CRACK!! I mean..Roasted Chickpeas!!

I bet you can't eat just one! 

This recipe was adapted from *  THIS  * recipe by Anja. My sister and I made up our best recollection of the recipe and threw these bad boys in the oven. When they came out, we literally had to pry them from our fingers and put them away in a container to keep from eating the whole batch!

Ingredients

1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed and patted dry

1 Tbsp of olive oil

Your choice of spices! We went with an Italian flair:  (See Anja's recipe for another variation)

- Garlic powder

- LOTS of Red chili flakes (cayenne powder is better, but we didn't have any *sob*)

- Italian seasoning

- Fresh rosemary

- Salt

- Pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 

2. Dump the rinsed chickpeas in a bowel and drizzle with olive oil. 

3. Sprinkle in all of the spices and toss the chickpeas to coat well. 

4. Spread out on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for about 45 minutes or until crunchy. 

Amazingly EASY Spaghetti Sauce

I love my quaint little backyard. I've tried to eat on the patio more regularly now that it's much cooler outside, however that also means it's a lot darker. Fortunately, I recruited a strapping, young and creative man to help me rig up some patio lights so we could actually see what delicious food we were eating. 

To break in my newly lit patio, I made a delicious spaghetti sauce and served it over some zoodles (zucchinis cut into noodles)! It made for a perfect, fall evening. This sauce is so tasty and so easy to make. 

Jarred spaghetti sauce??? Bahahaha how silly. 

 Ingredients

1 large yellow onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 chili peppers (or red chili flakes for heat!)

2 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
A few sprigs of fresh rosemary (or 1 Tbsp minced)
1 Tbsp parsley
1/2 Tbsp oregano
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper

A handful of fresh basil, chopped

28 oz can of diced tomatoes
15 oz can of tomato sauce
15 oz can of diced tomatoes
8 oz can of tomato paste

1/2 red (or green) bell pepper, diced

Bella mushrooms, chopped once in half


Directions

1. Sautee the onions and garlic (and chili peppers) in a very large frying pan or sauce pot. (I have a bomb sauce pan that I use for everything.) Add in the *dry* spices and mix all together over medium heat. I am pretty "willy-nilly" with my spices. DON'T BE AFRAID OF THEM! Add in the spices then taste your sauce after a while. Add more if you think it's necessary.

**Side note** 
A cook should always always taste their food as they are cooking! And NEVER be afraid of adding spices. Spices make a dish. 

(And now we return to your regularly scheduled blog entry)

2. Add in the cans of tomatoes and bell peppers. Keep stirring until the onions are well mixed into the sauce. Drop in a bay leaf.

3. Add in the basil and mushrooms. Then, put the lid on the pan/pot and let the sauce come to a simmer.

4. At this point you can let the sauce cook for a while over medium low heat to let all the flavors mingle. I added in my diced chicken to let that soak up some of the yummy tomato sauce flavor. I'd say I let my sauce simmer for 30 minutes, stirring every now and then and making sure it didn't come to a crazy out-of-control boil!

5. I served the sauce over zoodles! but regular wheat noodles would be just as good.

Ready to dig in! :) 

Roll With It - Truck Bed Style

Friday afternoon, Ted and I decided to pack up his truck and go up to Mt. Lemmon to camp. And even though we go there in the pitch black, we couldn't have had a more wonderful time. Sometimes it's fun to be spontaneous. And this was definitely a moment when I appreciated spontaneity to its fullest.  

We rolled into our (RV Only ...whoops) camping spot in Molino Basin just as the twilight faded to night. We quickly unpacked, blew up the (totally awesome and worth it) truck bed air mattress, broke out the zero-G chairs and lounged under the stars a bit before we started cooking dinner. 

I guess I couldn't take a picture of the top of our heads. It's so weird... I had such a good hair-do too... 

We had pre-made some chicken burgers and home made guacamole before getting on the road, which made grilling up dinner quick and easy. And since we had no quick access to a camping stove, we just brought the whole grill with us! It worked like a charm. Cooked the veggies, beans and burgers like nothing! 

