A Tea lover’s dream (Afternoon Tea at the Biltmore)

There are two types of people in this world. Tea lovers and people who haven’t discover how awesome tea really is. I my friend  fall in the former. I’ve always liked tea over coffee but when I started transitioning  to becoming a pescatarian ,that preference for tea grew. I started researching the different types of tea and their benefits and how adding it to your daily intake can do great wonders.  Slowly but surely I was drinking at least 3 cups of tea a day varying from Green ,Black Oolong and Rooibos.

By the time my birthday came around this year, I was pretty much enamored with tea that I wanted to incorporate  it into my birthday festivities somehow.So I did Afternoon Tea at the Historic  Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. The experience was so much fun that from that moment on ,I sought out to find the perfect tea set to have Afternoon Tea at home. Up until last week,I found a cute starter tea set that served 4 and was perfect for Matcha tea. I finally received it in the mail today and had my very first Afternoon Tea party at home with my family. It was so much fun that I’m thinking this might be a weekly or monthly thing for us in 2015.

I don’t personally have a preference of any brand of tea, but I am particular about the ingredients in my tea. Being that I drink my teas without sugar or cream I like the  teas to only contain organic tea leaves.  The closer to nature the better in my book! But sometimes that is not always the case especially when dealing with gourmet tea companies. Below I’ve added a list of the teas that I like and have tried in the past few months. Most of them are one ingredient teas and the others aren’t but they taste so good we’ll give them a pass. Happy Sipping!

• Prince of Peace Organic Oolong Tea
• Prince of Peace Organic Green Tea
• Prince of Peace Organic White Tea
• Prince of Peace Organic Black Tea
• Rishi Sencha Green Tea
• Republic of Tea Moringa Tea
• Republic of Tea Dandellion Tea
• Uncle Lee’s Organic Green Tea
• Choice Rooibos Tea
• Celestial Seasonings Vanilla Rooibos Tea
• Yogi GreenTea Kombucha Tea
• Guayaki Yerba Mate Organic Tea
• Teavana Green Moroccan Mint Tea

 

My FontaineBleau Experience

Its always great to break away for a little while every now and then, and this past weekend I did just that. My sister and I went on a 3-day staycation to the historic Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach. I was super excited about the whole experience in general but on top of that we had a private tour of what goes on behind the scenes of their pastry shop and a complimentary cake courtesy of their new bakery shop Chez BonBon. It was pretty much a big deal, to say the least.

We sought out to try a new restaurant for each meal for the duration of our stay and we did just that. Breakfast was not as  accommodating like lunch and dinner was but I was able to work around my picky eating ways. The food was pricey ,but the Kimchi Salmon Burger at Micheal Mina 74 is definitely a must have.

When it came time to go on the tour we were pretty excited ,We met the head Chef Jordi Panisello, the Chocolatier and the bakers. We got to try a few of their handmade chocolates as well as their gelatos. We saw the work stations, the ovens and how they made and prepped all the pastries for the different restaurants and bakery in the hotel. It was truly a pastry lover dream, such as myself.

All in all, we had an great time at the FontaineBleau and the hospitality was out of this world. Its amazing how much fun you can have right in your backyard.  If you’re ever in the area or looking to take a break checkout the FontaineBleau Hotel and their restaurants (their open to the public), you surely wont be disappointed.

P.S. : I’m officially on Instagram, Follow me @Forksandstraws

 

Rustic Spinach Pie

Very often I get into these food obsession, where I practically find any or every way to consume a specific  food into my daily diet.. My last food obsession was coconut, I tried about every coconut flavored  food out there from coconut cake, macaroons, ice cream and gelato. I’m pretty sure I could have carry this obsession through the end of the year, but I eventually had to give it a break. So in come my latest food  obsession : Spinach ! I’ve always liked spinach but lately I catch myself  eating it in every meal from my green smoothies, sandwiches to lasagna. Spinach is high in vitamins and mineral so I always feel like I’m doing something good for my body every time i eat it. Except of course when I eat it drenched in  cheese (like this recipe for instance). Either way, raw, boiled, cooked, baked I love spinach! So why not make a pie out of it?

