Mango Pork Chops

I like mangoes. However, I don’t like trying to cut the pit out of a mango. More often than not, the juice from the mango makes my hands slippery and the mango shoots across the kitchen under the knife. Sometimes it flies onto the floor where I have to beat the dog and the three second rule if I want to save a spendy mango.

That’s no way to treat a mango.  

As a result, I rarely buy fresh mangoes. 

The Balancing Act offered me an opportunity to try Sol Bliss frozen fruit purees. A fruit puree would solve my flying mango problem but I was skeptical. Some fruit gels and purees have added sugar, syrups, or are a color that is not found in nature. I mean, what’s the point of serving fruit if it’s covered in extra junk I don’t want my family to eat which is why I’m giving them fruit in the first place?

My research found that Sol Bliss has one ingredient – fruit. That’s it. No extra sugars or junk.  Just fruit.  I can live with that.

Not only can I live with it, I decided to cook with it.

Stocked Up on Stock

It's surprising what you find shoved in the back of your freezer.

Apparently our holidays were a homemade stock making frenzy.

  

• I called dibs on the Thanksgiving turkey carcass at my mom’s house.

• Husband and I made a roast chicken for a gathering. We normally don’t do a whole chicken for just the two of us. If we go that direction, it is with Cornish game hens.

• Husband and I made a corned beef brisket in the crock pot to eat during a wine review.

Husband made his famous Crock pot Stock with the chicken and turkey carcasses. Husband’s stock always tastes better than mine even when I follow his recipe. Most likely because I crowned him The King of Homemade Stock the first time he made it.

Royal titles make everything taste better.

My Never Fail Way to Get Kids to Eat Vegetables

Since I’m a foodie turned food blogger everyone assumes I grew up with yummy and wonderful homemade meals.

Photo courtesy of Amazon

Nope.

Sorry Mom.

My mom didn’t grow up cooking and she’s not a foodie.  To be polite there were meals put before me that I wasn’t particularly fond of – but I ate them anyway because that was our house rule. (Fortunately, that is no longer the case. Mom has some cook stuff up her culinary sleeve now.)

Ironically my sister and I ARE foodies, I’m sure that is the reason why.

Birdseye (the most fun group at Blissdom!) recorded my number one tip to give moms on how to get their kids to eat their vegetables. I embedded it below.

I Rediscovered My Food Writing Passion at Blissdom 2012

I always learn a lot and enjoy myself when I go to Blissdom. Blissdom2012 turned the dial up to 11 in no small part to me being a Newcomer Community Leader and leading session discussions for the Food/Entertainment niche during the conference.

Blissdom changed the session format from panel discussions with Q and A throughout to a 30 minute speaker, a 30 minute discussion on how to apply the topic to your niche/blog, followed by a group Q and A. I liked the new format but with all new things, it could use a few tweaks. Best of all, I loved the mentoring aspect of being a Community Leader. It made a good conference great for me!

Being a CL forced me out of my green and DIY bubble because I was a Food/Entertainment Community Leader too. It was the reminder I needed that there is a huge group of people that know me as Lazy Budget Chef, instead of Condo Blues. I recognized that my Little Sister blog, Lazy Budget Chef, is growing up and the experience renewed my passion for food writing. Especially after Instagraming the stout I was enjoying one evening (to make Husband jealous), which lead to my server Shelly, giving me a small taste of a Milk Stout and a Bourbon Barrel stout that are also available at the Gaylord Opryland, as well as an in depth flavor and taste discussion. That’s customer service people! (See my video below for another example that will blow your doors off!) 

Thank you so much for reading Lazy Budget Chef!

Through those sessions as well as hallway conversations with complete strangers, I rediscovered my passion for food writing.

 

I got to play with some super sweet photography equipment too. 

Thanks Picha Global!