Category Archives: ice cream

Carbohydrate Heaven!

     The artist and I were invited to yet another client-turned-friend’s home for dinner last night. Many, many delicious, flavorful things were devoured.

DELICIOUS PUPPY!!!! Don’t worry, I’m not in the habit of devouring puppies. Or full grown dogs for that matter…
Mari made us a beautiful fresh salad appetizer with homemade basil-ranch dressing.
HOMEMADE DRESSING!!!
She served us pasta pomodoro. Simple, you say? I disagree! She sauteed garlic in olive oil until it was browned, then stirred in fresh, blanched tomatoes, strips of basil and chili flakes until the flavors married. Ribbons of fresh pasta were layered in the pot, then tossed and topped with freshly grated asiago cheese. I died and went to Carbohydrate Heaven. I like it there!
Dessert was even more special – homemade strawberry, dark chocolate chip and cracked black pepper ice cream, drizzled with balsamic syrup. A weird and WONDERFUL combination!
I found my gourmet food soulmate!

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Filed under artist, balsamic syrup, cracked black pepper ice cream, Delicious puppies, gourmet, homemade dressing, ice cream, pasta pomodoro

Quasi-Gourmet

     My camera was usurped this morning (the roommate is in Florida visiting his family), so here’s the photo-booth Monster picture of the day:

We had no bananas left, so this had 3 cups of spinach, 1 cup of unsweetened soymilk, 1/2 of a cup of frozen strawberries, 1/4 of a cup of frozen wild blueberries and the juice of 1 lemon.
     It was definitely not epic. Ah well, we shall move on. I had a bunch of errands to do: one that took me to Costco, I.E. lunch. My lunch consisted of samples of chicken-apple sausage, turkey-pesto meatballs and teriyaki meatballs. Not very healthy, but when you’re on-the-go, you can’t be picky. Plus, free lunch is always good, even if it is too few calories :).
     I was going to make Angela’s Cherry, Coconut Banana Bread, but alas, I could not find coconut butter. I tried! I called Whole Foods this morning to ask if they had it in stock: they transferred me a few times and finally told me that they had it in stock. I drove all the way to the store, dug through the baking aisle, and found coconut oil… When I got in line with my coconut oil and 10 cherries, I asked if coconut butter and coconut oil were the same thing. Turns out, they’re NOT! They told me they had it in stock, but apparently had sold out before I got there. Uncool. Whole Foods is on my $h!7 list at this moment >:(.
My cherries are pitted, frozen, and waiting to go on top of the banana bread!
     I searched FIVE other stores to see if they had it in stock, and no one carried it! C’mon! This is SoCal: all the stores should carry these crazy ingredients! Alas, there was no CocoButta. I did find whole-wheat/sweet potato gnocchi at Bristol Farms, as well as Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. Half-win for them! I’ve tried to make my own gnocchi before with a recipe via Giada de Laurentiis, and that was a massive fail (Giada loves her salt. I do NOT!), so I think I’ll stick to store-bought from now on.
     Dinner was the whole-wheat gnocchi with vodka sauce and grilled zucchini, and a glass of Dogfish Head IPA.
“D-Lish”, as my friend Duck-Duck would say :). I ate half of this bowl before I was completely stuffed. Whole-wheat gnocchi is amazing, and fills you up a lot faster than the regular gnocchi so you eat less! Win-win-win!
     I saved some room for one of my chocolate bon-bons from Trader Joe’s (which Lynn coincidentally happened to have today as well! Random, eh?). I’m so stuffed that I could only have one, but I’ll try to fit a second one in later ;).
     As for now, I’m off to watch AWtR, yet again. I’m a corny, naive and innocent lady, so I’ll be watching my sweet movie with another glass of Dogfish and bon-bons and NOT feeling any guilt! Tomorrey I’ll be heading out to see “Charlie St. Cloud” in theaters on the opening day! I’ll give a full review tomorrow night after work!
What movie are you dying to see?

