Homegirl Quel (kel) in Austin

I Totally Made This: Banana Bread

Isn't she lovely? 

My dreams of becoming a domestic bakerist goddess are within my grasp. My husband, who is from the Caribbean, eats bananas in large quantities. I always buy too many on my trips to the grocery store and inevitably, two or three bananas go bad and I throw them out. He has tried freezing them, but I always end up throwing out frozen bananas to make room for other things in the freezer. 

Since yesterday was Valentine's Day, I thought I'd do some extra special things for him that I had never done before, that I thought he would like. I spotted four over-ripe bananas on our breakfast table, I recalled the two bread pans I bought a while ago to attempt to make everything-free bread for my son who is allergic to everything, and I figured banana bread was a cheap and excellent way to spoil my Island Boy on the Day d'Amour. It was SO easy...

With a fork, I mashed the 4 bananas with 1/3 cup of melted butter, added  1 cup of sugar, 1 beaten egg and 1 teaspoon of vanilla, followed by 1 teaspoon of baking soda and a dash of salt, and added 1.5 cups of flour last. One hour in the oven at 350 and BOOM- banana bread. 

My Stove Died. My Whole Cooking World Opened Up.

A few days ago, we—by "we" I mean my dear husband— left an eye burning on our stove. This caused the stove to shut-off. Awesome safety feature, right?  However, after following all the troubleshooting instructions from the manual, we have not been able to get the stove to come back on. Since our service technicians don't work on weekends, I have had to dust off my crock pot and rice cooker and step my microwave game up.

I have managed to scramble eggs and make bacon in the microwave. I have boiled water for tea and even boiled my son's hot dogs in there. Full Disclosure: I boil his hot dogs in there everyday anyway. Don't judge me. The hot dogs are grass-fed and organic and…never mind, go ahead and judge me if that makes you feel good. I don't want to put you off or seem ungrateful as I am happy you are reading my blog. So yeah, hot dogs in the microwave.

For the first couple of days, I made the most obvious choice of seasoned chicken with vegetables in the crock pot and Basmati rice in the rice cooker. Then I found Pinterest. And my whole crock pot world opened up. I found recipes for crock pot meatballs, crock pot cookies, crock pot candy, and crock pot cake! There is a theme here. I don't have a crazy sweet-tooth, but I was surprised and impressed by what people are making with slow cookers. 

Amidst all the recipes, I saw this image of zip locked bags filled with ingredients for crock pot dishes.

Source: mamaandbabylove.com via Michelle on Pinterest 

This appealed to the part of me that enjoys organizing things  as well as the part of me that enjoys not having to be in the kitchen. Don't get me wrong, I love the process of preparing food, but I seriously have to be in the mood to do it. So when I saw this pin of bags, I knew that I must have somehow been led to Pinterest by my happy-stay-at-hom-mom-but-reluctant-housewife guardian angel. And, to quote Sofia from The Color Purple (Because how am I supposed to ever not quote somebody from The Color Purple?), "I knowed there is a gawd." 

Here are a few recipes (including lasagna, ribs and mac & cheese) that I will definitely be putting into heavy rotation, starting with oatmeal. Oatmeal. I'm going to buy a special little slow cooker just for this. To wake up in the mornings and not have to make breakfast? I'm verklempt... 

Soular Foods Community Garden Winter Planting

Last Saturday, my husband son and I joined RawBella, Mr. Hoover (of Hoover's restaurants) and helpers at the GMZ Soular Foods Community Garden in East Austin. We planted winter vegetables and strawberries and had a great time during the process. My 3.5 year old probably had the most fun. Here are a few pictures of him and others hard at work...

Zack,  "I like planting SOOOOOO much."

WINNING as a Stay At Home Mom Today.

My son's school was closed today, so he was home with me for a change. I had planned our day ahead, but had no idea how much extra stuff I would get done. I swear there is something  about actually having my child home, as a stay at home mom, that makes me super productive.

