WEIR Fonduing

Well now I can tell you our big secret: we spent the New Year in Arizona! It was a surprise for my FIL - I'll get into it more later. Because we were in Arizona, we weren't able to practice our tradition of Fondue and wine so we decided to do it a bit early with one of my very best gal pals and her fiance. 

They, sadly, moved back to the East Coast on the first for the year, so this was the last time we were all going to be together while they still lived nearby. We decided to celebrate 2013 and cheers to 2014 with fondue, beer and The Grinch. It was a perfect night with the best company!  

Here is my fondue recipe - a combination of a few recipes!

1-2 tblsp flour
3 c dry white wine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 -2 tsp whole grain mustard
1 lb Emmentaler cheese, shredded
1 lb Gruyere/Cheedar Combo cheese, shredded
½-1 tsp ground nutmeg
baguette (the more sour the better!)
chicken breast
sausage
broccoli

canola oil - if you are also cooking the meat

1. Shred cheese (if you want, you can put all of the shredded cheese in a plastic bag and pour in the flour and shake the bag to coat the cheese with the flour - OR you can add the flour in at the end - in this case, we added the flour at the end - we have combined the cheese and flour before and I am pretty sure it turned out well!)

2. Combine the white wine, mustard and garlic in a fondue pot (or a large saucepan) over medium heat; bring to a simmer. Slowly whisk in the cheese, about 1/2 cup at a time, allowing each batch to melt before mixing in the next. Stir in a figure 8 pattern to prevent cheese from clumping into a ball.

3. Whisk in flour, a little at a time until the cheese is a thick consistency, and nutmeg to the cheese sauce; until thickened. 

4. Put the fondue pot over a flame and eat (if not using a fondue pot to begin with, transfer the cheese mixture to a fondue pot)

5. Cut/cube all of the meat, veggies and bread into bite sized pieces and either cook the meat before hand of put on a plate for cooking in a fondue pot.

Note: we have 2 fondue pots - yes, we are serious fondue-ers - one is electric and the other is not. The electric one is used for the oil and cooking the meat and the other one is used for the cheese. We will make the cheese mixture on the stove in our fondue put and then put it over a flame.

Fresh Produce Box

Our complex has partnered with some local farmers to provide us and others around our neighborhood with local fresh produce! We decided this week to give it a shot, and believe me we were not disappointed! 

The fruits and veggies are so vibrant, luscious and rich looking and we both can't wait to dig right in!

Box Contents

Burgundy Spring Onion

Detroit Red Beets

Blue Dwarf Kale

Swiss Chard 

Carrots

Curly Parsley

Fava Beans

Strawberries

Mustard Greens

Bacon Avocados

We made carrot noodles last night and I ate some of the strawberries this morning.

There is just so much, I feel a little bit overwhelmed! I don't know where to start with all of these beautiful leafy greens!

Any ideas??

#RawWeek2013

Source: Uploaded by user via LaTache on Pinterest

I am teaming up with Stephanie from BEAUtiful Mess for #RawWeek2013

One day down, six more to go!

I have been contemplating doing some sort of a cleanse for a while now, especially after the fun spring break we had where we ate and drank our way through. I consulted my great friend Melissa, with RNL, and she even guest posted for me about cleansing and detoxing at home. This guest post got me really thinking thinking about it. At the beginning of last week, Rich was out of town so I figured I would eat mainly raw meals since I knew he wouldn't be totally on board with it, and salads are a great one person meal. It was a lot easier than I thought. I just made big garden salads and added lots of yummy toppings: carrots, snap peas, beans, radishes etc - all kinds of good stuff!

So when I saw that Stephanie was doing and entire week of Raw, I figured, what the heck?! 

So here it goes!

