Author: lynley

lynley http://imwiththebandlfarris.wordpress.com i bake cookies for bands i make art i play the accordion i hunt graffiti i knit i dj i cook i am process driven i love whiskey i had a spiritual moment at graceland the past is our present its the whole karmic enchilada

meatless monday: baked portobello mushroom ravioli

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dairy free cheesie yumminess

dairy free cheesie yumminess

needless to say both steph and i love making and devouring something we refer to as the “nest of pasta” inspired by a dish at Zio’s italian restaurant. plan and simple its a bowl of pasta topped with ravioli yum yum and more yum. this time i added a twist i decided to bake it. my nest of pasta started with a bed of fettucine noodles then i added some pre-made mushroom ravioli i topped it with a jarred vegan red pepper alfredo sauce and some dairy-free smoked provolone cheese baked it in the oven and i was in pasta bliss!

Meatless Monday: Thai Express

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There are 2 dishes I love to order when I go for Thai food, pineapple fried rice and drunkin noodles. Today at 2pm I formulated my plan for meatless Monday dinner….starving, craving tofu, and feeling cooked-out from the holidays I wanted yummy food put in front of me. The plan….drunkin noodles with tofu from Thai Express. Thai Express is far down some of the best Thai food in Springfield. It’s reasonable priced, apparently getting delivery soon, and though there is nothing fancy about the decor, the guy behind the counter is the sweetest person ever. My new plan is to try one of their specials next time, become adventurous and maybe I’ll find a new favorite!

hunger? hunger for some games? a hunger games food competition

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add it to the list….i’ve been a food judge now. brentwood library called me up a week ago to see if i’d like to participate in their teen food competition that is based around the book series of the hunger games and of course i had to accept. the kids were broken into teams. to earn extra ingredients they had to answer trivia questions from the books, with a microwave and a wide selection of ingredients they rushed the tables to grab what they needed to create wonderful treats for the judges to try.

selection of ingredients for round 1

selection of ingredients for round 1

teams hard at work

teams hard at work

the first round were appetizers. all the teams created pizzas with tortillas, cheese, and a variety of toppings and sauces. the winner of the round was team 3 with their bit size slices topped with mini pepperoni and banana peppers.

the winning app

the winning app

the second and final round was dessert. all contestants were required to decorate a small sponge cake. the winner created a chocolate-banana cake. i was most impressed with their idea of taking coco powder mix and adding it to cool whip to get a chocolate whipped cream. the second runner-up created an elaborate chocolate volcano out of cool whip and chocolate chips.

ingredients for round 2

ingredients for round 2

dessert time

dessert time

the kids were great and so serious about their cooking as well as their indepth knowledge of the hunger games series. my guess is there are some future food bloggers in that group!

2nd annual queen city fall whiskey fest

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lift your jar to the sky

lift your jar to the sky

yes it’s that time of year again, when i go and buy whiskey in massive amounts and then add strange and exotic ingredients to it. the jars sit around my house for a month and then the festival begins. friends are invited over, tiny cups are handed out and the sipping begins. on the list this year were 14 hand-crafted concoctions from BBQ flavor to strawberry shortcake. while sipping, the crew devised a plan to mark the lids of the whiskies that they really liked, at the end of the night we’d see which whiskey gained the most marks and next year i’ll infuse it again as a gold metal winner. the winner you might ask? french toast! as one tester declared as she added some french toast whiskey to a mug of coffee……”i feel like i’m drinking breakfast!”

the master list of infused whiskies from 2013

mole

french toast

orange

orange-chocolate

strawberry short cake

mint-lime

BBQ

caramel

honey pie

vanilla-cinnamon

snikerdoodle

pecan pie

sweet basil

gingerbread

A Spiced Up Hallow’s Eve

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Every Halloween week I always bake up a batch of soul cakes. Soul cakes are a medieval tradition, where you leave the scone like treats out for the souls to feed them, keep them happy and leave your home alone. This year I changed them up a bit I created vegan pumpkin soul cakes…yum um! To make the halloween treats even better I paired the cakes with a mug of warm spiced cider. Happy Halloween!!!

RECIPE: Spiced Apple Cider

Makes one mug full

11/2 cups apple cider
3 fingers of spiced rum
1 cinnamon stick
1 slice of orange

Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan, bring to a simmer, allow to simmer for 3 minutes, pour into mug experience fall bliss

meatless monday: lentils and roasted squash

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a bowl full of fall

a bowl full of fall

i received a present of an acorn squash and a butternut squash (yay for all the little farmers i know!) how to turn them into a yummy dinner was the next question. with the cooler weather approaching, fire building and mugs of spiced apple cider happening, a curried squash seemed to fit the bill. to make the squash a bit easier to handle i decided to roast them. once they were soft enough to cut up i tossed them in to a red curry sauce that had lentils, carrots, potatoes and onions. lets just say it tasted like fall!

