Baked Falafel & 2 fun dips/sauces

My husband and I recently had a rare adult adventure to a grown-ups-only housewarming/birthday party. One of the highlights of the outing for me was the food- surprise, surprise. Our friends had prepared a gorgeous veggie-full spread, including homemade falafel tucked into little pita triangles with cucumber dip on the side for topping.

I haven’t stopped thinking about those yummy bean-balls since, and considering the frozen falafel I buy at Trader Joe’s is one of Logan’s favorite foods- hey, might as well make some from scratch, right?
Ok, I know, part of the joy of falafel is the fried goodness of it all, but to keep these on the good-for-you tip I baked them. So there.

Here is what you will need for the falafel:

2 15oz cans garbanzo beans, drained, rinsed & patted dry w paper towel)

3 cloves of garlic

1/3 of a small red onion

1 big handful each of fresh parsley & cilantro (I used one Trader Joe’s package, stems trimmed)- rinsed & dried lightly w paper towel

1 handful of shredded carrot (press dry with paper towel to remove any excess liquid)

1/3 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

Salt & pepper to taste (about 1 tsp of ea.)
Pita & veggies for serving and one of the two yummy sauces below...

Combine the beans, garlic, onion & herbs in the food processor, mix until all are completely blended smooth.

Move to a large mixing bowl, add flour, baking powder, salt & pepper and stir until combined. Cover and refrigerate minimum 2 hours- or overnight (which is what I did because I prepped everything one day during nap time, and made them the following day during nap time- this is real life people J )

To bake, preheat oven to 375.

Roll mixture into balls.

Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly grease, place balls about an inch apart and bake for 20-25 minutes. They crack a bit, but are still delicious.

For the cucumber sauce/dip (pictured in the bowl, not on the falafel in the topmost photo- keep reading for that recipe):

1 cucumber, peeled-seeded-grated- drained (press dry w paper towel) I had the small Persian cucumbers from Trader Joe's here, so used 3 of those and just sliced em super thin w my slicer- worked fine!

1 1/2 cups Greek yogurt
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 T white vinegar
1 T olive oil
1 lemon (zest it, then cut in half and juice it- chop up the rest and toss in the garbage disposal for a quick freshener!)
1 pkg dill from trader Joe's, finely chopped (it was a big, overflowing handful)
Salt & pepper to taste.

Mix all of the above and refrigerate for at least an hour to let the flavors marry. It's good on everything, and my friend Scott says to try this with the addition of fresh mint- you won't regret it!

I have also very recently had the honor of becoming a contributing blogger for MODERN DAY MOMS (pause for applause) YAY!!! You can find my very first MDM blog post HERE and let me tell you, the coconut lime cilantro sauce is out of this world delicious- we made a giant salad with baby spinach, shredded carrots, edamame beans, 3 falafel balls and then poured the coconut, cilantro, lime sauce alllllllllll over it. Perfect cool, veggie-filled dinner for a summer-like day in spring!

Crockpot Angel Chicken

Hi Guys!!! Sorry it took me so long to get back to business here. We've been having way too much fun with the house, Logan and the gorgeous weather. Oh. Sorry again. I realize it's still dumping snow on many of my beloved and I apologize for that last dig about the weather....Here. I'll make it up to you- this is a FABULOUS crock-pot recipe that you will adore. Super-comfort food with out being too horrible for you. I've been meaning to make a version of this recipe for quite some time, but my husband hates cream-of-anything soup so I had to go rouge here, and truly enjoyed the results!! Hope you do too!! 

Here is what you will need:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

6-8 shiitake mushrooms chopped

4 cloves garlic chopped

1/4 c chicken broth

1/2 block cream cheese

1 pkg Trader Joe's condensed portabella mushroom soup (no mystery ingredients in this one! YAY!)

2 tsp ITALIAN DRESSING MIX  Do yourself a giant favor and make your own, the packet has who-knows-what in it- takes no time and you will use it LOTS!

Toss it all into the slow cooker. Cook on low for 4-6 hours or until chicken shreds easily and is cooked all the way through. As I have stated many times, every crockpot I have ever owned seems to run on the hotter side- if I make a chicken recipe that says "low for 7-8 hours" I get dried out nastiness. So I check it's shredability around 4 hours, this recipe was ready at the 4 hour mark, I noted 4-6 hours just in case. It should shred easily and be at least 165 degrees internally. 

