Italian-Style Smoky Garlic Bean Dip Recipe and Saucy Mama Giveaway!
Posted: February 28, 2012 Filed under: Contests, Food, Giveaways, Recipes | Tags: appetizer, basil, beans, cannelli beans, challenge, cheese, cooking, easy, foodblog, garlic, garlic mustard, giveaway, healthy, italian, low-cal, mustard, olive oil, parmesan, recipe, roasted pepper, roasted red peppers, skinny mama, snack, tomato, vegetables 23 Comments »***** Voting is open for this contest. Please follow this link and click “Vote” when you get there! It just takes one click!!*****
If you see me walking under any ladders, opening any umbrellas indoors, crossing paths with any black cats, or breaking any mirrors, stop me. Please.
I really don’t care how you do it. Call out my name. Yell and scream at me. Tackle me, even. Just make sure you stop me.
Because I am having quite the streak of good luck lately… and I could get used it.
What am I talking about, you ask?
Well, first there was the Soup Challenge, for which you all so kindly voted my Chickpea Minestrone into second place, and now I have my chance to compete for the judges in two weeks.
Then there was the interview on Flavorful World, where Anthony had such wonderful, glowing things to say about Food for Thought that I was blushing reading it!
And then yesterday I found out that had I won the internal poll of the Marx Foods East Meets Delicious contest for my Green Bean “Fries” and Asian Veggie Burgers!
I’m on a roll baby! I think a trip to Vegas another contest entry is in order!
As luck would have it (heh) Saucy Mama is hosting the Skinny Mama Cooking with Mustard contest right now. And I’m a contestant ;)
For this challenge, bloggers are charged with creating a diet-friendly, quick, easy-to-recreate recipe using at least one of the Saucy Mama Mustards. They sent us a variety of mustards, including Saucy Mama Tarragon Lemon Mustard, Dijon Mustard, Champagne Honey Mustard, Chipotle Mustard, Smoky Garlic Mustard, and Suzie’s Yellow Mustard.
I decided to make my very own “100 calorie pack” of Italian-Style Smoky Garlic Bean Dip using – you guessed it – the Saucy Mama Smoky Garlic Mustard!
Soup Challenge Recap!
Posted: March 18, 2011 Filed under: Events, Food | Tags: challenge, cooking, foodblog, soup 18 Comments »I know, I know. It’s about time I tell you about the New England Country Soup Challenge, right? Here’s my recap of the event!
Let’s start from the beginning of the weekend….
My mom picked me up on Friday afternoon and we made the drive up to the Boston area. We arrived just in time for Boston’s rush hour… which is a stroll in the park compared to NYC! We checked into A Cambridge House Inn at Porter, the accommodations the New England Country Soup team arranged for us, and were ready for some dinner.
We waited what seemed like an eternity for a cab to show up, but was probably more like 30 minutes, (you’re not in Kansas NYC anymore, Dorothy) and headed to the highly recommended Grafton Street Pub.
This happened to be the perfect pick for me and my mom. It was mom’s birthday, and all she wanted was some Boston seafood, and I wanted… well, anything but seafood. Luckily this place accommodated our needs perfectly. Mom got the Seared Day Boat Scallops with butternut squash puree, and I got the Toasted Chickpea Burger with yogurt cucumber sauce and grilled naan. We treated ourselves to a delicious Apple Cobbler with Cinnamon Ice Cream for dessert.
Everything was totally delicious! I would definitely recommend the Grafton Street Pub to anyone in the Caimbridge area! The food was all amazing, and the atmosphere is perfect for a low key gastro-pub kind of meal.
We walked around the area after dinner, which included checking out the huge used book section of the Harvard Bookstore. The used cookbook section was awesome! I couldn’t help but buy one on the way out. The Mayo Clinic Cookbook, to be exact.
