Grubarazzi

Weekends are for pancakes stacked high and drizzled with maple syrup, fruit, and nuts. I relish lazy days filled with the sweet ease of rolling out of bed sans alarm clock, reading in my cozy sun room, and doing whatever the hell I want. I’m writing to you about pancakes while I sip on my first cup of coffee with my hair glamorously matted from bed. Life is good, people. Life is good. These healthy pancakes are stuffed with bananas, homemade oat flour (gluten free oats ground in a food processor until smooth), and a little bit of extra protein from vegan vanilla protein powder. They are gluten free and dairy free, just what my body likes, and not loaded with added sugar. What a lazy day treat! I enjoyed a stack of three topped with warm blueberry maple syrup, a handful of walnuts, and thin slices of banana, because, hey, it’s Saturday, and life is good.   Go make some pancakes. Oatmeal Banana Pancakes Inspired by CookieandKate Prep time: 10 minutes Cooking ...

It’s really cold outside, like super polar vortex cold. On my walk to work a couple days ago I swear my face froze off. I haven’t felt it since. It's scary, but not that scary. This is when my Florida roots really start showing. Who has time for single digit temps? Not this girl. No no no. In this weather all I want to eat is oatmeal for breakfast, soup for lunch, and soup for dinner. It gets real weird. Since I can’t live on chicken pho alone for the next two months, I have been experimenting with different cultures in my soup pot. This week I took major liberties with the traditional Portuguese Kale and Potato Soup which usually features white potatoes and sliced Portuguese linked sausage. Since I (like 90% of the American female population) am watching what I eat this January, I used spicy Italian chicken sausage for the protein and sweet potatoes for the starch. The result was a simple yet robust man-approved soup.  This hearty recipe will keep you coming back for mor...

New Year’s resolutions are for the birds. At least that is what the media wants us to believe as they spout out how most of us make hefty resolutions only to fail time and time again. Personally, I love making over-the-top resolutions. I make quite a long list of things I want to change about myself and do for others. I find a category everything falls under, and then I narrow it down to one word. I use that word to give meaning to my entire year. When I’m feeling frustrated, or tired, or simply not amused, I remember my word and everything I have done to make it happen. We can all stay in touch with one word, right? My word this year: Family Speaking of family and traditions, New Year’s Day has rules, ya’ll! Real simple rules to follow in order to gather up luck for the year ahead. One of those rules is to make a big ole pot of porky black eyed peas, rice, corn bread and greens to bring on the prosperity. The recipe below is tried and true. I learned it at my parent’s...

Ya’ll! I named a cookie after myself. The name, Grubarazzi, elicits really good feelings about food. It also explains the feeding frenzy that takes place when you mush a lot of yummy things in to cookie dough. So I named these cookies filled with Snickers, Reese’s, M&M’s, and all things chocolate after me. Grubarazzi Cookies: a new treat using classic ingredients. The cookie dough is perfectly soft and chewy a la Martha Stewart. She knows a thing or two about making the perfect chocolate chip cookie. I’m going to refrain from sharing my opinion about Martha as a human being, but I will say I hope my food pictures are better than hers, and I hope my cookies turn out like hers. It’s a love/hate relationship.  These cookies are a great way to get rid of the leftover Halloween candy you are having a hard time resisting. Bring them to the office, or reserve them for your husband who never gains weight. They are great served warm and dipped in to a tall glass of cold milk. Gru...

I want cookies lots and lots of cookies. I want the pie in the skyyy. I’m channeling Calloway and the Cookie Monster today. It’s a half delusional notion, but please hang in there with me. I started a new job two weeks ago and I’m feeling winded from climbing the corporate ladder. This means less time at home, and less time doing the thing I really love to do; cooking. Besides last weekend’s catering gig, this weekend was the first time in a long time that I utilized my kitchen to nourish mind, body, and soul. I dug it. I missed it. I danced all up on it. Life felt right again. I made chicken noodle soup from scratch, and baked about 4 dozen cookies in an attempt to reclaim my sanity. It worked… I think… At least these cookies worked. In my mouth. Chunkin Punkin Cookies are soft and slightly chewy, and the crushed up graham crackers running through the batter provide a sweet crunch that will make you happy on the inside. I added graham crackers because I like cookies s...

You might be expecting a Halloween recipe from me today. It would make sense considering I’m a member of the food blogging community and it’s almost a law to participate in candy making. Marshmallows made to look like ghosts. Maybe a cake that looks like witch.  Please don’t make me.  The party must stop.   Just give me a few days to detox. Cleanse. Breathe. Srsly.  My body is craving everything green and purifying after months of partying, eating, and drinking like I was contributing to the downfall of the decadent Roman Empire.   Many sins were committed to this vessel, and until the holidays completely take over I will be doing what I can to reverse the damage.  Let’s start the day with a delicious Green Detox Juice. Sure, it’s green. This might not be your ideal color for breakfast. But I will tell you this. It’s good. It’s sweet from the pears and a little spicy from the ginger.   Oh, and it is jam-packed with really ...

There are rare moments in life when someone is set free from an overload of obligation to step back, soak it all in, and have an adventure. Florida sunrise on the way to deep sea fishing After graduating in May, all of my energy was focused on saying "yes" to every travel opportunity put in front of me. The plan was to 1) have fun 2) find some great food and 3) rediscover my eternal optimism which had depleted after a few set backs along the way. Eating lobsters in Maine For weeks now, I have been bouncing on to trains, buses, planes, and automobiles. Thousands of miles from here to there and back. I went to Florida on an exciting  family road trip to Austin, stuffed myself in to a car for a road trip from Baltimore to Maine with great friends, devoured New York City on foot, and I just got back from Charleston, South Carolina. NYC! I have so much to share it is almost overwhelming. Each city I visited is speckled with history and has their ow...