Mac 'n' Cheese

Recipe 4/120
Hey folks! It's been a long time. Today I had my good friend, Zac, over to help me with the blog....He was zero help. But atleast I got to share how truly radical this mac 'n' cheese was.
Zac had the privilege of picking the recipe we were making today considering I was making it for him. Of course he has the most basic palette, so he chose Gratin de macaronis au fromage. Even though it was basic, my family was very pleased with his choice, considering it tasted so marvelous.
To start out we had to acquire the ingredients for the dish. First, we went into the wilderness & grabbed a bay leaf off the nearest branch. Then we went to the local cow pasture & found a baby cow to raise as our own. A few years later, once we nurtured & cared for the cow, we milked it until we had enough for seven ounces of Gruyére cheese. Last but not least, we bought a plane ticket to France & went to the closest wal-mart to buy the finest box of macaroni.
After our adventures we read the directions & made the Gratin de macaronis au fromage. & as Yoda would say, "Delicious it was."

-Priscilla

Winter Salad with a Goat Cheese Mousse

Recipe 3/120

Sorry it's been a week or so, I swear I have made multiple recipes I just haven't had the resources to post them on the old blog since I got rid of my phone like a grandma. My grandma side has been showing more than usual the past couple weeks. I'm teaching myself to crochet right now & I've spent so much unnecessary time in Michaels. But this is a good thing because the more time I spend in Michaels the more I realize I don't NEED most of the things I'm carrying.

I need to make the liver salad but once I do I am done with salads!! It's been an amazing journey through the salad section & I feel like a better person now because of it. Salad has changed my life for the better. We'll...Rachel Khoo's version of salad.

Rachel Khoo is a genius because she saved the best salad for last. It's called salade d'hiver avec une mousse au fromage de chèvre (winter salad with a goats cheese mousse) I could literally eat this salad for a year & be completely okay with it. The cheese is a homemade mousse & the carrots & apples are roasted in the oven which goes amazing with the apple cider dressing. Most of her salads are cooked which is probably why I suddenly love salad.

-Priscilla

Warm Potato & Apple Salad

Recipe 2/120
Today I made salade tiède de pommes de terre et pommes avec des miettes de boudin noir (warm potato & apple salad with blood-sausage crumbs). I ran into another problem today because someone ate my sausage... That's what happens when you live in a household that lives on grass. So I replaced the sausage with ground turkey.
If you know me then you know that I've been a freak about food since the age of 13. I went from reading the nutritional facts on everything to living a paleo lifestyle to living a vegan lifestyle to being a raw vegan. Yeah. That's fruits, veggies, nuts & seeds & you can't cook any of it. There were times that I craved cooked cabbage but I wouldn't eat it because the cooking process removed nutrients. Soo completing this challenge will be a struggle for me, but a delicious struggle nonetheless.
This recipe was my first challenge considering I hadn't consumed a potato in years. But I sat down & I ate the dang potato & to be honest, I enjoyed the dang potato...& the other elements involved with it.

-Priscilla

Puy Lentil Salad

Recipe 1/120
People, I was tremendously blessed today (no offense to Rachel Khoo). I'm completing this challenge beginning to end & to my luck, the first recipe was salade de figures et firs de volailles (fig & chicken liver salad). I was hesitant but in honor of the challenge, I was going to make it & try to enjoy it. I spent some lovely time at the Findlay Market with Portia getting to know the butchers & praise the Lord, everyone was out of chicken liver!!! Apparently some guy came & bought out all of the chicken liver from each stand. What are the odds? So I decided to make the next recipe (because I had to honor the challenge) & come back in a few days for the chicken liver...

Sidenote, there is an exhibit right now across from Findlay Market called "Eggs" & it's definitely worth checking out. Me & Portia both bought an egg & each egg had a task inside that we have to complete. For example, hers was "order a refill for someone," & mine was "ask a kid to draw a masterpiece for you to hang on your fridge." I'm trying to show Portia that Cincinnati is a good place because she is a little scared. So this was one of those moments of pride in my community. 

