I think it’s perfectly acceptable to have Sweet Potato Fries for dinner–especially on a Monday night. Sure you could add a side salad into the mix or even pair it with a perfectly grilled steak, but what I want on the first day of a busy week is something that’s both easy and comforting. I also don’t want to share Spicy Sweet Potato Fries with anybody else on any day that ends in Y. And that’s a true fact.
These fries have such a wonderful spice to them…at times a little too spicy…but the spice is extinguished by this cool avocado dip that’s both creamy and tangy thanks to the limes. I like it when something spicy stops me in my tracks. I like an avocado dip that makes it easier to eat things that stop me in my tracks. It’s a win/win situation here. I feel like I’ve somehow won the balancing act.
I imagine some of you might enjoy a batch of these while watching trashy TV. Yes, Mondays are hard and dinner shouldn’t have to be. This is like a step up from eating popcorn for dinner (which you know that I’m a fan of!). Now what do we drink with it? My vote’s for a Moscow Mule.
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- I’d love to do make some napkins with this DIY.
- Love plants? Here are the best indoor plants that you probably won’t kill.
- I am in love with this little video.
- The captions. OMG. This is HYSTERICAL.
- How come there isn’t a Taco Emoji on this list?!! Nachos are cool though.
- If someone showed this cake to me in person, I’d steal it and eat it all by myself.
- That drizzle of caramel going into that pie? I die.
- This is the reason why I just stared at my palm for 30 minutes.
- The shoes in the 90s were TOTALLY UGLY. I’m guilty of owning a few of them…
- NIN meets CALL ME MAYBE. Kind of in love with that.
- Mila Kunis is AMAZING.
- This Fried Ravioli recipe looks off the hook!
- I love infographics. Especially when food is involved.
- These looks are fierce! I’d rock them all.
- I’m envious of this apartment. It’s gorgeous.
- If you need a mental vacation this Friday, Danielle’s trip to India will help.
There’s a new Joy the Baker Podcast up! On
episode #86 “Farul”We talk about not managing our inbox, our thoughts St. Patrick’s Day and we answer a bunch of your questions!
My Bites Around the Net:
Plaid Skirt adapted my Maple Olive Oil Banana Bread.
Six Degrees LA made my Cheddar Cheese Bread.
TheArtFulLife made my Everyday Crepes
Snaxilicious adapted my Dark Chocolate Cake Doughnuts.
The Roasted Root made my Blueberry Yogurt Coffee Cake gluten free.
Elephant Eats made my Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt with Wine!
Candied Yans turned my Pumpkin Cake with Brown Butter Icing into cupcakes.
Snaxilicious made my Baked Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts.
Relishments made my Apple Galette.
The Misadventures of Kelly and Kelly made my Arugula Salad with Fig Balsamic.
Fresh From The… made my Cheddar Cheese Bread.
There’s one thing we’re guaranteed to have in our freezer besides Freezer Burritos and that item is WAFFLES. It’s one of the most requested breakfasts from our 4 year old. He absolutely adores them and I like making them because they’re super easy and I secretly (not so secretly) like to stockpile them. I feel good about having a surplus of waffles in our freezer. I get twitchy when I see we’re running low.
Remember how last week I tried to get him to eat Bacon Fried Rice and failed? Well, I was on a mission to use the leftover bacon and get him to like a new recipe I made. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about parenting, it’s that you should never get in the way of a determined mother. You should also never get in the way of a tired mother. Just ask my husband.
These waffles from the Weelicious Cookbook are fantastic. The melted cheddar gives them a slight chewy bite and when you get a few little chunks of bacon mixed with maple syrup it’s like a sweet & savory explosion. Finally! Two foods combined that my son likes. We have a winner with Bacon Cheddar Waffles. VICTORY. This pretty sums up how I feel about that.
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- Don’t Take Anything Personally. But it’s so easy to!
- Who has shelf envy? ME! ME! ME!
- I’m shocked to find out how many celebrities are twins! It’s fascinating.
- 19 Things That Will Always Make Me Feel Fat. It’s funny cuz it’s true (for me at least).
- I’ve never wanted to be on a rooftop so bad in my life!
- Oh..Leonardo DiCaprio…I can’t imagine how people got you to do all of this!
- This recipe for mussels looks wonderful and the video paired with it is gorgeous.
- Lies We Tell Our Children. This is hilarious/refreshing. Watch it.
- 20 Ways to Get Sugar Out of Your Life (umm stop looking at my website?)
- A new to me blog that I’m loving. Thanks Danielle for getting me into it!
- We need to quit telling lies on Facebook. (I just deleted facebook on my phone BTW!)
- I find this website totally gratifying/amusing.
- You can make cookies with coconut oil? Mind blowing!
- Have you seen Joy the Baker eat a beignet? YOU SHOULD. Makes me miss her terribly.
- TAKE BACK THE WEEKEND! Thank you Anne Sage, Thank you.
- You’ve probably already seen this, but OMG I love Jennifer Lawrence.
MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK! Episode #85 of the Joy the Baker Podcast is up! We talk beauty products & awkward bangs…and more thoughts on not liking your friend’s boyfriend.
I’m slowly diving back into reality after my trip to Mexico. This week on High Straightenence, I talk about Making Better Habits & Choices in my life. It’s time for a much needed fresh start!
My Bites Around the Net:
Coffee & Sunshine made my Roasted Rosemary Almonds.
Kitchen Adventures with Lucy made my Fig & Olive Oil Cake.
Grub with Love made my Arugula Salad with Caramelized Onions.
Delightful Crab made my Candied Citrus Peel.
Happy Wifey made my Orange Poppy Scones.
Lemon Jelly Cake made my Arugula Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash.
Magic Bullet Blog made my Vanilla Walnut Shortbread.
