ya that’s dairy free sour cream
black beans with fried potatoes has become one of my favorite dishes over the last few years. back in my “i can eat all the dairy i want days” i used to top these babies with some yummy goat cheese. oh how the times have changed. however tofuti dairy free sour cream and some paul newman’s salsa still made this round of tacos pretty damn good!
while organizing my beer drawer, yes i have a beer drawer in the fridge, i discovered the last 2 bottles of some pumpkin ale. its spring time, time for shandies not nutty ales. so what to do with these beers so they don’t go to waste? lets do some bbq!! first i slow cooked turkey tenderloins in the pumpkin ale with cinnamon and nutmeg. then i shredded the meat added mustard bbq sauce to the juices and slow cooked it once again. this was a saturday night dinner to die for. the sauce turned out spicy with the cinnamon and nutmeg and the potato salad i made to go with it i’ll say was one of the best i’ve done. my secret….honey mustard 😉
raspberry vinaigrette, roasted garlic, fried potatoes….oh my
what is a better way to kick off spring than to make a giant spinach salad. i roasted garlic and onions, added in some fried potatoes and a little bit of vegetarian bacon. tossed in some dates and then topped the bed of veggies with 2 perfectly poached eggs. hello bottle of raspberry vinaigrette dressing and rose wine and springtime is mine!
my plate full of pizza
its a pizza pie!! a margarita pizza to be exact. calculating all dietary needs the pizza was gluten and dairy free. but that didn’t effect the taste none. along with it was salad and garlic bread sticks. and for dessert…..vegan brownies with peanut butter frosting. all at the party agreed, bellies full, it was a success!
elise and cynthia ready to dig in
so rich so good
what better way to celebrate the cardinals baseball st. louis opener game but to make me some hot dogs?! well veggie hot dogs in honor of sir paul and his meatless monday. with the game playing on the radio and me in one of my cards tee shirts i decided the meal to be had would include tofu pigs-n-blanket with tater tots and of course beer!!
is apparently fried egg sandwiches. i just can’t get enough. in fact i’ve started daydreaming about new combinations of yummy ingredients to start adding to them such as pesto!
life can be hard when you develop food allergies. my friend elise and i are lactose intolerant buddies. she also has the added burden of gluten intolerance and for me, allergic to shellfish. dining out can be a serious challenge and we had both basically given up the concept of going out for pizza. however one restaurant in town offered up gluten free crust and dairy free cheeses, the grotto our mecca for dietary issue pizza bliss. then tragedy….the grotto moves to bigger location, the menu must be adjusted to handle new experiences and the first thing cut the gluten crust and dairy free cheeses. so elise and i said a big “f.u.” we’ll just do this our selves, thus was born our saturday night pizza night. gluten free crust, lots of dairy free cheese, yummy sauce with a hint of spiciness, peppers, tomatoes, and red onion. who needs the grotto when these two chicks can cook just as badass!
elise with our pre-baked masterpiece
hot out of the oven
and it didn’t even make my belly hurt
once a month i host a meatless monday dinner party i have dubbed “lets do dinner!!!” a week ago i was supposed to be cooking up a fantastic mediterranean fest for my friends. homemade white bean lemon hummus, chickpea mint salad, stuffed baby peppers and honey-date cookies. then i had one of those days, tired crabby, i wanted to still cook up a storm but i didn’t want to share it, i realized. i wanted to open my favorite bottle of wine but just for me. i wanted to eat the hummus but i wanted it all to myself. so i sent out a mass message….dinner canceled do to illness. i will say that when concerned friends wanted to know about my sickness and if they could aid me in any way, i did admit the illness was crabbiness. but i realized as i was cooking what i needed was a dinner party for one. to cook a fabulous meal just for me to enjoy. why people don’t cook for themselves like they would for others is a mystery to me. sitting down to my plate of chickpea mint salad, lemony hummus and stuffed peppers with a giant glass of wine all by my sweet self turned out to be the perfect remedy to my illness of crabbiness.
now that makes me say opaa!!
means making catfish fillets into a catfish sandwich…………………….
i love me some hushpuppies
my kitchen of late has been quite the popular place for chili making. first round was with my friend warren, aka the chili master. he hosts a yearly chili cook-off, last year he claimed the title. spicy meatiness was on the menu for warren’s chili. secret ingredients include bacon, bbq sauce and curry powder. we ate this batch ala frito pie! a classic lunch lady move.
frito pie makes every lunch lady happy
warren with excited chili face
next up was chili making with elise. after my art show opening where i served up tater tots, we concluded that the best way to use the remaining 3 lbs of tots was to cook chili to put on top of them. elise showed up with loads of beans, i had ground turkey and our secret ingredients included sarachia, okra, and tater tots, extra crispy that is!
tater puffs!
mmmhmmm
still got about 2.5 pounds of tots left. anyone else wanna come and cook up some tots and chili?!
Hearty Eaters 