Category Archives: food

Oatmeal Pancakes

Posted in breakfast, family, food, holidays, relationships by

OK, I’ll just put it out there. I’ve had a  hard month, the culmination of which, after three years of couples cooking, has me cooking for just one. There’s no hate, no anger, just a lot of sadness, and hopefully a friendship again in the future somewhere. Thank goodness I have amazing friends and family both here in Indianapolis and over the phone. I also have these sweet girls.

And Matt Nathanson, whose music has an uncanny ability to fit the lovey-dovey beginning of relationships and the heartbreaking end of them, too. And then there’s food. Saturday afternoon I stood over a mixing bowl, beating together butter and brown sugar for cookies, crying, and I literally muttered through those tears, “At least no matter how little sense everything else makes right now, butter and sugar will always make something delicious and magical.” It’s nice to know that I can combine ingredients in a certain way and know that they’ll be tasty. It is not nice to know that every time my cat visits the litter box, she’ll emerge stinking and desperately wanting to cuddle. These things are certainties.

OK, so enough about me and my wah wah wah life. THIS WEEK IS THANKSGIVING WEEK! I love this holiday. It’s the Pie Holiday. It’s the Food Holiday. It’s the Hang Out with Family and Just Eat and Be Happy Holiday. I’m sure you’re all planning menus, grocery shopping, and getting ready to start cooking up a storm. I’m going to try to document all the wonderful things my family and I cook and eat. I am not going to give you the few sweets recipes I have in my queue right now. Instead I give you: breakfast. Because you will need a good breakfast to prepare you for a day of cooking and family time.

Breakfast is my absolute favorite meal of the day. I love brunching with my lady friends. I love, love eggs with runny yolks that ooze in a buttery fashion all over toast and potatoes and greens. And I love fluffy, sweet pancakes and waffles. My dad makes the best waffles, but alas I have no waffle maker. My mom always made the best pancakes growing up, these quick and tasty ones from Betty Crocker I believe. I have sweet memories of standing on a chair by the counter, helping to mix ingredients for waffles or pancakes on weekend mornings.

So these pancakes are not the ones my mom made for us growing up. They’re full of oatmeal goodness that fills you up properly. I’ve been making them since the summer, when I topped them with strawberries, powdered sugar, and syrup, and I have no idea why it’s taken me so long to share them with you. Seriously, these are the best pancakes ever. I’ve been mixing cut up apples into them lately and smothering them in honey. Or mixing in some pumpkin puree.

So, OK, you should make these during your holiday weekend. In your robe. Lazily. With a cup of coffee.

Continue reading →

Chai Snickerdoodles

Posted in baked, food, North Carolina by

This recipe comes to you a bit out of order on my recipe list. In fact, I just made them this past weekend. But they’re so good that I cannot wait.

When I lived in Raleigh, I worked at a coffee shop called The Morning Times. Still probably the best coffee shop I’ve ever been in. Best Americanos I’ve ever had. We also made our own chai tea. It was a mixture of tea and spices, the one which I remember the most being ginger. I spent lots of time peeling and grating ginger for that tea, but it gave the end result such a nice bite.

These cookies are basically sugar cookies filled with all the spices that make chai tea so warm and autumn-y and delicious. They’d probably be really awesome with a cup of tea. They’d also be perfect for a holiday party. Not hard to make at all. I promise. And so festive and flavorful.

Continue reading →

Greens & You: Garlicky Kale Salad and Arugula Pesto

Posted in dinner, food, lunch, vegetarian by

Gone are the days of tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, peaches, and peppers. Welcome to the greens and squash days. Yep, we are creeping towards winter produce time. It’s evident in the choices in my GreenBEAN (that’s Farm Fresh’s new name), in the tables overflowing with leafy greens, golden squash, and red apples at the Indy Winter Farmer’s Market. For awhile I was afraid of the greens. I mean how much can you do with chard, spinach, arugula, and kale anyway? And don’t they all just taste the same? Turns out you can do a whole lot with these vegetables and they all taste a bit different.Plus, they’re really good for you. They help your body naturally detox and have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits.

