Life Lately: Kitchen Underground, Ramona’s Hummus, Whole Foods & Kitchen Finds

Do you ever have those seasons of life where it’s just so busy?

I feel like that’s the way my life has been the past few weeks.  My real life job picked up quite a bit — I’m pushing a project out the door this week, I kicked-off two others, I was selected to speak at the company conference in Berlin in 2 weeks (BERLIN!) so I’ve been prepping for that, I started teaching baking classes, and I’m gearing up for a quick jaunt through Munich & Prague with some of the office girls before settling in to Berlin.

Phew. Simply writing that is exhausting.  I’m seriously stressed about being stressed. Luckily though, when I do feel the pressures of life, I typically turn to the kitchen as a way to relax.  So, although I haven’t been blogging recipes lately, I have been baking & cooking.

This recipe for Summer Tomato Pesto Grilled  Corn Gnocchi has made a few repeat appearances in the kitchen. I’m mostly obsessed with the Tomato Pesto. I typically eat this with gnocchi on the side — meaning just 4-5 piece of gnocchi then add in the rest of the ingredients and pesto over some zucchini noodles to make it an even lighter dish. YUM!

Still loving the Crispy Cauliflower Tacos.  They are so light, 100% vegan and can satisfy any die-hard meat lover.  If you make anything this week, make these. They’re on the menu again tonight!

Also, I’ve been really into cod lately.  I’m typically all about the salmon but for the past few weeks I’ve switched it up, buying cod at the market.  Nothing fancy here with the cod, just salt, pepper and a few minutes on the grill! And apparently, it’s the healthier choice between the two…?

When I’m not cooking, I’m dragging <3M to Whole Foods for date nights. It’s not fancy but it’s our thing.  There’s just something about that environment that relaxes me. The wine & beer selections are great and cheap, plus we can order whatever we want from sushi to burgers to grilled fish & salad (my go-to!).

And fun fact, now that Whole Foods has partnered with Amazon, some of their prices dropped. You can now get a pound of salmon for just $9.99 as the Amazon special and avocados are even cheaper! Sadly, the cod is still $15.99/pound.

Something I’m looking forward to…

The opening of Ramona’s Hummus! This food truck is going to be ah-mazing. In case you didn’t know hummus is my favorite food. While I do make a darn good one myself, it can’t even compare to what Ramona’s owner, Will makes!

This hummus is dreamy, creamy delicious! I was treated to a sneak-peak dinner on Saturday where I got to sample some of the potential menu items! All of it = Perfection.

I’ve been waiting for a TASTY Mediterranean focused place in Austin and I’m pretty sure Ramona’s is it. Stay tuned for the opening pending for October! <3

If you’re looking for a way to help with the Hurricane Harvey release, Austin Bakes is hosting a bake sale on Saturday, September 16th at various locations around Austin.  Stop by and pick up a treat, volunteer to help, or bake something to donate to the cause.  I’ve written about Austin Bakes before, so go read about all the good they do!

I’ve invested in a few new baking tools this past month that has made baking SO much easier (ie: less dishes to wash!). I love having an extra bowl for my Kitchen-Aid mixer! It’s so nice to swap it out when I’m mixing up cake THEN frosting. I also got a couple more of my favorite cookie sheets which helps me to bake MORE cookies at once.  #Efficiency

And lastly, I also invested in a Kitchen-Aid hand-mixer since sometimes I’m too lazy to pull out the big boy. My favorite cookie to make right now are Monster Cookies — I promise to get this recipe up on the blog sometime soon!

 

Lastly, I leave you with a confession…

I broke into pumpkin early this year! <3M came home with Pumpkin Spice creamer as a surprise for me so I figured, why not! I’ve been enjoying it in my iced coffee each morning and it’s been lovelllyyyy! If you’re ready to break into Fall already, try my easy Pumpkin Mousse, it’s chilled so it’s 100% appropriate for this warm Fall weather!