FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

A Rapid Do-Over

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Yeah… Not really the happiest of campers when I pulled coupon-attached noodles out of the fridge today.  And the thing is, I don’t care so much about this 50 cents.  This 50 cents wouldn’t be frustrating if I didn’t pull coupon-attached X out of the fridge 99% of the time I buy something with a coupon attached.

I wonder if I totaled all missed coupon opportunities over the years, if I’d have enough for something like… these boots that I want oh so very badly!

I bet I would.  I also bet that I knew recreating my souped up soup was going to be a huge fail before I even started.  You see, shirataki noodles are pretty gross. They are entirely too slimy and tasteless for soup.  Depending on kale and miso to liven up slimy and tasteless wasn’t my finest idea.

I strained, rinsed, and topped with jarred marinara.  Do over!

The noodles were MUCH better with the flavor of the sauce and the crunch of the kale.  I ate the entire bowl and could barely tell I was eating funky 25-calorie-per-serving-noodles.

Have you ever tried shirataki noodles?  What are your thoughts on these slimy, low-cal critters?

Gourmet In LA

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We were home for less than two hours before heading back to Silver Lake for Dan of Gourmet in LA‘s birthday dinner at Umami Burger.

Pictured above is a surprisingly smiley Dan.  It was a Murphy’s Law kind of night, but that wasn’t enough to smoosh the birthday spirit.  Besides, we all had a heaping load of fun celebrating at Cafe Was on Saturday.

Luckily the “burgers” were yumtastic and served exactly as ordered.  #win

The sweet potato fries were delish as well.  Pretty sure the house ketchup was packing a little truffle oil and I’m so down with that!

And Ariel‘s first FoodFash appearance!

Followed by a little Ariel Visits Through The Years photo tour…

2007

2008

2009

2010

 

I

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It seems I have two choices…  Either continue to re-check The Conscious Cook out from the library every couple weeks for the rest of my life orrrr purchase a copy for myself.  The latter sounds a lot less complicated.

I’m not the biggest fan of meat substitute products, at all, but when my friend Ginnean mentioned that her husband would let her make Gardein for dinner, I figured it had to taste pretty normal.

And then I saw The Conscious Cook’s Gardein “Chicken” Scalloppini recipe when I was flipping through the pages this morning and couldn’t wait to test it out.  I decided to leave out the Udon Noodle Cakes and Pea Shoots in order to make it less gourmet and more every day.

LOVE.  MUSHROOMS.

This recipe was the perfect combination of easy and still feeling like you’re being chef-like.  My current foodie hero, Terry Walters, better watch out cause Tal Ronnen is oh so close to being my Number One – the Gardein “Chicken” Scalloppini was RIDIC!

I honestly planned on roasting brussels sprouts as a side tonight, but the crusty goodness in the background was dominating the oven.  The result of my second ever Kitchen Aid use and my first ever bread making trial was a smashing success too.  Check back tomorrow for crusty goodness deets!

[Acorn] Squash with Quinoa, Apricot and Sage Stuffing

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I’ve had my eye on Terry Walters’ books for quite some time now, so I was pleased as punch when I found both Clean Start and Clean Food at Homegoods last week.

I also bought the beauty of a chopping block that’s hosting the veggies pictured below.

I literally walked between the acorn squash and buttercup squash about seven times before deciding to go with acorn.  Even though the recipe called for buttercup, the acorn was a sure shot, but it would have been nice to try the buttercup, but the acorn was such a sure shot.  See how that could be debate worthy?

As I was chopping shallots, celery, apricots, sage, and parsley, I realized I hadn’t used any of these ingredients in a while, and certainly not together.  I was excited.

So excited, in fact, that I skipped right past taking a picture of the quinoa folded into the veggies.

Soooo looks like this recipe will be the jump start to another quinoa kick.  The stuffing was so tasty!

What’s your favorite quinoa combo??