Use a big spoon, transfer chicken & mushrooms to a large bowl- shred with forks. Then add about 5 spoonfuls of the juice and toss well to keep chicken moist.

Serve with rice, your favorite pasta and a big veggie-filled salad on the side.  (or with shredded cheese and cheerios as Logan is demonstrating below....)

Hope everyone has their toes in the sand and face in the sun SOON. 

Sweet Life HOME

Welp, once again, I've gone missing. NOT pregnant this time....but, we bought a house!! Like complete lunatics, we opened escrow the day after Thanksgiving and had the most stressful December I could ever try to explain. It's definitely a bit of a fixer, but with great bones, a big yard for weeine dogs and the boy and tons of space to run around and have fun inside too!

I will be starting a new blog of all the DIY projects and upgrades to post as we complete them (demo on the "Ocean threw-up-seahorse-theme" bathroom is up first!) but promise to keep updating the recipes here now that we are all settled in.

I will post the link to the Sweet Life Home page as soon as I finish getting all the "before" and some "during" photos sorted/uploaded. "Afters" will be coming shortly, much to our excitement!

2012 HOLIDAY MENU/ ORDER INFO

Here are the options available from SWEET LIFE KITCHEN For your holiday happenings & super sweet gifting needs.

Please email all order inquiries to orders@sweetlifekitchen.com

All orders must be submitted & confirmed at least 7-days in advance, we only take a limited number of orders to ensure the highest possible quality.

Cake Pops
Amazing, moist cake center coated in our special blend of chocolate coating, or fun colored candy melt coating- covered in sprinkles, or other fun decorations (check out our FB page for more examples of how we do)

Signature Cake Flavors
$25/dozen
Chocolate, Vanilla, Lemon, Candy Cane

Sublime Cake Flavors
$30/dozen
Red Velvet, Gingerbread, Pumpkin, Cookies n' Cream, Candy Bar


*other options available upon request- let us know any type of pop you'd like and we'll help it become a reality!

Pie Pops

$40/dozen
Cherry, Pumpkin, Pecan, Cranberry, Apple

Cookies

$24/dozen

M & M Cookies (can be holiday colors or other specific color for $2 per dozen)
Chocolate Cherry Chunk Cookies
Peant butter Blossoms
Red & White Sugar Cookie Pinwheels
Gingerbread

Sweet Potato, Mushroom & Onion Pizza

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(sorry about the photo- this was the only one I got!! Ahhhhh!!!)

Still got half of that giant sweet potato left that I used to make the veggie burgers, so thought a pizza would be a fun way to use it up!

Logan LOVES pizza, like really, really, really loves it- I know he's gonna clean his plate when I make pizza-so I save myself some time and pack as many veggies into the pizzas I make so he gets a good dinner or lunch, slice by slice.

This recipe is easy, and was really delicious- you could totally chop some ham, or add some cooked sausage to this to take it to the next level if you want. That's the awesome thing about pizza- just take what ya got, pile it on, and dinner is served.

Here's what you'll need:

1 whole wheat pizza crust dough- I get it at Trader Joe's (surprise, surprise)

1/4 of a yellow onion, cut into thin slivers

1/2 a sweet potato- peeled and grated (I ended up using about 1/4 of a GIANT sweet potato- so 1/2 a normal sized one should do)

3-4 chopped brown mushrooms

Pizza Sauce* (recipe below, I had this in the freezer from the last time I made it- they've also got it at TJ's )

Mozzarella cheese

Pre heat oven to 450

If you have a pizza stone, spread cornmeal ALL OVER IT so the dough doesn't stick.

Or use a baking sheet lined with foil, coated in non-stick spray.

Let dough rest on floured surface for 20 minutes.

Stretch rested dough by hand and form something like a sorta-square, mushed oval, mangled circle or if you are some crazy pro- toss it around and make a good-looking circle, I have yet to achieve this.

Spread a layer of sauce on the dough, top with sweet potato, cheese, onion and mushrooms.

Bake 15-20 minutes until crust is golden and cheese is lightly browned and bubbly.

Let cool 10 minutes, slice & enjoy!

Pizza/Pasta sauce-

I make a batch of this every other week, freeze half and use it for pizza, pasta, and pretty much anything, anytime!

