Pseudo Gardener

Sorry it’s taken me a bit to get something posted. I’ve been waiting for my garden to grow. No really. And by garden I mean 3 separate plants scattered around my house that I grew from table scraps.

You’ve seen the posts on Pinterest (maybe they were from me), “Never buy green onion again!” “Grow your own avocado tree!”

The second statement is a little intense for me and my small rental home but the rumors are definitely true! It is no less than a revival for this gardening newbie. I have successfully grown and maintained organic garlic, green onion and romaine lettuce from my table scraps!!

Talk about living on a budget. I would like to share an update of my garden goods with ya’ll.

Here’s my regrown romaine. You simply shop your romaine head down to the heart and stick the heart, leaves up in a cup of water. The result is this…

So it works! The problem is what you get is baby romaine heart leaves that can probably only fill up, well, a baby. And the water (that I just changed yesterday) turns nasty brown in a flash. Probably not one I’ll keep up on but it was fun while it lasted.

The second experiment was with green onion. Cut your green onion down to the white, and stick root side down into a cup of water. Holy Moly green onion forever!! Such a success. However after about 1 month fruit flies started laying eggs in the water so I replanted in soil in the front yard. Here are my fresh cut green onions (we had nachos) that keep coming back!!

Wow that picture is blurry, but you get the point. Replanting your green onion = huge success!

Lastly, oh it’s so beautiful. Garlic. Take one clove of peeled (or is it unpeeled?) garlic and plant in soil flat base side down. Within only one month, I have these pretties…

I apologize for these quick pictures. if you live in Vacaville you understand that it is extremely uncomfortable to stay in direct sunlight for more than about 23 seconds today, but anyways…

I’m telling you they sprouted SO fast. They need lots of direct sunlight so they are loving our front porch. They’re supposed to eventually bloom these crazy spirally white tips. Once the green stems turn brown and die off, they’ll be ready to harvest.

Did I just say ready to harvest!? Who am I!?

Happy gardening to you all!! Martha Stewart and I have a lunch date…

Have a Ball

We need to talk about balls. Protein balls, power balls, raw balls, whatever you want to call them.

A few years ago I started buying some delicious and nutrient dense “power balls” from our local nutrition shop. I had no idea they were so easy to make and they have quickly become something I crave.

The variations you can do and the textures you can create are so addicting. And the best part is you are usually able to use up things you already have on hand.

Sometimes they hold me over as I run out the door in the morning, get a quick protein fix after a run, and even when I just need a quick healthy sweet tooth fix. Mmmmm they do it all and I’m obsessed.

The basic steps when dealing with power balls is:
1. Mix 2. Form 3. Cool 4. Eat.

So easy and sometimes you can skip step 3! I will share just a few variations that I love but feel free to get creative and see what you come up with!!

Raw Chocolate Peanut butter Balls

While I usually don’t measure, I will throw a bone to the OCD people out there

Ingredients
5 Dates (Pit them first! I found a good deal on dates at our Trader Joes)
1/2 cup Cashews (I usually have these on hand thanks to our vegan nacho cheese
1 tbsp Peanut butter
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1/2 tbsp Raw honey
1 tbsp Raw cocoa powder

Blend all ingredients in a blender. Form into balls. Depending on the size may make 4-5 balls. Modify recipe for more or less.

I can’t even describe how delicious these are! And my, how they curb the sweet tooth! Hallelujah!!

Quinoa Bird Seed Balls

I call them that cause they look like bird seed. That’s all.

Ingredients
1 cup cooked quinoa, cooled
1/2 cup uncooked oats
2 heaping tbsp nut butter
pumpkin seeds
Flax seeds
Chia seeds
Cocoa nibs or chocolate chips
Honey

Mix all ingredients with your hands once quinoa has cooled. Let mixture cool again and solidify a bit. Once cool form into balls and let cool or sit.

These are a great post run bite. Lots of good stuff in there!

Oat Protein Balls (Pb&J, chocolate chip or plain)

Last but not least is the easiest of the variations. With basic ingredients for your power balls that can easily include add ons.

Ingredients
Uncooked oats
Nut butter
Honey
Flax seed powder
Add ons
Chocolate chips
Strawberry jam
Dried berries
Seeds

Blend all ingredients with hands and let cool. Once cool add more dry or wet ingredients based on mold-ability. Form into balls and let cool only if you have the patience to do so!! I cheat this step about 75% of the time.

