I Quit Sugar

Yes, this is really happening, the Newmans are about the quit sugar! Starting tomorrow, we will embark on a dreadful, yet exciting (?), cleanse.  I'm going to post some of our weekly meals and snacks so you can see what our life is like during the next eight weeks.  I can't speak for Andrew, but I am a sugar addict and it is time to go on a bit of a cleanse...

Sarah Wilson, an Australian blogger, journalist and food nut has written an incredibly informative and scientific book about the need for more fat in our diet and less sugar. Well fructose to be exact.  Not only is there a great deal of food science in this book, but there are also recipes, beautiful pictures, drawings and a specific 8 week plan to follow. We are ready to get healthy again.  

Click to find out more about Sarah Wilson and I Quit Sugar.

Italy Part 2

Italy Part 2- these are some of the mobile pictures when the big camera didn't make the cut....

 

Italy Part 1

Wow, I've taken a little vacation from the blog!  Andrew and I just got from Italy with my family and it was and incredible trip.  Even though we got back two weeks ago, we are still feeling jet lagged...is that possible?

We spent most of our time in Florence, where my parents had rented an apartment right in the city center, located between the Duomo and the Uffizi Museum- we were perfectly located in the city.  One day we went on a wine tour.  There we toured the vineyard, and ate a five course meal where they paired a flight of wine with each course.  It was fantastic!

We headed to Venice for one night and met up with Andrew's Aunt and Grandmother.  His Aunt Melanie lives in Vicenza and teaches art on a military base and his Grandmother had been visiting.  It was so sweet to spend time with them in Italy!  On the way home from Venice we stopped in Vicenza to see where Melanie lives.  Now we have some context where we hear her talk about life in Vicenza.  On our final night we headed to Fiesole, a little town on the mountain that overlooks Florence.  We had a delicious meal with and an unreal view, it was a perfect way to end our tip.

The Duomo di Firenze

Santa Croce, Florence

The Ponte Vecchio, Firenze

Fiesole.  The joke of the trip was that Greg somehow ended up in the background of almost all of our couple pictures. #photobomb

The view from Fiesole

Greg's arm to the right....

Elle & Co.

Today I was featured on a friends blog!  The blog is called Elle & Co.

My friend Lauren, who runs the blog and company, asked if I would be a part of her Friday coffee date series...I was so happy to do so!  Aside my my guest appearance, you should check out her site.  She has her own design company, driven by her love for organization.  You can purchase so many cute and useful items from Elle and Co.  I personally love the item featured above.  It is a family starter kit for organization.  How unique and helpful!

Thanks Lauren!

Homemade Sushi

I can eat some serious sushi.  And by that, I mean a lot.  We have reached the point where Andrew and I can no longer just go out for sushi and order a few rolls.  Nope, no longer our style.  At this point, we can only go to all-you-can-eat sushi buffets.  Glutenous or amazing?  I will go with amazing.

Since we love sushi so much, I thought I would try to make some at home.  It was so easy!  I do happen to have a sushi making kit, which includes a rolling mat.  This is one tool you absolutely need to make sushi at home. Another thing to note, make sure you get sushi rice, it makes a world of difference!  For a healthier option, get short grain brown rice.

My kit came with a "how to" book, so I received instructions from that.  But you could just as easily watch some youtube videos to get tips.  For Andrew, I made rolls with teriyaki salmon and avocado.  For me, I made veggie rolls. The great thing about sushi is that you can make so many different varieties!

 My ingredients

 Dinner time

Chocolate Cupcakes with Candied Bacon

People in the office make lots of jokes regarding me being a vegan, in a loving way of course.

Well these bacon cupcakes all started because a co-worker tried to make an outlandish request; he asked for a chocolate bacon cake for his b-day.  I like to bring in a birthday treat for everyone, so I ask for a favorite dessert!  Even though I am vegan, I love to experiment with baking, so I gladly accepted the challenge.

I'm still tweaking the recipe, looking for the perfect balance between chocolate and bacon.  Once I do get the recipe just right, I will share!  Essentially, it is a chocolate cake, with chocolate icing and candied bacon on top.  I candy the bacon by cooking it in brown sugar with a bit of cinnamon and cayenne pepper.  It smelled so good I was tempted to eat a piece.

 We start with a chocolate base

 Add a little icing

And then a little bacon.  Enjoy!

Baking Tip: Broken egg shells

Something I am going to start doing on this blog; baking tips!  I'm slowly starting to realize that there are so many little tricks I learned while working as a baker.  I didn't realize these tricks were valuable until now, which is why I am going to share.

Today we will start with the story of an egg.

This little egg made a very long journey to good ole' Trader Joe's, where I just so happened to stumble upon him and his eleven other siblings.  Since I am a vegan, I don't actually eat these little guys, but my husband loves eggs and I do a good deal of non-vegan baking, so I always have them around the house.

One of the most obnoxious things that will just put a damper on your baking is when you get broken egg shells in your batter.  Seriously, it is the worst!  Then you stick your fingers in the egg and continually try to grab the shell, but somehow it keeps getting further and further from you...sometimes I feel like the egg shell has something against me and doesn't want to get caught, it feels like a conspiracy theory.  Until I found out about this trick...

Super simple, I can't even remember who told me about it at the bakery.  But here we go.

First you have a perfect little egg.

 Then you crack your egg.

But oh no!  You notice there is an egg shell caught.

 Use one half of your broken egg shell to fish out the missing piece. 

And like magic, the missing egg shell is just drawn to the big egg shell.  Like I said, so obvious and easy and it always works!