Avocados: A Love Affair

I've been mentally working on a different blog post but today while I was making guacamole I decided to do a post on one of my favorite food groups, the lovely, creamy, delicious, avocado. If you check out my pinterest page a good portion of the recipes I've pinned involve avocados. 

A salad isn't complete unless it has some avocados in it. I consider lettuce to be a filler in salads so I don't always use it. Nancy is thrilled whenever I make lettuce-less salads. An easy one is avocado, cucumber and red onion with whatever dressing you like. I usually use a blue cheese with this one. Today I mashed avocado with 2 boiled eggs and some salt. Got that idea from one of my pinterest pins. I loved the concept of using avocado instead of mayo for an egg salad. As you can imagine, it was AWESOME!

My favorite way to eat avocados is guacamole! I remember the first time I came across this green lumpy mass, it was in middle school Spanish class. I said a firm no thank you to it. I can't remember the first time I had guacamole but I can say, I can't imagine my life without this delicious food! It's not just for Mexican food. It's great on top of burgers, in sandwiches (instead of mayo) and eaten with Tim's Cascade Jalapeno chips (mmmm, so good!). Of course, it's also fantastic with tortilla chips but that's a given. 

A couple of years ago I made a Mexican dinner for a friend and her parents and her parents had never had guacamole! They loved it and I loved turning them on to it. If you've had guacamole that was bought at the store or made table side for you at a restaurant, it just doesn't compare to home made. The store made one is usually bland or very citrusy (in order to preserve the color). As for the table side made ones, guacamole takes time to develop their flavors so having it made and served immediately is just not as good as if it was made an hour earlier. 

I have a super simple recipe and one that is almost as simple. 

The super simple recipe is 2 large avocados and guacamole mix. Cut your avocados in half, scoop it out and mix with the mix. A fork works best to mash and mix. This is my favorite brand. It can be found in the produce section. Usually stores only carry one brand, I could never find this one in Publix when I lived in FL so I would stock up whenever I went home. Make sure you get the spicy kind. If you get mild, all you will have is mashed avocados. This in itself is quite delicious. 

But when I'm feeling more motivated I will jazz up my gauc. Add the mix, diced red onion, chopped cilantro and if you really want to get fancy, a couple of chopped chipotle peppers (you can find them in a little can in adobo sauce in the Mexican food section), seed and rinse off the peppers before you use. It adds a divine smokey taste to your guac. That secret ingredient is courtesy of Linda T. Sometimes I'll even add tomatoes. Whatever I'm feeling at the time. This is a pretty forgiving recipe. The authentic way of making this doesn't include the seasoning packet but quite honestly, it adds so much to the guac. If you don't want to use the packet use some salt, pepper, jalapeno and lime juice. 

Since I was making my delayed Cinco de Mayo dinner I also made Sharon's Sensational Salsa but I cheated and didn't use Rotel, nowhere near as good so I gave it away to Edgar who liked it. He doesn't know better. BTW, for those who are having trouble finding the Cilantro Lime Rotel, I found it at Winco. 

I also made my version of pico de gallo but since I wasn't putting it in something, it was more a pico de gallo salad. So incredibly fresh tasting and another simple recipe. 

Another lettuce-less salad, Nancy was in heaven. She bought these delicious little yellow tomatoes, I think they were called sunbursts, they put the grape tomatoes that were also in there to shame. If you want to use it as a traditional pico de gallo, quarter the tomatoes (I prefer the small varieties) but I sliced them in half for this recipe. I also chopped up a half a bunch of cilantro and red onion (I normally put more red onion in but they've been really strong lately). Sprinkle some salt and pepper and squeeze two limes into it. I made this salad earlier in the day, just before serving I added, you guessed it, avocado. Everything is to your taste. I love cilantro so I always use a lot. Sometimes when I make this I'll throw in cucumbers. Another very forgiving and delicious recipe.  

Avocado Tips: A ripe avocado (Haas is the one you want to use, more flavor) is darker and if you squeeze it it will give. Don't squeeze too hard, you don't want to bruise it, just see if it gives. If I'm not using them that day I'll just buy a bunch and let them ripen on my counter. If you're not ready to use when it's ripe, throw it in the fridge. 

