Wish Upon A Chef

Crock Pot Love

2013-05-20T09:00:00.000-04:00

My Crock Pot and I have a love/hate relationship. I love the convenience of using it and I love most of the foods that come out of it (we can count the so-called "lasagna" as a colossal failure.) But I hate the fact that I can never seem to find more recipes that float my Crock Pot boat, and believe me, I spend alot of time surfing Pinterest for recipes when I should be doing my real job in

I'm learning to love you

2013-05-13T09:00:00.000-04:00

Sweet potatoes are something that I've had to learn to like through the years. Held in a higher regard and deemed healthier than white potatoes,* I used to only enjoy sweet potatoes when baked and slathered with mounds of butter and honey (and no Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner is complete without a sweet potato casserole piled high with melted gooey marshmallows, am I right?) But surely

My Little Candied Kumquat

2013-05-06T09:30:00.000-04:00

My weekly produce deliveries from Backyard Produce have allowed me to be a bit more daring than I normally would be on my regular visits. I'm usually on a mission when I shop - to get in and get out quickly. I have my list and try not to deviate (too much) from said list. A few weeks ago, I made the daring decision to include kumquats in my delivery from Backyard Produce - something I've

Meatless Monday

2013-04-29T09:30:00.000-04:00

I cannot stress how much I LOVE summer produce. Meats become pretty much non-existent in my summertime meals because I prefer to feast mainly on the bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables available from farmers markets and from my Backyard Produce delivery service. Eggplant Caprese may be considered just a snack or appetizer for some folks but combined with some freshly baked hearty bread,

My Daily Bread

2013-04-22T09:00:00.000-04:00

There is a great debate about the healthiness of grains in our diet. Some schools of thought believe our grain supply has been genetically modified to the point that grains are more harmful and no longer beneficial to our bodies. Others argue that whole grains are a good source of energy and fuel for our bodies and offer some health benefits in the form of reducing heart disease, risk of

Being "Real" is Hard

2013-04-16T09:00:00.000-04:00

I'm a couple of months into my real food journey and some days I feel like I'm trucking along pretty good and other days I feel like I've stalled out on the side of the road. As I mentioned in this post, changing your eating habits to include more real food is not something you can just wake up one morning and decide to do and go at it 110%. It takes planning and thought (both of which I'm

Polly Wants A Cracker

2013-04-08T09:30:00.000-04:00

When I first made the decision to cut out processed foods and move toward real food, I was worried about what I would eat for snacks as the items that I once considered pantry staples/snacks started disappearing from my shelves. I'm not a huge snacker but my weakest moments happen when I just get home from work and start preparing dinner. I'm slowly working my way through some real food

Severe Storm Preparedness

2013-04-02T09:30:00.000-04:00

Pleasing a teenager is like predicting the weather. Temperatures and moods can swing wildly from warm and cheerful to cold and frosty at any given time and with no warning. Even with the best means of prediction, a raging hormonal storm can take you by surprise when you least expect it. I've learned that I can somewhat protect myself from impending Teenage Boy Doom by wielding food when I

The Way To A Man's Heart

2013-03-26T09:00:00.000-04:00

I've always heard that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach and Lord knows I travel that route as often as I can for the Boy Toy despite his insinuations that all my cooking is making his "road" more "curvy." My mailbox overflows each month with subscriptions to various cooking magazines to ensure the road to Boy Toy's heart is traveled often, but as a woman I know the stomach

A smoothie by any other color

2013-03-19T09:00:00.000-04:00

Through the combination of my Pinterest addiction making an effort to change my eating habits to be more "real" and the ever present quest of finding make-ahead, easy-to-eat-at-my-desk items for breakfast, I stumbled across a recipe for a Green Monster Spinach Smoothie from Iowa Girl Eats. Under normal circumstances, I would have totally by-passed the recipe because I would have considered

The Perfect Combination

2013-03-13T09:00:00.000-04:00

Since my quest to move toward real food, I've surprised myself with a) how many recipes I've tried with ingredients I'm not used to, and b) how many of those recipes I've actually enjoyed. This recipe for Apple & Fennel Salad with Bleu Cheese from Eating Well magazine has appeared in my dinner rotation two times in as many weeks. I thought it was so delish I even ate the leftovers for

It's all new to me

2013-03-04T08:30:00.000-05:00

I've been doing really well with my weekly real food pledges and have found them to be pretty easy so far. I breezed through week 1 dealing with fresh fruits and vegetables (and I'm proud to say I'm still conscious of making sure I get my daily quota.) The challenge during week 2 was to move away from sodas, drink more water and only sweeten your tea or coffee with honey or 100% maple syrup

Red Wine. Red Velvet.

2013-02-25T23:09:00.001-05:00

Among our group of friends, there are three different February birthdays to be celebrated so Boy Toy and I made plans to encompass all the Aquarius and Pisces among us into one big gathering at one of our favorite places, Morgan Ridge Vineyards. One birthday girl particularly likes red velvet cake so I decided to put a little different spin on things by making a red velvet cheesecake from a

Are you meeting your quota?