So go have a ball! Let me know what you come up with as you get creative!

Mission Impossible: Cauliflower “rice” & Quinoa Crunchy Tacos

Since the day I met Rich, he has expressed to me a deep hatred for 3 things: Zucchini, Ke$ha and Cauliflower. The first I conquered long ago when I hid some zucchini in our pasta. The second is unavoidable. And the third, has officially been removed from the gag list and I am here to show you how

First I steamed and made mashed “potatoes” using half russet potatoes and half cauliflower. I covered in some slow cooked short ribs and watched my husband eat his poison (Sounds awful but my heart was in the right place). I waited until he was finished to tell him I had a secret. And guess what, he had NO IDEA!!!! Bahaha!!! Victory!

I was feeling pretty confident so I kept seeing how I might prolong my victory. Out of which, came the next cauliflower recipe:

Inspiration

1. Organic cauliflower ON SALE.

2. Health!

3. The challenge of my darling’s gag reflexes

Recipe- Cauliflower & Quinoa Crunchy Tacos (They were as delicious as they sound)

I’ll have you know this recipe is unintentionally gluten free and vegetarian and all organic

1. Cook quinoa per directions ( 1 part quinoa to 2 parts water, and make sure to rinse first!)

(I’m sorry I don’t have any step by step pictures for you as normal but I think most of it goes without showing. When I become as amazing as The Pioneer Woman, I promise I will take pro pictures of EVERY step

2. Cauliflower “rice”

- Disclaimer : I had no idea what I was doing with this. I read a couple options of how to make “cauliflower rice” , but I’m not really a “rules” girl so I just sort of made a mess and went for it.

3. Steam your cauliflower first. (I chopped and then attempted steaming and it was a mess)

4. After you steam your cauliflower, chop in food processor. Or if you have patience, by hand with a large knife.

5. Do this until it looks close enough to rice and you can fool your husband.

6. Add your rice into a saucepan on the stovetop where you can reheat and add your seasonings.

- Seasonings I added: cumin, garlic powder, salt, chile powder, lemon juice

Tortilla Shells

I didn’t know what a “soft” taco was until I was about 11 and my friend ordered one at Taco Bell. My parents always made us homemade “crunchy” tacos and it’s all I knew. Rightfully so! Homemade fried tortilla taco shells are one of life’s joys. While they are super easy to accomplish I failed to take photos of this process (it requires a lot of hands!) So I included this link to All Recipes to lead you in the right direction

1. As non-messily as possible, add your “rice” and quinoa, and cheese preference to your corn tortilla BEFORE frying. This will create a warm, melty, meddling of all the flavors.

2. Once fried, add the remainder of your toppings. We added black beans, lettuce, red onion and our favorite hot sauce. My avocados weren’t ripe yet

Finished Product: 

And everybody said “Mmmmm”.

 

And we do not leave many dishes without our very favorite hot sauce which added SO much to these tacos:

 

Best part about these tacos was how light and non greasy they were! And surprisingly delicious!

The same ingredients would be great in a burrito or over nachos but it was all a great compliment to a nice crunchy taco shell.

Go try out your own cauliflower rice and let me know how it goes! I’m thinking we’ll try an Indian flare next with yogurt and curry and tomato paste.. Yum!!

I’ve also heard of people having success with CAULIFLOWER PIZZA CRUST!

Sky’s the limit I suppose.

Use what you have, keep it real, stay healthy

Keepin it Real – Fake Nacho Cheese

Hi lovers! (Unless you’re a man)

It has been a great time of recovering from the Holidays and mourning the loss of the amazing 2012 we had: Marriage, new home, new jobs, new niece, 1st every holiday there is being married. So much to be thankful for.

Rich & I are even creeping up on our 1st wedding anniversary! Eeek! I know its a great thing to be married a long time and all, but I do long for the days of the “Oh, us? We’ve been married for 3 months”. Sigh. But there are new and great things ahead and like Rich reminded me the other evening as I had my glass half empty moment, “Babe, let’s be newlyweds every year!”. I am Eeyore. He is my Poo. (There is probably a more appropriate metaphor for that statement…)

It joys me to say that in 2013 we are not just starting resolutions, we are actually continuing them! SO much easier! I’ve recently taken up running and even bought some new running shoes to remind me that I am committed to this thing! Started off the beginning of January by running 3 miles with a friend, a 5k! Just as, ya know, something to pass the time

With this new commitment to exercise it is even more important to me that we keep our standards when it comes to creating healthy, wholesome food around here. I told Rich,

“Babe, I want to make sure we eat healthy this year”

You should have seen the confusion. This poor guy has been munching on kale, quinoa and organic oatmeal for the past year.

