A bit about me

Posted on August 28, 2009 by Denise

I have several other personal blogs about my family and children, but I had yet to really discover the world and whole community of FOOD BLOGGING! Wow…how did I miss this revolution? I’m still amazed!

I love good food. Who doesn’t? And I love creating things in my kitchen. If I’m in the mood for a certain taste, or I get an idea for something for dinner that I’ve never made before…I turn to the internet & the wealth of information there. I always look up at least 3-4 recipes for the given item & then I “tweak” it and make it my own!

Every.single.time.

I don’t think it is humanly possible for me to FOLLOW a recipe to the letter.

Just.doesn’t.happen.here.

And over the last few years, I’ve found that I’ve been meeting people more like myself. That enjoy cooking & some of them even enjoy creating as well. But I had no idea what was taking place in the food blogging community….which is strange since I’m “at home” online & communicating with others online.

So I’ve stumbled upon Food Blogs just in the past few months. I’ve been drawn to reading them. I love the photography & only hope I can take pictures that great someday. I love to travel…so I find myself traveling away from the “here and now” a bit at a time as I immerse myself in someone else’s kitchen & reality for awhile. It’s better than any book I’ve read!

Some of these writers are very talented at making you feel that you are right there. That you are experiencing things with them, and that you KNOW them. I find myself wanting to be able to comment on their blogs….that I’ve tried a recipe or gotten a great idea from. The problem I find is that I don’t have a “food” blog. How can I reach out to these others that share my interests and passions without an outlet to share mine in?

Then I realized I had a true dilemma. I love to cook, I love to create, I love to bake, I love to eat. I love all things food related. I need a place to organize my recipes & have needed that for a LONG time! But I’m also a busy mom of 3 girls. I homeschool…try to be a good wife to my hubby, and in general have too many hats to wear already.

How in the world would I keep up with a food blog? Not to mention…there are SO many out there already. What could I possibly contribute? To completely add to the crazyness…I am now working part-time. But this feeds right into my “food passions.” I have the opportunity to wait tables at a wonderful fine dining establishment in my area 2 nights a week.

Great Italian food, family-owned, beautiful restaurant, wonderful ambiance. The perfect place to share my enthusiasm with others that share my passions. A little trip to Italy while not really leaving my backyard. I’m excited at all I am learning while working there, and it will definitely help me learn more about fine wines. Wines…another new interest.

Obviously since you’re reading this (hopefully), I’ve delved into the food blog realm. It is my hope that I will meet many like-minded friends along the way. It’s the start of an exciting journey for me & I hope you’ll stop by my “Creative Kitchen” often.

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Finally affordable granola….addictive and easy too!!

Posted on August 27, 2009 by Denise

1/2 cup honey or pure maple syrup
1 stick butter or 1/2 cup coconut oil
1 tsp pure vanilla (or cinnamon…or both)
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
4 cups organic rolled oats

Melt butter in saucepan on stove and stir in honey. Add 1 tsp of cinnamon or 1 tsp vanilla. Add in 1/2 cup coconut. Stir in 4 cups old fashioned, rolled oats (I use organic).

Spread on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 10-15 min (until light golden brown). *Cool on cooling rack for EXACTLY 20 minutes!

Any longer and it sticks, any shorter and it doesn’t clump together at all. Scrape from bottom with spatula in long strokes to aid in clumping & store in ziploc or canning jar in fridge. When serving, we add in raisins & yogurt or eat as a cereal with milk. My 19 month old,Leah, loves it too & does well with it!

IN A RUSH: skillet method ~

melt 1-2 T butter or coconut oil in skillet
pour in equal amount of sweetener
add in a small bit coconut
enough oats to coat well
Stir around at 2 – 3 setting on stove, but don’t leave unattended. After about 5 min, spoon onto flat plate and press down firmly. The thinner you spread, it the faster it clumps and cools. Stick it in the FREEZER and check in about 5-12 minutes later. Break it up in clumps and eat!!

This is such a filling meal for the kids (granola with milk or eaten with yogurt as a yogurt berry parfait).

