Lemon Berry Muffins

When I volunteered to bake something gluten-free, cane sugar-free and vegan for a work potluck, I'll admit I was a little terrified what the outcome would be. I pictured dry, dense muffin impostors that tasted closer to cardboard and goopy ill-flavored puddles that wouldn't rise properly.  Nonetheless, I browsed through my multiple cupboards of cookbooks and found the perfect one, 'Flying Apron's Gluten-Free & Vegan Baking Book.' I had used it before to bake cardamom spice cupcakes topped with chai buttercream frosting, both were surprisingly tasty.

 Lucky for me (and my coworkers), these muffins were no different...subtly sweet with a delicate crumb. I taste tested one and then another, just to be sure, before moving on to the hubby.  He agreed that they actually had a really nice flavor (sometimes certain bean and whole grain flours can be a bit overpowering) and that I should indeed bring them to the potluck. I packed them snugly into a Tupperware dish that still has my mom's name scrawled on the side, and they were all ready to go for the next morning. Then after all that hard work, I completely forgot to grab the muffins as I dashed out the door to work. Who does that??? Well, apparently this girl, but in my defense it was 5:30 in the morning and I hadn't had my coffee yet.  :) Not to worry, I brought them in the next day and all twelve muffins were devoured by the next morning. One of the gals liked them so much that she even went out and purchased the cookbook. Initially I was a bit frightened of the challenge but I'm glad I found another go-to recipe for a gluten-free and vegan treat. If you or anyone you know cannot tolerate gluten, try these muffins. The refreshing combination of lemon and fresh berries makes them the perfect summertime treat.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c. brown rice flour
• 3/4 c. garbanzo bean flour, sifter
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 c. extra-virgin olive oil or canola oil
• 1 c. water
• 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 c. maple syrup (I used 1/2 c. local fireweed honey + 1/2 c. pure maple syrup)
• Zest from 1 small lemon
• 1/2 c. raspberries (I used chopped strawberries)
• 1/2 c. blueberries

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine the brown rice flour, garbanzo bean flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the olive oil, water, apple cider vinegar, vanilla, lemon zest and maple syrup. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the olive oil mixture until smooth.

Divide the batter evenly among 12 muffin tin cups lined with paper liners and top with berries.

Bake until muffin tops are golden and slightly firm to the touch, 20-25 minutes.

Massaged Kale Salad

As you might guess, working in an office full of ladies interested in food and nutrition leads to many potlucks. We have even worked a few questions around our love for food into our peer interviews. We have potlucks for birthdays, holidays, showers, new hires and "just because it's been awhile since our last one." Recently, a new coworker brought this salad to one of our gatherings ... we decided she's a keeper. :) This recipe was from her professor, Jennifer Alder, MS, CN at Bastyr University.  Before this salad, I never knew I liked kale that wasn't either cooked or blended in one of my green smoothies.  

This weekend, we had an Independence Day BBQ and I decided it was the perfect opportunity to give this salad a try.  It sounds weird but by massaging the kale with salt for a few minutes, its fibrous leaves becomes more tender and less bitter.  The vinegar and oil base is balanced nicely with sweet apples, tart cranberries and creamy Gorgonzola.  Try this relaxed recipe and I'm sure you will fall in love with these bold ingredients!

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of kale
• 1 tsp sea salt (I started with a 1/2 tsp and that was enough)
• 1/4 c diced red onion
• 1/3 c currants (I used cranberries because it was what I had and I adore their tartness in salads)
• 1/4 c diced apple
• 1/3 c sunflower seeds, toasted
• 1/4 c olive oil
• 2 Tbsp unfiltered apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 c Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

Instructions:

De-stem the kale by pulling or cutting leaves away from the tough stems. Wash leaves and spin or pat dry. Stack leaves, roll up and cut into thin ribbons. Put kale in a large mixing bowl, add sea salt and massage it into the kale with hands for 2 minutes.

Stir onion, currants (or cranberries), diced apple and toasted sunflower seeds into the kale. Dress with oil and vinegar. Taste for salt and vinegar, adding more if necessary. When at desired flavoring, add the cheese crumbles.

This salad will keep for several days in the refrigerator and still be great!

Rainy afternoons

Mother Nature seems to be a bit befuddled. One day it's summer, the next it feels like a dreary fall afternoon.  These days, we seem to be experiencing more of the latter than I would desire, which leaves me craving my slipper socks, comfy sweats and a snuggly blanket.  I even find clever ways to talk myself out of exercising outside, and who am I kidding?!? I could easily pop in a workout video and break a sweat indoors, but I find ways around that as well. Lucky for me, our hospital is starting a coaching program ran by the Mayo Clinic. Christine called me up today and we picked out four goals to work on over the next couple of weeks.

1) Yoga, twice a week.

2) Outdoors exercise (walk/jog/bike), five times a week.

3) Get to bed by 10:00 pm, four times a week.

4) No snacking after 8:00 pm during the week nights.

Additionally, this girl needs a tan! Nothing extreme, that highly sought after 'sun-kissed' glow will do just fine. Even moving up a shade from my current 'fair' (a.k.a. pale) colored make-up would be reason enough to celebrate.  Did I mention that it is the lightest Bare Minerals powder available? Bring it on sunshine, I am SO ready!