The cab ride back to the hotel miraculously took half the time as it had taken us to get there…. I’m thinking the first cab driver knew we were from out of town since we were coming from a hotel, so he added a little extra driving time to the route. (Maybe it’s not so different from NYC afterall…).
We got back to the hotel and I fell asleep immediately. I had a big day coming up!
Today is the LAST DAY….
Posted: February 13, 2011 Filed under: Giveaways | Tags: challenge, giveaway 2 Comments »…to vote for me in the Soup Challenge. Please go vote! CLICK HERE I promise I’ll stop bothering you after today!
It’s also the last day to enter my Green Giant Giveaway…. go for it!
I’ll be back later with a yummy new cupcake recipe. In the meantime, go vote!
Green Giant Giveaway
Posted: February 11, 2011 Filed under: Food, Giveaways | Tags: challenge, cooking, foodblog, giveaway, Green Giant, MyBlogSpark, vegetables 25 Comments »
In the past two days, I have received two tickets. But I haven’t seen one police officer. Strange? I think so.
Let me explain.
The first ticket was actually received by an intermediary: my mom. Apparently, in December I ran a red light. And one of those creepy Big Brother traffic cameras snapped a picture. The ticket was delivered straight to my mom’s front door, addressed to me. Sneaky.
The second? A parking ticket. Covertly left on my windshield while I was in class. When I returned to my car, I could see the obnoxious orange paper from a mile away. But there wasn’t a police officer in the vicinity.
See what I’m saying?? Clearly this is some sort of conspiracy. The police are blatantly avoiding me.
The only thing that I can deduce from this “coincidence” is that I am being watched. In fact, I believe they are monitoring this very blog. They must know that I am not above a good bribe, so they’re not even sending their best men to deal with me.
No, they’re not taking any chances. The word is out about my bribing ways, and the NYPD has embraced it. And now, so have I. I figure, if the NYPD can use it to their advantage, then I may as well benefit from it, too.
Which is precisely where today’s giveaway comes in.
Thai Tofu Vegetable Soup with Rice Noodles
Posted: February 9, 2011 Filed under: Food, Recipes | Tags: carrot, challenge, chicken broth, cooking, dinner, ethnic, foodblog, garlic, ginger, lime, lime juice, mushroom, olive oil, pepper, portabella, recipe, red pepper, rice noodles, soup, soy sauce, thai, tofu, vegetable broth, vegetables, vegetarian 12 Comments »
When people ask me where I went to college, I answer with a mildly vague “upstate NY,” hoping that it’s enough to satisfy them. It’s not that I’m embarrassed or anything. I would answer more specifically, but I know it’s useless. Of the ten million times I have answered with “Potsdam,” a total 2 people have ever heard of it.
So instead I give my vague answer, and I wish that it’s sufficient. It never is. It would be really great if it was one time, because it would save me from having the following conversation. Again.
So, where did you go to college?
Upstate NY.
Oh, me too! Where?
Potsdam.
Never heard of it… where’s that?
It’s way upstate. Like as far as you can go.
Oh, like Buffalo?
No, farther north than that but in the other direction.
Like near Syracuse?
No, 2 ½ hours north of that. About 20 minutes from the Canadian border.
Oh.
And it’s true. The closest landmark that anyone not from upstate NY can relate to Potsdam is Canada. In fact, we were so nearby to Canada, that we would travel over the border to take advantage of the lower drinking age there was a lot of Canadian influence around campus.
It was not uncommon to see Canadian flags being flown from dorm room windows, to hear people adding “eh?” to the end of their sentences, or to be offered Labatt Blue at a party.
White Bean Bruschetta Soup with Rosemary & Olive Oil Croutons
Posted: October 24, 2010 Filed under: Food, Recipes | Tags: balsamic vinegar, beans, bread, bruschetta, cannelli beans, challenge, chicken broth, croutons, dinner, easy, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, onion, rosemary, soup, white beans 25 Comments »
When sharing a little 600 square foot apartment, you learn how to distinguish what you really want from what you really need. You only buy what’s absolutely necessary. You hold off on getting anything that will take up a lot of space. You make do with what you have…
…in the Land of Make Believe.
