four twenty food, spring break treats.

ocean beach fro yo. heaven! 

the 4/20 feast begins.

sizzle sizzle

boil boil

on the menu for today: tempura battered eggplant and cauliflower. Sauteed carrots, over rice. Spicy ramen with tofu, broccoli, inoki, and onion.

Everything from the above category is simple to make ( I was high out of my mind and still managed it )

Ill post recipes and more tips later, but my laptops dieing.

BEST. UDON. EVER.

the Galleria, Northridge, CA.

shrimp nacho's con frijoles, avocado, queso, y salsa fresca. Muy Bien! 

and finally, my most favorite foods in the whole world. I woke up especially early on easter morning and made a special trip to vons, but oh so worth it.

Egg, mushroom, broccoli, and cheese omelette 

cinnamon roll, glazed doughnut

black coffee

raspberry lemonade.

L<3VE

warning, eating everything pictured here may leave you feeling like this:

just had to post a misty food coma picture.

countdown to april 20th

with great power comes great responsibility.
with great ganja, comes great munchies.

here is my list of the top vegetarian "munchie" foods, with budget in mind, that I wish to create and consume on this most holly of days

 4/20

spicy tofu cakes

a recipe that I picked up from my korean roomate last year, the vegetarian equivalent to a "chicken nugget". these little guys pack alot of flavor and arent too terribly taxing on the waistline.

ingredients:

tofu (one package goes a long way)

corn (canned is fine, but fresh has less sodium and will help give your cakes a crunch)

carrots ( two large or three medium, gratted )

mushrooms ( 3 little white ones, finely chopped )
steamed white or brown rice (brown is better)
kimchi  ( I hate this crap, but its spicyness and added veggies do wonders for this dish )

flour (about 1/2 cup, but will need to add untill they reach the perfect stick together consistency)
garlic powder
onion powder
cayenne red pepper
pepper

cut up your veggies, and mix about 1/2 cup of rice, 1/2 cup of flour, one package of firm tofu, add in as much kimchi as your tastebuds can handle, and fry on both sides untill nice and crispy. since theres no meat, theres no need to worry if its done on the inside. just cook it untill it looks good!

paired with whatever sauce you like, I prefer classic soy sauce or sweet and sour

green onion pancakes

I love this "quesadilla" of the asian world, but dont ask me to make one for you.  for the best green onoin pancakes I turn to no other then my roommate Melodie Ling. we use the prepared frozen brands from 99 ranch market here in San Diego. cooked in sesame oil on both sides, and rolled crepe style with a fried egg in between, this fried doughy protein packed snack always hits the spot.



heres a quick recipe I brought up from google, incase you want to DIY

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups white flour
1 cup warm water
Canola or vegetable oil
Kosher salt
1 bunch scallions

Equipment
Spray oil or cooking spray
Rolling pin
Large metal baking sheet
One 10-inch heavy skillet or sauté pan
Thin spatula
Kitchen scissors

Instructions

1. Mix 2 1/2 cups flour with 1 cup water until it forms a smooth dough. Knead by doubling the dough over and pressing it down repeatedly, until the dough is even more smooth and very elastic. Coat this ball of dough lightly in oil and put it back in the bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let the dough rest for about 30 minutes.

2. Cut the dough into 4 equal parts. Lightly oil the back of a large metal baking sheet. Roll out one part of the dough on the back of the baking sheet. Roll until it is a thin rectangle at least 12 x 9 inches.

3. Finely chop the bunch of scallions and have them ready, along with a small bowl of kosher salt.

4. Lightly brush the top of the dough with oil, then sprinkle it evenly with chopped scallions and kosher salt.

5. Starting from the long end, roll the dough up tightly, creating one long snake of rolled-up dough.

6. Cut the dough snake in two equal parts.

7. Take one of these halves and coil into a round dough bundle.

8. Roll out the coiled dough bundle again into a flat, smooth, round pancake.

9. Heat a 10-inch heavy skillet or sauté pan over medium-high heat, and oil it with a drizzle of canola of vegetable oil. When the oil shimmers, pick up the pancake dough and lay it gently in the pan. It should sizzle, but not burn. Cook for 2 minutes on one side.

