copy cat trader joes

The other day my Instagram friend, @cre808 posted a picture of some snacks she received from her friend.

One that popped out at me was Trader Joes (TJs) Everything but the Bagel Nut Duo.

Of course we don't have TJs here in Japan, so I looked online to see if they had a list of the ingredients.

They did, so I adapted Ellie Krieger's Spiced Nut recipe and made a small batch for our pupus (appetizers).

If you want to try making your own, here is what I used....

1 cup mixed nuts & pumpkin seeds 

1/2 tablespoon maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon everything but the bagel spice

Mix everything well.

Put on parchment and bake in 170F (325 C) for 15 to 20 minutes (I baked mine for 15).

Cool and keep in airtight container.

NOTES: this was delicious.

A little sweet, salty, garlicky...am definitely making this again!

p.s. have a good week, heard that there is a hurricane approaching Hawaii, please be safe and take care everyone!

things I'm liking

Been awhile since I've done a post like this...

Haagen-Dazs' Matcha Opera...bitter green tea ice cream, almond sauce, cookies, a blonde chocolate ice cream and topped with a sweet dark chocolate...nice balance.

Haagen-Dazs' Crisp Chip Chocolate...milk chocolate ice cream with bits of chocolate chips and I think crushed wafers.

Lotte's Chocolate Truffle filled with matcha ice cream and a matcha chocolate sauce...apparently this is only sold at 7-eleven.

Saba (mackerel) sushi wrapped with takana (mustard cabbage) and filled with egg, cucumber, hijiki and crunchy ume...wish I had bought more pieces!

The Loaf's cream stew bread and pannetone.

Since I filled up a certain amount of stamps on my card, I received a drip coffee pack from them.

And I was also able to pick up some of their cheese cookies, will have these with some wine soon!

1st time adding some chocolate syrup to my gingerbread latte, so glad I did! Also am enjoying their cacao nuts.

What are you enjoying these days?

spiced mixed nuts

Back in 2014, I tried David Lebovitz's recipe for Spiced Mixed Nuts.

I had used coconut oil then, but didn't like the end result...

Recently, I re-tried it and this time used butter and added pretzels like his recipe instructs...so delicious!

I am thinking to make a small batch again soon...

nuts soaked in honey

Nuts soaked in honey is trending here...

I'm not sure where this originated but remember seeing them in Paris at their markets.

Instead of buying the ones that I've seen at the markets here, I made my own.

Nuts Soaked in Honey : makes 1 bottle

Your favorite nuts (toasted, roasted or not), preferably unsalted
Your favorite honey

Fill a bottle with your favorite nuts and then drizzle the honey in to fill in the crevices.

Wait a couple of days before using.

NOTES: Super easy and delicious on plain yogurt.

Another way I've seen this used is on salad, which I hope to try soon.

I think this would also make nice gifts.

Have you ever seen/tried nuts soaked in honey? Please tell me how you used them.

tom yum nuts

I was browsing in Kaldi one day and came upon these...Tom Yum Nuts.

If you are familiar with Tom Yum Soup, then you'll know it is a Thai version of "hot and sour" soup. If you aren't familiar, you can read more about it here.

Cashews are coated with a "caramel" then dredged into herbs and spices like chili, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves.

These are spicy! and they are similar to Sahale Snacks' Sing Buri...Sahale's were sweeter.

These are nice with beer.

I'm glad I bought two bags...

trying new recipes

I tried a couple of new recipes from David Lebovitz's book "The Sweet Life in Paris".

When I read this book earlier this year, I found myself chuckling with some of the dilemmas that he came across with life in France because they were similar to my experiences in Japan.

Along with his many stories, he also included many recipes.

One that caught my eye was this, "Spiced Mixed Nuts". I love to munch on things especially nuts.

Instead of butter, I used coconut oil.

Do you use coconut oil? I am kind of on the fence about it. For one, it leaves a weird residue in my mouth afterwards.

Am wondering if you think the oil is rancid already?!

And you have to "plan" on what you use it in because it makes things taste and smell "coconutty".

