Ever since returning from Asheville, I’ve been in the mood for fresh, local foods. Asheville began to turn me into a food snob, I suppose, because everything there was fresh, healthy, locally grown, and/or organic. I felt great after every meal I ate, rather than feeling sluggish and unsatisfied.

I’ve never been much of a junk food person. I’ve always enjoyed my vegetables, and I hardly ever ate candy as a kid. Even now, you’ll rarely find junk food in our pantry. Husband hasn’t had caffeine in nearly a year, and I stopped drinking sodas over two months ago, so we mostly have water and juice in our fridge. We have been looking at the labels lately as well, and we’re trying to stay away from high fructose corn syrup. Honestly, anytime I get anything, if I see high fructose corn syrup as an ingredient, I’m immediately turned off. Just the sound of it is bleh to me now.

I’m not a vegetarian, nor do I have any intentions of becoming one anytime soon; however, I’m cutting red meat out of my diet for now–I’ve never been a fan of it, anyway. Mostly, the only meat I’m eating is chicken and seafood (tilapia and shrimp, mainly), and even chicken grosses me out at times. I’ve always thought of a meal as meat being the main ingredient and veggies being the “side dishes.” Now, I’m seeing it the other way around. In reality, meat isn’t something I’m requiring in a meal anymore.

I’m still learning to look at labels on everything. I want to make sure I have enough protein if I don’t eat meat for every meal. (If you have suggestions for cooking tofu, send them my way!) I’m also buying fresh produce locally (it’s cheaper, closer, tastes much better, and it isn’t mass-produced) when I can and when it’s available.

Even though we’ve only been home from Asheville for a little over a week, I’ve felt healthier. I’ve had more energy, and I’ve been craving fruits and salads and homegrown vegetables (which should be ready soon)! It’s a nice feeling.

Ingredients in the salad above: Spring mix, chopped apple, dried cranberries, sliced almonds, snack mix (whole almonds, raisins, cashews, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds), fresh tomato, fresh cucumber, cheddar cheese, and poppyseed dressing. I also had a slice of bread with almond butter.

What you’ll need:

• 1 pkg. (8 oz)  plain cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter (or one stick), softened
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup (6 oz) mini semisweet chocolate chips
• Graham crackers

Before you do anything, take the cream cheese and butter out of the fridge and let it sit on your counter for fifteen minutes (or more). The cream cheese will soften up quickly, but the butter may take a little while. It’s important that the butter is soft, though; otherwise, it won’t blend well.

Now, add the cream cheese and butter to a mixing bowl. (I cut the butter so that it would be easier to mix.) Beat together until light and fluffy. I used a hand mixer on the lowest setting; I’m sure you could use a whisk or spoon, but it might give you a little workout.

See? Light and fluffy.

Next, add the brown sugar and powdered sugar. I like to mix after adding each, but do it the way you want. It starts to look really pretty. (I just use a whisk/spoon to mix the sugars in.) Make sure you mix it until smooth. Now, add the vanilla extract. Remember: a little goes a long way.

The best part is next. Chocolate chips. Mmm, love those little babies.

I add the entire cup gradually, but you can dump the whole thing in at once if you’d like. Mix it all together after that. Doesn’t it look beautiful?

Now, get a graham cracker and dip it in. Go ahead, taste it (even if you’re making this bowl for a party). It’s delicious!

You can eat immediately or put in the fridge overnight. If you put it in the fridge, it hardens up a tiny bit, but not much. It’s just as good either way!

What’s your favorite dessert to make?

P.S. I promise I’ll post the recipe for monkey bread soon! I also found a  recipe for lactose-free chocolate chip cookies; if anyone is interested in that, let me know! (I’m kind of dumb when it comes to vegan, so would being lactose-free make the cookies vegan? Someone, please enlighten me!)

Side dishes are always simple–or they should be, if I have anything to say about it. When I found this recipe for almond-topped zucchini, I had to try it.

What you’ll need:

• Zucchini (the recipe calls for three, but I used two), thinly sliced
• 1 tsp. garlic, minced (I definitely used more than that … we like garlic!)
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 cup smoked almonds, chopped

I’ll be honest–I didn’t measure anything out exactly. I just tasted as I went, so you can adjust this recipe to what you like.

First,  let’s get the prep out of the way. I am not a huge fan of prepping. (Husband usually does it, but he was grilling the steaks.) I probably should have sliced the zucchini a bit thinner, but the knife and I? Are not friends. Not a big deal, though; it just means cooking time will be a bit longer.

Mince a clove of garlic. Mmm, garlic. Next, chop the almonds. Hi, I’m the idiot chopping the almonds with a knife; we don’t own a nut chopper.

