Decadent Date Night

April 28, 2016 / beautyatbeard / Leave a comment

The Beard & I have set aside each Wednesday night as date night. Sometimes we go out to dinner, other times we do a quick stir fry and binge watch episodes of The Walking Dead or Vikings that I am behind on. The main purpose is that we spend time together. This week I decided that I was going to make him a decadent dinner. He’s an amazing boyfriend and by George he deserves it!

I was at Lucky’s, one of my favorite grocery stores, when I remembered a recipe I had mentally book marked awhile ago for a stuffed steak roll. We are all about meat, and despite whatever crap Arby’s is advertising, I got the meat!

One of my habits, good or bad, is that I never give a recipe a chance. I read it all while mentally substituting ingredients to what I think would be better. So buckle up and I’ll share what my brain came up with.

Behold the Lardon! Like any delicious dinner, it starts with some variation of bacon.

While this was rendering I heated my oven to 425 degrees and proceed to slice my fennel bulb and Peruvian purple potatoes. Purple is one of my favorite colors so when I saw these at the store, somehow several of them ended up in my cart. I coated these with melted ghee, salt, pepper, bacon and a few garlic cloves.Bake for 30-40 min.

Now the Mise en Place. That’s just a fancy french term for getting everything set up or just chopping the heck out of everything. Below I have the mushrooms, shallots and fennel stalk. (I put the fennel fronds in the freezer to save for stock)

After these were sauteed in my pork drippings, it was time to build my masterpiece. I originally wanted a flank steak but they were out and so I ended up with a flat iron steak that I tried to pound down. The flat iron ended up taking longer to cook so I would recommend a flank cut if you can find it.

Next I covered up my delicious sauteed veggies with some slices of provolone.

Then topped it off with some freshly chopped spinach. It’s just so pretty…

Now it’s time to sear this future hunk of deliciousness. Because my flat iron steak wasn’t thin enough I had to start with it in one giant roll and cut into pinwheels afterwards. If you end up with Flank, you should be able to slice from the beginning.

Can you feel the saliva puddling up on your tongue?

I tossed this in the oven for about 10 minutes to make sure it cooked through, then sliced and seared the pinwheels. I will eat things pretty rare but The Beard prefers a little less pink.

My best suggestion when cooking is learning to let the flavors speak for themselves. Not everything needs a sauce, or lots of salt. We had earthiness from the mushrooms, richness from the bacon, an anise like flavor from the fennel, crispiness from the potatoes, and of course pure joy with the roasted garlic.

Our decadent dinner was delicious and we capped it off with chocolate coconut macaroons which I bought, because I had already made enough stuff for one evening! So I challenge you next week to have a decadent date night with your significant other, your friend, or your family. Life is about experiences and sometimes you’ve just got to treat yourself!

Spring Shenanigans

April 26, 2016April 26, 2016 / beautyatbeard / 1 Comment

This past weekend we had the perfect combo of things. Great weather, great friends and a great weekend out of town. The Beard and I, along with two of our friends headed to Columbus Ohio for a dance workshop and social. That’s right, when we aren’t busy climbing mountains we are cutting a rug – latin style.

Our workshops consisted of Cha Cha, Afro-Cuban Movement, Casino Partner and Rueda de Casino. We had a great time learning new things and improving our skills. However, I think my favorite part was our airbnb rental and it’s location across from the most beautiful park!

This is the park! I don’t know what kind of fancy parks they have in Columbus, but they are beyond compare to anything back home.

And let’s not forget The Beard modeling. I’m a lucky girl folks!

We did go slightly off our Paleo-Diet and had fried onion rings. We don’t normally eat fried foods and as I discovered later that day – they were fried in soy bean oil. This is what happened on my arms and legs.

But over all it was a wonderful and relaxing weekend away. The video pretty much sums up the awesomeness. Side Note: The faces I’m making at the end are a result of trying Dutch double salted licorice candy purchased by The Beard. Don’t ever try them! I shutter still thinking about it.

Laundry Room Gardening

April 22, 2016April 22, 2016 / beautyatbeard / Leave a comment

Seeds? Check. Soil? Check. A dark room? Laundry Room it is!

Last year The Beard gifted me with raised garden beds and all the seeds for our anniversary. He’s awesome, I know. We started the process of planting our seeds and then my kidney’s decided to try and break some sort of record and produced five kidney stones. Needless to say our garden took a backseat and never came to fruition. However, this year is the year. Let’s do this.

Step one: Obtain some kick ass seeds.
The Beard purchased these beauties and our only struggle was deciding what we actually wanted to plant. So many options!

Step Two: Soil. You need it.
We ended up purchasing two trays with 140 soil pods. Go big or go home people. We have trail food to prep!

Step 3: Label your plants
As you can see from this highly technical chart, we have documented our seedlings. If you’re really into surprises skip this step and just see what happens.

Step 4: Heat Mat
While this step is optional, it has really helped the seeds sprout quickly and also made a really cool greenhouse on top of my dryer. Blog Note: I have a picture of the heating mat but it keeps getting turned side wise when I upload it. After messing with it for a good five minutes longer than I should have, I gave up. It’s a heating mat. You know what they look like.

Step 5: When your laundry room becomes a grow house
Imagine that moment when you come home from work, glance at your laundry garden and discover your plans are attempting to escape from their perfectly constructed greenhouse. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?

Plastic Spoons to the rescue! I know you thought I was going to say, “Try and take over the world” but I’m busy with my laundry garden right now.

Step 6: Rig that sucker
They aren’t quite ready to be transferred and I would still like them on the heating mats for the smaller seedlings to continue to sprout so this was my interim solution. Notice heating mats under the trays. I did have a picture after all!

Just a few more weeks and these plants will be ready to harden off and plant! Guess The Beard and I better get our garden beds prepared. Then it will be so long laundry garden, see you next year. Oh yah, Happy Earth Day!

These Boots Were Actually Made for Walking

April 19, 2016April 22, 2016 / beautyatbeard / Leave a comment

Fifty miles or 110,943 steps across three countries is where these boots took me. I recently took a trip to the Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary. I wanted to pack light and that meant only bringing one pair of shoes with me. I know, for some of us ladies this can seem like an impossible task. Having visited Europe two years prior I learned the importance of selecting the right shoes. I know you’ve heard the expression, I left a piece of me in <insert location.> However, that story is true. I literally left pieces of my feet all over Italy and France and I have the bloody shoes to prove it! So this time around I did my research and selected these boots which were fantastic, not to mention pretty darn cute with jeans.

View looking across Prague

View of the Mozart Statue in Vienna

Heroes Square in Budapest

I know what you’re thinking, and yes I climbed up the monument. However, I have a perfectly logical explanation. Everybody else was doing it…

So, who makes these magical boots that kept my feet intact despite all that walking? Elves. That’s right, Elf cobblers who happen to work for Clarks.

I highly recommend these Desert Boots for walking. They were great for getting around the cities and the cobblestones didn’t slow me down one bit! But don’t forget, as with all leather shoes, you need to take care of that precious leather and condition them!

Hammock Time

April 18, 2016April 22, 2016 / beautyatbeard / 1 Comment

Last Friday night we spent the evening, like any other wild couple, doing yard work. After the storms this winter my backyard had been transformed into a Lion King replica of the elephant graveyard. Limbs everywhere! By the time we finished stacking our pile it was almost as tall as my impressive 5′ 4″ stature.

However, all work and no play makes for a very dull evening. The Beard had purchased a camping hammock over the winter and we’ve been dying to test this bad boy out.

This is a two person hammock, complete with bug net and rain guard. While it may not look like it, at this height the hammock was equivalent to my chest and after opting against the belly flop entry, we had to lower it. Also – note the giant pile of sticks to the left.

