A Tea lover’s dream (Afternoon Tea at the Biltmore)

There are two types of people in this world. Tea lovers and people who haven’t discover how awesome tea really is. I my friend  fall in the former. I’ve always liked tea over coffee but when I started transitioning  to becoming a pescatarian ,that preference for tea grew. I started researching the different types of tea and their benefits and how adding it to your daily intake can do great wonders.  Slowly but surely I was drinking at least 3 cups of tea a day varying from Green ,Black Oolong and Rooibos.

By the time my birthday came around this year, I was pretty much enamored with tea that I wanted to incorporate  it into my birthday festivities somehow.So I did Afternoon Tea at the Historic  Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. The experience was so much fun that from that moment on ,I sought out to find the perfect tea set to have Afternoon Tea at home. Up until last week,I found a cute starter tea set that served 4 and was perfect for Matcha tea. I finally received it in the mail today and had my very first Afternoon Tea party at home with my family. It was so much fun that I’m thinking this might be a weekly or monthly thing for us in 2015.

I don’t personally have a preference of any brand of tea, but I am particular about the ingredients in my tea. Being that I drink my teas without sugar or cream I like the  teas to only contain organic tea leaves.  The closer to nature the better in my book! But sometimes that is not always the case especially when dealing with gourmet tea companies. Below I’ve added a list of the teas that I like and have tried in the past few months. Most of them are one ingredient teas and the others aren’t but they taste so good we’ll give them a pass. Happy Sipping!

• Prince of Peace Organic Oolong Tea
• Prince of Peace Organic Green Tea
• Prince of Peace Organic White Tea
• Prince of Peace Organic Black Tea
• Rishi Sencha Green Tea
• Republic of Tea Moringa Tea
• Republic of Tea Dandellion Tea
• Uncle Lee’s Organic Green Tea
• Choice Rooibos Tea
• Celestial Seasonings Vanilla Rooibos Tea
• Yogi GreenTea Kombucha Tea
• Guayaki Yerba Mate Organic Tea
• Teavana Green Moroccan Mint Tea

 

My FontaineBleau Experience

Its always great to break away for a little while every now and then, and this past weekend I did just that. My sister and I went on a 3-day staycation to the historic Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach. I was super excited about the whole experience in general but on top of that we had a private tour of what goes on behind the scenes of their pastry shop and a complimentary cake courtesy of their new bakery shop Chez BonBon. It was pretty much a big deal, to say the least.

We sought out to try a new restaurant for each meal for the duration of our stay and we did just that. Breakfast was not as  accommodating like lunch and dinner was but I was able to work around my picky eating ways. The food was pricey ,but the Kimchi Salmon Burger at Micheal Mina 74 is definitely a must have.

When it came time to go on the tour we were pretty excited ,We met the head Chef Jordi Panisello, the Chocolatier and the bakers. We got to try a few of their handmade chocolates as well as their gelatos. We saw the work stations, the ovens and how they made and prepped all the pastries for the different restaurants and bakery in the hotel. It was truly a pastry lover dream, such as myself.

All in all, we had an great time at the FontaineBleau and the hospitality was out of this world. Its amazing how much fun you can have right in your backyard.  If you’re ever in the area or looking to take a break checkout the FontaineBleau Hotel and their restaurants (their open to the public), you surely wont be disappointed.

P.S. : I’m officially on Instagram, Follow me @Forksandstraws

 

Clean Eating Vegan Challenge

I don’t know about you, but I’m the type of  person that can eat the same thing for a couple days and never get tired of it.  So when I decided that I was going to do a clean eating challenge where all my meals or at least two meals would be clean I knew I wouldn’t get tired of the redundancy. So with a little bit of research and preparation I made a simple meal plan of  easy clean vegan type meals that i can  prepare or find if I decide to eat out.  With Starbucks  and Whole Foods it was  pretty much a cakewalk. Of course you don’t have to frequent those places to find vegan items , but it sure make life easier. Below I added a few examples of the type of meals I eat when on the challenge.

