Although I was born in California, I grew up in the south- Georgia and South Carolina to be exact. While I was a kid, grits weren't really a part of our everyday life. My mother's "southern-ness" has evolved with time so when I was young she was still a California girl making Tamale Pie and the like (a suburban girl getting her "mexican" on). Anyway, grits grew on me as an adult. A college student working in a bajillion restaurants, eating her way to a southern background. Every time I'm back in the south I order grits wherever I go because its such a comfort food and nobody does it like the south. These were made with instant grits (yes, lazy lady style) and then we modernized them with eclectic toppers. Don't even try to keep your heart attack in check here, grits need lots of salt or they're disappointing, so sodium intake be damed for a day.
Read MoreSure Thing Salad Dressings
Sometimes (or maybe most times) a salad is hard to get everyone to embrace. It just doesn't have the excitement of a baked potato dripping with butter or sour cream. But if you have the right salad dressings on hand, I find I can get everybody on board. I realize I'm not reinventing the wheel here or anything but bottled Ranch just doesn't cut it for me. Ranch is not hard to make, you pretty much have most of the ingredients on hand and while its not exactly "healthy" you don't need a lot to make your salad yummy. The vinaigrette and carrot miso dressings below do aire on the healthier side so if the ranch ingredients freak you out try the others….and they last for several weeks so you can make a big batch and have it on the ready.
Read MoreLime & Garlic Chicken Soup
I make this soup whenever I have roasted chicken leftovers. It makes me feel good about myself in a few ways- because making my own stock makes me feel like a real cook, I like the fact that there's no waste and its also a great way to clean out your fridge of veggie bits. I probably make it different every time because I just use whatever I have in the fridge but the accoutrements are what make it feel fresh. To make this time savvy, throw the bird in the pot after dinner as per directions below and let it simmer as long as you like. Then pick up making soup the next day for dinner or the freezer…
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