Fixin' to Feast

On one particular Sunday afternoon we were blessed with one of those days when you just can’t stay indoors because it’s so positively gorgeous out.  We decided to grill burgers, picked up some corn on the cob and some other picnic fixings.  I made some strawberry lemonade and we were heating up the grill, preparing it for our feast. 

I went out to put the corn on, and there were flames coming out from the front base of the grill, jumping up nearly to the lid handle.  Now I’m no grill expert, but I was pretty sure that wasn’t a great sign.  Mike came out to take a look and sure enough, the propane line had malfunctioned, the flames had melted all the front knobs, and our whole grill was a goner. 

{But, I am SO thankful we caught it early enough that the propane tank didn’t explode and blow up the house. 
Yeah, that’s wouldn’t have been so good.}

So we fired up our itty-bitty mini-grill and tried again.  Success!

And for the record, let me just tell you that corn was heavenly.  The flavor was wonderful and it was so tender and juicy.  For 19 cents an ear, I should have bought more than two…  Forget the chips & dip – I wanted more corn!

Mike made burgers to tempt any palate, perfectly seasoned, topped with bacon and fresh mozzarella.  Yummm.

Let me tell ya people, this was some seriously-good picnic food!

Have y'all started picnicking yet?

PS - fun summer giveaway at Mrs Southern Bride!!!

Suggestions?

This weekend we are headed to:

AND

I've shopped there a couple times before and found things I like, but wondered if any of you have recommendations of things that are really great from there! 

We don't get to go very often so I want to make sure I'm not missing out on anything!

Do any of you shop there?

Zingerman's

Last weekend we visited Zingerman’s Restaurant, a little over an hour away and definitely a favorite of the locals.

Friends here in town had mentioned it to me a few times, raving about their bread and Reuben sandwiches, so when we were in the Ann Arbor area we decided to check it out.

Wow.  What a cool place!

Zingerman’s has also been discovered by Food Network, and their mac & cheese made the Network’s “America’s Top 10 Comfort Foods” list. So of course, that’s what I ordered when we were there. Let me tell you, this ain’t your grandma’s macaroni & cheese! Mine had pieces of (free-range!) chicken, diced chilies, and bunches of cilantro with a smooth cheesy sauce.

Mike had their ribs, which are smoked for 14 hours before they are served. The flavor was so rich & amazing that he didn’t even put BBQ sauce on all of it.

And their mashed potatoes? Well, those you’ll just have to try for yourself. To. Die. For.

We chatted with the bus boy, manager, waitresses, and hostesses, and each one was charming and pleasant. It was truly five-star service but with the atmosphere of a Roadhouse. It was absolutely wonderful.

So if you’re ever in the Ann Arbor area, look ‘em up and give it a try!

the Cheetah

I love trying out new restaurants and feeling brave enough

 to order something that doesn't include french fries and chicken tenders.

Enter:  the Electric Cheetah

I was having dinner with a friend and since we didn't have our steak-loving men with us,

 we decided to enjoy some a little-less-meaty and a little-more-girly. 

Dinner was delicious! 

My friend had a French Dip with homemade potato chips:

and I had an Italian Admiral with Wild Mushroom soup:

Prosciutto, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, basil, black pepper, and fresh mozzarella.

Oh my.  And the soup?  Luscious.  So rich and flavorful with large chunks of fresh mushrooms.  I've been wanting more even since I finished!

The painted earthy-green walls had murals on them, and cool lights hung from the ceiling. 

This cafe uses as much locally grown food they can, a lot of natural and organic.

So good!  I'll definitely go back if I get the chance.

Have you tried anything new lately?

Lebanese Cravings

It's not very often that I get a true craving for a certain food. 

There are staples that always sound good:

Pizza

French Fries

Pasta

Bread

Ice Cream

You get the idea....

But those are not craving -- those are just foods I seldom pass up because I could eat them all the time.  However, the exception to my rare cravings would be this one meal...a meal I sometimes crave even on back-to-back days, and simply cannot get enough of.

Chicken Shawarma & Hummus w/ pita

from the local Lebanese restaurant.

Wow.  So amazing.

I can't begin to accurately describe to you the amazing combination of flavors that burst in your mouth as you bite into that chicken wrap. 

Creamy garlic sauce, marinated chicken, loads of dill pickles, in a warm soft wrap. 

