food Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Girls Who Brunch

March 8, 2016

My Review: Blue Apron

I’m going to be completely honest here. I’m lazy. Especially when it comes to grocery shopping, which is one of my least favorite tasks. But, on the opposite spectrum: I love cooking. See my dilemma here? That’s where Blue Apron comes in. Blue Apron is a delivery service where you get fresh, pre-portioned and pre-packaged ingredients sent to your door. You get three recipes a week and can decide if you want it for two people, or a family. I opted for the two person meals, obviously because I don’t have a family that I live with. For my first Blue Apron box, I chose the following 3 recipes: Fontina & Preserved Lemon Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Vegetable Bibimbap & Kimchi, and Roasted Butternut Squash with Stewed White Beans, Brussel Sprouts & Gremolata.

My favorite was the Fontina & Preserved Lemon Grilled Cheese Sandwich, with Endive Salad. OH MY GOD. This was seriously the bomb.com. If you’re a fan of grilled cheese, you have to make this recipe. This is definitely something that I will make again. As for the other two recipes, they were good but not my favorite. Being Korean, Bibimbap is one of my favorite dishes. This was a good recipe, but it wasn’t great. It also took a long time to make. The Butternut Squash recipe would be a good alternative for someone that doesn’t eat meat. This had a lot of different flavors and was very unique.

Overall, I really enjoyed using Blue Apron. I was able to cook both alone, and with friends, which made for a fun experience. I would definitely use Blue Apron again. It’s great for those weeks when you want to experiment with new recipes and are also feeling too lazy to go grocery shopping.

October 20, 2015

Chocolate Banana Overnight Oats

Breakfast is a must have for me. If I don’t eat something by 10:30 I start to get very cranky. I’m also not a morning person so I love breakfasts that are easy to make. This is the perfect breakfast for those who are on the go in the morning because you can make it the night before and it’s ready to eat when you wake up. This is also a great recipe because you don’t really need to measure anything out, just eyeball it and you’ll be fine!

Chocolate Banana Overnight Oats

What you need:

A mason jar, or mug
1 ripe banana
Rolled Oats
Unsweeted Cocoa Powder
Milk (I prefer Almond)

1. Mash up the banana using a fork.

2. Add the oats. Be sure to leave room for the milk at the end.

3. Top everything off with some milk and a spoonful of cocoa powder.

4. Mix your oats and banana.

5. Refrigerate overnight. Enjoy!

September 30, 2015

Easy Egg Bake

Hey guys its Catherine from Collective Passions! Today I’m going to be sharing a yummy recipe perfect for meal prepping for the week. This recipe is something I came up with when I was tired of making eggs every single day, why go through that trouble when you can just reheat an egg bake? An egg bake is extremely versatile so feel free to add your favorite veggies and cheeses.

I have experimented with different versions and found this combination works best.

Egg Bake Recipe
1 Carton of Egg Whites
4 Eggs
One medium Zucchini
Half a carton of mini portabella mushrooms
Half a carton of tomatoes (or more depending on your preference)

Optional:
Add any veggie you want: onions, spinach, peppers, etc.
Add cheese on top (highly suggested), I usually add Daiya cheese, but cheddar would taste great as well.

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375
Get out a large bowl, add your egg white carton and four eggs to the bowl
whisk together and place aside
In the meantime, get our your veggies and start chopping! I suggest chopping the veggies into smaller pieces.
Add all the veggies with the eggs in the bowl and mix together
Spray a pan (I use olive oil spray, or coconut oil spray) I usually use a large rectangular glass Pyrex pan (about 4 quartz) and pour your bowl into the pan
Spread everything over evenly and add your cheese to the top
Bake for 30 minutes (add or minus 5 minutes depending on your pan size)
Cut into squares and cool completely before putting it in the refrigerator (to avoid condensation and the egg bake getting soggy)
Enjoy!

This recipe is super easy to make, it’ll take less than 20 minutes to prepare, and is perfect for on the go. Have you ever made an egg bake or egg muffins before? Leave it in the comments.

xoxo Catherine

August 6, 2015

Avocado Pesto Cream Pasta

Hey loves! It’s Catherine, today I am back to Guest blog and share another delicious and easy recipe perfect for summertime. I just recently moved to Raleigh, NC so I know first hand cooking in the heat is dreadful and turning on the oven is a huge no. This recipe is light, dairy free and can be modified with all different types of pasta and ingredients. Photo Cred: OhSheGlows

Avocado Pesto Cream Sauce over Pasta
(Adapted from OhSheGlows)

2 servings of pasta (could be regular, whole wheat, spelt, brown rice, quinoa)
1 ripe avocado
1 or 2 garlic cloves
Basil leaves (fresh about 5-6)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Bring a pot of water to a boil with salt, so the pasta doesn’t stick, cook your pasta according to the directions on the package.

While your pasta is cooking, get out your food processor or blender/ Vitamix

Add the basil and garlic to the food processor and pulse
Cut your ripe avocado in half, remove the pit, and scoop out both sides into the food processor along with your lemon, olive oil, salt, and pepper
Process all of the ingredients until the sauce is smooth and creamy, if it is took thick add some water or more olive oil
Place your pasta in a bowl and place the avocado cream sauce on top

Photo Cred: OhSheGlows

(Optional: add in spinach, mushrooms, chicken, broccoli, asparagus anything your heart desires)

Serve and Enjoy!

This recipe is so flavorful and a staple for putting together a quick dinner in less than ten-fifteen minutes, I promise you will love it. Let me know if you try it out! Leave it in the comments, until next time.

