greetings, you faithful readers, you. and thanks for reading 🙂
here’s a great make-ahead meal that keeps well in the fridge – one you can take to lunch during the week or add to your plate at dinner time. nutritious, colourful, and budget-friendly – that’s quite a trifecta!
rainbow rice – because it’s so colourful 🙂
– about a cup wild rice, rinsed
– 3 small zucchini, chopped
– 3 small bell peppers, chopped Continue reading
this has been on the menu for a few weeks now. eventually i’ll switch it up and try new things. but i have had a lot going on in my life as of late – however, i believe the dust is finally starting to settle. and no, i don’t have measurements for you – i just wing it! 🙂 i try to use all organic products, as well… for many reasons. i ought to write a blog on organics soon…
– frozen strawberries
– frozen blackberries
– frozen cherries
– fresh kale or spinach
– 1/2 banana {a whole one takes over the flavour!}
– 1/2 pear {seeds included}
– a few dates {pitted}
– orange juice
– grape juice
– almond milk
– raw protein powder {this is my favourite}
– flax seeds
– maca root powder {a smidge – stuff is potent!}
throw it all in that amazing vitamix machine on high and blend for about a minute – the consistency is so awesome with the vitamix! i highly recommend investing in one. it’s totally worth it! i can’t wait to experiment more with other things like soups and nut butters… !
SLAINTE!
i make this meal a lot.
it’s basically just a bunch of vegetables. have you ever had spaghetti squash?! it’s amazing. i want to make some kind of soup with it soon… ideas are welcomed!
i moved recently, as i think i mentioned… and i’m still getting used to my new kitchen. i will admit i very much miss the kitchen i used to live in – i just loved how big and open it was and with LOADS of counter space… but i’m grateful for my new home and once we get the garden going, i will be extra joyous! and yes, i will be blogging all about that adventure!
here’s today’s simple meatless monday recipe. takes a bit longer to make than most of the dishes i feature on this blog, but this is well-worth the wait! so good for you, packed with nutrients and vitamins and yanno, it obviously tastes amazing or why would i bother?! 🙂 Continue reading
i’m extra excited about risotto now. wanna know why?! besides the fact that it’s kinda fun to make – i just found out that risotto is naturally gluten-free… hooray for that! it’s a rather starchy grain, and makes for an outstanding vegan dish such as this. simple ingredients, simple cooking, COMPLEX flavour! delicious. i super heart risotto, and you should too… it’s easy to fall in love with it. here’s what i made for this dish :
every now and then, i’m creative with sweets. i’m not much of a baker, so i don’t keep common baking components around the house – i seldom even have milk in the fridge. half & half, maybe… anyway, i wanted to try to make some candy-dipped apples of some kind without having to make an extra trip to the store, so this is what i came up with. i bought the apples prior, with the idea of creating something fun with them for the blog, and i had all the other items lying around.
i just think these are so fun – take them to the office for the holiday party, or make them as a special after-school snack for the season… either way they’re super easy and cute and everyone will love them! Continue reading
i’m lovin’ me some risotto lately. i just love the texture and the creaminess of it. my favourite way to have it is with mushrooms. but i had these items lying around and so i decided to try them together with the risotto.
i’m excited to share this super easy, fun, and delicious recipe i discovered this a while back from the cute sisters over at deux chicago – they always have the cutest ideas! and no game day is complete without eating something with buffalo sauce on it!
these are so super simple and easy to prepare and they are always a hit! i simply buy a preroasted chicken, eat a little of it for dinner, then pick the meat off and use it for my buffalo chicken wraps! Continue reading
who says you can only have ONE kind of mashed potato at once?! well, maybe nobody said that, but i’m breaking that rule anyway. sometimes my mashed potatoes just aren’t sweet enough, i need something else in them. well wait a minute… this other potato over here is even named “sweet” – why can’t i mix the two together?! well, you CAN audrey, you so can.
plus you know me, i love my dishes to have lots of colour! Continue reading
these are always always always a hit. i’m not much of a baker, but when i find something that is easy to make and that people like, i try to create it into my own. i have yet to quite create the perfect consistency for these {i’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to anything i make or do}, but i do think i found the right name for them. the ingredients are so simple and healthy that you could literally eat them for breakfast – and not feel at all guilty about it!! they are also great for holiday parties or after school snacks. a good source of dietary fiber and protein as well as healthy fats. Continue reading
i discovered this grain in the bulk section. i’m always looking for new grains to try… i’m not much on rice, i’m kind of burnt out on cous cous, and quinoa can be expensive and a pain to have to rinse every time. kaniwa is fairly new to the united states, and therefore not a lot of nutritional information is yet available on it. however, according to this site, it is high in protein much like its quinoa cousin. kaniwa does not contain saponins like quinoa does, and therefore it does not have to be soaked or rinsed prior to cooking.
