southernliving – Appalachian Barbie

Southwestern breakfast quesadilla

March 1, 2019 The Appalachian BarbieLeave a comment

Not the best photography but trust me when I tell you this is one amazing #breakfast. I’ve had a lot of people ask me for the recipe for my breakfast quesadillas. The good thing about these are that you can mix them up a million different ways. This southwestern style one in particular is a little heavier than my usual breakfast due to the steak, so I just lightened up my other meals. Basically I always make sure I hit my 3 essentials- CARBS (super important in the AM, but try to eliminate them as the day goes on) the whole wheat wrap, PROTEIN: 1/3C egg whites, 1 whole egg and some type of meat (today I used leftover sirloin steak but you can do sausage, bacon, turkey bacon, ham, whatever) and HEALTHY FATS: avocado today, u could do a drizzle of olive oil, butter, etc.

Preparation:

Heat a skillet big enough to hold a whole wheat tortilla lying flat over medium heat. Spray with nonstick. When heated, put your tortilla in, browning both sides but not to the point it’s stiff. Remove and set aside on a plate. Next I added a handful of spinach, because it’s always good to get your leafy green veggies in where you can. Sauté the spinach for a minute, while u whisk together 1/3C egg whites, 1 whole egg, salt and pepper to taste and 1-2 Tbsp of salsa. Add that to pan with spinach. DO NOT SCRAMBLE. You want the eggs to cook in a solid circle, being careful not to burn. Carefully flip and cook briefly to finish the eggs then remove them and lay them atop the tortilla. (The round eggs should be basically the same size as your wrap) Sprinkle a small amount of shredded cheddar cheese. Dice up leftover steak (1-2oz) or whatever meat you’re using and cook in the skillet until it’s heated or cooked through. Place it atop eggs. I thinly sliced tomatoes and avocado, sprinkled with a bit more salt and pepper. Then fold over in half. Place the whole folded quesadilla in the skillet finishing browning the wrap on both sides and melting together all the goodness inside. Enjoy!

Mother’s 60th Surprise Party

Elegant garden party for 60th birthday

September 5, 2017September 5, 2017 The Appalachian BarbieLeave a comment

This weekend I put together a surprise birthday party in honor of my mom’s 60th birthday. My goal was to gather all her brothers and sisters and get some professional photos taken, as her sister is in poor health and they’ve never had a professional photo taken all together. I knew I wanted the party to be intimate and simple, but at the same time elegant and feminine. With natural rock formations, lush vegetation and a bubbling brook, the garden of the Historic Eureka Inn provided the perfect setting for an evening celebration, and the innkeepers Kat and Blake went above and beyond to pull the event off. As luck would have it, we caught the tail end of the nastiness from Hurricane Harvey and were served a chilly 55 degree day, complete with nonstop rain and high winds, however the weather proved to be no match for the natural beauty of the gardens and thankfully we were tented from the elements.

My partner in crime, Robbie, put his talents to work and designed a stunningly romantic tablescape using a variety of flowers including roses, astros, carnations and lots of baby’s breath. Candles and mason jars wrapped in twine, and hand wrapped corsages at each place setting completed the scene.

I catered the event myself to try and cut costs. The menu consisted of barbecue pulled pork served on kaiser rolls, marinated chicken skewers, macaroni and cheese bites, mini loaded baked potatoes and assorted fruits and veggies. My mother-in-law contributed her delicious slaw and Robbie’s mother made the deviled eggs. The signature cocktail was a strawberry lemon sangria and I ordered the cake from my favorite bakery, Petite Sweets. Rachel, the owner, has now created cakes for my past 2 birthdays and my wedding and she absolutely did not disappoint this go-round. Strawberry cake covered in a delicate cream cheese icing and topped with a glittery gold topper and fresh flowers was the center of attention at the buffet.

Finally, my photographer April, was able to capture so many beautiful moments exactly how I wanted. As you will see, she really managed to encapsulate everyone in their natural element.

By the time the party started I had spent the majority of the day in the rain or sweating over the stove so I did not look my best. But all the hard work and stress was worth it to see the tears of joy and surprise from Mom when she walked out the back door and saw all her closest friends and family. It truly was an unforgettable night that couldn’t have happened without all these helping hands. I am extremely proud of the event Robbie and I were able to put together. Maybe we should do this for a living!!

The designing women 😆

Quick and Simple Dinners

July 20, 2015 The Appalachian BarbieLeave a comment

Good afternoon everyone! I hope you’re all enjoying a warm summer day in your neck of the woods. I would like to just throw up a quick post about some simple delicious dinner ideas I’ve made as of late. Hopefully you will be inspired to create something delicious in your own kitchen tonight! That is my goal for this blog by the way. Sometimes we get stuck in a rut whether it’s in the kitchen, with our beauty routine, wearing the same clothes, going to the same places, and I hope to be a source of creative inspiration to pull you out of that stagnation. All of my recipes and ideas are simply something to get the gears turning and are open to your own incredible interpretation. I try to post basic, simple concoctions so you can add your own spin to it and tailor it to your own unique tastes! I encourage each and every one of you to use these ideas as a starting point and share with me your own versions of them!

So back to the recipes.