On a normal day, after I drop him off at school, I'm constantly moving from one to-do-list item to the next, but never really completely crossing anything off it. I'd start one thing, then check Facebook, then start another thing, then paint my nails while checking Facebook, then start something else, then eat, then it's time to go pick my son up from school. Today though, I got things done that weren't even on my list.

We woke up at the same time we normally do. I made breakfast and actually ate it at the table with my son. I showered and dressed for the gym and we were off. On the way out the door, I grabbed two scraps of yarn that I'm running out of and needed to match and buy more of to complete some projects I'm working on. We went to the craft store for the yarn first, then to the gym and finally the grocery store (where I got my son to sound out "asparagus" on the label when he couldn't recall what the vegetable was) before heading back home. We got home 45 minutes before my boy's nap time. He watched PBS while I made his lunch. Then we ate lunch together, read a book, and he was down for his nap on time. 

During my son's 3-hour nap, I managed to nap for about an hour myself, bake vegan, gluten-free quinoa muffins for my son (and drafted a blog post about it) and edit & post two vlogs for one of my other blogs, (http://www.girldidyousee.blogspot.com). While he ate his post-nap snack, I put a one-pot dinner dish on (veggie stew consisting of fresh okra, corn, red & green peppers, onions, celery, carrots & canned whole tomatoes all seasoned with a glorious beef neck bone). He's in the bath tub now and I'm writing this blog post. 

And my day isn't even over. I still plan to go back to the gym to log some miles on Nike+ tonight to ramp up my 5k training. 

Oh, and I cleaned the house here and there all day and the place looks right spiffy. 

Y'all if I come home after the gym, read something, and give my husband some (I will not be blogging about that), this day goes down in history as a certified, Homegirl SAHM WIN. 

 

My Treadmill & Food Network TV: The Perfect Marriage

I watch all my Food Network shows on the treadmill at my gym. There is no calculated reason behind it. Psychologically, maybe it makes me work harder in anticipation of eating awesome-tasting food post-workout? Although that never happens--I usually eat pretty healthily right after a workout. The real reason may be that I simply love Food Network TV. Since I do not usually have take the time to watch TV, or to read my ever-growing stack of unread books and magazines during the day, I get guilt-free daytime TV in when I can. I also watch it on the rare occasion I go to the gym at night. The other night, I met my new Food Network boo. I didn't pay attention to one thing he was cooking, because for me it was all about how he cooked it. But we're talking about daytime FTV watching right? So anyway,  I cook everyday and Food Network is perfect for fresh cooking ideas. I do not follow recipes often, but I do tweak my kitchen repertoire with new twists on our favorites. For example, I learned how to use peanut butter to liven up a spicy chicken stir-fry, and how to make savory oatmeal with green onions and scrambled eggs, and how to cut, peel and seed a cucumber for a super-pretty salad.  So Food Network TV helps make every minute at the gym count...and it makes every homemade calorie consumed after the gym taste awesomer.

This is How I Mate (mah-tay)!

I made my first how-to video on Youtube! Remember when I covered that Guaryaki Yerba Mate event at SXSW this past spring? Well, I received a giftcard afterwards and loaded up on Guaryaki loose leaf Yerba Mate tea and accessories. My favorite thing ever is the gourd and bombilla (filtered metal straw). Impossible to sip yerba mate from a gourd and not relax. You're supposed to prepare a gourd in the morning and continue to add hot water and reuse the leaves to sip from the gourd throughout the day for sustained natural energy and nutrients. I'm aiming for three gourds a day. Check out my video to see how I steep and sip.

Brown mate gourd, brown mate sippin'....

Sam-I-Am Is My Homeboy

Green Eggs and Ham is one of my three year old's favorite bedtime reads at the moment. He picks it about three or four nights a week. Each time, I oblige him...even though the book is like a million pages long. It's amazing how many times I can re-read the longet books and re-watch Disney movies without getting too tired of it. I do not necessarily love it, but he enjoys every time like it's the first time, and I do my best to not be a buzz-kill. 