It supposedly has great health benefits, but for the two reasons above, I hardly use it.

Anyway, I want to re-try this one using butter like his recipe directs. Also, I didn't put pretzels in it like his recipe, so I want to add that in too.

The other recipe I tried was his "Peanut Slaw".

I forgot to put shoyu (soy sauce) in the dressing.

I also added some sweet chili sauce because my peanut butter isn't sweetened and I also thought the dressing needed some "heat".

I also put in some green onions because I didn't have cilantro.

Loved the flavors and crunch from the cabbage and carrots. I added the peanuts just before serving because I didn't want them getting soggy.

I'll have to try both of these recipes again....hopefully soon!

snackage

Picked up this savory Sahale Snacks while in Hawaii.

Called Sahale Crunchers, this pairs almonds with parmesan and herbs.

Perfect with wine or beer.

cinnamon rolls

Remember those True North almond pecan cashew clusters I told you about?

Well, there were a lot of "crumbs" at the bottom...about 1/4 cup worth, that I couldn't see throwing away.

Then over the weekend I watched, "Kamome Shokudo" a quirky Japanese foodie movie set in Finland.

The main character opens a cafe in Finland and the adventures begin.

During the film, one of the items she makes are cinnamon rolls.

With the "crumbs" of the nut clusters and some cinnamon, I used my last "expired" yeast packet and made these...

I made some glaze with powdered sugar and some water and drizzled it over.

It was my first time making cinnamon rolls, they don't look as fabulous as the ones in the movie, but straight out of the oven they were delicious with some coffee and it was a nice way to use up those "crumbs" (and that expired yeast).

UPDATE: the next day they were a bit dense, probably because it didn't rise well to begin with, but still tasty all the same.

hooked

I think I'm hooked...The other night for dinner, I tried that recipe for kinpira again. This time using carrots, eggplant, red bell pepper and almonds.

I used the jakko again and since I didn't have cashews, topped the dish with the almonds, instead of cooking it with the veggies, this kept the nuts crunchy.

And on another night, I also tried this using pine nuts.

I really like these versions because of the addition of the nuts.

Not only that, but when you eat this with chopsticks, you need to eat kinda slowly, picking up the nuts with your chopsticks as you go along.

I didn't think Satoshi would be filled up after eating this and also served some tofu topped with kim chee, and a bowl of rice topped with some furikake...perfect dinner.

Anyway, we're off on a little vacation, I'll be off the grid and will moderate comments when I get back and since I don't have anything in my drafts, this site will be rather quiet.

Hope you have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing what you've been up to on your blogs when I get back.

oh my!

Yesterday, we woke up to snow. A little dusting on the rooftops. Woot! The weather is still flip-flopping and some days Spring isn't in sight.

I've been thinking about chocolate lately...I know lots of people love Nutella and I used to too, but the truth is it has additives, maybe even some preservatives.

In fact, when I opened a bottle awhile back, there was actually mold on top...eww! I was sad because I had to throw out the whole thing.

Then I tasted the dark chocolate hazelnut spread from Barbero, like Nutella but made with dark chocolate and no preservatives or additives...yum.

I remembered I had saved a small bag of hazelnuts in my freezer and decided to try David Lebovitz's recipe.

I didn't have the exact amounts of the ingredients he listed. So I ad-libbed.

Here are the proportions I used which made a cup and a little

1/4 cup milk
58 grams hazelnuts
85 grams 70% Lindt (65 grams) & 60% Ghiradelli chocolate (20 grams), measured then melted
24 grams almonds, unsalted
15 grams cacao nibs

Roast the hazelnuts in a 150C (300F) oven for 20 minutes then rub the skins with a dish towel.
Whiz the nuts and nib in the food processor, to as fine as it can whiz
After melting the chocolate, add the warm milk to it and mix well.
Add chocolate mixture to food processor and whiz.
Put into bottle and lick the spatula.
Enjoy!

NOTES: this wasn't as creamy as his version, but it was delicious. Next time I'm in the gourmet supermarket, I'm gonna see if they have hazelnuts so I can make this again.

It is Friday here, hope you have a great weekend!

