thecauseyadventure

[thecauseyadventure]

Lamb Kebobs with Roasted Spaghetti Squash

As I sit here starting to write (very hesitantly because the last 2 blogs I have ALMOST finished and ready to post... safari crashes and I lose it all...) I have the kitchen cleaned while listening to the hum of the dishwasher, my third cup of decaf next to me, a sleeping baby on my lap, and a warm home that smells like cinnamon sticks are grown here... I am thankful. 

The other day I started some bone broth following Wellness Mama's recipe. I wrote all about it on my last blog that disappeared in the crash, but I am loving it so much that I am biting my teeth to write it all over again and share it! The broth was the darkest I have ever seen! I'm talking, dark brown when it was done. Beautiful. Ever since I had Ellie, my teeth have been so sensitive! I hear that is normal. Apparently she wanted all the minerals in my teeth while she was growing in me...that girl asked for a lot those 9 months :) But my friend shared with me that the minerals from bone broth (a little different from your basic chicken broth) can help re-mineralize your teeth. Hey, I am all for avoiding the dentist if I can. My 10+ years of intense dental work has me leery. {here is a little extra info on why bone broth is amazing} Also- if you live in the Yuba-Sutter area, they sell beef bone at New Earth. Extremely convenient. 

If you are a heath nut, or a wandering soul headed in that direction.. I highly recommend starting with the book Nourishing Traditions. It's phenomenal. It gives you a really good and SIMPLE basis on what it means to truly be nourished. They also have a great bone broth recipe in there. I also have a serious collection of Edible Magazines which are another great resource. They are the local hub for your city. If you are lucky enough to have one in a major city close to you- find it and get it! If you like local, you will be inspired. It features local people, what they do, and tons of places to check out... amazing resources for each city they are in. For example, in one of the Edible's I was reading today, I read all about egg labeling. Ever get stuck on "cage-free" or "free range" etc.. well they did a whole article dissecting that. Love it! They typically put out a magazine four times a year, with the seasons. Tonight's dish is from Edible San Luis Obispo. Our former home. 

Nourishing Traditions has me wanting to branch out on new meats. Well, I will preface this menu with the fact that, the amazing doodle-like quality of this meal had me giddy to eat lamb. I can't say that I will ever eat it again. It reminded me of goat cheese. I hate goat cheese. Tastes like bad breath.

Isn't that a beautiful spread?!

Here is our meat marinating. It really did smell heavenly. What a shame that the lamb meat didn't please the pallet. 

We added mushrooms to our kebabs and nixed the tomato. 

...and featured...the beautiful recipe! 

I would most certainly do this recipe again..but with beef. All beef. 

And when you go back to your own blog for a recipe reference, you know it has been a well loved dish in your home. My husband told me that the roasted spaghetti squash "mash" is one of his top favorite dishes right now. I will soak all that up! Spaghetti squash is a warming treat for all! And this was our side dish. 

Enjoy!

[thecauseyadventure]

Crock Pot Lemon Herbed Chicken with Roasted Potatoes and Seasonal Salad

Riddlelove has made her comeback on her blog after many months of being away (holding me in suspense), so I am taking advantage of her re-appearance by giving you plenty of reasons to check out her blog. This recipe is also hers. She also has LOTS of great holiday posts out right now, especially for families.

We had company over tonight for dinner and based on the track record of Ellie and I around dinner time, I thought it would be safe to make something that can cook all day and be prepared in the morning when she is more contempt on her own. #winning. Especially since company probably wants to eat at a reasonable hour. This recipe is REALLY simple and I'm hoping a crowd pleaser. Riddlelove did use Trader Joe's seasoning which I don't have (our closest Traders is like 45 minutes away, tear, tear) so I used some of that cumin and chipotle seasoning from Growing Grounds in SLO, along with some ginger, himalayan salt, and pepper. I didn't measure any of them, I just coated the whole top with seasoning. I also stuffed in a twig of rosemary and a few basil leaves. Chicken needs help in the seasoning department, so I don't think you can overdo it. 