In real life, you cram. You cram your sweaters and jackets into huge Tupperware containers and shove them under the bed during the summer. You cram up all of your college textbooks and old stuffed animals into boxes and store them in your storage unit parents’ basement (thanks, mom!). And you cram your boyfriend’s clothes onto one closet shelf and take the rest for yourself. (You might have to repeat that last step a few times. He may think he is entitled to more than one shelf. Don’t worry. He’ll learn.)
What you don’t do is deprive yourself. You never know when you’ll need that panini maker, or when that fifth pair of super cute boots will come in handy. Read the rest of this entry »
Mediterranean Dinner Cruise
Posted: October 3, 2010 Filed under: Food | Tags: appetizer, brie, challenge, cookies, dinner, ethnic, french, ghoriba, greek, israeli, italian, meatballs, moroccan, party, pita, project food blog, tapas, tortilla, turkish, tzatziki 28 Comments »
All Aboard!
We cordially invite you (yes, you!) to join us aboard the luxurious PFB Mediterranean Princess for a once in a lifetime culinary experience. Using never before seen technology, we have devised a way to visit seven Mediterranean countries in just three short hours!
Chicken and Ricotta Meatballs in Broth
Posted: September 13, 2010 Filed under: About me, Food, Recipes | Tags: challenge, cheese, chicken, chicken broth, easy, lemon, nutmeg, parmesan, project food blog, ricotta, spinach, thyme 32 Comments »You know those people that like to play games just for the sake of entertainment? People that say “it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.” Or “everyone’s a winner as long as they have fun.” They don’t keep score in Scrabble. They let other people bowl during their turn. They root for players on the opposite team.
Well, those people are just plain crazy. Of course it matters if you win or lose! Why else would you play? My motto is more along the lines of “There’s no crying in baseball!” a la Tom Hanks than “Everyone’s a winner blah blah blah.”
If you couldn’t already tell, I am more than a little competitive. I can turn even the most personal, introspective, or meditative activities into contests.
Like yoga. I love yoga. But I must admit, half the fun is trying to beat the other people in the class. I want to bend farther than the girl next to me. Hold my pose longer than the man in front of me. Keep my leg straighter than the woman behind me. It’s a sickness.
I’m Famous… See my Guest Post on Steff Says!
Posted: June 28, 2010 Filed under: About me, Food | Tags: challenge Leave a comment »The day has finally come…. I’m famous! Don’t worry, I won’t forget all the little people on my way up.
Ok, ok, so maybe I’m not quite famous (and maybeee that’s just my head pasted on Heidi Klum’s body), but I am featured today on Steff Says in a guest Five Ingredient Challenge post. Check it out here!
And don’t forget to check back tomorrow for a yummy new recipe. (I’ll give you a hint: it’s round, chewy, and chocolate chip-y.) You won’t want to miss it. See you then!
Apple Streusel Bars
Posted: June 23, 2010 Filed under: Food, Recipes | Tags: apple, baking, challenge, cinnamon, crumb topping, dessert, streusel, vanilla 4 Comments »What’s more American than apple pie? Nothing, that’s what. So naturally, when I learned about All Through the Year Cheer’s Fourth of July contest, I just knew I would bake an apple pie. I mean, come on, the all-American dessert on America’s birthday… how perfect is that?!
But when I got over my initial “it’s perfect, I’m perfect, yay me!” moment, I realized that nobody wants to eat hot apple pie outside on a 90° day in July. Ick. So I did some research, and found the perfect compromise. (No, no, this time it really is perfect… trust me.)
Just imagine that an apple crumb pie and a batch of brownies had babies. You would get these Apple Streusel Bars: apple pie goodness in a tote-able bar form.