First up we have a simple, healthy meal from the grill. Nothing beats cooking outside in the summer, and a juicy steak with fresh sides is always a great go-to. I marinade my steaks for only 5-8 minutes in Low Sodium Dale’s (any longer and it’s too salty.) Then I sprinkle it with a dry rub steak mix (kroger brand is on my spice shelf now) and spray it with a little nonstick before slapping it on the grill. LADIES- master the art of grilling! There is nothing sexier than a woman that can prepare a perfectly cooked hunk of meat for their man. I would never recommend cooking a steak over medium, but I guess that’s all just a matter of taste. As for the sides, I got some brussell’s sprouts on sale, so I drizzled them with olive oil, sprinkled with sea salt and cracked pepper and roasted them in the oven until they were fork tender. I also had a 1/2C of quinoa, seasoned with the same olive oil, salt and pepper mixture.

I also made my honey a pork loin in the crock pot for dinner. I rubbed it with seasoning salt, pepper and italian seasoning, minced garlic and fresh parsley and basil from my herb garden. I tossed it in the slow cooker with some diced potatoes, drizzled with olive oil and more dry rub and a splash of low sodium soy sauce and let it cook about 10 hours. It doesn’t get any easier than that.

I also threw together a “kitchen sink” soup, meaning, I had a bunch of stuff going out of date and didn’t know what else to make, so I made soup. I pulled out all my veggies and meat that I needed to use up. In this case it was garlic, onions, squash, peppers (green bell and jalepeno), and ground turkey. I browned my turkey with the onion, garlic and peppers in a deep pot. When it was no longer pink, I added some odds and ends from my pantry-a few cans of organic beans (green beans and chili beans), a few tablespoons of tomato paste, some rotel, and chicken broth. Once that came to a boil, I turned down the heat and let it simmer for about 30 minutes covered. I then added the squash and cooked it for about 5 minutes more then turned off the heat. Voila! A delicious summer soup that will last for a weeks worth of lunches.

I also just wanted to share some of the beauties I’ve been pulling from the garden this year. I am always so blessed with what comes from the vegetables I plant.

Probably my favorite new recipe is this quinoa crust pizza I stumbled across. I saw this recipe on the instagram “livegreenhealthy” and it’s one of the best things I’ve ever made. So far we’ve made 4 different types of pizzas on it, but this bbq chicken with jalepeno was a real crowd pleaser! This would also be a delicious way to make cheese sticks. Recipe:

1/2C quinoa

3tsp olive oil, divided

1C water

2 large eggs

1 1/2 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp italian seasoning

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4C shredded italian cheese blend OR mozzarella

place uncooked quinoa in a fine mesh strainer and run under cool water for about a minute until water runs clear. Shake off as much excess liquid as pssible. Add rinsed quinoa and 2tsp of olive oil to a medium sauce pot. Turn the heat to medium high and stir occasionally for 6-7 minutes.The excess moisture will evaporate and the quinoa will begin to toast. Carefully add the water to the toasted quinoa and cover. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer. Let quinoa cook for about 15 mins, stirring occasionally. Remove lid and turn heat to low, cooking 5 more minutes to remove all excess moisture. Transfer cooked quinoa to a large bowl and let cool for at leat 10 mins. preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with nonstick. In a small bowl, add eggs, 1tsp olive oil, garlic salt, italian seasoning and baking powder. whisk until combined. Add cheese to quinoa and stir to combine. Add egg mixture to quinoa and stir well. Spread the quinoa ‘dough’ into an even 1/4″ layer on the parchment. Bake 15 minutes, top with sauce, toppings and cheese of your choice, then bake until all toppings are cooked through and cheese is melted and browning. (Sometimes I finish under the broiler.)

And finally, it doesn’t get any easier than a big fresh salad and chicken. When you’re on a budget and wanting to eat healthy, you sometimes have to get creative. Chicken legs are always a great alternative to more expensive breasts. I marinated these in a mix of italian seasonings, garlic and olive oil and red wine vinegar, then baked them on 400 for about 25-30 minutes. I filled my plate with fresh veggies and drizzled with a greek yogurt ranch dressing and that was that. A simple healthy FILLING and inexpensive dinner.

I hope you’ll all try these out when you’re stumped on dinner. Let me know how you tailored each dish to your own style!

Growing A Field of Dreams

June 12, 2015 The Appalachian Barbie3 Comments

Hey y’all! It’s been a hot summer day here in East Tennessee, and we’re finally getting some relief around these parts with one of my favorite acts of nature–the afternoon summer thunderstorm. To me, there is nothing more beautiful, calming and refreshing than a sudden downpour after the oppressive, sticky heat has built and built all day. Especially if you’re fortunate enough to experience from a porch. I also really love these so-called “frog floaters” because it means I don’t have to spend 45 mintues watering my plants and consequently raising my water bill.

I am so pleased with how everything I’ve planted this year has taken off. From my windowboxes and landscaping, to my vegetable and herb gardens, everything that has touched the dirt has flourished. I’d like to think it’s because the land here is still blessed from all the years of love and labor put forth by my grandparents.

In the front yard, we finally got around to doing a little landscaping. Thankfully Lowe’s had their spring black friday sale and I was able to get some incredible deals, doing my entire front yard with brick pavers, black mulch and garden soil for less than $100. I wanted something low maintenance, so we decided to thin out some of Momma’s hostas and transplant them here. I am shocked to see people pay $4 a pop for these things at Lowes and Home Depot, when all you have to do is find someone who has them and dig up a small root! They take off like crazy too. Each bush in front of the house originally was one small leaf. And just since April they have grown into full size bushes. Momma also brought over some of her day lillies and we planted those off to the right of the front porch for some color. Ferns dangle from the front porch in the shade and we filled the planters and some hanging baskets with brightly colored petunias. (Side note: I scaled WAY back on the petunias this year. I absolutely loathe dead-heading these things. Maybe if I were a stay at home lady it wouldn’t be such a task, but right now it seems like such a waste of time.)

