Sugarfoot Eats

Jun 04, 2013

As the temperature rise in Austin, so does my desire for smoothies! Several weeks ago, I was talking smoothies with my friend, Kristina. I told her that I didn’t want to buy an expensive blender, but that my hand-held immersion blender wasn’t cutting it. I said that I had a Margaritaville margarita machine that was collecting dust and wondered if I could use that. Kristina said, Of course!

It’s been smooth smoothie sailing since then!

Blueberry Pomengranate Spinach Smoothie

Ingredients:

3/4 cup fresh blueberries
3/4 cup coconut milk (or whatever milk you prefer)
1/4 cup frozen blueberries
1 six ounce container of Chobani pomegranate yogurt (I used fat free.)
handful of spinach leaves

Combine in your ~~margarita machine~~ blender and enjoy!

Makes one large serving or 2 small servings.

Two Months of Eats…and other happenings

Jun 04, 2013

Since I hadn’t blogged 2 months, I figured that I’d do a recap/what’s Julie been up to lately post.

Let’s take a walk down recent memory lane.

1. I tried ramen for the first time!! I went to Daruma Ramen with some lovely ladies. It was very good, although I have no comparison! I doubt that I’ll try it again anytime soon due to the Austin heat.

2. I met Fabio of Top Chef fame! He came to Book People on his cookbook tour and met with local food bloggers early for a meet & greet. Very personable guy!

3. I’ve been back a few times to my favorite bar, Easy Tiger.

4. I tried fried fish bones at Kenichi. Crispy suckers.

5. I’ve been to Trailer Tuesdays at the Long Center for the past 3 months. Last week, my favorite truck, Llama’s, was there. Love their pork belly sandwich!

Lobster sliders from Dock and Roll

Yeti Frozen Custard

6. I went to the Bon Jovi concert with some friends. How does he still have the energy?!

7. My pupster, Haley, has arthritis. She’s on some pain meds now and seems to be feeling better.

8. I recently finished reading Honeymoon by James Patterson. I’d been in a book slump and hadn’t liked the last 3 books that I started to read. My Dad recommended Honeymoon. Really enjoyed it…a fast read.

9. Did you watch Behind the Candelabra on HBO about Liberace?? Crazy train wreck! I couldn’t stop watching!

10. I went a happy hour event at Freedman’s to celebrate the release of the AFBA Cookbook. If you’re in the market for an awesome cookbook, buy it!

11. I went to Kansas City for my friend, Alison’s wedding. The chapel was so beautiful! I loved the design and how the light at sunset came through.

12. I went on the Up & Down Tour at Casa Brasil & South Austin Brewery. An afternoon learning about coffee and beer….what more can you ask for?!

13. I attended the media tasting for Umami Mia Pizzeria in Austin. I wasn’t a fan of the pizza, but I was a big fan of their cocktails. My favorites were the Tuscan Sipper & the Blackberry Caipirinha.

14. I did try some awesome pizza though….at Via 313. Yummmmmmm!

15. I attended my first 2 crawfish boils recently. Such a fun time! I’m more into the corn & potatoes though. But crawfish boils make for good pictures.

16. Brunch at the Clay Pit! It was so good!! Glad that I finally tried it.

17. I binge watched Season 4 of Arrested Development in only 3 days. Has anyone else watched it?? Are they going to make more episodes? Because that last episode…what??

Annnnd I’m done!

What I Ate Wednesday #WIAW

May 29, 2013

Sooooooo….I stopped blogging in April. And after that I realized, oh yeah you already bought a ticket to BlogHer Food in June months ago. I’d feel a bit silly not blogging before a blogger conference. I considered selling my ticket. But something tells me that I’d regret that.

I may ease back into blogging. No promises. I intend to shift to a more journaling blog. Less recipes, but still a focus on food. I’m going to let the stress go about site stats & the obsession over having to publicize my posts on all the social media outlets.

It will be more random posts….like the silly things I’d tell my friends anyway. For example, I made the WORST decision recently. I finally gave in and downloaded that stupid &#^#^#%#% Candy Crush game. I’m obsessed and can’t stop playing. But now I’m stuck on a level that I can’t get past. I’m thinking of just deleting the game for fear of just becoming more obsessed. If you don’t play this game already, heed my warning!! It’s a trap and a time sucker.

Anyway…on to the food!

What better way to ease back into it then with an easy, breezy What I Ate Wednesday post!

Breakfast

One runny egg, tomato, and cottage cheese

Morning Snack

Banana & a slice of watermelon

Lunch: not pictured, 1/2 of a sweet potato and some chicken. The picture was just too sad to post!

