Chard Stuffed with Apricot-Papaya Lentils and Nuts

So again I saw an enticing photo from the Optimum Wellness newsletter from Ralphs. The recipe was for Chard Stuffed with Apricot-Fig Tagine and Couscous, but instead of the figs and couscous, I used the 17 bean mix from TJs. Instead of actual dried fruit, I actually used these little trail mix packets from Whole Foods that contained pepitas, almonds, raisins, papaya, and apricot, I believe. And then... for some reason TJ's doesn't sell chard or kale so I ended up picking up rainbow chard at Ralphs. Following the recipe, I cut off the stems, diced and sauteed them, and threw them into the fruit/nut/legume mix, along with lots and lots of turmeric, anise seed, cinnamon, cumin, and cardamom seed. For the chard leaves, I wilted them for about a minute in hot water before rolling up each leaf with the stuffing. This... was awesome. But I probably wouldn't do this again since I doubt people would like this. The chard was pretty with the semi-wilted green, but I found them a lot easier to eat after I steamed some leftover rolls (softening the chard considerably albeit making them greenish-brown rather than the pretty green you see here). Sigh... I love the pick-me up of colorful and wholesome food. Every once in a blue moon I will actually go through the effort of making something like this... When will be the next time? Nobody knows.

Veggie Chips

I love these veggie chips from the bulk foods section of the local Sprouts! This mix has kabocha squash, carrots, sweet potato, beets, taro, and green beans. Yum! It's so colorful too! I used to crunch my way through these at work but stopped getting them as frequently since it's hard to put these down once you get one taste!

Snikiddy Baked Fries

These Snikiddy baked fries were on sale for $1.50 per bag, so I bought one bag (the original) to try them out. They were nothing like fries except perhaps in appearance. The main ingredient in these things is cornmeal, which would explain the lack of semblance to fries. Oh well. This stuff tasted fine but I wouldn't get them again... not worth it in terms of calories and other nutritional stats (Snikiddy).

Freeze-Dried Asian Pears and Mangoes

Now these... these are pretty cool. Maybe novel is a better word. There is less to go overboard on in these small packs, which I'm sure one can easily do if these came in bigger bags and passed as chips. I like how these are airy and light, a nice change from the chewy texture of regular dried fruits. Of course, if possible, it's probably best just to eat the real thing. Crispy Green!

Acai Cacao Bar and Nut Butters

The possibilities are endless... I'm curious to try the pecan butter especially, and the cashini butter (cashews and sesame tahini). These nut butters are all raw, which is cool but not something I live by. The chocolate bar is raw too. Yay. I like these cute little nut butter packets. I can't vouch for Artisana yet but for sure, one of the best is Justin's maple almond nut butter, which Justin unashamedly proclaims as his favorite out of his lineup. Try it! I like it although I wouldn't mind if it were a bit stronger on the maple.

Snapea and Okra Veggie Crisps

The "snapea" crisps on the left are aimed more for the mainstream audience. These little crisps are shaped like snap peas and have the peas as their first ingredient, whereas the okra crisps on the right are pretty hard core in that each individual crisp is truly a dried up and crisped okra (no reshaping)! The former is more like your standard snack/chip taste whereas the latter is more reminiscent of kale chips. I like both... It'll depend on my mood as far as which one I reach for. Both are healthy although the Danielle ones are more gourmet and pricier than the Snapea ones. They used to carry durian chips (which were good) but I haven't seen them recently.

Happy Apple Cookies

He he he! These soft baked happy apple cookies are so small, brown, and cute! Apparently they are nut and gluten free as well but I really don't care about that. I love how they are so round and stubby. He he he! Oh, and they taste great... wholesome and soft. For more info: Enjoy Life.

Raw Wild Jungle Peanuts

Yay for raw jungle peanuts from Essential Living Foods. These are from Ecuador or Peru, says the box. The actual peanuts are very pretty. They are striped and remind me a little bit of the tiger's eye stones. Of course these are edible whereas rocks are not. In general, I prefer the taste of roasted to raw nuts, but these were decent.

Jerusalem Cake Meal

The Passover displays at the local supermarkets piqued my interest and I ended up bringing home some cake meal, which is apparently finely ground matzoh meal. I have yet to look into how to use this and whether it rises or not (looks like it does, from the picture son the containers), so stay tuned for whenever I get around to exploring the possibilities of cake meal...

Scandinavian Bran Crisps With Hemp Seed Butter

This was a complete miss... The bran crisps from Scandinavia lose out by far to the tried and true Armenian ak-mak crackers. Furthermore, I didn't quite care for the taste of this hemp seed butter from Manitoba Harvest. The calories are just like any nut butter (about 200 cals for 2 tablespoons), but the taste was just not rewarding enough to justify that calorie count. The consistency and texture were fine, but the taste was the main drawback... somewhat grassy and not really that nutty in my opinion. This has seriously got to be one of the few nut/seed butters that failed to meet my approval.

Vosges' Bacon Chocolate Bar

Finally caved in and decided to try this famous bacon chocolate bar. Too bad these weren't dark chocolate, as I prefer that to milk chocolate. Anyway this stuff was okay... more novel than anything else. The one on the left there is milk chocolate with macadamia nuts, coconut, and hemp seeds. In case you're curious, “Vosges Haut-Chocolat” is pronounced, vohj o- sho-colah, not "hot chocolate" as I would have guessed. Visit http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/ for more chocolate creativity.

Breakfast Egg Nests

I saw a photo of these cute egg nests in Ralphs' Optimum Wellness newsletter and just had to make them! I bought a pack of four yellow ramekins from World Market for $2, lined each with a piece of toast (I used Ezekiel 4:9 sprouted whole grain sesame bread), and dropped one cute jumbo egg in each nest along with shredded cheese, paprika, anise seed, salt, and pepper. The actual recipe used tarragon and had mushrooms and green onions, but (1) I wanted to use the anise seed, and (2) there wasn't enough room in my nests for any veggies since the ramekins I bought were 4oz instead of 6oz as called out in the recipe.  Anyway the variation on the ingredients worked out fine, although I didn't quite achieve the same pretty effect as those from the newsletter, where the yellow from the ramekins and the yellow from the sunny side up eggs complemented each other more so than you see here. But hey, I've got a new way of making eggs now... via ramekins in the toaster oven! Yay for no more cleaning up of eggs stuck to my pans.

Guinness Chocolate Cake With Baileys Ice Cream à la Mode

The leftover batter from the Guinness cupcakes I'd poured into a pie tin and cut into slices to enjoy with the Baileys ice cream. Mmmm... This combination is heavenly! I prefer this cake/ice cream combo over the cupcake/frosting combo. There's not much more to say about this besides the fact that I just wanted an opportunity to photograph this couple in natural daylight.