So today I have two recipes for you that’ll help you use up the kale and arugula that may be overflowing from your CSA bin. Both have made successful appearances at ladies night potlucks (the kale salad multiple times actually).

The first is a raw kale salad with garlicky dressing. I like kale because it has a little more flavor than, say, spinach, but it’s not overwhelming. Kind of a nice nuttiness.

The second is arugula pesto. Arugula has a very peppery and more bitter flavor. I can only handle it in smaller doses when it’s all raw and on it’s own (i.e. on sandwiches, where it’s very yummy), so this pesto is a nice way to use a lot of it. Plus, it gives your pesto a good kick that basil doesn’t.

Continue reading →

Cheesy Enchiladas with Gravy

Posted in concerts, dinner, food, Lola, Mira, work by

Oh I have been slacking again. But here’s the thing. I traveled a lot this past week. Well a lot for me. My job normally requires no travel, but when it comes to this time of year, I hop on lots of planes to deliver prizes for our art contest. Lucky for me this year I didn’t have to travel alone (which I think sucks balls). Jen and I traveled to L.A. and Alyssa and I went to New Jersey/Philly. Much fun. Though I could never do the work travel thing regularly. It’s seriously exhausting. And all the sitting on planes made me super dehydrated. Poor chapped lips.

There were also two more concerts the last two weekends: Guster and Band of Horses. I’m going to post some pictures and go on and on about how much I love Guster later this week. Just so you know and have something to look forward to.

Oh and, AND, big news – Mira and I got a new roommate! I adopted a sweet little kitty on Saturday.Her name is Lola. She’s quite the talker. I think she likes to sing to herself as she runs around the house or plays with her feathers on a stick toy. She and the Mira dog are getting along quite well all things considered. Lola isn’t scared of Mira at all. Mira does not want to eat Lola. On the contrary, she desperately wants to play with her, and cannot understand why Lola sprints away when she chases her down the hall. My only current problem is placement of kitty food. Adam says if we tell Mira no every time she tries to eat it, she’ll learn.

Now, I have a very, very good dinner for you. Cheesey Enchiladas with Gravy filled with whatever your heart desires. I added a variety of vegetables. I think some shredded chicken would be tasty as well. Add some jalapeños, maybe olives if you’re into that, zucchini may even be good! I think what I really like about these is the gravy. I’m not a huge fan of the red enchilada sauce. The gravy in this recipe packs some heat, so be warned and dial down the chile powder and hot sauce if you’d like! Overall, a good weeknight meal. Takes about 30 minutes total time to make. Continue reading →

Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce

Posted in autumn, dinner, food, vegetarian by

I was about to spin this recipe as a good end of the summer dish. Then I realized that it’s almost October. Not so much summer anymore. When the hell did that happen?? (sidenote, I’m incredibly excited about October. Three concerts this month!!!!)No worries, I have plenty of fall recipes in my queue already (think apple pie and pumpkin bread). I love autumn for two primary reasons: scarves and comforters. My scarf collection is very large and awesome and cozy. I pulled out my comforter last night and my sleep last night was also very cozy. Anything that encourages coziness as the weather cools off makes me happy.

So a week and a half ago (even last week really) summer was still clinging on desperately in the form of 90° weather. I certainly did not feel like making fall-like dinners.

This pasta is easy and yeah, you have to have the stove on, but not on the kind of heat that heats up your kitchen.You most likely have everything you’ll need in your cabinets and fridge now.

It’s kind of a pumped up pasta with tomato sauce. And by pumped up, I mean awesome. And isn’t everything from Ree, the Pioneer Woman? Sexy cowboys, adorable kids, delicious food, and horses. Yes. Please.

OK, so make this pasta for dinner one night during the week. And, as usual, I used soy milk, but clearly, as the word “cream” is in the title, you can sub in cream.