Afternoon snack

Cucumber slices and mini peppers dipped in hummus. Hummus is yummus.

Dinner

Leftover turkey & brown rice on a bed of romaine lettuce, Buffalo blue cheese dressing, and a carrot. I added the carrot because the colors were just too bland without it.

So, not a terribly exciting food post. But I’m trying to eat more healthy!

Hope all is well with you my friends!

I think I’m done…

Apr 01, 2013

If you’re one of my blogging friends in real life in Austin, you’re probably sick of me saying again and again….

“I’m not sure if I want to keep blogging. I’m not consistent. It’s more of a chore.”

I’m sick of this internal battle with myself!

But why is it so hard to say goodbye to it? I’m afraid that I’ll grow apart from the friends that I’ve made. I’ll miss being invited to super fun foodie events. I don’t want to be a “quitter”. What if I regret it?

But also deep down…

I just don’t like blogging anymore. There, I said it. I’m tired of thinking of everything as an opportunity for “content”. And then even more so tired of berating myself for not writing that “content” in a timely manner. I’m tired of this blog more and more seeming like a 2nd job that I hate. Blogging should be fun! And it’s not fun anymore.

I’m so incredibly grateful for the wonderful friends that I’ve made through it like Suzanna, Mary Helen, Jessica, Kristin, Linda, etc etc…..but I’m real life friends with them now too!

So…..I think I’m done.

I’ll still love reading blogs. And I’m sure I’ll regret this post immediately after I publish it. But considering that I’ve been “battling” myself on this decision for months & months, I’m thinking it’s time to say goodbye.

Adios loves!

See you on Twitter & Instagram still!

PS This is NOT an April Fools joke, just weird timing for this decision.

Slice of Life: SXSW 2013 Recap 2: TECHmunch conference

Mar 25, 2013

Did you miss recap 1?

Long before I knew that I’d partake in SXSW festivities, I knew that I’d be going to the TECHmunch food blogger conference! It was my first food blogger conference. I was ready to soak up the info…and food!

Prior to the conference, we were invited to a wine tasting event presented by TECHmunch, Forkly, and Whole Foods. It was called Tango con Vinos Argentinos….wines from Argentina. I tried 2 Malbecs that I enjoyed and really liked chatting with Babette, the founder of Bakespace & TechMunch.

Churrasco style meats–get in my belly! Yum for the garlic pepper sausage.

My first swag bag!

TECHmunch Austin was held on Spring Forward Sunday. It was bright and early…too early! The first thing on my mind was COFFEE!!

Thank goodness for Chameleon Cold Brew Coffee!! This guy was SO nice and he got a lot of love from the food bloggers during the conference. We were in need of some caffeine! He said that he doesn’t add any creamer to his coffee since due to their brewing methods, it’s less acidic already. I usually drink my coffee black already, so I followed his suggestion. He was right on, very good!!

After I had a morning jolt, I got to know the folks that I was sitting by. Who was I sitting by? Two reps from Peanut Butter & Co! What luck!!! Why yes, I would like to become friendly with super nice & funny people that also work for a peanut butter company that I heart!

A mid-morning break to enjoy strawberry & mixed berry smoothies from Driscoll’s.

An afternoon cupcake break courtesy of KitchenAid.

There were many good speakers during TECHmunch.

Some of the highlights for me:

Natanya’s presentation on Finding Your Focus
My takeaways from her: work on your point of view. When you find your unique voice, your audience size may grow. What emotions do you want to convey in your blog? For me: laughter! Snarky, but fun!!

Serena’s presentation on Setting up an Editorial Calendar
I’d never considered an editorial calendar, but it would be a great planning, organizing tool for my blog. She suggests it to plan out posts. For example, for holidays, post about that holiday recipe about 2-3 weeks prior to the holiday. Then maybe a reminder post/link on the day of the holiday.

Stephanie’s presentation on SEO & Getting the Most Out of Your Content.
SEO still overwhelms me!! As a very part-time, sporadic blogger, I’m not ready to invest in learning SEO strategy, but still great info. She did suggest going to Google trends to get ideas for content as well. Since nowadays I enjoy blogging about pop culture more than recipes, this idea may be a great one for me! All of the Google trends now are March Madness related and I included a blurb about it in yesterday’s post.

