This/That: Thanksgiving Style

This past holiday weekend I...

Juiced these delicious apples, oranges, and lemons / Ground this pink himalayan sea salt + mixed it with ground cloves / Poured these delicious mocktails

Made TWO types of gluten-free stuffing, Gillian's + Glutino, and held a taste test. The preferred result: A COMBO OF THE TWO

MADE THIS. MY FIRST TURKEY! I prepared it on my own (yikes!) and with the help of my husband Will and best buddy Dejon, we basted and roasted this delicious Trader Joe's turkey to herbed perfection. It was, and it's leftovers remain, DELICIOUS. 

Dressed the table with these simple berries. After days of prep and shopping, and a full day of non-stop cooking, we savored every morsel of our Thanksgiving dinner reward. I hope your holiday was warm, wonderful, and filled with loved ones. 

Ate This/Made This

 This weekend I...

+ Ate this broccoli and onion frittata.

+ Made these delicious gluten-free pancakes.

+ Started re-reading this. 

+ Washed Gracie's favorite toy with this.

+ Watched the finale of this and it was SO GOOD.

The Cutest Baked Good in the World

I cooked the most adorable mini muffins the other day and can't believe I neglected to use the pan responsible for them in the last 5 years. I used this recipe in this muffin pan that I received as a shower gift and it renders the cutest baked goods in the entire world. These would make a great addition to any brunch table, or be a nice hostess gift for a dinner or holiday party. Too bad I ate them so fast I barely had time to admire their lovely appearance.

Ate This

This weekend I...

+ Used what I had. 

I'll often wait until I'm starving to eat, then look into the fridge and fail to see the potential meals in the ingredients that I already have. This can lead to wasting food or money, so I'm trying to use what I already have in more ways by being a little creative. Over the weekend I had a huge chunk of mozzarella cheese, a ton of cherry tomatoes, and some yummy basil that needed to be eaten ASAP. With a little forethought and spacing, this turned into 2 delicious meals that didn't cost a dime and only used what was already in my kitchen. 

1- On Friday afternoon I made some gluten-free pasta from my pantry. I added mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, and tossed in some extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, and sea salt to create a simple yet truly tasty caprese pasta salad. 

2- Yesterday for an afternoon snack, I put the remaining tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil onto toothpicks and my husband and I ate them on their own. They were so fresh and delicious and with a day and a half in between the two meals, I was totally into eating the same ingredients in a new way. This second snack was also a hit when my in-laws were visiting and wanted a light tasty treat. You can add a little balsamic vinegar to them too if you want.

Plans

 This weekend I plan on....

+ Dreaming about this wallpaper.

+ Eating these banana nut muffins I baked. 

+ Mulling these aromatic spices.

+ Wearing these fall essentials.

+ Wish I had this above my bed.

What are your plans? Have a wonderful weekend! 

DIY Nacho Bar

This weekend we ate some delicious food including homemade gluten-free nachos that will definitely be turning into a regular occurrence in this house. The last few weeks I was working around the clock, creating a dismal display of delivery.com abuse. We redeemed ourselves with homemade pancakes and bacon, watermelon salad, bacon-wrapped dates (!!!), and this delish dish that my husband prepped and led. Thank you, Will!

To Make:

+ Load up your nachos onto a baking dish

+ Add shredded cheese. I suggest adding a layer of nachos, a layer of cheese, another layer of nachos, then another layer of cheese.

+ Add in your onions and beans, or whatever toppings you want baked.

+ Bake at 250 for about 10-15 minutes, or until your cheese is fully melted. 

+ When melted and smelly amazing, add in your other toppings. We went with heirloom tomatoes, avocado, fresh cilantro, lime juice, and Will added in some hot pepper. This part you can switch up each time to keep the recipe fresh and fun. 

What would you top your nachos with? It's a great date-night dinner or fun for a party. 

This/That 4th of July FOOD EDITION

Somehow in 2013 your internet can still just, you know, GO OUT if your provider is Time Warner Cable. So yesterday my main purpose in life was being very frustrated with this. But over the weekend I....

+ Made this deviled eggs recipe.

+ Ate this amazing BBQ by my bestie wearing this.

+ Dog sat this.

