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When I met the lovely, effervescent Daffodil Campbell at Camp Mighty, I was a bit starstruck, as I’ve long been a fan of her writing. When she turned out to be just as, if not more lovely in person… I quickly identified my mission: make her love me. Ok, so maybe it was a bit less stalkery than that, but I sensed in her a kindred spirit and couldn’t wait to get to know her better. And I did! It worked out marvelously. Mwahahaha.
Over dinner our final night, she mentioned having blogged about a broke-ass food challenge of sorts, in which she fed a group of 40 for $5 each, and I asked if I could re-blog it here for my masses. I love this recipe. It’s comforting, healthy, impressively ethnic, and can be prepared vegetarian or vegan or not, depending on your inclinations and the crowd you’re feeding. I figured it could be just the thing for some of you industrious brides to take advantage of for an engagement party, rehearsal dinner, hell… why not your wedding? While I don’t necessarily recommend slaving over a stove on your big day… with the right group of volunteers and stealthy prep-work, it can be done! Or, you could just throw a bad-ass party for no good reason at all, and impress your friends with your culinary prowess while your pocketbook stays fat and happy tucked away in your purse.
So, without further ado… take it away, Daffodil!
(PS: more on Camp Mighty, coming soon!)
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Last weekend we celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary with a group of friends. I had considered having the food catered – picking up trays of food from our local grocery store, and saving myself a lot of time and stress. But the prices were high, and I wanted the food to be hot and fresh. Besides – I love to cook.
The response from friends hearing that I was cooking for about 40 people on my anniversary ranged from “You ARE?” to “Are you sure?” to “Of course you are!” to “I am so glad you are – yummy!”
Inspired and wanting to rise to the challenge, I sat down with my cookbooks. I wanted to find recipes that were simple – the more ingredients a recipe has, the more it will cost. A tip – if you need a spice or other ingredient that you don’t use often, find a store that sells spice by weight – lots of health food stores do, and you can buy just what you need for the recipe, not a whole jar that will then sit in your pantry. Also, I have a limited diet these days SO I was hyper-aware of this, but it’s a good thing to remember: You want to make something everyone will be able to eat. I decided on a big salad, daal, rice (all vegetarian and very filling, with plant-based protein) and chicken. I started cooking that afternoon and it took me about 2 hours. I had hoped to let the chicken marinate more but it just didn’t work out that way, so I put them on the grill to start them off and add some smoky flavor, then stabbed them repeatedly with a fork (which also helped my stress about cooking for 40 people, since I was feeling kind of stabby by about 4pm) basted, and cooked it on a low heat in my convection oven to allow the flavors to develop slowly.
A caveat about cooking for a large group: YOU NEED BIG PANS. Big ones. And big serving dishes. And a lot of silverware and dishes. We discovered that we needed forks about an hour before the guests started to arrive.
Awesome. Added to the stabby vibe.
The following is a detailed description of the menu, with some overly-simple directions. Sorry about that.
Dinner for 40, for less than $3 per person.
SALAD
The salad was set up salad bar-style. This meant that leftover greens could be bagged and refrigerated, along with with the individual garnishes. People could choose what they wanted to put in their salad, and how much. No dressing? NO PROBLEM. Hate carrots? HEY ME TOO.
The salad bar had dried cranberries, mandarin oranges, sunflower seeds, sliced cucumbers, sprouts, some goat cheese, shredded fresh and crusty french bread (better than croutons!) and balsamic strawberry vinaigrette.
Balsamic Strawberry Vinaigrette
Ripe Strawberries
Balsamic Vinegar
Salad oil blend or olive oil
I am embarrassed to even call this a recipe, actually. I chopped up a bunch of overly ripe slightly wrinkly strawberries into small pieces, put them in a bowl with their juices, poured in enough balsamic vinaigrette to cover them, stirred enthusiastically while gently giving the strawberries a little smooshing, and then let them set. Just before serving, I added salad oil (about the same amount of oil as balsamic) and gave it a good shaking. That’s it! Also great with blueberries. The trick is to use a very sweet, juicy, extra ripe fruit.
RICE
For dinner I made a huge pot of rice. There is a trick to making rice of you don’t have a rice cooker. If you live in Hawaii, you know what a rice cooker is. If you live in rural America, you might have no idea what I am talking about. I learned about rice cookers when I moved to Maui. They are like crockpots – but for rice. They cook rice quickly and efficiently and have an automatic shutoff when the rice is done. I don’t know how they work exacty, but we’ll just call it a miracle and move on. I don’t have a rice cooker. I make my rice in a big pot.
Public Service Announcement: Instant rice is not rice.
Confession: this technique for cooking rice was taught to me by Kevin Flaherty during the middle of a very memorable weekend at his parents beach house off-season. He also taught me some fun things to do with climbing ropes and carabiners. Thanks for the memories, man.
