onion ring debate

look at that little lovely up there. all hot and crunchy and craggy and fried to golden-brown perfection.

a perfect onion ring is a thing of simple and delicious beauty.

lemon orzo chicken soup

 

when the dark clouds crowd the sky and there is wind and rain, i crave soup. i also just realized that when that kind of weather hits, i also crave lemon. it must be something about the way lemon is bright and tart and perks up just about anything, even people.

nachos, baby!

do you make nachos at home when the craving hits you like a mack truck? 

cuz you should.

turkey + beef meatloaf patties with a sriracha glaze

this recipe is a delicious, easy and sneaky way to get lots of vegetables into your meat focused dinner. the key to making the veggies stealth is to chop them tiny and to saute them in some olive oil to soften them before adding them to the meat mixture. i added onion, zucchini, red bell peppers, carrots and yellow summer squash. i think finely chopped spinach and green bell peppers would be a tasty addition!

chicken and rice soup

i woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of rain softly drumming on the roof and the wind blowing something fierce outside our window. so of course, i assumed when i awoke this morning, it would be grey and rainy and windy outside. you know, soup weather. imagine my surprise when i woke up and the sun was brightly shining and barely a breeze stirred the trees. 

too late, though, because i already had soup on my brain and so there will be soup ...sunny weather or not!

corn burritos and a birthday week

in our house, when your birthday rolls around, you get an entire week, not just a day. one full week of getting out of dishes, being allowed the privledge to pick as many meals for the weekly menu as you want, enjoying multiple dinners out with family and friends (birthday person picks where, of course) and just generally a week all about you.

i, of course, installed this tradition (after i tried out a birthday "month" a couple years ago and it didn't quite fly). 

buttermilk biscuits in your face

see that image above? that was a lovely way to start my morning- a cup of steaming hot french press coffee, my current favorite reading material, and a flaky, cheesy buttermilk biscuit with some local + organic scrambled eggs.

i'm pretty sure you need to get on this recipe and get some buttermilk biscuit action, all up in your face!

all american beef chili

this recipe makes a tasty truckload o'chili, so you may want to do as i did and halve the recipe. if you want to make the full recipe, you can just feed a crowd or freeze a bunch of it.

creamy tomato soup

i was so happy that it was raining yesterday, so happy that it finally felt like soup weather. seriously, i could eat soup twice a week, but the mister isn't as fond of liquid dinner as i am. i figured that since i hadn't made soup in a while, he would be game for this, plus i had never made tomato soup before so it would be something new. 

new is good.

real-deal holyfield fried chicken

listen up, dear friends.

i will not apologize for shoving this crispy, crunchy, slightly spicy, juicy fried chicken photo in your face first thing in the morning. 

i will not apologize for all the oil that you are going to need to sizzle the chicken up in.

i will not apologize for the calories (oh, the calories) in this delectable dish.

here's what i will apologize for- i'm so very sorry for not making this sooner so that you can get it in your belly! 

because you must. you really must.

paleo stuffed red bell peppers

i've been feeling very full lately and feeling the need to cut back on carbs, so i have been peppering the weekly menu with paleo(ish) recipes.

french chicken in a pot (poulet en cocotte)

i am about to bundle up and run out the door to run errands, but i wanted to get this recipe up as quickly as i could in the hopes that you will make it for dinner tonight!

this bird came out so tender and juicy and delicious and it was super simple to do the prep and pop it in the oven.

i apologize for the sloppy pics, i just wanted to eat my lunch so i didn't have my patient pants on whilst taking the pictures. (patient pants and eating pants are 2 very different types of leg wear. trust me)

the best pot roast ever. for reals.

this roast starts with a salt rub the night before- kosher salt, thyme and rosemary.

rub it all over that hunk of beef and let it hang out in the fridge overnight.

creamy broccoli + sharp cheddar soup, minus the guilt

you know what i love?

i love when i can make a meal that is awesomely delicious and i don't feel guilty after ingesting it. because you know there are all sorts of tasty, rich soup recipes out there that make your belly scream "yes, please!" but after you eat them, your belly, ass and thighs are screaming "whyyyy???!!! why must you do this to us?"

potato + bacon + thyme soup

i love that i can make a creamy and rich soup that has zero heavy cream in it. i didn't even need to use full fat milk in this recipe and the results still seem sinfully comforting.

yay, me!

sipping chocolate

please notice above that i said sipping chocolate, not hot chocolate or hot cocoa. this is miles beyond that stuff you get in a little pouch and you "just add water" to.

once you have seen how easy this method is, and taste how rich and creamy and sweet and amazing the results are, you just might toss out those silly little packets.

chipotle enchilada sauce

before i move forward with this recipe, i'm going to go ahead and lay it out there that i know that red sauce on chicken enchiladas is blasphemy to most people. simply ridiculous. red sauce is purely reserved for cheese or beef and green goes with the chicken.

the first time my mom made enchiladas for my brother in law, he couldn't believe she made chicken enchiladas with red sauce. oh, and she uses flour tortillas. i know, i know. but that is what happens when a filipino makes enchiladas.

a pretty bird and a few words on excavating

i promise to post another tasty vegetarian recipe soon, but this ain't it, folks.

i have been waxing (maybe, not so) poetic about my love of comfort food since the temperature has dipped below 80. i'm currently going through some soul searching (what should i do with my life? what brings me true happiness? how should i get my hair cut???), and am feeling the desire to eat food that brings warmth and comfort to my belly and my soul.

have you ever searched your soul? it's kind of like excavating. gentle excavating. you dig, you get a little dirty and you have the knowledge, while you are elbow-deep in all the muck, that you will find exactly what you are seeking if you just keep at it and keep on digging. persistence is key here. try to ignore the dirt under your fingernails. and on your elbows. and on your cheeks.

keep at it. you never know what you may find.

hello, lovely

let me start off by apologizing to your favorite skinny jeans.

this pumpkin bread is pretty decadent- what with it's 4 eggs, 2 cups of sugar, 1 cup of oil, butter and two (2!) different types of chocolate.

maybe give your skinny jeans a break, just for a couple days, and slip into those comfy yoga pants.

creamy spiced oatmeal, in no time

i know that mornings can be hectic- trying to get yourself, your children and your partner out the door so that everyone can make it to school or work can seem nearly impossible. a sit down breakfast tends to fall by the wayside- enter pop tarts or frozen breakfast burritos or breakfast sandwiches, full of preservatives and sodium. the sodium!

put that pop tart down and step away!