Vegan Chocolate Monkey Smoothie

I know what you need in your life.

A healthy chocolate, banana smoothie that's so good it tastes like a milkshake.

My weekday breakfast & lunch eating is fairly simple, and it includes a smoothie 4 days out of 5. A shake is almost always my breakfast of choice on the days I go into the city, partly because they're healthy and keep me full for hours, partly because they're quick and I can take them in the car with me to drink on the way to the bus station, and partly because they're just so good and I crave them constantly.

Depending on my mood or the fruit I'm using, I'll use either whole milk or coconut water as the liquid in the smoothie. I typically use Cocozia because it's organic, one-ingredient (no additives) and comes from young green coconuts, unlike many mainstream varieties. When I found out they were offering chocolate coconut water, I couldn't wait to try it out.

Jackpot. This coconut water tastes like chocolate milk, is slightly thick, and gives smoothies a nice deep cocoa flavor and creamy texture without having to use milk (good for vegans, and good for when you want a creamier smoothie but the health benefits of coconut water). This chocolate version does have some sugar and other ingredients that are not in the plain coconut water, but all the ingredients are readable and there is nothing nasty in it. 

Blend it up with frozen bananas and peanut butter, and you've got dessert for breakfast.

Vegan Chocolate Monkey Smoothie

Ingredients

1 frozen banana, chopped
1 scoop vanilla or chocolate protein powder (I use Natural Factors Raw Organic Vegan Protein*)
1 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbsp. natural peanut butter
6 oz. chocolate coconut water

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.

*Protein powders are not all created equal. Make sure you read the ingredients on the label or you could be ingesting a lot of sugars, fake flavors and synthetic vitamins. 

Note: This post was sponsored by Cocozia. As always, however, all opinions are my own.

Pesto Caprese Toasts

Happy Saturday! Coming at you with a really quick breakfast recipe this morning.

I know avocado toast is all the rage these days, and don't get me wrong, I eat my fair share of it. I love avocado on just about anything, and eating it in all its un-mucked-up glory with just some sea salt, olive oil and crushed red pepper on good bread is probably one of my favorite things to eat ever. But...sometimes you just need a change. And it's spring, and basil is making its way back into my kitchen. And basil means pesto.

Basil also means caprese salad. But in this version, I've swapped spinach for the tomatoes and then piled everything up on top of toasted Ezekiel bread. It is so.good. It's garlicky, cheesy, bright, fresh, crunchy, creamy, nutty - literally all the good food adjectives. Matt and I have eaten it both for breakfast and lunch, and I'm sure it'd be good for a mid-afternoon pick me up. What's not to love?

Pesto Caprese Toasts
2 slices of sprouted or whole wheat bread, toasted
1/4 cup basil pesto
2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves
8 oz. buffalo mozzarella, sliced thick
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
2 Tbsp. fresh basil, chopped

On each slice of toast, spread half the pesto; top with spinach leaves and mozzarella slices, drizzle with olive oil, and top with salt, pepper and fresh basil. Devour.

How to Host an Easy Brunch

And the winner of the Tuttorosso and Inspiralized giveaway is...greenmtngirl!

Congrats! Please email your address to SomeSugarAdded@Gmail.com so we can get the prize pack out to you.

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So today we're going to talk about brunch. And how to deal with hosting it at the very last minute with virtually no time to prep.

Have you ever ended up having people over for a spur of the moment meal, and had a minor panic attack that you didn't have time to plan and have no idea what you're going to do? This weekend the only plans I thought I had were doing some shopping for my sister's upcoming bachelorette party in Florida and a long-awaited get together with my girlfriends on Saturday night. Buttt my husband apparently had other plans.

On Friday evening, while sitting in the driveway leisurely drinking an IPA and watching Riker ride bikes with his new neighborhood friends, he informed me that we had plans with his family to go to the boardwalk all Saturday afternoon (after Riker's first soccer game at 8:00 in the morning), and also that he had invited a bunch of friends and their children over for Sunday brunch. Um...ok. For me, the "plan every last detail and everything must be perfect Type A dinner host", this was way stressful. I had no time to really plan anything and not much time to cook since we'd be out all day/night on Saturday. I had a little freakout, and then decided to just go with it. And I ended up having a really great weekend. I loved seeing all our friends and family, enjoying the beautiful weather and seeing our kids having fun running around together. I'm really going to try working on not getting so worked up about impromptu plans and be more spur of the moment, because a lot of times those days end up being the best days.

