Egg and Asparagus Pastry Puffs

     I have this terrible habit of going to Half Price Books and buying half the store and never reading 

any of the books I buy....it's tragic I know. However, this habit does not seem to apply to cookbooks, particularly cookbooks with pictures :) Yes, I must admit...I'm a complete four year old when it 

comes to books with pictures. 

     On my last trip to Half Price Books I came across this fantastic treasure of a book called  

Step by Step Vegetarian: The Perfect Guide to Meat-Free Meals. Pictures! Pictures everywhere! So 

far I've made 2 recipes from it, and holy hot dang! Had to share this one with you, it's absolutely 

heavenly and relatively affordable. Hope you guys enjoy!

Ingredients: 

(Serves 4)

• 1 large ready to bake pastry puff sheet (I used Pepperidge Farm, one sheet)
• 1/4 cup milk
• Approx. 24 slim asparagus spears
• 3/4 cup tomato sauce
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese (optional)  
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Parchment paper, or foil and some nonstick spray
• Baking sheet
• Rolling pin (optional, see step 1) 
• A smallish cup, a coffee cup should work fine
• Medium sized sauce pan/pot

Step-by-Step, dudes and dudettes:

1. If your pastry is silly and not an easy to use Pepperidge Farm pastry, you may need to roll it into a flat-ish rectangle approximately 14x8 inches. Then cut this into four smaller rectangles. 
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. 
3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or foil and a heaping dose of nonstick spray. Lay out your freshly cut rectangular pastry dough and prick the surface with a fork (to allow the heat from the oven transfer through the future yummy, buttery, flaky layers of the pastry, and more importantly so it looks like a cute little rectangular dalmatian) Brush lightly with milk and set in refrigerator to chill for 20 minutes. 
4. Bring some lightly salted water to a boil in your medium sized pot. Rinse your asparagus, and chop off the woody so that they are just slightly shorter than the length of your pastries. Boil the asparagus spears for 2-3 minutes, remove just before they become tender. Drain and rinse the asparagus in cold water. 
5. Once your pastries have chilled, spread the tomato sauce from the middle of each pastry out to almost the edge. Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, you want the pastry to be puffed around the edges and pale golden. 
6. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with mozzarella. Arrange the asparagus on top like a little asparagus corral around the edges. The asparagus will act as a fence for that unruly egg you're about to put on the top.
7. Next, one at a time, crack an egg into the small coffee cup and slide the egg into the asparagus corral. Proceed to sing weird old western songs to yourself to aid in this process. 
8. Return the pastries to the oven and bake for at least 10 minutes or until the eggs no longer wiggle around every time you hungrily open up the oven door to check on them.
9. Season with salt and pepper and make a feeble attempt not to burn your mouth as you scarf them down.

Creamy Tomato Soup [VEGAN]

My friends inspired me to do a 4 day liquid diet cleanse recently. I'm bad about getting around to these things on my own because, well...they suck. I was browsing the soup aisle to see if there was anything vegan I could eat that didn't include any starchy veggies, yada, yada. There was NONE. So I read the ingredients of my favorite tomato bisque and decided to give it a shot. And what do you know? This soup was the 

BEST THING I'D EVER TASTED 

 IN MY LIFE!!!  

It tasted like cheese. Like sweet, sweet parmesan and asiago cheese. I had to be sure it wasn't just hunger hijacking my taste buds so I made it again and yup, still awesome. Hope you guys enjoy. 

Ingredients

1 Avacado

4 Tomatoes (heirloom are best)

1/2 Of an onion

3 Cloves garlic

1 Tbsp or more of fresh oregano (you can use dehydrated but it just isn't the same)

 Salt/pepper to taste

It's so easy

1.  Scoop the seeds out of the tomatoes and chop into chunks a size that won't anger the blender gods

2.  Cut up your onion, avacado, and garlic cloves in a similar fashion

3.  Throw all that, plus the fresh oregano, in the blender until it reaches desired consistancy

4.  Stir in your salt and pepper

5.  Heat on the stove top in a medium saucepan stirring often (the stirring often is because this stuff pops alot if it heats up too quickly....never really figured out why that is) 

   

Fire Cider - a winter must have!

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted. I've been getting a head start on my Christmas gifts this year to avoid that awful feeling of total brokeness right after a last minute shopping binge. And THIS is the perfect gift!! Seriously!! What better gift than the gift of health, right? But get started on it early because it does take one month to brew.

