NicStan Cooks

With fresh raspberries from the garden! And recommend with homemade vanilla ice cream 😋

Garlic scape pesto is a MUST for the blog, and I’m surprised I haven’t already posted about it. Probably because it only comes around about once/year. And then I’m breathing garlic until the next year when the scapes are ready again. Every year in the late spring/early summer garlic shoots up its scapes, which look… Continue reading Garlic scape pesto with lemon pasta and veggies

At the end of fall I feel like I’m always searching for a good pumpkin/squash soup. Here’s one: https://cookieandkate.com/creamy-vegan-pumpkin-soup/

I first made this when I had excess cabbages from the garden last summer. I told farmer Alex I had made so much coleslaw I didn’t know what else to do with cabbage. He suggested eggroll in a bowl. Quick. Simple. Tasty. Didn’t get a picture of it tonight. Ingredients

The carnivore found this recipe and really wanted to try it. He gets all the credit for making it, too. Just wanted to keep track of the recipe: https://tasteitwithtia.com/salmon-donburi/

It was finally cold enough for some soup, and had a bunch of tomatoes from the garden so made a double batch of this tomato soup! https://www.loveandlemons.com/tomato-basil-soup-recipe/#wprm-recipe-container-50958

So good with fresh tomatoes and other garden veggies. https://www.lilvienna.com/shakshuka-with-fresh-tomatoes/

This is a favorite in the Stanek Family. Even the carnivore said “that corn salad isn’t terrible”, which is about as high of a compliment any salad gets.

Not my recipe, just don’t want to lose track. https://www.loveandlemons.com/gazpacho-recipe/#wprm-recipe-container-49984 Put it all in a blender and chill for 2 hrs.

This is one of my fall favorites and one of my best ice cream creations. I use Apple butter made from fresh apples. Ingredients Ice cream base (Salt and Straw base and apple butter) Crisp Salted caramel Instructions

Bumper crop of apples this year from the blue dog homestead! Ingredients Instructions 1. Combine all ingredients in instant pot. 2. Pressure cook for 90 min. 3. Immersion blend. 4. Cook on sauté low, if needed. (With a glass lid, it gets very hot) Here’s the 2024 version: https://www.feastforafraction.com/instant-pot-apple-butter/#recipe

This summer I’ve been helping out some friends who have a large garden slash small urban farm and also have twin babies and a toddler. The carnivore doesn’t love all my creations with the garden veggies but we both love the amount of collard greens I’ve come home with. Greens typically take all day, so… Continue reading Instant pot collard greens

I mostly followed this recipe: https://www.recipetineats.com/sweet-and-sour-pork/#wprm-recipe-container-49300, except of course didn’t plan for the marinade, so sped things up a bit by air frying the pork rather than doing the double fry. And of course added extra veggies (carrot matchsticks, sliced cabbage, cauliflower). Great topped with a little Sriracha so it’s sweet, sour and spicy!

The perfect pre workout bite. Or really anytime cuz they’re delicious. I used to make these all the time but hadn’t in years. There’s lots of recipes out there on the Interwebs, thanks to Lilly for sending me this one, which is the one I always used to use, but never wrote down cuz it… Continue reading Energy balls

The carnivore loves Chinese Broccoli beef. Like the kind you get takeout at 1.35 Scoop. So I made some for Valentines Day. Ingredients Sauce ingredients Instructions

Every winter I switch my breakfast routine from summer smoothies to winter oatmeal. And every year it takes me a couple weeks to get it just right. So future self: here is perfect oatmeal! Update from 2024 future self: thank you! Ingredients

No holiday season is complete without latkes! AKA potato pancakes, or Jewish empanadas my Paraguayan host family once called them. This is one of the few recipes from my mom. This year I made them for a work potluck a couple weeks ago and again for the annual Baum ugly sweater party. They’re always a… Continue reading Latkes!

