Creamy Lentil Stew

Posted on April 9, 2016 by Georgina

Creamy Lentil Stew

Creamy Lentil Stew Blog Header You might be thinking, it’s April, it’s not “stew season” it’s starting to get warm! I want to see fun fresh veggies and salads and grilled foods.

And to that I would say hold your horses. I hear ya, I reeealllly do but the fact of the matter is that I woke up to snow this morning.

SNOWWWWWWWW. Onemoretimefordramaticeffect. S.N.O.W.

So yes, while I have me eyes on some delicious spring and summer inspired dishes like this and this; please excuse me while I curl up into a ball, shed a tear, and eat this comforting and oh so delicious stew

I’m ready for spring. I really actually appreciate each season and love what each one offers but I start to get antsy in April when it’s 70° one day and snowy the next. In the words of the Backstreet Boys, quit playing games with my heart. 💔

But on the bright side, because there’s ALWAYS a bright side, the colder & cozier temps allow me to share this seriously good stew with you.

It’s a breeze to whip up, makes a LOT (who doesn’t love leftovers?), it’s great for you, and most importantly tastes GREAT too! Creamy Lentil Stew 4 Creamy Lentil Stew 6 Creamy Lentil Stew Recipe Creamy Lentil Stew 3 Creamy Lentil Stew 8 Creamy Lentil Stew 7 Creamy Lentil Stew 5 Creamy Lentil Stew 2 Creamy Lentil Stew 1 So there you have it- easy and delicious soup!

If you are lucky enough to live somewhere warm and sunny and you just can’t possibly think of soup……please get off my site! Kidding. I’m jealous. It’s a hard emotion to control.

Send some of that sunshine and warm temps over here! If you are still subject to the winter blues like me, I promise this stew will make you feel better. 🙂 Enjoy!!

xoxo

Bibimbap Korean Rice Bowl Featuring Zymbiotics

Posted on April 2, 2016 by Georgina

Bibimbap Korean Rice Bowl Featuring Zymbiotics

Bibimbap Fermented Foods Recipe Yesterday we shared a lengthy and wordy post (sorry not sorry) on the topic of fermented foods. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out HERE.

As promised, before we get to the fermented food deliciousness that is in Bibimbap (korean rice bowl) I want to share a little more about a great local Wisconsin company that is embracing and thriving in the fermented foods market.

Zymbiotics is a company out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin that specializes in naturally fermented foods. Jeff who is a UW Madison alum, is an entrepreneur at heart and has started and successfully run several businesses prior to Zymbiotics. Inspired by the calling to help people live healthier happier lives he teamed up with his partner Betty who is a registered holistic nutritionist and a local Wisconsin supplier Mammoth farms run by Ed & Diane and started Zymbiotics. Since its start, it has quickly become a favorite for Wisconsin locals. At first it was available primarily at farmers markets around the area and now you can find it it at a lot of grocery stores around the Milwaukee and Madison area. Here’s a full list of where it’s available. And Jeff has plans in the works to make it available to purchase through their website, so soon you’ll be able to enjoy it from all over the place!! You can check out their website and you can find them on Facebook too.

Currently they offer 4 products. Kimchi, Vegan Kimchi, Ginger Carrots, & Sauerkraut, clever named Zimchi, Vegan Zimchi, Zarrots, and Zauerkraut. Zymbiotics 2 They are all delicious but my hands down favorite and the one I keep putting on almost everything is the Ginger Zarrots. You guyyyssss. THEY.ARE.SO.GOOD. Zymbiotics 1 If you live anywhere where you can get these, do yourself a solid and pick these up! As you’ll see below, I put them in the Bipimbap bowl and they were the perfect addition.

