using pinterest as a cookbook

I really do love the usefulness of pinterest, that is if you actually USE it. I use it in many different ways from inspiration boards, diy ideas, blog promotion, classroom tools, and as a cookbook. Two weeks ago I powered through and did some honest to goodness meal planning. I hit up my pinterest board and searched for summery recipes, sorting until I found a handful that looked good, seemed easy, and shared similar ingredients.

I made a menu then circled same ingredients. I checked our pantry and fridge to see what we had on hand and went back to switch things around so that we were using what we had. I made two grocery lists, one for the farmer's market and one for the grocery store. I felt super productive. I love it when that happens. I also made a tart from the mama a-go-go's peaches (it is a happy tree).

I sent the mister to the farmers market as I had training at school to attend. The next day I hit up multiple grocery stores and picked up both the items on my list and the items the mister was not able to get at the farmers market. I brought everything home, did some chopping, made an awesome spinach and strawberry salad (w store bought strawberry poppyseed dressing) and served it up with a grocery cooked rotisserie bird and fresh baked crusty bread. We actually eat this salad a lot. It is super tasty. I use white onion or red onion, whichever I have at home. I also put the berries and the onion in this gadget and twist away. Speeds up the prep time, I love it!

The day after that I utilized half of the remaining chicken to make schwarma inspired sandwiches. I could not find lavash bread (made me miss L.A.) so made do with subpar pita (also made me miss L.A.), mixed greens, fresh tomatoes, red onion,  lemon cukes from the garden, hummus and tahini. It was really good! No photos folks. Mister gives me flack for being techy/trendylike and taking food photos so not every dish was documented. We served up the sandwiches with fresh fruit. They were super tasty.

Day three used up the remaining chicken inspired by this recipe. I mixed bbq sauce into the chicken and grilled up some sandwiches using the mixture, cheddar, and red onions. We had salad on the side using cukes and cuke blossoms from the garden.

After that, the order of what I made gets a bit hazy but we enjoyed a Greek inspired orzo salad that was best at room temperature. The recipe for the dressing was tasty but I think I need to double it up next time. The orzo salad served as the meal itself and we had leftovers for lunch and one other dinner.

I then made a white bean salad from dried beans that I had popped into the crockpot to cook over night. They got overcooked and while super tasty were also super mushy so the photos may look weird but it was really good! The white bean salad was served up with the meatballs from this recipe (which includes the white bean salad). Loved these! I never really make meatballs because it seems like too much work but when you thnk about how you can freeze them and reheat them so easily it is super worth it. Actually went really fast and these were really, really, good!  The second night we enjoyed the meatballs with the orzo salad and used the white bean salad as a lunch entree.

Next up was this salad. Oh my word! This one is so so good I ended up making it twice! I did not use romaine but used mixed greens and switched out the peppers (I'm allergic) for tomatoes, did not use jicama (mister is not a fan), and added avocado. It was the main meal. This one is a bit labor intense what with al lthe chop, chop, chopping. Keep the dressing in a jar and it keeps nicely i nthe fridge for two to three days. Also, don't go heavy on the dressing. I forgot I had already dressed my plate so I dressed it again and while I do not generally add a lot of dressing to my salads this was far too much and made it difficult to finish. When you make the tortilla strips, use a thin

We rounded out the week with this salad and it was really good even though I was worried about the mango and avocado in it. We added chicken to it the second time we ate it.The other half of the cabbage turned into slaw (I make a mean slaw) that we served up with ready made pulled pork for sandwiches. A quick, easy, tasty, dinner protocol from Ms. Za. We enjoyed ours with super not good for you curly fries courtesy of the freezer department. I get all anxious when I resort to premade meals not because I feel like I am failing my family but ore so for all sorts of environmental/moral reasons. Eeps.

So, there ya go,  more than a week's worth of easy meals to feed 2-4 people at a time. Possibly less, we tend to eat super small portions but you know your family best. I will be making all of these again...oh...one of the recipes called for sumac, I cannot remember which one, perhaps the white bean salad. Either way I did not feel I needed to go purchase a new spice that I could possibly be allergic to so I skipped it and it was fine...whatever it was. I need to plan another week now as we are being lazy and eating eggs for dinner but I am so so so lacking in inspiration at the moment. Enjoy!

eat dillydilly: cranberry wild rice salad with sautéd artichole hearts {plus awesome berry glaze}

On the way home from Maker Faire back in May, we car travelers passed the time by creating a list of ingredients that would be fun to cook with. We decided to create an ingredient club of sorts where once a month, everyone prepares a dish or two utilizing two ingredients that were selected at random. Our first meeting was in early June in it was a blast!

