Having a meal at home? What a novel idea!

Ryan and I have been bad. Over the past few months we've been really busy, on vacation, and let's be honest, a little lazy. We have only cooked a handful of meals at home. Many of them consisted of our now famous "fend for yourself night" where we are both on our own for figuring out dinner. Those nights usually mean leftovers, turkey sandwiches, or eggs (and to be honest, a little karate chopping and faux-boxing). So we've been slacking.. We both enjoy eating out but it's definitely a little harder on the bank account and not very healthy.

Why am I telling you all of this? Airing out our dirty laundry? I would only reveal some of our bad habits, if it meant revealing one of our good habits! We are pretty good cooks. And we enjoy it. Yesterday on a rainy Sunday, we cooked a pretty good meal. Nothing fancy, nothing over the top.. just a nice, home-cooked meal. And we actually ate at the table. (gasp!) We have a new dining room table and it's oh so pretty. So pretty that sometimes I don't feel like setting it up for dinner when Ryan is having eggs and cereal and I'm reheating leftovers.

What started our journey back to home cooking? The grocery store(s)! Yes, this past Sunday we went to three "grocery" stores (that's a whole other post). We stocked our fridge and we were feeling inspired.

A few weeks ago I had seen a post on Smitten Kitchen (my favorite food blog) and she made a Martha Stewart dish called a Crispy Potato Roast. Deb over at Smitten Kitchen was making it for Seder as an alternative to the creamy, gloppy, gratins that are tradition. Don't get me wrong, I like a dish with cream and cheese and other tasty ingredients..but I like to save that for special occasions.

So I broke out the ole' mandolin and got to work thinly slicing potatoes and shallots. Smitten Kitchen adapted her recipe a bit from the original Martha Stewart recipe, and I adapted mine as well. To start off, I cut the recipe in half and it was more than enough for the two of us. I also added one sweet potato into the mix because it needed to be used (sneaky thing had been hiding in the bottom of the drawer).

The original recipe called for thyme, I used 4 stalks of rosemary. I also added some Old World Seasoning. Old World Seasoning is my best friend. I got it in gift basket of spices and it use it in almost everything. It has paprika, pepper, salt, parsley, turmeric, caraway, dill, and more! It's a lovely Central European blend of spices that adds a little extra something.

When it was finished baking, sprinkled some Parmesan cheese over the top. Other garnish options that would be fabulous: crumbled bacon, blue cheese, feta cheese, and green onion.


For the pork chops, I kept it simple. I lightly seasoned each side with salt, pepper, lemon zest, chopped fresh rosemary (dried will also work), a little lemon juice, and a little olive oil. I wanted to grill them outside..but Ohio weather pretty much sucks right now. So we sauteed them in a pan. To garnish, I added some fresh rosemary and a chopped lemon slice (rind and all, my mother-in-law will be proud).

For minimal money and effort, we had a tasty meal!
I am promising you all (and myself) to not get in a such a lazy cooking rut. It's just silly!

Smashed chickpea salad

In my quest for healthy recipes, I came across this recipe on Smitten Kitchen (one of my favorite food blogs) for smashed chickpea salad. She adapted her recipe from a sandwich she had at Tom Colicchio's restaurant Wichcraft. I took her recipe and adapted it to what I had in my fridge and also my new healthy lifestyle.

This recipe is sooo easy and you can really just throw whatever you want in there, whatever you think would taste good! I'm kind of obsessed with it and find myself craving it for meals. It's kind of like a deconstructed hummus (that's how Smitten Kitchen described it and I agree) in that you mash the chick peas with a potato masher or fork to get a thicker consistency but not the thickness of hummus.

Here is my adaptation of the smashed chickpea salad, inspired by Smitten Kitchen, which was inspired by Wichcraft:
1 can of chick peas, drained and rinsed
zest of one lemon and juice of one lemon
diced carrot (add as much as you like, I diced about 4 carrot sticks)
about 1 or 2 tbsp. diced red onion (add as much as you desire for this as well)
1 tsp. of capers1 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley (the first time I made it I only had dried parsley and used about 1 tsp.)
salt and pepper (to taste)
a few glugs of olive oil
a dash of White Balsamic vinegar (optional)

1. combine all ingredients
2. mash together with potato masher or fork for desired consistency
This is a really relaxed recipe, based on your personal tastes. If you want it more tangy, add more lemon juice or the white balsamic vinegar. If it seems a bit dry, add a little more olive oil. I just kept tasting until I felt it was right.

I've eaten this a few different ways- on toasted bread with spicy mustard, as a dip with crackers, and straight out of the container. :)

Blueberry Crumb Cake

I've been finding really great deals on fruit lately. Last night I was at the grocery store and blueberries were only $5 for 2 lbs. Great deal! I knew I could not eat 2 lbs. by myself but I couldn't pass it up. I thought about making more jam, but I didn't have enough jars so I scratched that idea. Before I went to the store I was reading my food blogs and Smitten Kitchen had a recent post about her blueberry crumb bars. Smitten Kitchen has the most gorgeous photos of her food and cooking process, you can even buy prints of her photos on their web site. I definitely recommend her site.
So anyway, I decided to run with the crumb bar idea and even though I had to go back to the grocery to buy eggs and more butter, it was really easy to make. I'm not much of a baker so I think next time I try this I will make the dough more crumbly. Mine was definitely not the same as her pictures and it still tastes good, they are just little dry.
I just used her recipe that she got from www.allrecipes.com. She modified it a bit so I just followed her lead.

I'm going to try and stop copying off fellow food bloggers because what's the point of that!? It's not fun to have the same post on 2 different food blogs. But these just looked so good.
And they are! A photo is to come, I only took one of the finished product.