BSI Couscous Roundup
Posted: January 30, 2011 Filed under: BSI, Food, Recipes | Tags: BSI, cooking, couscous, foodblog, recipe 12 Comments »I know that you’re thinking.
Wow, two posts in one day? It must be a slow day in Dana’s world.
In fact, it’s quite the opposite! Not only did we host a fun dinner party as part of Foodbuzz’s 24×24 last night, AND I hosted this week’s BSI (roundup in a second… be patient), today Jake and I celebrated our third date-aversary with a delicious brunch at Norma’s!
I know you’ll thank excuse me if I just get to the point…. here’s this week’s yummy BSI Couscous Roundup:
Foodbuzz 24×24: Astoria – Not Just Gyros
Posted: January 30, 2011 Filed under: Food | Tags: 24x24, cooking, dinner, entertaining, foodblog, Foodbuzz, party, recipe 18 Comments »Foodbuzz 24×24: Showcasing posts from 24 Foodbuzz Featured Publisher bloggers, the monthly Foodbuzz 24 highlights unique meals occurring around the globe during a 24-hour period. “From San Francisco to Sydney, Feast on it!”
I think by now, you know know me well enough to know that I love a good challenge. From Project Food Blog to the New England Country Soup Challenge (which, by the way, you can still vote for!), I have shared enough glimpses of my competitive spirit that you would expect nothing less from me than to tackle every challenge presented to me, head on.
Naturally, when I received the email to apply for the January Foodbuzz 24×24, my competetive nature reared its ugly head. At that moment, I knew that I would apply… and do what it takes to get chosen.
My first thought was to host an apartment warming party. Jake and I recently moved to a new place, and we had yet to have our friends over to break it in. But I knew that wasn’t enough. Only 24 people would get chosen to participate. In order to be one of them, I would have to do better than your standard housewarming.
I started thinking of unique angles. A Mexican themed fiesta housewarming? Been there. A classy cocktail party? Done that. An ugly sweater housewarming? That’s so cliche.
How about a Greek themed housewarming? Afterall we do live in Astoria, Queens (aka Little Greece). Now we were getting somewhere.
So I searched for Greek recipes and ideas. I did research about Astoria. I had my whole menu and plan designed. And just as I was researching the finishing touches of my idea, I learned that Astoria is actually very diverse.
That was the angle I needed.
………………………………………………………………………………….
Last night (party night!), guests were greeted at the door with the following menu and background info:
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Hummus Deviled Eggs Recipe and MultiGrain Cheerios Giveaway!
Posted: January 27, 2011 Filed under: Food, Giveaways, Recipes | Tags: appetizer, chick peas, cooking, cumin, easy, egg, foodblog, garbanzo beans, garlic, giveaway, lime juice, paprika, parsley, recipe, snack, tahini 45 Comments »First thing’s first. Let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way. Not that it’s a bad elephant. In fact, it’s a great elephant… like Dumbo! Or Babar!
Anyway.
I changed my blog design. And I love it!
A very special thanks to Sarah Early of Dodeline Design for putting up with me creating the design. She was extremely easy to work with (aka she didn’t abandon me despite my annoyingly picky requests) and the whole process, from the time I first emailed her to the time the design was up and running, took less than two days.
And now, I will attempt to smoothly segue from my blog design to today’s giveaway:
New yellow background… yellow bananas… banana in cereal… Cheerios… MultiGrain Cheerios… MultiGrain Cheerios Giveaway!
There. Ok, maybe not so much with the smooth part, but who cares? It’s giveaway time!
Moroccan Chicken and Couscous Soup
Posted: January 25, 2011 Filed under: BSI, Food, Recipes | Tags: cayenne pepper, chicken, chicken broth, cooking, couscous, cumin, dinner, easy, ethnic, foodblog, moroccan, onion, parsley, recipe, soup, spicy, sweet potato, tomato, vegetables, zucchini 27 Comments »
After the very first bite of this soup, I knew I had to share it with you. Not doing so would have been doing a disservice to you, to this blog, and to the very spirit of food blogging. If you are a food blogger, and you make something SO easy and delicious, you must share.
And so that’s what I’m doing today. Sharing. Like the good food blogger that I am.
Just know, that this was not an easy process. I mean, the soup itself? Easy as pie. Seriously, it’s like the easiest soup ever. Just cut up a few things throw them in the pot, sauté and boil. No pureeing. No extra pots to clean. No problem.
But the process? It was…. a process.
You see, I made this soup on a Wednesday night. And night time is just not a good time for pictures. So I figured I would take pictures of the leftovers the next day. But I work during the day. And by the time I got home on Thursday, it was dark again. And I was hungry. So I ate the rest.
Luckily, Jake said this soup was so good that he could eat it every day. Figure of speech? Maybe. But I took him literally. And made another a double batch on Sunday.
Giveaway Winner and BSI Announcement!
Posted: January 24, 2011 Filed under: BSI, Food, Giveaways | Tags: BSI, couscous, giveaway 20 Comments »Good morning lovelies!
(Didn’t that seem chipper? I’m trying to act peppy, because mornings, especially Monday mornings, are just not my time of day.)
Today we have two pieces of business to attend to.
First up, the Pillsbury Simply… giveaway winner. After a long, complicated, and tiring mathematical process (what? I plugged those numbers into random.org myself…. it took effort!), I have determined that the winner of the giveaway was the author of comment #48…
Congratulations to Amanda of Pesto Chango!
