today, i'm finally starting to crawl out of my post christmas coma. i've been eat, sleep, yoga, repeat for two full days now and i'm starting to feel like a semi normal person again. 

for years now i've been dreaming of my first holiday season feeding people for a living. and while it was so rewarding, good lord was it a grind. totally worth it, but it explains my relentless need to netflix and chill. 

so i'm going to continue to keep it mellow this week. but mellow doesn't mean it can't be delicious. sometimes the simplest things are the tastiest. one of my all time favorite foods is a simple salad with tasty homemade croutons. they are the perfect use for day old bread you couldn't finish and you can keep them on hand for a few days stored in an airtight container. 

seasoned croutons
serves: 4 cups croutons
prep time: 10 minutes
cook time: 20 minutes
total time: 30 minutes
ingredients: 4 cups day old bread, sliced into 1 inch cubes. 4 tablespoons butter. 3 garlic cloves, minced. 1 tsp dried oregano. 1 tsp dried parsley. 1 tsp dried thyme. .25 cup olive oil. .5 tsp salt. .25 tsp fresh ground pepper.
start by preheating your oven to 375 degrees f. 

while your oven is preheating, place the butter in a large oven safe pan over medium heat. melt the butter and toss in the rest of the ingredients. stir everything together well so all the bread is lightly coated with herbs, butter and olive oil. 

toast the bread in the pan for about 10 minutes, stirring every few until all the bread is lightly toasted. 

transfer the pan to the oven and bake till crispy. about 7-10 minutes. stir every couple of minutes so everything is evenly crisped. 

allow to cool and use as desired. i won't judge you if you eat them all by themselves. 

xo, a

seasoned croutons
serves: 4 cups croutons
prep time: 10 minutes
cook time: 20 minutes
total time: 30 minutes
ingredients: 4 cups day old bread, sliced into 1 inch cubes. 4 tablespoons butter. 3 garlic cloves, minced. 1 tsp dried oregano. 1 tsp dried parsley. 1 tsp dried thyme. .25 cup olive oil. .5 tsp salt. .25 tsp fresh ground pepper.
start by preheating your oven to 375 degrees f.
while your oven is preheating, place the butter in a large oven safe pan over medium heat. melt the butter and toss in the rest of the ingredients. stir everything together well so all the bread is lightly coated with herbs, butter and olive oil. toast the bread in the pan for about 10 minutes, stirring every few until all the bread is lightly toasted.
transfer the pan to the oven and bake till crispy. about 7-10 minutes. stir every couple of minutes so everything is evenly crisped.
allow to cool and use as desired. i won't judge you if you eat them all by themselves. 

when i tell people that i am a cook, they naturally assume that i'm eating like a king. and when people come over to our house for dinner and we make them a decadent meal, i often receive comments of disbelief that we eat that way every night. 

well guess what? i surely do not eat like a king every day and daily dinner's at my house look a lot more like a combo of left over food made for others and reheated trader joe's meals. 

even the cook has a busy life and has a hard time getting in tasty, satisfying meals. 

so i try to do the little extra things when i have some down time that will make my meal prepping easier when i'm really in a pinch. 

one of my go to items to have in the house is caramelized onions. they can be added to pasta, burgers, sandwiches, eggs and you get the point. caramelized onions are versatile. they are easy to make ahead and will keep through out the week in the fridge for quick and easy use. 

many people will give you different trips and tricks on how to best caramelize onions, but here is what i think is the easiest way to get the most flavor and bang for your buck. the major key in my mind is the type of onion you select. yellow or brown onions are often lower in price then their white or red friends and they have a higher sugar content so you don't need to add sugar to them to get them to caramelize. 

caramelized onion
serves: about .5 cup caramelized onion
prep time: 1 minute
cook time: 30 minutes
total time: 31 minutes
ingredients: 1 yellow (some stores will call them brown) or spanish onion. 2 tbs olive oil. .5 tsp salt. .25 tsp fresh pepper. 

start by slicing your onion in half, and then cutting it into .25 inch strips. 

add all your ingredients together in a large pan. toss well till the onions are lightly coated with olive oil, salt and pepper. 

now here is the key... patience. 

cook your onions, stirring every few minutes till they are caramelized. this will take 20-30 minutes. 

first they will become translucent. 

then they will start to brown. 

and before you know it, they will be nice and caramelized.

enjoy however you like, but i highly recommend this grilled cheese as a good place to start. 

xo, a

caramelized onion
serves: about .5 cup caramelized onion
prep time: 1 minute
cook time: 30 minutes
total time: 31 minutes
ingredients: 1 yellow (some stores will call them brown) or spanish onion. 2 tbs olive oil. .5 tsp salt. .25 tsp fresh pepper.
start by slicing your onion in half, and then cutting it into .25 inch strips.
add all your ingredients together in a large pan. toss well till the onions are lightly coated with olive oil, salt and pepper.
now here is the key... patience.
cook your onions, stirring every few minutes till they are caramelized. this will take 20-30 minutes.
first they will become translucent.
then they will start to brown.
and before you know it, they will be nice and caramelized.
enjoy however you like, but i highly recommend this grilled cheese as a good place to start.