Party in my mouth.

There really isn't anything better than flavors exploding in your mouth when a tasty morsel hits your tongue. Nothing. Better. Well maybe one thing.

I have never really been a pork person. You know when you are little and your mom has like ten meals that she makes for dinner and you either love, hate or are indifferent about them? So I LOVED taco night and hated when we had pork. But since its the other white meat and I enjoy trying out new cooking methods/recipes, I have had to expand from my chicken and beef repertoire in the last year. So when I made my order from US Wellness Meats I decided to go all out and get a pork shoulder.  It's been hanging out in our freezer for a few weeks now and I didn't really know where to start...

Left: picture of the recipe in Well Fed and a Margarita while
waiting. Right: Finished shredded carnitas. 

This weekend I made Melissa's stove top carnitas and it turned out to be the best piece of pork that has ever reached my taste buds. Better than bacon and that's something. Admittedly the smell of boiling pork wasn't very appetizing at first but once the water evaporated and the flavors of the different citrus juices became more concentrated, the more delicious the aroma became. 

As I mentioned we have been eating pork on a weekly basis for the last year but have stuck to mostly tenderloins and chops. Oh and bacon. But I just wanted to world to know I am officially a converted pork eater. Plus I used the succulent shredded pork in a *taco! GENIUS. So in the end I turned my least favorite meal into my most look forward to one.

If you get a chance, check out Melissa's website Clothes Make the Girl or buy any of her two amazing cookbooks (Well Fed and Well Fed 2). You won't regret it.
I certainly don't.

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*For this dinner I also used the tortilla recipe from Simone of Zenbelly. Do it!

Pop goes the Kombucha!

5 days later. 

I had just gotten done cleaning the kitchen. Next move was to put the already bottled and fizzy Kombucha in the fridge so that we could drink it later that night. While I was moving the bottles, I noticed that one must not have been sealed correctly or something because it started to make this hissing noise. This obviously meant that this particular bottle was ready. Right? 

 WRONG.

It got everywhere and here are the *photos to prove it. 

Splattered on the cabinets, above the
cabinets ceiling across the room. 

It got on the walls and on every single
 container/utensil on my shelves.

Exploded on the ceiling. 

And on my white sheers in the dining area.

Immediately I thought this was hilarious, of course that was before I got a good look around. Even after to seeing all of the carnage that used to be my kitchen and dining room, I was delirious with laughter. I mean who does this sort of thing happen too? Just me. It was still pretty funny as I discovered new places that remnants of fruit and juice got too. It was only after an hour and half of cleaning did I start think: How could I have avoided this? So if you do not want to do a 2-3 hour deep clean of your kitchen please read the tips below. I wish I had. 

Tip 1: After initial bottling, put bottles on the floor or in a box in case of too much carbonation. If one explodes, at least it is not at eye level and if in a box the mess can be contained. 

Tip 2: Never open a bottle of Kombucha when it is "hissing" at you. 

Tip 3: Refrigerate all bottles before opening. This accomplishes two things. Stops the fermenting and gets the beverage cold for drinking.

Tip 4: Always have a glass ready for pouring. 

Tip 5: Open the bottle like you would champagne- as in have a towel covering the cork while **opening. 

Tip 6: Haven't you ever gotten a tart blueberry and a sweet one in the same container? Remember when you are flavoring with different fruits or fruit juices; ***Not all fruit/fruit juices are equal in sugar content. 

What is the biggest mess you have made in your kitchen? How long did it take you to clean it up?

Don't want to deal with any of this and would like to just buy your stinky tea. This is my favorite store brand. You have be 21 and older to purchase as it may contain some alcohol. 

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*These pictures also do not do the kombucha justice, it really got EVERYWHERE but I was flustered and took terrible pictures.
** If you are like Mr. FFF, you can make your wife go outside with a towel and open the bottle on the grass in the back yard. Overkill? I thought so too. 
***This is the reason why homemade flavored kombucha has so mane variables. The good news is you will learn the correct amount if you are using the same flavorings each time.  

the Kombucha experiment

According to Mr. FFF I have turned into a hippy. This isn't the case but this is what he sometimes says to me. 

In one of my more hippy moves I decided to make some Kombucha. Which is fermented tea and its good for your gut. I know that is super sexy right? So at $3.74 per 16 oz bottle at Whole Foods, I decided to make it myself. Duh. I mean we have made beer before and that is fermented hops soooo why can't I make fermented tea. 