1 15oz can diced tomatoes in liquid

1 8oz can tomato paste

1 15oz can tomato sauce

4 cloves garlic, crushed or chopped

Oregano

Basil

Garlic powder

Salt

Pepper

Parmesan cheese

Olive oil

Pour about 1 T of Olive oil into a medium sauce pan over medium heat- add garlic and sautee till frangrant but not singed- about 5 minutes.

Add can of tomatoes, stir

Add can of paste, stir well

Add sauce, stir

Add a generous amount of garlic powder, basil and oregano- I do a thin layer of each over the top of the sauce mix- one at a time, stirring after each addition.

Add a small handful of grated Parmesan, stir

Add a touch of salt & pepper

Lower heat to LOW, let simmer, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes

Sweet Potato, Quinoa & Black Bean Veggie Burgers

The weather is deliciously "Fall" this week in L.A., finally!! Also, with Logan at nearly 15 month, I'm realizing I better embrace and enjoy the "two-nap" schedule while it lasts. I generally make dinner that will last at least 2 nights during his morning nap- if it's not a crock-pot day ;)
I still had some SLOW COOKER BLACK BEANS in my freezer and a MASSSSSIVE sweet potato (that I totally should have taken a photo of, it was 'uge), and quiona is like rice, pasta, flour and sugar over here- we always have it.
A few months ago I made THIS RECIPE with zero alterations and Nate and I both really liked it. I remembered the ingredients being similar and winged this version of my own and we LOVED it!! Logan was still deciding- he had about 2 bites of his burger for dinner last night, I'm going to serve it to him again today at lunch and will update your. He wasn't too hot on the TURKEY MEATLOAF CUPCAKES the night-of but loved em cold the next day. Kiddos, haha!

Cook up a batch of quinoa, you will need about 1- 1 1/2 cups cooked cool quinoa to make these burgers.

What you will need

About 1 1/2 cup cooked, drained black beans
(1 can of beans, drained & rinsed will work fine too)
1 1/2 cup cooked, cooled quinoa
Half a massive sweet potato, peeled and diced- (or 1 whole ave size)
1/4 red onion roughly chopped
1 clove garlic
1 egg
1.5 cup bread crumbs
salt, lemon (garlic powder, cayene, cumin, and/or pepper are also excellent additions, just kept it really freakin simple this go- get wild with it!)


Place the sweet potato in the food processor and pulse 3-5 times, add the beans, quinoa, onion and garlic. Pulse until all ingredients are WELL combined- you want a thick texture, like ground meat (sorry if I totally just grossed anyone out).

Empty the mix into a large bowl, add a pinch of salt to taste, and squeeze the juice of one small lemon wedge in, add the egg and mix with a large wooden spoon, or your hands.
Add bread crumbs, mix well.
Form burger patties with the mixture, this should make 8 medium sized patties or 6 large.
Heat a little olive oil in a large skillet and cook the patties about 8 minutes per side, add cheese and serve on buns with some yellow mustard and fresh baby spinach....we also added a little of this to the buns-

 YUM, it's soooooo GOOD!

Enjoy!

Nate's Pumpkin French Toast

Ok, so GOOD NEWS- my knees are all better!!! YAY!!!! So that means the timing is PERFECT for my back to go out- right?!?
Dangit.
I was pretty much immobile on Friday and to my horror, Logan had to spend a few hours tearing around Nate's office (THANK YOU JESSICA & FRIENDS!) while I went to PT. By Sunday I could move again, but not "make-awesome-Sunday-breakfast" kind of move. I had seen this on Pinterest a while back and was hoping to try it before the "pumpkin season" of 2012 passed, but since I was useless in the kitchen this weekend, I was thrilled when Nate said he'd try it! YAY NATE!!!!

Here's what you will need...
1/4 can of pumpkin (don't worry, we used the other 3/4 of a can to make a dozen muffins and a pumpkin loaf- I'll post that recipe next so you don't have 3/4 of a can of pumpkin sitting around all day!)
3 eggs
about 2/3 - 3/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/8 (scant) tsp cloves
1/8 tsp nutmeg (a pinch)

6 pieces of samich sliced bread (we used organic whole wheat)

Mix everything in a medium bowl and add a slice of bread- cover completely and let soak about 3 minutes. Meanwhile heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add soaked toast to skillet and cook about 2 minutes per side (until golden) flip once if you can help it- let the next piece up soak during the cooking....and so on, till you are out of bread!

Serve with butter and honey.
...and coffee, lots and lots of coffee, especially if you still have a small child who doesn't grasp how the time change works.