Preparing for the slow cooker this morning. With my swiss water decaf coffee :) & Christmas tunes.

All ready to be turned on for the whole day and make my house smell delicious! P.S. this is the first time that I have handled a whole chicken and it feels WAY too similar to a tiny human...and...I just can't even. I had a small freak out because I could picture the whole chicken and the way it was when it was alive...an unexplainable feeling. I'm sure you moms can relate...just handle a whole chicken and tell me I'm wrong! Anyways, maybe avoid handling whole chickens when you just had a baby.  

Right before they came over, I decided to add some roasted potatoes to the dinner. I cut up 4 yukon potatoes, drizzled with olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper and put them in the oven for about an hour on 400. It was a good decision. 

This. Salad. When I was pregnant, the idea of salad made me sick. Now, I can't get enough. I had lunch at a new friends house today where she blessed me with some delicious persimmons from her land (which I quickly learned were delicious in salads...chop, peel the skin off, and dice). Then another friend gave me some pomegranates from her front yard (!!!), so I popped those suckers on top. Had some tomatoes in there from another friends garden. (I love the seasons in California!) Then added a carrot, half an apple, and gouda cheese. So yum! You can add any seasonal fruit or veggie you have in your kitchen to a salad and it would probably be good. 

{a typical sight while dinner is brewing. bath time for little Ellie}

The spread! I would highly recommend this meal. Delicious, easy, wholesome. And in the morning I shall make some broth with the leftover bones :) 

Happy start to the weekend!

[thecauseyadventure]

Roasted Butternut Squash with Quinoa, Roasted Chicken, and Veggies

Another of the famous one-pot meals. In theory. We are going out of town on Monday so I am trying to make sure to use all the perishables that I have in my fridge. Meal planning is my friend. But I must say, the Little has been sleeping so well today that I have been able to crank the Christmas tunes, start my blog (and actually figure out how to fix my tabs!) as the butternut squash roasts, and use 2 hands! Which also means, enjoying a small glass of wine. 

I made the butternut squash almost the same way that I made the spaghetti squash the other night. Cut the ends off, cut in half, scoop out the insides, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Here's a little cheat for you. (I would recommend peeling the skin off before roasting). For the quinoa, I think quinoa by itself can be a little bland, so I love the "Near East" brand of quinoa+rice. Delicious and easy. And fair trade. I eat it ALL the time with roasted veggies for lunch. Then I cut up half of a yellow onion, about 5 mushrooms, and 2 Tablespoons butter. Let that sauté in your cast iron for about 8 minutes and then added in some leftover roasted chicken I pulled out from the freezer that I had left from a few weeks ago and added into the pot. Once that was done cooking, I added that mix into the quinoa+rice and drizzled some olive oil, pink himalayan salt, pepper, cumin, and ginger. 

I peeled the butternut squash, cubed it, and placed it on top of the quinoa+rice and veggie chicken mix. Then crumbled some feta on top. The feta really made the dish. It was lacking a little something, I just haven't quite figured out what spice I am missing. Not sure how many more times this meal will hit our table. Once I figure out that missing ingredient, it may re-appear. I'm quickly learning spaghetti squash is much more my cup of tea. 

{my plate}

... {and my husband's} :)

Here's to an average Thursday night meal!

[thecauseyadventure]

Nourishing Potato Cheddar Soup

Riddlelove does it again. She continues to amaze me with her simplicity and ease to eating real and healthy foods...that are DELICIOUS! I have learned more from her about meal planning and real food than any other blog I have read. I'm learning these days, with an infant, a simple meal brings joy to my soul. Especially when my little one always wants to be held right when I start dinner. Simple meals that are nourishing. One pot kinda stop.

This apparently is the normal state of a stay at home mommy. Pajamas all day, no make up, hair up, spit up all over your shirt. I'm ok with all of that. And cooking with one hand. Sweet little baby girl. P.S. look at those little swirly curls! This girl WILL have curly hair. Better yet, a white girl fro. After all, she is 1/4 black. 

