Drinks | Life Tastes Like Food

Silk Soymilk and Startup Life

Coffee, Drinks, Life, San Francisco, Sponsored Post 1 Response »

May 032013

Huzza! The glory of working at a startup in San Francisco means…free snacks and drinks! ALL DAY, EVERYDAY. Which is a good and bad thing depending on how you look at it. Can you guess how many bags of chips I can eat in one day?! It’s too embarrassing, I’m never telling!

One quality I pride myself on is how quickly I can notice when our office kitchen gets restocked. The downside to this is that I find myself eating a lot of unhealthy snacks throughout the day. I’m lucky that our company provides some healthy alternatives though! Or else I probably would have gained 15 pounds by now. Hummus, raw almonds, and Silk Soy Milk are some of the great healthy options in the office kitchen.

We are always fully stocked with Silk Soy Milk! Whether my colleagues and I are adding it to our morning cup(s) of coffee, pouring it into a bowl of cereal, or dipping cookies in it, we’re using it daily.

And then there’s Silk Iced Latte. WOAH. I didn’t even know they had an Iced Latte product so when Silk asked me take a taste, I couldn’t pass it up! 100 calories a serving (1 cup), espresso, and soy. It’s the perfect mid-day office drink and just awesome to have on any warm day in general! My colleagues and I like to go on a lot of coffee runs throughout the work day so this is a great alternative to have around.

Basically, Silk Iced Latte is a win in my book. It’s sweet, creamy, and has the perfect amount of espresso added to it. And so simple to drink! Just pour over ice and enjoy.

I would say that Silk Iced Latte can be summed up as smooth indulgence and espresso decadence all channeled into Endless Love. (Yep, Lionel says it the best.)

Oh! And if you were to blend it with some ice (or ice cream!), that milkshake would definitely bring all the boys the the yard…if you know what I mean. Ok…I’m done hehe

Seriously though, not only is this Iced Vanilla Latte an awesome addition to the Silk family, but when I walked into the grocery store and saw so many different Silk flavors and options, I wanted to try them all! Although Silk did sponsor this post, these thoughts are entirely my own…so for realz, go Silk Soymilk!

Do you drink Silk Soymilk? If so, what’s your favorite type? I need more recommendations :)

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This post is brought to you by Silk. Take the Tastemaker Challenge on facebook.com/silkUS

Green Monster Smoothie

Breakfast, Drinks, Health, Life, Recipe 2 Responses »

Apr 092013

How do you guys feel about juicing? I still can’t decide. I think juicing has its benefits and it’s great for cleansing but I also feel like juicing wastes a lot of the fruit/veggie when you’re just extracting the juice. I guess maybe if there were easier ways to use the left over fiber I’d be more into it?

I’m a huge fan of green smoothies though and definitely don’t mind the fiber that’s mixed in. In fact, I actually like that they’re thicker because it makes them taste heartier and I get pretty full from drinking a whole glass! Plus, I really enjoy benefiting from all the nutrients each vegetable/fruit has to offer. Party on.

This is seriously how I get my day’s worth of vegetables (and some fruits as well!), and this recipe only takes about 10 minutes to make. Lightening speed, y’all. I use this awesome blender to make a batch when I get home from work, drink half of it with my dinner and then save the other half the next morning. It might be better to make it all in the morning and then drink the 2^nd half later in the same day but let’s be real, I don’t get up early enough to fit that into my routine.

Anyway, this smoothie is amazing. The added fruit makes it just sweet enough so you can’t even tell how much spinach/kale you’re taking in during each sip. Sometimes I like to switch it up and add new fruits and veggies to the mix but this is my go-to recipe whenever I want a quick, delicious, healthy green smoothie.

Here are some of my favorite things to add/experiment with when making green smoothies (on top of the ingredients used for the smoothie pictured):

Extra ginger! (Love me some extra spicy smoothies–does that make me a weirdo?)
Wheat Grass
Cucumber
Green Apple
Orange
Chia Seeds
Pineapple
Lemon
Celery
Almond Milk

What’s your favorite smoothie combo? And do you prefer juicing or smoothie-ing?

