Never have I ever so frequently forgotten to take a quick picture of whatever it is I’m eating. Yeah, I’m a little disappointed in myself because making a meal aesthetically appealing and capturing that on camera is enjoyable (for me, at least). But life is moving at what feels like a million miles an hour right now and I simply don’t have the time I used to have to dedicate to making food pretty. Here are some of the moments I have captured within the last month or so!
Back in September, I was invited to a sort of community dinner with a couple other bloggers and social-media-people to get together, hang out, eat good food, and see the remodeling of Woodstock’s Pizza in SLO! Delicious - d e l i c i o u s - pizza, tons of laughing, and a really cool new section added to the back of the pizza shop, along with a redesign of the kitchen. If you’re in SLO, check it out and order the Pesto Primavera or the BBQ Bird.
I think it is possible - difficult, but still possible - to go a little overboard on the cookie-making. Thankfully, I have hungry friends who are more than willing to take extras off my hands. These Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies are the next best thing to plain ol’ oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies! For those of you in need of a seasonal Fall/Winter dessert, may I interest you in these?
RX bars are some of my favorite quick and easy snacks. I know some people say they’re too chewy, but to me, it’s like a workout for my jaw and in a really weird way I kind of like that. My go-to flavors are peanut butter, peanut butter chocolate chip, and PB & J! I also highly recommend trying the new nut butter. It’s delightful, to say the least.
When our schedules match up, Grace (my roommate/bff) and I love to make dinner together. And because our taste buds almost always match up, it’s not unlikely we’ll be making some variation of roasted veggies and chicken thighs. We like to keep things simple during the week! Dinner with friends and family can be rare during this season of life (busy, in college, working, studying, blahblahblah), so I try to make it happen whenever possible because celebrating food with loved ones is just unbeatable.
My mid-morning pick-me-up lately has been another cup of coffee and maybe a bite or two of something sweet I have laying around (there’s always something). High Brew Coffee sent me some samples and, though this one was really sweet, it was absolutely delicious! I never really buy lattes at coffee shops because I think anything over $5 for a drink that costs me less than $1 at home is just ridiculous. So, thanks High Brew for sending me these!
This was my lunch for, like, a week straight. Not kidding. I bought whole-wheat English muffins to make a recipe for the cookbook, but then ended up using them all for this DUHlicious meal - soft-scrambled eggs, avocado, spinach, a touch of nutritional yeast, and salt + pepper + cilantro for garnish. It’s the kind of meal that fills you up perfectly, but you want more simply because it’s that amazing.
And then there are nights when I come home from class or work or studying or wherever and want as little to do with cooking as possible, so I break out a box of Banza mac n’ cheese, some easy-to-cook veggies, and call it a night. Until about six months ago, I couldn’t remember the last time I had boxed mac n’ cheese, but I did know that Banza tops every bowl I ever had as a child.
I look forward to Thursday night not only because it’s the end of the week for me, but because it’s the night of the Downtown SLO Farmers Market! And that means my friends and I - 90% of the time - end up with bbq pulled pork sandwiches, sweet potato fries, and a glass or two of wine. My favorite spot is Old San Luis BBQ - the pulled pork and chicken sliders are unbeatable!
One of my best friends, Jeannette, came down to spend the weekend with me recently and our plans consisted mostly of cooking dinners, shopping, chatting and catching up on life, and trying new recipes. We made my Best Vegan Brownies one day and added in some Gr8nola Charcoal Chia granola, and obviously went through an entire photoshoot to capture the beauty. Duh.
I am not lying when I say I am undeniably obsessed with every single component of this breakfast: the banana bread, the skyr or sometimes yogurt, regular peanut butter or sometimes this unbeatable RX bar nut butter (I told you it was delicious). Three or four days a week, I’m coming home from work at 8 AM starving and rushing to get ready for class. All I want is something quick, easily digestible, and 9/10 times, sweet. This. Is. Perfect. Here’s the recipe for the banana bread!
THE COOKIES. The Pillsbury holiday cut-out cookies. If you follow me on Instagram, you probably remember the intense hunt Grace and I went on last year to find these. This year, we lucked out and found the Halloween ones! Of course, we bought three boxes without thinking twice. Now that Christmas is somewhat around the corner, we’ve got three more boxes in the freezer ready to go. For whatever reason, the hunt was much easier this year. Maybe Pillsbury heard my cries of desperation last year and took it easier on me this time.
Last but certainly not least, my go-to weeknight meal: roasted veggies, greens, and these really yummy (and also kind of random) tuna cakes I came up with recently, plus some cilantro and mayo. Once I cross off all the other items on my to-do list, I will do my best to get the recipe for the tuna cakes either on the blog or in the cookbook recipe collection!
Well, thanks for reading and I’ll see ya’ next time I decide to sort through all the food-related pictures on my camera roll to share a small portion of them here. Hope you enjoyed all that you saw and read!