Riddlelove's recipe is perfect as it is. Do not change anything. (well, I did change one spice because I don't have cayenne pepper. I used this AMAZING chipotle spice, which is my husband's favorite, from a local shop in San Luis Obispo. If you live close, you HAVE to go there. They are amazing people with a beautiful cause. Hopefully they still sell their spices because I am stocking up when we visit next week.) And while you are on her blog looking at this recipe, take a gander around. You will be inspired. A mother of 5 children, with a full working garden and farm, and she still manages meals that are beautifully yummy and nourishing. I have one Little and am still trying to cut onions and potatoes with one hand. Thank Jesus for a sweet friend who brought Ellie a swing. Popped in some new batteries and she swings so sweetly, and soundly asleep, as we listen to music, or her cooing, and cook away. I love being a mommy. Speaking of mommy... my mom made the chicken stock that my soup is currently cooking in. My mom is the best. 

The simmering state of the soup. You HAVE to make this soup just to smell what I am smelling. 

Here it is in all it's creaminess. Don't forget to add in salt and pepper at the end! I used my blender to finish it since I don't have a handheld one. Enjoy your Wednesday! And if the Little had slept a little longer I would have topped it with bacon... we'll attempt next time.

[thecauseyadventure]

Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Baked Potatoes and Salad

I'm back! After almost a year? I can't even remember. A lot has happened since the last meal! We moved to Dallas from California, then found out we were expecting a little Causey, then had baby Causey (Ellie is her name), and then moved back to California. And to top that, our expectation of what Dallas would be was clearly out of whack. We struggled to find jobs that were long term and life giving to us, as well as being discouraged over and over by homes that were completely out of our price range. Well, we didn't even have a price range since jobs took a while to sort out. However, we were incredibly blessed by my family to host us our entire duration of the Dallas adventure. And family was exactly why we moved to Dallas in the first place. We have seen so much fruit from our season there already. Since I was pregnant and food was mostly forced down my throat, I wasn't as motivated as I had hoped in the discovery of more real foods. Mostly, I survived on the foods my mom and sister made. Thankful.

So since the last meal I blogged, I have been completely unmotivated by food, had pregnancy style eating (not so good), and now have a tiny human to care for. Note to self: start dinner about 2 hours before you actually think you should...it is inevitable that baby will be hungry, have a poopy diaper, need a bath, want to be cuddled and not put down, etc...because it will take twice as long when a little person needs your attention. But oh how I love that she needs me. I have however become INCREDIBLY good at doing everything one handed. I even chopped an onion with one hand. I wouldn't recommend it. At all. I am actually writing this whole thing with my Little laying on top of me and slightly cutting off my arm circulation. Today she has not wanted to sleep alone. I get that feeling :)

All to say, I hope that this blog will continue to be an inspiration-- and even more so an inspiration to mommies that have littles, or bigs, to know that you CAN achieve a whole and healthy meal for your family. Simple is my heart. 

On to the cooking. It feels good to be back in the kitchen and every smell not making you want to puke. It also feels so good to actually enjoy and CRAVE vegetables and all things green. Let's just say...it's been a while.

For the roasted spaghetti squash I used a simple recipe (oh Martha) for the roasting part and then followed a recipe that I had at a families dairy farm a few days ago that I gorged myself on for that last part. Perfectly fall. Once again, I made this recipe my own. I only used olive oil, salt, pepper, and a clove of garlic. Trust me, there is plenty of parmesan coming. Start by cutting the 2 ends off, slicing the squash in half (no easy feat), and scooping out all the middle seedy stuff. After I oiled and seasoned it, it just didn't make sense to turn in cut side down and let all that fall onto the pan, so I left it cut side up and it cooked perfectly. 

At the same time I put the 2 potatoes wrapped in foil in the oven. These took about 20 minutes longer than the squash, but that also depends on the thickness of the potatoes that you use. 