OPTIONAL: Some like to add in chopped nuts or seeds to their granola. We usually don’t, but if you do add them in the saucepan before baking. Any other dried fruit would be added after when adding the raisins.

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Rediscovering grapefruit ~ my new treat

Posted on August 27, 2009 by Denise

I have rediscovered grapefruit! As a kid we used to eat it cut in half and then each half sectioned so you could eat it with a special grapefruit spoon. Of course we always had sugar sprinkled over the top to help sweeten it up a bit.

Well I wanted an idea to sweeten it without using sugar, so I googled and found this website Go Florida Grapefruit

All kinds of neat ideas of cooking with grapefruit. Have you ever done anything neat with it?

So this is where I got the idea to sweeten it with PURE MAPLE SYRUP! Which happens to be my all-time favorite sweetener anyway.

I take 1/2 grapefruit & drizzle it with about 1/4 tsp maple syrup. Make sure to spread it in well so it oozes down into the grapefruit. Slice each section gently with a knife. Then I eat each section with a spoon making sure to get all the delicious juices! YUM!

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My really yummy breakfast!

Posted on August 27, 2009 by Denise

I’ve really gotten into brown rice the last 5 years. I mean…hands down it really tastes a lot better than white rice, and SO much better for you!! When I was a child we used to eat “white” rice like a cereal, with milk and sugar. Last night I made up some short grain brown rice (bought in bulk at Whole Foods and kept in the fridge) to keep on hand and eat with milk and raisins…and another BONUS I discovered later (which is my new TREAT)!

1 cup organic short grain brown rice (I used Lundberg’s)
1 3/4 cup filtered water.

In saucepan bring water to boil,
add rice & cover with tight fitting lid,
Reduce heat to low.

Set the timer for 40-45 min & you’ll get perfect rice. The trick to making perfect rice is to make sure you don’t peek or stir the rice. Leave the lid closed!

Then I put 1/2 cup cooked rice in a bowl in the freezer to get it cold faster. Had it with milk later, but it just wasn’t as good as what I had this morning.

So for breakfast today…I mixed up:

1/2 cup cold brown rice
small handful organic raisins (about 20?)
generous sprinkle unsweetened coconut
1/2 tsp pure maple syrup
2 T walnuts diced small

Then I plopped in about 1/3 cup frozen organic mixed berries (Cascadian Farms from Costco) it was mostly blueberries. Stirred well so they started to thaw a bit and color the rice. Then I added 2 T of plain yogurt (Cascade Fresh from Whole Foods).

Mixed it all together. It was SOO good! Cold, the right amount of crunch, nuttiness from the rice, creamy, and sweet!

Cold brown rice kept in the fridge can also be pulled out for lunch….stir fry in skillet with a bit of soy sauce and an egg, some chopped veggies and make like a semi fried rice. YUM!!

Or tossed in with a wrap or salad. So many options!

OBSERVATIONS LATER: This has become a regular (daily) staple for me. I’ve reduced the maple syrup to just a drizzle (and it really is sweet enough without it due to the raisins). And I also leave out the nuts…I don’t miss ’em at all. This is a VERY filling meal or snack & just feels like a great healthy option.

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Zingy honey mustard dressing

Posted on August 27, 2009 by Denise

equal parts honey & mustard
I did 5 T honey, 5 T mustard (half was horseradish mustard)
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp red wine vinegar

Whisk well & serve. If too thick, add a smidge of filtered water. You can also add things to your taste preference. Sometimes using rice vinegar or regular vinegar. Or less honey if too sweet.

This is the dressing I just created the other night that Ken loves. He is not a salad guy unless he drenches it in 12 points worth of ranch dressing. He swears with this dressing he could “live on salad” which I found extremely funny since he kept saying it over and over again.

This is good to dip chicken in. We had it with chicken & romaine. I added fresh spinach & chopped vidalia onion to mine. The chicken was sauteed with a little olive oil and minced garlic (the chicken got broken down small during the cooking process & browned somewhat). I put all greens and chicken in a big tupperware bowl with a few tablespoons of the dressing, put lid on and shook it around to coat the salad. Can add more on side if needed.

It would also be good as a sandwich or wrap spread or on the lettuce with turkey.

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