A day of cooking

Today was a very busy cooking day with my mother. I did level 2 of 30 day shred, and then decided to nix the exercise for today and focus on cooking! So exciting to have my mom next to me helping! We made white bean and walnut bruschetta, Angelas Strawberry Tarts, lemon poppy seed cookies, and my favourite cashew basil pesto that you've seen on the website previously! Yes, we made ALL of that! The kitchen wasn't as much of a mess as it should have been because as one of us was cooking, the other was cleaning! Great system! Too bad Ryan wasn't around more so that we could instate this system! :)

White Bean and Walnut Bruschetta: 
Recipe taken from Eat, Drink & Be Vegan, with some changes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cooked white kidney beans
• 2 teaspoons balsamic (recipe called for red wine vinegar, but I liked balsamic better)
• 1 cup tomatoes, minced
• 1/3 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1 large garlic cloves, depends on level of garlic you want
• 1.5 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/8 cup fresh basil, minced

Directions:
Mash up half of the beans with the balsamic. Then add the remaining ingredients. Mix well! Add to baked bread, or even to non-baked bread (still just as delicious)!!!

The mix

My mom with the mix! Cookin' up a storm!

The Strawberry Tart Recipe was very lengthy! I followed it exactly from Angela's website, so I will link it here. My crust turned out nothing like hers, it was dry and flaky, but it still tasted delicious. My custard also didn't turn out as thick or yellow. I still pretty much drank it out of the bowl!

Fruit soaking in agave

Our tart shells fresh out of the oven!

Yum!

Totally delish!

Next up! Lemon poppy seed cookies, and because I was still hungry --> lemon poppy seed cookie ice-cream sandwiches!

Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies:
Recipe adapted from Eat, Drink & Be Vegan

Ingredients:

• 1 + 1/8 cup spelt flour
• 1.5 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 1/3 cup cane sugar
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest (zest before you squeeze) --> made this mistake too many times
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 cup agave
• 1.5 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1.5 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3.5 tablespoons rice bran oil
•  1 tablespoon cane sugar for sprinkling on top!   

 Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. In a bowl, combine flour, poppy seeds, sugar, lemon zest, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. In another bowl combine the other ingredients and stir until well mixed. Now combine the wet and dry ingredients. Do not over mix. Put onto baking sheet or silicone baking sheet. Do not flatten, these cookies will spread. Sprinkle with sugar and bake for 11 minutes! Remove from oven and let it cool on sheet for  1 minute then place on cooling rack! Enjoy!

 Feel free to put some Coconut Bliss ice cream in between for a double whammy of greatness!

  

I am so tired from all this cooking. So I wish you all a good night! Tomorrow I'm preparing myself for an exercise butt kicking! Yes!!