Pinspiration {Asian Ginger Carrot Dressing by skinnytaste}

Via

I've been making my own salad dressing lately.  Not only is it much cheaper than buying bottles from the grocery, it tastes better and has less "junk" in it.  Usually my standard fare is olive oil with balsamic, a bit of brown mustard and brown sugar - or - olive oil with Meyer lemon juice and salt.  Both good and easy to make. But when I came across this recipe from skinnytaste I knew I wanted to try it out.  If you eat sushi or Japanese food, you'll recognize the flavor of this dressing as soon as you taste it - so good! - and a nice change to a standard dressing.  There are lots of carrots at the farmer's market right now, so this is a great alternative use for them.

So, spice up your salad with this dressing and enjoy something new and tasty!

Pinspiration {Thai green chicken curry by The Food Fox}

Via

How's that for some Pinspiration?  I saw this on Pinterest and knew I had to try it.  I learned a couple of things from this recipe.

1.  Fresh coriander is cilantro.  Who knew?  I didn't.

2.  If I knew it was this easy to make green curry, I would have been making it way longer than this!

Food Fox calls for 1 can of coconut milk but notes that for a thicker sauce, use coconut cream.  So far I've made this twice, once with coconut milk only and the second time with 1/2 coconut milk and 1/2 coconut cream. When I make this again, I will be using all coconut cream.  I like the sauce thick and in my opinion that is the best way to achieve it.

This is a great recipe that can be made fairly quickly after a day of work.  It can also be easily changed around to add more veggies, tofu or whatever else you may like.  I added eggplant for one of my tries and it was really good.  For the full recipe click the link below the picture.

♥TCW

Pinspiration {Tom Ka Soup by An Urban Cottage}

Via

I mentioned on Facebook a little while ago that I had been not only pinning things onto my Pinterest boards but actually trying them!  Yay me.  This delicious soup is one of them!

Hello tangy, tasty, veggie filled soup.  This is soup-er delicious and easy to make (ah, see what I did there?  I know.  I'm sorry).  You can also use whatever veggies you would like.  I didn't use baby corn because I didn't have any on hand.  I did use zucchini and green beans.  I did not cut pretty carrots.  I'm not that fancy.  The veggies stay nice and fresh in this soup since you only blanch them.  The broth has a nice sour-y taste; I did add a tablespoon of brown sugar per An Urban Cottage's suggestion in order to balance the sour.  Click the link below the photo to get to the recipe at An Urban Cottage.

And then go make this soup-er soup.

The end.

Pinispiration! Wall Art for The Munchkin

Hi Everyone!  I feel like life and photo editing have gotten in the way of this blog of late, my apologies!

Awhile ago I shared with you the start of a Pinspired project which I finally finished a couple of weeks ago.  If you remember, this is what Pinspired me:

The Munchkin was in serious need of some wall art for his room.  I saw this picture and thought "I can do that".  So I did!

I didn't do step by step photos, but here is some idea of my process....

I bought a pretty big canvas on sale and with a coupon from Michael's (actually, I bought two).  Using the picture above, I checked out different font in Word until I came up with something that looked close.  I then printed the numbers out big (like one per page).  Then I cut them out and taped them to my canvas (I painted the background first) and traced around them - I used my paintbrush to trace.  After tracing I filled the numbers in, still using the paintbrush.  I painted the 9 blue because if you ask The Munchkin anything about a number, the answer is always "niiiiiyyynnne" and if you ask him what color something is, the answer is always "booooooo", so this blue nine is for you Munchkin.  I used basic craft paint for the whole thing.  Everything else I painted free hand.  This is the first photo I shared...

After what took me much longer than I thought, I reveal to you the finished project!

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the result.  It's not perfect, but that's OK because it's more special that I made it instead of bought it.  It looks cute in the room too.  

Strangely weird things happen with photo editing and paint color, it actually looks more like the color in the photo above.  Don't ask me!

What's pinspiring you??

I shared this crafty item on the following sites, click the links for more crafty ideas!

Keeping it Simple - Motivate Me Monday

Not Just a Housewife - Show me what ya got!

Centsational Girl

Pinsipiration! Recipe Find - Spanish Roast Chicken with Romesco and Grilled Onions

Hello Everyone!  I continue to be Pinspired.  I spotted this on Pinterest awhile back and thought it looked sooo good....I also assumed it would be difficult so it sat on my Food! board for awhile looking pretty but not being made.

Photo via Serious Eats

Then, as I walked the aisles at Trader Joe's, those little chickens would taunt me from the cold case.  "Roast me, roast me!"

