cooking ala mel

healthy recipes and the occasional craft

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DIY Coconut Milk

August is an extremely busy month here – two weddings, cookie baking for said weddings, family from Denmark visiting, lots of back and forth driving between Pittsburgh and Buffalo, as well as school starting immediately after.  The few days that I’m actually at home all day (and not working), I’ve been trying to fill the fridge up with things to prepare me for school – nut butters (almond and sunflower seed) and the like.

Having wanted to make my own coconut milk for a while, I finally got around to that!  I’m a bit disappointed that I took so long.. I made it out in my head to be much more difficult than it is.  It’s really a no-brainer, and the hands-on time is about 5 minutes.  That includes straining.
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Chicken Tinga

Tinga is a dish I had for my first time when I was visiting my close friends in Seattle.  Now, every time I’m in Seattle, I’m never wanting for delicious food, as they are all such wonderful cooks.  When perusing Pinterest, I stumbled upon a chicken tinga recipe and was immediately transported back to that dish I first had in Seattle.  Roger made his with some very nicely slow-cooked pork, but because we don’t often have pork here, I was quite excited to find a recipe with chicken.  This is the quicker version of tinga, but it’s no less flavorful.

Tinga is traditionally some sort of shredded meat (pork, beef, or chicken) in a smoky chipotle tomato sauce.  It’s eaten on a tostada with sour cream, lettuce, and cheese.  The sour cream is totally necessary to counter the spiciness of the sauce.
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Quinoa Pancakes (Gluten Free)

This week is already halfway over, and it’s barely even truly started for me yet.  Over the weekend, my parents came to visit from Pittsburgh, so it was full of lots of good food, good company, and a few tourist attractions – namely the Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls and a walk through the shops of Elmwood Ave (and the subsequent purchase of fancy flavored coffee beans – expensive, but the apartment smells so delicious every time we grind some up).  We had Monday to recover (and go to work) before heading over to Canada on Tuesday for a quick visit (which I will probably talk about later in another post), coming back today.  Busy (in a relaxing, vacation sort of way) weeks like this just scream for pancakes like these.

These pancakes are nutty, delicious, and healthy.  They don’t necessarily need any toppings, being tasty enough on their own, but I found them especially good slathered with a fruity greek yogurt between each layer.  Maple syrup or honey is always a good choice.. maybe some freshly whipped cream and berries?  Yes. [Read more…]