Oct-Dec

Soy-maple glazed salmon with roasted taters and asparagus Ginger lime tofu with swiss chard and maple garlic brussel sprouts Miss Pittman ready to dig into this concoction Acorn squash stuffed with wild brown rice mix and "creamy" leek sauce...I know it looks like a money shot. Will be better plated when I'm not starving. Vegan black bean enchiladas kale and squash sautee TVP seasoned with many spices and curry. Served with brown rice and sliced banana. Loaded vegan potato skins with smoked paprika and tossed salad with vegan thousand island dressing side of zuccini teriyaki tempeh and forbidden black rice with shitaki and leek Chimichurri shrimp and corn pepper salsa with carmelized shallots Thanksgiving my way: Appetizers included a baked brie with rosemary and apricot preserves and a honeycrisp salad with cinnamon toasted pumpkin seeds and a balsamic glaze Main event: sweet and gold rosemary roasted potatoes/ kale and shitaki stuffing Instead of turkey, I just filled half an acorn squash with the stuffing Dessert was a gluten free vegan pumpkin cheesecake but I guess we dug in before I took pictures :/ Breakfast idears: Mushroom potato fritata and fruit salad- use leftover veggies from last night to create an omlet or fritata Banana cashew roll-ups: great combo of carbs and protein to get your day started Eat lots of this: I have a big bowl of fruit almost everyday for breakfast. Cleans you out like a mother! Quick snack or if you have to eat dinner really late: Tomato moz salad with a tsp of olive oil and dash of redwine vin Tea time dessert: Tangelo coconut rum cake with glaze. I used the tangelos I picked from my parent's yard in Clearwater and we always have rum in the cabinet. Corey liked it a lot :)

Aug/Sep foodz

Veggie and feta fritatta


Mixed Berry Grunt (cinnamon dumplings)


Panko Ginger salmon with wild rice salad



Bourbon BBQ grilled sirloin with sweet fries and zuccini




Quinoa pagodas with Sundried tomato pesto and organic diced chicken


Spicy Citrus salmon, sweet cabbage and raisin sautee with tumeric enhanced bulgur


Shitake cabbage soup with garlic shrimp for lunch


Ginger glazed tofu with mushroom and leek brown rice and steamed broccoli

Game night tenderloin

Corey and his friends usually game once a week so I decided to entertain myself by cooking up a healthy, yet more complicated meal than the ones I've been doing this week (white meat on top of greens or eastern cuisine takeout). I was proud the work I put into this meal rewarded me with an orgasm of the taste buds. Yup, I said it. This is definitely a repeat meal for sure. My nerd enjoyed himself too, as he stuffed his face trying to rush back to his computer. I was not insulted. This Power Foods book I've been cooking from is fantastic and also follows "clean eating" guidelines for those of you who are also on this self-improvement journey.

Honey glazed pork tenderloin with apricots and scallions accompanied by balsamic roasted asparagus and spiced bulgur

Tonights family feast

I just got to Clearwater today for my day 2 of vacation. Since I have fresh and local resources at my finger tips I decided to stop by Jim's produce for veggies and Ward's Seafood for Mahi and Shrimp. It didn't even smell fishy in there, so I definately recommend that place if you're in the 727 area. My sister, Marissa, doesn't eat seafood so I got her some tri tip steaks from Publix.

Marissa is ducking because she has no make-up on...wah.


Here are the chimichurri steaks and baked asparagus


Citrus Roasted Mahi Mahi with Jamaican curry


Lime marinated chimichurri shrimp with blood red tomatoes and carmelized onions


We ate like kings. I think there are better ways to cook Mahi, but this was my first attempt and it was good...just a little dry. I recommend salmon with that roasting style since it has more fat. Live and learn.

Some of my recent work...

Citrust roasted salmon accompanied by (Trish's) black beans n rice and corn greenbean toss



One of my faves for breakfast- egg white and veggie sausage tacos with cilantro


Turkey cutlets wth capers and tomatoes and a shitaki asparagus salad


Nice light snack- Spicy tuna salad lettuce spoons

My return

Soooo it's been awhile since I've posted here. A lot has happened since. I'm about to be married in November...weird, but exciting. I'm also now 24, and wiser than my previous 22 blogger self. Not really. Anyway, back to food. I didn't stay vegan...not much surprise there. I have done a lot more research about nutrition and my culinary skills have progressed. I switched my major from nursing to nutrition and hope to start classes in January. Posts that are way more interesting will follow.

pictures

Here is that quiche from the last post. The scones were eaten before I could take pictures of them.