Instead of peeling the avocado, cut it in half. Slice or cube it inside it's skin and use a spoon to scoop it out. If you're making guac just scoop it all out. I went to a restaurant where they would just cut in half and squeeze out the insides. I tried it but I would always have to scoop it out afterwards so stick to the spoon. 

To remove the pit they say use a sharp knife and thrust the sharp side (not the tip) into the pit and twist out the pit. I'm always worried about cutting myself so I just use a spoon to scoop around.

Guacamole will turn brown. Lime juice will prevent it from browning but too much and you have a very limey guac. My Mexican friend used to keep the pits in her guac to prevent the browning but it only helps the area around the pit. What I do is put saran wrap right on the guac. Even if it's in a tupperware bowl, place a piece of saran wrap over the guac until it's directly on top and make sure it's closed around the edges. Then put the lid on. This prevents air from getting on the guac which in turn prevents it from browning. 

What about you? Do you have a love affair with avocados like I do? I've heard they make great shakes but as much as I love avocados I'm leery. Have you tried it? What's your favorite avocado recipe? If this was Watch What Happens Life and the word of the night was avocados, you all would be drunk right now!

Spring has sprung and cleaning has begun!

Actually, the real reason we've been cleaning is because we plan on having a revolving door of guests this summer, which is a wonderful thing! Our first visitors will be here in less then 2 weeks, Julie and her son will be coming in so we've spent the last couple of weekends getting ready. Unfortunately, because we're doing such a thorough cleaning, our living room looks like a tornado went thru it. The good news is the bathrooms and the bedrooms look great!

My room is pretty small which doesn't bother me because I don't need a lot of space but because of the size I've never really done much with it. When I moved to FL I let Kathy use my bed frame and I never took it back because it provides me with a couple of inches of extra space at the foot of my bed where I had my dressers. Kat got a new bed and brought my frame back so I set the bed back up which I love my bed but I do miss my risers, which I used for storage under my bed. Having my bed high makes it feel more regal. While Nancy was working on her room I decided to re-arrange things to make more room. Next thing you know, we took off the sliding doors of my closet, moved a dresser in there and switched out my old school tv with a flat screen tv I borrowed from Nancy's brother.

Once the wheels were in motion, I was inspired. I realized my curtain was filthy and since it's way too long for my window I kept it folded over. So I took that off and Nancy and I made a trip to Joanne's to buy fabric and Kim made a new curtain for me. She's a pro, she sewed most of hers. I'm going to get more fabric so that she can also make me some matching throw pillows, score!

One of the things I hated in my room were my metal shelves. I loved having extra shelves and they were free which makes them more appealing but they were always ugly to me. After a little research I decided I would spray paint them. I honestly never thought about spray painting them due to the fact that they were metal. OMG, as soon as sprayed the first shelf, I was in heaven! I love tiffany blue so much! 

Next up, I decided it was time to get a chandelier for my room. I've been wanting one for awhile but you know me, I'd rather spend money on food and travel but it was time. A few years ago I had bought Kim one for her birthday at Ikea and I love it so decided that was the one I wanted. I also found a blog online where someone painted their Ikea chandelier. She even used my color but she used acrylic paints and I went spray paint. Here's her blog in case you would like to do it yourself. 

I didn't think about blogging this when I started cleaning my room so  I don't have a before of my room or  a great before of the chandelier. This is a pic I took in order to remember how the crystals get put back on, the photo didn't help me when it was time to re-assemble. 

And now here is the almost finished product. Yes, I still have stuffed animals on my bed, Ethan loves them (and so do I:).

Now I want a new comforter or bed spread. Probably not a tiffany blue one, a white or cream comforter without the pattern.  I most likely won't get it before Julie gets here, it's not a high priority. I also spray painted my night stand and Nancy bought some trim that we're going to put around one of the sliding mirrors that used to be my closet door and hang it on my wall. I need to have a mirror in my room.

FYI, if you need a professional painter, don't contact me, it was actually worse then this looks, this was after I used vegetable oil and alcohol to try and get it off. I also had blue legs, blue arms a blue chest and a blue face. Nancy already made the smurf joke. 

 

Once I get everything set the way I want, I'll take a pic or video of the rest of the room. BTW, Nancy is also working hard and we'll be painting her room next weekend. Casa de Leiha (and Nancy) is throwing open her doors. Let us know when we should pencil you in.