fruit "slaw"

Warning: this fruit "slaw" is not nearly as good looking as it is tasty. You've been warned!

A few weeks ago, we went to a new restaurant in Windsor Locks, CT by the airport. It's a sports bar, for lack of a better description, with more TV's than food options, almost. We had some appetizers to start and ordered some burgers for our main entrees.  The appetizers were really good- we had scallops wrapped in bacon with a maple glaze and calamari fries, which coincidentally, are 100 times better than the usual rings. Our burgers were good, but the best thing on my plate was a jicama & mango "slaw". I'm always nervous about fruit served with dinner, usually because they throw pineapple in things like slaws and salsas. I'm allergic to pineapple (it really is hell) so my first question about a fruit slaw is always what's in it. 

Okay, moving along... 

The fruit slaw was purely that, jicama- a weird fruit that looks(ish) like a potato and tastes(ish) like an apple- and mango. It was really refreshing and super tasty. On my trips to the local produce store, I was in search of jicama to make my own little "slaw" with jicama and apples and maybe some mango. Too bad I couldn't find it. Instead, I grabbed a few fruits [inspired by a mango-tropics 'salad' that I sometimes get at the local fruit marker] and decided to make my own slaw. 

Here's what I did.... 

Ingredients: 

1 medium apple (used a boring red apple but could use any kind you like)

1 mango

4 large strawberries

3 kiwi

juice of 1/2 a lemon

1+ tsp honey

1/8 tsp salt

2 tbsp cilantro

I peeled the apple, mango and kiwi and pitted the strawberries. I cut the apple and kiwi into really thin slices and then cut those into little strips. I did something similar to the strawberries. Turns out, however, that a mango is a weird fruit to cut. There's a pit of sorts in it (I honestly did not know that) and so I ended up with a bunch of weird shaped chunks that I had to then cut into nice slices before I could cut them into little strips. I threw them all into a bowl together and tossed them around. Then, I mixed the juice of a lime and some honey together with a little salt to cut the sweetness of everything. I heated up my honey (in the jar) to make it easier to blend them together. In hindsight, way less of the 'dressing' is needed, hence the 1/2 a lime. I tossed them all together, chopped up a little bit of cilantro and tossed it in. [I appreciate the non-judgement of my not so uniform fruit cuts... I wouldn't have made it on top chef]

Next time, I'll probably let the fruit drain in a strainer for a little bit prior to mixing the dressing in. And, I'll probably leave them a little chunkier than I did this time. These fruits have produced good amount of juice so I may have to strain it a bit before eating it but it's pretty amazingly delicious and makes a great treat when you're in the mood for something sweet! 

Do you have a favorite fruit pairing? 

Happy Fooding!

my favorite new "cookies"

Wow. I've been a blogger-slacker! I knew it had been a while, but didn't realize it had been since FEBRUARY that I last posted. In the past month or so, I've made a few of my go-to recipes and even tried a new one. I also just realized that I haven't blogged TWO of my most favorite go-to's and therefor.... this is a MUST.

Everyone has a sweet treat snack preference, don't they? In this house, we don't buy cookies too often (unless Mr. Picky picks them up) and I have to be in the mood for them. But these "cookies" are totally different. I stumbled upon them via Pinterest (obviously) but only by mistake. I read the description on a photo and only after pinning, realized that the recipe in the description and the recipe actually attached to the picture were two different things (in hindsight, I am going to attempt the photographed recipe eventually too but, that's for another post).

The recipe listed was as follows:
2 ripe bananas
1 cup of quick cook oats
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 heaping spoonful of natural peanut butter

I made them this way the first time, exchanging natural peanut butter for the store bought brand I had in the cabinet. Confession: I'm not a huge fan of peanut butter. I mean, here and there, it's fine, and there are some RARE occasions where I actually crave it but overall, it's not a staple in my life. I don't like peanut butter sandwiches either. They were fine this way and I probably could have kept making them this way but then I decided to switch it up and give it my own twist.

Here's what I did:
2-3 really ripe bananas
1 cup of quick cook oats (+ some extra if they feel too wet)
Some chocolate chips
1 heaping spoonful of homemade almond butter

I started making almond butter because it's super expensive to buy and it's pretty easy to make. I just take raw almonds from Trader Joe's and bake them for a little bit, throw them into the food processor with a little bit of sea salt and a little bit of coconut oil to help the process along and wallah... homemade almond butter... the trick to it is cooking the almonds just the right amount of time. Last batch I cooked a little too long and before that, not quite long enough but still edible.

But back to the cookies!

