#tbt travelstyle: big sur & blue skies

#throwbackthursday travelstyle to our Sept. 13-15, 2013 trip to San Jose, Carmel & beautiful Big Sur to watch Trey ask two of his friends if they want to do life together. Land in San Jose. Top Down. Highway 1 Drive to Big Sur. An incredible trip with an incredible man to celebrate an incredible couple. #EthanandHolly

first stop Bertucelli’s La Villa Deli for sandwiches almost as good as Trey’s Saturday Sub Sandwich and stacks on stacks of wine, fresh bread and cheese.

you, me & carmel-by-the-sea. Beachside cheers and luxury shopping tucked in hidden alleyways.

moment of mist & bliss along the PCH.

 morning run through the redwoods.

Enveloped by redwoods, our hotel the Glen Oaks Motor Lodge is one of our favorite hotels. Ever. Modern design inside a skeleton of an old motor lodge, each room features a private porch, heated recycled stone floors, a wine fridge, a garden of succulents and complimentary yoga mats. #namaste.

After our morning run along PCH, we stopped in Glen Oaks Big Sur Roadhouse across the street. We instantly feel in love with New Orleans chef Matt Glazer’s design of “homegrown modernism.” Everything from the wine barrel chairs to the leather wine rack, had a place and unique, West coast feel. Our morning fare consisted of:

Southern-Style Biscuits & Gravy: Two Buttermilk Biscuits with Hand-Made-Sausage Gravy

Buttermilk Biscuit Sandwich: Fried Egg, Smoked Bacon and New York White Cheddar Cheese

White Corn Grits: With Serrano Chile and Bellweather Farms Peppato Cheese

Of course, since he is from NOLA, we sipped on two Café au Laits in the gorgeous Cali sunshine.

#weknowwhatsup. The March 2014 issue of Food & Wine Magazine listed Big Sur Roadhouse as the place to be & eat. We knew it before it was famous.

big sir & blue skies.

pacific ocean hike revealed hidden waterfalls & a backpack of bubbly. Cheers!

my Main Man.

the wonderful reason for our trip. Two days to celebrate the amazing Ethan & Holly Kaufmann with Trey asking them for their I Do’s. #OrdainedOnline #BestBigSurViews #BestWeddingEver #EthanandHolly #LoveThem

After a night of music & s’mores, we circled back to where we started in the city of San Jose.  Morning breakfast at Naglee Park Garage.

Garden Scramble: Three Eggs, Cherry Tomatoes, Veggies & Goat Cheese

Bacon & Spinach Egg Lasagna: Layered Eggs, Spinach, Bacon, Mushrooms & Swiss Cheese

Big Sur, until next time.

 

 

i kale about you so much

Show some love to the one you are with by feeding them a healthy meal that fills them up without weighing them down. Look beyond red meat and wheat pasta and check out your local grocery store’s healthy living aisle with your favorite mealtime staples substituted with different ingredients that give you the same great taste, without the nutrient waste. My mom found a new brand of dried pasta made from sweet corn, squash and carrots to give you a #glutenfree and #paleo meal that the entire family will love. I love to make zucchini pasta, but Trey thinks the fresh vegetable texture is not comparable to real spaghetti. Now with this new dried paleo pasta in my cupboard, I can fold in ground turkey and garden, fresh kale to let everyone in my family know that #ikaleaboutthemsomuch and praise my delicious, paleo dish.

Dried Vegetable Pasta with Turkey and Kale

1 box of dried vegetable spaghetti

1 lb. ground turkey

1/c c kale, chopped

1 sweet bulb onion, diced

1 clove of garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. EVOO

1/2  c dairy-free French onion dip

Kosher salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

1. In a medium saucepan, sauté  onion and garlic in EVOO until tender. Brown turkey and season with salt and pepper.

2. In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Cook pasta until tender and drain. Set aside.

3. Combine onion dip and drained pasta in medium saucepan with ground turkey. Fold in kale.

 

 

pizza et vin

It’s Friday! Time for a carpool trip to Blockbuster for two or three overpriced VHS tapes starring Freddie Prinze Jr.,  some Nerds Rope Candy and my best girlfriends. I wish. Sigh for circa 1998. Netflix may have replaced Blockbuster and Ryan Gosling for Prinze, Jr., but nothing can replace pizza night. Carbs and cheese delivered right to your door. What more could a girl want? Wine. We always want wine. Enjoy a grown-up girl’s night in with the best pizza et vin guide and if you’re lucky, She’s All That streaming on Netflix. #LaneyForPromQueen

cauliflower calling

Bread crumbs from my garden to my kitchen countertop.”

As my winter garden nears the autumn of its garden life span, I start to long for spring vegetables with new flavors. To get out of my over-veg funk I started researching new ways to cook old favorites. A little cauliflower calling shook up my dinner and my chicken cutlets too.

Cauliflower Breaded Chicken 

1 lb. chicken tenders

2 c cauliflower florets

1/4 c EVOO

1 egg

1/4 c buttermilk

1 clove of garlic, minced

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Using a food processor, minced cauliflower. Spread out on non-stick baking sheet for one hour, turning every 15 minutes. Put aside in medium bowl.

2. Turn oven up to 425 degrees. Beat egg and buttermilk together. Add minced garlic, salt and pepper.

3. Coat non-stick baking sheet with EVOO. Dredge chicken in egg mixture then cauliflower crumbs and place on baking sheet. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Recipe modified from Mom Foodie.