Bibimbap - My First Cooking video!

Long time, No see!

Hello everyone! I am back! 

Sorry for such a long hiatus. I've been so incredibly busy. In biggest news, I completed my PhD! Yep, that's right. This psych-in-the-kitchen girl is a genuine Doctor of Psychology!

But, you are here for the food, right? Right.

In my limited spare time I've been watching episodes of "Korean Made Simple" on the Cooking channel. It talks about traditional Korean dishes and ingredients and shows you how to make Korean food at home.

I decided to try my hand at a Bibimbap dish with beef and vegetables. Bibimbap is a bowl of sticky rice with vegetables, usually a meat, and a runny egg. The ingredients are placed side by side on top of the rice like a pinwheel. They can be enjoyed separately or mixed together like a stir-fry. Its fun because you can add almost anything!

Traditionally, this dish uses an odd number of ingredients. I ended up with 9 in my bowl. You want some raw ingredients, some cooked, some hot, some cold.

Here is a video on how I made my Bibimbap bowl! 

In my bowl:

Sticky Rice (toasted with sesame oil)

Beef

Egg

Bok Choy, sauteed

Kimche (fermented cabbage)

Broccolini, sauteed

Carrot, julienned

Onion, sliced thin

Sesame Quick Cucumber Pickles

Bean Sprouts

An Egg-cellent Experiment

I like to think that I'm a pretty good cook. I cook or bake almost every day of the week, making simple dinner recipes as well as complex baked goods. I've had few problems making recipes that quickly bring most experienced cooks great pain… soufflés, French macaroons, roasts, turkeys, whole fish, etc. While I've had a few flops (for example: doubling the amount of butter in a cookie recipe), there are few recipes that trip me up more than once.

Except for hard-boiled eggs.

Dear lord, what happened to those eggs? 

I grew up eating hard-boiled eggs quite a bit. I love egg salad sandwiches, deviled eggs, potato salad (with egg), and eating hard-boiled eggs straight up with salt or soy sauce (try it, it's amazing!). Now, sometimes when my parents made hard-boiled eggs, the egg's shell would slide right off the egg in one piece. Other times, the shell would stick to the egg's white and would only come off with chunks of the white, destroying the look of the egg (not to mention wasting it). We would chalk up the differences in peeling ability to the eggs' freshness or lack thereof.

As for myself, I've had terrible luck making hard-boiled eggs down here in Florida. I make sure that I buy eggs a few weeks in advance before attempting to hard-boil them and I use my mother's method for cooking them:

Put eggs in pan with cold water (covering them by an inch or so of water)

Bring to a boil

Turn off burner, cover, and let sit for 12 minutes

Shock in an ice bath until cool

Peel and eat

Theoretically, the eggs should turn out perfectly cooked, with bright yolks (no green circle) and tender (not rubbery) whites.

This method, however, never seems to work for me. While my yolks are bright and my whites are tender, the peel sticks. Badly. My eggs come out looking like they've been peeled by someone with sporks for fingers. For pretty deviled eggs in my house, I've resorted to buying the eggs pre-cooked and peeled (such a waste of money).

So I did what anyone my age would do… I turned to Facebook. I implored my friends to help me out by telling me how they cook their eggs so that the shells come off. As it turns out, there are a lot of ways to cook eggs that "come out perfectly."

After many comments and suggestions, I boiled down (har har) the techniques into 6 variations of cooking time and peeling temps.

1.       Boil the water, add the eggs, boil for 7-10 minutes, then peel hot

      2.       My normal method: Add eggs to cold water, bring to a boil, sit covered for 12 minutes, shock in ice bath, peel cold
3.       Add eggs to cold water, boil for 5 minutes, shock in ice bath, peel cold
4.       Pampered Chef Method: Add eggs to cold water, bring to boil, simmer for 12 minutes, add ice & cold water, peel cold
5.       My normal method but peeled hot
6.       Bring eggs to room temp (about 1 hr), then boil in my normal method.

So, doing what any good scientist would do, I set out to perform an experiment (I am a researcher after all).

