Betsylife! A sunny perspective
This pork salad is a welcome treat after being away from home and eating not-so-great the last few days. Even though I did run on the treadmill at the hotel, and chose a grilled chicken salad at the airport yesterday, I still couldn’t resist baking cupcakes with my nieces, and having dessert most nights. Continue reading “Pork, Pineapple and Anaheim Chili Salad with Avocado” »
Maybe calling this a salad is stretching it a bit, or maybe not? What defines a salad anyway? This is mostly vegetables, its got vinegar on it, and its cold. Salad right? Continue reading “Salad of the week: BLTA stack” »
Does this happen to anyone else? People bring booze over for a party, we use it for some sort of specialty cocktail, then the rest of the bottle sits collecting dust on our shelf for the rest of eternity. The Hubs and I tend to stick to beer, wine, vodka drinks (me), or whisky drinks (him). Neither of us is opposed to an occasional margarita or mojito, but its not our typical drink of choice. Continue reading “Tequila Lime Shrimp Tacos” »
August 1st, 2012. I kind of feel like this is the first day of the rest of my life, although I do tend to over dramatize at times. Today I am 100% self employed. Yesterday was my last official day working at my security blanket, easy money, side job, and today I go forward on my own with high hopes, and a crap load of determination. Continue reading “Spicy Southwestern Tabbouleh” »
Is today easier? I guess a little. It’s hard not to dwell when life throws a stick in your spokes. The Hubs said to me just now, “are you ok?”, and I said, “yes, just trying to put one foot in front of the other.” Continue reading “Avocado Chimichurri Bruschetta” »
I think grilling avocados has become my new favorite thing. I love the smoky flavor that a little char gives them. Ever since I made that grilled, stuffed avocado last week, I can’t get grilled avocados out of my mind. You know what the best part is? No guilt! I can eat as many grilled avocados as I want, because they are good for you, and because they are fresh and in season right now. Continue reading “Grilled Avocado Salad with Jumbo Prawns” »
Its seems like Camp Blogaway is the gift that keeps on giving. There was a lot of talk about whether or not you should accept free stuff from sponsors at the conference. For me, I see it as a source of inspiration, a thing that I am constantly in search of. Let’s be honest, a chicken breast can only provide so much inspiration. Same goes for most ingredients. When I go to events like this, I’m really looking for new ideas either from the participants, sponsors or swag items. Let me tell you, there was plenty to be found at Camp Blogaway! Continue reading “Grilled Stuffed Avocado” »
This probably sounds like a weird combination, but its actually truly delicious. Do you remember a while back when I made my own kimchi? Well The Hubs gobbled up that batch faster than you can say spicy cabbage. Continue reading “Kimchi and Avocado Quesadillas” »
Hello friends! Did you have a chance to check out the new Seasonal Potluck yet? Even though we’re still working on it, I’m super excited for the potential of where it’s going! Continue reading “Black Bean Soup with Avocado, Orange and Cucumber” »
I’m not a huge football fan or anything, but I can certainly appreciate a game in any sport that is a fight to the bitter end like those two games yesterday! Holy cow! Talk about nail biters. Anyway, The Hubs and I were fully tuned in while chowing down on these delicious ‘dillas. It actually made for quite a lovely Sunday. Continue reading “Football Food: Shrimp and Bacon Quesadilla” »
I’m very excited to have joined the Secret Recipe Club, a blog hop, where each month I’m secretly assigned someone’s blog, and get to make one of their recipes. For November I was assigned Heather’s blog, Its Yummy to My Tummy. After clicking around for a while, I realized that she and I have a lot in common. We both love to cook for friends and family, and our blogs were partially born due to the “can I get this recipe?” question being asked over and over!
Heather had lots of delicious stuff to choose from, but I was drawn to this bacon and sun-dried tomato guacamole. A. I love guacamole B. I’m a big Rick Bayless fan, and she adapted this recipe from a few of his, and C. This is perfect football food to appease The Hubs! Guacamole is one of those foods that you can pretty much add anything to, and Heather’s adaptation was a total winner!
Bacon and Sun-Dried Tomato Guacamole recipe from It’s Yummy to My Tummy
4-5 slices of bacon (about 1/2 cup or so crumbled up)
2 ripe avocados
1/2 medium onion, diced (about 1/4 cup diced)
1/4 cup of fire-roasted red bell peppers, chopped (can find these peppers already roasted and prepared in a jar) **I roasted my own over the flame on my gas stove. Cook until blackened, then put in a plastic bag for 15 minutes. Peel and chop**
1/3 cup soft sun-dried tomatoes, chopped ***I’ve made these from scratch before too….not this time
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
about 1/2 fresh lime
Prepare bacon and cook to desired crispiness. When cool, crumble bacon. Cut open and prepare avocados by scooping out the avocado and place in a mixing bowl. Mash avocados with a fork or potato masher. Next, add in diced onion, cut up sun-dried tomatoes, cilantro, bacon crumbles, and red roasted peppers. Add in the lime juice at the end and season with salt if needed. Cover guacamole with plastic wrap directly against the guacamole so that it does not turn brown as fast. Keep in refrigerator. Can garnish with extra cilantro and bacon when ready to serve.