It’s officially holiday season! Which means I found some extra cranberries mixed with some sugar and cinnamon sitting in a bowl on the counter. I decided to make a cranberry simple syrup and create a cocktail from there! Ingredients Cranberry simple syrup Cocktail Instructions

A few weeks ago I was in Virginia visiting Becky and had dinner at Mas, a wonderful recommendation from our wonderful friend, Laura Sparks. Mas is a cute tapas restaurant in Charlottesville. We had a bunch of tasty bites and hands down the best thing was smoked tomatoes. I wouldn’t have ordered it without the… Continue reading Smoked tomatoes

As Farmers Market season is coming to an end I went to a local seasonal produce market this weekend called Heinie’s. In the back corner they have baskets of random veggies for $3. I got a basket of peppers that were a little sad looking but I figured if I used them soon I could… Continue reading Stuffed pepper casserole

There have been a bunch of things I’ve been meaning to post recently, just seems harder to sit down on my phone during the summer. But now seems as good a time as any to get back on the horse (or deer?), the temps are getting chillier, leaves changing, days shorter, and the carnivore is… Continue reading Basic Venison Stir fry

Taste the rainbow doesn’t have to be that sugary Bullsh*t. (I was trying to channel thug kitchen, how’d I do?) When it’s 100 degrees this is the perfect fresh weeknight meal. Even the carnivore likes it, as long as we add shrimp, and the shrimp is hot. A couple deviations from the recipe: I used… Continue reading Thug Kitchen’s Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad

Didn’t get a photo of this, but made some frozen yogurt for a coworkers birthday. I made a honey vanilla and a chocolate and everyone else on the team brought their favorite topping. I liked the vanilla one much better than the chocolate. Ingredients 1 Costco container (5 3/4 cups) plain whole Greek yogurt 2/3… Continue reading Homemade FroYo

My sister, Hilary, got me this black squid ink pasta for Christmas and I’ve been waiting to make the perfect seafood pasta with it. Got some mussels at Costco this week and this was perfect for after a long day biking to and from work. Followed this recipe (only added about a half cup of… Continue reading Mussels and Squid ink Linguini

Mussels were surprisingly cheap at Costco, but you get a LOT. Last night I made a mussels linguini with black squid ink pasta that Hilary got me for Christmas. Still had 2 lbs left and apparently you shouldn’t freeze them so made this tonight. https://katerinaskouzina.com/recipe-items/mussels-saganaki/ Delicious with some bread and a side salad.

A couple months ago I participated in a research group study. Apparently Bush’s beans started making different spiced black beans and curry chickpeas and they’re actually decent. Add some veggies, Thai paste, and serve over rice. Ingredients 1 onion 1/2 eggplant 1 cup sugar snap peas 2 carrots – grated 1 tomato 3-4 kale leaves… Continue reading Chickpea & Veggie curry

Used this recipe as a base, and added a few extras based on what we had. Ingredients 3 cups leftover rice 1 Tbsp butter 1 Tbsp sesame oil 2 chicken thighs 1/2 onion 1/2 bell pepper 2 carrots – diced 2 ears of corn 1/2 cup snap peas 3 cloves garlic 1 tsp grated ginger… Continue reading Fried rice

The Carnivore made his first brisket on the traeger and it’s the best thing he’s ever made on a grill! He started it at about midnight on Friday and cooked it overnight at 180, wrapped it once it got to 160 internal temp and kept it going another 4-5 hours at 225. We didn’t get… Continue reading Carnivore’s leftover Brisket Tacos

I’ve been wanting to do tahini ice cream for a while. I decided it would be best with a chocolate base, with more of a tahini drizzle. And Becky was in town, which means bourbon got involved. Also thought a chocolate freckle would be good to throw in there. I’d call this a first attempt.… Continue reading Chocolate bourbon tahini ice cream

This is an old recipe of my dad’s. Great for leftover grilled or smoked salmon. He usually makes it with penne, I tried it with Cascatelli and yum! Also having dinner outside on the longest day of the year! Ingredients 3 Tbsp butter 4 oz smoked salmon, chopped finely 2 Tbsp finely chopped shallots 1… Continue reading Salmon cream pasta

We went to Teocalli in Olde Town Arvada for dinner on Saturday and the Carnivore’s entre came with garlic rice. It had little burnt pieces of garlic in it and all the rice was garlicky. I am determined to recreate it. Also trying to use up the veggies in the fridge before heading to Telluride!… Continue reading Shrimp and broccoli stir fry

This ended up being one of those “use whatever is in the fridge” hodge podge recipes that I would 100% make again and is worth writing down what I can remember. Ingredients 1 large beet (or 2-3 small) – I had made them in the instant pot a few days before. Use the trivet with… Continue reading Beet & Quinoa Salad

I got the Carnivore a Traeger for his birthday. So far I’ve used it more than he has, so maybe the gift was that I’m more excited about cooking meat. We had a crawfish boil for his birthday party but had to try out the Traeger too! I got up at 5:30am and had it… Continue reading Smoked pork shoulder

