Tale of Two Marinades

Sunday was a good day. It was nice out, I didn’t have anything I had to do, but I did get some chores done, as well as eat really yummy food! Win, Win, all around!

It’s also amazing what you can accomplish when you find yourself incapable of sleeping in!! Grrrr. I mean I know it’s better for me to be on a “regular” sleep schedule, even on weekends, but when you’re wide awake at 6:45AM on a Sunday morning when you were planning to sleep in, is a little…I don’t know, annoying!

However, I just went with the flow and got up. Brian wasn’t too far behind and then we attacked the first floor of the house and did some major cleaning :) Yay for a clean house (well downstairs anyways haha…my clothing explosion is a days task all in it’s own.)

We set out for lunch to a place I’ve been wanting to try for a while: “
Za in Arlington.

They do pizza and salads, and that's it! (well a few desserts too).

We were thinking of ordering salads first, and our waitress explained that only 2 of them were lettuce based, and they weren’t very big. At first I was annoyed that we couldn’t just get 1 to share and it be enough…but I’m SO SO glad we ordered 2 salads…

Hass Avocado, Black Bean, Tomato, Red Onion, Cheddar Cheese, Bread 'n' Butter Pickled Jalapeno, Red Pepper, and Cilantro Salad with Cumin-Lime Vinaigrette, Sour Cream, and Tortilla Crunch

Cucumber, Tomato, Kalamata Olive, Verrill Farm's Radish, and Potato Salad with Feta Cheese, Fresh Oregano, and Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette

Those salads were incredible. Beautifully presented, so flavorful, and a perfect size.

I was confused at first as to where the “potato salad” was going to come into play in my cucumber-tomato-olive salad, but it’s the white-ish puree on the bottom!! SO GOOD! It’s like purred potato salad, which sounds gross, but tasted awesome! I’ll go back just for that salad!

Next up, our pizza.

Bosc Pears, Caramelized Onions, Gorgonzola, Toasted Walnuts, Craisins, EVOO, Thyme, and Scallions

Crisp, airy, chewy crust. The toppings were mostly subtle flavors aside from the gorgonzola which was awesome. I can’t wait to try their other pizzas!

Now for the marinades.

It was nice out which = grill time.

I had a pound of chicken to work with and didn’t really know what I wanted to I did two marinades and split it up half and half.

Marinade 1:

• olive oil (just a little…maybe 1T)
• juice of 1 lime
• lime zest
• 2 cloves of garlic
• siracha! Ummm don’t really know how much, just squeezed some in until it looked kind of orange/red. I’d say it came out medium spicy.
• salt & pepper
• fresh parsley
• fresh cilantro

Marinade 2:

• approx. 1T olive oil
• juice of 1 lemon
• fresh dill
• salt and pepper
• lemon zest
  

also tried to roast some carrot “fries”

• 2 large carrots
• olive oil
• salt & pepper
• maple syrup

We also grilled some zucchini and green peppers with a brush of olive oil, salt and pepper

The chicken came out SO good

I ate mine with a tortilla which I stuffed with the siracha chicken, salsa, sour cream, and green pepper…like a fajita!

I also whipped up some Granola! It’s been far too long to go without some homemade granola.

My new addition was crisp brown rice cereal! I love the crunch it adds!

I honestly can’t remember the exact measurements (bad Bridget!)…but you get the jist:

• pre-heat oven to 250-275
• 2 – 2.5 cups rolled oats
• 1.5 cups crisp brown rice cereal (it’s like rice crispies)
• 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup slice almonds
• few shakes of cinnamon
• 1 T canola oil
• 1 single serve container applesauce (6 oz)
• 1 T honey
• 2 T maple syrup (or agave)

I usually always heat my oil + sweeteners in a small pan over low-med heat. I do this to dissolve any honey clumps, or if you used another crystallized sweetener. It also thins it all out so it distributes more evenly.

Baked for about 1 hour at 250…stirring 1 or 2 times during the baking process.

MMmmmm good batch! I think I had more overall bulk this time and therefore would of maybe added another Tbsp of oil and maybe another of honey or maple syrup…but still really good!

Happy Thursday…almost Friday!!

Sunshine Weekend

For a weekend that was supposed to have thundershowers, it turned out to be really nice!! I woke up to gorgeous sunshine on Saturday. Brian had left early at 6am to go fishing with his buddy, so I decided to go for a nice long walk. I'm still congested a little so I'm hesitant to do too much hard cardio. On my walk I realized it was Farmer's Market time!!!

