I have an obsessive, addictive personality.  Which, in certain situations, can be a good thing.  Or it can mean that I get fixated on something so much that I can’t think about anything else.  Like last week when I saw a coworker having a cheesy baked potato for lunch.  And a craving kicked in and I then had a cheesy baked potato for 5 meals straight.

Today’s linner was another such example of obsession-come-belly filler.  Last night at my fave restaurant in Augusta, one of the specials was Buffalo Tempeh.  It was just a tapas-sized portion and I downed the entire portion instantaneously.  Took all my self-control to not stick my face in the bowl of hot-saucey, buttery deliciousness.  I almost demanded a couple more orders, but, on second thought, decided to opt for fruit and filled the remaining hole in my belly with sangria.

But, when I woke up this morning, I was still haunted by the buffalo not eaten.  I knew what I was going to make and eat. (And probably make and eat again tomorrow.)

Buffalo Tempeh with Blue Cheese Dressing*

• 1/2 c. Frank’s Red Hot Sauce*
• 1/3 c. Butter*
• 1 pkg Tempeh, cut into desired size nuggets
• 1 c. Greek Yogurt (most recipes call for mayo.  I don’t do condiments)
• 1/8 c. Almond Milk (it’s what I had…I’m sure cow milk is fine)
• 1 tbsp Vinegar
• 1/8 Garlic Powder
• 1/8 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
• 1/4 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

1. Melt butter in saucepan over medium-low heat and stir in hot sauce.

2. Drizzle a tbsp of the buffalo sauce over the tempeh.  Stir.

3. Bake tempeh at 375* for 10-15 minutes.

4. Toss tempeh with the buffalo sauce.

5. For dressing, mix remaining vinegar, salt, garlic powder, pepper, worcestershire sauce, yogurt, and milk together.

Stir in Blue Cheese.

6. Stuff your face.

*Note:  DO NOT TAKE the shortcut by using pre-made buffalo sauce.  Take a look at the ingredients on the bottles.  Preservatives.  And “butter-like flavor.”  Use the real thing.  Butter + Frank’s.  There is no substituting real butter.

Winter is always difficult for me.  The short days.  The cold.  The heat bill.  It’s all I can do to stop myself from curling up in a ball in bed at 8pm.  But, with fall and winter do come two of my favorite things: Running Season and SOUP.  There is nothing like coming home from a freezing cold run to a hot shower and a hot bowl of soup in your belly.  The beauty of soup is that it lends itself well to the slow-cooker, which is, btw, my new favorite appliance.  Lately I’ve been experimenting with soups that require little-to-no prep and can simmer all day when I’m at work and be ready for my belly by 7pm.

Here is just one of those magical soups.

Super Easy Ribollita-Minestrone Slow Cooked Soup

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup dried cannellini beans
• 3 tbsp evoo
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 bunch greens (I used mustard greens, but anything hearty will do), coarsely chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1 yukon gold potato, chopped
• 1 cup chopped stewed tomatoes
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cups stock (veggie or chicken)
• 1 cup rice
• Fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1-2 cups stale bread cubes
• Parmesan cheese
• Salt and Pepper

1. Combined beans, evoo, garlic, potato, carrots, celery, tomatoes, onion, rosemary, and stock in slow-cooker.  Salt and pepper to taste. Cook on low of 4-5 hours, until beans are soft.

2. Add rice and greens and continue to cook low for 1 hour.

3. Stir in bread cubes.

4. Serve in bowls with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.

Baby, it may be cold outside, but it’s warm in my belly.

This one time, a coworker won a motion to suppress.  That doesn’t happen very often in our judicial circuit.  Like ever.  And she was so (rightfully) excited that she came back to our office trailer, and ran around telling everyone “I won! I won, I won, I won!”  She even ran into the big-boss’s office and repeated her refrain.

To which our big head boss said in a deliberate manner, “Oh that’s nice. (pause) Wait, what’d you win?”  Typically this story is told to explain how much free reign we are given in developing our cases.

However, I tell you this story, for the mere point of explaining my refrain: I won!  I won, I won, I won.  To which you respond: What’d you win?

Yes it would be nice if this winning I did was about important things…like murder trials.  Or the lottery.  Or the final four.  But…it’s not.  Unless you consider mac and cheese important things.  Which, let’s be honest, it kind of is.

On Saturday, the “young bunch” in my office had a thanksgiving-potluck-cook off.  I’ve participated in many cook-offs in my life, always working very hard to win, but never winning.  So, I went in with low expectations.  But I won!  YAY!  And believe me, with the amount of cheese and butter I used, there was no way I couldn’t win. It’s simple math:

Lots of Butter + Lots of Cheese = BIG WIN.

