Noelle likes Good Food

Hello, my name is Noelle and I am researchaholic. I have an idea and then I spend hours and hours researching before I finally take the plunge. Case in point. A year ago I got it into my head that I wanted to make soap. Six months ago I bought the lye and essential oils. 3 weeks ago I finally made my first batch. The crazy thing is that it didn't take long at all and was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I have already made four different batches, and I will be posting a series of recipes. But today we will start with my first ever batch of soap. Lavender Rosemary.  Actually, before I walk you through the steps, lets cover the basics so you know what is going on. To make real soap (not the melt and pour kind you get at your local craft store) you need two things. Sodium Hydroxide (Lye) and Fat. The lye is mixed with water to create a solution that is then mixed into melted fats and blended together. The measurements are extremely important and can be calculated on a sit...

I love international grocery stores. Tasting new ingredients and new foods is an exhilarating experience for me, and one of the best places to do that is in an international market. I went to Super-H Mart (an asian supermarket in Buford) yesterday to stock up on some rice and other essentials like siracha, fish sauce, and rice noodles. If you have never shopped at an Asian, Mexican, or International Market you are missing out. They have all kinds of interesting things to look at, and most everything is translated so you know what it is. The store I went to yesterday were giving out samples like they do in warehouse stores like Costco or Sams. Except the items they were putting out were not typical Sams fare. They were sampling salted mackeral, furikake, and wasabi rice puffs.  Whenever I go to these kinds of places I always try to pick up at least one thing I am not familiar with to try and expand my culinary repertoire. I found many things yesterday that I am very excited to exp...

I was feeling adventurous yesterday. Or maybe it had more to do with the fact that we have an empty fridge and I didn't feel like going to the store. Of course, I never really feel like going to to the store. But I guess that is just life.  I have always wanted to try making my own pasta. But, it just never happened. I thought that to do it right I needed a pasta machine or else it would be super complicated and take more time than it was worth. But, with some extra spaghetti sauce, no packaged noodles, and no other better ideas for dinner... I decided to give it a go.  Surprisingly, it didn't take that long at all. I had a lot of fun making them, and yeah, the noodles were really really good.  Start off with 2 cups of whole wheat flour ( I used King Arthur's 100% Whole Wheat) and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Make a well in the center and crack in two eggs. Add in 2 Tablespoons of olive oil. Mix around with your hands and then knead for 4-5 minutes until smooth and elas...

I used to dislike cauliflower. It was always mushy, and tasteless. But recently I started roasting it in the oven, and I will never go back. It gets a bit crispy around the edges and still retains that satisfying crunch without being bitter. I love eating cauliflower this way.  I made roasted cauliflower, baked tilapia, and polenta for dinner tonight. I thought it was super tasty. This post is for anyone that has sworn off of cauliflower. Maybe experience has led you to believe that it is a vegetable that is destined to become bland mush. But I am here to tell you that it can be made into something flavorful, crisp tender, and fabulous! The great news is that it is also in season right now. So grab a head a cauliflower on your next trip to the grocery store and roast away. Roasted Cauliflower: Serves 4-6 as a side dish 1 head of cauliflower Olive oil Salt and Pepper Paprika Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut up one cauliflower and spread it out on a large pan. Drizzle wi...

This came to be quite accidentally, and I thought it was super tasty! So I thought I would share the recipe with you. I know Chris has been wanting potato salad lately and I had a plan to make it for dinner last night. I am not a big fan of mayo and so my thought was to substitute it with plain yogurt. However, when I was at the store the other day, it had to get cut because I was didn't want to go over budget. I have recently been taking a calculator to the store to help me stick to my budget and it has helped SOO much! Alas, I did not bring any yogurt and I refused to use mayonnaise. I wanted it to have a good flavor because I was going to mix in some sweet potatoes and I don't really like sweet potatoes. Consider this one of many recent attempts to get myself to like them. Yes, I realize that they are super good for me and a lot better than potatoes, but I can't seem to get past that they are sweet and mushy. Hmmm.. So I used some olive oil, garlic, and some dried he...