Back to the subject, I ended up making the second recipe which is lentilles du puy avec un fromage de chèure, betteraues et use vinaigrette d'aneth (Puy lentil salad with goat's cheese, beets, & a dill vinaigrette). This sounds better than the chicken liver but still doesn't sound delicious. Once I tasted it I immediately felt bad for doubting Rachel Khoo. It was radical. Now I'm a little excited for chicken liver salad...emphasis on little.

-Priscilla

Little Paris Kitchen by Rachel Khoo

Hey guys!
I recently went down to Franklin, Tennessee to spend time with family & get some much needed shopping done. While we were down there we visited Gray's on Main which is my all time favorite restaurant (that I have been to). I ordered the scallops which came on 3 separate small sweet potato pancakes & were drizzled with a raspberry glaze. I was SOO inspired. I'm working on recreating the dish & I'll let you know when I think it's good enough to share.

We spent some time in Nashville & I got an iced coffee at the Frothy Monkey which was the most radical place I have ever been. Then we went to Whites Mercantile which was so cute. I was going crazy over everything I couldn't afford. I came across this cookbook & once again, I'm inspired. I'm making it a goal of mine to cook through the cookbook. 120 recipes. Classic French Dishes. Beginning to end. & I'll blog about it in the process. Maybe I should also blog my weight fluctuating.
Or not.

I'm starting tonight so wish me luck. (:

-Priscilla

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hello Humans.

Sorry I haven't posted anything in awhile. I've been battling the everyday struggles of the average college student: Schoolwork, work-work, babysitting, gardening, etc. 

It's been a loooooooong week & since tomorrows a monday I thought all of us Kohls women deserved a chocolatey treat.

HEALTHY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Now, when I say "healthy" I don't mean low calorie, weight watchers "healthy." I mean high calorie, gain a few pounds, all natural, whole ingredients, "healthy." Doesn't sound that appealing since it's spring & everyone seems to start a new diet in the spring but I'd rather enjoy a really good high calorie treat than to have one that's "low fat" & contains some kind of artificial sweeteners that are worse for your body than the extra 1/2 pound.

These cookies really are divine. I swear they are worth it. & if you are sticking to the "Paleo Lifestyle" like I am, then you won't be cheating! Even though it feels like it. (:

Tips: I added tooonnnnsss of chocolate chips. Some cookies I added more than others because we just really needed chocolate today.

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Ingredients:

• 3 c. Almond Flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Bean
• 1/2 c. Organic Coconut Oil, unrefined
• 1/2 c. Maple Syrup
• 2  Eggs
• Chocolate Chips (Go to the health foods aisle)

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl & combine wet ingredients in a small bowl. Add the wet to the dry ingredients & mix. Place the cookie dough onto a baking sheet with about a tablespoon for each cookie. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Enjoy!!

P.S. It makes about 30 cookies but we ate A LOT of the cookie dough. (:

-Priscilla

Basque Pipérade

In honor of Sunday afternoons & one less hour of sleep I decided to treat me & the ladies (mom & Portia) to a good lunch. I've been making a lot of french food lately because it makes me feel cool & this dish is one I have been DYING to try.

Basque Pipérade

Servings: 6

Ingredients:

• 1 28 oz. can Whole Peeled San Marzano Tomatoes
• 16 oz. San Marzano Tomatoe Puree
• 4-5 Whole Roasted Sweet Bell Peppers
• 10-15 Fresh Garlic Cloves
• 1 1/2 Sliced Yellow Onions
• 6 Large Eggs
• 2 tsp. Paprika
• 1 tsp. Chili Powder
• 4 Bay Leaves
• 1 tsp. Kosher Salt
• 1 tsp Pepper
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Bread (Ezekial 4:9 is my favorite brand)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place your sliced onions & garlic in a large skillet on medium heat with some olive oil. Cook until the onions are translucent then add all of your spices & let cook for a few minutes while stirring. Then add whole tomatoes, & tomato puree. Pour the mixture into a large pan & add the six eggs by clearing a spot then cracking the egg. Bake until the whites are cooked but the yolk is a bit runny. (About 7-10 minutes) Serve with toast.

Enjoy!!

-Priscilla

RATATOUILLE

Yes, you did read the title correct. If you have ever seen the movie Ratatouille then it has probably been a dream of yours since you've seen it to make ratatouille. Well folks, I did it. I made ratatouille and it tastes fan-flipping-tastic.