On Sunday, I meal planned for the week. I decided what both Rich and I would like. This can be a challenge because when it comes to food we aren't too picky, but the things I don't like he likes and vice versa. (And no, I am not making separate meals for him...He can make his own breakfast and lunch and what we have for dinner will be what I make and it will be Raw :-) ) I also wanted to chose meal items that we either (a) had already, (b) wouldn't be too hard to find or (c) wouldn't cost us an arm and a leg to buy and we could use again.

Oh and we don't have a juicer or a dehydrator which crossed out quite a few options!

After I planned the meals, thank you pinterest (my raw board), I headed to the grocery store and bought the food that we would have for the first part of the week. Our complex offers fruit and veggie boxes that are grown and prepared locally for $17! Which is a total steal - with the boxes containing enough to feed 2 families for a week! Ahhmazing!

After the grocery store, I prepped and stored our dinners for Monday and Tuesday. I, honestly, was shocked at how quick and easy the entire process was - thankfully!

Honestly, I accepted this challenge and was a bit worried that it was going to be really tough to complete. I know it is only Monday night, so I can't say too much, but I am pleasantly surprised at how easy this has been!

However, let me be honest....I accidentally cheated...if you can call it cheating...I ate nuts and seeds that had been roasted and I had beans in my lunch salad today, and I didn't realize that it wasn't 'raw' until after I consumed it, thought about it for a minute and googled it. But I will not let this get me down...I will just make sure not to do it for the rest of the week!

Check out what I ate on Monday here!

Join us!
#RawWeek2013

Spring Break Part I

The little over a week of Spring Break was absolutely amazing!

We drove all over California - literally.

We saw Family and Friends.

We spent the long Easter Weekend in Oregon

---

Thursday morning, we drove up north for less than 24 hours...

Yes...it was a long day, but it was beautiful weather and great to see my parents and brothers - we even squeezed in a high school JV baseball game against our rival high school - I am so proud of my little broski!

Rich's parents visited for the night, on Friday, and we made delicious deep dish pizza!

deep dish pizza

family time

---

On Saturday we headed to San Diego for some friend, baby and cousin time! :-)

On Saturday night we went out in the Gaslamp District with Rich's cousin.

I think we had a little too much fun..

We decided to do our own little "bar crawl"

Ra

Barleymash - where we met two sad Gonzaga fans...

Searsucker - where I got stepped on by a giant

The Tipsy Crow - where we were invited to a wedding by a bride at her bachellorette party

The Field - where we drank Irish Coffees (and lots of water)

and we ended at Dennys - haha

The first weekend was a whirlwind, but it was so much fun!

This was only the beginning of our great week ahead!

SPD: Italian Garlic Bread with Gorgonzola

This is my first time linking up with Saw it. Pinned it. Did it.

I was hanging out and perusing pinterest and found this recipe.

Source: daydreamkitchen.com via LaTache on Pinterest

My mouth instantly began to water.

I knew I had to make it.

It too me a while to put this together.

Its kind of hard to do!

Anyway, this was a total hit!

We ate this bread along with some wine.

Rich said that it could be served at a restaurant, it was that good!

I added all of the herbs in the recipe(and all dried): parsley, oregano and basil.

It is cheesy and perfect!

Guest Post

Good Morning All!!

Happy Friday!!

Has it felt like the longest week to anyone else??

My great friend, who guest posted for me here, asked me to guest post for her yesterday! 

Check it out!

Weir Homemade was featured on his website.

In this post, I discussed our eating habits as well as some helpful tips in the kitchen!

I also posted a new recipe!

I hope you all have a nice, relaxing, fun and fabulous weekend to look forward to!

Smiling is Good for Your Teeth Food Blog!

Good Morning All,

Merry Monday!

I have created a new blog for all of our Food, Recipe and Restaurant adventures!

Check it out and enjoy!

Veggie Menu (Week 11)

 Monday: Hot & Sour Soup

I wasn't feeling all that great, so my sweet hubster went down to get me some yummy soup!

I am so lucky!

Tuesday: Grilled Vegetarian Paella with Basil-Tomato Slaw

This was really tasty! 