So... take 2-3 really ripe bananas and mash them up. If they are frozen/defrosted, I end up using 3 because I don't end up using the whole thing from each banana since they are almost over mushy. After those are mashed, I add 1 cup of quick cook oats and mix them together. Then, I add a big spoonful of my homemade almond butter and stir them up. If they are more mushy than cookie consistency, I add a little more oats at a time until they have a little bit thicker consistency. Then, you can pretty much add whatever you want. I usually add a handful or two of chocolate chips. If I had coconut, I'd probably add that (YUM) and today, I mixed some dark chocolate and semi sweet chips in. They were leftover so it was an easy go to.

I take about a spoonful of "dough" and roll it into a little ball. Then, I squish them a little bit to flatten them because they don't spread at ALL when you cook them. Throw them on some parchment for about 15 minutes at 350*, let them cool and they are ready to eat.

The BEST part of these cookies? Everything in them is breakfast friendly: oats, bananas, peanut/almond butter.... and who doesn't like chocolate in the morning.... My students LOVE them too and can't get enough. I usually make a batch (about 15 cookies) and just bring them to work. This way, I don't eat too many, the kids get a healthy treat and they don't go bad if I can't eat them all.

Forgot the before pictures...
but here are the after pictures!

Do you think you'd try these cookies? Do you have a favorite go-to, on-the-go breakfast treat?

Happy Fooding!

almond butter & greek yogurt fruit dip

I have a confession. I really like dips. I think they are fun to make, you can make a ton of different kinds for a ton of different things. The possibilities are endless...truthfully. Have you searched "dips" on pinterest? My latest search turned up a red velvet cake batter dip, a Butterfinger fruit dip, a mint chocolate chip cookie dough dip and a pickle wrap dip (what!?) without even scrolling half way down the page. I stumbled upon my latest dip without a specific search. I was poking around in the 'food and drink' category and happened upon a peanut butter greek yogurt fruit dip. Check it out here... It is a fit-sugar recipe so I knew it would be on the healthy side.

When I made my grocery list this weekend, the only item I didn't have that was listed was the vanilla greek yogurt. I had maple syrup (not organic, but since I wasn't sure I would even like the dip, I didn't want to waste money that I don't have) and I had cinnamon on hand (although I kinda really don't like cinnamon but...) and I had peanut butter (not natural but again with the spending unnecessary money thing...). However, while I was playing around in the kitchen today and busting out a bunch of different things, I started thinking about the dip and how I could switch it up with other stuff I had around the house.

Here's what I did.

Ingredients:
6 oz. non fat vanilla greek yogurt (I used one that was on sale 10 for $10... can't pass up a good deal!)
~ 1 tbsp local honey (I really like honey and don't use sugar in my tea anymore. I always have local honey on hand b/c it's tasty and the local kind is supposed to be good for people with allergies)
~ 2 tbsp. homemade almond butter
few dashes of cinnamon
(I used a regular kitchen teaspoon so when I say about a tbsp, I really eyeballed it)

I decided to use almond butter for a few reasons: the first is that I had some on hand that I made myself. I roasted off some raw almonds for 5-7 minutes with a TOUCH of salt, then threw them into the food processor for what felt like FOREVER with a little bit of coconut oil to get them going. If you decide to try making your own almond butter, know going into it that it literally takes a gazillion hours (ok, not quite but for someone who is impatient like me, it seemed that long!) The second reason I decided to use almond butter is because I have a co-worker who I wanted to share my dip with and she has a peanut allergy (although she is in denial about it). Plus, since I am going to bring it to school w/ lunch, it can't hurt to have it peanut free just in case. I have no kids w/ allergies in my classroom (thank god b/c they eat peanut butter like it's going out of style) but it never hurts to be safe!

Anyway...

I took the yogurt, honey and almond butter and stuck it in my magic bullet. In hindsight, I probably should have used the food processor but it was already being used for something else (I cooked/prepared/made about 15 different things today so I used a lot of my gadgets). So I threw it all in there and let it go, stopping to open it up and scrape everything off the sides a few times. When I was happy that everything was mixed together, I threw in a few dashes of cinnamon, screwed the top back on and gave it a few shakes to incorporate the cinnamon. I poured it in one of my cute mini mason jars (I'm a little addicted to them) and stuck it in the fridge. I really liked the almond flavor it has and since I'm not HUGE on peanut butter, I think it was the right choice. I'm going to pair it with some apple slices and maybe even some banana.

The true test will be to give my students a little bit and see what they think. Anything I think they will hate, they usually love (quinoa chips were a huge hit the week before vacation), but then again, boys will usually eat anything... unless it's healthy...

Have you tried any new dips lately?

