OK, that’s dramatic. It has been three months since my last post though, which might be a new personal record of negligence (*sobs quietly into pillow*), but I’M BACK! It feels so good to be posting a recipe again after taking some time off to get settled into my new program. This first semester at Juilliard Historical Performance, aside from being completely surreal , has FLOWN by. Between performances, lessons, gigs, being a hashtagpracticehermit, academic courses, and life in general, I’ve been a busy bee. In the last few weeks alone, my HP friends and I have performed on the radio, played for a live-streamed master class, finished a series of concerts in Boston and NYC, and are now gearing up for our tour to Holland (!) in a few weeks. I can’t believe that, at least for now, this is the new normal.
I’m back! It feels so nice to return to posting after several weeks of “hiatus” and a few days of remodeling the site. Although I’ve stayed up-to-date on social media, I know I’ve been completely neglecting my blog, and that makes me sad. Especially since I keep excitedly hashtagging “#ontheblog soon” on Instagram, and then not actually following through. Isn’t that abysmal? Maybe you’ll forgive me, since preparing for graduate auditions, practicing for my senior recital, and attempting to play violin in general have taken up all of my time over the past few months. Which is weird, since I still can’t play violin. I’ll keep trying though, and maybe one day I’ll understand how this thing I’ve been doing for 17 years actually works. Maybe. I did start a practice journal, which for the past…. three days (haha) has proven itself to be pretty efficient so far. Planning out my weekly/daily practice goals and logging my progress has already helped me to approach my music from a fresh angle. Yesterday didn’t go as well, but I kind of sealed my fate when I attempted to practice solo rep after playing orchestra music for five hours. (Stupid…)
In other news, I just applied to graduate, which is strange, since I SWEAR I just got to college. Before I know it, I’ll have to be making mundane adult decisions, like whether “eggshell” or “tropical sand” is a better paint color for the cardboard box I’m living in master bedroom. I’m not quite there yet, so over winter break when I wasn’t obsessing over the future, practicing, or resisting the allure of Netflix, I was developing recipes like crazy. Some of the recipes were amazing, and some were… not. I made this granola for family and friends as a holiday gift, so I had several rounds of baking to perfect it. It didn’t really take many tries, since the first round was pretty great, but needless to say, this recipe has joined the ranks as “amazing,” and I will definitely be making my own granola from now on! I always like to make my own foods whenever possible and avoid store bought products, since it’s healthier (and often times, cheaper) to be in control of what goes into your food.
This recipe contains all “real” ingredients, and can be modified to fit your dietary needs/wishes. You can customize granola easily, and I admittedly had a little help from Buzzfeed when I made the first batch. Their article really helped give me a good idea about proportions, but I was able to tweak a couple things here and there until the final product was perfectly crisp, crunchy, nutty, sweet, and crackly. I hope you enjoy this granola as I much as I do (I literally had some in a cup of Chobani while typing this… I can’t stay away)!
Unsweetened dried cranberries (optional after baking)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 300˚F.
In a large bowl, mix oats, chopped pecans, unsweetened coconut, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, vanilla, and egg whites, and then stir into the oat mixture.
Melt your coconut oil, and then add it to the oat mixture after maple/vanilla/egg (this helps to avoid the coconut oil solidifying in the cold egg/the egg cooking in the hot coconut oil).
Once all of your ingredients are together, pour them into a tray that’s lined with parchment paper. Using clean hands or a spatula, spread and flatten the mixture.
Bake for 45 minutes, or until the mixture becomes golden brown at the edges and you start salivating from granola fumes. At that point, I like to break my granola up into little chunks with a spatula, mix, and return it to the oven to continue toasting for a bit, maybe 5-10 minutes, until all of the little bits are golden brown.
Remove from oven, and mix in dried cranberries if desired.
Since I am now without a kitchen for two months and am behind on posting my recipes, I figured I would use the one or two totally free days I have left in Aspen to catch up! I just finished up with both auditions I needed to play, and am planning to go walk around the grounds and do some exploring later. Things are going to start up early next week and I’ll be a busy busy girl between rehearsals/practicing/lessons/etc., but for now, I can finally share the recipe I’ve been dying to post! I’ve been tweaking this recipe, and it’s finally almost perfect. I say almost, because nothing to me is ever really perfect, so if I make any changes I will eventually post them here. But that won’t be for a while, so I’d love for you to leave me your feedback either in the comments or on Instagram if you end up making them. Any feedback is good feedback (unless you’re obnoxious… So don’t be)!
These Raspberry Orange Rose Scones are made without butter or sugar, can be easily made gluten free or vegan, and contain a special ingredient that makes them smell (and taste) incredible – rose extract. I bought mine at Sur La Table, but you could probably find it at a similar specialty kitchenware store. The recipe could also be made with any other extract you like that you think would go nicely (almond, vanilla, etc) but I think the rose really makes the recipe!
