Firstly, I want to say a huge THANK YOU for your support with Project Food Blog. Week after week, I have been blown away by the incredible positivity and support that you have given me. My husband, family, friends, and readers have stood by my side for the past 3 months. I’ve known this from day one, but I seriously have the most amazing support a blogger could EVER ask for. I won Reader’s Choice 5 times out of 9 in the contest, so that just tells you how awesome you guys have been to me.
I did not end up winning the contest, but I would like to applaud Tiny Urban Kitchen for her win in Project Food Blog. The real value of this competition for me has been the learning experience, growth, ignited passion, and the platform to show you what I love to do.
Tonight marks the beginning of the first free weekend I have had since the start of Project Food Blog way back in September. I really don’t know what I will do with myself. Well, you know…except blog, bake, and try to fix the disaster that is my house. I feel like I have 3 months of my life to catch up on.
Oh, and I decided that I am not ready for 2011 yet…
It feels like I just wrote my 10 in 2010 resolution list and now I will be writing another one soon. It will be fun to go over though. I’m looking forward to doing a couple recaps in the next 2 weeks. I’m also very excited to tell you all about my new goals for 2011…and find out what you are shooting for too!
Yesterday, I came across Pioneer Woman’s Pico De Gallo and I suddenly found myself with a huge craving for the fresh, crisp, and clean flavours that make up this Mexican delight.
And then Pico de Gallo turned into something a bit crazy and my kitchen now looks a bit like this.
Ok, it actually it looked much, much worse.
So bad, in fact, I chose not to take a picture for fear that you would all abandon me in horror.
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Pico de Gallo
Pioneer Woman says the key to a successful and authentic Pico de Gallo is ensuring that you have an equal proportion of onion, tomato, and Cilantro. I think she is onto something because this came out delicious and very authentic!
Adapted from Pioneer Woman.
Ingredients:
- 2 large tomatoes
- 1 large bunch of Cilantro (approx 1/2-3/4 cup), thick stems removed, roughly chopped
- 1 large sweet onion
- 1 lime
- 1-2 Jalapeno peppers or other hot pepper
- Kosher salt, to taste
Directions: Finely chop the onion, tomatoes, and hot pepper. Note that the seeds inside the hot pepper are the most heat-producing, so you can remove the seeds if you don’t want it super hot. Remove thick stems of the Cilantro and then roughly chop. Mix the onion, tomato, hot pepper, and Cilantro in a bowl and squeeze fresh lime juice on top. Stir well and then season with kosher salt to taste.
Makes about 4 cups worth and lasts only for about 24 hours or so. Seal in an airtight container to keep it fresh. Use in quesadillas, tacos, fajitas, or just enjoy with some of your favourite nacho chips!
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To make, grab your Pico de Gallo rock stars…
My grocery store did not have jalapeno peppers, so I grabbed this one above, which I believe is some kind of banana chili pepper.
It was hot.
And it worked.
Chop your little heart out. Actually don’t…that wouldn’t be nice.
Chop the veggies up.
I removed the seeds of my hot peppers because Eric is not a big fan of spicy foods and the seeds contain the most heat.
I think Cilantro is one of my all time favourite smells. It is so clean and fresh! Almost like a just out of the shower kind of smell. Mmm.
Mix the above together in a large bowl and squeeze with the juice of 1 lime (or to taste)…
Stir well.
Now you have Pico de Gallo that will rock your face off.
But of course, I could not just leave it at that!
I had avocados to be rescued…
Easy Guacamole
Adapted from Pioneer Woman.
Ingredients:
- 4 ripe avocados
- 1 cup of Pico de Gallo
- Kosher salt, to taste
Directions: Cut your avocados in half and remove the pits. Roughly chop the avocado flesh and then take a fork and mash it up until you have the consistency that you want. I like to leave lots of big chunks in there! Now add 1 cup of Pico de Gallo and mix gently. Season with kosher salt to taste.
Once you have your Pico de Gallo made, this could not be any easier!
You mash up 4 avocados with a fork. I like to leave it nice and chunky.
Add 1 cup of Pico and gently mix.
There you have it!
Easy and fresh Guacamole in a jiffy.
But, no, I did not stop there.
I was thinking one thing and one thing only.
7 Layer Mexican Dip.
Once I set my mind on something there is no turning back.
I chopped about 1/2 cup of spinach greens.
Then I grabbed a can of black beans.
Added in some olive oil, kosher salt, and cumin and I processed it leaving it nice and chunky!
Then I processed together some vegan sour cream with a taco seasoning package.
Then I made my cheese sauce from my Vegan Mac ‘n cheese.
I grabbed some green onions…
Before I knew it, magic happened.
Ok, it wasn’t magic, it was actually a lot of work (1.5 hours start to finish!), but the outcome was awesome!
And now I must go clean up.
Coming up in my next post…Homemade Peppermint Nog and Vegan Eggnog. Very excited.
