Dinner Dinner

Ever since we had Phoenix, we've been meal planning.

Russ and his mom made a bunch of freezer meals and they were awesome!

Now we go week by week.

I made this cute menu planner- and we get to try new things...like Chicken wrapped in Bacon Coats!

Hobbit Cafe in Houston

One of my favorite places to eat in Houston is a bit of a dive (my waiter pulled out the ketchup from the pocket of his gym shorts).
I love the theme. The outdoor deck feels like the Shire because it's built around trees.
And the food is healthy too.
So next time you're in Houston, dive down to the Hobbit Cafe.

Food, as of late

I always try to take pictures of the delicious things I eat. I had a awesome pizza Saturday at the Kona Grill in San Antonio, but sadly I ate it so fast, there were no time for pictures.

But here's what I did pause and take a picture of:

I ate this salad at Lucy & Ethel's in Wimberley, Texas.

It was delicious, and I feel like I could make it at home!

This is Russ's homemade version of some Cafe Rio dish.

Pulled Pork salad maybe?

I don't know what it's called. I'm not a big Cafe Rio fan.

But Russ's food is always delicious.

Food I Made

This was a while ago, when I was in the middle of taking Heidi's maternity pictures.

Menu:

• Savory Peach Salad
• Bacon, Avocado, Pepperjack Cheese, and Apple
• Grilled Corn

Yum. I should make this again.

And Another Thing About Food...

I promise I will blog about our trip to Orange as soon as I can upload the pictures from my camera.

But for now... Here's a look at what I've eaten lately (I realize I blog a lot about food. But it's so tasty!)

Isn't this the cutest Dr. Pepper you've ever seen?
Sigh. So cute.

Remember how I eat awful at law school?
Well this is how I eat when I go to law school
but I'm sleeping in San Marcos. Tasty food.

That right there is a Hippo breakfast taco from Bucc-ee's
It is soo tasty, I recommend you go get one.
I think I may have to do a run out there this weekend for one...

Nothing says Texas like a Texas waffle.
This is from the hotel we stayed at in Orange.
It reminded me of a waffle maker Hilary, Jamie, and I gave to our friend
Laura when she moved back to Utah.
Remember that?
I miss her.

Food of a Law Student.

I like to eat healthy. If I could choose my diet everyday there would be a lot veggie, fruits, and fish in it. Unfortunately this is what I eat in law school:

Yes. This is a grilled cheese sandwich with a small sample of soup. 

This was a good day.

Yes, this is a piece of cold pizza on a coffee filter. 

Both found in the student lounge at the law school. 

This is a typical day.

If you're not in law school, please, eat a veggie for me. I miss them.

Blueberry Cheesewhich

I go through food phases quite often.

Examples:

• I was a vegetarian for a while in Junior High.
• In High School, I hated salad.
• In 2007 I needed an ice cream cone once a week.
• In 2008 I had mozzarella sticks every chance I got (burned out of this in 2009)
• In 2010 it was sweet potato fries (I'm still on this food phase).

I think last week started a new one for me: Cheese & Fruit plates. Hence, I made this while at dinner one night:

This is on the dinner menu for tomorrow night again. And I can't wait. I love a new food phase!

A Cookie in a Cookie

I saw this recipe on Picky Palate (courtesy of José) and thought I would give it a try.

Here's how it turned out:

They turned out to be HUGE.
I think it is because I used Double Stuf Oreos.

They were very rich (drink with Milk!)
But also very delicious!!!

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookiesrecipe from Picky Palate

• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 10 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 package Oreo cookies – I used Double Stuf

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars. Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix until well combined.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add to the wet mixture and combine thoroughly. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Chill the dough for 15 minutes to make it easier to work with and to keep the dough from spreading when baking.

Using a cookie scoop place one scoop of dough on top of an Oreo cookie. Place another single scoop on the bottom of the Oreo to create a cookie sandwich. Seal the edges together to completely close in the Oreo.

Place the balls of cookie dough on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 9-13 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack.

Wasabi Almonds

This is a recipe from my mother-in law, Bonnie (she's the best, in case you didn't know). I made these last week, but I think I used more than 1 pound of almonds. The result of this is that the wasabi taste was very subtle. Some people loved it (Hilary, missionaries) and some people wanted more wasabi (Russ, Craig, myself). Either way they are a great snack, really good for your skin! Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Roasted Wasabi Almonds

1 egg white

1 tablespoon water

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 pound raw almonds

2 teaspoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons wasabi powder (in the oriental section of the grocery store)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Use a 2-quart slow cooker (you can use a big one, but stay close by and stir often to ward off possible burning). 

In a bowl, whisk together the egg white, water, and soy sauce until it's foamy. 

Toss the almonds in this mixture until they are wet. Set aside.

In a zippered plastic bag, combine the wasabi powder, kosher salt, and cornstarch. 

Drain any additional liquid from the almonds, and then dump the wet almonds into your zippered bag. Close well and shake until the almonds are nicely coated.

Pour these coated almonds into your slow cooker and cover. Cook on low for 2 to 4 hours, or until toasty (the almonds will brown a  bit and you'll definitely smell them. They will NOT be crunchy, but don't worry, they will be later!) 

Spread out a layer of foil or parchment paper onto the countertop and dump out the nuts. Let the almonds dry completely before munching. Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

No. 3 Burger in Texas

It appeared on the cover of Texas Monthly, like this:

After sitting on a hay bale in Fredricksburg (see previous post) we headed to the hills to Alamo Springs Cafe and ordered food from her:

We asked for the burger on the cover of the magazine and she brought us this:

This was my reaction:

That is my favorite picture.

But Russ wanted to take more pictures. So I pulled this face:

I downed this sweet burger in about 3 seconds. Texas Monthly was right- it is a great burger. I was so into it that this happened:

Some of the green chilies and cheese grease escaped to my skirt.

It was worth it.

BBQ Road Trip Take...3?

So when we have a set of missionaries here that we get close to, Russ and I have a tradition of taking them on the BBQ Roadtrip.

What the H is the BBQ road trip you may ask yourself? Well let me enlighten you.
We live 20 minutes from the BBQ Capital of Texas: Lockhart. In this quaint town there are BBQ giants, places that have been making BBQ since the early 1900's. Some have the same family cooking in same BBQ pits for the past 100 years or so.

So with all this, we take the missionaries to each place and get 2 sausage links, 2 brisket, and 2 ribs.
We do this at every BBQ place, ending at Kreuz's.


It is truly heaven. We said goodbye to the sisters, and had our fill again. This time the trip went Smitty's, Chisolm Trail, Black's, and then Kreuz's.

When it come to food, we live in the garden of eatin'

-Chow

Christmas Oreos

They haven't been filled but they're baked. I got a new cookie scoop
the other day and it worked like magic. I have a feeling this is the
first of many batches of goodies I'll be making this week.