A Nicole go-to. Especially when it gets into summer and there’s fresh basil and veggies! Ingredients Pesto Instructions

This recipe belongs to our good friend, and the Carnivore’s former roommate (the one who is also a carnivore), Terri. It’s sort of like a Texan chicken noodle soup, and it’s exactly what the carnivore and I both want anytime we’re sick. I made it (and a vegan garlicless version of it) on a cold… Continue reading Terri’s Chicken Caldo

I got the carnivore a Traeger for his birthday. We did a big pork shoulder over the weekend, I’ll share the recipe for that at some point. But this one came from the Traeger app: https://traeger.com/recipes/recipes/skirt-steak-bulgogi

This meal was mainly based on this recipe from Lake Shore Lady: https://www.lakeshorelady.com/roasted-red-pepper-pasta-sauce-vegan/. I added venison Italian sausage (because carnivore), mushrooms, arugula, and a tomato. The sauce was very thick so I also added about a cup and a half of the pasta water.

We’ve had these frozen homemade tamales from our friend Julie for a while. I have no idea how to make tamales so I made some roasted salsa and Brussels sprouts slaw to go with them! Ingredients Salsa 2 tomatoes 1/2 bell pepper 4 cloves garlic 1/4 of one red onion 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro… Continue reading Roasted salsa and Brussels sprouts coleslaw with tamales

There are lots of Palak Paneer recipes out on the internet. I looked at several and floated between a few. Ingredients Spinach/onion purée 5 cups spinach 1 Padilla pepper and one red bell pepper (use 2 Padillas or something hotter) 1/2 onion – chopped (I’d do a whole next time) 3 cloves garlic 1/4 cup… Continue reading Palak Paneer and chicken

Starting to get some glimpses of warmer weather means it’s time for this fresh shrimp salad. Ingredients 1 lb shrimp Chimichuri marinade Mixed greens (I used a mix of kale and spinach with shredded carrot) 2 cobs corn 1/2 green oeoper 1/2 red pepper 2 celery stalks 1/2 cucumber 3 small tomatoes 2 radishes 4… Continue reading Spring Shrimp Salad

Ingredients 4 slices Killer Dave’s bread, I like the green one (or other delicious bread) 3 eggs 1/2 cup oat milk (or regular or nondairy milk) 1 tsp vanilla 1 Tbsp ground flax seed 1 tsp cinnamon 1 Tbsp maple syrup (optional, plus more on top) Top with banana, blueberries, butter, powdered sugar, syrup Venison… Continue reading French Toast

Some nights you have lots of fresh home grown basil and make your own pesto, other nights you are trying to use up veggies before going out of town and use Costco pesto. The latter was tonight. Makes about 4 servings. Ingredients 1/2 box farfalle pasta 1/2 onion 1/2 red pepper 1 cup chopped broccoli… Continue reading Pesto Farfalle with veggies, sausage, and green beans

Easy dinner kind of night. I’ve enjoyed trying out the different curry pastes from H Mart and this one was a winner! Ingredients 1/2 onion 1/2 zucchini 2 cups green beans 1 head broccoli Handful of cherry tomatoes 1 lb venison sirloin steak 1 Tbsp Coconut oil 2 Tbsp Sesame oil 1/2 cup soy sauce… Continue reading Kaeng Kua Curry with venison and veggies

Apologies for the long intro and I don’t know if I can add a “jump to recipe” button. I’m not sure when my obsession with ice cream began. I’ve always liked it but I don’t know if I would have said it was my favorite dessert. I enjoy trying new funky flavors, like lavender and… Continue reading Girl Scout Cookie Ice Cream

The carnivore had his friends over for brunch and they’re vegan. We were trying to figure out what to make and I remembered this is one of my favs! Warning: it takes a while, makes a mess, and theres enough for at least 8 people. https://www.badmanners.com/recipes/breakfast-tamale-pie

Eminem sings about “mom’s spaghetti”, but Dad was the chef in my house growing up, if I could I’d sing about Dad’s lasagne. I’ve made this a couple times since blogging but keep forgetting to take a photo. And I forgot again. Time to post it anyway. The carnivore claimed he didn’t like lasagna till… Continue reading Dad’s Lasagne and Green Goddess salad

So bummed I didn’t take a photo cuz this was beautiful! It was my first time making it so I just used the store-bought corned beef and spice packet. Would like to do it myself with a venison roast next St Patty’s Day! Ingredients 1 2-4 lb corned beef with spice packet 4-5 carrots 1… Continue reading Corned Beef and cabbage