My son is a picky eater. It's a general toddler pickyness born from a limited diet due to food allergies and texture aversion. When I spotted Green Eggs and Ham on the shelf at my favorite kid's resale store, Kid to Kid, I remembered how persistent Sam-I-Am was in wearing down that fuzzy man until he tried those eggs. Figured I could learn some things from Sam...and learn I did. 

A few days ago my son ate half of a chicken thigh, which we celebrated, as we do anytime he actually swallows anything he's had to chew first. I knew I was one step closer to sending him to school with a non-pureed lunch. So I offered him some stewed potatoes. This is how it all went down:

I went to Gypsy Picnic Food Trailer Festival 2010 and all I got were these stupid pictures

I went. I saw. I SO did not conquer. For me the Gypsy Picnic was all gypsy, no picnic. But me and my guys still had a great time! 

Wow @ The Chicken Song...

This boy can sing. I was not ready for his his rap verse...which was not that bad. "I love my chicken, cluck, cluck, cluck..." Hilarious. And I can't even front, I do love fried chicken. The second or third time I watched this video, I was jammin'. lol He is so silly.

Happy Friday, y'all!

Beer & Pretzel Caramels

 Liddabit Sweets. Yes. Please. And thank you.
 

Day one of RawBella's Green Smoothie Challenge

So a friend of mine who is a raw foodie, her website is http://www.rawbella.com, has challenged me and hundreds of others, to drink one green smoothie a day for 10 days. She's a hard core raw food way-of-lifer, so her smoothies are incorporated into full days of eating raw food. Although I can see the benefit in a raw food day here and there, I can't imagine and don't want to know how I'd give up hot food altogether. Cooked food is what's helping me through this first challenge day. Apparently, I'll be so pumped with energy and...um...flowing freely...flowing...freely... after ten days of drinking one green smoothie a day, that I will make green smoothies a way of life. After my first day I'm not so sure, but remain hopeful.

I thought I'd start simple: banana, spinach, icy water. So I made the smoothie. Yuck. But, because it's a challenge and because I'm determined not to be wasteful, I sipped it and placed it in the fridge between sips. By the time I made it to the last sip, after about 4.5 hours of sipping, it started to taste ok. I imagine with a little more experimenting and adding ingredients like dates, mango, berries and apples to the green stuff (spinach and collards mostly), I could actually get into the green smoothie thing. The benefits seem harmless...actually helpful and it's a great way to cut calories and increase nutrients, antioxidants and fiber, which is a huge reason why, after sipping on spinach for 4.5 hours, I'm looking forward to day two. I won't be posting daily updates, but do wish me luck!

Coffee with coconut milk is my new jam.

I brewed some coffee this morning then realized I was out of canned milk--my creamer of choice. I use to drink regular milk in my coffee, but my husband uses canned milk in his tea (I think it's common in the West Indies where he's from), and eventually I started using it in my coffee. It's a staple in our pantry right alongside coconut milk, which we use for cooking. I have tried soy milk with my coffee, but am not a fan. So I tried the coconut milk because I was not going to not drink my coffee and I could not drink it black.

Y'all, fresh, hot coffee plus raw sugar plus coconut milk equals pure awesomeness. It's not pretty though. Coconut milk is kind of grainy and it separates in the coffee so it does not make a creamy blend, unless maybe you use a little cow's milk, which I might do the next time.

While happily sipping away, I googled to see if other people are drinking coconut milk in their coffee and of course they are. I ran across a few good recipes worth trying. I'm looking forward to trying this recipe, which I found it on grouprecipes.com, especially now that it's cold outside.