Meghan’s presentation over Food Styling
Meghan’s presentation was my favorite! It was so fun learning insider tricks. As a food stylist, Meghan has many tools: Q-tips, makeup wedges to clean up spills…a water bottle to mist food…denture glue to hold food together! She wears white gloves to not get smudges on plates and uses tweezers to delicately reposition food.
She suggests keeping boxes of instant mashed potatoes on hand too! There may not be a whole lot of soup in that beautiful picture of soup you love! It may be filled with instant mashed potatoes on the bottom to add height and then carefully deconstructed soup added in to the bowl.

OH! And the best part of the day!!!! Guess what I won?!?!?

This beauty!!

Weekend Ramblings

Mar 24, 2013

I had another music filled weekend!

1. It started out right with margaritas at Mary Helen’s!

2. Then I headed over to the Belmont to see Ben Rector in concert. The opening band was Alpha Rev, a new to me Austin band that I really liked!

After a good set from Alpha Rev, it was time for Ben Rector. I was an immediate fan of his after I learned of him from my friend, Sarah. Sarah is my music guru!

Here’s a small sample that I recorded during the show from his song, Hide Away.

3. On Saturday, I went to Rodeo Austin. It was my first rodeo! I’m a real Texan now. The most important thing on the agenda was…

Best washed down with 2 cans of Bud Light! You can’t drink craft beer at the rodeo, right?!

Am I too old to get involved in mutton bustin’?? Also, I’m sure I would have been terrified as a 5 year to try this!! The girl that won was adorable!

We were really there for the Gary Allan concert. I don’t listen to country much, but he was really good!!

4. I finally watched Rock of Ages today. I loved the music. I’m having to force myself not to buy all the songs on iTunes. My favorite 80′s rock song is Here I Go Again by Whitesnake!

What’s your favorite 80′s hair band song???

5. I have to give a shout out to my alma mater, Wichita State Shockers for upsetting Gonzaga last night! Woot! #marchmadness

Slice of Life: SXSW 2013 Recap 1

Mar 21, 2013

I’ve recovered from my first SXSW in Austin! If you’re not familiar with SXSW, it’s a 10 day interactive, film, and music festival that invades Austin every year. It’s overwhelming, but awesome! I’m going to share a few posts with you about my experiences. I didn’t buy a badge for SXSW, but there are plenty and I mean PLENTY of free events to get into!

One of my first ventures out was for the Food Crawl organized by Jane.

It was a drizzly day, but that wasn’t going to stop people looking for cheap eats! After helping hand out wristbands at the Long Center, Mary Helen, Meredith & I (and our new friends) headed over to Kenichi for sushi.

I had the Maguro “Yakiniku”-Zuke (Korean style BBQ marinated tuna, avocado, crispy garlic, asian pear) and the Pork Belly Kushiyaki (sesame mizuna, teriyaki).

Soon after, it was time to move the party of to Hickory Street for Hormel’s Bacon Takedown!

I’d heard about this event from other bloggers. Christy & Elizabeth are two of my blogging friends who were also judges! There were 15 entries with creative & tasty uses of bacon. The contestants had to make ample amounts for the crowd to try too! I mean, I wasn’t there just to look & smell bacon….I need to EAT some bacon!!

Slaw P Bacon entry

An array of bacon samples that I devoured….including bacon gumbo & cabbage bacon rolls.

Drunken Crusty Pigdough….what??! Cookie dough & bacon….the judges were a fan of this entry.

Bacon Scotch Eggs…loved the look of this one and the flavor of the mustard.

My overall favorite was the Bleu Bacodilla entry. You can find pictures and recipes here.

After the Bacon Takedown, I convinced Mary Helen & Meredith to come with me to the Intercontinental Hotel bar for a drink. It’s right next to the Paramount Theatre where Paul Rudd was screening his new movie. I thought that maybe we’d eye spy a celeb in the hotel bar. No such luck…but it gave me a chance to charge up my cell phone.

SXSW tip: you MUST bring your cell phone charger with you! SXSW is tech overload and you will be on Twitter constantly checking for updates on free events, etc. So, you’ll want that charger on hand!

While on the hotel balcony, the girls saw the Jeni’s ice cream truck and flipped out! I mean, seriously, they were excited! And thanks to Twitter, we learned that they were going to the Royal Blue Grocery store that was less than a block from us.

I opted for the salty caramel!

We finally decided to make our way back to our cars. But along the way, we learned that there was free food and an open bar at the Bing lounge. Hey, might as well stop by….:) It was PACKED in there. People love free food & alcohol. We made our way up to the 3rd floor, fought through the crowd…and got a free Coolhaus ice cream sandwich! Yay for more ice cream! It was my first Coolhaus experience and it was worth making my way through drunk people! But it wasn’t worth trying to capture a photo in a crowd like that!

