Thai Green Curry with Vegetables

I can cross another of my favorite dishes off of my "Need to Copycat" list.  Yes!!!  I'm a girl who loves her Thai food, and now I can make my own Thai Green Curry whenever I want!  It is not exactly from scratch, but if you look up how to make green curry paste, there are a bunch of specialty ingredients that most people would have trouble locating outside of an Asian grocery store.  Besides, using prepared curry paste definitely saves a ton of time!

Before I share the recipe, I must mention that this is a great way to eat a lot of vegetables and you can customize it to whatever is in your refrigerator.  I happened to have a lot of zucchini and bell peppers from my mom's garden, and I threw them all into this delish dish.  Also, I had some very overgrilled, dry, tasteless chicken breasts in the freezer (leftover from an office function) that I didn't know how to prepare in a delicious way.  This is the perfect way to use them because the delicious sauce soaks into the chicken breasts, tenderizing them and imparting them with a delicious flavor.  Win win!

At first, I felt a little silly sharing a recipe that is basically located on the back of the jar, but some of you may not be familiar with green curry.  It is so fragrant and colorful, it is immediately one of the first items gobbled up when we get Thai food together.  A combination of chicken, veggies and coconut milk might sound odd to you, but the green curry paste totally pulls it all together!  Bon appetit!

Thai Green Curry Chicken
Adapted from here

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. coconut oil or other vegetable oil

2 Tbsp. Green curry paste

2 cans coconut milk

4 red bell peppers, sliced into strips
4 zucchini, cut into half moons

3 frozen grilled chicken breasts, thawed and sliced into strips

Brown sugar, to taste

Generous handful fresh basil, optional for garnish

Directions

Saturday synopsis!

I'm in New Orleans right now!

Please excuse the crazy formatting of these posts, but it's hard to blog without a computer. :(

To keep up with my fun (and delicious) picture updates, follow me on Instagram and Twitter.

Here's a sneak peek of Lil' Miss at Mothers, enjoying some po' boys and bread pudding!

Here are last week's posts in case you missed any.  :)

More About Me + Passing On the Liebster Award To...

Hello again!

You may remember that around 3 months ago, I was given The Liebster Award and posted about it here.  It was a lot of work to talk about myself, and even harder to find blogs to nominate and pass it on to, that fit the "under 200 follower" rule.  That's why I totally understand when the lovely Susanne of Bebe & J nominated me again!  Instead of taking a second Liebster for myself, I will pass on my place to one lucky blogger.  :)

But, I am still going to answer her questions for both her and you!

1. What is your favorite food?

I eat A LOT.  It may sound juvenile, but I absolutely love pasta.  Baked penne with marinara, butternut squash ravioli, corn tagliatelle, papardelle with lamb ragu, bowties with pesto & sun-dried tomatoes, traditional ramen noodles, and so on.  I can't get enough!

2. What is your go-to recipe for family dinners?

One of my faves has to be a veggie lasagna recipe that I could make in my sleep.  I promise to share it soon!

3. Whose blog are you really digging right now?

Guest Post: Summer Salad Ideas for Busy Bees!

Sorry with the lateness of this guest post, but I have to say that we can still enjoy these tips now, even though it's technically fall! Personally, my tomato plant is still going strong, and I am still buying super sweet plums from the markets. Perfect for these two recipes! 

Read on for Danielle's great tips!

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Even when you’re on holidays, time can get away from you pretty easily. Before you know it, the shadows are getting long and it’s evening time, and you haven’t made any movements toward dinner. That’s what long days will do to you. So, here are some simple summer salad (great alliteration) ideas that will have you throwing your evening meal together quickly and easily. Healthy, simple, easy meals can also be delivered to your home year-round.

Summer salad with mozzarella and fresh herbs

2 cups of any type of tomatoes, cubed

1 cup green grapes, halved

1/2 cup red onion, thinly sliced

1 cup fresh mozzarella, cubed

1 cup washed and dried basil leaves

2 Tbsp. minced thyme leaves

For the dressing:

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. honey

2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar

1 tsp. mustard

Just mix the salad ingredients together, whisk the dressing and pour on top. Yum!

