Not what I planned, but good

This weekend did not go how I planned. It started out with a happy hour on Friday, that went on for hours. There was lots of great conversation and laughs, but I stayed out much later than planned.

I spend Saturday running fun errands, like picking up my veil and stopping at JoAnn Fabric’s to pick up a craft project.I had been wanting a chalkboard for the kitchen for a while, but my desire was rekindled when a friend posted a picture of her new chalkboard on Instagram this past week. After looking for one in stores with no success, I picked up some chalkboard paint and an ugly St Patrick’s Day sign that was on clearance to re-purpose.

Brian decided to draw on the new board:

We had a low-key night in on Saturday, watching the documentary Hot Coffee about lawsuits and tort reform. Very interesting. And the popcorn was good, too:

Sunday I made yet another very ugly but tasty and healthy breakfasts. Mostly egg whites, zucchini, mushrooms, red bell pepper and spinach with marinara and provolone. So filling.

Feeling blah about the constantly crappy weather and hopping for a ray of sunshine, I added a pop of color to my nails. Just look at how pale my  hands are! Sunshine, PLEASE!

I also watched an unusual amount of TV, drank a lot of hot tea and a glowing green smoothie.

Quick sweet and sour cucumbers

I have trouble going to a Thai restaurant and NOT ordering an appetizer of cucumber salad. If they offered it in entrée portion, I would probably order it as my meal. It’s sweet, it’s tangy, it’s crunchy and oh so refreshing.

I’ve made a few attempts at a homemade version before, but they always seems a little off. This is one of the closest I’ve made. It might even taste a little lighter than that in the restaurant.

Ingredients:

• 1 hot-house cucumber, unpeeled, sliced thinly
• 1/2 tablespoon coarse kosher salt
• 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• fresh ground black pepper

Place cucumber slices in colander, sprinkle with salt, toss to coat. Stir occasionally. Let stand 15 minutes.

Mix remaining ingredients in bowl until sugar is dissolved.

Rinse and drain cucumbers well. Pat to dry.

Add to dressing mixture. Combine well. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes or up to 24 hours(I put mine in a glass jar for safe keeping) and ate them a day later. The flavor was superb.

Italian eggs

I have had eggs made like this at least once a weekend for the past 6 weekends. And for a few quick weeknight dinners. I am absolutely obsessed.

The idea came to be because I needed to use up some cherry tomatoes and spinach. Then I ate them, fell in love and couldn’t stop making them. They have evolved a bit over time, but mostly due to ingredients on hand.

I start by frying one or two eggs in a skillet. Try to keep the eggs on one half of the pan. Sprinkle them generously with salt, pepper and Italian seasonings.  Put a big handful of spinach in the empty half of the pan(and cherry/grape tomatoes, sliced in half, if you have them). Top the spinach with a few spoonfuls of marinara. stir a bit until the spinach wilts. OR, you can scramble the eggs and cook the spinach and tomatoes in with them. So many possibilities.

While you are doing this, toast a piece of bread(I prefer sprouted grain).

Top your toast with spinach/marinara then eggs.

Or vice versa. I have done it both ways and it is equally delicious.

Devour.

9 and 30

Yesterday brought Chicago the largest snowfall since the blizzard of 2011. We got 9 inches of snow. Beautiful snow. It snowed steadily all day and made the city look like a movie set of freshly fallen snow. It was absolutely beautiful. I couldn’t stop taking pictures of it.

Last night I stayed warm by heading over to a friend’s house to celebrate my friend Katie’s 30th birthday. And a fabulous night it was. Too much good food. Plenty of champagne and wine.

And this absolutely ridiculous dessert made by Lisa. It was so delicious. A Pinterest recipe that was not a fail, but should have also come with a recipe to make insulin. We all thought we had diabetes after eating it. Layers of cookies, ice cream and caramel sauce. Yummmm.

 

A mexican fiesta and pickled onions

I’ve pickled things before. Pickled pickles. Also called pickled cucumbers. Pickled carrots. Pickled vegetables for bahn mi. They’ve all been delicious.

Sunday, there was last-minute decision to change menu plans from pork tinga to some amazing honey lime fish tacos.  Last time I made the tacos, I didn’t have the energy to run to the store, so we just made do with what we had and topped them with lettuce and avocado.

Well, this time, I did them up right. A little crunchy and tangy goes great with fish. So we had the option of more toppings this time. Red cabbage, cilantro, jalapeno, avocado, limes, and pickled onions.

The recipes of pickled onions I have made before took time. So a quick google seach returned a Bon Appetit result that I knew wouldn’t steer me wrong. With only a little over an hour of pickling time, these were ready just in time for that tacos. Quick pickled onions, indeed!