But that said, if you find yourself in a situation where your significant other informs you that you're having people over for brunch (or any meal) at the last minute, here are 4 tips to get you through it.

1. Don't Stress Out
I plan everything to the nth degree. But sometimes all that planning makes it way more tiring that it needs to be. A few months ago I read this blog post called "Friday Night Meatballs: How to Change Your Life with Pasta", and it really made me think about how every meal and gathering of friends does not have to be "special." What's special is that we're getting together. We all just want to see each other (okay and have some food and drinks most likely), but no one is going to judge if the table isn't perfectly set or the house is a little (a lot) messy. If you haven't read that article, I highly suggest it. Let's all be more impromptu about getting together with our friends and not worry about all the details. Who cares about place settings and crumbs on the floor when you're sipping a mimosa with your best friends watching these joyful little babes run around with glee?

2. Make it a Potluck
With #1 in mind, making a gathering a potluck makes things way easier on the host. When people offer to bring something to my house, my first instinct is to say, "Nope, just come, we've got it." I like people to just come and relax. I enjoy being a host. But it doesn't have to be that way every single time. This was a casual spring brunch and all our friends offered to bring a dish, so we let them. It made me way less stressed, and I think everyone actually liked bringing something. People brought their A game to this potluck.

For brunch it's nice to have a mix of breakfast and lunch / sweet & savory items, so we coordinated accordingly. And by "coordinated" I mean there was a text chain where everyone threw out ideas. One friend brought a gorgeous fruit & yogurt parfait bar and some roasted breakfast potatoes, and another friend brought flatbreads with fig jam, prosciutto, arugula, goat cheese and balsamic glaze (vegetarian ones for me and Heather).

3. Make Only One "Wow Factor"Dish
Another issue I have is over-thinking the menu. I go down the Pinterest rabbit hole and make a mile-long list of things to cook. But lately I've been trying to just make one or two complicated items and keep everything else simple.

For brunch I feel you have to have something egg-based and some kind of bread, as well as a salad. It's a classic combo. I had my heart set on making a homemade bread bar, so that was my one "wow factor" item. Everything else looked nice but was super simple to make.

The Bread 
I used this recipe for whole wheat bread because you don't have to knead it or let the yeast bloom. It takes time, but not much effort. And it came out great - less dense and crumbly than other whole wheat recipes I've tried. I made the dough first thing when I woke up so it was ready to go by brunch time.

For toppings, I made a few compound butters, a cream cheese spread and then some straight-from-the-jar organic strawberry jam.

Topping 1: Herb Butter using unsalted butter with fresh parsley and basil, dried thyme, lemon zest, sea salt and cracked pepper.

Topping 2: Sweet Orange Butter using unsalted butter, a few teaspoons of organic cane sugar, orange zest and a squeeze of orange juice. (Look at that color! It's all from the orange zest since the butter was white.)

Topping 3: Sundried Tomato Pesto Cream Cheese (unpictured) using homemade pesto I had in the freezer and the stash of sundried tomatoes I always have in the fridge.

Topping 4: Strawberry Jam. An old standby.

I put the "bread bar" on the kitchen island so people could snack on it right when they came in, while other things were cooking. It was something a bit unexpected and fun, and everyone seemed to like it. I also think homemade bread makes people feel like you made something special, but it's made from just a few simple ingredients that are always in the pantry, so it's a win win. Bonus: It makes your whole house smell amazingly yeasty, comforting and warm.

The Frittata
I like to make quiche for any special breakfast or brunch. But quiche meant I also had to make crust, and since I was already making the bread, I forced myself to quit the crust and opt for a frittata instead. Frittata reminds me of my grandmother; when I was in college she used to make it quite often and serve it with a simple green salad. This one included kale, caramelized onions and Vermont sharp cheddar; it had a great fluffy texture and nice salty bite from the cheese.

To make it, I  caramelized onions in some ghee (you can use oil or butter), then removed them from the pan. In the same pan I cooked a bunch of chopped kale with some sea salt and pepper. Once it was done, I added the onions back in. Then I whisked together 10 eggs with a splash of milk, salt, pepper and about 5 oz. of shredded cheddar cheese. I poured the egg mixture over the veggies and cooked it on the stove over medium heat for a few minutes until it start to set. Then I popped it in the oven at 450 for about 10 minutes until it was golden brown on top. Once it came out of the oven, I turned it over onto a wooden board and topped it with fresh parsley and Parmesan cheese.

Frittata is great for brunch because you can toss in literally whatever veggies, meats or cheeses you have on hand, you cook everything in one pan, and although it only takes about 30 minutes and very little effort to make, it has a really nice presentation.

