the scoop

It would be reasonable for most people who read my blog regularly to think all I really enjoy is fashion. But the truth is fashion is easy for me to blog about. Cooking is one of my true loves. I also love home decorating, crafts, learning about wines, running and dog psychology! Ha! Ha! I am always wondering what my dogs are thinking.

Anyway, I thought I would sprinkle a little of my other interests here and there in my blog. Today I am showing you the versatility in my food choices. I above all am about health. But physical health is based a great deal on mental health for me. I need to love what I see, do and eat to feel content in this world. So I eat almost everything that is edible. I believe in balance, fresh, natural and most of all, home cooked. I think you can make anything you love healthier if you make it yourself with fresh ingredients.

Although I usually intermittent fast until about 11 AM, I still love breakfast foods. One of my favorite breakfasts is shown in the first picture. A poached egg on top of fresh sliced avocado on whole grain or sourdough bread with a drizzle of honey, a drizzle of sriracha and fresh cracked black pepper. To me this is a gift from the food gods!

Presentation is also important to me so I always use fun dishes when I do anything cooking or eating related. I have so many dishes that I have a dedicated dish room in my home in Idaho.  My little condo here in Arizona is bare bones so there is a lot of making do. Eventually I will get things arranged so both places are set up the way I want.

This next group of pictures are of the cake I made for my daughter-in-law's birthday this year. We were at the condo so I improvised some. I am not a cake mix user but for this cake you use a cake mix but add other things to amp it up. So I got the most chocolaty cake mix I could find and added some things. Here is the recipe from Giada on the Food Network. This recipe is a keeper. You add coffee and coconut and all sorts of goodness to make it taste home made! I love toasting the coconut and other little things that make this cake special. And more important than anything else, my family loved it!

I think it is so fun to toast coconut!

This last picture is of a salad I made out of Brussels Sprouts. This is goodness to the max! I chop up Burssells Sprouts added roasted red peppers and red onions. I chopped up a tart apple and added a little tomato and cooked this heavenly thick sliced bacon bought at the meat counter at Sprouts to mix throughout. I made a vinaigrette out of olive oil, cherry preserves, balsamic vinegar, fresh lemon and salt and pepper.  A sprinkle of goat cheese on this salad makes it perfection! 

Here is a link to 10 amazing Brussels Sprouts salad recipes. I always alter mine to meet what I have in the kitchen or am in the mood for. 

ideas for creative time in your kitchen

It the first picture of this post my plate is from Williams Sonoma. I  have so many plates and things in my kitchen from this store. They have beautiful everything for the kitchen. My cake plate is Gracious Goods, I have two different cake plates from this company and I adore them. They make any cake look beautiful and I need all the help I can get! My salad serving bowl is from Target, as well as other cups and small plates seen in these pictures. It is another great place to get kitchen stuff! I linked up some fun cook books as well as other things that make time in the kitchen almost spiritual for me! 

P.S.

I was going through photos and realized I am starting to get homesick when I saw my fireplace back at my Idaho home. As much as I love Arizona in the winter, there's no place like home. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Peace!