+ Faced the daunting/exciting/terrifying prospect of moving out of our apartment of 9 years. 

All I can say is: WOAH.

+ Made this watermelon recipe, seen on Panda Head blog last summer.

+ Saw this excellent film here with my sweet husband.

+ Snuggled with this. Duh/obvs/always.

Ate These/Made This

This weekend I...

+ Ate these heirloom tomatoes

+ Celebrated PRIDE

+ Hung out with this dewey-eyed baby

+ Made this (RECIPE: Add tomatoes, black beans, kidney beans, corn, cilantro, red onion & the juice of 1 lime to a bowl. Salt to taste, MIX & eat up on tortilla chips, as a taco topping, or as is!)

+ Organized my books, creating plenty o' tabletop space for plants and gems and things

+ Watched this fascinating documentary

Easy Summer Veggie Pasta

Ingredients:

- Elbow macaroni pasta (I gluten-free Quinoa pasta)

- Mayonnaise

- Celery

- Cherry tomatoes

- Broccoli 

- Sea salt 

 *It is preferable to use organic ingredients whenever possible.

Step 1- Cook your pasta according to the directions. I used Gluten-free pasta for the first time and was pleasantly surprised by how tasty it was. I thought there would be a huge difference but there truly wasn't. Both Will and I thought this tasted delicious and are thrilled to have a g-free pasta option for easy summer meals.

Step 2- Drain your pasta and run it under cold water while mixing it until it is cool.

Step 3- Add a heaping spoonful of mayonnaise and mix it into the pasta. The amount of mayo will depend on how much pasta you use and your taste. I used almost a whole box of pasta and about 3 tablespoons of mayo. 

Step 4- Dice your cherry tomatoes, celery, and broccoli (or whatever your fav veggie combo is) into bite size pieces and add them into your pasta. I added about a half a cup of each veggie.

Step 5- Salt to taste and stir your mixture up.

Step 6- Serve, enjoy, and save the rest for easy lunches!

Cooked This/Made This

+ Cooked these, this time with blueberries.

+ Held this. OHMYGODILOVEHER.

+ Made this simple summer veggie pasta salad. So easy and so great to make on a Sunday then have as a go-to lunch during the busy work week. Check out my recipe here.

+ Smelled these.

+ Was treated to these.

Ate This/Listened to This/Went to This

+ Listened to this.

                                               + Ate these at Rosarito Fish Shack.

+ Ate these gluten-free pannycakes.

+ Ate this doughnut from Dough (!!!)

+ Played with these cute dogs.

+ Went to this and bought this (the dress not the cutie).

+Watched this. So say we all.

More This/Thats: Last weekend, the one before, etc, etc.

Lemon Mint Water

In the last week it went from being oddly cold and rainy to hot, humid, and sticky-as-a-mug (the technical term). When it gets this brutal out we try to stave off putting the air conditioners in by any means necessary. I really prefer keeping the windows open and having a fan pulling a cross-breeze into the house for as long as possible. Coming up with tasty cold beverages helps in this fete, with the above being the most simple way to cool off with a spruced-up glass of cold water.

To make: Add a few sprigs of fresh mint and the juice of half of a lemon to the bottom of your glass. Use the handle of a wooden spoon to muddle the flavors of the two together. Muddling is basically just mushing the ingredients together, releasing their juices and flavors. Add in a few cubes of ice and top off with filtered water. Simple, delicious, and cold!

*Pre-make ice cubes with black, blue or rasberries in them for a pop of color and extra flavor.

Kitchen Must-Have

To ensure that my meals are next-level-delicious WHILE being totally respectful to my bank account AND easy to accomplish with my workaholic schedule, I pre-ordered the Working Class Foodies cookbook by Rebecca Lando. Lando is a culinary genius and is always the cool chick who arrives casually to a party with the most delectable dish in hand. This book gets us all one step closer to being that girl. In the meantime, you can watch her excellent recipes live in video form here.

// More: Rebecca and I make vegetarian pot pies. //

Last Night's Dinner

Lemon tilapia / Sauteed brussel sprouts / Organic vine ripened tomatoes

Recipe Staples

ALWAYS in our kitchen/on the grocery list:

Ginger

Spinach

Coconut oil

Onions

Always organic, all the time.