It’s #WorldVegetarianDay! In case you haven’t picked up on a theme, many of the recipes that I feature here are vegetarian. I was a vegetarian for the better part of 14 years and while I’m not as strict as I used to be, I still limit my intake of meat and encourage the benefits of following a plant-based diet. Get the facts about vegetarianism and “celebrate” #WorldVegetarianDay by upping your knowledge, getting to know a few famous veggies, and trying some new recipes. Know Your Terms Generally-speaking, a vegetarian doesn’t consume meat or meat products but instead follows a plant and…
Posts published in “Miscellaneous”
During the course of my 7 month (eh, give-or-take…) hiatus, June actually marked the 1 year anniversary of the launch of From Anna’s Kitchen (FAK)! I would be remiss if I didn’t do something to highlight the 1 year “blogiversary”, even if belated. So by the numbers, I put together a quick recap of the year in review, from the first post published to today: 35 posts, of which: 15 posts contained recipes 5 were Pantry Raid recipes 2 foodie goals completed and 3 foodie goals set 10 pounds of strawberries picked 271 Tweets and 147 followers on Twitter—P.S., be sure to follow…
Well. It's been an interesting year, to say the least—part of the reason why I effectively took the better part of this year off from posting—but I won't get into that now. Instead, it's time for foodie goals!
I went back and forth on what to do for 2017, and whether to do them at all. Ultimately, I decided that, yes, I needed to keep with my tradition and set some. Even though we're 3/4 of the way through the year now (I had good intentions to post this about a month or two ago but, you know, life and all...), I'm determined to make them happen in the months remaining—and have strategically picked some that I think are pretty doable.
My final foodie goals verdict for 2016 was 2 for 5 completed, including making homemade kombucha and aioli. Both were sort-of successful—as in, there were no catastrophes or other things that got in the way of making them—but there was definitely room for improvement on both:
- I got too busy and, as such, my kombucha fermented too long before I bottled it. I tried it and let's just say that it was drinkable, but not pleasant (womp, womp). I have since gotten off a kombucha kick, probably because I drank too much of it for a while there, but recently had some delicious homemade strawberry-basil kombucha from Greenmouth, which might just change my mind about it again.
- My aioli had an off taste to it, likely from the oil that I chose; if I remember correctly, it was canola or vegetable oil for general cooking purposes, but I think it had been opened for some time. It definitely was not a fresh bottle, whatever it was. For my next attempt, I'll definitely buy fresh oil; more specifically, I'll make the small investment in safflower or grapeseed oil for a lighter, more neutral taste.
Happy new year everyone! I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season.
Once again, now is about the time of year to do some reflecting. And for the second year in a row, I am reflecting back on partially-completed foodie goals. Womp, womp. Life got in the way.
The bright side: I posted a foodie resolutions mid-year update back in June, at which point nothing was accomplished. I'm happy to report that something, even if it wasn't all of my goals, was accomplished in the remaining 6 months of the year.
My final verdict for 2016 is 2 for 5 goals completed. Here's what they were.
We've all carried a lunch box at least once in our lifetime. Maybe for some of us, though, the last time we likely got into the routine of bringing a lunch from home dated back to grade school.
Taking lunch to work for me has been hit-or-miss. Sometimes I remember, and other times my lunch ends up forgotten in the fridge or on the kitchen counter as I'm rushing out the door. Some of these ideas, though, just may inspire me to plan ahead to bring lunch more often.
See ideas for easy lunches to make, pack, and take to work curated from Pinterest.
Last year, I took a long weekend and drove down to Maryland to see my friend. At one point during the visit, we were eating dinner and I saw her open up a curious, brightly colored orange drink. It wasn't a soda, but made a similar "fizzy" noise every time the cap was taken on and off.
The drink, as it turns out, was kombucha, a beverage made by fermenting tea and other flavorings with a bacteria and yeast starter called a scoby. The smell was sour and fruity, like oranges or lemons. I took a sip and wasn't turned off, but my first taste left something to be desired.
Earlier this year, I came across a whole shelf of kombucha varieties in the organic section of Wegmans. I was determined to try it again to see if I could develop a taste for what was supposed to be an incredibly nutritious drink and a source of natural probiotics.
It's already half-way through June, a time when I planned to touch-base with an update on my foodie goals for this year to check on my progress.
In case you missed seeing the post on my old blog, foodie resolutions came out of an article on MSN Food & Drink that outlined new things that foodies should try to do in the new year. This is the second year in a row that I've set these goals for myself. Although I didn't complete them in entirety last year, I still had fun writing about them and going through the process. You can read a recap of the goals here.