Photo of front porch at the beginning of landscaping. Notice the pavers, lillies and hostas! Since this photo we have added more ferns and porch furniture though.

ALL this for less than $100?? Yes please!

I also wanted low maintenance on my window boxes this year. So I did some research on shade loving window plants and went to town. I really wanted to achieve that “Charleston-style” window box, where things are just spilling over the sides. While I didn’t quite achieve that this year, I am tickled with the results I got for my first attempt. They’re full and lush with pops of color, which is just what I wanted in the end.

Obsessed with my window boxes and how little effort I've had to put into them. — Obsessed with my window boxes and how little effort I’ve had to put into them.

I also planted a small herb garden for the first time and, as much as I love my vegetable garden, this little plot of heaven might be my favorite space in the yard. I put it right off the kitchen for convenience when cooking, dressed it up with some cute fencing that also keeps away pesky rabbits, and decorated with a beautiful bird feeder/bath and some decorative stones. So far I’ve only put out sweet basil, curly parsley, mint and rosemary, but it has all taken off. We’re using my mint at the pub for our classic cocktails and it’s really neat to be able to see something I’ve put so much love into being incorporated into tasty treats for customers.

A classic whiskey smash using mint from my garden

And now for the main event–the vegetable garden. Last year I only put out a 6ft raised bed with a few tomatoes and peppers and I was overrun. So this past autumn, someone told me if I threw out my decorative pumpkins and gourds into my garden soil and let them rot, then when I tilled it come spring, the soil would be extra rich and fertile.

They failed to mention that I should remove the seeds.

Within a week of Daddy tilling the bed, THIS was my 6ft garden.

I had a monster pumpkin patch on my hands. I threw more than 10 different varieties of pumpkins and gourds into that space and now they’re all blended together. So god only knows what is going to come out of it. Needless to say, we had to till a bit more soil. So Mitch’s uncle Joel came over and ended up expanding my garden more than 4x the original size, and gave me some corn and pole bean seeds he had saved from his crop last year. I’ve never tried my hand at either but thought, “what the heck.” It has exploded. in the weeks since May 5 my garden has went from this:

To this:

It was too much to fit into one pic. Note the giant pumpkin patch in the middle of the garden. (it’s on the left side of the first pic and the right side of the bottom pic) I just started getting my first fruit too. All my little babies are so cute I can’t wait to harvest them!

Heirloom stripey tomatoes, cucumbers, jalepenos and yellow squash to name a few.

I’m fairly certain within the next month I will be making more salsa and marinara. and I’m so excited. I urge anyone to try their hand at gardening. It just tastes so much better, and it’s a really neat feeling to know exactly where your food is coming from and to be able to eat something you have put a lot of love and effort into is quite rewarding. Gardens used to be the only way a family could eat and unfortunately with my generation that has all but died out. I would love to see a revolution of young growers! Share your pics from your garden and let me know what you have growing! Til then I’ll just be here being fabulous in my field of dreams!

Appalachian Barbie in her happy place :) — Appalachian Barbie in her happy place 🙂

Potatoes–perfectly simple, almost instantly!

October 2, 2014October 2, 2014 The Appalachian BarbieLeave a comment

Hey y’all! (Cut to Paula Dean voice)

I have to throw this post up because this is something that drives me absolutely crazy. Potatoes are a damn near perfect food, IN MODERATION! When prepared correctly, they are a delicious, healthy, CHEAP easy compliment to any main dish. This leads me to my irritation–when a food is this cheap and simple to make, WHY WOULD ANYONE BUY INSTANT OR FROZEN?!

As a proud southern woman, one of the most insulting things anyone has EVER said to me IN MY LIFE was, “These potatoes are great! Are they instant? What brand do you use?” One time on vacation in Atlanta I was mistaken for a prostitute and THAT was less insulting than that statement! (In hindsight, I had the prostitute thing coming. I was dressed like a total skank.)

Potatoes cost at most around $1/lb, take no time to prep and make, and with so many ways to dress them up, they’re hard to get sick of! It behooves me as to why a person would spend $3+ on a 1lb bag of Ore-Ida Frozen potato wedges, when you could make 3LBS of fresh, homemade potato wedges in almost the same amount of time for the same price! And let’s look at all the preservatives on a bag of frozen potato wedges! You don’t need all that stuff! Just slice some potatoes, toss them in olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, rosemary and italian seasoning and throw them on a baking sheet. 20 mins on around 400 and you have AMAZING fresh wedges!

So here is my recipe for basic mashed potatoes. They are flavorful and comforting and you can add to them or take away. I like my potatoes lumpy so I use a hand masher, but if you like to whip yours, go ahead! It;s your prerogative. Just know this, THEY’RE NOT INSTANT!

Kathie’s Basic Mashed Taters

Whatever kind of potatoes you have (in this recipe I used some small red potatoes I had left and added a large russet baking potato. You’re going to want the equivalent of around 4 large potatoes.)

Stick of butter or margarine

Milk or cream (I use skim milk because I want to watch my calories but feel free to do whatever you want.)

salt and pepper

Wash your potatoes. I like some skin in mine, so ill only half peel them if it’s a thick-skinned potato like russets. With thin skinned potatoes, such as these red ones I’ll just leave them on . It’s whatever you like.

