Love, Lo

gluten free chocolate cupcakes

Cupcake recipe here. Vegan Chocolate Frosting here.

tomato basil soup

I was looking through what has always been known in my house as “the church cookbook.” My Mom put this together a while ago with her very own blood, sweat, tears, and appropriately some love. In this cookbook you will find all kinds of things that will most likely cause you to have a heart attack by the age of 2. These are the things that I try to avoid in this cookbook. And then there are the family recipes and the sweet treats, upon which I adhere to this philosophy: {attributed to Julia Child, Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain, Socrates, etc….and thus continues the internet discrepancy of who came up with this first. Socrates is the oldest, so he wins?} When I was reading said “church cook book” a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a recipe my always stylish grandmother {In my head i like to call her stylish gma. She’s my inspiration for sparkles and classiness.} submitted of her older brothers “tomato bouillon.” This recipe was fun for me to find for two reasons: I love finding old things and I never got to meet my great-uncle, as he tragically died in a plane crash when my grandmother was very young. So finding out something he liked to make is fun. A few years ago I inherited his old brownie camera with some killer art deco designs on the front. So we had two interests alike: food & photography. This genetic stuff is crazy. So I decided to adapt his tomato bouillon into an easy tomato basil soup. Give me a soup recipe and I’m destined to change it. Add some ingredients, take some away….I CAN”T HELP IT! So here is the original recipe, which would also make a great vegetable/tomato base if you need it. And here is my easy tomato basil soup: A photo of the final product. Enjoy!

coconut pineapple protein shake

I love a good protein shake after i work out.   I recently started buying coconut milk to make my smoothies with, because it tastes great and is super creamy and delicious.  They even have cultured coconut milk , sort of like kefir which is what i used for this. 

pineapple coconut milk protein shake

1 cup chopped pinapple

1 cup coconut milk (i used cultured)

1 scoop protein powder ( i used a vanilla whey powder)

blend all ingredients together and enjoy out of a fancy glass, because this protein shake deserves one.

sort of a bruschettanade

so i whipped this little spread up for our bread a while ago. it is soo yummy. here is the recipe: 1/2 seeded tomato minced (more can be added to taste) 10 olives minced 1 tbsp. capers minced 2 tbsp. olive oil 1 tablespoon of minced garlic splash of lemon juice mix together & spread on your bread of choice.

carrot basil juice

This is something I’ve been drinking a lot lately and it is so good. Fresh juice is the best, and once you go fresh it’s hard to go back. To get the most out vitamins out of your juice the fresher the better! The basil gives a nice herbal bite the the sweetness of the carrots and apples. A printable recipe card below {even though this one is simple}:

hand rolls

I got some nori recently at the store to munch on {every buys nori for snacks right??}, and decided that I wanted to make my own hand rolls. So I went back to the store and bought some smoked salmon {i’m too paranoid to work with raw fish on my own} cucumber and avocado and made these hand rolls. Not super pretty, but they tasted great! I used Alton Brown’s recipe for sushi rice. I figure since he’s the mad scientist of cooking that he would be spot on, and it turned out really well. I also have a rice cooker which helped with the sticky, starchy consistency. I recommend getting a rice cooker because they perfectly cook rice every time, and they aren’t too expensive. You just plop it in there, hit the button and forget about it for a while…so simple. Then I watched this video and chopped up my veggies and sliced my smoked salmon while I was watching (i watched several times) to learn how to roll the hand roll properly (which I probably didn’t do since i have rice sticking out the bottom….whoops!) Practice makes perfect? [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vFpcKeSdS0&w=480&h=390] My friend Becky got me the sushi plate pictured, and matching soy sauce dish. I love it and use it for things other than sushi all the time. She’s awesome.

sort of a bruschettanade

so i whipped this little spread up for our bread a while ago. it is soo yummy.

here is the recipe:

1/2 seeded tomato minced (more can be added to taste)

10 olives minced

1 tbsp. capers minced

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 tablespoon of minced garlic

splash of lemon juice

mix together & spread on your bread of choice.

Next time I’m in NYC, you will find me at Mast Brothers Chocolate. If I don’t buy the “Maker’s choice” sampler first.  I love how these guys are true artisans, from their love of the process and history of their product down to its beautiful packaging.