Once your squash is about 5-10 minutes from being done, chop up 1/2 of an onion and 1 clove of garlic. I used 1/4 of a red onion and the rest yellow, because I needed to use the red. Place in a cast iron (or any sauté pan), drizzle with olive oil, and sauté on low until the onions start to caramelize. This can take up to 20 minutes. While the onions are brewing away, shred 1/2 of a block of parmesan cheese (a little over 1 cup). Start your bacon cooking for your potatoes. Once the onions are almost done, scoop out the insides of the squash and place in the pan with 2 Tablespoons butter. After it cooks for a few minutes, then add in your parmesan and fold it into the squash until it is all melted. Delish! 

Serve the squash (my husband recommends you serve it over the baked potatoes), whip together your favorite salad, cut the potatoes and slice butter over them, top with bacon, and if you are crazy, parmesan cheese too! Can you tell I REALLY like my healthy fats? All. Things. Butter. Breastfeeding takes a lot of fuel! 

Enjoy! {This will feed about 3-4 people}

And yes, ignore the tabs at the top, I still haven't a clue how to work those things yet.

[thecauseyadventure]

So you should read this book. #pagefourteen #realfood

[thecauseyadventure]

"Practicing the timeless way of living"

So since my blog will be in and out of use due to my husband and I moving to Dallas, living at my parents, and not being the main cook on a regular basis, I will post a lot less in the next 3 months. For me, it will be a nice little break--because I have overdone my expectations of what I will be doing when I do have my own kitchen back. I love that anticipation. I also love the time I have to plan. Cultured foods, fermented teas, soaked grains, buying in bulk, and planting veggies in the Texas climate. All of this time allows me to literally start my kitchen from scratch again when we move into our adorable 1920's home. With 2 bedrooms. Come stay with us! It also allows me to find all the local foods and places that I can, so when I actually do start purchasing for my kitchen, I can do it in a way that I will feel oh so good about. 

Now that we have moved to Dallas, I am excited to share all of my 'urban city' local finds! All the spots I get honey, dairy, spices, etc. It makes me giddy. You should listen to how I sound after coming home from shopping when I talk to my husband. It's funny and kind of ridiculous. Local milk! Listen to me, I found local milk! Anyways, you can be excited with us in this transition. And did I mention that our place is right next to a Garden Cafe? Herbs, veggies, chickens, all viewed from our backyard :)

With that, I will leave you with a few inspirational quotes from books that I picked up from the library down the road. Because here's to learning to be local in the city.

"Most of us dream of having homes that are centers of love and harmony- places where we and those we love can flourish and be truly nourished and healthy, where our relationships can grow in intimacy and connectedness, and where our hearts can be open wide to acceptance, forgiveness, and unconditional love." -Annie B. Bond (Home Enlightenment, which is a GREAT resource for a hippy home, and where all these quotes are from)

"The shift is of the heart, we drop judgement against other and ourselves and work instead to heal the physical and emotional wounds to humans and to the earth." -Annie B. Bond

"Our intuition knows nature is where we belong and who we are." -Annie B. Bond

"Making the best and the finest takes conviction."

[thecauseyadventure]

Roasted Veggies

Tonight’s dinner was so simple, it’s like I didn’t even use my brain. Before I shop, I like to clear out as much of my fridge as I can. I’m sure you know how it is, once you bring home all the new food treats, last weeks get pushed to the back of the fridge and forgotten. So I make what I can with the little of everything that I have left. Waste not, want not. 

I preheated the oven to 350. Chopped up some golden potatoes and brussels. Then just laid the carrots on the cooking stone whole. I don’t cut the outer skin off my carrots because it robs me of too much of the carrot. A little rinse does just fine. 

{here they are with all the seasonings on them}

Then I drizzled some olive oil on all the veggies. {Trick: cover 3/4 of the spout with your finger and then pour. You have much better control} Lightly sprinkled salt on all the veggies. On the potatoes I put dried rosemary from my neighbors garden along with pepper, then on the brussels I put a tiny bit of dried thyme from my plant, and then I left the carrots alone. 

Place in the oven for about 20 minutes for the brussels and about an hour for the carrots and potatoes. Yum! {depending on your oven or how your cooking stone cooks, it may take longer. 

