Smoked Salt & Pepper

Shredded cucumbers, carrots, cantaloupe, red onion, cooked shrimp(also did half of the shrimp ceviche-style and marinated in lime and lemon juice) and shredded rotisserie chicken, pistachios with a dressing of nước chấm (fish sauce, minced jalepeños, minced garlic, salt and pepper). Some cilantro for garnish and ate with Trader Joe’s grainless cassava & coconut chia chips which were a pretty good substitute for the more traditional rice crackers  Inspired by frommaggiesfarm   http://frommaggiesfarm.blogspot.com  melon shrimp ceviche IG post and Andrea Nguyen’s VFAD smashed cucumber salad recipe  https://www.amazon.com/Vietnamese-Food-Any-Day-Recipes/dp/0399580352

I’ve had this recipe saved in my Instagram Saved posts for some time and thought this week, in the middle of summer, would be a great time to try it out. It did not disappoint.  The recipe is from CookbyColor and was posted on Whole30Recipes IG Came together in about an hour (because the tostones) I served it with tostones, Siete chips, seaweed sheets, and avocado and topped mine with furikake, toasted sesame seeds, volcanic salt chili flakes (a gift from my acupuncturist from a trip she made to Greenland)  It was a nice weekday dinner.  Chopped sushi grade (fresh, frozen and thawed) ahi tuna, mango, Persian cucumbers and red onion into about 1/4” cubes. Added one deseeded Finely chopped Serrano pepper.  Dressed with: 1/3 c coconut aminos, 2 tsp fish sauce, 2 tsp sesame oil, 1/4” “nub” of chopped ginger, chopped garlic clove, chopped whites of 2 green onions  Combined chopped stuff and dressing and tossed in bowl. Served over some bagged chopped salad/slaw mix. ...

A Mediterranean mezze platter is what I call any random plate full of all the yummy dips and falafel and pita that you can get at a mediterranean restaurant. I love making my own hummus , recipe linked, but there is also a delicious hummus made locally in Austin that I like called "Grandma's Hummus" by The Mediterranean Chef . Granddaughter runs the cafe/shop a lot of the times Reid and I eat there and they are a super nice family. I love supporting them and so I buy plenty of the hummus, babaganus eggplant dip (Whole30 compliant!) and sometimes the falafel. I grab a bag of Stacey's Pita Chips from the grocery store and have an easy lunch or dinner. Some whole grain pita pockets are also a great way to eat any of the mezze platter things. If I'm feeling real fancy, I'll make my own falafel, but otherwise I buy and re-heat The Mediterranean Chefs' falafel. One of the great things about this quick meal is the low-carb benefit. I struggle wit...

I stumbled upon this idea a few years ago while I was surfing the internet for good slow cooker recipes. I can't remember the original source for the inspiration, but I think it was a blog that featured a slow cooker recipe for every day of the year! It might have been this one? A Year of Slow Cooking Anyway, it was chock-full of awesome slow cooker ideas and recipes. I fell in love with my $20 CrockPot in Veterinary school. I bought a cheapie on sale at Target and started using it for the typical chilis, stew, soups, pot roasts, etc while I was stuck in class or clinics. It was so revolutionary for me to be able to come home to a hot dinner that was already made! It was fan-freaking-tastic! So as I got a little more comfortable with the CrockPot I started to look for other was I could use it. Jambalaya, creamed corn, mac n' cheese, chex mix! The possibilities were pretty much endless. There were totally a few flops, but for the most part I was pretty happy with this...

In my quest to find lower carb substitutes, I learned that cauliflower can be made into ANYTHING. Although whether it should or not remains to be questioned.  You want to eat rice? Make cauliflower rice! You want to eat pizza? Make cauliflower pizza crust! You want to eat mashed potatoes? Make mashed cauliflower!  You want to eat crackers and hummus? Just eat cauliflowers.  So basically, since I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, I've bought a head of cauliflower every week at the grocery store.  I love that cauliflower is super cheap I'd posted this on my Instagram account a few weeks ago, and I hadn't planned on posting about it since it is so stupid simple, but lots of people were interested in it so here goes: Fully Loaded Mashed Cauliflower Ingredients 1 head of cauliflower florets 1/2 c. shredded cheese 2 slices thick-cut bacon, cooked and crumbled 3 tbs. butter 2 tbs. Greek yogurt 1 tbs. ranch dressing mix (optional) salt and pepper, to tas...

