Monday, September 23, 2013

Acorn Squash Gnocchi with Thyme Brown Butter Sauce

i got the bright idea to make homemade gnocchi on a friday evening after work. i started making said gnocchi before reading the entire recipe. you know the part that would have told me this was going to turn into a 4 hour process. lesson learned.


that being said, i'm so glad that i finished what i started because it was pretty damn good. they weren't pretty mind you. i don't know how all those fancy pasta chef's can make the their pasta so pretty because mine looked a little beat up, but who care what they look like if they taste good, right?




i don't. husband didn't mind it either. so it was a win win situation :)




i took the recipe from Bon Appetite for their butternut squash gnocchi with sage browned butter, and changed it up just slight. i had an acorn squash, so i used that...and i wasn't about to run to the store for some sage when i was already eating dinner at 10:30 at night, so i used some fresh thyme i had on hand instead.

it was pretty darn good.



head over to Bon Appetite for the recipe! happy monday folks!


Sunday, September 22, 2013

One

happy first anniversary to my best friend, partner in crime and love of my life! i can't believe one year has gone by so fast, and i can't wait to celebrate infinity more with you!

all photos taken by the very talented ifong chen












Monday, September 16, 2013

Life Lately

a trip to whole foods. detox diet. movies in the park. portland meadows. MFNW. timbers game. carrot cake cupcakes.








Thursday, September 12, 2013

Roasted CherryTomato Soup

our csa basket has been OVERFLOWING with tomatoes. seriously. we get close to 3 lbs (or more) of tomatoes on weekly basis and i've been running out of ideas. i've made endless amounts of caprese, thrown tomatoes in pastas and omellettes, topped my salads and sandwiches with them and everything else you can think of.


so it was sort of a DUH moment when i realized i haven't tried to make my own tomato soup with them. until now. and i'm so glad i did. because if you've never had fresh tomato soup and have only been eating it out of a can. you. are. missing. out.


roasting the tomatoes in the oven until the burst and then simmering with them in a simple vegetable broth and tossing a few fresh herbs (namely thyme) into it, makes this tomato soup so much better than anything you could ever find in a grocery aisle.




and the best part...so easy to make. it just takes a little time (mostly hands off time) while you wait for the tomatoes to roast.

and since we're just barely greeting fall (my absolute favorite time of the year) soup is a good idea. a very good idea.



Roasted Cherry Tomato Soup

2 lbs cherry tomatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
6 garlic cloves, crushed or finely diced
2 c vegetable broth
1 tbsp pure maple syrup
1 tbsp fresh thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss cherry tomatoes with olive oil and garlic and lay out on a cookie sheet. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes or until the tomatoes burst and char slightly.

Meanwhile combine vegetable broth, maple syrup and thyme in a large pan. Remove tomatoes from the oven and add them to the broth. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes.

Pour the tomatoe broth mixture into a blender and blend until smooth. Top with more thyme, parmesan or eat by itself!

This will store in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.

Enjoy!

Monday, September 9, 2013

MFNW

this weekend was MusicFestNW. a 5 day music festival that takes place all over the city in a variety of venues. it happens every year, the week/weekend after labor day.

husband and i got to venture out saturday night to see deep sea diver, thao and the get down stay down, and one of my favorites, the head and the heart. it was so much fun! we weren't able to stay for all of the concert (since husband's still recovering from surgery), but what we saw, we loved!

here are a few photos from the concert!





Sunday, September 8, 2013

Vegan Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

 i embarked on a 21 day cleanse no more than 10 days ago when right in the middle of it i had a craving for chocolate chip cookies. let me tell you. it is the worst feeling in the world when you're supposed to be all "i'm only eating vegan food" and your body's like "psych! give me sugar." i had to remedy this situation immediately.


so i perused my list of "allowed ingredients" on the cleanse and then i did what any normal, sane person would do. i scowered the internet for a cookie recipe that could be made from said allowed ingredients. and you know what....internet did not let me down. i found a vegan dark chocolate chip cookie recipe from the detoxinista and armed with all "healthy" ingredients i got to baking. immediately.



and you know what happened. my idea of a yummy chocolate chip cookie was completely blown away. these are so good! i like them better than normal chocolate chip cookies and they don't have any icky ingredients like butter (who am i kidding i love butter...but you know, the cleanse is screwing with mind) in them. score one for the internet. score one for the detoxinista. and score two points for me for not breaking my cleanse and still getting to eat chocolate chip cookies.


so even if you're not on a cleanse...you should still go make these.

Vegan Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies
taken from detoxinista 

2 c almond meal
1/4 c coconut oil, softened
3 tbsp pure maple syrup
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c dark chocolate chips 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Combine almond meal, baking soda and salt. Add coconut oil, vanilla and maple syrup and stir well. Once combined well stir in the dark chocolate. 

Spoon cookie dough onto a cookie sheet and bake for 8-9 minutes. 

Enjoy!!

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

A Long Weekend

happy tuesday everyone! i hope you all had a nice, relaxing, fun and safe labor day weekend!

ours was verrrrryyyy long and verrrryyyyy relaxing. to the point of going stir crazy. but we found a few ways to fix that. :)

husband had to have surgery (a torn ACL) on thursday, so i was working from home caring for my patient. we had 5 long days at home, watching tv, reading books, laying by the pool (one perk to apartment living) and catching up on the news (my heart is sad for syria).



let me tell you...when the sun is shining outside, and you're stuck in doors...you can get a little stir crazy. at least we did. so by sunday evening, husband was finally feeling up to venture out of the house (thank god!!) and we headed over to overlook park where you not only could see a beautiful view of the city (portland sure is pretty at sunset), but they were also showing FREE movies in the park!


we met up with some friends, settled in with our picnic blanket, ordered some yummy food (yep you can have food delivered to the park!) and watched E.T!!!! they even had E.T skydive into the park as a special guest for the kiddos! so cool! turns out they do these movies all summer long. something to keep in mind for next summer. (so we're a little behind on things to do here in the pdx...we'll catch up soon ;0))






next up! the horse races! we headed out to portland meadows to watch the horse races! i've never been before and this is so fun!!

i loved seeing all the ladies dressed up in dresses and big hats and the guys in their suits and bowties. i definitely want to plan a kentucky derby party here next year! it would be so fun!! and of course the mint juleps were delish!!!