Melt a small pat of butter or heat a tablespoon of oil in the bottom of a pan. Makes sure the bottom of the pan is fully coated. Wash your rice. Just do it. Pour however much rice you need in the bottom of the pan. DO NOT STIR. Pour cold water over the rice – 2 cups of water for one cup of rice. Turn the heat to high – and when the water comes to a boil turn it down and simmer until the water is gone. You cannot put the lid on tightly – if you want to use a lid it has to be slightly off-center so steam can escape, and you have to keep an eye on the pan – once the water is gone you must turn off the heat or your rice will burn! It’s easy to tell when the water is completely gone – look for bubbles on top of and between the grains of rice. Bubbles = water still cooking off. I used one cup of uncooked rice for every 5 people – so 8 cups of rice and 16 cups of water.
DAAL/DHAL/DAL/LENTILS
I used a huge, heavy ceramic-coated cast iron pot with a lid which prevents sticking, minimizes the chance of burning, and is good for slow cooking.
3 tbs butter or ghee
1 onion, chopped
1 tbs fresh ginger (I buy the prepared ginger root puree in a jar)
3 tbs garlic puree (also purchased in a jar)
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp dried chilis (Confession: I once used a package of crushed chili peppers I got from Pizza Hut that I found in my junk drawer to season my daal - Now I have a bottle of them.)
Sautee all in pan until onion is clear, then add:
1 cup lentils (I used french green lentils) stir around well to coat, then add:
3 cups water
1 cup veggie broth
1 can chopped tomatoes with chilis
Bring the whole thing to a boil, turn down the heat and put a lid on it. Stir *very* occasionally, cook for 1 hour and see how the lentils are doing. They probably need another hour to get really soft. Once lentils are pretty soft, smooosh them with a potato masher to break them up a bit. Then add a little lemon juice, some pepper, and a lot of salt. You have to do it to taste – but lentils in my experience need a lot of salt. However, salt will keep them from getting as soft as they should – so don’t add it until the lentils are soft.
This made enough for 10 people – so I quadrupled it. Like I said: you need big pans to cook for a crowd.
SPICY MASALA CHICKEN
First, to clarify: This is NOT CHICKEN MARSALA. No, no it isn’t.
Sauce/Marinade (enough for 10 chicken thighs)
6 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp ginger puree (same stuff I used for the daal)
1 tsp garlic puree (same stuff I used for the daal)
1 tsp crushed dried chilies
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp molasses
2 Tbsp honey
Confession: This recipe calls for marinating the chicken, but I don’t have the time or the space to marinate chicken for 40 people, so I basted with the marinade and it was really yummy. If you have time and space, go ahead and marinate the chicken for a few hours or even overnight. Another problem with marinating – I used frozen chicken thighs. Bone-in, with skin, that you can cook from frozen without having to defrost. They are cheap and flavorful. The fat cooks out of them, and the skin comes off during cooking…….so go for it. I counted on 1/2 pound of chicken per person, and so I bought 20 pounds of chicken. Turn your oven on to 300 degrees and let it preheat while you grill the chicken a bit for flavor. If you have a convection oven, use it. We put the thighs – still frozen – on the grill skin side up. Put the heat on Medium, closed the lid, and grilled for 10 minutes watching for flare-ups due to the fat cooking off. Don’t want to burn down your house while preparing for your dinner party. That’s called irony.
After 10 minutes, transfer the chicken into a large pan (I needed three large pans – 9×12 with high sides) and peel off the skin and excess fat. Spread the chicken out single layer with slight overlap, which prevents the edges from getting overcooked and dried out during slow cooking.
STAB THAT CHICKEN WITH A FORK.
Go on, STAB IT ALL OVER.
Now drizzle the sauce/marinade all over the chicken using a spoon to conserve so that you have enough for all of the pieces. Put it in the pre-heated oven and bake for about 45 minutes.
So that’s it. The bulk of the food cost was baby greens ($8), the chicken ($25), the lentils ($5 or so), and the rice was less than that, and everything was delicious!
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Thanks a million to Daffodil for sharing her wondrousness with us! Make sure you check out her super duper blog, Adventures in Paradise. Before you know it, you’ll want to make her love you, too
What do you think? Would you use a recipe like this to cater your own event?
Back by popular demand, the triumph of my holiday cooking experience from last year (originally posted 12/10/10). Enjoy!
I’ve teased. I’ve taunted. I’ve tantalized you all with tales of my epic vegan holiday feast layer cake from Thanksgiving… and the time has come to SHOW YOU THE YUMMY! I got the inspiration from a series of posts on “meat cakes” over at Vegansaurus, and felt compelled to take up the challenge and put my vegan culinary skills to the test of tests by making as much of it from scratch as possible… from the faux turkey base to the mashed potato icing and cranberry sauce topping.
With Christmas right around the corner, I thought I’d share it now for those of you still looking for that “blow them away” holiday table treat. I have to say, making it was much simpler than it seems (bonus!), I still consider it the masterpiece of my culinary endeavors thus far.
It’s an entire holiday dinner in one meal: “turkey”, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and stuffing. For a lover of sweet and savory together, this business rocked my palate’s world. And everyone, even my most carnivorous of friends, was transfixed by the beast. Most people thought it was a regular cake! Everyone embraced it, vegan or not, and they gobbled it up like they were the (very very hungry) turkeys. And oh yeah baby, it was even better the next day.