Chicken With 40 Cloves of Garlic

Get some in your life. I made this the other night.  I served it with sauteed mushrooms and onions over mashed sweet potatoes and sauteed spinach. Y'all, I have never experienced a delectable a mix of flavors in my mouth--from my own cooking. Sorry no picture this time (that's one from the recipe website). I was too eager to eat it and didn't even think to grab my camera. 

I bought this huge container of peeled garlic cloves from Sam's and mentioned to my sister that I needed to use it all before it went bad and she mentioned this dish. I googled it and saw Ina Garten's  (aka Barefoot Contessa) name and looked no further. I followed all the steps, except I only used one whole chicken and 20 cloves of garlic instead of two chickens and 40 cloves. Love this. It is officially in rotation in my house now. I bake a whole chicken every week--now I'll hook it up with garlic in my Dutch oven.

Ingredients

    * 3 whole heads garlic, about 40 cloves
    * 2 (3 1/2-pound) chickens, cut into eighths
    * Kosher salt
    * Freshly ground black pepper
    * 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
    * 2 tablespoons good olive oil
    * 3 tablespoons Cognac, divided
    * 1 1/2 cups dry white wine
    * 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
    * 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
    * 2 tablespoons heavy cream

See very important cooking directions over on Food Network's site <<HERE>>. Enjoy!

Potatoes and Food Blogs

Smitten Kitchen. I ran cross this website this morning and am positive my cooking life is forever changed.

Pounds of potatoes and onions are staples in my pantry and never have I thought to gratin them. I feel like a new world of possibilities has opened up for me cooking wise. Like when I learned you could slow-cook  a whole chicken  in a crock pot. Or that you could season meats with cinnamon or add prunes and apricots to lamb stew, or saute dry rice in olive oil and spices before adding liquids as an alternative to plain rice. I have cookbooks and have tried recipes from them all, but have been complacent with my potato cooking repertoire.

This recipe, Simple Potato Gratin, will singlehandedly be responsible for many guilt-laden glutinous nights of white sweet potato gratin with salmon, and golden Yukons gratin'd up with bacon and bell peppers, and YAMS! yam gratin, and many days of leftover simple potato gratin with scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast, and on and on ad infinitum.

A few other sites I discovered and that are equally cooking-life-changing, not only because they have awesome recipes, but also because they combine my two newest hobbies, cooking and photography. Odd pairing at first thought, maybe, but considering the whole food worship thing I (and apparently many thousands of others) have going on, immortalizing food as art or les objets du désir in pictures just makes sense. Without further adu...

• Orangette
• MattBites
• ForTheLoveOfCooking
• Obviously, Smitten Kitchen
• And my favorite of the bunch, 101 Cookbooks

Off to check on my yams...

Who needs 'em?

Who needs a coffee filter when you can just make a beeline for your kitchen at noon (noon because your baby who has been a ball of energy all morning causing you to skip breakfast altogether, finally went down for his "morning" nap) for your first cup of coffee, grind your last bit of whole bean Guatemala medium roast bold and complex coffee beans, put on the coffee to brew, jump in for a shower and wash your hair all the while thinking about how good that first sip of Guatemala medium roast bold and complex coffee will taste going down, and how you will drink it slowly--savor it because the beans where a gift and you don't know if/when you will ever find them again, but all you do know is that they are the best coffee beans you've ever used, so you're glad that you had enough to brew a whole pot because you'll get to enjoy the awesomest cups of coffee all day long, and then get out of the shower, put on your favorite stay-at-home-and-sip-coffee black yoga pants and top and follow the wonderful coffee aroma into the kitchen and step right into a puddle of warm coffee on the floor caused by the puddle of warm coffee dripping down from the counter top, then rush for towels to clean up the mess and when you're finished, check the coffee pot to see what the eff, and then notice that some parts of the coffee pot, parts that are essential to brewing coffee, are still on the counter top--you realize that you had put the coffee filter into it's holder and left both items by the sink while you poured the freshly ground Guatemala medium roast bold and complex coffee beans directly into the percolator, and wonder how after so many years and years and days of making coffee everyday did you manage to do that, and kick yourself, but then you remember the coffee and reach for your favorite first-cup-of-the-day cup and pour whatever made it into the coffee pot out into your cup and be relieved that half a cup was spared and you never thought you'd be so happy to see half a cup of coffee in your life, but you are, and then you add cream and sugar and enjoy your half a cup anyway, because half a cup is better than no cup and it's all about the coffee anyway isn't it?

