beans

Powermeals

I got these in the mail last week from Earthbound Farm.    As a lover of greens, this was a BIG deal.  Organic, too!  The funny thing is, usually I’m super anal picky about my salad ingredients.  99% of the time I prefer making my own and I definitely shy away from conventional dressings.  But I guess that makes Earthbound Farm’s powermeals the exception.    The salad comes with a packet of mix-ins separate from the lettuce…which (as you can see) are all individually wrapped.  Since I had made enchiladas the previous night, I decided… Read more >

The slow-cooker secret

…is that there is no secret.  There are no tricks you need to know to make a perfect meal. It’s virtually idiot proof.  [I say virtually, because I’m sure there’s some moron somewhere who did something wrong]  The only way I think you could mess up a crock-pot recipe is by forgetting to plug it in. Take this meal, for example.  I made it last week and I just threw things in and hoped for the best. The outcome? Not too shabby. Now since I know you’re going to ask me what was in it,… Read more >

Booze & Border

If you’re a regular reader, you know my parents are foodies and when they visit me, we tend to go big. They’ve treated us to some of my finest meals – from Del Posto and Hearth to many other dining faves. This visit was only a short one, but we still packed in a good time – strolling on the beach and soaking up the sun’s rays.  Before heading to dinner, we enjoyed drinks at The Penthouse.  Happy hour at the The Huntley Hotel in Santa Monica is worth the pricey drinks because of the… Read more >

Fermented food

This post started innocently enough, with the tempeh recipe I promised from yesterday’s dinner.  But then I got emails asking about tempeh and figured if a few people were wondering it, maybe there were more…so admittedly, this post gets a little educational.  But who doesn’t want to learn about soy, right?  😉 I’ve tried a few brands of tempeh before, and aside from the fakin’ bacon (which is LightLife’s tempeh version of faux bacon), none have been too pleasing for my palate.  This organic garden veggie tempeh (also by LightLife) is the closest I’ve come… Read more >

Winter in March

In November I was bragging about how great the 80 degree weather was.  And then in January I was happily soaking up the sun’s rays on the beach.  And now it’s March and the weather is cold and dreary!?  What gives? Since it’s LA, I know it won’t last too long, but I have to say, these stormy skies and rain clouds aren’t fun at all. Breakfast came really late on Saturday.  After saying goodbye to my sis (until we reunite in Europe in May), Kyle and I drove back to Santa Monica so I… Read more >