I started with a base of homemade “turkey” seitan, for the meat part. Seitan is a protein-rich meat substitute made from vital wheat gluten powder… and though it may seem intimidating, its super easy peasy lemon squeezy to make. After a “meh” test run with one recipe I found, my bestie directed me to Ellen DeGeneres’ recipe… and holy gobblesworth, it was DELISH!
The big “trick” to making it successfully is to freeze between layers, which allows it to “set” and makes for easy spreading with the softer components like the potatoes and sauce. For the turkey and stuffing, I filled them each into a round pie pan, packed them down, and froze them for about an hour before layering, which created the right shape and size to begin with.
I also planned ahead to stack them in a way that makes sense, considering their textures. Turkey on the bottom because its sturdy and pre-shaped from the pie pan, then I slathered that with mashed potatoes. Once that had set in the freezer, I turned out the pre-frozen stuffing from the pie pan on top, and slathered that with sweet potato puree. Once that was set, it was easy to layer on the cranberry sauce. Then another layer of turkey, then sweet potatoes, another pan of stuffing, and the icing of mashed potatoes once more. I “piped” out a border to hold in the cranberry sauce topping, using a ziploc bag with a corner snipped off, which really added to the “cake” effect. I know, it sounds m-fing crazy. And it was time consuming, but actually really fun, and more rewarding than I ever imagined. I mean, I never pictured myself making a whole (delicious) thanksgiving meal by myself, much less turning it into a trompe l’oeil like a layer cake!
Hungry yet? Well, an epic feast deserves an epic post, so here come the recipes! And yo, its so much simpler than it sounds. Trust.
The Seitan Turkey
4 Cups vital wheat gluten
1 Cup bread crumbs
1 Cup nutritional yeast
3 Tablespoon dried thyme
1 large onion small dice and caramelized
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
½ Cup extra virgin olive oil
4 Cups strong No Chicken, chicken stock (veggie stock)
1 full sheet of cheesecloth
Butcher’s twine
Start a large pot of water boiling. Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, and the wet ingredients in another. Caramelize the onions until soft and golden brown and add them to the dry ingredients. Mix the two bowls together until a loose batter forms, and shape that into a loaf-y shape. Lay it out onto a full sheet of cheesecloth, folded over once.
Roll it up tight into a cylinder, and tie it with bakers twine at either end, and twice in the middle. Drop that puppy into your hot water, cover, and let simmer gently for 2 hours, turning once throughout.
When its done, carefully unwrap it while its warm. Otherwise, the outer layer sticks to the cheesecloth and makes it much harder to remove. If you’re feeling cheeky, you can brush it with Earth Balance butter and blackening spices and bake it awhile to get a nice browned outside. I didn’t find this necessary, either way really. By the by, this makes a HUGE roast, so I’d halve the recipe if you’re cooking for a smaller crowd. Or, just freeze half and save it for a rainy day!
The Stuffing
This is the one component that was semi-homemade, as I used Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix and followed the instructions by adding veggies and broth. I just wanted to mention it because I used sauteed Trader Joe’s Stuffing Starter (a blend of celery, onions, fresh parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme) as the base, which was too easy and tasty for words. Its SO worth trying, I freaking loved it! I also added raisins, which adds a supremely sweet and rich dimension that I simply adore.
The Sweet Potatoes
One 3-pound bag whole sweet potatoes
Unsweetened, organic soymilk to taste
Earth Balance butter, to taste
Sea salt and pepper, to taste
This one is very dependent on how you like your mash. I boiled the sweet potatoes whole until they were fork tender. The skin just slips off when they’re warm, but be careful not to burn your fingers. I pureed them in my sexy-ass 14-cup Cuisinart (thanks, Cuisinart!) and added enough milk and butter until they were juuuuuust right. I gotta say, this was the silkiest, most satiny, savory sweet deliciousness ever. I lurved these babies!
We don’t have pictures of these final two parts, whoops! Use your imaginations, k?
The Mashed Potatoes
One 5-lb. bag whole russet potatoes
Unsweetened, organic soymilk to taste
Earth Balance butter, to taste
Sea salt and pepper, to taste
I did these the same way as the sweet potatoes, and I don’t really know what I did wrong (was it the type of potato? The cook time? Did I over-puree?)… but they turned out a bit gluey and thick. It was actually pretty suitable for this dish, especially the icing part… but if it were just a side dish I’d have tossed it out and started over cuz I prefer my mashed taters more light and fluffy in general.
The Cranberry Sauce
1 bag whole, fresh cranberries
1 cup orange juice, with pulp.
1 cup sugar
cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg to taste
pinch of salt
This one is simple pimple. Just boil everything up in a pot, then reduce and simmer until it reduces to your desired thickness. Add the spices last, so you can monitor how potent you want them.
That’s it! Just layer and freeze, layer and freeze, “ice” with mashed taters, and brace yourself for an EPIC flavor party in your mouth. To serve, just cut into slices and warm them up individually, but its also super yums when cold. Oh, enjoy all the compliments and comparisons of yourself to Martha Stewart…. cuz that’s just how fly this bad boy is. It really is. YUM. And if you’re like me, after your tastebuds do a happy dance, you and your friends can do one too… like we did!