Here's another beautiful looking salad!

Weekly Wrap-Up: Wedding weekend & food from around the world!

This week was sooo busy!  It was definitely a nice change from the last few weekends of virtual nothingness, but I'm pooped.  Really, I'm getting old and sounding like it more and more!

Here's my weekly recap!


Precap (jump to):

• Sights:  Wedding guest stuff, TV Time
• Eats:  Benley: A Vietnamese Kitchen, Pasty Kitchen, Sno Biggie, Dan Tana'S

Thursday

I had lunch with my mom, and we wanted to keep it to a certain neighborhood.  Being semi-unfamiliar with the neighborhood and wanting to avoid the fast food restaurants, a quick search brought up Benley: A Vietnamese Kitchen.  Seriously, our options were fast food or a modestly-priced, highly-rated restaurant in Zagat.  No contest!

I love the Cafe Du Monde coffee tin, which I will surely have to buy this weekend in New Orleans to recreate for myself!  My mom ordered the rolls, while I ordered the special of a half Banh Mi and pho bowl.  Both were chicken, and both were great!

Afterwards, she wanted to pick up a couple of pasties from Pasty Kitchen.  I have been eating these since I was a kid, but I haven't had one in ages!  This spring when I went to London, I ate real Cornish pasties for this first time.  Although, they call these "English meat pies" and I love them, they're not the same as the pasties in England!

First of all, the three options are beef (white paper), chicken (not pictured), and veggie (yellow paper).  There are not as many flavors as in England, but when it's good, you don't need all the variations.  The crust is nice and thin with tons of filling inside, but it stays together without crumbling.  I would totally steal this recipe for myself and make all kinds of pasties if I could!  Breakfast pasties, dessert pasties, and everything in between...

Anyways, I brought a couple home to show you guys, and to enjoy myself at a later date.  :)

Tools For Tracing Sewing Patterns

*Update: The tutorial on how trace a sewing pattern is here*

It's less than a week to our deadline for the Refashioning the 1960's Challenge!  Today, I'm most likely going to spend some time doing some pattern tracing since I'm not totally ready to cut my size out of the pattern yet.  There's nothing worse than destroying a pattern only to realize that you needed a different size.

Do any of you trace your sewing patterns?

Since I don't have the finished project to share with you yet, I thought that I would share the tools that make it easy to trace all of those pattern pieces!

Fig & Honeyed Goat Cheese Tartlettes

On the same day that I made the Skinny Peach Cheesecake from last week, I decided to make another dessert with some fresh figs.  It was exciting because I have never, ever used fresh figs in a recipe before!  I ended up doubling the recipe for the cheesecake crust and made a perfect accompanying filling for the figs.  Tangy goat cheese sweetened with honey!

As I said, the crust is the exact same almond crust from the cheesecake, which works so perfectly with the rustic flavors of the fig and honey.  Besides, I love the texture that can stand up to the creamy goat cheese.  Deee-lish!

Fig & Honeyed Goat Cheese Tartlettes
Inspired by Eating Richly & Call Me PMc
Makes 8 mini tartlettes

Ingredients

• 2 cups almond flour or almond meal (I used almond meal, which makes for a "grittier" less smooth crust)
• 3 Tbsp. real maple syrup
• 1 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1/8 tsp. salt

• 8 oz. goat cheese (chevre)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup honey, divided
• 8 figs

Saturday Synopsis!

I'm getting a haircut right now!

This shouldn't be news, but for me it is.  I usually wait until I can't stand how my hair looks to schedule an appointment.  It can be anytime from 5 months to over a year.  Anyways, about 2 weeks ago, I decided that it was time for a haircut.  However, as we know, I'm not a girly girl and I thought it would be best to have my long overdue appointment on our friend's wedding day to avoid having to style my hair.

Smart or lazy?  I'm not sure.  :)

That's four different scissors and a rotary cutter in my sewing basket that I almost cut my hair with during a hissy fit.

