Smoked Salt & Pepper

A few months ago, heck, maybe a year ago, I bought some English muffins. I've never been a huge English muffin fan, but after experiencing gestational diabetes, I became much more aware of my carbohydrate intake. I made a goal for myself to try to finish a whole sleeve of English muffins before they molded or went bad. I'm really the only person in my household that eats much of a breakfast at home, so it was particularly challenging. Here are a few of the meals or combos or ideas I came up with. English muffin with 'Love'dip from Central Market.   English muffin with canned sardines in tomato sauce with pickled onions   English muffin breakfast sandwich with honey ham, backyard eggs, arugula, and mayonnaise.   English muffin raspberries, honey, and Greek yogurt     English muffin with fresh strawberries and condensed milk

Made a super quick dinner of Bò Lúc Lác (Vietnamese Shaken Beef) over greens, tomatoes and cucumbers with Ranger Cattle sirloin. Served with jasmine rice for my little man (and the big man, too). Old recipe that I use time and time again. Everyone is happy and it's super quick. > Bò Lúc Lác Ingredients: 1.5 lbs beef sirloin cut into 1″ cubes 1 Tbs minced garlic 1.5 Tbs sugar 2 tbs oyster sauce 1 Tbs fish sauce  1 Tbs sesame oil 1 tsp soy sauce Directions: In a shallow bowl or container, mix together garlic, sugar, oyster sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, and soy sauce.  Marinate beef for at least 2 hours, or overnight for maximum flavor. Heat a large wok or pan over medium-high heat. Add about 2 tbs cooking oil and when it begins to smoke, add an even layer of beef and allow to sear for about 1 minute, before “shaking” to sear the opposite sides for about another 1-2 minute more to brown all the sides. Do not overcook!  The goal is medium-rare beef....

I started this post about 5 years ago, when I was living in College Station and really into making sushi at home. At the time, there were not many good sushi restaurants in the area, and I was homesick for any and all kinds of ethnic food. There is just so much Lane's fried chicken tenders and delicious crinkle-cut fries or Sodalack's chicken-fried steak or McAllister's one girl can eat. So a few of my friends and I started rolling sushi at home. I'd done it once or twice before starting veterinary school, but hadn't busted out my bamboo mat very often. Because fresh fish was a bit hard to procure in College Station without being an angler or restauranteur myself, I stuck with smoked salmon. Also, as a beginner sushi-maker, cooked stuff is much less intimidating. And probably safer for everyone partaking. Hah. Sushi is pretty easy to make. As long as you can roll things (burrito, spring rolls, cigarettes, jelly rolls, etc.), you can probably ro...

Reid and I know some of the coolest people. Maybe I'm biased, but we think our friends are cool. One of our friends is named Josh Eilers and he has a Wagyu beef ranch in Austin. For those who aren't huge meat eaters, Wagyu beef is a very special, very expensive type of beef with insanely high intramuscular fat marbling. That's what makes beef really tender and flavorful. So Wagyu beef, which is a Japanese breed of cows, make really good and amazing steaks. Among other things. My son, John, is about 2 years-old. He is going through that, "the cow says..." phase of his development. We know dogs bark, and cats meow, and chickens...make chicken noises. And tigers ROAR!!!! As do dinosaurs. As do bears...etc. John's been to a few zoos. So we've seen some of these animals in real life, but besides our long car rides through the Texas state, we've never introduced John to a cow up close. And I want my son to know about food. And where food com...

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...

Mac n cheese is a tricky one. Everybody has their personal favorite style. Every person has their emotional ties to either a comforting bowl of ooey, gooey mac 'n cheese or homemade baked mac 'n cheese. I already have one post dedicated to one mac 'n cheese recipe . I'm a personal fan of the blue box kind. That's what I grew up eating. Powder cheese for me. Plus milk, butter, and good 'ole elbow macaroni noodles. Reid's family makes it this way. The Bolding's Mac 'n Cheese recipe Ingredients: 1 lb. macaroni noodles ~2 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese ~1/2 c. reserved pasta water lots of pepper optional: butter Directions: Boil noodles per package directions.  Reserve about 1/2 c. pasta water.  Drain pasta and return to pot. Add cheddar cheese and stir to melt.  Shake in lots of pepper (or to taste). Optional Christine spin: melt about 1 tbs butter with the cheese and pepper serve immediately

I now work in South Austin and have been trying to explore the eats around I-35 and William Cannon.  That's how I've come to start eating an occasional lunch at the DK Sushi South location.  I have been a fan of DK Sushi since around 4 years ago, but have always frequented the North Lamar location since it's closer to my house.  I even dragged a few of my friends to a karaoke night there years ago, before we all had kids.  It was....quite the spectacle.  DK himself hosts their karaoke nights and there may be naked pictures of women on the lyric screens...Let's just say, it's not something you can do with a 2-year-old.  I think we also witnessed DK get one of his employees, who's birthday it was, really really really drunk.  Sake bombs were involved prior to each song. Anywho, now that I've been getting into a better groove at work and have some time on Friday if we don't have meetings, I've been using the time to explore nearby eateries.  Since ...