Raw Cashew Dip - Vegan and Gluten-Free

Party worthy. Crisp fresh veggies and cashew dip.

Go Raw for a Creamy Dip

I've been eating hummus all week. Help. I can't stop. It all started when I whipped up a big batch of my tried and true favorite, a classic chick pea hummus recipe with tahini and lemon (though in full disclosure, I used lime juice instead of lemon). I munched it as a party worthy snack, with retro bunny carrot sticks as we rewatched some Mad Men episodes in anticipation of the coming season this Spring (sophisticated serial television that just keeps getting better and better, does it not?). Mad Men is a show with keen originality, surprises, and rare insights into sexual politics, power, culture, and marriage- not only enlightening those of us who lived through the sixties (I was- er, am- exactly Sally Draper's age, so many aspects of the show are akin to watching home movies), but connecting the dots that birthed our current consumer pop culture, in all its tarnished glitz and narcissistic glory.

Then I nestled dollops of the stuff on warm and comforting bowls of brown rice and stir-fried vegetables (recovering from said cultural insights, and newly minted wife-slash-copyrighter Megan's saucy rendition of Zou Bisou Bisou).

I ate and I ate.

And then there was no more. I was hummus-less. Without hummus. Bereft. An empty fragile goddess sans my favorite vegan protein complement.

So I began to scheme.

I pined for the opportunity to blog another hummus recipe, but I'd already shared not only my classic style hummus, but my irreverent upstart hummus with jalapenos, lime and peanut butter (which apparently, on some vegetarian forum raised an anti-goddess ruckus). Not to mention, my roasted red pepper hummus, perfect for 'Party On' mode (I hear tell there's a Big Game approaching).

My thoughts did a shuffle play through new and cool possibilities.

And I remembered my raw cashew cream recipe. Why not make it thicker? Why not make it into a hummus style dip? So I did the sensible thing. I soaked some cashews. And guess what?

Raw vegan deliciousness ensued.

Bisou. Bisou.


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Totally Tasty Tuesdays

 

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First of all, did you all see the Virtual Baby Shower that was thrown by some of my best and favorite blogger friends? Start here at Life as a Lofthouse. Holly was the sweetie behind it all and joined by other great bloggers. I was so touched and thrilled to see all the treats and kind words they had for me.

Thanks, girls!

I only have 3 weeks left!

I cannot wait to meet this lil baby, especially since we don't know the gender. 

I just know Preston will be thrilled for a brother, Emma really really really wants a little sister, and Hannah says she wants another little brother. I know that no matter what the gender is of this baby, it's gonna be loved like crazy. I am sure the only time I will get any baby holding time in is when I need to feed it. 

Now let's get on to the party!

Here's this week's most viewed recipe...

Strawberry Cool Whip Cookies 

from Yummy. Healthy. Easy.

Other faves...

Valentine's Pie

from Nap-Time Creations

Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake

from The Misadventures of Mrs. B

Olive Garden Salad Dressing

from Jen's Journey

Marshmallow Butter Cream Frosting & How to Make Boxed Cake Mix Taste Better

from Butter with a Side of Bread

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Warm Winter Salad with Roasted Banana Squash and New Potatoes

Roasted fingerlings, new potatoes and winter squash on baby salad greens.

After a long and restless night I am pondering potato salad and glitter. Sleep deprivation may be less than pleasant but it often breaks loose the inertia of stalled imagination (who among us has the power of will to maintain the status quo of the literal linear world after a scant teaspoon of sleep?). In my experience it is not prudent to ignore gifts of associative flight and whimsy. If one begins threading fingerling potatoes with the sequins of burlesque I say, go for it.

You never know when such a spinning, sparkling muse will visit again.

It all started with a documentary (on Showtime last night) about the seventies balladeer Paul Williams- a touching story of fame, hunger, redemption and purpose (titled Paul Williams Still Alive because the documentarian had assumed he was dead) that- almost by accident- reveals Paul's award-garnering talent for writing sweet and soulful songs was never balm enough for his childhood wounds. Like so many artists snagged in the media-fueled web of fame + addiction, Paul's appetite for approval trumped all (imagine the tune-smith who wrote Rainbow Connection in an absurdly surreal TV shoot out with sexy Police Woman, Angie Dickinson). Until he got sober.

And redefined success on his own terms.

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Beefy Quesadillas with a Kick & A Giveaway

Are you guys planning your menu for the Big Game Day?

There are lots of good recipes out there that are perfect for a Super Bowl party.

These quesadillas are easy and tasty and use Del Monte's new tomatoes. And they only use 5 ingredients! You can tweak them to your liking such as adding a cup of refried beans to the meat mixture or using shredded beef instead of ground beef. 

Ingredients

10 inch flour tortillas

1 lb ground beef

1 packet Taco Seasoning

1 can Del Monte Petite Cut Tomatoes with Green Chiles

Shredded cheese of your choice (cheddar, Monterrey Jack, etc.)