Cut them into even chunks (so they will cook evenly), throw them in a pot and fill with water until they’re covered by about an inch or 2.

Turn the burner on high and let them boil 10-15 minutes. I never time mine, I simply poke them with a fork. When they are tender and falling apart, that’s when they’re done.

Drain them in the sink and WATCH THE STEAM!

Now, it’s back in the hot pot for these guys. I like to set it back on the still warm eye, even though it is turned off. It will keep the potatoes heated while you’re mashing. Add the stick of butter, salt and pepper and start drizzling milk in. Start mashing with your hand masher.

Add milk a little at a time while still mashing, until you reach the consistency you want. Same with the salt and ;pepper. The worst thing you can do is over-salt a dish, so just add a little at a time until the taste is right.

And there you have it. Simple, delicious potatoes, almost instantly, but not instant!

Depending on what I’m serving with it, I’ll add some garlic cloves to the boiling potatoes and mash that up with them. With rosemary and parmesan, it’s a great Italian twist!

Or, mix in some ranch dressing in place of some of the milk (not a lot as that ranch taste can be overpowering), add shredded cheddar cheese and some bacon and voila! Cheddar ranch bacon taters!

See what I mean? Anything you like.

I hope if you are a frozen or instant tater abuser, you will consider making the switch to fresh. It’s too easy not to!

Chakra Balancing and Aura Repair….Just Goin’ In for a Tune-up

September 6, 2014 The Appalachian Barbie3 Comments

So this week I did something a little different.

I’ve been feeling really down in the dumps lately and can’t seem to pull out of it. I am a firm believer in the power of positive thinking and usually when I get in these funks I can just take a moment to count all my blessings and pull right on out.
But over the past month or two I’ve just felt like I’m poisoned inside my head and no matter what I do I can’t shake this negative energy. I have been dealing with what I can only guess is anxiety, as in, there is a constant weight on my chest that makes me feel like something bad is going to happen or something is wrong. I also have felt extremely lonely. I attribute this to busy, conflicting schedules with Mitch and my friends. I exist within a strange paradox in my life–in my job, I live the life and hours of the bar, which means my typical work-week is Friday through Tuesday, 9pm-4am. However, my morals and extracurriculars no longer reflect that schedule and has become quite a bit more boring and traditional. So the people I now share common interest with tend to live in a Monday through Friday, 8am-5pm world. Because of that and Mitch’s new school schedule, I spend most of my days alone, only having personal interaction with people when I go into work and they are under the influence. Sometimes it gets a little depressing.

So with all that being said, I’ve just been down lately. I am firmly against prescription medications like anti-depressants and mood elevators, and refuse to go that route. (no offense to those who do take these, this is just my opinion and personal choice.) On a whim and also as a sort of last resort, I paid a visit to a local shop downtown that sells a lot of holistic items and also is home to it’s own ‘spiritual center’ where they conduct everything from tarot readings to yoga classes. On this particular day, they had a healer in the shop who was skilled in aura repair and balancing chakras.

Well…..why not. I decided to give it a whirl, even if I’m not a firm believer in all this stuff.

I will stop here and kind of explain my religious and spiritual beliefs. I usually do not speak about this sort of thing because I feel like your spiritual habits should be something personal for you and no one should be able to tell you you’re right or wrong. But in the interest of this blog making sense, I suppose I should just briefly fill you in on my line of thinking.

I am not a religious person, so much as I am spiritual. I believe there is a greater power out there, that there is a meaning to all this, this life, but I do not know what it is so I will not judge anyone on what THEY believe the meaning is. What I DO know, is that energy is tangible. You can use a device to measure the wavelength of my heartbeat, thus measuring my ENERGY. So for me, if that energy gets imbalanced or tainted from being around more bad energy than good, then that’s probably gonna throw me out of whack. And this is precisely why I decided to let a middle aged bald man in capri pants, covered in wiccan tattoos, conduct a chakra balance and aura repair on me.

(If you are unfamiliar with the term ‘chakra’ please familiarize yourself with the 7 basic chakras here . )

The reverend, ordained by the Church of Divine Light, was a very nice man, who spent no less than 45 minutes explaining his techniques to me, from the tools he was going to use, (everything from chimes and bells to oils and rocks and music.) to the placement of his hands so I could be as comfortable as possible. Considering that I’m no idiot, being in a closed room with an unfamiliar man who is attempting to put me in a meditative trance and perhaps touch my chakras, you can go ahead and guess that during this session I never fully let my guard down, as I was ready at a moments notice to issue a swift kick to the family jewels if he tried any funny business. After a lengthy introduction, I laid down on my back on a massage table. He then placed various precious gems, crystals and minerals around and on my body and turned on some soothing music. He then walked around my body with a bell and chanting a mantra while counting backward from 10, trying to guide me into a meditative state. After I was relaxed (somewhat) he then went into his own head, placing his hands on or several inches above various areas of my body.

Ok, I don’t wanna sound like a crazy person. But either this guy really has something going on as far as transferring energy, OR he just has a medical condition that makes his hands boiling hot. Because even at 6″ away from my body, I could feel the heat from his hands, like he was holding a space heater over me or something!

This went on for about 35 minutes before he slowly asked me to come back to the world of the living. For homework, he recommended I get a small bundle of sage and start smudging all the negative energy off of me every time I leave work. I left the building a skeptic, but only $25 poorer so I wasn’t too upset.