So, a little info on Fire Cider: 

I learned about it during my studies with Nicole Telkes, of the Wildflower School of Botanical Medicine. There is much folklore surrounding this ancient recipe, my favorite tale being that looter's of homes during the black plague relied heavily on it to keep them from catching the dreadful illness. Whether this is true or not, you'd have to seek out for yourself. I'm going to believe it though, because personal experience has taught me: fire cider WILL save your ass.

The garlic is anti-inflammatory as well as being a naturally occurring antibiotic.  The serrano and ginger work to increase circulation in the body causing a warming effect. And the apple cider vinegar has an alkalizing effect on the body. 

Feeling a little stagnant, or like you're about to come down with something? A couple tablespoons of this will have you warmed up and back on your feet in no time! Fire cider is also great for: congestion, sore throat, digestion, gas/bloating, and allergies. Try it as a preventative or a rescue remedy! (Please note that I am not a doctor, so please don't come sue me because you made this and it didn't cure your cancer or whatever)

The recipe itself is free to be altered, what I have listed here is just what I put into my own brew this time around for convenience purposes. Alternative recipes include turmeric, oranges, onions, lemons, raw honey, habaneros, the list goes on! 

Making Your Fire Cider:

You'll need:

-Apple Cider Vinegar (unfiltered and/or unpasteurized is best)

-Garlic

-Ginger

-Serrano

-Any other superfoods or roots you find beneficial

- A large, clean, wide mouthed jar with a lid

-Another clean jar with a lid to hold your finished product

 *Organic/farmer's market/home grown is obviously the best choice for your ingredients. Seeing as this is not always possible, you can at least put on some feel good music and saturate your work with good intention ;)

 *Put however much you want of each ingredient in there, and no need to be shy on the peppers because it never really comes out as spicy as you think it will.

1) Chop up your garlic, serrano, and ginger. The finer you cut it, the more medicinal properties will be extracted. 

Make sure to cut your own fingers fourteen times so 

you finish this project looking like Edward Bandaid-hands.  

2) Pack the ingredients down tightly into a wide mouthed jar and cover completely with apple cider vinegar. Make sure nothing is sticking out above the vinegar or it runs the risk of going bad.  

3) Seal your jar, mark the date on it, set it somewhere in your pantry/cabinet and forget about it for a month! (If you want to go the traditional route, you can bury it underground for one full moon cycle)

4) When a month has passed strain the solids out (compost these), and store the remaining liquid in a clean glass jar. Refrigeration is not necessary, but it shouldn't harm your medicine to keep it there if it puts you at ease to do so. 

Let me again note that I am not a doctor. This blog post, along with all others related to "Psychedelicious am I", are meant for entertainment and educational purposes only.

Mexican Pizza

So this one is perfect for entertaining because 1)Who doesn't love pizza?! and 2)Its actually quite filling so you don't have to make a side dish to go with it....unless your friends are "those type" if ya know what I mean..

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 medium sized pizza crusts

1 large jar of your favorite salsa

1 can black beans

1 bell pepper, chopped

1-2 serranos/jalepenos/whatever floats your boat (optional)

1 medium red onion, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced

2 tbsp cumin spice (or to taste - I use a lot of the stuff)

1 16oz bag of shredded Colby Jack

Salt and pepper to taste

P-P-P-Pizza Tiiiiime: 

1.  Check out the label on your pizza crusts for oven temp and baking instructions. 
2. Spread salsa over pizza crusts, then with a spoon disperse your black beans, cumin, minced garlic, and salt&pepper as evenly as possible.
3. Add a layer of cheese, then your other toppings (onion, bell pepper, pepper)
4. Add another layer of cheese, muahaha!
5. Continue to follow baking instructions for your pizza crust
6. Let cool for 5mins, cut up, and stuff your face!

Peach Ice Cream - that doesn't require an ice cream maker ;)

Can you say "HOMEMADE PEACH ICE CREAM" faster than you can drool?? Yeah, neither can I. So when my friend gifted me some homegrown organic peaches it was quite embarrassing to have to excuse myself to find a way to wipe up all that drool....
Enjoy and don't make a fool of yourself.

What you'll need (instead of an expensive and practically useless ice cream maker):
- Egg beaters...I just used a cheap little hand held
- Large bowl
- Enough room in your freezer for said large bowl
- Roughly 3 hours where you'll be somewhere near your freezer

Ingredients:
- 6 eggs (beaten)
- 3 cups sugar
- around 10 peaches (over ripe is best)
- 4 cups heavy cream
- 2 cups half&half
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt

Ok, so here we go!