I finally gave in.  Boy am I glad I did!  I had never roasted a chicken before (what the what?!), but it was much easier than I anticipated.  Although, I did need The Cyclist's help "tucking wing tips behind shoulder of the bird".  Yeah, what the heck does that mean?  The Cyclist knew thankfully.

It turns out roasting a chicken is not so difficult, but a little time consuming.  The author explains this recipe as being made for a Sunday dinner, so I did just that, made it on a Sunday when I had some time to put in.

Now that you are convinced you too must roast a chicken on Sunday, let me share with you my process (in photos)...

 

 

The Scoop - A yummy Spanish roast chicken with interesting seasoning and sauce.  Great for a Sunday, weekend or dinner party dinner.

The Verdict - As tasty as it looked and something I would definitely make again.

The Fix - There is no fix to this recipe.  The only thing I would have changed is we don't have a meat thermometer, so we were guessing.  Luckily The Cyclist guessed right (he's really good at cooking meat), so ours was perfect, but you could easily dry this birdie out if you don't have a meat thermometer or skilz like The Cyclist.

Mentionables - The Romesco was so freaking good!  The recipe makes a lot, but that's good because you will want these left-overs.  I used the rest of the Romesco the following day in black bean & chicken tacos, topped with some cilantro - the Romesco made those babies without a doubt.  Others:  I couldn't find hazelnuts so I didn't use them; I don't have a v-rack so I used our regular roasting pan and it seemed to work just fine; I didn't buy my chicken at Trader Joe's after all, instead I opted for an organic brand at our local co-op.

You can find the whole recipe here:

Spanish Roast Chicken with Romesco and Grilled Onions

Enjoy!

♥

TCW

Pinsipiration! - Recipe Find - Curried Quinoa Wraps with Avocado Citrus Slaw

I continue to be Pinspired.

The latest pinspiration were these:

Photo via Pinterest

Curried Quinoa Wraps with Avocado Citrus Slaw

The Scoop - I've been looking for a tasty lunch treat that is protein packed but meatless.  Not an easy feat.  If you are not familiar with quinoa, you can learn more about it here.  Long story short:  it is pronounced Keen-Waa; it is a protein packed grain that is cooked like rice and can be used in a variety of ways.

The Verdict - These were really tasty and filling. I made them on a Sunday to use in our lunches for the week.  

The Fix - Not really a "fix", but, if I made these again I'd cut the recipe in half.  The Cyclist and I were eating these daily for nearly a week (he got two in his lunch) and we still didn't finish it all.  I was getting a little curried out by Friday.

Mentionables -

• For the Curried Quinoa:  IDK what "Muchi Curry" is, I used plain old Spice Islands Curry Powder and it worked just fine.  I used all orange juice, as in I picked oranges off of our tree and juiced them.  
• For the "fold into cooked quinoa":  I left out the cashews because someone ate them we were out and threw in a handful of sliced almonds instead.  I thought it seemed like a lot of tahini, but the flavors came together nicely.  I did not have a tangerine, so I used a chopped up blood orange instead.  The mint added a nice flavor and I wouldn't leave it out even though it's listed as optional.  I didn't use nutritional yeast because I don't know what it is didn't have any.
• For the Avo-Citrus Tahini Slaw:  I forgot to buy an avocado. Duh.  I used an English cucumber and extra carrots and lettuce.  I also didn't have liquid smoke, so I left that out.  An avocado probably would have been better, but this worked just fine too.

Last but not least:  If you have a giant dog that looks like this...

...don't leave your whole wheat tortilla wraps on the counter to thaw while you take a shower.

Someone might invite themselves to have a snack.

Happy lunching!

TCW

Pinspiration! Recipe Find - Goat Cheese, Lemon, Arugula & Pea Pasta

Pinterest is becoming my new go to spot for recipes.

I think it might be easier to find stuff there than doing a Google search.

Really.

Here is one I came across the other day - 

Goat Cheese, Lemon, Arugula & Pea Pasta

 

Yum, right?

I grabbed what I needed and decided to try it out.

The Scoop - This was super easy to make.  It will definitely be a go-to recipe for when I want to make something tasty in a little bit of time.  I also have never thought of throwing peas into the pasta water so this is another idea I'm sure to copy in other recipes.

The Verdict - The pasta was rich and creamy with a nice lemon flavor; the arugula and peas added a nice contrast.  The goat cheese makes a really thick coating on the pasta - I tasted it and immediately said "it's like adult mac and cheese".

