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.
In case you didn't the announcement in my Lemon Raspberry Muffins post, I've caught a slight case of pregnancy. I was able to find out recently if I was having a boy or a girl, and since I discovered the result literally the day before Easter, I decided to share the surprise with my family by making Gender Reveal Cupcakes. When I was pregnant with my daughter a few years ago, I had almost the exact same timing, and that's how I let them know I was having a girl. I had made white cupcakes with buttercream frosting for Easter, and stuffed the inside with bright pink frosting (buttercream dyed with red food coloring). This time I found myself drawn to lemon cupcakes. After a bit of recipe searching, I decided on the always amazing Sally's Baking Addiction, and I'm so glad I did, because these cupcakes turned out delightful! For the frosting, I knew that it just had to be a cream cheese frosting, and I used the Our Best Bites recipe because it's the perfect amount of sweetness (as in, not too sweet!). As for the stuffing, I decided I would try to be keep it healthier and instead of using food dye, I would mix the frosting with blueberry or strawberry jam. Unfortunately, while the flavor was amazing this way, the color did not show up as an absolute blue or pink, so I ended up having to resort to food coloring after all. Oh well!
I'm sure you are all curious now to what I stuffed these delicious cupcakes with--blue or pink frosting?
I have just returned from a fabulous trip to Asheville, North Carolina. My husband and I went for our 5th wedding anniversary, and couldn't have picked a better spot for food lovers like us to celebrate it! Asheville was packed with amazing restaurants; it was nearly impossible to pick which restaurants to dine at during our short stay. Restaurants that I skipped that I will for sure check out for next time include: Early Girl Eatery, Tupelo Honey, Biscuit Head, Zambras, Salsas, and Sunny Point Cafe. We stayed at a great B&B during our vacation (Carolina B&B), so that eliminated the need to go out for breakfast. This wasn't a problem though, because the owners of the B&B created some of the best meals we had on the trip. Overall, we ate very, very well on our trip!
If you don't love, and I mean love garlic, go ahead and ignore this recipe. This recipe is for my fellow garlic lovers. I stumbled upon this recipe in 2009, in the May issue of Real Simple magazine. It embodied what I loved most about Real Simple recipes: the recipe was, well, real simple! Garlicky Pinto Beans became my go-to side when I needed to whip up something quick and easy. I almost always have all the ingredients in my pantry, so no running to the grocery store. Coming up with a fast side dish is one of the hardest parts for me on my healthy eating journey, so I'm always happy to have recipes like Garlicky Pinto Beans in my arsenal. Without dishes like this, I would resort to eating double the appropriate portion size of my entree (i.e. two burritos instead of one). What is your go-to healthy and simple side dish? If you have a good one, I'd love for you to share in the comments!
I've always loved Cream of Asparagus soup, but indulge only rarely, because it's so high in calories. However, with asparagus being in season, I kept finding myself craving that rich, creamy soup. So I decided to rework the recipe and create a healthier version. I reduced the amount of butter and cream, and upped the veggies, but I promise you can't tell. My version of Cream of Asparagus Soup tastes just as rich and creamy as its higher calorie counterpart. This recipe also gets high marks in my other two important areas: it's easy and quick to make, and it's kid friendly. If you find yourself craving this soup when it's no longer asparagus season, don't fret: it works wonderfully with frozen asparagus too.
So today I have some news to share. You may have noticed that my blog entries have decreased a bit since January. The reason? Well, I've been exhausted and sick. Just the thought of most food makes my stomach uneasy. Yup, that's right: I'm pregnant! Baby #2 is expected in early October. I had a very tough first trimester, but now that I'm finally in the second trimester, I can start to feel my appetite and motivation trickle back. Woo!
The seafood used in a recipe can make or break a meal. My husband actually thought he hated shrimp until I was finally able to get him to try some fresh shrimp while in Savannah. Now he loves it...as long as we get it from a reputable source. This is a particular problem in a town like Athens, where the ocean is is a good 5 hours away, with no interstates leading from the coast. Needless to say, most of our grocery stores don't sell the freshest seafood. So we rely on our local Earth Fare, where they always have a great selection of fresh seafood.