It’s no secret that I like food. I super like to play with my food. And I love to find fun new ways to display edible goodies at parties, from intimate dinner shindigs to all wedding-related events like showers and rehearsal dinners. But don’t be scurred… it don’t take no fancypants skills to craft a creative culinary display! Even the smallest effort in presentation can translate to a more visually dynamic buffet… and today on Broke-Ass TV, we’re sharing a creative and fun way to showcase your finger foods, by turning them into topiary trees!
Even Brussels Sprouts seem like fun when they’re impaled into tree-form. And that’s a feat that few can beat! Just mix a little dijon mustard with a dollop of mayo, a squirt of lemon juice and a pinch of salt and pepper for a delish dip to accompany your sprouty friends And for the strawberries, you just can’t go wrong with a sexy blend of cream cheese and cool whip! Yeah, you heard me right. COOL WHIP. Mmmmmm.
You like what you see? Subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up-to-date with all our on-camera shenanigans! And let us know if you have any requests for future DIY ditties!
If there’s one detractor to being On The Internet, it’s that we’re a little unable to get together in a giant coffee shop and chat to one another in real-time. Over coffee. And cake.
To some degree, that’s what Twitter is for, I suppose. (Although, between you, me and the wall, the web developer at work told me earlier this week he hates Twitter because it’s like shouting into the void. I almost asked him 1. “… Your friends don’t answer you?” and then, 2. “You’ve never yelled Echo! just to hear the universe echo back?”)
My point is that Twitter is great for call-and-response style Q&A sessions, at least in my experience with it. But. That doesn’t translate very well to questions that have been posed in Comments. And since ignoring people is just plain rude, I’ll do Q&As going forward at the beginning of posts. So, if y’all have questions– hit me with them. I will do my best to make available to you all the knowledge I possess that could be useful (and, let’s be honest, some that isn’t).
All advice given is 100% Quality Assured by Moose.
(…it should be noted that Moose spends most of his days cruising for things to destroy and licking himself, though. Take it for what it’s worth.)
Question #1 today was How do I find an LA venue that won’t make me go broke? Let me tell you something… If I had my way, we’d have gotten married in someone’s backyard. I didn’t even need to know the person– any yard would have done. The cost of venues is just… I think about it, and my brain doubles over and crams its fingers into its ears and winces its eyes shut and starts hollerin’ “NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!” Which is why I make the following recommendation: Find a friend with a big heart and a kick-ass house. Ask friends if they know any loft/art/warehouse spaces that could be gussied up nice. Ask your boss, your coworkers, your dog groomer, your barista and the girl who sets you up with your Girl Scout Cookie fix. Ask EVERYONE if they know a unique, non-commercial place that could be cool for your wedding. Keep these things in mind: 1. If you have a specific look and feel, you either need to communicate it up front or kiss it goodbye (and recall, beggers are not often afforded the luxury of being choosers) and 2. Whoever lets you use their space should be politely extended an invitation to the reception (that they will likely not accept unless they know you intimately), and should be graciously told that their generous hospitality is gift enough.
Or– and this is what we did– keep your standards and your Picky-Patty levels where they are and shop around until you find a spot that is just so worth the money. Because it’s going to cost if you end up paying for a venue, no matter where you get married. Get the most bang for your buck and really find a place that screams First night of Happily Ever After to you.
The second question I’ve seen more than once– and this one is the doozy– is that of minimizing food costs. Nobody wants a crap meal served at their wedding, because if we’re all speaking frankly, the food is the element of the reception that guests interact with the most directly (right up there with the tunes the DJ plays, and the bartender). Nobody wants it to be evident that their wedding came together on a shoe-string, and food is the source of much anxiety for a lot of brides. Hear me now: YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Food is the collective bane of the bride’s existence. Right up there with Mothers-in-Law and That Lingering 5lbs.
My first recommendation is to find a venue that offers food as part of the package. Then haggle. Barter. Ask about making concessions on some parts to cut costs. I wrote a post awhile back on what language works best when making requests like that. I stand by it still. There is certainly a diplomatic and ladylike way to come to a mutually comfortable package with your vendors. It’s all in the language.
Some of you are probably curious as to why I’m not telling you to cut your guest list. Robin did a very eloquent post on that very topic, which you can find here and that I highly recommend. But. In a nutshell: my guest list was 170 long, 120 attended and there was not a damn thing I could do about making it smaller. It was just a fact. We had 120 people with whom we decided we could not and would not get married without. Cutting the budget by cutting the head count was simply out of the question. So I sympathize with the bride who looks at her husband’s giant family and her shrinking bank balance and thinks, “Either the guests go hungry, or we don’t eat for the first three months of being newlyweds… Awesome.”
I haggled with our venue, asking for a package that the venue was nice enough to honor for us (even when they didn’t have to). Most venues will ask you to guarantee a minimum headcount for a lower rate. Most brides in these shoes will have no problem meeting that requirement.
Obligatory Love-fest: once again, I must sing the praises of the Sans Souci of Sea Cliff. Two huge thumbs up and a sloppy kiss on the mouth–they were amazing.
