Just Because

Because I stayed up until 1:30 am talking with the rommates.

Because when I couldn't press snooze any longer but it was still only 7:15 am.  Which meant it was way too late to take a shower...or make a decent breakfast.

Because then two Oreos somehow became part of my breakfast.

Because I missed the first bus and had to wait in the chilly wind for another.

Because it's Friday and my students started celebrating early...by tickling me and not listening.

Because I had an install at the gallery today.

Because the last artist showed up over an hour late.  With large pieces of art...that I hadn't anticipated.

Because I am a perfectionist, and re-did the entire show to accommodate said large pieces.

Because even after all that work I'm still not completely happy with how the show looks.

Because I had to learn far too much about how a drill works today.

Because said artist didn't finish her work properly.  I now have blood blisters and splinters covering my hands as proof.

Because I got home too late to take good pictures anyways...

I made the same dinner as last night...with a spicy twist.

Because I still attempted to get a good picture by holding everything very close to the last remaining light, but still failed.

Honey Cumin Yogurt Dressing
Serves One


Ingredients:
1 TBSP plain yogurt
1/2 TBSP lemon juice
1/2 tsp honey
1/4-1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp olive oil

Directions:
Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl, taste test to make sure it tastes good.

Because I forgot to add raisins...

Winter Apple Salad
Serves One, can be easily multiplied to serve more.

Ingredients:
-Handful Spinach
-Handful Romaine
-1/2 apple (or whole if your me and snacked on the other half instead of saving it for a snack...)
-1/4 cup chickpeas
-1/4 yellow pepper
-Ricotta Cheese

Directions:
Toss all ingredients together in bowl and top with Honey Cumin Yogurt Dressing.

Because I felt the need to show you something today.

Because leftovers for the third day seemed depressing.

Because this salad really tasted so good it was definitely worthy to blog about again...

Because it's Friday but it feels like Monday with all the studio work I have to do this weekend.

Because I want a night on the town but feel like a night in bed is more appropriate.

Because I can't wait for Winter Break.

Because I am tired.

But mostly...


Just because.





P.S. TGIF!

Maple Apple Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash

Umm can you say that recipe title ten times fast? Haha my brain is so fried from end of semester stress I couldn't think of a more concise title. So you are stuck with Maple Apple Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash.

You're welcome for this recipe though :)

Before you can get to that amazing stuffed piece of wonderful you have to do a little bit of work.

Start by making yourself a cup of Cinnamon Tea- I am OBSESSED.

It's like Christmas and warm happy feelings in a cup, really now what more could you want?

The cinnamon will get your metabolism moving and help pump up your muscles so you can chop open some acorn squash.

And then gut those squashs' and sprinkle them with some spices.

Done with the hard part! On to the snacking.

My favorite part about making recipes with apples is that I can snack on them while I'm cooking. Speaking of cooking let's get to that recipe.

Maple Apple Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash

Ingredients:

2-3 Acorn Squash
½-1 tbsp Coconut Oil
1 cup dry Quinoa
2 cups water
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp ginger and ground cloves
2 medium sweet apples, cubed
1 cup cooked Chickpeas
½ cup Craisins
¾ -1 cup Ricotta
2 tbsp maple syrup
~1 tsp Brown Sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut squash in half and rub with coconut oil and sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg. Bake for 30 minutes.

2. While the squash bakes rinse the quinoa and add to a medium pot with the water, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. Cook until water is all gone or the quinoa is done

2. Add the cubed apples, chickpeas, craisins, and maple syrup to the mixture. Next add Ricotta cheese until desired creaminess/cheesiness. Stir well.

3. Stuff the quinoa mixture into the baked acorn squash. Sprinkle the top with brown sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes. (until apples are slightly mushy).

4. Optional: Top with roasted acorn squash seeds! I tossed mine in coconut oil, cinnamon, and nutmeg and baked them for about 15 minutes alongside the baking acorn squash.

5. Enjoy!

This is what my stuffing looked like.  I only used 2 acorn squash's so I had some extra filling left.  It'll be a lunch sometime this week and it was already snacked on majorly while I waited for the stuffed squash to bake.

Other things to do while you wait for the final product...clean up the massive mess you made.  (For some reason I was super scatterbrained today and there was cinnamon EVERYWHERE in my kitchen...oops!)

