Asparagus and potato breakfast

I woke up starved. STARVED. And I don't know why, because I ate a decently sized meal late in the evening yesterday. But anyway, I had the hunger. But I could not be satisfied with merely "I guess I'll eat some cereal and drink some coffee" sustenance.
I wasn't just starving for food - I really wanted to cook, too. I realized I hadn't really made a meal all week, besides some easy to-go breakfasts (toast, mostly, which is barely cooking at all) and easy dinners (quesadillas, eggs and such). 
What had I to cook? Asparagus

And some red potatoes

I tossed both in some olive oil and s & p. To the aspargus I added a shake of garlic powder. To the potatoes, just a little Tastefully Simple's Wahoo Chili Seasoning. I baked off the aspargus in a 350° oven whilst I threw the potatoes in a bit of melted butter. The end result was beautiful and tasty:

An egg thrown on top of this would have been delish. Or some bacon! But this was a good vegan breakfast. Whoa. Did I just say vegan? I don't consider vegan-ness to be a part of my life, but I guess it is from time to time. The more I think about what I am putting into my body, the more I see the benefits of having a well-rounded diet. Vegan eating wouldn't do well for me personally all the time, but this vegan meal (and other meatless creations I have made) show me this style of cooking and eating can be done - by me! And still be delicious.

As far as depriving myself of chain restaurants, and breaking the hold fast food has held on me most of my life, I would say I am winning. Its still a struggle occasionally, and there are still cravings for certain foods. I can't pass by a Burger King without inhaling deeply and remembering the taste of their original chicken sandwich. However, the feeling I have of just being moderately healthier, having less heartburn, having more energy, makes the struggle worth it. It has been 70 days since my last bite of fast food. Could I go on forever without it? I don't know... Would I be willing to try, past this year's resolution? I think so! 

But don't hold me to that just yet...

Do good. Eat well.

Naan pizza, not non-pizza

On our first grocery shopping adventure, Boyfriend and I decided to buy the makings for naan pizza - already made, hand-stretched naan, goat cheese, sundried tomatoes, marinated artichoke hearts and mushrooms.
Naan, for those of you folks who don't know, is a leavened flatbread that hails from South, West and Central Asia (according to wiki). And it is deslish when fresh- not too bad when you pick it up at the deli counter, either, frankly.
So, tonight, we fired up our oven (400°) and created two wonderful naan pizzas! We used some of the oil from the sundried tomatoes to thinly coat the naan before topping it with cheese, maters, chokes and 'shrooms. I thought we should have used less toppings to really let the naan and goat cheese shine, but Boyfriend loved it.
I should now pay tribute to the muse of this eating adventure, Soup Spoon Café (www.soupspooncafe.com). They regularly make naan pizzas with varying ingredients. If I remember correctly, the naan pizza I had there was carmelized onion and... something else that was fabulous. Whatever it was, it made me want to recreate it myself! And I did! And it was good! We will welcome any suggestions of other toppings anyone wants to give us.
Did I take photos of these naan pizzas? No! I remembered far too late, and we decided taking a photo of the last bite on a plate would be just too mean. I'm sorry! I know I need to do start doing that, otherwise no one (but my mom) will read this anymore. I hear you. I promise promise to take photos of the next thing I make. Which will be beet soup for the masses on Sunday! Look for it then!


Do good. Eat well.

I have a blog? Oh, thats right!

Hello, blog! Man, life has been busy. So busy, in fact, I've forgotten to write. However, I have created some decent eats and eaten in some fabulous brand new restaurants!
Just today I went to a new crepe place over on Trowbridge Road in East Lansing.
American Crepes (www.facebook.com/americancrepes) is a locally owned establishment for all your crepe needs! Today I had a turkey club crepe. All the awesomeness of turkey club sanwich but housed in the delisiousness of a delicate crepe. I highly recommend this clean, well-run eatery. And, ask some foodie friends who may have gone there - perhaps they can give you an insight into American Crepes' "secret menu."
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All of that was written awhile ago. Ok, seriously, now I'm back, and in the middle of moving my household and totally changing my life, I decided to take the time to write. I'm hoping its as cathartic as I want/need it to be.


I joined pinterest (which, at first I thought had something to do with pine trees, don't ask me why). And I see all these beautiful food creations and I think,  "Why can't I do that?" Then I come the conclusion that I can. I can do that, and more. I am really in love with my new kitchen. Its beautiful, open and generally inspiring. I want to cook in it for myself and for Boyfriend who is now my roommate! I have heard studies as recently as a couple weeks ago that when people move in together, they have a tendency to gain weight. BF and I are determined not to be a part of this statistic. So, we will take steps to eat healthy both in and out of the home.


