Vegan

Israeli Couscous Salad

I love it when I find new salads or summer side dishes that can be made ahead to marinate all day or made on the fly to eat up right then and there. This salad is one of those salads that tastes great either way. This is the perfect salad to bring to a potluck, picnic or to serve up in your own backyard. It’s full of summer flavor from the fresh mint, parsley and cherry tomatoes. We love pairing this salad with chicken drumsticks and one of my kale salads for a family backyard dinner. You can really make this a year round salad by adding seasonal ingredients to the mixture, like asparagus in the spring, cauliflower or broccoli in the winter.

July 17, 2013 23 Comments

Grilled Bruschetta with Heirloom Tomatoes

I’m sure you’ve all seen the cover for the July/August edition of Martha Stewart Living in either a book store or your grocery store. If you’ve seen it, then you know why I just had to run out and make up this bread. I opened up my mailbox last week and saw the cover showcasing this beautiful assortment of heirloom tomatoes on top of this toasted bread. I immediately went to the grocery store, bought me some heirlooms and made this up for lunch. I have to say that I was in food heaven. This bread is crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside from the juicy heirlooms and olive oil. The crunchy sea salt and fresh basil just give it another punch of flavor and texture. John and I split half a loaf up for lunch one day and paired it with my lacinato kale salad and drumsticks another night for dinner. I also brought this to a friend’s house and served it up as an appetizer. Let’s just say it was a hit with everyone. It’s truly the perfect summer bruschetta!

July 9, 2013 12 Comments

beet and carrot and apple and ginger juice no juicer required

Beet, Carrot, Apple and Ginger Juice – No Juicer Required

Here’s another juice that I’m currently loving that you can make without a juicer. Yaay! I love that I can juice at home without requiring the use of an expensive juicer. It just makes me happy. I have 2 other juices on the blog that you can make without a juicer as well, my mean green juice and my carrot, grapefruit and ginger juice. They all taste great and each one of them has a special kick to it from the ginger. I made this juice up one afternoon and Zoe and John looked at it and decided to call it vamp juice, because it sort of looks like blood, but don’t worry, it doesn’t taste like blood.

June 27, 2013 71 Comments

Easy Overnight Steel Cut Oats

So most of you know that I was a cereal addict since the age of 17. I literally ate a bowl of cereal everyday, usually grape-nuts topped with some other kind of fiberish cereal and granola. I’m one of those people that wakes up hungry and can’t sit around and wait a 1/2 hour for breakfast to cook, so cereal was the breakfast of choice, or should I say breakfast of convenience. Steel cut oats were reserved for those fancy hotel vacations or breakfast out with the family, as I was under the assumption that steel cut oats were a labor intensive and timely breakfast to whip up. I changed that way of thinking though when I cooked up my hot quinoa and oat cereal for the first time. I learned the trick to a quick breakfast of steel cut oats, and that was to bring them to a quick boil and then let them sit out overnight. I still eat cold cereal on occasion, but lately I have been devouring these steel cut oats, my 5 minute quinoa cereal and my quinoa and oat cereal. I would have to say that my breakfast routine has changed for the better!

June 6, 2013 209 Comments

One-Pan Pasta

Isn’t this above picture just beautiful and doesn’t it make you want to try a batch of this pasta tonight? I mean look at all of those fresh ingredients and all that color. I saw a photo similar to this in the most recent edition of Martha Stewart living and it looked so cool and challenging to me. I mean a one-pan pasta, who had ever heard of that (not me)? I seriously wondered how it was all going to work, and I have to say that I was a bit skeptical. I will also admit that the first time I made this pasta up, it didn’t turn out so great, as the pasta was overcooked. I was under the assumption that ALL of the water had to evaporate, so I cooked the pasta way too long and it was a bit over-done. We all really loved the flavors in this pasta though, so I vowed to try it again. Well, the second time around proved to be the charm. The pasta came out perfectly al dente and it created this thick creamy sauce that coated every strand of pasta.

June 4, 2013 118 Comments

Sweet Potato and Chipotle Soup

This soup is wonderfully creamy, but without the cream, as it’s dairy free and vegan to boot. Woo hoo! I love that it’s made with simple whole-food ingredients and most of them I already had stocked in my pantry, besides the sweet potatoes that is. The soup is sweet and creamy but with a spicy kick to it from the chipotle. John and I loved this soup. The kids liked it, but it’s not their favorite soup. They seemed to like it a bit more when I threw on some homemade croutons, as they liked having that extra texture.

May 15, 2013 28 Comments

Carrot, Grapefruit and Ginger Juice – No Juicer Required

Remember when I showed you all how to make a mean green juice without a juicer? Well, I’m showing you another one of my favorite juices. This juice is both sweet and sour with a zesty and spicy kick to it from the ginger. I love downing one of these after a morning workout, as it reenergizes me and puts a kick in my step. John loves to have this in the morning before he heads off to work, as it wakes him up. This juice is packed full of fiber and chock full of vitamin C, and who doesn’t like or need a bit of that this time of year. You can make this juice in your juicer, but if you don’t have a juicer, don’t fret, I will show you how to make this juice without one. Ok, let’s get this party started!

April 8, 2013 9 Comments

5 Minute Hot Quinoa Cereal

Want a hot and healthy breakfast in 5-minutes? Well, here you go, this quinoa cereal takes 5 minutes from start to finish and will leave you feeling healthy and satisfied! I love my other quinoa and steel-cut oat cereal, but I have to plan ahead the night before in order to make it, and sometimes I just want to wake up and have some hot cereal, like NOW! I’m not the type of person who likes to fuss a lot when it comes to breakfast. I like to have my coffee and cereal ready within 10 minutes of waking. That’s just how I roll.

April 3, 2013 55 Comments

Hot Quinoa and Oat Cereal with Goji Berries

This is one of my go-to overnight breakfasts and I make this at least 2 times a month. It only takes 5 minutes to prep the night before and 6-8 minutes to heat up in the morning. I love that this breakfast is gluten-free and dairy-free, and I can add in healthy fats and pair it with season fruits and chia seed to give me energy to do all that I have to do in a given day! It’s the perfect breakfast to serve up on a fall and winter morning.

February 5, 2013 36 Comments