Not For The Birds: Birdseed Granola

Recipe numbero tres since my return from sayulita mexico is another of chef hugo's specialties.  Fondly referred to as 'birdseed' by all the folks at the retreat, this stuff is definitely not for the birds.  If you've been reading this blog for a while you'll know i'm into making granola.  It's so easy and delicious, and makes for great gift giving (to see my holiday granola making extravaganza, click here).  This granola features popped amaranth as the all star which is such a great way to make a less oat-y, and gluten free granola.


If you've never popped amaranth before you're in for some fun.  I recommend using a small DRY (no oil) pot WITH A LID so you don't end up with little amaranth grains all over your kitchen like i did the first time.

Put the pot on high heat until it's hot.  ONE TBSP at a time (otherwise it will burn) drop the amaranth grain into a pot and put the lid on.  Shake it every few seconds and you'll hear the little buggers popping like popcorn.  You only need to do this for a few seconds until the bulk are popped, then dump them into a bowl and put another TBSP in the hot dry pot - lid it!  Do this procedure until all the amaranth are popped.  Some will not pop entirely and don't worry about that.  Just pop as many want to pop and shake vigorously so they don't stick and burn.  Each cycle of popping a tbsp only takes a few seconds - and keep shaking the pot the entire time.

You'll Need:

in the kitchen with chef hugo

1/4 - 1/2 cup of all the following seeds and nuts:
flaxseeds
sesame seeds (his were honey coated)
sunflower seeds
pumpkin seeds
almonds
pecans
coconut shreds
1 cup of (gluten free) rolled oats
2 cups of popped amaranth (he said his are store bought, though I couldn't find any at the health stores)
Coconut Oil (melted, 1-2 tbsps)
Dark Honey or Agave (about the same amount as coconut oil, or more if you want it sweeter)

chef hugo making granola

Add all the dry ingredients to an oven safe pan.  Drizzle with melted coconut oil and honey.  You don't need too much coconut oil as the nuts give off oil as they cook.  Add enough of the coconut oil and the honey to coat lightly all the ingredients.  Bake at 450 degrees stirring every 5-10 minutes until golden.  If you are adding in raisins or any dried fruits, add these in AFTER it's baked.


Now...i will say he told us 450 degrees (F) or 200 C....i thought 450 seemed high, so feel free to turn your oven down a bit.  Maybe it's an altitude thing??? is that even possible???

chef hugo's 'birdseed' before baking

my 'birdseed' fresh out of the oven

While this is a yummy brekkie served with banana slices and rice milk, it can also make a great little snack, pictured at top and below.  Cut a soft medjool date in half, remove the pit, and press the inside into the granola.  It effortlessly shaped itself into a heart...though not all of them did that, so it may require a little bit of sticky play on your part if you want the heart shape.

This granola is sooo good.  Look at these amazing yogis!  Fueled on birdseed, yogi tea, and gourmet vegetarian foods.  Yoga never looked so good!

Chanel Black Pearl and Pearl Drop

I'm sure you've all heard of the covetable new chanel 'le vernis' nail varnishes.

Chanel always seem to produce the 'it' nail colour of the season, jade, particulere, paradoxal, and now black pearl. Equally as gorgeous in my opinion is it's more angelic counterpart, pearl drop.

To begin, black pearl.

A deep gunmetal shot through with a teal iridescence, there are also veins of silver shimmer.

I've never been one for black or very deep nail colours, but this is much less harsh and more wearable than the traditional black.

The first coat, i find is slightly thin and translucent, the second brings out the depth, and the third creates a wonderfully murky finish.

With Flash

Without Flash

Up Close

Next up is Pearl Drop, a milky, creamy white pearl with yellowy golden tones, this really is the perfect pearl shade.

I think it would be beautiful on the toes in summer with a tan, and though i like it now i really do think bronzed skin would give it the best backdrop.

For a 'polished' look i would use just one coat, but for maximum effect 3 looks the best.

With Flash

Without Flash

Up Close (excuse the messy application, it was perfect then i caught it and didnt have the time nor the inclination to reapply!)