I wish I could show more of the food I've made in the past couple of weeks, but my phone was lost and I don't have any of the images. Suffice it to say, the beet soup was purple, and the tomato-artichoke-broccoli sauce-type thing was good over spaghetti (even though it was burned a little because I forgot about it).


As far as dining out, I haven't tried anything too new, I continue to love my staple places - Leo's Spirits and Grub in Okemos (great burger), Sindhu's Restaurant (great Indian) in East Lansing and American Crepes. I just went there last night again and had a good crepe with my name on it. (Seriously, ask for the Abby Special when you go in - its got BACON!) I did venture up north to Bay City, MI and had an awesome version of the Korean dish Bibambap at a restaurant called Pi's. Their buffet looked good, as well.


Until next time, peeps. Do good. Eat well.

Well, folks, I've been very successful in my pursuit of only eating at locally owned/Michigan based restaurants.


For the past 15 days I have had no- I repeat NO- fast food in my body. I feel so good. I think I'm burping less,too. And my seemingly ever-present heartburn is nowhere near as frequent as it used to be.


I only just realized all these things because I have been *craving* Taco Bell and Burger King. Even McDonald's sounds good to me, and that hardly ever happens. However, I have been staying strong and staying away from the national chains. 


This week, Boyfriend and I ate at Little Panda on the westside of Lansing. I used to go there before when I lived on that side of town, but I decided to branch out from my typical order of General Tso's Chicken and go for a noodle dish that reminded me of a certain chain restaurant's street noodle dish. It was really good! Spicy, but not too spicy, well cooked nood, good veg, lots of meat. Can't ask for anything more! 


Before I started writing this blog, I took photos of lots of food I was about to eat. For some reason now, though, I keep forgetting. I have to remind myself now to do it, especially when I order really pretty food. I did take photos today of the French onion soup I made. Wanna see? If you like the look of this soup, let me know and I'll pass the recipe along. Its time consuming, but not particularly labor intensive. The majority of the cook time is baking the onions.

These are the raw ingreds. (This is the time I should tell you the recipe for this soup comes from the America's Test Kitchen cookbook)


The onions cooked down about halfway.


Happy deglazed onions!



The final (super delicious) product.

Chicago Chicago one heck of an eating town!

Boyfriend, his sister and I decided to head down to Chicago on New Year's Day to see some of his family. 


I was very prepared to also explore some eateries down in Chi-town, too. We ended up at four awesome places during our day-and-a-half stay. We even did the family get together and eat thing! Which is one of my favorite activities!


We had a fantastic meal at a Mexican place in the Pilsen neighborhood. I can't remember the name of it, and I should have written it down (Bad blogger Abby!) I had tacos al pastor (pork cooked with onions and spices - not for the kosher). I have had plenty of tacos from a variety of small, locally-owned restaurants, but these were ah-mazing. I think the combination of pork, spices, salsa and a little cilantro made these into my top three taco experiences.


After some catching up with cousin #1 at her house and a quick nap we headed out for some libations at one of her favorite little bars The Skylark (www.skylarkchicago.com). The drinks were reasonalby priced, as was the food - I had a big plate of mussels for only $8, BF had a proscuitto sandwich, and his sister had grilled calamari. This was not your typical bar food - although we did start our meal with tater tots. The specials at The Skylark are put together by their chef and I was very sad I didn't have enough room in my tummy, time, or money to eat my way through their whole special board.


For breakfast the next morning, we dined at Cafe Jumping Bean (cafejumpingbean.org). Best. Mexican. Hot. Chocolate. Ever. I had an everything bagel, Boyfriend had a delish focacia turkey sammie.

For that day's activity, boyfriend, his sis, and I went to the Garfield Park Conservatory, the second largest conservatory in the United States. Even though it got hit by a major hail storm in the spring and two of the rooms were completely closed, there were still loads of things to see. There was an entire room of ferns. Need I say more? No. I don’t. This isn’t a fern blog. Its a food blog. I’ll move on.

From Garfield Park we went to Fat Duck (www.duckfatgrill.com), a Tavern and Grill in Forest Park. We met other cousins of boyfriend (and his sister), and had a fabulous meal. I had the burger. Brie, bacon, and some of the best cooked ground beef EVERR! And of course fries, because its a natural combination. Fat duck has its name for a reason. It fries its potatoes in duck fat, which, according to the menu has low saturated fat and isn’t as bad as you would think. Also, those fries were DELICIOUS! They came with three dipping sauces: a really great pesto-y sauce, a horseradish aioli type sauce and a chipotle ketchup. All three were fabulous, but the pesto one was my favorite.

So, now we’re back from Chicago (and we’ve been back for awhile, its taken me a bit to post this) and I look forward to more trips. But I will be eating around Lansing in the near future, too, so stay tuned!