I bought 18 eggs, waited about 2 weeks, separated the eggs into groups of 3 (for 6 groups total… see, Math!) and cook the eggs in all six methods. I even used a Sharpie to label the eggs and took pictures of the results (see below).

After cooking, I peeled the eggs to test for difficulty of peel, and cut one open to see how they were cooked inside.

Results: None of the methods worked well.

Please, follow along as I discuss my results:

First, these are the eggs I purchased. These are plain white large eggs, purchased at my local Publix. I got 18 because I wanted plenty of eggs to work with and I wanted them to be from the same carton to keep everything as controlled as possible.

Here is the sell-by date. I purchased the eggs about 2 weeks prior to my attempt (11.10.13).

To demonstrate my method, here is a photo of three eggs in one of the pots I used to conduct this experiment. Note the number of the bottom of each egg. This allowed me to keep track of which eggs were in which group/cooking method.

Here is one of the eggs from group 1, unpeeled. Note the cracked shell from the heavy boiling for 8 minutes (sorry its blurry... cell phone camera wouldn't focus) 

Here are the peeled eggs from group 1. Pretty bad on two of them, third isn't terrible, but not unscathed.

Results from group 2, not pretty

Results from group three... pretty bad

Inside of individual from group 1. Not completely cooked. 

Inside of one egg from group 3 (only 5 minute boil). Very under cooked 

Don't worry, they didn't go to waste. They given a proper send off with flur de sel and white truffle oil

Results from Group 2 (my normal method). Center is fully cooked (just a tiny spot in the middle) with bright yellow yolk and tender white

Here are the results from group 4 (Pampered Chef Method). Cooked inside, but peel was pretty tough to get off. Better, but not good.

Group 5: My normal method, but peeled hot. Not only was this potentially very painful, the results were poor

Again, group 5, not completely cooked inside. I think it needed to rest in the cold water to finish cooking a bit inside

Group 6 - The room temp eggs, cooked normally. Fully cooked inside, peels came off with a bit of a struggle, but better than the rest.

What did I do with all those eggs? Deviled them, of course. Made with Sraracha mayo. Yum!
The rest will go in my lunch this week.

 Now, these are of course, not the only ways to hard boil eggs. Oh no. These methods include, but are not limited to, baking in the oven (the Alton Brown Method), adding vinegar to the cooking water, adding baking soda, adding salt, and using filtered water (although that could get pricey). Further research must be performed before a final analysis can be made.

Any hints, tips, suggestions, or voodoo curses I could use? Please, help me out... I want pretty eggs!

Mongolian Beef

Hey you guys? Do you realize its September? When did that happen?

Wow. This summer went by so quickly. I hope you all had a great time with plenty of relaxation and time outdoors. I'm a huge fan of summer (I live in Florida, land of eternal Summer) but this year I didn't get as much time to relax as I usually do. As you know, I'm a Ph.D. student in a psychology program, so "rest" and "relaxation" don't really work well in graduate programs. Rest and relaxation are often combined with guilt and feelings of inadequacy. "Oh, you want to go to the beach this weekend? Make sure you print out two or three articles to read. No pleasure reading for you!"

Thankfully, my husband and I were able to schedule a beach vacation in Naples/Ft. Myers/Sanibel Island just after I turned in papers that completed my comprehensive exam process. This timing allowed me the perfect opportunity to go away on vacation with almost no guilt (6 months of torture was enough) and I really had a chance to disconnect from work (NO EMAIL FOR 9 DAYS!).

The great thing about living in Florida, other than no snow, is that beautiful vacation spots are always nearby. We wanted to spend a week on the beach, and we looked into international travel, but the flights were all too expensive. We chose to spend a few days in Naples, Ft. Myers, Sanibel Island, Florida (Naples is only 1.5 hours from where we live). We quickly fell in love with Naples and enjoyed our entire vacation. We ate great food, lounged on beautiful beach, swam in clear warm water, and collected tons of shells. I would recommend a trip to Naples to anyone looking for a relaxed beach vacation without of the crazy touristy feel of most beach town. Beach access is everywhere, parking isn't expensive, and we found a nice inexpensive hotel just a few minutes from the ocean. Here are just a few photos of what we did/saw.