Peel and pit your peaches. I learned an awesome trick from my grandmother that works like a charm for this. Boil some water in a medium sized pot. Have a bowl of ice water next to your cutting/peeling/pitting/magic station. Drop a few peaches into the boiling water till they get hot. Then with a pair of tongs, move a peach over to the ice water. Dunk it in for a few seconds and then peel! Or let it peel itself because it pretty much does if you do it this way. Repeat peach by peach. It's kind of like juggling, but if you like cooking you'll have fun with it. 

Ok, so peaches are peeled! Mix all those ingredients together in a large bowl. 

Put mixture in the fridge for two hours. Then move to freezer for 30 minutes. Blend it again with your beaters. Another 30 minutes in the freezer, repeat beating. The more you do that the fluffier your ice cream will be. I only beat mine twice and it came out a nice consistency, slow melting, almost like...dare I say it?...Ben and Jerry's......mmmmm....

Be sure to share some with your friends! Only YOU can fight obesity ;)

Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers

    Amazing things happen when you need to clean out your fridge. Amazingly tasty things - and I don't even like bell peppers. This one is super filling, if you're anything like me you'll only need one of these bad boys to last you through the night/day. And this one can easily be made vegan :)

This recipe (ideally) serves 4.

Ingredients

- 4 bell peppers 

- 1 cup uncooked quinoa

- 2 cups water

- 1 tbsp butter (or cooking oil)

- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro

- 2 lemons (juice of) 

- 2 Roma tomatoes

- 1/2 cup shredded cheese (optional)

- 1 small to medium onion (diced)

- 3 cloves garlic (minced)

- 1 jalapeno (optional)

Let's do it:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Rinse and strain your quinoa a couple of times. If you've never cooked with quinoa before it can taste a little bitter if you don't do this. Just a heads up, so you don't go to all this trouble and then think "Wow, 'Can You Say Psychedelicious' is a terrible food blog. I'm never going there again!!" 

Proceed to dump the rinsed quinoa into a pot. Cover with 2 cups of water and lemon juice. Bring to a boil. Then cover and reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes. It should be nice and fluffy when done.

In the meantime, melt your butter/heat your oil in a skillet on medium-high heat. Toss in your onions and garlic and cook until soft or slightly brown. I always like to add that you can skip cooking the onion for a more crisp, fresh, onion-y taste if you prefer.  

While the onions and garlic are browning go ahead and chop up your tomatoes, jalapeno, and cilantro.

In a medium bowl mix together quinoa, onions, garlic, tomatoes, cheese, jalapeno, and cilantro. 

Cut the top portion off of your bell peppers and scoop out the seeds. I actually trimmed a little off the bottom of mine so they would stand up better.

Spoon the quinoa mixture into the peppers all the way to the top!

Replace the tops and put those puppys on a baking sheet and into the oven for about 15-20 mins, or until your whole house smells like awesome and you just can't take it anymore.

Let cool for a few minutes, and then let the eating commence!

Yummmm!

Sun-Dried Tomato & Spinach Quiche

     Ok, so my picture isn't up to par...but this quiche IS. And its all about that parmesan cheese peeps, so don't skip it because it really does take this dish to the next level! The original recipe (and a true blogger with legit pictures) can be found here. The sun-dried tomatoes were just something I had lying around that I needed to use and they worked perfectly! What don't sun-dried tomatoes work with though? Anyways, enjoy guys!

Ingredients

- 1 tbsp olive oil (or butter)

- 1 small to medium sized onion chopped

- 2 or 3 cloves garlic minced

- roughly 3 cups fresh spinach

- 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes

- 5 large eggs beaten

- 2 cups Monterey Jack cheese

- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

- pinch of crushed red pepper

- salt/pepper to taste

So here's what you're gonna do kids:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Lightly grease baking pan.
2. In a skillet, heat oil at medium high heat. Throw in your garlic and onions and saute until soft. For a crunchier fresher onion taste you might try skipping this step, or sauteing for less time. I however dislike onions, so this helps make their flavor a little less pungent for me.
3. Add spinach to skillet. Cover skillet and drop the heat down to medium-low until spinach begins to get floppy and "wilted". 
4. In a large bowl combine eggs, salt/pepper, crushed red pepper, and Monterey Jack cheese. Mix in your spinach, onions, sun dried tomatoes, and garlic and pour into prepared baking pan. 
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes (you want it to start to brown around the edges and top). Top with parmesan cheese immediately after removing from oven. Let sit for a few minutes - don't and burn the sweet life out of your taste buds like I did - and enjoy!