Applesauce

Applesauce is one of my favorite breakfasts with a side of toast and a cup of tea.  Yes, that is one of my heavens.  A couple of years ago, I started making apple sauce from scratch. This is my current recipe.

Applesauce:

• 6-8 lbs of apples
•  3 pieces of lemon peel
• 2 cups of water
• Ground cinnamon

Wash, peel, core, and slice all the apples.  Place them in a fairly large pot and add the two cups of water, lemon peel, & cinnamon.  Turn the stove on med-high heat and wait for the water to gently boil.  Mix the apples as they cook so they won't stick or burn.  Once the everything is boiling, turn the heat down to medium and let the apples simmer for approximately 30 minutes.

Once the apples look pretty tender, you can either a) mash them with a potato masher to desired consistency, or b) get out your Bamix mixer and mash up the apples with the mashing blade.  I love my Bamix.  Moving on!  I like my applesauce a little chunky.  You can make your applesauce as smooth or chunky as you wish.  Good luck & enjoy!

French Bread Pizza

I love pizza. Not all pizza but my mom's homemade pizza is one of the best things ever.  My mom and I actually came up with this concept YEARS ago because our oven wasn't working and we wanted pizza.  Originally we made the French bread pizza on the grill.  We dressed up both sides like they were pizza crust, stuck them together like a sandwich, wrapped them in foil, & stuck them on the grill.  It worked beautifully actually.  When the oven came back, we were able to leave the faces open, so instead of a pizza sandwich, we had French Bread Pizza!

It's really simple get your favorite pizza toppings together, tomato sauce, cheese, and a loaf or two of French bread.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Cut the loaf of French bread in half lengthwise.  Place on a cookie sheet.  Coat both sides of the bread with tomato sauce, toppings and cheese.  I personally love to add fresh herbs on top of the cheese.  They're so full of flavor!  Once you're done dressing up the French bread, place the tray in the oven and cook the pizza for 15-20 minutes or until heated through and crunchy.  That's it!  Slice and serve.  You can also make little pizzas on mini bagels to serve as fun appetizers.  Let your imagination run wild.

Sauteed Green Beans

Ohmygoodness!!! These beans are so amazing!!! I had no idea what I was going to make for dinner and I came across these crazy-fresh green beans!  I figured I would lightly sauté the beans but I had no idea what kind of sauce.  It's really all about the basics.  These were sauteed with some onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and extra virgin olive oil.

Ingredients:

• Fresh green beans
• 1/4 cup onion, chopped
• 3 large cloves of garlic, minced
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt
• Pepper

I started a cast iron pan with olive oil, 1/4 cup chopped onion, and 3 large cloves of garlic.  Sauté the onions & garlic until the onions start to look translucent. Add the beans, salt and pepper (to taste). Sauté until piping hot and crunchy. Serve hot!

Asian Inspired Tofu Soup

I wanted something light yet wholesome for dinner and I didn't want to go grocery shopping.  So I started digging through the refrigerator and I came across a block of tofu and assorted vegetables that would make a decent soup.  I also had all the fixings for a flavorful broth.  The random assortment turned into Touch of Asian Tofu Soup!  It's really easy to make and you'll have a tasty dinner in about 30 minutes.  Serves 5.  Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups chopped cabbage
  
• 1 grated carrot
  
• 1 block of tofu, diced
  
• 1 stalk of celery, sliced
  
• 3 tbsps fresh chopped cilantro
  
• 3 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
  
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
  
• Olive oil
  
• 4 tbsps shoyu (soy sauce)
  
• 1 Rapunzel herb and salt bouillon cube
  
• 6 tbsps Chickenless Bouillon
  
• 6 cups water
  
• 1 tsp of sesame seeds

Chickenless Bouillon

1 1/2 C Nutritional yeast flakes
3 tbsp. onion powder
2 1/2 garlic powder
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp celery seed
2 1/2 tbsp Italian seasoning
2 tbsp dried parsley

Put all the ingredients, except parsley in a blender and make a fine powder. Stir in parsley.  Store in an airtight container.  Use about one tablespoon per cup of water.  Makes 32 portions.

Directions:

Take a seasoned iron skillet and pour enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan.  Turn the heat up to about medium-high and let the oil heat up, while you're waiting add half the ginger.

  Once the ginger looks slightly browned, add half the diced tofu.  Make the tofu in two batches, so it will evenly brown.  Once the tofu is done, set aside and move on the the soup.

Put the water to boil in a pot.  Add the 6 tbsps of Chickenless bouillon, the bouillon cube, shoyu (soy sauce).  Once the bouillon has dissolved, add the cabbage, celery, and carrots.  Turn heat down to medium.  Cook the vegetables for about 5 minutes then add the cilantro and tofu.  Let the soup simmer for about ten (10) minutes or until vegetables are tender.  Turn the heat off and add the tablespoon of sesame oil and the sesame seeds.  Serve immediately.

Tomato-Basil Salad with Mashed Potato Patties

The other night we had mashed potatoes and Greek salad for dinner.  The heat has been unbearable lately, so we wanted something simple and cool.  The greek salad was amazing.  I'll post the recipe & pictures soon.  The cool thing about mashed potatoes is you can turn the leftovers into something completely different.  Mix them into a bouillon to make a soup thicker, use them as a base with a little soy milk for a pot-pie.  The possibilities are endless.

