A Zoo Out There & Recipe Fails

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I hope your weekend is off to a good start.  I ran a few errands including the post office.  Boy, that place seemed especially like a zoo on a Saturday morning.  And here I thought I was being smart and avoiding the crowds.  Then I carried on to the grocery store and Trader Joe’s for more jam-packed fun.

After fighting the crowds and praying for parking karma After running errands, I came home and nibble on some strawberries.  And polished off all the sale fruit Darn.

Containers full of strawberries

I also fired up the oven and made Roasted Sweet Potato Fries

Roasted Sweet Potato Fries on foil lined pan
Close up of Roasted Sweet Potato Fries
I dip all fries in ketchup (not pictured).  I love ketchup. I could drink it.

And decided that Raw Taco Nut “Meat”

Close up of Raw Taco Nut "Meat"

for a Raw Taco Salad sounded good

Raw Taco Nut "Meat" on saladI bring this taco “meat” to parties and always impress the meat eaters because it’s hearty, dense, full of flavor, and filling.  And takes about 45 seconds to make.

Breakfast/Snack/Dessert:  It would have been a good morning to make some banana bread, but I ran out of time for that because I was in the kitchen creating something else. But try a loaf of Peanut Butter Banana Bread (Vegan, GF)

Ingredients for Peanut Butter Banana Bread in blender
Easy and goof-froof and how could anything with all that peanut butter be wrong?
 
Peanut Butter Banana Bread in loaf pan topped with sliced bananas

Or if chocolate is more your thing, there’s always Raw Vegan Brownies

Raw Vegan Brownies

From my last post about What Caught My Eye This Week around the ‘sphere, I’m glad all that food looked good to you!

And it was interesting to hear what kinds of blogs you like to read, what keeps you going back for more, and any new-to-you blogs you’ve found and are enjoying.

Questions:

1.  Do you plan your errands so you don’t have to run them on the weekends?

It’s hard for me to get everything done that I want to during the week, so am forced (along with most of the working world) to shop on weekends and deal with crowded stores.  Plus, sometimes I just run out of produce or something comes up that I need to grab and I have to run out for it and can’t avoid weekend errands.

2. On my last post, it was all about great looking recipes I’ve seen.   Have you ever tried a recipe you’ve seen in the ‘sphere and it was a failure?

I have.  I sometimes wonder if the the author really tested the recipe or if their tasetebuds are just very different from mine.  Or maybe I goofed and made it wrong, entirely possible, of course.

Some things I see and know, right off the bat, that would not be up my alley.  Sometimes certain flavor combos don’t look good to me.

Other times it’s the ratios of flours + oils + lack of this or that ingredient, and I can almost “scientifically sense” that this recipe would be hard to successfully recreate or have it come together properly for me. 

But other times, I think, mmmm, sounds great! And then I try it, and the recipe doesn’t come together or work out.  Or, the taste isn’t up my alley.  And I am a little bummed, but hey, onto the next meal and next recipe. As I said yesterday, there are so many amazing blogs with so many great recipes, just point and click on over to the next one I have bookmarked.

3. Best thing you’ve eaten or done so far this weekend?

I spent some time in the kitchen, spent time with Skylar, and got a great streamlined workout in!

Enjoy your weekend!

About the Author

Welcome to AverieCooks! Here you’ll find fast and easy recipes that taste amazing and are geared for real life. Nothing fussy or complicated, just awesome tasting dishes everyone loves!

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Please note: I have only made the recipe as written, and cannot give advice or predict what will happen if you change something. If you have a question regarding changing, altering, or making substitutions to the recipe, please check out the FAQ page for more info.

Comments

  1. I try to fit my errands in on my 2 hour break for lunch.. though grocery shopping is saved for after work. No way I could get outta there in less than 2 hours most shopping days! Hahaha.

  2. Love all of your delicious food especially the taco meat I make one using beans, walnuts, and spices sooo yum!

  3. My husband and I are totally planning on trying your raw taco meat today! How funny. Personally I’m addicted to mustard. I used to LOVE ketchup, but when I stopped eating cheeseburgers for some reason I just don’t like it much anymore.

    I have made some major recipe fails, but I think the fault has usually been mine. I always change things because of my food intolerances and just plain taste preferences.

  4. I’ve made some stuff that I might not consider a fail…but wasn’t exactly for me, either. I usually stick to cookbooks when I go for a recipe, though :P My biggest fear is someone’s going to try one of my recipes and think “what was she smoking when she made that?” for whatever reason, even though I’m pretty careful about measuring and such, haha. There was one recipe I made, though, that had tons of people raving that I just didn’t quite “get.” Maybe it was the few tweaks I made that messed it up, but part of me was wondering if people were just afraid to say anything :P
    UGH – Post offices are my nemesis. I try to print labels and such online whenever I can; but it NEVER fails that the time I don’t is the time there will be a line out the door. That I have to wait in.
    I hope you get some time to relax and enjoy your Sunday, Averie1

    1. yes being afraid to say that something was just meh or even no way or not good…i think that’s part of it!

  5. BEst thing? My breakfast right now. I’m still on a high. I might even have coffee later – ohmy, the frivolity. You know you’ve gotten older when you get your weekend kicks like that! :-)

    Just looking at your pictures makes me look forward to summer – maybe it’s the light, maybe it’s the strawberries, but they have spring written all over them. It’s sunny here, but it’s DARN cold as well, hehe…spri-ing, where are you?

    YES I try to time my shopping with weekdays off – the luxury of working odd hours. Hope you’re enjoying sunday. We changed to summertime today, I can’t figure out if you’re awake or up or WHAT, hahaha…:-)

  6. The post office is always a zoo! I swear, everytime! I made sweet potato fries last night, served with collard greens, they’re such a perfect food!

  7. I usually do my errand running on the weekend. I try to go to Costco during the week though- it is insane on the weekends!

  8. I almost made banana bread today!! Then the day got away from me and it was 7 pm and I didn’t have it in me. We’ll see if it happens tomorrow. Doubtful, since I have to plan an entire course tomorrow, and finish myhomework for Mondays’ class and prep for Monday’s teaching that I am being observed doing. Fun.

    What weekend? Its the weekend?

  9. I’m so glad to know I’m not the only one who has experienced #2. Sometimes I’ll see a whole bunch of people rave about a recipe and it looks great and I’ll try it and it will be a total dud. It baffles me how so many people can brag about a recipe but my family and I think that it’s gross. I guess everyone has different taste buds, preferences, and expectations.

    1. yeah i know…there are lots of “crazes” and blog trendy recipes that I just do a head shake with b/c i don’t find them to be good…at all!

  10. Running errands on Saturday can be a nightmare, Saturdays are the best day for me to hit the PO with my work schedule and it’s always packed. Wow, lots of great eats in this post!

    1. I try, but it’s tough with my work schedule.
    2. Sure, the lentil burgers last week which weren’t a complete failure because the flavor was great, they just wouldn’t hold together as burgers.
    3. Had a great dinner out and saw a movie with hubby.