Sometimes when I'm food shopping, I decide to nab something new to play around with. Rather than always grabbing the same foods to make the same meals, I think it's fun to experiment with food and try out different dishes. At times, I pick out something not really being sure how I'm make it, or what I'll prepare it with. This was the case last week when I grabbed these guys at the farmers' market: I've eaten acorn squash here and there, but can't really remember a time when I made them myself. I checked out a few of my cookbooks to see if a recipe with acorn squash looked appealing to me. Here is what I wound up making: I found this recipe in a cookbook called The Vegan Table and altered a few of the ingredients. From the start, I was doubtful that my hubby would be a fan of it. He isn't ... [Read More]
recipes
Heirloom Tomato Three Cheese Pizza
Did you know that it's National Pizza Week? Here are some favorite pizza recipes of mine: Veggie Mozzarella Pie Greek Pizza White Broccoli Pizza South of the Border Pizza As you may know, I am a big fan of pizza. Since I usually whip one up every few weeks anyways, I couldn't miss out on celebrating by making a pizza this Friday evening! Tonight I went with a bit of a different combo, pairing fontina, mozzarella, and asiago cheeses with heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil. I went to Trader Joe's to pick up my usual whole wheat dough, but unfortunately they only had plain left. Since I'm used to eating whole wheat bread/pasta/rice/etc., it's funny when I eat white versions of those things. I think that whole wheat tastes so much more flavorful, but the pizza was still delish: See ... [Read More]
Cream Cheese Mushroom Puffs
Happy 2013 everyone! I'm now back in San Diego. I had a wonderful time in Jersey but was also happy to get home. My entire trip, I was surrounded by people who caught a cold or the flu. I felt great throughout the holidays and thought I was somehow beating catching the sickness, but the very last day before I flew back to the West coast, I started to feel crappy. Traveling probably didn't help, and the past 2 days I've had a full-blown upper respiratory thing going on - congested sinuses, scratchy throat and all. I despise being sick and am doing all I can to recover ASAP. At the moment I'm eating a bowl of berries and drinking green tea: Wish me luck in kicking it! My time in Jersey was full of family, friends, lots of laughter, and good food & drinks. What else could a girl ask for? ... [Read More]
Cashew Crazed: Chocolate Banana Cashew + Honey Cashew Smoothie Combos
Hi there! It's shaping up to be a nice Friday so far. After getting some work done and having a conference call, I took a break to go for a hike with Harley at the park down the street. It felt good to be outside! Today is a bit cooler and sunny - and by cooler, I mean that it felt like a lower 60 degree temp, because ya know, I've turned into a spoiled San Diegan... Hey, anything between 60-85 degrees is a-okay with me. ;-) Onto food.... I used to shy away from eating things with high amounts of fat, but then I learned to differentiate between ''good" fats (monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, and omega-3s) and ''bad" fats (saturated & trans fats). Nowadays I'm not afraid of using a tablespoon of olive oil, and I eat a serving of nuts, avocado, and peanut butter all the ... [Read More]
Mushroom & Caramelized Onion Shepherd’s Pie
Happy Hump Day! First thing's first - the winner of the bread crumb giveaway is Angi, whose idea was to sprinkle Panache Pantry's zucchini rosemary bread crumbs onto lightly fried garlic polenta squares. I've been in touch with her, and Angi is going to try the zucchini rosemary & pumpkin cajun varieties. Yum! Now onto last night's dinner... I spotted this recipe on the Vegetarian Times website and thought that it looked interesting. My idea was to make it during the weekend when I had more time, since the recipe does take longer to put together than my usual busy weekday dinners. But when I got home from being out and about on Sunday evening already feeling pretty hungry, I quickly threw out this idea and made something quick instead. Yesterday I multitasked while making this recipe ... [Read More]
Goat Cheese & Veggie Penne
Last night my friend Tiffany and I ate dinner at a place called Crepes & Corks, a cute restaurant and wine bar in Del Mar. San Diego Restaurant Week is going on right now, an event in which 180+ restaurants in the area feature prix fixed menus at discounted prices. We split a bottle of wine and each had a salad for an appetizer, crepe for our main entrees, and gelato for dessert - for $30 each. So much fun! I had the veggie garden crepe, which was filled with tomatoes, artichoke hearts, grilled onions, spinach, and mozzarella, drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette. I've attempted to make crepes before, but they wound up being more like pancakes. I think I need to figure out the secret to good crepes and try to make em again sometime soon - and hopefully recreate this dinner! I love how ... [Read More]