Just J.Faye

Hiking & Other Adventures

lemon and basil infused olive oil sugar cookies

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Sometimes my evening plans don’t go quite as expected. But hey, that’s ok. When life hands you lemons…

lemon and basil infused olive oil cookies Make lemon cookies.

Last night was the Medtronic TC 1 Mile. Or it was supposed to be anyways. But the weather was all like, “Nah, nah, nah. This 1 Mile ain’t gonna happen.” (You know, because that is obviously how the weather talks.) There was rain, booming thunder, lightening, tornado watches, and no 1 Mile.

Frown face.

It’s unfortunate, because the TC 1 Mile is such a great event. It caters to families, friends, co-workers, local competitive runners, and even to professional and Olympic runners. Spectators line the both sides of Nicollet Mall yelling and cheering people on. It’s such an insane and happy environment; I love it.

As a part of the Marketing Committee for Twin Cities in Motion I was supposed to head up the Cheer Zone at The Dakota. Here I would pass out various noisemakers and encourage people to have fun and cheer. Tough job. There are five total cheer zones located at bars/restaurants along the course. I did it last year and it was such a blast. However, for the safety of the volunteers, spectators, and runners they decided to call off the event. Unfortunate, but you do whatcha gotta do.

Then I found myself with an entirely open night, so I decided to bake some cookies. Because that is what happens when I have free time.

lemon and basil infused olive oil cookies I instantly knew what cookies I was going to bake. I have been thinking about them ever since I read this recipe. I didn’t have lemon infused olive oil, but I did have basil infused olive oil. I thought it would combine perfectly with some lemon juice and zest in a delicious, sugary cookie. I was riiiiiighttt.

lemon and basil infused olive oil cookies These cookies are so simple and quick to make – no mixer required! There are a few bowls involved, but I was able to clean up and wash all the dishes before they were even out of the oven (bonus!). They are light and chewy and taste like biting into summery, sunshiney day. They made me feel better about the cancelled race and raging spring thunderstorm that was occurring outside.

While I was in the middle of baking these cookies, my friends texted me to join them for wine. I couldn’t resist. So I finished up my baking, ate a quick salad, packed up the cookies, threw on my rain boots, and tra-la-la-ed my way to meet them at a cozy little restaurant. We had things to celebrate and things to complain about, stories to share, cookies to eat, and wine to drink. Although my evening didn’t go exactly as planned, it was still a wonderful night.

lemon and basil infused olive oil cookies Are you doing anything tonight? If no, go bake these. You can bring them to your mama on Sunday.

lemon and basil infused olive oil sugar cookies
 
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Light and chewy olive oil based sugar cookies infused with lemon and basil flavors.
Ingredients
  • 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 ¼ cups sugar, plus more for rolling (about ¼ cup)
  • ⅓ cup basil infused olive oil
  • Zest of 2 lemons
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or a Silpat mat.
  2. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
  3. In another bowl, combine the sugar and olive oil; mix well.
  4. In a small bowl, stir together the lemon zest and dried basil.
  5. In another small bowl, add one tablespoon of the lemon zest and basil mixture and combine it with ¼ cup sugar. This will leave you with some lemony-basil scented sugar to roll the cookies in. Set aside.
  6. Add the eggs, vanilla extract, lemon juice, and the remainder of the lemon-basil mixture to the sugar and olive oil. Stir together until smooth.
  7. Fold in the dry ingredients until just incorporated.
  8. Scoop a tablespoon of the dough, form it into a ball, and roll it into the lemon-basil sugar.
  9. Place the cookies on the prepared pans and bake for 11 minutes.
  10. Let cool on the baking sheet for 3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
These are naturally dairy-free.
The dried basil can be replaced by fresh basil. I just didn’t have any on hand since this was a spur-of-the-moment baking experience.
If you don’t have basil infused olive oil, regular olive oil would work well too.

Adapted from Love and Olive Oil’s Meyer Lemon Olive Oil Sugar Cookies

lemon and basil infused olive oil cookies

 

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Cauliflower Crust Pizza with olives, lemon, feta, and arugula

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I have a secret for you: I used to not like olives.

Weird, huh? Actually no, probably not. I feel like a lot of people don’t like olives. It’s one of those commonly disliked foods similar to tofu, cottage cheese, and anchovies… all of which I enjoy.

Olives were not a common food item growing up in the Duesterhoeft household. I wasn’t exposed to them and I just wasn’t into them. But then one day I discovered that I do indeed like olives.

olive you I remember the moment vividly. Let me set the stage: June 2011. Immanuel Lutheran Church basement. My younger brother’s high school graduation open house. Sounds magical, right?