The Sides
Lox is also a breakfast favorite of mine, and these little cucumber rounds with cream cheese, lox and dill took all of 10 minutes to make. These are also nice because lox is pricey - especially when you buy wild caught - but I only needed one 6 oz. package to fill a whole platter of cucumbers. A little goes a long way when you use it as an appetizer.

I also threw together a spinach & arugula salad with dried cranberries, orange segments, toasted walnuts and goat cheese, tossed with a homemade balsamic & raw honey dressing. Spinach and goat cheese salads are a no brainer in our group of friends - they're always gone in a flash.

{It looks so much prettier before it gets doused with cheese and dressing, doesn't it?}

Other Stuff
Matt still has some steaks in the freezer from our annual Vermont Natural Beef cow purchase, so he marinated a big steak in the morning and then threw it on the grill when everyone arrived. One steak cut into strips was plenty given all the other food around (we actually had a bunch leftover), but it's nice to have some kind of meat for the carnivorous crew.

I really debated making something sweet, like muffins or a lemon bread, but forced myself to cross it off the list. Not needed! There was plenty of food, and the sweet stuff probably would've barely been touched and then it'd be sitting at our house all week.

All in all, this menu was pretty simple to make and took about 3 hours total - even with a toddler and 10-month old running around between our feet all morning, even with trying to do a quick vacuum and toy pick-up, even with Matt very ambitiously doing some yard work before everyone arrived, and even with everyone getting showers (though I'll admit, I didn't make it to blowdrying my hair). If it weren't for all the distractions, I probably could've cooked everything in less than two hours.

4. Use What You Have
I based the menu almost entirely around what I already had in the house. I didn't want to have to make a big grocery list and spend an hour at the store. Instead, I just thought about what I had on hand that I could easily turn into a few dishes. I did have to run to the store early Sunday morning to grab lox (simply because I really wanted it) and some strawberry jam (I was low on jam and figured the kids might want it for the bread, but honestly, I could've made do with what I had). That made things much easier.

5. Ask Someone to Bring the Bubbly
My last tip is to have someone bring some bubbly. My friend Heather kept asking what she could bring, and really there was plenty of food already coming, so she offered to bring mimosas. They were the perfect addition. Mimosas make it a party. They feel a little special and fun, and sipping them sitting around the farm table while watching the kids play in the playroom made for a very relaxing Sunday morning. ;)

Note: Champagne actually gives me a bad headache and makes me extremely tired so I rarely drink it, but Heather used Prosecco, which has a lighter carbonation and doesn't seem as sweet to me, and it didn't make me tired or headachy at all. So if champagne goes straight to your head, try Prosecco.

Happy spring brunching!

The Perfect Poached Egg

You need this on Saturday morning.

Poached eggs, specifically Eggs Benedict, are a weekend breakfast obsession of mine. If we go out to breakfast and they're on the menu, it's the only thing I'm ordering. But making poached eggs at home has never been one of my talents. For years I've been trying to get them right - perfectly round, firm on the outside but soft in the middle, and opaque enough so you don't see the yolk until cutting it open. No matter how many times I tried, they always seemed to spread and be a bit see-through. 

Not anymore.

Poached eggs are finicky little things, but a few key details make all the difference:

- The perfect temperature water
- A whirlpool
- A splash of vinegar

A lot of times we'll eat these on an Ezekiel English muffin with lox, or over a simple salad of lemon dressed arugula and tomatoes. These particular ones were laid atop a slice of toasted whole grain bread topped with sautéed spinach, kale, scallions, grape tomatoes and melted gruyere cheese, and then sprinkled with fleur de sel, freshly cracked pepper and red pepper flakes.

It's what Saturday mornings were made for.

The Perfect Poached Egg

This is really more of a technique than a recipe. Here's how I make mine:

1. Place a medium sized pot about half full of water on the stove.
2. Add a splash (about a teaspoon) of white vinegar.
3. Heat the water over medium heat until just before it begins to simmer, then turn it all the way to low. The water should be very hot but not actually bubbling at all.
4. Crack an egg into a small dish or ramekin (if you crack the egg right into the pot, the whites will spread).
5. Using a wooden spoon, swirl the water a few times until you have a whirlpool going.
6. Place the egg dish very close to the water and gently slide the egg into the center of the whirlpool. Poach only one egg at a time - it takes longer, but it's worth it. When the egg first goes in it will look like it's falling apart, but give it a minute.
7. After a couple seconds (maybe 10-20), use your wooden spoon to gently move the egg, helping the egg wrap around the yolk and making sure it doesn't stick to the bottom (if it's starting to stick, just use the spoon or a plastic spatula to carefully lift it a bit).
8. After about 3-4 minutes, when the egg is getting firm but still wobbles a bit when nudged, scoop it out and lay it on a plate lined with paper towels. Let all the excess water drain into the towel.
9. There will usually be some extra egg white clouding the water after this, so I like to scoop all that out before repeating the process with the next egg.

