I'm still on the Mexican Express, can't get enough of it! While I was in school or had a real job I would pre-plan my meals for the week as a salad & soup combo. It can be hard work to come up with a different salad each week. Luckily Pinterest gives me a lot of ideas. This has been a winner and I decided to allow it the honor of being in my salad line-up.  The veggie are flexible but I tend to stick with corn, black beans, tomatoes, romaine and bell peppers for this. I like to spend 30 minutes on Sunday and chop everything up and stick the salads in tupperware container. I usually put everything in the container and up the romaine lettuce on top of everything so it doesn't get soggy. The best part of this salad is the creamy cilantro dressing + one of my favorite Mexican condiments... RED ENCHILADA SAUCE. It is so delicious, I don't know what they make it with but I could take a bath in it.  The cilantro dressing is really good on this salad but I also love to use it as a topping on fish tacos. I whip up the dressing in my Recycle North Retro avocado green blender. It's so pretty, I use it all the time. 

Chopped Mexican Salad
Ingredients
Large head of romaine
15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 large orange bell pepper
1 pint cherry tomatoes
2 cups corn (I used frozen, thawed)
5 green onions

Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing
From The Garden Grazer

Recipe yields 3/4 cup dressing

Ingredients
1 cup loosely packed cilantro, stems removed and roughly chopped
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice (about 1/2 lime)
1-2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. white vinegar
1/8 tsp. salt

Directions
Puree all ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth.
Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.

I am feeling super accomplished today.  For the first time today I braided my hair IN THE BACK! If any of you know me you can understand my excitement. I only rock 2 hairstyle, down or up in a ponytail. I have recently figured out how to do a side braid but only whip it out for random occasions. I have attempted to braid my hair in cooler styles like all the other girls but my arms get so tired, I know.... LAME. Today I was feeling really strong, lol and decided to go for it. Look Mom, I DID IT!!! Let's see if I can reproduce this. again. I should look up YouTube videos and practice my hair weaving talents while I've got all this time. Maybe I will develop some serious muscles. 

At the end of the summer when I had some newly acquired free time I went a little wild canning jams and pickles when I went home to visit Mom & Dad. In a span of 5 days I put up around 80 jars of goodies in the grocery store like pantry my Mom in hiding in her basement. If there is some sort of natural disaster I will use all energy I have to make it home where she is well stocked to hunker down for the end of the world. After spending hours over hot bubbling jam and dicing veggies I figured I had my fill of canning magic. If you haven't noticed I am REALLY into another food blog Food in Jars by a lady who lives in Philadelphia and does a variety of jobs related to canning. Dream Job, If I wasn't going to be a Nurse and could figure out how to make money from canning I would totally do it. Maybe that will be my retirement plan. I never considered canning after the summer, all the harvest is gone. She has opened my eyes to fall preserves and pickles you can't make in the summer. I made quick work of gathering some apples, cranberries and beets. MMMMMMmmmmm! 

Quick side story about the apples I snagged. I was planning to hit up Linvilla Orchards to pick some apples but was hoping to find some that were a bit cheaper, and avoid all the crazy families with their kids swarming around the orchard. " MOM! I want to go on a hay ride!" or " JIMMY STOP THROWING APPLES AT YOUR SISTER!" I took a chance and poked around Craigslist to see if any local farmers/people had a surplus of apples. I found a Mom in the suburbs who had a bunch for sale. I drove out to Wynnewood to collect my apples and was greeted by a glamorous soccer mom. Her belt buckle was very flashy, she had a strange fur collar around her camel colored sweater, just too flashy. As I was selecting my apples and putting them on the scale I mentioned I was from VT, and guess who grew up in Rutland... THIS LADY! These apples were from her parents new house in Fort Ann, NY. What are the odds? Now back to canning...