2013-02-19T09:00:00.000-05:00

Last week I announced my plan to move toward more real food and away from processed ingredients. Real food can be defined as a "product of nature more so than a product of industry." It is whole fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds. It is organic and humanely raised meats and wild-caught seafood. Whole dairy products are also in this category. It is the way our predecessors ate

Dark Chocolate Brownies + Cherry Buttercream Icing = True Love

2013-02-14T09:00:00.000-05:00

Looking for a treat to express your love this Valentine's Day? Try these Dark Chocolate Cherry Cordial Brownies - they taste like chocolate covered cherries, only way much better. The frosting alone is sweet enough to land your beloved in the dentist chair for a shiny new filling but the combination of cherries and dark chocolate come together for pure decadence. These were quick and easy

Lifestyle 2013

2013-02-11T09:00:00.000-05:00

I am no doubt one of many who vowed to start the New Year with better eating habits. It’s not that I think I eat poorly, it's just that there is always room for improvement and I also want to shed the few extra pounds that I've gained this past year. I've had thoughts for quite some time about making a lifestyle change and when the documentary film Food, Inc. appeared in my mailbox from

Zo's Pork Heaven

2013-02-05T09:00:00.000-05:00

This was taken 5 minutes into the party. A quick photo snapped with my phone before these became nothing but a figment of everyone's imagination. A few months ago Boy Toy and I invited some friends over to watch a football game. We had the standard party fare - his awesome chicken wings, shrimp, cheese and crackers, chips and dip, and one of my favorite party foods, mini ham and cheese

A Little Help From My Friend

2013-01-28T08:46:00.000-05:00

I was probably about 8 or 9 years old when I started showing an interest in cooking, thanks in part to the 4-H Club in my elementary school and to my mom for letting me help when she was in the kitchen. I started out making simple things like cookies, biscuits, and corn muffins and I was also responsible for tearing up the cheese slices for my mom's homemade mac & cheese, which was a very

Copy Cat Recipe: Cracker Barrel's Hashbrown Casserole

2013-01-21T09:30:00.000-05:00

When I was a kid, my grandparents would come to our house every Christmas morning to see the mountain of gifts that Santa had brought to me (I was always a very good girl) and my mother would prepare brunch for everyone. Menu items were usually the same every year and for most things it was the only time of year they appeared on our table, so it became tradition to always have these

Look Who's Coming to Dinner

2013-01-15T09:00:00.000-05:00

Everyone should have at least a couple of tried and true dinner party recipes to use for entertaining. You need something delicious with a lovely presentation, obviously, and ideally you want something fairly easy to prepare or at least where most of the prep work is done ahead of time so you won't be laboring in the kitchen while your guests are enjoying themselves. This fruit stuffed

Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover

2013-01-08T09:30:00.000-05:00

Since it's true that people eat with their eyes, I was almost afraid to start today's post with a photo. There are times that no matter how you arrange food on a plate or how many photos you snap from different angles, the dish just does not look appetizing. My version of Country Club Chicken (found on Pinterest but originating from Kayotic Kitchen) is one such unappetizing photo example.

Soul Warming Soup

2013-01-02T09:30:00.000-05:00

If I were in charge of the world, soup would be declared its own food group and moved to the top of the food pyramid. It would be mandatorily featured on menus year round. Soups are filling, easy and affordable to prepare and most of them freeze exceptionally well. My freezer is forever stocked with serving-size portions that can be pulled out, thawed overnight and eaten for a quick

12 Days of Cookies: Christmas Crack

2012-12-23T14:12:00.002-05:00

Let's just call a spade a spade here, people. It's called Christmas Crack because that's what it is - one bite and you can't stop. You're hooked. An addict. Much like what happens when you log onto Pinterest, which is where I found this recipe. It appears to have originated from A Southern Grace. I'm betting you probably keep everything needed to make these in your pantry as staples, so

12 Days of Cookies: Chocolate Goat Cheese Truffles

2012-12-20T09:00:00.000-05:00

I wanted to include this tasty little treat in my "12 Days of Cookies" posts even though it's not a cookie. I only hope that Santa shares in my love of all things goat cheese. This recipe came from Ali over at the now defunct blog called Something So Clever. I couldn't find sweetened cocoa powder so I just sifted some powdered sugar and unsweetened cocoa together and it worked just fine

12 Days of Cookies: A trio of treats

2012-12-19T09:00:00.000-05:00

Peppermint Pinwheels, Chocolate Caramel Delights and Toffee Shortbread This trio of cookies was the hit of the cookie exchange party that I hosted a few years ago (and now that we know my deep dark secret about who baked most of the cookies....) I will admit to making the Peppermint Pinwheels and the Chocolate Caramel Delights, but I'll give all the credit to my friend Dawn for the Toffe