It was a month long process because I decided to start from scratch. I had to first create a *S.C.O.B.Y.  Of course, I could have bought a kit but the whole reason for making my own was so that I didn't have to shell out the king's ransom for my stinky tea. With the recent release of her new book Fermented, luckily I stumbled upon Jill's directions for the WHOLE ENTIRE process on her website. I followed them to a T(ea). 

I made two types: a Black tea which is caffeinated and and a Roobios tea which is not. Below is a picture of the first ferment for the Roobios and the starter for the black tea (which wasn't quite thick enough yet so it's still getting it's S.C.O.B.Y. on). 

 

After the first fermentation, technically the Kombucha is ready but I didn't want to drink stinky tea; I wanted FIZZY stinky tea. For the fizziness I needed to do a short second fermentation. In beer you would do this by adding priming sugar but I **researched and decided to use a mixture of fruit and fruit juices.

Here is the Kombucha ready to be bottled. 

So I cleaned the bottles.

  Got my ingredients together.

 Chopped and weighed my fruit.

  Got my labels ready. 

The finished product, all bottled, capped and ready to...

  wait 3-5 days for the finished product. Stay tuned for what happened next!

Have you ever tried Kombucha before? 

Did you love it? Or would you rather get your good bacteria from other sources?

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* Oh yeah, a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast. Even sexier. 

** Read a little over a dozen websites to gather the information. The internet knows all- right? Plus it's never wrong. 

Super Simple Sriracha Dressing

For those that know me, know I LOVE spicy food. Love it. There have been several times in our relationship that I have single handedly taken Mr. FFF out of commission because I thought it was the perfect amount of spice... but apparently it was too much for the normal people in this world.  My love for sriracha is no different and currently I am on another kick. Last night was taco night so I wanted to re-purpose the leftover chicken in today's lunch as a salad and instead of using the same old Balsamic Vinegar dressing I usually whip up, I decided a spicy lime dressing was needed.

The SRIRACHA LIME DRESSING WAS BORN! Literally in 30 seconds I whipped this together (so there is no reason not to have fresh dressing when you would like it).

Ingredients Needed: Sriracha, Lime Juice, Olive Oil, S&P

Step 1: Break out any container that you can shake things in and it not leak. I used this small mason jar.
Step 2: *Pour in half lime juice, half Sriracha plus a sprinkle of salt & pepper- not the late 90's rap group.
Step 3: Place lid on and shake. Uncap lid and test for taste/spiciness/saltiness.
Step 4: Whatever amount of liquid you have from Step 2 place the equal amount of olive oil. Cap and Shake. Taste again & pour over your salad. 

Your welcome world.

Lunch is over but I will leave you with this article I ran across the other day which, of course, is only making me use more throughout the day not conserve. Thankfully today's verdict was a win for all spicy food fanatics! Production will be resumed. Yay!

Do you make your own dressing at home? 

If not what kind do you buy?

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*JUST EYEBALL IT. Come on this is not rock science; this all about how YOU like it so just eyeball it and then eventually you will know how much you like. This goes for all homemade dressings- Practice Makes Perfect.

Crazy for Zucchini's

I know the summer is ending which means the beloved zucchini will no longer be in season BUT who doesn't love a good Zucchini Bread? Mr. FFF looooovvves Zucchini Bread. He must think its good for him or something... but just like carrot cake this delicious bread is full of sugar and gluten. Just take a look at the standard version from my Better Homes & Garden *Cookbook. One cup zucchini to one cup sugar? Not the best way to eat your veggies. Since our home is now gluten free I decided to try out a couple of zucchini bread recipes I have had my eye on from my two **favorite gluten-free bakers. 

First up, Paleo Chocolate Zucchini Bread from Elana's Pantry. I like zucchini and love chocolate but the two of them together?? I wasn't sure. Followed her recipe to the T and it turned out great! Moist, chocolaty, but still had that underlying zucchini taste we all know and love. 

Next up, Almond Flour Zucchini Bread from Against All Grain's Danielle Walker. This bread turned out ***okay but to be fair I misread the directions and I don't enjoy the taste of banana. Danielle states to use two mini loaf pans and I used the same pan as in the first recipe which is apparently in between the regular loaf and the mini loaf. Whoops- first world problems, lesson learned. The center was still pretty under cooked once I took it out of the oven but I ended up slicing this bread up and sticking it on a cookie sheet back in the oven until done. The good news is that it tasted very similar to the classic version. 

