Sometimes when I'm food shopping, I decide to nab something new to play around with. Rather than always grabbing the same foods to make the same meals, I think it's fun to experiment with food and try out different dishes. At times, I pick out something not really being sure how I'm make it, or what I'll prepare it with. This was the case last week when I grabbed these guys at the farmers' market: I've eaten acorn squash here and there, but can't really remember a time when I made them myself. I checked out a few of my cookbooks to see if a recipe with acorn squash looked appealing to me. Here is what I wound up making: I found this recipe in a cookbook called The Vegan Table and altered a few of the ingredients. From the start, I was doubtful that my hubby would be a fan of it. He isn't ... [Read More]
vegetarian recipes
Butternut Squash, Spinach, Goat Cheese & Tomato Pizza
YAY for the weekend being here! I came home a bit ago to find the first Christmas gift that I've ordered this year sitting at my doorstep. I love the feeling of getting someone you care about a gift you know that they'll love - 'tis the season right! My Friday so far has consisted of work, hiking with Harley at a nearby park, physical therapy (my calf is feeling pretty good right now!), and last but certainly not least, making this pizza.... If you're familiar at all with my blog, you know that Friday dinners are homemade pizza nights in my household more often than not. Though pizza is often thought of as a ''naughty" food, the ones that I make aren't greasy, and are usually loaded with veggies and made with whole wheat dough. Because I make pizza pretty often, I like to switch it up and ... [Read More]
My Monday By Numbers {Fennel, Candied Pecans & Mandarin Orange Salad}
Today was no doubt a busy day - one where I had every task and activity timed out in order to fit everything in that I wanted to do. This doesn't always work out perfectly, like today when my physical therapy session went later than usual and I didn't make it to volunteer at the Humane Society, but I still like to crunch my timing on most days to be as productive as I can. For some reason I started thinking about random numbers that coincide with things in my day, so here goes some of my Monday by numbers: Minutes spent at the gym: 45 Number of times I took Harley for a walk: 2 (1 long, 1 short) Minutes it took me to complete a writing assignment this AM: 160 Number of steps taken: 10, 044 so far (via my FitBit) ...Which equates to this many miles walked: 4.33 Servings of produce eaten: 7 ... [Read More]
Goat Cheese & Date Panini
One of the reasons I love to experiment in the kitchen is that is allows you to be creative. Sometimes things turn out better than you expected, sometimes they flop, sometimes not everyone loves it. Creating meals is a form of art, and you can draw inspiration from anywhere. I love to walk around the grocery store and find something new that peaks my interest, then just go with it from there. This week while picking some things up at Trader Joe's, I spotted some fancy Medjool dates. Hmmmm what can I do with these? I asked myself. I chose a few ingredients to come up with a flavorful combo for a panini dinner - date, goat cheese, thyme, and honey on fresh whole grain bread. While I loved my panini and thought it was tasty and different, my hubby decided that he isn't a fan of dates. To each ... [Read More]
White Broccoli Pizza
Happy Halloween blog friends! How adorable is that? Check out 49 other hilarious animal Halloween costumes here: http://www.hlntv.com/slideshow/2012/10/24/animal-pet-cute-costume-halloween?hpt=hp_c2 Today's post is about one of my well-known favorite kitchen creations -- pizza! For last weekend's homemade pizza night, I decided to use a bunch of fresh broccoli I had on hand to make this delicious pie: First I rolled out my whole wheat dough, then placed it on my pizza pan: Next I chopped the broccoli, minced the garlic... ...and brushed olive oil evenly on my dough. Next I spread shredded mozzarella & provolone cheese, spooned ricotta cheese, and placed broccoli and garlic evenly on top of my dough, seasoning with salt, pepper and basil: I baked the pizza in the oven at 400 ... [Read More]
Asian Sesame Broccoli Slaw Salad
Out of all the nutrient-rich vegetables out there, broccoli is one of the best. The super food is high in vitamins and antioxidants, including Vitamin A & C, fiber, folic acid, potassium and calcium. My lunch concoction today revolved around broccoli slaw, which is a combo of shredded broccoli, carrots & red cabbage. Sesame was the other major component of the salad. I used both roasted sesame seeds and sesame oil to give the dish a nice strong sesame flavor. I love sesame! A bag of broccoli slaw caught my eye recently while food shopping, and I nabbed it with memories of a salad I've had in mine. My mom's friend used to make this broccoli slaw salad that I liked, and though I couldn't remember exactly what was in it, I knew that it involved crunchy Ramen Noodles. I've never ... [Read More]