kaniwa is so itsy bitsy – a tiny little grain with a big earthy taste. according to what i’ve read, kaniwa is best served as a porridge, with butter and maple syrup. so that’s exactly how i prepared it. Continue reading
as i mentioned yesterday, it was my birthday. which means today i am officially 33 years old.
woot.
i was a slug all day, it was beautiful. i did all the things on my list and even got to take a soothing hot bath last night. i swear – some epsom salts and running hot water will cure what ails ya! not that i was ailed, but i did work 7 days straight and sometimes it just feels amazing to soak your muscles and warm your bones… you know?!
anyway, my brother came over for dinner and all i did was heat it up – thanks to whole foods market and their pre-made thanksgiving platter for one. i grabbed two of them and put it all in a baking dish :
all the fixins’ were there. i made the yam myself, i have to have them included in my spread.
WFM also provided the delicious pumpkin pie, but i was too dazed at that point to mess with any foto equipment. just know that every morsel was scrumptious! every bite was divine. and since neither of us finished our plates, i have unexpected leftovers!
i’m so thankful for all the delicious food i get to experience every day. i’m beyond thankful for that, actually. i feel so connected to the food i eat, i just feel so blessed to have access to it. i’m thankful for a kind heart, a sound mind, good judgement, a healthy body, a handful of loving friends and family, sweet cats, a caring roommate, and “enough” to get by…
and last night, for my first order of 33-year old business, i meditated under the stars and sent some more healing love to the planet… ’cause we need it!
let the holidays officially begin!
simple is as simple does.
my birthday is on thanksgiving this year, did i mention that?! i was born on thanksgiving, and every 6 years or so it falls on the day. do i have an opinion about this, of course i do. i mean, it might seem cool to share your birthday with one of the bigger american holidays, but it’s actually not all that great. every year i have to plan my birthday around the turkey and quite frankly, i’m much better than poultry and my presence on the planet is more crucial, i feel. alas, every year i kind of get forgotten about. story of my life. i’m not cut up about it, but this year i did decide that i would make it all about ME. whatever i want to do, i’ll do it. and if that means staying home, making dinner alone, listening to my favourite music as loud as i want and taking like 3 naps before i meditate under my stars, well then by golly that’s what i’m going to do.
this year has been pivotal for me. i have much to celebrate. and i feel like birthdays are kind of like new years day. like, it’s actually a NEW YEAR for each of us on a different day… you know?! anyway, it definitely feels like that for me this year and i want the chance to reflect, give thanks, and meditate in order to manifest what i want this year to look like for me… which mostly means being open to whatever the universe has planned for me 🙂
that had absolutely nothing to do with today’s meatless monday recipe. other than the fact that because since i’m planning on completely spoiling myself with some delicious food all day long, i must pinch some pennies during the week. this means the crockpot gets a workout! last weeks lentil soup was a hit – i had a few readers tell me they tried it and loved it. my friend miss J put sweet potato in hers… YUM!
soups are such a great make-ahead meal and can be so unbelievably easy to make. i made this dish for some friends of mine when visiting in the rockies and it was such a hit that not only did i make it again for the roomie and myself, but when i went shopping yesterday, i bought the ingredients again. not a drop was wasted, i love that! Continue reading
i’m really pleased with how cute and delicious these little treats turned out.
half the time i plan my meals and half the time i wing it with stuff i have around the kitchen. only on occasion has that not worked out for me. my roommate usually eats whatever i make anyway because he’s a wonderful guy, but there have been some creations even i had to pass up because it just didn’t turn out good. haha – but i grab a spatula, put the apron back on anyway and try again 🙂
this time, it turned out brilliant. didn’t see how it wouldn’t, either. when you start with a basic classically good recipe, you can pretty much bet it’ll taste terrific. these were no exception.
okay…
this week has been epic for me. why? you ask… well, i’ll sum it up in my usual cryptic style :
i’m transforming and it’s really kind of kicking my ass. and as some of you may know, i’m a huge astrology buff, and boy is there some major stuff going on up in those beautiful stars… and it’s totally changing my life! good stuff, but also a lot of purging. i’ve been meditating longer than normal, and it actually takes a lot out of me, physically. which is fine because i’m manifesting some BIG changes that need to occur. i started to blog about it and realized it was a little heavy for some… so maybe i’ll open those doors again later, but for now we’ll stick to the basics – food and fotos. meanwhile, i’ll continue to lovingly work on this planet from behind the scenes…
you’re welcome.