Zimbiotics are filled with all ingredients you know how to pronounce and can easily identify. Like the carrots for example. 4 ingredients. Can it get any simpler and good for you? Nope. If you’ve never purchased fresh fermented foods before here are my top 3 tips:

Naturally and fresh fermented foods should be kept in the refrigerator. If you don’t find them in the refrigerator section of your grocery store, don’t buy them. Heat kills the bacteria so if it’s a quality product it needs to be kept in a cool environment. Once you purchase your products and bring them home you should also store your products in the fridge until they’re gone.
When opening your product for the first time, open your products over the sink. Fermentation produces gases and carbonation, sometimes those gases can build up within the jar or container which can cause some liquid to bubble or fizz over. It doesn’t happen that often but to be safe and avoid a clean up, just open over the sink. 🙂
When just starting to eat fermented foods, start slowly. Eat about 3 tablespoons of the food a day. You’ll still reap the benefits and it will give your body time to adjust to the influx of good and healthy bacteria in your gut.

Now to focus on the delicious and outrageously power packed Bibimbap bowl. It has so many flavors that blend together so well. Before the recipe, here’s a tip on rice preparation.

If you want non sticky jasmine style rice it’s SO IMPORTANT to rinse your rice. Not only for non sticky rice but also to reduce the amount of starch you ingest. Rice will turn your rinsing water cloudy like this: Rinsing Rice 1 Continue to rinse and stir, rinse and stir your rice until the water is mostly clear, like shown here:
Rinsing Rice 2

It might seem like there’s a lot of stuff you need to make to put this all together but you can use the same pan, and each step is really pretty quick. I know I always say this but this is probably one of the best recipes for you to take your own liberties with. Do what you want. Make the veggies you want. Don’t like mushrooms? Don’t make them. You could caramelize some onions in their place, or anything you want! If you want more protein add in some meat or beans. There are no rules.

Make what you and your family love, do it together, eat together, enjoy it, and have fun! Fermented Food Bipimbap 1 Fermented Food Bipimbap Recipe Fermented Food Bipimbap 8 Fermented Food Bipimbap 6 Fermented Food Bipimbap 5 Fermented Food Bipimbap 4 Fermented Food Bipimbap 2 This is what happens when you let your hand model (my sweet brother) reap the rewards for his free labor:

xoxo

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*While I did receive free product from Jeff and Zymbiotics I was not monetarily compensation and all opinions here are my own.

Healthy Flourless Dark Chocolate Brownies {Gluten & Dairy Free}

Posted on March 26, 2016 by Georgina

Healthy Flourless Dark Chocolate Brownies

{Gluten & Dairy Free}

Healhty Brownie 3 You know those annoying “ads” on Facebook that are so misleading? Like the picture of a banana with the title “10 foods that are slowly killing you”. Yeah, you totally know the ones. They’re a buzzkill. Sometimes I’m deceived and click on them and read the craziest things and always wonder…what are these sites that only have that stuff? Who’s making money from this? How is this a real thing? Who writes that stuff? Do people believe this stuff? I probably spend too much time thinking about it to be honest.

What does that have to do with brownies? Ummmm not much.

I think I saw one one time about being addicted to sugar and how sugar is the devil. Totally agree…sort of. Too people people eat too much sugar and sugar is unnecessarily added to so many things. While I ~~struggle~~ um, ~~try really hard~~ um, attempt to keep processed sugars to a minimum in our diet, natural sugars are fair game! Honey, syrup, all fruits, molasses, rapadura, yes please, sign me up.

Inappropriate side note: if you love black and sweet coffee, honey in coffee is delicious.

Focus. Back to the brownies! These puppies are made with beans and nuts (last time made dessert with beans it turned out great too) cocao powder and sweetness from maple syrup. They’re too good to be true! But it is true. +Plus+ if you add chocolate or carob chips you gets extra special gooey spots, which lets face it, just make the world a better place. Healthy Brownie 9 Healthy Grain Free Brownie Recipe 100% disclosure here…. I’m having a hard time not making these every day and eating them and rationalizing it as healthy for me. So far only the one batch of them, but I can feel another one coming on. I mean c’mon you guys….like, how could you not? Healthy Brownie 11 Healthy Brownie 8 Healthy Brownie 4 Healthy Brownie 7 Healthy Brownie 5 You’re hungry for them now, right? Make them. You’ll love them. *pinkey swear promise*

xoxo

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Butternut Squash & Spinach Lasagna

Posted on March 12, 2016 by Georgina

Butternut Squash & Spinach Lasagna

Headers The weather the past week or so around here has been out of this world! In Wisconsin, weather fluctuates pretty extremely. One day could be 70 degrees and then you get snow the next. It’s a lot to handle sometimes.