UPDATE: I re-melted everything and added 1/2 a cup more of milk because the consistency was too hard after I refrigerated the spread. This seems to be a nicer consistency.

me-li-le-pi om!

"Me-li-le-pi Om!" Is a Zen mantra...not!

The weather on Thursday was cold and rainy so I stayed indoors and tried to keep myself entertained by making some sunshine.

The "mantra" stands for Mexican Lime Lemon Pistachio Olive oil Muffins...I shortened it because, well, it was too long! (See what happens when I stay indoors all day long??...)

I've been intrigued with many posts about olive oil cakes/muffins. Looking at the many online recipes, it seems as though they use olive oil in place of butter, so using a muffin recipe that I always use, I subbed a Mexican Lime Olive Oil which I had received from my cousin way back when.

The oil was amazingly still good and very fragrant.

I had intended to also put some lemon juice into the batter (squeezed the lemon and everything) but totally forgot to, so the recipe only has the zest of a lemon in there (and I had a nice yet sour apertif while waiting for these to bake).

The muffins came out very moist, citrus flavors are strong with a little crunch from a handful of pistachios (should've added a little more!). (I received the pistachios from Rowena, thank you!)

Here is the recipe if you'd like to try it: makes 6
150 grams flour
6 grams baking powder
1 egg
80 grams sugar
50 grams Queen Creek Mexican Lime Olive Oil
70 mililiters milk
handful of pistachios
zest of 1 lemon, minced

Sift flour and baking powder, set aside.
Throw in zest and pistachios into flour mixture to coat

With a hand mixer, beat egg and sugar
Add in oil and milk, beat a little longer

Add the wet mixture to the dry and mix well with a rubber spatula

Bake at 180C (350F) for about 25 minutes.

NOTES: Actually, I was envisioning a lemon poppy olive oil muffin, but couldn't find black poppy seeds, only white. Then I got to thinking about the pistachios I received from Rowena and lemon. And then remembered I had the lime olive oil tucked away in my cupboard.

Anyway, this was very citrusy and moist. I would definitely make this again especially when I am too lazy to defrost some butter.

Even though the weather outside was miserable, I'd say there was a lot of sunshine in my kitchen.

peeled snacks

Recently saw these in a magazine, I think "Health", and wanted to find them locally. After looking at all the places they listed on their website, I came up empty, so I ordered online.

These little packages of fruit and nuts by Peeled Snacks are good. The nuts are packed separately from the fruit so they don't get soggy.

Another good thing is that they don't charge an arm and a leg for the shipping. At US$27.99 (with shipping) for 3 each of 3 "flavors" (total 9 bags), it comes out to a little over US$3 a bag. Each bag is 2 servings.

You may be surprised because there is just 2/3 cup of nuts and fruit in one bag, (maybe a bit pricey??) but it is just the right amount for a snack. (Though it does take some willpower to save the other half of the bag for another snack.)

Here are the "flavors" I got: Bing Bing Cherry (peaches, apples, bing cherries, walnuts & cashews), Plu-what? (white peaches, plums, cashews & pluots), Fig Sated (apricots, figs, dates, almonds & pistachios). So far I've tried the Fig Sated and loved it. All the fruits were moist, not hard like some dried fruits can be. And the nuts a little salty but crunchy.

I'm glad I ordered them and glad I tried them, can't wait to try the other 2 "flavors".

spiced mixed nuts + herbed goat cheese dip

I recently tried the "herbed goat cheese dip" which was in "The Food You Crave", but since I didn't have the fresh herbs that Ellie uses in her recipe, I ad-libbed and added dried dill, onion powder, pepper and garlic powder instead.

It was great with raw red bell pepper, carrots, cucumber & steamed green beans. I want to make this again. It is a great way to eat a lot of veggies.

Another recipe I tried was for Ellie's "Spiced Mixed Nuts". It was so easy and so tasty. You are only allowed 1/3 cup as a serving, it is kind of hard to stop eating though...

To make them, I bought a package of unsalted mixed nuts (almonds, cashews, walnuts, mac nuts) and added some sunflower seeds.

Yum!