Food food glorious food...

One of my biggest complaints while we were in the hospital with Max, was how tired I was of not eating at home. Cooking and preparing meals is a huge part of my day. I enjoy (most days) coming up with a menu, and making my family and friends ooh and aah over my creations.

Since being home, I've been in full swing making delicious meals, and great new concoctions. Below are a sampling of the ones that have been a hit. I don't guess other things haven't been a hit, but are more boring, like taco night. And the photos, they aren't the best, because I usually snap it with my iphone while I'm cooking, and have yet to figure out the best way to photograph with it.

Fresh rosemary from the garden, sliced potatoes, and sliced onions with olive oil in a foil pouch...our go to summer side dish. We throw it out on the grill while the meat is cooking and it's excellent! A variation is to put the same ingredients in the iron skillet then out on the grill, they get so crispy on the bottom, everyone fights over the crispy bits!





Nando's Curry Simmer Sauce has made curry night a whole lot easier. It's not the same as my curry, and is actually quite spicy, but it's easy, and it's Nando's so it's delicious! We love to eat Nando's in England, and the only ones in the States are in the DC area. So, getting the bottles from Cost Plus World Market help us when the mood hits.


Since Steve is gluten free, I've been trying to come up with better lunch ideas. I have tried these lunch meat wraps, but really don't like touching the turkey with my hands. In comes the bib lettuce! This is bib lettuce, turkey, cranberry sauce, and herbed goat cheese. With a side of okra chips and beet chips for a little crunch.


This was the beginnings of a major hit around here.


Grilled corn, zucchini, avocado, peppers, sliced and diced with black beans, cilantro, fresh ground cumin, and lime juice. I ate it like a taco salad with taco meat.


This was another hit with the cucumber lovin' girl. Cucumbers sliced with lime juice and salt. The ones with reddish seasoning are cucumbers with hot salt and cilantro and lime juice. Both were great!


Now on to the good stuff...dessert!

These raw brownies were a novelty, and so yummy! It's dates, cocoa, walnuts...that's it! They really tasted like brownies too. Here's the recipe:
http://mynewroots.blogspot.com/2011/04/raw-brownie.html


This may not look pretty, but that doesn't really matter, because it didn't last very long!


Mangoes, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, and almond slivers in whipped coconut cream. I made coconut whipped cream by simply putting the thick cream from a can of coconut milk into my kitchenaid mixer. Added a little sugar and vanilla, and there it was, coconut cream whipped cream. So easy, and non-dairy! Once we all had our first few bites, I offered some cinnamon as an option to sprinkle on top. It totally changed the taste for the better! Then I added a little orange blossom honey, and it was incredible!

Today I made these macaroons.


They were wonderful like this.


Then Steve got ahold of them, and then they were amazing!


(That's cocoa nibs melted down and the macaroons dipped into them. Oh happy day, they were incredible. I say "were" because there are none left!)

I have a couple of other dishes I've made that haven't been photographed because the anticipation to eat them has been much greater than the desire to photograph first. One of which is my baked beans, which I believe may have to be a post all unto themselves.

That's my culinary catch-up for now...try some of these dishes out and let me know what you think.