Leena Eats

Leena Cooks: Her Own Ancho Chile Powder!

Leena — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:00:34 +0000

Last week, I was buying ingredients for a new Mexican chicken recipe, and nearly peed and slipped on it. The two chile powders the recipe called for cost a total of $17! Hell no! I decided to hit my local Mexican grocery store, find some dried chiles and make my own chile powder. Screw you, [...]

Leena Bakes: Banana Bourbon Chocolate Muffins!

Leena — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:00:58 +0000

Not too long ago, a pal and fellow food blogger Emily Hanhan of Nomnivorous hosted the first of many supper clubs called Whisky and Salt in the NYC area. In her awesome and drool-inducing post about it, she revealed that she made whisky and chocolate chip muffins as take home gifts from the supper club. [...]

Leena Cooks: Andra’s Killer Veggie Chili

Leena — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:00:29 +0000

For a majority of my life, vegetarian chili has always meant one thing to me: a bunch of beans with some spices cooked in water. Every vegetarian chili I had eaten had been variations on that theme. At my annual chili cookoff, my world was rocked. I was overwhelmed with a plethora of kick-ass vegetarian [...]

Leena Cooks: Pot Roast for Baby!

Leena — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:00:11 +0000

I’m not gonna lie. I’ve tasted the jarred meat baby food–even the gourmet organic brands, and they are all as flavorful as a dirty jockstrap (and that’s putting it lightly). So when it comes to making meat dishes for my baby, I can’t help but feel like I’m cooking for Roger Ebert–pureed foods that just [...]

Leena Eats: Pican, kick-ass upscale Southern food in Oakland

Leena — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:00:58 +0000

I stumbled upon Pican a few months after my daughter was born. My husband and I were desperate for a night out without the baby, and once we had a babysitter, I did a quick yelp search and came up with Pican. Upscale Southern food? Done and done. I became Pican’s bitch shortly after my [...]

Leena Cooks: Baby Veggie Curry!

Leena — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 14:00:42 +0000

SOOOOO remember all of the blood, sweat and tears I put into those last couple of batches of baby food? Not only did Ella basically reject the sweet potato/spinach mix after a few days of eating it, but then the extra freezer door was accidentally left open, and all of her food, both liked and [...]

Leena Bakes: GF World Peace Cookies!

Leena — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:00:08 +0000

Last year when I had gestational diabetes, I had a real taste of what life is like for people with health-related eating issues–it sucks. Sure, there are “alternative” foods for all your unhealthy favorites (fyi–everything but Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches are CRAPPY), but generally speaking, most of the world, from restaurants to food blogs, [...]

Leena Cooks: Gluten-Free Turkey Gravy

Leena — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:00:58 +0000

A few years back, my sister in law started getting really sick. Everything she ate seemed to go right through her, and she lost a lot of weight for an already skinny person. After a lot of testing, they discovered she was a celiac who was allergic to gluten. Gluten is a protein that is [...]

Leena Cooks: More baby food- sweet potato with spinach, and turkey with spinach and root vegetables

Leena — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 14:00:16 +0000

Adventures in baby feeding update—Ella loves food! All kinds! So I have started to experiment more with what I feed her. To start, I have been adding either cinnamon or a homemade curry powder to her foods, fruits, veggies and meats. She has loved them both, even though the curry powder is a bit spicy. [...]

Leena Cooks: Three Meat Chipotle Chili

Leena — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:36:40 +0000

Man, I am so glad I had my latest chili cook-off. As a cook, it is easy to get stuck in your own ways and your regular recipes, so it is always a blessing to have as many cooking inspirations as I did from my cook-off. I mean, I actually WANT to make a vegetarian [...]