It definitely took a long time though...

Of this recipe, I didn't use fennel, but I used all of the rest of the veggies listed and for the "slaw" I didn't have Chinese Black Vinegar. (I did add about a teaspoon of soy sauce, though.)

I only used 2 cups of rice and there was a ton leftover! 

Wednesday: Leftover night...

Leftover Polenta from last week, Hot & Sour soup and Veg Paella!

We ate a lot...

This was a short week...
More recipes to come next week!

Veggie Menu (Week 10)

Lunches: Quinoa Veggie Burgers

These are tasty! 

I didn't have any zucchini or cornstarch...and they still turned out tasty!

Monday: Black Bean Burrito Bake 

I liked these, but probably wouldn't make them again.

Rich isn't a big fan of corn...
And instead of just corn, I used the corn and chili salsa from TJ.
Tasty and add more flavor!

Tuesday: Everything but the Kitchen Sink Pasta

Pasta

2 cloves of garlic

1 Shallot

1/2 cup of chopped sun dried tomatoes

1/2 cup of chopped artichoke hearts

1 red bell pepper

Red Wine Vinegar & EVOO - enough to make a light sauce

Salt & Pepper & Red Chili Flakes to taste

Boil the pasta according to the package and mix everything together and serve!

This would be really tasty with some feta cheese on top!

We had to make/use what we had in the fridge, so I through everything together and created a pasta dish

It was tasty and light

Definitely good for a warm summer night!

Wednesday: Tuna and Chickpea Salad With Pesto

This was pretty tasty. 

We didn't add any olives.

Another light, summer meal.

I sliced a few pieces of bread, drizzled it with EVOO added a dash of salt and pepper and toasted them - definitely delicious with this salad.

Thursday: Fontal Polenta with Mushroom Sauté
I made this at the beginning of our meatless menu.
The polenta is delicious!!

Friday:  Kale Avocado Wraps w/ Spicy Miso-Dipped Tempeh.

I had to go into a Japanese Market to find the While Miso.
Everything was in Japanese and I still found it!
I am quite proud of myself!
We really liked this!
It is hearty but not heavy.
The Miso dressing is tasty!
And we used the Chile & Onion Tortillas from TJ. Next time I may get a different wrap.
They were good!
(We had to eat them like tacos...)

Saturday: We went out to dinner
Swate Night :-)
(Sweeter Date Night)
Milo Olive
Delicious pizza and you must get the garlic knot!
We are going to make this on our own...I'll let you know how it goes!

Sunday:  Barley and Sweet Potato Pilaf
 Sadly, I had to use chicken broth.
And we topped it with Parmesan Cheese.
I found that I had to add a lot more liquid than what was listed in the recipe.
Keep an eye on it and add water if it starts to stick to the bottom.
Stir occasionally.

Also, I used Sweet Potatoes...not yams...
I am going to do some research on the difference because it is one of my pet peeves when I make something that calls for sweet potatoes, so I get sweet potatoes and then you look at the pictures and they are using yams!
EEEK! ;-)
(Yes, this is my issue now and YES I do feel blessed!;-))

Cheers!

Veggie Menu (Week 9)

Monday: Tofu Tostadas

How I made them:

I used the Trader Joe's Chile & Onion tortillas, popped them in the toaster oven and toasted them.

We grated extra sharp cheddar cheese and put black beans (that we re hydrated), red bell peppers, spinach and avocado. I then made a little dressing to put on top - some salsa, red wine vinegar salt and pepper - and I drizzled that on top!

It was tasty!

Tuesday: Spaghetti, Garlic Bread & Salad

I used the sauce from this recipe

We had our friends over for dinner and they have 3 small children. I figured that you can't go wrong with garlic bread, salad and spaghetti in a marinara sauce.
I was wrong...ha!
It was hit among the adults, but too spicy for the kiddos...oops!
They ended up eating noodles with butter, EVOO, salt & pepper
They LOVED the garlic bread, though!