Cut to yesterday morning when I woke up. The first thing I noticed is that I was SORE. I have been at a stand-still in the gym for like 2 months and no matter what I do I can’t get sore. Before I went to my chakra balancing session, I had done the same glute workout I’ve done for the past 2 months so it was nothing new. But when I got out of bed I could hardly walk to the bathroom I was so sore. Also, my honey and I actually had some intimate times early that morning, which I could count on one hand the number of times that has happened. And overall I was just in a gee-golly terrific mood.

Now maybe this is all mental. Maybe the soreness is just a matter of coincidence. Or maybe there’s something to this energy thing. All I know is, I feel lighter, more positive. Work wasn’t an act of torture last night. So I’m gonna go back. Maybe take advantage of some yoga classes at my gym. I don’t see any harm in taking an hour of relaxation and reflection for myself each week. And if there is some positive benefits to this aura repair and chakra balancing, then all the better.

On that note, I hope you all have a blessed and wonderful weekend. And get out and try something new! You never know, it might just change your life.

Dog Day Fashion for Indian Summer

September 3, 2014 The Appalachian BarbieLeave a comment

So here in the south, September can be a tough time for fashion. For everyone else it seems September is the kickoff to fall–Things start to cool down and the switch to jeans and boots is eminent. For us, it’s the hottest part of the year. And humid. And sticky. But no one wants to miss out on the cute fall fashions. Rejoice, I have found the perfect weekend outfit to take you out of Labor Day and into autumn, even on those 90 degree days.

The perfect mix of boho and country, a 3/4 sleeve billowy top balances out a classic blue jean short on the bottom for just the right amount of skin for September. Pair it with your favorite broken-in boots and a fringey leather bag in a warm color scheme and you’ll be ready for wherever the weekend takes you.

I personally took this look to the county fair with my hunky honey and it couldn’t have worked out better. The boots were perfect for stomping around the barnyards and I didn’t have to worry about losing my shoes on the rides!

Side note, is there anything more small town and nostalgic than a county fair? The smell of deep fried goodies mingles with hay from the stables, the music and screams from the rides fills your ears, and don’t forget getting stopped at the top of the ferris wheel is the perfect place to smooch with your honey. It’s also the perfect goodbye to summer.

So from fairs to football games, this outfit has you covered. Don’t forget to top your look off with some boho braids and fun accessories!

Pizza-tow up from the dough up!!!

August 6, 2014 The Appalachian Barbie1 Comment

Hey everybody! I hope y’all are getting to enjoy every last drop of summer 2014! Over the past month, my little tomato garden has exploded into a rainbow of various shades of red, orange, yellow and pink. I have had more tomatoes than I know what to do with and have went what I have deemed as “tomato crazy.” Since one of my all time favorite things to eat is marinara sauce, I decided to give it a whirl with my own tomatoes, and I must say it turned out beautifully. And what better way to enjoy this delicious concoction than on everyone’s favorite food–PIZZA?! I have been making my own pizza dough for awhile now and had a lot of toppings in the fridge, so I threw it all together and it was amazing. After posting a pic on Instagram and Facebook I got a lot of people asking me how to make it. It is a little more detailed than just calling Domino’s so I’m here to guide everyone through the entire process, step by step. Hopefully I won’t leave anything out!

Ok, first and most importantly, you need to set the mood. Slip into something comfy and flip on the Frank Sinatra station on Pandora.

Seriously. I have made this pizza and sauce twice now, and this time, after serenading my sauce with Sinatra, it turned out better. You also are gonna want to have a nice clean workspace, with plenty of elbow room and a sinkful of soapy dishwater to make cleanup easier. I also like to keep a large “trash” bowl handy for the same reason. Instead of making a million trips to the trash can, you can just chuck everything in there and dump it at the very end.

Go ahead and preheat your oven to 400.

While your oven is heating, we’re gonna start the process of prepping your tomatoes for roasting. Gather all your ripest, reddest tomatoes. For aesthetic purposes only, you want to use red tomatoes. I know a lot of people prefer romas for making sauce, however, as you can see, I have used a mixture of better boys, heirlooms and cherry tomatoes and it turned out just as good. I used quite a bit of tomatoes, as they varied in size. But I would say if you are using standard medium sized tomatoes, you would want to use around 6 or 7.

Also, at this point you want to go ahead and get your water pots going. We’re going to blanch the tomatoes in order to peel the skin quickly and easily. Blanching simply means dunking your tomatoes in boiling water, then ice water. So go ahead and fill one pot with water and turn it on HIGH so it can start to heat to a boil. You will also fill another pot with heavily iced water and set it beside it on the stove, but obviously not on any heat.

Ok, while we’re waiting on that to boil, (remember, a watched pot never does) we can start prepping the tomatoes. Using a small paring knife, you want to remove the core from one end and make a small, shallow “x” in the other end.

You should also take this opportunity to taste test. YUM!

Back to the recipe!

So once you have that all finished, your water should be boiling and it’s time for your little maters to take a bath.

Using a slotted spoon, gently drop your tomatoes, a few at a time, into the boiling water for about 30 seconds, altering time depending on size.

Pull the tomatoes out and immediately immerse them in the ice water pot for about 30 seconds.

A perfectly blanched tomato should have skin that is wrinkling off the flesh.

Go ahead and continue this process for all your tomatoes. When you’re finished, don’t dump your hot tomato water! You can turn it off, but don’t pour it out. We can use that water later on to thin out your sauce if it is too thick.

Ok so go ahead and start peeling your tomatoes. When done correctly, it should take no effort to gently pull the skin off the flesh.