Mr. FFF didn't like any of them. After one bite the words "This doesn't taste like my mom's" slipped right out. *sigh* The chocolate one is out for him (although I loved it!) because it is too different from the original but I am going to try out Danielle's version again when I have an extra zucchini laying around. I can tell from the taste he will like it if I can just use the proper pan... I think we will have a winner. 

In the mood for some zucchini bread? Why don't you do a taste test too! 

*This is the cookbook I refer to to see all standard recipes before making it mine.

**Both of these ladies also have cookbooks so be sure to check them out. (Elana has three and Danielle just came out with her first one this year.) 

***The recipe includes one very ripe banana- I don't really like bananas but I did recognize that it would be needed for the sweetness in the recipe, so I included it. >> I << can taste the banana but it is pretty faint and mixed in with the other flavors but if you are the other 1% of people who could do without the taste of this high potassium fruit you might not like it.  

*Organic is the New Black

Over the last year an item on my to do list was to get more organic veggies in the house. We have always had vegetables in this household but we wanted to aim for more per serving per meal.  Of course I want the most nutrient dense veggies for our overall health as well.

 There are several ways to go about this:

• Option 1: Continue to buy conventional produce.
• Option 2: Buy ALL organic produce.
• Option 3: Buy regular produce, except for the dirty dozen. 

Conventional: Buying conventional produce is fine for anyone on a budget. Eating veggies is better than not eating veggies. Although the thought of eating these items that were grown with pesticides and chemicals gives me the heebe geebees when I really start to think about it. Conventional is the most cost effective.

Organic: Buying organic produce makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I like eating vegetables that I know have no pesticides/chemicals** on the land for a minimum of 3 years and were grown with care using farming practices that are both old and new. If you buy all organic veggies be prepared to spend $50+ per week on produce particularly if you buy from a major grocer.

Pick 'N' Choose: This (maybe more affordable) option is to purchase all conventional except what the Environmental Working Group calls the dirty dozen. I came around to this option because Mr. FFF (FoodFavesFun) doesn't like it when I buy... an Organic Apple that is smaller AND more expensive than its conventional prototype. He doesn't see the value. Health duh! This is still an expensive option considering basically everything I like to eat is on the dirty dozen list except for celery***. But over the last year it has been the way that I have been making sure I can vote with as many of our dollars as possible and still feel slightly warm and fuzzy.

Here is a handy guide to take along with you to the grocery store to keep you on track.

Is shopping Organic important to you? If so, do you "vote with your dollars" by buying/supporting organic farms?

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*How much did you love Orange is the New Black??? One awesome thing about Netflix making their own shows is getting to partake in the ultra marathon once the show is released. The bad thing is still having to wait until the net season. Ekkk!

**Due to the Government Shut down of October 2013, I wasn't able to link up and get the deets from the National Organic Program itself. From my understanding, there are no chemicals and synthetic pesticides plus the veggies are not subjected to irradiation and are also inspected/certified each year.

*** Hate celery!!! Unless its chopped up really small and hidden in my food.

Hello, Again!

Hello!

It's nice to see you again. It has been basically a year since I have updated this blog which is when I started my new job last November. It was challenging and different but similar everyday plus the people; they were pretty cool to work along side. That's over now and I have all of this free time so I am happy to re-start something that is really enjoyable.

There have been many times that I have started a topic: "New Year, New Goals", "Whole 30 = A Whole New me?" -just some unpublished examples. I have loads of pictures on my phone of food that I have made or eaten over the last year. It's ridiculous when you look at my cell phone gallery: food, food, pup, pup pup, followed by food. I might be obsessed- but some studies say that it makes for a better meal.

Bella at the Independent, Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup, Morning Tail gate food, Abita Pecan Harvest, Me with a week of groceries, Gluten Free Quiche with a side salad at Piquant, Bella for the first swim of the year. 

I am sorry I have been gone for so long. Mostly for myself because I enjoy making food, commenting on happenings in my hometown or local hot spots. Plus I am consistently asked how I made things I post on Instagram or Facebook. So a blog is the obvious choice. I really can't promise anything but I hope to continue for the foreseeable future. Staying home definitely gives me more time to do the things I love but I should probably find a new job sometime... one day... soon.

In the meantime I am going to channel The Pioneer Woman.