No-Meat January

One thing I decided to do for myself in 2014 is make a goal every month and complete it.
Several months ago I wanted to go a month without eating meat. January seems like a good month. It's not grilling season, but considering I'm an omnivore, any month would be a challenge.

So it began. Not being able to eat bacon the day after NYE is a challenge, let me tell you. But it quickly passed as I knew that eating bacon would mean I didn't reach my goal AND I would have failed on the first day. Let's fast forward.

It's all about planning. Making meals ahead. If I let myself just have crackers, cheese, and peanut butter in my cupboards...well, that's what I was going to be eating. I love cooking vegetarian food and luckily was able to test out a bunch of recipes I had been waiting to try.

My meals primarily consisted of salads, eggs, tofu, homemade protein balls, and sweet potato macaroni and cheese (yes it is extremely delicious). The biggest challenge was restaurants. I quickly learned that I needed to avoid them. It wasn't because I thought I was going to order something with meat in it, it's that it reminded me of the fact that I wasn't eating it and I missed it.

So here we are the last day of January and I've almost succeeded. I'm happy I was able to try something new.

You can bet that I'll be eating bacon bright and early tomorrow before a great day of skiing.

The best recipe I found during this month that I will make from here on out are Sriracha Honey Lime Brussels Sprouts. To. Die. For.

Ingredients:
1/3 c honey
1 tbs sriracha
1 tbs fresh lime juice (honestly I wing it)
1/4 c olive oil
2 c Brussels sprouts, halved

Put oil in a saucepan and heat to medium-high. Add Brussels sprouts halved side down. You will need to have a saucepan large enough so the sprouts are on the flat part of the pan. The sprouts will start to fry so watch out for hot oil.

While the sprouts are cooking, mix the honey, sriracha, and lime juice in a small bowl. the consistency should not be sticky so add lime juice as needed. Use tongs to turn the Brussels sprouts. Remove when the bottoms are golden brown.

Toss in the sauce and serve warm. Enjoy!

Flourless Peanut Butter Carob Cookies

I don't bake. 

Often that is. What I really enjoy is baking for others. Luckily I work at a place where baked goods are encouraged and welcome. 

Recently I found a recipe I was willing to give a shot. 

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 c creamy peanut butter

3/4 c granulated sugar (I used a little less than this)

1 egg

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 salt

1 c carob chips (you can use chocolate if you prefer)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350.

Mix all ingredients in a bowl, except the carob chips, until smooth. Stir in the carob chips. 

Spoon dough onto an ungreased baking sheet. The cookies will not spread.

Bake for 12 min. Remove from the oven and let cool 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. 

The cookies turned out to be fluffy and surprisingly delicious. 

On a side note: I'm usually not a fan of using white sugar. It's as useless as white bread. This time I had some at my house and wanted to do some baking. Next time I may try brown sugar. I wouldn't mind giving them another shot. 

The Northwest Gypsy

Hello all!

I'm Kayla. 

When you meet someone new one of the first questions asked is: "Where are you from?" After growing up moving around every couple of years, I haven't really been able to determine a place that I'm actually from. Born in Washington, moved to Montana, Idaho, South Dakota, and back to Montana for college. Finally, I came up with what I am: a northwest gypsy. 

So ta-da! Here I am. 

Things to know:

I love cooking.

Mountains. 

Traveling is my passion.

Embrace change.

Skiing keeps me in love with winter. 

So here we go. I'll be writing about my life and the things I love. Enjoy