When you have all them finished, go ahead and quarter them up into large pieces, around an inch in size, and spread them on a foil lined cookie sheet.

Next comes the onion. I always wait until I see how much tomato I actually use to determine the amount of onions and garlic. This is also a matter of taste. I wanted “roasted onion and garlic parmesan” sauce. If you don’t like those flavors, don’t add them. I personally used a whole medium yellow onion, diced it, and spread it around the tomatoes on the pan.

Next comes my FAVORITE PART!! GARLIC!! I used a TON of garlic cloves of various sizes, but I would say maybe 7 normal sized cloves? 8? It’s a matter of taste. So then you chop those in halves or quarters depending on size and, stay with me here, it’s about to get wild, shove them INSIDE the tomato pieces!

This serves 2 purposes–1.) it will keep your garlic from burning in the oven and 2.) it infuses your tomatoes with yummy garlic goodness.

So after you’ve planted your little garlics into the tomatoes, you’re ready to oil and spice. I don’t measure spices, sorry. I liberally applied sea salt, black pepper and italian seasoning over everything, then drizzled it all with olive oil. You can definitely at this point use fresh oregano and basil and I’m sure it would make it even better, but since all I had on hand was the dried spice, I made do, and it still turned out great.

Time for the oven. You wanna roast this for about 30-40 minutes in that 400 degree oven. Keep an eye on your pan and make sure your tomatoes don’t get too done because they will shrivel, and make sure your onions don’t scorch. It’s just perfect when your onions are browned. Pull it out and let it cool for about 10 minutes until you’re able to comfortably touch it. This is where a food processor is so handy. It’s no secret I’m obsessed with my Ninja. I just dumped everything from the pan into it, added some more of the above spices to taste, plus about 1/8th cup of parmesan cheese and pulsed for a few seconds and Voila! You could probably also use a hand mixer.

When everything is a nice even consistency, just pour it into a pan and let it simmer on low, covered but not sealed, so that steam can escape but the spatter can’t. REMEMBER, ON LOW! VERY LOW! The last thing you want to do is scorch the bottom of your sauce and give a burned taste to all the hard work you’ve put in there. This also is the time to utilize that tomato water from earlier if your sauce is a little thick. Mine tends to turn out thin initially so I didn’t need the water, but you never can tell. I let mine simmer for about an hour under a watchful eye and stirring consistently until it had reduced to a nice thick sauce.

At this point I would let your sauce cool, then put it in an airtight container or mason jar and let it infuse in the fridge at least overnight. With fresh made things like sauces and salsas, the longer the flavors have to marry, the better it is going to taste.

So now let’s talk about the dough.

Your sauce has been chillin’ for a day or so, and now you REALLY want this flippin pizza. It’s time to start from the bread up. I make a very simple, healthy dough using greek yogurt and whole wheat flour. You can make this ahead of time as well and freeze it, or right before. But beware–the consistency of this dough is EVERYTHING. It is going to make or break your pizza. Too wet and it’s going to be too doughy, too dry and you can’t work with it. Go ahead and preheat your oven to 425. Get out your ingredients, it’s gonna get messy.

nonstick

whole wheat flour

plain greek yogurt

1Cup measuring cup

garlic powder

salt

pepper

italian seasoning

rosemary

Again, I use my ninja for everything, so I sprayed the inside of it liberally with nonstick, but if you’re going to do this by hand, spray the inside of a large bowl. Then you just add 1 Cup of plain greek yogurt, and 1 Cup of whole wheat flour, then add your spices to taste. (again, I don’t measure so….sorry.) At this point I just threw on my lid, and pulsed until I got the right consistency. If you’re kneading by hand, know this will take a lot of working. You may have to add more flour or more yogurt, depending on the day. Also, make sure you spray your hands with nonstick before you start physically touching the dough. Trust me, you’ll thank me for that tip. The perfect dough consistency is pliable and easy to spread without tearing or sticking to everything it touches.

Sprinkle your work space with more flour before getting your dough out to work it. Roll it in a bit more flour, then start folding the dough into itself until it forms a nice smooth ball, and spray the top with nonstick.

Now you want to put your dough ball in the middle of a pizza pan that has been coated with nonstick. I really like the aerated pans, but if all you have is a cookie sheet, that will work too. Start in the middle and just work your dough out with your fingers to the edges of the pan, until it’s all the same thickness and uniform in shape. This amount of dough will make a medium sized 12″ pizza.

Then it’s time to add that delicious sauce from yesterday. (By the way, that amount of tomatoes should have made 1 rather large jar of sauce, so you should have enough for like at least 3 medium sized pizzas.) The amount of sauce you add is all a matter of taste, but since I love marinara I like to put a lot.

Then a LITTLE bit of cheese, to give your toppings something to stick to.

Now it’s time for toppings. I made a deluxe of sorts, with things I had in the fridge already. But put whatever you want! I used pepperoni, bacon, banana peppers, onions and spinach.

finally top it off with lots of cheese and it’s ready for your 425 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes. Your pizza is done when the edges are crispy and your cheese is starting to brown.

And that’s it. Time to enjoy!!

I know this seems like a ton of work for one pizza. why go through all that trouble when you could just order one from Pizza Hut and have it to your house in 45 minutes? Well, I try to be aware of where everything comes from that is going into my body and it really doesn’t get any healthier than this when it comes to pizza. You can’t beat the taste of homemade either. And if you spend one day making a large batch of sauce, enough for several jars, then you have it on hand and can throw it on pizza or pasta for a quick and easy dinner later. Remember, failing to plan is planning to fail, so making dishes ahead of time can really turn into a lifesaver when you’re trying to live a healthy lifestyle. I hope this “healthy” cheat meal is as delicious for you as it was for me. Bon apetit!