So, without further adieu…

Pen’s Winning Spicy Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:

• 7 cups small pasta shapes
• 6 tbsp butter
• 3 cups milk
• 8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
• 16 oz. shredded pepper jack cheese
• 3 poblano peppers, finely chopped
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1-2 red peppers, roasted and finely chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 375.
2. Bring water to a boil and cook pasta until al dente.  Drain and place in large bowl.
3. Saute the red pepper, poblano pepper, and onion with 1/2 tbsp butter until browned.  Add to cooked pasta.
4. In a medium saucepan, melt 5.5 tbsp butter.  When butter is melted, add 5-6 tbsp flour (this is going to depend on humidity factors, start with less and add more if needed).  Mix in flour and cook the mixture until it starts to get sticky, stirring constantly
5. Stir in milk.  Continue to stir constantly over medium heat until the mixture starts to thicken.
6. Add cheese, stirring until cheese is melted.
7. Pour cheese sauce over pasta, and mix.  Pour into greased 3qt pan.
8. Bake for 25-35 minutes.
9. Eat.

The best part of this (besides winning)? I got to clear out some of the veggie-refridge-drawer-full-of-poblanos that I have from my garden.

This summer I’ve had a new (to me) problem in training.  Cramps.  Mostly in my calves.  They are pretty much constantly on the verge of charlie horsing…and Tuesday’s longish ride was no exception.  A big part of this is my crappy job keeping up with electrolyte replacement.  A big part of this is also that it was one-million degrees and I sweat like a pig (sidenote: a co-worker’s husband saw me running on the treadmill last Sunday and remarked to my coworker that I sweat an abnormal amount.  lovely).

Anyway, the whole time I was riding and hot and sweaty and cramping, I fantasized about bananas.  Wonderful potassium to heal my ailing calves.

By the time I got home, I was drooling thinking about the creation I was about to make for dinner.  And that creation was Bananas Foster Cottage Cheese Pancakes.

Ingredients:

• 3 bananas
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup unbleached flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• Canola oil cooking spray

1. Combine cottage cheese, eggs, milk, oil and stir until combined

2. Mix in dry ingredients (minus the brown sugar and cinnamon) and two sliced bananas

3. Plop some of the batter on the griddle.

4. When little bubbles begin to appear on top, flip pancake and allow to cook through.

4. In a saucepan, melt butter.

6. Add cinnamon and brown sugar

7.  Allow the sugar and cinnamon to dissolve, and add the last sliced banana, vanilla, and a cup of water.  Cook until a syruppy consistency has been reached.

8. Top pancake with syrup.

9. Eat.

10. Lick plate.

I just don’t get people who don’t eat breakfast.  Breakfast is my favsies.

These days, however, breakfast has a lot of competition.  It’s not just Breakfast v. Lunch v. Dinner.

These days, we have First Breakfast, Second Breakfast, Early Lunch, Lunch, Late Lunch, Dinner, Supper, and Bedtime Snack.  And by “we” I mean Me.  And Biggest Loser contestants, pre-biggest loser.

I say this because (shockers of all schockers), I’m about to share a meal that might give Jillian Michaels a heart attack.  Frying Shit.  YUUUM. Grease.  But, lately, I can take in some grease and keep on ticking.  Should I be relying on healthier forms of calorie hard hitters?  Sure.  Is it ok to stray a bit to enjoy the purely joyful ability to eat almost anything that Ironman training affords? Heck to the yes.  (Although, tomorrow I will be discussing how gross I feel because I’m eating like shit to compensate for IM training…)

Until that post tomorrow, I went all southern on my frying pan.

Fried Green Tomato Salad.

Starting with LOCAL Cornmeal (and peeps, I had to scour places in Augusta looking for local GA grains.  It was NOT an easy search.)

Cornmeal + flour + a little bit of sugar and salt in one bowl; eggs and milk in another bowl.

Oil in the pan to get cracklin’ warm.  Also, serves as a beautiful mirror.

Slice your self up some beautiful green heirloom toms.

Coat the tomato slices with the eggs mixture.

And then coat the tom with the cornmeal mixture.

And then toss in the frying pan.

And let sizzle.

Place on a bed of sliced heirloom tomatoes, with a balsamic-basil vinaigrette.  Sprinkle with crumbled goat cheese.

And EAT!

Is it time for ice cream now?

Anyone else love fried green tomatoes?

Some days when I’m thinking up dinner, I get bored.  I get bored because I eat the same things over and over and over and over.  Yogurt.  Check.  Berries.  Check.  PB&J.  Check.  It’s those nights, that I’m left with either a wonderfully creative dinner…

Or an inedible mess.

Fortunately for me, last night was one of the luckier times.

