my new favorite salad

i used to be a spinach salad gal. my favorite was spinach with mozzarella, bosc pear, coconut flakes and pecans with a vanilla flavored dressing made from protein powder. sounds yummy, huh? can't get it in a restaurant.... you have to make your own. and i did, sometimes every day for weeks.

photo by Marcus Nilsson, from O online

NOW, i make this salad almost every week and munch on it for lunch. it's so tasty. i found it in one of O's recent issues and figured i'd give it a go since i had most ingredients here at the house.

here's my version. it's truly yummy. i add a little pb2 in my dressing. just felt like it was calling for a smidge of peanut taste. and remember, the fresher your kale, the tastier the salad. and see those golden rounds on the plate? that's another recent favorite that goes smashingly well with the salad.... goat cheese rounds. (goat cheese battered in flour, egg, and panko and then sauteed). my in-laws are coming to visit in a few weeks. hope they like kale, cause i'll be serving this.

let's talk food

i love sweet potatoes. and goat cheese. and grapes. and honey. i came across this photo the other day on pinterest. it had me at hello. i made these this weekend and they are seriously the best thing i've made in a long while.

you absolutely must try them. here's the recipe. hubby liked them too.

a few months ago i discovered i am allergic to soy. soy is in everything. i've had to search high and low for soy-free foods or else suffer the headaches soy was instigating. in searching for a soy-free protein/health bar i found larabars. these are great. moist, flavorful.

 

and what i like best about them is that each flavor has between 3-6 ingredients.  here are the ingredients for the peanut butter cookie bar.

i've been reading about shakeology everywhere lately. my boot camp instructor is a distributor. she hooked me up with their chocolate flavor. i drink this most nights for dinner, especially after my evening bootcamp session. it's really good.... and in combo with 3-nights-a-week of bootcamp i've already lost a few pounds in just one week.

 

THIS! oh my word, i just tried this this morning in my coffee. it is wonderful! i've been mourning the loss of my full-of-soy coffeemate french vanilla creamer. i found this last week. the taste is wonderful. bonus for having 0 fat grams.

sunday brunch

i think i've mentioned that i've been following a strict, low-carb, minimal-gluten diet for the last few months. well, not yesterday. this was my brunch. steve and i went here for their mother's day brunch yesterday. (yes, i consider myself a mother... a mother to 4-leggeds.)

i had the tuscan french toast with balsamic syrup and crispy prosciutto. yum.

steve had a breakfast pizza with red sauce (theirs is excellent), bacon, spinach, onions and egg. very yummy.

if you live in the area and haven't tried cavalli's, you must. great service, great food, all at good prices. they cook their pizzas in 900 degree ovens for 90 seconds.... which i love, because it means we can order and eat usually in under 30 minutes.

and...steve plucked this from out magnolia tree in the backyard. the whole kitchen smells of it.

our weekend

we had a busy weekend. saturday started with steve and a coupla guys (all of polish heritage) from work making pierogis at our house. it was a little surreal seeing these strapping men rolling out dough and filling it with their prepared stuffings. (you can click on this photo to see a slideshow of all photos enlarged.)
of course this gal wasn't far from the action, waiting patiently for scraps to fall.uh oh....what just happened in the football game?
the finished product. yum!while the pierogi making was happening, this showed up at the door.
about 3 months ago at a neighborhood planning party for halloween, we got off track and started discussing the christmas event. i nonchalantly volunteered steve to play santa, exclaiming that he would be PERFECT. things snowballed from there....
he's santa!we arrived fashionably late to the party to build anticipation. this little girl was too cute... she had her list all prepared for santa.that beard's a little ticklish.good job, honey! (and can you get over that sneak peek of my neighbor's christmas tree! it was sooo pretty.on sunday we went to a local nursery for some christmas decorations. i love poinsettias, especially white ones.
pretty wreath.
i'll show more photos of the decorations when i finish.

