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Saturday, February 5, 2011

Dip it Good!

Hi friends! Hope your weekend is off to a good start! Last night, we just stayed in and relaxed with some of this:

so good! If any of you are familiar with the goat cheese (I think it's a manchego-style) with the reddish rind that's soaked in wine, this is the wine they use! It was nice and light, good for drinking alone :)

I also put this orange beast to good use:

Just for size reference, this is a standard size chef's knife:
It was a HUGE butternut! I was in the mood for something dippy but something new, so I made:

Butternut Squash - Garbanzo Dip (I could call it a 'hummus', but I guess that's not technical ;)
~2 cups butternut squash, roasted and cut in chunks
1 can heated garbanzo beans, liquid reserved
~2 tsp sesame oil
~1/4 - 1/2 tsp garam marsala (could also use curry powder)
~1/2 tsp cumin
sea salt (~1/2 - 1 tsp)
freshly ground black pepper
paprika, for topping

Roast squash in oven. I just sliced mine in half, scooped out the seeds, and put it on a baking sheet:
I did about 25 minutes at 425*. Meanwhile, heat garbanzo beans and can liquid in saucepan (this awesome trick & recipe inspiration from Gena!) When squash is softened, remove skin (you may have to wait for it to cool a bit) and cut into chunks. Add to food processor with seasonings, sesame oil and garbanzo beans. Slowly drizzle in garbanzo liquid until desired consistency. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary. I did not need to use all the can liquid as butternut squash is not a starchy as say, a potato. I love sesame oil because you can use such a small amount but add amazing flavor. This recipe made about 3 cups:

I added some to a collard leaf with red pepper, chopped tomato, sliced heart of palm and cilantro:
All rolled up:
So tasty! I love having a taste / snack right after I make something :) Just like the Food Network!

This morning, I was inspired by Angela's Lemon Scrub to make my own. We picked some glorious grapefruits from our tree yesterday (I just love saying that I picked fruit from my own tree :) so exciting!), so I decided to use that for my citrus. This recipe is super vague, but I don't think you could screw it up. Add zest of grapefruit,
plus juice of half grapefruit
to ~1/2 cup brown sugar:
Add ~1 Tbsp coconut oil:
Mine was pretty liquid-y, so I added some more sugar:
It poured out of the bag pretty fast! It was about a cup. All stirred up:
It smelled divine, and after I showered my skin was glowing and the bathroom had a lovely brown sugar-grapefruit scent. I loved that this recipe is totally edible, too! I probably wouldn't want to eat it, but it's nice to know that I could ;)

For dessert, I made Katie's Good Girl Fudge. Go check out her recipe!
so good! not too sweet, excellent texture straight from the fridge. I used homemade coconut butter (thanks to Heather!), but I found it didn't get super creamy like Artisana. I used the food processor for about 15 minutes.... still tasty, but a little gritty.

This morning, I did Gina's Week 3 of the Winter Shape Up, followed by 20 minutes of intervals on the stationary bike (still trying to take it easy on the food), then I took this smiling face
for a walk for about 30 minutes. I love it when puppies smile! So cute. When I got home, I made this delicious Green Monster:
It's my recent favorite recipe:
1 scoop Vanilla Sun Warrior protein
1 tsp chia seeds
1 tsp Sun Warrior greens
1 tsp spirulina
1/2 peeled cucumber
4 frozen strawberries
~1/3 cup frozen blueberries
~1/5 frozen banana
2 giant handfuls spinach
sprinkle stevia
~1/2 - 1 cup water

Mix it up in the Vita! Mmmmm....

I'm thinking of making a run out to Anthropologie, since I really need to clean out my closet (maybe I'm just being pro-active and buying more before I get rid of stuff? heehee), but the sky is turning blacker and blacker.... I hate driving in rain :/ especially during snowbird invasion season! Guess I better go see what's going on with the little one:
so mischievous! Have a great weekend friends!