Saying I love food is an understatement. I love to eat and try new things. Being a slow eater, I enjoy every flavor of my meal and savor the experience that the dish offers. Yet, I’m not quite a foodie. I may be on my way there. My parents call themselves “food snobs,” so I’m not sure if the foodies would ever let me in their crowd – Plus I’m really not a fan of foie gras.

However, there is a difference between eating and cooking. You couldn’t have one without the other………..

Needless to say, it’s been kind of nice having some time to actually “cook” at least once or twice a week. Gives me some time to disconnect from all the tech and focus on gadgetry, rather than my internet connection.

Lately, I’ve been inspired by my college girl Meghan Prichard who recently started her own food blog Nest Meg. Her culinary adventures have really gotten me thinking about food. I’ve recently made notable attempts at banana bread, pizza and crepes.

Pizza is life.

It is an all-around well-natured nutritional and satisfying food. And I was so inspired by Meghan’s homemade pizza post that I not only made pizza but I went out and sourced my very own marble rolling pin on Craigslist. (Great buy! Go me!)

Here’s what I had in my pantry to make my adapted version of homemade pizza:

• Angus Hot Dogs (They taste kind of sausage-y…)
• Grape Tomatoes
• Pesto
• Flour
• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar

Here’s what I got at Trader Joe’s:

• Pre-made pizza dough
• Package of 2 pre-cut & skewered veggie kabobs (mushroom, onion, squash, zucchini)
• Can of Tomato paste
• More Mozzarella cheese

I created my own sauce from the tomato paste, pesto, olive oil, minced and ground garlic and dried herbs. Chopped the large chunks of vegetables to be pizza-proportioned sizes. I also steamed the hot dogs and sliced them up.

Then I stretched out the dough by hand – unsuccessfully trying to keep it even thickness. (This is pre-rolling pin ownership.) Once the dough resembled the approximate shape of a pizza, I transferred it to a cookie sheet and proceed to load it up with sauce, toppings and cheese. Just follow the cooking directions on the dough package, and you’ll be good to go. This crazy thing was as delicious as it looks.

Also I made banana bread.

Check out the spread below. It was pretty tasty. (Okay no more rhyming. Also no pictures of the crepes. Sorry!)

Fresh bananas are a staple in my casa. There’s always some hanging around, but I’ve been so busy lately that I’ve been forgetting to consume them before they get too ripe. Not one to waste I stuck them in the freezer and got to searching online for an easy this-is-my-first-time-making-banana-bread-and-I-don’t-wanna-mess-it-up recipe. And that is exactly what I found with this recipe. It was easy to follow, and I had breakfast for a week.

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cups sugar
3 large ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoons baking soda

Directions

1. Cream the butter and sugar. Blend in the bananas, vanilla and eggs.

2. Whisk together the dry ingredients.

3. Add to the bread mixture and mix until just combined. Pour into two greased 9×5 inch loaf pans.

4. Bake at 350F. Check on the bread after 35 minutes (it may take up to 60 minutes). Banana bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool the banana bread in the pan for 10 minutes then cool completely on a wire rack.

Source: MomsWhoThink.com (Note: I cut all the amounts in half to make ONE loaf of banana bread.)

Hope you enjoyed a peek into my kitchen adventures!

Just,

G