A big warm Minnesota welcome

I am officially a resident of St. Paul as of yesterday, and I would like to extend the sincerest of apologies to every car that has had to wait behind me while I demonstrate how to parallel park your car in the worst fashion possible. Terribly sorry.


Today has been all over the place with ups and downs. Someone came and showed me how to turn on the cooking gas and pilot light for my oven, and I also got myself a job interview tomorrow. I was a feelin' good about the day, until on my way to Trader Joe's I noticed a few slips of paper peeking out from my windshield wipers. Apparently from 2 am to 7 am on Mondays, only Mondays, you cannot park on the street where I was parked last night. Payback for my botched parallel parking jobs I suppose.


To cheer myself up I decided to make a little gluten free treat. I wasn't feeling like going all out just yet, so I decided to give Bob's Red Mill brownie mix a try. If you're gluten free there's a good chance you've stumbled across Bob's Red Mill products. They can be a real life saver, but its not always easy to figure out what kind of unusual flours (garbanzo... tapioca... xantham what?) are right for a recipe. I'm still trying to get a grip on all of this too. I will say that ordering from the Bob's Red Mill website is a lot cheaper than picking it up at the grocery store.


As soon as I opened the package of brownie mix I realized the following: I still don't have mixing bowls or any kind of mixer. Therefore, I threw everything in a deep dish pie pan and whisked away.

I decided to add some walnuts for a little texture. As I was finishing off the mix, I opened the oven to see if it was preheated only to find that it was not heated whatsoever. I did smell a lot of cooking gas though, so I thought it best to turn it off. I was pretty bummed. As delicious as brownie batter is, I really wanted to have a little square of that rich, chocolatey goodness with a glass of milk. The batter is hanging out in the fridge just in case my oven decides to work.


If dinner hadn't worked out this food blog would be a serious fail.

This is Casper, the laziest sous chef ever. The drive was a little rough on him yesterday, but he's back to his loud, lazy self today. Quinoa has become a staple in my diet this summer, and I thought it would be a good host for some summer veggies.

Much better.


Bob's Red Mill Brownies:


1 package of Bob's Red Mill Brownie Mix
1 1/2 sticks of butter
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup of warm water
1 cup chopped walnuts


The directions are on the packaging, which I followed except I added walnuts and just a tad more vanilla.


Honey Lemon Quinoa:
Makes two entree sized portions, or three to four side dish portions


1 cup white pre-rinsed quinoa
2 cups of water
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 small zucchini
1 ear of fresh corn
1/2 tablespoon of honey
1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons of lemon zest
a pinch of salt and pepper


In a medium sauce pan add two cups of water and 1 cup of quinoa. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer, cooking for roughly 12 minutes or until the quinoa has absorbed all the water. In a frying pan, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and the zucchini, quartered and sliced. On medium heat, sauté the veggies until they are soft and browned. Shuck the corn and slice the kernels off the cob. In a small bowl whisk together honey, lemon juice, and zest. Add all components together and serve hot. Salt and pepper to taste.