Collard-Quinoa Wrap-ups

Ingredients:*

• 8-10 large Collard Green leaves (or other harty/strong greens like cabbage)
• 2 cups Tomatoes (fresh or canned)
• 2 Zuchini
• 4-5 Spring Onions
• 3 cloves Garlic
• 2 cups Quinoa (cooked)
• Olive oil
• 3 Tsp Red Wine Vinegar
• 3 oz. Goat Cheese
• Salt and Pepper to taste

*Note: I used all local produce and cheese.  Now to find local quinoa.

1. Wash collards and trim hard center stalks.

2. Blanche the stalks in bowling hot water until they become a bright green.

3. Lay the collards on a paper towel and allow to dry.

4. Combine tomatoes, garlic, and red wine vinegar in a blender or food processor…

5. …and blend until they look like this.

6. Heat the olive oil in a pan and add chopped zucchini, cooking until zucchini begins to soften.

7. Add chopped spring onions to zucchini and cook for 3 to 4 more minutes.

8. Add half of the tomato mixture, cooking until tomato sauce is reduced to paste consistency.

9. In a large bowl, combine quinoa and zucchini mixture.

10. Spoon zucchini mixture on to collard leaves and wrap up, rolling them as you would egg rolls or a burrito.  Line wraps in an oven safe dish.

11. Top the wrap-ups with the remaining tomato mixture and goat cheese. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes.

12. Enjoy!

Now, I would be lying if I said I actually ate these for dinner last night.  Because I didn’t.  Instead, while they were cooking, I got hungry and filled up on potato chips and rainbow sherbet.  Yum.  And that, ladies and gents, is why I’m happy to be an adult.  Dinner. of. champions.

Alrighty…I’m now off to test drive some real slick fast beauties.  Details and pictures of my new ride tonight.

When summer hits and the weather is sizzling, I’d rather reach for a popsicle than an  ice cream cone.  There is something about the tart, juicy, icey popsicles that the creamy cones just cannot touch.  So when the fabulous people at POM Wonderful offered to send my some of their POMWonderful 100% Pomegranate juice, I jumped at the offer and started dreaming up popsicle recipes.

Because, I LOVE popsicles.  And I HATE free radicals.  Sooo, what’s better than an antioxidant super power in popsicle form?  Nothing.  Take that free radicals.

POM-lime-lavender POMsicles.

• 8oz. POMWonderful Pomegranate Juice
• 1/8 c. Lime Juice
• 1/8 c. Agave Nectar
• 1/8 c. Heavy Cream
• Handful of Fresh Lavender

1. Combine Agave Nectar, Lime Juice, and Lavender in a food processor

2. And process the mixture until lavender is finely chopped.  Let sit for 30 minutes to an hour to allow flavors to meld.

3. Add POM and cream to lime juice mixture. Stir.

4. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze.

5. And, enjoy!

Are you a popsicle or an ice cream person?

First off, thank you all for your kind words about the DNF.  I’m starting to move on and do feel better now.  Time to gear up with the Ironman training!

So, the best part of returning home from my vacay was seeing how my garden was doing.  And holy tomatoes.  The veggies were growing.  I picked way more cherry tomatoes than I can eat.  In fact I’m brainstorming ways to make tomato popsicles.  Do. Not. Try to steal my idea.  K?  Thanks.

Yellow Pear, Orange, and Cherry Tomatoes.

But, just like with my abundance of tomatoes, summer brings the unique problem of having too many veggies and not enough time to cook delish dinners with all of them.  So, I’m always looking for quick ideas that translate well to what I call “veggie dump” dishes…dishes that allow for many different veggies to be used in a single swoop.

So, introducing my new fav…Summer Veggie Cobbler!

Ingredients:

• 1.5 c.  and 3 tbsp flour
• .25 c. cornmeal
• 2.5 tsp baking powder
• .5 tsp salt
• .25 tsp cayenne pepper
• .5 c. chopped fresh parsley
• 8 tbsp butter
• 2 c shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 c buttermilk
• 1 cup milk
• .5 c wine
• 2 tbsp chopped sage or oregano
• 3 cups cooked vegetables, cut into bite sized pieces

1. Combine  1.5 cup flour, cornmeal, baking powder, cayenne pepper, parsley, 1 cup cheddar cheese, salt and 4 tbsp butter.

Yep, that’s shredded butter…helps to make the crust a little flakier than blending in butter.

2. Add the buttermilk and stir until combined. And then stick in the fridge while preparing the filling.

For the filling, I used what I had (carrots, red onion, vidalia onion, summer squash…all local from the CSA), but, you can really use anything that you want.  Just make sure you cook the veggies until they are al dente first.

2. Cook the veggies in a sauce pan with 2tbsp butter (or evoo) until the veggies are tender.

4. Once the vegetables are soft, add 1/2 c. wine (red or white will do), 3 tbsp flour, chopped sage or oregano, 1 cup milk.

