$20 of fun for about a dollar. Parenting score.
October 4, 2013
$20 of fun for about a dollar. Parenting score.
October 3, 2013
La Guardia eats 🙂
Butternut Squash Mash (paleo, whole30)
Mmmmm….. comfort food. A nice heaping bowl of warm is perhaps my favorite thing about the colder months and meals featuring this side (or a side very like it) sustain me through the cold and the dark like none other.
Try it: under a moroccan tomato ragu with sausage and a fried egg, as a base for a nice thick meaty traditional-style tomato sauce, under some firey shrimp & bacon in place of grits, as a sturdy starchy side for a steak, with a bright gremolata & crunchy almonds, as the “anchor” for a topping of crisped veggies, or pretty much anywhere else you need something substantial to make up a meal.
Butternut Squash Mash (paleo, whole30)
1 lb. butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1.5-inch pieces
Good quality stock (vegetable, chicken or turkey)
1 Tbsp. grass fed butter (or vegan butter substitute)
1 tsp. ras el hanout (optional)
Kosher salt & black pepper – to taste
Place your peeled butternut squash into a medium pot and add enough stock to cover by an inch or so. Bring to a boil over high heat. Drop the heat and simmer 10-15 minutes or until tender.
Drain, reserving half a cup or so of the cooking liquid. Add the drained squash to a large bowl, along with the butter, 2 tsp. salt, a few twists pepper and ras el hanout (if using). Mash, adding splashes of stock, until the mixture is smooth and almost soupy. Re-taste and add salt & pepper as needed.
Serves 2-3 as the main anchor of a dish.
October 2, 2013
I’m beginning to think “hand printed” is really code for drunk and/or schizophrenic.
October 1, 2013
It’s fall in my living room.
September 30, 2013
The zombie apocalypse is upon us.
September 29, 2013
Strolling around the Atlantic Antic – NYC’s largest street festival.
September 28, 2013
So *this* is happening in the city in which I live.
My Fall Addiction – Pumpkin Spice Latte (paleo)
It’s fall, and here in NYC the mercury is finally sort of starting to agree with that statement. Not that I’m complaining about the lack of brisk coolness (much), since I’m dreading winter, but fall is my favorite season. No more blazing hot sweat fests! Boots! Jackets! Cute Scarves! Not freezing to death!
And with all of that comes my love and my nemesis … the pumpkin spice latte. I have a seriously love/hate (mostly hate) relationship with the mermaid coffee shop. Their coffee on its own sucks. It’s bitter and burnt and undrinkable without a metric ton of sugar and other fillers, and that’s just no good and not what I desire to be putting into my body. But … they’re everywhere. And they have pumpkin. And the pumpkin. Lucky/not lucky for me, they have never made a “skinny” sugar-free version of the syrup they use & the sugar content of their full fat/sugared coffees makes me sick, so for the last few years I’ve limited my consumption drastically.
This home made version, I’m happy to say, is tasty. Really tasty. I’m still working on the sweet ratio – for me, 1 tsp. of maple syrup is a bit too sweet — I may drop it completely from subsequent batches — but it is solidly good. And it has a vegetable in it, so score there.
For my inaugural run, the version in the picture, I used Earl Grey tea as the base – mostly because I was too lazy to grind coffee. Feel free to use coffee instead. 🙂 The amounts of tea to coconut is also scaled to fit my tea container, which I think is 12 ounces.
Pumpkin Spice Latte (paleo)
1 1/4 cup brewed Earl Grey tea
1/2 cup coconut milk
1.5 Tbsp. canned 100% pumpkin
1 tsp. 100% Maple syrup
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (equal parts cinnamon, ginger, allspice & nutmeg)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Brew the tea. While the tea is steeping, heat the coconut milk + all other ingredients in a small pan until just bubbling, whisking to combine fully.
Combine the brewed tea with the milky mixture and go to town. If you’re looking for a fancier drink, top with whipped cream and extra grated nutmeg. I drink all hot beverages out of a travel mug (sippy cup for grownups – don’t let me fool you; that pretty latte in the picture went right into the mug), so whipped cream is a no-go. But, were I having company similarly obsessed with pumpkin, whipped cream would not only be a go, but a necessity.
Serves 1
September 27, 2013
Favors
Gastography 