Healthy Spirits: Lost Abbey Mo Betta Bretta

Now in stock!

1. Sierra Nevada+ Russian River Collaboration: BRUX

2. Sierra Hoptimum 4 packs

3. Ballast Point Double Dorado

4. Dogfish Head Namaste 750ml

5. Deschutes Hop in the Dark

6. Speakeasy Vendetta IPA

7. Alaskan Raspberry Wheat

8. Ninkasi Radiant Ale

9. Lost Abbey Angel's Share (Bourbon Barrel Aged)

cheers,

dave hauslein

beer manager

415-255-0610

Flour Less Chocolate {Garbanzo Bean} Cake

Today was a great day.... in a completely and utterly exhausting sort of way. In fact, if I had time to think about it, most every day seems to end up that way. Especially lately, the kids are out of school for the summer and it is hot here, damn HOT. The poor little bugs are cooped up in the house most of the day unless they are swimming or I can come up with somewhere cheap, cool and fun to take them. Also,  I've been working more than usual at the hospital because people are on vacation and want the surgery that they've been putting off for months or years done N.O.W. All of a sudden everything is an emergency. This means less time to get every day things done and even less time to entertain the kids.

4 very hot, extremely bored, cooped up kids   =   NOTHING GOOD.   Complete madness I tell you.

It also makes for one  very  scatter brained and irritated mommy.


*Cue me to enter the picture with my unkempt hair and unpainted toe nails dragging my tired,  out-of-shape-B.U.T.T.  into the embarrassingly neglected house. 

Case and point:

I made this cake weeks ago for a friend of mines birthday who has a severe gluten intolerance and have been trying since then in vain to get a post and recipe up on my blog. I've sat down at least 9 times this evening alone trying to edit pictures and write something articulate and witty or  at least  legible and coherent and am quickly coming to the conclusion that smart, funny and easy are things of the past for me. Replaced with loud, messy and bewildered.

Flour- Less Chocolate Garbanzo Bean Cake

Like I said, at least it was a good day. We went to the MIM (Musical Instrument Museum) in Phoenix and had an amazing time! It was far more beautiful and grand than I thought it would be. I could definitely spend my summer there. Even the little ones had a good time and enjoyed listening to all of the different music from around the world.

Mona Claire enjoying a musical selection from Germany and the costumes from Africa.

Most flour less cakes have an exorbitant amount of eggs in them which is fine in moderation I suppose but wanted a healthier option for an every day sort of cake. I searched high and low and found this recipe which sounded too good to be true but in fact was perfect. I love garbanzo beans and all of their healthy benefits but in a cake?  I chose not to tell that tid bit of information to my unsuspecting co-workers. 

Ingredients 

• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

• 1 (19 ounce) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

• 4 eggs

• 1 teaspoon real vanilla

• 3/4 cup turbinado sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar for dusting

Directions 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9-inch round cake pan.Place the chocolate chips into a microwave-safe bowl. Cook in the microwave for about 2 minutes, stirring every 20 seconds after the first minute, until chocolate is melted and smooth. If you have a powerful microwave, reduce the power to 50 percent.Combine the beans and eggs in the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. Add the sugar and the baking powder, and pulse to blend. Pour in the melted chocolate and blend until smooth, scraping down the corners to make sure chocolate is completely mixed. Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan.Bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 to 15 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate. Dust with confectioners' sugar just before serving.

Be Merry and EAT CAKE!

Linked to:

Tasty Tuesday's
Just another Meatless Monday

Healthy Spirits: New Arrivals

1. Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Bean

2. Stone Smoked Porter with Chipotle Peppers

Healthy Spirits: New Arrivals

1. Bruery 4th Anniversary: 100% Barrel Aged FRUET (Limit 1 per customer)

2. Hanssens Kriek 375ml

3. Prof. Briem 1809 Berliner Weisse

4. Thornbridge Hall Jaipur

5. Maui/Jolly Pumpkin Sobrehumano Palena Red Ale cans

6. Marin Brewing White Knuckle Double IPA

7. Ballast Point Sculpin 6 packs

8. Glazen Toren Saison D'Erpe Mere glassware

9. Gavroche French Red Ale

10. Weihenstephaner Pilsner

cheers,

dave hauslein
beer manager
415-255-0610

Beer Cheeses: Frumage Baladin, Chimay and Belgian Kriek Beer Cheese!