What I did for lunch the next day was make mashed potato patties.  I added fresh chopped basil and minced garlic.  The patties are really simple to make.  Heat a cast iron skillet with Extra Virgin Olive Oil while you're making the patties.  Take a heaping tablespoon of mashed potatoes and shape the potatoes into patties in the palm of your hand.  Once the oil is heated place the patties in the pan and fry until golden brown on either side.  Serve hot.  I personally like to eat mine with a little natural salt and pepper.

I also make a very easy, very tasty salad to go with the potato patties.  

• Two tomatoes
• 4 tbsps fresh chopped basil
• natural salt
• black pepper

Cut the tomatoes into wedges, toss with the basil and some salt and pepper.  Serve immediately or chilled.

Greek Salad

I promised I'd post the recipe!  Here it is: Greek Salad!  Quick, easy & healthy!  What more could you ask for?

Ingredients:

1 red onion, but into bit sized pieces (can use white or sweet onions)

3 bell peppers (any color variety)

1 can black olives or half a jar of calamata olives

1 japanese cucumber, peeled & sliced

1/4 cup fresh, finely chopped herbs (cilantro, parsley, basil, mint, thyme, oregano, etc)

Dressing Ingredients:

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

3 tbsps extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp oregano, dried or fresh

Juice from half of one lemon

1 large or 2 small garlic cloves minced

Salt & pepper to taste

Mix all vegetables together in a large bowl.  Combine the red wine vinegar, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper in a small bowl on the side.  Whisk together, pour over vegetables, and toss together.  Serve with some crusty bread or falafel on pita bread. Serves around 6.  Enjoy!

Pan Seared Spinach with Garlic

I was at the grocery store in the produce section and I came across this amazing "Island Spinach".  It was so lush and green.  I had no idea what I was doing with it but I had to buy it.  The leaves were amazing; they very texturized and funny shaped, pointed at the tip of the leaves.  I decided to sear the spinach.  This recipe is really easy & loaded with flavor.

• 1 lb spinach
• 5 garlic cloves, sliced
  
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  
• Salt (I prefer "Real Salt" or Sea Salt)
• Black Pepper (I always use freshly ground)
  

Take your favorite frying pan and put enough olive oil in it to cover the bottom.  Turn the heat up to medium-high.  Once the oil is hot place the garlic and spinach in the pan.  The oil should be popping and steaming a bit.  Let the spinach cook on one side for about 30 seconds to 1 minute.  Quickly flip over and cook for an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute.  When the spinach is done is should be dark green to brown in color, it will also be wilted.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Serve Immediately.

HIFF - "Headhunters"

I went to go see "Headhunters" on Wednesday night. It was such a good film! I don't want to give too much away.... so here is the synopsis from IMDB:

Save for a somewhat diminutive stature, Roger is a man who apparently has it all; hes Norways most successful headhunter, hes married to the exceedingly beautiful gallery owner Diana, has a far too expensive villa and must, to keep his head above water financially, steal a little too much art.

Clas Greve is the perfect candidate for Rogers new recruitment assignment, being a former elite soldier and chief executive in the electronics business. Hes also in possession of a very valuable painting. Robert eyes a chance to permanently get rid of his financial worries and begins planning his final, greatest score.

But it turns out that Greve is playing games as well. When Roger breaks into Greves house, he finds something that changes his life completely, and soon forces him to run for his life...

I highly recommend this movie. It kept me on the edge of my seat!

"Gianni e le donne" otherwise know as "The Salt of Life"

I went to go see "The Salt of Life" on Saturday at HIFF. I really enjoyed it. This movie moved very slowly compared to American Hollywood movies - but I am slowly learning to appreciate films from other cultures. 

This is what the lines looked like at HIFF for nearly every movie screening! It was pretty crazy. But it is so worth it. It you haven't gone to the Hawaii International Film Festival yet, you must! 

Interview with Megan Nichols

I

60's Throwback TV Shows

Has anyone else noticed that there are two shows debuting this season that take place in the 60's?  There's The Playboy Club on NBC and Pan Am on ABC.

I'm wondering if this is due (in part) to the wild popularity of Mad Men.

I sat down to watch the pilot episode of The Playboy Club after my sister told me that she had watched it and she liked it. I kind of expected it to be trashy, but I was plesantly surprised. The costumes were beautiful, the make-up was so classically glamourous. I don't know a whole lot about film yet, but I LOVED the lighting. The story line was also surprising to me.

As for Pan Am, I can already tell that I'm going to adore this show. I thought the pilot episode was brilliant. Seriously, don't get me started on the costumes. Beautiful.

You can find both shows on Hulu. You should really check them out if you have a chance.

Bio

My name is Lauren Victoria. I'm a junior at Hawaii Pacific University, majoring in Integrated Multimedia with a minor in Theatre. I was born and raised in Hawaii on the island of Oahu.

I've always loved the arts; you name it, I've probably tried it. I started out dancing ballet when I was very young and I went wild from there. I'm most passionate about performing arts: musical theatre, dancing, singing and acting. I also learned to appreciate the studio arts through classes I took in middle/high school. But digital arts, digital media... I never thought of web or graphic design as an art until I was about 17. When I discovered that I could major in digital arts, I was thrilled.

I'm currently working as a graphic designer at HPU in the Study Abroad office. I've also started my own graphic design and photography company, Lauren Victoria Designs. I'm working towards being a full-time freelancer.

Now for the fun stuff: I love dark chocolate and tea. On the weekends you'll find me in trapeze and aerial silk classes. I have a cat named Tigerlily and 2 kittens name Samson and Maximillian.