at home with ann

Happy New Year! I hope you had a wonderful holiday season, and ate all the cookies.  I'm not big on New Year's resolutions, but all the treats I've been eating for the past month have been making me feel a little sluggish.  When I saw a one day "cleanse" I thought I'd give it a try.  Loosely, it called for drinking hot lemon water first thing in the morning, a Glowing Green Smoothie for breakfast, Ginger Lemon Cayenne Detox tea and vegetables for lunch and dinner. My day went like this: First thing after my run: Hot Lemon water - This is a nice way to warm up.  I do this all the time. Breakfast: Glowing Green Smoothie - I liked it a lot.  Very refreshing and hydrating.  Wished I hadn't baked donuts the night before as they were staring me down on the kitchen counter. Lunch: Spicy Mulligatawny Soup - I'm pretty sure that's not what they meant by "salad," but I went with it. Snack: Ginger Lemon Cayenne Detox tea - Zingy and invigorat...

We go through a lot of hummus.  It's one of my go-to meals for Colin, and Jon and I will make a pretty serious dent in a container during a snack session.  While Trader Joe's Mediterranean is my all time favorite, it's always good to whip up a batch at home.  I had my usual kitchen helper at my side for this one, which meant a fair amount of lemon sucking, chickpea sampling, pressing buttons on the food processor and finally eating the finished product straight up with a spatula.  It's always a messy adventure in our kitchen these days. Roasted Garlic Hummus 2 cups chickpeas or 1 can, rinsed and drained 1 head garlic 2 tablespoons tahini 1 lemon, juiced Kosher or sea salt 1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for garlic Warm water Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slice the very top off the head of garlic and place on a piece of tin foil. Drizzle with olive oil and wrap tightly. Roast garlic for 1 hour and allow to cool before handling. Once the garlic is cool,...

These are the best green beans.  The Best.  They are so good they make you excited about green beans.  Plus, they only take a few minutes to put together.  If you serve them with a very simple sauteed fish, like I did here, the whole meal takes about 10 minutes.  You could easily use this sauce with other vegetables, it would be delicious with asparagus. These measurements are approximate, I usually just throw all the ingredients in a bowl, so adjust to taste. Lemon Garlic Green Beans 4 cups green beans 1/2 lemon, juiced 1 garlic clove, grated or finely minced 2 Tablespoons olive oil 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 2-4 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese Boil or steam beans until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Immediately immerse beans in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process and maintain their bright green color. In a large bowl, mix together lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Add in green beans a...

When I was in college, we used to go to a dive Mexican restaurant to drink giant margaritas.  Along with those margaritas I would often order Arroz con Pollo.  I have to say, my memory of that dish might be a little hazy, but I think my version is way better.  And I'm not just saying that because due to some timing issues and a baby who needed a bath and to be put to bed, I didn't eat dinner last night until almost 9 and inhaled my bowl.  That is late for someone who is usually starving by 7. Also, I sometimes eat lunch at 11 in the morning and today it involved ants on a log.  I'm either 8 or 88.  But I digress. Arroz con Pollo inspired by Eat Live Run Serves 6 1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts , sliced in half lengthwise to form thin filets (you can use any cut of chicken here) Olive Oil 1-2 onions, chopped 1-2 green bell peppers, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 teaspoons cumin 1 teaspoon paprika 1/4 teaspoon saffron, crushed 1 bay leaf 1 1/2 ...

One of my friends asked for a garlic bread recipe.   It's a few more steps than you might think are necessary to make bread, but so good. Garlic Bread Ingredients: 4-5 cloves garlic, finely diced or grated 1 stick butter, softened salt and pepper 1 baguette, sliced in half horizontally 1 1/2 cups cheese, shredded (mozzarella or Italian blend) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small pan over medium low heat, melt 1 Tablespoon butter and cook the garlic until golden, about 5-10 minutes. Mix together garlic mixture, remaining butter, salt and pepper in a bowl and spread thickly on both cut sides of the bread.  Sandwich bread back together and wrap in foil.  Bake for 15 minutes. Preheat broiler. Unwrap bread and sprinkle with cheese.  Broil until cheese has melted, 1 to 2 minutes.  Keep an eye on it, if you walk away it will totally catch fire and you will be sad.

Mama Pea  is a bit of a celebrity in the blog world.  A one-time lawyer, she left her job to stay home with her adorable daughters, and transitioned her family from a conventional to a vegan diet.  This is not the land of fake food, however, her recipes are varied, flavorful, filling, and satisfy everyone.  Plus, she shares awkward things like how she spends all day wearing old yoga pants.  I do too.  And she never fails to make me laugh.  She has a cookbook coming out this week, which I desperately want, but in the meantime I will keep cooking from the fantastic recipes she posts on her blog.  One such recipe is this tortilla soup.  I love tortilla soup, but do not always love dealing with chicken, so this was a perfect alternative.  I changed it very slightly just based on the veggies we had on hand, and also to add a mini cheese quesadilla for dipping, because we eat cheese around these parts. Tortilla Soup very slightly modified ...

This is one of the most requested dinners around here.  Cauliflower is kind of a tricky vegetable.  On it's own, I think it's kind of tasteless, but roasted with olive oil and garlic, it's good stuff.  Plus it's full of good things for you, so added bonus.  The recipe was originally from Cooking Light, but I've modified it a bit (mostly making it less light...).  It only takes about 20 minutes to pull together, which means it's great for a quick dinner, or if you are cooking at 10:30 in the morning because you didn't plan ahead.   Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower and Chicken Sausage adapted from Cooking Light Ingredients: 1 package (4 links) chicken sausage - I've used spicy jalapeno and chicken apple, both with success 3 cups   small cauliflower florets - I use the entire head of cauliflower 2 tablespoons   extra-virgin olive oil, divided 1/2 teaspoon   salt, divided 5  garlic cloves, sliced 4 cups   uncooked farfalle -...