I went to the ATM then hit up the market.Yellow Carrots!!
A fresh ball o' Mozzarella made that morning!! I decided that a caprese salad was definitely in order later that day!

I have a hard time resisting fresh baked breadThis was a prune walnut bread! A delicious bread with chunks of walnuts and prunes.

Later that day we set out to one of my favorite produce grocery stores...Russo's!

Ok so we (my roommate and I), may have driven by my reception site...you know to see if there was a wedding! They we're setting one up! FUN! Lucky biatch of a bride that day had so many Peonies!! MY FAVORITE FLOWER!! I'll admit I am SO bitter that they are not in season in Sept :(

So I had to buy some:
*sigh* so beautiful.

Remember that caprese salad I mentioned I wanted to make?
So fresh and delicious!

Well Brian caught 7 stripers but none were big enough to keep, but I asked him to come home with some fish anyways hehe.

He picked up 1.5lbs of Halibut...one of my faves!I placed it in a marinade of olive oil, fresh lime juice, lots of garlic, salt and pepper!

It cooked up perfectly on the grill. We also grilled fresh corn on the cob, and roomie made a delicious Bulgar salad!
For the corn, we husked it, brushed it with olive oil, and placed it right on the grill...rotating it a few times for about 10min total.

The Bulgar salad started with her wanting to make a quinoa salad, but I had a box of Bulgar instead :) We added:

• bell peppers - different colors
  
• red onion
  
• grape tomatoes
  
• chickpeas
  
• feta
  
• tossed with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
• 

This was a perfect summer meal!

This morning the cooking (well baking) continued.

I made granola and muffins!
This granola contained:

• 2.5 cups thick cut oats
• 1/2 cups sunflower seeds
• 3/4 cup unsweetened coconut
• 1/2 cup almond slices

Into a small sauce pan:

• 2 T canola oil
• 2 tsp. coconut oil
• 1 T brown sugar
• 1-2T honey (I had to use a small spoon to get it out so I don't know exactly)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp almond extract

Heat those ingredients until combined/thinned out. Pour over dry ingredients and mix!

Spread over sheet pan, bake at 270 degrees for about 45min, stirring once in the middle.

When you take it out, RESIST the urge to stir it around, let it just sit...it will clump together this way :)I enjoyed a little on a Blueberry Oikos

Banana Blueberry Muffins

• 1.5 cups White Whole Wheat Flour
• 1/2 cup APF
• 1/4 cup cornmeal
• 1/4 cup quick oats
• 1-2T flax
• 2 T Sucanant
• 1/4 c. unsweetened coconut
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp Nutmeg (would of added more next time)
  

wet ingredients:

• 3 bananas
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 T canola oil
• 1 T Honey (I recommend adding another 1-2 T of honey or another sweetener...these came out less sweet than usual, and my usual isn't that sweet to begin with)
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla

Add wet to dry...stir to combine.

• 1 cup blueberries - place in a small bowl and sprinkle with flour, stir flour around onto berries (this will keep them from sinking to the bottom of the muffins).

Fold in berries, place in muffin tin that has been sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake for 18min at 375.

I made a mini loaf with the extra batter!These were delicious and moist!! As I said before, I'd add a tad more sweet to these next time, but I love them this way too.

New House Updates: Brian's first Mow!! He's been DYING to try out his new mower, and all this rain lately has NOT made that possible, until this weekend:
Beautiful lines ;) I love that he loves to mow the grass hehe.

And that's another weekend folks...back to work tomorrow :( Boooooooooo!

Busy Baker Bee

But first, this is my 200th post!! Go blog, wooooo!

I feel like I've been baking up a storm recently. I had some fresh rhubarb I wanted to use, so I made muffins, and I've been dying for some homemade granola lately so I finally did that as well. And that's just the start.

We begin with Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins

• 1 cup chopped rhubarb
• 1 cup sliced strawberries
• zest of 1/2 orange (although next time I'd use less, the orange flavor almost overpowered the other fruit)
• 2 tsp sugar
• Combine the above in a bowl and let sit for 30min-1hr

• 1 1/2 c. white whole wheat flour
• 3/4 c. quick oats
• 1/4 c. APF
• 1 T Sucanant
  
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 egg
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 2 T canola oil
• 2 T maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla

Combine wet to dry then add in fruit mixture. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray (I use canola oil spray), divide batter into the 12 cups. Sprinkle raw sugar on top.Bake at 375 for 16-18min
Beautiful! I found that these needed a little longer (maybe 20min) because of the wet fruit added to the batter. However it does make for one moist muffin!!