Enough with the rain,
unless it's a good ol' summer thunderstorm

You wouldn't want to go out there either, right?

Anyways, we don't get out and about much during the week, but we definitely try to take advantage of the weekends that we have off together. This past weekend we:

Made whole wheat banana pancakes with a few chocolate chips

Went for a run on the trails through Cougar Mountain

Went to the dog park

 Tried a new restaurant for breakfast

Played 18 holes of golf

 This weekend we will be heading to Portland, Oregon for a weekend full of great friends, unique eats and fabulous microbrews. We're ready to enjoy the weekend and would love to spend time outdoors without the rain. Hopefully Mother Nature gets the memo!  

The Mariners

Last Saturday, Dane took me to my first Mariners game.  The sun was hot and the sky was that beautiful blue we (vitamin D deprived) Seattleites have been longing for. Yep, friends, it was a beautiful day in the 'Emerald City.'

My first Mariners shirt.
"GO M's!"

Enjoying the game.

Seats near first base, eight rows back.

What I remember:

• Getting all the way to the bus stop and somebody forgot the tickets.
• Expensive beers.
• The smell of garlic.
• Cracking up as a vendor yelled, "Big, big beers....biiiig, humongous BEERS!" as he walked up and down the aisles.
• Joining in on the infamous tune,  ♪ Take me out to the ball game... ♪
• Plucking hot, fresh roasted peanuts from their shells....Dane was excited about finding multiple shells with three peanuts inside.
• The most amazingly delicious batch of garlic fries I've ever devoured. End. Of. Story.  
• Worrying that only the left side of my body was getting hit by the sun.
• Oh yeah,  and if you actually care about baseball, I believe we lost 2 to 3. :)

From the moment I stepped into the stadium, I knew I had to try these fries.

MMmmm, love at first bite. Garlic....lots and lots of garlic!
I used the last few fries to scoop up as much garlic as possible.

This was one of the first pubs we ate at when we  moved to WA last fall, we love Collins!



Couscous, grilled veggies,  salmon and a microbrew....the perfect way to end the day.





Actually, this is the perfect way to end the day, CHOCOLATE!
This is definitely the place to stop if you need something sweet,
we've wandered in on more than one occasion.



You have to love public transportation.
"I wish you a weekend full of kool-aid smiles and teddy bear hugs." -Seattle bus driver





And my favorite pic of the day.....puppy love <3

Memorial Day Weekend

One of the perks that comes with a full-time position is that I get a little more freedom on the weekends. This last Saturday, the hubster and I took Lola to Marymoor Park, a 40 acre off-leash dog area, also known as, "Doggie Disneyland." Here, canines of all sizes and ages are free to do as they please, which usually involves lots of sniffing, peeing, swimming and chasing. For the humans, there is an espresso stand near the entry that serves coffee, pastries and other human snacks, perfect for those early morning outings with your pooch. Lola loves racing other dogs and does great with most of her wet-snouted friends, but she does not like to be challenged or approached dominantly. When approached in this manner,  her queen-bee attitude comes out and she gets a bit growly to show her rival who's boss. This usually happens once or twice with each visit to a dog park, which makes me feel like a bad doggy-mom, but as Dane points out it is only with certain types of dogs, other high energy dominant dogs that charge at her or challenge her upon the initial sniff and greet. We can usually tell which ones will rub her the wrong way and try to distract her as soon as possible, but inevitably there are always a few that get her riled up.

 Waiting patiently in the back window like she's small or something :)

Tuckered out after lots of running

After running off some of her energy, we dropped Lola off at home so we could head to the Folklife Festival in downtown Seattle.

The Space Needle

Parking in downtown Seattle is pure craziness, especially during events

 Lucky for us, as we entered the gates to the festival the clouds parted and the sun was out for the remainder of the afternoon. The perfect weather for booth hopping, food tasting, beer sipping, music listening and of course some serious people watching.


The food....

Dane's Filipino Plate

Fish tacos and garlic fries, an interesting combination but both were mighty tasty

Featured on the Food Network

Small bites of pure deliciousness

I wanted to try these but couldn't bring myself to do it, so we settled on the mini donuts

The performers.....

Real life video game

The one man band

What is this guy up to?

Oh....just squeezing his body through a tennis racket

 And now....

He's simply hula hooping a tire

I'm not sure what this instrument was, but very neat

 After spending the afternoon basking in the sunshine and enjoying the festivities, we decided to play some mini golf. Dane beat me the on the front 9, but I'm proud to say we tied on the back 9. Sorry, I just had to throw that out there since it doesn't happen often. :)

We worked up quite an appetite and drove to Pier 57 where we agreed on The Crab Pot for dinner. We were quoted an hour and twenty minutes for a table, but we had no problem wasting time playing pinball at the arcade until it was ready.



Let me tell you, the food was well worth the wait! We left fully satisfied and couldn't wait to get home to change into our loose waisted sweats. The sun was beginning to set as we strolled along the pier to our car, such a beautiful evening. When we got home, it didn't take long for me to fall asleep as I was exhausted and had to wake up at 5:00 for work on Sunday morning. I cherish our weekends off together and can't wait until summer decides to stick around for a few months. I have this weekend off and will be attending my first Mariners game and hopefully getting in some hiking.