There is also a beautiful peach shade, so i ask you, which would you choose?

'Been Fishing For This: Vegan Ceviche!!

Could it possibly be true?  Vegan Ceviche???  Isn't that a contradiction of words???  According to dictionary.com, it absolutely is a contradiction.

ce·vi·che  /səˈvitʃeɪ, ‐tʃi/ Show Spelled[suh-vee-chey, ‐chee]  

–noun
 

an appetizer of small pieces of raw fish marinated in lime or lemon juice, often with onions, peppers, and spices.

But friends, i am here to tell you otherwise.  Chef Hugo at Hara Mara resort in Sayulita served us a fabulous lentil ceviche that had even the toughest of critics licking their smackers and begging for the recipe.  Hugo was kind enough to tell us what went into the lentil ceviche, but didn't go to deep into the preparation.  Here is what i got from him: 

sprouted lentils marinated in lime, salt, pepper, and olive oil for one hour

mix with chopped cucumber, onion, tomato, carrot, cilantro, and garnished with avocado.

serve drizzled with olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon.

Sounds easy enough right?  It ABSOLUTELY is!  If you want to impress your veggie head friends, this one is sure to please.  Even the BF enjoyed his veggie ceviche (though he did along side a slab of grilled steak, ha).   Here's my rendition....which, dare i say, blew chef Hugo's out of the water!

Sprouted mixed lentils

3 limes, juiced/squeezed

1 small jalapeno or serrano chili

1/2 a cucumber peeled

1 small tomato, chopped 

about 1/8 cup of finely diced red onion

about 1/8 cup of finely sliced cilantro

salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper,

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 an avocado sliced

 I used a couple containers of sprouted mixed lentils (though you could sprout your own if you had a few days).  Mix these in a bowl with the juice from 3 limes, some black pepper, salt, crushed hot red pepper, and a few Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil.  Take a green chili (jalapeno or serrano) and remove the membrane inside and the seeds.  Julienne to the tiniest of pieces.  Using 1/2 a cucumber, slice a cucumber in half lengthwise and remove the seeded center and discard (or eat) those seeds.  Dice the remaining cucumber, red onion, thinly slice cilantro, and finely chop a small tomato.  Add these to the marinated sprouted lentils and mix well.  Taste.  Add additional salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper to your liking.  Serve in a martini glass with sliced avocado. 

We ate this with freshly baked corn tortillas made into chips (click here for the directions) and sprinkled with sea salt and lime, and chopped up some jicama sticks to cool the palette if it gets too hot.  The actual lentil ceviche wasn't crazy spicy, but i got carried away with the tapatio.

MAC look in a box : Rocker Chick

On my recent trip through duty free, i happened across the MAC counter, feeling flush with birthday funds i treated myself to one of the new 'look in a box' sets.

There are 3 to choose from, girl next door, a very stylish girl and rocker chick.

And let me tell you, i cannot wait for my next trip around june to pick up the other 2!

I like rocker chick as it includes everything for a full look except 'skin' so foundation/blush/bronzer and eyebrows.

In the set there is electra, a silver, black tied, a dusty black with silver glitter, smolder eye kohl, dazzle lash mascara, hue lipstick and oyster girl lipglass.

Excuse my ripped house-top, i asked Craig to take a photo for me and i couldn't resist playing around.

But as you can tell, and as you would expect from MAC, they're lovely products, which i'm very surprised at as i really didn't expect hue to suit me but i really like it! Also i'm not one for lip gloss but i quite like oyster girl.

At only £28 (ish) i really don't think you could get better value for money at MAC, so if you happen to be travelling this year, you must must invest in one of these sets!

Gotta include a couple of extra posey shots for good measure!

It was my birthday! (picture heavy)

So if you follow me on twitter, or even have read my last couple of blogs, there is no way you could have missed that my birthday was on the 16th.

My dad lives out in the states permanently now as we have all earnt our greencard's, my brother is finishing his a levels and then going in July and i'm going after my degree. So anyway, my dads last scheduled trip to the UK isn't until march so he asked me to travel out to see him for my birthday, just for a week, but we made sure it was packed!

