Cilantro-Garlic Pasta with Egg Sauce

June 12, 2015June 12, 2015 / ktbuchs87

Sometimes when I am coming up with recipes I let things get a little out of hand. I blame The Flavor Bible and The Vegetarian Flavor Bible. These are my go-to cookbooks when I am creating recipes and they are awesome. You look up whatever ingredient you have and find flavors and other ingredients that go well with them. I get a little ingredient happy as I’m looking through the lists and soon I end up with a recipe that has 500 ingredients, not all of which are easy to find.

I have to remind myself to keep it simple. We often think simple recipes that have fewer ingredients can’t be as good as the fancy elaborate recipes. Fancy recipes have their place, but it’s the simple recipes that are the backbone of the food world.

I took it simple with this pasta dish. I was looking for a meal that was light and refreshing but also felt like comfort food. I also didn’t have much food on hand so I had to work with what I had. I remembered seeing a recipe for spaghetti carbonara and wanted to try and make a pasta using the same kind of a sauce. This in no way is spaghetti carbonara, but the egg sauce is made in the same way. With only four ingredients and less than 20 minutes to put together, this makes for a really easy weeknight meal that everyone will love.

Cilantro-Garlic Pasta with Egg Sauce

1 package of pasta like penne or rotini (I used Trader Joes brown rice pasta)
4 large cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
4 large eggs
salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to package drain and set aside. While pasta is cooking, mince the garlic and chop the cilantro and whisk the eggs.
Once the pasta is cooked and drained, in a medium saucepan, heat a little olive oil over medium high heat. Add the minced garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add the pasta into the pan and mix to coat with olive oil and garlic.
Remove the pan from the heat. Pour in the eggs while constantly stirring the pasta. Make sure you keep stirring the pasta or else you will end up with scrambled eggs over pasta instead of a creamy sauce.
Once all the eggs have been whisked in, stir in chopped cilantro and season with salt and pepper.

That’s it! The egg sauce makes this dish feel super comforting and indulgent, but the cilantro helps brighten it up and make it not feel too heavy of a meal. This is also great poor college student food because there are no specialty ingredients and each serving is less than $3.00.

What is your favorite simple meal?

Happy Friday and have a great weekend everyone!

DIY Wednesday: Almond Milk

June 10, 2015June 10, 2015 / ktbuchs87

There is no shortage of nut milk tutorials out there. There are so many that I almost thought about skipping it as part of my DIY series. I didn’t think that I could really add much to what you can already find. Then I remembered the first time that I made my own almond milk and I realized that I did have something to add.

I was really excited to make my own almond milk since I always buy it. I thought this would be perfect because I could save money and control all the things that went into my milk. I followed the recipe and all the instructions exactly and poured out a glass and eagerly took a big sip.

And promptly spit it back out.

Instead of the creamy delicious drink I was expecting it tasted like dirty water. Not the most appetizing thing. I tried to figure out what I did wrong. Maybe I used bad almonds? Did it matter that I used an old food processor instead of a fancy Vitamix? Did I not use good water?

I tried again, this time with brand new almonds, a fancy Vitamix, and cold filtered water. I still got dirty water almond milk. I tried tweaking every part of making the almond milk, using less water and more almonds, blending for a long time, anything I could think of to try and make the almond milk work. Then by accident I ran out of the cheesecloth I was using to strain the almond milk and had to use a regular mesh strainer. I thought I would have another bad batch, but I ended up with the creamy and delicious milk I had been looking for.

I tried it this way again and got the same result. By not completely straining out all the blended almond pieces, I was able to recreate the same taste and texture as store bought almond milk. Give this a try and start making your own milk instead of buying. Oh and P.S. you don’t need the fancy Vitamix…but it doesn’t hurt!

Here is my DIY almond milk with a slight tweak in technique.

DIY Almond Milk

You will need a food processor/blender and a regular mesh strainer. You can use a nut milk bag or cheesecloth, but you might end up with the dirty almond water.

1 cup raw almonds
3 cups filtered water
optional: 1 tsp vanilla, 3-4 pitted dates to make it sweeter (I like it plain)

Place soaked almonds into a blender or food processor and pulse a few times to break up the almonds a little.
Add in the 3 cups of water. Blend for a few minutes until the almonds are completely broken down. If you have a high powered blender this will only take a minute. Other blenders and food processors will need a little more time.
Place the mesh strainer over a large bowl and pour the milk over the strainer. You might need to help push the water through the strainer with a spatula. It’s ok if some of the almond pulp makes it through the strainer, in fact, that’s what you want!
Transfer the strained milk into a container and keep in the fridge for up to 4 days. Keep the pulp and dry it out to use for other baking needs.

6 Months Later…

June 8, 2015June 8, 2015 / ktbuchs87 / 1 Comment

Can you believe that it has already been 6 months since the beginning of the year? We are already done with half of 2015! That’s crazy!

Raise your hand if you are still working on any of the goals you made in January. Don’t worry if you didn’t raise your hand, I’ve had a few struggles of my own with my 2015 goals. The beginning of the year is always so new and fresh. You just got to spend time with your family over the holidays, maybe you’ve rested a little, and you feel like you can take on anything. This year is going to be your year.

Then life comes along and laughs at your goals and pretty much says, “Nope!”

We can’t always avoid all the problems that come our way. We can’t plan everything out and know for sure that it’s going to happen that way. Things come up, events happen, and many times we find ourselves far away from where we wanted to be when we started the year.

When I looked back at the goals I had made for the year, it seemed like I was barely doing anything that I had set out to do. Then I stepped back and really looked at where life had taken me the first part of this year and I realized I’ve done more than I thought.

