I have eaten such an insane amount of milk (in the form of ice cream) during this pregnancy! Every week I've told myself, you've really got to stop eating so much ice cream, hot fudge sundaes, frozen yogurt, Blizzards... you get the idea. Yet, every week I couldn't seem to resist just one little bit... so here we are at the end of the pregnancy and I gave up. In fact, I'm eating ice cream right now.

I have been craving a Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake the whole nine months. But, being me, I decided to make ice cream cakes with an Oreo crust myself. My best friend and her son have birthday's a day a part, and they were having a party! The perfect excuse to experiment. I made a vanilla ice cream cake for the kids and an espresso ice cream cake for the grown ups! I headed into the endeavor having absolutely no idea what I was doing, but also with the knowledge that with ingredients like Oreos, fudge, ice cream and whipped cream, I really couldn't do anything too disastrous. The results were, "I'll have a third slice", kind of amazing.

This recipe makes once cake.

I just can't stop baking cookies. This baby girl is sure to be made completely of cookies and citrus fruit when she makes her debut. Lucky for me, Gigi loves making (and eating) cookies as much as I do. I'm spending lots of time baking, cooking, playing, cuddling, reading, visitng the park with her. Pretty soon we'll be cooking together while a baby sister is strapped to my chest!

My recipe for Oatmeal Raisin Cookies is here... and in case you missed it, our cooking video for them is here!

I love this time of year in Oregon. It's sunny and warm enough to sleep with the windows open, but still cool enough at night that you need a down comforter. Everything is in green and blooming, and all the fresh herbs are becoming available. Last weekend, Gigi and went to visit a friend's farm and she loaded me up with sorrel from their garden as we were leaving. I'd never used sorrel before and she recommended I make a pesto from it. The sorrel made a fantastic pesto that had a slightly more bitter flavor than basil. We pulled some wonderful salmon from the freezer and had ourselves an easy, wonderful dinner.

Last week I posted my recipe for Roasted Blood Oranges, and this week I'm sharing my simple recipe for roasted grapefruit. This is one of my happiest discoveries this past year. I love any and all citrus fruit but grapefruit is at the top of my list. Roasting it with a little sugar mellows out the bitterness and brings out the fruit's natural sweetness. A few minutes in the oven and this tart breakfast food transforms into a comforting, sweet treat. This is an fast, easy and healthy dessert. You can jazz it up with a little sprinkle of cinnamon or ground ginger.

I've been pretty obsessed with citrus fruits throughout this pregnancy. If you only the the quantity of oranges, pineapple, and grapefruit I've eaten... You can imagine my joy upon discovering that blood oranges had arrived in our grocery store! I snapped up a bunch of them a long with some Cara Cara Oranges and decided to roast them. I love roasted grapefruit (I have my recipe for that coming soon too) and thought the blood oranges would do pretty wonderful things under the broiler. They were simple to make and completely delicious.

It's definitely spring around here. Spring in the Pacific Northwest is a silly thing... sunny and warm one minute, dumping rain the next. This often means trips to the park are in t-shirts and rain boots. We've been laying pretty low the last couple of weeks, organizing the nursery, doing some light spring cleaning, little trips to the coffee shop, and Kyle has been working hard on getting our raised beds in place in the backyard, and I've been baking a lot.

These cookies came into being after my good friend brought me back five lovely Meyer lemons from California a couple weeks ago. I knew I wanted to do something simple and sweet with them. Slowly the idea for shortbread cookies began to form. I wanted to add something a little unexpected so I took my daughter for a walk and we clipped a bit of rosemary to add to the cookies. With the addition of a tart/sweet Meyer lemon glaze, these cookies were perfected. I could have eaten them all myself, but instead we packaged them up and delivered them around town, and even sent a few across the country, to good friends.

I had so much fun making this video with Gigi. She's a fun kitchen companion. I hope you enjoy it...

You can see and download my recipe for Oatmeal Raisin Cookies here!

Okay... someone needs to stop me from baking so many cookies! I think I've made a dozen batches in the past two weeks. While I've given most of the cookies away to friends, I've managed to eat my fair share. With just ten weeks left to go in this pregnancy a little cookie and a mug of tea in the afternoon has been too inviting to resist. Maybe I ought to try making some of those "healthy" cookies with spelt flour and avacado... or whatever it is people use to substitute for the good stuff?

I'm feeling under the weather (again)! I've been sick so many times during this pregnancy, probably more times than in the past five years. So while I nurse this little cold, Gigi is having tea parties, and Kyle is planning/building our raised beds.

Anyway, back to cookies. Below is my recipe for Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, and tomorrow I'll post the cooking video that Gigi and I made with this recipe.

I've come down with the same cold that Gigi has... it was bound to happen after all the cuddling we've been doing. Luckily she seems to be feeling a tiny bit better this morning. Somehow, despite having a sick tot and a sore throat the last couple of days, I've managed to get a lot done. I started and finished my 2012 taxes, made a month's worth of menus and did a huge grocery shopping trip, did all the laundry (well, Kyle folded it), and I watched the first disc of the old Dr. Zhivago mini-series. Apparently not even stupid cold can slow down the nesting power of pregnancy.

It's pouring rain out today and I made a big batch of my simple miso soup last night. It's the best thing when you are feeling under the weather. Rain and soup... and disc two of Dr. Zhivago. I came up with this recipe after craving miso soup for the majority of this pregnancy. It's simple, MSG free, and made from scratch. You can easily adapt it to suit your own taste. I make it constantly these days.

