5 Groceries I Can't Live Without

I'm weirdly infatuated with certain things, including food. Of course I have to really "love" these things to be infatuated. With that being said, here are 5 grocery items you would not be surprised to find in my kitchen. Healthy or not, tasty or under-par, these 5 items are some of my faves.

#5 - Jarred Minced Garlic

 

 

Almost nothing is better to cook with than garlic, especially if you're seeking natural flavoring. And almost nothing is better than fresh garlic... unless you're strapped for time and absolutely hate mincing garlic. The answer? Jarred minced garlic. Costs about $5 bucks, lasts a good while and saves a ton of time. Is this stuff even real? I don't know. I don't care. I love garlic... easy garlic!

DIY Modern Floating Mantel Feature on Remodelaholic

As part of our living room remodel, we created a modern floating mantel to replace our clunky brown one (original post here). Lucky for Pots, Pans and Paintbrushes, one of my favorite home remodeling/DIY blogs, Remodelaholic, is featuring the project today on their blog. Check out the feature here. And thanks to Remodelaholic for the post!

Reclaimed Wood Planter Box Fences - Part 2

Since our dog was using our non-planted-but-one-day-would-like-to have-plants-in-it planter box as digging grounds, I decided to make more reclaimed wood planter fences to protect it.

I basically repeated the garden fence project - cut the wood, laid it out, assembled - except rather than using old fence pickets to make stakes, we used stakes that we already had in place for a failed chicken wire protective barrier. Since the stakes didn't match the reclaimed wood, I painted them red with Behr exterior "Apple Polish" red paint.

Reclaimed Wood Planter Box Fences - Part 1

We now have TWO puppies, which means our "garden" (this year just an herb garden) needed some protection from curious paws. Thus came these awesome reclaimed wood planter box fences.




Deriving from fence pickets, particularly trash-ready fence pickets from a replaced section of our fence, this project rang in at a whopping $0.

PYRC #48: Jalapeno Cilantro Dip (AKA Jalapeno Ranch)

Ah, the magical creamy goodness known as jalapeno ranch! If you've been to Chuys, there's a pretty good chance you're familiar with this green ranch goodness and most likely you're in love as well. I literally visit Chuys just for margaritas, chips and jalapeno ranch. This sister recipe that passed me by on Pinterest is technically labeled Cilantro Jalapeno Dip, but same difference.

Every time I've made this dip, I've made it a slightly different way - fresh jalapenos, jarred jalapenos, with tomatillos, without tomatillos, one packet of ranch mix, two packets of ranch mix, with a little milk... wherever the wind blows. The best part is that the end result is always the same - delicious. Now with that being said, I've had an extremely difficult time tracking my measurements in order to pass along the recipe to others. So, I've taken this super simple jalapeno cilantro dip version for "sharabilty" purposes and slightly adapted it to taste.

PYRC #47: Lemon and Dill Chicken and Salad with Orange Basil Vinaigrette

This Texas sun is brutal on my mini herb garden, so I've been desperate to find some fresh herb recipes before all of mine die. Thanks to this Lemon Dill Chicken recipe, I was able to use my dill for both the first and last time this year, accompanied by a salad with orange basil vinaigrette.

PYRC #46: Latin Style Street Vendor Corn on the Cob

Mayo... and Frank's hot sauce... and parmesan cheese... and corn on the cob? Yeah, I probably wouldn't have pinned this recipe had I read the ingredients first, but it was Latin Style Street Vendor Corn on the Cob that caught my eye, and that's what hit he table.

Pardon the not so awesome photo per my iphone, fluorescent lighting and lack of "pretty" cooking. If you view the photo on the Frank's hot sauce website, you'll see what I tasted.

Per normal, I didn't follow the rules. I stirred together the weird mayo/hot sauce concoction (well, there's more ingredients than that), slathered it on my corn with a butter knife (rather than tossing it) and topped it with not finely grated parmesan cheese. Saving myself from cleaning more dishes worked for me.