Easy quick curry dish with spaghetti squash instead of rice. Ingredients 1 spaghetti squash 4 red potatoes 1 green pepper 1 onion 3 chicken thighs 3 Tbsp Green curry paste 1/2 can Coconut milk Water 1 Tbsp coconut oil Cilantro to top EVOO, salt and pepper Soy sauce and sriracha (optional) Instructions Preheat oven to… Continue reading Green curry with chicken and spaghetti squash

The first fight the carnivore and I ever had was over the proper way to make Spaghetti. I’m a solid mix the noodles with the sauce in the pot person, so they absorb the flavor of the sauce, and that’s how it’s done in Italy. He’s a mix in your bowl person which is so… Continue reading Spaghetti with Italian sausage and red sauce

If you don’t know about Cascatelli go listen to the Sporkful podcast mini series Impastable. Basically Dan Paschmin sets out on a quest to create the perfect pasta. I don’t know if it’s perfect, but it’s damn good and I waited at least 10 weeks for my boxes to arrive. I threw together the sauce… Continue reading Cascatelli with ground Turkey and veggies

This was a whatever is in the fridge make-a-bowl kind of meal. Same Becky tahini dressing from a previous post. Ingredients Spinach 1 cup quinoa 1 lb ground turkey 1 onion 1 sweet potato 1 bell pepper Olive oil Cavender’s all purpose Greek seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic, oregano, onion powder, parsley) 1/2 box cherry tomatoes… Continue reading Bowls w tahini dressing

Catching up on some recipes. This one wasn’t original: sous vide lamb in marinade from San Francisco Encore and used this recipe for asparagus risotto: https://www.skinnytaste.com/spring-asparagus-risotto/#recipe

After spending 2009-10 in New Orleans and watching the Saints win the Super Bowl on Bourbon Street a week before Mardi Gras, the holiday will always have a special place in my heart. This amazing gumbo recipe comes from my friend C Nikole, aka one of the cuse bitches. C Nikole is originally from Houston… Continue reading Saulsberry Gumbo (and King Cake)

The Thai Venison Satay skewers are from Buck Buck Moose cookbook. Made some rice to go with them and had some leftover Napa cabbage I needed to use so I basically followed this recipe https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/stir-fried-napa-cabbage-spicy-garlic-dressing, added a shredded carrot and eggplant in the air fryer (tossed with some sesame oil, soy sauce and sesame seeds).… Continue reading Thai Venison Satay with sautéed Napa cabbage AND leftovers

When the carnivore is out at a hockey game, it’s a night for cauliflower fries rice with tofu! Ingredients 1/2 block firm tofu 1 head cauliflower 1/2 Eggplant 1 carrot 2 green onions 1/2 cup frozen peas 3-4 cloves garlic 1 Tbsp grated ginger 2 Tbsp sesame oil + extra to fry tofu 3 Tbsp… Continue reading Cauliflower fried rice with Tofu

I was thinking of making a broccoli cheddar soup last week and then went to visit my friend Melissa who was making just that. She said she uses a potato leek base and adds broccoli, cheddar and other veggies to it, which sounded exactly like my kind of broccoli cheddar soup! Not super thick and… Continue reading Broccoli Cheddar Soup

The Carnivore’s former roommates (one is actually a vegetarian now) brought this over one night because someone had left it at their house the night before. I’m honestly not sure how there was any left because it is so good. A great app to share. I brought it to the Core Volunteer BBQ at work… Continue reading Veggie pizza app

Sometimes you’re doom scrolling and the Instagram throws something good your way. These cookies were them. Ingredients 1 cup dates 1 cup almond butter 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 cup chocolate chips 1 tsp coconut oil Flaky sea salt Instructions Preheat oven to 350. Combine dates and almond butter in food… Continue reading Healthy cookies #2

Being from Cupertino I’m embarrassed that it took me so long to take my first trip to H Mart in Colorado. But I finally did and it was magical. I was most excited about the curry pastes, which is something I thought was common in grocery stores but I guess not at the suburbs King… Continue reading Green Curry w Tofu and Veggies

Gnocchi is a Stanek family fav, and another point in favor of keeping track of what you make. I grew up eating Grandpa Stanek’s gnocchi and it was second to none (although a close second was a tiny restaurant in Trieste, Italy). The story goes that grandpa had gnocchi at a nice Italian restaurant once… Continue reading Gnocchi Gnight!