What I meant was , I want to take it to the next level. Pushing the boundaries of things we just accept and buy because we think we can’t make it ourselves. Ha! I laugh at that challenge.

I’ve decided there is one phrase that sums up how we will approach this good challenge: Keep it real.

Hilary that’s so 90′s of you. I know.  What I mean is, there is so much to keep up on when it comes to healthful diets. Whole wheat, dairy free, gluten free, free range, organic, no soy, the list goes on. So when in doubt, just keep it real. If God didn’t grow it, don’t eat it!

I hope you’ll take this challenge with me. And let me gain your trust by letting you know that, in my heart of hearts I want nothing more than to be eating a Beefy Crunch Burrito from Taco Bell© right now. Because that’s how much I love food. Except that’s not really food. That’s why I stick to eating them in my imagination now. (Except for the time that I made them homemade and they were still so not nutritious, but better than from the chain

This “Keep it real” mentality has led me on crazy adventures recently. Like, ready for it? Homemade nacho cheese that is so healthful. Ill give you a moment.

No joke. Husband approved. CASHEW based, nacho “cheese”. *Disclaimer. This is not going to satisfy your craving for Velveeta. If you crave Velveeta we have a bigger issues on our hands. This is a new and improved “cheese” that will curve your craving for the good stuff. Don’t cry when it doesn’t taste EXACTLY like it came from a jar. This is part of your “Keep it real” journey. Adapting your taste buds to real food. I digress and I mourn the chemically derived orange sauce with you.*

So here it goes:

Inspiration: Fitness, dignity, keepin it real, passion for nacho cheese

Cost: All of the ingredients below were used so many times I’m guessing I spent about $1.50 making this cheese per serving. Even including the raw cashews I bought from Trader Joes. 1 bag of cashews lasted me for about 3 nacho cheese recipes and some snackage on the side

Ingredients:

1. Cashews – 1 cup (Some recipes say to soak for at least an hr. I’ve done it soaked and not soaked and can’t really tell a difference. But soak if you’re feeling productive)

2. Nutritional Yeast – 1/3- 1/2 cup

3. Water – 2 cups

4. Pimentos, or chiles (or salsa)

5. Chile powder, garlic salt, garlic powder, cumin (All to taste, but more chile powder than all cause I like it spicy)

Here’s the deal. Cashews make your cheese creamy. The yeast makes it cheesy. The water makes it liquidy. The spices and chiles make is spicy. You can add more or less as you go along depending on your preferences. The measurements above are what worked for Rich and I and lasted for about 3 nights of nacho cheese usage!  (But I would call it quits after one overnight use. It’s just not the same after that).

P.s. This is what nutritional yeast looks like. This is what will create our “cheese” flavor. My best guess says you do not have this on hand. I bought it for $6 or so at our local nutrition store. May seem a bit pricey but its lasted me for a good run an even contains some great nutrients like B-Vitamins and zinc (to name a few). Find out more here: Fat Free Vegan Blog

Recipe: 

1. Blend all ingredients in a loud appliance:

2. Transfer mixture to the stove for heating. Heat on low and stir slowly! If you go too high and let it sit it clumps together. Ewwy. We don’t want this to be your first experience with healthful nacho cheese.

3. Taste test and add whatever spices you think best. Once hot its ready!

Finale:

Mmm…. Sometimes I add my “cheese” over some cheese. Just cause I’m a rebel and don’t have self control.

Then you add all your glorious nacho toppings and even some organic ground beef to keep the vegans confused.  Drool.

Like I said, this is not ball park nacho cheese, but let me tell you, it does the trick! Rich and I are so satisfied with our healthy jumbo nachos or burritos. It is also GREAT over roasted red potatoes!

So go ahead, indulge on your guilty pleasures by Keeping it Real. Let me know what YOU make and how you keep it healthy at home!