Meal Planning // Step Two

Yesterday I posted Step One of my Menu Planning Method which is all about going through your cookbooks and getting them your recipes organized in a way that's easy to reference and use.

The second step is using those recipes to create a monthly menu that is full of variety and sticks to your budget. I think shopping within a reasonable budget is the hardest part of meal planning. It definitely the most "troublesome" part of our family budget. It's a challenge to stay under $450 (our monthly goal) but this method makes it easier. I also have some tips for budget friendly grocery shopping that I'll share in Step Three.

I've broken my monthly planning down into week by week menus. I plan out breakfasts, lunches, snacks and dinners. I don't plan out desserts since we don't have it every night. Lately, when I'm at the store I just buy whatever fruit looks good, then we'll share an apple or a banana and a few chocolate chips. If we have ice cream, or if Gigi and I have baked a little cake then we'll have that. I plan out each week using a little budget code (under $5 / $=5-10 / $$=10-15 / $$$=15-20 / $$$$ = 20+). I write in my estimate next to the meal and I try to keep most of my meals in the "under $5" category. A - indicates that there is no cost because it's leftovers. It depends on your budget and the size of your family, but I find that this little system helps me see when I'm planning too many pricey meals. These menu plans actually end up covering a little over a month since we usually do a day here and there using up what we have in the fridge, or we get invited out to dinner and have extra food on hand for a meal or two.

Here is what the blank format looks like... (you can print weeks 1-4 at the end of the post)

And here's my filled out menu plan for week one of March... (you can print the full March Menu at the end of the post)

So, I fill out the menu using my recipe document and selecting this off of my favorite foodie blogs. I make my menu plan on the computer which makes it easy because I can just copy and past the recipe from my cookbook document or hyperlink the online recipe directly into this format. I try to keep notes about what new foods I introduced to Gigi to keep in mind the French Kids Eat Everything method we've been following. I also make sure to note when I can "make one, freeze one" and double that recipe and put one in the chest freezer in the garage. Where you see "RECIPE" written out is a meal that I've dedicated to creating or working on a new recipe. You could also leave space for spontaneous meal planning.

Once I've created the entire months menu I get down the coresponding cookbooks and pull up the food blogs. Then I go week by week to create a grocery shopping list for each week. I put everything I can (non-perishables) onto the week one grocery list. By buying everything I can at the start of the month I accomplish a few things. First, it allows me to spend the bulk ofmy grocery budget up front and then I know how much I can spend the remaining three weeks. Second, it means I have one big grocery shopping trip each month. The rest of the month I have short trips to pick up fresh produce, poultry and dairy. Third, it gives me a chance to look for things on sale and buy them early on and stick them in the freezer for later in the month. Finally, this also means that I only have to look through the pantry/freezer/spice cabinet once each month instead of weekly to see if we already have this or that!

Important Note: I lkeep the menus on the fridge so I can always see what's coming up for the week. This keeps me excited about what on the menu, aware of what I've alreaady spent money on and far less likely to order take out.

I love grocery shopping with my daughter but sometimes it feels like it takes up the entire day! I split my grocery list up into "parts of the store" which makes it easier to efficeintly shop, it also makes it easier for Kyle when I send him to the store. I spend so much less time criss-crossing the store becuase I forgot something on the other side! This might vary a little depending on the layout of your store. I also added a separate section of stopping by the co-op or farmer's market, and for things we need from Safeway or Trader Joe's (which aren't our usual grocery stores).

Here is a look at my blank document for grocery shopping... (you can print this at the end of the post)

And here's what a few of my lists look like...

You can see my grocery list for Week 1 is bigger than the others! Last month I spent $95 week one and I've spent around $50 each additional week. Along with little trips to the store here and there we are sticking pretty close to our budget.

I know this all looks like a lot of work (and it is) but it's totally worth it! I find a day at the end of the month and spend long morning making up the menu and grocery lists for the month. Then the work is done for the whole month! I don't have to stress about it every Sunday, I just grab the next week's menu and list. A major benefit to planning this way is that, once you have several months of menus made up you can always go back and print an old month when you're in a time crunch. Our baby is due May 30th and I plan on adapting some of my older menu plans to the summer season but leaving a lot as is to save us time and make things easy when our baby girl arrives!

I will try to post my menus each month for you!

I've been working a lot the last couple of weeks on organizing my menu and recipe planning into a format that I can share with all of you. I've developed what I think is an efficient and fairly simple system for menu planning and monthly grocery shopping (on a budget). I'm finalizing everything and hope to have it up on the blog next week... although next week I'll be celebrating my 30th birthday so I can't make any promises!

This recipe is an example of a money and time saving breakfast or afternoon snack for your little one (or your husband). Gigi loves her oatmeal for breakfast but I don't always have time to make her the stove-top 20-minute kind... nor is she willing to wait that long! I rarely bought the little packets of instant oatmeal but when I did, I have to admit that I loved the convenience. But I hated the fact that they cost so much and were essentially a processed food. So I decided to make it myself. While the quick oats used in this recipe don't have the same nutritional value of the slow cooked variety, I still feel like I'm feeding my kiddo something homemade and I know exactly what's in it. This particular version is Cinnamon Raisin but you could easily change up the recipe each time you made a batch. I can't wait to experiment with dried apples pieces, slivered almonds, pumpkin seeds, dried cherries, etc. The possibilities are really endless. If you're feeding this to a toddler just make sure any dried fruit is cut up really small since it expands in hot water. I hope this simple little recipe saves you a bit of time and money.