I forgot plates. Improvisation is sometimes needed when you're camping.

And what camping event would be complete without some S'mores! (with dark chocolate, of course)

 

After sleeping under 6 blankets and 3 layers of clothing all night under a (basically) full moon, we woke up to the beautiful Basin rolling out in front of us. 

In no time we had water boiling for coffee, bacon in the skillet and pancakes fluffing on the grill pan. 

Solo Dining Fears be Damned!

Friday, after my training was over, I drove down to the beach and plopped down in a spot without too much seaweed and dug my toes into the sand. It was surprisingly cool by the beach and the wind never stopped blowing. After my "nap",  I woke up  and realized I knew how sand dunes were formed: the side of my leg facing away from the wind had built up quite an impressive amount of sand carried by the wind. Good thing I had my eyes closed and backpack zipped up! 

I brushed myself off, emptied my pockets of sand and headed back to my car. I decided to eat dinner at True Food Kitchen for dinner and treat myself to a delicious, pricey dinner. 

The decor was nothing less than trendy and modern. It was definitely a Fox Restaurant.  I felt like I should have arrived in stillettos, tight pants and a billowy sparkly top from Express. Oh yeah, and I should have gathered all my ladies. Considering I had none of the above and only a purse from Target (thank you Rebecca) and the third book of the Hunger Games, I happily sat on the patio off to the side. 

Once my primary reading material was taken from me (menu and some spiel about Andy Weil's anti-inflammatory food pyramid), I turned quickly to my book. 

Whenever I see someone eating alone at a restaurant (and it's not a fast food place), I wonder why they would choose to dine solo. What do they think about? What do they look at? Do they eve's drop on people's conversations? Do they try to look interested in the silverware or their reflection in the window? Did they remember to bring a book or piece of paper to write on? Or do they feel connected by fiddling with their cell phone? 

I was afraid of solo dining this past week on travel. I'm not one to worry about what other people think of me so much. Instead, it was the fact that I couldn't enjoy the food I was eating without sharing the experience with someone else. And... where do I look in between bites??  But there I was, soaking up the California sun, sitting alone and enjoying a delicious piece of salmon on a bed of quinoa and beets. 

While the experience made me a bit uncomfortable, I'm glad I chose to treat myself to a delicious dinner even though it meant eating alone. I think it's good to do something every day that makes you a bit uneasy. I don't mean go do something dangerous... Instead choose something today that you wouldn't normally do but you always think about how you wished you had done it once the moment's passed. 

The Most Delicious Thing You'll Eat This Month

Z O O D L E S ! ! 

This recipe was introduced to me by my dearest Regina Fitz! She directed me to The Tasty Alternative blog. I have made this recipe over and over and I've decided it's one of the most delicious things I've eaten in a long time.

If you've been lacking on your vegetable intake recently, this dish will surely rock your taste buds and need for those veggies.

Ingredients*

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 red onion, diced

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

Sun dried tomatoes, chopped  (I used about 3/4 of a jar of Italian-herbed sun dried tomatoes) 

2 jars of artichoke hearts in water, chopped

1 package of Bella mushrooms, chopped in half

Handful of Basil, chopped

Handful of spinach

Salt and pepper

1/2 Tbsp Italian Herbs

A couple shakes of Oregano and Parsley 

Red Chili Flakes

1 pound of grilled chicken breasts, sliced into bite sizes

4 zucchinis, SPIRALIZED! 

* This recipe makes a lot! It'll easily feed 4 and then some leftovers. It reheats great, too. 

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a very large skillet and throw in the minced garlic. Saute for a few minutes and get those garlic aromas going! 

2. Add in the diced onion and saute for another minute or so. 

3. Turn up the heat to lowish-medium-high. (Is that confusing?? Let's say about 5 o'clock on the dial.) And add the chopped sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and mushrooms. 

4. Sprinkle in all the herbs: Italian herbs, Oregano, and Parsley. Add in the salt and pepper for taste. 

(5. I shook in quite a bit of red chili flakes... I like things spicy!)

