Homemade Organic Spiced Nuts (w/recipe)

One of my besties makes spiced nuts for a snack for her family regularly and I tried some last week.  So while I was cleaning out the Brownifer Pantry and re-organizing, I realized we have a TON of raw, organic nuts and seeds.  I decided to put them to good use and make a batch of my own spiced nuts!

So I did.  And they're amazing!  Healthy, organic and no chemicals or additives that will give me headaches!!!!!  SCORE!

These would be great for parties or divided in smaller containers/baggies for lunch snacks on-the-go!

Try it out:

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 Cups Nuts/Seeds of your choice (if using salted nuts, omit salt from spices)
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 3/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon or so black pepper
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (more if you want spicier)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt (we used fleur de sel)

Directions:

• Heat the oven to 325 degrees
• Mix the spices in a small bowl and set aside
• In a separate, larger bowl, mix the olive oil and maple syrup
• Spread the nuts on a large baking sheet and roast for about 12 minutes, watch them carefully and make sure they don't burn
• Pour the nuts into the larger bowl with the oil and syrup, stir to coat
• Sprinkle the spices over the nuts and stir again to mix in the spices
• Spread nuts back out onto the cookie sheet
• Bake for another 3 minutes  - taste to see if you want to add more salt before final bake
• Remove nuts from oven, stir/flip on the cookie sheet and back for another 3 minutes
• Let nuts cool on the cookie sheet until you can handle them and transfer to a storage container

We store our nuts in the pantry - they should be good for a week or so but I doubt they'll even last that long!  

Nearly Normal's (SHOUT OUT!)

The sun is out and I do believe that summer may have decided to show up!

When the sun is out, I'm not a big eater.  I like salads, cold foods, raw foods and a lot of vegan and vegetarian so I don't feel sweaty and weighed down.  Emmaright!?  I thought today about restaurants with just such foods this morning and *BAM!*  Nearly Normal's!!!!!

If you've never been to Nearly Normal's in Corvallis, you should definitely try it!  Vegan, Gluten-Free, Vegetarian....any specialized way you like to eat, they have the options for you.

This restaurant has been around since I was a kid - my hippie parents used to frequent this place with my wee self quite often!  And I've been back many times since, sometimes with my dear mama to enjoy the nostalgia :-)

Check out their website and go pay them a visit - I recommend sitting out back on the patio!  My favorite on the menu:  Athena's Delight.  Favorite must-try dish:  Nearly Nasty Burrito (order an extra side of marinara and prepare to take home the leftovers!)

No review here, this restaurant is well-established and well-loved by its community - just a quick shout-out to remind you of this favorite and to share it with some who may want to branch out a little.

Enjoy!

Avocado Chocolate Pudding (with recipe)

This was an easy recipe and I'm happy to report that Thing #5 loved it!

Ingredients:

2 Large Organic Avocados
1/2 Cup Organic Cocoa Powder
1/2 Cup Organic Brown Sugar
1/3 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk (or coconut milk, sweetened if you prefer)
3 Tablespoons Maple Syrup
Pinch Ground Cinnamon

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in the food processor (or blender if it's all you've got) and blend!

A few notes on what I discovered making this:

• Make sure your avocados are ripe and soft, but not brown and bitter inside - you'll taste it if they are!
• You may have to process/blend longer than you'd imagine and take breaks to scrape down the sides to make sure no little person gets their tongue on a chunk of avocado!  Whoah to you you if you let this happen! hahahaha
• This tastes very much like dark chocolate pudding .... adjust sugar/maple syrup as desired
• It's very rich!  Have a glass of sweetened almond or coconut milk at the ready!
• I would make these batches fresh if possible.  I chilled some in the refrigerator overnight and in the morning it was still good after some stirring but ... I wouldn't push it too far.

Creamy Butternut Squash Linguine

Jen was in the kitchen again last night!  This is a recipe I found online, this is the second time I've made it and we just love it.  Disclaimer:  I hate squash.  And I love this pasta!

This can be made vegetarian or vegan, totally up to you.  I made one plate vegan with no cheese and ate a little more with cheese .... I prefer vegetarian honestly :-)

So here ya go!

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil (or butter if you prefer)
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage
• 2 pound butternut or kabocha squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into small ½-inch pieces (about 3 cups) - I use 1/2 of a large butternut squash - freeze the other half to make another batch later!
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed or chopped
• ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes (up to ¼ teaspoon for spicier pasta sauce)
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 12 ounces whole grain linguine or fettucine
• Optional additional garnishes: shaved Parmesan or Pecorino and/or smoked salt

Directions:

1. Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the sage and toss to coat. Let the sage get crispy before transferring it to a small bowl. Sprinkle it lightly with salt and set the bowl aside.
2. Add the squash, onion, garlic and red pepper flakes to the skillet. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the broth. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the squash is soft and the liquid is reduced by half, about 15 to 20 minutes.
3. In the meantime, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta until al dente according to package directions, stirring occasionally. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water before draining. (I've never actually had to use the extra water - but you never know)
4. Once the squash mixture is done cooking, remove it from the heat and let it cool slightly. Transfer the contents of the pan to a blender, but keep the skillet handy. Purée the mixture until smooth (beware of hot steam escaping from the top of the blender), then season with salt and pepper until the flavors sing. I add a pinch of cumin during this stage - always makes the flavor pop!
5. In the reserved skillet, combine the pasta, squash purée and ¼ cup cooking liquid. Cook over medium heat, tossing and adding more pasta cooking water as needed, until the sauce coats the pasta, about 2 minutes. Season with more salt and pepper if necessary.
6. Serve the pasta in individual bowls topped with fried sage, more black pepper and shaved Parmesan/Pecorino and/or smoked salt, if desired.

Thing #2 is adventurous with food, he tried this and loved it!  It's probably a bit spicy for the younger littles, but we could always leave the pepper flakes out and see if they would eat it!?  Maybe they would believe it was cheese....hmmm......

I found this recipe online, so I want to share the link here to give credit where credit is due!

http://cookieandkate.com/2014/creamy-vegan-butternut-squash-linguine-with-fried-sage/

Vegan BBQ

I have a dear friend who is trying to get back to eating vegan and we were long overdue for a visit.  Since we asked him over, we made sure that all of our snacks and everything we grilled was vegan.

Brownie sure does some amazing things with herbs and spices and vegetables!  We were all so full and everything was delicious.  If you think you can't fill up on vegan food - think again!  Portabello mushrooms are an amazing grilling substitute for meat and they have such a rich, meaty flavor.

Vegan BBQ was a success!  What other challenges can we throw around here!?