My recipe...
Homeade Instant Oatmeal // Cinnamon Raisin

This is my latest cooking video, we shot it late on a weeknight after Kyle had gotten home from work and we were getting dinner on the table. As usual, Gigi wanted to help me cook so this is also the start of a new series on the blog called My Sous Chef which will feature Kyle or myself cooking with our girl. Like most toddlers she loves to be in the kitchen, amongst the action!

This recipe came about on a lazy night trying to figure out how to make plain pizza dough satisfy a pregnancy craving for light, airy focaccia-style bread! Now it's a regular side-kick to our dinners. After posting this photo...

on Instagram I got lots of requests to share the recipe. So here it is! I hope you enjoy our cooking video and the recipe!

My recipe...
Roasted Garlic Focaccia Bread

It's 8:25am now and Gigi is up, she's already had breakfast and is watching a little PBS while I finish catch up on a bit of work for today. I've been up since 4:45am... blame it on pregnancy or my desperate need to sit down for a few quiet minutes on my own and reflect on the past year and make some plans and goals for the year to come. I've got a lot of great projects in the works and things I'm excited to share with you, a few new features mixed in with little looks at our simple days.

When I look back on last year my goals were pretty big: Travel with my family to Europe! Complete my BA and graduate from college! Launch a new website! I can't believe I accomplished all of that with a one year old! My goals for this year are pretty minimal and simple... Exercise and eat well throughout this pregnancy and after the baby is born. Cook a lot and create new recipes as often as possible. Minimize "wasted" time. Make Gigi laugh a lot. Write more letters. Take a road trip and go camping. Get chickens and plant a wonderful vegetable garden. Sew more. Be the best wife, mama, sister, daughter, and friend that I can be. That's really it! I see this year as an opportunity to live frugally, enjoy my babies, continue to create a home space that we love, and a time to nurture the relationships that are important to me.

Now moving on to really important things, like brown butter... I've been adding brown butter to everything that calls for butter! I drizzle it on soups, toss pasta in it, and add it to baked treats. It's so rich and delicious and it's so simple to make. I'm amazed at how much it elevates anything it's added to. I love blueberry muffins. Adding brown butter to my simple blueberry muffin recipe was an obvious use for my favorite ingredient. These muffins are slightly sweet, just rich enough, flaky and light... just the way I prefer my pastries to be.

...and a quick tutorial on how to make Brown Butter.

As I sit here with a kitty purring on my lap, a very tired toddler taking a long afternoon nap, hot cocoa steaming in front of me and a candy cane to dunk in it, I feel perfectly wintery. It's that time of year where I have choice... I can either let the grey, dreary days get to me, or I can embrace them. I choose to make the best of these winter days by working on little sewing projects, spritzing our clean sheets with summery lavender oil, and cooking the most satisfying dinners. With this pregnancy in full swing I have to admit that I've had a hard time with breakfast and lunch... dinner has my heart. By the time dinner comes around it's usually dark out and, if I'm being totally honest here, I'm usually in my pajamas. This soup is one of those dinners that makes the whole house smell perfectly cozy and inviting. The butternut squash and garlic roast for an hour in the oven sending the smell of caramelized veggies into every room of the house, and the heat from the oven makes the kitchen and dining room extra warm. A big bowl of Roasted Butternut Squash Soup and a thick slice of toast is just the thing to prepare you for an evening of watching Harry Potter on the couch.

I'm truly excited to share my new cooking video with you. The recipe is for Portobello Dip Sandwiches, a sort of vegetarian take on a philly cheesesteak with a savory, rich au jus! This is one of my very favorite winter time dinners. It's flavorful and satisfying, and it's really inexpensive. Total comfort food... garlic bread piled high with veggies and topped with melted mozzarella cheese. Mmmm....

My Recipe...
Portobello Dip Sandwiches

Would love your feedback on the video!

Brown Butter Brown Sugar Cookies

Thanks for all the sweet encouragement on feeling better. Unfortunately we're still feeling pretty rotten and now Kyle seems to have caught the bug. Poor Gigi can't sleep with a stuffy nose and cough and the whole house smells of Vick's Vapor Rub. We'll get through it, and hopefully in time for Thanksgiving! If I'm being totally honest, between the sickness and the days turning dark at 4pm, I've been feeling a bit lonely. We've hardly left the house for ten days. Luckily I have my cooking. I've been baking, cooking and reading cookbooks. Nothing encourages experimentation like cabin fever. The idea for these Brown Butter cookies came to me when I was wanting to make a simple cookie but I'm not a huge fan of sugar cookies. I thought if I browned the butter and used brown sugar instead of white I might end up with a toasty, rich version of the classic sugar cookie. I was surprised at just how wonderfully they turned out. They are crispy on the outside and chewy in the center like molasses cookies, and the flavor is rich but not overpowering. These are my new favorite cookie! They're perfect for the holidays so get baking!

My recipe...
Brown Butter Brown Sugar Cookies

Sourdough Toast with Mascarpone, Blackberry Jam and Basil

It's 8:43am and I'm sitting at the dining room table with a warm cup of Earl Grey tea. Up until a month ago I have been obsessed with the very British PG Tips black tea. But suddenly I am converted. I have been having the Earl Grey tea with a smidge of honey and a splash of milk and finding that it's the perfect way to start my days lately. Right now Gigi is watching a show on PBS and I'm preparing to dive into the pile of work I have neglected over the last few weeks. G and I got pretty sick and somehow I lost ten days this month. Even though time is flying by I find that I am more grateful than ever for my little family. We spent the whole weekend relaxing together, cleaning the garage, tidying Gigi's room and packing away her summer clothes into boxes. We are looking forward to a few nice, quiet weeks at home.