Wednesday: We had leftover pasta from Tuesday

Thursday: Gratinéed Ricotta and Spinach Gnocchi
This was really tasty!
We actually made the gnocchi on Wednesday and put it all together on Thursday.
I think if I was to make it again, I would add garlic to it, it seemed to be 'missing' something.

Friday: I was in Denver for work.
I ate at the hotel restaurant Zink
The food here was delicious!
This was the first time I had ever eaten at a restaurant by myself.
It was glorious!
I didn't have to entertain anyone buy myself and I didn't have to keep conversation with anyone.

My international ginger ale...

Lemon Drop and Caesar Salad

Champagne and Dessert 

Red Wine & Spaghetti

Saturday: Gemelli Salad with Green Beans, Pistachios, and Lemon-Thyme Vinaigrette
This was also very tasty!
We, sadly, did not have any parmesan cheese..Oh well, it was tasty non the less!

Sunday: We were at Disneyland (Post about that later this week)

Veggie Menu (Week 8)

Tuesday: Lasagna Rolls with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

This was delicious! 

1st thing...Don't use your microwave...

(Tune in tomorrow for the reasons!)

#2...IF you do, don't ever, ever, ever, ever! cover your food in plastic wrap!

Anyway, the sauce was delicious! And the 'stuffing' was delicious as well! 

I boiled 8 lasagna noodles and I had 1 extra because I ran out of the stuffing. Maybe I over stuffed them or I didn't make enough?

We each ate two and it was delicious! Rich definitely enjoyed dinner!

Wednesday: Four Cheese White Pizza

This was delicious! I added some tomatoes and onions (because we had it left over in the fridge) to half of the pizza. Rich liked that half better than the plain half. What I put on it is from this recipe and I added some balsamic to the mix as well.

Thursday: We had raviolis....We ended up going to a YWCA event and needed something quick.

Friday: We went to the Fresh Corn Grill and then out for drinks.
Fresh Corn Grill was delicious! So fresh and tasty!

Rich got a beer and I got a Lemon Drop...yes this is the least fancy Lemon Drop ever made...ha!

Saturday: Wokcano - Santa Monica
I was less than impressed..I wouldn't recommend this place...

Sunday: Brown Butter Gnocchi with Spinach and Pine Nuts
This was very tasty!
How I made it...
I used basil gnocchi from Cost Plus and instead of using pine nuts (because those are pricey!) we used walnuts. And we also added some Black Truffle Oil.
We ate this without the Truffle Oil and then decided to add it about half way in and it was tasty without the oil, and even better with it! YUM!

Veggie Menu (Week 7)

Love this quote!

Monday: Three-Cheese Pasta Bake

This was good, kinda boring.

I accidentally deleted the pictures off of my phone ;-(

I would probably add garlic and maybe veggies to this dish to liven it up!

Tuesday: Vegetable Enchiladas

These were very tasty!

I used the Trader Joe's Enchilada sauce - delicious!

I don't like Olives and Rich isn't a big fan of corn...so we substituted for Tofu instead ;-)

The spinach mixture was delicious! I think I didn't use enough. If we make this again, I would ad a ton of spinach!

Wednesday: Creamy Avocado Pasta Sauce Recipe

Honestly, I didn't really like this.

It was essentially guacamole on noodles. While the noodles were cooking we actually after the "sauce" with tortilla chips...ha!

And I didn't really like the tomatoes. (I told you I don't like tomatoes, right? Well I am still learning...)

Rich didn't mind it! And it sure looked pretty!

Thursday: Roasted Asparagus and Tomato Penne Salad with Goat Cheese

We made this delicious dish again! Yum!! Sooo tasty!

Friday:  Leftovers!
Whatever we didn't eat, got tossed since we were gone for the long weekend.

Saturday: Salmon (made by my lovely Mother in Law!)

Sunday: Salmon...again...(Made by my beautiful Mother!)

