Cinnamon Sugar Glazed Carrots

Growing up I could not stomache cooked carrots. Everything about them disgusted me. There were a few times I would go hungry because I refused to eat them. Now, however, my palate is changing little by little and many of the foods I hated I love now. Except for peas... I put my foot down at peas yuck. These carrots taste more like a dessert than a veggie. Who knew carrots could be so sweet?

The first time I made these carrots I was just bored in the kitchen and wanted to play around a little. Luckily, my little creation turned out to be a sucess and delicious. I love when that happens :) I love to make these and snack on them throughout the day, however, they can be a great side dish or even better on top of cous cous or quinoa.

~Ingredients~
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tbs cinnamon
2 tbs brown sugar
2 tbs butter
pinch of kosher salt
4 or 5 carrots peeled and cut in half

Directions
Preheat oven to 375
Mix nutmeg, sugar, cinnamon,salt, and butter together. Rub all over carrots and let sit for 10 mins. Place in over for 20-25 mins. Let cool for 5 mins and enjoy :)

Our First Harvest

We decided we wanted to be urban gardeners this year so we planted about 20 different plants. The only one we are able to recognize is the strawberries. Our first one was ready to be harvested and there is nothing better than eating something you know exactly where it came from and how it grew. Im so proud of us! I thought we were going to have a drought because I kill any plant I touch. Now I hope more strawberries ripen because the one we had was delicious!

Here is the evolution of our first strawberry!

Forever Young

69 years ago a legend was born. Today is Bob Dylan's 69th Birthday. Bob... may you stay forever young. Happy Birthday! Thank you for all you have given us.

Five for Friday

I keep seeing these on different blogs so I'm going to be a copy cat and start doing one for my blog too :)

1. I'm glad I finally get to see the country where you grew up and meet your madre.

2. You make me laugh when you say sentences backwards like "bowl dog" instead of dog bowl.

3. I can't believe you knew all the words to a Bob Dylan song I guess all the brainwashing finally worked :)

4. You told me my pinky toe looks like a whack a mole

5. I love the way you protect me from Pablo when he becomes a rebel dog.

Beautiful Day in Baltimore

The weather was perfect on Saturday so we decided to take a drive up to Baltimore. It is such a beautiful bustiling city. We spent the day walking around the Inner Harbor seeing a few Naval and Coast guard ships, browing books at Barnes and Nobel, listening to wonderful street performers playing instruments I had never seen before, and having a nice dinner at The Hard Rock.





After touring the ship my hubby said he was glad he joined the Air Force because he couldn't live on a ship for 4 months :)











I couldn't go all the way to Baltimore without making a little visit to Charm City Cakes. Sadly, Geof was nowhere in sight :(

Beatty Zimmerman's Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Bob Dylan's 69th birthday is coming up soon so I decided to make his mother's banana bread in honor of his b-day. My husband thinks I'm crazy but Bob is an important figure in my life and has changed my life in so many ways. So in Honor of Bob... Here is his mother, Beatty Zimmerman's, recipe


Not only is this recipe from Dylan's mother but it is incredibly moist, not too sweet, and super delish too :)

1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
2 eggs
4 tablespoons sour cream
2 ripe bananas, mashed
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 (6-ounce) package chocolate chips (or up to 12 ounces, if desired) I used 12 ounces because there is no such thing as too much chocolate :)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream together the sugar and butter. Add the eggs and beat well. Add the sour cream and ripe bananas; mix well.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add the dry mixture to the sour cream mixture, then fold in the chocolate chips. Divide the batter between two greased (8x3-inch) loaf pans.

Bake for about 50 minutes. Turn the loaves out on to cooling rack or aluminum foil as soon as they're done and enjoy!

My Madre's Macaroni

This happens to be the ONLY pasta I eat. I don't know why but that is how I roll :) When my mom came to visit I had her make me some of my favorite food and this was one of them.

Ingredients

Macaroni noodles
2 celery stalks
1/2 onion
3 hard boiled eggs
mustard
mayo
kosher dill pickles
a little S and P
Paprika

Boil the noodles and the eggs. Not together :) Chop the celery, onion & pickles. Mix with mayo, mustard, and spices. Chop the egg and once the noodles are cooked and drained let them cool for about 10 minutes. Then combine everything together. Let cool in fridge for at least an hour to serve but it always tastes better the next day.

California Dreamin'

Ever since we drove to the East Coast I was wishing I was back home in LA. Today we bought tickets to fly back home and I can't wait! Too bad we only have 1 day in Santa Monica :( before we go on a week long cruise but I already have an itinerary :)

* Pick up some coffee from 18th Street Coffee House
* Walk around Santa Monica Promenade
* Bike ride on Santa Monica Bike Path
* Pick up lunch from Joan's on Third
* Walk around venice
* Dinner at Moonshadows in Malibu


I can't wait to go home!!!