Coconut Waffles March 19, 2012

I’m not about to tell you these waffles will make you feel like you’re on a tropical island. Or warm you up on a cold morning.

No.

Tropical Island = warm, vacation, toes in some sand, sun on your face.

Yes, I live in Texas. I know it’s warmer here than other parts of the country. But it is not warm yet. Warm = 90*.

Now that we’ve established that. These waffles are what I imagine you might eat should you find yourself on a warm tropical island.

Coconut Waffles

1 and 1/4 cup AP flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
2 T granulated sugar
1 T baking powder
Heavy pinch kosher salt

1 can coconut milk
3 eggs
3 T melted butter
3 T melted coconut oil

3/4 to 1 cup coconut flakes

mix dry
mix wet
combine wet into dry
fold in coconut flakes

Top with toasted coconut & tropical fruits.

Yumm!!

Foodie Pen-Pals: October October 30, 2011

This month for foodie pen-pals I was matched with Abby from Abz ‘n’ Oats …

 

(I could not get a non-blurry photo of the group)

 

Pumpkin Spice Trail Mix.. The Pecans in this are Aaah-mazing. I might have eaten all of them I could find from the top of the bag before stopping to take a pic

 

 

 

 

Coffee.. Abby said she picked it out because of the label saying it has chocolate notes, maybe I put too much milk into my coffee but this really didn’t taste any different than what I normally buy (the Archer Farms Morning Blend)

 

M&Ms.. “Because everyone needs some chocolate”-Abby. Saving these for Taylor, she loves her some M&Ms

 

Lara Bars.. I’ve never tried the PBJ flavor, but Abby said it’s her favorite, I took these to work to have for emergency snackage but haven’t eaten them yet..

 

 

 ZICO chocolate flavored coconut water.. Abby wrote that this stuff tasted just like chocolate milk.. and it totally does! I had about half of the bottle after a run last week and the other half after the gym the next day.

 

 

Abby sent some excellent fall themed snacks!! To see what I sent this month, go check out Alicia’s blog at AliGirl Cooks.

And now it’s time for some details about Foodie Penpals.  In case you’re a new reader, here’s a reminder of what the program is all about:

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. *US Residents only please at this time- hopefully we can expand soon!*

If you’re interested in participating for November, please send me an email at theleangreenbean@gmail.com and include the following information:
-Your full name
-Your email address
-Your blog name/address
-Your twitter handle (if applicable)

I will need to hear from you by November 4th as pairings will be emailed on November 5th!

Foodie PenPals September 30, 2011

Hopefully you are reading this and can see pictures, wordpress is give me major issues tonight!

 

The past month has been full of vacation and travel and trying lots of new foods on vacation. When I got back from the beach earlier this week there was a box waiting for me! It was my first Foodie PalPal box, that’s right, packages full of local foods popped up at doors across the country to give other bloggers and readers a taste of a different area of the country.

This month Sarah over at Sarah Learns sent me a box of goodies from Madison, WI. {When I saw that I was gonna be getting food products from Wisconsin the only thing I could think of was cheese!}

Wanna see what sarah sent …

Wisconsin Natural Acres Honey. How can you go wrong with natural local, unfiltered honey?!

Slack’s Pumpkin Butter! I’ve eaten this on toaster waffles for breakfast almost every morning this week. ItIs.Good.
Also had some stirred into yogurt with a little granola (another item in the package) for a late night snack.

This recipe on the top of the jar really got my attention, if I can stop eating it on waffles and off a spoon I might just have to try it!

Clem’s Hot Pepper Relish. I love the short ingredient list on this; “Peppers, onions, vinegar, sugar, salt, spices.” I had a couple bites straight from the jar, but haven’t eaten it with a meal yet. I’m thinking it will be great with some black bean tacos, or maybe even potato and egg breakfast tacos.

Molasses Almond Raisin granola from Nature’s Bakery Cooperative. Who doesn’t like granola, right?

Thanks Sarah! I love it all!!

Soooo.. now you want in on the Foodie PenPal fun too? It’s not too late to sign-up to participate in October, email Lindsay by October 4th!!

Thanks so much to Lindsey and Allie for organizing all of the fun, can’t wait for next month!

Check out Diana’s post to see what I sent her!

My new job September 7, 2011

I’m going to quit my job.