Forgive me. I didn't get any pictures of the process. But here's the outcome. (:

Ratatouille

Servings: 4-6           Calories: It's healthy, I swear

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Onion
• 3 Garlic Cloves
• 12 oz. Tomato Puree
• 1/4 tsp. Oregano
• 1/4 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
• 2 tbsp. Olive Oil
• 1 Eggplant
• 1 Zucchini
• 1 Yellow Squash
• 1 Red Bell Pepper
• Fresh Thyme
• Salt & Pepper

Directions:
Grab a large skillet & place on stovetop with medium heat. Add tomato puree, chopped onion, minced garlic cloves, oregano, red pepper flakes, & one tablespoon of olive oil. Stir the sauce for a couple of minutes. (You won't need to long because we'll be putting this in the oven in a bit to bake.
Next cut up eggplant, zucchini, & yellow squash into 1/16 slices. Overlap them around the pan starting from the outside until you reach the center. Season with salt, pepper, and thyme. Place in oven on 375 for 40-45 minutes.

Enjoy!!

-priscilla

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

Sick day #2. Today consisted of studying my bible, The Pioneer Woman, & cooking. I'm in my second week of my bible class through Liberty Online. It's already been so beneficial because it gives me tools to effectively & accurately read my bible. The hard part is most college classes you can get an A without doing the reading...but in a bible class the whole point is to do the reading. So it takes a lot more time than a typical class would. After saying that, I do suggest that everyone take a bible class because it has improved my understanding of the bible in such a small frame of time.

Recently I have a habit of cleaning the kitchen while watching the pioneer woman & then cooking while watching the pioneer woman. After I finished my bible reading that basically summed up the rest of my day. I made sunny side up eggs with sautéed red onion & mushrooms in red wine vinegar for breakfast this morning.    It was fantastic.

But anyways let's get to the subject of this post. I have no idea why but I was craving Oatmeal Cookies today. Of course even when I am sick, I still try to eat healthy so I came up with my own healthier, low calorie, vegan recipe.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

Servings: 12          Calories: 54

Ingredients:

• 1 c. Oats
• 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
• Pinch of Salt
• Egg Replacement (1 tbsp. flax meal + 3 tbsp. water)
• 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
• 1/2 c. PB2
• 1/4 c. Light Brown Sugar
• Raisins (optional)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grab a medium bowl & combine the oats, cinnamon, baking soda, & salt. Grab a smaller bowl for your egg replacement. Let it sit for 4 minutes. Next add brown sugar, vanilla, & your PB2 (already combined with water). Add the smaller mixture to the bigger mixture & roll into balls & place on your cookie sheet.
Place your cookies in the oven for 8-10 minutes. Take out of the oven & get munching.

Enjoy!!

-priscilla

Chocolate Coconut Mousse

You may have read about my wonderful day with my sister residing in Kroger. If not, you can click here. We let our minds go crazy & came up with this wonderful, light dessert.

Chocolate Coconut Mousse

Servings: 2

Ingredients:

Bottom Layer

• 1 c. Hazelnuts
• 1/8 c. Coconut Oil
• 1 1/2 tsp. Cacao Powder
• 1/4 tsp. Vanilla
• 4 drops of Vanilla Stevia
• Pinch of Salt

Mousse

• Coconut Milk (Native Forest)
•  2 tsp. Cacao
• 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
• 4 drops of Vanilla Stevia
• Raspberries (optional)

Directions:

First thing you need to do is empty your single can of coconut milk into a glass dish & place in the fridge. We want it to get cold so it's easier to whip up later. 

To get started on the first layer, we just want to place the hazelnuts in the food processor until they are almost like powder. Then add in the rest of the ingredients & pulse. Take your mixture & set in the fridge to firm up.

Once your coconut milk has chilled for at least 2 hours you may take it out & started whipping it with your whisk. We want it to have rough peaks so let's hope you've been working out your wrist muscles. If not, I'm sure someone participating in crossfit could help you out. Once it is thick add the rest of your ingredients.

Take a small glass & place a small layer of your first layer on the bottom then layer with the Mousse & raspberries. I personally thought the acidity of the raspberries made it.

Enjoy!!