Next, pour some olive oil into a large skillet. Go ahead and add the butter while you’re at it. Turn it on medium to medium-high heat for now.

Once the butter is melted, add the zucchini and garlic to saute. I also tossed in a few almonds for flavor. Umm, halfway through, I added another clove of minced garlic. I told you, I love garlic.

Mmm, look at those babies. Cook until tender or until you’re too hungry to wait any longer. I promise, this looks beautiful on the plate, and it tastes just as good as it looks. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and top with almonds; it adds to it, honestly.

What’s your favorite side dish?

A co-worker brought this dish to work one day, and it smelled wonderful, so I immediately asked for the recipe. Not only does it smell great, but it’s really easy to throw together, and you can let it simmer all day if you’d like. I love making soups/chili during the cooler months, so this will be perfect around mid-October throughout the winter.

What you’ll need:

• Rotel with chilies – 2 cans
• Black beans – 2 cans
• Mexican corn – 2 cans
• Taco seasoning – 1 package
• Dry Ranch dressing mix – 1 package
• 2 lb. ground beef*
• 1 onion
• Fritos (optional)
• Shredded cheese, sour cream (optional)
• Cayenne pepper (optional)

*If you’re a vegetarian, try it without the ground beef and let me know how it is!

Cooking directions:

• Brown ground beef and onions.
• In the meantime, combine black beans, rotel with chilies, and Mexican corn in a crockpot OR large pot. (We used a large pot because we don’t own a crockpot right now. That’ll be our next purchase!) Mix everything together.
• Once the meat and onions are browned, put them in the pot. Mix everything. Now, add the taco seasoning and ranch mix; once again, mix everything together.
• Cover and cook on low heat all day or medium-high for a couple hours. (We started by cooking on medium-low heat until the soup began to boil, then we let it simmer on low heat for a few hours.)
• Remember to stir throughout the process. We added some cayenne pepper after cooking for a while, but this is completely optional. Add as much as you’d like.
• When ready to eat, serve topped with shredded cheese, sour cream, and/or fritos. Completely optional, but the cheese is wonderful with it.

What’s your favorite recipe for the fall months?

P.S. If you’d like this as a feature on my blog, let me know. I plan to blog about monkey bread next.

I often browse cooking blogs. I’m not a great cook, by any means, but I’d like to better myself (for Husband’s sake–though, luckily, he can cook!). The Queen of cooking blogs, in my opinion, is the Pioneer Woman. I have saved so many recipes from her blog because they are mostly simple. However, I haven’t tried any until last night. Now that we’re in our own house (with a great-sized kitchen), it’s a little easier for trial and error. (And believe me, there could be a lot of error.)

When I saw the recipe for molten chocolate lava cake (originally posted on Tasty Kitchen), I knew I had to make it. It looked so simple, and I only had to buy a couple ingredients because the rest, I already had.

I’ll post the recipe here for your convenience, but all credit goes to Tasty Kitchen member, Brandielle, for posting the recipe.

Ingredients (makes 4 servings):

Seriously, that’s it.  However, I cut everything in half, since I only wanted to make two cakes for Husband and I to each have one. They turned out great, regardless.

*

First, preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  Then put the stick of butter and four chocolate squares in a microwavable bowl. Place it in the microwave for one minute. Don’t worry–the chocolate won’t melt completely! Whisk the butter/chocolate slowly until the chocolate is smooth. It looks delicious already!

Next, stir in one cup of powdered sugar. (I recommend using a spoon rather than the whisk–it blends much easier.) While your doing this, have your husband separate the egg white and yolk of two eggs. (Okay, so you can do this yourself, but I had Husband do it.) Put the two egg yolks, along with two eggs, in the bowl and whisk. Now, add the six tablespoons of flour and stir. (Again, I recommend using a spoon because the mixture will get stuck in the whisk otherwise.)

How easy was that? The next part is even easier.

Spray four custard cups with cooking spray (so that the cakes will slide out easily). Evenly distribute the cake mixture into the custard cups and place them on a cookie sheet. Put in the oven and cook for just thirteen minutes. When the cakes are done, carefully remove them from the oven. Let them sit for about ten minutes (or until the custard cups cool) before removing the cakes. As Pioneer Woman suggests, the best way to get the cake on the plate is to place the plate upside down on top of the custard cup; then flip it and remove the custard cup. (That way the cake doesn’t slip out of the cup, making a mess.)

It’ll look beautiful, I promise! To make the cake even more delicious, you could add whipped cream (we made our own) or vanilla ice cream. It actually helps to mute the chocolate slightly because, believe me, it’s rich. Now, cut your beautiful cake open and enjoy!

*I know, I need to hurry up and buy that Nikon D5000. I used my cell phone for these images.