P.S. I only used 1 knife & 1 cutting board for the whole meal! My husband will be very happy when he does the dishes tonight! 

Enjoy a simple, easy, and healthy dinner tonight.

[thecauseyadventure]

Homemade Chipotle Bowl

{Just to note: I am working on my tabs. I am not the most savvy when it comes to this. If you have any recommendations on how to un-complicate it, let me know!}

I mean who doesn't love a good mexican meal, especially a fresh delicious, Chipotle bowl. If you have ever been on their website, they are a company that is surprisingly, for the most part, honest. A company with integrity. That my friends, is hard to find. And rumor is, they are going to start serving more sustainably in all their ingredients. Maybe all organic & some local! I'll support that. 

Anyways, since we have been packing and ripping apart our apartment…the quick, easy, healthy meals are becoming a must! And in a few days, I'm going to start packing my kitchen. So the meals will become even more simple. I need this. In order to not lose my mind while I pack & deal with the emotional move… I have to spend my time in the kitchen. The short time I have. It's sacred to me.

{this. is. my. life.}

Back to the food. With this meal, just like at the restaurant, you can cater it to your liking. I assembled my bowl like  this- brown rice, spinach, black beans, corn, and homemade salsa. {Philip's had sautéed green peppers and onions on top of that}. 

Rice is rather difficult to master. So I cheat and buy the Trader Joe's pre-made brown rice. It tells you to heat it in the microwave, but since I don't have one, I made mine with 1/4 cup water in a pot on low heat for about 8 minutes. I don't like microwaves. I think they are bulky, take up my precious counter space, and are bad for you. Use the stove. 

Then I heated up 1 can of organic black beans {my husband can really tell the difference between the ones perfectly canned and the ones that I soak and make from scratch--mine aren't on the winning end} & 1 cup of organic frozen corn on the stove, also on low heat for about 6 minutes. Then the entire time that all this was happening I sautéed 1/4 red onion, 1 whole green pepper, and 2 cloves garlic. Also on low heat with about 1 Tablespoon olive oil in the cast iron. It was sautéing for about 15 minutes.

At the end I made guacamole for my husband. He is LOVING it these days. 2 avocados, 2 limes, 2 teaspoons salt. Mash & enjoy.

With Riddlelove's guideline, I nixed the cream fraiche and cheese. I didn't have the cream made and no cheese was in my fridge. It was still absolutely delicious without it. 

Assemble and enjoy!

[thecauseyadventure]

Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce & Roasted Brussels

It was quite a successful day for me. I finished purchasing all my work professional black and white clothing for my new little job at Starbucks! It has been quite the toll, but with the help of my adorably fashionable husband... and via text with my Neiman Marcus employed sister--the search has been completed! So by the time that we came home, we were hungry and quick and easy was the name of tonights dinner. 

I had been eyeing this recipe, and was excited to try it. It is really rare that we eat pasta, or much of grain. It's not so easy on my stomach, so we try to avoid it. Meat and veggies are our game. But pasta is easy and quick. SO here it is. 

Here is what I changed: I used one can of diced tomatoes and one whole tomato diced instead of the canned sauce. It's what I had. Then I used a purple onion instead of white. It's what I had. And the main thing that we had to change (which I would not recommend) was using whole milk instead of heavy cream. I love heavy cream. A lot. It's easy to make and tasty, but I didn't have any. The sauce at the end was a little runnier than I wanted, so heavy cream is a must. And you can really use whatever pasta you have, I had spirals. 

Then I went with my classic brussels. I love them. Preheat the oven to 400, cut the sprouts in half, drizzle with olive oil, and then sprinkle with salt. Then cook for about 25-30 minutes until they are soft inside and crunchy on the outside. Delicious! 

[thecauseyadventure]

Slow Cooked BBQ Chicken with Pinto Beans & Sautéed Broccoli with Blueberry Scones

I love simple meals. After a day full of emotional packing, I remembered that dinner needed to happen. So I put 4 chicken thighs into the crock pot with some delicious Texan style BBQ sauce (about 1 cup) and let those thighs cook all day. On low. And then about 1 hour before we ate, I cranked it up to high to give it some crispy little edges. 