my new favorite restaurant

i could eat sushi 7 days a week. i love it. which is odd, because i didn't eat fish until i was in my late 20s and didn't eat raw fish until several years later. my local sushi restaurant shut down a few weeks ago. steve and i were their best customers. we ate there sometimes twice a week. i'd been going through withdrawals. until kotta! we went to kotta sushi in frisco friday night to celebrate our new house purchase. it was awesome! we sat at the sushi bar. the sushi chef was phenomenal. he really took care of us. the fish was beyond fresh and the service fabulous. the owner even greeted us and chatted for awhile.
and, knowing i was heading back to seattle and not going to have sushi for awhile (at least at my local spot), we ate at kotta again sunday night. it was event better! you must try it if you're in the area. our favorite roll.... the sakura.

images from here

canlis

we're eating here tonight. i hear it's phenomenal. and one of the best restaurants in seattle. my sister-in-law and her husband are in town. good company, good food always makes for a good night.

saturday night's dinner

the recent issue (march 2011) of the martha stewart living magazine had some recipes for salmon baked in parcment paper. steve and i created our own version saturday night. and it was awesome. seriously. the best dinner we've made in awhile. i loved it. i'm still thinking about it. i've never cooked with parchment paper before. i don't know... something about paper and heat that doesn't sit well with me. anybody else like that?

anywho, we start by layering salmon, asparagus, and red onion on the parchment paper. then drizzled with olive oil, lemon juice and sprinkled salt and pepper. topped the pile off with the lemon slice.then folded and tucked and creased the parchment paper so no steam would escape. steve had the grill going at 400. but you can also do these in the oven.
final product. yum! he cooked them for about 20 mins. martha's recipe called for 12 - 13 minutes for a 5 ounce, 1 inch thick filet, for medium doneness. other recipes i found said bake for 20-25 mins. i think 15-18 would be a good compromise.
we added baked potatoes to this. again, it was awesome. and incredibly healthy. and inexpensive. total cost of the meal was about $10 for the 2 of us together.

tonight

i know where i'll be at 6pm* tonight. plastered to the sofa watching this. it's sure to be fun and educational... think thanksgiving recipes.

*that's 6pm pacific time.

(image from the pioneer woman blog)

salmon cakes

head over to my friend sarah's blog to get my salmon cake recipe. ok, fine, it's not MY recipe. it's actually a recipe i found in house beautiful, from dawn welch. easy peasy to make. in fact, i think i'll make them tonight.

canning party of two

i had the urge to can. i get it every so often. like i did last year. i called my canning partner-in-crime kelly and we synchronzied our schedules with the local fruit production. apricots, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries were in season. we set a date. i made a run for fruit. kelly brought jars, sugar, and pectin. for our first batch, we started with these.

turned it into this.and then into this. apricot jam.
we also made apricot spice jam, apricot and raspberry jam (yummy!), apricot and blueberry jam, raspberry jam, and mixed berry jam. seriously folks. we were in the kitchen for 8 hours. we ended with over 70 jars of varying sizes to split between us. my feet hurt. my legs hurt. it was 85 degrees that day. the kitchen was 82 (remember we don't have central air). the air was sticky. i was sticky. but both kelly and i agreed... canning is a very satisfying project. we now have wonderful, scrumptious jams to share with friends and family.

bowlful of cherries

i'll be wondering into the kitchen every now and then for some of these. rainier cherries. the best.

pasta!

saturday night we tried out our new pasta machine. my in-laws got this for us for christmas. we finally got around to making our own pasta.... 7 months later.
floured and waiting to cook.
cooked!
and we served it with roasted veggies from the farmers market.
dessert was berry crisps with vanilla bean ice cream. crisps are my favorite go-to dessert. they're effortless. some oats, little flour, little brown sugar and butter for the topping. filling of your desire. and bake at 350 for about 20-25 mins. yum. our perfect summer meal.

cravings

i'm craving...
sunshine. and warmth. and so is pixel. yesterday was 46 degrees. and something slushy was falling out of the sky. it's may. seriously, people. i can't deal with 46 degrees and slushy in may.
chocolate gooeyness. have i mentioned that i've been carb- and sugar-free for 15 days, 3 hours, and 12 minutes now. trying to lose those few stubborn pounds that have been hitching a ride since the holidays.

via la tartine gourmande

i'm also awaiting test results for celiac disease. this dessert, though, is gluten-free.
and with this lady out there, all will be well if the results are positive.

pampering. if i can just hold out for 2 more weeks. mom, sis, and i are headed here for a few days. little spa time. little shopping. little eating. little rest.