You know what’s not hard to handle? This super duper easy and even more super duper delicious lasagna. It’s simple to make and a nice mix up from tomato sauce lasagnas.

I love to stock up on winter squashes and ~~hoard~~ save for use throughout the winter and spring. Some of them I chop and freeze (really just the butternut to have on hand for recipes) but mostly I just leave them in a cool, dark, dry place and I’ve never had one go bad before I get to use it.

These flavors will warm you from the inside out and the steps are simple. BONUS for you- in a rare chain of events, I actually documented the process (sort of). Feast your eyes and hopefully later your belly on this:

ONE: combine your butternut squash filling ingredients in food processor or high powered blender. Blend well until creamy. TWO: combine all of your spinach and cheese filling ingredients in a bowl. THREE: layer and assemble the lasagna. Follow those “layer instructions” below. FOUR: finish the layers and then top generously with cheese, because #Wisconsin.
FIVE: bake it, divvy up, and devour ❤Oh so delicious. I love nutmeg but some people are not big fans, you can omit if you would like, although I might judge your sanity because it’s so good. I could go on and on, but I’ll let these pictures speak for themselves. Hopefully you make this and love it too!If you’re not drooling now, something might be wrong with you. Here’s the recipe so you can make this for yourself. Recipe Cards

We’ve had a LOT of new views and new subscribers in the past few days because of the love from and a post by Madison Magazine. If you’re a new reader or just popping by, WELCOME! I hope you enjoy taking a peak around Eat Laugh Craft. Feel free to comment or send me messages, I love to connect with all my readers.

xoxo

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Báhn Mì Pizza

Posted on February 13, 2016 by Georgina

Báhn Mì Pizza

20151215_182330edit I think I’ve found a new hobby, turning delicious foods into pizza. Like this incredibly, insanely delicious Bahn Mi pizza.

I am a big time menu planner and I usually try to plan at least a weeks’ worth of meals at a time, and sometimes more. I made this delicious carnitas recipe and knew I would have leftovers. That, on top of the fact I had this delicious aioli sitting in my cupboard just waiting to be used, randomly inspired this bomb a** pizza. 20151215_185919edit The first time I had Bahn Mi was several years ago at Saigon Sisters in Chicago and I think I just stopped drooling over it like… last week. Hands down one of my favorite flavor combos is ~~south east asian flavors~~….scratch that, most asian flavors are my favorite. But Thai, Vietnamese, Korean ❤ ❤ ❤ maybe it’s the rice, ginger, lemongrass, curry, cilantro…not sure but I love it all.

Although I used this pre-made sauce for the base layer of the pizza, you could totally make your own. Just by mixing a little homemade mayo with chili sauce, lime juice, grated or powered ginger and tada! delicious creamy pizza base. 20151215_183408eedit Since national pizza day was this past Tuesday, I thought it was only fitting to share this recipe this week! ALWAYSSUMMER Ingredients:

1 pizza crust of your choice
1/3 cup thai aioli or spicy mayo (see note above)
pork carnitas leftovers (around 1.5 cups)
1 cup mozzarella cheese
2 medium carrots, julienned
½ English cucumber, julienned
1/4 cup cilantro
Sriracha or thai chili sauce

Directions:

►Preheat oven to 400° or what your pizza package directions say
►Spread thai aioli over pizza crust and top with shredded pork, mozzarella cheese, and julienned carrots.
►Bake in oven for 14-17 minutes or until ingredients are heated through and starting to brown.
►Remove from oven, garnish with the julienned cucumber and cilantro.
►Drizzle with spicy hot sauce if desired and ENJOY!!

20151215_183103edit Soooooo good. Pizza is like the chameleon of food. There are so many possibilities and any type is amazing! No, try me…. name one that isn’t good. Didn’t think so 🙂 20151215_185741edit