The ingredients for our first meeting were cranberries and artichokes. Now, if we want to get super creative we can use both ingredients in a single dish but we don't have to. Say a future ingredient selection was sardines and peaches...I suppose that could work but I'm not sure I want to go there (though now the noggin is turning and thinking).

From classic artichoke dip, artichoke stuffed turkey breasts, and steamed 'chokes with cranberry hollandaise to cold potato soup with cranberry creme fraiche it was a food frenzy! The other folks in the group are pretty fancy in their cooking. Bread from scratch and all that jazz. I at first was super intimidated and tried to find fancy dishes but being that I am not a super fan of artichokes really I decided to figure out something I do like and make that is tasty and adaptable. I began with cranberries and thought of savory dishes and then it hit me...wild rice salad!

So that is what I made, a wild rice salad with sauteed artichoke hearts and cranberry cherry glaze. I don't have photos of the process but I an list the recipe below...have fun!

Wild Rice Salad with Sauteed Artichoke Hearts and Cranberry Cherry Glaze

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked wild rice
1 cup cooked basmati rice
juice and zest from a small lemon
1 small red onion chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries 
1 can of artichoke hearts (not marinated)
3-5 cloves of garlic crushed
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

While rice is cooking, add a plug or two of olive oil to a heavy skillet and turn heat on medium. Add your crushed garlic and stir to incorporate into the oil. While keeping an eye on the temperature of the skillet, open and drain artichoke hearts. Squeeze out excess moisture with clean hands and coarsely chop. Add to hot skillet and stir until coated with oil and garlic. Continue sautéing until artichokes are somewhat browned. Set aside to cool.

Once rice is cooked pour into a large bowl. Stir to combine the two. Add juice and zest from a small lemon, chopped red onion, and cranberries. Stir until well combined. Add artichokes hearts, stir and taste. Add salt and pepper to taste if needed. Serve with a spoonful or two of cranberry cherry glaze.

Cranberry Cherry Glaze

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup no sugar added cranberry cherry juice
3-5 cloves of garlic, smashed
2 tablespoons cornstarch
pinch of salt

Combine ingredients into small saucepan and stir with a wooden spoon until the back of the spoon is coated. This glaze thickens up and resembles an orange glaze for orange chicken. We have used it on our rice salad, with pork chops, and as a sandwich spread. It would probably be even better with fresh or frozen cranberries for your Thanksgiving dinner!

yogurt a-go-go

 a couple of weeks ago, during teacher appreciation week at the preschool, one of the parents brought us each a lovely breakfast of  a yogurt parfait in a happy mason jar. since i work as an assistant, much of the days is scrambling from one room to the next so i was not able to breakfast on the jar of delicious. i did remember to bring it home and after it traveled along on a few errands it was not nearly as pretty when i got it home as it was in the morning.

i'm not really the biggest fan of sweet yogurt. i like it in my smoothies and as a savory side of raita but never quite befriended it partied up with fruit and such. but how could i refuse a gift in a jar? an edible gift no less...so i plopped down on sofa and dipped my spoon into the gooey mess and became enraptured with what i feasted on. this was the most amazing breakfast for lunch EVER!

the following week, i had a chance to wax poetic over the pretty parfait and the creator laughed and told me of the great battle she battled to craft something both tasty and pretty.

after picking up all the ingredients for home...

it is safe to say...

i am hooked.

**it really was quite pretty in the jar with all the layers splendidly separate. the first parfait i made at home was in a jar and far from pretty. man, it takes skill to layer up yogurt in a jar.

last week, in los angeles

we ate...

thai iced tea is a favorite

all the stuff that makes pho so good!

a new pho place! and good!

the pineapple aqua fresca was a hit

at Cook's we went tried something different (pulled pork)

at Fosselman's we shared three scoops. Yes, three!

 it's one of our favorite things to do while in l.a., aside from squeezing our friends (and my brother whom we did not get to see).

the places we hit:

Pho So

Fantastic pho, not too salty. We stuck with the brisket but they had all the usual suspects plus many other dishes. The thai iced tea was really good. Strong and tea flavored, plenty sweet but not watered down or too sweet. We stopped in at 99 Ranch after for some lavender green tea, amaranth blossoms and owl brand ginger tea crystals.

Cook's Tortas

Oh boy, do we love Cook's! The mister and I definitely have our favorites (I like the cubano while the mister loves the Zacateca) but we opted to split something new this time around. We ended up with the bbq pulled pork and it was incredible! Not overy saucy but so full of flavor and tender. The homemade bread was perfect with it. As accompaniment we had a smidge of their super tasty potato salad and a large order of sweet potato fries. We also split the pineapple mint aqua fresca. So good! 