I really enjoy baking, but having gestational diabetes has made it difficult to enjoy baking the usual things.  Banana bread is one of those things that I'll make once I have a few too-ripe-bananas and want to have breakfast for the week ready.   I have an old standby recipe that I have no idea where it's origins are from, except that the handwritten recipe is in my sister's handwriting and it's on a scrap of a flash card.  I altered this one to include some dark chocolate chips to compensate for cutting back the sugar and subbing whole wheat flour for some of the all purpose flour.  I also added some chopped walnuts for added protein/satiety.  Came out well.  I did add some cream cheese frosting to the loaf for Reid to enjoy.  Without icing, it still comes out to about 42 grams of carbs per serving (which is a bit more then the 30 g/meal I should be eating...).  But hey, I can satisfy myself with half a slice and 1 c. of milk. "Healthified" Ban...

We had about 4 days of 'fall weather' about 2 weeks ago and it was amazing.  Fall is Reid's favorite time of year here in Central Texas.  On any good day/night he'll take a deep breath in and scan the sunset and declare, "Just another beautiful day in Central Texas!"  That is, of course, once we get out of the >100 degree brutality that is the summer here.  I really enjoy fall as well.  I like pulling out all my light clothing layers, and my cowboy or fashion boots from the back of the closet.  I like wearing a rain jacket with the hopes it will actually rain and then feeling like an idiot when it doesn't.  I like the smell of roasting squash like pumpkin and butternut and acorn and weird ones I've never seen before, and cinnamon, and nutmeg, and all those warm flavors.  So when we had those 4 days for fall weather a while back I loaded my grocery cart with butternut squash and grabbed my Dutch oven from the cabinet. This butternut squash sou...

I was recently diagnosed with gestational diabetes. It was a bit challenging for me to be OK with the news because there was just a lot of frustration. I was frustrated with my doctor for not really giving me any information, I was frustrated with the situation because I consider myself rather healthy, I was frustrated in general and didn't have my normal coping mechanisms available: food and wine.  I work out a lot and I eat pretty healthy but I freaking love carbs. I literally made a shirt once in high school that said "I love carbs".   I could eat bread or rice or pasta everyday.  So being diabetic where I have to be more careful with my carb choices was really depressing to me.  I'm in a lot better place right now. I am meeting with the perinatal specialist and nutritionist today where I will hopefully get a lot of my questions answered, I got to talk to several friends who went through it and calmed me down, and I've been reading every single thing th...

Sometimes you have so much basil growing in your herb garden that you make tubs and tubs of pesto. And then you freeze some of that pesto. And then you get home from work 2 hours late and your stomach is screaming and you make this dish with chicken you have in the freezer, that bag of dry pasta from Costco, more grated Parmesan cheese and frozen peas.  Chicken and Pesto Gemilli Ingredients  1 lb chicken breast, cut in 1" cubes 1 lb Gemilli pasta 2 cups pesto,  can sub store bought 1/2 c frozen peas Grated Parmesan, salt and pepper to taste Directions: Boil pasta according to directions in salted water.  Drain and set aside, reserving about 1/4 c. pasta water Heat 1 tbs olive oil to bottom of pot. Add chicken and cook through over medium-high heat until cooked through, about 5-8 minutes.   Add pesto, frozen peas, and pasta back to pot. Adjust consistency of sauce if needed with reserved pasta water.   Add parmesan and salt and pe...

Hummus is a staple snack at hour house. Paired with some Stacy's Pita Chips, the O. G. of the pita chip aisle, or some sliced cucumbers or bell peppers, I love it as an appetizer or snack to have on hand.  Sometimes we'll have 'sninners' (snack dinners) and eat hummus and a cheese and meat board or something light like a salad. My hummus does not have tahini in it, and I know it should, but I don't really care for the taste of tahini and I don't like to keep things in my tiny pantry I wouldn't use for other uses. Quick Hummus Ingredients: 1 16 oz. can garbanzo/chick peas, 1 tbs of canning juices reserved 2 cloves garlic 2 tsp of smoked paprika, plus more for garnish sea salt juice from 1/2 a lemon, or more depending on taste olive oil Directions: Combine chick peas, garlic and sea salt in food processor and chop. Add paprika and lemon juice

