a bean counter's food blog
It’s cookout season–and any excuse to celebrate gets my vote! Brats are the perfect backyard barbecue food; they’re easy to cook and super simple to customize, just by switching up your relish and toppings.
I spent the morning hanging out with WBTV talking Bratsgiving! Check out the video below!
Without further ado, here are three brat relish recipes inspired by some of my favorite foods: banh mi, bruschetta, and guacamole!
Did you catch me talking sausage toppings on WBTV this morning? Check out the video link below!
Here we are, in the height of backyard barbecue season, with literally dozens of ketchup and mustard covered hot dogs under our belts, and I.am.bored. Don’t get me wrong, I love that classic combo, but sometimes I crave to shake things up a bit. Get a little spicy, a little saucy, a little something like THIS:
TOPPING REMIX #1: a Mexican-inspired sandwich using Johnsonville Chorizo Sausage topped with some of my homemade guacamole and fresh pico de gallo. Incredible flavor, practically impossible to eat just one.
TOPPING REMIX #2: a Johnsonville Turkey Sausage with Cheddar topped with barbecue sauce and a simple lightened up slaw. Hearty and healthified without sacrificing a pants size.
I have a confession. My mother is the Grinch.
She hates Christmas presents…
Gets really mad at her children for buying her Christmas presents….
And she’s as cuddly as a cactus, as charming as an eel….
Justttttt kidding! Mwah hah hahhhhhhhhhh 
My Mom does, in fact, hate when her kids buy Christmas presents for her. So this year, I channeled my inner third grader, and whipped up a homemade gift for the Madre:
So last night, I hit up a local farmer’s market with two of my friends/coworkers, Jessie and Tim.
We were in search of inspiration for something to make for our friend’s dinner we scheduled what seems like 5 months ago…. All because you have to be VIP to get on Jessie’s calendar … Not pointing fingers or anything…
We did a loop around the market, to check out the goods:
After a mini-powwow on our findings, we decided to go with fajitas for our friends dinner.
We ended up going with:
We divided the remaining necessities for our fajitas amongst us, and each of us left to grocery shop/scavenge for food in our fridges/pantries. Us accountants are so dang efficient sometimes 😉
First thing I did when I arrived at Tim and Jaci’s house was spread all the ingredients out on the counter.
I guess I’m not capable of cooking unless I’m surrounded by a big fat mess 🙂
Jessie got to guac makin’ while Tim supervised:
I tended to the veggies:
Tim got his grill on:
Jaci got her shred on:
Then we feasted:
Here’s one with the flash for easy viewing:
Yeah, I ate that. 🙂 And it was goooooooooood!
Jarrod and I wanted something delicious for dinner, so we decided to try this recipe for Chicken Fajitas. We followed Skinny Taste’s recipe to a T, except we also made some brown rice to mix in. The recipe doesn’t say how long to marinate the chicken, so we let it go for about 30 minutes.
We both felt what threw this meal over the edge to amazingness was the guacamole we made to go with it.
My recipe for guacamole adapted from my Chipotle days in college:
I kid you not, this recipe post-it has been on my fridge for over five years. I’ve moved from apartment to apartment to house, and this puppy is ALWAYS displayed on the fridge 🙂
We each had 1 Mama Lupe’s low carb tortillas that I had ordered from Netrition, and we threw everything that couldn’t fit into the tortilla atop a bed of lettuce. We also had some fresh salsa we had picked up last week, so we drizzled a little on top.
One giant plate of food: 
Yes, I cleared my plate. Yes, I contemplated licking it clean.
Skinny Taste chicken fajitas + chipotle inspired guac = best dinner we’ve made in a long friggin time!
BTW, I told Jarrod he is now required to plate all foods before photo sessions. That plate looks absolutely beautiful!
Side Note –
Yesterday on the way home from the hair stylist, I tried the Chocolate Raspberry Luna bar. The bar had been in the hot car for a little while, so it was slightly melty and absolutely divine tasting!
Breakfast
I hadn’t had cold oatmeal (or “overnight oats” as food bloggers call it) in quite a while. After reading about Leashieloo’s recent success with overnight oats, I decided to make some up last night.
Here’s what I threw in:
I stirred up the oats and popped them into the fridge to hang out for the night. This morning, I added some chopped up strawberries.
Oatmeal is great for you, but who the heck wants a steaming bowl of oats in the hot summer months? Most people think cold oatmeal sounds appalling. To those people I say quit being so cantankerous and give it a shot! What’s most fun about overnight oats is you can mix in ANYTHING you want. Seriously, just give it a shot already! And let me know how they turn out!
Stats on overnight oats: 233 calories, 36g carbs, 8g fat, 7g protein, 6g fiber
On the agenda today:
