Recipes
My own recipes and my attempts to recreate the recipes of others.
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Whole Wheat Date-Sweetened Belgian Waffles
Well, I don’t yet have a gourmet kitchen, but I fantasize about having one. And even though I can’t quite afford the Wolf range and the marble counte-tops that I drool over on Pinterest, I am doing what I can right now – stockpiling all the fun gadgets I’ll need to outfit this fantasy kitchen that I plan to have some day. So every birthday and every Christmas, I make a wishlist that includes cookbooks, appliances, and serveware that I plan to put to good use … someday. I have the tools to make whatever I want. Now I just need the time. This year, Santa brought one of my…
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Farro Salad with Asparagus and Tomatoes
It’s finally spring! It’s always a little hard to tell in Ohio. Spring technically arrives on the calendar long before the weather changes for the better, but knowing that it’s happening, even if just in title is comforting. Even when the weather refuses to cooperate, we can start to celebrate the trappings of spring in the kitchen and mix up the ingredient list. Ok, so we’re not into the fresh/local asparagus season yet, but you can still get some long-range-transported-out-of-state asparagus at the store, pretty much wherever you live. (Although I feel a little guilty for endorsing this, the harsh truth is that, in Ohio, I do not always eat fresh…
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Flourless Pumpkin Coconut Cookies
When we have potlucks at work, we always pass around a list so everyone can sign up for something. I’ve been banned from bringing desserts because for some reason, my coworkers are suspicious that I will sneak vegetables into the cookies like a parent trying to trick a kid. And by gosh, they’re not wrong. But if they would just give me a chance, I would knock their socks off! They have no idea what they’re missing! Honestly, it had never occurred to me to combine pumpkin and coconut, but what can I say? My preconceived ideas were proven wrong, and I had my mind blown by how much I love…
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Ina Garten’s Beans and Greens
I spent the better part of last year waiting anxiously for the release of Ina Garten’s new cookbook, Cooking for Jeffrey. When I found out it was going to be released ON THE ACTUAL DAY OF MY BIRTHDAY, it felt like I won the lottery. I have historically described Ina as some combination of my culinary soulmate and my spirit animal. Everything she makes is notorious for being done right and being easy to reproduce because of her great instructions. So far, I haven’t proven that theory wrong. My mom anticipated the fact that I would want need this book, and she heroically pre-ordered it for me from Amazon.com. (You too…
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Smoky Black Bean Soup
The hubs and I have a real thing for plantain chips lately. If you haven’t tried them, they’re like extra thick starchy potato chips. So yeah, it’s not like they’re health food, but they do have this fun perk… Unlike the banana chips you typically find in the store, they’re savory instead of sweet and don’t have any added sugar. We discovered this during our 30-day challenge to exclude added sugars, and we may have gone overboard. (It turns out that when your only nutritional strategy is to avoid added sugar, you end up eating a lot of cheese and chips. Maybe don’t follow my example.) Anyways, I’ve been questing…
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Classic Turkey Chili
I know you’re not cold today, but it’s going to be cold again before it’s perma-warm, and when it is, you’re going to want some of this turkey chili. As much as I hate me some winter, I do appreciate having a good reason to make a giant pot of hot and satisfying turkey chili, one of my go-to winter recipes. So, even if it has been in the 60’s this week, I’m making it anyways, and not to be bossy, but so should you. Gather your ingredients, folks. (Yes, I made this picture tiny on purpose because sadly, I didn’t realize until just this moment that I only have blurry ones.…
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Everything Bagel Popcorn
It’s Oscar weekend! Does that excite you? I get excited to hear that the Oscars are coming up despite the facts that I generally haven’t seen any of the nominated movies (I’m always like four years behind), and that I’m not likely going to watch the Oscars themselves. Who can stay up for things like this on Sunday night? I’ve got a bedtime to be true to, and if I’m going to cheat on that, it’s going to be for The Walking Dead. But nonetheless, The Academy Awards sound so exciting… the pretty dresses and all that glamour. And the media does a good job of making me feel like I should want…
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Sweet Potato Noodles with Cashew Cream Sauce (Vegan)
I can’t explain the vegan kick lately, but let’s roll with it, it’s good for us. (Unless “paleo” is the real good for us, but no one can answer this question for me… ) I digress. Let’s talk about these sweet potatoes noodles and my first foray into SPIRALIZING!! Yeah, I’m pretty much late to all trends, so this isn’t shocking. I’ve been watching people spiralize their veggies on Pinterest for months now, drooling over the late summer zucchini noodles and squash pappardelle. I hadn’t bothered to put any spiralized veggies on my short list to cook though because 1) I don’t own a spiralizer, 2) I didn’t feel like…
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Greek Salad (Vegan)
This past weekend was one of those weekends when I kind of accidentally booked all the nooks and crannies of my calendar. It was all great awesine super fun stuff – we took a cooking class, shared a lunch out with the inlaws, a Valentine’s dinner with my brother and sister-in-law, got in quality workouts like a first-time intro to Jiu Jitsu class and a long run, worked on the new business, and celebrated my cousin’s 30th birthday. You gotta admit that’s a lot of stuff for two measly days off, especially for a homebody like myself who fantasizes about days with no commitments. Nonetheless, it was all worth the…
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Shrimp Creole with Cauliflower Rice
We are in the midst of one of those trendy 30-day no sugar challenges. We’re not doing anything fancy, just avoiding foods with added sugars (any refined sugar, as well as honey, maple syrup, agave, etc.). Don’t feel too bad for me. I’ve already eaten my body weight in raisins this month, and we still have another few days. We were relieved to realize that we didn’t have to make too many dramatic changes. Admittedly, we were already trying to be cautious about high sugar foods, but this challenge made us think even harder, and it kept me from rewarding myself every night with a spoonful of ice cream…