Here are last week's posts in case you missed any.  :)

Monogrammed Glass Cookie Jar

Last month, I was invited to a friend and her husband's birthday party.  Yes, they have the same birthday!  The year before, I made a beautiful (and time-consuming) nectarine tart from scratch.  I knew that I would not have as much time to get a gift together AND I needed it to be a joint gift, which made it a bit harder.

They were married less than a year ago (I wore this dress to their winter wedding), so I decided to do something a little sneaky.  I stole the monogram from their wedding invitation!  It was for a good cause, of course.  :)

In the end, I made a Monogrammed Glass Cookie Jar for them to enjoy their sweet life and sweet desserts together!

I used Silhouette Studio to trace the monogram from a scan of their invitation.  Then, I used the vinyl as a stencil for the glass cookie jar I purchased.

6 Things About Me

A couple of weeks ago, Brittany tagged me in her "6 Things About Me" post!  What a sweet girl, right?  These questions are completely different than the ones in my Liebster Award post, so you'll get to know a bit more about me!  Also, scroll down to see if I tag you next!  :)


1) What is your favorite animal and why?

Hummingbirds!  They were all over my parents' garden growing up, and I loved how they would zip from flower to flower.  Also, they're so tiny and cute that they would totally cheer me up when I spotted one.  :)

No flower pictures, but some of the plants in my mom's garden!

2) Would you prefer a city break or a sun, sea, and sand vacation?

City break!  I'm totally an L.A. city girl.  Can you tell by the fact that my last few vacays that have been in Vegas, New York, and big cities in Europe?

3) If you could travel to one place in the world, where would it be?

Weekly Wrap-Up? + Random Acts of Blogging #2!

So...

It has finally happened.  I don't have any fun adventures to post this week.  Not a single friend outing to report on.  Most shockingly, I didn't even eat anything particularly interesting...  You are all gasping in amazement right now, right?

Basically, while I can't add anything to my foodie page, I will have a bunch of fun dishes to share with you in the near future.  I spent some time in my kitchen and editing pictures on my computer.  Fun!  In fact, you have already seen the Croissant Apple Bread Pudding with Coconut Crisp Topping that I whipped up last week.

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Since this is a weekly wrap-up to summarize what's been going on in my life, I thought to myself, why not share another round of Random Acts of Blogging?  First up, a few statistics that I thought were pretty interesting plus more WACKY SEARCH PHRASES!  Remember, that I have a small blog here, so don't make fun of how low my pageviews are, etc.

1. Top Countries

No surprise here, but English-speaking countries are at the top here, but France is more interested in my blog than Australia.  Go figure!

2. All countries

Since March, I decided to keep track of any new countries that popped up on my pageviews.  I thought it was super interesting, especially from countries that I would never have guessed would be interested in taking a peek.  Also, I admittedly was stumped as to where Jersey was, until I looked it up and found out that it is a "dependency."  Neat!  Also, sorry Sint Maarten, because apparently it thinks that you are misspelled...

3. Top Posts

Beginner's Guide to Hemming Pants

Hello!  Here's a mini tutorial for all you sewing newbies out there.

If you're not familiar with my story, I had two goals when I started learning how to sew:
(1) Hem my pants so they look neat.
(2) Make a simple tank dress just like this!

Check and check!

Well, my mom went to a high school reunion recently and bought 4 new pairs of pants to pack for the flight.  I inherited her small stature (we barely clear 5 feet), so she asked if I could hem them all for her.  While hemming them, I figured that I would snap a few pictures to help anyone out there who needs to hem as much as I do!

What You Will Need

• Pants & the Pants owner
• Matching thread
• Chakoner or fabric marking pen
• Seam gauge
• Iron & ironing board
• Sewing machine or needle & thread
• Optional: Seam ripper

Skinny Peach Cheesecake

Several weeks ago, I was having a craving for a real dessert.  I had a ton of yogurt and fruit, but I was not in the mood for the Yogurt & Fruit Cups that I typically have.  Imagine how excited I was to see a recipe for a yogurt cheesecake on a link party, and I had all of the ingredients on hand.  Yes!!!