I made an Apple Cranberry Jam from her blog. I pulsed the jam with my immersion blender for a bit to smooth it out a bit, I don't like chunky stuff. This stuff is going to be great for Thanksgiving type sandwiches with turkey and stuffing. I have always wanted to make apple pie filling and there was a really good recipe on Food in Jars but I have had difficulty finding Clear Jel in the grocery store. It's a cornstarch-like product that is safe for canning. I broke down and bought a container from Amazon. It was like magic. I added this powder to my boiling liquid and PRESTO it was all thick and gooey. The woman I bought the apples from said she just adds cornstarch or flour and a bit of cream to her apple pie filling. Lady! Are you crazy? YOU NEED TO FOLLOW A RECIPE! She assured me it was safe to use either of these alternatives because her friend who owns an orchard does this to her canned apple pie filling. Based on her fashion sense I decided to follow a real recipe and add Clear Jel.   

After canning up these 2 recipes I still had apples left so I decided to make some Apple Butter, one of Nate's favorite condiments for toast. I make it in the crock pot, another super easy recipe I found on Pinterest.

APPLE BUTTER
From Changing my Destiny

About a dozen apples peeled, cored and cut up
1/2 c. Water
1/4 c. Brown Sugar
1/2 Tbsp. Cinnamon

Mix everything together. Put on low for about 12 hours. If you like it smoother take an immersion blender to it or leave it chunky.
Once made you can leave it in the fridge for a couple of weeks (it will last), freeze it or can it. If you're canning it add hot apple butter to hot jars and process for 15 mins for pint or quart size jars. 



After all these sweet apple recipes I busted into another Food in Jars recipe, Pickled Golden Beets. Ahhhh yes! I love beets, I will crack open a can and eat the whole thing in one sitting for a snack. This recipe looks delightful. I have to wait 48 hours before I crack into one of my jars to sample the vinegar goodness.

Here are all the recipes I used for my canning delights

Pickled Golden Beets
Apple Cranberry Jam
Apple Pie Filling

I've been in a real Mexican fiesta kind of mood. Tonight we had fish tacos, one of my favorite dinners.  Matt Hamilton, if you're reading this post don't let your mind wander to the gutter. I'm talking about a food product. A couple of months ago I decided to get fancy. After seeing Nathan's twin sister making her own tortillas I decided I should try. To further push me into the arena of tortilla production was the much appreciated gift of a tortilla press from Mom & Dad. ( Thanks guys, I'm putting it to good use!) You could easily just use your hands or a rolling pin. The press just makes it look nicer. I found a super easy recipe on Pinterest, where I find the answer to most DIY adventures. 

FLOUR TORTILLAS
Makes 6 (can easily be doubled or tripled)

Step 1:
Mix 1.5 c. flour
      1/2 tsp. salt
      1/4 tsp baking powder

Then add 2 Tbsp. Canola oil
Mix till crumbly

Next add 1/2 c. HOT WATER 
I just run the tap water till I can't stand to hold my hand under the faucet any longer.
It will start to look like dough. Let rest for 30 minutes (I never do, I'm too hungry)

Make 6 even balls and flatten slightly before putting them in the tortilla press. You can do this with a rolling pin or your hands if you don't have a press. 

Warm a skillet on medium/high heat. I do one at a time in a NON-GREASED pan. No butter/pam/oil. I've even done these on my cast iron grill pan. These puppies are like pancakes. The first couple look goofy but taste fine. The last couple ones will look the most appealing. 

Now fill them up! Depending on how long you keep them in the pan they are either pliable enough to bend like a store bought tortilla. Some become a little crunchy. I eat them like a mini Mexican pizza.

As I was making my grocery shopping list for the week, Nathan offered to make dinner on Monday night, YAY! He wanted to re-create a sub called the Bombe from his college days that he ate once a week.  

On a weird side note, anyone from Milton Junior Senior High School days will remember the string of bomb threats we received in Junior High which graced us with many early dismissals was done by someone with poor spelling skills. As the rumor is told, the mastermind who left the bomb threat note in the bathroom spelled bomb BOMBE. Lame! Now back to my exciting life...

I don't know how he ate so many of these and didn't develop heart disease. This UD concoction is made of chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, french fries, ranch, hot sauce and melted cheese packed into a roll. EWWWW! I obliged and added the items to my list. As I shopped around Trader Joe's I discovered they didn't have any chicken fingers, I was tempted to buy the vegetarian "chicken-like" fingers but feared it would be too healthy for our recipe. Monday night rolled around and Nathan grew a bit timid of making this beloved sub, "What if it doesn't taste the same?" It definitely won't taste the same, our kitchen is clean, we won't be eating it at 2 o'clock in the morning with all the other drunk college kids and we don't own a fry-daddy. It will just have to be close enough. 