I whipped up this little breakfast the other day and am in love. I'm not a big breakfast person, I maybe have a couple bites of yogurt, a piece of toast, or a little granola, so this light airy toast is perfect for me.

My recipe:
Sourdough Toast with Mascarpone, Blackberry Jam and Basil

Everything feels so still right now. I am enjoying the solitude right now and the idea of curling up on the couch and escaping into a good book has me held hostage. The dark clouds and showers are perfect. My favorite things about fall are: Gigi wearing Babylegs with every outfit, spending way too much time in my sweatpants, baking cookies and cakes and muffins and breads, bright orange pumpkins on my dining table, watching favorite movies like The Apartment and Julie and Julia over and over again while eating all the Halloween candy... What are you favorite things about this season?

This time of year I love a rich pasta dish but I tend to get stuck on red and cream sauces. With fresh herbs like thyme still growing strong and shellfish available at the market, I decided to indulge in a different kind of pasta dish. Clams with Spaghetti cooked with shallots and white wine, fresh thyme and lemon zest. It's still rich and indulgent but it is equally light and fun. Don't forget to pick up a great bread to soak up all the wonderful sauce!

My recipe...
Clams with Linguini with White Wine and Thyme

The last couple of weeks have been a bit of a blur. I've been pretty lazy if I'm being totally honest. I've been spending too much time in my sweatpants, cozied up on the couch. I have been editing a lot of photos, looking at a lot of cookbooks and cooking a ton. This time of year something takes a hold of me and I feel the need to stock the freezer with soups and easy dinners. We are having this strange extended summer here with insanely beautiful fall days. The rain is supposed to show up tomorrow and stay put for a while so I'm going to get up and go today and hold onto the last sunshine and vitamin D of the year. Luckily you can buy ice cream all year round so I don't have to let go of summer altogether. This dessert has become my favorite. It doesn't feel exclusively summery. The rich balsamic and maple syrup add a rich zing to the simple treat. It's insanely good. Rain or shine.

My recipe for...
Vanilla Ice Cream with Strawberries and a Balsamic and Syrup Reduction

Pitas with Grilled Eggplant and Tzatziki

One day when we were Paris we grabbed our maps and slipped out of our apartment for an adventure. We had a huge list of places to eat with L'As Du Fallafel somewhere in the middle of the page titled, "The Best of Paris". The list was made for us by our good friend Bill who loves food as much as, if not more than we do. He lived in Paris for years and undoubtably/enviably ate his way across the incredible city. We got off the metro and walked through the bumpy streets of Marais, until we spotted the bright, colorful restaurant. Then we stood in a long line on a warm fall day and, when it was our turn, ordered pitas stuffed with the most insanely delicious eggplant, red cabbage, and tahini. There's never any seating so you just take your fallefel and walk until you find a park bench or a curb then you sit down and savor every bite. When you're finished licking your fingers you only wish you had room to eat another.

I wouldn't call this recipe a replication of that amazing fallafel, but it holds us over in between trips to Paris. The eggplant is marinated in lots of olive oil and smoked paprika and the tzatziki is flavorful and has a little bite. We devour these hot or cold, for breakfast, lunch or dinner. They remind me just a tiny bit of Paris.

My recipe for...
Pitas with Grilled Eggplant and Tzatziki

I'm thrilled to be contributing over at EMMADIME today. I am sharing my recipe for...

Roasted Carrots with a Balasmic and Syrup Reduction

...over at Emma's blog as part of her fantastic series called Simply Wholesome. I had a wonderful time working on this recipe for her. Thanks for having me, Emma!

Grilled Peaches with Marscarpone and Peach Syrup

This time of year is my favorite. The mornings are chilly enough for scarves, the evenings are warm enough for bare feet on the pavement. We are in the perfect window where you can snuggle up at night in your down comforter, in your flannel pajamas, but still leave the window cracked just a little bit. Things around here since we returned home from out trip have been nice. We are taking lots of time to get things organized, cleaned up, on a better schedule, etc. Kyle has had to buckle down on his studies in the evenings so I've been sipping wine and watching movies. This time of year feels like the time to focus and prioritize. Summers are always so busy and fun, but I love sinking into the fall with it's windy days and rainy mornings. These past few evenings have felt like summer and we've been grilling veggies, eating heirloom tomatoes, and going for walks with our neighbors. I don't know about where you live, but here the stone fruits are all ripe. In these late summer evenings making grilled peaches for dessert is my favorite thing. They're simple to make and taste like the sweetest part of summer. They're fresh, light, rich, delicate, sweet and smoky. They are the kind of dessert that begs you to savor every mouthful.

My recipe for...
Grilled Peaches with Marscarpone and Peach Syrup

I am so excited to share a new cooking video and recipe with you. This recipe is perfect for Fall...

Penne with Butternut Squash, Goat Cheese and Prosciutto

The recipe is available here and all my recipes are compiled here. Happy cooking.

Here in Edinburgh, Scotland it's been pouring rain all day. By pouring I mean...

...really pouring. We went for a long walk during a deceptive sunbreak to my favorite spot in Leith, a beautiful old cemetery in a churchyard. We'd just had breakfast and were admiring the gravestones from the 1800's when a few drops fell, then more and more and more. Our attempt to hide under the protection of a tree were in vain, I grabbed my muddy baby and walked as quickly as I could, through the sheets of rain back to the flat. By the time we made it to the front door we were drenched down to our knickers/nappy (as they say here). A quick change into mid-day pajamas and we were ready for a cozy afternoon. Gwyn went down for a afternoon nap that was cut short by the thunder and lightning storm that came through, with thunder and hail so aggressive that it set off the car alarms in the small lot below our apartment window.

