Crab Rangoons

Crab Rangoons kinda night!?

The recipe is below.
8 oz of cream cheese (softened)
4 oz of imitation crab meat
2 scallions
1 clove of garlic minced fine
1 teas of Worchestershire sauce
1 teas of soy sauce
1 teas of sugar

for the sauce:
1/2 cup of dijon mustard
1/4 of rice vinegar
1/4 of warm or hot water (not boiling)
1 TBSP of sweetener
1 teas of sesame oil

Once your cream cheese is softened
(you can just leave it on your kitchen counter for 15-20 min.)
fold in the rest of the ingredients
and fold into your favorite shape with wonton wrappers.
Deep fry on medium high heat until the wrapper is golden.


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Whip it good,  Let's Cultivate Food

Chicken Coconut Curry

Curry is a favorited comfort food for many.
Curry is common in many south Asian countries.

A very easy go to curry dish I like to show people
how to make is coconut curry.
You can use Masaman curry which is a medium spice level.
You can also use green curry and if your palate is
craving a spicy kick- you can use red curry paste as well.

I would use 1 heaping teaspoon of either curry paste that
you prefer and add to your liking little by little.

below is a basic recipe you can start with and then add to your liking.

Coconut curry with chicken

3/4 - 1 can of coconut cream

1 heaping teaspoon of Masaman curry 

1 chicken breast cut into cubes or chicken thighs

2 large potatoes cut into 1 inch cubes

1 head of cauliflower florets (about 1 inch)

3 cloves of garlic minced up or sliced (to your liking)

1 inch of ginger grated

1-2 onions diced small

It's best to cook for 45 minutes to an hour. 

The longer the better as everything with

infuse together.  Curry is best eaten on a bed of

Basmati rice (with celery seed) or coconut rice.  

For a topping or garnish- you can place thin slices 

of red bell pepper and scallions sliced thin.

Chop It Like It's Hot,  Let's Cultivate Food

How to tell if your eggs are fresh.

When did you buy your eggs?  Last weekend or the weekend before?
All egg cartons have a sell by date on the side of the carton aka an
expiration date.  You definitely want to look at that sell by date
BUT more importantly-  you want to look at the number above.
Look at the egg carton I purchased this morning.
(Today's date is January 21st, 2016)

The number above the month (FEB) in this case is "005".  

This number indicates that these eggs were packaged on January 5th.  

The number goes all the way up to... 365.  Yup, you guessed correctly! 

The number of days that are in a single year.  The eggs NEXT to these eggs 

(not pictured)  were on sale for 2 dozen eggs for $3.00.

The number on the eggs on sale were 360 meaning they were packaged

on December 26th, 2015.  Yikes!  Those 360 numbered eggs are pretty old.

Keep in mind that prior to packaging more often than not eggs 

are also stored up to one week.  As long as eggs are stored in 

temperatures of 33-40 degrees when raw- they will be ok.

The consecutive dates of the year from 1-365 on egg cartons are called 

the Julian Date. Don't worry if your Julian Date is 20 days over or even 25 days. 

 As long as fresh shelled eggs that are raw are stored in appropriate 

temperatures-  most eggs are ok  4-5 weeks beyond the Julian date.

So then what's the point of the expiration date then... you ask!?

Again, as long as un-cooked eggs are stored in temperatures up to 

40-45 degrees they are good but as the expiration date gets closer-

the egg will lose some quality ie: if you are baking-

the cake might not rise as high as expected or the whipped consistency 

in  a meringue might not be as fluffy etc. You get the idea.

Always read labels in your food.  You can eat healthy and fresher

sometimes simply just by looking at parts of a label or stamping.

Whip it Good,  Let's Cultivate Food

​​​​Aromatic GIFT CERTIFICATES that simmer...

Purchase a Gift Certificate as a aromatic gift
that will simmer in your recipient's heart forever!

To purchase your Gift Certificate ---
please click tab above titled 'to BOOK'
and select the Gift Certificate option.

coming soon!

No bake... Coconut Ball Dessert

I love desserts like many, many people do.
I especially love cake. Birthday cake,
chocolate cake, vanilla cake, graduation cake,
holiday cake, retirement cake,
the occasion doesn't matter.
Cake is cake. Right!?!

I loved baking cake so much one year
that my family banned me from making
cakes. Yes, banned me from making cakes.
Crazy right!?  What kind of messed up family
is that right!?   Well, I will say that they were
4 layered cakes with pies baked inside them
and such. A little extreme I guess.

I will happily say that I'm allowed to make
cakes now especially during holidays. Yay!

I must want to eat some cake I guess
because today I wanted to share a no-bake
coconut ball snack dessert.
.... not a cake... go figure!?!!

When you are cooking for immediate
family that have special diets-
it's definitely not easy.
In my family we have both Celiac and
Diabetes that I have to consider when
cooking. Yep, that's right-
both sugar free and gluten free. Yikes!
Most food is not too tough
but when it comes to desserts-
it's definitely not an easy task.

Here is a no-bake dessert snack that is both
Gluten free and sugar free.  :)





recipe:
~ 3 cups of unsweetened shredded coconut
~ 6 TBSP of coconut oil
~ 1/4 cup of sugar substitute  (20 TBSP)
    ( I like stevia because it's made from
     a natural plant--- called stevia)
~ 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
~ sprinkle of salt

gently blend all the ingredients together using
a fork or spoon and roll into balls
or whatever shape you think you'd most enjoy.

You don't have to refrigerate them
to harden or anything...
but you can if you'd like them a little chilled.

You can also garnish them with chopped nuts
or sunflower or even sesame seeds if you wish!



Zestfully,  Let's Cultivate Food

Easiest yogurt pops EVER!

Take your favorite yogurt.
Scoop it into little cups or little popsicle trays
and freeze.  Now, talk about easy.
When you are ready for one...
all you have to do is turn it upside down
and say abracadabra...
or run some hot water on the side of the one
you want to snack on until it easily falls out.
(20-30 seconds or so)
I like to add some more fruit of whatever the flavor is...
My favorite is adding smashed bananas into the strawberry
banana flavored yogurt.  Add some banana, yogurt, banana
and yogurt.... you get the idea.

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Keep it cool,  Let's Cultivate Food