The Fix - Not that it really needs fixing, but.  If you're a goat cheese eater you know how thick and creamy it is.  Both The Cyclist & I agreed that this dish would be nicely balanced with the addition of something salty - he said prosciutto, I said spicy turkey sausage; either one will do. Also, I might add a bit of milk to the mix, just to cut the thickness quality of the melted goat cheese.

Mentionables - I'm not sure if adding more lemon might also cut the goat cheese thickness.  I'm also not sure if the lemon flavor would be lost by adding prosciutto or spicy turkey sausage (that would be a shame, the lemon flavor is really good).  A dry white wine would be really good with this.

Here is my finished product...

Bon Appetite!

Pinspiration! Recipe Finds

Photo via Pinterest

Slow Cooker Coconut Ginger Chicken & Vegetables

The Scoop - I was excited when I found this recipe because it looked so much tastier (and healthier) than most crock-pot dishes.  Also, I thought it would be a great meal for the night I do my FIT track workout.  I made it and I was dying to come home and eat it.

The Verdict - Dare I say it was a little bit....bland?!  Seems weird right?!  With such savory and colorful spices like turmeric I didn't think bland was possible.  But it was hearty and tasty after a long workout.

The Fix - If you make this, add more of the spice blend and more salt and some pepper.

Mentionables - I did not use thighs, because I only had boneless skinless breasts; this switch worked fine and the chicken was nice and juicy.  I didn't use the canned corn cobs, instead I got a frozen veggie blend from Trader Joe's that already had the corncobs and some other good stuff

Photo via Pinterest

Cookin' Canuck - Vegetarian Naan Pizza with Eggplant and Cilantro Jalepeno Pesto

The Scoop - Wow was this good!  I can't wait to make this pesto for a bunch of other stuff.  The flavor of it really made the pizza.  I've also never roasted eggplant and I like this method a lot for a quick cook.  

The Verdict - YUM!  I will totally make this again. 

Mentionables - I didn't use naan, instead I made this on a fresh (not pre-cooked) pizza crust and made one big pizza instead of individuals.  I also didn't use fresh mozzarella (although that would have been amazing), instead I used what I had which was basic shredded mozzarella.  Last, we had some prosciutto, so I topped it with a bit of that.  We thought the salty-ness of the prosciutto added to the overall flavor.  

Disclaimer - I didn't find this on Pinterest.  I found it on the blog and pinned it to Pinterest myself.

                                              

Photo via Pinterest

Lemon & Dill Chicken                  

The Scoop - I bought dill at the farmer's market and I had a bunch of tasty Meyer lemons in my fridge, so I was looking for something to make.  I searched "lemon, dill" on Pinterest and this popped up.    The Verdict - This was a healthy recipe and it was tasty.  The Cyclist is not a fan of dill, but he liked this a lot.  Mine did not look like the picture, but still tasted good.
The Fix - You may not need this fix but.....my sauce wasn't thickening as I thought it should, so I added a few sprinkles of Wondra.

Mentionables - Pinterest wasn't the first place I looked.  I searched the same thing on the Whole Food's recipe app and all I was coming up with were seafood dishes.  I knew I wanted to use chicken and I thought it was weird I couldn't find any "chicken, lemon, dill" recipes.....but there on Pinterest it popped right up. 

More Pinspiration coming soon!

Pinspiration

If you have not been on Pinterest yet, you need to check it out!  Pinterest is an on-line pin-board.  You can download their "pinmarklet" and use it to pin images from around the web.  You can also re-pin what you see on Pinterest.  You can organize your pins by creating specific boards to put them on.  Here is a screen shot of my Pinterest page....

I have a habit of collecting ideas and recipes but not always trying them out.  My recipe binder is a good example of this.....overflowing with recipes I haven't tried yet, but I keep adding to it!  Pinterest is just another (prettier) version of this.

I have a few Pinterest projects in the works and I've tried a recipe from the site.  But now I am totally inspired to share them all with you thanks to Delighted Momma and her Pintester series.  So for these reasons I bring you my own Pinterest feature.....

Are you feeling Pinspired?  Good!  So am I.  From now on if I make a Pinterest recipe, complete a Pinterest inspired project or travel to a Pinspired locale, I'll be sharing it here with the Pinspiration tag!  If you have your own Pinterest inspired goodies, please share them with me and the blogosphere!!

Here is a peek at something that Pinspired me....

...it is in the works!  I can't wait to share the finished product, but here is a peek....

...when I debut it I'll explain why my "nyiiiinnnneee" is "boooooooo", but some of you out there already know.