Not only was the recipe super easy, it was super fast in the food processor.  And this is from someone who has never made (but loves) cheesecake!  Obviously, this was my first time using a spring-form pan, but luckily I had borrowed my mom's with the intention of making a cheesecake someday.  I am pretty sure that she has never even used it!

From my Instagram feed!  Follow me at @vintagezest

A bunch of you would have already seen the picture above from my Instagram feed (@vintagezest) and seen the half-slice I sneaked!  Anyways, the cheesecake more of a light, whipped texture vs. dense and thick.  We all loved it!  It is also a bit more tart than a typical cheesecake, so for the extreme sweet-lovers, you may want to add a bit more sweetener or roast the peaches beforehand to enhance the sweetness.  However, everyone here (including my aunt with a sweet tooth) totally loved it as is.  Bon appetit!

Skinny Peaches & Cream Greek Yogurt Cheesecake

From Call Me PMc

Saturday Synopsis!

Typically, this is how I feel about football.

Source unknown

Sorry, but I got lots to cook/sew/organize/craft/watch/read on Sunday!  I'll cheer on my alma mater (in spirit) when it comes to college games, but I'm not a super-fan of professional teams.

However, I joined my sister's Pick' Em League with our boyfriends and a few other people just so I could pretend that I'm fun.  The funny part is that I made it to 2nd place even though my boyfriend and I missed the first game of the week.  Even funnier is that I'm ahead of him!  Guess which name is mine and which name is his.  :)

Here are last week's posts in case you missed any.  :)

Saturday Synopsis!

Monday:  Tutorial time!  How to widen camisole stripes and how to make your own maxi dress!

Tuesday:  Quick and Easy Sweet & Sour Mini Turkey Meatballs.  Perfect for football season, even if you're not watching the games.  :)

Wednesday:  A moment of silence.

Thursday:  Weekly wrap-up time!  Chores and yummy food!

Friday:  My recipe for Quick & Easy Croissant Apple Bread Pudding with Coconut Crisp Topping.  IT. IS. AWESOME.  Can you tell if we liked it a teensy bit?  :)

Quick & Easy Croissant Apple Bread Pudding with Coconut Crisp Topping

Many of you may remember my S'mores Mini Donuts recipe from last month that I threw together in a matter of minutes before a party.  It was super popular because with such busy lifestyles, we all need super easy recipes that are impressive without taking up tons of time.  This time, I had to put together a dessert for the whole family and I was pulling my hair out trying to think of a quick recipe that would please everyone.  One trip to Smart & Final's convenient premade dessert table and 20 minutes later, I had this amazing bread pudding in the oven!

Here is my MUST TRY Croissant Apple Bread Pudding with Coconut Crisp Topping, perfect for a fall dessert or brunch!

For the flavor profile, I wanted to let you know that this isn't your typical overly sweet bread pudding.  Although the pudding is more subtly flavored, the coconut crisp topping is nice and sweet in contrast, and the whole family will love it!

The best part of my recipe is that you can make this in a hurry and embellish a few Smart & Final premade treats to make a fabulous dessert when you don't have time to bake from scratch.  No need to cut apples, measure flour/sugar/spices, season your own crumble topping, or make a drizzle.  If you aren't a baker or an experienced cook, this is an especially great recipe to try out.  Everyone will be so impressed!

Croissant Apple Bread Pudding with Coconut Crisp Topping
A Vintage Zest original recipe

Ingredients

5 First Street Sliced Croissants

First Street Bakery 8" Dutch Apple Pie

4 large eggs
2 cans evaporated milk

9 First Street Bakery Coconut Macaroons
Powdered sugar, for dusting

Weekly Wrap-Up!

I hope you won't mind that I'm a day late with my Weekly Wrap-Up that I typically post on Wednesdays.  Yesterday was the twelfth anniversary of September 11, and I felt a little silly for posting about fun adventures with friends and food, out of respect for those affected.


