food
Banana Frozen Yogurt
For the past few months I have been reading on various blogs and websites about this mysterious banana frozen yogurt. Apparently all you need to do is just freeze bananas, pop them into a blender or food processor and tada! it magically turns into a creamy banana ice cream.
The pictures looked so delicious and the raves were so high that I decided to ignore the chocolate chip brownies leftover from the evening before, and try a healthy snack with some of my frozen bananas.
Mmm! It’s starting to look good!
I took my first taste. YUCK. I don’t know why I expected it to taste differently, but while the texture looked like creamy, smooth ice cream, the taste was most certainly all banana.
So I decided to add in some nutella and chocolate chips to cut down on the banana taste.
I kept adding more and more until it had a hint of chocolate in it. Here is the final product:
Looks great, right? It was still too banana-y. So the only way to make the dish bearable was adding the brownie that I originally wanted to eat, before I opted for the banana frozen yogurt experiment.
That certainly helped, but the snack was now more calories than what I originally intended. So, be warned. This recipe is not for the faint of heart — if you don’t absolutely LOVE bananas, stay away and eat regular frozen yogurt instead. Or half of a chocolate chip brownie.
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Irregardless Cafe Cooking Class
J and I got some awesome wedding gifts when we got married. A lot of them we needed (like linens and cookware), others we wanted (kitchen aid mixer!) and some of them we thought would be fun to add to our registery (like this cake pan and these cookie cutters). But there was one gift that was not on our registry that we were so excited to receive: A cooking class at the Irregardless Café!
A few of my DC friends gave us this gift, and we finally got around to using it a couple of weeks ago. It was a Tuesday evening, so we arrived slightly late after work, but as soon as we entered the restaurant, we were given glasses of wine, serenaded by lovely live music and immediately I forgot that it was a weeknight. There were a few others in the class, so we all went into the kitchen and learned the history of the restaurant and Chef Auther’s philosophy on food.
The first dish we made the chef named Vegan Sex—quinoa tabbouleh in between avocado slices and sweet potato wedges dripped with a lemon vinaigrette sauce. Sounds like a gross combination, eh? Well, it was absolutely delicious. I almost wished I hadn’t offered to share with J because Mr. Vegan-Food-Is-Weird thought it was wonderful too. Then we made homemade lasagna noodles, and while the experience was great, I think I will continue to buy them pre-made. :) After learning a few kitchen tricks and enjoying a baba ghannouj appetizer, we went back to the dining room and had a lovely dinner of salad, vegetable lasagna, and an assortment of delicious desserts.
Of course I was more interested in eating the food than taking any pictures of it, so this is the only photo I took from the evening. However, I met another blogger in the area who took more pics, so check out her more detailed post. (Hi Jessica!)
It was such a great experience and probably something we never would have done together if we hadn’t received it as a gift. Thanks to my fabulous DC friends for a wonderful evening!
Have you ever been to a cooking class? What is the most unique gift you have received or given?
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Eating In > Eating Out
Ever since I moved to my new apartment, I’ve cooked almost every night. Well, not every night–but when we’re not cooking, we’re eating leftovers. When we’re not eating leftovers, we’re at my (soon to be) in-law’s home or out of town.
Last night (Valentine’s Day) was the first time in almost two months that we actually went out to eat. We went to an average local restaurant (aka: no V-day hoopla), and spent a total of $30. Not bad for two people who also ordered margaritas and tipped 20%.
As we were leaving I found myself thinking of all the meals I could make with $30 and I realized how much we save by eating in. I feel like I spend a lot on groceries now, but it’s for two and my dining budget has pretty much disappeared except for the occasional quick pick-up place. It will be interesting to see what our joint budget will be after we get married, but for now, it’s saving us a lot of money.
And the good part is, I really enjoy cooking! It’s been so nice to experiment on different recipes and create new meals together. (I will share some of these recipes soon!) I love going out to eat and finding cute, adorable restaurants, but it’s so nice to eat at home so much that it feels special when we do go to a sit-down restaurant.
What about you? Is eating in greater than eating out? How often do you dine at restaurants? Is it a treat when you go out to eat?
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The State Fair
This past Saturday my parents came into town and met J and me at the State Fair! It was the first visit to the State Fair and it was the perfect autumn day. We went on rides, saw lots of agriculture, and ate lots of FOOD. I have never seen so much fried food in my life! Our mindset was to try (keyword: try) food that we could get nowhere else. I think we definitely succeeded.
Between the four of us we tried:
-Krispy Kreme Cheeseburger (instead of buns this cheeseburger has two doughnuts as buns… YUCK. Only J got this)
-Kool-Aid Pickles (they were gross)
-Deep-Fried Snickers Bar (way too sweet!)
-Honey Cotton Candy (actually this was quite delicious)
-Maple Butter (just got a sample)
-Hot Wisconsin Cheese (aka: huge mozzarella sticks)
I know, I know, this stuff is NOT on my bridal bootcamp plan, but I ensure you I have eaten very healthy since then. :)
Do other state fairs have so much fried foods, or is this just a southern thing?
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A Seasonal Reunion
Ahhhh. My two loves have reunited: coffee + autumn:
I love coffee every day of the year, but I seem to rekindle my love for it in autumn, when the weather gets chillier, the mornings get darker, and the bottles for my favorite creamer are finally in stock! I still haven’t had my first Starbucks pumpkin spice latte (perhaps this weekend?!), but I have bought my first bottle of pumpkin pie spice creamer for my home-brewed-coffee. Mmm. It’s delicious and makes me nostalgic for college when I first discovered it with my roommates and would watch old episodes of Gilmore Girls on Saturday mornings.
Do you have a favorite seasonal creamer?
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Roasted Summer Vegetable Pasta with Goat Cheese
When my sister and friend told me they wanted to come for the weekend, they asked if we could keep things low-key and on the frugal side. That is always okay with me! Friday night we ate at a chic (but cheap) Mexican restaurant, and Saturday we decided to make dinner together from things we found at the Farmer’s Market.
I just love the Farmer’s Market.
Roasted Summer Vegetable Pasta with Goat Cheese
3 zucchini
2 squash
1 tomato
1 onion
fresh basil (approximately 2 TBSP)
olive oil (approx 2 TBSP)
salt & pepper
pasta (we used lingini)
goat cheese
Preheat oven for 375 degrees. Dice all of the vegetables in a large bowl. Mix with olive oil, fresh basil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Lay on a cookie sheet or baking pan and cook in the oven for approximately 10-15 minutes flipping the vegetables after 7 minutes (to be honest, I don’t know exactly how long it was in the oven… cook until the onions are soft and the vegetables are brown.) Cook pasta according to instructions on the box. Toss the pasta and roasted vegetables together. Serve with goat cheese and parmesan cheese on the side (because not everyone likes a lot of cheese). For dinner sides, we made sweet potato fries and a warm baguette.
Voila! Bon appetit!
Cost:
Squash, tomato, onion = $3
Fresh basil = $2 for a large bunch
Goat chesese = $6
Pasta = $1
Total = $12, which makes it $2.50 per person
Oh yeah, and J came over for dinner… that’s us pictured above! :)
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