mushroom queso fundito

ne of my favorite gut busting appetizers at Hilltop Kitchen here in Tacoma is the Queso Fundito.  It's basically melted cheese with a few toppings, and while I always feel like I've made a terrible decision about two hours later, in the moment, oh man, it's delicious.  At HK you can add bacon if you want, but I decided to make this Queso dip with sautéed mushrooms instead, because mushrooms are also delicious. And also make me feel a little less terrible about the caloric intake.  But only just slightly.  But lest you be thinking that it's a bad idea to make this, I promise that it's super delicious, but also advise that you involve a few friends in the consumption.  Because eating this on your own is definitely a bad idea, but with a few friends, it's absolutely a good idea.  

Ingredients:
1 small tomato diced
1 small red pepper diced
1 small serrano pepper diced
4 oz of Kerrygold Aged Cheddar
4 oz of Dubliner with Irish Stout Cheese
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 of an onion diced
1/2 cup of lager
2 tbsp of butter
salt and pepper
1/2 avocado sliced
5 mushrooms sliced
green onion sliced


1. Mix tomato, red pepper, and serrano pepper in a bowl with salt and pepper, set aside

2. Prep the cheese blend by mixing grated cheeses in a bowl and mix in flour.

3. Saute mushroom slices with butter and salt and set aside.

4. Saute diced onion in butter until translucent on medium heat. Add lager and stir. Add cheese mix a handful at a time, stirring each time until fully melted. To get your perfect consistency, adjust the amount of flour and beer until you get it where you want it.  If it's too watery add more flour, if it’s too thick, add more beer. Stir in the tomato/red pepper/serrano pepper mixture well and top with a few diced peppers, avocado slices, mushrooms and green onions sliced.

Eat bubbling hot with chips!

camping

 

 



Photos from a rainy camping trip with friends from over a year ago.  I always meant to post these photos, but never got around to it.  Dusty's first camping trip, good friends, and being surrounded by nature.  I missed this year's friend-camping-excursion, so Dusty and I went on a solo camping adventure together instead.  

taco salad with cilantro lime cauliflower rice

Oh summer.  Fresh ingredients abound.  My little garden is already reaping some harvest.  I've got big ol' heads of romaine, so I figured it was high time to bust out a salad.  I'm not a big salad fan, but if I do enjoy a salad it's got to have more to it than just lettuce and dressing.  Give me a chevre, walnut, pear salad, or a blackened salmon caesar.   One of my favorite more-than-just-lettuce salads is a taco salad.  I had just picked up a head of cauliflower to make some cilantro lime cauliflower rice and it sounded like a perfect addition to a yummy taco salad.  Cilantro lime cauliflower rice was a staple when I was doing Whole30, it's so savory and filling.  Add it to a taco salad with some aged cheddar and spicy dressing, and it's a filling salad for a warm evening on the patio.  Yum!

Ingredients for Cauliflower Rice (via

Popular Paleo

)

½ of a large head of cauliflower or a full one if it's on the small side

½ yellow or white onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ cup cilantro, chopped

zest of one large lime

juice from half a lime

2 TBSP coconut oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Grate the cauliflower or use a food processor to get a "rice" texture.

2. Heat a large pan to medium-high and add the coconut oil.  Once the oil is melted, add your onions and garlic and cook until the onions are translucent, a couple minutes.

3. Add the cauliflower and cook until it's just cooked through, about 5 to 7 minutes.

4. Add in the lime zest and juice, fresh cilantro, and salt and pepper to taste, and mix together!

For Salad:

Diced Onion

Diced Tomato

Romaine Lettuce, chopped

Corn

Grated

Kerrygold Aged Cheddar

Cauliflower Rice

Hot Sauce for dressing (or use a southwest-type dressing)

My favorite way to make salads is to put everything out in dishes separately and let people build their own salads, that way they can choose their own ratio of ingredients and leave out the ingredients they aren't a fan of.  Throw everything together, toss with dressing, and enjoy with a summery beer on a hot evening!

#FLASHBACK FRIDAY // bohemian vibes

Bohemian Vibes // June 2, 2011

As of yesterday I have two weeks until I move out of my apartment and back into the Winne! This means I'm starting my two week work out regimen so that those young whippersnappers don't totally run me into the ground! I'll be doing a lot of running around up and down hills and doing all sorts of work, so I feel like it'll be a good idea to have some sort of endurance and conditioning built up before I get there. I'm actually pretty excited about it all. My life here in Tacoma is pretty sedentary. Since all of my work is online, I spend most of my time sitting on my butt in front of a computer screen. I try to ride my bike as many places as possible to counteract this, but still, I'm not as active as I'd like to be. I think being at camp will be very nice and invigorating, though I don't doubt that no matter how much physical preparation I do, I'll still have my ass whooped!

dream come true dress/courtesy of threadcase :: bag & headband/gift

belt/gift shop in Calico,CA :: shoes/minnetonka :: ring/forever 21

This dress was sent to me by my new sponsor Threadcase. It's so lovely and summery! It has more of a bohemian vibe than most of the things hanging in my closet, but I like it! I'm trying to figure out how to reconcile all the different parts of me that manifest themselves in my style. There's the rock and roll me, the vintage me, the artsy me, the hipster me, the pin-up me, and so on. They all seem to battle for the front when I stand in front of my closet and unless I have a clear cut idea of exactly what I want to wear I just end up putting on what feels like a hundred different outfits until one seems to feel right. And even then sometimes I'll throw something together that feels like it's nice and then looking at outfit photos I'm like.. ehhhh? But anyway, this outfit is not like that. It is lovely and I felt quite good in it! I threw this dress on the second I got it out of the package!

punk rock princess

When it comes to giant, poofy, tulle skirts, my answer is always, "YES."  I mean, come on, why the hell not, amirite?  So what if this is a totally impractical outfit for daily wear.  Sometimes you just have to put on a giant skirt and rock the hell out of it and feel awesome about it.  Go on, girl, g'head with your bad self.  That being said, you may want to rethink your giant poofy skirt aspirations if it's over 80 degrees outside.  About 5 minutes into this shoot I was sweating balls and feeling very muggy inside my fortress of tulle.  Luckily beads of sweat don't show up too well in photographs.  Plan your tulle adventures accordingly, people!

skirt

/courtesy of

shabby apple

:: top/courtesy of

spotted moth

necklace/francesca's collection ::

shoes

/courtesy of

modcloth

shades

/courtesy of

bonlook