Happy Fooding!

avocado "dressing"

I love avocado. Who doesn't? You can do a lot with it; put it in salads, use it as a spread, grill it, eat it out of the peel... You get the picture. This time, I decided to use it in a dressing. I will use the term dressing loosely, given that the consistency is somewhere between a dip and a nicely flowing dressing. But as I type this I am realizing that it has a similar consistency to blue cheese dressing: sans chunks of aged moldy cheese. I found my recipe here. Be advised that when you click on that particular pin, it doesn't give you the same recipe as it does on the actual pin. I didn't realize that until AFTER I made the "dressing". I ended up making a few little changes because well, why not?! Turns out, the linked recipe is much more of a dressing than what I ended up with. Here's what I did:

Ingredients:
1 ripe avocado
Fresh lemon & lime juice- 1/2 the lemon, whole lime
2-3 cloves of garlic depending on size (I used 2- they were big)
A few dashes of hot sauce (personal preference: Frank's)
Salt and pepper to taste
6 oz. plain Greek yogurt (I used non-fat because it was what I had and went with this brand)

What to do (Sorry, I forgot to snap some photos mid-recipe):
Peel the stuff that needs peeling (garlic, avocado) and open the things that need opening (yogurt)
Put everything in the food processor. Turn it on. Let it go.
Scrape the sides part way through and then give it another mix.
Store in a mason jar or other jar suitable for fridge storage.

I tried mine as a dip for some beet chips I made earlier in the day and used it with some of those real thin pretzel crisps. I'm excited to try it on a salad with some chicken or steak and love knowing that I controlled everything that went into it. I also threw the avocado pit into the jar to keep it green, although I'm not sure if it would have turned or not given the other ingredients. I think I could probably use another avocado and less of the liquids and have a twist on guac (yummm) and I may try it with a little cilantro and skip lemon next time, just to switch it up (a la guac style).

While Mr. Picky did not try it,  I'm pretty happy with my new "dressing"!!

What's your favorite homemade dressing?
Happy Fooding!

(The brands I used are strictly personal choice. You can use what you like best of course!)

a new pasta recipe!?

Yes. That's right. A NEW pasta recipe. We like pasta around here. While I fully understand the carb overload aspect of pasta, one cannot overlook the value (I got mine buy 1 get 2 free... That's budget food!) and the ease of pasta. Plus, it's perfect for Mr. Picky. I'm  always looking for new pasta recipe. We do the usual jar of sauce or on occasion Alfredo with chicken and broccoli, and I make a chicken and pasta with a lemon sauce that's pretty good but still, I felt like it was time for something new. Then I stumbled upon this and decided to try it... With my twist of course!

Check out the ingredients they used. They were simple and basic, as we're the instructions. Chicken, asparagus, pasta, parm cheese. I took that and put my (garlicky) twist on it.

Here's what I did....
I used 6-8 (can't remember exactly) boneless, skinless chicken breast tenders. I usually buy these in bulk, package them myself and throw them in the freezer so I can pull them out whenever we feel like chicken. I thawed a bag of them and cut them up into cube (ish) sized pieces.

I should mention that before I did this, I did my prep work for the garlic, cut my lemon and snapped the ends off my asparagus. I hate how short the stalks get when you snap them but we love asparagus over here so I can't complain too much.

After cutting everything up, I melted about 1/2 a tbsp of butter and probably about 1/2 a tbsp of olive oil in a pan. I put a little salt and pepper on the chicken to season it and once everything was melty and mixed, I threw in the chicken to start browning. I used to throw the garlic in first (which you could) but then I read somewhere that if you throw the garlic in midway through, you get a stronger garlic flavor. This was something that sounded too good to pass up and now, I'm hooked. Stronger flavor and doesn't burn as easily! But, you can always do it earlier if you like a little less garlic flavor. Or just use less garlic! I ended up using 4 fairly good sized cloves of garlic and didn't chop them up super fine. Okay, enough about garlic.

Once everything started to brown, I tossed the garlic in and gave it a stir. Then, I took the juice of 1/2 a lemon and coated everything in the pan. I used my hand juicer to make sure I had as much as possible from the lemon.

While all of this was going, I started my pasta water, salted and cooked the pasta. The original recipe says to steam the asparagus but in the sense of saving a dish, I threw it in right with the pasta. I pulled the asparagus out right before I drained the pasta. I cut it into pieces that were a similar size to my pasta (we had penne w/ it, but you could pretty much use anything).

The original recipe also called for fresh Parmesan cheese. At the risk of being a little frugal, I opted for a blend of cheeses (parm and mozzarella) that happened to be on sale. I just couldn't see paying $4 when I could pay $2.50....

I mixed the pasta, chicken, asparagus and a hand full of the cheese all together and threw it in a 9x12 baking dish. I put it under the broiler on high and watched it until the cheese started to bubble and brown a little. The end result looked like this:

The verdict? "The chicken is bomb, and the whole thing is really light. Can I have more?" {thank you, Mr. Picky!!}.

We will CERTAINLY be having this again soon! I think it's a great meal because it's easy, pretty cheap (especially if you get some good deals), and not overdone with sauce or the same chicken dish you always have. Chicken can be a little boring but trying something new can liven it up!

