Welcome back to another week of Sunday Brunch, that time of the week where we shine a little Internet love on a food blogger that has caught our eye. At the end of the quarter, our Editor-in-Chief, Jo Packham, will be selecting one of these lovely women featured here weekly to be in an upcoming issue of Where Women Cook.
“I am a self-taught home cook; living proof that spending the first twenty years of life living on boxed macaroni and cheese doesn’t oblige you to an entire life of the same.” -Katy
Today’s featured blogger is Katy from the blog “Thought for Food”.
“My full name is Katy Marquez Carter, and I am a graphic-designer-turned-food-obsessed-mom. I love food, and love to talk about food. Since I also tend to be one of those people who needs an “outlet for creativity,” and since I quit my day job, I figured documenting my obsession in a public forum seemed like a great way to pass the time. Between bon-bons and all.”
There are several things that drew me into Katy’s blog. She was recommended by a friend (always a good sign), she focuses on healthy consumption and also cooks with the challenges of things like Vegan baking and allergies in her family and she writes thoughful things and posts about food and her way of looking at and utlizing food, which is really appealing to the writer-like side me. She talks about things like budgeting to feel our families and feed them well, and why she thinks eggs are wonderful, 10 reasons to make your own mayo, and I LOVE that she has an entire category called “Disasters” because really, not only is it endearing but what would be without failures? Some of our greatest learning moments and eventual successes are wrought in the fire of disaster!
She makes a lot of cool and interesting things. The kind that, even though there is a high likelihood that someone like me might not ACTUALLY get around to making them, her writing and photography will MAKE me WANT to at least THINK about getting around to making them for my family.
Here are a few that caught my eye:
High Protein Wheat Sandwich Bread (I love the sneaky use of adding soybeans to her bread dough to get more protein. I don’t get enough protein in my diet and am ADDICTED to bread so this is actually a trick I would love to use.)
Curried Lentils (I’m having a new love affair with lentils after eating platefuls of them at an amazing organic restaurant in NYC during the launch of Where Women Cook. Adding curry just adds to the heat of my love for this humble little legume!)
Lemon Curd (OH, how I adore lemon curd. I cannot get enough of it on freshly baked scones with clotted cream. NOM!)
Pickled Beets (I want to just kiss her for this post and recipe. I adore pickled things and the beet gets a bad rap way too much of the time.)
Squash and Turnip Gratin (I LOVE that this is a healthy dish that is also a freezer meal. SO handy!)
Dairy-Free, Soy-free, Vegan Dried Fruit Scones (I know a lot of vegans and I can’t think of anything more complex than Vegan baking. The process is fascinating and daunting!)
Chocolate Dipped Macaroons (And these simply make me want to devour a tray or four in one sitting.)
Interesting stuff, no?
Do you cook/bake like Katy? Are you health conscious in your approach to food or do you believe butter is the supreme high ruler? Or are you a little of both?
I am definitely a little of both. I’ve been trying to cook/bake a little healthier so I can lose a little weight and be more all-around healthy. I’ve been making whole wheat pizzas and breads, but only use natural ingredients like sugar and butter and skip the man-made things like margarine and Splenda. I figure at least I know what those ingredients will do to me!
I’ve come a long way in the journey to feed my family better. When I think of all the processed, icky stuff I bought and made as a newlywed I cringe. Katy has been a big influence on the way I think about and prepare my food. I get so excited when I see a new post from her blog and never quite know what she’ll enlighten me with next. Thanks for featuring one of my favorite food bloggers!
Im like Katy…health conscious and a lover of butter! (Butter is a great fat, despite what we’ve been told over the years!) As someone who is not only concerned about great tasting food, but its nutritional value, Im glad to see Katy on the scene!
My personal favorite of the recipes she’s posted is the chocolate popsicles made using coconut milk. Yum, makes me wish it was 90 degrees outside. Also planning (one day, when I have the time and forethought for morning baking) to try her family’s Penelope scones. I love that they are an unplanned-recipe, made with what was in the fridge, and I especially love how they got the name “Penelope.”
I love reading Katy’s blog. I check it obsessively. I love to cook as well, and attempt to cook healthfully, even while on the teensiest of budgets. Eating well is so worth it, and it’s fun to read people like Katy who know that, and also know that eating well does not mean cutting out all the fat.
Thanks for the link! I love a fellow foodie that is not afraid to tackle vegan (since I am one
). I realize that vegan cooking isn’t the basis of her blog; but the more people write about the potentials non-vegans can make without animal products…the increased likelihood I’ll walk into a nice restaurant and the chef will make me more than just steamed veggies and rice!
If Katy has taught me anything, it’s been that “real food” doesn’t have to break the bank. Probably my favorite post she’s done is the one about Beef and Black Bean Chili. It’s become my go-to meal when I want to feed a group in the cold winter months.
Katy is one of our favorite treasures in Indy.
And yes, I have the authority to speak for the entire city.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the curried lentils….I’ve made this recipe….YUM YUM. And who does not like Lemon Curd…mmmmmm can’t wait to make me some scones!!