But alas, it's back to the grind. The semester just began and I'm back to making dinner every night. I recently discovered an amazing recipe for Mongolian Beef (I hear it tastes just like PF Chang's, but I've never eaten there… I prefer local Chinese food places) that is a quick hearty weeknight meal.

Mongolian Beef (30 minutes or less!)

1 large steak (about 1-2lbs…I use London broil, I can find it on sale for $3.99/lb, but flank steak would work as well)

½ C cornstarch

1 C oil

2 tbsp ginger (grated/diced)

2 tbsp garlic

1 C soy sauce

1 C packed brown sugar (you can go a little light on this if you want)

Assorted veg: steamed broccoli, cabbage, bok choy, chopped green onions, mushrooms, edamame, carrots, etc

Cooked rice/quinoa (I like 2/3 basmati rice and 1/3 cup quinoa), or noodles

                                                                                                                                                

Directions

Beef cooking up

Slice up the beef really thin, about a ¼ inch (it helps if it’s a little frozen, about 30 minutes in the freezer) and toss it with the cornstarch. Let the cornstarch sit on the beef for a few minutes while you prep the sauce. Mix the ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and brown sugar together in a bowl. Heat up the oil in a skillet or wok. Once good and hot, add the beef and cook until just cooked through (meanwhile prep and steam your veggies). Once the beef is cooked, remove it from the pan and let it drain onto a plate lined with a paper towel. Add the sauce to the hot skillet and cook until it bubbles and thickens. Add the beef and veggies back into the skillet and toss to coat. Serve hot over rice/quinoa. Dig in!

Fun story: I found an oyster mushroom on a free at my apartment complex, and I added it to my stir-fry (disclaimer, I do not support you randomly finding and eating wild mushrooms unless you really know what you're doing).

Finished Product: Yum!

Do you have any great Chinese food take-out recipes? I love me some good healthy take-out swaps!

Tips for Easier Grocery Shopping and Dinner Preparations

Tips for easier grocery shopping and dinner preparations

I'm the kind of person that does not like to go to the grocery store more than once a week. It's not that I don't like my grocery store, I actually really like it, but I find grocery shopping to be something that takes away from my puppy-cuddling-in-front-of-the-tv-time. Therefore, to maximize my shopping trips (not to mention my budget) I am a planner.

This is how I feel if I go to the store without a list. Total brain wipe.

To give you an idea of how I plan for my grocery trips and my meals, here's some tips and tricks I use:

Use the weekly ads. I get several ads a week, but the ones I concentrate my attention on are Publix and Penn-Dutch. For those of you outside of South Florida, Publix is a general grocery store. Their prices are sometimes a little higher than other stores in my area (such as Winn-Dixie or Walmart) but I like their selection (so I don't have to go to a second store to complete my list), quality, service  (I can always find someone to help me locate items on my shopping list and they never balk at my load of coupon), and location. I have a Publix less than half a mile from our apartment, which is critical when bringing home ice cream in August. Penn-Dutch is a local grocery store with two locations in my area (I try my best to buy from smaller companies when possible… not Walmart). They have amazing prices on produce, meat, and seafood (wild caught salmon for $4.99/lb, sushi grade tuna for $5.99/lb!) a good wine selection, some more unusual items (goat meat anyone?), but they don't have all my normal pantry items.

When I get the weekly ads, I make a list for each store (Publix, Penn-Dutch, Costco) based on the items on sale, keeping in mind ideas for meals and what I already have in my pantry. I love buy-one-get-one (BOGO) deals for things like pasta, pasta sauce, frozen items, etc. When I write out my list, I make a note of the price (for meat and produce), if it’s a BOGO, 10/$10, and brand or item information. That way, when I go to the store I know that its Ronzoni pasta on sale for BOGO not Bertolli brand or that it is the Fiji apples on sale not the Macintosh.