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Filed under Charlie St. Cloud, Costco, Dogfish Head, gnocchi, green monster, ice cream, samples, Trader Joe's

A Day at the Harbor!

     Wheweee! Today was hotter than the underarm of the devil. Lucky for me, I’d planned a day on the coast in Ventura where the temperature stayed around 75-80F. To begin, I woke up super early and had a big ole GM.

Not sure what exactly was in this because the roommate made it, but it was a good one!
     Around 10am, I headed out with my new friend, the Irishman, and some crazy peeps (now known as the CPs) to the Ventura Harbor.
To introduce him to California, we took him to the funny hat store. I think this one suits him.
     I had to twist a couple of arms to get everyone away from the hat store (It IS quite amazing), and finally landed a seat at the wonderful, famous ANDRIA’S SEAFOOD!
If you’re ever in Ventura, you MUST visit this place – and invite me to join you! They have the best fish ‘n chips in Southern California. I split a single order with two of the CPs. I hogged all the greasiest pieces. It was magic.
     There just happens to be an arcade in Ventura Harbor, so we all loaded up on tokens and went to town!  The CPs played skeeball and foosball, I kicked the Irishman’s butt in air hockey (a tie means I win, okay?) and he kicked mine in a car-racing game. My car was broken. The steering wheel was messed up. The seat wouldn’t lock into place. The gas pedal stuck. I got distracted by the smell of more food – that’s why I crashed my car and rolled it several times! The Irishman was kind enough to let me know that I would not be driving the REAL car back home after that fiery mess on the game screen. He’s still trying to getting used to driving on the right side of the road, but doesn’t trust ME to drive? Rawr.
     What came next, you ask? Only the second best food located in the harbor:
This is a single with half cappuccino crunch and half chocolate brownie. A single = two scoops. Yet another reason to love Coastal Cone!
     We all walked in the lovely sunshine (Me loving sunshine? Who am I???) and meandered down the docks to look at all the boats. Half an hour was spent on a miniature floating dock jumping up and down and rocking it back and forth trying to make each other fall. We’re mature like that. After the sugar buzz wore off and the group started getting a little grumpy, we headed back.
     I was completely wiped out from the sun (Pretty sure I sunburned my eyes somehow…) and excitement, but I had to make a few phone calls and get scheduling and location info for a low-budget shoot I have tomorrow. That amazing audition I had last Tuesday? Yeah, I booked it :). Two days of filming = Happy me! I’ve got a crapload of sides to work on tonight and even more laundry to do so I can pack up a little wardrobe to take. Call-time is 10am – yessss for sleeping in!
     Dinner was a lovely Banana Jaffle: a recipe my dad found when he and my mom lived in Indonesia. It’s very complicated, so pay attention!
Banana Jaffle:
2 slices of whole wheat bread
1 banana
2 tbsp of salted butter, divided
1. Slice the banana into 1/2 inch segments, then liberally stack them onto one slice of bread. 
2. Cover with the other piece of bread.
3. Melt 1 tbsp of salted butter in a pan over medium heat.
4. Put the Jaffle in the melted butter.
5. Let it sizzle for about 5 minutes, checking the underside every minute to make sure it doesn’t burn.
6. Once brown, carefully lift the Jaffle out of the pan.
7. Add the other 1 tbsp of salted butter to the pan.
8. Once it’s melted, put the Jaffle in the pan with the uncooked side down.
9. Let it sizzle until brown.
10. DEVOUR.
TIP: Cooking it over a lower heat for a longer period of time makes the bananas inside steam and soften and practically melt. So good!
     I told you, it’s a tough one. It’s imperative that you use salted butter! If there’s no salt, then the sweetness of the slow-cooked banana can’t explode in your mouth and carry you to a heavenly paradise. I had a few extra banana slices left over, so once I flipped the Jaffle, I threw those into the pan and let them caramelize.
Love on a plate.
Another view: Caramelization!
     Dinner was supplemented with Magners!
I love that BevMo! carries 12oz. bottles of Magners now! I also love that the woman at checkout told me I wasn’t old enough to carry them out of the store :).
     After dinner, I downloaded my callsheet and sides and took them outside to read whilst enjoying the warm evening that was FINALLY cooling down. There’s nothing like sitting out back on a warm night, sipping an icy Magners and watching the sunset creep through the canyon. Happy sigh.
I am a blessed, thankful girl. It was a great day.
Are there any heirloom recipes that have been passed down through your family? My family has DOZENS, if not a hundred!