However. If your venue doesn’t have food and you’re at square one, there are a couple options for you.
1. Find a friend/family member/neighbor/cousin/uncle/friend-of-a-friend who loves to cook and ask if they’d be willing to “cater” your big day. Keep in mind that if you’re asking someone who does this professionally, they’re likely going to be more comfortable with a discounted rate as opposed to pro-bono work. Consider the cost of the food alone, to start. Separately, if it’s a close friend of yours, they may insist on doing it for free, in which case you should insist right back that they “gift” it to you, instead of spending money on an additional present, in addition. Also keep in mind that executing a meal for 20+ people is no small feat. You’re going to have to get creative with the menu, taking into consideration what sort of on-site capabilities your venue will have for food-prep.
2. Use local vendors. Whether you’re DIY-ing the food or hiring a caterer, a common-denominator in savings is keeping the suppliers local.
I can hear you, ladies, rolling your eyes and heaving heavy sighs at me. Who wants to cook on their wedding day?! Ugh!! Worst advice EVER! For some women, yes, absolutely. I acknowledge that telling you to cook your own wedding food is sort of like telling you to eat broken glass that’s been glazed in acid and deep-fried. If you are a woman like that… you’re one of the ones who’ll want to find a friend or a caterer and beg, plead and cry until The Universe hears your culinary woes and has mercy on you. Something will pan out for you. Something always does.
For the rest of the women– the women like me, who tend to solve by doing-it-yourself despite all logic and precedence and every single one of your friends advising you against it… Hello, there. You’re in decent company. If Sans Souci hadn’t had a caterer, I would have very easily said, “No big deal. I’ll cook it myself.” I would have made things I could prep in advance (lasagna, cold salads, cheese-and-fruit platters, etc.) and somehow masterminded a way to get it heated and transported. Needless to say it wouldn’t have been a white-glove-server affair, but neither of my families are too high-and-mighty to help themselves buffet-style, and less goes to waste if people can control their own portions.
My point is that it’s not impossible, and you can get great deals on fresh produce if you shop local. I recommend local farmers markets or CSA’s, if you’re planning to do this a little further in advance.
Another key to success is keeping your expectations realistic. If you’re looking to orchestrate a meal by yourself, keep it simple and fool-proof. It is not realistic to expect yourself to put together a five-course formal meal on the day of your wedding. It is fair to plan a laid-back, low-key barbecue picnic wherein you let the groomsmen grill while you and the bridesmaids sip cocktails and watch your loved ones graze a sampling of delicious coleslaws, macaroni and potato salads.
If you’re in doubt, find your most honest friend. Tell her your plans, take her by the shoulders, look her in the eyes and ask, “Are my expectations realistic?” If she nods soberly and promises to be by your side every step of the way, you’re good to go, full speed ahead. If, however, she bursts out laughing and asks you if you’ll be pulling this off before or after you singlehandedly come up with a way to defy gravity… Well, maybe it’s time to hit the drawing boards again.
Either way, you’re not alone. Keep asking questions in the comments. If you see something that’s almost-helpful, ask for more. If you think something is completely off and you’ve got a better solution, speak up! The idea here is that we’re all women who are doing our best, and we’re all here to act as a pool of resources for one another. That’s what communities do.
Take to Twitter. Holler into the void. See what echoes back. And if you see another bride asking for help– reach out. If you don’t have an answer, give her a Re-tweet. It sounds little, but if we all keep tossing pebbles into the pond for one another, the longterm effects are waves. And there’s no limit to how far a wave can travel if it keeps getting propelled in the right direction.
The common denominator is the same. We’re all in this together.
Rainbow weddings, pretty pastel palettes, cool color combos: I’ve given you broke-ass brides almost every color and theme option under the sun, but maybe you still can’t find something that’s right for you. Maybe you want something simple and classic, but also crafty and fun at the same time…. That’s why this weeks wedding inspiration post is just for you! Basic black and white, folks. Simple, understated elegance doesn’t have to be boring or over-the-top expensive though!
Have all of your bridesmaids pick out their own black and white party dresses. I think mixing stripes, solids, and polka dots is a great way to have a little fun and also let everyone feel unique. As for footwear, let your ‘maids don anything from sandals to stilettos, and oxfords to chucks. Tie everyone’s looks together with jewelry or with similar bouquets. Voila! You have an incredibly stylish bridal party.
Of course I can’t have black and white wedding inspiration without a picture of Audrey Hepburn. I’d love to see a bride rock a great black and white ball gown! As for the cake, I LOVE this idea. Stack up some Oreo cookies and serve up some delicious milk (and soy milk too!) I also love the use of big white balloons. It’s a cheap and easy way to decorate and they look soooo fun bouncing around on the ceiling as your guests dance the night away. Lastly, that bouquet in the corner is gorgeous… and? It’s made of only carnations. I know they are a filler flower and some people turn their nose up at them, but I love them. And when you bunch them tightly together, they make an absolutely stunning bouquet.
There you have it brides to be. A unique take on a black and white wedding! Will you go with pops of color for your big day or are you a classic black and white bride?