Then when it was time to actually start dinner, I put 1 can of pinto beans on the stove (don't judge me, I normally start from dry beans and soak, etc, etc, but I was packing…) and added 2 Tablespoons BBQ sauce, 1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic, and a small amount of salt and pepper. It was deliciously perfect!

Then I washed and pulled apart 2 heads of broccoli and threw them in the cast iron with about 1 Tablespoon of olive oil. Turn the stove on low and sauté it for about 8 minutes, then put 1/3 chicken broth in and cover it until the broccoli softens. 

Also-- sorry for the ugly picture. Flash. And you can see the steam :)

Serve and enjoy a simple yummmmmy little meal. And I made it up all by my little self. 

And if you are getting crazy, try this scone recipe for dessert. I was craving it and was inspired by Sabrina's little bakers heart. Also the one who made the WONDERFUL art at the top of my blog. She made me some lemon blueberry scones the other night and I was so addicted. So I recreated them, in a small simple scale. Nothing comparing to hers.  p.s. I replaced the cranberries with blueberries in this recipe. Yum! 

[thecauseyadventure]

Roasted Cauliflower & Garlic with Sautéed Mushroom & Onion topped Couscous

This again was a recipe inspired by this blog, but I hesitate to post it because it is more of the skeleton of it that I used more than anything else.  So keep that in mind as I change everything you are about to read. 

I started with preheating the oven to 400. Washed and pulled apart half a head of cauliflower. I placed it on the pan and drizzled it with about 2 Tablespoons of olive oil, 2 chopped garlic cloves, 1/4 teaspoon cumin, and sprinkled with salt and pepper. I left the almond slivers for something else :)

Then I started the couscous. I used this quick and easy recipe and actually followed it fully! Philip doesn't really like couscous, so the topping is what won him over on this one.

I chopped one small red onion and drizzled a little olive oil in the bottom of the cast iron and let those cook on a low heat for about 12 minutes. Then I sliced up about 7 white mushrooms and added those in with a small handful of sliced almonds. Those cooked on the stove for about 20-30 minutes total. It was a long time, but they were caramelized and super yummy! Worth the wait.

A super simple recipe that is sure to please a crowd. Oh and I threw a salad on my plate, because right now it sounds good with just about anything. 

[thecauseyadventure]

Sautéed Salmon with Oven Roasted Gold Potatoes & Green Beans

It's been a little while, huh? It feels good to be back in my little homesteading heart…before my little home is all sold and boxed up. We are moving in less than 3 weeks, so I will take advantage of any of the kitchen time that I can get. 

Tonight I made a craving. As usual. My mom made salmon on Christmas Eve for us non-vegans and it reminded me of how much of a treat it is. 

Once again, I started with a recipe, but I strayed so far from it it's not even worth sharing with you. 

First, I placed the salmon in a ziploc bag with about 5 Tablespoons of soy sauce and let that marinate about 20-30 minutes. I lost track, but it wasn't more than 30 and the minimum was 20. 

I cut up 4 golden potatoes, washed and rinsed and chopped into little wedges. Drizzled them with olive oil, salt, pepper, cumin, and ginger then placed it in the oven at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. Until they are soft all the way through and crunchy on the outside. 

Then I washed and rinsed a large handful of green beans. Snapped the ends and placed them in boiling water. After about 8 minutes, I turned it down to low and covered it for another 10. 

Then I drizzled the cast iron with olive oil on medium-high heat. Let it get hot and then placed the salmon skin side down and cooked it for about 8 minutes. While it was cooking, I topped it with sea salt, pepper, and dried rosemary. Flipped it and let it cook for another 8 minutes. It took another flip and I cooked it until it was light pink all the way through and flaky. It took roughly 5 more minutes.

Isn't that so beautiful?! 

Serve and be so enchanted! 