Coupons in weekend paper. I get the weekend paper just for the coupons and ads. Every few weeks, I sit down and cut out all the coupons for the items I want. I cut out the coupons for things I know I buy regularly (makeup, shampoo, pastas, etc) and some items that I may be interested in buying if I see them on sale (frozen meal: if they're BOGO plus I have a two $1.50 off coupons, I can get two mea

ls for almost nothing). Keep in mind that companies put out a lot of coupons for new items, like new lines of soup or granola bars, and many times these items will be on sale at the same time. If you aren't sure if you'd like these new items, cut the coupon and decide when you get to the store if it's worth the money. Sometimes they are. However, don't just buy stuff because you have a coupon. Buy it if it is something you will actually use and enjoy.

To maximize your coupons, its handy to buy a coupon organizer with dividers (see here). I have mine labeled by item type (Frozen, Meat/Produce, Pantry, Snacks, Dairy, Cleaning, Toiletries) to help me find the coupons I'm looking for while standing in the grocery aisle. I also sort through my coupons when I add more to throw away expired ones.   

Example of a coupon organizer... no need for anything complicated!

Plan a list of meals for the week. I like to plan a week's worth of meals before I go shopping. I base my plan on the items I have to use up in my freezer and what's on sale, typically writing out what I want to make for each night, which lets me not have to struggle to come up with something for dinner when I get home at 6. I also try to keep in mind what I want to eat for lunches as well as various snacks. I then add any last items onto my list based on my meal plans, making sure I have all the ingredients.

Keep an ongoing shopping list throughout the week. Did you use up the last egg? Almost out of baking powder? Put it on the list. This is also helpful for other family members to add items they want throughout the week (honestly, when you're making your list just before going shopping, you never remember the items you had been thinking about all week).

Re-write the list based on the layout of the store. This may sound like overkill, but a few minutes of re-writing my list saves me a lot of headache once I am in the store. I'm sure we've all missed items on our list only to have to run back across the store to get it. I avoid that by rewriting my list based on the aisles of the store, and this becomes easier as you get to know the store. At first, I was grouping items by type, but now I know that there is a aisle of paper goods between the international/candy aisle and the baking aisle and I can plan my list accordingly.

Stock up. This is not only for hurricane preparedness (I'm looking at you South Florida), this is good economic sense. There is nothing I hate more than buying a jar of pasta sauce full price because I ran out and I have a hankering for some spaghetti. When things you use regularly go on sale, but a lot of it. For me this includes ketchup, mayo, bbq sauce, pasta, sauce, canned tomatoes, and dark chocolate squares (I get two every day in my lunch bag. It is like an antidepressant for me). Also, if something catches your eye at the store and it's not on your list, buy it, just don't go crazy. I like being able to improvise my meals based on something I see in the store (yummy ripe peaches, a new marinade, etc).

Think outside the grocery store. Over a year ago, I joined an organic buying club (website is: http://www.anniesbuyingclub.com/) which allows me to get fresh organic produce for a great price. I get their ¾ box for $38 and that lasts me almost the whole two weeks between pick-up dates. Not only do I get fresh organic produce, but they try to have as much of it as possible locally sourced, it makes me try new varieties of produce, and it saves me a lot on my grocery bill.

Store food in a way that makes it easy to use. If you buy a 3 lb pack of ground beef, don't just throw the whole thing in the freezer (unless you plan to make a huge pot of chili) because you'll never use it. Portion out the beef (or chicken, or pork) into freezer bags in an amount you'd used in one dinner. After putting it into the bag, flatten it out as best you can, mark it with the contents and date purchased, then freeze it. That way, when you get home from work and realize you didn't take any meat out of the freezer to thaw, you can take it out of the freezer, put it into a sink with water, and it will be thawed in under 30 minutes, not three days. This also works great with shrimp (buy them with the shells on, way cheaper, and then freeze them flat in a bag). I once bought a 50 lb case of boneless skinless chicken breasts ($.69/lb, normally $3.99/lb) and broke them up into bags with 2-3 pieces per bag. We ate off that haul for months. Don't forget to ditch anything in the Styrofoam plates because even small items will take forever to thaw with the thermal protection of the "foam." This all takes time up front, but will make cooking dinner on a busy weeknight much easier. You can also do the same thing with produce by washing and chopping everything when you buy it for easy use in lunches and dinners throughout the week.