We asked our friend, celeb dietitian Ashley Koff (who you might recognize from Shedding for the Wedding) for some tips on conserving and building energy, because we remember how draining it was to juggle everything as a bride! Whether stress drives you to eat through your emotions or sends your appetite out the window, you’ll need optimal energy to get you through the marathon of wedding planning – but with a finish line as romantic as your aisle, who could resist these tips to keep your energy up for little excess cost?
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Money Can’t Buy You Optimal Energy: Make It To The Aisle and Feel Great! by celebrity dietitian, Ashley Koff, MD.
It is time for the next stage in life, marriage, and while you are celebrating, planning and getting ready for your big day, adrenaline is not enough to keep you going. So, what do you do for energy? Something simple like grab an energy bar or drink, right? Wrong! Most of the products out there today that are seen as ‘energy solutions offer a short term solution by giving you a quick high from carbohydrates and maybe some vitamins or herbs for an extra kick, which is generally followed by a crash and burn. The secret to lasting energy is nutrient balance and the benefits of frequent eating “occasions.”
For those of you trying to lose a few extra pounds to fit in your perfect wedding dress, you may ask, what about calorie counting? The first thing you need to know is that all calories are not equal, but counting calories can be part of a strategy as long as they are properly distributed throughout the day at regular intervals or “occasions.” By paying attention to the quality and type of calorie you are eating, you can make sure the body is not receiving too much or too little of one nutrient.
What is nutrient balance? Throughout the day, our bodies need a balance of carbohydrates, quick energy, protein and fats, for sustaining energy, along with unlimited amounts of vegetables or plant based nutrients for optimal energy, at regular intervals. Carbohydrates are at the mercy of many diet debates so it is important to understand what it actually is. If you review the nutrition plan at AshleyKoffRD.com, you may be surprised to learn that milk and other dairy products, fruits and even some veggies are considered carbs and that soy, beans, quinoa and other vegetarian “proteins” are also considered carbs. Carbs are good for us and are in fact critical by providing quick “jump start” energy and allow the body and mind to stay in burning mode. It is when we consume too many carbs that there becomes a problem. The body only uses what it needs and then stores the additional carbs away as fat storage. The same goes for proteins, which support lean body mass but are also the building blocks of our hormones, which dictate how our body uses energy, so if you are not getting enough protein or the best quality protein, the messages your body sends and receives may be less efficient, which can mean less good energy. Fat, which also provide messaging, help sustain us between eating occasions, as well as signal satisfaction to the brain. If you take fat away when eating, it can be very easy to over eat on carbs because we do not feel as full.
Nutrition for optimal energy requires that most people intake one serving of a carb, protein, healthy fat and vegetable during an eating occasion, which should be around every three hours. An apple with 1-2TBSP of peanut butter can be an eating occasion with your apple being the carb and peanut butter as your protein and fat or you can try a palm-sized serving of salmon along with a fist of rice, vegetable soup and or a salad with a perfect treat being an ounce of dark chocolate. Love turkey sandwiches? For a bride on the run, why not have half of the sandwich with a salad and the other half three hours later? The worksheet on the website listed above, www.AshleyKoffRD.com, shows you what foods you can combine for maximum nutrients.
Many people, especially those watching their caloric intake, start their day with the idea of eating perfectly. The notion of perfect is best left along because it has no place in health or nutrition. Once we get over perfection, it’s easier to look at reality and think about what your body really needs. Just with a personal relationship, one must understand and accept others lack of perfection as well as your own, and nutrition is no different. Sustaining energy throughout the day and night can be simple if one stays focused on a nutrient balanced diet with eating occasions, making sure to limit the amount of stimulation the body receives from food and beverages. When having a stimulant like caffeine, it is best to watch the quantity but also what you are pairing it with. Skip the baked goodies or chocolate and go for something that is a low glycemic carbohydrates along with a healthy fat and or protein like oats with nuts, cinnamon with stevia or a turkey cheese roll up. White tea is also another great option; it has less caffeine but is a great alternative and can be paired with foods like berries and cottage cheese. Avoiding high sugar intake with our caffeine can greatly reduce the crash you may have been come accustomed to around 3PM.
The last factor one must consider when looking to maximize natural energy is maximum recovery. If we don’t unplug to recharge, we won’t. We all know how useful a mobile device is that loses its charge, well magnesium and potassium in foods, beverages and supplements as well as homeopathic supplements can help us learn to turn off our systems by working at the intracellular level or with other body systems to distress, hydrate and relax the body and mind.
What’s your favorite diet or nutrition trick? Share your best advice in the comments for an entry to win one of three Optimal Energy Bridal Happy Belly Bags, filled with delicious, health-enhancing foods and supplements worth over $100 each! If you don’t win, don’t despair, you can save 20% with special discount code BAB2011 on purchases over $100 on the Happy Belly Bags website!
In keeping with my fruity wedding inspiration themes, this week’s color is……blue….for blueberries. I can’t even tell you how much I love blueberries, and furthermore, how much I LOOOOVE the color blue during the summa-time! Or rather, turquoise.
