Tag Archives: cheese

Spaghetti and Buttah

16 Jan

This one is dedicated to my brother, Andrew, who exhibited some of the most bizarre eating patterns as a child (and continues some of those now……ahem, apple juice)

We used to be a great team for take out food. He would eat the pizza crust and I would take the cheese. Though I’ll never understand his hatred for peanuts yet love for Reese’s peanut butter cups. Thankfully I switched him over to Justin’s peanut butter cups since then!

Though some of his food habits are inspiring my meal creations today.

Andrew also loved plain pasta with butter and salt.

That’s how I came up with my next side dish. Say hello to its gluten free and vegan cousin….

Spaghetti Squash with Earth Balance Butter, S&P

Simple and delicious.

If you haven’t abandoned regular butter for Earth Balance butter yet (whether you’re veg or not)

DO IT. All the cool kids are.

Seriously, meat eaters everywhere think earth balance is better.

I’ve also been putting Angela’s pumpkin mac n cheeze sauce on virtually everything. veggies, in chickpea crepes, pizza, and also as a sauce for the above spaghetti squash creation

Also in an effort to make sure I’m getting I’ll my B vitamins I’ve been adding nooch to things like its my job. This sauce is a sure-fire way to make sure I’ve reached my daily goal.

x

Casey

Winery Tour: The Mornington Peninsula Edition

29 Mar

During my time in Australia I’ve been on many, many winery tours.

Another one can’t hurt right?

This time, all the Queeners, dressed in their finest tweed, hopped on a bus to the Mornington Peninsula to enjoy two wineries and a classy cheese and wine filled ferry ride in between.

The first vineyard was Michelton.

Uno.

Dos.

Tres.

Most of the wines I sampled here were very tasty.

Mostly on the sweeter side though, and not too many fuller bodied wines.

After a couple good hours of tasting it was time to board the boat.

It was a gorgeous day for it too!

On the ferry, there was copious amounts of wine and cheese consumed.

I bought a bottle of the Moscato after being advised against the red since it doesn’t pair as well with cheese.

The Moscato was fine for the first few sips but tasted more and more like apple juice after that.

Lots of cheesing. Lots of dippage.

Fun Boat Times

The ferry may have been my favorite part. Between the hot sun, cool breeze, wine cheese, and perfect company, I could have easily spent another hour up on the top deck.

Alas it was off to the next winery: Tahbilk.

We hit Tahbilk on a great day. There was live music and acres of land primed for afternoon napping.

Nothing like a good wine induced snooze.

Then it was time for more tastings:

I was a bit over tasting at this stage, but nothing really impressed me here besides the tawny and ports.

Everything else seemed a bit watery.

Overall another winery success.

Don’t tell Mornington Peninsula, but Yarra Valley still has my heart.

Well, my Google Reader is calling, and it is in danger of becoming more daunting then my mail inbox.

Gotta jump back on this blogging horse!

Casey

Go Flax Yourself

11 Feb IMG_4201

As I was perusing my local Wholf website for coupons and sales this week something popped out at me:

Free Romantic Cooking Class

I let the romantic part slide by and focused on the free cooking class at Whole Foods aspect!

Um, yes…. sign me up!

Who needs a romantic partner for a cooking class?

I brought my wing woman instead.

So Tash and I are super excited, cause we think were gonna get our hands dirty in this cooking class.

Well they might have emphasized the ‘cooking’ part more than we should have.

It was more of a demonstration…

It started off with a cheese tasting which was Awe-some.

On the plate:

  • La Tur - cow goat and sheep’s milk Italy – (the small square)
  • Campo de Montalban – cow, goat, and sheep’s milk - Spain - (long triangular cheese)
  • Robiola di Bosina – cow and sheep’s milk – Italy – (the round edged one)
  • Cherry Blossom Honey
  • Marcona Almonds
  • Pear Paste
  • Crackers

We were encouraged to try different pairing and find our favorite flavor combinations.

The La Tur was very creamy with less flavor and paired well with the pear paste.

The Camp de Montalban tasted like a manchego. I ate it with the almonds.

The Robiola di Bosina was my favorite. It tasted like the lovechild of Chevre and Camenbert. Creamy and just a tad tangy.

I paired it with the Cherry Blossom Honey which was DEE-vine.

On the menu for the rest of the evening:

  • Lobster Mac n Cheese
  • Panfried Ribeye with Chausseur Sauce
  • Banana’s Foster

We started to get a little burnt out after the cheese. It was kind of tiring just watching someone cook and not being able to do anything.

The ‘class’ was getting superlate so…

We retreated before dessert.

and…..I have ADD

No pictures were snapped after the cheese. It wasn’t that exciting and I was kind of ready to bolt when the mains were being served.

I’m not really a fan of pasta. I don’t really know how this came about, but the only time I ever really eat pasta is in small quantities and I only really like gnocchi (what are potato dumpling anyways) and sometimes cannelloni.

So I wasn’t really loving the Mac n Cheese.

The ribeye? Well… I couldn’t eat that but Tash said it was delicious.

Oh, Whole Foods: I still love you. But I’ll leave the cooking classes to my own kitchen.

I figured since I was already at the Wholf, I may as well get my grocery shopping done now.

Convenience will always win out.

Before the ‘class’ I noshed on this:

Tofurkey, Rocket, Swiss and Vegemite melted on Sourdough Wasa

I’m normally not a calorie counter, but I was shocked this usual snack only clocked in at 100 calories.

What’s in store for the weekend? Oh lots, my friends, lots. I am doing kitchen damage this weekend.

Preview:

Valentines Day Vegan Red Velvet Cupcake

Sticky Date Pudding Two Ways (Vegan and Non)

Those are the main events, but I have a few other things in store if time permits.

I have a bunch of exciting things in store for this weekend: I’m seeing Kevin Nealon perform standup and I’m also running in a 5k at Wash Park.

I haven’t run a race since I PR-ed in the Melbourne 10k, but I also kind of hurt myself that race.

I’ve noticed myself getting more winded when I run up en las montanas, so my goal is just to have fun with it and not worry about my time!

Silly me: I forgot to give you a flax fact yesterday

Flax Fact of the Day: Rapid moisture loss is the first sign of fatty acid deficiency. This includes dry skin, brittle hair and nails.

Flax has one of the highest concentrations of DPA and EHA (ya know, the one in salmon and swordfish?)

If it can be used in pet food to make your Golden Retriever have more lustrous hair. I think it may on yours too ;)

So what are you waiting for? Go Flax Yourself!

 

What are your weekend plans?

 

Casey

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