Recipe: Soy glazed bacon noodles with baby broccoli & wax beans

Oh boy, another bacon post! That makes four now, if you count Bacos, meh, and yesterday’s post about the glory that is Trader Joe’s Bacon Ends and Pieces (indeed, the very same Ends and Pieces that make a star appearance in this dish). I promise — and those with whom I eat on a daily basis can attest — I’m not always this lazer-focused on the pig. In fact, meatless meals end up on our dinner coffee table most nights of the week. But when we’re craving just a little animal protein after a rigorous bike ride or an Original … Read More

No-post Sunday – or – TJ’s Bacon Ends & Pieces

Wow, what happened to my lazy Sunday? I was all scheduled to have a recipe posted today, but between brunch in Sac with the in-laws, the drive home, errands, spontaneous fridge-freezer rearranging (I can’t lie; I LOVE reorganizing stuff) and watching Thor on Netflix, here I am. With no post. Or more accurately, a post but no edited-for-the-blog-world pictures. So basically, no post. Whaaa. In lieu of the intended post, please enjoy this picture of Trader Joe’s Uncured Bacon Ends and Pieces, borrowed from The Food Yenta, which I strongly believe are one of the best bargains in the market … Read More

In the Pigpen No.1: Bacos, badonkadonks & bomb-diggity bread

Happy Friday, world! Lots in the hopper here at the P&Q and no real rhyme or reason (yet) as to how I will manage the queue. Fellow bloggers, please tell me: how do you do it? Enter my attempted solution, the Pigpen: a mini-roundup of the promised miscellany that’s been bouncing around in the ol’ cabesa but hasn’t quite achieved solo-post status. We’ll see how far we get with this… 1) My random nostalgic love of: Bacos. Why is it that foodies almost always have a nostalgic obsession with packaged foodstuffs that attempt to closely approximate meat? For my husband, it’s … Read More

Recipe: Braised meatballs with bacon & chard

I. Freaking. Love. Meatballs. In fact, I’m pretty certain 50 Cent knew nothing of fat kids’ loves when he was rapping about cake. Any fat kid that knows what’s up would take a saucy little meatball over a crumbly slice of Duncan Hines hands down. And that’s the truth. In this version, juicy spheres of herb-studded, organic, grass fed beef are roasted to develop a crisp crust and then bathed in a super fast tomato sauce chock full of bacon and thick ribbons of chard.  Serve over whole wheat or brown rice pasta for a meal that’s as balanced as … Read More