I have a terrible time committing to “favorites”. I hate when ‘favorite’ questions are asked as ice-breakers in small group discussions. I have no idea! I like lots of things for different reasons depending on my mood & situation. That goes for colors too.

However, relating to food: I will eat (& likely enjoy) darn near anything, but I think i can say with SOME confidence that more & more i’m realizing my favorite’s are (in alphabetical order): Avocados (not guacamole, just straight up fruit please), Crab legs, rack of lamb.

To the extent that it’s ok to love foods, I love avocados. The other day we went to mellow mushroom for dinner which has exquisite pizza & calzones. BUT they also have an AMAZING avocado sandwich. Every time I go I plan to get a calzone, but inevitably I end up with that delicious sandwich on my plate. I think they taste delicious, it’s a fruit that can fill me up & has those “good brain fats” that are great for everyone (particularly kids & pregnant women). Yesterday I stumbled upon a whole new way to love the avocado.

I was eyeing the “avocado pudding” tip by Kerryann on the cookingtf.com website & it sounded intriguing. I decided to look up ‘avocado pudding’ on recipezaar.com (my other favorite recipe idea place) for a more “adult” version & found a blender recipe that includes milk.

so i used that as the basis & “tweaked” it to make it more “crazy Jenn” friendly. I went with what i had as well as I wasn’t up for a shopping trip:

2 ripe avocados
1 SUPER SUPER ripe banana (almost black), frozen
2TBS agave nectar
2TBS carob powder (if you’ve never had carob or don’t like it, use coco)
1/2 cup rice milk

blend in blender, put in serving dish & fridge for 20+/- minutes.

WOW. i’m in love (course i had yet to try ‘sin on a spoon‘…i’ll have to try that next).

I plan to try it again with the following changes once I get said ingredients: Liquid Stevia instead of agave, Coco instead of Carob, Coconut milk instead of rice milk. Note: I mentioned the ripeness of the banana b/c the riper it is, the sweeter. I like to let bananas get so ripe they’re almost bad & then freeze them for future use in smoothies & the like which means I don’t need to add as much sweetener as with a more yellow banana.

Now if only I could get my “boys” to like it…you know…the ones who could spare the extra fat. So far Grace is my only avocado buddy….and broccoli buddy…and coleslaw buddy….

I love food. Probably too much, but that is another topic altogether.

Pretty much my entire life as far as I can remember, I have not liked Pot Roast. I have a ‘thing’ where i REALLY don’t like meat that is even remotely dry. I’m not a big fan of white meat chicken. Basically it has to be fried & greasy for me to like it. So pot roast has always been the beef equivalent to ‘white meat’ for me. Even when everyone else raved about the amazingness of pot-roast….i ate it to be nice.

Enter Mrs. Greene (well, her mom’s advice via Erin I think) & Emeril. For the past year I have not cooked a pot roast I didn’t like. I usually go back for seconds now.

Here’s the “secret”:

1. Make sure you really do ‘sear’ it before putting in the crockpot.
2. Salt & pepper both sides
3. Cut little slits all over the top & “stuff” it with freshly sliced garlic (this is from Emeril)
4. Put in the crock pot & cook for 7-10hrs on low. NO LIQUID!! Do NOT add ANY liquid OR vegetables! (this is from Erin) This is the step that blows my mind. ALL recipes I’ve ever used had at least some liquid. But apparently extra liquid & vegetables draw the moisture OUT of the meat, oddly enough.

That’s it. Easy as pie (actually MUCH easier, if you’ve ever made pie…). It’s amazing. Life changing even. And if there’s leftovers? That gets shredded & covered with bbq sauce for sandwiches…mmm….I should go make breakfast now.

Upon request (…um fyi, in case you click through to Bread Beckers, I love the recipe book…think the whole “emergency preparedness” thing a bit weird):

Chocolate Chip Cookies (From the Bread Beckers recipe book):

1 cup butter
1 Cup Sucanat
1 cup Honey Crystals
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3 1/2 cups Soft White Wheat Flour (also known as Whole Wheat Pastry Flour)
1tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1-2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips as desired
1/2-1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Cream butter, sucanat & honey crystals making a grainy paste. Add eggs & vanilla & beat well. Mix dry ingredients & stir into creamed mix. Add chocolate chips & nuts. Make into 1″ balls & place on ungreased cookie sheet 2″ apart. Bake @ 350 for 10min. Says it makes 5 doz, it makes 4 doz for me, so I guess I do bigger than 1″ balls.

Happy Baking!