Just how small is my kitchen??

Nothing makes you feel "old" (even though I am only 26) like taking the "little" girl you used to babysit to dinner to congratulate her on her....ENGAGEMENT! So congrats to my little Lacy!!  Anyway, my point of this story is I did not cook last night. However, it did occur to me that some of you might wonder how small my kitchen is or what it looks like....since it is the title of my blog!! So I took some current pics and found some old ones taken before the remodel (and by remodel I mean new coat of paint and rearrangement of accessories....gotta work with what you've got in a duplex!).  So although my kitchen is small, it is still managable when it comes to cooking, I make due.  Sometimes I even put my cutting board on the stove for extra "counter" space (although ben hates that because he says one day the stove will be on and I will regret it....he's probably right...).  I have a few of my favorite cookbooks on the counter, ones that inspire me like Nigella Lawson's beautiful books, Paula Deen's Southern Comfort, Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" (although I have yet  to make anything from that one yet....) but my favorite is Ina Garten's "Family Style" along with all of her other cookbooks.  If you have never caught an episode of "The Barefoot Contessa" on the foodnetwork, I encourage you to catch an episode or two.  She makes roast chicken seem like the most special meal!  Anyway, I digress, my kitchen is small but I have tried to fill it with a few inspirational pieces and keep the rest functional--all the necessary equipment, the knife block, mixer, toaster, and coffee maker.  The main point is, ya gotta work with what ya got! So here it is, a few pics of my little duplex oasis, where all the cooking magic happens!

The "Remodeled" Version Circa 2011.....you can see it is only about 4 1/2 feet wide from left to right! From back to front it is around 9 feet long.

 Pre-Remodel Circa 2009 (this is what it usually looks like when we are in "cooking mode")

 And waaaay back in the day with my roommates in College.....circa 2007!

Caroline's "Favorite Meal"

Since I had dinner at Book Club last night (thank you for the delicious meal Lacey!) I don't have any new cooking pics to post today! So, I decided that I should pay homage to one of the people who inspired me to think and cook outside the box (other than my mother, Debra, my aunt, Peggy, and my grandmother, Goggie all of whom I will credit as soon as I get some pics)! She is Mary Caroline's mom, Caroline! In highschool I spent many a night at Mary Caroline's house watching tv, downloading music, and doing homework but one of my favorite things to do was to watch Caroline cook. Mary Caroline and I would plop down on the barstools and tell her about our day while we watched her create many delicious masterpieces.  Caroline taught me how to peel garlic--who knew you layed it on the cutting board and smashed it with the back of your knife!?! She taught me how to make home-made dressing and croutons and so many other creations! Watching her cook and hearing about all of her travels to other countries to take cooking classes always left me feeling inspired to make new and interesting recipes! Anyone who knows Caroline can tell you that she throws amazing parties and can make any meal feel "gourmet" and special.  One meal in particular we called "favorite meal" because it is Mary Carolines, well, favorite meal! It is a delicious meal of tortillas with medium rare flank steak and the most delicious black beans and all the fixins!  Below is a picture of us eating "favorite meal" for the last time at the old house before Caroline left the panhandle for Tyler, TX. Oh how I miss her!!  Thank you Caroline for all your inspiration!!

 Caroline's Black Beans (as I remember them, and how I make them...)
Two cans Black Beans
2 TBS light colored vinegar (white, apple cidar, redwine or whatever you have)
10 springs of Cilantro (approx) bundled together with twine
2 cloves of garlic smashed and peeled but not chopped
2 TBS sugar (or agave nectar)
Put all ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Lower beans to medium heat and let simmer approx 10 minutes.  Remove cilantro bundle and garlic cloves (I like to leave mine in, but you can remove them) and Serve!!
**Caroline if you ever read this feel free to comment with anything I might have missed or done wrong!

Below is a picture of "favorite meal" that I attempted to re-create about a year ago, it is definitely not as pretty a pic as I would intend, but I never meant for anyone other than Mary Caroline and Caroline to see it! Ha!! So here it is!

Going, Going, GREEEEEN!!

So last night our weekly "Monday Night Dinner" with my family was cancelled because my sister in-law, Macy, is really sick! Feel better Macy! My first thought was to make a salad and call it a day, but my husband interjected with a "So am I on my own for dinner" comment that made me re-think the salad idea. I decided that it was time to truly try out a vegan recipe on my unsuspecting husband and see how he liked it.  I landed on vegan pesto with spaghetti squash (for my waistline, and regular pasta for ben), roasted green beans, roasted asparagus, and a green salad. Whoa! Enough green veggies for you?? Let me preface this by saying, Ben LOVES pesto! We rarely have leftovers when I make it because we end up dipping bread into it until every last bite is sopped up! But vegan pesto? Would Ben really like this?? How will it be good without fresh salty parmesean??  So I got onto google and found several recipes for "vegan" Pesto and the parm replacement is.....Nutritional Yeast!?! What the heck is that?? Well I persevered and decided to go on a hunt for nutrional yeast along with the rest of my ingredients and decided if it was gross, we could throw our jarred tomato sauce on the dish instead. And who woulda guessed--Nutritional Yeast was actually a legit replacement for parmesean in Pesto! Ben said unsuspectingly, and I quote, "Babe, this is the best pesto you have ever made!" That is no joke people! So here it goes along with some picutres I took with my new "Hipstomatic" ap on my phone. Hope you enjoy, and for those who might actually replace parmesean with Nutritional Yeast, you can find it in the health Supplement Isle at our local grocery store.....

