line a muffin pan with paper liners.
Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the Stevia, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and 1/2 cup beets and beat until foamy.
Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to a sifter and slowly sift it into the wet ingredients while mixing with a hand-held or standing mixer. Beat until no large lumps remain.
Put vegan Attune bars (amazing chocolate filled with antioxidants!) into Ziplock bag and break into small pieces with a wooden spoon. Pour small chocolate crumbles into the mix.
Pour batter into liners, filling 3/4 of the way full. Bake 22 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely. Do not try and unwrap them or they’ll stick to the wrapper.
Once cooled, store in an airtight container to keep fresh. Optional: Dust with cocoa powder.

Recipe adapted from The Minimalist Baker (obsessed with her recipes!), and pictures are from here and here. If you try them, please let me know what you think!

Food November 11, 2013

Black-Bean-Beet Burger

I love black bean burgers (especially Adair Kitchen’s), and I love beet burgers (especially Tiny Boxwood’s). So the other day, I began to search the internet for the perfect black bean and beet burger. I found a number of recipes, but this one stuck out. I tried it. The burgers are heavenly. I made one swap – I replaced the rice for barley, and oat flour for quinoa flour. They still taste amazing. While I’m a full time vegetarian, Sasha only observes Meatless Mondays, so 3 black-bean-beet-burgers are packed in his lunchbox today. Pair them with whole wheat buns (for him), or bunless (for me), with a grilled veggie salad, and you’ve got the perfect meal.

Patties (makes 6):
8 ounces beets, steamed or roasted and peeled*
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, washed and drained
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, washed and drained
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
1/4 cup rolled oat flour**
1/2 red onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon sumac
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
Salt
Pepper

Pulse beets in a food processor until roughly chopped. Add beets to a large bowl, along with the garbanzo beans, black beans, brown rice, oat flour, red onion, garlic, sumac, thyme leaves, ground cumin and ground coriander. Mash with two forks until all the beans are incorporated. Salt and pepper to taste. (I added about one teaspoon of kosher salt and half of a teaspoon of pepper.)

Using a half cup measure, form six patties. Cover them with plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes. (Since we aren’t using egg to bind the mix, this step helps the patties hold together.) Melt butter or olive oil in a non-stick skillet. Toast the hamburger buns for 1-2 minutes. Remove and set aside. Add more butter or olive oil if needed. Add the patties and cook on both sides for 3-4 minutes and until the tops are lightly golden brown. Optional: Place slices of cheese on top of each burger and cook for 1 minute longer, until cheese is melted.