Recipe: Mango Vinaigrette

I have been eating a lot of salads recently. I have been packing them up and taking them to work.  I rarely eat salads in the past but they have felt good a refreshing recently.  I am not going to fight it as it allows me to be creative with some dressings.  Recently I noted that I had a mango ripe and ready to go.  I took advantage!

Mango Vinaigrette

1/4 cup of mango
1 1/2 tablespoons of oil
1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt

Add all ingredients to a blender and puree until smooth.

I poured this over a salad with avocado and fried mango.  It was a very summer-y salad.  Light and refreshing.  Perfect for the coming warm weather.

Dinner at the Crack House

It has been awhile since I have had dinner with my pals Adrienne and Nate of Crack the Plates.  We prioritized making it happen before I leave for Spain, and Wed night worked out well.  We have all been super busy and it was hard to find the time.  In fact, they doubled up on the hosting because I have just been so busy with the new house.

Adrienne made one of her oldest recipes.  It was a basic non-chicken noodle soup that was hearty and comforting.  We also had some great hummus and arugula sandwiches.  It seems that arugula may be a favorite at the Crack House, which is fine by me as I enjoy it as well.  After dinner Adrienne brought out a plate of nuts and fruits that we promptly gobbled up.  It was a great night with friends.

Yellow Coat of Spring

I have lived all over the country.  I have seen all sorts of weather and environments in the area I have lived.  Nothing is quite like the couple of weeks in Georgia where the state turns yellow.  Pollen season.  Until I moved to Atlanta, I never had allergies, now they get worse each year.  In fact, this year I fought them off hard and still had to take a sick day from work, as I was out of commission.  Luckily, I have good people around me.  Ashley made me soup!

I gobbled it up while resting on the couch.  I am much better now, but it was a brutal week.  She also had all sorts of fruit and nuts out that I was snacking on.  It was really nice and this soup helped em get back on track.

Fingers in a cake!?!?

With all my fresh vegetable broth, I was ready to make some dinner!  I am partial to stir-fry but due to its often, lack of creativity, I generally skip it.  I was dedicated to the idea with the new broth.  I made a great veggie stir-fry and with my new broth, I made a side of mango fried rice.  It was delicious and the rice was perfect.  The broth really added to the flavor.

Ashley and Kaleigh came over to celebrate my new investment property purchase.  We all gobbled up the stir fry and had a locally made cake to enjoy after.  Someone stuck their fingers in the icing of the cake before we ate it cut it.  It must have been the 5 year old, surely it wasn't me!

How to: Vegetable Broth

The freezer has been cluttered for months.  I have bags upon bags of vegetable scraps for broth, frozen fruit for my daily smoothies, and other random items that I have not seen in months.  Jamie was having difficulty finding space for her items.  She offered me a deal I could not refuse.  If I made vegetable broth, she would re-organize the freezer.  She did not have to ask twice.  I started the boiling water right then.

As she was going through the freezer, she kept finding more and more bags of nearly frost bitten vegetable scraps.  It got out of hand quickly, I ended up having over 10 bags of scraps.  I had 3 huge pots on the stove for hours, the entire place smelled like boiled onions.  In the end, I had nearly a gallon of home made vegetable broth.  Amazing...and right back into the freezer.

Vegetable Broth How To:

Vegetable broth is one of the easiest things to make on your own.  In fact, it save a tremendous amount of money as well.  Each time I make broth, it come out slightly differently.  Over the course of months I save all my salvageable vegetable scraps (onion skin, pepper ribs, broccoli stalks, any vegetable that I am not going to use before it goes bad, etc), I put them in seal-able baggies and into the freezer they go.  After I have enough, I fill a large pot with about 1/2 water, all the vegetables, and I generally add an additional onion and celery bunch.  Then I boil it for about 3 hours, adding liquid if needed.

Then once it has been boiled, strain and let the broth cool.  I like to store my broth in 1 and 2 cup sizes.  Pour into plastic ware and freeze.  Done.