-priscilla

Snow Days

Jesus sent us a few inches of frozen water which gave a few of us commoners a day of rest. if you haven't been blessed to witness this frozen water, it looks just like this -->

                                             
              <-- G O R G E O U S. Sadly, every human residing in the Kohls house right now currently has a virus. So me & Portia spent the day together. We've been cooking a lot lately in the Kohls house & as I was watching my sister in the kitchen practicing her sunny side up eggs & looking homeless I thought, "Let's center our whole day around this vision." So we did.

She woke up like dis.

1. We spent most of our day inside Kroger, wearing flannels over our sweats. Now if I'm being completely honest- this day was pretty normal. I spend a minimum of 1 hour in kroger each day. I'm being completely honest. Sometimes I just walk around & try to get new ideas while maintaining friendships with the "baristas" at starbucks & the bank people. 

She woke up like dis.

Anyways, we had this phenomenal idea of making our own dessert. With NO HELP!! So we basically walked around the store & picked out ingredients that sounded good together. We also wanted something cold for our poor throats. ):

We ended up leaving the store with an idea for a coconut chocolate mousse. Our shopping cart contained:

She woke up like dis.

1. Coconut Milk

2. Hazelnuts

3. Cacao

4. Raspberries

5. Used Sample Cups

2. Grocery shopping is fun but tiring, so we took a break. I'm taking bible classes through liberty right now so I worked on that while Portia sat outside in a "cave" she made that she swears was warm.
Oh & whenever I'm with kids I have a voice in my head saying, "BUY THEM CANDY." So I did.

She woke up like dis.

3. Our mousse came out fantastic. The recipe is here if that intrigues you. We took it to the dining room & shared it while I let her win in Phase 10. I swear I let her win. Our MOUSSE:

Here's additional photos from our day:

-priscilla

Valentines Day Chocolates

since valentines day just happened yesterday, i thought it'd be the perfect opportunity for a chocolate  post!! of course the idea of eating plain chocolate from wal-mart makes me physically ill. so i decided to put my own "priscilla approved" spin on valentines day chocolate.

cacao butter & coconut oil are both solid at room temperature so it's perfect for making chocolate.

i melted my coconut oil before just to help me measure.

"Galentines Day" Dark Chocolate
Servings: 24                    Calories: 90

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. Cacao Butter
• 1/2 c. Coconut Oil
• 1/2 c. Cacao
• Vanilla Stevia to taste (optional)

Directions:
Melt cacao butter & coconut oil in a double boiler on medium heat. Once melted, add cacao. Get a mini muffin pan & fill with your desired toppings. Add 1 tablespoon of the cacao mixture into each spot. Place in freezer for 15 minutes & you're done! It's that easy.

These are high in calorie for a tbsp of chocolate but they are better for you than the store-bought stuff & we in the Kohls house like to consider it our "daily coconut oil intake." Enjoy!!

-priscilla

witches of the west, UNITE!!

i've always tried to be set apart & not be swayed by others or pulled into immodesty. (if that's a word) but i recently reevaluated what i wear & how modest my wardrobe really is & i realized that i have been completely failing. i was easily swayed because i kept reminding myself that "i am covering up more than most girls do," & "the godly girl i respect wear's this so i can too." but these are all just excuses i made to allow certain items into my wardrobe.

before we go further i do want to make one thing clear: I DO NOT DRESS TO IMPRESS MEN. i know a lot of people, including my father, think that women's one goal is to attract men with their physical appearance so that they can enchant the men into coming back to their lair to perform the sacred dance ritual of the witches from the west. but what i need to make clear is that women dress to impress women. i guarantee you that 99% of women, if being honest, would agree with that statement.

i've been extremely convicted lately on this topic because i'm honestly scared of men. i hear all of these college rape stories & i try to think how any guy could ever do that to a girl. but if i'm honest, i do think we women should take part of the blame. before we jump to conclusions, i do want to say that i would never give any man an excuse for rape. thats insane. & i don't believe that women are intentionally asking for it by the way they act & dress. i'm just saying, being a guy is hard. i passed 8 billboards today with women in lingerie (yes, i counted). the Lord only knows how many ads with 1/2 dressed women popped up on my twitter or Facebook today. i have personally come to a point where i don't even notice it. my mind immediately skips over the 1/2 dressed women because it doesn't affect me. but for men, it's a constant battle they have to face every day. God made men with these desires & i want to do everything i can to make this battle less difficult for them.

