6.19.2012

a side of pin

here are a bunch of pins from my "a side of yum" board that i have tried lately and how they've turned out:

1. super easy crusty bread from scratch. i am a horrible baker. i suck at making anything that you would find in a bakery. i think the flour can sense my innate attention distraction to detail and instinctively rebels under my hands.

this tale is filed under "tragedies" because carbs are my love language. the whiter and nutritionally emptier the better.

so when my mom scored an awesome deal for me on a le creuset mack daddy dutch over at an outlet in arizona (and made my dad use it as his carryon on the way back, bless him), i was ready to try this pin, though massively skeptical that this was anything other than delusions of grandeur that would end with tears and a smoke alarm attack--as per usual.

the good news was that i had all the ingredients on hand and it was super easy to mix. then i let it sit and rise (contradiction?) for the recommended 18 hours.

after i baked this creation i pulled out....a piping hot wheat discus. WTF? except not, because this is normal.

i allowed myself a little, "STUPID EFFING PINTEREST WHY DO YOU FILL MY HEAD WITH LIES!!!!," and then i realized that i had used 4 year old yeast (because i learned my last baking lesson in 2008) and the helpful little bacteria had gone on to glory in my cupboard and were as such unavailable to be called into active duty like i needed them. so that's more of a disqualification than a FAIL.

i sprung $1.75 on a fresh pack the next time i was at the store and gave it ONE LAST CHANCE:

SUCCESS! will be making this on the regular with all the fun flavors she suggests (lemon gruyere! orange cranberry!)

2. mediterranean veggie stacks: these were not the quickest to put together and i felt like the bangin' presentation was wasted on just a weeknight meal for me and jesse, but they were really delicious (and i hate most forms of tomatoes). these would be perfect to jazz up a pasta dinner with friends.

save yourself some heartache and get full-fat feta. its worth it.

on the side of an open faced bacon, egg, avocado and arugula sammie with basil mayo....EPIC

3. broiled parmesan chipotle lime avocados: we had these on the side of a bodacious fathers day meal. i used asiago cheese instead of parm and added too much lime juice in the indention so my cheese there was less melty goodness all over and tended towards "floating curd" in the middle. but i will SO be making these again b/c they really were so so easy and delicious on the perimeter where i didnt over-juice.


4. soynapple marinade: not technically a side since this is a marinade for, but marinades go on the SIDES of meat and this one is off the charts good. let it marinate for over 24 hours and you are in for a treat (i think i accidentally left mine in for over 48 and it was insane-pants flavorful and tender). we used flap steak which sounds like the most disgusting thing ever but it was actually cheaper and tastier than its expensive, yet more appetizingly named cousins flank and skirt steak.

this meal was all the got me through one night last week when i was alone with the kids for 6 days straight while jesse was out of town. i have emotional feelings toward it now. also: lemon la croix is your next obsession. also, my veggies were on a separate plate that is not pictured and is also fictional.


yall found any morsels of goodness that deserve to ride shotgun at my next meal?

6 comments:

  1. My current Pinterest recipe obsession is this Thai Coconut Curry Shrimp. It is super easy and AMAZING. I didn't use the fish sauce she calls for because it weirds me out, so I used a couple dashes of soy sauce and served it all over rice.
    http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/03/thai-coconut-curry-shrimp.html

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  2. "were on a separate plate that is not pictured and is also fictional" bah-hahaha! We totally needed this laugh-out-loud moment today!!! We've been eating your amazing broccoli pin & loving it. Think we're gonna just make only what you pin & try :) our go-to favorite is baking cookies in a muffin tin. Can use a mix or refrigerated cookie dough... Something about it makes people think you baked all day??? Extra goodness, use a mini-muffin tin & smush a peanut butter cup in there!

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    1. i might need to hate you for giving me these cookie ideas. muffin tin: YES! perfect circle make me even hungrier. and we just will pretend like the pb cup sentence never happened.

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  3. Do you eat seafood? There's a delicious Zesty Lime Shrimp and Avocado salad that's super simple and YUMMY. And no strawberries, so you won't hurt the avocados at all :)

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    1. K8 made that about a month ago for me and it was one of the best meals ever, that avocado salad is to die for. The delicious recipies that come out of Pinterest just barely balance out the insane amount of money and time that site has taken from my life:)

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