Chocolate Zucchini Cake + Mixed Berry Sorbet

I wish I could pinpoint where my mantras come from, but in all honesty they just float in like fluffy clouds and take up residence in my brain. I don’t get a choice in the matter. Earlier this year, my mantra was “follow your bliss”. I still love that one, and it still guides me, but recently another one has made itself known: “choose art”. Mmm. I’m in love with it.

Choose art. It’s a mantra, but it’s also a paradigm: it shapes my choices and changes the way I think about things. I’m defining “art” loosely, but it all makes sense to me. By “art”, I mean anything that enriches me + my life. So flipping through a glossy spread in Bon Appetit counts. Reading a book counts. Baking, food styling and photography definitely count. And when I “choose art”, I spend less of my precious free time soaking up TV shows or movies like a boring sponge. Choosing art keeps me busy, keeps me entertained,  stops me from being lonely.

Last week, I was feeling particularly listless and lonely, and I had just finished a midterm so I had a bit of free time. So instead of watching TV, I decided to create. I made double chocolate zucchini cake and mixed berry sorbet. Both are delicious, and together are even better! Not to mention that getting to practice my photography that made me the happiest of girls.

Here are the recipes for double chocolate zucchini cake and mixed berry sorbet. As recipes go, they’re very simple. I was able to make both without leaving my house because I had a 3-pack of zucchini that needed using, and a plethora of frozen mixed berries in the freezer.

I’m lucky enough to have this ice cream maker at my disposal, but I promise the cake is good on its own too! If you do have access to an ice cream maker, let me assure you that the sorbet is amazing on its own as well. I’ve also been adding a little to smoothies, and it packs a flavour punch.

Enjoy!

Breakfast Smoothies

During my time eating by the slow-carb diet, every morning I ate the same thing. I’d briefly sauté a handful of broccoli and run around doing my makeup and getting dressed while it sizzled in the background. Then, I’d add a spoon of cottage cheese and 2 beaten eggs or some egg whites, depending on my mood. It was yummy, but sometimes I struggled with the egg whites being extremely watery and sort of gross. I also had issues with my frying pans getting egg-crusted and impossible to clean.

A couple weeks ago, I developed a new breakfast system that I want to share! For me, smoothies are perfect: I can prepare them when I’m still half asleep, I can quickly clean up the immersion blender, and, let’s be real here – they’re delicious.

The key here is the immersion blender. Last summer, I tried to do fruit smoothies, but using the regular blender ended up being too noisy, not to mention messy and ineffective. I bought my immersion blender cheaply at the grocery store, it’s by President’s Choice’s Everyday Essentials brand (I can’t find it online). It comes with a plastic cup which is very easy to clean, I use it for my morning smoothie every day.

Here are the loose “recipes” I’ve been using lately, depending on what I have in my kitchen.

#1: blend small handful of spinach with soy milk until smooth. Add 2-3 tbsp Greek yogurt, handful of frozen mixed berries, one banana (broken up), and about 1/4 cup of orange juice. Blend!

#2: blend small handful of spinach with some fruit juice until smooth. Add 2-3 tbsp Greek yogurt, handful frozen raspberries, 2 tbsp fruit sorbet, and a little more juice. Blend!

As you can see, the second is a little less filling. I’m planning to experiment with different types of smoothies in the coming weeks, so I’d love to hear your suggestions. I buy about one bag of frozen berries per week, alternating between mixed berries and raspberries. They cost about $6 at my grocery store. I always buy the same kind of Greek yogurt, because it’s totally delicious and full of protein. And just in case any of you are skeptical about the spinach: don’t be. It’s impossible to taste, or to feel texturally.

So please: any smoothie recipes?

The Magic of Writing It Down

I was going to write a “love list” post today, because there are just oodles of things that I’m loving right now. My life is currently summery and lovely, and so many new things are making me happy (read: iced coffee), and I wanted to record them, for posterity’s sake. But then, as I sat down to write the list, this post decided it wanted to be written, and who am I to say no? So.

The magic of writing it down. I should probably put a disclaimer up front: I have no idea whether this “technique” will have the same effects for you as it does for me (and my Mom – hi Mom!). Second disclaimer: as a topic, this one is painfully obvious, so I’ll try to keep it short. Third disclaimer: I’m definitely not trying to re-invent the wheel here, I’ve just been recently noticing the beautiful, simple magic of writing things down.

…

The Magic of Writing It DownRead More »

Project 365: Week 11

My current mantra regarding Project 365: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. You see, I keep getting discouraged – I keep thinking things like “I totally half-assed Tuesday’s pictures. Did I really just take a picture of my Dad on Skype?”. But then, when I come online to do my weekly blog post of the photos, I get encouraged – I go “yay! I love all these photos, especially side-by-side.” I think there’s a deep lesson in here somewhere, but considering that all I can think about is going to go play outside in the sun while drinking iced coffee and eating ketchup-covered fries, I’m going to leave it at that. I’ll let you figure out the lesson, if there is one. (Doubtful.)

The HAPPIEST of Thursdays to you!

Scroll to Top