[thecauseyadventure]

Homemade Spaghetti with Broccoli Fritters

This has been a long awaited blog. I have been so excited to share with you such a sweet and surreal moment for me. My dear friend and photographer Sabrina Klomp and her husband came over for dinner a little while ago and Sabrina had offered to take pictures of me while I was preparing dinner for them. There are only a few things that I love more than making food and conversating over it. Add in some wine and it is a perfect night to me.

So if you check out her blog you will get to see some adorable pictures of this dinner being made and also much higher quality pictures of the meal being made. I just love it! 

This is one of my favorites. Sabrina, you are a gem.

When I was making the spaghetti sauce, I used this recipe. Now, once again I just had a bunch of tomatoes and so I improvised on the recipe. I loved it! Instead of using tomato paste or canned tomatoes, I chopped up a variety of heirloom and local tomatoes of all colors and all sizes. It wasn't as thick as your usual spaghetti because I didn't use tomato paste, but I actually liked it more. And I also did not have beef, but it was still delicious without! I also used real onions (green) and real garlic (mined). I don't prefer the powders. Just adjust the spices based on how much you are making for. Then I made Trader Joe's brown rice pasta that is spirally and cute. It's much easier on my stomach than regular pasta. It's also delicious. 

Then for the fritters (which were seriously so delicious!!) I used this recipe. I love Smitten Kitchen. I'm just smitten with that kitchen. The only thing that I canned with this one was I used spelt flour and I fried them in bacon grease. That's what I had in my cast iron. And no one was complaining. 

Enjoy your meal and invite friends to enjoy it as well. Encourage community in your home. 

p.s. Philip and I are in Dallas with our family for the month of December, so you probably won't be getting many recipes on here for a while.

[thecauseyadventure]

Fajitas with Roasted Carrots & Peppers with Homemade Chips & Guacemole

I saw this grass-fed, local beef fajita meat at the store when I was shopping earlier this week and I simply just could not resist. So I chose it as my last meal to make because I was that excited about it. {it was an absolute hit!}

I started with making my own tortilla chips. This is not common because Philip and I are both kind of addicted to Trader Joe's Black Bean & Quinoa chips. To die for. But we were out and I had some guac that I needed to make in order to clean out my fridge and so I used some of Philip's Ezekiel sprouted tortillas and baked them at 350 on the baking stone for almost 40 minutes. Then I just broke them apart and served them as normal chips.

Here they are finished, before broken up. Pretty delicious! {but not a permanent replacement}

You who cook, know that when you are planning to go out of town for an extended time, you get pretty crafty in using the last little bit of everything in the fridge. I truly just can't handle the idea of wasted food.

Then I went ahead and threw in some carrots and roasted peppers. It does not go with the meal at all, but once again, I needed to use these carrots. So after the chips were done, I cup up a few slivers of red peppers and carrots and placed about 3 Tablespoons of homemade cultured butter and some salt and threw them in the oven for about 25-30 minutes. 

While that was going, I made Philip's new favorite guacamole. I truly can't stand it. {I overdid the avocado in high school and now it makes me sick} 

The recipe is really simple: 1 avocado, 1 lime juiced, 1 teaspoon salt. Smash & enjoy. 

Then I moved on to getting the fajita meat ready. 

This recipe I made up, and I am really happy with it! The best part? The onions I used, I grew!! I mean really. So for the meat I chopped 1 red pepper, 6 mushrooms, and about 1/4 cup onion.

I try to chop everything I need to 'throw in' before I start so it doesn't stress me out when things start getting over done. Once that was done, I put about 1 Tablespoon of homemade cultured butter in the cast iron on high. Let that melt and then throw in the 1 lb. of fajita meat. Almost instantly I sprinkled about 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Then I flipped and and stirred then added 1/4 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder, and 1 teaspoon cumin. {another great part is, if you live in SLO you can buy all these spices locally made here--seriously warms my heart} Then I just stirred and flipped it until it was browned and then let it simmer for about 4-5 minutes after. Don't overcook it because it will become too chewy. Yuck. 

