Let the Good times Roll!

This weekend was a lovely, productive time in the kitchen here in Pixie-land. First, on Saturday afternoon, I made the cookies that my co-workers have been craving. They sounded absolutely decadent to me, and involve chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, coconut, and all things yummy and sweet. They are called 7-layer cookies, sometimes "magic bars" and let me tell you, they are indeed magically delicious! That leprechaun has nothing on me....They are wrapped and ready for work. This is one pie plate full, the other is going to Dear Husband's work.

Then, since summertime gives me an urge for all things Southern, I decided to make Jambalaya.  A Louisiana dish with chicken, sausage and shrimp. I used a recipe from one of my culinary heroes, Emeril Lagasse, and tweaked it slightly.  Here's the beginning, lightly sauteeing the "trinity" of celery, onion and bell pepper.

Then, with the addition of the broth, rice, chicken, bay leaves and Portuguese Linguica sausage the simmer begins:

I added the shrimp for the last ten minutes of cooking time, and garnished with scallion and flat-leaved parsley.  The rice absorbed all the broth and became lovely and soft.  The chicken, sausage and shrimp retained their own flavors while at the same time becoming integral to the dish.  All I can say is....Let the good times roll!

Dear husband made my day today by taking me to my local gourmet goodie store, and letting me run amok. I found stone crab claws (one of my true food loves, thank you South Florida!), lots of health food soup-in-a-cup, some beautiful collards and kale, and basically anything my heart desired. You know, the good thing about birthdays, and this is now a legend in our family, is that they can be EXTENDED (said in loud, movie preview voice) for longer than the actual day.

While turning a year older may not exactly be cause for celebration (especially as the numbers just continue to get higher, go figure), it sure has it's perks!  Eat well, and make someone else's day today!  It makes you and them feel good!

Laundry and Lunches

Today is an interesting Sunday in the food-centric household I run. I almost feel sorry for Dear Husband, as he naps, I have food in the oven, food-related magazines strewn about the living room, and the Food Network on TV. Since I made him pizza from scratch last night, however, I don't feel TOO bad. :)

Realizing that my energy level during the work week enables me to come home, cook a meal, and not much else, and still wanting to eat uber-healthy during the week, I spent this morning creating a delicious dish for the work week. WHILE completing 5 loads of laundry! (The washers in our building have the capacity of a flipping thimble, I tell ya!)


I've been cruising vegan websites in an effort to create healthier lunches, and the creativity involved with such endeavors always impresses me. The dish below is from sweet SusanV over at http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/ and is called Collards stuffed with red beans and rice.

The mixture that gets stuffed into the blanched and cooled collard leaves was so tasty, I could not stop snacking on it!  Can you imagine how happy my little lunch box will be all week? Later today, I'm also making felafel for some nice felafel wraps with tomato tortillas and lots of crunch!  I will have varied and tasty lunches all week, even if it takes a chunk of my Sunday.  So worth it both in terms of healthy eating, and monetary savings.  Eat well my friends, take some time to create something you are proud of, and remember gorge consume wisely.