Journey for a Better World!

SF

Nike touches down in SF on their Journey for a Better World... and guess who was asked to provide the vegan snacks?! That's right, Sugar & Spice!

Maple Pecan Granola (w/ Quinoa Crispy!)

yuuuuuum

I discovered quinoa crispy cereal! Woah I know...exciting right?! They are like rice crispy cereal, only made from quiona.  1 ingredient: organic quinoa!

When Life Hands You Lemons...

...Make Dessert

A client of mine recently gave me 20 lbs of lemons from their yard and asked me to surprise them with some gluten free treats.

Eggplant Cannelloni

ok, I get it, this is not really cannelloni.  The only true similarity between this and cannelloni is that tube shapes are stuffed and baked- plus lots of tomato sauce, parmesan cheese and fresh basil.
Anyway, my version is healthier, vegetarian and gluten free! wooohooo!

Holy Sweet!

Here's the Scoop:

The Flavor is Vanilla

Oreos are my Childhood Favorite

Smothered with Skippy is my Guilty Pleasure 

I was introduced to this amazing Oreo Skippy combination by a friend when I was feeling a little blue...

Buckwheat Pancakes with Honey Rum Pecan Sauce

These little guys are somewhere between crepes and pancakes.  The recipe is for crepes though they didn't spread and thin out like crepes should.  So I kept them tiny like little pancakes.

Honey Almond Cakes

When life hands you eggs, split them!

Last weekend I made Lemon Crème brûlée for 8 people and hollandaise sauce for my brother, leaving me with a hell of a ton of egg whites!
There was no way I was going to let a hen's hard work go to waste, so whether to use the whites or not was not a question.  Thinking of how to use them though got me very excited!
I have been wanting to make the little French tea cakes called financiers for quite some time now, and they call for only egg whites, how perfect.

Squeeze In One More Summer Lunch

Photo courtesy of Downtown Romantic

Quinoa Tabbouleh

All the times I enjoyed tabbouleh in Greece and Turkey this summer, I thought, "how nice would this be made with quinoa as oppose to bulgur"

Pick Me Up Rice Pudding

When you're feeling a tad down in the dumps, there's nothing better than a little warm creamy sweetness to get your happy pheromones jumping :o)
Rice pudding does the trick

Chickpea Balls

On mine and Mindee's first night on Sifnos, Greece, we had a wonderful dinner at O Argiris in the port of Kamares.

We started our dinner with chickpea balls and a Greek salad followed by melt-in-your-mouth slow cooked lamb called Mastelo, all Sifian Specialties!

Gorgonzola, Caramelized Onion and Apricot Chutney Flat Bread

Savory gorgonzola and sweet apricots make a heavenly combination

My friend Kate from Seattle (we met 3 years ago while living in Thailand) came to visit for a couple of days and on her last night here we had a Sex And The City, Wine and Flat Bread Marathon.
Kate is a great cook (enjoying healthy foods like me!) and so fun to be in the kitchen with.  We also made a Margarita with Eggplant (a specialty of hers) and a Pesto with Fresh Tomatoes (a specialty of my mom's).
Partially inspired by sipping wine while cooking, we'll credit our healthy appetites to the 3.5 mile run across Golden Gated Bridge earlier that day :o)

Lemon Torte

I have been craving lemon poppy seed cake... 

...so when my friend's mom, Rosco, gave me a bag of Meyer lemons from the tree in their backyard, I was more than anxious to get home to my cookbooks...

Rosco is so loving and generous and insisted that I take home with a bag full of lemons.  This recipe only takes 4 lemons and I can not wait to try more recipes with the remaining 20 something lemons!

Almond and Coconut Berry Tart

I've been waiting for an excuse to experiment with coconut flour and coconut butter for some time now.
So, when my friends and I decided to take a trip to Tomales Bay to BBQ oysters, I thought, "What better opportunity?  If I happen to not like oysters, I'll still have an entire tart to enjoy!"
Well, I happened to love BBQ oysters, especially the butter and hot sauce smothered on top (check out the BBQ here)

Green Curry

I am currently obsessed with Thai Curry!  What's better than a big bowl of warmth with a bit of a kick!?

Cinnamon Raisin Bread Pudding

 This delicious bread pudding was inspired by my mom's famous french toast.  She would soak cinnamon raisin bread in eggs, vanilla and milk overnight to really allow the flavors to come together and the bread to get nice and soft.  I have many memories of waking up to the smell of sweet cinnamon aromas coming from the kitchen

Comfy Cozy Breakfast for the "wait, what, it rained last night!?" kind of morning

ingrained in your memory...your Basic Grain Pilaf

Actually, there is not even a recipe for this post!

The point is, we need to always keep cooked whole grains on-hand in our fridge!

The first step to eating healthy:

Stock your fridge with healthy,  pre-made (by you) foods!

Raisin Bread Pudding

This breakfast was inspired by nothing other than the neglected Raisin Bread waiting untouched and unloved for a month in my freezer :(

Braised Chicken Marsala and Sage Polenta

Don't be intimidated, this is simple to make and

so mouth watering delicious

I first made this for clients, and now I just keep coming back to it when

I'm in a jam and need something fancy to whip up