datz deli {Gulfcoast Family Destination Dinner}

one of our favorite family pastimes is our monthly outing to a local restaurant; we write a dining out column for Gulfcost Family Magazine.  we're fortunate our kids are "little foodies," so they're as adventurous as we are.  i never remember to blog the outings, but this one HAD TO BE DONE.  Datz Deli in Tampa had my interest when everyone whom we know loves food, mentioned it to us.  we fell in love.

called a deli, it has more a pub-like atmosphere, with endless beers on tap, an amazing selection of nachos, sandwiches, and other delights.  self-billed as a "restaurant for foodies," they don't disappoint.  they spoiled us rotten, and our girl's still talking about the goat brie she loved - and we're still dreaming about the gjetost - a danish "caramel" cheese that amazed us. 

the home-made potato chip nachos were delish, but i loved the "plain" ones that came with the kiddos' sandwiches, drizzled with blue cheese glaze.  oh, my mouth is watering...

'though we went for lunch, they spoiled us and let us order meatloaf from the dinner menu, and may i please tell you that their meatloaf was better-than-you-know-what absolutely to-die-for yum?  (sorry no pic - it was gobbled up too fast...)

they have a gorgeous selection of wines, meats, desserts, and cheeses available for purchase.  i'm not usually one for cake at restaurants (it never tastes as good as homemade) but this... well, it was better.  my oldest partook, broke my heart :) by announcing that THIS red velvet cake would be his birthday request.  ah, well...

most of all, though, i loved the idea of their chef's table, where one can do a lunch or dinner pairing meal, prepared tableside... we're saving for a fabulous date night, i can tell you!

love that they have wiki-stix for the kids to occupy themselves...

fun family date... yay!

Fresher Veggie Pizza {With Jordyn's Whole Wheat Dough}

...so our sweet friends ky and jordyn loved on our kids for us while we shot a wedding over the weekend.  jordyn used her fabulous whole wheat pizza dough and the whole lot of them decorated pizzas.  YUM - and we missed it!  lucky us, jordyn left the leftover dough ( :) ) and today i whipped up a pizza for lunch.

first, a few dough-making images from baking day.

our friend was impressed that anna knew to scrape the flour with the back of the knife.  :)

can you smell it yet?

a little tip: we didn't bake ours right away.  we stored it in gallon-size ziploc bags, but be sure to pop it in the freezer to prevent premature rising (and subsquent ziploc bag explosion...)

chopping the veggies finely helps them get tender in the oven.

there is nothing that doesn't taste good with fresh ground pepper (almost.)

normally everyone waits for me to take photos before we eat, but not this time!  yummy, hot, delicious.

i have been reading a lot about raw eating and am intrigued; i think next time i might cook the dough first and then top with all the veggies; i do think i'd like it in the oven just long enough to melt the cheeses though... all about compromise!  :)  and here's the recipe...

Fresher Veggie Pizza on Jordyn’s Pizza Dough (recipe below)

2 small zuchinni
1 red pepper
6-8 cherry tomatoes
½ red onion
2 large cloves garlic
3 Tbsp fresh grated parmesan
¼ cup crumbled Queso Fresco
2-3 sweet-hot peppers (I like Peppadew but any will work)
Olive oil
Sea salt and pepper

Liberally brush pan with olive oil and press dough out with fingers, leaving “dimple marks” as you go. Finely chop all veggies and sprinkle evenly over dough. Next, sprinkle with dry herbs, if desired, and/or cilantro oil. Season to taste with sea salt and pepper. Top with cheeses and a liberal drizzle of olive oil. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes (watch for doneness of crust.)

And for Jordyn's whole wheat dough, click here.  DELISH.

Enjoy!!  {{hugs}} --angela

whole foods day with our friend Jordyn

so jordyn and kyle our our sweet friends who share our love for good food, good music, and So You Think You Can Dance.  they introduced us to Z Grille, a fabulous downtown St. Pete, where i ate the best meal of my adult life (trust me, if you're in the area, order their egg of the day and the Chicken Waffle with cheddar chipotle grits and pink peppercorn butter over a caramelized onion waffle, and life is golden!). 

with a little begging sweet talk , i was able to get jordyn to spend the day with us and prepare some of her favorite recipes with the kids.  it's our goal to get back to healthier eating and more whole foods, and this recipe fits the bill.  i think it will be perfect with some greek yogurt and fresh fruit for a weekday yogurt parfait!

 

delish if eaten warm...

 

it takes much to share.

isn't our friend jordyn pretty?!

Jordyn’s Homemade Granola

(When she and Kyle first got married Kyle would make Jordyn homemade granola every weekend because his recipe ended up being their favorite over hers!)

3-4 Cup Old fashioned oats

Peanut or other nut butter – approximately 2-3 Tbsp (opt.)

*To do this recipe without the peanut butter, use more honey)

¼ cup Honey

Sea Salt to taste

2 Tbsp Coconut oil (or vegetable oil)

Mix in a bowl and spread loosely on a cookie sheet. Bake at 300 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until crunchy. Toss occasionally while baking!  To customize your flavor, add ingredients of your choice such as:
toasted nuts
dried fruits
dried coconut

if you'd like a taste of jordyn's excellent food sense and some delish recipes, visit her at her blog, The Healthy Housewife.

curriculum review - Blackbird Poetry Unit

Recently I was asked to do some guest posting for an awesome website I've loved called Curriculum Choice (moms who are educating at home, check out this site - it is a FABULOUS resource!).  The following is an excerpt that will appear soon on their site.  Check it out! 

