Pick Your Own: Strawberry Festival

It's nothing like picking your own fruit and vegetables. Linvilla Orchards had a strawberry festival yesterday that was absolutely wonderful. There were plenty of activities for the children, picking of strawberries and rhubarb for both young and older, and food galore at the farmers market. The weather was perfect yesterday to go pick your own strawberries. I actually picked 10lbs of strawberries that will be eaten "naked", frozen, prerserved and made into deserts (especially with my new unused ice cream maker). For foodies, and those who appreciate where your food comes from, picking your own fruits and vegetables is an experience like no other. Especially when you get home and get to eat the "fruit" of your labor. Check your area for your local pick your own farms

CREAMY DAIRY-FREE, SOY-FREE GOODNESS

I am in awe with this product. Turtle Mountain Purely Decadent Coconut Milk Ice Cream is just that – Decadent!

The ice cream made with coconut milk is so smooth, and creamy. It melts like silk when eaten without a bad after taste.

I have tried the following flavors; Chocolate, Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl, Mint, and Mocha Almond Fudge. I love Choc. Peanut Butter Swirl – the flavor of chocolate and peanut butter in a creamy ice cream is so dangerous (because you’ll want to eat the whole pint in one setting). The Chocolate, and Mint are good ones too. I’m not a fan of the Mocha Almond Fudge Coconut version (I do like the Soy version by Purely Decant better).

Try it and you too will be hooked just like me. Not to mentioned its health benefits. That’s all I need – Ice Cream that’s good for you (in moderation of course).

Bon Appetit!

Dal Atta Noodles in a Spicy Coconut Curry Broth

Today was a noodle bowl aka noodle soup. I wanted something spicy too, so I thought I was gonna just cook another one of my staples - Rice Noodle Soup Bowl from Trader Joes. To my recollection I was all out. I've learned while pregnant, always have a backup that is close (in tasting) to whatever it is you are craving. I realized I had some Maggi Dal Atta Noodles that I could be creative with. I like these noodles because they provide 5 grams of fiber and 8 grams of protien in a serving which is great! I don't use the season packets; one reason being they are full of sodium and I like to flavor to my liking. I made a coconut curry broth to go along with the noodles. Yumm-O as Rachel Ray would say. Here's the ingredients:

Dal Atta Noodles in a Coconut Curry Broth

1 pack of Maggi Dal Atta Noodles
1 clove of crush garlic
1/2 cup of coconut milk
3 cup of water
2 tablespoons of Dal Curry Seasoning
1 tablespoon of fresh chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon of asian chile paste (optional if you want a nice kick of spice)
Chopped green onion to garnish
Salt to taste

Add garlic, water, coconut milk, dal curry seasoning, cilantro and asian chile paste into a pot and bring to a boil on a medium - high heat. Once its starts to boil add noodles to pot and turn heat to low and cover pot. Let cook for 2 minutes and stir and turn off heat. Place the lid back on the pot and allow to sit for 2 minutes. Garnish with green onion and serve.

CHICKPEA & BASMATI RICE FALAFEL

Now that I am in my second trimester I can eat and cook too! YAY! Anywho, I had a taste for falafels after watching Throwdown with Bobby Flay:

I wasn't able to get to my falafel joint (the Falafel truck in Center City), so I had to do something and something fast. This baby was really wanting a good falafel. So I decided to do my own version of a crispy on the outside fluffy on the inside falafel. I had the ingredients and just needed the energy to do it.

After a couple of days of the chickpea craving not subsiding, I finally moved to my lab and got started. I had some basmati & wild rice left from a previous dinner. I then had an light bulb moment - put the rice mixture (which also had red peppers, onions and mushrooms in it too) into the chickpea mixture. Now the falafel mix I made was from scratch using the following ingredients:

1 medium onion
3 cloves of garlic
15 oz of organic chickpeas (drained)
1/4 cup of fresh organic parsley
1/4 cup of fresh organic cilantro
1 1/2 cup of toast bread crumbs (I made my own from some spelt bread I had left over)
Salt and cayenne pepper to taste
1/2 cup of the rice mixture

Put everything in a food processor and pulse for about 20 seconds. If its not sticking add a little a teaspoon of flour followed by a 2 tablespoon of water. You want the consistency to firm and sticky enough to hold a form. Form into ball or patty and fry in 2 inches of oil.

Now traditionally falafels are made into balls and fried, but I made mines into patties so it was easier to put into a wheat tortilla or burger bun.

I topped my sandwich with organic tomato, fresh organic cilantro, and organic green onions with some mustard and garlic mayo*. Sooooooooo good


*Garlic Mayo
Mayo ( I use Veganaise)
2 cloves of fresh crushed garlic
1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
pinch of salt.

Mix and and enjoy. You can always add more cayenne for more of a kick.