When the season change is hinted at, or in today's case, is right in front of me, I adore a hot toddy with ginger. I love few things more than curling up on the couch to watch a good movie with a steaming hot toddy in hand... it's actually something I look forward to all summer long when it's too hot out for my favorite cocktail. This summer, however, I got clever and devised a plan to make a cold version of a hot toddy. After a few experiments I came up with a refreshing, sparkling cocktail that has all the same great flavor as my hot toddy. Perfect for sipping at sunset on your porch or enjoying in the garden. As the end of summer closes in and autumn looms ahead, there's still plenty of time for toddys... whichever fits your fancy.

The Toddy Recipes:
Hot Toddy with Ginger
Cold Toddy with Ginger

You can also try my Thai Hot Toddy if you like!

I love French Fries. Honestly, who doesn't? Sometimes I'll make them for lunch. Just French Fries. There's something about their salty, crispy, soaked in olive oil perfection that I can't get enough of. We go through so much olive oil in this house that we've taken to buying the restaurant size boxes of extra virgin olive oil. We pour through it like it's... well, wine. Don't worry, it's good fat. These hot summer days with barbeques out front with our neighbors and many, many servings of fries.

The last couple of weeks have been a wonderful whirlwind of friends, family, wine tasting, popsicles, and many summer things. We've skipped a few of Gwyn's nightly baths, gone to bed with dirty feet, forgone errands, and eaten too many cherries. Kyle is back in the brewery this week for the first time in months, following his shoulder surgery. He's so happy to be back to the work he loves. Long days in the brew-house aren't always easy, but they're almost always rewarding. Kyle is so good at his job and I'm so proud of him... even though I sometimes forget to say it to him.

I'm still reveling in the joy and excitement of my acting work last week. I so rarely get an opportunity to work as an actress that when I do I try to soak up every single second of it and relive it over and over in my head. I love what I'm doing but there are days that I wish I could make a living as an actress. It's so fulfilling.

This weekend we are going to see The Head and The Heart play at the Portland Zoo. It's so great to have a chance to take Gwyn to see them. Our friend Chris the band's bass player and I hope we get to say hi and introduce him to G. Normally we can't take her to shows but since this one is at the zoo, it's totally kid friendly. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to pack up a gourmet picnic basket and a bottle of wine and relax on the grass. Our step-cousin is also getting hitched this weekend so we're going to have a busy but fun next few days.

My french fry recipe is here.

*Note: From now on I'll be posting my foodie thoughts here and my recipes on Gorge in the Gorge. That way they're all compiled in one easy to use archive.

I'm so thrilled to share my first cooking video with you! It's been a lot of work, but so much fun. I really hope you enjoy it, use it, share it, cook along with it... Thanks for watching!

You can see the whole recipes here...
Lemon and Herb Chicken Under Brick
Grilled Kale Caesar Salad

As you all know, I have another blog and foodie website, Gorge in the Gorge that is intended to support the wineries, breweries, restaurants, etc. here in the Columiba River Gorge. This spring, I was invited to join The Gorge Magazine team as a contributor for their Partake section. The goal was to feature recipes with mostly local, season ingredients that are easy, tasty, and healthy. The recipes are for Lemon and Herb Chicken Under Brick with Grilled Kale Caesar Salad. I did all of the photography as well which was really fun! I chose a local red, and white wine, and a locally made beer to pair with the recipe. I'm so proud to have been a part of this and am already working on my recipe for the fall issue! If you live here in the Gorge, make sure to pick up your copy of the The Gorge Magazine's Summer 2012 issue!

Tomorrow I'll be posting the recipes here, followed by my first cooking video featuring these two recipes! it's gonna be a good week on the blog.

Swedish Style Baked Potatoes

Since we are, it seems permanently, on a tight grocery budget we've been cooking lots of potatoes. I have been experimenting with making Swedish Style Baked Potatoes. They are so easy, and so good. They can be served as the main dish or as a side. I've also been experimenting with sweet potatoes cooking in this fashion and I'll share that recipe as soon as I've perfected it.



Ingredients:
large russet potatoes
garlic, minced
chilled butter, cut into thin slices
olive oil
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Wash the potatoes thoroughly. Slice a small piece off the bottom or each of the potatoes. This will keep it from rolling around when you cut the slits into it. Using a sharp knife carefully slice the potato almost all the way through. Insert your butter slices and a bit of minced garlic into the slits. Place the potatoes on a baking sheet. Drizzle with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bake at 425 for about 40 minutes or until you can easily pierce the center of the potato with your knife. Serve immediately.

These potatoes are great on their own, topped like a typical baked potato, or served with soup or chili on the side.

The one on the left (you cant' even see the potato!) is served with strained Vegetarian 13 Bean Soup. The dish on the right is smaller potatoes (which didn't come out quite as good as the larger ones) served with the same soup.


Mmmmmmmmmmmm.

Printable Recipe:
Swedish Style Baked Potatoes

Thai Hot Toddy

After posting my Thai Coconut Soup recipe last week, I'm still on a bit of a Thai kick. I'm, as you know by now, obsessed with Hot Toddy's. I've experimented in the past with trying to add Thai flavors to my Toddy but now I've taken it to a whole new level. I was aiming for all the flavors (sweet, sour, spicy) to blend together with the whiskey. In the first batch I added in 1/8 teaspoon of Thai Red Chili paste. I loved the result but Kyle found it a little too earthy, so adding that is totally optional. If you are making the Thai Coconut soup you'll have most of these ingredients on hand. You should definitely make this cocktail... is it Friday yet?