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Now, I use the above rules as much as I can. I plan meals and shop accordingly. But sometimes I don't. I get busy and when I get home I realize that I have no idea what I want to make for dinner, let alone have any defrosted meat. Therefore, below I've made a list of items I try to always have on hand to throw together healthy meals in under an hour.

Kitchen Staples to help you make dinner without a plan

·         Pasta (Spaghetti, fettuccini, macaroni, penne, farfalle, lasagna, orzo, etc)

·         Rice

·         Quinoa, couscous

·         Pasta sauces – marinara, vodka sauce, alfredo, pesto, clam

·         Frozen Veggies: peas, corn, broccoli, spinach, edamame

·         Fresh Veggies: broccoli, potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce, onion, garlic, carrots

·         Canned Veggies: Beans, Corn, Tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, water chestnuts/bean sprouts, bamboo shoots

·         Meat: Bacon, bags of frozen chicken tenderloins/cutlets (tenderloins are great because they can go straight from the freezer into the pan), Italian sausage, kielbasa, ground beef, pork, lunch meat

·         Asain: Hoisen, soy sauce, miren

·         Dairy: Cheese (shredded and block; Mexican and Italian blend, parmesan), butter, half & half, eggs

·         Baking: Flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa, brown sugar, powered sugar, chocolate chips, butter, vanilla extract

·         Herbs/Spices: Kosher salt, pepper, basil, oregano, cumin, chili power, garlic powder, onion flakes, thyme, sage, parsley, cilantro, mustard, ginger

·         Other: Honey, mustard, ketchup, bbq sauce, cornstarch, bread crumbs, mayo, panko, vinegar (red, cider, white), nuts, better than bouillon, hot sauce, jams/marmalades, salsa, tortillas

From this list, I can make 90% of my favorite meals. Here's a quick list: Stir-fry (both rice and noodle based, any meat you have), tacos (add corn and beans to the meat to stretch the meat), quesadillas (add veggies and refried beans for more nutrition), grilled chicken with tomato/peach marmalade sauce, cheesy noodle bake, casseroles, spaghetti and marinara sauce with ground beef,  vodka cream pasta with sausage, fried rice (with egg and kielbasa), bang-bang shrimp, rice pilaf (rice and orzo toasted, then water with bouillon added with frozen veg) etc.

I hope this list helps you out, even just a little. And PLEASE share your ideas for getting dinner on the table quickly with as low of a cost as possible!

Guest Blogger: Ariel's Healthier Banana Bread

Hello everyone! I just wanted to introduce my amazing friend Ariel. Ariel and I have a great time baking together when we get time to hang out and we love sharing recipes. We've made a few things that have made it to this blog including Vanilla Bean Greek Yogurt Souffles and Saltwater Taffy. She has lovingly allowed me to post a recipe with some photos of a healthy version of banana bread that she made last week.

So please, lets give Ariel a warm welcome! *applause*

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I eat a lot of bananas. Definitely at least one a day, more likely two. Due to this high consumption, I am often faced with the dilemma of what to do when they reach that too-ripe stage. I feel guilty throwing them away, but I also don’t love the texture of eating soft bananas. I used to just make a quick banana bread, but then I would watch that waste away because I didn’t want to eat it with all the sugar and butter used. In order to combat the guilty experience of throwing away too-ripe bananas, either in whole fruit or bread form, I started to search for a recipe that doesn’t use butter or tons of sugar. Here’s what I discovered:

Low-Fat Oatmeal Blueberry Banana Bread

from: http://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/2012/02/low-fat-oatmeal-blueberry-banana-bread/

I was super psyched about this recipe because not only does it omit butter, it uses Greek yogurt and only egg whites!! Plus, it adds oatmeal for a fiber boost. This bread is going to make a great breakfast.

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup uncooked old-fashioned oats

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

3 bananas, very ripe

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large egg whites

1 tablespoon plain greek yogurt

3/4 cup blueberries

Directions: (copied directly from the website)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a loaf pan and set aside. In medium bowl, stir together flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon.

2. In separate medium bowl, mash bananas with fork. Add brown sugar and vanilla, mixing until smooth. Beat in egg whites and yogurt.