These are AWESOME, I am obsessed. I'll admit they remind me of cranberry orange bread because of the orange zest, so I'd probably do only a couple grates from the orange next time.

Then it was onto the granola.

A Classic Granola:

In a bowl combine

• 2 cups thick cut oats
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut

In a small sauce pan combine:

• 2 T canola oil
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 2 T honey
• 1 tsp vanilla

Once heated and thinned out, pour on top of dry ingredients, stir, and spread on a sheet pan (sprayed with canola oil). Bake at 290 for 30-45min...just until golden. Let sit before moving around in the pan to give it a chance to clump.
I've been enjoying this on oatmeal and yogurt all week :)

This week I am also baking cookies for the favor at my friends Bridal Shower this Sunday.

Monday I made the (amazing) dough using this recipe. OMG the dough is insanely good!!!!!
I let the dough chill until tonight when I rolled it out, cut, and baked.
The cookies are going to be frosted with royal icing, and given along with the corresponding cookie cutter!
This will actually be my first go at Royal Icing, but I am pretty patient with decorating so I am optimistic that they will come out alright :) Friday is the big decorating evening.
MMm the apartment smelled like freshly baked sugar cookies!!! Sooooo good.

Steals and Deals!

The 411:

I got a great email from Tori Stuart, President and Founder of Zoe's Foods, you know the company that makes that awesome Granola!! They just opened the Zoe Foods Online Store to make it easier and more affordable to find and try Zoe’s Granola and Bars.Right now they are offering 30% off plus Free Shipping!!

Check out this site to get your discounted Zoe's Goodness!!

They are also offering brand-new sampler packs! Each includes an assortment of Zoe’s Granola and Bars with free shipping from $5.99 to $12.99.

I've been enjoying a box of Zoe's Honey Almond Granola for a while now...it's sweet and crunchy and goes awesome on oats or in Yogurt!

I also have a box of Zoe's bars that was sent to me! I have been tasting them and will have that review soon!

• Heather Eats Almond Butter giveaway! I really want some of that coconut milk goodness!!

• Missy Maintains also has an awesome contest for some Erin's Baker's Products!! I want them all!!

On to the Parties in My Mouth!!

First there was a small item of leftover food from the Brunch at my Aunts this past Sunday

Mini openface shrimp sandwich! One of my aunts made these. She took 1/2 of a small dinner roll and spread with a homemade tarragon chive mayo! Then placed a piece of Bibb lettuce, tomato slice, avocado slice, and shrimp sliced lengthwise (there are 3 slices = 1.5 whole shrimp shown on that one). The whole thing was about the size of a tennis ball and packed with flavor!! That mayo had a kick to it!!

This was part of my random dinner Monday night after Hot Yoga!

Used the rest of my Kale that night too for some more Kale Chips!So easy and delicious!

Picked this melon up at Whole Foods on SundayIt's a Golden Honey Dew! Delicious honey dew taste with an almost white flesh!
This is such a refreshing and delicious melon!! I think I am going to dig this out of my lunch bag right now :)

I must say I have been enjoying the chicken we grilled up Sunday all week!! That marinade is incredible.

Here's an example of lunch from yesterday...
My favorite GO-TO soupI LOVELOVELOVE this soup!! The sweetness from the red peppers makes it almost taste like old school Campbells!

I also love to add theseAs a crunchy garnish for my soup!!

I always mix in veggies to the soup...this time it was frozen peas and some baby Spin! Along with 2 pieces of marinated grilled chicken, and 1/2 of a mini Flat Out toasted with Havarti cheese inside. I think Havarti is my new fav obsession.
Water in my POM glass at work (in the kitchen)

Packed up these babies for Today's breakfast (Plain), and Yesterday's snack (Peach)Finally a Strawberry-tastic Oat Mix:

• Serving of Steel Cut Oats (1/4 oats, 1/4 c. water, 1/4 c. skim, 1/4 c van. soy, salt) I had made 2 servings Monday night
• heated with 1 banana, extra water, and 1 tsp Apricot preserves
• 4 strawberries
• sprinkle coconut and Bare Naked fruit and nut granola
• 3 choc. chips
• spoon white choc. wonderful!

AMAZING! I think the fresh berries go better with Steel cut oats because they remind me more of a dessert texture like rice pudding :)Busy with work busy with life!! I am making most of the food for my friends Bridal Shower Brunch this Saturday so there will be A LOT of cooking and baking between now and Saturday 11AM E.S.T.!! Haha. Can't waut