One of his top requested graduation food items was olives – kalamata olives to be precise. My reaction to this news was something along the lines of “Olives?! WTF. Who chooses olives?! I don’t like them. Such a waste of a food request.” My graduation requests were items like sweet potato casserole, mandarin orange cookie dessert salad, and cake (lots and lots of cake). All legit.

Anywho, to cut this story down: he requested kalamata olives. I didn’t get it. I tried one. I ate 10 more. I fell in love. BAM. Life forever changed.

I’m positive they were just regular jarred and pitted olives too, nothing fancy. I later apologized to my younger brother for making fun of his request and also to olives for all the years of undeserved dislike. All was forgiven.

After this wonderful discovery I realized one of my favorite flavor combinations of all time: kalamata olives + lemon + feta cheese. It’s just so fresh and light and flavorful. I am obsessed with Mediterranean and Greek food. Just can’t get enough.

cauliflower crust pizza Last Friday I headed straight from the airport to the grocery store. After being gone and eating out for the last week in Vineland I was excited to treat myself to a home-cooked, healthy-ish, relaxing meal. While I was on the flight home I was daydreaming about what this meal could be. I decided to make a cauliflower pizza crust topped with all my favorites: lemon slices, kalamata olives, feta cheese, and a healthy dose of arugula. I was very happy with my decision.

Have you ever made cauliflower crust? It’s actually pretty easy and very delicious. It is simply cauliflower mixed with egg, cheese, and herbs. The only difficult parts are having to pull out your food processor and needing to wring out all the excess water from the cauliflower. Both of key elements to getting the crust right, so they must be done. Luckily, neither tasks are really that difficult.

I topped the crust with lemon slices, kalamata olives, and sprinkles of feta cheese. After pulling it out of the oven I added a handful of arugula and some drizzles of sriracha, tahini, and lemon juice and some sprinkles of red pepper. I drool just thinking about it.

cauliflower crust pizza Although this isn’t your regular saucy, cheesy, carb-filled, comforting pizza it is still pretty dang good and comforting in a completely different way. The mix of toppings create such bright and simple flavors. It tastes good. It feels good. It was exactly what I needed.

Try it out and let me know what you think!

cauliflower crust pizza

Cauliflower Crust Pizza with olives, lemon, feta, and arugula
 
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Cauliflower crust pizza topped with kalamata olives, lemon slices, feta cheese, and a few handfuls of arugula. This pizza is full of simple, bright, and delicious flavors.
Author:
Serves: 2
Ingredients
Crust:
  • 1 medium head cauliflower, coarsely chopped
  • 1 Tbs olive oil
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • ½ c shredded cheese (I used a mix of mozzarella and parmesan)
  • ¼ tsp dried basil
  • ¼ tsp dried oregano
  • ¼ tsp pepper
Toppings:
  • 1 lemon, sliced
  • ¼ cup feta cheese
  • ¼ cup kalamata olives, sliced
  • 2 cups arugula
  • Additional toppings: tahini, sriracha, lemon juice, red pepper flakes
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place parchment paper on a pan or pizza stone.
  2. Place the chopped cauliflower florets into the food processor and pulse until ground. You may need to do this in batches depending on the size of your cauliflower and food processor.
  3. Put the cauliflower into a skillet, add the olive oil and salt. Cook over medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes. You can also microwave this for 4 minutes. Set aside in a large bowl to cool for 10 minutes.
  4. Once cool, use a dishtowel to squeeze out all the excess water. This step is very important, as it will help form a crispier crust. You should be left with 1 ½ - 1 ¾ cups of cauliflower.
  5. Place the cauliflower back into the bowl and add the remaining crust ingredients. Mix until combined.
  6. Form the “dough” into a ball and spread on the prepared pan into your desired crust shape: circle, square, oval, rectangle, infinite options.
  7. Bake the crust for 10-14 minutes until slightly browned on top. Then spread the lemon slices, feta cheese, and olives on the crust. Cook for an additional 5-7 minutes.
  8. After pulling it out the oven add the arugula and any additional toppings. I added drizzles of tahini, sriracha, lemon juice, and some red pepper flakes. Then I devoured it.

PS – If you don’t like olives, you should re-try them. They will change your world.

