Love. this. post.

I was drawn to Elephant Journal to read an article, and happened upon this post.

It's an article a yoga teacher wrote to her beginner students.
 

And it's lovely.

sfb 

Too good not to share

One of the most calming, enjoyable things for me is spending time in the kitchen making delicious food.  I spent a heavenly weekend in the kitchen doing just that.  It's a rare thing for me to try so many recipes, and for all of them to be so successful!   It always helps when a recipe comes highly recommended, as many of these were.  So, since I feel that the recipes I stumbled upon are sooo good, I just had to share. :)

Friday night, I made one of my yogini friend Misty's staple dishes she's posted about on her food blog, Pasta with Creamy Tomato Sauce. She described it as "budget friendly, easily adaptable, simple to remember".  And remember it I will!  Served with a loaf of bread from my fabulous new bread machine. It was carb-tastic.

And I had plenty of leftover sauce from the recipe, so the hubs and I had it again last night for dinner.  I'd forgotten how much I loved the bite of farfalle pasta, and glad to have had a reminder with this dish.

Saturday morning, I made trips to both the grocery store and the downtown farmer's market.  And when I got home, I made the Best Blueberry Muffins in the World.  Without eggs!

Oh wow.  

I consider myself a more competent baker than a cook, but I honestly did not know I could bake something so simple, that would taste like I bought it from a high-end bakery (n.b.: the recipe is actually from a fancy bakery, according to Erika's blog).  My muffins turned out the exact same as Erika's pictures, and disappeared just as quick.  I love to read Erika's blog, In Erika's Kitchen.  She has a way with words about food, and we appreciate food in a similar way.  Check her blog out!

I halved the recipe, but I used a whole pint of blueberries, greek yogurt, and they only needed 20 mins in the oven.  If you use as many blueberries as I did, they may feel super squishy in their baking cups when you remove them from the pan - let the doneness of the tops of the muffins be your guide - as long as they're golden brown, you're good.

Still on a pasta kick, last week I'd found a lovely baked fettuccine recipe from Giada of the Food Network that I just had to try.  I was looking for a dish to use some of the fresh thyme I'd gotten from the farmer's market the week before, and this dish looked to fit the bill.  Also, with Dad's Day coming up, I knew that if this recipe was a winner I'd need to make it for him, as he loooooves him some fettuccine.  Stumped on locating the creme fraische for the better part of last week (Fresh Market, y'all), my desire to try this recipe was even more heightened.

Fettuccine isn't exactly the healthiest dish to eat - so portion size is key.  I halved the recipe, and Brandon and I only ate half of that.  I served it with grilled chicken breast and a spring mix salad.  After trying Giada's recipe, I'm fairly sure that in order to make the real, artery clogging kind of fettuccine I look for, you need to bake the dish.  Baking really helped to thicken the sauce, giving that rich, cheesy bite.

Sunday, we decided to invite some friends for a cookout.  Feeling the need to lighten up the fare after two days of pasta, I broke out the veggies.  

I made some homemade salsa (tomatoes and red onion from the farmer's market along with some fresh lime juice and cilantro) and guacamole (avocado, red onion, tomato, garlic, cilantro, fresh lime juice, and some salt and pepper).  

I skewered three colors of peppers, pineapple, squash, red and white onion, and some small red potatoes (parboiled)) for the grill.

And I made this lovely recipe from another Food Network gal, Marcela Valladolid.  It's a grilled zucchini and bean salad.  The simplicity of this recipe really contrasts with the big flavor it packs - I was a wimp and only used one serrano pepper in the dish - and so I didn't get any heat from the pepper.  I will definitely use a second serrano the next time.

Our cookout friends brought some fabulous spinach and onion polenta, and burgers topped with crumbled bleu cheese, bacon, and grilled apple slices.  It was a feast!

And one last dish to add to the pile - that I had just last night.  I had a bowl full of peaches from the Saturday market that were beautifully ripe - and I needed to do something with them quick!  So I started with Erika's blog and located the perfect peach cobbler recipe.  So quick and easy!  I substituted the butter for the oil, and sour cream for the yogurt (because that's what I had on hand), and I really liked what it did to the biscuit dough - made it more like a tart crust.  Don't forget the vanilla ice cream. :)