I'm posting this recipe mainly for my mom, who was interested in my overnight oats when my parents stayed with us a couple of weeks ago.  I'm always looking for easy, quick breakfast meals and overnight oats is as good as it gets for me as far as meal planning goes.  I can make a batch of 10 of these jars on Sunday night and have breakfast on-the-go for both me and hubs for the whole work week.  These are so easy to put together, that even the hubs can assemble them.  I'm always amazed at people who can plan an entire week or month's worth of meals for their family.  I'm lucky if I can get it together enough to defrost some chicken to eat for that night's dinner.  So overnight oats is my stepping stone to those Pinterest boards of months of freezer-to-crockpot pictures I'm oh-so-envious of. Overnight Oats (makes 4) Ingredients: 4 pint sized mason jars 2 c. old fashioned or steel-cut oats 8 tsp. maple syrup 1 tsp. vanilla extract 4 tbs. chia seeds ...

In August, my family went to Turks and Caicos for my parent's (1 year) belated 35th anniversary.  It was a beautiful time.  Thanks to my brother-in-law and sister, we stayed at an amazing resort where we had two personal chefs and two attendants.  Our meals were prepared to our liking each day, and though we gorged ourselves on food, it was all rather healthy and tasty.  Reid and I were sure we'd come back 10 lbs heavier, but he actually lost weight and I stayed the same.  We've both been trying to be more conscious about living healthier, working out and eating better so this was a delightful reminder that we can eat really well, but still be pretty healthy.  It inspired me to make some lighter, but flavor-filled foods when we got back, nice and tan ;) In Turks and Caicos, we enjoyed a lot of conch salad, as it was conch season.  The chewy, salty conch was complimented well with a lemon juice and oil dressing and lots of fresh veggies.  ...

Smoothies, breakfast of champs!  It's hard for me to get Reid to eat breakfast. He likes something on-the-go that won't cut into snooze time. I like getting fruits and veggies into our day somehow.  I was made aware of how bad we were at getting at least 3 servings of fruit/veggies a day when my friend, Dalia, headed up a Facebook get healthy in 30 days challenge. We were given points for healthy choices and it made me aware that the days I didn't drink a smoothie, I wasn't getting enough fruits or veggies.  We have a really nice blender, a Blendtec , which makes smoothies a breeze in the morning. I can drink one before (or if I'm running late, carry to) work and leave one for Reid by the door to drink on his way to work. The Blender Bottle really helps break up that weird crust that forms if you don't drink a smoothie right away, so it's my choice for on-the-go smoothies. I even tried the Dr. Oz 3 day smoothie cleanse (because you can do anything for just ...

Ok- are you ready for the simplest, quickest, most amazing flavor pay-off dinner ever?!!! I have been really into chicken thighs lately.  They're cheap, they're tasty, and super versatile.  I really like boneless, skinless chicken thighs unless I'm planning on roasting.  So I had a bunch in my freezer I needed to use up and that's how I stumbled upon this great and light recipe ! It's from Ellie Krieger who has a healthy food cooking show on the Food Network.  It's also great in that I have all these ingredients on hand most of the time.  I was really surprised how good this was...totally understand why this has 5 star rating and a gazillion billion reviews. Quick Chicken Teriyaki Ingredients 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs 1/4 c. low sodium soy sauce 2 tbs. brown sugar 2 tbs. dry sherry 2 tbs. rice vinegar 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 tsp. fresh grated ginger 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes 2 tsp. sesame seeds, roasted 1/4 c. chopped green onio...

This was a delicious discovery of a recipe I found in Martha Stewart Living magazine.   http://www.marthastewart.com/1033653/zucchini-rollatini   It was a great way to use the basil that's growing like weeds in my herb garden (also made pesto this week...so much basil!) You can even make the dish vegetarian by omitting the prosciutto.  It was very tasty, and pretty, and Reid even said the next morning, that was really tasty! Zucchini Rollatini 2 large zucchini (8-10 inches long), cut lengthwise into 1/8"-thick slices coarse salt and freshly ground pepper 1 tbs extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed 5-6 oz. thinly sliced prosciutto 1 lb. fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced 24 large fresh basil leaves, plus more for garnish (about 2 handfuls)-I think I used more like 3 handfuls 2 c tomato sauce Preheat oven to 425*.  Season zucchini slices on both sides with salt and pepper.  Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.  Cook ...