I used to read cookbooks like novels. Now, food blogs are part of my obsession. Katie’s recipes are as much fun to read about they are as to taste. I’m looking forward to serving her chili on Super Bowl Sunday!
Can I believe butter is the supreme high-ruler *because* I’m health-conscious? That’s an option, right? I just started following Katy’s blog recently and am thrilled she’s featured here today!
Love that you’ve highlighted Katy! You should check out her multi-part series on sugar – love it. And I literally have dreams about her Banana Pudding ice cream. =)
The way Katy writes about food is amazing and inspiring. She inspires me to want to cook – and if you knew me, you would know that is a major accomplishment!
I love Katy’s blog! Actually the first time I visited it, I pored over the section of her favorite things. It was really helpful to know that sometimes the best pan to use is my old, perfectly seasoned iron skillet. And I used to L.O.V.E. real butter. I scoffed at those who used any sort of imitation. Then one of my children was diagnosed with a severe allergy to milk. That just goes to show you, don’t scoff. You’ll regret it.
Wonderful! These photographs are great! I have never heard of pickled beets before and the curried lentils look amazing. Thanks for sharing
“The kind that, even though there is a high likelihood that someone like me might not ACTUALLY get around to making them, her writing and photography will MAKE me WANT to at least THINK about getting around to making them for my family.” That is, quite possibly, EXACTLY how I feel about Katy’s recipes! Although I have indeed made the macaroons and they are fantastic.
I’m a little bit of both, I guess.
I enjoy how Katy writes with a subtle sense of humor that makes just reading her posts entertaining. I love that she loves the natural, the local, the unique… the everyday “hey–i cant believe this recipe was missing from my go-to’s!” Her choice of topics and recipes are varied and I’m always curious what she’ll blog on next!
I’ve always been impressed with Katy’s adaptations. She’s skilled at taking a base recipe, and through simple experimentation and elaboration, comes up with a tremendous new dish. Her site gives recipe-beholden folks like me hope that being creative with food is not a mammoth endeavor or beyond my ability.
Katy convinced me to save the turkey carcass this past Thanksgiving – even if I had to freeze it – to make turkey stock, and then ultimately turkey gumbo (two separate posts on her blog). Being a bit of a procrastinator, I didn’t pull out the frozen bones until January; but, boy! am I glad I saved them. Yum yum yum. The whole process appealed to both my frugal (use every bit of the bird) and taste-conscious sides. It was a completely yummy mid-winter meal.
While Katy spent her first 20 years living on boxed Macaroni and Cheese, I spent my first 20 years eating hot dogs and toaster strudels. Her story is not unique. There is a whole generation of us that grew up on what was convenient and fast. What I love about Katy’s blog is that she is a self-taught home cook like so many of us out there. It is refreshing to find women like Katy who love food, but are not pretentious. I love the passion, honesty, and humor that weave their way throughout her writing. From kitchen disasters to budget cooking, her blog inspires the cook in all of us. Thank you, Katy, for being an example that the average woman can learn to cook and do it well!
I definitely want to cook healthily and inexpensively! I grew up eating well but now am making up for those newlywed years of eating too much frozen pizza!
I love reading ‘Thought For Food.’ Katy’s posts are fun to read and I always learn something new. I’m so glad she’s being featured here!
oh….and you MUST check out the Linzers….best cookies EVER, and I may have just spelled those wrong, but hey, they are still the most amazing cookies.
I am definitely a little of both. I believe that food can be healthy and delicious and that, ultimately, using butter and other “high-fat” ingredients, is much better (for many reasons)than using processed, artifical foods. I enjoyed Katy’s posts and am excited to try out her recipes.
That bread does sound like a good idea! I have the devil of a time getting my sandwich bread to turn out, but this looks like a good opportunity for me to try it again.
Yes, this Dad can and does cook. I have toddlers and have to cook on a budget. It is easy to get in a rut, so occasionally I look for something good, affordable and healthy. It is nice to have someone like Katie to do the leg work for me. Thanks for some recipes and tips.
Love the blog…my husband is the foodie in our house. He loves creating, using healthy ingrediants, and BUTTER! Reading this makes me feel like I am contributing as I share the fun ideas I have read about!! Thanks Katie:)
New to katie’s blog, and this teaser has be stoked to add it to my “wasting time at work” regime!
Katie’s recipe for Cream of Greens Soup is fantastic! We joined a CSA this past year; this fall we had every imaginable kind of green available to us, and I used her recipe (which told us any greens would work) to make soup for the freezer for the winter! I just left out the cream since I knew that could be added right before serving. Thanks, Katie, for a yummy recipe!
I like to cook healthy – I often throw flaxseed into baked goods or sub in whole wheat flour – but I also prefer to use butter. Or anything that is food in its more natural state. So I appreciate that Katy brings that to her blog.
I think food is wonderful and live like it. I usually know on Saturdays what I will cook and recycle for atleast the next 4 days. Reading, cooking, eating and entertaining are some of my favorite things to do and Katy’s blog hits on all of them. She make you feel like a personal friend.
I hope loving butter doesn’t mean I’m not health conscious! Katy is normal. That is why I like to read her. I can identify with her – similar budget, similar values, similar sense of humor, similar tastes.