PPS – The reason I had to cook my cauliflower over the stove rather than in the microwave is because my microwave is broken. It broke 2 months ago. I need to buy a new one….

cauliflower crust pizza

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chocolate chip oatmeal crunchies

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Sometimes I just need to bake cookies.

chocolate chip oatmeal crunchies And by need I of course mean want. There are about 5,093,782 other things that I need to do right now. Ok, maybe more like 5, but 5 is still a lot. It’s actually a whole hand’s worth of things! However, the only thing I actually want to do is to bake cookies. And then to eat them save them for other people.

So that’s precisely what I am doing right now, as I type, because multitasking is one of my strong points.

chocolate chip oatmeal crunchies It has been quite the whirlwind of a week. As I mentioned in my last post, I spent last Thursday-Tuesday with friends in Boston. It was spectacular in every way. We celebrated my birthday, visited Sam Adams, explored the city, drank good beer, cooked Easter brunch, watched Disney movies, and participated in the Boston Marathon as spectators. There may have also been a game of Disney Trivial Pursuit followed by a dance party to Edward Sharpe’s Home with pineapple guitars and cat wand batons. I have the most amazing friends.

Here is a pictorial summary of food, drink, and fun sites from the weekend: boston trip boston trip Also, before moving on I must say that watching the Boston Marathon was truly inspiring. I yelled. I cheered. I shed a tear (or two). There were a handful of people from my run club, Calhoun Beach Run Club, and all of them did absolutely amazing. I was so proud to see them run by and screamed my lungs out for them. Unfortunately, with the already ridiculously loud and fantastic crowd I don’t think any of them actually heard me. But seriously, it was a truly wonderful and humbling thing to observe. It made me want to sign up for another marathon and train with my friends. Philadelphia in November, perhaps? We shall see…

From Boston I headed straight over to Buffalo, NY for work. It wasn’t too busy and it wasn’t un-fun. It was actually quite productive and successful; however, it just wasn’t home.

BUT now, as of a few hours ago, I am home. In my kitchen. Where I belong. Baking cookies.

chocolate chip oatmeal crunchies Thursday nights are really good nights for baking. I don’t know why, but I feel like I tend to bake a lot on Thursday nights. Maybe because it’s just so close to Friday that it practically feels like the weekend, meaning I can stay up late and bake cookies. Or maybe it’s because I feel like I deserve a baked good (and perhaps a glass of wine) after almost successfully surviving another week. Or maybe because I want to bring my co-workers a Friday treat. Or maybe because it is just a random coincidence with no actual meaning behind it.

All of the above could be true. All of the above could be false. On this specific Thursday night I decided that I just needed to bake cookies.

The butter, sugar, eggs, and chocolate chips were calling my name: “Jenna, you have been gone for so long! Use us! Stir us up in a bowl and put us in the nice, hot oven so that we can turn into beautiful, delicious cookies!” Ok, ingredients. I hear you. I will grant this wish of yours.

chocolate chip oatmeal crunchies chocolate chip oatmeal crunchies Side note: I am not crazy, I promise.

Except that I am crazy… in love with these cookies. I didn’t stop with just chocolate chips. Oh no, not tonight. I also threw in some oats, corn flakes, and nuts. They are the perfect balance between crispy and chewy with the little hints of chocolate in each bite.

This recipe is a tried and true one that my mother has used for years. They are always present at our somewhat special-ish occasions: high school graduations, summer gatherings, road trips, etc. I once asked for a recipe and she sent me a pictures of it jotted down on the front and back of an old index card. This fact makes me love them even more. chocolate chip oatmeal crunchies I did add a little bit more detail to the recipe, just for you.

chocolate chip oatmeal crunchies
 
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These cookies have the perfect mix of crispy and chewy texture with hints of chocolate in every bite.
Author:
Serves: 5 dozen
Ingredients
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups corn flakes
  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • 1 cup chopped nuts
  • 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and prepare cookie sheets.
  2. Combine flour, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars until smooth, about 3 minutes.
  4. Add in the eggs and vanilla. Mix well.
  5. Add in the flour mixture. Beat thoroughly.
  6. Stir in the corn flakes, oats, nuts, and chocolate chips.
  7. Use a cookie scoop to place dough on cookie sheets.
  8. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool for 3 minutes on the pan before transferring to a rack to cool completely.

So the next time you have the sudden urge or need to bake, make these. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed. As you can see in the picture of my mom’s recipe card, they are “yummy :)”

chocolate chip oatmeal crunchies

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lemon asparagus baked eggs

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Sunday mornings are perfect for nice, leisurely breakfasts. Taking the time to cook, sit, eat, and enjoy breakfast with a hot cup of coffee and a magazine is such a luxury – one that I don’t indulge in as often as I should.

justjfaye.com The perfect alternative to this is, of course, brunch with my girlfriends; However, this morning it was just me. Just me and these lemon asparagus baked eggs. And coffee. And a piece of toast. And the latest SELF magazine. Glorioussss.