It’s Beginning to Look a lot Like.. Our First Christmas!

Happy December to all! The Christmas season is finally, officially, here! Time for as much White Christmas, Home Alone & Elf as I please! I tried to convince my husband that the Christmas season starts well before Thanksgiving. On one particular …

Quick & Easy Ratatouille (RAT-TAT-TOO-EE)

Inspiration: 

You all already know that my love, Rich, has a sensitive palate. (I’ve gotten really good and finding other words for “picky eater”). One thing that he has assured me of is that he can absolutely NOT tolerate cauliflower or zucchini, or he will gag until he dies.

Well guess what? I, my friends, am what you call a miracle worker.

Cauliflower is still TBA (I’m already planning meals where I hide it in buffalo sauce, or blend it to oblivion with cheese), but zucchini, I laugh in the face of zucchini!!

I made this quick dish of Ratatouille, not actually knowing I was making Ratatouille, and my husband ate half of a zucchini not even realizing it was zucchini!

Here’s the secret: Saute any gaggable veggie with enough BUTTER, ONION & GARLIC, and your veggie will no longer be gaggable, it’ll be husband proof

Traditional Ratatouille really just means “stewed vegetables”, but would normally include tomato, basil and zucchini. But really, use what you got!

This is really SO easy. So much so that I made it again for myself using eggplant as the base. Here’s how it went down the second time, using what I had from our Aunt Katie’s garden. So basically, it cost me nothing. New shoes for me!!

Recipe: 

1. Gather whatever veggies you need used up. This is what I had on hand. Garlic and onion is a must.

*Traditional Ratatouille would include tomato & zucchini. Even if you hate the texture of cooked tomato, you can stew it down enough where it really dissolves and blends with the other veggies.

 

 
2. Chop all veggies. Saute onions and peppers (your “hard veggies”) first, in an undisclosed amount of real organic butter .

 

 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
3. After “hard” veggies have softened a little, add the rest of your “softer” veggies. At this point I also added some seasoning. Salt, pepper, chili powder.

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
4. Add basil (Basil reaaally give this dish it’s flavor) and garlic last to avoid soggy basil and burnt garlic.

Um, yes please.

 

5. Let those veggies simmer! Let them get to know each other, mingle and hang out a while. When they seem to be BFF’s, and you can’t stand it any longer, your ratatouille is finished.

This might look like a hot mess, but it’s actually perfect.

Mmm, comfort. Check out that C.D. that’s behind the glass by our friends Joseph & Tosha Zwanziger!

Now go make something warm and cozy and healthy and watch the rain fall down and pretend like you’re in France <3

Curried Carrot Soup

It has been a bit of time since I’ve posted. For the last week or so I’ve convinced myself that I should only post when I have some truly gourmet culinary revelation to talk about, but that’s never gonna happen, and that’s not the point of this blog!

The point of this blog is to use what we have! And to get away with using words like, “gonna”. So let’s get back to the basics

Fall is FINALLY in the air here in Vacaville. Nevermind that it’s 80 degrees and sunny out today, and we’ve only had about 4 days of rain. The leaves are still changing, Halloween is still coming, and the flavors of fall are in full swing! To commemorate the beauty of this holiday season I developed a hearty dish full of flavor and the main inspiration comes from this:

This guy knew what was up. Did you know that carrots, or Daucus Carota,  are known to reduce skin blemishes, even out pigmentation, are the second most popular vegetable next to potatoes, grow year round, and may help lower your risk of heart disease, breast cancer, lung cancer and colon cancer? That must be why Bugs carried them around like they were Cuban cigars.

Carrots are one of the essentials that I keep in my fridge at all times as long as I can help it (more on the essentials soon to come). Not only for the above reasons but because they are so EASY to apply to ANYTHING!

The following are actual conversations that have taken place between Rich and Hilary Harris. Rich plays the plaintiff and Hilary plays the defendant…

“Babe, what are you adding to our breakfast potatoes.. are those carrots?” 

“Babe, what’s in my burrito? Are those carrots?” 

“Babe, what are these orange chunks in my smoothie? Are those carrots?” (Those chunks were completely unintentional by the way)

For juicing, chopping, sauteing or pureeing, carrots are worthy for me to keep around. And they are the star of this post.

