Picture from http://lickthebowlgood.blogspot.com
{I wrote the post below over a year ago! The first part of this post is more informational for myself to remember;however, there are some recipes below. So, many things have changed in our lives and also in our eating habits since writing this initial post below! For one thing, if there are many consecutive days where I absolutely feel the need for a cooking sabatical and am just worn out and exhausted from cooking&the clean up… we just go on over to Carraba’s, sit on their patio with our Lucy, and order a pizza– without cheese. No hour long marathons of Michael Symon’s cooking show; in fact, many of his episodes are still on my DVR never having been watched! So, cheese-less pizza is our go-to! 😉 We’re vegans now; we weren’t a year ago. Ben made the decision to go vegan– he NEVER would have a year ago. People think we’re nuts when we order a pizza without cheese– espeically if we’re at an Italian restaurant! However, I’ve gotten others to taste it and there’s always a resounding positive response! You can taste so much more of the flavor instead of a blanket cheesy flavor! You can taste the spices, the herbs, the sauce, flavors in the dough– it’s really very good! I highly recommend it! Just as a side note, some of our favorite toppings on our cheese-less pizza are: olives, fresh and sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, spinach, mushrooms, caramelized onions, bell peppers, fresh arugala on top, and the best: basil! Asking for basil on your pizza as if it’s a topping is SO good!! The extra basil goes along way and takes it up a notch! Anyway, I guess a lot of things have changed over the course of the year– cheese-less pizza being one of those! Hah. I wonder how I’ll satisfy my rare-worn-out-needing-cooking-inspiration-don’t-feel-like-cooking days next year! Also, date nights help as well! However, with my husband’s crazy schedule we can’t schedule a same night date night every week kind of thing… so they’re not always weekly like some people. ;O} ps. i must say that my husband is particularly AMAZING when I don’t feel like cooking for one reason or another. It’s more rare than it is normal or frequent, but when it does happen (whether it’s during a particular time of the month or anything!) Ben is really amazing about it. He would be content to eat cereal, heat soup up on the stove (or to just not even eat if it ever came to that!) or slave over the stove himself for the rest of the night & then clean up for me. He never complains about going out those nights either nor judges me or makes me feel badly! Ever. He seeks to figure out what sounds good to me to eat that night then off we go in search of that. Then on the way home he always tells me that I could have cooked such and such so much better but we had fun going out with me. I’m really thankful for that about him. Even though this doesn’t happen much, I’m glad he is so amiable and thoughtful in this area. 🙂
Written July 2011:
We’ve had many guests over the past few months, and I have been non-stop cooking. We’ve had 8 different people come stay with us at various times this past month. Our little house has been converted into a bed and breakfast it seems, and that is only the short of what has been going on in our lives. On top of feeding all of our beloved guests, I also cook daily for my husband and I. I told my husband that I need a cooking sabatical! Not because I’m tired of cooking, but just because I’m ready and even anxious to taste someone else’s cooking and be inspired in my own. I’m tired and my creativity is waning slightly. I still love cooking, I’m just sleepy. 🙂 Maybe I should just take a nap? Anyway, instead of begging my husband to take me on a pricey restaurant/cooking tour, I satiate my desires by indulging myself in watching the Food Network for a few (cough maybe many) hours. I’m LOVING Michael Symon’s new cooking show– Symon’s Suppers. First of all, he has the most effervescent smile and laugh (who doesn’t love him for that?!?). Second of all, his food makes me want to reach through the tv and devour it. Doesn’t everyone’s on the Food Network? Well, no not really. I mean some look beautiful, some look appealing, some look refined, some look fun even. However, Michael Symon’s always sounds the best, most heartfelt, most comforting, most amazingly-out-of-this-world-delicious out of anyone on the Food Network/Cooking Chanel these days. I think a trip to either his restaurant “Lola” in Ohio or “The Chew” talkshow is in order! Hint, Hint. 🙂 Anyway, as for now, I will simply enjoy watching Michael Symon on tv and, based on that, deciding what I will cook for my next meal. And on that note, for my own sake mainly, I wanted to record all the meals we have enjoyed this past month to keep for my records. In no particular order, these are the meals we’ve had and a short critique about each recipe.
parts and pieces of our EATS as of late:
Kale Salad. (df & vegan) yum&healthy! Whole Food’s Kale, Carrot, and Avocado Slaw
Cauliflower Crust Pizza. (gf & vegetarian) Cauliflower Crust Pizza
cauliflower crust pizza picture from beth @ eat-drink-smile.com
Crispy Brussel Sprouts w/ Garlic Aioli. (df, gf, & vegetarian) Crispy Brussel Sprouts w/ Garlic Aioli
Crispy Brussel Sprout Picture from Annacostafood.wordpress.com
Tacos. Oh my. Tacos deserve their own post! I’ll write one soon. I’ve really come to love making tacos– not the packet from the store kind. Homemade seasoning&fresh ingredients kind. I have a recipe I use for making homemade taco seasoning {it’s so much healthier than store bough} and then the rest I just make up depending on what I have on hand. Usually, it’s a mixture of veggies and beans. 🙂
My iphone pic of tacos condiments on our porch. Ben’s mom was in town for a visit this night.