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Filed under Andria's Seafood, boats, Fish n chips, green monster, Harbor, ice cream, Magners, Ventura

Friday? What’s That?

     Ahhh, the bliss of a Friday –  a day that everyone looks forward to so that they can start their weekend. Wait, a weekend? What’s THAT?

     My schedule is quite sporadic. I generally work every weekend, and random days during the week with my acting class every Tuesday. I miss the old days when I had a regular school schedule all week and worked towards the weekend, and finally summer.

     Tonight is graduation night. I’ve been listening to the performances of, “I Will Survive,” reverberate through the canyon up to the house as all the seniors bid farewell to their safe little high school bubble. I never attended my graduation – never really saw the point (I’m weird, remember?), but I listen to this and enjoy what I didn’t mind missing back then. Did all of you attend your graduations?

     Today was an early day at work. I woke up and made a GM for myself. My measurements were a bit off, and I ended up having a little bit extra.

These had spinach, half a frozen banana, 1/4 cup of blueberries, soymilk, ice and a tablespoon of flaxseed peanut butter. I finished them both 🙂
     I was hoping the extra Monsta, plus the peanut butter I included would keep me full until lunch, but alas, my metabolism has gone into overdrive. Luckily, I’d thought ahead and sliced up the rest of the strawberries from yesterday’s farmers’ market to take with me.
What? I don’t read at work! I take my job very seriously! 😛
     I packed my own lunch for work today. I’ve been desperately trying to save my money to move out to the lovely Santa Monica so I can have the LA experience while enjoying some unpolluted ocean breeze. Today I had the last of the chana masala and the other half of the TJ’s garlic naan.
     I FINISHED Julie and Julia finally! Not at work… I would NEVER read at work, no matter how dead quiet it was, even if there wasn’t a single customer in the store and there was nothing better to do… I actually ended up enjoying the book! Not a fan of all the kidney/liver/organs-that-filter-out-toxins recipes, but it ended up being a good read. Although I must say, her filthiness really got to me – I can’t stand a dirty kitchen!
     After I finished lunch, I had another hour at work before my stomach began insistently calling to me. To abate it, I went to See’s Candies and got a dark almond cluster – or 4.
Not the smartest move, but 4 of these have 260 calories total, with the fat mainly coming from the roasted almonds, which help keep you full longer. I’m okay with paying that price to calm the tummy.
     I snacked on those almonds throughout the rest of my day whenever my stomach started hollering. When I got home I wasn’t very hungry, but decided to get some more veggies into my system and up my daily green count. I chopped up two small zucchinis and 5 stalks of asparagus.
     I heated up a teaspoon of olive oil in a pan over medium heat, then tossed all the veggies in and let them sear for about four minutes to create a nice brown crust.
   
