Well Hello There

Yes, yes, yes, it has been a while. Like a lifetime. Just about forever. I know, I know.

What has happened within the past, what, 2 years or so, I started my toughest semesters at school (and graduated this past May), worked some "real, big girl" jobs that took up a lot of my time, and then decided I wanted to be creative again and start my blog back up because I've missed it. My TimeHop would continually remind me of all the awesome recipes I use to make and how much I missed doing it.

So here I am. Back with a new idea and ready to get started.

Let's start with, I am a college graduate!! Woot Woot!! I now have my bachelors in Foods and Nutrition! (The joke in my family is that I know foods! This gives me lots of rights to do this blog, haha.) I am starting on my Masters in Nutrition in the Fall, so my school journey is still continuing. Only 4 more semesters!!

I have a new job with ShopRite, Saker ShopRites to be exact. I am running one of their Nutrition Centers. They are stepping up into the "Health Food World" and placing a section in their stores that carries organic, gluten-free, and all natural foods, with someone that understands and can answer questions about nutrition. It is a fun, newish frontier for me, having worked in Health Food Stores before, it's similar to that, but with some more responsibility. I am enjoying it.

And now for my new idea with this blog. I want to make it more of a Life Style blog. Meaning let's talk about physical, mental, and emotional health, not just food. Let's bring this to a new level, so I can really dive into the world I would like to take my career to someday. How does that sound? I like it, and can't wait to see where it goes. Some days I may write about an article that I have seen and what to understand about it, new food trends in the healthy world, recipes (still), mental health, workouts, and anything that comes up.

I'm excited. Stay tuned for some upgrades with the look and such. (If I can figure that out, haha.)

What to put up today, how about a trending food...jackfruit. Have you heard of it before? It is very popular in Asia, I had to go to an Asian Food Market to buy some, canned in water not syrup. But some "normal" grocery store will carry it now, fresh. It is a fruit, that is fibrous (it shredded quite nicely) and starchy, and a good source of dietary fiber. It can be eaten, ripe and fresh along with other fruits, and it has a similar taste to bananas, apple, and mango (I didn't try it raw, so I can't really tell you which one it really taste like but that's what I read). It can also be cooked into sweet or savory dishes. It is made into curry dishes, fried, made into chips, or do what I did and use it as "pulled pork" for a vegan. That has been the recipe trend I have seen in the blog-o-sphere for a while now. Being me, I wanted to try it.

I made a BBQ sauce and then cooked the canned jackfruit in it. Delish!! I had the idea of making a coffee BBQ sauce because I do have on here another sauce I made but I wanted to expand my sauce diversity. Here are the recipes and tempting pictures:

Coffee Maple Spicy BBQ Sauce

1 heaping teaspoon instant coffee
3/4 cup water, hot (for coffee)
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon ground mustard
1 tablespoon coriander
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 more water
1 can tomato paste

Add everything into a blender, and blend it up until a smooth sauce.
You can totally eat it as it is or cook it down to develop more flavor. I found it just fine without cooking it down but for the jackfruit I did cook them together.

BBQ Jackfruit Sammies

2 cans Jackfruit, in water, drained
Above BBQ sauce
1/2 more water

Place everything in a nice thick pot with a lid, bring to a boil, lower heat to simmer for 3-4 hours. (I cooked mine for 3 1/2 hours.)

Pull the fruit apart after it has been cooking for about 2 hours, when it starts to fall apart by just mixing and allow to cook for another hour or so.

Get some buns, wraps, or any bread you want, sliced avocado, and boom sammies made. Devour!!

The buns I used where from a food show I went to for work. They are multigrain thin ciabatta bun. These were so good and the sauce has a nice spice where the avocado helps cut that spiciness. Even my fiance tried a bite and really liked it. The texture of the jackfruit is "meat" like and totally worked by using it this way.

Enjoy everyone!!

And, I'm back!! Finally!! <3