Directions

• Cook the ground beef in a skillet until done. 
• Add taco seasoning and 3/4 C water. 
• Stir until combined. 
• Add tomatoes and stir.
•  Heat through. 
• Using a Quesadilla maker or a skillet, place one buttered tortilla, buttered side down in the skillet or Quesadilla maker and top with 1/2 C to 3/4 C meat mixture. 
• Spread within 2 inches of the edge of the tortilla. 
• Sprinkle some cheese over the meat. 
• Top with another buttered tortilla, buttered side up. 
• Cook 3-5 minutes over medium heat until lightly browned. 
• Cut into wedges.

Printable Version

Del Monte would like you to participate in the Del Monte® Southwestern Tomato Kick-Off Sweepstakes program! 

 Here is how to get started:

• Follow the Del Monte Brand on Pinterest
• Create a Pinterest board named “Del Monte Southwestern Tomato Kick-Off”
• Pin at least two (2) Del Monte Tomato Recipes from the “Del Monte Southwestern Tomato Kick-Off” Pinterest board and at least two (2) football entertaining ideas
• Register your Pinterest board to the Del Monte page from January 21^st through February 15^th to be entered into the Del Monte® Southwestern Tomato Kick-Off Sweepstakes program
• Get ready for a chance to win one of the many prizes available, including an ultimate entertainment package with aSony® 55” LED TV, Bose® home theater system and Sony® Blu-ray player (ARV $4,779.00 USD).   
• Official Sweepstakes Rules

Look at these new tomatoes...

• The new Del Monte Southwestern-Style Petite Cut® Diced Tomatoes are the perfect way to spice up main dishes and snacking recipes
• Del Monte canned tomatoes, fruits and vegetables contain the same essential nutrients as fresh varieties
• The majority of Del Monte products are picked at the peak of ripeness and canned on the same day, to ensure nutrients and flavor are locked in

Are you already thinking of the delicious recipes that you will use these in?

How about if we give you one of each of the tomatoes shown above and a $25 Visa gift card to help you get started?

Just use the rafflecopter below to enter.

And check out Del Monte on Twitter and Facebook, too!

This giveaway is provided by Del Monte. Del Monte also provided me with the gift pack.

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Totally Tasty Tuesdays

 

<center><a href="http://mandysrecipebox.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Totally Tasty Tuesdays" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL7LZr4cKuIWqR1fuTqkciFbsqc6av7d5EIeER5D3SIizkdUO_pgbScd94I2Ht_l_Dg-4xBFYjWkSuL-kscpD08E7C3sD4UwtiaRL4x8LOHu2thA9sRpOeSSFf0H-sAWQYuoCaanJVuIw/s1600/ttt.jpg"/></a></center>Four weeks, people. That's all that's left in my pregnancy.Four weeks until I hold my new baby.And inhale the scent of perfection.There is no better smell in the world than that of a baby.Even better than the features I have for you today, I guarantee it.Here is this week's most viewed recipe.
Wonderland Barsfrom Tumbleweed ContessaOther Faves...
Southern Smothered Chickenfrom Miz Helen's Country Cottage
Tomato Baked Chickenfrom Semi Homemade Mom
Dragon Breath Pretzels from Cooking is a Hoot

Chocolate Cherry Fruit Dip
from Or So She Says...


Queso Blanco Dip
from Big Red Clifford

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Savory Gluten-Free Scones with Olives and Rosemary

Gluten-free scones with olives and rosemary. A savory winter treat.

One of my holiday surprises was this nifty cast iron cornbread pan. This week I put it to good use. To celebrate the recent return of Downton Abbey, you see (season two has begun, and promises to be as riveting as the first). Scones somehow seemed more appropriate than cornbread. Though these scones would most certainly not pass muster with Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham. She would be- most assuredly- appalled. And raise an elegantly arching, ironic eyebrow in utter disdain. Gluten-free? Who ever heard of such a thing? It is as suspect and deserving of mockery as electricity.

Or weekends.

Who is your favorite Downton Abbey character?

I honestly cannot decide (though I may have inadvertently revealed some vaporous hint of favoritism). I love them all with a devoted heart. The cast, the superb writing, the stunning photography, the lustrous set design is all beyond delicious.

But if you, darling, cherish a favorite Lady, attorney or housemaid, or if you blush and inhale when the honorable Mr. Bates makes an appearance, please do share. We'd love to relish every detail along with you.

Make your case.

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{Slow Cooker} Best Ever Hot Cocoa

This post is a triple win.

1. It's a slow cooker recipe.

2. It's chocolate.

3. It's a giveaway.

Win.Win.Win.

I am reviewing and giving away a copy of Gooseberry Patch's Slow Cooking All Year 'Round cookbook.

I love that it has recipes for every season. There's Warming Winter Dishes, Simply Speedy Springtime, Slow & Easy Summer, and Hearty Harvest Favorites. There are more than 225 slow cooker recipes and time saving tips.