Ingredients:
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
1/8 teaspoon Thai Red Chili Paste (optional)
1 tsp brown sugar
2" slice lemongrass stalk
thin slice Thai red chili, seeds and veins removed
thin slice of lime
thin slice of fresh ginger
whiskey to taste

Directions:
Put water on to boil. Rim your cocktail glass with lime. Put the ginger and lemongrass in the cup and cover with boiling water. Allow to steep for a few minutes before adding the lemon juice, Thai red chili, Chili Paste, brown sugar, and the slice of lime. Add water until the cup is half to three-quarters full. Fill the rest of the way with whiskey. Stir to combine. Sip happily away and pretend you don't have anything on your list of things to do.

Printable Recipe:
Thai Hot Toddy

Thai Coconut Soup with Udon Noodles and Tofu

I love making Thai dishes at home.  The combination of heat and coconut milk in Thai food is my favorite thing. This soup is pretty easy to make and it was absolutely delicious. Whenever I'm cooking something a little complicated, like Thai food, I always try to get everything prepped so that when it comes to the actually cooking, it's easy and fast. This soup is so satisfying and flavorful. I will definitely be making it again, and again, and again.

Inspired by this recipe from Sprouted Kitchen.

Ingredients:
Tofu:
1 14oz package of Extra Firm Tofu (this needs to be drained so make sure to note the extra time in the directions)
1 Tablespoon agave
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tablespoons sesame oil
Vegetable oil

Sofrito:
2 stalks of lemongrass, peel off the outside layer and quickly chop the tender centers of the stalks
2 thai red chilies, seeded and deveined (2 chilies = medium heat)
2-3 inches of fresh ginger, peeled and quickly chopped
4 garlic cloves
1 large shallot, quickly chopped
1/4 cup water
2 Tablespoons fish sauce

Soup:
1 1/2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 14.5oz cans coconut milk (whole or light, I used one of each but either would work)
2 Tablespoons creamy peanut butter
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1/3 cup lime juice (about 1 1/2 limes)

10oz Udon noodles (I found them in the bulk section at the store)

Garnish:
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
Cilantro, trimmed
Sesame oil

Directions:
To drain the tofu, wrap it in paper towels, and set it on a plate. Place another plate on top to help press out the water. Let the tofu drain for about an hour. Mix together your agave, soy sauce, and sesame oil to make a marinade for the tofu. After draining for one hour, cut the tofu into 1" cubes, place in a bowl or dish and pour in the marinade.  Gently toss and allow it to sit while you prep all your other ingredients for the soup.

Put all the ingredients for your sofrito in a food processor (lemongrass, chilies, ginger, garlic, water, fish sauce, and shallot) and puree it. Set aside.

In a bowl, gently mix together all of your soup base ingredients except for the oil (coconut milk, peanut butter, chicken broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, and lime juice). Set aside.

Now you are ready to cook! Heat your vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat. Put in your sofrito and cook it, stirring constantly for a few minutes. Once it smells really fragrant and sweet add in your coconut milk/broth mixture. Let your soup simmer for 15-20 minutes.

In the meantime, bring another large pot of water to a boil.  While you're waiting for it to come to a boil, heat a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add a bit of vegetable oil to the pan and allow it to heat up. Carefully add your tofu cubes to the pan using a pair of tongs. Saute the tofu until it's nice and golden brown. Transfer it to a plate and set aside.

By now your water should be boiling, toss your Udon noodles in and cook them until they are al dente (about 8-11 minutes), then drain them.

Ladle your flavorful broth into large bowls, add in some noodles, top with tofu, cilantro, and the thinly sliced shallot. Drizzle with a tiny bit of sesame oil and serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Printable Recipe:
Thai Coconut Soup with Udon Noodles and Tofu

I can't believe it's already halfway through January.  I try and get these menu posts up early in the month but January is flying by!  Last month we spent $263 on our groceries... a little over budget goal of $50 a week, but not too bad.  This month I've already gone grocery shopping twice so I've included more photos and more menu options.  From now on I'm not going to list everything.  I'll only list the things that aren't obvious, or include if I have a special note about it.

A lot of the stuff I bought this month was for making Gwyneth some super healthy baby food.  The carrots, broccoli, green beans, kale, sweet potatoes, apples, and beets were all for her.


This photo is of my shopping from this morning.  I got lots of veggies, some healthy lunch options, eggs for making pasta, and some snacks for Gigi.


Buying stuff in the bulk section is saving us a lot of money.  It's a great way to get lots of Organic grains, pasta, and spices without spending a ton.


Gigi's drinking Organic milk now which is definitely an expensive (but important) purchase. 

One easy way to make your herbs last longer is to trim and rinse them right away.  Then, while they are still wet, wrap them gently in a paper towel and seal them in a small storage container.  They will stay fresh a lot longer.

On our menu this month: 
-Chicken Enchiladas
-Baked Sweet Potatoes with Chili Beans
-Turkey Burgers and oven baked fries
-Thai Soba Noodle Bowl (I didn't love the way this turned out so I bought more ingredients for it this week and will post an adapted recipe as soon as I can)
-Red Beans and Rice Kyle made a vegetarian version for me because I'm not eating red meat for the next few months (I go through a vegetarian phase every year)
-Tacos
-Roasted Chicken and Potatoes (already had the chicken in the freezer)
-Grilled Kale Caesar Salad and Roasted Sweet Potatoes
-Ravioli from scratch (I was going to make my Butternut Squash and Roasted Garlic Ravioli but the store was out of Butternut squash so I'm going to try a version with sweet potato)
-Spicy Vegetarian Chili (this chili is delicious but HOT. Do not add more chipotle then it says... you may even want to do less)
-White Bean Soup

Happy cooking!

