FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

And… We’re Back!

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Wow.  The past 48 hours have been nuts!  After the whole server/wordpress/blog hack, and subsequent wipe out, I was one big ball o’ stress.  And to add just a dollop of additional (and unnecessary) stress, I thought now would be the perfect time to give FoodFash a makeover.

The first makeover was a total doozie.  Each time I refreshed the screen, I couldn’t believe how much more I had destroyed what I had already considered a disaster.  Luckily, StudioPress has a return policy, so I was able to return the old theme and swap it out for a more vibrant, more girly, more me theme!

With that all said and done, it was time to peel away from my computer screen and get back into the kitchen.  I bought some pho-like ingredients at the market earlier in the week that needed to be used ASAP.

FoodFash Faux Pho

6 cups of water

2 Not Chick’n Bouillon Cubes

1/4 cup Allegro Hot & Spicy Marinade

2-3 heads of baby bok choy, chopped

3.5 ounces of shitake mushrooms, stemmed and quartered

2 handfulls of bean sprouts

4 ounces of ramen noodles

Bring water, bouillon, and marinade to a boil.  Add the ramen noodles, mushrooms, and bean sprouts and boil for 4 minutes or until ramen is fully cooked.  Remove the pot from heat and add the baby bok choy.  Stir until the leaves are wilted and serve.

I had been searching for pho recipes for quite some time and never found the yummy, simple recipe I had in mind.  The hot and spicy marinade gives the soup a bold flavor and a decent kick, while the bean sprouts add crunch and texture to ordinarily soft noodles.  And I recognize that this recipe isn’t technically pho in any shape or form, but shhhh…. My belly doesn’t know the difference.

Sad, Sad Kid, In Pictures

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Breakfast:  Fried Egg on Sprouted Wheat Toast & Raspberries

Lunch 1:  Tuna, Avocado & Wasabi Sushi with Liquid Aminos

Lunch 2:  Avocado Salad Roll with Ponzu

Dinner:  TBD…

At the risk of sounding like a super complainer…  It’s late and I haven’t even thought about dinner yet.  I’ve spent the last 4 hours trying to recover bits and pieces of FoodFash media from archives, back-up files, Instagram, friends, anything.  You see, hackers are terrible and they did all sorts of terrible to FoodFash recently.  I’m a solid mix of bummed, frustrated, and tired.

Has your site ever been hacked?  Any tips to keep it from happening again?? 

Christmas Party Recovery

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Last night was the first company Christmas party I had attended since 2008. The construction industry was full of doom and gloom and I just didn’t have it in me to get all dolled up just to chat about recent and upcoming layoffs.  Kinda killed the Christmas spirit, ya know?

This year was different.  The doom was replaced by hope and chatter of layoffs was replaced by chatter of new babies.  The setup was tasteful, the food was tasty and the cocktails…  Well, the cocktails went down a little too easy.

We even kept the celebration going by heading to Fly Bar afterward!

But continuing the party made for a super sluggish Saturday morning.  Green tea, Earth Balance noodles, and nap.  No bueno.

I woke up from the nap feeling like a new person and craving my favorite breakfast: egg and avocado on a sprouted wheat english muffin.  I changed it up by sprinkling with crushed red pepper.  Yum!

Now off to meet Lex, who just moved back from Texas!!

Spicy Salty Sweet Potato

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My first salty/sweet obsession happened when I lived in Dallas and had my first taste of World Market’s sea salt dark chocolate.  I’d treat myself to two squares every night after a run on Katy Trail or a class at YogaSport.  It was ritualistic and I kept my pantry stocked.  Of my final errands before moving back to Tampa was buying the remaining stock at multiple World Markets before hitting the road.  Crazytown.  It all melted.  I was devastated.

Not too long after discovering salty/sweet, spicy/sweet earned a place in my tummy heart. While Sarah was still living in LA, we headed over to The Hungry Cat for cocktails and the Sweet & Vicious caught our attention.  Super light, faintly sweet melon, a jalapeno kick, and vodka.  I still dream about that cocktail like a long lost love.

I could have prepared a typical Earth Balance, dash of salt, sweet potato tonight, but…  I knew I could do better.  I saw marshmallows in the fridge and salty/sweet came to mind and then spicy/sweet tried to take over until they all came together for spicy/salty/sweet!

FoodFash Spicy Salty Sweet Potato

1 medium sized sweet potato, cooked

1 tablespoon Earth Balance (or butter)

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

small handful of mini marshmallows

Scoop out all of the insides of a fully cooked sweet potato and put them into a small bowl.  Add butter, crushed red pepper, and salt to the sweet potato and mix well.  Stuff the sweet potato insides back into the potato skin.  Top with mini marshmallows and broil until marshmallows are the desired toasty-ness. Keep an eye on the marshmallows because there’s a fine line between perfect burned and gross burned!