I've had this recipe in my arsenal since my sister and I lived together some 5 years ago.  Those were really awesome days and we cooked together all the time.  I've been making this recipe since 5 years ago.  The one hang up is finding good tomatillos.  Sometimes the tomatillos at HEB are a little sad looking, so I try to make this recipe when they look decent.  This recipe come from food network http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/chipotle-shrimp-taco-with-avocado-salsa-verde-recipe/index.html  Sorry the pics are so blurry! That's what I get for always taking photos on my camera phone at night. I need to invest in a better camera, it's just camera phones make uploading pics so easy! The avocado salsa makes tooooons, so I sometimes reduce the recipe for half or buy some tortilla chips to finish off the rest.  Also, the salsa gets pretty watery in the food processor, so try not to pulse too much.  I have also pan fried the shr...

Ok, I've been really slacking on my posts lately, so I'm about to unload so many. Hope you're prepared. I found the inspirations for this recipe on Pinterest at  http://cookingbride.com/main-courses/tequila-lime-skirt-steak/ .  I googled Tequila Lime Steak and also found a Food Network recipe here:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/grilled-tequila-garlic-lime-flank-steak-recipe/index.html  and kind of took from either one what I liked.  The result was a really delicious, flavorful, tender steak that both I and Reid really liked.  It was very easy to put together.  Plus, it uses skirt steak, which is super cheap! I served it with some roasted corn on the cob and potato salad I had made earlier in the week. Tequila Lime Steak Ingredients: 1&1/2 lbs. skirt steak 2 minced garlic cloves 1/4 cup tequilla 1 tbs. Worcestershire sauce 1/2 c. squeezed lime juice (2-3 limes) 1 tbs. soy sauce 1 tbs. brown sugar 1 pepper (Guy Fieri's rec...

I really liked the stuffed acorn squash I'd made in the fall, and thought I'd do a riff on it with bell peppers.  More season appropriate. Instead of chorizo, I used Italian sausage. It was really pretty and turned out really yummy. Too bad Reid worked late the night I made them. I got to eat it while watching some "Mindy Project". Reid got leftovers a few nights later and still thought it was good. Stuffed Bell Peppers Ingredients 4 large green bell peppers 1/2 lb. Italian sausage, casings removed 1/4 medium onion, chopped 1 c. bulgar wheat, cooked 1/4 c. chopped Italian/flat leaf parsley 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese or Parmesan cheese 1 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. pepper 1. Over medium high heat, cook onions and Italian sausage in large skillet until no longer pink.   2. In a large bowl, combine sausage and onions, bulgar, parsley, cheese, salt and pepper. 3. Cut the tops of each bell pepper off and remove seeds and membrane.  4. Spoon sausa...

Last weekend I had my bachelorette weekend in Vegas and it was so fun. I think the best part was being able to see so many of my girl friends who live all over. My old roommate, Allegra, wrote me a card about some of the good times we had when we lived together and one of the things she mentioned was when I threw together a quiche with our leftovers. I had totally forgotten about that and it was such a sweet memory to remember. Anyway, it made me crave quiche and so I made this for lunch after work today. I don't know if it was because I was so hungry or because of some of the tweaks I made to my recipe, but it came out so pretty and yummy!  Also, if you want to make this quiche extra delicious, make Tartine's homemade pie crust**.  Reid will literally just eat the pie crust, it's so good!  It makes 2 pie crusts, so you can freeze one of them to make quiche another day. Spinach Quiche Ingredients: 1 c milk with 2 tsp Greek yogurt mixed in, allow to set at room temp ...

We've been trying to have "Meatless Mondays" to cut down on how much meat we usually eat.  Nothing too crazy, just one day a week when we try to eat vegetarian.  It doesn't seem hard, but we're pretty bad at remembering.  My parents did something similar before my dad when totally vegetarian.  I know I won't be able to do that because I am not as amazing and creative of a cook as my mom, but I'll try.  My sister and her husband have been doing this too, so I thought we could give it a try.  One of the recipes I've made several "Meatless Mondays" is this simple tofu with soy sauce recipe.  It's easy to have a block of tofu on hand, and this prep is not too difficult.  Even though I work a little later on Mondays, I can still have dinner ready by 7:00pm when I throw this quick one together.  Plus, I get to use some of the green onions we've got growing in our raised vegetable/herb gardens (thank you, previous tenant). Another plus of ...