Homemade Margaritas. These also go well with taco night.We decided that Monday is Margarita Monday. I’ll write a whole post on this soon! These deserve it!
Spring Roll Wraps. (df, & vegetarian) For this recipe I used a combination of various recipes. This link to the right is the recipe most similar to what I made. Ben LOVED these. I thought these might be more chick-food and not hearty enough for a dinner, but alongside something else they def. make a full dinner! These are one of Ben’s favorite things i’ve EVER made. I did end up using *rice paper* to make my wraps. It’s what I had on hand, and I recommend it! Also, I used homemade hummus (Pioneer Woman Recipe altered). Here’s the link… so good! Florida Avocado Summer Wrap
Our Saturday Brunch. …which consists of: Eggs benedict {poached eggs topped with hollandaise from scratch laid over toasted english muffins} with a side of avocado, smoked bacon {sometimes}, and smothered potatoes Gram’s style & PW’s dessert Apple Dumplings (these are aammmmaazzzinnng!) with homemade whipped cream. I used to think that making hollandaise sauce would be so difficult and tedious; however, after trying a few methods I found the blender method is pretty easy and hard to screw up. I don’t like my hollandaise to have a lemon-y taste to it, so I opt for the white vinegar instead. It’s been our weekly tradition to wake up on Saturdays and make brunch together then sit on our porch and enjoy it. 🙂 Various friends have joined us for our Saturday brunch and that’s always fun too!
My iphone picture of a glimpse of our Saturday Brunch~ minus the smothered potatoes 🙂
Zucchini, Black Bean, and Rice Skillet. (vegetarian) This was very good. We had company over when I made this and others liked it as well. As for alterations, I did add a small can of diced green chiles and one adobo pepper. Zucchini, Black Bean, and Rice Skillet
Picture from readyseteat.com
Lettuce Wraps- PF Chang’s Style. (can make them df, gf, &/or vegetarian) I used a combination of various recipes for my lettuce wraps. There’s a few recipes on the internet for people who tried to make PF Chang’s lettuce wraps. Aside from the variations out there my only tips are these: make a yummy dipping sauce on the side (I made a peanut sauce and a spiced up soy sauce) and make sure you have some form of crunch in your lettuce wrap filling. I added peanuts and I think green onions to the filling. I know some people like water chestnuts– I do not. Also, I used the mock (vegetarian) ground meat filling from Publix. Next time, I think I will just grind up my own variation of veggies. Here’s a recipe for them, although I didnt’ stick to any recipe: Lettuce Wraps
Eggplant Parm. (vegetarian) Nicolas Scalco (from Irene’s Cuisine in NOLA) Eggplant Parmasean. It’s not on the daily menu, but they oblige my request for it whenever I go. It is SO. GOOD. I think of it often. It is by far the best Eggplant Parm I’ve ever had, and one of the best meals in general that I’ve ever had. Go there! Try it!! Tell them I sent you. 😉 Isn’t that fun to say? Ha. Anyway, he is one of my dad’s best friends so I get the hook up. I literally begged (for months mind you) for the recipe for this. The recipe he FINALLY gave me was written for a large group of people (for the restaurant) so I had to convert it down to measurements for myself, my husband, and my good friend AB. It was no where near as good as Nicolas’s. However, I was the only one who noticed and minded. It was still really good! I also made chicken parm with this for those who are not vegetarians like myself. I just made up what to do with the chicken part.
Banana Pudding Pie. OH MY. My gram (who taught me to cook) always made the warm banana cream pie. This is a cold pie, and it is to die for! It’s always a hit whether I bring it to a party, serve it to company, or just make it for us and eat it for breakfast the next day! OH MY. OH SO GOOD. The picture at the top of this post is of this pie. This paragraph makes me want to get up and go make it right now, as I remember how amazing the texture and taste is! Banana Pudding Pie
Homemade Bloody Maries. We’ve only made these once or twice because I had extra tomato juice leftover from a soup. They were good though! I used PW’s recipe and altered it a bit.
My iphone pic of our homemade bloody mary’s.
.thebitesizecook. 