We devoured our ice cream sandwiches and were outta there!! So it was a solid first day of SXSW’ing—-bacon & ice cream!

More to come with my other adventures!!

Giveaway time! Spice giveaway from Cooking Planit!

Mar 20, 2013

Happy first day of Spring!!!! In the spirit of Spring & spring cleaning, maybe you need to clear out your spice cabinet. How long has that bottle of ground cumin been in your pantry?? Did that nutmeg expire 2 years ago?!

How would you like to win spices valued at $100 from Cooking Planit?

What’s included in the spice set?
Top 26 Spices Every Kitchen Should:

Ground Cumin
Basil
Saigon Cinnamon
Bay Leaves
Smoked Paprika
Thyme
Garlic Powder
Mediterranean Oregano
Onion Powder
Rosemary
Nutmeg Powder
Red Pepper Flakes
Coriander Powder
Cayenne Pepper
Ground Cloves
Chinese Five Spice
Turmeric
Curry Powder
Yellow Mustard
Pennsylvania Pepper
Cardamon Powder
Cajun Seasoning
Allspice Powder
Hill Country Chili Powder
Ginger Root Powder
Manzanillo Mexico Seasoning

To enter: leave a comment letting me know which spice is your favorite to cook/bake with.

For additional entries:
Follow Sugarfoot Eats and Cooking Planit on Twitter. Leave a separate comment letting me know you’ve done so.
Follow Sugarfoot Eats and Cooking Planit on Pinterest. Leave a separate comment letting me know you’ve done so.

So, you’ve got 3 possible entries to help you win! Contest ends Tuesday, March 26, 2013 at 11:59 pm. Winner to be drawn on Wednesday, March 27, 2013.

And check out the other great bloggers participating too! Mucho chances to win!

2013 COOKING PLANIT SPICE GIVEAWAY PARTICIPANTS
	Start	Stop	Flight 1	Flight 2
1	3/6/13	3/12/13	Sophistishe	Field and Feast
2	3/7/13	3/13/13	The Wicked Noodle	The Cooking Planit Blog
3	3/8/13	3/14/13	The Aliso Kitchen	Slow Down & Savor
4	3/9/13	3/15/13	Chicago Foodie Sisters	Jessiker Bakes
5	3/10/13	3/16/13	My Happily Ever After the End	The Food Yenta
6	3/11/13	3/17/13	Notes from Maggie’s Farm	Food Fash
7	3/12/13	3/18/13	My Kitchen Addictions	What Jew Wanna Eat
8	3/13/13	3/19/13	Bite Sized Blog	Nicole’s Nickels
9	3/14/13	3/20/13	A Busy Mom of Two	Food Squeeze
10	3/15/13	3/21/13	Kasey’s Kitchen	Kitchen Concoctions
11	3/16/13	3/22/13	Daily Ups & Pounds	Lisa Cooking
12	3/17/13	3/23/13	Ditch the Box	Huppie Mama
13	3/18/13	3/24/13	Hungry Hutch	Food Fetish
14	3/19/13	3/25/13	Cook the Blog	Three Diets. One Dinner
15	3/20/13	3/26/13	Sugarfoot Eats	Gear Live
16	3/21/13	3/27/13	CopyKat Recipes	The Mouthy Housewives
17	3/22/13	3/28/13	Burnt Apple	The Butterfly Mom
18	3/23/13	3/29/13	The Mama Report	Ancestral Chef
19	3/24/13	3/30/13	A Food Centric Life	We Like To Cook
20	3/25/13	3/31/13	Dixie Chik Cooks	Baby Boomster
21	3/26/13	4/1/13	Unorganized Mommy of 3	Much Ado About Fooding
22	3/27/13	4/2/13	Better with Butter	The Primlani Kitichen
23	3/28/13	4/3/13	Mother Would Know	California Country Gal
24	3/29/13	4/4/13	Yi Reservation	NY Foodgasm
25	3/30/13	4/5/13	ME Redone	Creative Culinary

Giveaway open to US entries only. This giveaway is sponsored by Cooking Planit, but all opinions are my own. Images courtesy of Emily Wilson and Cooking Planit.

Cooking Planit Spice Giveaway–a tease of what’s to come!

Mar 08, 2013

How would you like a chance to win an awesome Cooking Planit spice set that includes 26 of the most commonly used spices that has a retail value of over $100? Now, what if I told you that you will have 50 chances to win?!?

