Dinner, Field Notes, and a Smoothie

We had some steak to eat two nights ago so Brad wanted to do steak, potatoes and slaw (one of his favorite combos). We just seasoned the steak with some Montreal steak seasoning we picked up from the market, pan fried it in our cast iron skillet, and quartered and boiled some potatoes for mashing. Now, I have never actually owned Kosher salt, but I picked some up at the store a couple days ago. I'm telling you, those mashed potatoes we SO GOOD. I think the salt was a deciding factor. (The butter, milk, a touch of half and half and sour cream weren't factors at all. No way). We had some leftover shredded cabbage from the Asian Chicken Salad so I mixed up some dressing and made coleslaw. The dressing I use is: 1 cup mayo, 2 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar and some celery salt and black pepper. I just refrigerate the excess dressing and use it as needed. Here are the results:(Note the red neck drinking jar and homemade pickles)Last night we were walking home from Bakersfield and we passed by a little store on the corner called Smartfish Studios. This girl is pretty amazing: she opened a little store with sustainable art supplies and she also makes shoes out of the storefront. They're great! Anyway, she had Field Notes books prominently displayed in the front window. My Dad has been using the Field Notes books for years and Brad just got some too so I was feeling a little left out. Also, I've recently had all sorts of new ideas for dresses and such, but nowhere appropriate to write them down. So I got some too!Aren't they pretty? Lastly, I decided I was going to the gym this morning. It takes a lot for me to move my butt to get there, but once I'm done I feel so good. So why does it feel like a chore? Anyway, I made myself a big old smoothie this morning to help myself get ready. Also, I decided I would treat myself to a trip to Hancock Fabrics (which is right around the corner from the gym) after I went. Remember all those dresses I've been dreaming up? They won't be anything but ideas until I get some fabric... Anyway, here's my delicious and nutritious smoothie. It contains: Greek Gods Yogurt (plain), raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, frozen bananas, milk to make it drinkable and a touch of honey for sweetness.

Ok now I'm really going, for real. Just think of the fabric....

In the past few days...

1. One of the best combinations I've found for our leftover Caribbean Rum is Jones Root Beer. I know, it sounds a little weird, but the vanilla flavor in the root beer goes really well with the rum and a little slice of lime gives it a nice bite. So tasty!2. A new version of the banana ice cream. This one has raspberries, blueberries and honey in it. I think it would have been  a little better if I had frozen the berries with the bananas... the texture was a little too much like a smoothie. The flavor was still good though!3. Roasted Red Pepper Hummus. I had a couple roasted red peppers left in a jar, so I used those, the garlic with it, lemon juice, chickpeas, tahini (homemade!) Served it with some pita bread and it made a great after work snack. My little food processor was getting a workout!4. A picture of Q for the road!

Dinner 6/11/12: Asian Chicken Slaw and Banana "Ice Cream"

Although Brad thinks "No one cares what we have for dinner," I'm going to post these pictures anyway because it was very tasty and easy. First off, we had Asian Chicken Slaw. Our apartment doesn't have AC, so in the summer time it takes a lot for me to even want to get near the stove. In this case, all I had to do was poach the chicken with some salted water until it smelled done, take it out, shred it and let it cool. While the chicken was cooking Brad shredded red and green cabbage on our awesome mandolin slicer. I threw together a quick dressing with my ever-useful immersion blender: sesame oil, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, some brown sugar, pinch of honey, tbsp of crunchy peanut butter and a little water to thin it out. Then we mixed together the chicken, cabbage, dressing, some sliced almonds and topped with crunchy chow mein noodles. Delicious! Would have been great with some ginger and cilantro too. We just used what was on hand.Now for the best part of the meal: Banana/Nutella/Peanut Butter/Cocoa/Chocolate Chip "Ice Cream." I use quotation marks because unlike regular ice cream, the base for this one is frozen bananas. Yup, that's it. You slice up some ripe bananas, free them for a few hours, puree them in the food processor with whatever else you want and voila! you have instant soft serve. I love ice cream. But my hips tend to not love it so much....so this summer I plan on eating loads of banana-based ice cream! Last time I made it with some raspberries and a bit of honey for a sorbet-ish treat. But on this occasion I was looking for something a little more decadent...Nutella and crunchy peanut butter:A little bit of cocoa powder and some chocolate chips:Mix it all up:YUM:My favorite version so far! The chocolate chips gave it a really nice texture. I plan on making more versions!