Celery Root Soup with Green Apple and Browned Butter

Since I've been grocery shopping and menu making a bit off the cuff these past couple of months I ended up purchasing celery root.  I've never used celery root before but it as local and Organic so I grabbed it.  Then, I set about making soup with it.  I really had no clue what I was doing but it turned out really yummy!  This soup is hearty, Vegetarian, light, flavorful, and easy.  It was fun using a new ingredient.

Ingredients:
1 large celery root, cut the outside off with a sharp paring knife, cut into small cubes (be sure to get all the peel off, even out of the little corners and cracks)
2 large shallots, sliced
1 large leek, trimmed, washed well, diced (use only the white part)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 quart low sodium veggie broth
1/2 cup half and half or heavy cream
1/2 green apple, julienned
1 celery rib, thinly sliced on the bias
1 sprig rosemary, finely minced (optional)
celery heart leaves from the inside of the stalk, lightly chopped
1/2 stick unsalted butter, sliced into thin pieces
extra virgin olive oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
In a large pot heat a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil over medium heat.  Saute the leeks and shallots until they are softened, about 5-7 minutes.  Toss in the cubed celery root and the garlic and saute for an additional 2 minutes.  Add the broth and bring to a simmer.  Simmer on low heat until the celery root is cooked through and can be pierced easily with a sharp knife, about 30-40 minutes. 

While the celery root is cooking, prepare your toppings.

Once the celery root is cooked through. Turn off the heat and gently stir in the milk.  Carefully transfer the soup, in batches if necessary, to a blender.  Place the top on the blender but leave the clear plastic plug open.  Cover the opening with a thick, folded dishcloth.  You do this to let the steam escape, and so you don't burn yourself.  Lightly hold down the thick towel.  Blend the soup until smooth and creamy.  Transfer the soup back to the pot but keep the heat really low while you prepare your browned butter. 

In a small saute pan, melt your butter over medium heat.  Gently whisk the butter as it melts.  It will foam up, then the foam will disappear.  Keep whisking and watch carefully.  When you start to see small golden brown flecks form, and the butter starts to smell a little nutty, remove from heat.  It will continue to brown if left in a hot pan so be sure to transfer it to a small glass bowl once it's really golden and fragrant.

Now you're ready to serve your soup.  Ladle the soup into bowls, and top with a bit of each: apple, celery rib, celery leaves and a tiny pinch of rosemary.  Then, spoon a bit of browned butter over the whole dish.  Serve immediately.

Printable Recipe:
Celery Root Soup with Green Apple and Browned Butter

Since I'm not nannying Poppy anymore, I try to make plans for us to do fun things together.  I love Poppy.  I love cookies.  An afternoon of baking up Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies sounded... well, perfect!

The ingredients.


The kid.


The "sisters".


Mixing.


Watching and waiting.


Done!  Perfect!

Here's the recipe for my Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Dry Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups flour (I use half whole wheat and half all-purpose)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tiny pinch of freshly shaved nutmeg (or ground if you don't have fresh), optional
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chocolate chip cookies

Wet Ingredients:
2 large eggs (at room temperature)
1 cup (2 sticks) butter (softened to room temperature.  If you need to do it in the microwave be sure not to melt the butter)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat the oven 325 degrees.

Sift the flour, salt, and baking soda together in a small bowl.  In a separate bowl, cream together the sugars and the butter, then add in the vanilla.  Whisk the eggs in another small bowl before adding them to the creamed sugar mixture.  Once this is all mixed together, slowly sprinkle in the flour and mix until it's incorporated.  Mix in the chocolate chips.

Using a spoon, scoop up some dough and roll it into a ball in the palm of your hand.  Place it on a baking sheet.  Continue making your dough balls until you have them spaced out (about 2-3 inches apart) on your cookie sheet.

Bake for 9-11 minutes, until golden brown on the outside and light brown in the middle.  If the cookies are frozen* they will need to be baked 12-14 minutes.  Enjoy!

*I usually bake up one sheet and cover a separate cookie sheet with cookie dough balls and slide in in the freezer for fresh baked cookies whenever I want.  Once they are frozen and won't stick together I put them all into the resealable bag.

Downloadable Recipe:
Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mushroom Risotto Cakes with Poached Eggs

Last week I shared my recipe for Mushroom Risotto with you.  Over the weekend I discovered an amazing way to use the leftover Risotto!  I simply made a risotto cake, poached an egg and it was delicious!  Crispy, creamy, flavorful, and healthy!  This makes a great breakfast, lunch, or dinner!

Ingredients:
Mushroom Risotto
Eggs
Butter
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Scoop about 1/2 cup of the risotto in to you hands and roll it into a ball before pressing it lightly into a 1/2 inch think patty, set aside.  Continue making the patties until you have enough for the people you are serving.  One our two were good for me, Kyle ate three.  Once the patties are made, heat a non-stick pan over medium high heat.  Melt a tablespoon of butter in the pan before gently laying the patties into the pan.  Cover the pan with a lid to make sure they get heated all the way through.  Once they are golden brown on the bottom, gently flip them over and brown the other side.  They may fall apart a bit but just use the spatula to press them back together.  While the cakes are finishing up, bring lightly salted water to a simmer in another pan.  When the cakes are done it's easiest to plate them right away.