Chug, Chug, Cheers.

Green Monster Smoothie

Ingredients

2.5 cups spinach
2.5 cups kale
1 cup 100% carrot juice
1 inch ginger root
2 kiwis, small/medium sized
¼ cup blueberries
4 tablespoons ground flaxseed
½ cup water

Instructions

Add the carrot juice, kiwi, blueberries, flaxseeds, and ginger root to a blender. Blend until everything is well incorporated.
Then add the spinach and kale a handful at a time, blending after each handful.
Add water and blend everything for a minute or so, making sure that the texture is smooth.
Serve immediately or store in a sealed container (mason jars work great for this) and refrigerate for up to 12 hours.

Chocolate Stout Cake with Baileys Irish Cream Chocolate Ganache

Baked Goods, Dessert, Drinks, Food, Holiday, Recipe 5 Responses »

Mar 132013

It’s March. WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?! Life is weird and Mercury is in retrograde but this cake makes up for all of it. ;) Plus, this weekend is St. Paddy’s Day so it’s a perfect excuse to make some cake. This cake is delicious and super rich so all you need is a small slice (aka it will feed a huge group of people)! Three layers of a moist, fluffy chocolate stout cake with rich and creamy chocolate ganache in between. Oh, and did I mention that the ganache has irish cream in it???

If you’re looking for a cake that really tastes like Guinness or Baileys Irish Cream, you’re in the wrong place. The addition of stout and Irish cream in this particular recipe just really brings out a deeper and richer chocolate flavor overall. That’s actually one of my favorite aspects about it.

Ganache tip #1: There is a point where the ganache is too soft to spread on the cake but then too hard to spread evenly so I would test it out on the extra layer (YES, there’s an extra layer!) before you start putting it on the actual cake.

Ganache tip #2: You’ll want to but don’t eat too much of the ganache before you put it on the cake! This recipe makes JUST enough..but if you want thicker ganache, I suggest making 1.5-2x the recipe listed below.

Every once in a while I get the urge to make a dessert totally and completely over the top. This was one of those times. After contemplating on adding a 4th layer I resisted but only because I didn’t have enough chocolate ganache. So yeah, this cake comes with a bonus layer–do what you wish with it (cake pops, anyone?).

Let’s get festive for St. Paddy’s Day! :)

This recipe was adapted from Oui, Chef.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Chocolate Guinness Cake with Baileys Irish Cream Chocolate Ganache

Serves: 12

Ingredients

For the Stout Cake:

2 cups stout (A 14.9oz tall can of Guiness is the exact amount!)
2 cups (4 sticks) butter, unsalted
1½ cups unsweetened cocoa powder
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons salt
4 large eggs
1⅓ cups sour cream

For the Ganache:

2 cups heavy cream
1 pound bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
⅓ cup baleys (optional but encouraged)
sprinkles (again, optional but encouraged)

Instructions

For the Ganache

In a large saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer over medium heat.
Remove from heat and then whisk in the chocolate until everything is incorporated.
Refrigerate the icing until it is at a good consistency to spread – about 2 hours (stirring every 20-30-mins).
[you could also make this the night before and then microwave it for 15 second intervals until it softens to the right consistency - that's what I did!!].

For the Stout Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter 4 6-inch pans and dust with cocoa powder.
In a large saucepan, bring the stout and butter to a simmer over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder while whisking until everything is incorporated. Allow to cool slightly.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt together.
In another bowl, beat the eggs and sour cream together using a hand mixer. Slowly add the Stout/chocolate mixture to the egg/sour cream bowl and beat just enough to combine.
Then add the flour mixture a little at a time, using a rubber spatula to fold and mix everything together (don’t overmix!).
Divide the batter in the prepared pans (I filled mine about ⅔ of the way up).
Bake for about 30-35 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean after being inserted in the middle. Then place the cakes on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes. After that, release the cake from the pans and let them cool completely on the cooling rack.