3. Combine wet and dry ingredients together for a somewhat smooth consistency. Gently fold in blueberries.

4. Pour into greased loaf pan and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

This was so easy to make and came out so moist and delicious. The only modifications I made was using slightly more cinnamon and less blueberries because I only had about half a cup on deck.

Fresh from the oven!

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Thank you so much Ariel! 

Low Carb Food (even desserts!)

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't posted in a long time (almost two months?)... its just been very busy around here. First we had Chris' parents visiting us, I had a huge exam at school, then we celebrated our 1 year anniversary in Disney World, and then had a major paper to write. All during this time, Chris and I started a low carb diet.

We aren't being super strict about it, and we aren't reading tons of Atkins books, but I'm just trying to eliminate as much bead, pasta, rice, potatoes, and sweets as I can. I'm not a big bread person, unless you bring me to a place with garlic bread or bread sticks, but I do love my pasta and rice. Especially at dinner, pasta and rice have long been a base for most of the foods I make. Dinner = pasta + sauce + meat + veggie... or rice + veggies + meat + sauce = stir-fry. What could be easier? Its been tricky trying to rework my dinner menu to be low carb, but I've figured out that I don't miss the starches all too much. 

I do however miss my sweets. I love to eat fruit and desserts. For breakfast and lunch, I love to eat fruit. But with this diet, I've tried to stick to lower sugar, high fiber fruits such as berries. But I still really miss my dessert at the end of the day (not every day, but as you know, I love to bake so a rich, special, treat now and then is really what I crave). I have allowed myself two pieces of dark chocolate after lunch (its almost an antidepressant for me) but I still was looking for some low carb baked goods. Thank god for the internet!

So to give you an idea of what we've been eating, I've been taking pictures of my dinners: 

Parmesan Chicken Tenderloins with Cauliflower Mash (with cheese and kale)

Burrito bowl: lettuce, chicken, a little quinoa, black beans, tomatoes, avocado, and cheese

Fried pork chops (yes, I used a little bread crumbs), cheddar brat, and spicy mayo kale salad

Chopped chicken stir-fry with broccoli and peas (this takes less than 15 minutes to make)

Chicken breast with sauteed mushrooms, kielbasa with collard greens, white beans, tomatoes, and spicy chicken broth

Chicken breast coated in cornstarch (less carbs than flour), with a raspberry chipotle glaze, and sauteed green beans and zucchini

Spicy Italian sausage, spicy garlic broccolini, and cloud/oopie bread (made with eggs and cream cheese... seriously)

Corned beef, cabbage and carrots (for St. Patrick's day)

Also, don't forget about my post on the wonders of Spaghetti Squash

Now, for dessert.

Dessert is a little harder to maneuver into a low carb territory due to the high sugar content of most items. But if you don't mind using a little fake sugar (don't mind if I do), its not hard to make a few great desserts.

Greek Yogurt Souffle

From: http://julesfood.blogspot.com/2012/10/greek-yogurt-souffle.html

1 cup plain greek yogurt...I use 0% Fage

3 large egg yolks

3 large egg whites

3 Tbsp AP flour

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean (see I told you I'd give you other uses for the vanilla beans I convinced you to buy!)

1/8 tsp cream of tarter

1/4 cup sugar, or a sugar substitute like baking splenda

butter and "real" sugar for ramekins

Preheat oven to 375 F degrees, non convection.

Butter six 6oz ramekins.  Coat inside ramekin with sugar and knock out excess.  Set on baking sheet.

In a large mixing bowl whisk together yogurt, egg yolks, flour, salt and vanilla.  In a medium bowl or in your stand mixture, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy...then gradually pour in the sugar and whisk until firm, but soft peaks form...just don't whip so hard you break the whites. Add 1/3 of egg white mixture to the yogurt mixture and incorporate well.  Then, gently fold in another 1/3...then the remaining.  you want to keep as much volume as possible, of course. Divide evenly into ramekins, filled to about 3/4 to the top because when they fall you still want to have volume in the ramekin.

Bake on tray for about 15 minutes, until evenly risen and lightly browned around the edges.

DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR TO PEEK.

serve IMMEDIATELY for the full effect.

already falling, but still amazing!