Continue reading →

Easiest pizza you ever met

Posted in dinner, food, lunch, vegetarian, work by
There are days when I really, really like my job. Tuesday was one of those days. Today was not one of those days. Today I worked pretty much every minute (minus the minutes I chatted about movies with a coworker). I also missed pilates because traffic from work to my gym was awful. My gym is really about 10 minutes from work. Today I got halfway there in 15 minutes. I blame the Colts game. My route runs very close to Lucas Oil Stadium. So tonight, I say screw you, Colts! Tonight I am not proud to live in a city of Super Bowl winners. But just tonight. I’m OK with today being entirely exhausting though because tomorrow we’re going to Chicago and I can hardly wait.
But back to Tuesday, which did not suck. Every issue of the magazine I pick a recipe that I tell the kids is awesome and tasty and easy to make. For this issue (that’s November/December, and let’s not talk about how working on Christmas stuff in August fucks up my clock) I went with pizza. Jen, the magazine’s art director, and I make these recipes in the kitchen at work and do photo shoots. Tuesday, we made this pizza, which took about two hours total (that’s not how long it’ll take you, I swear. Taking pictures adds minutes.) and made for a very pleasant morning.

mmm chicken, pineapple, and barbecue sauce!

The recipe for this pizza should probably be written on bar bathroom stalls everywhere, that’s how easy it is. You should probably make lots of batches of the crust dough at once and put them in your freezer. Then, whenever you get a pizza craving (which is like once a week for me), you can defrost one of them and have pizza in 15 minutes. You can also let the dough rise all day in the refrigerator in place of the one hour rise. I do this sometimes if I make the dough on my lunch break and want it for dinner. So, on to the recipe! I’m going to give you the two topping options that we made, but really the options are endless. Be creative! Recreate your favorite restaurant’s pizza! Make one up with the seasonal veggies available at your farmer’s market!

Southwest Lentil Burgers

Posted in dinner, food, lunch, vegetables, vegetarian by

Two Piebelly posts coming your way. And neither are a baked good. Holy shitballs. Though, I did have this conversation with my friend Bette today.

Me: I’m going to the grocery to buy stuff to make raspberry lemonade pie.
Bette: How long has it been since you made a pie?
Me: Awhile! Like….a week and a half!
Bette: laughs and groans

I didn’t yell at her because, after all, she sent me some stuff I left in North Carolina and snuck a chocolate Zebra Cake into the box. Yes. Please.

So anyway, I’ve added Food Gawker to my Google Reader recently. It definitely bumps my unread post count up twice a day, but all those recipes are worth scrolling through. I’ve found two new blogs and lots of awesome recipes. These southwest lentil burgers are such a one. (Is that even a phrase?)

My suggestions are these. Use the lentil/egg/breadcrumb/cumin/garlic part of the recipe as a base. Add any combo of vegetables to the burger mix that you have around. Make the yogurt sauce and slather it on top of your burger. Melt a tiny bit of cheese on your burger. Place your burger on a toasted bun or eat it straight up bunless. Make extra patties, wrap them in plastic wrap, and freeze them to use as a quick dinner or lunch.

Recipe after the jumpy jump! Continue reading →

Songs of the Week

Posted in blogs, concerts, food, North Carolina, song of the week by

Where to start…? With a list!!

1. I am now the proud owner of the domain name piebelly.com. Ooooh, right? Now can someone design me a little Buddah rubbing his belly and holding a piece of pie for a logo?

2. I took a trip to North Carolina to the mountains last Thursday through Sunday. Coming back is hard. The mountains are my home. They’re full of wonderful people (and one terrible person). I cooked so much amazing food with my friend Renée that I could cry happy food tears. Just need to upload my pictures off of my camera and then I’ll post all about pies, pastas, porch swings, and gazpachos.