It's truly a wonderful experience.

And the Hummus?  Well, you have heard my rants about the merits of homemade vs. store bought.  You know I make my own and tell the world how they can do it too.  But to taste hummus from this little restaurant is to taste something I have been unable to recreate in my own kitchen.  It is simply magnifique!  And with the pitas so thin and soft, so ready to be dipped and devoured. 
So delicious.

Have you ventured into the world of Lebanese food? 

What do you crave?

Ordinary Life

This past week we’ve been lacing up our shoes and going for long walks in the sunshine. One day we went for our walk and then Mike bought me ice cream. Definitely a great end to a good walk. I also squeezed in a long-overdue Pilates workout this week. And I do mean long overdue...especially when you mix in the ice cream like you see there on the left. :)

We had a lovely weekend, including only a half day of work on Friday (yay!). Saturday we went out for pizza & a movie with my husband’s parents to celebrate his mom’s birthday. They came back to our house afterwards to partake of the cake which I attempted to make for her.

Words of Wisdom: when decorating with strawberries, place them on just before serving or else the juice will pool and leak all over…

Um, yeah.

Moving on.

Sunday was church and then brunch with Mike’s family, which was lovely and yummy. Then a quick trip to see my family, who was still recovering from colds and a stomach virus.
Love ya, but no thanks.

Hubby & I have been making our way though the Lord of the Rings trilogy of movies. I use the phrase ‘making our way’ rather loosely, seeing as we are only on the second disk of the first movie (extended editions, of course!). I have a really hard time staying awake for movies so we have to watch it in rather small segments so I don’t doze off and miss stuff. It’s been several years since I’ve seen the movies, and I admit, it’s been fun getting to watch them together. I just love those little hobbits! Definitely my favorite characters.

Worked out in the yard yesterday and get a bunch of bushes trimmed down and brush out to the street for pick-up. Now for confession time: I am not an outdoor-kind-of-girl! I hate bugs, thorns, dirt under my nails, sweating, spiders, etc. But I absolutely love flowers and pretty gardens, so I make sacrifices. And after making those sacrifices, I run as fast into the shower as I possibly can to get all the above-mentioned items off my skin.

A Day in the Life: the Kitchen

Welcome to our little home!  Would you like a cup of tea or coffee while we chat for awhile? 

Last week I had a sudden burst of energy and decided to do some serious cleaning & reorganizing in our kitchen. Our very small kitchen. And while I was cleaning, I decided it might be fun to give y’all a tour of my happy little place. Our kitchen is small and not laid out very efficiently, but I LOVE to cook so I have learned to make the best of it.

The stove is not the ‘norm’ for the modern-day family. It is what I would guess to be a 1950-60’s style with two ovens that are so narrow half my cookie sheets won’t fit in them. That being said, I LOVE my stove because the burners heat perfectly and the ovens cook to perfection! The white beast might be an eye-sore, but it cooks like angel! Aesthetically speaking however, I think it would more appropriately belong in either Aunt Bee’s or Lucy Ricardo’s kitchen.

Our lovely avocado-green refrigerator stands at a mere 5 ft tall, making it what my mother calls “a conversation piece” because you can talk to another person while looking right across the top of it. Because our refrigerator is so short it becomes a catch-all for things much like a dining room table might: vitamins, coupons, gift-cards, mail, etc, making it a cluttered-up mess! And speaking of that, the top of the refrigerator was the first thing I tackled when I started deep-cleaning the kitchen.

BEFORE

AFTER

I also needed to jazz up the overhead of the cupboards because that is the first thing people see when they walk into the house. I just grabbed a few things from different places in the house and I thought it turned out rather cute.

There were several other adjustments made, things gotten rid of that don't get used, shelves organized, and then the counter tops were scrubbed, floor swept, dished all washed. 

Just in time for me to cook a big meal and dirty it all up again!

Tonight's Menu:

Classic Italian Lasagna

Sautéed Green Beans w/ Pecans

Cheddar Biscuits

Biscuits baking in the oven 

Pecans caramelizing on the stove

Finished Green Beans

Let's Eat!!!

  

Randoms

Just a couple random thoughts! 