IMG_1481 However, first thing’s first: a workout. After some intervals on the elliptical and lots of ab work (swimsuit season is approaching. Ugh.) it was time for breakfast and relaxing.

These baked eggs are super simple to make. A little bit of chopping and sautéing is basically all it takes. The eggs bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, which is the perfect amount of time to wash dishes and clean up. I don’t know about you, but a clean kitchen always helps me relax.

justjfaye.com

justjfaye.com Not only are these easy to make, they are also healthy – just veggies and eggs. Wins all around! Ok, there is also some goat cheese involved too, but just a sprinkle. Plus, the lemon and asparagus flavors are just so bright and springy it makes me happy.

justjfaye.com (Barely a crumb left, clearly I enjoyed it.)

justjfaye.com A good workout and delicious, relaxing breakfast were just the start to this dreary, yet fantastic day. I then went to meet a friend at a cozy café. We worked. We drank coffee. We ate tasty bread and olive oil. Then the $15 bottle of wine special started. We spent the rest of the evening drinking wine and chatting about how life is a glorious, mysterious, and exciting thing. justjfaye.com A Sunday full of perfection. I hope yours was just as wonderful.

Lemon Asparagus Baked Eggs
 
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A simple, healthy breakfast.
Author:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 Tbs coconut oil
  • ½ cup yellow onion, diced
  • 2 cups asparagus, chopped
  • 1 cup spinach, chopped
  • 1 Tbs lemon juice
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 oz goat cheese
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Heat the coconut oil on a skillet over medium-high heat. Add in the diced onion and sauté until translucent, about 4 minutes.
  3. Add in the asparagus and cook until tender, 6-8 minutes.
  4. Add in the spinach and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Let the spinach wilt a little bit and then evenly divide the vegetable mixture into four ramekins, about ⅓ – ½ cup each.
  5. Crack an egg into each ramekin, place on a baking sheet, and bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until the eggs are done.
  6. Sprinkle the goat cheese on top of each ramekin along with a little bit of salt, pepper, lemon juice, and hot sauce.

justjfaye.com

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mayo cake

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Mayo cake.

I know. Sounds gross, right? Mayo and cake should never be used in the same sentence, unless it’s something like, “Mayo is disgusting, but cake is delicious.”

mayo cake

Can you tell I’m not a big mayonnaise fan?

The first time I purchased mayo was actually the first time I made this cake. But now that I think of it, I’m not really into condiments in general. Unless it’s sriracha. I will put that stuff on ev.er.y.thing.

Except cake.

I don’t put sriracha on cake. But hey, there is mayo in this cake sooooo… you just never know what could happen. Maybe one day. I’ll do some brainstorming and get back to you.

But now back to mayo and mayo cake.

I have my grandma to thank for this cake. It is one of her specialties and reminds me of my childhood and warm afternoons on the farm. My mom would tell us, “Grandma is coming over.” Yay! “And she’s bringing mayo cake!” DOUBLE YAY! At the time I didn’t care about the mayo part. I just heard the word cake and I was all in – I was a chubby child.

This cake is so ridiculously simple. A bowl, some measuring equipment, seven ingredients, a couple of stirs, 25 minutes in the oven, anndddd… bam: MAYO CAKE. The mayonnaise replaces the eggs and fat and leaves us with a fluffy, delicious cake that has a nice light chocolate flavor and no mayo flavor at all (thank heavens).

mayo cake

My suggestion: Make the cake. Go for a run while it cools. Make the frosting. Frost it. Eat a healthy, veggie-filled dinner. Treat yo’ self to a piece of cake.

mayo cake

It pairs perfectly with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, but I don’t trust myself with ice cream in the freezer (dangerous), so I’m eating mine with a glass of almond milk and a glass of red wine.

mayo cake

I don’t trust myself alone with a full cake on my counter either, so this is coming with me into work tomorrow.

Mayo Cake
 
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A super simple and delicious chocolate cake.
Author:
Serves: 24
Ingredients
For the cake:
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 Tbs cocoa
  • 1 cup mayo
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 tsp vanilla
For the frosting:
  • 1 ½ cups brown sugar
  • ¼ cup milk (may need to add 1 - 2 T. milk extra)
  • ¼ cup butter
  • ¾ cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
For the cake:
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, sugar, and cocoa in a large bowl.
  3. Add the mayo, water, and vanilla. Stir until combined.
  4. Pour into a 9x13” pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.
  5. Cool completely before frosting.
For the frosting:
  1. Combine the brown sugar, milk, and butter in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil while occasionally stirring.
  2. Add the chocolate chips and stir until melted.
  3. Cool slightly the frost the cake.

