Pumpkin Spice Monkey Bread-By Bees Adventures!

http://beesadventures.wordpress.com/2013/10/16/pumpkin-spice-monkey-bread-with-caramel-glaze/

I found this amazing recipe on “beesadventures” blog! Easy to make, fun to eat!!

Pumpkin Spice Monkey Bread with Caramel Glaze

Yield: 1 bundt pan

Prep Time: 60 minutes | Bake Time: 20 – 25 minutes

Dough Ingredients

• 3/4 cup Lactaid milk (soy milk would work fine too)
• 1/4 cup vegan margarine or lactose-free butter (Becel or Fleischmann’s are my favorites)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup warm water (between 100 to 105 degrees Farenheit)
• 2 1/4 teaspoons dry active yeast
• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling Ingredients

• 1 cup brown sugar, packed (if you want to make brown sugar yourself, see the recipe below)
• 1 tablespoon ground Pumpkin Spice
• 1/2 cup vegan margarine or lactose-free butter, softened

Glaze Ingredients

• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup lactose-free whipping cream
• 1 tbsp vegan margarine or lactose-free butter, softened

Monkey Bread Preparation

1. Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it is warm to the touch, then remove from heat. Mix in margarine; stir until melted. Leave to cool.
2. Heat water to 100 – 105 degrees Farenheit. Add yeast; stir. Let sit for 5 minutes to activate yeast. Mixture will look foamy on top when yeast has activated.
3. In the bowl of your stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, combine 2 1/4 cup flour, sugar and salt; mix well.
4. Add egg to cooled milk mixture and mix well.
5. Add activated yeast and milk mixture to dry ingredients. Mix until dough comes together in a sticky ball.
6. Add the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, kneading well after each addition until dough is soft and smooth but still a bit sticky.
7. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.
8. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, pumpkin spice and softened margarine.
9. Tear small, pieces of dough and roll into balls. Toss each into the sugar mixture until coated, then place in a greased baking pan.
10. Cover baking dish and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes. If you’d like to cook these at a later time, refrigerate or freeze covered and let pan sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking. Don’t be concerned if rolls do not rise too much.
11. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit when ready to bake.
12. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until browned. Let cool for 10 minutes before turning out on a serving dish.
13. Serve warm, drizzled with glaze. Glaze recipe follows below.

(Adapted from 90-Minute Cinnamon Rolls at Chinese Grandma)

Caramel Glaze Preparation

1. Pour the water into a saucepan then pour the sugar in a pile in the middle of the water. Turn the heat to medium-high heat and begin cooking without stirring. The sugar will dissolve in the water and begin to boil.
2. When the sugar begins to lightly brown, gently swirl the pan until all of the sugar is a deep golden brown.
3. Carefully pour in the cream and add the butter. Whisk until smooth.

(Adapted from Chef Michael Smith’s Caramel Sauce at Food Network)

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Bean & Avo Salad With Lemon Dressing

Sorry-my pictures are a little blurry. This was so yummy though!

Salad
1 1/2 cucumbers, chopped
2 avocados, chopped
1 small bunch of cilantro
1 can of garbanzo beans, drain out liquid
1 4oz container of feta cheese

Dressing
1/2 olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp spicy mustard

Combine all salad ingredients in a bowl. Whisk dressing ingredients together, pour over salad. Salt and pepper to taste. Toss and eat!

Pho!

Pronounced “Fa”, pho is a warm and cozy treat. I’m vegetarian, so no meat in my soup. But it did have tofu, bean sprouts, broccoli, carrots, basil, cilantro, bok choy, and a splash of lime 🙂

Spaghetti in Browned Butter and Myzithra Cheese

What you will need:

Spaghetti-16 oz box/package
Basil-fresh, chopped, 1/2 cup
Garlic-crushed, 1/2 teaspoon
Butter-1 stick (1/2 cup)
Myzithra cheese-grated, 4 oz

Cook one 16 oz. package of spaghetti, follow directions on box.   Drain, put back in pot, set aside.

To brown the butter and add cheese takes only about 5 minutes.  In a white frying pan place 1 stick (or half a cup) of butter. Don’t use margarine or butter substitutes. Keep heat on medium heat, stirring constantly. It takes only a couple of minutes, you will start to see the butter turn brown. Once a medium brown, take off heat. Add 1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic, and 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil, pour over pasta. Stir, mix thoroughly. Last step, pour all 4 oz of cheese into pot, toss pasta. Serve and enjoy!

A nice soft roll or French bread would be nice with this. I would also serve a fresh vegetable on the side. 🙂

Vegetarian does NOT = Boring!