What's your go-to pasta dish?
Happy Fooding!

my first attempt at something new

new kitchen toys!

While this blog was inspired by my classroom resolutions, it was also
inspired by some pretty great Christmas gifts. I opened a box of all kitchen stuff and I was pretty pumped {Thanks, Mom}. You might think me crazy but a bread knife, new utility knife, new box grater, hand mandolin and rolling pin were on the list. I've been wanting a rolling pin forever- using a can has gotten pretty old. The splatter guard was not on the list but was a welcomed addition to the kitchen none the less.

Today, I set out to make my first "new" thing. I posted a status on Facebook looking for a recipe for Italian style meatballs except, newsflash: I have a picky eater on my hands. He's gotten better since we first met (a lot better-he actually tried sushi on NYE- cooked of course). But he's picky. He likes simple things and isn't a huge fan of many veggies. But he does love pasta and that prompted me to make some meatballs. We often buy them but the cost does not equal the taste and we are even picky about which ones we'll eat, making it a little harder to have them on hand. I got a few responses to my status, this particular one being from my sister and thought, what the heck. Let's try it. So I ventured out into the snow and grabbed the necessary items, came home and started cooking.

The exact recipe can be found here, but I made some of my own adjustments along the way. Prep states 10 minutes- probably took me a little bit longer, and it said 10-16 meatballs; I got about 50. They were considerably smaller than what the initial recipe stated but we like them that way.

Ingredients (I used)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (I used about 2)
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil  (about 2 here as well)
tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper (used a bit more pepper)
2 crushed garlic cloves (I used about 8... what can I say, I like garlic)
2 eggs
2 lbs ground beef (it was a little over- the store has a hard time packaging 1 lb apparently)
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs (I made these: see below, and used a little over a cup)

                                           Fresh Breadcrumbs

going to put this to good use!

grab a few slices of white bread (or any of your choice I guess) and throw them in the food processor, pulse until crumbs. wallah... fresh breadcrumbs! I used this food processor, another new present for Christmas thanks to an awesome friend who enjoys cooking new things as much as I do!

But back to the meatballs.
Heat up a pan w/ some olive oil. While that's heating, mix all the ingredients together (gently-over mixing can make them tough) and roll into balls that are the size you want. Like I said, it said 10-16. I got 50... Figure out what works best for you. Place a few meatballs in the pan at a time (this really depends on how big or small your balls are) and let them cook until brown. I put aside some for dinner and put the rest away in a freezer bag for a future dinner.

I'll definitely make these again. They were pretty easy, and tasted pretty good. Come on, you know I tried one. I might add even more garlic (yes, I realize it's a lot but it
will keep the vampires away) and I would try to chop the basil a little finer but overall, I'm pretty happy with my first attempt at something new and thankful to my sister for her recommendation!



Do you have a meatball recipe that you love?

Happy Fooding!

New Year's "Resolutions"

There's a lot of talk this time of year about "resolutions". And why not? It's the start of a new year; a blank slate where you can do anything, be anything, try anything. Not that you can't do these things any other time of year because newsflash: you can! But, we are always trying to find a "start date". We do it with everything... "I'll start doing this on Monday", "next month, I'll do this"... we always need a start. So a new year is a perfect time to make a "resolution".

I'm a full-time Special Ed teacher. I work in a classroom designed to support students social, emotional and behavioral needs. Why am I telling you this on a "foodie" blog? Well, because coincidentally, the inspiration came from my students, sort of. Every Friday, I run a therapeutic group w/ my students. The last Friday before vacation, and before Christmas break, I made the students, and therefor myself, fill out a sheet about 2013 and their goals for 2014. Goals could be personal, academic, social or anything in between (and they were). When I started to consider what I wanted to do in 2014, it turned out to be more personal than anything. I wanted to take more time for myself- to do things I want to do that I normally put off or make excuses for. Leaving it at that, we all left for break. It wasn't until New Years Day (very early morning) that I settled on a goal.

Sitting around with some friends after watching the ball drop, we were sharing "revolutions" for 2014. It was then that I decided that this year, I want to cook more. What!? Cook more!? Yes. Except I don't mean just cook more often. This year, I want to cook new things. I am a pinterest JUNKIE (follow me here). The problem with that is I spend a lot of time pinning and not a lot of time doing. So this year, I'm going to DO. I'm going to attempt 52 (ish) new (to me) recipes and blog about them. My goal is 1 per week, although some weeks/days there will be more and some, not as many. Yes, I realize it's a little "Julia & Julia" of me, but since I'm not held to only one cookbook, I'm free to make whatever I please.

I hope you'll share your new recipes with me and that I can do them justice while adding them to my (new) recipe holder {Thanks, Mom!}.

Happy Fooding.