Homemade Sloppy Joes (+ a review of ips: egg white (ch)ips!)

Hello, hello, hello!

How is your post-Valentine’s-Day chocolate coma coming along? 😉
I actually didn’t have much chocolate on the 14th (just some scrumptious chocolate-dipped strawberries), but Rob and I were both craving something sweet after dinner last night, so I whipped up some brownies. They are halfway gone…

So let’s just put sweets out of mind for a moment (or a week or two) and switch to a savory topic. Get out your napkins and paper towels because a sloppy recipe is coming your way! Normally I’m content with a good ol’ can of Manwich (for just a buck, how can you go wrong?), but I do love to make as much as I can from scratch when time allows. I truly wish it were possible to make everything in my kitchen homemade (from all my seasonings to condiments to cereals to pasta, etc, etc, etc), but I think I’d have to quite my job and devote my entire life to food prep for that to happen. So for now, a nice balance will have to do.

I don’t know about you, but I find that a sloppy joe is not complete without a layer of crunch between the joe and the bun. Am I right?

Pheasant Nuggets (With Homemade Fryin’ Magic)

Happy 2015, everyone!

I hope the first couple weeks of the new year have been treating you well so far. How are your resolutions coming along?

I resolved to start recycling in 2015, and there is now an impressive little pile of glass jars and bottles in the garage. Alright, that’s really not impressive at all, but I’m working toward it! Today I browsed the interwebs for recycling storage/organization ideas and read my city’s regulations, and my hopes are high. 😀 Rob has been in the building mood lately, so I’ve asked him to build a recycling station or tower of some sort. My other resolutions include reading all the books on my shelf that I’ve been meaning to, getting back into marathon shape, and going deeper with the Lord. Oh and I also resolve to find a job I enjoy and am passionate about. This year is going to kick last year’s bum!

For today’s recipe, I’m sharing a variation of one of my dad’s specialties: pan-fried pheasant. Wild game was the norm around my house growing up; we ate pheasant instead of chicken, deer and elk instead of beef. For some, these are acquired tastes. For others, delicacies. For my family (and any other hunting family), it’s just what’s for dinner.

Quinoa Spaghetti with Homemade Tomato Basil Sauce

Well HELLO again!

Today I’ve got two things for you wonderful readers. First, I have a delicious and healthy recipe to share with you. Second, I decided it’s about time I fill you in on the exciting news I mentioned recently. 😀

So, first things first, I made some spaghetti.
I made it with quinoa noodles.
I also made some killer homemade sauce.

Quinoa Black Bean Burgers

HELLO.

Have you forgotten about me? I hope not. I haven’t forgotten about you!
I do apologize for my absence; there’s a big, exciting venture that’s been consuming much of my spare time lately. That’s all I’ll tell you for now, but more details to come! 😀

Now, onto the food!

I’ve done it. I think I’ve finally perfected my black bean burgers, and it’s about time!

They’ve always had good flavor, but I couldn’t get the texture quite right.
Turns out, I was probably just being impatient before because cooking them longer seemed to be one of the main reasons they weren’t mushy this time.

Thai Chicken Quinoa {& Tips on Cooking Quinoa!}

Hi there!
I hope you’re excited to see a healthy recipe here today ’cause I know it’s been a while…

This may be the recipe that changed my perspective on quinoa. I mean, I’ve always been on board with quinoa because of how awesomely good for you it is, but until now, I never actually got excited about eating it. I thought that quinoa was bland and mushy, but I finally realized that quinoa is only as bland and mushy as you make it. Duh!

I’ve found that, like with rice, quinoa’s flavor can be greatly enhanced by adding more flavors in the cooking process. So I now always cook it in either chicken stock or vegetable stock, whichever I have on hand. Even substituting half or three-fourths of the cooking water for stock will help improve the taste.

Empanadas

I love food with a history, don’t you?

For instance, did you know that the idea for our beloved M&M was discovered during the Spanish Civil War as a solution to soldiers’ chocolate melting in their pockets?

Pea Pesto Pasta

Do you ever conjure up brilliant ideas while lying in bed, trying to fall asleep?
Or at least, ideas that seem brilliant at the time.

For a while, I even kept a notepad next to my bed so that I could write down those ideas.

Today’s recipe is one of those late-night ideas. You tell me whether it’s brilliant or not. 😉

 

Copycat Qdoba Burrito Bowl

Happy Monday, friends!

Did you know that February is National Chocolate Lovers Month? Yeah. I’m just finding this out today, and I’m usually disappointed when I find out about food holidays towards the end of the celebration period. However, I’m pretty much always “celebrating” chocolate, so I’m not too disgruntled about the 24 days of National Chocolate Lovers Month that have already passed.

Now, you may be wondering why I’m going on about chocolate when today’s post clearly does not contain a chocolate recipe. Well, I’m quite certain that there’s no shortage of chocolate recipes out there, and I thought a healthy recipe would be a nice way to offset all that Valentine’s chocolate and other celebratory chocolate treats.

So put aside the chocolate for a while, and feast your eyes on this Copycat Qdoba Burrito Bowl.