Vanilla Bean Paste

I went to make some vanilla bean paste because making it is so much cheaper than buying it...have you seen how much they want for that stuff? Sheesh!

And So I started playing around with making my own....and I had one batch....and the husband knocked it out of the fridge onto the floor.

Huh. Guess I know why it's so expensive.
Husbands.

I'll try again another day. With pictures. Promise.

Chicken Epiphany

The other day a local morning news show had a live 'remote' at a nearby cheese shop. One to which the husband and I have frequented. We couldn't wait for this place to open, being such cheese-nerds that we are.  Once it did, it took us two weeks to get there. (Bad cheese-nerds!)

Anyway, the last time we were in we picked up some three spice gouda that was absolutely to die for. Seriously. It was really freaking good.

Seeing the morning news show at that same shop, we were reminded it was there and decided to stop in for some cheese....any cheese that caught our eye.

Well, I got this epiphany while in the cheese shop (what? that's not where you get your epiphanies? huh...)... what if I were to use the three spice gouda, along with some sun-dried tomatoes and stuff it inside chicken breast, wrap it in bacon and bake it? Oh how good would that be???

...and then I made it....and forgot to take pictures. And the cheese melted out.
Some epiphany. :P

Asiago Bisque- More Than Just Cheese Soup

I needed something for lunch today so when I got up at 0400, I decided that a quick cheese soup was on the agenda.

Except this couldn't be just ANY soup. Nope. Nosirree. I had to make it AB Normal, like me.
Don't get me wrong, regular cheese soup with or without broccoli is fabulous. But I wanted something with a little HA!, and a HIYA! and a kicker! (my kicker is when I ended up walking out the door and forgot to TAKE my newly created soup for lunch! Doh!)

Cabbage Rolls. An Experiment. On the Husband.

I am not a big fan of cabbage. I know, bad Irish girl. But I'm just not into the whole eating stinky feet smelling food thing. Call me crazy.

However, the husband *loves* cabbage. So tonight I tried making my first ever cabbage rolls.
Let me tell you...easy and hard all rolled up in one. (see what I did there??)

Now, all I've ever done with cabbage is slice it like wheels, cover it in garlic, parmesan and some olive oil and bake it. Or slice it for cole slaw. Which I don't eat, either. Chances are if it's cabbage I'm not eating it. But I will make it for the husband.

I went with THIS recipe. And while mostly easy, it takes a bit to know when to take the cabbage leaf OUT of the boiling water before it falls apart. Yeeeah. I can cook a gourmet seven course meal, but cabbage throws me. Go figure.

After a bit of fine tuning, I let the cabbage leaves soak in hot water in the sink for about 10 minutes..because I obviously couldn't be held accountable using boiling water.

It seems to work like a charm. All I really needed was the cabbage to become pliable so when rolled, it wouldn't break apart.

Once again, I wish I took pictures. But, if you really want to see it in action, go to the link and make the cabbage rolls yourself.
The husband pronounced them, 'Fantastic and fabulous!' and said I can make them again.
Of course, what he doesn't know is that since I am not eating them, he has two more servings ready to go in containers for lunches this week. I'm sure his coworkers will hate me when that cabbage comes out the other end, but hey...no one ever said cabbage was glamorous.

Beef Bourguignon...ok, Beef Noir

I attempted Beef Bourguignon tonight.  I say attempted because while I made something, Beef Bourguignon is probably not what it should be called in reality.

I got up early this morning and chopped up celery, carrots, onions, and the beef...then marinated it in Pinot Noir (same grape, less expensive wine since Burgundy wine *must* come from the Burgundy region in France to be called Burgundy)...

I took pictures of the ingredients, the veggies,

How does THAT work? Why Essential Oil and Baking Soda Freshens the Air

When I spoke of chemicals the other day, it got me to thinking....what if I tackle a question every so often that everyone is wondering, but not many people know the answer?
I'm not saying that I know everything. FAR from it. What I am saying is, I have a lot of smart friends. Like neurobiologist, lawyer, chemist type people. If I cannot figure out the answer, one of them usually knows. And trust me, I go to them a lot. Like, a lot, a lot.

And yesterday the question popped into my head--if baking soda is used as an odor absorber, how can people add essential oil to it and call it an air freshener? Wouldn't it absorb the smell of the oils, too, and NOT freshen the air?

So I went to my handy dandy chemist friend...and here's the answer....

Chemicals and the Toxicity of Everyday Things

I am one of those naturalist type people who love to make things myself. Lotions, soap, sugar scrubs, laundry soap, you name it. I do so because I like doing it.  I like saving money. I like challenging myself to make new things. I don't do it because I am afraid of 'chemicals' in my laundry detergent. Here's why:

The Best Low Carb Pizza You'll Ever Eat

I am not kidding about this title. Oh, I know people have raved about the cauliflower crust pizza. Mine didn't turn out so well...besides not really liking cauliflower, it was too wet, soggy, floppy and it spread like a bad rumor.

A couple days ago I posted about carb-free crackers- which were fantastic, by the way.

Today, I am posting about using that same  cracker

Chicken Shawarma Shawonderful

Today I found a chicken shawarma with avocado lime mayo recipe. It was fabulous, once I made a few modifications. Sound familiar? I just cannot seems to make a recipe as is the first time, even though I know I should. The problem is that there are many things I don't like eating so as often is the case, I have to modify the recipe so I would even consider eating it.

Paleo / Whole 30 Crackers

I came across this recipe for paleo crackers that also work for being Whole 30 and gluten free diets.

I made them and they tasted great except for one thing.... I noticed they had little to no taste if you didn't get a piece of cracker that had salt in it.

So I set out to make my own version of this cracker with a bit more oompf and taste.

The Best Darn Curry Powder You've Ever Tasted!

I'm not usually a huge fan of curry. I like it. I don't necessarily love it.
At least, not until I started making my own curry. In Indian and Southeast Asian cuisine, each region, and sometimes family, had their own recipe for curry. It's about as diverse and varied as your Uncle Jim's bbq rub he swears is the best.
Same with curry. Every region/family made