For the Love of all Things Tasty

Day 1 of blogging adventures. We just drove back from visiting family out of state. The entire weekend was spent indoors as we were dog-sitting a total of 8 dogs staying with Jo's Nanny for the week. And then the case of the cutest baby girl in the entire world that was entirely beastie due to the fact that she was cooped up indoors. Can't say we blame her considering the fact that the only thing keeping us from turning beastie was our age. Oh wait... That didn't even stop us. Oops. Luckily, we were able to refrain from taking out our beastiness on each other, turning instead to a common nuisance. On the way home, Jordan's graceful dog proved herself not so graceful when she decided to leap out of the broken window of the car onto the highway during rush hour traffic. Poor little lady now has a busted nose but at least was not smooshed into a pancake by oncoming traffic. Obviously, she's all looks and no brains.
During said trip, Jordan and I decided that we would start a clean-eating adventure. I've dabbled in vegan and vegetarian diets, finally settling in with the flexitarian crowd, majorly for the ease of feeding a carnivorous husband. I'd be a liar, though, if I said I didn't feel my best eating a vegan diet. It's not for everyone but personal issues make it awesome for me. I can't go back to it, though, without having to spend copious amounts of moolah to feed those around me as well as myself so I'm settling on a clean diet since that seems to work well for Jordan and, well face it, we're pretty darn near the same person in a different body with different issues. We were kind of naughty this weekend, gorging ourselves on all the scrumptious things in life (like my super-secret (self-created) chocolate cake) knowing we wouldn't be feasting on such divine decadence for a long time. Not that eating clean doesn't involve decadent desserts, those desserts will just be out of our lives for at least 2 weeks and only making a weekly appearance after that. Oh... Did I mention none of them will come from a box, carton or tub? Among these devilish meals, we had super-easy enchiladas, meaty potato soup, above mentioned cake, chicken cacciatore, cookies, popcorn (NOT the healthy, air-popped kind), pound cake and ice cream. Maybe at a later date we will post some of these recipes but the ones that need to be mentioned TODAY are the ones we used to kick start our voyage. Start drooling now since your shirt will be covered by the time you've finished today's blog anyway.

Tomato Salad Appetizer
Recipe by Jordan Carey and Deborah Schiefer
2 Tomatoes, thick sliced (about 1/4 inch)
Infused Olive Oil (any yummy flavor but we prefer garlic)
Basil leaves, julienned
Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper
Parmesan cheese, shaved

Lay your tomatoes out on a plate, drizzle with oil, sprinkle with basil leaves, sea salt, pepper and parmesan. Voila! Feeds 4.

Ravioli with Sauteed Vegetable Medley
Recipe by Deborah Schiefer
Two 9 oz packages of all-natural ravioli (We like La Pasta brand all natural Artichoke and Spinach Ravioli)
5 medium Shallots, thin sliced
6 garlic cloves, 3 thin sliced, 3 miced
1 pint of tomatoes (we like any golden cherry, pear or grape variety, though red cherry will work in the "off-season")
1 bunch fresh asparagus, whites removed and cut into 1/2-1 inch pieces
Leaves from 3 stems of basil, chopped and divided
8 TBS garlic infused olive oil, divided (you can use basil, but you really want the garlic flavor)
1/2 cup shaved parmesan cheese

Bring a pot of water to boil and add ravioli. Heat 4 TBS garlic infused olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Once the oil is heated, add all of the vegetables and half of the chopped basil to the pan, saute. Once the tomatoes start to soften and the asparagus is crisp-tender, you can remove the vegetables from heat. Drain your ravioli, spoon vegetables on top and drizzle with garlic infused olive oil. Sprinkle with chopped basil and shaved parmesan cheese. Enjoy! Feeds 4.

Note: The vegetables take about 7-10 minutes to cook so be sure to plan accordingly when cooking ravioli. You really do not want your pasta to be overcooked. You can use any kind of pasta with this but the filled ravioli pairs so nicely with the vegetables!

 

Who would have thought that eating a clean, balanced diet could be so delicious?