These souffles are very easy to make. They remind me of a warm cheesecake. They do have a distinct 'greek yogurt' smell, but aren't as tart. We only ate two of them that afternoon, but the next day they were still so good. After they fall and cool, they are much more like a whipped cheesecake. I had mine for breakfast with blackberries. 

If you don't want to make them immediately, or you don't want all 6, you can mix them up, put them in the ramekins  and either refrigerate for two days or freeze for several months. Just bake them a few more minutes.

Approx. nutrition info

6 servings: 80 calories, 6.6 carbs, 2.5 fat, 2.3 sugar, 7.4 protein

Coconut Chocolate Mousse

adapted from: http://kojo-designs.com/2013/02/coconut-chocolate-mousse-quite-possibly-the-worlds-best-dessert/

This is another easy low carb dessert idea.

1 can of coconut milk (not lite). Some brands work better than others, but I used the first kind I found at publix (in the asian food section)

5 tablespoons of cocoa powder

2+ tablespoons of powered sugar (to taste, could probably substitute splenda because its so light)

pinch of salt (makes everything taste good, esp chocolate)

splash of vanilla extract

Directions: open the can of coconut milk and let it sit in a bowl overnight. If your can has a lot of runny coconut water on top, drain most of it off. This allows you to let the coconut solids to firm up. 

Combine the rested coconut milk with the cocoa and sugar and whip it with a mixer on a high speed until it gets fluffy (5-10 minutes). 

Time to eat! You can either spoon it into a bowl, eat it from the mixing bowl, or pipe it into fancy glasses rimmed in sugar.

These didn't taste super coconut-y but still very yummy!

Greetings from Disney World!

Sushi - Spicy Tuna Rolls

Growing up, I never thought I'd be a fan of sushi. Raw fish? Seaweed? Unidentifiable green goop on the side? No thank you.

But then I went to college. At Ohio State, our dining choices were pretty varied. Our meal plan consisted of the normal cafeteria foods, made-to-order subs, Starbucks, health food, smoothies, a la carte selections, two sit down restaurants, an open 'til 2am burrito place, and sushi. Yes, sushi.

I tried my first bites of sushi halfway through my freshman year at a local restaurant after my friend and her mom wanted to take me out for dinner. We went to a local Japanese place that way a little more pricey than I expected. The cheapest thing on the menu was an $18 sampler plate of sushi so that's what I ordered. I'd wanted to give sushi a try, as I was becoming a more adventurous eater, but this was kind of a sink or swim moment. I didn't want to hate it and seem ungrateful (and why would someone order sushi on someone else's dime without knowing beforehand if they liked it?) but I figured I'd tough through it at the worst. Turns out, it wasn't terrible. Some of it was pretty good!

I soon discovered the sushi trays at the various dining facilities around campus were pretty good. I really enjoyed the "buckeye roll" (eel with a sweet sauce) and spicy tuna rolls, and would regularly eat a tray for lunch.

I've now grown to love sushi and regularly crave it! I'm not a big fan of octopus or shrimp sushi (which is strange because I ordinarily love shrimp), but I'll eat pretty much anything else.

The only downside to my love of sushi is the price. I can eat several rolls myself, as can my hubby, so eating out at sushi restaurants (at least ones you'd trust to handle raw fish) can get very expensive very quickly. So, as I tend to do, I've learned how to make sushi rolls at home!

First, I found a local grocery store that sells sushi grade fish (I get yellow fin tuna). This is super important because for the fish to be sushi grade, I believe it has to be flash-frozen on the ship and then kept frozen until it is thawed for the buyer. This type of handling can lead to a steep price tag with Whole Foods type places selling their fish for ~$20 a pound! We have a local grocery store called Penn-Dutch that is known for their meats and seafood (they have frog legs!). A few times a year the put their sushi grade tuna on sale for $6.99-$9.99/lb. I get one large fillet (about .75 – 1 lb.) and I'm ready to go! If you want to use imitation crab, shrimp, or other less expensive fish, that will work too.

Rice is also extremely important to make good sushi. Regular, long grain rice is not the type of rice that will work for sushi. For sushi rolls, you need sticky, short grain rice, otherwise known as pearl grain rice. You can buy sushi rice at specialty grocery stores for a few bucks, but you can also get a bag of pearl grain rice (goya brand or something like that) for under a buck at the grocery store.