If you've cooked a couple eggs separately and want to reheat them all before serving, just drop them gently back into the hot water for a few seconds, drain on paper towels and then serve.

Christmas 2014

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

It's been a wonderful week so far, filled with family, friends, and of course tons of food. Over the weekend it really started to feel like the holidays since Matt finished work last Friday. No better way to kick off the holiday break than with cocktails and cheese plates! We had a bottle of St. Germain so made some fancy gin & elderflower cocktails in non-fancy glasses.

Matt's grandma also came over to bake our annual holiday cookies with me, a tradition I really love.

We baked up a storm! We made the traditional Crunchy Chocolate Pecan Cookies, Peanut Butter Truffles and Snowballs (we call them Crescent Cookies) but also a few new ones including White Chocolate, Cranberry & Macadamia, Nutella with Sea Salt and Peanut Butter White Chocolate Pretzel. Thankfully about half of these left the house to go to my office, our neighbors and to Matt's parents. I am sugared out!

We also took the kids for a festive day out with a little shopping, a cozy lunch at a creperie and a ride on the North Pole Express with Santa. (Couldn't get a pic with Riker's eyes open).

Once work wrapped up for me on Tuesday evening, my grandma, sister Amanda and her fiance Justyn got to our house for our annual Christmas Eve-Eve dinner (Nana's Tomato Mushroom Mac & Cheese), wine, movies and hanging out. They always come a day early because my sister and I cook all day on Christmas Eve day, and it's just nice to extend the holiday for one more night.

Usually on Christmas Eve I get a little stressed with all the cooking I have to do, but this year we cut the appetizer list down a bit and planned a dinner menu that I could mostly cook in advance, which really helped. It was totally stress free and much more relaxing. And when everyone arrived at 5:30, we were ready to go!

The dinner menu included:

- Baby greens with homemade balsamic dressing, cranberries, blue cheese and pecans

- Breaded chicken cutlets (we bought these from the butcher - one less thing to cook - and dressed them with fresh lemon, balsamic reduction and arugula)

- Kale and ricotta stuffed shells with butternut squash sauce (this is amazing - get the recipe here)

- Green beans with olive oil and fleur de sel

- Eggplant rollatini (made by my aunt)

Desserts included a wide array of cookies, truffles and pie.

Christmas morning with Riker was so much fun. This was the first year he really knew what was going on and looked forward to it for weeks, and seeing the joy on his face as he ran down the stairs that morning was one of the best feelings in the world.

Sadly I didn't snap any pics of Riker and Carson opening presents since we were too busy enjoying it with them, but that's the point, right? 

Since we're usually starving during present opening, the day before I had prepped some fruit cups for us to eat while breakfast was in the oven. They were a great way to start the morning before all the rich foods that come with Christmas dinner.

For breakfast I had pre-made (and then reheated that morning) a Broccoli & Cheese Quiche on whole wheat crust and a Cranberry Orange Bread, which slightly reminded me of being a kid since my mom always loved that flavor combination - every time cranberries were in season she would make Cranberry Orange Relish, and oftentimes on Sundays we would have orange cinnamon rolls. This bread was sort of a mashup of the two and tasted like home.

We cooked up some bacon on the side (I buy Applegate Farms and everyone loves it), along with coffee and mimosas of course. :)

My sister left after breakfast to head to Justyn's family's out in PA, and after naps, showers and a second cup of coffee we were off to Matt's parents' house for the big extended family celebration. It's so fun having a group of little cousins running around now. Their excitement is contagious and they're just so cute.

My two loves!

We got home late last night and are all pretty wiped from the week of parties, so we've just been hanging home in our PJ's all day. Matt and I both have off work until after New Year's, so it's nice to be able to just be bums today and not worry about the usual weekend to-do list. On Sunday we're headed to the Poconos for a few days of skiing and kid fun at the indoor waterpark, but until then, it's R&R for this bunch.

I hope you had a wonderful holiday and are gearing up for a great 2015!