5. Mix all the new ingediants into the veggies to create a “creamed veggie misture.”  Cook for 5-7 minutes, allowing the liquids to burn off and the flour to thicken the sauce.

6. Transfer the creamed veggies into a greased baking dish.

7. Top the veggies with 1 cup cheese and spoon the crust mixture over the veggies and cheese.

8. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until the crust is brown.

9. And eat!

I can’t wait to experiment with other veggie combinations!  Now to just figure out what to do all my tomatoes…any tomato ideas??? (Other than tomato sauce and salsa……because, I’m going to have plenty of that.)

First off, the lovely Katie invited me to do a guest post while she was away in London.  I was so excited and flattered because I love her blog and she is also one of the most talented ladies out there (gardner/biologist/seamstress/cook…is there anything she doesn’t do?  I’m not sure yet.)  Anyway, my post is up today!  And you should all fly on over there and read about my lessons learned as a gardening novice.  And, if you haven’t checked Katie out before, go check her out!

Ok, so last weekend (like two weekends ago…not the one that just ended), I went out to Tybee Island for a fam reunion.  My daddy and I were the only ones from my immediate family to make it down, which was a bummer, but it also meant quality daddy-daughter time, which is pretty awesome.  He also came back to Augusta for a night to see the new yard and to see the grandpets.  And maybe to spend a little more time with me.  But I’m pretty sure it mostly to see the grandpets.

While he was out mowing my lawn (a task I still have never done in my entire life…yea, more on that later), I whipped us up some dinner.  And I cannot express to you how nice it was to have someone to cook for.  Seriously.  You would not think it is that hard to find someone who wants to eat delish food in exchange for doing dishes on a regular basis.  But it is.  Until then, I am perfecting my wifely skills.

Anyway, I made us a deelish Leek-Goat Cheese Tart. This time, unlike my tomato tart, I mixed an egg yoke in with the goat cheese mixture.  The mixture was goat cheese + cream cheese + soy milk + egg yolk + thyme.

I got to use the extra thawed out pastry dough from the last tart I made.  I love having the dough ready made by me…you get the homemade taste at the store bought convenience.

Pastry dough + goat cheese mixture + 3 leeks sliced, washed, tossed in evoo, sea salt, and pepper.

Then I got to move on to a bean dish.  See those pretty purple ones?  Yea, they came out of my garden.  The yellow beans came from the CSA.  Steamed ‘em just a bit.

Then sauteed with butter and mint. I know butter has more saturated fat than evoo, but honestly, since I “rediscovered” butter, I can’t help but cook with it on (probably too frequent) occasion.  Its just such good shit.  Sometimes, you just need to cook something with butter.  And for a veggie girl like me, with fab cholesterol levels, then it can’t kill me every once and a while…right?  I’m just rationalizing here. Because I love me some butter.

Plus fruit salad and rosemary roasted local fingerling taters.

YUM!  And, the best part, nearly all of the ingredes are local.  More on that tomorrow.  I’ve gotten almost completely locally sufficient…yay!  A loco locavore.

Alrighty, again, go and take a peak at Katie’s blog!

And honestly, what are your thoughts on butter?  I only like melted butter…cold butter on bread creeps me out.  But, cooking with butter?  Salty buttery goodness.

I’m currently pretty overwhelmed at work. Way too much drama. Way too much to do. Way too draining.

So I came home last night all grumptastic and ready to do what I do best: nap. Napping is my nonproductive way of dealing with things. I’m an avoider. Always have been. I’m REALLY good at pretending that unpleasant things don’t exist. And when I can’t do that, I nap. I could sleep away entire days to avoid unpleasant feelings. Which typically for me means, most any feelings. I don’t like feelings.

But, being the burgeoning self-aware adult that I am, I decided to forego the nap for something a little more productive and equally (if not more) efficient at taming my anger and anxiety.

And that is cooking.  With dough that has to be kneaded.  Or…in my case…pounded.

I also had 5 CSA hydroponically grown tomatoes in my fridge and wasn’t sure what to do with them.  For the last couple weeks, they’ve been all dressed up with nowhere to go.

So, I decided that tomatoes + kneaded dough of some sort = tomato tart.

The best dough always starts with butter. Lots and lots of butta.

Enough dough for two more dishes…just freeze and thaw!

Roasted tomatoes with fresh picked basil and oregano

Goat cheese mixed with a splash of milk, minced shallots, sea salt and pepper.

Was I successful in quelling my urge to punch a wall when I got into work today?  Yes.  Was my belly full and my mouth delighted?  Yes.  Did I use up all the tomatoes? Yes. Win. Win. Win. Win.

Emotional Cooking > Emotional Eating…don’t you agree?

Alrighty folks, time to go water my SOD!  Yay!  I finally got grass!  It only took me 13mos. in my new house to accomplish that.

And then, schluffy time.