North Carolina eats!

I haven't posted in so long! And trust me, it's not from lack of eating! I've been eating some amazing food lately, particularly on my 2 recent trips to North Carolina. Here's a quick review!

hushpuppies are my weakness.

On spring break, my sister, my best friend, and I stopped at this beachy restaurant in the middle of nowhere called Mulligan's. Seriously, there was pretty much nothing else around. But surprise! It was actually really good! I had grilled flounder with fries and hushpuppies, my friend Sam had a delicious looking crab cake burger, and my sister had a basket of shrimp and fried fish. Pure, beach bum yumminess!

Grilled brie and Tomato and an Open Faced Hummus sandwich.

Also, while out exploring one afternoon, we stopped for lunch at the Tipsy Teapot, a little hole-in-the-wall cafe/bookstore. There are shelves upon shelves of books and couches and armchairs strewn haphazardly all around the place. So fun! And the grilled brie and tomato sandwich was a completely new spin on a regular old grilled cheese. YUMMY!

Charlsey is like a wizard in the kitchen!

For a night in, my sister made this AMAZING taco-seasoned chili and mexican cornbread. It was the perfect balance of spicy and homey. Like southern comfort food mixed with modern tex-mex.

Green beer!

And of course, can't forget St. Patty's Day! Lots of green beer and traditional Irish nosh. I had a really yummy Shepherd's Pie, but I ended up scarfing it all down before I managed to get a picture!

Rip-tide! Green in honor of St Patty's Day!

And breakfast in NC was always a treat too! One morning my sister made us eggs baked in a sourdough loaf with green onions and LOTS of cheese. Even my little sister, who is one the pickiest eaters on the planet, loved this dish!

eggs baked in a bread loaf.

Oh, and Cookout is always worth a mention. They only have them in NC, and I'm so jealous because they're so good! They have tons of different flavors of milkshakes (and I mean good, authentic flavors, not chemicals), hushpuppies (!) and they're open to 4am. Come on people, bring Cookout to KY!

Sweet potato biscuit!

And last, but not least, this little drive thru diner at the end of my sister's road - Peaton's. They have all kinds of biscuits and breakfast foods, but I got a regular biscuit with egg and then a sweet potato biscuit with jelly. And oh my word! The sweet potato biscuits are TO DIE FOR. Literally, to die for. They're huge and oh so scrumptious. I'll tell you one thing, it's good I don't live in NC, with food like this I'd start packing on the pounds!

TURKEY KICKIN' IT!

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!! This year my Thanksgiving was literally a week-long celebration. My friends and I were FINALLY able to attend the annual Turkey Kick held in Bardstown! Turkey Kick is a huge bar crawl on Thanksgiving Eve and, let me tell ya, it was a blast! But of course, Thursday was the best day of the week because of all of the FOOD! Since our family dinner wasn't until 7 pm this year, we made lots of  hor'dourves to snack on to tide us over. I made these Crab Rangoon Bites from a pinterest recipe, and they might be better than regular crab rangoon!

pre-oven.

They were also super easy to make; all it takes is half of a pack of cream cheese, 1/3 cup of mayo, chopped green onions, a couple dashes of garlic powder and a tin of crab meat! You mix all that up and fill mini phillo shells and bake at 400° for about 20 minutes. So good!! 

freshly baked!

 My family is also a big fan of anything curry, so I made these Curried Sweet Potato Pancakes (pinterest!) Gahh, I could eat just these and nothing else.

soooo yummy!

 And of course, we always have both a ham and turkey so there's PLENTY to go around. And plenty to eat for the next week!

nomnomnom.

 Oh, and the morning after Turkey Kickin' it up in town, my friends and I came home to mom and dad preparing a FEAST of a breakfast. We had fresh fruit, strawberry and yogurt smoothies, pumpkin pancakes and EGG SCRAMBLES. 

Dad's pretty fruit arrangement!

Seriously, if your family's not making egg scrambles, you're missing out. My family likes to throw eggs, avocado, bacon, black beans, cilantro, cherry tomatoes, and basically any other veggie that's in season together in a skillet. I could eat eggs every day for the rest of my life as long as they looked this good.

Tastes like FALL to me!

Yet another Pinterest recipe! Pumpkin Ice Cream!

Cold and creamy!!

Because there is no such thing as too many pumpkin flavored foods this time of year. Coffee shops are promoting their pumpkin spice lattes and pumpkin pastries are literally EVERYWHERE you turn. You know what's missing though? Ice cream!  

A perfect pairing for mom's Apple Tart.

Since crazy Kentucky weather can't seem to make up its mind whether it wants to be fall or winter or jump back to summer, who says it's too cold for ice cream? Not me! And paired with my mom's Apple Tart (which she makes with a nut crust that is to die for), it was like Fall exploded in my mouth.  

Made in a plastic bag! Only cause I don't know how to work the ice cream maker...

