Food - Gloriousgal Studio

Hey my foodies and non-foodies alike. School is in full swing for my two daughters which means leaving early and coming home pretty late. And all though I like to think of my children as always being so full of energy, I know they need a little boost sometimes. I had been hunting for a snack idea for them that would give them energy and have healthy ingredients minus the chocolate and peanuts since they are allergic. I came across the energy balls or bites. These were perfect because I could tailor them to each of my kids. So I ended up making apple cinnamon balls and blueberry almond balls, each with different type of butters. And better still, there was no bake involved. So here is what I used:

4 cups of rolled oats (2 cups each batch)

2 cups ground flaxseed (1 cup each batch)

2 cups sweetened shredded coconut (1 cup each batch)

1 cup of honey ( half cup each)

1 teaspoon salt (half teaspoon each)

1 cup of almond butter

1 cup of sunflower seed butter

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract (1 teaspoon each batch)

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon ground cloves

1 cup of dried blueberries

1 cup of sliced almonds

1 cup of dried apple rings cut into bite sizes

1 baking sheet lined with wax paper or parchment

2 large mixing bowls

For all the oatmeal, I warmed in a frying pan to make the oats a bit easier to incorporate. I used my favorite Red Cooper Frying. If you want to go and get it, her is my Amazon Affiliate link. I love this pan so much!!!

https://amzn.to/2CTvSSY

So to each mixing bowl add in 1 cup of ground flaxseed, 2 cups of oats, 1 cup coconut, half cup of honey, teaspoon of vanilla extract and half teaspoon of salt.

Each cup of butters, you want to melt a bit in the microwave to make it easier to handle.

For the apple cinnamon batch: add in the tablespoon of cinnamon and ground cloves, the almond butter and the pieces of dried apple. Mix well

For the blueberry Almond batch: add in the dried blueberry and sliced almonds and the melted sunflower seed butter. Mix well.

Now the fun part for those who love to get there hands messy, so it is a great cooking activity for kids. Time to roll out the balls. If when you begin to roll the balls out and you find that they are breaking apart, this is because they are to dry and you need to add a few tablespoons of water to help them roll easier.

Make the balls as big or small as you like them. I used a healthy tablespoon size and formed a tight ball in my hand, then place them on the bake sheet.

Once everything is rolled out, place then in the fridge for 20 minutes so they can set, after which you want to store them in a airtight container. They should keep for over a week or so, however if you get the response that I received at my house, they will barely last 4 days or so.

If you would like to see the actually process, head over to my YouTube and checkout the video her at Energy Balls | Apple Cinnamon…

Until next time, Cook Eat Enjoy!!!!

Posted on September 24, 2018 by Gloria

Best Things I ate – Summer 2018

Hey foodies and non-foodies alike. I hope you had an awesome and tasty summer. So yes it is officially Autumn here in the U.S. and I just couldn’t let summer go without highlighting some of the best things I ate; some of these I cooked and others were had out and about. So in no particular order let’s get started.

I love Asian food of all kinds, and if there are noodles involved, I am sold from jump-street. I had these sweet potato noodles that I got from the Asian grocers. With them, I made Japchae, a typical cold veggie noodle dish. Mine had cabbage, shredded carrots, onion, mushrooms, garlic, and cilantro. This is so tasty and light and I like mine on the warmer side. But it is a great way to get your veggies in a meal. The great thing about this dish is that I ate it all times of day and night and it kept me full for some hours without feeling heavy.

Here in Portland Oregon where I reside, we have tons of food carts, pods, trucks, etc. Downtown Portland, the Alder Street Food Carts, there is a food cart called Bing Mi. It is located on 9th and Alder. The only thing they make is Chinese Crepes. I had heard a lot about this place before I ever ate one. I drive Lyft, and I had customers who were visiting tell me about this place. So I decided to give it a try. It was a phenomenal mix of Asian taste and American breakfast.

Oh, and I can not forget about fair food. I only go to county fairs to eat all the stuff I don’t eat on a regular. This fair, I had my eyes set on the huge smoked turkey leg and I made straight to the stand upon entering the fairgrounds. I felt like a Flintstone eating this big leg, and it’s not a cute food to eat. So if you are on a date or you are worried about how people look at you when eat, this might not be the food for you. But since none of these were the case for me, I chomped away.

Now I love corn on the cob and I have been eating my share this summer. Before this summer, I slightly remember seeing a lot of Latinos and Hispanics eating corn on the cob that had cheese on it. But it didn’t fully register until I started seeing this corn called Elotes on Youtube. Well… I finally got to have one this summer at the Portland Pride Parade. OMG, it was the best thing; the combination of the sweet corn, the tartness from the cotija cheese, the creaminess of the mayo and the very very light spice of the chili powder. My mouth and my stomach were beyond happy. I loved this so much, that for the next two weeks following this encounter with my dear Elotes, I made them at home at least 6 times within those weeks. This might be the top favorite thing I ate this summer.

These were just a few of the great foods I consumed this summer, the ones that come to my mind first. The lovely thing about food is that I can have them any time of year I want because I can cook them at home, so I don’t have to wait until summer. In the comments, let me know what were some of your favorite foods you had this summer and if you have pics, I would love to see.

If you want to keep up with what I eat or what I am doing, follow me on Instagram @Gloriousgal . I am typically very active there. Also if you want to see me cook different dishes or travel and eat, Follow my Youtube Channel @Cook Eat Enjoy.

And until Next time, Cook eat and Enjoy!!!