Precap (jump to):

• Sights:  German dinner @ friend's house
• Eats:  Bai Plu, Yogurtland

Friday

That night, we met with some friends and had some good hang-out time at their house.  I snapped a picture of my sausage piled high with sauerkraut and some potatoes before digging in.  :)

Saturday

My guy had a bachelor party to attend, so I had the whole day to myself!  I had a huge lunch with my mom, aunt, and uncle at Bai Plu.  They ordered a hot pot soup and shrimp spring rolls.

I went with ebi and a sushi roll.  The roll on the bottom had baked scallops on top.  Fancy!

Quick and Easy Sweet & Sour Mini Turkey Meatballs #kraftrecipemakers

Is it me or did football season come around quicker this year?  Of course, that means that every Sunday we need to feed the whole crew with quick and easy finger foods.  When I'm so busy over the week, the last thing I want to do is spend a ton of time planning and cooking all weekend.

When I found out about Kraft Recipe Makers (#kraftrecipemakers), I was ecstatic because I knew that I could cook up a crowd pleaser for very little effort (and money).  These sweet and sour turkey meatballs are moist and flavorful, and I can whip them up no time flat.  Perfect!

Not only are the Kraft Recipe Maker kits super easy to use, they come in a variety of flavors that will make it super easy to switch up our party dishes.  Also, each kit has three different recipes with each box.  Perfect if you're not sure what to cook!

Here's my spin on one of their recipes, Sweet & Sour Turkey Meatballs!

Sweet & Sour Mini Turkey Meatballs
Inspired by Kraft Recipe Makers recipes
Makes 35 mini meatballs, or 18 regular-sized meatballs

Ingredients

6 green onions
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 lb. ground turkey
1 pkg. (14.8 oz.) Kraft Recipe Makers Sweet & Sour Chicken, divided

I used the recipe inside the box!

Directions

Tutorial: Make Your Own Maxi! + Upcycle a Camisole with Broken Straps

Last week, I shared the Maxi Dress I made from an upcycled camisole and some pretty fabric.  Click on over to see prettier and more detailed pictures of my new fave dress!

Remember, I had a camisole that was too tight with a twisted strap, but I loved the color and didn't want to trash it.  I also wanted to the camisole to have thicker straps so that I could wear a normal bra without showing off my underwear!  Instead of using other fabric and having straps that didn't match, I figured out an easy way to make my own straps and a cute dress in the process!

Here's my tutorial on how to repair all of those broken straps and make your own maxi!

What You Will Need

• Camisole with (or without) broken straps
• Matching thread
• Measuring tape
• Chakoner or marking tool
• Maxi skirt (I have no specific pattern for you to use, but I will give a general explanation on how to make a complete maxi dress)

If you do not need to fix your straps, skip to step 18.

1. Measure the length of your normal strap.  (Mine was 13.5")
2. Measure the width of your desired strap.  (Mine was 1.75")

Saturday Synopsis!

We've been having a heat wave here in California.  It finally feels like summer has arrived, and it's already September!  It reminds me of being back in Nashville, but at least not nearly as humid.

Anyways, I want to get my maxi dress finished so I can wear it before the fall weather comes around permanently.  Hopefully, I get to it sometime this weekend!

Here are last week's posts in case you missed any.  :)

Saturday Synopsis!

Monday:  Happy Labor Day!

Tuesday:  My upcycled emerald striped maxi dress.  It's definitely one of my favorite garments!

Wednesday:  Wanna know what loukoumades and siopao are?  Click to find out why they're a couple of my fave foods!

Thursday:  I co-hosted the last ever Grow Your Blog Networking Party.  You still have time to join up!

Friday:  Check out this awesome foil pack recipe for jerk chicken from guest poster Jess from Plucky's Second Thought!

Guest Post: Foil Packet Jerk Chicken from Plucky's Second Thought

Hi everyone!

Today's guest poster is Plucky from Plucky’s Second Thought.  Way back in June, I co-hosted her link-up party, so you may remember her from back then.  :)  Like I mentioned, she had an amazing series of blogging tips that you definitely should check from the big names in blogging, whether you are just starting out like me, or a seasoned pro.  :)

Check out this recipe for foil packet jerk chicken first, and then pop over to say hello on her blog!