I really wanted  to make this pie easy as possible , because I hate recipes that have a million and one ingredients. Its just not realistic for me or my fridge. So I decided to cut corners and bought a frozen pie crust to make my life easier along with frozen spinach and shredded cheese. The ingredients I used were really simple and basic,the prep was barely 15 minutes and didn’t require any cooking. I’ve seen recipes where onions and such are cooked prior to baking but my logic is why cook something over the stove if its going to be baking for a long period of time. If you’re like me and really hate dicing up onions and peppers but want it in your pie, buy a frozen seasoning mix that come with diced onions  and bell pepper and throw that in with the spinach. I also seen recipes where egg is added to give you that picture perfect slice of pie ,but I hate eggs and I was afraid that the pie would end up tasting like a spinach omelette. So I scrapped the eggs and prayed for the best.  Nonetheless the pie came out great!  Check out the recipe below:

Rustic Spinach Pie

• 2 bags of frozen spinach
• 1 container of ricotta cheese
• 1 bag of shredded six cheese
• 2  9″ inch pie crusts (frozen or homemade)
• red pepper flakes(optional)
• 1/2 cup of water (can be substituted with milk)
• 1/2 stick of melted butter (optional)

In a large bowl mix the ricotta and shredded cheese with half a cup of water. Stir until  the cheese become liquify enough to mix in the spinach,  add more water to your liking. Gradually mix the spinach in along with some pepper flakes until everything is coated with the cheese mixture. Butter your pan and place the pie crust in your pie pan. Fill the pie crust with your spinach filling and spread it evenly through the pan. Sprinkle additional red pepper flakes and shredded cheese on top to your liking.  Take the second pie crust and slice them thin and decorate the pie. Take the melted butter and brush the top of the pie crust, drizzle the rest over the pie(optional). Bake for 60 minutes at 350 degrees until golden brown.

P.S. : Warm marinara or an herb tomato sauce drizzled on top of the pie when plating  or on the side, takes this pie to a whole other level especially for the non-spinach lovers . Happy Baking!

 

Natural Protein “Powder”

Oh what a summer it has been! I graduated with my masters degree a few weeks ago, and i couldn’t be any happier. It’s amazing to see how much free time you actually have when you don’t have projects and assignments due every other week!  I will say though that this past two semesters my eating habits have been  horrible since my transition due to the lack of time I had. So I’m giving myself the next couple month to get back on track to my healthy eating. But enough about my life,lets talk about food!

Protein is something that is very important in any diet , whether you’re a meat eater or a plant based eater. The problem that comes with being a plant-based eater is that most people believe that you don’t get enough protein. With a little bit of research you can be well on your way to a protein filled diet, without the meat. I still prefer fish as my main source of protein but when I’m not , I like to fill up on plant based protein.

I’ve tried the protein powder thing but I never enjoyed the chalky taste, so I create my own natural plant based protein “powder”  made out of seeds and grains. My favorite combo is organic hemp seeds, organic chia seeds, organic raw flax seeds and organic raw rolled oats. I tend to take spoonfuls of  these and put them in a small tuber-ware or zip-lock and carry it in my lunch-bag or purse and sprinkle it on my food through out the day. When I do have time, I grind this mixture in my Nutri-Bullet to a powder consistency and add it to my smoothies, cookies and pancakes .  My favorite way to eat my protein mix (minus the oatmeal)  is on top of Greek yogurt topped with nuts, this combo make s a great satisfying breakfast high in protein.

Like usual I eyeball the spoonfuls , but  four tablespoons each of the Hemp seeds , Chia seeds and Flax-seeds combine offers 30 grams of protein .While a cup of oats provide 6 grams of protein, I only use 4 table spoons which can come out to be about 2-3 grams of protein. With the average  daily amount for women being 46 grams of protein and men 56 grams, getting to that daily amount is very easy. A great trail mix snack that I like to make in addition to this mix  that is high in protein is 4 tablespoons of raw pumpkin seeds, raw sunflower seeds and my favorite granola. Pumpkin seeds offer 8 grams of protein and Sunflower seeds offers 7 , depending on your favorite granola you have about 20 grams  of protein all in a simple trail mix.

What’s your favorite way to incorporate protein into your diet?

 

Its a Celebration!

October is my fave month of the year not just cause its my birthday month but its also my sister and brothers’ as well. So at our house October is a month of birthday cake and celebrations! First up was my sister’s birthday,we had an all day girls  day of shopping and getting pampered and later went to dinner with the family. That night we went to Grand Lux for dinner, We practically had the whole restaurant to ourselves which for Grand Lux i never seen happened  but it made it that much special. I ordered fish tacos with a goat cheese salad.  While my family ordered Pizza, Buffalo wings, Turkey burgers, and a Chicken& Shrimp platter. Trust me eating dinner with them for a transitioning  vegetarian (pescatarian)  isn’t the easiest but they are supportive of my change and that is all that matters.  At the end of dinner the waiter surprised my sis with a birthday pastry surprise that was just the cutest thing ever.  We than celebrated at home with cake and wine and finished the celebration with watching the Presidential Debate. That’s what i call a great start to a month long of celebrations!

Fish Tacos

Birthday Surprise

The restaurant all to ourselves!