3. To make up for serious slacking in the Song of the Week area, I’m going to post three today.

Firstly, there’s Guster. Last week I got the most wonderful and much-anticipated e-mail in my inbox. Guster announcing their new album – title, release date, and first … single I suppose. Also TOUR DATES! October 10 at the Egyptian Room right here in Indianapolis. This will be Guster concert number 11 for me. So after much very restrained squealing (I was still at work when this e-mail arrived), I listened to the first song. Then I downloaded the song. Then I listened to the song 10 more times. Then I memorized all the words. It’s called “Bad Bad World.” The album is called Easy Wonderful and is due out October 5. Here’s the track listing

1. Architects & Engineersv 2. Do You Love Me
3. On the Ocean
4. This Could All Be Yours
5. Stay with Me Jesus
6. Bad Bad World
7. This Is How It Feels to Have a Broken Heart
8. What You Call Love
9. That’s No Way to Get to Heaven
10. Jesus and Mary
11. Hercules
12. Do What You Want

And here’s that first song.

Bad Bad World lyrics

I would like to dedicate this song to the amazing women who I hung out with this past weekend. Bette, Renée, and Jennifer, this song is for you girls. And maybe also Officer Jesse Durham, as a thank you? Heh.

Secondly, U.S. Royalty. I discovered this band last year at the Forecastle Festival in Louisville.

U.S. Royalty, Forecastle Festival 2009

I guess you could call them Americana, or folk-rocky. I like them either way. This song is called Raincoats.

Thirdly, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals.

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals at Bele Chere

I heard of this band sometime over the summer, but now I’m not sure how it was. Either way, I saw that they were playing at Bele Chere, this big street festival in Asheville that we went to this past weekend, and I was determined to see them. And holy awesome they did not disappoint at all. In fact they were incredibly amazing and I left the show with two of their albums. One of my friends described them as a sort of throwback to the 70s and the lead singer as a Stevie Nicks. I like that description and I’m going with it. They’re a nice blend of blues-y goodness and rock.

This is Goodbye Kiss from their self-titled album that just came out this year.

And this one is called Paris (Oh La La) on the same album.

Roast Chicken with Fennel and Veggies

Posted in dinner, food, vegetables by

Sundays are good days to bake. Sunday nights are not always my favorite nights to cook a big dinner. I know this seems weird. Most people use Sunday night to make a good, sit down meal. But by Sunday night, I’m just so exhausted that I can hardly convince myself to make some pasta.

This Sunday, though, I’d planned to make roast chicken. The recipe calls for barely any ingredients, has very little prep, and so I figured it’d fit the bill. Of course, last night rolled around, and Adam, who was recovering from a camping bachelor party the night before, announced he was eating leftover pizza. Oh how tempted I was to join him. But no, I made my roasted chicken damn it. And it was good. Juicy, flavorful, tender….mmmmm. In fact, I gave Adam a bite, and his reaction was, “Oooh I like how you do chicken.” He then finished his pizza and disappeared into the kitchen to make himself a plate of my dinner.

Tragically, I did not take any pictures of this recipe. Note to self: bring camera into kitchen more often. Blog readers will surely appreciate photos of raw chicken parts.

Continue reading →

Fruit Loops

Posted in Facebook, food, internet by

It’s funny the things people respond to.

I update my Twitter with all sorts of randomness almost daily. Same with my Gchat and Facebook statuses. Only occasionally do I get responses, and even less often do they come pouring in. I think I’m going to start tracking which updates get the most.

Stats for this week.

Fruit Loops
Last night my power went out. That’s not the reason I ate Fruit Loops for dinner. I decided on my dinner pre-power loss. That is the reason, however, that I ate three bowls of Fruit Loops, and the reason that my teeth ached with a pain only brought on by too much processed sugar. My admission to eating three bowls, and the hopes that a power loss made up for the over indulgence got quite the response on Facebook. I wonder if that’s because people love Fruit Loops or because everyone can secretly relate to doing the same thing. I know I’m relieved to find out someone else has the same secrets and vices as me. It’s good to not be alone in my three bowl Fruit Loops eating world.