so, having said all that – i bought a car recently and that means reconfiguring my food budget a little. it’s a good thing, because it kind of forces me to do what i always said i liked doing anyway… batch cooking ahead of time and packing my lunch for work 4-5 days a week. it’s so easy to spend 5, 10, 15 dollars a day at work just buying food on-the-go and i’ve found i spend half my breaks just buying food. so, why not plan ahead, save some money, AND save time in the long run… you know how we roll here at food and foto, we KISS – Keep It Seriously Simple.
i’ll just give myself 3-4 hours on my day off in the kitchen and just work my pots and pans out! i throw on some music or some bad TV in the background, pour a mimosa, and plan my meals for the week.
happy monday, ya’ll!
sorry for my absence – i missed you. i was away last weekend in the mountains, and i didn’t get the chance to blog remotely on monday or tuesday and by the time mid-week rolled around i just decided to take the rest of the week off from blogging. with the holidays rapidly approaching, my “day job” will get more demanding of my time and energy, and thus i will appreciate the “calm before the storm,” if you will.
so, we’re back on track and here is today’s meatless monday recipe. it’s all about soup in the audrey michelle household. soup is all the things i look for in a meal : simple, healthy, easy, filling, and delicious. cost-effective, too!
see, i just bought a car. i think i mentioned that? well, a car means a car payment for me and that means reconfiguring my budget. i typically just splurge on food – it’s just my thing, i don’t shop, i don’t go out, i don’t eat out – my “treat” is food, always has been. and it will continue to be that way, i just have to be a little more aware and plan ahead. i plan on posting a blog about batch cooking, which ultimately saves time and money… just need to allot some time to yourself to plan ahead and just do it!
soup is a great make-ahead meal that keeps well in the fridge and is friendly with the wallet. so, on with the recipe!
hope you all had a safe and happy halloween! i just LOVE this time of year, don’t you?! i love being in the kitchen more than normal… and i love busting out my crockpot… and i’m even more eager to bust out my vitamix!! i will be doing that this weekend when i am basically a personal chef for my best friends in the rockies 🙂
i also love making my own pumpkin seeds. they are one of my favourite snacks, and when pumpkins are on sale – so what better time to make some?! i paid 2 bucks for my pumpkins on a one-day sale. i would say these average sized pumpkins yield about 2-3 cups of seeds – that’s a decent value!
Continue reading
look at that colourful plate!
i heart vegetables. i especially heart spaghetti squash, it’s seriously one of my favourites! and it’s hard to get it all year round, but i try anyway. right now is the best time to buy it – totally in season, and they are HUGE. i like that there is usually a variety in size with spaghetti squash… i typically buy a smaller one just for myself and my roommate, although it is still very good as leftovers, so make extra if you want!
i also realized, when browsing through previous posts to make sure i wasn’t duplicating this one, that i eat a lot of tomatoes. i mean, A LOT! i cook them, which i’ve read is actually better than eating them raw because they are more bioavailable that way. in other words, your body uses the nutrients more effectively because they are cooked… i don’t fully understand it all, but this fact i found online was interesting :
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so – hooray for cooked tomatoes! Continue reading
i’ve been craving slash eating a lot of this lately :
classic grilled cheese and tomato soup… only, as per usual, i mix it up a little.
i use the most healthy bread i can find. usually something a little more dense like a multigrain – or in this case, a flax-seed bread. i opt for organic when i can… bread is expensive! and, instead of traditional tomato soup, i buy this from pacific foods. OH EM GEE, it is so delicious!! the red pepper makes it just a tad more flavourful and sweet and when you dip your grilled cheese in it, HOLY SMOKES!! just – just, do me a favour and go buy some. and then tell me how you’ll never want to buy any other tomato soup again… Continue reading
if you’ve been a reader for a bit, you probably know by now that i do not often cook pasta. i am getting better, but for the longest time it just seemed like i couldn’t make a decent pasta dish to save my life.
mostly, i just throw together stuff in my fridge and call it a “primavera” — and i’ve been on this kick where i just make my own sauce fresh every time i make a pasta dish or spaghetti squash dish. i’m all about things in one pan… make it easy! Continue reading
i made this dish weeks ago, and have had this blog in queue for a while now… i had quite a collection of blogs to keep me updating regularly, but i haven’t been cooking much this week and so my recipe backups are all gone now yikes! — see, i had a rather busy week, and another one ahead. i’m using up what’s in my kitchen to rid my fridge because i leave for a trip to NEW YORK CITY this week!
woo!
but today – today will be spent in front of my computer with WORDPRESS CLOSED so i can focus — i’ll be editing a wedding i had the privilege of fotographing this past weekend amidst the fall foliage and log-cabin backdrop. it was gorgeous and i can’t wait to share some of the fotos!
in the meantime, here is a simple recipe for a simple side dish… Continue reading
food & foto 