The mess is well worth it...

The chickpeas are perfect in this recipe, they really balance out the sweetness of the apple, craisins and maple syrup.  And do I even need to talk about the squash?  I could probably eat squash plain for the rest of my life and be happy.

For some reason I struggled with taking good pictures of this squash.  Oh well you win some you lose some I guess.

Overall I am extremely pleased with this recipe! The flavors are complex and interesting and it's also super filling. (Wow judging by that sentence my level of food nerdiness is steadily rising...)  I only made it a couple days late though, it would have been perfect as a main dish for Thanksgiving.  That's what next year is for though.

Alright well I really need to get back to school work now.  I'm giving a presentation on Zero Tolerance Laws in schools tonight, exciting huh? Not so much.  But I am happy to say that my Spanish test today went soo smooth I was the first one done and actually thought it was easy!  Fingers crossed that I actually did well!

There was a slight downfall in my day so far though...while my ceramics professor was glazing my stacked pot for me (yes he did part of it for me- great success!) I got splashed in the mouth and eye with glaze!! Sick.  I don't know if I'm just a worrier but I swear my eye hurts...my hypochondriac self might be making a trip to the quick clinic today...

What are you stressing about this week?  Or are you having a carefree and stress free week?

Pumpkin Apple Swirl Muffins

In order to get some of those you have to make your kitchen look like this...


And suffer some poorly lit pictures of the muffin making process!

Pumpkin Apple Swirl Muffins

Ingredients:

Wet
• 2 T ground flax + 6 T water, whisked (or 2 T chia seeds)
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas (1 small)
• ½ cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup almond milk (I just realized I forgot to add the milk!)
• ½ cup finely chopped chunks of Apple

Dry
• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t cinnamon
• ½ t nutmeg
• ½ t ginger
• pinch of sea salt

Creamy Filling
• 2-3 Tbsp Chevre Cheese (or any kind of creamy cheese)
• ½ cup Pumpkin
• 2-3 TBSP grated apple

Crispy Fall Toppings (optional)
• Apple Chunks
• Walnuts
• Brown Sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325F. Whisk the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. In a small bowl, stir the flax + water to create the ‘eggs’. Set aside. In a large bowl, mix the wet ingredients together. Add flax mixture and whisk. Next mix the dry ingredients in medium sized bowl. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Be careful not to overstir! Grease muffin tin. Fill each individual muffin cup about ¼ of the way full. Stir together ingredients for creamy filling. Add a blob of filling to each muffin cup. Then top each muffin cup with the remaining batter. Each muffin cup should be about ½-3/4 full. Sprinkle each cup with mini apple chunks, chopped walnuts and brown sugar. Bake 18-20 minutes.


Don't worry the wet ingredients will look like a soupy mess.


How full my muffin tins were with the a dab of creamy filling on top.


And my creamy filling tasted a little bitter and was a neon orange but it cooked in perfectly and made these muffins so moist.

But I still got some beauties!


These suckers are MOIST and DENSE. I am in love. Seriously.

Can you see the swirls? It's hard they blend in but I promise that they're there! In some of the muffins the swirls of filling just cooked into the muffin in the middle, but no worries you can still taste it and it makes this great doughy, dense, texture.


But of course I have a few improvements in mind...I wish I would have remembered to top mine with apple chunks AND I wish I would have added about a 1/4 cup of walnuts to the dough. I just love the crunch of walnuts in muffins.


But overall these are the perfect muffin to make after a day of pumpkin carving and apple picking.

As always, Happy Fall! (and Monday...)

MN State Fair

I promised my Dad to keep his precious Schwinn Roadbike (that doesn't even fit him) in my apartment, not the bike rack, and did some major complaining and begging. The BF even pitched in a bit, aaaaand he caved! Now I have a beautiful, fast, sleek roadbike to bike around the city, instead of that clunky mountain bike. I am planning on many more bike trips! The first? The state fair with the BF and some friends.

Soo what does a health nut eat at the fair?


An apple brought from home of course! Haha come on that's a very Low Impact decision! Well no worries I am human and had some fair food:

One cheese curd (sick. the boyfriends friends made me)
Free 1/2 ice cream sandwich
A disappointing sparkling apple cider float a
A sad bland veggie gyro (90% shredded iceburg lettuce)
Amaaaazing cinnamon roasted almonds!