All good recipes begin with a glass of wine....Oh and French Music (I highly recommend '100 Classic French Songs' for 9.99 on itunes...just sayin....)

A Few Green Ingredients.....Plus a beautifully yellow spaghetti squash

Let the cooking Begin!

And Voila!! You have a beautifully green meal that even the Ben in your life will love.....(the empty one, that's Ben's actual clean plate...)

Nutrional Yeast...Now an official selection in my spice collection

Recipes...
"Vegan Pesto" (inspired by Whole Foods Recipe as well as Vegan Spoonful's recipe)

One large handful (about 2 cups loosely packed) Fresh Basil
1/2c Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2c Walnuts
4 cloves garlic (I use alot but you can use less if you are less garlic obsessed)
Juice of 1 and 1/2 lemons
1/4c Nutrional Yeast (you can use parmesean if you are on the dairy train)
Heavy  Pinch of Salt and Pepper
Put all ingredients in a food processor until a smooth-ish consistency, and there you have it, Pesto! Pour over spaghetti squash, pasta, bread, veggies, anything you desire!

Roasted Asparagus and Green Beans
One bundle of Asparagus (ends trimmed)
Handful Green Beans (ends trimmed)
1 shallot chopped
3 garlic cloves chopped
Drizzle of olive oil (2 TBS?)
Salt and pepper
Squeeze of Lemon to finish it off
Preheat Oven to 400 degrees. Put trimmed green beans and asparagus on a baking sheet and toss over the shallot and garlic, drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper--toss it all together. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes. When finished squeeze fresh lemon on top!

Crouton's/Crustini
French Bread thinly sliced on the diagonal
brush with olive oil and a fresh piece of garlic
Bake at 400 for about 5 minutes or until crisp!

Salad Dressing
3/4 c Red Wine Vinagar
1/3 c Olive Oil
3 TBS Dijion Mustard
3 TBS Agave Nectar (or more if you want it sweeter)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Mix all together in a bowl with a whisk-taste it and see if you like more or less of an ingredient! Easy as Pie!!

Entertaining BIG in a smalllllll house!

So over the weekend I threw a "Stock the Bar" themed shower for one of our best "Couple" friends! We had about 25 attendees, and in my estimation it was a BIG success! Let me preface this with the simple fact that I became a vegan for lent. Full blown--won't even eat honey--vegan! It has been an interesting few weeks to say the least.  My first inclination was how do I throw a party without cooking anything that compromises my newfound beliefs yet still please a crowd?? Well one solution was asking a few of my great friends to help bring snacks, and my other solution was to try out some new delicious "vegan" recipes and see how it worked! One recipe that was particularly delicious and a huge hit was my "veggie cold pasta salad"! Most of the recipes I found called for yummy parmesean or mozerella (which don't get me wrong would be delicious) but I decided to amp up the veggie factor and keep it clean!! I'm just now taking pics (and they are with my IPHONE) but my goal is to start making videos of my recipes! Also as a side note, I am posting these recipes as inspired by otheres I have found and putting my "vegan twist" on them!  I also tried vegan banana bread, it was also extremely delicious!  Other items included hummus and veggies, and marinated olives--YUM!! I only took a pic of the pasta salad as I was making it, and I promise in the future to be more "picture concious"!

Veggie Pasta Salad
1 box of whole wheat pasta (I used rigatonni)
1 yellow bell pepper-diced
1 cucumber-seeded and diced
1/2 of a red onion-diced
1/4c sun dried tomatos-diced
1/2c cherry tomatos-diced
3Tbs basil-chopped

Vinaigrette- (inspired by a similiar recipe posted on allrecipes.com)
Mix all ingredients together.
1 and 1/4 c of Red Wine Vinagar
3/4c of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3/4 TBS of Oregano
1/2 tsp of Crushed red pepper flakes
1/4c Agave Nectar
2 TBS dijion mustard
1 tsp ground mustard
pinch of salt and pepper to taste

Boil Pasta to al dente. Add all veggies and let chill.  Once chilled, add vinegrette. Chill overnight (or at least several hours) and try not to make it last until u need it (I loved to go "check" on it every once in a while!)

Enjoy!!

The Beginning of It all.....

So let's begin with why I am creating this blog....it is simple really! My husband is 6 weeks from graduating law school, 122 days from taking the bar, and 224 days from finding out if he has even passed it!! So although the end of this three year journey is near and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel--this wife is getting restless! In attempts to place my boredom and frustration with this process somewhere other than my husband-- one of my best friends, Emily, suggested I start a blog about all the cooking I do in a very (and I mean very) small kitchen.  So here it goes, I will share with you all my passion for cooking big in my tiny but quaint space! Let the games begin.....