{Double Batch} used my No Knead Pizza Dough recipe to make a bonkers pizza!
The Hungry Red Fox made my Bell Pepper Egg in a Hole.
Pale Yellow made a chocolate version of my Vanilla Walnut Shortbread.
Dawdling Darlings made my Baked Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts.
I think I have mentioned once or twice here that my son is a PICKY EATER. That deserves all caps because that’s how I say it in my head. It frustrates me. There’s a decent sized list of food that he eats but this list is very particular. Like…if I cut one of his beloved red peppers (favorite vegetable) in a different way, he will not eat it. He has a hard time trusting that things will taste the same if they look different. He’s SUPER visual (where do you think he gets that from?). More than half the time I do things to appease his picky palate but every now and then I get really annoyed and take a stand. I WILL BE MAKING MAC & CHEESE AND YOU WILL LIKE IT, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I try…and then he still doesn’t like it! Whoever said it takes at least 15 tries for a kid to decide if they like something was full of crap.
And then sometimes I take two things that I know he likes…like bacon & fried rice and I combine them because HOW COULD ANYONE NOT LIKE BACON FRIED RICE?!! Seems logical, right? Part of me knew he would be apprehensive about the sliced onions. I know he still won’t go near eggs, but when we order Chinese Fried Rice at restaurants, he will totally eat the egg unbeknownst to him. So how did it go?
I should have trusted my gut…Kid Fail. What a crazy kid!
This Bacon Fried Rice is SERIOUSLY AMAZING. I’ve never really liked the pork in Pork Fried Rice but now that it’s replaced with bacon??! Praise the Lard! Bacon adds a delightful crispy bite that I can’t get over. Cooper, who LOOOOVES bacon didn’t appreciate that it was cut up in small pieces. He also was not down with the green onions. KIDS! Casey and I happily ate countless bowls of Bacon Fried Rice. Maybe it was a good thing we didn’t have to share.
This is going in the rotation and I will scoop out a bowl for my picky eater that doesn’t include bacon, green onions, regular onions and fun.
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When you have a child, finding a kid friendly restaurant with great food can be a challenge. That’s why we love going to Delarosa when we’re in San Francisco with Cooper. The restaurant is not too far from where my parents live in the city and it’s a very quick trip for us from Marin because it’s right off the Golden Gate Bridge on Chestnut Street. It works out well for us when we want an impromptu lunch with my parents on a weekend. We love it and the food is nothing short of exceptional.
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When I’m on vacation enjoying the local cuisine (in this case-tacos, guacamole & margaritas) sometimes I start to miss my regular eating routine. Although I’ve been known to say that I can eat Mexican food and never tire of it, I learned that in reality that’s not entirely true. My tastebuds were craving gigantic bowls of kale salads. I wanted big salads full of arugula and ones that encourage my hippie sensibilities. I needed salad like WHOA by day three of my vacation.
sidenote:
If you eat fries in Mexico, do they count as Mexican food?
Don’t answer that.
I had a salad like this at Chez Panisse last year. It’s simple, delicate and yet with the hazelnuts & shaved Parmesan it’s actually pretty hearty. It also includes a figgy balsamic that helps balance out the peppery bite of the arugula. Have you tried fig jam in a salad dressing? You should.
A salad like this gets me right back on track with my taste buds.
Tacos? I think I’ll have to wait a few days.
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- How to Lose Weight All Week. Good points!
- I think we all could benefit from a Digital Detox. Don’t you agree?
- Outfit Envy Alert! So chic!
- I admire the honesty of this post about losing weight.
- An interesting journey of freeing oneself from credit card debt.
- Best Ways to Handle a Text from the Wrong Number. Hilarious.
- 8 Small Cooking Habits That Make a Big Difference. Truth!
- Cat friend vs. Dog friend. (I’m totally cat friend!)
- I love Citrus Cocktails, don’t you?
- If you love shopping at Trader Joe’s (that would me me!) you’ll love this.
- Joy has me super excited to be visiting NOLA soon with her travel post.
- COCONUT Chex Mix? OMG. YES.
- Can’t wait to get these Buckwheat Waffles into my belly.
- I’m currently reading Gone Girl. Have you read it? I’m SO INTO IT!
The Mexican Situation! That’s the name of the latest Joy the Baker Podcast. I’m actually in Mexico this week phoning it in! We talk about Cadbury eggs, botch Spanish & discuss ways to not tell your friend you don’t dig her boyfriend. Thanks for listening!
Friends! I’m in Mexico with the crappiest internet connection so I’m not able to easily post My Bites Around the Net this week. I’ll add them to next week’s post. Thanks for your patience and a special thank you to all of you who try out recipes I’ve posted on my website. It means a lot!
Have a great weekend!
Spring is starting to show its face here in California. We’ve had a few nice days recently. They were the kind of days where I deeply regretted my long sleeve shirt & boot choices. I should probably look at the weather app on my phone before I get dressed. I have a feeling if I start now, I won’t stop. I can get rather obsessive with weather.
Blossoms are appearing on trees and it’s a nice change of pace to see some blocks of brilliant pink & white amongst the skeletal limbs of trees on our way to school in the morning. My daydreams are focused on warmer weather. Sunshine, citrus and things that make me feel good when it’s sunny…. like big jars of Orange Honey Ginger Ale on the back porch while Cooper digs muddy trenches for his big Tonka trucks. Birds chirp and seed packets wait to be organized.
This orange honey ginger syrup reminds me of perfumed orange blossoms and spicy ginger beer. It makes a wonderful mixer if you’re wanting to make a boozy drink. Rum, vodka, bourbon & gin are all welcome. Just probably not all together…at the same time.
I hope that sun is shining in your neck of the woods. And if it’s not, here’s a little bit of sunshine in a jar for you.
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