I have a deep love for casseroles. It is really hard to cook a main dish and several sides when you have two young children. A casserole means less cooking, less cleaning, and a less frazzled mama. Plus, casseroles will always be the quintessential comfort food.
In my family, no single person is responsible for all the holiday cooking, regardless of who is hosting the meal. We are a potluck family, where each family member is assigned a dish or two to bring, so we can focus on just being together. I had three separate holiday dinners to attend this Christmas, so I was sure I would be asked at least once to bring a dessert. I had been dying to try out a new pie recipe, since I rarely have a good reason to bake a full-fat, decadent pie. Much to my surprise, everyone instead requested my "Crackaroni & Cheese", so I have found myself making a ton of macaroni and cheese, and alas, no pie.
The only thing in my culinary life that can match my deep love for chocolate chip cookies is a fudge brownie. My favorite kind of brownie has a flakey buttery crust on top, but is gooey and fudgy inside. While I adore my healthy brownie recipes (like my Black Bean Brownies), sometimes I just want a classic delicious brownie! For the past few months, I've been experimenting with different brownie recipes, and tweaking them to try to create my personal favorite brownie. If only I put this much work into other endeavors in my life.... Anyways, after much determination and calories, I've finally created a recipe that results in the ideal, ultimate, fudge brownie. Honestly, this whips up so quickly and easily (with ingredients I always have on hand), that I'll never feel the need to buy a box mix again.
Today is the official last day of summer. Most people are excited about the start of fall, but I have to admit, I'm more of a summer gal. I love swimming, and the long summer days, and the fresh meals you can make with all the wonderful summer produce. Summer food pretty much trumps fall food in every way...except breakfast. As soon as I start waking up to the chill in the morning air, I know it's time to start making my favorite weekday breakfast: Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal.
Summer is finally coming to an end, so it's time to hurry up and make your final summer dishes. Gazpacho is definitely one of those recipes that require in-season produce. If you tried to make this during the winter, you would end up with a watery flavorless soup. In the summer this soup is vibrant and fresh and delightful! It's one of my absolute favorite summer side dishes. I like to pair it with a BLAT, and it makes for the perfect meal on a hot summer day.
So you may have noticed that my blog has been quiet for the past few months. This spring we decided to put our first family home on the market and buy a new home in a neighboring county. It was a difficult decision as we loved, loved, loved our home. Fortunately we found a great home to buy, and we ended up closing on both our old house and new house on the same day in the middle of June. Let me tell you... packing up our entire house with a crawling baby and a moody toddler, a double closing, and moving on a 103 degree day...it was a nightmare! Needless to say, these past few months have been difficult ones. We had to make many sacrifices: we missed out on a fun friends trip, family dinners were replaced by take-out, and we lost our summer garden! My husband planted it all before we realized we were going to put our house up for sale. Of course right as everything in the garden started growing, we moved. So for the first time in many summers, we don't have our summer garden vegetables to enjoy. Boo!
However, we can still buy in-season veggies at the local grocery store (Earth Fare!). Nothing beats an in-season tomato paired with fresh basil, right? Let me introduce you to the perfect recipe for the season: Gnocchi alla Caprese. This recipe is definitely a summer-only recipe, because it requires in-season produce in order to reach its full delicious potential. It takes only about 20 minutes to make, and its simplicity really allows the fresh ingredients to shine. I could seriously eat this meal every day, and so could my kids. Which is good, because I might be serving it at least once a week for the rest of the summer!
My sweet newborn baby is apparently not a newborn any more...he's a whopping 8 month old. If you think the first baby grows up fast...well, the second is just a blur! He's crawling, pulling up, cruising, eating grown-up food; and most importantly, he is sleeping through the night. However, back 8 months ago, none of us were getting much sleep, and my husband and I were zombies. When you have just one child, you can theoretically sleep when the baby sleeps. But when you have two kids? Well, that clearly just doesn't work.
Memorial Day is coming up in a few weeks. Like many Americans, my family tree is full of brave people who served our country. My dad was both Air Force and Army, and both my grandfathers were Navy. My paternal grandfather, George K. Larsen II, gave his life for our country in World War II. He volunteered for a last minute mission, and was shot down in the South Pacific. His body was never found, so he's listed as both MIA and KIA. As a child, I would fantasize that he had parachuted out of the burning plane, and had swam safely to an island, where he now lived out his days in paradise on the beach. Now that I'm all grown up, I sadly know that isn't possible, but I take heart in knowing that his sacrifice (along with many, many others) helped protect our country.