Blackbird Literature has a poetry unit study that I taught this semester to my 12 year old son, his friend of the same age, and my 10 year old daughter. I thoroughly enjoyed the unit, and at the end, the kids didn’t want to be done. It was perfectly age-appropriate for these kids (who, for what it’s worth, are all reading well above grade level).

From Blackbird’s site description of the unit:

“Reading and writing poetry expands the boundaries of the imagination and intellect. Students who engage in writing poetry will develop confidence in their voice, strengthen their ability to communicate new ideas, and convey observations of their world.”



I love:

The book selection. These selections are both eye-catching and enjoyable to read, both for students and for me as the teacher. In addition, they offer a wide variety of poetry examples combined with words of advice from the poets themselves, without morally objectionable material (important to me as a Christian parent).

I wish:

There were more “hands on” multi-sensory type activities. While the writing exercises are both valuable and applicable, I wish there were more “experiential” activities that incorporated more than “fill-in-the-blank” style response. That said, I did appreciate the opportunity and exhortation to write, write, write. That the advice came from the poets themselves was even better; this approach is not text-book-ish, but draws the student into the heart of the poet who’s just captured their interest through their writing.



Cost: $48 for the set includes the textbook, three poetry books, a set of art cards to use for stimulating creativity, and a student journal. While this is very reasonable for what you get, the curriculum is only written for seven weeks. This would be quite pricey to repeat several times during the school year. That said, the poetry books themselves are books we would keep on our library shelves for repeat pleasure reading. We did not get The Aspiring Poet’s Journal, and on reading the description online, I would purchase it for the next go-round. It is a guided journal designed to help students actively write and practice the ideas and principles addressed in this thorough and enjoyable curriculum.



You can find this and other solid literature studies at http://www.blackbirdandcompany.com/.

For this full review and other useful reviews for home-educating families, visit

http://thecurriculumchoice.com/

if you're local...

...and if you're not, hop in the car and come on down!  we're having a gallery open house for Loving Legacy Photography next Wednesday, March 11, and we'd love for you to come.  there will be special on-site offers, and a gift for anyone who brings a (new) friend!  come hang with us.  can't wait to see you!

didn't there used to be a tuesday traditions blog carnival?  or something like it?  well, i've googled my fingers off and i just don't see it.  so it's thursday and i wanna blog about a tradition.  anyone wanna play?  see the mcklinky below.  leave a comment.  link to your blog post.  let's share!

ours:

friday night is taco night.  it's a ritual.  it began some year or two ago, and our kids made sure it stuck.

now i love to cook, and i am adventurous, but friday nights are my night off (unless my sweetheart invites me into the kitchen to work alongside him.  but he has to invite me, and i have to do it his way.  and his way usually includes a taco bell kit.  :)  ).  i don't care - it's wonderful.  especially when he does double-deckers with nacho cheese.  oh, man i've gotta work out!

once he let me make fish tacos. once he let me do shredded chicken in the slow cooker.  i'm always allowed to make fresh salsa and he indulges my need to have cilantro.

we're working on building more traditions, but this is one that has stuck.  sometimes we pile on the couch afterwards and watch a movie.  sometimes we have friends over.  sometimes that includes sangria.  (well, at least when julie's makin' it!)

it's a family feast and everyone dives in...

and it's a good thing we sometimes play wii to at least burn off a little energy... because with even one extra family, that's a lot of wiggles!

...and sometimes the kids just hang and go for a card game.

thanks to friends like j., there are even sometimes homemade desserts.

it's not spiritual.  it's not deep in educational value.  but it brings us all together and keeps us close.  even the grandparents have adopted this tradition when we share friday nights at their homes!

this is one of our family traditions.  what is one of yours?

tomato help {works-for-me-wednesday}

there's maybe nothing more gross than pale tomatoes.  they're lackluster as far as flavor goes, and as for their texture, sometimes they go straight to grainy... YUCK! 

i almost never buy tomatoes unless i can hold them and smell them, but occasionally we get a great deal through our organic co-op and i risk it and unfortunately they sometimes come looking like this:

sorry, but ain't no way i'm going to eat sad, pale tomatoes like this; neither will we waste good organic produce!  to the rescue: roast them!

slice them in half.  we're going to roast these babies.  drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.  super simple.  if you want, sprinkle with dried herbs, but do this before the olive oil or the herbs will possibly burn.  burned herbs do not work-for-me.

into the oven with you, little guys!  a little note here: it's best to use a pan with a bit of a lip to catch those wandering juices.  a happy side effect we accidentally discovered is that the acids do a nice job on all the unwanted "seasoning" built up on our pan.  if you actually have a well-seasoned pan, do not use it for this recipe. 

i've tried doing these under the broiler, which is great if they're fairly  ripe and rich in color.  sprinkle those with parmesan and broil just till the cheese browns.  for these critters, though, a little more help was needed.  with a temperature of around 400 degrees, roast them for 30 minutes or so.  we're not going all the way to sun-dried (which you could, which is also delicious), but just till they're nice and gooey and rich, with a golden crust on top.

there you have it.  delicious, delightful tomatoes - saved from their sad pale previous state.  and that's what works for me this wednesday!  if you love this tip and would like to see more, click here!  (temporarily hosted at rocks in my dryer for march 3rd and march 10th. - thanks!)

enjoy!  and if you like what you see, leave a comment!  hugs.