Fast, Fresh Recipes Using Summer’s Bounty

July 16, 2014 The Appalachian Barbie5 Comments

Hey guys! Another beautiful summer evening here in East Tennessee! I’ve been a busy bee all evening, playing with new recipes and I would love to take a second to share them with you guys!

This all started because I had a windowsill FULL of overripe tomatoes from my garden. These have been the first to ripen, so they’re a little small, some had a few spots on them…..they just weren’t SUPER great slicing tomatoes. But what to do?! I’m certainly not going to waste them! And I had 3 jalepenos that had just come straight from the little garden out back. As I started digging around the house I realized I had a bag of diced bell peppers that I had stored back in March in the freezer. I also had garlic and spices. A quick trip to the store down the road for an onion and a lime could mean one thing……SALSA TIME!!!

Now, I am as guilty as the next person about buying canned salsa, and I’m here to tell you right now, YOU DON’T FRIGGIN NEED IT! It’s just as cheap, a million times healthier and 548168416525 times tastier to make your own! Especially if you have a garden, like moi. Even if you don’t, buying a couple of tomatoes, peppers and onions will cost you next to nothing and make a crap ton of delicious homemade salsa. Store it in freezer bags and you can enjoy it all year long!

Ok, so yeah, I don’t have an exact recipe really. The beauty of salsa is that you can make it exactly as you like it. Chunky or smooth. Spicy or sweet. Cilantro or no. (NO WAY for me. I HATE cilantro. yeachhhh!!!!) It’s your prerogative. For me, I used what was around the house. The amount of tomatoes I ended up having after removing the stems and bad spots came to around 2 1/2- 3 Cups. Because I had 2 different kinds of peppers, I only used about 1/2 cup of bell peppers and 2 whole jalepenos ( seeds and ribs included!) If you don’t like things too spicy, definitely only use 1 and remove the seeds (that’s where all the heat is.) Also I should mention that mine were small as they came from my garden, and the ones in stores tend to be larger. Try your best to buy organic or homegrown. The difference in quality is unquestioned. And I swear, knowing exactly what went into these beautiful veggies, digging the hole with my own two hands and being able to pick them a few months later to enjoy really takes taste to a whole other level. Anyway, back to the recipe.

So you’ve diced up your tomatoes and peppers. If you’re going to make a chunky salsa, make sure you dice your stuff up pretty uniform in size so one flavor doesn’t outweigh another. I used a food processor (God bless my Ninja) so I just chunked it up without thought. Next comes the onion. I used about a 1/4 of a large onion. Since the flavor is so strong I didn’t want it to over power, just compliment. Then the garlic. I used probably 2-3 good sized cloves. I frickin LOVE garlic. I could probably eat an entire bulb like an apple, so again, go with your own taste. Finally I added sea salt, ground black pepper, and since I didn’t have cumin on hand, I improvised with chili powder. Juice of 1 lime and I was ready to process! Remember, as tempting as it is going to be to eat your salsa immediately, it’s best if you let it marinade overnight. All the flavors mix together and it will taste completely different. So that’s that. If you like cilantro, throw that in. If you want something sweet and different, substitute mangoes or pineapple for the tomatoes. Add some corn and black beans if you want a heartier salsa.

I swear to God, I have made some pretty delicious things in my life, but this was by far one of the easiest and most delicious things to come out of my kitchen. So fresh–UGH!!

(**side note, I ate mine with some simple sea salted pita chips, but you can use whatever you like. I just didn’t want a strong salt flavor to take away from the beauty of the salsa.)

Fresh from the garden salsa ingredients, minus the bell peppers

The finished product, after a quick spin in the Ninja.

Another happy surprise I got tonight was finding a way to curb my craving for mashed potatoes! Here in the south we love LOVE our taters. Smashed, mashed, hashed, fried, baked or loaded…you name it, we’ll eat it. Unfortunately that is part of why the south has an obesity epidemic on it’s hands, but that’s a rant for another blog. So tonight I gave mashed cauliflower a whirl. SO glad I did! The consistency was perfect and after the right flavorings, you NEVER would have known it was simply steamed cauliflower. This is yet another recipe that can be tailored to your individual taste, or altered by what you have laying around the house. We’ll call mine “Garlic Ranch Parmesan Fauxtatoes!” I chopped up one head of cauliflower, removing the core and any remaining leaves, then tossed it in a large pot, covered it with water and turned it on the stovetop on high. I also threw in a few garlic cloves because, like I said earlier, I have a garlic fever and don’t wanna be cured. Also I’m a huge fan of garlic mashed potatoes, so I thought, what the hell. I threw a lid on the pot and let that sucker boil and steam on medium high for about 15 minutes, til it was really tender. Then I drained the water and threw all of it in my Ninja. (I told you I love that thing. Best $100 I’ve spent in my kitchen.) Sea salt, black pepper to taste, then I started adding light ranch greek yogurt dressing. This is where things get custom. I used Marzetti’s Simply Dressed & Light. I added probably 1/4 cup initially, pulsed and added more. All told, I used maybe 1/3 of the bottle??? I didn’t really pay attention. I just added until it was the right consistency and had the right amount of ranch flavor for me. OMG it was AMAZING! This is a recipe I intend to make several times a week. Did I happen to mention that 1 cup of cauliflower has 25 calories, compared to 1 cup of potatoes, which has 116?! That means I can have 3x as much….right?