• The book of Proverbs has 31 chapters and there are 31 days in most months. I am trying to read one chapter a day in this wonderful book of wisdom. I’m sure I’ll learn a lot if I do that all year! I mix other things in with my devotions, but it’s nice to have that as a ‘constant’ every day.
  
  
• I have discovered that I eat less and am more careful about my food selections if I am keeping a food journal. When forced to write down every single morsel that enters my mouth, I’m way more conscientious about letting those calories touch my lips!

There you have it folks,
my two deep thoughts for the day. 

Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la

Christmas busyness is over and now it’s time to gear-up for our January busyness, which I’m sure ya’ll will be hearing more about in future posts.

Christmas day for us was filled with family festivities, food and fun. Lots of food. My food contributions were sickeningly-sweet White Chocolate Gingerbread bars and Hummus w/ wheat chips. The hummus turned out so good that I’ve been longing for a taste of it ever since. It was my first time making it but now I’m totally hooked and plan on never buying it from the store again.

Mom surprised me “The Pioneer Woman” cookbook, about which I was very excited! Especially since I bought the same cookbook for her birthday back in November and coveted it from the day I ordered it until I unwrapped my very own copy on Friday! I have been pouring over the pretty pages and tantalizing recipes…I can't wait to start cooking!

Ashamedly I must admit, we did not get a single picture on Christmas day (or eve), which will make for a pretty boring page in our 2009 scrapbook. …not that I’ve started our 2009 scrapbook yet, but I will. Really, it’s on my list of things to do…in 2010…and I’m already envisioning how pathetic the holiday section will look because there are no pictures. Maybe I’ll have to resort to buying some cute elf stickers and doodling ribbons and holly around the edges and writing a little poem about how lame it is that we couldn’t manage to get a picture of ourselves around Christmastime that even remotely resembled the look of something festive.

It was a lovely day, and as I recall, I even managed to stay awake for all of it. It was wonderful to have a couple days off from work, spend time with family and just enjoy each other’s company. I am so blessed.

Did you have a good Christmas?

To Eat...Or Not to Eat

Bad ingredients are everywhere; they are inescapable.

Being raised in a family with a stay-at-home-mom, where everything was made from scratch, gave me an understanding of the preservatives and ingredients that I wanted to avoid when out cooking & shopping on my own.
Easier said than done.

I work 40 hours a week, cook, clean, workout, do laundry, and somewhere in there have to find time to worry about the ingredients on my ketchup label. Am I crazy? Paranoid? Or just trying to do the best I can for my little family.

 Here are the things I was taught (and have researched myself!) to avoid:
• Hydrogenated or Partially-Hydrogenated Oils (trans-fats)
• High Fructose Corn Syrup
• Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
• Excessive dyes/food coloring
• Aspartame

And if I haven’t board you already, keep reading and I will help explain why (with a condensed version).

Hydrogenated Oils –
Commonly Found in:
Pastries, ice cream, cookies, peanut butter, margarine or other butter substitutes, premade foods, microwave popcorn, doughnuts, candy, coffee creamers (yes, those ones in all the wonderful flavors), and many other things.

Hydrogenated oil is oil that has been processed into a substance that our body isn’t use to digesting, and over time can cause our arteries to become rigid or blocked. It has also been found to slow down your metabolism, thus helping you gain more wait. It aids is high cholesterol, blood clots, and other serious side effects.

http://www.naturalnews.com/024694_food_hydrogenated_oils_health.html

http://www.fitnessmantra.info/2006/05/22/hydrogenated-oils-the-hidden-killer/

MSG –
Commonly Found in:
Condensed soups (cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, etc), flavored chips, sausage, gravy, and salad dressings (especially Ranch)

 MSG tricks your mind into thinking it’s still hungry when it’s not, and makes you think that food tastes better than it really does. It has various side effects, including headaches and migraines, which myself and various members of my family have dealt with.

http://nikas-culinaria.com/2007/02/21/monosodium-glutamate-bad-for-your-brain-your-figure-and-your-health/

http://www.msgtruth.org/

Aspartame (and other artificial sweeteners) –
Commonly Found in:
Diet soda and other sugarless drinks, sugar free gum, diet foods, things listed as “calorie free”

Aspartame and other artificial sweeteners have been found to cause heath issues such as memory loss, headaches, seizures, and obesity, and has almost 100 possible side effects including those that mimic more serious illnesses like Meniere’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, ALS, Epilepsy, Multiple Sclerosis, and many others.