So i jumped on the plane on valentines, on my birthday, we had a wonderful shopping trip to the mall (predictably!), and we were talking about a movie (3000 miles to Graceland) and i was like... 'Daddy.... you know, i'd love to go to Memphis...' so long story short, the next day we did the 750 mile drive to Memphis, Tennessee via Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, on the Friday we did Graceland, sun studios and Elvis' birthplace in tupelo, Mississippi, then left tupelo at 5pm and arrived back in Fla at 7am on saturday morning!

Then sunday we had the NASCAR daytona 500, which was awesome too.

Oh HELL yes!

Ok, so lots of bits, including a new little ipod nano because i loathe having to carry round my old iphone for music.

The 'tabitha' dress from monsoon

How cute are these pj bottoms? You can see my new jeans under there too.

And some more ugg boots!

Didnt used to be a fan but my black ones came in pretty handy in the snow, so hey, why not, i do much prefer the chesnut, and soo snuggly!

Ok, so Tennessee!
Priscilla was tiny!

Sun Studios


Beale Street

The birth place.

My face and arms ended up rather sunburnt from Daytona!

Overall i had a wonderful birthday experience which i am very grateful for :)

I'm now enjoying sleeping off my jet lag and spending time with Craig!

I hope you're all well.

Sexxy Mexxy: Yoga Retreat Turns Muy Caliente with 'Chili Oil'

Right now picture yourself in a dense green jungle on a steep hillside in a little open air casita with beautiful hiking trails taking you to a quiet beach or colorful mexican village.  No electricity just oil lamps and candles, no cars just your feet or horseback, no phones or internet just your friends, and no need to be anywhere except for where ever you choose to, be it whale watching, zip lining, getting massaged, laying in the sun, or hitting a local tequila bar.   Your only promise to yourself is to arise with the sun and meditate, do yoga in a pallapa over-looking the ocean, and to eat...and eat well....at an open air pavilion for two gourmet vegetarian 3 course meals daily.  Yes please...sign me up right?  This is how i spent the last 7 days of my life.  In complete heaven on earth....Hara Mara Resort in Sayulita Mexico (click here to check out pix).

Many of you reading will know i work at Core Power Yoga.  Yearly they hold a retreat at this amazing resort which is built on spiritual land.  Any trip i've ever gone on pales in comparison to this amazing journey i took with 4 other dear friends, and another 30 new friends that have touched my heart and inspired and opened their minds and hearts to me as well.  What i've brought back for you is not just this little daydream, but 7 amazing recipes that MUST be added to your special box.

Now i took my camera (of course) to document the entire experience (as well as the cooking class i took from Hara Mara's chef, Chef Hugo), but as luck would have it the camera gave out on me after 1/2 a day.  So while i'm waiting for the pix i took on Dee's camera from the cooking class, I'll share the few pix i did manage to take, and the chili oil recipe i learned since i already made it at home and took a few pictures of it.

Sit back and enjoy....your recipe is at the end of this blog.  Roll em!!!!

walking into town

fruit truck

restaurants

bread lady

 

cowboy

heidi and dee in our casita

me, heidi, and dee....chilly at night

our casita

 

our bathroom with outdoor shower

RECIPE!

chef hugo's chili oil

Chili Oil:

1/2 cup of nuts any type (he used 1/2 almonds and 1/2 walnuts)
dried red chilis (take the top off)- he used about 8 med-long ones, i had shorter ones and had to use about 3 times that amount to get the heat...he must have used a hotter type of chili pepper
1/4 of a large white onion chopped coarse
2 large cloves of garlic
2 cups extra virgin olive oil

preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Throw all in an oven safe dish or pan and cook until onions are translucent (about 15 min).  Remove from oven and cool a bit.
Pour everything into a high powered blender and add a pinch of salt and black pepper.  Blend.  Add more salt or pepper to your liking.
Store this on a counter top or cabinet.  Do not store in the fridge.