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Natural Comfort Kitchen

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Weekend Eats: Hometown Goodies

In case you didn’t catch it last week, there’s a new thang going on here on NCK: a weekly post in which I delve into my real life, recapping either how much I cooked or ate out over the weekend. It’s a fun behind-the-scenes peek to spark discussion about your weekend eats, inspire you for next weekend, and help me remember the awesome restaurant dishes I’ve eaten that I really need to turn into a recipe.

Starting last Wednesday, Steve and I sadly dropped this face off at day care but joyously headed to my hometown in Minnesota.

Silly puglet

We came for a one-of-a-kind evening at Spoon and Stable with chef Michael Anthony (which will get a post all its own soon), to spend father’s day with my dad, and to hit old and new favorite restaurants over what can only be described as a gluttonous five days. Here’s the rundown spanning our long weekend.
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Weekend Eats: Out and About

It’s time for something new! I love to cook–that’s not news, and it’s the reason NCK exists. Often, though, the recipes you see on the blog are the product of testing and a well manicured photo shoot, which is definitely not what my day-to-day cooking looks like. Most blog recipes start with an experiment, or, hey, even dinner desperation, and I want a place to reflect that and show you guys what I eat in real life. Weekend Eats, a new series on NCK, will be an informal roundup of what and where I ate over the weekend, who I was with, and a few thoughts and pictures. When I entertain, it will include those dinner (or brunch) menus that I craft so carefully in order to have a worry-free party where everyone eats well.

The photography promises to be less staged, a welcome break from carefully placed utensils and herb leaves. The series will help expose the evolution of all those “polished” recipes you see on the ‘gram and the blog and Pinterest and will keep the blog going even when life and work keep me too busy to crank out three gorgeous recipes a week. Finally, I hope it starts a conversation with y’all about your weekend cooking and gives you inspiration in the kitchen for when Friday rolls around!

Coffee cake with all the crumbs

The Recipes

  • Crumb topping-for-days coffee cake
  • No-chop thyme vinaigrette (the dressing only; I make a third or half of the recipe)
  • “Everything” marinade: great for flank steak, and I imagine also good on portobellos or tofu. I start with a base of canola oil, add red wine vinegar, smashed garlic cloves, fresh oregano or parsley leaves, black pepper and/or peppercorns, soy sauce or tamari, garlic salt, and lime juice. Marinade for one to two hours. Brush off excess marinade before grilling or broiling.
  • Gluten free mac and cheese

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Meatless BBQ Enchiladas

Does this look like meat to you? Pulled pork, maybe?

The best meatless BBQ

What about these little soon-to-be-enchilada piles of BBQ goodness?

Pulled BBQ eggplant makes for super satisfying, tasty meatless BBQ enchiladas! No one will miss the meat in this crowd-pleasing Tex-Mex dinner.

If you think so, then you’re both right and wrong. I think you’d be hard-pressed to say it doesn’t look a little meaty, but in reality it’s “just” genius pulled eggplant cooked low and slow in BBQ spice rub then tossed in a final coating of your favorite BBQ sauce. Even though it would have been phenomenal piled onto a slider bun and topped with some cheese and onions, I didn’t stop there. No, instead, I stuffed it into enchiladas for one of my favorite Tex-Mex recipes to date: meatless BBQ enchiladas.

Pulled BBQ eggplant makes for super satisfying, tasty meatless BBQ enchiladas! No one will miss the meat in this crowd-pleasing Tex-Mex dinner.
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What We Ate in Austin

I got so excited about explaining every little detail of bourbon butterscotch mini apple pies that I completely forgot about the second half of our Austin honeymoon! If you’re like “wha???” then check out part 1, here. And if you’re too lazy to click the link, Steve and I went on our honeymoon to Austin, Texas last week. We stayed at an amazing, relaxing hilltop spa the first couple days, which brings us up to today’s post. On Wednesday afternoon, we packed our bags, hopped in our oh-so-Texas rental silver F150, and headed down the hill. We didn’t get far, though, because eight miles down the road, there’s a massive outpost known as the Oasis. It’s basically a tourist mecca, a giant complex of shopping and restaurants, but they might just have the best view of Lake Travis.

Our Enterprise rental - Texas style pickup

One weird thing we noticed about Texas is that waiters warn you about everything. I don’t know if they’re just being nice, or if Texans are a picky bunch, prone to sending their provisions back to the kitchen dissatisfied. Order a drink with mezcal: “you know that’s smoky, right?” Ask what the Sauvignon Blanc is like: “well it’s a white wine.” Duh. Wait for outdoor seating at the Oasis: “Just so you know, it’s kind of windy. And the sun is really hot. And it might rain. Is that okay?” [Read more…]

10 Healthy Vegetarian Snacks for Travel

10 ideas for healthy vegetarian travel snacks | #flavoryouradventure

Earlier, in part 1 of the Healthy Food for Travel series, I shared my essential tips for packing healthy vegetarian snacks and meals for travel. True, many of them are common sense, but a few have been learned through trial, error, and big messes in my luggage. If it’s a big travel season like summer where you are, as it is in the U.S. right now, I hope you can use my tips as a quick resource to eat healthy, feel good, and flavor your adventure no matter where your next trip takes you.

Now it’s time for the fun part of the series, featuring examples of what I actually pack in that well-equipped snack bag of mine. In other words, I’ll show you how to put my food and travel tips from part 1 into action with 10 ideas for simple, sustaining vegetarian travel snacks. It’s been a while since I published part 1, but it just so happened that after I wrote the bulk of this post, Blue Diamond sent me a couple travel-friendly canisters of almonds to try. They’re a super satisfying, healthy summer snack, so this “Flavor Your Adventure” post is sponsored by Blue Diamond Almonds.

Truffle salt and pepper honey roasted almonds and 9 more healthy travel snacks | #flavoryouradventure
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11 Tips to Pack Healthy Travel Snacks

Eating on the road or in the air is stressful and challenging when you’re dealing with special diets. However, I’m starting to feel like I’ve got a handle on staying satisfied and hydrated, no matter the method of travel or duration of the trip.

I’ve got family in various corners of the country. Tristyn is about an hour trip by train to NYC, while Toryn and my parents are quite a bit further, requiring a few hours of air travel to Oklahoma or Minnesota, respectively. Just last night at a BBQ, I was talking with someone about how it seems to be more common now than ever for kids to leave the nest and relocate far, far away. On a weekly basis I mingle with folks whose families are much farther away than mine, in places like Mexico or Brazil. So chances are, if you’re reading this, you might be in the same boat, and you probably make it a point to visit family, whether in the next city, state, or country, as often as possible.

With summer travel season upon us here in the U.S., I wanted to share my insights about packing good-for-you, often vegetarian travel snacks. In today’s post, the first in a two part series, I outline the basics of packing healthy sustenance for travel. Sounds like serious business! Really, though, mostly I just took the time to write down common sense pointers that I’ve learned the hard way in times of what we might term “common nonsense”. I’ve transformed spring rolls into a soggy mess, experienced scary mid-flight fainting episodes, and magically morphed granola bars into gooey, chocolatey messes within dangerous proximity of carefully packed wedding clothes.
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