Mmm mm mmm. I can’t wait to throw these on sandwiches throughout the week! So tasty!

Apple cinnamon yogurt

Yep. It’s as easy at it sounds. And tastes a little bit like apple pie a la mode.

1 cup of plain or vanilla Greek yogurt

1 apple diced

cinnamon

If you use plain yogurt, you may want to add a drop or two of vanilla, but if you don’t, this is still wonderful. Mix everything together and eat! I put in tons of cinnamon. No really, like a tablespoon just for the health benefits of cinnamon, but would suggest that people start below that amount. This would also be a great post workout snack.

Beet burgers and rosemary potatoes

After getting into roasting beets from the farmer’s market a few summers ago, I decided that I liked beets. Since then, I have had a hot and cold relationship with beets. During one of those hot streaks, I bought 2 cans of them from the grocery store. I have no idea what I was thinking. So, they’ve been in the pantry for months now and I decided that they needed to get used up.

Fortunately, Neverhomemaker posted a beet burger recipe. I substituted fresh beets for canned beets and black beans for white beans and the burgers turned out delicious!

Dare I say that it might be my new favorite veggie burger recipe? Well, it might. It holds together better than most veggie burger recipes that I’ve made and the burger was nice and crispy on the outside and flavorful on the inside. Topped with goat cheese and it was to die for!

On the side I made some rosemary roasted red potatoes. Say that 10 times fast! Whoa, tongue twister.

These potatoes were better than usual. I tried out Gwyneth Paltrow’s method of no-fry fries, but used red potatoes, cubed them and added rosemary. Soaking them in cold water made a huge difference. They tasted much crispier and more delicious than roasted potatoes I’ve had before. I’m sold on adding in the extra step!

So, there you go. A healthier burger and fries that you can make at home.

Lazy Saturday

At the last minute last night I met a few of my old co-workers out for drinks. As you know, I rarely go out anymore, especially on Friday nights, but was really glad I did. We had a blast and tons of laughs. Being up later than usually has made me a little tired today, coupled with some congestion, I’ve felt like an all out bum.

I was mildly productive in the kitchen, but I just can’t seem to tackle that ever growing pile of laundry.

I made a half dozen hard boiled eggs to have as snacks throughout the week.

A batch of slightly disappointing healthy chocolate and peanut butter granola. Oh, and I severely burnt the other tray of it. Meh granola + burnt granola= granola fail.

And now I’m working on some beet veggie burgers.

While I was being lazy today, Brian did the grocery shopping. Now I can make pork tinga tomorrow! That makes me very happy. Thank goodness for Brian!

Rosemary fig crackers

These crackers are amazing. The batch didn’t last the weekend in our house. And I ate almost all of them.

They are super easy to make, flavorful, and loaded with protein. They are great for parties, because they cater to several special diets. They are gluten-free, lactose-free, vegetarian and paleo friendly. If you plan on making them for a party, plan on making a double or triple batch, because they are addictive. They taste great on their own and really don’t need anything else, but we spread a little honey goat cheese on a few of them which was super tasty, too.

Even better, it only cost about $3.00 to make the batch and I bought all of the ingredients at Whole Foods. I bought the almond flour and figs out of the bulk bins.

I made the recipe exactly like on Elana’s blog. Here are some pictures:

Just look at these beauties:

Superbowl party food

I don’t plan on watching much of the Superbowl on Sunday. I love college football, but am  not a huge fan of pro football. What I watch will be mostly for the commercials and half time show. But it is always a good excuse to make some delicious food!

Football and buffalo chicken go hand in hand. With this years previously reported chicken wing shortage now being reported as a lie, I will still give you a wingless buffalo recipe in case there really is a shortage.

I love crock pot buffalo chicken. It’s way healthier than wings, full of flavor and super easy to make. It’s also very versatile; use it to make buffalo chicken salads, pizza, sandwiches or nachos.  In fact, I made a batch yesterday. Leftovers on Sunday? There’s a good chance.

Wait? You are a vegetarian or vegan but love that buffalo flavor? How about some Tofu hot wings?

How can you go wrong with homemade guac and chips? You can’t!

Need something more exciting than mixed nuts or pretzels to set in bowls to munch on? Why  not make some sweet and spicy roasted chickpeas.

Or what about a big tray of healthy coconut shrimp? I would go to any party serving these tasty little suckers!

Another way to have a stress-free party is to utilize the crock pot. I am a huge pan of Rick Bayless’s pork tinga and can’t think of anything tastier than a taco bar!

Two more slow cooker recipes that will wow the crowd are Epic chicken taco soup or Chipotle apple turkey chili.

Hopefully there are enough tasty recipes here to get you on your way to having the best Superbowl party ever!