The Inspiration

Long story short, I wanted soup. Our vegetable broth had gone bad, our organic potato leek soup had gone bad. We don’t usually buy cans of soup, so what was a girl to do. Go to Panera? Go get some Campbells? NO! Because I’m still in my pajamas and I don’t want to go!

I don’t know the first thing about making soup. TRUST ME. But I do know this, it’s liquidy and you don’t have to chew it. So I figured if I blended something long enough it would become soup I told you, only simple thoughts coming from this blog…

After some exploring of the barren fridge I landed some carrots, celery, onion & garlic. Bingo. My bag of dryish, thick skinned organic carrots were about to become a culinary masterpiece. Long story short, I spent no extra money on this dish.

The Recipe

And here’s how it (roughly) all went down, or as the french say, la recipe (resa-pee):

1. Chopped carrots, celery, onion, and garlic, saute together in butter until all soft.

Not rocket science. I didn’t even measure. Just keep the heat low enough that you don’t burn and maybe add a little water and cover for a bit. The steam of the water helps the softening go quicker without scalding and any leftover water residue in your veggies is no biggie, you’ll be adding water later anyway.

There was one of me for lunch that day so I used about 3 big carrots, 2 stalks celery, half a palm full of onion, 1 clove garlic.  

2. After sauteing, I placed all in my blender. Or was it my food processor? Or was it my magic bullet? Guess my point is, as long as it blends, I don’t care what you use. My one suggestions would be to let your sauteed veggies cool before you do blend them because one thing I do remember is a lot of warmth and sizzling and wincing on my part. And I will be purchasing a hand blender in the near future…

3. I then added about 1 cup water and set to blend. I then added more water until it was the consistency I wanted. 

Here’s the part where I was feeling REALLY adventurous. I knew I wanted my soup creamy so I added a little coconut milk. A splash, or for you organized people, “1/4 cup”. 

4. Once smooth I returned my pureed veggies/ water blend to the stove to warm again. Time for seasonings.

Let’s be honest, it’s all about the seasonings. I decided by the grace of God to use curry in my soup. That was not a mistake.

Few heavy dashes of curry for an exotic flavor, few dashes of chili powder for a kick, lots of cracked pepper and a little bit of garlic salt. 

Voila! Panera worthy, Bistro envy, SOUP!

Let’s give it up for the Iphone camera!!

Be inspired all! Don’t be afraid of the unknown! Even if that unknown is how to make your OWN soup! You don’t need a can. You don’t need preservatives or additives! Great tasting blended veggies are at your finger tips (or in your refrigerator’s “crisp” drawer).

Do away with the curry and carrots and add some milk, broccoli, potato and cheese for a whole other kind of soup!

Blend it all! In whatever order. Use a spoon, taste it, add more of whatever you want. Make it fabulous! Make it to YOUR taste. “But what does the recipe call for?” Let your taste buds be the recipe maker. Can’t wait to hear about your own barren fridge explorations

I look forward to making this soup by Riddle Love that uses chicken stock as the base. (I actually made my own chicken broth, was feeling UBER prepared that day) I’ve linked one way to go about it, but I think if you just boil chicken bones until the water turns brown you’re on to something

Ingredients: 

3 large carrots

2 stalks celery,

1/ 4 cup onion

1 clove garlic

2 tblsp curry powder

1 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tblsp pepper

1 1/2 cup water (guesstamate)

NY Eats

Hi readers! Welcome back and sorry for the delay in posts!

Rich and I just returned from 9 glorious days in New York City! Our friends are stationed on Staten Island through the Coast guard so we were able to visit our dear friends and take the ferry into the city of Manhattan as we pleased. Oh my goodness what a magical place. I completely fell in love with Manhattan. People, lights, movement, heart, attitude!

We were also able to visit the ever so charming and historical town of Sleepy Hollow for a day. What a BEAUTIFUL little village, and so full of character, especially around Halloween time!

I wish I could share ALL of what this trip was like, but I think you’ll agree that the most important aspect of a trip is the food. And that’s what I’m here to share with you!

I just want to apologize to all of you who thought I only eat organic and healthy all the time. Santa is not real and that is not true of me. This girl can EAT. Especially in a great place like New York. So basically, every health conscious thought was squashed during these 9 days. I will say, however, that we walked around the city a total of about 20+ miles, so there! Guilt eliminated.

Let’s begin shall we!