I got a thrill last week and was offered 2 job interviews in North Carolina. I love the opportunity for a ROAD TRIP!!!!!! Luckily my sister lives in Carrboro so I had a place to crash and spend time with one of the cutest dogs ever, sweet little Norm.  To prepare for my first ever professional interviews where the attire was more than khakis, I headed to the mall for my killer new outfit. I feel like a boss! Interviews went well but my favorite part was spending time Chapel Hill, taking pictures of Norm and getting my drink on.  On my to do list next time I visit is to try a local treat called a "pickle back".  This alcoholic libation is a shot of whisky followed by a chaser of pickle juice. MMMM, I LOVE PICKLES! Maybe this is common fair at all bars but I have yet to try this yet and it appears to be a common order at the local watering holes in NC. Last time I was exploring Chapel Hill I hit up Sugar Land, a spot for sweet treats like gelato, girlie drinks and cupcakes. Last time I was there is was 90 degrees plus killer humidity so I sampled their delicious gelato. This time around it was much cooler. I sampled one of their red velvet cupcakes. One of the most expensive/fancy cupcakes I've ever treated myself to. I didn't want to look unrefined so I ate it with a fork like everyone around me. My trip concluded with my first time experience at Sheetz. I think it's the south's version of WAWA. They make sandwiches on pretzel buns with the choice of "boom sauce". I took my chances and had the boom sauce, DELISH! It's pretty much a mayonaise based spread with hot sauce in it. I know this will probably offend WAWA lovers but Sheetz was WAY  better. Can't wait to get another sandwich there. 

I've encountered my own trouble... I'm just too good at this online goodwill auction thing. If you have ever attempted to bid on an item on Ebay you understand it can be tough to win. You need to watch your item down to the last second. I assumed all online auctions were the same. I should have used some caution. I was the successful winner of the enamelware set, YESSSSS! I had also bid on this really cool Drinko'matic mixer, I put in a low bid of $5.00. Turns out I was the only bidder on this item, so I am now the proud owner of this vintage bar accessory. Turns out I was the only bidder on a few more items. I imagined I would be fighting tooth and nail to get an item and these things are practically jumping into my cart. I only started using this site a week ago and now I must stop bidding on anything until I get a job because I've gotten myself into trouble. I thought maybe I would just skip out of paying for the most recent items I won but apparently they put you on a black list so you can't bid on future items. Looks like I will bite the bullet and pay the $15.00 for my remaining soon to be wins and bid more carefully in the future. 

I have also encountered yet another collection of goodies I was to start snagging. Fire King Peach Lusterware. IT'S SO SHINY! It's golden orange with a strange opalescence to it. I thought I was rare but am starting to see more and more of it on this auction site. These are the majority of bids where I am the only one. Soon I will have my starter collection arriving at my apartment for you all to use when you come and visit me. I get the feeling it's not worth much, I was able to find tons of it on Ebay with nobody buying it. Regardless, I think it looks cool and will continue my hunt for it.

I've been collecting potential craft projects on my Pinterest boards for the day when I would have free time. I am in the midst of copious amounts of free time. I have started to attempt some of these crafts with my first attempt at string art. I have seen various designs using state outlines for sale on Etsy. Most of these items retail for  around $75.00. I'm too cheap to pay for something that I know I can make myself. This is one of the main reasons I refuse to buy pre chopped veggies at the grocery store or jarred pasta sauce.  Luckily there are many DIY sites that explain in detail how to make your own string art. I used this site with much success.  I was able to find almost all of my supplies at Michael's. If you Google "Michael's coupon" you can easily find a 40% off coupon that you just need to show on your phone to receive a discount off of one item. Total this project cost me $10.00. There are two versions of this project. One is with a heart designs and the second one which I opted for is more of a crazy web of thread. To achieve this colorful web you will need a bunch of spools of colored thread to craft your web. I was being frugal and decided to skip buying the spools of thread and instead used up some embroidery floss from an unused cross stitch kit. If you have used embroidery thread you know that each thread is composed of 6 strands. I separated all the threads into individual strands and wound them around the nails. WHAT A MISTAKE! It took me forever because each thread was only 24 inches long. By the time I wound the thread around a couple of nails, I needed to tie it off and grab a new thread. This took me hours to complete. If I had just bought spools of thread my project would have been done a lot sooner. The silver lining of this goof up is my discovery of Law & Order SVU on XFINITY on demand. I essentially made my own marathon to watch while completing this project. Overall I think it turned out similar to the ones on Etsy. I LOVE IT!!!!