Monday: Fish Tacos (Made by my beautiful Mother!)

Veggie Menu (Week 6)

Monday we ate leftovers :-)

Tuesday: Was Rich's big event downtown! I am so proud of him! We got home very late, so we just had raviolis from costco. We added zucchini and made a yummy sauce of ricotta cheese and balsamic vinegar to go on it, it was very tasty!

Wednesday: We went out in West Hollywood at Dan Tana's Italian Restaurant! We went out to celebrate the end of Rich's summer contracting job!

Thursday: Ricotta Stuffed Spinach and Broccoli Pizza Pie

This was amazing!

So, as you may notice, I get the recipe and then alter it to what we have in the fridge as well as to what our taste buds like!

We had some basil that needed to be eaten, so I chopped up some basil with the spinach and sauteed it. 

Soo delicious with the basil! Yum!

And I added some red onions to the insides as well!

We used the herb pizza dough from Trader Joe's - best things ever!

I didn't bake it in the pie pan because, well, I didn't read the directions and had already started using the pizza stone (And I hate doing dishes, so I wasn't about to dirty the pizza stone for no reason! HA!)

This was delicious! I would absolutely recommend making this!

Friday: Roasted Asparagus and Tomato Penne Salad with Goat Cheese

This was also amazing!

It was so light and perfect for summer! 

I didn't add the olives, because I don't like olives...ha!

And we used an herb goat cheese from Trader Joe's -- yummm!

Saturday: Spiced Black Bean, Grilled Avocado, and Goat Cheese Tacos
The grilled avocado were amazing! Definitely recommend making these!
The tacos....not my favorite.
They were tasty and the spices were great. It was hard to get them ground fine enough to not have kernels...so if you already have the spices ground, use that!
I think they would have tasted much better in corn tortillas, but we used the chile & onion ones from Trader Joes - if you haven't had these, you haven't lived...

Sunday: Pasta With Marinated Tomatoes and Mozzarella
This wasn't my favorite dish either...
I did however, forget the most important ingredient...basil! WHAT?! Oops!
I felt like this was too hard to eat - you couldn't get it all on your fork in one bite!
In the marinating, I also added the balsamic reductions, about a teaspoon - which was very tasty!

This whole "eating more veggies" thing is making our menu so much more interesting!

We love it! 

Veggie Menu (Week 3)

Monday: Leftovers

Monday is Yoga, so we eat late and there is no time for a big, elaborate meal..
And we aren't complaining - those enchiladas were awesome!

Tuesday: Kale-Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms

These were awesome!
However, they weren't enough. I only made 2.
Now I just need to come up with something to make with these and have on the side...Maybe potatoes?
Again, I used my own "panko"

Wednesday: Basil Pesto Risotto
This is one of Rich's favorites!
He asked what we were having for dinner and told him Baby Bella & Kale Casserole and he says "Oh, I wanted to have the basil pesto.." So that is what I made :-)
I added scallions because we had those in the fridge and needed to eat them!
They definitely added something yummy to the mix!

this is the leftovers I had for lunch the next day - we were to hungry not to dig in!

Thursday: Baby Bella and Kale Casserole

This was good, and as you can see from the picture, I really only got the idea from the recipe and I totally made it my own!
I didn't use shells, because we had penne.
And I added potatoes because we had them in the fridge and they needed to be eaten.
Also when I sauteed the onion, garlic and kale, I added some chicken stock and white wine (I loved that flavor from the stuffed mushrooms.
I thought I had ricotta cheese, and definitely didnt, so we didn't use ricotta, we used mozzarella and Parmesan.
It was really tasty!
I really like the texture of the kale, Ricc isn't the biggest fan :-(

So as you can see, I really just got the idea from the recipe and then ran with it and made my own dish!
It was tasty!