Xoxo Catherine

Follow Catherine on Instagram @cmarchet

March 6, 2015

Food Fare 2015

Last night we went out to support Planned Parenthood at the 36th Annual Food Fare, at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica. We started the night out at the VIP reception where we were served a variety of hors d’oeuvres, cocktails and wines. Our favorite was the Strawberry Mango Mojito by Infuse Vodka.

After the reception, we entered the Barker Hangar. Inside were over a hundred booths set up by some of LA’s top restaurants and bars. We started at one end and made our way through the entire hangar, taking a bite of literally everything in sight. There was almost every cuisine imaginable from Japanese to Italian, American, Mexican and the list goes on.

Everything was so delicious that it was hard to choose favorites. However, if we had to pick; we loved the lobster sliders from Blue Plate, the ancini from Pizza Antica, the Strawberry Refresher from Ventura Spirits (the only domestic vodka distilled from strawberries – AMAZING) and the gelato from Pazzo Gelato. We also finally got the chance to try a Pink’s Hot Dog…and now we understand why the line is always a mile long down La Brea.

Overall the event was a huge success, raising tons of money and awareness for Planned Parenthood and making our stomachs happy. This was also the perfect way to spend my birthday, because who doesn’t love endless supplies of food and alcohol.

January 27, 2015

Plated Review

A new years resolution for myself this year was to learn to cook. I’m not the best when it comes to cooking, but I’m pretty good at following a recipe. Plated makes cooking easy. It’s is a delivery service that provides fresh ingredients to your door, proportioned out to make an easy and delicious meal. After finding a coupon code online, I decided to give Plated a try. I was able to pick 3 dishes, with 2 servings per dish for $24. The meals I decided to try out were Chicken with Miso Soba, Beef and Butternut Squash Tagine, and Szechuan Pork with Green Beans and Rice.

The Chicken with Miso Soba was definitely my favorite dish out of the three. I never realized how easy it was to make soba noodles, definitely something I will be making more of in the future. The only thing I would have changed about this recipe was the amount of ginger that it used. I like ginger but it was a little overpowering at times. However, this dish was very fresh and light, but also very filling.

Tagine. When I first heard the title of this dish Beef and Butternut Squash Tagine, I thought…’What the heck is tagine????’ Apparently it’s a stew with spiced meat and vegetables. I’m a huge proponent of butternut squash, so I was immediately intrigued. Making this dish was great because my apartment filled up with this gorgeous aroma of exotic spices. The potatoes and butternut squash took a little longer to fully cook than the recipe said, so just keep your eye on it. The beef was also slightly tough. If I was to remake this dish, I might try a different type of beef, a ground beef could even be good. Overall, I enjoyed this dish and it’s definitely simple enough to make again.

The last meal I made was the Szechuan Pork with Green Beans and Rice. This was by far the easiest to make. I really enjoyed this dish because of the simplicity of the ingredients. It’s something that can easily be recreated, and still managed to taste good. This was especially good with extra Sriracha!

Overall, I really enjoyed Plated. The meals were fairly easy to create for someone who isn’t a pro at cooking. Everything tasted great, and it was a good way to try out recipes that I normally never would have thought to make on my own. I also was surprised that although it says there are only two servings per recipe, I was able to portion it out to about 3 different meals (perfect for leftover lunch!). Pricing-wise, each dish comes out to $12, however you need to order two plates per meal so it comes out to being $24 per recipe. I don’t think I would continue to have a monthly subscription with Plated, just because if I’m going to spend $24 on one meal, I might as well go out to eat. However, I do think that this would be fun to try every once in a while to get used to cooking new recipes.

If you want more information on Plated, or want a discount on your first try check out this referral link https://www.plated.com/invites/942de4.

October 28, 2014

Apple-Gruyere Crostini

As you may have noticed from recent posts, we have been trying desperately to get into the fall spirit, amidst the 80 degree weather and palm trees (cue the violins). I thought, what could possibly be more fall-like than apple-picking right?! Wrong. After scouring the internet for the best orchards in the area (there are none), I hopped in the car for an hour-long road trip into the middle of the desert to what is apparently the “apple-country” of Southern California. As usual, I decided it would be a genius idea to bring my poor dog (and poor boyfriend) along on my great adventure and subject them to the million degree temperatures and my constant, overly-excited declaration of how much fun we were (I was) having. In the end, it was all worth it, and we ended up with more apples than we knew what to do with. In an effort to not let them go to waste, Esther and I whipped up these apple-Gruyere crostinis as a make-shift lunch before a matinee showing of Gone Girl. They were so quick and easy to make, and made for a perfect snack!

Apple-Gruyere Crostini

1/2 baguette, sliced into 1-inch slices

1 apple, peeled and thinly sliced

Gruyere cheese, thinly sliced

Honey

Crushed red pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place baguette slices on a baking sheet, add a few drops of honey to each, and top with apple slices, cheese, and sprinkle with crushed red pepper. Bake for 5-7 minutes, or until bread is slightly golden. Remove from oven and enjoy!

October 25, 2014

Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese

Although we’re already at the end of October, it hasn’t quite started to feel like fall in Southern California yet. With temperatures still in the 80s, what better way to get in the fall mood than with pumpkin-flavored everything! We picked up a dozen bagels from Panera and decided to whip up some pumpkin cream cheese to go with. We followed Better Home and Gardens recipe and were pleasantly surprised at how well it turned out! We strayed from the recipe a bit, using a little less pumpkin pie spice as to not completely over-power the cream cheese flavor, and since we didn’t have an electric mixer, we just threw all of the ingredients into the blender, and it worked like a charm!