Since I’ve been home, work has been pretty busy with lots of catching up to be done. That, combined with it getting dark so early, and the lack of food in the house, has made this weeks posts challenging so far. I did manage to make it to the grocery store for a few supplies yesterday (still have to menu plan and coupon clip to do the official, post vacation, re-stocking of our fridge) and whipped up one of my all time favorite comfort foods, the BLEAT….or BLATE……or BALET…..or TABLE. Bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado and egg sandwich. So simple, so quick, and a complete meal between 2 slices of bread. The Hubs said “feel free to make this any time”. I think bacon is really the way to a man’s heart.
Sorry Hubs, I know you’re not too keen on salad for dinner, but its hot outside, I’m super busy playing work catch up from vacation, and who else is going to feed you? Besides, we both agreed to get back on the health wagon!
It doesn’t get much healthier than this! I’m a blueberry fanatic, and have been loving the huge bushels of CHEAP ASS blueberries available at Henry’s right now! Since blueberries usually equal a dessert, I’ve been trying to find more savory uses for them. Our Seasonal Potluck link party has been a great resource! I’m so thankful to all those who have contributed. If you have a great blueberry or zucchini recipe (we’re two timing in July) please link it up! If you’re looking for seasonal recipe ideas, please go check it out. Lots of talented contributors fo sho.
Blueberry Chicken Salad **Pretty much add ingredients at will in whatever proportions you like
Grilled chicken breast
spinach
arugula
blueberries
sunflower seeds
avocado
citrus vinagriette
ps. The Hubs had feta on his
So, is it the weekend yet? Seriously, this week has been moving in slow motion for me. I guess its just getting back into the swing of things after vacation. I’m already dreaming of a sun soaked two days off! I’m hoping to get started (finally) on my summer project that I’ve had planned since winter. For Christmas, I got a “knit your own mittens” kit. I have no idea how to knit, but as my mom always says “if you can read, you can do anything”. I figure it will take me until winter to finish them, but I think its going to be awesome to be able to bust out HAND MADE mittens when I’m cruising around SD on my bike this winter. (Really the only time mittens are necessary in San Diego are when you’re riding your bike at night in the winter). Speaking of fun DIY kits, check out this one I’ve got in the works
Its a “grow your own cactus kit” The Hubs brought back for me from one of his recent trips! Of course I dropped, and shattered, the cute little clay pot you were supposed to plant them in when I opened the package, but the jello shot cup is doing the trick. How cute are the mini pricklers on these guys?
That’s all I got for now! Back to the grind (don’t worry, I’ll be happily jamming to my pandora radio as I crunch the boring numbers)
Bestie in the house! Hooray! Jenny and I have had such a fun weekend together so far, and the fun will continue until she has to leave tomorrow evening. Her and the man, Frank, arrived on Friday. I had some friends over for a BBQ that night. We grilled up some carne asada, topped it with some amazing homemade guacamole, and served it with a delicious, summery, panzanella salad. If you like guacamole, let me share a little secret resource with you. Gaby Dalkin, chef, blogger, and guacamole addict, writes an excellent blog Whatsgabycooking.com where she shares her MANY guacamole recipes. (The one featured today is cajun shrimp guacamole!) I chose to make her cumin and charred corn guacamole for my BBQ.
Cumin and Charred Corn Guacamole recipe from whatsgabycooking.com
On Saturday, the weather was perfect, so we had a little pool party complete with some early afternoon cocktails! It felt great to be able to kick back and relax in the sun. In the evening, we headed over to a friend’s house for a going away party for one of our homies, Adam, who is moving to NorCal to start his stint in the Air Force. Adam loves to wear something called “the gray blog” (named by his wife, Courtney) which is a pair of gray sweatpants paired with an oversized gray sweatshirt. In his honor, this was a gray blob party, so everyone wore their sweats! It was actually kind of nice considering how much we ate, including this ridiculous cake I made for the occasion.
(3 layers of devils food cake, 2 layers chocolate ice cream, 2 layers of oreo/choc syrup blend)
Leila came, and wore her mini, gray, baby blob, and got to meet Jenny for the first time. She was cute as ever! The evening wrapped up with some white russians and a dance party.
Needless to say, we were a tad hungover on Sunday, so we rehabbed poolside again. I’m so happy the weather has been so nice since last year when Jenny was here, the weather was cold and terrible. Sunday evening we went to eat some amazing Italian food at Bencotto Italian Kitchen, which was recently named “best Italian restaurant” by San Diego magazine. Let me tell you, it did not disappoint! From the squash blossom appetizers all the way through to the semifreddo dessert, each course was amazing (and so was the wine). We had a really great time.
Today we’ve got big plans to cruise down to the boardwalk on our bikes, and enjoy and oceanfront lunch! Hope everyone else has enjoyed their weekend as much as me! I’m super happy to have a short work week this week AND next week due to the 4th of July holiday! I LOVE SUMMER!