10. Flip the pancake over with a spatula and cook for an additional 2 minutes on the other side, or until golden brown.

11. Cut the pancake into wedges with a pair of kitchen scissors, and serve immediately with soy sauce or another dipping sauce.

dark chocolate covered cranberries

dont DIY this one, just get them from trader joes or someone else who will have a good high quality dark chocolate. I preach these because;

antioxidents, antioxidents, antioxidents.

sweet

tart

chocolate

fruit

need I say more?

sweet potato fries

anything fried is never good for you, but heres how I take most of the oil out of the equation

sweet potatos, about 3 or 4 (1 and 1/2 potatoes per person)

salt

garlic powder

cut the potatos into longish sticks, like what normal fries would look like.

in a baking pan, put down your potatos and salt (generous ammount, as this will help dehydrate the potato) and add about a 1/4th inch of water in the bottom.

throw in the oven for about 15-20 minutes (350 degrees) or untill the water is evaporated

take them out, let cool (its important that they dry out here). in the same pan, toss the potatoes in light canola oil, just untill they are majoritively coated. toss with the garlic powder as well

throw back into the oven, this time with the broiler on. keep an eye on them, it only takes about 10 minutes for those suckers to burn.

and there you go, sweet potato fries with less calories, more flavor, and prettier colors then your ordinary "welcome to mcdonalds" version.

Melodie Lings orgasmic sauteed carrots

all credit to this marvelous creation goes to my roomate, Melodie.

what your gonna need:

sesame oil, sesame seeds, soy sauce

in a wok, or a pan, throw down some sesame oil and let your carrots (cut in the shape you wish) sautee for a good ten to 15 minutes. for the last 5 minutes, leave carrots on one side so that they can slightly burn / give you an amazing caremelized flavor. take off the heat, throw in your salf (as desired) pepper (as desired) and sesame seeds, let everything get nicely tossed together, then add in a couple shakes of your soy sauce and put it on the plate

mmmmmm...

peanutbutter and banana sandwich with blueberry bread

I have nothing positively healthy to say about this, except that it has no meat and taste great :]

what you need:

blueberry pancake mix

bananas

peanut butter

make your pancake batter, then in a large buttered pan fill the entire bottom with a thin layer of the pancake mix. let the one side cook only lightly, just untill it reaches that point to where you can flip it over.

once flipped, layer your bananas and spread your peanut butter on the cooked side while the other side is cooking. fold over omlette style, and enjoy with a tall glass of milk

misty says:

"munnchhiiiesss fuuucckk!"



pho twenty time

OB Noodle House

vegetarian pho'

tofu lettuce wraps (not pictured)

pleasant afternoon lunch with my roommates. 

great food. great laughs.

i wish they could be pictured here too, because i love them

and i love this food

next time your in ob, dont miss out on OB Noodle House 

get your thai on

so your hungry, now. STOP! put the top ramen back in the cupboard. there is enough sodium in there to end the existence of snails (which happen to be my favorite animal) altogether. top ramen consists of three basic elements; water. carbohydrates in the form of starch. and salt.

you can drink water out of a glass, so drop the artificial flavoring packets and lets get our thai on.

what i used:
1 two bunches of bok choy (the baby kind)
[can substitute here with cabbage or spinach]
2 onion, nicely chopped
3 carrots, best put through a cheese grater or just cut into small pieces
4 about 1/3rd clove of garlic, minced (chopped finely)
5 whole grain noodles of your choice

boil your noodles, and strain

in a wok, or a pot, put down about half an inch of water and throw in all your veggies. turn on the heat alittle above halfway and let them cook till the majority of the water evaporates. after it does, throw in about 1/4th cup of cooking oil and your pasta. sautee everything till your onions turn that nice brown carmelized color.

now sauce time

1 two tablespoons of chunky peanut butter
2 about a quarter cup of soy sauce, but here you can really just use to taste
3 onion powder to taste
4 cayenne red pepper and paprika to taste ( a couple shakes of tobasco does the same trick)
5 regular black pepper to taste
6 sesame oil (if you dont have any, no biggie, add in alittle extra cooking oil to make sure everything is moist)

you can just add all of these right onto the noodles and stir

top with sesame seeds (or not) and enjoy! the whole process takes less then 20 minutes. the bok choy/cabbage/spinach contains antioxidants as well as calcium and a whole slew of other essential vitamins and minerals. the peanut butter contains protein, which every girl needs an extra boost of here and there. Onions and garlic have been linked in the prevention and maintenance of cells against cancer.


so grab some chop sticks and feel good about yourself today

your gonna need the energy to keep up with this pup

no milk? no problem.

Heart Healthy, High Fiber, Breakfast

Calories: <260

Ingredients:  1 Banana, 1/2 cup Granola, Tea.

1 slice banana first in half (long ways) and then cut down the length to make as many half circle pieces as you'd like.

2 layer bananas and granola in the bowl

3 heat up some water and pour yourself a nice hot cup of tea or black coffee

i feel like breakfast is best enjoyed alone. take your time, play with your food, just remember to eat it. the fiber from the granola helps to regulate digestion by removing all that junk we have built up in our small intestines. a clean, better functioning small intestine means better absorption of nutrients that allow small amounts of nutritious food to leave you feeling fuller, longer.