Honey Roasted Plums with Thyme and Olive Oil

The heatwaves are coming and we all know it.
When it gets hot outside the last thing I want to do is turn on the oven.
My apartment is always hot during summer months and turning on the oven would make it the hottest place on the planet.
Not really, obviously, but that’s what it feels like when it’s 100 degrees outside and the oven is cranking at 400 degrees for half an hour.
I have A/C (not central, just a window units) so I can cool the apartment down, but I feel it’s a total waste of money — I don’t know about yours, but my electric bill is bad enough already.
That being said, I don’t completely avoid the oven during the summer, but I try not to use it as much.

It's Friday, Laugh A Little!

Hello friends.
Today I have no recipe for you.
Today it’s Friday — the day we’ve been waiting for all week — so I’m doing something a little different.
Today, I’m celebrating Friday.

Zoodles Aglio Olio e Peperoncino

Spaghetti aglio, olio, e peperoncino is an awesome Italian dish — spaghetti made with garlic, olive oil, and hot chili pepper. Served with chopped parsley and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.
It’s well loved because it’s so easy and inexpensive to make, and it’s a perfect solution when you’re in a crunch.
For instance, when you’re starving after a night out and you’ve got nothing in your fridge or you don’t feel like getting greasy food from the nearby Deli, making this spaghetti is a cinch.
Even when it’s 3am and you’ve had a few too many.
You know, just to throw a random example out there.
And just for the record, making spaghetti aglio, olio e peperoncino late at night is pretty common in in Italy — according to my friend Francesco.

Eggplant Rollatini

I have the distinct feeling my Macbook Pro is going to die soon.
I purchased it in September 2008. So I know it is old, but everything works perfectly fine — except for the battery which died after two years and that was about it.
However, two months ago I started getting tons of freezing.
It happens sporadically and it doesn’t seem to be a direct result of me doing anything in particular. The screen will just suddenly spaz out and then the whole Macbook will freeze up.
Every time that happens, I freak out.
I religiously back-up to an external drive with Time Machine every week, so I felt pretty good about not losing any data. Still, I freak out as it feels like the laptop is going to explode or something.
Other than the freezing, the Macbook works perfectly. It is not slow, but the fan starts to run continually, about 1 minute after start-up, and very loudly too.
It feels like the laptop is about to take-off or that it’s hyperventilating.

Chopped BLT Salad

Knowing that you should avoid certain food is different from not wanting a certain food.
For instance, I don’t want escargots because I don’t really like escargots.
But I avoid eating at fast food restaurants, not because I don’t want to, but because I want to be healthy.
Makes sense?

Easy Baked Parmesan Zucchini

My mobile phone fell in the toilet Friday morning.
To be precise, I accidentally dropped my phone down the toilet.
It was 7am, I was ridiculously grumpy, and I was checking my emails. There were so many annoying ones I got upset and I accidentally dropped the phone (read this as throw it..ugh!)
I immediately retrieved it, wiped it off, and powered it down.
I ran to the get the hair-dryer and I blow-dried it for a couple minutes (I didn't realize that the heat is more damaging than helpful — so if it ever happens to you, don't do it!)
Nothing happened.
I was so shocked, I wasn't sure which emotion I was feeling. I wanted to be angry, but I couldn’t. It was so surreal, I was laughing hysterically.
You hear about people dropping their phones in the toilet, sink, pool, sea, lake, cup of coffee, bowl of soup, but you never think you’re going to be one of them.

Watermelon-Lime Agua Fresca

Every time I buy watermelon I face the same dilemma: spending less money to buy too much watermelon (a huge seeded one), or spending more money to buy less watermelon (a small seedless one, or cut up in chunks).
But I always end up buying too much watermelon - I could never say to  good bargain.
Since I never want it to go to waste, I make lots of Watermelon-Lime Agua fresca.

12 Avocado Recipes

If you know anything about me, then you are aware of my love affair with avocado.
I eat that stuff with a spoon, plain, or coated in coconut and baked into fries, or stuffed into meatballs, or scrambled with eggs.
And why not a smoothie, ice-cream or a pudding? It adds a filling, creamy texture that just cannot be beat. Plus, it ups the good fats as well as adding a small protein boost.
Not to mention brownies. Avocado boosts the fudgy factor, the healthiest, fattiest kind.
I also make extra-creamy, extra-rich, extra-awesome pesto with it.
The possibilities are endless with this magic fruit.
So without further ado, here are 12 of my fave recipes with avocado!

Easy Chili Lime Chicken

Would you believe me if I tell you that I have found a recipe for ice cubes?
Probably not.
Which — among other things — shows how little faith you have in me.
Well, I have found it.
In an awesome recipe posted to Food.com a frustrated cook offers a recipe for ice cubes, explaining that “I'm publishing this recipe because I'm sure that there are other families who have members, who don't know how or have forgotten how to make ice when the ice tray is empty.”
The rundown proceeds as expected — water, ice cubes freezer — and it’s hysterical on his own.

Blueberry Avocado and Spinach Power Smoothie

Hi, my name is Mike and I’m an addict.
No, this post is not about chocolate or cauliflower as you might assume, it’s about avocado.
What is it about this green fruit that makes me go crazy?
From salads, to hummus, pesto, brownies, mayo, scrambled eggs, ice-cream, pudding, fries, even cream sauce. I put avocado in and on everything.
Actually, I love avocado so much I might write a song about it (if I only knew how to write music). It’s a love affair that runs deep.

15-Minute Chinese Eggplant with Spicy Garlic Sauce

I was in line at a major retail the other day and there was this woman in a courtesy scooter with a basket full of groceries.
The clerk picked up the groceries and started scanning them, entering the code for the veggies that had no barcode to scan.
When he reached the eggplant, he put it on the scale and entered the code.
The eggplant was big, at $3.49 per pound it cost almost $6.
As the clerk put in the bag, the woman became livid.
She started arguing (more like screaming really) that eggplants are not sold by the pound, but by the piece. She threatened to take her complaints to the store manager.
The poor clerk - a young college kid - didn’t know what to say and was clearly shaken.
I tried to calm her down explaining that he had no control over pricing and that he just rang up the items.
But she was so mad, she left swearing she would never come back and shop only where the price was “fair” (her words).

Easy Paleo Strawberry Crisp

Ever seen those runners during a race who so effortlessly can drink water out of those tiny paper cups without spilling a drop?
I'm not one of them.
I can’t even count how many races I’ve completed in my life: Ironman, Triathlons, marathons, half-marathons, 10Ks, 5Ks, etc.
Not a single time I managed to drink from those paper cups.