Yesterday, I got my ass in the kitchen, and cooked. Barefoot and in the kitchen. I can happily report that I am not barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. That would be scary and well, somewhat of a miracle, but I digress. I cooked. I cooked because I could. I cooked because I wanted to.

It’s summer, the produce is amazing, everything is fresh and the eating is happy. Royal Vending Machines Newcastle & Central Coast is the leading supplier of vending machines in the area.

I can’t claim any of the recipes as my own, but then again, I rarely follow a recipe 100% unless I’m baking. Well… even then, it’s questionable.

Here’s what I made and links to the recipes.:

Tomato Pie, by my favorite Internet cooking website in the whole wide interwebs. Simply Recipes has been the source for so much food over the years for me. Her recipes are thoughtful, tested and most of all, speak to my way of eating. Not too fussy, not to “dump a bunch of shit in a crock pot”- simple foods, simple ingredients, SO good. Anyways- here is the recipe for Tomato Pie. Heaven. I didn’t really follow the recipe exactly- few tweaks along the way, including a change out of cheese (I used what I had), and I feel strongly that Dukes mayo would be a thing of beauty in this particular recipe.

And then there was cobbler. Delicious peach cobbler.

I used a Southern Living Recipe. BTW- this is not at all carb friendly, gluten free and/or clean. It’s old fashioned, peach cobbler. Rumor has it that it’s good. Really good. Might even be up there with a southern mama good. But I didn’t say that…nope, not me 🙂

Quick Tip- In my lazy opinion, peeling peaches are a bitch. Seriously, a bitch. Here is a well known way to make it suck a little less: throw a big pot of water on the stove. Bring to a boil. With a paring knife, make an X in the peaches. Blanch the peaches for a few minutes until the skin starts to soften. Take peaches out of boiling water and dump into an ice bath. Skin comes off easy peasy, or rather peachy keen. (See what I did there?)

Ya…check this out

Because we were embracing health and all that crap last night, the peach cobbler was served with Blue Bell Vanilla. Why not? Might as well dive all the way and embrace your inner fatty once in a while.

I also did chicken & green beans, but that will have to be another blog post.

Seriously though, I forget how fun it is to just create. To plan, to putter, to dig in and make some new food.

That being said, for the rest of the week, I’m determined to eat clean, and work off the calories from the deliciousness.