Grilled chicken with a spinach and cucumber salad and MASHED FAUXTATOES!!! Try them! Don't be scared! — Grilled chicken with a spinach and cucumber salad and MASHED FAUXTATOES!!! Try them! Don’t be scared!

Guys I hope you try these recipes and it inspires you to create some of your own. The best meals are made of simple, fresh, wholesome ingredients. Remember that and you can’t go wrong! post me some of your favorite healthy recipes and I would love to re-post them to share with others!!

Until next time, stay happy and southern and enjoy the little things!!

A Daily Dose of Nostalgia

June 2, 2014June 2, 2014 The Appalachian Barbie2 Comments

A thought occurred to me as I was sitting at breakfast this sunny Sunday morning, lazily sipping coffee, my eyes grazing over the local paper between bites of eggs and oats. It really struck me just how much I love this little ritual of meal and newspaper, the calm of morning, when the sun is bright and streaming through the windows and the day is new and young and full of promise. And the house is quiet and the warm scent of coffee dances in and out of each room. As I was basking in the comfort of this familiar daily task, it also occurred to me how many times this scene has played out inside the walls of this old house. The thought warmed me as much as my cup of java and I was suddenly overwhelmed with a wave of memories and nostalgia.

I am blessed enough to live in the house my grandparents lived in for over 40 years. I am able to carry on the traditions and holidays and celebrations within a home I was half raised in, that my father and his siblings and their children were all raised in. Growing up as an only child, it was always a treat to “go to Granny’s.” There was always a house full of people, be it family, friends or neighbors who came to sit a spell, and there was always home cookin’ to eat. My grandmother was one of 7 sets of twins within her immediate family and she and her twin brother Gordon, who for whatever reason we all called “Bud,” lived right beside one another. In the summer they planted a huge garden that stretched across the backyards of both houses and my Papaw and great uncle tended to it. My granny was a phenomenal cook and my favorite meal she cooked was her breakfast. Cat head biscuits with sausage gravy with sausage patties on the side, homemade strawberry jam made with freshly picked strawberries from Scott Farms in Unicoi, brown sugar syrup and peanut butter, and always sliced tomatoes and cucumbers with salt straight from that very garden in the backyard. Every summer my momma still makes that strawberry jam, and soon so will I.

Before I get too carried away rambling on about memories from my childhood, my point of this entry is to discuss how I still wish things were like the “good ol’ days.” I yearn for a time long gone, some from even long before I was born, when life was more simple and wholesome and clear cut. When most people had gardens because that’s what they had to eat from, not because it was the hipster thing to do. And men like my papaw got up on Sunday mornings just like this one and read the local paper while women just like my grandmother served them coffee. And ladies got up and dressed for the day EVERYDAY, even if they were only planning on working around the house and running errands. I guess you could call me a chauvinist. (Before everyone gets their panties in a wad, please remember this is MY blog and MY opinions and in the grand scheme of things my opinion means nothing and if you disagree or don’t like it then I guess you can always hit that red X in the top right corner of your screen.) But I believe men should still get up and go to work and be the main providers for their family, while women fix their hair and dab on a bit of makeup and maintain the functions within the home and family. I long for a time when women just like my grandmother and her sisters would sit on the “carport” and gossip and sneak cigarettes, because back then everyone smoked. I remember thinking, even in their 60’s and 70’s, how chic and classy these women looked with their curled bouffants and extra long Virginia Slim cigarettes. They would gather at dusk, after all the meals had been cooked and served and all the dishes and laundry had been put away and the floors had been mopped and the shelves had been dusted. They would sit in lawn chairs and bask in the last fleeting moments of summer sunshine, their conversations only murmured by the rise and fall of the hum of cicadas and the impending song of a lone owl. I wish that children today could walk down to Red’s, the gas station diner at the end of my road, and get a cheeseburger and a Popsicle for lunch on a hot summer day. Then walk around the corner to the baptist church in the evenin’ for bible school. I wish those kids could spend their nights chasing lightning bugs and picking honeysuckle until they collapsed in their beds from exhaustion instead of playing on their iPads inside all day. I wish I could have went down to Barnes Boring, the hardware store downtown, to pick up a screwdriver, before mega stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot undercut their business with lower prices and mass production. Strange as it sounds, sometimes I miss only having 3 fuzzy channels on the big box tv that set in the floor. It was comforting to be able to tell what time of day it was by the background noise on the television set. “Andy Griffith” was always whistling in the afternoons, “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy” always made for fun after-dinner entertainment for the whole family and if “Price is Right” was on and you were just waking up, you were definitely late for breakfast!

But these times have long passed. Red’s is closed, cigarettes are bad and technology is king. The world today is all about speed and convenience. Fast food and smart phones have replaced home-cooked breakfasts and sunset patio conversations. I can’t change the entire world on my own. But I will upkeep the little traditions, the daily tasks that may seem so insignificant to others. I’ll keep getting my paper delivered instead of reading it online. I’ll wear fancy hats when it’s appropriate. Even though my grandparents’ garden is long grown over, I will plant tomatoes in a little raised bed behind the garage and I will slice them and eat them with salt with my breakfast. I’ll still stop and smell honeysuckle and I’ll have my girlfriends over for gossip and a smoke. Because if you don’t honor your past you’ll have no blueprint for your future. Time is passing so fast. Maybe what we all need is to slow down and give ourselves a daily dose of nostalgia.

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