Fun fact: I used to strongly dislike my middle name being Faye, but after I learned it was also my grandma’s middle I instantly started loving it.

mayo cake

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dominate today – frozen banana breakfast bowl with toasted quinoa, coconut, and walnuts

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Do you ever wake up and think, “It is Saturday! This day is mine. I will dominate it.”? I do. And I hope you do too.

That was the thought that ran through my head this morning. So I jumped out of bed (well, it was more of a slow motion jump… if that exists. Ok, I basically just stood up out of bed) and started seizing the day.

First, I went to Custom Fitness to train a client. I just received my personal training certification and started officially training last week. It’s fun. I like helping people and it also keeps me motivated to work out.

Second, I went home and had a great workout myself. I love a nice long Saturday morning workout. Don’t you?!

Third, I made (and thoroughly enjoyed) this concoction of frozen banana, quinoa, coconut, walnuts, chia seeds, walnuts, and chocolate chips. Hello, deliciousness. Am I right? Yes, I am.

IMG_1002

Fourth, I headed to the Mary Tyler Moore statue on Nicollet Ave to meet my City Running Tour. I am just starting as a tour guide for the 2:00pm Saturday beer run and it was my first training run – one more and I’m on my own (exciting!).  It was a group of 8 people who all work together in St. Cloud. We ran a 3.5 mile loop around downtown Minneapolis and ended up at The Local for some beer samples and a pint. I think I’m really going to enjoy being a tour guide. Getting paid to run, talk to people, and drink beer?! I see nothing wrong with that equation.

Finally, I am writing this and starting a blog. This is something that I have thinking about doing foreverrrrr. (Forever in this case equals about 17 months, just so you know.) I just kept thinking and thinking and thinking and finally thought, “I just gotta do it. Start it. Go. Now. Like, today.” Sooooo…. Here I am, doin’ it! Eeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

Now just j.faye officially exists in the blogosphere. This is an exciting moment for me. I hope you enjoy reading about the things that I write about: primarily food, fitness, and various fun things. I really, really do. Like, a lot. Because I think I’ll really enjoy writing here. Like, a lot.

Annnnddddd now you basically know my Saturday life story. Well, the primary things anyways. I made a pitstop to Whole Foods and didn’t tell you about it until just now. But still, all the good stuff is included above. And the better stuff is included below. Remember that breakfast/brunch thing of bananas and quinoa and coconut I mentioned? You should, because it’s only a few paragraphs above this one. Well, the recipe is below. Make it and enjoy it and dominate your day.

From here I’m going to make the transition into seizing my night. My girlfriends are coming over to celebrate the birth of my dear friend Katie (and perhaps this blog?!). We’re going to eat snacks, drink cocktails, and paint the town red.

The ingredients:

IMG_0993

Look at that toasted deliciousness.

IMG_0995

Ready to dig in! (Don’t mind my awkward reflection in the spoon.)

IMG_0997

Frozen Banana Breakfast Bowl with Toasted Quinoa, Coconut, and Walnuts
 
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Frozen pureed banana topped with crunchy, toasted quinoa, coconut, and walnuts.
Author:
Recipe type: Breakfast
Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • ¼ cup quinoa
  • ¼ cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
  • 1 Tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 1 frozen bananas, cut in pieces
  • ½ Tbsp cinnamon
  • 1 Tbsp chia seeds
  • Additional toppings: chocolate chips and maple syrup
Instructions
  1. Thoroughly rinse the quinoa, put it in a small saucepan, and add ½ cup water. Bring this to a boil, cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until water is absorbed, about 15 minutes.
  2. Add the cooked quinoa, walnuts, and coconut to a pan on medium-low heat. Stir occasionally and cook until fragrant and toasted, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.
  3. Put the banana and cinnamon in a food processor or blender (I used a magic bullet, because I didn’t feel like pulling out my food processor). Blend until smooth.
  4. Put the banana puree into a bowl, sprinkle the chia seeds, and add the quinoa mixture. If you’re feeling crazy – because afterall, it is Saturday – add some chocolate chips and a drizzle of pure maple syrup to sweeten it up.
  5. Give it a nice little stir. Spoon it into your mouth. Sip some coffee. Enjoy your day.

Until next time… stay classy.

PS – I love you to whoever actually read this all the way to the bottom!!

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