Second order of business: BSI.
For those of you who are new to the food blogosphoere (or have just never heard of it), BSI stands for Blogger Secret Ingredient. Each week a new host (in this case, me) picks an ingredient and anyone (food blogger or not) can submit a recipe utilizing that ingredient. Check out Biz’s explanation at My Bizzy Kitchen for complete details.
For this week’s BSI, I have chosen couscous as the secret ingredient! Entries can include regular or whole wheat couscous (you already know my feelings on that subject), and can be of the Moroccan, Israeli, or Lebanese variety.
Banana Nut Yogurt Parfait
Posted: January 22, 2011 Filed under: Food, Recipes | Tags: almond extract, banana, cinnamon, cooking, easy, foodblog, kid friendly, multigrain cheerios, recipe, sugar, yogurt 13 Comments »
If you’ve been diligently following this blog, by now you know that my schedule is always packed. You also know that I make lists… lots of them. Of course, these lists include all of the things I have to do each day.
Now, what you don’t know, is that my to do lists are constantly changing. I’m constantly adding items to the lists that are far more fun important.
For example, this past Thursday I had my list all ready. After work I was planning to:
- Pick Up Groceries
- Go to yoga
- Cook Dinner
- Eat
- Do laundry
- Go to Bed
Instead, I:
- Decided to build a makeshift light box to get better pictures at night
- Went to Home Depot to pick up materials
- Went to Michael’s craft store to pick up materials
- Did a quick workout DVD
- Ate leftovers at 9:00pm
- Built the light box
- Tested the light box
- Went to bed far too late
I’m sure it’s easy to glean from this abandonment of all responsibility quick change of plans that I do not have any children. Clearly this type of chaos flexibility could not exist if I did.
Ancho Chile Chicken and Hominy Stew
Posted: January 20, 2011 Filed under: Food, Recipes | Tags: chicken, chicken broth, chili powder, chilie, cooking, cumin, ethnic, foodblog, garlic, hominy, mexican, oregano, paprika, pepper, recipe, soup, spicy, stew, tomato 23 Comments »
You know those compatibility quizzes in Cosmo? The ones that rate if you and your partner have the same preferences? If you like the same things? If you have the same tastes?
Sadly, I know that if I took one, Jake and I would get a big fat F.
Why?
Because I like it hot. Like super hot. Make you sweat hot. Make you gasp hot. I really like to spice things up.
And Jake? Well, not so much. He likes it more on the mild side. He’s more of a traditionalist, if you will. Content with the same bland things.
Um, excuse me. Why are you snickering? I’m talking about FOOD here. Such dirty minds…
Cinnamon Bits Recipe and a Giveaway!
Posted: January 16, 2011 Filed under: Food, Giveaways, Recipes | Tags: baking, biscuits, bread, cinnamon, cookingr, dessert, easy, foodblog, giveaway, recipe, snack, sugar 52 Comments »
At my middle school, “Home and Careers” was a mandatory class for every student. Home and Careers was just Home Economics… except we weren’t allowed to call it that.
In an effort to be more pollitically correct, Home Ec was renamed Home and Careers, and Shop was renamed Tech. I’m not exaclty sure why those names were deemed more PC. All I know is that if you accidentally called the class Home Ec, you got a lecture. A long lecture.
I’m confident that not one student learned anything that would later be useful in their career. Unless, of course, the career in question is chef. Or 1950s housewife seamstress.
Nonetheless, we called it Home and Careers.
While my career doesn’t involve darning socks or peeling potatoes, I did take something away from the class: a recipe for Cinnamon Bits.
Rolo Cookies
Posted: January 14, 2011 Filed under: Food, Recipes | Tags: baking, candy, caramel, chocolate, cookies, cooking, dessert, foodblog, recipe, rolo 20 Comments »
It’s amazing to me how the English language works. How two little words, seemingly insignificant when alone, can make your heart flutter when they’re strung together. How two meaningless strings of letters, combined, can make someone’s day.
Take the word (contraction?) “it’s.” Say it to someone and they won’t have much of a reaction. It could be the beginning of any number of thoughts, and is pretty much meaningless on its own.
And then the word “Friday.” Just the name of a day. One of seven in the week. You’d be hard pressed to elicit any sort of reaction from someone by only saying “Friday” to them. Read the rest of this entry »
Kale and Tiny Chicken Meatball Soup
Posted: January 11, 2011 Filed under: Food, Recipes | Tags: bread crumbs, carrot, chicken, chicken broth, cooking, dinner, easy, egg, foodblog, kale, onion, parmesan, recipe, soup, vegetables 19 Comments »
It’s January 11, 2011. Just eleven days into the New Year. Eleven days since that moment.
You know the one I’m talking about. The moment when you vowed to be better. To live better. To be the best you can be.
Yes, January 1 at 12:01am was your time. Maybe it was the excitement. Or the champagne. Or that peppy Ryan Seacrest. But in that moment, you knew it was time to take the plunge.
So you vowed to eat healthier, cook more, drink more water, exercise more, sleep more, read more, make more money, save more money, spend more time with family, spend more time with friends, and pay more attention to the dog.
In fact, you were so excited about the new 2011 you, that you logged right on to twitter and tweeted your master plan to your dearest friends. All 500 of them. Read the rest of this entry »
