La Gourmande

about me

I recently graduated from college and even more recently married my life's love. So "About Me" is "About We." We always try to eat healthy, though we allow ourselves some indulgences. We avoid corn syrup, alcohol (which we dislike the taste of), and pop.

I am also a notorious substitions-maker: local honey for sugar, homemade applesauce for vegetable oil, and I often entirely omit salt, meat, or anything I don't happen to have on hand. Essentially, I meddle with recipes to a fault.

We are dreadfully tight with our money, befitting newlyweds, so we only go to the store every other week and have to make things stretch until then.

Other info: We like to take walks, read the Bible together, travel, play board games, visit parks, read books, and cook together. I also scrapbook, and we both love cats (hence the pic).

Favorite Foods:

WATER! It is all we drink. I believe in it like an elixir and think we are often dehydrated unawares.

We have a few tried and true favorite meals:

- Nachos/burritos (beans, corn, tomatoes, onions, garlic, tortillas)

- Casserole (rice/potato/bread base with veggies, occasionally egg or meat)

- Pasta (homemade sauce from canned tomatoes, of course)

- Stir-fry (rice, onions, peas, carrots, or whatever veggies we have, maybe eggs)

- Soup (usually veggie soup, but also chili on occasion)

- Pizza (homemade sourdough crust, homemade sauce, etc, with mushrooms!)

Our favorite treats are freshly baked bread, fresh fruit smoothies, and ice cream, the latter two made from scratch in the Vita Mix which is involved in most all my meals.

...Oatmeal's a frequent breakfast food.

...Grapes are like candy to us.

...Zucchini is great stuffed or in pancakes.

Pumpkin pie is my all-time, tops-everything, favorite dessert. Now that I am "grown up," I don't have to wait until Thanksgiving for it. Canned pumpkin is a staple in my pantry.


**Silly Food Secret: I've started mixing water with my skim milk when I have cereal (Grape Nuts!). I figure it gives me that much more water, saves more of the milk, I don't notice a difference, and my husband has long ago stopped staring at me when I do weird things. Although my friends haven't. Turns out dilluting your cereal with water is termed eccentric in most circles.

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