It’s embarrassing for me to admit this but when people ask what I missed the most from the states when traveling around the world in 2012, my answer is always:
My kitchen!
It was a LONG year without my homemade Pecan Pie!
Yes, I love food so this is no big surprise… but what I love more than the food itself is being able to cook it! Back when Tony and I lived in Miami, our favorite evenings were spent with a glass of red wine in hand absolutely destroying our kitchen attempting to make a new recipe that we were dying to try.
We loved cooking so much that we also made sure we operated with only the BEST utensils: Our VitaMix, Cuisinart, popcorn maker, and EPIC ceramic knives were just a few of our most missed treasures when on the road.
Sure, we tried to cook on the road as much as we could… but it wasn’t the same.
Tony getting creative in a hostel kitchen in Chile
We were never in any place for long enough to justify stocking up on kitchen staples and ingredients… And don’t even get me started on the quality of the kitchen utensils found in hostel kitchens. Blah!!!
To add to my kitchen nostalgia, 2012 also seemed to be the year of PINTEREST. I don’t even know why I signed up for a Pinterest account while traveling… It was pure torture. Every day I would log into my homepage and practically drool all over my keyboard just scanning all the beautiful and delicious Pinterest recipes posted from Pinners I was following.
I couldn’t really re-create any of these dishes in a shared hostel kitchen… And forget about finding the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies in Asia!
But why am I telling you about these past RTW frustrations right now?
Because my cooking luck has recently changed!
Tony and I just started a petsitting job in the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountain region of California and we will be here for the ENTIRE summer. We haven’t been this stationary in over a year and a half and I am so excited to finally settle in, stock the beautiful (and functional) kitchen here and just go crazy! Not to mention, we are living in the middle of nowhere in the mountains and I am going to need a side project to keep me from writing REDRUM on the walls when Tony is sleeping at night.
Here’s where I need your help:
For all of 2012, I started recipe boards that I wanted to “save for later use”. Well, now I have hundreds of Pinterest recipes that I am dying to try. And since I am the most indecisive person IN THE WORLD, I will need your help deciding which recipes to give a go.
Since Tony and I are looking to be healthy over the next few months, I have attached a link to our “Healthy Eats” Pinterest board below:
My EPIC “Healthy Eats” Pinterest Board
Please review all these scrumptious recipes and let me know which one is your favorite. I will then take the top picks and begin whipping up some amazing meals and treats for Tony and I… And of course, I will be reporting back on my experiences and results with each dish.
Or let me know if you have a recipe outside of Pinterest you would like me to try out. I know many of our readers are world travelers, so spice things up and send me some international dishes you want us to test. We accept the crazy and the weird recipes… As long as they have the potential to be TASTY!
These next few months are all about experimenting, so throw me some curveballs!
Exhausted from traveling every week as a Business Management Consultant early in my career, I took a year off in 2012 to travel at my own pace. I am a high-energy girl that loves being active, eating food, drinking wine, and exploring the world with my partner-in-crime (and husband), Tony! I now reside in Portland, Oregon and continue to write about travel, food, wine, and the awesome adventures we have in the Pacific NW!
This is part of the reason why I’m hesitant to sell of all my belongings and jet off to the middle of nowhere forever. Do I really want to buy the same knife set when I get back home? Comparison shopping is a time investment I only want to make once. There are at least some things about having a home base that are not only convenient, but enriching too, and learning to cook is a big one I would say.
Totally agree and I understand your hesitancy to sell a good knife set. Is storage an option while you travel so you don’t have to sell stuff? I hope you can make it work where you can travel and still come back home to all your cherished items
YES! How was I not following you on Pinterest?? I also LOVE cooking and healthy food and recipes from the internet. I have even made a couple of the things on your board.
My votes are make the following, then tell me if they are worth the effort:
http://pinterest.com/pin/81205599502474246/
http://pinterest.com/pin/81205599502426234/
http://pinterest.com/pin/81205599503206985/
OMG I love your suggestions. I did a cinnamon roasted sweet potato dish for Thanksgiving with Tony in Australia and it tasted like candy! I like the addition of the Chile in this recipe too. The Chicken Salad looks yummers and is perfect for summer…. and you had me at “Tamale Pie”. I could see Tony looooving this one! Thanks for “voting” Steph!
I vote for the Grahamwiches !
I mean what could possibly go wrong with an S’Mores / ice cream hybrid?!
What do you mean? There is nothing better than cooking in a hostel with 340823048 other people. My fav is cleaning everybody else’s dishes – always a good time. This post makes me miss my kitchen at home. *single tear*.
haha seriously. I also like to take my time in the kitchen when cooking (I find it therapeutic!) and you CANNOT do that in a hostel kitchen – So frustrating!
If cucumbers are around (where not), clean, grate, sprinkle salt and let drip.
Prepare paste of fresh garlic, mix with sour cream, add grated (pressed) cucumber, those are the basics for what the greek call “TZATZIKI”.
A refreshing, easy, anywhere, type of salad, together with grilled anything or some tasty cheese and bread.
That’s the basics, but you can always add whatever available, more garlic, some mint, parsley, red paprika or even chili.
Remember the basics, than see where you are and what’s in store.
Cheers, Pim.
PS.
Aint gonna read that whole pinterest list, I cook whatever comes by and jumps up in my head.
Yesterday a lasagna, today marinated grilled chicken, tomorrow ????
Pim this cucumber recipe looks FANTASTIC. Lasagna and marinated grilled chicken also sound yummy – Next time we are in Croatia, we will have to get together too cook a meal and learn from the master 😉
I totally missed the boat on this one! I vote for the chicken roasted over potatoes and lemon in the Canal House cookbook (page 184). We made it last week and José is now obsessed! Also super easy and only requires like 5 ingredients! Come back to MN!
Oh Em Gee I just looked up that recipe and it sounds/lloks RIDICULOUS… and so simple! We will definitely try it out. I am going to have to write an entire post on Canal House!!
Grretings from Colorado! I’m bored to death at wor
so I decided to browse your webdite on my iphone during lunch break.
I really like the info youu provide here and can’t wai tto take a look when I get home.
I’m shocked at how quick your blog loadedd on my phone ..
I’m not even usng WIFI, just 3G .. Anyways, awesome site!
Comments on this entry are closed.
{ 1 trackback }