Hey all,

If your like us you love beer and cheese. Well several producers have made it even easier to get our beer and cheese fix on by combining the two. First we have the tried and true Chimay cheese, which is made by the trappist monks and washed in Chimay beer. They've been making this traditional wash rind cheese since 1876. Next we have a special Belgian kriek beer cheese, which is made from cows milk and washed with kriek beer. The paste is a beautiful mild white cheese with a subtle sweetness and slight hint of cherries. Our newest beer cheese comes from Italy and is called Frumage Baladin. They use raw cows milk, thistle rennet and then wash it in birra baladin. To foster even more of a connection with the base beer they throw some spent mash from a running of baladin inside the cheese, leaving the paste speckled with butterscotch colored flecks of heaven. You want these:

-Chimay Biere Cheese
-Belgian Kriek Beer Cheese
-Frumage Baladin

Cheers!

Nate

Healthy Spirits: New Arrivals

1. Allagash Victor (Belgian ale w/red wine grapes)

2. Allagash Victoria (Belgian ale w/white wine grapes)

Healthy Spirits: New Arrivals

Just got a few great beers from New Zealand's own MOA brewery!

1. Blanc Evolution (375ml/$5.99)

2.Breakfast Lager (375ml/$5.99)

3.Five Hop Ale (375ml/$5.99)

4.St. Joseph's Belgian Triple (375ml/$5.99)

5.Pinot Noir Barrel Aged Imperial Stout (375ml/$5.99)

6.Moa Noir Dark Lager (750ml/$9.99)

7. Fish Tale 10 Squared Barley Wine (22oz/$9.99)

8. Lakefront Fixed Gear 6-packs ($9.99)

cheers,

dave hauslein
beer manager
415-255-0610

Healthy Spirits: New Arrivals

1. Stone Ruination 10th Anniversary (Limited Edition Dry-Hopped 10.8%ABV version)

2. New batch of Drake's Denogginizer

3. Gordon Biersch Imperial Pilsner

4. Gordon Biersch 6 packs on sale! (Hefe, Pilsner and Summer Kolsch all $6.99 each)

5. Omission Pale Ale (Gluten Free)

6. Bison Chocolate Stout

7. Gaffel Kolsch

8. Monk's Cafe Sour Ale

cheers,

dave hauslein
beer manager
415-255-0610

Spinach Pesto Pasta

Pesto is one of my favorite things to kick up a boring dish. It's simple and versatile and deliciously healthy. Typically basil is used but did you know you can use other greens like spinach, kale or even carrot tops? Basil is growing like crazy in my garden right now but I chose a big handful or two of baby spinach and then tossed in a few basil leaves to tone down the pungent flavor so that my kids would eat it.

It worked, score! My kids willingly ate a big bowl of spinach and were none the wiser.

I think it's important to serve a variety of colors and textures to your kids so that they get used to trying new things and have a balanced, healthy diet. Green is usually the hardest color to get my kids to eat, especially if it's not served in a typical fashion, like this pasta. They love salad and broccoli but will turn there noses up if I put collard greens in soup or kale in pasta. I keep at it though because I'm very attached to my leafy greens and am holding on to the hope that my kids will eventually get over there unwarranted loathing for them.

This pesto whips up in just a couple of minutes and can be used in pasta, as a dip on top of crusty bread 

layered with fresh tomatoes or on top of baked fish. The raw garlic is a healthy addition and adds a pop of spiciness to the pasta, I add several cloves but if you haven't built up a tolerance for loads of garlic like me, start with just one clove. Don't forget the Parmesan, it really goes well with pesto.

I like using rotini pasta because it holds the pesto well.

Ingredients:

1 box of rotini pasta, cooked according to package directions

2 big handfuls of baby spinach

1 small handful of fresh basil leaves

1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts

1-3 cloves of garlic

2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

pinch of salt (preferably Himalayan pink sea salt)

Put spinach, basil, nuts and garlic in a food processor. Pulse till smooth while drizzling in olive oil. Add a bit of water if needed to desired consistency. Add salt and pulse till combined.

Toss pesto with the cooked pasta. Serve warm, garnish with grated Parmesan cheese.

What are you planning on making for dinner during the hot summer months?