Now that we have two children, our mornings are quite chaotic. My husband usually gets the toddler ready, and I'm in charge of the baby, which doesn't leave much time for ourselves. To make things easier, I make a big batch of breakfast for the whole week on Sunday night. During the Winter, we ate Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal, but now that it is officially Spring, I wanted to find a more season-appropriate meal to start our day. I've also started to work on losing the baby weight, so I wanted a meal that was nutritious and full of protein. I came up with a Broccoli & Egg Bake, and it is so delicious! I use just broccoli in my egg casserole, but you could easily add in ham, or swap out broccoli for asparagus or whatever vegetable you prefer. It is easily adaptable to your tastes! After I finish baking it, I wait for it to cool, cut it into 10 servings, and stick it in the fridge. On weekday mornings, I take out individual servings and microwave it. It reheats beautifully! I love that I have such a healthy and easy breakfast at my disposal on hectic mornings.
How about one last hearty soup before Winter officially ends? The weather here in Georgia keeps flip flopping between 80 degree sunny days and 40 degree drizzly evenings. On one of those recent chilly nights, I felt motivated to put a healthy spin on the traditional Beef Stew. I made sure to fill the soup with as much veggies as possible, and I swapped out the white potatoes for sweet potatoes. I think the sweet potatoes added a needed touch of natural sugar to balance out the saltiness of all the other ingredients in the stew. I don't think I'll ever go back to regular old white potatoes in a beef stew again!
Seriously, who doesn't love a casserole? You have your protein, veggies, and grains all whipped up in one dish! Easy to make, easy to eat, easy to clean up. It's the lazy cook's trifecta. My newest one dish favorite is this Chicken & Quinoa Casserole. For this particular go-around, I decided that mushrooms, asparagus, and sun-dried tomatoes would be my vegetables, but this recipe is so adaptable! Feel free to swap out those veggies for whatever vegetables you're craving, or (keeping with the lazy theme) whatever is in your fridge. I replace all 3 veggies for just lots of broccoli when I'm making it with my picky toddler in mind. Report back if you try a different combination that you'd recommend!
My little hometown has been hit by unseasonably cold and rainy weather lately. On one particular dreary day, my family was feeling especially bogged down with cabin fever. To remedy the situation, I suggested a day full of movies, a roaring fire, popcorn, and hot chocolate. Needless to say, my 3 year old was especially on board with the idea of hot chocolate. One problem? I had ran out of hot chocolate instant packets, and I had no motivation to brave the rain for a grocery run. So I decided to make some hot cocoa from scratch. Most recipes call for cow's milk, but I'm currently breastfeeding a baby who may have a dairy sensitivity. Therefore, I decided to use a carton of unsweetened coconut milk and keep the recipe vegan. I was so surprised by how easy - and how incredibly rich and delicious - homemade hot cocoa was! It was so simple and so tasty that I don't think I'll ever use the packets again. One batch make about 4 to 6 servings, and if you don't drink it all, it keeps quite well in fridge and is easily reheated.
I've been working on creating a healthy (and delicious) chicken pot pie for a while now. I've looked over a ton of different recipes, and played around with various ideas, and I can say with absolute certainty that I have definitely come up with a winner. The weather was chilly last night, and my husband built a roaring fire in the fireplace, so I figured it was the perfect night for a hearty chicken pot pie. To make my pie as healthy as possible, I made it bursting with my favorite winter vegetables. Feel free to adapt the vegetables to your own taste; just try to keep the amount of vegetables roughly the same to make sure that there is enough filling for the gravy (for example, if you'd rather not use parsnips, increase the carrots from 2 to 3, or substitute a potato instead). When developing the recipe, I toyed with the idea of finding a substitute for the pie crust (like phyllo), but ultimately decided that real pie crust is the best part of pot pie, so it would be almost sacrilegious to remove it. So I only used one pie crust as opposed to the traditional two, to keep the calorie and carbs low without sacrificing the integrity of the dish. The result? A healthy yet hearty chicken pot pie that is under 500 calories for a nice large serving. Most importantly...it's comfort food at its best: warm, filling, and full of rich flavor.
In Athens, Georgia, there use to be a great little barbecue restaurant called Jot Em Downs. Its most famous offering was the Cabbage Casserole; and it was so in demand that it was sold out 90% of the time. It was seriously that good! I've been trying to replicate the dish for years, and have yet to nail it down (I'm convinced their trick was using the pork drippings to make a rich gravy/broth to add to the roux), but I think I've finally gotten as close as I can get to the recipe using regular kitchen staples. However, if you happen to have pork shoulder drippings around, I totally recommend adding it to the recipe to replace the chicken broth! Regardless, Cabbage Casserole is a fantastic dish to bring to holiday gatherings; I guarantee that no one else will bring the same dish. I'll be taking it to my family's Thanksgiving this year!
Update: I have the ACTUAL Cabbage Casserole Recipe from Jot Em Downs now. I've made the changes below. Enjoy!