6. The contents will be starting to release their juices and things will smell glorious. Add in the chicken (and juices from coming off the grill if you've freshly grilled it!). 

7. Toss in the freshly cut basil and spinach. 

8. While everything is cooking in the pan, get out your spiralizer! and spiralize 4 zucchini's into zoodles!! (I used the smallest hole option on my spiralizer. This makes the most realistic-like noodles.) 

9. Turn the heat up just a bit more and toss in all of the zoodles. Give it a good mixing, making sure all the juices and good stuff get spread all over the zoodles. 

10. Place a lid on the pan and let the whole thing cook for about 5-8 minutes before serving. The zoodles will soften up a bit. 

11. Eat and be amazed this is made from 100% vegetables! 

Work Trip Beach Trip

Working out in Santa Ana, CA for the week and decided to take an sunset run along the beach. . . 

It sure would be nice to get to the beach in 15 minutes every day.

Mind-blowing Fried "Rice"

My sister sat down at the dinner table after putting a large helping of the "rice" on her plate. As she took a bite she said, "What is this?? It looks delicious!"

"Oooo!" Was what came out of her mouth next. I had her guess what she was eating and after multiple tries, she still couldn't guess. When I told her it was cauliflower she was amazed at my fantastic cooking and ingenious idea!! (haha no, I can't give myself all the props. I did get the idea from glancing through some food blogs focused on low-carb options.)

This recipe can be adjusted for any flavoring you like. If you just like the "rice" idea, maybe add just a bit of garlic, salt and pepper and call it good. If you like more of a Thai flavor, put in some lime juice, ginger, and garlic. The cauliflower + egg is a great starting point... then tune it to your style of meal you're paring it with.

In this case I pan cooked some Basa fish in lime juice, chili powder, Siracha, and cumin and ate it with broiled tomatoes and onions, fresh and delicious guacamole, and baked kidney beans. Yum!

Ingredients

Head of cauliflower
1 egg

4 Tbsp Olive Oil

1/4 of a red onion, diced
3-4 stalks of green onions, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 a green pepper (or red)
1-2 Tbsp of Siracha sauce
1-2 hot chili peppers for heat
Handful of cilantro, chopped

A couple pinches of salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 Tbsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/2 Tbsp chili powder

1 big lime, juiced

Directions

1. Wash and remove the stalks from the cauliflower. Cut each little head into quarters and throw into a food processor. (You may have to do this in a couple batches.) Pulse the food processor about 10 times to get the cauliflower to little "grain-like" sizes.

2. Put all of the chopped cauliflower in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for about 1 minute. This will keep the cauliflower from turning mushy during cooking.

3. Heat the olive oil in a large pan on medium heat.

4. Toss in the minced garlic and cook until fragrant. (About 1-2 minutes)

5. Add half of the red onion and half of the green pepper to the pan and heat up slightly. (1-2 minutes). Turn up the heat slightly to medium-high (about 4:00 o'clock on the dial).

6. Break the egg into the bowl of cauliflower and stir until the egg is well incorporated.

7. When the pan is nice and hot, dump in the cauliflower and spread out in the pan and stir in the garlic, onion, and bell pepper.

8. Add the lime juice, Siracha sauce, cumin, paprika, chili powder, salt and pepper and stir in well. The mixture will seem pretty wet at this point, but the egg will cook as it heats up in the pan and the cauliflower "grains" will separate.

9. Keep the heat up and keep stirring! This is going to "fry" the cauliflower and keep it from sticking and burning on the pan. If you want some browning on your cauliflower (which adds to the deliciousness!), let the mixture sit in the pan for a minute or two without stirring, then scrape up the nicely browned bits from the bottom and stir into the rest of the mixture.

10. Eventually add the rest of the onion, peppers, and chili peppers and turn the heat down to medium heat.

11. Right before serving, turn the heat down to medium low and toss in the cilantro and green onions.

12. Be amazed this is not any sort of carb-bomb rice, but a vegetable!!