     After they’d gotten that crust, I liberally sprinkled a big pinch of herbes de provence and a small pinch of salt, then placed a lid on top. If you’re like me, you can’t fancily toss the vegetables without getting them to fly all over the place, so I put the lid on top, then lifted the pan and gave it a good shake to disperse the salt and HDP. Then, I left the lid on for another 5 minutes to let the asparagus and zucchini soften in the steam.
     Now I’m relaxing watching “Build a Better Burger” on Food Network, and prepping for my Friday night! I’m going to enjoy it, even if I do have to work another full shift tomorrow before picking up a roommate at the train station.
     And now, I must admit, I lied to you all last night. I didn’t get a second So Delicious ice cream bar. The Fat Tire filled me up. I promise now that I will have two tonight to make up for the falsehoods that I claimed. I’m so, so sorry. Never again will I lie to you. Now I’m off to enjoy my Friday night! I hope you all have a lovely Friday as well!
Many blessings and happy eatings 🙂

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Filed under asparagus, Becki Kregoski, burgers, Fat Tire, Food Network, Friday, ice cream, so delicious, work, zucchini

Gourmet Tuesday!

Happy Tuesday, all! I hope you all started off your morning as well as I did 🙂 GREEN MONSTAAAAA!!!

This baby has spinach, bananas, blueberries, lemon juice, soymilk and ice!
Cleaning the blender seems like a big ordeal, but it’s really easy! Just pour a little dish soap and hot water into the blender:

Press LIQUIFY:

Give it a few minutes to whirl, rinse, and you’re done!
After having my massive green fuel-machine (hey, that rhymes! I should get into poetry), I jumped on the trail for another hike up the hill. Today was completely empty and quiet and lovely, and there was marine layer hanging over so the bugs weren’t biting: the PERFECT day for a hike!

I got back and got spoiled by my roomie cooking up a semi-scramble.

We were running low on spinach, so this was made with a little spinach, yellow bell peppers, asparagus and zucchini roasted in herbes de provence. Have I mentioned how much I love herbes de provence? If I ever roast ANY vegetable, I love to cover it in HDP. It just makes everything taste more complex and warmer.
Next came a bunch of thrilling errands that had to be run – Home Depot for chicken wire to keep the rabbits from devouring the new vines, Petsmart to pick up chewies for the spoiled Buddha (nickname for the puppy), the library to pick up a book I requested a few weeks ago, and finally to Trader Joe’s!
I loooove me the TJ’s! For dinner I decided to make Jenna’s (http://eatliverun.com) channa masala recipe. I picked up chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans), canned diced tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, onions, tomato paste and ginger. Every other ingredient I already had at home.

After setting it all up, I chopped, peeled, minced and measured all my ingredients and got them in order. I’m a big fan of mise en place – a French term that means “putting things into place.” It also helps you clean as you go, so there’s not a huge mess in the kitchen waiting to be scrubbed when all you want to do is relax and enjoy your meal.

I caramelized the onions for 15 minutes, then went to the next bowl which contained my chopped garlic, jalapeno and ginger. After stirring that together, the next dish (the tomato paste) went in. I was supposed to pince (cook down) the tomato paste until it had formed a nice crust on the pan, but it somehow came out a little blackened. Next I threw in the seasonings which smoked up the kitchen a bit, then the chickpeas and tomatoes and garam masala.

After letting everything stew for a while to warm through, I squeezed lemon on top (and all over the floor), and plated.

Today I got Trader Joe’s garlic naan! It made the meal complete!
Even though I burned the tomato paste a little, it still tasted A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I only finished about half my plate before I was comfortably full. I’m working on eating until I’m satisfied and not gorging until I’m bursting at the seams: it takes practice! I sipped on a (durr) Fat Tire and enjoyed the evening.
After an hour I got a little sweet craving, so I whipped out the So Delicious mocha ice cream. I’m not a fan of coffee ice cream, so this is perfect to keep me from overdoing it. I scooped about a quarter cup into a mug and ate that, and after was totally content. Just the right amount of sugar in my system, dairy-free, and I didn’t want to go back for more.

Now it’s time for the season finale of “Glee”, so I must leave you all! Happy hiking, biking, and most of all: EATING!

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Filed under Channa Masala, cooking, Garlic naan, green monster, Home Depot, ice cream, Jenna Weber, mocha, Petsmart, puppies, recipe, Trader Joe's