The spice giveaway is an great promotion sponsored by Cooking Planit. They’re giving 50 spice sets to bloggers
to give away to their readers. Two sets will be given away each day for 25 days with the first contests having already started.

Cooking Planit is an easy to use application for your iPhone, iPad, or you can utilize their website. I’m partial to the iPhone app as it NEVER fails that I leave my grocery list at home. The app can be a time saver, so that you’re not making multiple trips to the groceries store.

My favorite part of Cooking Planit is the picture layout. For a novice cook, it’s so helpful to see the planning/prep portion. Not only does it separate the ingredients by category, but it always tells you what cooking equipment you need. So easy to clearly see that I’ll need 1 bowl, 1 pot, and 1 saute pan vs. reading in the recipe too late and scrambling to find my illusive whisk or whatnot.

What’s included in the spice set?
Top 26 Spices Every Kitchen Should:

My contest will begin on March 20, so check back then for details! In the meantime, be sure to check out these other blogs for details during their contest period and 49 other chances to win.

2013 COOKING PLANIT SPICE GIVEAWAY PARTICIPANTS
	Start	Stop	Flight 1	Flight 2
1	3/6/13	3/12/13	Sophistishe	Field and Feast
2	3/7/13	3/13/13	The Wicked Noodle	The Cooking Planit Blog
3	3/8/13	3/14/13	The Aliso Kitchen	Slow Down & Savor
4	3/9/13	3/15/13	Chicago Foodie Sisters	Jessiker Bakes
5	3/10/13	3/16/13	My Happily Ever After the End	The Food Yenta
6	3/11/13	3/17/13	Notes from Maggie’s Farm	Food Fash
7	3/12/13	3/18/13	My Kitchen Addictions	What Jew Wanna Eat
8	3/13/13	3/19/13	Bite Sized Blog	Nicole’s Nickels
9	3/14/13	3/20/13	A Busy Mom of Two	Food Squeeze
10	3/15/13	3/21/13	Kasey’s Kitchen	Kitchen Concoctions
11	3/16/13	3/22/13	Daily Ups & Pounds	Lisa Cooking
12	3/17/13	3/23/13	Ditch the Box	Huppie Mama
13	3/18/13	3/24/13	Hungry Hutch	Food Fetish
14	3/19/13	3/25/13	Cook the Blog	Three Diets. One Dinner
15	3/20/13	3/26/13	Sugarfoot Eats	Gear Live
16	3/21/13	3/27/13	CopyKat Recipes	The Mouthy Housewives
17	3/22/13	3/28/13	Burnt Apple	The Butterfly Mom
18	3/23/13	3/29/13	The Mama Report	Ancestral Chef
19	3/24/13	3/30/13	A Food Centric Life	We Like To Cook
20	3/25/13	3/31/13	Dixie Chik Cooks	Baby Boomster
21	3/26/13	4/1/13	Unorganized Mommy of 3	Much Ado About Fooding
22	3/27/13	4/2/13	Better with Butter	The Primlani Kitichen
23	3/28/13	4/3/13	Mother Would Know	California Country Gal
24	3/29/13	4/4/13	Yi Reservation	NY Foodgasm
25	3/30/13	4/5/13	ME Redone	Creative Culinary

And check out Cooking Planit!
Blog: http://blog.cookingplanit.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cookingplanit
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cookingplanit
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/cookingplanit
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/cookingplanit
Instagram: http://instagram.com/cookingplanit

This giveaway is sponsored by Cooking Planit. Images courtesy of Emily Wilson and Cooking Planit.

Jalapeno Peanut Butter Hummus

Mar 05, 2013

Have you seen the before & after pictures of ~~Bert Macklin~~ Chris Pratt?

The “before” is when he had to get in great shape for Zero Dark Thirty. But then he immediately had to pack on the pounds for another movie, hence the “after” photo.

source

Yeah, those kind of “afters” are a lot easier to attain!!

Whether you’re in before or after shape, hummus is always a yummus choice!

Jalapeno Peanut Butter Hummus

Recipe slightly adapted from Cooking Light–Dec 2012

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons creamy jalapeno peanut butter hummus**
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons EVOO
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1 15.5 ounce can chickpeas, drained & rinsed
1 minced garlic clove
7 tablespoons water

Instructions:

Microwave the peanut on high for 20 seconds. Combine the peanut and all the ingredients (except the water) into a food processor. While the food processor is running, drizzle in the water slowly. Process until smooth.