i went through my closet & just purged a lot of my clothing. a few select items would be:

-low cut tops

-bikinis

-short dresses/skirts

-backless dresses/shirts (because we know how men like the spine)

-anything super tight

i still wear leggings as long as i'm wearing a long shirt or dress & it covers by bottom. i still wear some dresses that are somewhat short but i've learned that adding a cute slip underneath to make them a few inches longer does wonders.

it's definitely easier just to wear whatever is trending or comfortable but while i'm doing this, i'm thinking of my future husband & how i pray that other women are taking the same initiative around him right now.

i would also like to just randomly say that i am cracking up on the inside because everything i am learning now are things that my father has tried to teach me for years & as i get older & wiser, i agree with everything he has said. so shoutout to THEMAN!!

-priscilla

just some thoughts

i feel like i question every decision i make. it's just so hard to differentiate between God's will for my life & my own.
there are few things i'm sure about.
1. i'm sure that i'm called to serve in cross-cultural missions.
2. i'm sure that i need some type of degree.
3. i'm sure that GOD IS MY MAIN SQUEEZE (sorry if that's disrespectful, God)

but here are some things i'm not sure about.
1. to what capacity do you want me serving, Lord? months, years, for the rest of my life?
2. what do i major in? how could i afford college & living overseas?

i'm positive that my life will turn out fine, the way you intended it to be, Lord. but it's hard to let go & realize that your ways are not my ways, & your thoughts are not my thoughts. i'm just asking for direction & contentment knowing that i may not get the answers i want right at this very moment.

thanks to my readers in Germany! you are the acai to my smoothie.

-priscilla

just ignore me

do you ever wonder if we can control more than we realize? with the weather being all north pole & such it's been terrible. but one day i was just thinking, i wonder if i can convince myself that i enjoy being cold? or if i can convince myself that it's actually warm? so every morning when i got in my car & it was freezing i would do things i usually associate with happiness. like singing my favorite songs or excessively laughing. (yes, i do realize i probably looked crazy.) maybe i truly am insane like everyone says but i swear its working.
do you ever wonder if some of the "dreams" we've had actually happened? for example, in one dream i always had when i was little i would wake up & look out my window & this man would be standing in our yard. then another time i had the same dream except when i looked out the window he was standing a lot closer than before. maybe this dream sparked my strange fear of men.--we'll talk more about that another time--but now i wonder if when i woke up in my dream, i actually woke up from my sleep & there really was a creepy man watching me.....creeeepppyy
do you ever wonder if you're on a reality show but you don't know it & everyone around you are actors? yeah, me neither. goodnight.


shoutout to my viewers in france. i don't know where i'd be right now without you. (probs the same place i am now) peace.

-priscilla

13:31 is the same thing backwards.

i'm doing the whole "read your bible in a year" thing & i love it. before, i would just pick whatever book sounded good at the moment. or if i was in a bible study i would try to study it before we studied it. but since i'm reading it all in order i comprehend it so much better & i can actually carry on conversations giving my opinion on certain chapters.
well, i was reading in genesis & there are so many parts where i am thinking, "what the flip, why would God be okay with this, like dude this is obviously not cool." like when Abraham threw Hagar & Ishmael out because Sarah wanted it, i was so upset. & even though some of us haven't been tossed out, i think we can all relate to just not knowing. not knowing where to go from here, not knowing if someone will be here two days from now, or just not knowing why. but the cool thing about the bible is- you get the answer to all of these questions in the next chapter. i was so upset Abe threw her out & God was cool with it but then i read the next chapter & i was like oh. that's why. sorry i questioned you, God.
this is why i suggest everyone read through genesis because i swear, this happens 1,000,000 times & each time God is all Matthew 13:31 on me. ("O you of little faith, why did you doubt?") i pinky promise i hear him saying this verse in my head ERRY DAY. but being able to see in the bible how things worked out for these people who are feeling the same way i occasionally feel is so encouraging. it really just brings to light the whole, "trust in Him because he sees the bigger picture." & let's just be real, it's S00000 much easier to have faith in God. I hate worrying.

thanks to my friends in poland for listening. :*

-priscilla