Tofu chili, with a delicious “sweet” tamale.
My tummy is happy after eating this veggie chili. I grabbed a home made tamale out of the freezer and threw it on top of the chili, yum!!

TOFU CHILI
1 package of tofu, baked (see recipe below)
2 15 oz cans of pinto beans (or refried beans) (do not drain)
2 15 oz cans of red kidney beans (do not drain)
1 15 oz can of of diced tomatoes
1 medium sliced zucchini
1 2.25 oz can of sliced olives
1 packet of taco seasoning (1 tsp for tofu, the rest for the pot)
1/3 cup of whole grain brown rice (any rice is fine though)
1/2 tsp crushed garlic
2 green onions diced
3 TBsp olive oil.

Baked tofu:
Drain tofu and lightly press with paper towel to absorb a little of the water. Slice tofu length wise and place on greased cookie sheet. Using about 1 teaspoon of the packet of taco seasoning, Light dust top and sides of tofu with taco seasoning. Safe the rest of the taco seasoning for the cooking process. Place in pre-heated over 400 degrees, for 20 min. After 20 min, turn tofu to brown on another side, bake for another 15, repeat one more time. Total baking time about an hour. Let tofu cool and dice into small chunks. Set aside. You can bake up to a day ahead of time.

Heat olive oil on high, until hot. Toss in the onions, garlic, rice and cooked tofu. Stir constantly while browning, about 2 min. Turn heat down to medium heat. Put in all ingredients except the zucchini. Bring to a quick boil, then put on low heat. Cook for five minutes, then toss in the sliced zucchini, then turn off heat. DONE! Let sit for up to half hour before serving, it will thicken up nicely while waiting. Salt to taste 🙂 Even better the next day!!
Enjoy!

Healthier Food Choices at Disney Parks

I very rarely eat “fast food”. Sometimes when I travel I eat foods that I’m not use to, then I don’t feel so great. You know what I mean. You get that heavy, bloated feeling. It’s easy to find the fun stuff like pizza, churros or popcorn (see my upcoming post about that! LoL), but it’s not as fun as it use to be. I usually bring some food with me when I travel. Such as trail mix, instant oatmeal, protein bars,etc, but those aren’t meals. I like to have a least one real meal per day. When I took my niece to Disneyland a few weeks ago, she really liked to have 3 meals a day, LoL! I don’t like to eat that much, but this trip was about her, so we ate 3 square meals every day.

Look at this beautiful salad! That was my dinner. Complete with craisons, nuts and golden California raisins, my tummy was so happy! The dressing was a simple vinaigrette. Jessica chose a pesto and cheese filled ravioli, topped with pine nuts, tomatoes and a bit of Parmesan! Of course I had to try one 😉 I stay away from pastas and cheeses, but this was a relatively “healthier” alternative to say, nacho’s or something.

You may have to search a bit to find healthier types of food, but it’s out there 🙂

Vietnamese Lunch, Part 2

My daughter, her boyfriend and I went out to lunch in Alameda, California. We went to a Vietnamese place called Pho Singh http://www.phosinh.com The tofu sandwich was hands down the best sandwich I’ve ever had in my life! I was hesitant to order it at first because of all the carbs between the bread and the tofu. But to my surprise, this sandwich was worth every calorie and every single carb!

The bread was fresh, crispy outside, but soft at the same time! In the sandwich was tofu, long strips of skinned cucumber, green and red peppers, carrot sticks, cilantro and a fabulous anjou type of sauce. The sauce caused the sandwich to be slightly drippy, but oh man was it fantastic!

Vietnamese Lunch

Pho (pronounced Fa)
Lemon, cilantro, red peppers, green peppers, basil, bok choy, bean sprouts, rice noodle, tofu, and broccoli.

My daughter, her boyfriend and I went out to lunch in Alameda, California. We went to a Vietnamese place called Pho Singh http://www.phosinh.com The pho had so much personality, not salty, but totally full of flavor. I will definitely go to this restaurant again!

Zucchini Pasta Toss

Zucchini Pasta Toss.

A yummy, healthy, easy dinner to prepare 🙂 My family loves it!

Life is good, eat well
Audrey~

A Harrod’s Recipes

Click the link below for several recipes.

http://www.harrods.com/content/the-store/news-events/2013/september/recipe-of-the-month-langoustines/
I love shopping at Harrod’s Dept Store in London. Did you know that they Harrod’s even sells horse saddles!?! I don’t need a saddle, but Harrod’s also has 5 star dining. I’ve posted a delicious recipe that has been served at one of the restaurants in the store.

This is within the Egyptian staircase

Outside Harrod’s at night.

This is the Egyptian staircase.