As for the seaweed wraps, or nori, I've been able to find packages at my local grocery store near the store-made sushi. The nori at the grocery store, while convenient, is a little pricey. If you have an Asian market nearby, stop in and find it there. It is usually much cheaper at the Asian grocer!

For other fillings, I usually get an avocado or two, cucumber, and grated carrots. This blend adds some color and nice texture (especially the cucumber). But you can add whatever you want, or just go with the straight fish. 

Wasabi is also an important part of sushi in my opinion! I love the hot bite it adds. I have bought my wasabi at Whole Foods, but that stuff was nuclear! I've also found tubes of wasabi at my grocery store, again near the store-made sushi section. It's pretty cheap and a little goes a long way!

If you enjoy spicy tuna rolls, you gotta have spicy mayo! Spicy mayo sauce is super easy to make… just mix a cup or so of mayo with a few tablespoons of sriracha (rooster sauce), depending on how spicy you want it.

Now, how to make and assemble!

Sticky rice:

1 bag (~2 cups) pearl grain rice

½ cup mirin (seasoned rice vinegar)

¼ sugar

Salt & pepper

Other Ingredients:

Sushi grade tuna (about 1 lb)

Cucumber

Carrots

Avocados

Nori (10 sheets)

Soy Sauce

Wasabi

Other Tools:

Bowl of ice water

Clean Sponge

Sharp Knife

Cutting Board

Sushi Mat (optional)

Sushi plate set with chopsticks (optional but super cute)

 First, rinse the rice until the water is clear. Then, cook the rice according to the package instructions (usually 4 cups of boiling water to 2 cups of rice, cook on low for 20 minutes). After, let the rice sit for 15 minutes with the lid on, add the mirin, sugar, and salt and pepper. Stir together until it gets nice and sticky. Let it cool with the lid off. Meanwhile, prep the rest of your ingredients.

Slice the cucumber, remove the seeds, and cut it into thick matchsticks. Grate 2 carrots, mash the avocados, and cut the fish into ½ in by ½ in matchsticks.

Now, importantly, prep your assembly space. Make sure you have a decent space of countertop that is clean and dry. On the side, place a medium bowl of ice water with a clean sponge. Also prep a sharp knife and a cutting board. If you have one, get out a bamboo mat (for rolling) or a piece of parchment. If you don't have these things, not a problem… you can roll the sushi without them.

Place a piece of nori on the countertop (on the mat or parchment) and then wet your hands in the cold water. Take about ½ cup of the rice and place it on the nori and spread it thinly around. Spread it down to the bottom on the nori about an inch from the bottom up to about 2 inches from the top. Smooth on some avocado, some carrot, add two slices of cucumber, then add the fish. Don't overdo it on the fillings because it will become hard to roll. Now, tightly roll up the sushi and use a finger to dab water on the top inch of the nori. Finish the roll and seal the damp end to the rest of the roll.

Move the roll onto your cutting board and wet your knife with the cold water. Slice the roll down the middle, then lay the two halves next to each other. Clean off your knife in the cold water with the sponge. This will allow your blade to cut through the sushi more easily. Again, slice the two roll pieces in half. Clean the knife, and repeat the cuts until you get 8 pieces from the roll. Place onto a serving platter.

Repeat the whole process of assembly until you use up all your ingredients. I can usually get between 8 and 10 rolls from my rice and fish. Top the rolls with the mayo and enjoy with your wasabi and soy sauce! Yum Yum!!!

This is a huge dinner for 2 people, but could easily serve 3 or 4 people with a side or two!

Making sushi takes patience (about 2 hours start to finish) and practice (you may have a roll or two fall apart the first time), but totally worth it. All of the supplies probably cost under $20, whereas 8 rolls like these would cost at least $50 at a restaurant.

I hope you feel inspired to try to make your own sushi, or at least explore your neighborhood sushi restaurant. Its not as scary as it looks!

Fancy sushi plates are optional

Kotobuki Turquoise Sky Glazed Sushi Plate (Google Affiliate Ad)