Raspberry Orange Rose Scones (Serves: 16)
Ingredients:
Dry:
•2 cups oat flour (Blend 2 cups regular or gluten free oats in food processor until flour consistency)
•2 tsp. baking powder
•1/2 teaspoon baking soda
•1/4 tsp. kosher salt
•1/3 cup Cup-For-Cup Stevia in the Raw
PLUS •8 tbs. coconut oil
Wet:
•2 eggs (VEGAN: Use chia seed or flaxseed eggs. 1 tbs ground chia or flax + 3 tablespoons water per egg. Let sit for a few minutes to become gelatinous)
•1/4 cup 0% Plain Chobani greek yogurt (VEGAN: Use soy or almond milk yogurt)
•Zest of one large orange
•Juice of 1/4 large orange
•1 tsp. rose extract
•1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
•1 1/4 cups fresh raspberries
Glaze (optional):
•1 tbs. each egg white, fresh squeezed orange juice, and honey
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl (except coconut oil) and combine. Slowly add the coconut oil, mixing by hand until the dry mixture becomes crumbly. Then, whisk the wet ingredients (except raspberries) in another bowl. Add raspberries, stirring gently as not to burst too many of the berries. This will ensure that there are still some chunks of fruit in the final product. Then, slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients by hand until completely combined.
Split dough into two equal parts. On a floured surface, make a log out of each portion (about 10” x 4” x 1.5”). Cut both logs into quarters width-wise, then cut those quarters in half on the diagonal.
Assemble scones onto baking sheets that have been greased (I used coconut oil spray). If using the glaze, brush each individual scone with the mixture before putting into the oven. If you have enough raspberries left over, halve them and put on top of each scone as a garnish before baking. Bake about 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
This is one of my favorite recipes to date for a few reasons. First of all, it’s really good. Like, SERIOUSLY good. Second of all, it WON me a recipe contest on one of my favorite Instagrams/blogs, Spoonful of Fit! As a result, I got hundreds of new followers on my dinky little Instagram, which now has almost 500 followers. That may not seem like a lot to someone who’s “Internet famous,” but to a random girl taking pictures of her lunch on her iPhone hoping to get recognized, that’s a sizeable step in the right direction!
When I made these, I was looking for a way to jazz up my meal prep for the week and do something special by entering the recipe contest, but I tried to keep it as simple as possible.
Turkey Sausage and Quinoa Stuffed Peppers with an Avocado “Cream” (Makes 6-8 servings)
1 cup plain, uncooked quinoa
2 cups vegetable stock (no salt added)
1 tsp olive or coconut oil
5 cloves minced garlic
5 links lean turkey sausage
2 cups spinach
3-4 medium-large bell peppers
1 avocado
1 container plain, fat free Greek Yogurt
Garlic powder
Bring quinoa and veggie stock to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce to simmer and add 2 cloves of minced garlic when the broth is about halfway absorbed. Once the liquid is mostly absorbed, reduce heat all the way. In a separate pan, cook the turkey sausage (just the meat, no skins) on medium heat with 3 cloves minced garlic in a teeny bit of olive or coconut oil to keep the garlic from burning. Season with whatever you like, I used black pepper, a pinch of thyme, and Trader Joe’s South African Smoke Seasoning. Once the sausage is mostly cooked through, add the spinach until it wilts. Drain the fat and liquid, and add the sausage mixture to the quinoa. Stir, and let sit for a few minutes.
Cut each pepper in half lengthwise and remove the seeds/stem/ribs. Fill each half with the mixture and bake at 375˚ for about 25-30 minutes.
To make the avocado cream, mash the avocado and yogurt and add garlic powder to taste.
BUT WAIT!
TIP: You can make this recipe Paleo and barely notice the difference!
The Paleo Version
How? Replace the quinoa with 2 cups riced cauliflower (raw, do not add extra liquid). Add extra seasoning if you’d like to make up for the flavor from not having veggie stock, and/or use a pre-seasoned sausage (I used a tomato basil variety for this version) for more flavor. Cut out the yogurt from the avocado cream and just use mashed avo and garlic powder! And if you’re vegan, replace the sausage with your favorite meat substitute, seasoned tofu, or some roasted veggies, and use almond milk or soy yogurt!
Lazy Sunday, making the Paleo peppers in a pretty fierce onesie!
You should definitely go make this recipe as soon as you can. And if you don’t want to take my word for it, ask the people on Instagram who have already tried it and loved it 😉
If you’re like me, your favorite part of getting Chinese food is the Sesame noodles. Cold or hot, there is just something so appealing about a giant bowl of carbs slathered in a crunchy peanut sauce. Unfortunately, those aren’t good for you. Fortunately, I’ve come up with what I think is a pretty darn good replacement!
If you’ve never tried Shirataki noodles, they’re AMAZING! They range from 0-30 calories per bag, and they fill you up! If your grocery store carries them, you can find them in the tofu section, but the ones I used for this recipe are the regular Shirataki noodles which are made from yam flour. The noodles come in a variety of shapes (even macaroni), and while I won’t lie to you and tell you that it’s the same texture as regular pasta, I’m also serious that this is the best pasta replacement ever.
Spicy Mango Sesame Noodles (Generously serves 1 – Double or triple recipe to use as a side dish):
1 bag 0-calorie shirataki noodles
1/4 mango, sliced into thin strips
1 clove minced garlic
1 tbs. crunchy peanut butter (I used Earth Balance coconut peanut butter)
1 tsp The Heat is On peanut butter by Peanut Butter and Co. (or sriracha to taste)
1 tbs. Bragg’s liquid aminos or soy sauce
Sesame seeds (you can choose to toast them if you wish)
Rinse, drain, and dry noodles according to package. Place noodles in a nonstick pan with garlic. Add remaining ingredients once pan is heated and stir in pan until combined. Garnish with sesame seeds.
HEY THERE!
Welcome! I'm Sarah, a violinist, culinary instructor for musicians, and blogger here at The Hungry Musician. Click here to read more about me!
