Plant Based Creole

When's the last time you asked Mr. Google a question and found that there was no assistance whatsoever in populating the search results?  Hardly ever right?  Right.  So...imagine my surprised when I typed in 'PLANT BASED CREOLE' and found straight crickets.  LOL!

Now...let's backtrack here so you know where this came from.  The Robinator has decided that he wants to train for another marathon.  I was like...cool.  Go you!  Then he was like...I think I want to train plant based.

Me:  Um...

Him:  Check out www.NoMeatAthlete.com and tell me what you think.

So I go and I read and I'm like...UGH but then I'm thinking...if he really wants to do this, I guess I'll have to help him.  I downloaded the app, Forks Over Knives, and placed a hold on the book of the same name on Overdrive because some smarty pants had checked out all copies from my library.  UGH!

And I kept reading and then I started remembering onefromphilly talking about how good she feels doing plant based and I thought to myself...hmmmmmmm...

Okay...now I'm real particular about food.  I like good food.  Bacon is the best thing ever in life.  And ribeye's grilled on the charcoal grill.  And lawd...CHICKEN.WINGS.

But I want to be supportive and I seriously doubt that this is something you can do without the support of your spouse.  I mean...The Robinator isn't about to start cooking.  You know that.  I know that.  He knows that.  

I gave up wine for Lent this year and I've stuck to it.  It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be.  You can do anything for 40 days right?  So I started thinking that maybe I could try the plant-based thing for 30 days just to see how it goes.  And...if I can't stick to it, certainly I can do my middle meal non-plant based if need be so I can still support him by doing something plant based for dinner right?  I mean, I want to do it the right way so he has enough protein to train and yeah...again...I can always grill a steak for lunch so I don't have to eat it in front of him.

In looking for recipes I came up with nada Creole initially and that made me giggle.

All that said, for the month of April, I'm going to try and go all plant based foods to see how it goes.  It can't hurt and I'll learn some new recipes, hopefully, that I like and figure out how to make it work for him while he trains.  A whole month of plants only.

This should be interesting.

Lemme go figure out that app.  It even makes the grocery list for you so yeah...that's gonna be nice.

Have you ever tried it for any length of time?  Would you?

Pickled Red Onions

Cooking for two, I hardly ever use a whole red onion and I hate wasting food.  Jamie posted an article about how to pickle red onions and I did it today to the half red onion I had left over.  

Boil three cups of water in a tea kettle.

Thinly slice red onion and put it in a colander in the sink.

Peel and cut a clove of garlic in half.

Add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to a jar and add 3/4 cup of a good vinegar to it.  (I used white wine.)

Add garlic and some seasonings.  (I put in some peppercorns and a dried red pepper.)  

Pour boiling water over the onions slowly and let drain.

Add onions to jar.

Stir to mix up well.

Put lid on.

It will be ready in 30 minutes and you can keep it for up to a week.  You can use them on top of pretty much anything for a quick bit of good eating.   Pizza, salads, sammiches, tacos, hot dogs, DELICIOUSNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Oh...and you can do this to white and yellow onions too.

Lemon Pepper Wings In Oven!

I love lemon pepper wings but I hate to fry anything.  Every now and then I have to have a piece of fried catfish, some fried shrimp or oysters...but I do this RARELY.

A friend posted some lemon pepper wings and, of course, I had to have some but I didn't want to fry them.

So this is what I did.

Heat oven to 425 degrees.  In large bowl, season wingettes with no salt lemon pepper.  I use the Victoria Seasonings brand that I find at Marshalls, TJMaxx and HomeGoods.  (If you're not spending significant time in the food aisles at those stores you are being foolish.  There are AMAZING things in those aisles!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Then add garlic powder, parsley red pepper flakes (we like ours spicy caliente) a tad bit of fresh ground sea salt and one tablespoon of flour per pound of chicken.  Mix WELL.

On a parchment paper lined baking sheet, lay out wings not overlapping.

Bake for 35 minutes turning over once.

In clean big bowl, add the juice of one fresh squeezed lemon.  Remove chicken wings from pan and toss in bowl with lemon juice.  Throw away parchment paper and add more.  Add wings BACK to pan for 10 minutes and VOILA!  Total and complete deliciousness.  They were soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good!  

We had them with a warm spinach salad.

Heat olive oil in a saute pan.  Remove from heat and fold in fresh spinach to coat with warm olive oil. Transfer to serving bowl and add  2 finely minced boiled eggs, 4 strips of chopped bacon, half a red onion cut into inch size long pieces, 2 tomatoes diced and blue cheese crumbles.  I mixed up a bit of olive oil, lemon juice and a couple cloves of garlic for a quick dressing.  

Wing Stop ain't got nuttin on our game night grub!  Seriously...these went so quick you'd have thought we had four more people in here eating them with us.

Chicken Thighs, Brussel Sprouts and Quinoa!

This has become a favorite meal in our house.  It's quick, easy and ridiculously flavorful.  In a heated cast iron skillet, sear seasoned chicken thighs, skin side down, for three minutes.  

Turn over and add halved brussel sprouts and one cup of chicken broth.  Add to 400 degree oven for 18 minutes.  

While cooking, cook 1 cup of quinoa with 2 cups of chicken broth.  Add quinoa to a serving dish.  Remove chicken thighs from skillet (careful...skillet is hot...) and mix broth and brussel sprouts into quinoa in dish.  Top with chicken thighs.

(Note...I usually quarter a lemon and put in with chicken to cook but was out this time so I just added lemon juice to dish when it was ready to serve.)

This has become one of our favorite, healthy and quick meals.  

On Keeping Pot Secrets #Calphalon

If you haven't bought new pots in a while, you're going to be as astonished as I was recently while out shopping for new pots.  I hadn't purchased a new complete set of pots in about twenty years and rounded a corner recently to note that there are pots now with spouts and lids which work to help you pour off water/liquid without the use of a colander or burning your hand with steam.

And dude!  They also have measurements inside!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  HOW AWESOME IS THAT?????

Why didn't yall tell me about this?  I know some of yall knew!  I KNOW yall did!  This is sooooooooooooooo awesome sauce!