Pasta Salad

I'm the kind of person who prefers to rummage around my fridge and cupboards for ingredients to make dinner rather than make a list and get everything for a specific recipe. Not that I'm apposed to that but it's not something I do often. So needless to say I'm a big fan of pasta salads in the summer. Here is a recipe for one I made last week. I'm not going to put measurements because to each their own but I'll just put "suggestions". If you decided to make this let me know how it went!

Pasta Salad
2 cups of grapes, halved 

1 roasted red pepper

1/2 cucumber, cut into 1/4 slices

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

2 Tablespoons of balsamic vinigar

3 cups of pasta, I used macaroni but you can use anything you'd like

Dressing

1 cup olive oil

1 cup rice vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

2 Tablespoon fresh mint, chopped

1 teaspoon fresh chives, chopped

2 Tablespoon cilantro, chopped
1 Tablespoon lime juice
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper

Combined all pasta salad ingredients in large bowl. Mix dressing separately and then add to pasta salad. I like to put more vinegar than a regular because everything really soaks up the liquids and more vinegar gives it a good fresh, sharp taste. 

Everything can be changed to your own taste of course. ENJOY!

 

I'm back! I think...

What an awful food blogger I've turned into. Or I guess you could say I'm not one at all. Sometimes we get lazy and sometimes there are more important things to do. Like watch all of the Netflix.

That being said I would like to come back if you'll take me. It's summer, kind of, in Winnipeg and I feel like there is food to be made, consumed and talked about.
I pulled out my camera today that I haven't used in a little under a year. I was happy to find two beautiful summer salads which made me think I need to share all my summer salads with you all. I'll post the pictures first and hopefully will be able to remember the recipes later or find them in my recipe book. ENJOY!

I have failed as a food blogger..

I have failed you all as a food blogger! Every month I plan on making a new entry and then I don't. This is going to change in the new year! I promise! I have decided to cook more out of my many recipe books AND I'm going to try and challenge myself more by making up my own recipes.

So stay glued to my blog! There will be much Bood Flogging this year!

Good news

I have great news everybody! There is an app for iPhones where I can blog! Now I don't need to actually sit down and get all serious. I can lay down in bed and be really unserious. 

I realize I haven't put up anything in about two months and I think I owe you an explanation.... Oh wait! No I don't! It's summer!

I'm going to make another lazy iPhone food picture post so enjoy! Oh and if you want to follow me on Instagram my username is mariellesasaki

Balsamic and garlic mushroom and almond salad.

I worked at the Japanese pavilion for Folklorama this year making sushi. This is some of the food you can get.

 

I went to the lake with my family and made these as appetizers. Crostini topped with goat cheese, tomato, fresh thyme and balsamic vinegar.

My family had salmon for dinner which I'm not a huge fan of so I had a rare steak instead with an Innis & Gunn. I felt like a real woman after that meal.

My left over steak with beets covered in balsamic and parsley and crappy soup on the side.

Holy crap this meal was awesome. I made chimichuri chicken which is from a Martha Stewart recipe book I have and then I made up two sides. One was a carrot and broccoli stalk coleslaw which was made with a vinegar dressing, yellow mustard and dill. The other was corn, onions, peppers, garlic, tomatoes and fejita spices cooked in a crap load of butter.

That's all for now! If you all want to do my a huge favour and share my blog with your friends that would be much appreciated! Now that I have the app you will have more entries to look forward to!

-Marielle

I Take Pictures of My Food

I just recently got an iPhone and have fallen under its spell. I'm often charging my phone at least once a day because I can't put it down! I can play games, take pictures of everything and make 7 second videos to share with my friends. Whats not to like?
I made a previous entry where I posted all the pictures I took with my phone. The phone my friends gave the nick name "garage door opener". Now that I have a new beautiful phone that takes good quality pictures I'll share them with you. They're nothing special but it will give you an idea of what a normal meal at my house is like. Enjoy!

Deer steak, tangy fruit and nut quinoa, almond asparagus and sausage.

Breakfast burrito

Tourtiere, spinach salad and broccoli.

Balsamic garlic mushrooms on pork tenderloin, herb mustard mashed potatoes and grilled zucchini.

Assorted inari.

Peanut butter and jam imperial cookie.

Balsamic mushrooms and walnut salad.

Omelette(I forget whats in it)and hash browns.

Red curry and peanut butter vegetable pasta with a spinach salad and smoothie.

Pork chop with a herb citrus rub, balsamic mushroom mashed potatoes with a watermelon, goat cheese and pecan salad.

Herb potatoes, marinated BBQ'ed chicken(I forget what the marinade was)and a salad which I also forget what it was.

Beet and grape salad with a yogurt dressing.

Blue cheese and mushroom omelette with balsamic vinegar on top and hash browns.

-Marielle

Cookies on a rainy day...

This long weekend has been awful. It's been cold and wet all weekend. I watched about two seasons of Gilmore Girls and ate a lot of junk food which was fine with me. I made some popcorn last night and ended up eating two hand fulls and forgetting about it. I didn't want to waste it so I decided to make cookies and put the popcorn in. I didn't have much cookie stuff kicking around so I made due with what was around. My moms boyfriend gave her a bunch of pecans and my auntie gave us some Kisses that I used instead of chocolate chip cookies which I didn't have.

Here is a recipe I found online that I kind of followed:

www.tasteofhome.com

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch salt
• 2 cups popped popcorn, lightly crushed
• 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Stir in the popcorn, chocolate chips and pecans.
• Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 13-14 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool. Yield: 2-1/2 dozen.

I also had some other random chocolate kicking around so I melted it down and threw it on top. The chocolate ended up having caramel in the center so it didn't melt very nicely but it still tasted good!

-Marielle

New food

Hey I haven't really been cooking that much lately and I've been sick so I haven't been in the mood to write about anything. Thankfully the past two day have been kind of productive. I wrote two recipes for the website I write for Girl About Town. Here is what you can expect to see in the next few months!

Tangy fruit and nut quinoa

Oatmeal banana and blueberry pancakes(Already shown in previous entries)

Blue cheese burger and coconut mango burger.(Already shown in previous entries)

Cast iron skillet breakfast

I hope you all get a change to check them out! Enjoy!

-Marielle