To Assemble the Cake

Once the cakes are cooled, even out the top of each layer so that it is flat by using a large knife.
Place the first layer on a plate or cake stand. Spread a layer of ganache on the top. Repeat for the other two layers.
To frost the top/outside of the cake, place a large amount of ganache on the top and then spread it from the center to the edges, allowing excess ganache to go over the edge and onto the side of the cake.
Then add more ganache (as much as needed) to finish frosting the sides of the cake.
Optional: Top with some fun festive sprinkles.
Let ganache set (about 15-30 mins) and then serve!

Mulled Cider with Fresh Fruit and Spiced Rum

Drinks, Holiday, Life, Recipe 5 Responses »

Nov 262012

Did everyone have a nice Thanksgiving? I think my favorite part of Thanksgiving was when I caught my adult cousin literally licking her plate clean :) Trust me, I was thinking of doing the sammme thing…she just beat me to it.

Now that Turkey Day over, the Christmas season is starting to set in! Warm fires, snow, hot drinks, fudge, cookies, ugly sweaters, Christmas movies, Christmas SONGS. The list goes on.

My favorite drink? This mulled cider!! It’s so warm and tasty. One sip makes me want to curl up under a blanket and watch Christmas movies back-to-back all weekend long (too bad it’s Monday!). And if you’re not a grandma like me who enjoys the occasional spiked drink while watching movies on a Saturday night, I guaranteeeee that this cider would be a hit at any holiday party!! It’s really easy to make and one pot serves a small gathering.

The trick to this cider is using unfiltered apple juice. And fresh fruit. Fresh fruit always wins.

The fruit and spice blend create a magnificent aroma, and you can barely taste the rum but it adds a really wonderful flavor to the drink (you can add more rum or omit it entirely if you’d like too!)

Oh, and your house will smell AMAZING when you make this!! Not. even. kidding. Warning: This cider goes fast so you may want to get enough ingredients to make two (or three) batches :)

What’s your favorite holiday drink???

Happy Monday!!

Mulled Cider with Spiced Rum

Author: Life Tastes Like Food

Recipe type: Drink

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

1 64 oz. bottle of unfiltered apple juice
1 apple, cored
1 orange
4-5 cinamon sticks
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon whole cloves
1 cup of spiced rum

Instructions

Heat up the apple juice in a large pot on the stove over medium-high heat.
While the apple juice is heating up, cut the apple and orange into ½ inch slices.
Add the apple and orange slices to the warm apple juice.
Then add the cinnamon sticks, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves to the juice.
Turn the heat to low and let the mixture simmer for 5-10 minutes.
Add the spiced rum and let it warm up and simmer for another 5-10 minutes.
Serve immediately.

Notes

– You can add as much or as little rum as you’d like to this recipe. – You can also strain the mixture when it’s ready but honestly, I’ve never done this and I think the cider tastes great! Just make sure you don’t accidentally drink the cloves. :) – Add a cinnamon stick to each cup for garnish, along with a slice of apple and orange. – The apple and orange slices will have a stronger rum flavor than the drink itself.

10 Dishes to Make Before Summer is Over

Baking, Breakfast, Cooking, Dessert, Dinner, Drinks, Food, Friendship, Health, Holiday, Life, Lunch, Recipe 3 Responses »

Jul 242012

Last weekend, the friends and I went on our annual camping and tubing trip at Cache Creek. Cache Creek isn’t really a hard-core-hike-to-your-site-bring-only-what-you-can-carry sort of experience. It’s more of a pull-off-the-highway-and-pitch-tents-on-the-lawn-with-neighbors-five-feet-away-from-you sort of deal. I know that may not sound like that much fun to some, but I love it. Movie projected on a screen under the stars? Got it. Bathrooms and a generator? Check. Steak tips, baked beans in a dutch oven, OYSTERS, grilled corn, hot dogs, burgers, and a bacon lattice (just like last year!)? Done and DONE.

I love the summertime.

Don’t take it for granted! Here are 10 recipes that you should consider making soon because before we know it, it’s going to be Fall and we will be wishing for 100 degree weather and fun weekends to play by the water :)

10 Things to Make Before Summer is Over