Friday: Fontal Polenta with Mushroom Sauté
(This one is for you: Grammy Spring! :-D)

OMG This was absolutely delicious!
(Found the recipe on pinterest and had to make it!)
Again, we used chicken broth, because that is what we have.
And I also added zucchini & squash to the mushroom saute because we had some in the fridge and they needed to be eaten. I also added white wine to the saute.

This was absolutely scrumptious!

Saturday was Rich's Vet event and we ordered way too much food, so we had leftovers Saturday night and Sunday...

Veggie Menu (Week 2)

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday: Mustard Roasted Salmon, Herbed Basmati Rice, Roasted Brussels Sprouts
This meal was delicious!
Simply, delicious!
I loved the rice!!
We added some garlic & onion powder to the Brussels Sprouts which made them taste delicious!
I have never made salmon or Brussels Sprouts before.
The salmon came out delicious and the Brussels Sprouts were tasty, I think that they could have been taken out a bit sooner, they were very soft inside. I am not sure if that is how they are supposed to be...?

Overall, I recommend this dish!

Wednesday: Thai Pizza with Broccoli, Mushrooms & Red Peppers
This was very tasty!
We made a few personalized updates to this recipe based on ingredients that we had/have
We used the leftover sauce from this recipe. It was almost the exact same sauce recipe.
We also used green bell peppers and the garlic & herb pizza dough from Trader Joes.
It was very tasty!!

(Sorry for the picture..I forgot to take a picture after it came out of the over..so this is my leftover lunch :-))

Thursday: Mediterranean-Style Rotini with Toasted Garlic Panko
This was very good!
We made a few changes to this as well, again, based on what we had in our pantry :-)
I roasted cherry tomatoes in the oven at 375* in EVOO and my balsamic reduction, and added that to the mix.
We used chicken broth, not vegetable broth (bad veggie eater...bad bad!)
Also I made my own bread crumbs... just took some old/stale bread and threw it in the food processor with some EVOO, salt, pepper and garlic..it was good and I loved the bread crumb addition to this pasta dish, don't go without if you can!

the finished product!

The basil really added a lot of flavor! (to be honest, I think I added too much...ha!)
This was tasty, very flavorful and pretty easy!

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday Snack: Grain-Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites

These are delicious! And the perfect treat!

I even used bulk beans that I soaked!

Saturday: Bourbon Mango Pulled Summer Squash Sandwiches

This is definitely a sandwich I will be making again!

We made these without the bourbon, because, honestly, I don't have any - and I totally forgot to add the vanilla extract. Oops!

And we also left out the mango, because, well, Rich doesn't like fruit.

I also added some sliced onions to the mix of squash and zucchini. 

Yum!

Without all of these items, they were still delicious!

These were finger licking good :-)

Sunday: Sweet Potato and Tofu Enchilada in a Mole Sauce

Oh. My. Gosh.
Ahhhmazing!
We had guests over and made this and it was fabulous!
However, it did take a while because I forgot to cook the potatoes before hand, so I was running around the kitchen getting everything ready. Fortunately, you don't need to potatoes until the last step, so you can prep and cook everything else while the potatoes cook and cool.

The inside of the enchilada!
The tofu is from Trader Joe's, we didn't use chipotle chili powder or cloves because well, we are on a budget and that s**t is expensive! We were not about to break the bank for 2 spices that we were going to use a pinch of. And to be honest, you couldn't even tell!
We used the Chile & Onion Tortiallas from Trader Joe's - they are the best, if you haven't tried them, you haven't lived.
And we used feta cheese. I love feta cheese!
This was sooo good!

I also made quinoa, as per the directions and I made this bean dip that was delicious!
Bean Dip: I took a can of black beans and a couple tablespoons of salsa from the fridge and put it in the food processor and then pureed it until it was smooth.

I made guacamole (2 avocados, and a couple of table spoons of salsa from the fridge mixed together) and this bean dip for the snacks before dinner was made to enjoy with chips.
The bean dip was awesome and then I served it along-side the quinoa and the enchiladas - it was sooo tasty!

Buon Appetito