Buffalo Chicken Dip is literally (LITERALLY!) the greatest dip in the world. Whenever it is served at a party, it is always the first and fastest to disappear. In fact, if you need to find me at an event, look for the buffalo dip, and you will find me parked in front of it, eating it with a spoon. My daughter's third birthday party was last weekend, and I decided to actually make it this time, instead of just being the person who eats it all. My friend Randi makes an excellent version, so I hit her up for her recipe. She's an amazing wedding coordinator (Carry Your Heart Events), so this girl KNOWS her party food. I was so excited about the dip that I completely forgot to take pictures of it before serving (and, as always, it was inhaled as quickly as it was put out), but my husband managed to find a picture with the dip in the background of a party shot. I zoomed in and cropped it, but it isn't exactly the greatest picture. But you know what? Who cares, right? We all know what it looks like, and more importantly what it tastes like! YUM!
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.
This recipe for Taco Pie is probably the lowest carb dinner I have on the blog. I promise you won't miss a single carb though, as this as filling and comforting as a carb-filled casserole. It whips up quickly and easily, and is easy to amend to your own personal tastes. I keep mine on the mild side, so that my toddler will eat it, but feel free to adjust the seasonings if you prefer more heat. Once baked, top with your favorite taco garnishes, and you will be in food heaven!
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.
This summer, the dish I have made absolutely the most has been Tomato Pie. I think I can go as for as officially naming it my #1 Pregnancy Craving. However, my picky toddler does not like tomatoes, so I needed to come up with a way to combine my pregnancy craving and my daughter's taste preferences into one recipe. This led to the creation of Cheeseburger Pie! The dish is incredibly kid friendly, while still allowing you to enjoy the freshness of summer ripened tomatoes. I simply remove the offending tomatoes from my kid's slice, and place them on top of my own serving--so double the tomatoes for me! Win-win! In summary, this is a hot, cheesy, filling dish that every one in your family will crave.
As I mentioned in my last blog post, I've recently been diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes. It can be a struggle to find foods that are both low carb and meet my pregnancy cravings. One of the hardest cravings for me to ignore are pancakes; they just taste so good right now! Fortunately, the awesome blog Detoxinista had the perfect solution: grain free Almond Butter Pancakes. I made them immediately, and while they didn't taste exactly like traditional pancakes, they were delicious in their own right. The next time I made them, I switched out the almond butter for peanut butter, and upped the cinnamon, and found them to be even tastier to me. They are a breeze to make, and low carb enough where I can even have a drizzle of real maple syrup on top. Yum!
As many of you know, I'm pregnant with my second child. Like with my first pregnancy, I developed gestational diabetes around my 25th week. As I have mentioned in the past, there are a lot of misconceptions about gestational diabetes; mainly that is caused by something that the mother has done (or not done). This can lead to a lot of guilty thoughts when a woman is first diagnosed. The truth is, many cases of gestational diabetes are due to genetics. I live a very healthy lifestyle: my diet is made up of nutritious and unprocessed foods, I exercise five times a week, and I maintain a healthy weight (and healthy weight gain during pregnancy). Yet the hormones in my body go crazy when I get pregnant, and my placenta starts having trouble regulating insulin, and unfortunately, there is nothing I can do to prevent it. What I can do, however, is stay on a very strict diet during my pregnancy, that allows my body to handle the diabetes without medicine. I'm not going to lie: it's really hard to be on a rigid diet when you are in your third trimester; a time when you are starving and just want to eat what you want to eat, when you want to eat. Instead, I have to eat a certain amount of carbs (not too much, not too little) on a very strict schedule (every 2-3 hours, no earlier, no later).