While cooking up a couple of pots of soup for the week I decided to break out a new bread recipe for dunking into my yummy concoctions. I shy away from making bread for a couple of reasons.

1. It's a lengthy process, waiting for dough to rise, kneading, more rising. I've got better things to do than watch dough rise. 
2. Yeast is so fickle. They don't want to go swimming in a pool that too cold, they also don't like hot tubs. You have to make the perfect luke warm bath for them. LAME!
3. Even when I focus, I usually screw up bread recipes somehow.

I have discovered a few recipes that don't involve the above. I found this recipe on Pinterest that was adapted from a Bon Appetite recipe. SO EASY! I will surely make this again. I ate some today slathered in smoky tomato jam I made at the end of the summer bounty. I'm temped to eat the whole loaf but I should probably save some for Nate...

Rosemary, Black Pepper & Brown Butter Soda Bread

1/4 c. Butter
3 1/2 c Flour
1/2 c. Old-Fashioned Oats
1 Tbsp. Sugar
1 Tbsp. Fresh Rosemary (I used 1/2 Tbsp. dried)
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Salt
3/4 tsp. Fresh Ground Black Pepper
1 3/4 c. Buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
Melt butter in skillet over medium heat and cook until golden brown and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except buttermilk and butter. Mix well and add wet ingredients. Mix until dough comes together in a smooth ball. Add more flour if you need it. Form dough into two rounds with your hands and transfer to a baking stone or ungreased baking sheet. Using a sharp knife, cut an "X" into the top of each loaf- about 1/2 inch deep.

Bake until breads are golden and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center, about 45 minutes. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

In October I'll be host
to witches, Goblins and a ghost
I'll serve them chicken soup on toast
Whoopy once, whoopy twice
whoopy chicken soup with rice.
        written by Maurice Sendak


While I was a Nanny for Raf, his grandmother came to visit a couple of times from Australia and cooked up a storm for Amelia. When "Grandy" left I was in charge of cooking some of her well known dishes from the recipe cards she left behind. One of my favorite dishes was her roasted pumpkin soup. I soon discovered that some vegetables have different names here in the states compared to our friends who live down under. Imagine my confusion when Amelia went on a trip with Raf and I to buy a pumpkin at Whole Foods in January to make this soup. I thought she must be mistaken until I saw her pick up a butternut squash. It was my "aha" moment. This is a super easy recipe to make but what makes it taste AMAZING are these ultra stock cubes that Amelia drops into all sorts of things that make them taste so good. I have never used bouillon cubes and generally stay away from them but the ones she has in her pantry are from Australia. She brought back a couple of packages of these cubes for me to use in my own kitchen. I have been using them sparingly until I discovered I can buy them on Amazon. YESSSS!!!!!!


Grandy's Roasted Pumpkin Soup
Serves 4

2kg pumpkin (1 lb)
1 large onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
2 ripe roma tomatoes, quartered (I usually add a few extra)
1 Tbsp. EVOO
2 Chicken-style stock cubes
1.25 L boiling water (5 cups)

• Peel pumpkin, remove seeds, cut into chunks
• Combine pumpkin, onion, tomatoes & garlic in a large baking dish, drizzle with oil, s&p
• Bake at 250C/500F for about 40 minutes until soft
• Crumble stock cubes and 2 c. water into baking dish
• Puree until smooth, add remaining water till desired consistency
• FREEZES WELL!