Absolutely delicious.

Then I put it all in an organic flour tortilla and topped with some cheese. You can also add some salsa on top. Enjoy! 

[thecauseyadventure]

Steak Tips with Peppered Mushroom Gravy & Oven Roasted Golden Potatoes

After many nights off the hook from cooking due to eating with friends, I thought I would make something simple and 'clean out house' worthy. We will be leaving for Christmas vacation at my parents in less than 5 days, so it begins the countdown to clean out perishable items. 

When I was grocery shopping, there was some top sirloin steak on sale and I'm always up for a challenge. I have never really liked this type of meat, and to be honest, I'm more of a veggie girl than meat. There are really only a few types of meat that I truly and fully enjoy every time. This is not one of them, but since it was on sale I thought I'd give it a try. 

I found this recipe online after looking at a lot of yucky looking recipes (to me), and flipping through a bunch that I would have to buy ingredients for. Of course, due to needing to clean out my house, I actually did have pasta, but more importantly I had golden potatoes that are much more perishable than pasta. So when I went to cook the meat, I don't own any spray oil (cause I don't think it's necessary), I substituted it for bacon grease. 

Then I chopped some green onions rather than shallots, because I didn't have any. Along with only using 3/4 of the package of mushrooms. The thing I would have changed with cooking the mushrooms, is I would have sautéed them longer. They were a little chewy. 

Just look at that melted homemade cultured butter. I also added in more butter and about 1/2 Tablespoon more bacon fat {people remember, there IS good fat!!} because it was looking and cooking really dry. 

Then I added about double the soy sauce to compensate the dryness as well. 

Here it is! All done. With a side of spinach salad. {and of course my cow slippers peeking in}

I roasted the potatoes at 350 for 1 hour. Make sure you poke holes in them before you roast! Flip over at about 40 minutes. 

Yum yum! It looks like a really nasty explosion, but it tasted good. 

The verdict on the meat: I wouldn't buy it again, but the gravy made it worth it. My southern love for gravy kicked in. 

[thecauseyadventure]

Oven Roasted Chicken Thighs with Green Bean Bundles & Sautéed Asparagus

Just the title makes this worth a try. I love bacon. I love veggies. This is almost like a 'southern comfort' type of meal for me. 

As I went grocery shopping, I try my best to start with organic meats, if I don't have enough in my budget to buy all organic or local foods. It seems to be the most important thing that you can buy organic because there are a lot of and chemicals you can consume just by eating commercial meats. Eww. If you can afford it, start with just buying organic meats. It's that important. 

I started with this recipe from good ole' Martha Stewart. Oh Martha. The only parts I changed on this recipe were that I left out the mustard. I didn't have any…ooops-- and then I only marinated it for 30 minutes because, honestly, I didn't realize that I needed to marinate it so long before I started dinner. Hungry people means less marinating. 

Then I moved onto the green bean and bacon bundles. Oh my lanta. Delicious. Williams - Sonoma does it right. And it sounds fancy. I made this recipe a little bit smaller because there are only 2 of us. So I used 4 pieces of bacon and about 2 Tablespoons butter. So I made the measurements about half. In all I made 4 large bundles. I also left out the brown sugar because I only have a little left and I wanna save that for my morning oatmeal :) And I figured that my homemade cultured butter and garlic was enough flavor and good fat. 

Then I topped it off with sautéed asparagus. I added a bundle of asparagus (ends cut off) with 1 Tablespoon of my homemade cultured butter and sautéed it on low for about 10 minutes and then sprinkled it with salt.

{this is my homemade cultured butter}

The best part? All the veggies are from our local CSA box and the meat is good for us. With that, I can sleep soundly tonight. Praise the Lord. {And I may be a little gushy about our CSA box because I had to cancel it this week because we are leaving for Texas on Wednesday, for a month, and they sent me the sweetest thank you note for being their customer. Seriously, if you live in SLO, or the Central Coast, ORDER THIS BOX!!!}

Serve and be delighted. Because I want to make this every night now.