Breakfast

Hot Tea or Coffee  (unsweetened) with:

Green Smoothie(16 ounce)

or

Super-Antioxidant Oatmeal/ Plain oatmeal with seeds and nuts

 

Morning Snack

Green Smoothie (8-16ounce)

or

Fresh Fruit or Trail-mix

 

Lunch

Hot Tea or Kombucha with:

Lentil Tabbouleh with Kale and  Hummus

or

Nut Butter and Jelly Sandwich with a banana

or

Super-Antioxidant Oatmeal/ Plain oatmeal with seeds and nuts

 

Dinner

Hot Tea or Kombucha with:

Whole Grain Spaghetti with Kale, and California Blend Vegetable (Cauliflower, Broccoli and Carrot)

or

Sauteed spinach and Kale with onions and peppers  with sweet potatoes fries

 

The meals can be interchangeable or tweaked to your liking.The products can be fresh or frozen but avoid canned foods, preservatives and additives as much as possible. Check the ingredients if buying frozen and dried fruits and veggies, and stick to products that have simple ingredients. Check out the recipe  for my Super-Antioxidant  Oatmeal below:

 

Super-Antioxidant  Oatmeal

• 1/2 cup oatmeal
• 1 cup water or almond milk
• handful of organic raisins,organic goji berries and organic prunes for sweetness
• handful of organic pumpkin seeds and organic hemp seeds for nuttiness

Mix the oatmeal and almond milk and cook for 3-5 minutes, then top with the seeds and nuts of your liking. If  you want more of a sweetness add honey or maple syrup.

FYI: This can be made as overnight oats as well, just add the toppings in the morning.

Happy Cooking!

 

Banana Nog

It’s my favorite time of the year! Not just because its the holiday season, but because its the only time of the year where you can buy an unlimited supply of egg nog. Growing up egg nog was always a staple at all our family festivities, so I’ve grown accustom to looking forward to it.  So while grocery shopping for Thanksgiving this week, I went searching for some new egg nog to try out. I found plenty of  new brands to try but to my dismay all the brands contained carrageenan.  There’s been numerous talk about this additives being bad for your health and possibly carcinogenic so I personally stay away from products that contains it. So I decided this year I would make my own “egg nog”.

I’m personally not a fan of eggs so I chose to do an egg-less egg-nog with very simple ingredients. This recipe was so thick and creamy and easy to make that I will definitely be making this year round. I hope that you do too! Happy Thanksgiving!

Banana Nog

• 3 Frozen Ripe Bananas (diced)
• 1 Cup of Almond Milk (Unsweetened)
• Vanilla Extract
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• Whipped Cream (optional)

Blend till you get a thick smooth consistency and top with whip cream for a festive look.

Tip: If you want it more thick add more bananas , more thinner add more milk. If your banana aren’t ripe add some of your favorite type of sweetener.

Leafy Vegetarian Chili

When I first begin to transitions to a whole foods life style, I used to try to substitute any meat type recipe with spinach or broccoli.  From rice to pasta if one of the ingredient consisted of meats  I would throw in spinach instead. It worked great for a while but I still lacked the daily amount of iron needed. So I decided I needed to switch things up  and add natural iron- rich  foods to my meals. The easiest food that came to mind after dark leafy greens were beans . I probably said it before on this blog but I really dislike beans.  So it was pretty hard for me to go along with the idea of making a meal around beans when i pretty much grew up eating around the beans on my plate , but with some research I decided to do vegetarian chili.  Its so easy and simple to make that i make it about every other week with a different special ingredient each time. This week was spinach and kale , check out the recipe below:

Leafy  Vegetarian Chili

• 1 can of No Salt Added Organic Black Beans drained and rinsed
• 1 can of  No Salt Added Organic Kidney Beans drained and rinsed
•  2 cans of No Salt Added  Organic diced tomatoes
• 1/2 a bag of  Organic Frozen Corn
• 1/2 a bag of Organic Frozen or Fresh Spinach
• 1/2 a bag of Organic Frozen or Fresh Kale
•  Organic Spicy Chili powder seasoning
• 1/2 of an onion
• 2 cloves of  garlic
• red pepper flakes (optional)

Dice the onions and garlic and put in a  hot pan with a little bit of olive oil, when softened add the beans and corn. Stir-fry the beans, corn and onions and garlic till they appear tender, than add the diced tomatoes and let simmer for 5 minutes. Add the Spicy Chilli powder packet and stir evenly through the pot and let simmer for another 5 minutes. Mix in the spinach, kale and red pepper flakes and stir,  simmer for about 20 minutes. Serve alone or with tortilla chip, over rice or sprinkled with cheese.

FYI : Adding a small can of  tomato sauce will make this chili more of a soup type chili , you can also add vegetable broth for a richer taste if you don’t mind the sodium.

Happy Cooking!