Things like tonight’s dinner are the reason I created this blog. I knew I wanted to do acorn squash stuffed with something so I bought them at the beginning of the week. The rest fell into place based on what we had at the end of the week, and if it’s the most delicious thing… Continue reading Ground venison stuffed acorn squash

Some of my friends from college, let’s call them the bitches, have had a continuous group text thread since we graduated. We talk almost daily about mostly bullshit while throwing lots of shade, drinking too much when we get together, and having no idea what each other actually does for a living. One night we… Continue reading Venison Stew

Followed the recipe from healthy Instant Pot cookbook. This was good, next time would change a couple things: Add the tomatoes later if you want chunks of tomatoes Remove the salmon before mixing in the coconut milk so it stays in bigger chunks Substitute fresh green beans for frozen peas

When I was growing up my best friend, Diane, and I used to be the “perfect pancake makers”. We’d make beautifully golden brown round (and Mickey Mouse shaped) pancakes on the griddle on my parent’s stove. I must have lost my touch over the years (see photo below). These pancakes turned out less than perfect,… Continue reading (Less than) Perfect Pancakes

Sometimes you go out to a show on a Thursday night, take the day off Friday, and make breakfast tacos for your friends! Ingredients Corn tortillas 3 slices bacon 2 small sweet potatoes 1/2 bell pepper 2 green onions 4 eggs 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese Splash of milk 1 tsp Taco seasoning 1 Tbsp… Continue reading Breakfast Tacos

The Carnivore requested meatloaf tonight. Not my fav but I was able to use some of our Italian ground venison and add some chopped veggies, top with tomato sauce instead of gravy and it was tasty! I’m not sure how many people I thought I was cooking dinner for, there will be leftovers for the… Continue reading Italian Venison Meatloaf & Roasted veggies

Mediterranean/Middle East is probably my favorite type of food. Those who know me know I could survive on carrots and hummus for days. It’s also one of the meals the carnivorous husband and I both really enjoy, but woof is it a lot of work when you do it all from scratch (and I only… Continue reading Mediterranean feast

I’ve always been skeptical of the “just combine and egg and a banana and it’s a pancake” recipe. But add a couple more ingredients and they’re not bad (although not particularly photogenic) Ingredients Combine all ingredients, mashing the banana with the back of a fork or a whisk. Heat some butter on the stove and… Continue reading Banana egg pancakes

One of those nights where you just throw whatever you’ve got into a bowl, whip up some tahini dressing (ala Becky) and call it good! You can really make this with whatever veggies, protein, grain and dressing you’ve got, here’s what I did tonight: Ingredients 1 sweet potato 1 bell pepper 1/2 red onion 1… Continue reading Veggie Chicken Bowls with Tahini Dressing

I was going to do taco bowls with our venison chorizo but found this recipe in the Instant Pot Miracle cookbook and it was very tasty!

I got this recipe from my friend Mandy while I was doing a nutrition challenge several years ago. They’re no sugar, no gluten, can be vegan. Ingredients 1 egg 1/4 cup non-dairy milk (oat, almond, rice, etc) 1/2 cup butter (or coconut oil) 1/2 cup coconut oil (warmed to liquid) 1/2 cup honey 1 tsp… Continue reading Healthy Cookies

Finally cold enough in Denver to make some soups! Moroccan spiced soup from Yummly: https://www.yummly.com/recipe/Moroccan-Spiced-Cauliflower-Soup-2503911#directions This is my favorite way to do chicken in the air fryer, I’ve done it with both drumsticks and thighs: https://www.julieseatsandtreats.com/air-fryer-chicken-legs/comment-page-6/#comment-148084

Followed some recipes tonight, the first is from Buck, Buck, Moose. Followed this recipe for the smashed potatoes: https://urbanfarmie.com/smashed-potatoes/#recipe

This is kind of ratatouille the quick way without squash and with venison because husband. If there hadn’t been 2 Scott brothers here for dinner I probably would have just used 4 links instead of the ground, but boys. Ingredients 1 lb ground Italian venison sausage 2 links italian venison sausage 1 yellow onion 1… Continue reading Venison sausage ratatouille

This is one of my favorite ways to use spaghetti squash, especially if you’re wanting to pack in more veggies. I’ve always gone between a couple different recipes and a note in my phone when making this so it’s one I want to get in one spot! Ingredients 1/8 cup fish oil 1/8 cup rice… Continue reading Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai