InspiredElectrons
Food
New Garden Location = Success!
Oct 20th
The garden in the front yard is flourishing! I finally feel like a real gardener! Everything I planted is growing. I’m thinning plants. Already there are baby cucumbers. There is a nice butternut squash growing. I already harvested radishes. There are little and big sprouts of things everywhere!
Although, there is one problem in paradise. One side of my garden is not growing as well as the other. I know it’s not the sun or water, so it’s got to be the soil. My thoughts are either too much compost or not enough. Something ain’t right. So my first solution will be to get some good organic miracle grow soil and put it down. I’m not complaining, though!
So here are some pics of my first harvest. I had to thin out some of the greens, and the radishes were peeking their little tops above the soil, saying “pick me, pick me!”. So I did.
baby Red Russian kale and Cherry Bell radishes
baby kale, radishes, and TONS of baby bok choy!
See the basket of greens to the left in the pic above? That’s all bok choy.
Can’t wait to try out this recipe for Sausage, Potato and Kale Soup. And this Kale and Parmesan Frittata. Now to find recipes for bok choy!
5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake
Aug 23rd
You must go make this. Now. It took me 5 minutes from start to finish, and I had a warm, gooey, chocolatey chocolate cake on my plate. In fact, the entire process from start to consumption was only 7 minutes. (disclaimer: this pic is not of mine, but mine did come out just like it!)
5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug (Microwave Safe)
Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly before pouring in the milk and oil in. Keep mixing. Add the optional chocolate chips next (who makes that an option!) and vanilla extract, and mix again…
Put your mug in the micro wave and cook for three minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don’t be alarmed! Allow it to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
Uh-may-zing.
via New Dress a Day
From my Kitchen
Apr 5th
Inspired to Go Granola
Mar 9th
Yet another inspiration to bake. I found this recipe from lifehacker. It was a simple recipe with most ingredients on hand. I did have to make a special trip to get wheatgerm and wheat flour. As I was baking, I thought the mixture looked suspiciously like oatmeal cookie dough and thought, “Well, this is no different.” Even after I pulled them from the oven I thought, “This just looks like a giant square cookie.” But then I bit into one…heavenliness. They are chewier than cookies and taste like a true granola bar. They also have this delightful buttery taste, even though there is no butter in the recipe. I put extra cinnamon in them, of course.
This recipe is amazing because you can adjust it anyway you like. Chocolate chips, dried fruit(s), nuts of your choice, flax seed, bran, egg substitutes, honey substitutes…whatever suits your fancy or dietary needs. I decided to be a little healthy and forgo the chocolate chips, despite how tempting it was.
It was not time-consuming at all, and results were fantastic. Phil and I plopped down with one (or two…or three) and a big glass of cold milk. So go ahead, dig in!
Inspirations of Blueberries
Mar 8th
Given the praise “The best blueberry muffins you’ve ever had” (by smitten kitchen) they are indeed the best blueberry muffins I’ve ever had. However, I am going to make them better! By the by…no, that is not a stock photo. Yes, those are MY muffinitos. And yes, those are flower pots.
What made these muffins uncommonly tasty was, I believe, the use of plain yogurt, lemon zest, and a substantial amount of butter. My variations to those were the use of unsalted butter, plain greek yogurt (hey, it’s what I had on hand), and a little less lemon zest than called for. There were also some specific directions in how to mix the batter, which through my experience with cookies, does make a difference.
As I munch on these mouth-melting muffins, I am already thinking of adjustments for the next batch. I realize while the lemon zest gives the muffins a unique “zest”, I am not the zestiest lover of zest. It calls for 1 tsp. I used 3/4ths. Next time I will use only a pinch.
My next thought is to use vanilla yogurt instead of plain. Yes, more sugar, but I also really like the taste of vanilla, and I also have a sweet tooth. I guess a non-sugary option would be to add a generous amount of vanilla extract. But when writing this, I realized that I do enjoy the thicklyness and creamlyness of greek yogurt, and I wonder if sweetening it with a little honey and/or vanilla extract first would also produce delightful results (because I love the taste of greek yogurt with honey)? Maybe I will split the batter in half and test both.
Last, I absolutely love cinnamon in my muffins. I think every muffin needs cinnamon. So therefore, regardless of the above attempts at adjustment, I will be adding a generous amount of cinnamon to the next batch of batter.
I challenge you to try this recipe – try the original or try an untested variation of mine or yours!