Home-made Gourmet Pizza

I’ve blogged about my love for Whole Foods Pizza and also Papa Johns veggie pizza  at one point since I started this blog, but lately they weren’t  the same. In the past weeks my family and I have tried different pizzas from various local pizza shops and they all seemed to be lackluster and blasé.  So my sister and I decided to make our own pizza for a change, and boy was it amazing! The pizza was so easy to make , yet tasted  gourmet and cost nearly half the amount it would cost delivered. I took a short cut and used a pre-package Whole Foods wheat pizza crust that comes with 2 medium to large size crusts. The taste was very similar to Whole Foods pizza crust served at their pizza station and not sour doughy like most pre-made crusts.  The ingredients added where pretty simple and basic, but we added a few simple ingredients that made the pizza taste fancier than your ordinary cheese pizza. We topped the pizza with sliced provolone cheese  in addition to the shredded mozzarella , as well as fresh spinach. We than sprinkle dried basil, red pepper flakes, cracked black pepper, garlic powder and onion powder sparingly over the pizza and voilà : Homemade Gourmet Pizza! One bite out of this, and you’ll wonder why you never made your own pizza.

Happy Baking!

 

 

Rustic Spinach Pie

Very often I get into these food obsession, where I practically find any or every way to consume a specific  food into my daily diet.. My last food obsession was coconut, I tried about every coconut flavored  food out there from coconut cake, macaroons, ice cream and gelato. I’m pretty sure I could have carry this obsession through the end of the year, but I eventually had to give it a break. So in come my latest food  obsession : Spinach ! I’ve always liked spinach but lately I catch myself  eating it in every meal from my green smoothies, sandwiches to lasagna. Spinach is high in vitamins and mineral so I always feel like I’m doing something good for my body every time i eat it. Except of course when I eat it drenched in  cheese (like this recipe for instance). Either way, raw, boiled, cooked, baked I love spinach! So why not make a pie out of it?

I really wanted  to make this pie easy as possible , because I hate recipes that have a million and one ingredients. Its just not realistic for me or my fridge. So I decided to cut corners and bought a frozen pie crust to make my life easier along with frozen spinach and shredded cheese. The ingredients I used were really simple and basic,the prep was barely 15 minutes and didn’t require any cooking. I’ve seen recipes where onions and such are cooked prior to baking but my logic is why cook something over the stove if its going to be baking for a long period of time. If you’re like me and really hate dicing up onions and peppers but want it in your pie, buy a frozen seasoning mix that come with diced onions  and bell pepper and throw that in with the spinach. I also seen recipes where egg is added to give you that picture perfect slice of pie ,but I hate eggs and I was afraid that the pie would end up tasting like a spinach omelette. So I scrapped the eggs and prayed for the best.  Nonetheless the pie came out great!  Check out the recipe below:

Rustic Spinach Pie

• 2 bags of frozen spinach
• 1 container of ricotta cheese
• 1 bag of shredded six cheese
• 2  9″ inch pie crusts (frozen or homemade)
• red pepper flakes(optional)
• 1/2 cup of water (can be substituted with milk)
• 1/2 stick of melted butter (optional)

In a large bowl mix the ricotta and shredded cheese with half a cup of water. Stir until  the cheese become liquify enough to mix in the spinach,  add more water to your liking. Gradually mix the spinach in along with some pepper flakes until everything is coated with the cheese mixture. Butter your pan and place the pie crust in your pie pan. Fill the pie crust with your spinach filling and spread it evenly through the pan. Sprinkle additional red pepper flakes and shredded cheese on top to your liking.  Take the second pie crust and slice them thin and decorate the pie. Take the melted butter and brush the top of the pie crust, drizzle the rest over the pie(optional). Bake for 60 minutes at 350 degrees until golden brown.

P.S. : Warm marinara or an herb tomato sauce drizzled on top of the pie when plating  or on the side, takes this pie to a whole other level especially for the non-spinach lovers . Happy Baking!

 

Natural Protein “Powder”

Oh what a summer it has been! I graduated with my masters degree a few weeks ago, and i couldn’t be any happier. It’s amazing to see how much free time you actually have when you don’t have projects and assignments due every other week!  I will say though that this past two semesters my eating habits have been  horrible since my transition due to the lack of time I had. So I’m giving myself the next couple month to get back on track to my healthy eating. But enough about my life,lets talk about food!

Protein is something that is very important in any diet , whether you’re a meat eater or a plant based eater. The problem that comes with being a plant-based eater is that most people believe that you don’t get enough protein. With a little bit of research you can be well on your way to a protein filled diet, without the meat. I still prefer fish as my main source of protein but when I’m not , I like to fill up on plant based protein.