Can it please be Fall all year round? Yeah, someone get on that. That sounds like a plan to me.

Pinning!!

So lately, I've kind of jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon...it's just so fantastic!! I've pinning everything from my favorite actors to anything Harry Potter related to recipes. Tons and tons of recipes. And the great thing about it is that since it's on my pin board, I'll also have a quick and easy link to the recipe. I've started trying out some of the different recipes, one by one, and so far I've had great success with all of them!

Clean Eating Chocolate Chip cookies. 

These Clean Eating Chocolate Chip cookies are like regular chocolate chip cookies, but with cooked oatmeal added in. They stay super moist for days and are both healthy and delicious!

Falafel!!

Also, I am sorta a Falafel FIEND. I got hooked on falafel while I was studying abroad in Buenos Aires last semester; there was this little hole-in-the-wall arabic store that sold homemade falafel and shawarma on the weekends. My dad and I were the only ones who actually ate this, but we LOVED it. We heated the pita bread (opened pita pockets) in the oven, and then dressed our falafel with sliced cucumbers, sliced onions, and tomato halves and then drizzled homemade taziki (cucumber-dill yogurt sauce) over the tops. So good!! 

with all the fixin's - tomatoes, cucumber, onion, and taziki (yogurt sauce)

I also fried some little red potatoes, so you can see those in the background.

Spicy Honey Chicken.

Then, the other night it was just me and Michaela at home so I decided to try this new Spicy Honey Chicken. It's coated in spices like cumin, chili powder, and chipotle chili powder and then smothered in a honey/vinegar glaze when it's almost done. The sweetness of the honey totally balances out the spiciness of the chicken. Even Michaela thought it was great! I'm really getting into this whole "pinning" thing and I hope these recipes keep turning out great!

Fall time!

Look what I made!! Just in time for Fall!

Caramel Apple Parfait, anyone?

McDonald's has been advertising these Caramel Apple Parfaits and Sundaes lately, and I thought "I can make that. And I can make it healthy!" I used plain greek yogurt mixed with a little splenda and vanilla extract (it's wayyyy to tart on its own) and then I diced up some apple and spooned some of mom's sugar-free caramel dip on top. The only thing was that the sugar-free caramel dip was super, super sweet.  (most sugar-free things are.) I think if I make it again, I'm going to make some homemade dulce de leche (simmer a can of sweetened condensed milk in a pot of water) and use just a teeny bit on top. Delish!!

Missing Bs.As.

So I've been working/ visiting my sorority sisters/ crashing at the Phi Mu house in Bowling Green for a few weeks now, and I've just made the most amazing discovery...Greener Grounds, a small hipster-cafe, makes FALAFEL!!!

Falafel a la Greener Grounds 

So technically, it's not falafel from the corner shop in Buenos Aires, with its authentic (read: HOTTT) spices and the warm, argentine welcome from the staff, but it was definitely delicious. And, Greener Grounds happens to be next to an International Super Market, which just so happened to sell Falafel mix. And yes, I totally bought a box. 

Stakz frozen yogurt.

Afterwards, me and the girls went to Stakz for dessert, since I'd never been there. I ended up choosing the blueberry frozen yogurt and smothered it in bits of cheesecake, blueberries, and shredded coconut. And it was AMAZING! And truthfully, I didn't feel like a total fatty for eating the whole thing. Win and win!!

"Nobody puts Baby in a corner"

So today, for whatever reason, I had the intense urge to bake. Something. Anything. From scratch. No pre-made, store-bought mixes. I'm talking, Martha-Stewart, 1950's housewife, apron-wearing, all out baking. If I could bake all day, everyday and not weigh 300+ lbs., I'd be all over that. (Also, Dirty Dancing is on t.v., and I love baking and watching sappy love movies!)

everything needed for whole-wheat chocolate chip cookies.

 Whole-wheat chocolate chip cookies = yummm. These are healthier than regular chocolate chip cookies since I use splenda and a brown-sugar/splenda mix and white whole wheat flour mixed with whole wheat pastry flour, but since they're just as delicious as regular chocolate chip cookies, my little sister, Michaela, and my little brother, Tanner, will both devour them! Also, I always make sure to chop the walnuts up superfine (totally optional, but I love them!) that way Tanner has no idea they're in there.  

baking!

all done and delicious-looking on the cooling rack.

 And while the chocolate chip cookies were in the oven, I had time to mix together this South Beach Diet recipe that me and my mom absolutely love! Almond-Coconut Macaroons. And even though they're healthy (and my dad tends to shy away from health food), my dad loves macaroons so much he'll till eat these!

South Beach Diet coconut macaroons.

 The greek yogurt is what makes everything stick together and it adds protein, so win-win. 

all mixed up!

scrumptious macaroons!

So I have to confess, I may have sampled a few of the chocolate chip cookies while they were still warm from the oven. I just couldn't help myself! Good thing I enjoy baking, there's still PLENTY of cookies left :)