My first culinary buy in NY was a street hot dog! So satisfying and necessary on a trip to NY. Just look at it!

Ketchup, Deli Mustard, Kraut

Next bite was a little more gourmet at a hole in the wall restaurant called “Hourglass Tavern” . No really, a hole in the wall. Smallest restaurant I’ve ever been to. But yummy food I got the house made raviolis with a mushroom sauce. Real tangy and savory. Real good.  But the pictures were majorly flashed out, so unfortunately I have nothing to show for it

Then came the NY Pizza! From Ray’s Pizza. In the movie “Elf”, Santa tells Buddy to go to the original Ray’s Pizza on 11th. We didn’t make it to the one on 11th, but this one was just as satisfying and right across the way from our hotel. Let me introduce you to the NY slice:

The goddess

I’m ashamed to say that I took a look at this slice and thought, “Really, that’s it? That’s NY pizza? Looks greasy just like CA pizza”. And then I took a bite…

Deer in pizza headlights   

With this one bite I realized, that we all are sheep that have gone astray and we are all in need of a shepherd. I can’t explain why NY pizza is superior to that of California. But I think it starts with the fluffy, chewy, crunchy crust. Then it makes it’s way to the powerfully humble and smooth sauce, and ends somewhere among the unobtrusive, salty mozzarella. I shoulda packed that sucker in my suitcase.

Then my husband told me how I was supposed to eat it.

Fold that sucker like it might get away from ya and catch the next subway train

“Oh, like this honey? “

Pinkie unintentionally out. Always a lady

Next was a pastrami sandwich from the famous Carnegie Deli (There was a picture and a note from J.Lo on the wall, that’s how I know it’s famous). This sandwich was as big as my face and fed me, my friend and her 6ft+ husband. But I think he was still hungry afterwards…The best thing about ordering this sandwich was that Carnegie’s is truly authentic. I mostly know this because the inside of the deli was LOUD. The workers were all impatient. And I never felt more insignificant in my life. NY Magic. And I mean that with all the fondness in the world.

Would you like a sandwich with that pastrami?

Next, we have the Philly Cheesesteak. (I told you this was no organic picnic guys). Found on the corner of something and something, right outside of the Staten Island Ferry station in Manhattan. Called, “Dominics”.

Rich & I stared at the menu for about 3 minutes when the man working the truck finally said in his best accent, “I’ve been working this truck  on this corner fah 18 yrs. If dat don’t tell ya its’ good I dont know what will.”

Well said sir. With that, we ordered this. Cheddar cheese on top, pepper, onions and mushrooms on the side. (Since this was mainly for my man and I only wanted ONE little bite… )

I feel like our future newborn may be this big

Can we get a close up?

Oh yea baby.

Handsome with a full mouth enjoying his manwich in mid traffic.

On this particular day we were able to wash down our beef with a little espresso at Stumptown Coffee, a super yummy and hip cafe that our friends from Portland area had told us all about. Lucky for us they had just started  a Manhattan location as well!

Latte. I drank this and became 5x’s more trendy than I already was.

Towards the end of our trip we made our way to the town of Sleepy Hollow. You know, the one about the Headless Horseman and all that? Bet you didn’t know that was located in NY, only minutes from Manhattan. SUPER cool town. Well, a village really. Adorable old houses and enchanting cemetery and churches where people like Washington Irving (author of Sleepy Hollow) and William Rockefeller are buried.

We ate dinner at a charming place called Horse Feathers. Adorable right? You felt like you went back in time as you entered. The walls were adorned with pictures and quotes from authors of old.

Some historical hottie

Oh, and this is what I ate. A cheeseburger inside of a BLT club sandwich. So basically this sandwich gives you membership to the “you should not be eating that much beef” club. With sweet potato fries. Need I say more.

Sorry for the flash and blurriness. So much food that it came on a skillet. I shared this, I promise.

The last place we ate in NY, right after visiting the American Museum of Natural History, and right before canoodling in Central Park at dusk, was Shake Shack. Basically the In&Out of the east coast with no hormones or antibiotics in their beef. But our cashier kindly brought to our attention that In&Out was like Shake Shack, not the other way around And because I like to finish things the way I start them, like a full circle kind of Oprah deal, I got a hot dog… and cheese fries… because I also like to add to the way I start things…

Hot dog “dragged through the garden” with pickles, cucumber, onion, tomato, relish & peppers.