When I was pregnant with my first child, I over prepared for everything: birthing classes, breastfeeding books, baby supplies, etc. However, there was one area where I completely dropped the ball: I didn't make any food ahead of time. I didn't realize how hard tasks like cooking dinner and running to the grocery store would be with a baby. Instead we spent the first few months of my daughter's life ordering take-out and eating overly processed boxed foods. This time, I planned ahead. I made a month's worth of freezer dinners, snacks, desserts, and breakfasts. One of my favorite items I made was Pumpkin Bread. It was so easy and quick to make, and tasted so moist and delicious. I was originally going to keep it pure with no add-ins, but my daughter convinced me to make it with chocolate chips. I definitely think she made the right choice! Feel free to mix in your own personal favorite add-ins. This recipe makes two loaves, and freezes beautifully...if you can wait that long to eat it.
The first time I ever had tofu, I was not a huge fan. Then one day, at our local vegetarian restaurant The Grit, I ordered something called "The Golden Bowl" and was stunned to realize that the delicious morsels I was inhaling, was in fact, tofu. I realized then that tofu can be amazing when prepared and cooked correctly...and kind of gross when it isn't. If you are new to tofu, make sure to reference my earlier post on how to correctly prepare tofu before you try out this recipe (Tofu for Dummies). This recipe is a great new-to-tofu recipe; easy to make and only takes about ten minutes to cook. Make sure not to skip the nutritional yeast; it's the best part! You can find it in the bulk section of your local Earth Fare grocery store. It's a great thing to have on hand to add a cheesy flavor to dishes while upping its nutritional profile.
My almost-3 year old daughter reached a new milestone this month: she started preschool! She is a highly social person who is eager to learn, so of course she adores it. As for me, I adore having three mornings a week free to clean, write up blog entries, or just simply zone out in front of the computer for a few hours. What I don't adore? Trying to get both of us ready in the morning. With me being 8 months pregnant, and my daughter being in the "I-wanna-do-everything-myself" phase, we are always in a rush to get to school on time. Fortunately, I found the perfect breakfast for those hurried mornings: Baked Oatmeal Cups. It's a breakfast that can be made ahead of time, and is great to eat on-the-go (like in the car on the way to to school). It's filled with all sorts of nutritional goodness, like rolled oats and flaxseed, but tastes enough like dessert so your kid will scarf it down.
I've finally found my favorite recipe of the summer: Tomato Pie. I could seriously eat a slice of this delicious, fresh-tasting pie every day for the entire season. It is the perfect way to highlight the deliciousness of in-season tomatoes. If you aren't familiar with this Southern dish, you are in for a real treat! The most important part of this recipe is obviously the tomatoes; you want them fresh and ripe. The best choice would obviously be to pick them from your garden (which is what I did this year), but not everybody has a green thumb (don't feel bad; I don't either. My husband is our family gardener. I kill plants just by glancing at them). In that case, you should get your tomatoes from a grocery store that has organic, locally sourced produce, like Earth Fare. That's right; it's time for this month's Earth Fare recipe! You can get all the ingredients for Tomato Pie from Earth Fare, with help from your garden if you are lucky enough to have one. As for the tomatoes, make sure to choose tomatoes of the heirloom variety: Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Beefsteak, Black Krim, Ugly Ripe, etc. You want the big, meaty types of tomatoes that aren't too seedy and liquidy. This is vital to making a perfect tomato pie!
As followers of my blog know, I love desserts. I simply cannot have dinner without dessert; it would be like going to bed without a pillow, or taking a bath without bubbles. You could do it, but why would you ever want to? My need for dessert is a tricky one, because I also strive to eat as healthy as possible. Desserts are generally not known for being the most nutritious of meals (and sorry, fruit just doesn't cut it as dessert for me). So I'm always on the lookout for healthier versions of traditional desserts. The health food scene has been abuzz lately with talk about Black Bean Brownies, but some of the feedback on them hasn't been great, so I had put off making them. After all, I don't want my desserts to actually taste healthy. However, after going five months with an aversion to chocolate (thanks, pregnancy!), I decided to celebrate my return to the wonderful world of chocolate by trying my hand at making a "doesn't-taste-healthy-black-bean-brownie".
It's time again for this month's Earth Fare recipe! Like my other Earth Fare recipes, I chose a recipe that represents the spirit of my blog: family friendly, quick to prepare, inexpensive to make, and healthy and delicious to eat.
Like many other parents, the battle to get my child to eat anything green is an epic one. And to be perfectly honest, I probably don't eat enough of the green stuff either. I attempted to get my daughter to try a bite of a salad the other day, and she took one look at the spinach, and stated "I don't eat leaves, Mommy". (Whatever kid, you spent your first two years of life eating leaves and sticks every time we went outside.) After a particularly unflattering moment of jealousy after seeing yet another Facebook post of a mom announcing about how much her kid loves kale, I decided to get creative. What if I made pesto, but it had a spinach base instead of basil? A quick google search showed me that I wasn't the first to come up with this notion, which further encouraged me that this might be a great idea after all.