I shared most of the treats so it was a totally guilt-free experience. Although I wish I would have seen the Gelato stand while I was there!! Oh and gotten the falafel gyro instead...and the fresh fruit (read that HUGE juicy nectarine from whole foods) instead of the sparkling cider float. *Sigh* Fair food has really lost its appeal...I guess that's the downfall of being able to cook amazing food/being a health nut obsessed with amazing food. Or maybe I'm just picky ;) I'll try again next year no worries...especially since I missed out on that gelato...and that falafel on a stick. For some reason I didn't snap any food pics really...I guess I was distracted by the animals and the hoards of people eating grease. But no worries I did take some pics.

Look at these Eco-Bracelets, they have a bead for the Earth, oceans, rainforests, air, wildlife, people, fair-trade, and peace. Cute :) I want to make my own version. I really wanted to buy a recycled coin purse from this place but it didn't fit my credit cards :( Maybe I'll just have to make my own...





Animals, animals, animals...







I wanted to break the glass so I could try allllll of the displayed pies, breads, muffins, cookies, and delicious looking treats in general. How do you get to be a judge at the fair??




What is that? Deep fried twinkie on a stick. That about sums up my fair experience :) If you haven't gone yet GO!

What is you favorite fair food?

Cabinet Dinner and #2 Breakfast

My first breakfast this morning with the boyfriend of oats mixed with 1/2 of an apple, blob of PB and sprinkles of cinnamon, nutmeg and honey just didn't hit the spot. I really missed the banana, nuts, flaxseeds, and raisin toppings I usually have to choose from!

And the internet was being exceptionally slow at my apartment this morning...


So I decided to treat myself to some Caribou Coffee. After I bought my medium roast coffee I forgot I wanted to try their new iced teas- they look delicious! And better yet they have no added sweeteners yumm just how I like it...maybe I'll have to buy a 3rd breakfast treat today. Anyways I got a peach raspberry muffin as well, its good but nothing special. Too sugary, light and fluffy. I really do like dense heavy whole wheat/bran style muffins best! Oh and with added nuts too, this one is missing that nice crunch. I ate about half and am saving the rest for tomorrows breakfast- when I treat myself I try to make it laaaaast(who am I kidding usually I scarf my treats down in about 5 minutes, I somehow inherited some super human self-will this morning...).

Dinner last night turned out to be a cabinet dinner. The boyfriend and I were planning on testing out some new vegan recipes...but laziness + cheapness got the better of me!


I still had lots of zucchini from the farmers market last week so I started with that and found canned tomatoes and spaghetti.


(I saved all these cans for a future craft project...or maybe to use as pots for plants?)



Easy Spaghetti Sauce

-1 zucchini sliced thinly
-28 oz. canned diced tomatoes
-2 cans tomato sauce
-2 cans tomato paste
-1 tbsp Garlic Powder
-1 tsp each of oregano, basil, and thyme
-Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Mix all the indredients together while heating on the stove. Stir and let it simmer for awhile for the spices to mix in. Then pour over pasta! Pretty simple, easy and cheap! usually I saute onion and mushrooms in my spaghetti sauce but I was all out :(



But it was still delicious! Very tomatoey and I <3 tomatoes and was craving marinara, so it worked out perfect.



Then we had a little bit of green tea with baked apples!


Sooo easy to make.

Baked Apples

Ingredients:
-2 apples
-2 TBSP Brown Sugar
-Sprinkle Cinnamon
-Sprinkle Nutmeg

Directions:
Core apples, not all the way through though, make a little bowl basically. Then sprinkle in 1 TBSP of brown sugar in each apple, the cinnamon and nutmeg. Let them bake in the oven at 350 for about 20-25 minutes or until they are to your preferred mushiness. Poke them with a knife to see if their done.

Voila! Instant dessert, I really wish some vanilla ice-cream or whipped cream would have been hiding in my cabinet to go with these!




Dinner doesn't always have to be a chore, or even well planned out. I decided to make peas and the baked apples about halfway through the cooking.

Well I'm off to celebrate a 21st birthday! One of my besties Kate's to be exact :)

What is your go-to leftover/cabinet dinner?