But the real special thing about this hot dog is the way they grill it. By slicing it in half long ways and grilling both halves, making each bite a grilled one. Why didn’t I think of that??

Let’s not forget these beauties…

Crinkle fries covered in American & Cheddar cheeses.

And this is where we sat to let all the food settle in to our arteries, as we took one last view of the beautiful Central Park and the city that holds it…

I’m sure you don’t find it hard to believe that today I have eaten oatmeal, a lettuce wrap and some spinach and popcorn. Let the detox begin, but please, please, please, whatever you do… Go to New York!

*Not featured in this blog post due to poor lighting and forgetfulness are the following restaurants and dishes; Ditch Plains (super trendy upper westside surf & turf eats)  featuring fried pickles, cheesey jalapeno and bacon “tots”, lobster chowder & pastrami tacos.  Hourglass Tavern (hole in the wall, fanciful, historical & tasteful) featuring in house bread and in house ravioli. And Tom’s Restaurant (Host of Seinfeld’s show famous diner) Featuring Oreo shake, cheeseburger and fries .

Grilled Cheese- Recreating a Classic

“Is she really going to talk about how to make grilled cheese?” Yes. Kind of. You need to hear it.

It all stems from me wanting to cry in our kitchen. And being thankful for my mom. Let me explain.

You ever just have those days where you don’t want to cook anymore? Where you don’t want to do the dishes anymore? Where if you have to serve someone another meal on a plate before serving yourself you are going to cry long, hard, pitiful sobs? Yea, me neither. Except yes, probably once for every season. That’s when I remember how my Mom would cook for me and my siblings all the time and cleaned up after us and then did it all again for all 3 meals for as long as I can remember. Sigh. What a luxury Thanks Mom. Can you come over please? And for the few  times she left the dishes in the sink with disdain and put her feet up and turned on America’s Next Top Model and tuned out… I totally get it now Mom, I totally get it.

Last Saturday was my seasonal brink of crying in the kitchen day. We had a busy morning at a church meeting, caught part of my nephew’s soccer game, I had a my monthly visitor and all she wanted was more Ibuprofen. Rich & I were both hungry and tired and ready for lunch. What a winning combo. But the thought of having to come up with something satisfying for both of us, and having to add another dish to the sink. Drama. I could have won an Oscar.

Our conversation ended with my apologies:

“I’m sorry I’m a butt”.

“That’s okay babe”. HA! Love that man.

As a foodie, there is always the looming pressure to make food fantastic. Instead of having to shop every time you want a new meal, or trying to find ingredients you can’t pronounce, I’ve started to abide by one foundational  thought, recreate the classics. Too often I think, ” I can’t just make spaghetti, I can’t just make chicken, I need to make something fabulous!” That’s where the grilled cheese challenge comes into play.

On that day of my emotional breakdown, after I apologized for being a butt, I regrouped and decided to use what I had to make a delicious grilled cheese sandwich and this moment became a metaphor for many of the seasons in my life… (not really, kind of). I don’t know if there’s anything more simple and comfortable than cheese and bread, especially when it’s all melty

So here’s what I did…I checked Pinterest. So many of my inspirations come from this site, as all you women already know. There are some really creative people out there so I just let them do the work and then inspire me! After seeing that you can add anything from fruit to chocolate to your grilled cheese, I just pulled out what I had.

Inspiration

Not being a butt and not crying anymore and being hungry.

Cost

$0.00

Recipe

What I had lying around was : Basil, Mozzarella that needed to be used up, avocado  tomato and red onion from my Aunt Katie’s garden, Organic wheat bread, Vegenaise (No, I’m not vegan, it was an experimental buy

Avengers, Assemble! 

Buttered both sides of my bread, grill, butter side down.

Hi pretty

Do you ever lust after food? Yea, me neither…

Nice tan Mr. Sandwich

No one gets mad about cheese melting out of their sandwich

I know, this post is so hilariously simple. But here’s the main thought, you are bigger than a recipe! You can use what you have! You can recreate the ordinary using what’s already looming in your fridge. You can get creative! And you can stop crying and not be a butt to those in your house and make yourself a stinkin’ good meal and enjoy the rest of your Saturday.

Let me know your twists on traditional meals! What have you added or subtracted from your dishes that was surprisingly pleasing?