Tag Archives: cashews

City Girl at Heart

6 May

For the latter end of Easter Break I went to visit a friend from Baltimore who is currently studying in Byron Bay.

The weather was really bad the whole time so I did not get to see a lot but thankfully there was a clear morning where I got to hike around the beach and up to the light house.

Before I left to walk around the beach I made an epic and filling brekky.

Oh stove-top oats, I’ve missed you so.

Instant does not hold a candle.

Just regular rolled oats and since bananas are now a hot (and expensivo) commodity, I used a lady finger instead.

I chopped up half of the lady finger in the cooking oats and saved the rest for the topping.

Some strawberry jam also made its way into the pot.

Overflowed the bowl with my delicious treat and topped it with a nut mixture of cashews, almonds, pepitas, walnuts, sunflowers seeds, sultanas, and the remainder of the lady finger.

Yeh, I think that’s enough energy to last me for the day.

So filling I couldn’t even finish the whole thing!

Homemade food is always so much more satisfying :) .

Byron is a major beach town, with surfing being its main attraction.

I was astounded that none of the surfer got hit! They were all so bunched up waiting for the waves.

My time in Byron was pretty, but not overtly exciting.

Guess I’m just a city girl at heart.

Coming back to Melbourne felt like home :) (No offense, Denver.)

Casey

Pumpkin Cashew Parmesan Dip

17 Feb IMG_4348

Well my dearies:

I cannot seem to find a way to make this dip appear bee-you-tiful. I do not have any pretty blogging bowls at the moment and it doesn’t help that this dip is camera-shy.

But what it lacks in photography it make up for in taste ;) . Promise

This dip will change your world.

A little too overzealous?

Maybs.

Pumpkin Cashew Parmesan Dip

  • 1.5~2 cups Cashews (depending on how much you add towards the end)
  • 1 T Oil
  • S & P to taste
  • 1.5 T Cumin
  • ¾ c Pumpkin
  • 1 t  minced garlic
  • 3 T Parmesan
  1. Grind cashews in a food processor until you get a ‘meal’
  2. Add all other ingredients and mix until desired consistency is reached
  3. Add in some more cashews at the end  if you want some chunk in there. (optional)

If you want to veganize this I know there are a few varieties of vegan parm out there. Or you can make Ashley’s vegan parmesan cheeze. I’m sure that would work great too!

This dip is more dense then hummus. Go grab some crackers or crudites and get dippin!

For Dinner I was HANGRY.

After a long day of classes, two exams, and a career fair, my craving was full-throttle

Sweet ‘n’ Spicy

Flatbread Pizza: Spinach Flatbread base, Spicy Barbeque Sauce as the ‘sauce’

Toppings: Diced Onion, Tomato, Red Pepper, Black Beans, Feta and Pineapple!

Baked at 350 for 20 minutes (or until the edges begin to brown)

You should also be able to smell when its ready as the pineapple begins to caramelize.

The Sweet ‘n’ Spicy combo was soo good

Especially since that sauce is super spicy it needed some sweet to balance the flavors.

After I finished this off (kept me full for ages!) I did some google-readering only to see Mama Pea made an almost identical “pizza”

It’s a small blog world out there.

Ta!

 

Casey

 

Homage

10 Feb IMG_4101

I feel like an old woman, beginning some many posts with

“When I was in Australia….”

But there is a reason for all of these memories and homages (hint hint…..my big news?)

Yea I still need to wait a little longer till I tell the world officially, but I don’t think I’m gonna last another three weeks. So expect me to cave relatively soon.

One of the many foodie reasons I luuurve Australia:

They share an equal (if not greater) love for pumpkin and dates.

Seriously, they put pumpkin in everything.

Lovin’ it.

One of the items I would get a lot from the store was this Pumpkin, Cashew and Parmesan Dip.

I can’t really find anything like that in US stores, so i figured: why not create it myself

I had a bit of extra pumpkin left from some baking and cooking I’ve done recently so now was the perfect time to take it for a test drive.

I didn’t make any *exact* measurements, but I can kind of guess how much of what I used.

1/2 c cashews

1 t cumin

1 capfull of oil

1/2 t garlic

1/4 t of kosher salt (might have been more….I like it a tad saltier than the regular person)

I didn’t have any parm on me so I added some chopped Australian white cheddar

I don’t think the cheddar gave much to the flavor but I’m going to buy some parmesan for the next go ‘roud. (I just bought all the necessary ingredients at Whole Foods tonight, so I’ll get crackin’ over the weekend!)

Grind that baby up!

My food processor is on its last leg.

(read: it’s a hand-me-down)

So I just settled to have some of the cashews chunky. Though I kind of like how the cashew chunks added to the texture.

*FYI this is a savory dip

Soooooo sumptuous. I’m never going to buy a homemade dip again.

(Don’t quote me on that. But I mean, if I have a food processor, there’s really no excuse. Play like a champion!)

I’m going to make a bigger batch with proper measurements in the near future but for now here is the tentative recipe

As far as the love of dates?

I’m planning a homage to sticky date pudding this weekend. There will be multiple trials as I’m creating this recipe from scratch too!

 

I also made some Flaxy French Toast recently.

Sometimes, eating vegan is so handy. I never seem to run out of flax or chia seeds.

Baking crises averted!

I used Whole Foods whole grain seeded bread.

Topped with a mixture of heated jam and mixed berries.I am a flax french toast convert.

Eggy french toast doesn’t hold a candle to this perfection.

I;m rather tired after the Whole Foods “Cooking Class”. So I’ll recap tomorrow!

 

Ta!

 

Casey

 

 

 

 

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