My new job is called vacation.

For vacation I don’t mind getting up early to go explore, it’s not like work when I have to drag myself out of bed.

I’ll travel. Eat good food. And take pictures of it all. So all the people with jobs can be jealous plan where they want to go if they ever get a week off.

 

Ugh. If only.

Is it too late to change my answer to the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

I think I figured out the right answer.

I want to be a vacationer. (Traveler? Does that sound better?)

 

OK.

Maybe that’s called retirement. I guess for now I’ll take what I can get. Last week, that was a trip to Boston. It was good. The food was good too.

 

There’s more that either didn’t get a photo or the pic just didn’t come out (umm iphone in low light = bad pics).

Shrimp scampi brick oven pizza.

Cannolo (why is the plural not cannolis?)

Fried clam roll at the Rangers RedSox game.

Chinese food, egg drop soup with mushrooms.

Salt water taffy, a trip to Trader Joes, ice cream from JP Licks, hard pear cider, and a $4 glass of weak iced tea.

It was all good. Except maybe that tea.

did you know July 18, 2011

Just in case you didn’t know…. 

Yep, they’re the best team in baseball right now!

photos from www.dallasnews.com and www.leftylefty.com.

Pesto, Pesto

I’m not a huge fan of basil.

Not on it’s own anyhow. But pesto, that I can eat with a spoon.

Or a pita chip.

Or even better sliced zucchini and carrot sticks.

This is the best pesto. Ever. Really it is, way better than what you get in the tub at the grocery store.

Pesto Pesto

3 cups fresh basil leaves.

5 cups spinach.

2-3 cloves garlic, chopped fine, grated, or pressed.

Zest of 1 orange.

Juice of 1/2 lemon.

Juice of 1/2 orange.

1/4 cup sliced almonds.

At least 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.

2 Tbsp Grape seed oil.

Olive oil.

Place everything except the olive oil into a food processor or blender and pulse. Add olive oil a little at a time, pulsing between additions until you have the consistency you want.

Pour into a storage container and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. The longer you let this set the better it tastes.

More cheese can be stirred in or sprinkled on top for serving.

More cheese = better.

my wall needs help July 9, 2011

I need some input on what to do with that wall. I recently moved all the furniture around and now when I sit on the couch I see that big empty wall.

It doesn’t seem so large and empty in the pic. But.it.is. (And ignore all the jars on the floor and bags at the door.)

 

The wall on the opposite side of the room…

The wall directly across from the couch is all windows, a sliding glass door, and covered with curtains.

 

So I’m thinking on the empty wall maybe I’ll do a collage of some of the pics I took in NYC.

But can’t decide which frame to buy… the options….

 

From Target.com, 34 openings 5X7, 4X6, and 3×3 sizes. This is the only option I haven’t seen in person.

 

Option #2, From Bed Bath & Beyond, 12 openings 4×6 and 5×7 sizes. The depths are staggered on this one, making it lil more interesting.

 

Option 3, from Hobby Lobby.  6 separate frames, holding 16 total pics.

 

Also I have this that can go somewhere

Whatcha think??

 

 

and I’m here.. July 4, 2011

Sooo… Some of you have asked “Are you ok?”, “Are you ALIVE?”, “Cook something, I need ideas!”

I could say that I’ve been busy, and that’s why I haven’t posted in a while. A long while. So long Safari didn’t have wordpress in it’s history anymoe.

But really. I don’t have a good reason why I haven’t written anything. I thought about it. Just didn’t do it. Oops!

So. Yes. I am alive. I am Ok. And I don’t have any food for you today.
But I do have a few pics from the last couple months.

Maybe I have been busy!?

Happy 4th!!
I’m spending the rest of mine with P, watching baseball (and maybe eating something good!)

counting April 17, 2011

The past week or so has been a blur, I’m sure the next 10 days will be the same.

I’m counting cans of food donated.

I’m counting dollars raised.

I’m counting luminaria bags sold.

I’m counting down to Relay.

Relay For Life.

I’ll be back soon.

Maybe not til after Relay with lots of new recipes…

Homemade taquitos.

White chocolate apricot muffins. Rarebit.

Mexican chop salad. Smoothies.

Flatbread sandwich. Taco wontons.

And. Of course more baseball.

Go Rangers!

T is 3 April 8, 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAY T!!