I’ve been doing better with balancing the things on my plate and not letting one little crinkle in the routine throw me for a loop. I’ve even started to come to terms with not having such a set routine and letting the day lead me where it needs to go. It’s been a little bit of a struggle to adjust to things, but I haven’t completely lost it and I have to say I like having a little wiggle room. It’s nice to not know every single detail sometimes.

I’ve also expanded my blog, maybe not in the way I thought I would but it’s slowly growing. I’ve been consistent with my posts and improving the quality of my pictures. I’ve tried to have a bigger presence on Instagram and grow my following there and I finally started a Facebook page and found another way to reach out to my readers. I might not have thousands of readers like other blogs, but I do have loyal followers and that is all I could ask for.

As for my other goals, I’ve made different progress in those areas. I thought I would accomplish those in a different way than I am now, but that isn’t a bad thing! I’m actually learning a lot about myself and I like what I’m finding out.

I can say one thing with absolute certainty though and that is I have pursued everything with passion. That was my word for the year, the word that I chose to help focus all of my goals. It I start something or think about starting something and I find that I have no passion to put behind it, then I know that isn’t what I should be doing. I don’t want to half-ass anything anymore. I don’t want or need to waste my time. I want passion to be a part of everything I do because then I can really enjoy the outcome.

How about you guys? Have your goals been met, changed, or forgotten? Are you still using your word for the year to help guide you? What could you work on?

June is a great time to re-focus and get a fresh burst of motivation. You aren’t a failure if you haven’t made any progress yet! Time to get back up and start working towards what you want.

Today is the perfect day to do just that!

Recipe: Popcorn Clusters

June 5, 2015June 5, 2015 / ktbuchs87 / 2 Comments

Friday. I can hear the collective sigh of all you hardworking people! I know that this week has been crazy busy for me and I am really glad that the weekend is almost here.

Adam and I are actually going to his aunt’s wedding today in Waukegan so our weekend is going to start a little early. But I did want to make sure I gave you guys something yummy to make over the weekend. I’m always thinking of you like that!

This is just a quick snack I threw together because I randomly had leftover popcorn. I know, weird right? Who has leftover popcorn? Anyway, I was going for a healthy popcorn ball but that did not happen at all. Luckily what did happen is a fairly tasty treat/snack. It’s always great when your mistakes turn into delicious things. Don’t you wish that would happen in real life? Like don’t worry about messing up that interview, it’s now a plate of cookies! That would be awesome. Oh well, maybe someday…. Ok enough babbling onto the snack!

Popcorn Clusters

1 1/2 cup popped popcorn
2/3 cup assorted nuts and seeds (I used pecans, almonds, and pumpkin seeds)
1/2 cup dark chocolate pieces
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup maple syrup
3 tbsp tahini or almond butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

In a medium bowl mix together the nuts, seeds, and chocolate. Set aside and line a muffin tin with liners. Place about 2 tbsp popcorn in each liner. Sprinkle a little of the nut/seed/chocolate mix over this.
Place the oil and maple syrup in a medium saucepan and place over medium high heat. Heat until the mixture is just bubbling and then add in the tahini or almond butter. Stir to combine and heat for 2-3 minutes.
Turn of the heat and stir in the cinnamon and salt and then moving quickly pour about a tablespoon over each muffin liner.
Once all the tahini mixture is used up, move the popcorn clusters to the freezer and freeze for at least 30 minutes or until the clusters have hardened.

Once the clusters have cooled you can pop them out of the tin and store them in an airtight container. Make sure to keep them in the freezer or fridge so they don’t melt! Now you have a delicious snack whenever you get hungry!

OH! You guys should also go check out the blog Girl-ish. They are an awesome blog that writes about fashion, entertainment, life, and health and I am one of their newest contributors! I’m really excited to be working with these ladies and can’t wait to bring you more tasty and healthy food over there.

Have a super weekend and see you guys on Monday!

DIY Wednesday: Tortilla Chips

June 3, 2015June 3, 2015 / ktbuchs87

This week is flying by because it’s already DIY Wednesday! So far we’ve come up with our own spice blends and made some quick but healthy jam. Feeling crafty yet?

I hope you enjoy these posts as much as I do. I really like being able to make my own things at home because it saves money and ends up being a lot healthier. So many people shy away from making their own stuff because they don’t think they have the time or skill. Believe me I am not a pioneer woman who can spin yarn, preserve vegetables, and make my own clothes. But you don’t have to be Laura Ingalls Wilder to make some food staples for you and your family.

Today will be the easiest and cheapest DIY yet. You’re going to make tortilla chips in less than 20 minutes and it will only cost you about $.40. Yes you heard me right, $.40. You will never buy tortilla chips again after this post. Ok you might, but you don’t have to with this trick up your sleeve!

I use El Milagro corn tortilla shells for this because the ingredient list is extremely short (corn, salt, lime) and they are only $.33 at Aldi. You can use any corn tortilla that you would like, just make sure to read the ingredients. I also use a pizza cutter to cut the tortillas because it’s faster, but a sharp knife will work too.

Tortilla Chips

1 package of El Milagro corn tortillas
1 lime
salt
olive oil

Preheat the oven to 375. Using a pizza cutter cut the tortillas into chip size pieces. On a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet arrange the chips into a single layer.
Squeeze the lime juice on to the chips and then drizzle the chips with a little olive oil. You don’t need to drench them, just a little bit will work. Then sprinkle with a pinch or so of salt.
Bake the chips for 8-12 minutes checking often to make sure they don’t burn. Remove from oven and let cool before devouring.

It’s that easy to have a pile of tortilla chips ready to scoop up delicious guacamole or salsa. Enjoy and Happy Wednesday!