The combination of turquoise and gold makes me heart flutter. I bought two new pieces of jewelry this week and later on noticed that they both happen to be turquoise and gold. Maybe it’s the fact that I was raised on Notre Dame football (blue and gold) or maybe it’s the fact that my mom has a massive stash of lovely blue and gold jewels, but I just can’t help loving this color combo.
The jewels are all Kenneth Jay Lane and can be found here. The dress can be found here. The turquoise shoes are here. And the gold shoes are TOMS (comfy, and cute, AND giving back to those in need? YES PLEASE!) Oh, and my latest turquoise nail color love is not from Dior, but rather Essie in “turquoise and caicos.” Check it out, your fingies will thank me!
As far as decor for a turquoise and gold wedding goes, I love simplicity. Fill up some mason jars with locally grown blueberries and set them on the table. Lemons and limes look great as centerpieces, so why not blueberries?! Frame your favorite blueberry recipes and place them on the table as well. Encourage guests to snack on them during cocktail hour and take home the extras after the wedding. Nothing goes to waste then! For some gold accents, you can get some billy balls and put them in blue mason jars. You can leave them yellow or spray paint them (did you know you could spray paint or paint flowers? You can!)
In lieu of a cake, serve up some blueberry tarts! With some blueberry lemonade to drink of course (I happen to be drinking homemade blueberry lemonade as I type this)!
What is inspiring your big day? What colors are you loving lately? Have a color suggestion or theme for a wedding you’d like to see a mood board for? Let me know and you might just see it here!
A few weeks ago I lead a DIY workshop at The Wedding Pantry, making “favors with flava” – homemade Bath Soaks and Sugar Scrubs. It was my first time leading a workshop, and it was hella fun! Making your own bath soak and sugar scrub is insanely easy and inexpensive its silly, so make some for yourself while you’re at it. I’ve been using our scrub and its ahhhhhmazing!
They put out a cute sign for the event, I felt so legit! (See that wedding dress in the window there? Its made of PAPER, yo!)
Here’s the ingredients for the sugar scrub. Everything in it is not only natural, but edible too! And the smell? Just don’t blame me if you find yourself licking your fingers in the shower, yo. You can use any oil you want as the base, but I prefer coconut or almond. Coconut oil is mega moisturizing, and its solid at room temperature, so its an excellent vehicle for the sugar in your scrub. I brought fine granulated white sugar, brown sugar, and sugar in the raw. I like to mix all three, about 1/3 of each… but you can customize it to be as coarse or as fine as you like by changing that up or omitting one completely. Honey adds even more moisture so I like to add a squirt of that as well. The best part is there are no rules. Just mix it all together until you reach a consistency you like!
You might even have all the ingredients for our homemade bath soak already in your pantry. Really all you need is coarse kosher or epsom salts and essential oil to scent them… but you can add oats and/or baking soda for a more skin soothing and moisturizing soak. You can get little bottles of essential oil at a natural foods store. I bought Lavender because its relaxing, and grapefruit because its so invigorating. Just remember that a little goes a long way!
In between each step, we all went around playing “Two Truths and a Lie” which adding a fun bit of spice and girly slumber party fun to the workshop. None of the girls were very good liars, though… it was adorable.
Ta Da! Behold, the finished products. We got those jars at Ikea – they come in packs of 4 for $4… and one for a dolla makes me holla! A little ribbon and a gift tag puts the perfect touch on your gifties… even if you’re just giving them to yourself
Food for the event was provided by the totally boner-worthy Soho Taco. I ate wayyyyy too many of their gourmet veggie tacos and their topping bar was mad addictive. I’m a huge fan of taco carts at events – heck, we had one at our engagement party – and these are by far the best I’ve had. I highly recommend them!
Yum.
Just look at this motley crew of workshoppers! We had a total blast, and I’m so happy to have had the opportunity. Thanks to Eva and Wendy at The Wedding Pantry for having me, Holly Steen of Cakes and Kisses Photography for taking these gorgeous photos, and to Rico at Soho Taco for dinner!
I’ve teased. I’ve taunted. I’ve tantalized you all with tales of my epic vegan holiday feast layer cake from Thanksgiving… and the time has come to SHOW YOU THE YUMMY! I got the inspiration from a series of posts on “meat cakes” over at Vegansaurus, and felt compelled to take up the challenge and put my vegan culinary skills to the test of tests by making as much of it from scratch as possible… from the faux turkey base to the mashed potato icing and cranberry sauce topping.
With Christmas right around the corner, I thought I’d share it now for those of you still looking for that “blow them away” holiday table treat. I have to say, making it was much simpler than it seems (bonus!), I still consider it the masterpiece of my culinary endeavors thus far.
It’s an entire holiday dinner in one meal: “turkey”, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and stuffing. For a lover of sweet and savory together, this business rocked my palate’s world. And everyone, even my most carnivorous of friends, was transfixed by the beast. Most people thought it was a regular cake! Everyone embraced it, vegan or not, and they gobbled it up like they were the (very very hungry) turkeys. And oh yeah baby, it was even better the next day.