http://www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-side-effects.html
 
http://www.lovethetruth.com/truth_about_aspartame.htm

High Fructose Corn Syrup -
Commonly found in:
Ketchup, Soda, Jam, Juice, Bread, Cereals, Candy, and many everyday foods

The addition of High Fructose Corn Syrup in all our foods caused a rise diabetes and has also been found to release enzymes straight to the liver causing it to store fat. Newer research has shown that certain products containing HFCS also contain amounts of mercury, which come with its own set of problems.

http://www.accidentalhedonist.com/index.php/2005/06/09/foods_and_products_containing_high_fruct

http://www.noweightgaincookbooks.com/worse_than_sugar.htm

http://smallnotebook.org/2009/02/03/mercury-in-high-fructose-corn-syrup-what-theyre-just-now-telling-us/

http://www.highfructosecornsyrup.org/

Food Coloring / Dyes -
Commonly Found in:
Jello, Kool-Aid, Candy

There has been scientifically proven to have negative effect particularly on children, and has been linked to the significant rise in ADD, ADHD, and autism. It has times been linked to thyroid tumors as well.

http://bodhimed.com/bodhimed/bodhiblog/crusade-against-food-coloring-unveiled.html

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/FSAadditives.php

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
http://simplemom.net/watch-out-for-these-health-busters/
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

There are plenty of articles available online for further research.

What does everybody think? 
Do you avoid it?
Don't think about it?
Make certain things from scratch because it's healthier?

Menu Plan Monday! ...errr Tuesday :)

• Monday: Baked Asian Chicken, Brown Rice & Zucchini casserole, homemade applesauce
• Tuesday: Taco Salad
• Wednesday: Chicken Parmesan, sautéed Asparagus
• Thursday: Veggie Lasagna (if I’m feeing ambitious)
• Friday: My hubby usually surprises me with bringing home pizza or some other such yumminess because he knows how much I don’t feel like cooking by the time I get home from work on Friday night!
• Saturday & Sunday: To be determined

My dearly-beloved & I are trying hard to eat healthier and be more aware of what goes into our mouths (…and stomachs). Portion control, better ingredients, lots of fruits & veggies, plenty of water, and exercise (when we can squeeze it in) all play a roll. But let me tell ya, it’s a lot of work! Making stuff from scratch instead of just pulling out Cream-of-Mushroom soup to dump over some chicken, or a container of Cool Whip for a dessert takes time, planning, and energy. But it’s SO worth it because we end up feeling better, have more energy, plus the satisfaction of knowing what actually went into our system was good for us. In addition to the above menu, I’ve been experimenting with healthy energy smoothies, easy-but-healthy breakfast foods (muffins, bars) to grab while we’re running out the door for work in the morning, and trying to make sure there are healthy alternatives to chocolate & chips in the house! So far so good. This has whole endeavor has been a work-in-progress for me over the past year but every once in awhile I get reenergized with inspiration and I set to work on it full-force again. What really surprises me is how good you can make healthy stuff taste! The Rice & Bean casserole I made last night was delicious and completely healthy! It had carrots, zucchini, beans, rice, and seasonings, and although it looked healthy, it was amazingly good! “Healthy” food has been stereotyped as being boring and either flavorless or icky. This doesn’t have to be the case! Don’t get me wrong, I love Ranch dressing, sour cream, cream cheese, brownies, ice cream and Doritos as much as the next person (maybe more so…LOL), but there are things that are more important and that I love more than those things. Like taking care of my husband, giving him the best start to his day that I can, and helping us both look better, feel better, and trying to care for what God has entrusted to us – each other. That does not mean that I never eat those foods I enjoy – quite the opposite actually. Did you see the Friday menu…that it often includes pizza? Yeah, I adore pizza, but I try to only have two slices. I might enjoy a brownie or cookie out, but I rarely make them myself so there isn’t a whole pan sitting around. Portion control is a big part and learning not to be controlled by the food. I am a work-in-progress, ever pressing forward on this road of life, striving each day to do it a little better, make improvements in the areas I fail, and trusting God for the strength in all things, for I can do nothing on my own. What do you do to avoid the temptation of “favorite” foods that you know you’ll end up eating more of than you should?