Call It Whatever You Like

Someone recently assumed that I was vegan. I quickly correctly him, noting that I'm not a vegan, vegetarian, or anything of the sort.



The thing is, my eating habits are free and undefined. Sometimes they involve weird diets with strict guidelines, and sometimes they revolve around random combinations designed to satisfy my cravings. But for the most part, I'm willing to try all kinds of recipes--vegan, vegetarian, pescetarian, carnivore, paleo, gluten free, etc. I'm not averse to new dished unless they involve peculiar (read: not very mainstream) ingredients. Sometimes, my favorite recipes are vegan or vegetarian, but other times, you'll find me trying to incorporate beef jerky into my diet (as odd as it may seem, beef jerky is one of my all-time favorite snacks).



Speaking of, this morning I came across a vegan cooking book I bought in college. I've made several recipes from it, and they always turn out delicious. So I decided to try a breakfast recipe. Given that I've been incessantly craving scones, this recipe hit the spot. Enjoy!



Orange Cranberry Scones (adapted from Skinny Bitch: Ultimate Everyday Cookbook)
Makes 6–8 scones (depending on size preference!)
Active time: 15 minutes; total time: 45 minutes.

• 2 cups whole wheat flour (or all purpose flour)
• 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon orange juice (with pulp!)
• 1 teaspoon orange extract
• 1 tablespoon grated orange zest
• 1/2 cup Earth Balance (or unsalted butter), at room temperature
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 350F; spray a baking sheet with baking spray and set aside. 
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup orange juice, orange extract, and orange zest until well combined. Add liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until well combined. 
3. Add the Earth Balance (butter) and knead, using your hands, until mixed through. 
4. Lightly flour a flat surface; transfer the dough to the prepared surface and flatten. Add the cranberries and knead the dough for about 30 seconds, or until cranberries are incorporated. Separate the dough into 6-8; form each piece into a ball and lightly flatten onto the prepared baking sheet. 
5. Using a pastry brush, glaze the scones with the remaining orange juice and sprinkle with the remaining sugar. 
6. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until sides begin to turn golden; remove from oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes before serving. 

Carbs carbs carbs

I never thought I'd say (or write) this, but carbo-loading is difficult. Or at least doing it properly is.



It seems my perpetual fear of gaining weight while abroad--a fear that started when I was 15 and moved to France--has caused me to always seek out the low-carb option. As unhealthy ridiculous as this may sound, it has become my reality.



And so, when I began my carbo-loading this week--I have a marathon coming up--I didn't realize I would have to constantly remind myself to skimp on fats and protein and go for carbs, carbs, and more carbs. But not just any carbs. Proper carbo-loading requires some thought: easily digestible carbs, even if refined, over fiber-heavy ones; naturally sweetened or homemade snacks (fruit-based, etc.) over candy (which may actually come in handy during the race).



Anyways, to make it easier, I decided to bake goodies from my favorite running cookbook (Racing Weight Cookbook) so as to have carb-heavy snacks up for grabs. So far so good.



Apple-Craisin Bars (adapted from Racing Weight Cookbook)
Active time: 20 minutes; total time: 40 minutes.
Makes 8-12 bars. 

• 3/4 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup egg whites (4 egg whites)
• 1/4 cup water 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• 1 large apple
• 1/4 cup craisins
• 1 1/2 quick oats
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 3 servings vanilla whey protein powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons chia
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9x13-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, combine yogurt, egg whites, water, and vanilla. Set aside; let rest at room temperature. 
3. Chop apple into fine pieces. In a small bowl combine apple pieces and craisins. 
4. In a separate large bowl combine oats, flour, protein powder, sugar, chia, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; stir to mix well. 
5. Add melted coconut oil to wet ingredients and mix well. Stir in apple pieces and craisins. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until uniformly moistened. 
6. Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes until center is just solid. Cool completely, about 20 minutes, before cutting into 8-12 bars.  

These Shoes are Made for Running...

Guess what I splurged on yesterday????

New running shoes! Yup, a nice pair of Brooks Ghost :)



I'm ready to take up running again--slow and steady most likely--but it turns out I was running on one of the worst types of shoes for my stride type. Funny right? No wonder I got injured. If I'm going to take running seriously again (which I obviously will) I need the right shoes, so I hauled my butt over to Marathon Sports to get fitted.

Next topic? Food.

I bought a bag of cranberries this weekend on a whim; I didn't realize that I really didn't have much use for it. Then I read about cranberry salsa. So I grabbed the jalapeño in my fridge, chopped half an onion and threw everything into my Ninja blender. A few minutes later I had a delicious relish-like salsa.

A ton of it is still in a mason jar my fridge, but it seems this salsa goes well with everything: chicken, brussels sprouts, kale, wasa crackers, etc. I'm excited to try it in a sandwich, but that'll have to wait until later this week. For now, here's the recipe. Enjoy!

Spicy Cranberry Salsa
Active/total time: 5 minutes!
Makes about 16 oz.

• One 12 oz bag fresh cranberries
• 1 jalapeño, roughly chopped
• 1/2 small sweet onion, roughly chopped
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 1-2 tablespoons sugar (to taste)

1. Put first 4 ingredients into a powerful blender or food processor; pulse 10 times to mix the ingredients. Starting on low, process in intervals, moving up in speed, until ingredients are finely chopped. 
2. Add sugar and process until just blended. Season with salt and pepper. 

