Soy-Honey Glazed Steamed Brussels Sprouts with Baked Tofu

By: Jackie

Brussels sprouts are a new veggie for me. Their popularity in the food community sparked my curiosity as I passed the fresh-cut veggie section at Trader’s. I grabbed a bag of Brussels and remembered the first time I tried them only a few years ago as a student teacher. The head teacher steamed Brussels sprouts, poured a soy-honey glaze on top, and served them for the children's snack. To my surprise, the children ate them up! 

If the kids and foodies love Brussels, I will love them, too! (Plus, all those vitamins/fiber/antioxidants couldn't hurt.)

Mission accomplished…. And Jon liked them, too!

Cycling Bites: 30-Minute Granola

By: Jon

Happy Friday! Memorial Day weekend is here, and I am excited to bring you a very savory granola recipe. Simple to make, savory and sweet, and requires no baking.

As Jackie mentioned in our previous post, we both have been busy lately. Yet, I am ecstatic to be back sharing our culinary adventures with all of you.

Tour of California: Stage 3. The main peloton ascending Calaveras Road in Milpitas, CA.

In mid-May, the Tour of California rode through the San Francisco Bay Area. The Tour of California is an eight-day event featuring elite professional teams and athletes from around the world. Top professional cycling teams compete in a challenging 800-mile course through scenic California highways and roadways. I was excited to spectate for my second year in a row. The night prior to spectating Stage 3 in San Jose, I debated on baking a batch of granola. The first time I made granola, I found that toasting the oats in the oven took a significant portion of the cooking time. Additionally, the clean up consisted of too many bowls, spoons, and spatulas. Thus, I decided not to make granola again.

However, months later as I browsed through my daily reads, I stumbled upon an article at Bicycling.com that caught my attention, "A Recipe for Homemade Energy Bars for Cyclists by Cyclists," by Neil Bezdek. Though the instructions seemed easy to follow, I was hesitant on how well the granola would taste because the recipe used only a few ingredients.

Since the recipe did not involve any baking, I took a risk and decided to try it out. I packed up the finished products for the 46-mile bike ride with a buddy of mine whom I race with to follow the pro peloton* from San Jose through Milpitas. I found the bars kept their shape while remaining soft and gooey on the inside. The peanut butter added a good amount of savory flavor while the trail mix gave variety to each bite. After only the first mouthful, I knew that these home-made granola bars were podium worthy.

Each 2x2 square packs an energizing blend of simple sugars (sweet stuff), and complex carbohydrates (oats and whole grains,etc.) to keep you trucking along the trail. The granola squares are small enough to pack in a backpack or pocket, and provides about 250 calories in each delectable morsel.

Thank you, Bicycling.com, for a great granola recipe!

Juicy Apple Pie

By: Jackie

“Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans” - John Lennon

After a two month blogging hiatus, we’re backkkkk! We haven’t stopped cooking or taking photos of our food, but we briefly stopped blogging and reading others’ blogs. Shame on us.

With work, a cyclist’s training schedule (Jon), Zuckerberg sightings at dinner, bidding adieu to family moving to Japan, acupuncture appointments (me), and holiday and birthday dinners, Jon and I had barely any time to do anything. Phew… As summer slowly approaches, things are finally starting to wind down, so here we are! Back with a fresh post about an apple pie I baked for my dad’s birthday two months ago… in March!

Happy (Belated) Birthday, Dad!

We had a quiet dinner at home to celebrate my dad’s birthday. I wanted to bake an apple pie for dessert, so thus began my search on the interwebs for the very best apple pie recipe with a doughy yet flaky crust and a juicy filling.

Since it was my first time attempting pie, we asked for recipes and tips on our Facebook page and found two great suggestions! Smitten Kitchen’s All Butter, Really Flaky Pie Dough for the crust and Paula Deen’s Crunch Top Apple Pie filling. The combination was aweeesoommeee.