You most certainly are the reader’s choice, and in the grand scheme of things, the opinion of thousands of readers is a heck of a lot more important than a decision made by 3 people. Thanks for continually inspiring me to align my eating practices with my ethical beliefs AND to like myself! Aside from food, you bring a lot of other great things to the world on your corner of the blogosphere. Keep up the good work :-)
Congratulations on going so far in the competition! You are a fabulous blogger and I always love reading (and making!) your delicious recipes :)
And now I’m off to make that dip!
Congrats on being done!!! You did so well and you are truly amazing and an inspiration to me!!! Even though you didn’t “win” it doesn’t mean anything…it’s just a label and you truly did amazing and it’s all how you feel and how you take it and think about it….thats what matters! So I hope you realize just how awesome you are and how great of a job you did!!!!!
Oh Ange I hope you’re doing ok. You put everything into that and I’m completely blown away that you didn’t win. You deserved it so much…I don’t get what happened. I’m not sure how they judged it – if it was just a count of votes or if the judges made the final call…but it just doesn’t seem right. Your blog just explodes with all the energy and enthusiasm you have and it seemed your were a shoe-in for sure (esp after the dinner party – I’m still reeling from that!). As many have said, this entry shows that you have so much integrity and compassion for your fellow competitors, which of course matters so much more than a contest in the long run. I just wish you could have won TOO lol. So glad you can relax and have some much deserved time to yourself. THANK YOU for putting on such a spectacular show of your talent for us all. It was FABULOUS and I can’t wait to see what 2011 brings for you. :-D
Thank you Bree!
The voting was 50% judges and 50% Foodbuzz featured publishers. For some reason they decided not to count public votes in this round.
I’m sorry you didn’t win! But it’s still awesome how much you’ve learned and accomplished through this contest! And it was so fun reading all about it for these past few months. :D
You did an amazing job :) Congratulations on making it to the final round… you deserve it! By the way, I listed your blog on my latest blog entry on must-read blogs. If you’re interested, go check it out!
http://veemoze.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/the-friday-five-must-read-blogs/
Congrats once again!
Great job on project food blog!!! I know you put a ton of work into each and every post and I, along with tons of other readers, loved reading all your entries.
I made a 7 layer dip inspired meatless Mexican dish on Monday and could not for the life of me figure out 2 of the layers were. Ha!
I’m disappointed you didn’t win of course but the fact you came so far is so impressive. Thanks for all the progress you made for vegan food along the way. SO appreciated!
The dip looks delicious! Kick back and relax now!
Sweetie I’m so sorry you didn’t win but you definitely deserved it!! You did such an amazing job, and following your posts were an enormous inspiration.
I’m thrilled to see that you’ve launched into your latest recipe post with something that looks as incredible as all of your food buzz entries – you’ve obviously taken so much away from your experience, and I can’t wait to read more!!
Hey Ang, you did amazing those 3 months and you should be proud of yourself!
I just made this pico de gallo… omg it is so delicious!! Thank you for the recipe!
Have a good FREE weekend!
You did an amazing job with PFB! Congrats :-)
I love 7 layer dip! Yours looks fantastic and well worth the effort.
What a refreshing approach to 7-layer dip. I would love a nice, big bowl of this! :)
enjoy your weekend, angela! you deserve a break!
congratulations on how far you travelled on your journey with this contest. it’s like you were in the food olympics, representing canada! and we are proud of you! :)
Had to pick my chin up off the desk when the PFB winner was announced. Utter shock on my face I’m sure. You were consistent and strong throughout the entire thing. I don’t see how it could’ve ended any other way than you winning. Regardless, you are the class in classy and you will go far with your talent. And, by the way, that dip looks amazing! I would pay money for it! lol
I know we are basically strangers, but I feel like I know you after following your blog for the last year. Your blog was actually the first I ever read and I am now starting the journey of my own blog because of your inspiration. I felt proud to be an Oh She Glows reader each time you advanced and felt major nervous excitement for you all morning waiting for the results. All I can say is congratulations on all that you’ve accomplished during each challenge and I can’t wait to see whats next on the horizon for you.
I am so shocked that you didn’t win! You were definitely the best choice!!!
Whole Foods and Earth Balance are running a holiday cooking contest right now for cookies and cakes using Earth Balance. I think that would be an easy win for you and much less stressful :)
Congratulations. I am neither vegan or a fitness addict. I’m a mom who loves to cook for her kids but doesn’t always make the healthiest things. I’m also from Brazil, I eat tons of meat. We have very little in common but I must say that I really enjoyed this post. You were so true to your blog and to your writing style throughout the entire competition. You should be proud of the community you’d built around yourself. You are very much loved.
Great post and (not to sound like a stage mom) I’m really surprised you didn’t win! I think the way you vegan-ized traditional cuisine was completely inspiring and would have been a wonderful addition to the Food Buzz site. Plus, your food is beautiful but also accessible; healthy food that lots of people can learn to make. Ah well, no doubt a cookbook is in your future :)
your comments mean the WORLD to me…Thanks everyone xo