I’ve tried the protein powder thing but I never enjoyed the chalky taste, so I create my own natural plant based protein “powder”  made out of seeds and grains. My favorite combo is organic hemp seeds, organic chia seeds, organic raw flax seeds and organic raw rolled oats. I tend to take spoonfuls of  these and put them in a small tuber-ware or zip-lock and carry it in my lunch-bag or purse and sprinkle it on my food through out the day. When I do have time, I grind this mixture in my Nutri-Bullet to a powder consistency and add it to my smoothies, cookies and pancakes .  My favorite way to eat my protein mix (minus the oatmeal)  is on top of Greek yogurt topped with nuts, this combo make s a great satisfying breakfast high in protein.

Like usual I eyeball the spoonfuls , but  four tablespoons each of the Hemp seeds , Chia seeds and Flax-seeds combine offers 30 grams of protein .While a cup of oats provide 6 grams of protein, I only use 4 table spoons which can come out to be about 2-3 grams of protein. With the average  daily amount for women being 46 grams of protein and men 56 grams, getting to that daily amount is very easy. A great trail mix snack that I like to make in addition to this mix  that is high in protein is 4 tablespoons of raw pumpkin seeds, raw sunflower seeds and my favorite granola. Pumpkin seeds offer 8 grams of protein and Sunflower seeds offers 7 , depending on your favorite granola you have about 20 grams  of protein all in a simple trail mix.

What’s your favorite way to incorporate protein into your diet?

 

Sweet Coconut Macaroon

I’m sorry that I haven’t posted frequently like I use to , but I really wanted to get this recipe right for you guy. For the past 3 weeks I’ve been trying to master this Coconut Macaroon recipe and I just about got it down pack. With a few simple ingredients, you can have a sweet treat in no time. There is dairy in this  recipe , but you can substitute it for sugar but I love the sweetness and creaminess that the condensed milk bring. You probably can use chia seeds as an egg replacement but, I would suggest grinding the chia seeds preferably the white ones for presentation purposes . Almond flour  can be substituted for the white  flour and give a great taste to these macaroons, but I only had all purpose and it worked out great. I used package sweetened coconut for the recipe , but by all means if you know how to do that naturally go ahead. I like to believe that this is close to healthy but lets be honest it probably isn’t but at least we know that these are homemade and made with love.  All you need is 5 ingredients and you are well on your way to experiencing the best coconut macaroon ever. Check out the recipe below:

Sweet Coconut Macaroon

• 1 package of sweetened coconut (5 cups)
• 2 egg whites
• 2 1/2 tablespoon of flour
• 1 can of condensed milk (use half if you don’t want it to be too sweet)
• dash of vanilla extract (or Almond Extract)
• dash of salt

First mix the milk and egg whites until the egg is thoroughly mixed.

Add the vanilla extract and flour until you can no longer see the flour.

Fold in the coconut slowly into the liquid mixture, do not over mix .

Scoop the mixture onto a buttered parchment sheet layered over a cookie sheet pan (This is very important !!!! )

Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes or until you get the desired color you want.

 

This batch makes about 18 reasonable size macaroons, and goes great with a hot cup of unsweetened green tea or coffee. Hope you enjoy them like my family and I have. Happy Baking!

 

Whole Foods Caprese Pizza

You ever had those days where , you are so hungry but you can’t decide what you want to eat. Well that happens to me just about everyday , Ive always been a picky eater but since transitioning I’ve gotten a little bit more pickier.  One place I love to go when I can’t make up my mind on what to eat is Whole Foods. I love their hot bar, salad bar , pizza station , bakery and just about anything in the store that you can eat on the go. One of the best hidden gem in Whole Foods though is their pizza station. I love them for the fact that their pizza is made with whole wheat flour instead of white , and they flavor the pizza with herbs along with a garlic  crust that makes  the cheese pizza such a great treat.  On this particular day I had to pass up on the cheese pizza and try this beauty of a pizza that caught my eye. Not every Whole Foods is the same in how they make their pizza but this particular Whole Foods I frequent warms up your pizza in the pizza oven , so this took this Caprese pizza to a whole another level.  Who can pass up on a pizza that is a essentially a caprese  salad on a pizza slice. Its pricey at $3.50 a slice but it was so worth it! If you’re ever in a Whole Foods , and they have this on display I urge you to try it. You wont regret it.