by MICHELLE SWIFT
featured in ROADBELLY
Transitioning from corporate suit and tie to a brick-and-mortar community builder, Matt Michiels, a self-declared extreme hobby guy, brings Gravel Bottom Craft Brewery & Supply—a place for beer lovers and brewers—to the Ada neighborhood. Matt greets me at the front door with a warm hello and a hug. Not a handshake. He’s not that kind of guy, and that’s fine by me. Hugs are more welcoming.
Make your life, don’t just let it happen.
What do you want to be today, not someday?
What makes you inspired, scared, or thankful?
What are you waiting for?
Think about it…..
Continue reading “The pursuit of ________?”
A rice dish filled with funk, spice and leafy greens—what more could one want!
Fried rice, akin to comfort food, is a dish that tastes even better when prepared with leftovers. Simplicity in preparation, Kimchi Fried Rice is a one pot meal that won’t disappoint.
I went for two reasons and found a few more.
Continue reading “48 hours in Detroit, a beautiful decay”
It’s that time of year, the hustle and bustle of holidays has fizzled away and winter has rooted itself, initiating a craving for warmth and revelry. This year, instead of moping around the house in your Snuggie awaiting spring, pass the time with food, friends, and booze.
Continue reading “Booze Cruise: Progressive Style”
When was the last time you feasted on ‘mystery’ meat? No, not that frozen, reheated chicken patty slapped on your lunch tray at the ‘ol high school cafeteria. We’re talking straight up variety meat, offal.
Continue reading “Offal”
Last week I went on a kale chip baking frenzy and this week found myself with some leftover kale chips. I decided to re-purpose my kale into fairy dust for popcorn—yes, it’s magical in your mouth!!!
Continue reading “Parmesan and Kale Dusted Popcorn”
I’ve just received my very first mail-order food product—a box of snacks! I stumbled upon Nature Box via the interwebs a bit ago and decided to give it a whirl. Once a month Nature Box will send you a box of minimally processed and nutritionist approved snacks—no high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils, trans fats, artificial sweeteners, colors or flavors.
Continue reading “Nature Box”
Who can resist salty, crunchtastical snacks?!
Kale has been in the limelight as a healthy and versatile superfood and it’s staked a prominent presence in the chip world—kale chips are popping up in restaurants and hitting grocery store shelves. But you don’t have to go out or splurge on a fancy bag of prepackaged kale, satisfy your salt fix with a little DIY up in your kitchen!
Continue reading “Kale Chips”
If you are akin to me then lunch is something to look forward to, a mid-day stretch for the mind and energizing the belly. I’m not one who can handle the doldrums of eating the same peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch everyday and feel that a packed lunch should be something to look forward to, it should inspire and satisfy. Get creative, re-purpose leftovers and pack a lunch that excites you!
Continue reading “Smashed Avocado and Chickpea Salad”
Last week for “coffee talk Sunday,” my coffee talk friend suggested soup from Uncle Cheetah’s Soup Shop. I don’t know why I don’t go here more often, it’s basically genius. The atmosphere is perfect, the soup is hot, and they have grilled cheese prime for dunking. We split a Goat Cheese and Rosemary Scented Grilled Cheese to dunk in our respective soups: Creamy Tomato Basil and Roasted Red Pepper Asiago. I had the Roasted Red Pepper and wanted to re-create it at home, in fact I almost took it home with me as I may have had a slight spill 🙂 oops!
Continue reading “Roasted Red Pepper Asiago Soup”
Having had a successful first attempt at seitan I decided to venture from the cutlet onto something bigger—a roast, and a stuffed roast at that! I followed Isa Chandra’s recipe from PPK to a T and it turned out wonderfully. A nicely, browned, seitan roast stuffed with meaty mushrooms, herbs, and leeks. The roast solo is a bit dry for my taste so I paired it with Isa’s Chickpea Gravy, lending some moisture to the seitan.
Continue reading “Seitan Shiitake and Leek Roast with Chickpea Gravy”
I get a kick out of playing the game—let’s see what I can make out of whatever I find in my fridge and cupboard. I love surprises and this game typically results in amazement or more wine…. The game is to be played with loud music and an adult beverage of sorts. Tonight it was One Day the Reckoning Song and Grand Traverse Semi-Dry Reisling a pretty good mix!
Continue reading “Barbecued Tofu, Black Beans, Pineapple and Basmati Brown Rice”
Finger food isn’t only for kids, grab ahold of these muffins and channel your inner-child! Fun to eat and tasty to pack and reheat for a brown-bagged lunch, you’ll be thinking of ways to minimize all of your favourite foods.
Continue reading “Meat-less Meatloaf Muffins Topped with Kale Mashed Potatoes”
Upon recommendation I watched, The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Based on the trailer, I sensed an upbeat film laced with nostalgic feelings of eternal adolescence. I anticipated laughter, heartfelt-ness, easy-going freedom, and awkward high school days. Some things are not as they appear and this movie is categorized as such, a good film, wrought with emotion, questions, and intensity—just not what I expected. A line that stuck, a piece of advice from the main character’s English teacher:
Continue reading ““We accept the love we think we deserve.””
Salvador, Bahia. A place with a time of its own, where popular culture is current yet the past is present, not relived—a part of life. Filled with colonial wonders, cobblestoned streets, sandy beaches, clay-brick shacks and modern concrete apartment buildings. Salvador a third-world city with traffic jams and crowds, is a city with soul. It’s a place one will not soon forget, the feelings that consume you while there, continue to resonate. Salvador is bright, outgoing and receives all with open arms.
Continue reading “Ribeira, Salvador da Bahia”
Table Without Borders 