I started with a base of homemade “turkey” seitan, for the meat part. Seitan is a protein-rich meat substitute made from vital wheat gluten powder… and though it may seem intimidating, its super easy peasy lemon squeezy to make. After a “meh” test run with one recipe I found, my bestie directed me to Ellen DeGeneres’ recipe… and holy gobblesworth, it was DELISH!
The big “trick” to making it successfully is to freeze between layers, which allows it to “set” and makes for easy spreading with the softer components like the potatoes and sauce. For the turkey and stuffing, I filled them each into a round pie pan, packed them down, and froze them for about an hour before layering, which created the right shape and size to begin with.
I also planned ahead to stack them in a way that makes sense, considering their textures. Turkey on the bottom because its sturdy and pre-shaped from the pie pan, then I slathered that with mashed potatoes. Once that had set in the freezer, I turned out the pre-frozen stuffing from the pie pan on top, and slathered that with sweet potato puree. Once that was set, it was easy to layer on the cranberry sauce. Then another layer of turkey, then sweet potatoes, another pan of stuffing, and the icing of mashed potatoes once more. I “piped” out a border to hold in the cranberry sauce topping, using a ziploc bag with a corner snipped off, which really added to the “cake” effect. I know, it sounds m-fing crazy. And it was time consuming, but actually really fun, and more rewarding than I ever imagined. I mean, I never pictured myself making a whole (delicious) thanksgiving meal by myself, much less turning it into a trompe l’oeil like a layer cake!
Hungry yet? Well, an epic feast deserves an epic post, so here come the recipes! And yo, its so much simpler than it sounds. Trust.
The Seitan Turkey
4 Cups vital wheat gluten
1 Cup bread crumbs
1 Cup nutritional yeast
3 Tablespoon dried thyme
1 large onion small dice and caramelized
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
½ Cup extra virgin olive oil
4 Cups strong No Chicken, chicken stock (veggie stock)
1 full sheet of cheesecloth
Butcher’s twine
Start a large pot of water boiling. Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, and the wet ingredients in another. Caramelize the onions until soft and golden brown and add them to the dry ingredients. Mix the two bowls together until a loose batter forms, and shape that into a loaf-y shape. Lay it out onto a full sheet of cheesecloth, folded over once.
Roll it up tight into a cylinder, and tie it with bakers twine at either end, and twice in the middle. Drop that puppy into your hot water, cover, and let simmer gently for 2 hours, turning once throughout.
When its done, carefully unwrap it while its warm. Otherwise, the outer layer sticks to the cheesecloth and makes it much harder to remove. If you’re feeling cheeky, you can brush it with Earth Balance butter and blackening spices and bake it awhile to get a nice browned outside. I didn’t find this necessary, either way really. By the by, this makes a HUGE roast, so I’d halve the recipe if you’re cooking for a smaller crowd. Or, just freeze half and save it for a rainy day!
The Stuffing
This is the one component that was semi-homemade, as I used Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix and followed the instructions by adding veggies and broth. I just wanted to mention it because I used sauteed Trader Joe’s Stuffing Starter (a blend of celery, onions, fresh parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme) as the base, which was too easy and tasty for words. Its SO worth trying, I freaking loved it! I also added raisins, which adds a supremely sweet and rich dimension that I simply adore.
The Sweet Potatoes
One 3-pound bag whole sweet potatoes
Unsweetened, organic soymilk to taste
Earth Balance butter, to taste
Sea salt and pepper, to taste
This one is very dependent on how you like your mash. I boiled the sweet potatoes whole until they were fork tender. The skin just slips off when they’re warm, but be careful not to burn your fingers. I pureed them in my sexy-ass 14-cup Cuisinart (thanks, Cuisinart!) and added enough milk and butter until they were juuuuuust right. I gotta say, this was the silkiest, most satiny, savory sweet deliciousness ever. I lurved these babies!
We don’t have pictures of these final two parts, whoops! Use your imaginations, k?
The Mashed Potatoes
One 5-lb. bag whole russet potatoes
Unsweetened, organic soymilk to taste
Earth Balance butter, to taste
Sea salt and pepper, to taste
I did these the same way as the sweet potatoes, and I don’t really know what I did wrong (was it the type of potato? The cook time? Did I over-puree?)… but they turned out a bit gluey and thick. It was actually pretty suitable for this dish, especially the icing part… but if it were just a side dish I’d have tossed it out and started over cuz I prefer my mashed taters more light and fluffy in general.
The Cranberry Sauce
1 bag whole, fresh cranberries
1 cup orange juice, with pulp.
1 cup sugar
cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg to taste
pinch of salt
This one is simple pimple. Just boil everything up in a pot, then reduce and simmer until it reduces to your desired thickness. Add the spices last, so you can monitor how potent you want them.
That’s it! Just layer and freeze, layer and freeze, “ice” with mashed taters, and brace yourself for an EPIC flavor party in your mouth. To serve, just cut into slices and warm them up individually, but its also super yums when cold. Oh, enjoy all the compliments and comparisons of yourself to Martha Stewart…. cuz that’s just how fly this bad boy is. It really is. YUM. And if you’re like me, after your tastebuds do a happy dance, you and your friends can do one too… like we did!
