Chipotle Cheddar Grits

Chipotle Cheddar Grits

Although I have lived here in Charlotte for almost three years, I am truly a Boston girl at heart. That means, of course, that grits was never on my culinary radar. I have tried grits once or twice before and I was shocked that people raved about them. Even my brother-in-law, fabulous chef that he is, couldn't win me over with his award-winning shrimp and grits. With all my passion for local food and trying new things, I was finally embarrassed into learning to love grits. The grit stand-off had to come to an end.

Strawberry Pineapple Lassi

Strawberry Pineapple Lassi

 What a beautiful day for a refreshing blended drink!! The weather here in Charlotte turned rather warm quickly and my children were begging for a cool after-school snack. A traditional smoothie or milkshake might be an option, but why not make something a little different - like a lassi?

Pineapple and strawberries... yum.

A lassi is a traditional Indian drink that blends fruit, yogurt, and ice. One of my favorite drinks when I go out to eat Indian food is a mango lassi. So delicious! Unfortunately, I don't have any mangoes on hand. I do, however, have strawberries! Strawberry season is fast approaching here in the Carolinas and, if you are south of us, it might already be time for you to look for some local berries. Last week was the 2012 Florida Strawberry Festival ... anytime a state would like to dedicate a week to a fruit, I'm in. Let's support the strawberries and make a lassi!

Cabot Greek Yogurt, Strawberries, Local Honey from Lake Lure

There are only a few ingredients needed for the Strawberry Pineapple Lassi ... the key ingredient, after the fruit of course, is yogurt. I have been loving Cabot Greek Yogurt recently. We are so lucky to find it on our grocery store shelves here in Charlotte. If you prefer a very tart flavor to your lassi, use the plain Greek yogurt, if you prefer a little sweetness (like me), use the lowfat Vanilla Bean Greek yogurt.

The Specifics ... 

Strawberry Pineapple Lassi

12 to 16 ounces of fresh strawberries
1 cup or so fresh pineapple, chopped
2 cups Cabot Greek Yogurt
1 generous tablespoon honey (more if you are using plain yogurt)
8 large ice cubes or about 1 cup of crushed ice

Directions ... 

Combine all the ingredients in your blender and blend until smooth! Enjoy!

Some notes ... 

Blending ... I do not have a super power blender so I needed to stir my ice cubes into the fruit and yogurt so that the blender could work its magic.

Delicious Honey From Lake Lure, NC

The honey ... I think that honey tastes great with Greek yogurt - I love to drizzle it over the top of a big bowl of fruit and yogurt for snack, so why not drizzle it over the top of the fruit and yogurt when making a lassi? The raw honey in this recipe is from bees that like to hang out by Lake Lure. I have not been to Lake Lure (yet) but I hear it is lovely ... the bees around there sure produce some awesome honey!

Regarding strawberries ... I have written about strawberries before so some of you know my discontent with the hundreds of pounds of pesticides used on strawberries. Strawberries are one of those fruits that you should try to buy organic and/or local whenever possible!

Dark Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies (Gluten free)

Gluten-Free Dark Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

I tested these gluten-free cookies out on an unsuspecting visitor this morning and they totally passed the "can't-even-tell-it's-gluten-free" test with flying colors. We ate them for breakfast with yummy hot chocolate. Delicious!

Easy Baked French Fries and Garlic Aioli

Beautiful North Carolina Potatoes

One of the most requested after-school snacks in our house is french fries. With beautiful potatoes like the ones in the photo, who wouldn't want to eat this snack every day?! The purple sweet potatoes came in my Know Your Farms CSA box this week from Cottle Farms, the regular sweet potatoes are from Puzzle Peace Farm out in Bostic, North Carolina, and the beautiful white potatoes are Red Pontiac potatoes also from Rutherford County and came in a 50 pound bushel... I still have a few (or 30) pounds left. (We'll be snacking on these for awhile...) North Carolina really produces some awesome potato varieties!

Super Easy Sunday Stew

Super Easy Sunday Stew

A few weeks ago, I made a really simple, yet really delicious, chuck roast in my slow cooker - basically all I added was red wine and water with onions and mushrooms and let it cook on low for hours. Wowzer. It was good. This week, I have some beef for stew from C-Saw Hill (click on the link to check out their new website!) that needed some love so I decided to give this meat a similar treatment.