It was my turn to test it out and Petey was along for quality control. The real fun began when both of us attempted to test the limits of this two person hammock. Imagine laying in a cocoon. Now visualize scooting over to one side while attempting to hold out the edges of the cocoon for The Beard meanwhile knowing the inevitable is bound to happen. You are going to be sat on….

After several laughs and some strategic maneuvering we were finally situated and the three of us snuggled in! We can’t wait to test this out on our hikes this summer because it’s always Hammock Time.

P.S. After several hours of burning brush I finally worked my way through the giant stick pile and somehow managed to singe my eyelashes. Just another weekend….

H2O Melon

April 7, 2016 / beautyatbeard / Leave a comment

My current obsession is dehydrating. Everything. I can’t stop my brain from looking at various produce or recipes and thinking how I can convert that into a fantastic trail meal. With The Beard planning to hike the AT in 2017 I am a woman on a mission to provide him with nutritious and delicious meals. I will become the Top Trail Chef!

We have several hikes planned for this year in which we can try out my various concoctions and then we can narrow down a menu of our favorites.

Recently in the midst of packing for my trip to Eastern Europe I decided, like any normal person, that I should dehydrate a watermelon. I kid you not, as I was packing my suit case my trusty Excalibur machine was whirring in the background with juicy slices of watermelon. I told you, I have a problem.

Now, the concept of dehydrating is to remove moisture. When you take something that is 92% water and decide to remove said water it will take awhile. As in possibly days depending on the thickness of your slices. Or forever, give or take.

At this point they were getting closer but still a bit mushy and I needed to leave the house so again, like any normal person, I loaded the dehydrator in the car with my suitcase and took it with me over to The Beard Cave.

Finally the majority of them were finished and I had my melon jerky! For those of you wondering, it tastes just like watermelon. Surprise!

Ode to Quinoa

April 6, 2016April 6, 2016 / beautyatbeard / Leave a comment

I stumbled across a recipe for Cherry Pistachio Quinoa a few weeks ago but didn’t have a chance to make it since I was in the middle of preparing for my Europe trip. (more to come on that later) I’m a doer, which is why Pinterest is dangerous for me. While most people are just pinning away recipes or projects that they will never do anything with, I’m headed to the grocery, craft and hardware store immediately!

So after overcoming my jet lag I headed to the grocery as there was nothing in my house post-Euro trip. At least I did manage to clean when I got home. Sometimes I contemplate creating my own sticker chart. I feel like I should get credit for my efforts.

Anyways, back to Quinoa. I have a confession. I have never cooked this before. *Gasp heard around the world* I know, from the person who has watched every reality cooking competition and can rattle off substitutions for anything it is shocking. But being Paleo, we don’t eat a lot of grains. Recently the Beard has added rice back into the diet as we need to up the calorie intake. As I’ve been considering dehydrated trail meal options I thought we would give Quinoa a try. Best decision ever.

I started with chopping up a Shallot. These are delicious little suckers and you should put them in everything. I cooked those in a saute pan until they became translucent and then added my quinoa with water and white wine.

While the quinoa was absorbing all the liquid I set about chopping the rest of my ingredients. I splurged and bought the pre-shelled pistachios from the bulk bin aisle. I only needed half a cup and was pleased that my ability to measure pistachios with my eye balls was spot on! Talk about life skills….

If you have a mini food processor or a ninja mixer like I do that is the way to go. Ain’t nobody got time for hand chopping!

Next I mixed together lemon, olive oil and pepper. Lots of cracked pepper. Then I tossed in my pistachios, chopped cherries and dressing.

Can you hear the angels singing?

I had a big bowl for dinner and had enough left over for The Beard who is anxiously awaiting his jar. I also plan on dehydrating this meal in the future. Cook the quinoa as normal, mix in the dressing and let cool. Spread on the dehydrator trays at 135 degrees for 8-12 hours. When complete you can store in vacuum seal bags with dried cherries and pistachios.

Quick note: I typically cook with what is on hand so if you don’t have pistachios substitute almonds. If you don’t have dried cherries, dried cranberries work wonderfully too. If you don’t have quinoa, well you should probably just make something else.