Not Quite Goat Cheese Salad

Tomorrow's lunch is a bit of leftovers...

Cranberry pecan salad with honey "goat cheese" dressing, Panko crusted chicken drumstick, Cherry yogurt pretzels, Powerball

I started off with all intentions of making a salad tonight with a honey goat cheese dressing. I even went today and bought more spring mix. But when I came home and started scooping ingredients in the Magic Bullet (which is a blender, btw), I found that my goat cheese smelled a bit off. I'm a little freaky about the whole spoiled food thing. If there's a date on it, by golly it's goin in the trash that day. So, although the goat cheese said it didn't expire until December, I chunked it. I had to come up with a solution quick since almost all the other dressing ingredients were in the Magic Bullet and I wasn't wasting 2 tablespoons of very expensive wild honey that I had already measured out. So, I decided to substitute sour cream since it is similarly tangy. I measured it out, turned the blender on, and crossed my fingers. Although it wasn't as thick and creamy as goat cheese would have made it, the sour cream was a great "in a pinch" substitute.

We came across a sale on organic free range chicken drumsticks last weekend. I usually don't buy drumsticks, but I couldn't tell you why. The chics really loved them. I rolled them in a bit of a mustard concoction and breaded them with panko bread crumbs. Then I baked them on a rack so the whole coating would get crispy. They turned out really well. The little chic even ate two of them.

And to continue yesterday's camera tirade...my cracker submission got rejected on Foodgawker (as usual) due to shadowing. I thought it was a great picture, but what do I know? But it DID get published on Tastespotting! My dad is letting me keep the camera till the weekend so there will be plenty more gratuitous photos I'm sure! Just look at the pecans...oooooh...close up...

The Day of Gratuitous Photos

I have needed a "real" camera for so so long. It's probably been 15 years since I had a camera that wasn't a point and shooter. This blog has really made me realize how limiting the all automatic cameras are and made my hunger for a new camera even greater. The hubs doesn't want to spend the money. He NEVER wants to spend the money. I keep threatening that one day I'm just going to go buy one. Well, guess what?? Today wasn't that day! But I did borrow my dad's camera! I think that I took 100 pictures of food today in all sorts of configurations. What do these crackers look like in this light? What about in this light? What about with a sprinkle of crumbs? Seriously, I've been lurking on Foodgawker too long. Have you been on Foodgawker? It's unbelievable. I can suck up hours and hours looking at all those photos. They are gorgeous, mouthwatering, and definitely NOT taken with a point and shoot camera. I've submitted items to Foodgawker before but they always get rejected due to photo quality. For about a year, I have dutifully submitted items and waited by the Blackberry just certain that this photo would be the one. None have been the one. The same reason I love Foodgawker, is the same reason I hate it. They are sooooo freakin picky about their photos. So, I'm gonna start borrowing my dad's camera here and there and maybe one of my submissions will meet their standards. Doubtful, but just maybe.

There really is a lunch involved in all this camera hoopla. Her lunch for tomorrow is some leftover Pad Thai from one of our favorite Thai restaurants in the area. I went for lunch today and felt guilty the entire time. The chic loves Pad Thai, and I could just see her sitting in the cafeteria eating her crappy hot lunch because I was too busy last night to pack her a lunch. I felt the only right thing to do was to bring her some leftovers!


Chicken and Tofu Pad Thai, Chocolate chip cookie and Fruit Bites, Dry roasted peas, Flaxseed, Cranberry, and Pecan Crackers and cheese.


Here's a close-up of the Pad Thai just cause I COULD take a close-up that was in focus.

These crackers are addictive. They are a variation on the Flaxseed, Fig, and Walnut Crackers from Epicurious. I love their version with figs but I don't usually have dried figs in the house. I've found that you can make them with any dried fruit and nut combination (dates and walnuts are also yummy). My youngest calls them cookies and she's kinda right. They are a bit of a cookie/cracker hybrid. They've become kind of a joke with one of my friends. She finds the idea of making homemade crackers so incredibly outrageous (she doesn't cook) yet she will spend hours handcrafting invitations to her kid's birthday parties. The first time I made the crackers, she just happened to come over and when I told her I made them, she said, "Well, of course you did. Who doesn't make their own crackers?" So now when she does some crazy crafty thing that I could never think of doing, I say, "Well, of course you did. Who doesn't dye their own Easter grass?" We go back and forth. The funny thing is that she LOVES these crackers and will eat the entire batch before they're even cool. She could make them if she wanted to...the recipe is really simple. But then we wouldn't be able to harass each other and where's the fun in that?

Flaxseed, Cranberry, and Pecan Crackers

(adapted from Epicurious recipe)

1/3 cup whole flaxseed

1/4 cup ground flaxseed

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp Kosher salt

1 tbsp brown sugar

4 tbsp butter, room temp

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1 cup chopped dried cranberries

1/2 cup milk

Mix first seven ingredients together until combined. Stir in pecans, cranberries, and milk. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Remove from refrigerator and on a floured surface, roll out to 1/8" thick. Cut into desired shapes and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 325 degrees until golden brown, about 20 minutes.