Organic Herbed Cream Cheese

Serve with a side of Rach’s Rainbow Medley of Baby Tomatoes  & Cucs w/ a dash of Sea Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper

Hello Friends!  I’m about to pass along a recipe my friend Rachel and I created, that is so simple…..YOU CAN MAKE IT IN A HOTEL ROOM!!!!  That’s right.  Literally.  We whipped up this tasty organic cream cheese in the mini-kitchen of our hotel room.  Who says you can’t enjoy healthy, fresh, delicious choices while traveling?  Not these Girls!!!  All you need is 2 Chicks & a Bowl, (that’s the name of our future cookbook collaboration, right Rach?!?!?! Cute, huh???)

Our Fancy Homemade Lunch in Our Hotel Room

Rachel is a wonderful friend and amazing in the kitchen!  I learn so much from food to organic gardening from her!!!  I just wish she lived closer.  We met in Alpharetta, GA for few nights to go to a couple of Phish shows.  She knew I had just moved and didn’t really have a garden yet, so she brought along all sorts of goodies from her own!  Just because we were staying out of town in a hotel, did NOT mean that we had to sacrifice our love of cooking and eat out the whole time.  Actually, we cooked in the entire time for ALL OF OUR MEALS!!!  And we ate so, so, so, soooooo good.  So, take some goodies from home and liven’ up your road trips a little!  Rach even surprised me with a Fresh Picked Bouquet!  We like to travel in style….

Rach’s Fresh Flowers from her Garden

Festive Decorations Make a Happy Hotel Room (TIP: Now you know what to do with your empty bottles)

Ok, I think I’ve forgotten the whole reason for this post now.  THE RECIPE!!!  Whoops, getting back on track….

Of course, this is just a basic recipe.  Herbed Cream Cheese can be changed up so many ways…leave something out, add something in, or just use 1 Simple Herb…Like Chives…and KISS (keep it simple stupid).  Look around and see what ingredients you have fresh and need to use, and go from there.  We compiled a variety of herbs in this particular recipe, because Rach had brought so much to choose from.  Maybe at the end I’ll try and give you a few suggestions…but basically: add or omit: Garlic, Lemon, Zest, Pepper, Jalapeños, Onions, Shallots etc to taste.  When you are cooking, you want to make something YOU LIKE!  If you hate Mint, and we do have it in this one, JUST LEAVE IT OUT.  It’s as simple as that to make something your own.  So here goes….

Beautiful Fresh Organic Herbs from Rach’s Garden

1. Choose Your Herbs

ORGANIC: Dill, Thyme, Sage, Mint, Marjoram, Parsley & Chives

2. Chop Herbs and add to Softened Cream Cheese

3. Add Chopped Organic Veggies of Choice

Red Onion, Garlic & Jalapeño

4. Add Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice

Mix to Combine

5. Refrigerate & Enjoy!

Use as a dip or Smear on a Local Everything Bagel. Add Organic Avocado and Rach’s Organic Cucs

Add some Sprouts for a delicious Veggie Bagel

Fresh, Creamy, Crisp & Satisfying

Organic Herbed Cream Cheese

• 8 oz Organic Cream Cheese, softened
• 2 T EACH chopped Organic Herbs of Choice (NOTE: Mint and Cilantro…a little goes a LONG way)
• 2 T EACH chopped Veggies of Choice (garlic, red onion, jalapeño, shallots)
• 1 T Fresh Organic Lemon Juice & Zest (can substitute lime)
• Sea Salt
• Fresh Ground Pepper
• Mix to Combine all Ingredients

We went for a rustic, chunky cream cheese.  We wanted to be able to taste the bits of garlic and onion and spicy jalapeño, because we were going to use it right away instead of refrigerate it.  The longer it sits, the more time the flavors have to marry!  If you want a smoother consistency, you can always put into a food processor and chop the herbs and garlic finer and then pulse the cream cheese to combine.  You could also use a microplane grater for the garlic and onion and get smaller bits and lots of the juices for flavor.  That would work as well.  Like I said, we were in a hotel and did not have the foresight to bring along a good knife.   TIP: If going on a road trip, BRING A GOOD KNIFE!!!  Lesson Learned.  Lucky for us, all fingers remained intact!

Ring around the Sun

It’s so fun to go on a road trip!  You never know what’s gonna happen.  But, you can be sure that you make good choices while traveling by making your own food.  And, it was so much fun for us to be able to cook together!  Not much we’d rather be doing!!! Although we did have some craziness, see above pics and below pics of the Ring Around the Sun, we sure had some good damn food for a hotel room!

Crazy

For awhile I really thought I was the only one seeing this….at least I got the pics for PROOF!!!

Some other ideas for Hotel Room Food

Late Night Snack after Phish Show: Alexia Onion Rings w MicroGreens & Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice. Raw Plate (Beets, Carrots, Cucs & Whole Grain Mustard) and Homemade Guacamole

PHISH

Late Lunch/Snack before Show: Cucs, Guacamole, Habanero Lime Tortillas & Bread

Totally worth it to decorate your hotel room if your staying a few days!

eat.drink.shine

WIth Love & Safe Travels

2 Chicks & a Bowl

Kari & Rach

Kicked-Up KEEN-wah

Kicked-Up KEEN-wah

Quinoa.  For those of you who are not sure how to pronounce it….KEEN-wah.  Hope that helps!  A super versatile seed, treated like a whole grain, and chock full of protein and fiber.  Once you start using it, you can’t get enough.  So simple to prepare, and a million ways to switch up the flavor.  For this recipe, I packed it full of superfood greens and other veggie goodness.  Serve topped with fresh, salty sunflower seeds.  Hope you enjoy!

SuperFood Quinoa

Check out your fridge and see what awesomeness you have ready to use.  I had:

Ingredients

ORGANIC: Cherry Tomatoes, Shallot, Cucumber, Lemon, Kale, Feta & Garlic  (the poor, sad garlic did not make the picture for some reasson!)

Chop It UP!

TIP: Be sure to Salt your Cucumbers & Tomatoes first and lay them on a towel to release extra moisture

Fresh Organic Herbs and Arugula from my pots!

I used my Garlic Chives, Parsley, Mint & Arugula

TIP: Mint, a little goes a LONG way, but use it if you got it because it adds a whole extra layer and level of flavor!

Chop or Tear

I used scissors to give them a rough, rustic cut.

Cook the Quinoa per instructions

TIP: Organic Low Sodium Veggie Broth and Garlic Clove boost flavor!

Add Kale

I added the Kale first while the Quinoa was still warm

O Zinfandel Vinegar

You can use ANY vinegar you like.  I was going to use Balsamic, but changed it up at the last minute.

2 T Vinegar, 2 T EVOO, Salt & Pepper

TIP: When using Vinegar and EVOO, in any dish, ALWAYS ADD VINEGAR FIRST!!! That way the vinegar has a chance to penetrate the ingredients.  If you added the EVOO first, the vinegar would bounce off and not stick!  The same goes for ANY acidic ingredient (lemons, limes etc) VS ANY oil (grape seed, avocado, coconut, etc).  Always add your acidic ingredient FIRST!

Toss &  Add Lemon Juice & Zest

It should look something like this now!

Combine Remaining Ingredients minus Feta

Mix.  Taste.  Add more Vinegar/EVOO, s&p if needed.

Lightly Toss to Combine, then Add Feta

TIP: Flavor Change Up: Substitute Goat Cheese for Feta!

Delish, Healthy & Filling!

TIP: Top with fresh, salty Sunflower Seed for a nice nutty crunch!

ENJOY!