 

RECIPE: HOW TO ROAST SQUASH

squash it!

squash it!

roasting squash is simply and easy. to cut an acorn or butternut squash in half cut off the stem ends, stand it on the flattened side, and gently rock your knife back and forth. once the squashes are cut in half, lightly brush on olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper. roast the squash for 1 hour at 350. the squash should be so tender that you can scoop them out of their pealing. eat as is or toss them into a soup, pasta, or salad!

 

meatless monday: black bean and potato tacos

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yes i know i’ve posted about these before but i do love them.  this night i also had over elise, a guacamole expert to jazz up the dish with her homemade spicy guacness. but the thing that turned out to be the most pleasant surprise of the meal was a last-minute salad i threw together.  my manager at work is quite the little farmer and has been bringing my loads of veggies from her garden. in a bag for me the other day were 4 giant cucumbers.  what to do with them i asked?!  why not a cucumber salad to go with our tacos, rice and guacamole.  i sliced up the cucumbers tossed in plenty of fresh garlic and sprinkled on dill that was all marinated in red wine vinegar…….all i have to say is YUM!

RECIPE:  DILL CUCUMBER SALAD

1 large cucumber sliced

1 TBSP dill

2 cloves fresh garlic minced

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

*combine all ingredients, serve right away or make 24 hours before hand for all the veggies to marinate in the vinegar in dill, either way you’ll find it delicious

SGF Mobile Food Park Grand Opening

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if you pay attention to anything about food trends you know that right now food trucks are where it’s at. springfield in the last couple of years has gone from the token handful to one on almost on every corner. someone had a wonderful idea to create a park for all these trucks, thus the hungry individual does not have to chase them around via facebook status updates and can find them at a centralized location. friday night was the official grand opening of the SGF Mobile Food Park, all trucks were going to be in attendance with music, games, the works.

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my goal was to conquer the food trucks! i wanted to sample 1 thing from each of the trucks. i brought with me a trusted foodie friend, cassie, who also is vegan. she was going to go for the vegetarian dishes i would hit up the meats and we’d be in food bliss. the plan of course did not follow through do to the fact we ate all the yumminess of the first food truck filling us up to the brim! we selected the wheelhouse, a thai-mex streetfare cuisine, that will turn any dish into vegan fare. cassie went with the jumbo veggie burrito and i got the thai-peanut chicken tacos that came with chips and a cabbage dish. all i have to say is…….i’m still thinking about these tacos!

the wheelhouse

the wheelhouse

cassie in burrito bliss

cassie in burrito bliss

my tacos

my tacos

 

it was wonderful to see the park packed with people, trucks were running out of food but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. my quest is still in action, i will get bbq from smokin bob’s, i will have a fresh made juice from the big red juice truck, how can i pass up a Hawaiian wrap from the speedy’s cowabunga, the okra at hers cookin was calling my name and i’m sorry but how can you not eat a meatpie that comes from a double decker bus….london calling yes yes you are!

the tiki head design sold me

the tiki head design sold me

meatless monday: a harvest moon feast

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don't tell them but i feed them leftovers

don’t tell them but i feed them leftovers

i lured over some friends for a meatless monday fall feast. what i didn’t tell them was that i was cleaning my freezer out and feeding them leftovers from last year’s round of fall cooking. in the back of the freezer was a large container of apple-butternut squash soup and a large ball of pumpkin gnocchi dough. thus was born a new soup. thawed out the apple-butternut squash soup made up the gnocchi to toss into it and added sweet potatoes, peppers, plenty of curry and ground red pepper. what ended up in the bowl was a spicy, sweet taste of fall. along with it was my harvest salad and bread toasted with horseradish and chives. pass the pumpkin beer and toast fall!

the gang was none the wiser

the gang was none the wiser

 

RECIPE: HARVEST SALAD

SERVES 6

ING

1 head of leaf lettuce

1/2 apple sliced

1/2 cup sliced red onion

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

1 tsp dill

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp olive oil

*chop up lettuce, toss in red onion, apple and pumpkin seeds. in a separate bowl mix together lemon juice, olive oil, black pepper, dill and garlic powder. when ready to serve toss salad with dressing.