Inspiration. Some days I’m tapped into it and other days I’m not. Like right now…what do I type? This big blank box in WordPress is giving me the ultimate stare down.
It ‘s definitely a challenge to balance being a creative food blogger and a working mom, but it’s in the little moments of My Everyday Life where I find the most inspiration.
Like…
Remember when I was straight up obsessed with the Trader Joe’s Super Spinach Salad and decided to recreate it at home? I have a new obsession— their Broccoli Kale Slaw. It’s found a special place in my heart but the only problem is…well, I have some serious issues with it.
First things first! I don’t like the creamy mayo based dressing it comes with (I haven’t even tried it and I don’t want to. Nope.) And sometimes when I bite into a piece of the chicken in the pre-packaged salad, it doesn’t taste fresh. Have you ever had a old piece of lunch meat? Yeah. That’s the taste I’m talking about. BUZZKILL. I also know it’s not organic chicken and that bugs me. Yeah, I said it.
But now I’ve made those issues non-issues. I made my own catered-to-me version of this slaw and I think you’ll love too. It’s a colorful salad full of texture, sweetness, tang & crunchy. It’s a salad with substance….one that fills you up and leaves you satisfied. A salad that does a good job keeping my cookie cravings at bay….At least for a little while…
Here’s what this past week looked like:
Playing in the sand at Chrissy Field in SF.
Have you listened to the new Joy the Baker Podcast this week? We talk about EXPECTATIONS. We’ve got them. You’ve got them. How dow we lower them? How do we get over the loss of our favorite culinary gardener? Can we talk about the ghosts in my old house? Oh wait…we did. Awkward as per. Go listen!
Thank you, REFINERY29 for including me on your top 13 Life Changing Food Blogs list!
Mandarin & Thyme made my Pear Custard Pie
Forbidden Rice Blog made my Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Mentoring Moments adapted my Fully Loaded Granola Bars
Mod City Mag made Bacon Fried Rice
Ann Barlow made my Killer Granola.
Victoria Sponge, Pease Pudding made my Goat Cheese & Arugula Pizza
Nerd with Taste made my Apple Galette with Ginger & Pears!
When we were kids, my mom used to buy frozen french bread pizzas with the intention of giving us something to eat while she went out on a date night with my dad. But when you have two growing boys and a daughter who knows her way around a microwave, well…you basically have trouble. My mom would bring a few frozen pizza breads into the house and in a flash they’d be gone. We were sneaky kids!
Yesterday, Joy and I got the idea to make some French Bread Pizzas because it’s a versatile way for you to get all your favorite toppings into your mouth on a convienient delivery system—French Bread! It’s also a really great way to customize lunch/dinner for people with different food interests. There were 4 total in our lineup and they were all INCREDIBLY delicious. I’m gonna show you my two. Let’s go through the whole process, shall we?
While doing a little spring cleaning around the house, I stumbled upon my copy of Baked: Explorations and decided to flip through the pages (mostly because I was procrastinating. What else is new?). I’ve made quite a few recipes (ahem Malted Waffles & Farmstand Buttermilk Doughnuts) from the book…and yet I keep coming back for more. I find all of their interesting combinations incredibly alluring.
What was the hook that brought me back? A cake for the cookie lover– also known as this Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting! A cake that will tame the cookie & cake-loving voice inside your head that tells you YOU MUST HAVE CAKE and YOU MUST HAVE COOKIES and you MUST HAVE THEM RIGHT NOW. This voice & I go way back. The problem is this voice always wants both. Now this voice is like…Cool Tracy…This will tide me over. Now get me another slice. Make it an edge piece. What other two awesome things can we combine? Melted Cheese & Tater Tots? Cool. Cool.
This cake is super simple to prepare. At first you think you’re eating carrot cake (cream cheese frosting!) and then you think you’re eating banana bread and suddenly you bite into a chocolate chip and there it is…something cookie and cake-like. A cake that tastes like cookie! It should be made & eaten on only days that end in Y.
Here’s what this past week looked like.
Bedtime shenanigans. Tonight’s excuse for not being in bed– I need to blow my nose.
