Raw, Vegan, Gluten (and Guilt) - Free Lemon Squares!

The origin of these dormmade deserts actually comes from a relatively unhealthy obsession with Hail Merry Miracle Tarts, particularly the Coconut Vanilla Creme tarts. These tarts are completely raw (no baking required!), vegan, gluten free, and most importantly, PN compliant and an "Anytime" desert. I refuse to attempt to talk about their greatness to avoid any sort of disrespect by not speaking nearly highly enough of them. After scouring the Internet of any kind of recipe for Coconut Vanilla Creme knockoffs, I came across Domestic Diva's version of the Lemon tart knockoffs.

Close enough.

Calling for ingredients that can be found at any Whole Foods or Trader Joe's and no baking necessary, this recipe is practically handmade for college students looking for a way to stress eat and avoid its horrific consequences (Freshman 15, Sophomore Slump...you get it). Hit the jump for pictures of my makeshift kitchen counter top and the recipe!

Homemade Butternut Squash and Apple Soup Recipe & Family Dinner, Secret Santa Edition

I realize I spilled a little when I took this picture. So what if it's not perfect? If it was, it would be very unlike myself anyways.

....What an elaborate blog post title. Sorry. So you may or may not remember this from one of my very very early posts, but my friends and I LOVE being all cute and fancy and having a "Family Dinner" where we all (or most of us) cook and bring something for dinner at someone's house. This family dinner edition was for our Secret Santa exchange, and my task for dinner was to make some sort of appetizer. I think. Actually, I'm pretty sure I just volunteered myself to make a Butternut Squash and Apple soup because a) it's my absolute favorite soup in the dining hall at school and b) I've been dying to make it myself for the past 3 months. Taking the opportunity, I slaved over a hot stove (totally exaggerating) for a couple of hours and actually came out with a successful soup! I'm pretty proud of it, considering it was my first time and I sort of winged the recipe, in the sense that I combined 3 or 4 different recipes and sort of came up with my own. Either way, the soup was a total success and everyone was apart of the Clean Plate Club. I was thoroughly pleased. Hit the jump for the recipe and more pictures of our lovely Family Dinner, Secret Santa Edition.

Healthy Eggplant Lasagna Recipe

I actually waited for Daisy this time.

I gotta say, I'm on a roll with this homemade recipe stuff. Here's another recipe I kind of created on my own, based on the cheese mixture recipe I used for the Turkey Casserole I posted a few days ago: No-noodle Eggplant Lasagna. It's 100% PN friendly and so unbelievably good (I have no problem tooting my own horn. It was that good). Who knew cottage cheese could actually not taste like the throw up it resembles? I used my parents as guinea pigs since this was the first time I made this, and turns out they thought it was amazing. I plan on adding more veggies to the tomato sauce next time I make this, like spinach and onions. They tried to eat the whole thing but I needed leftovers for lunch today...totally reasonable. Hit the jump for the recipe and more pics!

Homemade Ground Turkey Casserole with Recipe!

Obviously, taken with my iPhone. I was too excited to eat to wait for Daisy.

That's better.

Finally, a food post with a recipe of my own. Well, almost of my own. This summer, Brian and I started a new eating lifestyle (sounds so much better than diet) called the Precision Nutrition System and I legitimately swear by it because it actually works. We got the Gourmet Nutrition Cookbook which had a Turkey Sausage Casserole recipe that caught my attention. Here's where the whole "my recipe" thing comes in: the recipe calls for zucchini, mushrooms, and 2 whole cups of cottage cheese but since I actually hate all of those things, I improvised a little and the outcome was ridiculously good. Hit the jump for my improvised recipe!

Spaghetti Sandwich

I know. Just hit the jump for the recipe....and more pictures.

Indian Style Family Dinner + Onion Chutney Recipe

My best friends and I have a tradition where we all get together and cook for each other and we call this little love fest "family dinner". For my 20th birthday, we did a family dinner where they mostly cooked for me, and Brian and I made appetizers (he made an amazing guacamole and I made sweet onion chutney for the first time...recipe after the jump!). My birthday was almost an Indian style dinner with Chana and Chicken Tikki Masala and the Onion Chutney served with Naan bread...but I guess guacamole and a roasted portabello mushroom salad doesn't exactly scream Indian food. Either way, dinner was amazing and my friends/boyfriend are all amazing in the kitchen.