I chose to make Best Ever Hot Cocoa for you all. It is pretty sweet so next time I will use less sweetened condensed milk. It tastes just delicious, anyway.

Ingredients

1 1/2 C. whipping (heavy) cream

14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

2 C. milk chocolate chips

6 C. milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

• Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker. 
• Cover and cook on low for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. 
• Ladle into mugs; serve warm. 
• Serves 8-10.

Want a copy for yourself?

Use the rafflecopter below to enter.

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Boar's Head Product Review

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Boar's Head for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I love sandwiches using deli meats and cheeses. So simple but so good. But have you ever checked to see how much salt is in some of those meats and cheeses? Too much to be good for you.

Boar's Head lower sodium deli meats and cheeses aren't loaded with a wallop of salt. They are committed to healthy eating choices that don't compromise on flavor. In 2010 when the National Salt Reduction Innitiative was announced, they were in the first group of 16 companies to sign on and the first delicatessen company to join.

I love how many delicious choices there are to choose from. There's bologna, black forrest ham, ham steaks, oven roasted beef, oven roasted turkey to name a few of the meats. There also have a variety of cheeses such as Swiss, Muenster, Lacey Swiss, American and more. Just see for yourself.

I bought the 47% Lower Sodium Oven Roasted Turkey Breast and the Gold Label Imported Swiss Cheese.

It was perfect on my favorite sandwich, The Fowl Play, which you can find on my blog. And it didn't taste like I was eating a lower sodium product. It tasted incredible.

If you go here you can see their lower sodium products. By each picture there are symbols. Click on a picture and it will tell you about the product, such as gluten free, or milk free. There are also recipes for the products such as Turkey and Herb Rollup or Roast Beef Salad with Garlic Yogurt Dressing.

So check them out and start eating smarter!

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Gluten-Free Orange Scented Irish Soda Bread

Good morning! Gluten-free orange scented Irish soda bread.

Mid January confession (now that we're half way to February and red hearts are sprouting up around chocolate displays in our local market). Valentine's Day looms. And yes, I use the word looms. Rather than a more enthusiastic awaits. Or glimmers. As in, I haven't been that into Valentine's Day lately. Not that I have anything against love. Or chocolate. Or roses. That would make me rather icy. A stone cold cynic. The prickly sort who kicks away puppies. Or grimaces at kittens and babies. Don't worry.

I don't indulge in any such blasphemy.

I still believe in love.

And though I may be, shall we say, a tad older than the estrogen-fueled ovulating audience targeted for Valentine's Day, I am not cantankerous. Nor am I without sympathy.

It's just that I find the accoutrements to our consumerist version of love rather ridiculous. All that red lace. Glitter lipsticks. And goddess forbid.

Thongs.

Never buy a piece of clothing that requires you to shave.

Everything.

I personally prefer a little mystery in my romance. Leaving something to the imagination. But then, I am a child of the long-haired free love sixties. Pre-porn aesthetic. We didn't fear body hair.

Last year we stayed home and ate baked mac and cheese for our dinner 'o love. And settled in with a Mad Men DVD. No red silk in sight. No high heels. Not exactly glamorous. But then, you know us artists. We have paint under our fingernails. We have more books than lipsticks. We are curling iron challenged.

I've never been into the whole glossy, magazine style glamor. I am more into comfort (and warmth- after all, it is winter!). I'm not a party girl. I'd rather be home. In my flannel PJ's.

Baking a soda bread.

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Totally Tasty Tuesdays

Welcome to Totally Tasty Tuesdays!

 

<center><a href="http://mandysrecipebox.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Totally Tasty Tuesdays" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL7LZr4cKuIWqR1fuTqkciFbsqc6av7d5EIeER5D3SIizkdUO_pgbScd94I2Ht_l_Dg-4xBFYjWkSuL-kscpD08E7C3sD4UwtiaRL4x8LOHu2thA9sRpOeSSFf0H-sAWQYuoCaanJVuIw/s1600/ttt.jpg"/></a></center>Six weeks to baby time! Yesterday, I got out all the neutral onesies, p.j.s, and blankets to wash (we aren't finding out what we are having). Such tiny clothes! I can't wait to hold my baby in them. Emma kept saying, "How cute is this?!" as she helped me unpack the baby clothes and blankets. I am excited for our new sweet addition but at the same tame, treasuring my sleep and normal routine. It'll be changed up very soon. And then comes the awesomeness that is losing the baby weight. Sigh. At least I can drool over these pictures in cyberland.Here is the most viewed recipe...Top 10 Crock Pot Recipesfrom Mummy DealsOther faves...Cheeseburger Soup from The Recipe Critic
Strawberry Cloud Cakefrom Cath's Cookery Creations
Banana Split Cheesecake from Inside BruCrew Life

Chocolate Crack Cake 
from Alana's Ramblings


Churro Waffles 
from Chica Chocolatina

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