I hate it when I leave things out.

This is turning out to be one of those days. I'm usually gone by now, but it's all of a sudden forty degrees and raining! So I'm trying to figure out what to do with my kiddo today. Can't decide if I want to stay home and play or go out to some indoor place and play, or both. Anyway, so I was making my son a bottle of formula (yes, evil formula, but I nursed for 10 months--couldn't make it through the home stretch, but he got off to a good great start) and forgot how many scoops I had added to the bottle...twice...in a row! Both times I had to pour out what I had already mixed and start over. What a waste. Then when I was making my coffee, I added milk, but forgot the sugar and didn't realize it until I had taken the first, very disappointing, ceremonial sip of the day.Gross.A couple of weeks ago, I worked really hard on mixing up meatloaf perfectly--I even grated the onions! The first taste revealed that nary a lick of salt had made it to the mix. Again, what a waste. Fortunately, I have no plans to bake today. So no leaving the baking soda or sugar out of the sweets like I have done on multiple previous occasions.

Thai Fish Cakes!

My latest (and favorite so far) recipe adventure from The Joy of Cooking is Thai Fish Cakes. The recipe calls for deep-fried fish cake balls, but I opted for pan fried fish cake patties. Brown rice and brussels sprouts rounded out the meal. I made them last week and they were tres yummy. The lime zest and red pepper flakes are what did it for me. I'll be putting this one in regular rotation around here.

Pickled Grapes!

Why? I don't know. I was flipping through my Joy of Cooking and came across the recipe for pickled grapes. I love pickles (total understatement). And since I've never considered what makes pickles pickles I thought it would be cool (and educational) to try making my own. Grapes seem more adventurous to pickle than cucumbers and less gross than various animal parts and by-products. Plus they look way more interesting in the jar. I haven't tried them yet. I'm waiting about two and a half months before I disturb the pickling process to see what they taste like--most likely spicy (due to the ginger and jalapenos), sweet, bite-sized pickles.

Here are the before and after photos:

The ingredients are white vinegar, brown sugar, fresh peeled and grated ginger, ground coriander, salt, whole cloves, whole garlic, jalapenos and seedless green grapes, of course. I'm guessing they'll be tasty salad toppers.

Ben & Jerry's Annual Free Scoop Day!

Happy 30th B-day to Ben and Jerry's. They're giving out free scoops tomorrow from noon to 8pm at participating shops to celebrate. I didn't even know we had Ben & Jerry's here in Austin. See if there's on near you and get your scoop on.

I baked!

...a Chocolate Mayonnaise cake from the Joy of Cooking cookbook my sister got me. I love chocolate and I love mayonnaise so when I saw the recipe, I really didn't have a choice--I had to try it. Your reaction to chocolate mayo cake may be different, but if you consider that may is mostly oil, egg yolks and lemonade it's not really that bad is it? Anyway, it's SO good! It doesn't even need icing. The recipe doesn't call for it, and rightly so. It's like a light brownie...so sweet and moist and rich. I used Hellman's mayo and Ghirardelli baker's chocolate and it's pure heaven. It's the best cake I've ever baked. I will eat it until it's gone. I'll have some help from Billy, yes, but he won't be home all day staring the cake in the face. So this week I'll need to do a couple of extra tae bo kicks or walk my dogs extra far or something to add to my 34 pound weight loss since I had my son. I really don't have a choice...I have to eat this cake...until it's gone.