Do you ever watch game shows?  Every show has its own distinct sound effect for when the contestant does the wrong action. It can be the buzzer on Jeopardy when none of the contestants know an answer or maybe it is some whacky trombone noise when someone overbids on the Price is Right.  There are a ton of noises that notify people of their mistakes.

I keep hearing a kind of “wha-wha’na-na” sound in my head lately.  The sound effect seems to be a compilation of a bunch of different notes from TV game shows over the years.  This noise sounds off each time I do something inaccurate or not up to par.  I think it is an internal reminder to always try my best.  (Or I’ve officially gone nuts…discuss amongst yourself.)

I was looking back at my goals for Felt Like a Foodie and I heard one of these noises this year. Gotta say…this wasn’t my best blog year.  I’ve spent a lot of time thinking of what I wanted to do and yet these goals weren’t ever being met.

A lot of it is that I’ve seen the direction blogs have gone….and I’m at a fork in the road.  So many of the bloggers aren’t writing….they just take amazing pictures.  That is great if you are out doing new and great things.  (Like if you won the prize round on Wheel of Fortune…they take you everywhere.)  I am not doing as many outings due to my stomach woes.  (If there was a game show where you have to go to a mall and find the bathroom the fastest…I’d win!)

Then there is another group of bloggers that does all the videos and YouTubes.  I’m not a scripted person.  I’m very off the cuff (I’d been great on $100,000 Pyramid.)  I see these things and wish I could sit in front of a camera and be adorable but I’m not really willing to put myself up to the scrutiny that comes with people who watch these things.  (There are nice people who watch online videos but they never seem to be the ones who post in the comments.)

So where does that leave me. I feel a little blocked like if you were the person who didn’t get the center square on Hollywood Squares.  (I apparently have watched a lot of game shows in my life.)

I think I’m going to go back to where I started with Felt Like a Foodie…back to learning to love food. To tell the truth (a game show before my time), I am kind of excited.  I’ve written hundreds of blogs….I now want to add to them.

Let’s make a deal, I’m going to promise to go back a little so I can move forward.  There are recipes that I have posted that I think I could do more with or maybe add a side dish.  

Like one of the first recipes I wrote last year about Pasta Fagioli.  I wrote in that blog that I didn’t care for beans so I didn’t have them for the soup. The weakest link in that blog is that I pretended that I WOULD have added the beans if I had them…I wouldn’t…I can’t stand the texture of beans in my soup or chili.  (Chili is not a soup but that was a different blog here is the link in case you missed it in 2017.)

I like the flavors of a classic Pasta Fagioli but the feel of the beans on my tongue was not my favorite. (And I’ll leave out what that magic fruit does to some members of my family.)  And yes, I know “fagioli” means beans in Italian so I will press my luck and continue to call it pasta fagioli.

Let’s make a deal, I will make the soup but put a white bean toast on the side as a dipper.  You bet your life it will still seem like an authentic pasta fagioli just a little deconstructed. Here is the link to the soup from last year. Win…lose or draw….we are still in the game!

White Bean Toast

Ingredients

A loaf of your favorite crusty bread, sliced and toasted

¼ cup of great quality olive oil

3 cloves of garlic, minced (I had 5 but it was aggressive…like me)

1 tsp of dried thyme

1 tsp dried crushed rosemary

2 cans of cannellini beans, drained and rinses

juice from 1-2 lemons (more on this later)

salt and pepper

Directions

In a small sauté pan, heat about 1 Tbsp of the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the garlic and herbs and sauté for about a minute.  

Add the beans and juice of one lemon and sauté another couple of minutes.

Put the entire mixture in a food processor.  Mix until you get your desired consistency.  

Add a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

You may need to add a little more olive oil if you want it super creamy.  I needed more lemon to hide the beany taste but I’m sure I’ll decrease this over time…and if you like beans…you may not add any lemon.

Spread on toast and dip into your soup.