February Favorites

While February might have been a short month, it was jam-packed with great books, recipes, and Netflix shows to get us through the last of these cold, rainy days. Here is my list of Feb Favs that I want to share with you :)

Recently, I have been on a cooking show kick on Netflix and let me just tell you these shows are on point. They make you hungry but the music and imagery is breathtaking and I am convinced that I want to go to culinary school at some point now (terrifying, I know).

I've also been slowly making my way through a stack of wonderful books I got as birthday presents! Cookbooks, home decor books, and self improvement books are a huge guilty pleasure of mine. You know, the kind of books that most people just set out on the coffee table...I am a huge nerd and actually read them, over and over and over again.

 

 

Since the majority of the days in February down here are cold and rainy, we have been eating a lot of warm dishes for dinner. Classics like tomato soup and grilled cheese, chicken and wild rice stew, homemade buttermilk biscuits, and yo-yo ramen noodles (which basically means we make ramen and add a bunch of random yummy things to it).

The Buttermilk Biscuit recipe in the Fosters Market Favorites cookbook (above) in RIDICULOUSLY YUMMY. And easy to tweak and make your own. 

Also, cheese and wine. We go through a weird amount of bread, cheese, and wine in our house. Especially since I realized how easy it is to bake Irish Soda bread from scratch. Slap some local jam on it and it is a perfect snack during the day. 

 

There is nothing cozier than coming home from a long day of showing houses, putting some oils on the diffuser, getting some biscuits baking in the oven and settling down on the couch with a good book and some hot tea. 

I recommend all of the books above and would love to hear which recipes are your personal favorites!

xoxo Em

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Quinoa Salad

Tonight I decided to try a new recipe from the blog www.simplyquinoa.com 

However, I am not mentally capable of following a recipe without deciding that it would be better if I change a few hundred things. Sometimes it works, sometimes its disgusting ;)

That being said, this recipe was very simple to make and definitely satisfied my need to eat something leafy and green but still full of flavor. If you know me, you know that I am not the best chef in the world, or even close to it!  In fact, I'm pretty sure I resemble a mad scientist in a faulty lab more so than a semi-capable cook in her kitchen. 

But! This recipe was easy peasy and I managed to not set anything on fire. Holla.

I started by bringing 2 cups of water to a boil and adding 1 cup of quinoa. Quinoa takes about 15-20 to cook so I put a lid on it and let it do its thing. 

Next, I chopped up a large sweet potato, doused the chunks in coconut oil and a bit of brown sugar, laid them out on a baking sheet and stuck them in the oven at 425 to bake for approximately 15 mins. (scrambling them up with a big spoon every once in a while)

While the potatoes and quinoa were cooking I added 2 avocados, some lemon juice, basil from our garden, 1/2 cup of water, garlic salt, and LOTS of pepper to my food processor and whipped up some homemade avocado ranch. It was ok, but not great. I think I added too much lemon juice...

Once the quinoa was done cooking I mixed in the chunks of sweet potato and black beans (had I remembered to buy black beans...) poured the concoction over a bed of fresh greens, and drizzled my home made ranch on top. 

Thankfully, the sweetness of the potatoes balanced out the lemon in my dressing and it tasted pretty darn good. Also, coconut oil on sweet potatoes makes your whole kitchen smell amazing and you should cook them all the time.