New Arrival: Evil Twin Auld Yin

1. Evil Twin Auld Yin (Scotch Barrel Aged Imperial Stout)

Healthy Spirits: New Arrivals

1. Evil Twin Soft DK Imperial Vanilla Stout

2. Evil Twin Monk Suffers Serious Sugar Rush on Barbados Belgian Dark Ale

3. Evil Twin Imperial Biscotti Stout

4. Evil Twin Even More Jesus Imperial Stout/

5. Stillwater Debutante Farmhouse Ale

6. Stillwater Premium Saison

7. Stillwater Table Beer

cheers,

dave hauslein
beer manager
415-255-0610

Healthy Spirits: Bruery Tradewinds Tripel

Now in stock.

1.Knee Deep Simtra(SO good. Buy some.)

2.Maui+Jolly Pumpkin Collaboration: Sobrehumano Palena Red Ale 4-pack cans

3.Oskar Blues Deviant Dale's

4.Cascade Sang Noir (limit 1 per customer)

5.Cascade The Vine (limit 1 per customer)

Summer (In) Sanity: How to Keep Busy this Summer and A Family Activity Calendar

It's 4 whole days in to summer break and already the kids are bored out of their skulls. By 9:00 a.m. we've already had breakfast, gotten dressed, gone to the park or for a 'nature walk', been swimming and made a craft.   Now what do we do for the remaining 12 hours of the day?!!   Cue me to exit the house and go to work where I find dealing with demanding and pretentious spine surgeons and taking care of sick patients a relaxing getaway. Normal thing for a mom to feel on occasion, right?

In fact, when my husband came home from work tonight and asked if I would mind running to the store to grab a couple of things if he did the dishes and put the kids to bed in exchange I was out the door so fast I don't think he knew what happened.

If that doesn't sound depressing enough I found myself joking with some friends who were complaining about jury duty about how nice of a break it could be if they just looked at it with the right attitude, one of a mom of 4 for instance. I mean really, sitting around all day long reading a good book, how often do I get that sort of deal?

Don't get me wrong, I loooooveee my children, the little darlings, the lambs. But it is constant commotion around this joint even when everyone is behaving and by the end of a normal day of feeding, clothing, playing and basically just keeping 4 mischievous children alive and unscathed I'm  exhausted  by ALL means of the word.


So, this summer I am taking matters into my own creative little hands. It gets pretty damn hot here in Phoenix, so hot that when it is below 110F in July, we celebrate with glee and talk about the weather with each other like it's a new phenomenon. And when it actually rains in July, well, we run around half naked outside laughing out loud like crazy people. So being cooped up inside with 4 cranky, hot kids means you need a plan.


Plan A:
Stay inside all day and watch t.v. and eat ice cream.

Plan B:
Swim all morning. Watch t.v. Swim in the evening. Watch t.v.

Plan C:
Keep the kids busy and active while saving my sanity.




First, make a list of places in your neighborhood that might have things to do for kids or as a family.

• Library: Get signed up for the summer reading program to win cool prizes and discover new books. Libraries also have many free summer games and activities like Lego Building contest and visitors from the local Zoo and Puppet Theatres.
• Schools: Check your local schools for summer programs like Karate, art classes and sports programs.
• City Parks and Rec.  Besides an assortment of activities your city may have a rec center, free evening movies and concerts in the park and classes to attend.
• Many Churches offer activities for kids whether you belong to the church or not
• YMCA
• Google "free things to do with kids insert name of your city  I found a FREE 3 week long clinic at the Ice Arena near our home offered by the Phoenix Coyotes
• Visit "MeetUp.com" or a similar organization for tons of meet up groups in your area
• Splash Pads are wonderful fun and usually free. There are several in my neighborhood, ask around or Google where they are in your area.
• If there aren't any Splash Pads in your area, sprinklers, water toys and squirt guns make for a fun and cool afternoon.
• Museums. I have lived here in Phoenix my entire life and didn't know there was a Science and Aircraft museum in Peoria, just a few miles away from our house! In fact, many museums offer discounts and fun summer camps/packages. Also, many libraries have FREE passes to local museums!

Many resorts offer discounts during the summer and have amazing swimming pools

photo source: Arizona Foothills

Next, create a calendar of your activities so your summer is stress free fun!

I created this simple calendar at  Keep and Share.

(note this is just an example of our summer activities)

When all else fails, MAKE HOME MADE ICE CREAM!!!

What are you doing this summer???

HealthySpirits: New Arrivals

1. Cuvee De Ranke

2. De Ranke Kriek