Fosselman's

Fosselman's is a bit of a tradition after Cook's or Banh Mi. The mister and I discovered that three scoops in a cup is cheaper than two separate scoops and when you can pick out three flavors instead of one, why not? My favorite flavor is the chocolate dipped strawberry which is like a straberry chocolate chip. Totally fresh and no too sweet, if you have a working sniffer the flavor is wonderful. They didn't have blueberry this time around so we opted for toasted almond and cherry vanilla as our other two scoops, both of which share a sweet cream flavor as opposed to a classic vanilla. The cherry seemed to be a sweet cream with maraschino cherries chopped up and mixed in making it light and perfect for a warm day. Again, Fosselman's tends to be less sweet than your chain shops. The horchata ice cream however is really sweet!

Blue Hen

Oh blue Hen, I miss you so. All around the table we ordered the Blue Hen banh mi. It's made with chicken and comes with a side of carrot salad or their famous turmeric fries (which include yams). An extra order of fried for the table really hit the spot as did their classic iced Vietnamese drip coffee. 

Another Broken Egg

Meh. I don't think I can recommend this place. Our server was great but the food was just so-so and stupidly overpriced. The Leets ordered the jumbo pancake with fruit and opted for blueberries as a topping which consisted of a smattering of berries as if they were an afterthought. Their begnets were too fried and hard while the eggs an taters were like any other breakfast diner fare.

Eat Well

Eat Well in Glendale is a favorite standby. Nothing fancy, it serves up your usual diner fare. The mister enjoys the Po Boy and their chilaquiles while I hop around from various sandwiches to french toast. This time around we split the turkey burger which was enormous and full of alfalfa sprouts. The fries are crinkle cut and tasty and if you go on the weekend you get a free piece of coffee cake which totally takes me back to junior high and the cafeteria sweets they made. Love! 

So there you go, if yer ever in Los Angeles, here are a few recommendations (plus one not to go to) from the a-go-gos. Happy eats!

snacky snacks

 I like to make things. Food things. Baked things, cooked things, steeped things. I like the process of chopping, pouring, and measuring. And I really like the part where I take a lovely picture. I'm also quite prone to laziness so that when I'm really ready for a bite but nothing is ready I could easily reach for a bowl of cereal or sneak out to a fast food dungeon. One of the plus sides of living here in SLO is that there are NO drive-thrus. Not a one! And, now that the nose works, I want to take advantage of it (until I lose it again as it is wont to do) and eat good things. So I make sure to hit the market and purchase such things. I still pick up crackers and bread and I still bake (the mister is a major snacker) but so far, I have not hit the cereal or the burger joints, instead I have a snacky lunch. My favorite kind.

A snacky lunch only works when you have the goodness on hand. You want a little sweet, a little crunch, a bit of protein and if you do grains, something whole and nutty. Last week, I was on a pear kick. I would halve a pear, add a handful of pecans, a couple slices of Dubliner cheese and two hard-boiled eggs with cracked pepper. Delicious! Yesterday I had a particularly delightful snacky snack of aged gouda, an apple, handful of walnuts, handful of multi-grain crackers, a slice of poached chicken and a wee square of delicious chocolate. So good! I also discovered that there are not too many of you out there who like walnuts. Interesting. I am so grateful I can eat nuts.

Earlier this week I baked a batch of Valentine's cake-mix cookies. They were fun, smelled crazy sweet and posed quite nicely for pictures. I ate one and was knocked over by the sweet. I'm not sure I mean that in a good way. Mister comes home and sees the cookies and partakes and then partakes some more all the while I holler at him to pace himself. I ate another one yesterday and I think I need to throw them away. They aren't awful but if yer gonna have temptation around, make sure it is worthwhile. They are perfect cookies for a group of kiddos who will demolish them in one sitting but not so Methinks I'm still dosed with a bit of grogginess. Here's to hoping I wake up...

summer eats

usually i get all grouchy hot in the summer so i don't feel like cooking much. but this summer so far, has been cool and i have a tiny casa to clean and purge so i procrastinate by cooking. lost of super yummy veggie delights though there has been some chicken here and there. there's a new farmer's market just at the end of my block and across the street. it's on wednesdays and it runs from noon to 6pm. i'm going to venture forth and check it out soon. i don't need any produce right now so here is some pics of what we a-go-gos have been eating this summer...click on the pics for more info. happy july!