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Chipotle Bloody Marys

October 17, 2013 by Erica

Chipotle Bloody Marys

It seems like forever ago that I promised you my co-worker’s Bloody Mary recipe. I hope you’ll forgive me for taking a while to get around to sharing, but I finally am! And I’m super excited about it, since I don’t often post anything boozy here. It’s always fun to shake things up a bit, right? And yes, having a brunch cocktail totally counts as shaking things up in my book. Number one partier right here!

Chipotle Bloody Marys

Not really.

If you know me, you know I’m not much of a hard alcohol lover. Though I mostly stick to beer and wine, I’ve broadened my horizons over the years, and the list of cocktails that I no longer find offensive is as follows: margaritas, mojitos, Bloody Marys. You can probably guess, given the fact that those three cocktails use three different liquors, that the alcohol is not what draws me in. Although I will say that a weak cocktail is pretty disappointing. Too bad I live in Utah, where there are laws that mixed drinks have no more than 1.5 oz of booze each. Don’t get me started on Utah liquor laws… That’s why we have to make our own Bloody Marys, people!

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Spicy Honey-Roasted Squash Seeds

October 16, 2013 by Erica

Spicy Honey-Roasted Squash Seeds

Stop! You with the stringy, goopy squash gook halfway to the trash can. Don’t throw it out!

Save that stuff. Save it in a bowl in your fridge all fall so you can procrastinate making this recipe until a lazy Saturday afternoon when you finally work up the courage to submerge your hands in a cold bowl of squash gook.

On second thought, maybe just clean the seeds right up front and save a bowl of clean squash seeds in your fridge for when you want a snack on a lazy Saturday afternoon. Do as I say, not as I do.

Spicy Honey-Roasted Squash Seeds

But let’s back up for a second. Many people are familiar with roasting pumpkin seeds, especially after carving a pumpkin this time of year. But did you know you can do the same thing with the seeds of any other squash? If you’re like me, you cook with other types of squash much more often than pumpkin. And I love the seeds. Other than cleaning them, they are possibly the best part!

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Green Curry Stuffed Peppers

October 14, 2013 by Erica

Green Curry Stuffed Peppers

Hello, and happy Monday to you!

Some recipes I have a lot to say about; others, not so much. This is one of the latter. The big story about this recipe is that a version of it has been on my idea list for quite some time – about a year – and when I got a massive amount of green peppers in my CSA box, I decided to finally try it out. It would have been almost irresponsible not to, you know? So… I made it.

The end?

Green Curry Stuffed Peppers

No, of course that’s not the end. That would leave you with far too many pictures of peppers and far too little of my sass for one day.

Although maybe it’s the peppers, not the sass, that you’re after.

Lucky for you, I’m not sure I have anything too sassy to say today. More pictures of peppers it is!

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Cranberry Pumpkin Smoothie

October 11, 2013 by Erica

Cranberry Pumpkin Smoothie

I conceded early defeat in my annual battle against the utility bill when I turned on our heat this past weekend. Usually, I like to play a game called “how long can we go without turning the heat on,” and last year I made it to November. October just seems like a ridiculous time to need a heater – yes there is snow in the mountains, but we were running the A/C less than a month ago! But I realized last year when November’s gas bill totaled all of $10.75 that I needn’t have held out so long. Pretty sure I would have payed $10.75 to not be so cold when getting out of the shower any morning last October!

So why an October smoothie? Well, to be frank, although I crave a hot breakfast in the cooler months, a meal of hot coffee + hot granola makes me break out in a sweat, heat or no heat. The only solution is to take off my fuzzy bathrobe and eat breakfast in my undies, which can get awkward now that our kitchen table is RIGHT ACROSS from our neighbors’ window. I think we’ll be sticking to smoothies for a while so I can enjoy my breakfast without flashing the nice couple next door.

Cranberry Pumpkin Smoothie

I also happen to have about two dozen frozen bananas in a Ziploc in my freezer. I’ve mentioned Nate’s banana preferences before – no green, no go – and sometimes I just can’t manage to consume all the remaining bananas in the bunch that have dared to develop a single brown spot. Into the freezer they go. I always mean to whip up some banana bread, but in terms of gradually chipping away at the ever-icier frozen banana supply, smoothies are the way to go.

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Mashed Butternut Squash

October 9, 2013 by Erica

Mashed squash may not be the most romantic-sounding dish. This I know. But trust me, it is up there with the tastiest!

Each week for my CSA, I get an email containing a few recipes for this week’s ingredients. This was one such recipe, and I knew immediately I had to try it. It sounded quite similar to the spiced butternut squash soup I made last winter – one of my favorites. Butternut squash, onions, apples and spices in yet another spoonable form? Yes please!

These are the squashy version of mashed potatoes. And if you like mashed potatoes, let me tell you how you will feel about mashed squash: you will FREAK OUT. Unlike potatoes, with butternut squash there’s no need to add cream (just a little bit of butter!), because it already has plenty of moisture. Instead, the focus is on flavor. Apples and onions and maple syrup, oh my! Plus a hint of warm spices to round out the dish and make it absolutely heavenly. Seriously. I swoon every time I reheat a serving of these. They are just THAT good.

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