Protein-Packed Scones

After five days since I got my admission letter, I think it's officially sinking in: in one year I'll be a law student. **Let me take a second to jump around like the excited crazy person that I am.**

Ok, all set. For now.

For most people at home (Mexico), this means nothing other than going back to school--so they probably wouldn't understand my excitement. Law studies in Mexico are just like any other undergraduate degree, so they really don't receive additional merit or recognition. But in the US, law school is whole different ball game. One that garners and deserves due recognition.

Why is that you ask? Simply because of the time and dedication devoted to getting a law degree. I'm no expert, but people who spend an additional three years in school after having gone through a grueling application process a second time around (assuming they went through it once before attending college) must have at least some dedication towards the study of laws.

So where am I attending law school? University of Texas School of Law. And despite the fact that Texas may have been one of the last states I would picture myself in, I couldn't be more thrilled to move to Austin and become a Longhorn.

Now let's talk about food. I've recently taken up a new eating plan which revolves around eating more protein--not just any protein, clean protein. I'll post more about it soon, but in the spirit of protein, here is a recipe I adapted this afternoon. I subbed protein powder and quinoa flour for regular flour, for a healthy protein-packed version of cranberry scones. Enjoy!

Protein Cranberry Scones

• 2 cups vanilla protein powder (I used PerfectFit)
• 1/2 cup quinoa flour
• 3 tablespoons baking powder
• 3 tablespoons sugar or stevia
• 1 ripe banana mashed
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil
• 3/4 cup egg whites
• 1/4-1/2 cup almond milk (as needed)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Prepare a baking sheet by spraying with baking oil or greasing.
2. In a large bowl, combine first 4 ingredients and mix well. Add mashed banana and coconut oil, stirring until combined and mixture resembles coarse meal. 
3. Stir in egg whites, 1/4 almond milk and vanilla extract and mix well, just until combined. Add more almond milk a little bit at a time if necessary; dough should form, but it should be slightly dry.
4. Fold in dried cranberries until just incorporated. 
5. Scoop out batter using wet spoons or your hands--if needed, wet your hands so that the dough doesn't stick--into 12 equal sized scones. Using a spoon, slightly press down on the scones to flatten slightly. 
6. Bake for 15 minutes, or until crispy on the outside. Let cool and store in airtight container.

Scones for Breakfast

April 1st. It really does seem like April Fool's Day today, the weather is playing a mean prank on us. But the rain inspired me to bake something for breakfast this morning. Well that and the fact that I was craving scones and didn't want to go get one from Starbucks.

So I decided to make my mom's delicious Cranberry Oatmeal scones. I didn't realize until today that "her" recipe was from Gourmet and I could have found it a long time ago if I had just typed in "oatmeal," "cranberry" and "scones" in the Epicurious search box. Either way, the recipe was sitting in my email inbox waiting for me to open it.

The recipe will come later though, because I want to tell you about this awesome book shop I went to on Wednesday. Yes, I am sorry I haven't posted anything since Monday night, but I went to dinner on Tuesday and Wednesday dinner was kind of a fail (expect a "failure" list soon). Last night was wine and cheese night, so even though I'll post about it, it didn't really involve much cooking (expect for the other fail this week, home made wheat thins). Anyways, I went to the Brattle Book Shop because of a reporter's challenge that I have to complete for one of my journalism classes. I was a bit reluctant to venture outside of my bubble and into the city of Boston, but I was happy I went.

As I made my way through the streets near Downtown Crossing, I ran into an outdoor book sale right outside Brattle Book Shop. Books sold for $1,3,5. Racks and racks of them; most of them hardcovers. I started to scour for cookbooks, obviously, but ended getting distracted by the variety. I spent about 15 minutes looking around--even though I wish I could have been there for hours--since I had to make my way to the next part of the challenge in order to meet my roommate for lunch. But I still bought five books for $15! I'm talking five vintage hardcovers in quasi perfect condition. Needless to say I left with a huge smile on my face and the fact that I had to lug them around with me for the rest of the day didn't affect me at all.

By the way, four of the books are cookbooks, which will appear in future posts as I decide to try out new recipes. The fifth book however is about art and civilization. I discovered my passion for history a long time ago and this book pretty much hit the bulls-eye. I will pay $5 anytime for a book that contains pages and pages of art and history under two hard covers (yes, I am all about hardcover books).

Ok, now that I've shared my adventure (hopefully not boring you too much), here is the recipe for the scones:

Cranberry Oatmeal Scones (adapted from Gourmet 2001)

• 1 2/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar (and more for sprinkling on top; use coarse for sprinkling if you have it)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/3 cup old fashioned oats
• 1 1/2 sticks cold butter, cut into small pieces
• 2/3 cup buttermilk (and more for brushing)
• 2/3 cup dried cranberries (more or less depending on how you like your scones)

1. Preheat oven to 425 F.
2. Combine sifted flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar in a large bowl (use food processor if you have one and follow these instructions). Add oats and mix.
3. Add butter and combine with hands until mixture resembles coarse meal (there should be some pea-size lumps). Mix in cranberries.
4. Slowly add buttermilk and stir with a fork until dough is formed. Take about 1/2 cup dough and make 1-inch thick rounds. Places scones on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
5. Brush tops of scones with buttermilk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until scones are golden. Let cool and serve warm.