Fall for Audrey

Homemade shrimp, spinach, and onion quesadillas

I love seeing pictures of (delicious) food on instagram and twitter, but when a friend of mine posted some shrimp and salmon tacos she made the other day…I started craving shrimp quesadillas!

My recipe for quesadillas is fairly easy. I steamed the shrimp and spinach for about 8 minutes. Then, sauteed the shrimp and onions for a few minutes for flavor. Reheat your skillet if you need to, then brown one side of a torrilla. Flip it over and add cheese and all of your toppings. Fold the torrilla in half to cover it, press it down to flatten it for a minute, and flip the entire quesadilla over. I continue flattening the quesadilla with a spatula and flipping it over until it is as brown as I like it.

I paired it with a fresh summer salad and salsa.

Homemade Pomegranate Vinaigrette Dressing

Now this I really did make (lol)…

Back in January, one of my best friends and I went to a cooking class at Cashmere Bites (I highly recommend them because Tracy, the head cook, is amazing! She’s very knowledgeable and her recipes are so easy. Also the price is great for a 3 course meal). My absolute favorite flavor is pomegranate (especially margaritas!) so we tried the pomegranate themed class.

We made a grilled eggplant salad with pomegranate dressing (I’m not a huge eggplant fan, but the salad was perfect), baked chicken with a pomegranate glaze (the baked chicken was made in a special way that I will ONLY make my chicken now) and a pomegranate tart that I kid you not…I can still taste! The entire class was more than I could have asked for, but the one thing I kept telling myself I was going to make (other than the baked chicken) was the dressing. So finally I made it.

(I just put the dressing in a used bottle I had)

The ingredients are simple: 1/3 c. pomegranate juice (fresh or bottled, Tracy would use both for different entrees) 1/3 c. olive oil, 3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, diced shallots, diced garlic, tablespoon of sugar, and salt and pepper for taste.
Mix all of the ingredients well except the olive oil. While stirring the ingredients, slowly add the olive oil. You can add more sugar, salt, and pepper to your liking. I preferred a tad more sugar to balance out the vinegar. My dressing came out well, not as perfect as Tracy’s, but a few days later, I still love it!


I’ve been making my own salads now for about 3 months and I love them! Fresh cut tomatoes, onions, banana peppers, shredded parmesan cheese and pepper. Yum!

More Zatarain’s Fun…Homemade Jambalaya!

Sidenote: I am slowly becoming a Zatarain’s spokesmodel…

Anywhoo…my Zatarain’s homemade gumbo turned out so well that when I saw the jambalaya mix on my weekly trip to the grocery store, I had to try it.

The jambalaya was just as easy as the gumbo, but this time I used turkey sausage. My overall review: DELICIOUS! The gumbo was a tad too spicy for me, but the spices in the jamablaya were perfect. I also wrote in the gumbo post that the Zatarain’s yellow rice is my favorite of theirs, but the jambalaya rice is by far my new favorite. With or without meat, this is still the perfect meal.


And a funny picture to express my excitement…hmm, this jamabalaya is amazing!

Getting in the “Mood”…

I have some knick-knacks that I want to sew, a few projects that I have ideas for and alterations I need to do to a some thrift store finds, so today I went to a designer’s playground…Mood.

You’re seen it on “Project Runway” as the place where the designers buy their fabrics, thread, buttons, and anything else they need to make an outfit. Lucky for me, the one in LA is right up the street from my house.

While I was there, I tweeted that shopping at Mood is very overwhelming and this is why. Geez…so many goodies to choose from!
Needless to say, I was one very satisfied customer :)

2nd Fav Mexican Spot in LA: Pinches Tacos

For some reason, this morning I woke up before church wanting enchiladas. I’m not sure why, but then again, that’s never a bad thing! So I headed to my second favorite Mexican restaurant, Pinches Tacos, to get some (try the location in Culver City because there is parking, but I like the outdoor patio at the West Hollywood location)

After living in LA for a year, and having tried at least 8 different places, I finally found Tacos Por Favor in Santa Monica (my favorite!) but since it is pretty far, I am almost as satisfied with Pinches. The rice is no where near the best i’ve had. It is VERY bland, but the sauce on the enchiladas makes up for that. The best thing about Pinches, hands down, are the chips and guacamole.


For some reason everyone assumes LA would have good guacamole, but that’s just not the case, so I will go out of my way for this guac! The chips are THICK and I love it! By far, the best part of the meal.

It’s another hot day on the West Coast, so enjoy it…and Happy Resurrection Sunday everyone!

Homemade Gumbo…….Sort of!

I think I should start by expressing my love for rice…yum! And my favorite “easy box” rice is Zatarain’s yellow rice. It’s so good and easy to make. So when I saw Zatarain’s had a gumbo mix with rice, I had to try it!

The gumbo mix with rice was just as easy as the yellow rice, which was perfect for me since I was headed in to work. I love to cook homemade meals, but every now and then this gumbo would be the perfect meal— especially when all I have to do is add shrimp (but you can also add chicken, tofu, whatever you like)! It was a tad too spicy for me, but I still thought it was really good, and I only spent about 7 bucks. Sounds like a win-win to me!

Now I want to add some crawfish, invite some people over, and really pass it off as homemade (lol). Bon Appétit!