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Hello all! I'm Plucky from Plucky’s Second Thought…but most call me Jess. :) Why "Plucky" you may ask? Well, it was a nickname when I was younger and it was one that was never forgotten! At Plucky’s Second Thought I try to post easy craft projects and recipes that anyone could accomplish. Yep, you don’t have to be Martha Stewart or Rachael Ray to attempt anything on my blog! There are also a variety of travel and product reviews as well as some awesome giveaways and link parties! :)



This is a YUMMY summer recipe that everyone in the family will for sure love! You could make this on a grill or even in doors in a skillet! Did I mention that it was easy to make? :) ENJOY!

Grow Your Blog Networking Party (I'm Co-hosting!)

Hi everyone!

At the beginning of the summer, I was co-hosting a bunch of link parties to kick off the busy season.  It's only fitting that I finish the end of summer off with a bang, and another fun link party!

I'm honored that I have the chance to host the last Grow Your Blog Networking Party before they institute the new format.  Link up, meet new blogs, and get inspired while you can!

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Good morning and welcome to the Grow Your Blog Networking Party.

Want to stay up to date with This Gal Cooks? Let's be friends!

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Announcement

Weekly Wrap-Up: Sewing, Ethnic foods & Movie time!

This week was a doozy!  What with the holiday and three day weekend, I feel completely off.  Besides, I have been fighting a sore throat this whole week and my sleep patterns are as terrible as can be.

Still, I found time to squeeze in some fun things to do.  :)  Here's what I was up to!


Precap (jump to):

• Activities: Sewing a maxi dress, mending, movie time & Greek Festival
• Eats: Simmzy's, Maria's Kusina

Thursday

I had a little bit of time, so I broke out the sewing machine to repair a couple of items for the gym.  My knee brace had lost its hook & loop tape (AKA Velcro) "stickiness" and I had a little hole in my weight lifting gloves.  They're as good as new now!

The before picture.

Friday

I had my cousin's kid over for one last time before school started.  Yes, she's the same little buddy whom I took school supply shopping and the one that I gave sewing lessons to.  I killed two birds with one stone and got started on my maxi dress for The Sew Weekly Reunion, while showing her a few things like how to hem neatly.  Those are her itty bitty hands in the first picture of the post!

Upcycled Emerald Maxi Dress for The Sew Weekly Reunion

*Update* Here is the tutorial on how to make your own!

I was reading Cation Designs a bit more than a month ago when she mentioned The Sew Weekly Reunion.  Seeing as how I didn't know how to sew the first time The Sew Weekly was up and running, I wasn't sure if I would want to crash the reunion.

After a moment to ponder, I decided that I should, and here's my submission to the reunion!

The challenge theme was to utilize the Pantone Fashion Colors of Fall 2013.

As soon as I heard what they were, I was at a loss because it meant that I had to sort through my stash to find a color that would suit the challenge.  Luckily, I was about to finish cataloging my entire fabric stash!

I used this lovely fabric with an emerald, wavy stripe for the skirt.

As for the shirt, I had something that I had been kicking around for a while.  For some reason, my laundry machine has been chewing up my camisole straps lately.  No matter what I do (tie the straps in a knot, lighten the laundry load, etc.) they keep getting twisted up.  Besides the chewed up strap, I wasn't a fan of these anyways.  They were too tight around the bottom after I washed them once, and my bra straps always showed.  However, it was the perfect color to match!

Here is a close-up view of my new pieced-together straps!  Not perfect, but pretty good.  :)  I'll have a tutorial coming up.  :)

Happy Labor Day!

Yes, it's not typical to wish people a happy Labor Day, but I truly hope that you have one!

Labor Day means the unofficial end of summer (boo!), but with the heat wave that has been going on lately, I won't mind a bit of crisp air when fall rolls around.  :)  Until then, I'll enjoy the last bit of coconut ice cream in my freezer.  :)

Also, good luck to anyone finding deals if you choose to partake of any holiday sales.  :)  Maybe I should get the huge cutting mat that I have been eying for a while now...