For each egg: Prepare some paper towels by folding them into quarters and stacking them.  Crack the egg into a small glass bowl.  Gently slide the egg into the simmering water, submerging the bowl a little if you need to.  As the egg is cooking, use a spoon to gently pour water over the top of the egg and to gently push away the white floaty looking stuff.  You want a clean egg.  Just let all the loose ends float around the water.  When the top of the egg is opaque and the egg is starting to get a little firm it's done!  Gently remove it from the simmering water with a slotted spoon.  Gently lay the egg (bottom side down) on the prepared paper towel and allow it to drain before gently rolling it over (top side down) in the paper towel.  This gets it really dry.  Then flip it (bottom side down) onto the risotto cake!  It sounds complicated but it's really simple!  You can do more than one egg int the pan at a time.  Just give each one a chance to set a bit before adding the next and try to keep them from touching.  The trick is to be gentle and take your time.

Season each egg with salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Serve immediately.  I really hope you give both of these recipes a try!

Printable Recipes:
Mushroom Risotto
Mushroom Risotto Cakes with Poached Eggs

Mushroom Risotto

I used to make a mushroom risotto from my Everyday Italian cookbook a lot.  But over the years it's morphed into it's own thing.  My version is extra mushroomy with a medley of dried mushrooms and lots of Crimini mushrooms added in.  It's really easy, satisfying and delicious.  It's also gluten free and could easily be made vegan/dairy free.  This is one of my favorite, healthy, comfort foods.  It goes great with roasted chicken or can just be eaten on it's own.   If you're making it for a dinner party you could easily prep all the food the day before, cover and store it in the fridge and then throw it together the day of. 

Mushroom Risotto served with Roasted Chicken (recipe for the chicken is included below).

Ingredients:
6 cups Crimini mushrooms, cleaned, stems discarded, roughly chopped
1/2 cup (about .8oz) dried mushrooms*, diced
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice (risotto, or pealla rice)
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup red wine
6 cups veggie broth (I prefer Trader Joe's Orgainc Low Sodium broth)
4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded (if you wanted to make this recipe diary free/vegan you could omit the cheese)
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, heat the broth to a low simmer.  Turn the burner to low, toss in the dried mushrooms so they rehydrate and cover the pot.  Meanwhile, heat a really large nonstick pan over medium high heat.  Melt the butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil before throwing in chopped Crimini mushrooms.  Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.  It is really important to season each layer of this dish.

Saute the mushrooms until they are starting to brown (about 5 minutes).  Push them into one side of the pan.  In the open space of the pan drizzle the other tablespoon of olive oil before adding the onion.  Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.  Saute the onion until it starts to brown (about 5 minutes).  While the onion is cooking use a slotted spoon to scoop the dried mushrooms out of the broth and toss them onto the Crimini mushrooms in the pan (if you can't get them all don't worry). 

Once the onion is starting to brown stir everything together, add the garlic and saute for about 3 minutes.  Add in the rice and give it a good stir to make sure the rice gets nice and coated with the oil and butter and juices in the pan.  Add in the wine and continue stirring until the rice has absorbed the wine. 

Now, 3/4 a cup at a time, add in the vegetable broth.  Every time you add in the 3/4 cup of broth, slowly stir the risotto until the broth has been absorbed into the rice.  Wait until the broth is gone before adding the next round of broth.  The trick is to keep stirring.  Stirring allows the rice to release it's starches, absorb the broth and create a delicious, creamy dish.  Continue on adding broth, stirring, waiting until the broth has all been transferred over into the risotto.  Let it cook for a few extra minutes to make sure all the moisture from the broth is thoroughly absorbed.  Then, toss in the parmesan cheese and stir it in until melted.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve immediately.

* Trader Joe's sells a Mushroom Medley that is perfect.  If you don't have easy access to Trader Joe's you can grab some dried Porcini mushrooms at your grocery store or buy a few different kinds and make your own mix.

For this dinner I also roasted up some chicken thighs.  I threw them in a ziploc bag with the juice of one lemon, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup balsalmic vinegar, 2 minced garlic cloves, a big spoonful of dijon mustard, salt and pepper.  Sealed up the bag and let them marinate in that for a few hours.  Then I put them in a casserole dish, and roasted them in a 450 degree oven until they were done (about 30-40 minutes).

Printable Recipe:
Mushroom Risotto

Vegetarian 13 Bean Soup

'Tis the season for stews and soups.  We are trying to keep our food budget really low and this soup is a great way to get lots of healthy protein without spending too much.  You can buy the Bob's Red Mill 13 Bean Soup beans in most stores.  Our local grocery store had it in the bulk section!  The key to this soup is the seasoning, feel free to adjust the amounts of the herbs as desired.   The great thing about this soup is that you can serve it lots of different ways.  We ate it with Kacie's Garlic Bread and we also served it over potatoes (like chili).  Kyle thought it would be good if you added sausage to it too (I told him the whole point was that it's vegetarian) but, yes, you could add sausage to it too.  You can sprinkle cheese on top, or a spoonful of sour cream...  In other words, this is a great soup to make a huge pot of because it's very easy to change it up throughout the week so you don't get bored!  This recipe makes 8-10 servings.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill 13 Bean Soup (dried beans)
2 medium yellow onions, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 28oz can diced tomatoes
2 quarts low-sodium vegetable broth (I prefer Trader Joe's Organic version)
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
1/2 tablespoon thyme
1 large sprig fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon herbs de provence
1 teaspoon paprika
extra virgin olive oil

Directions:
START THE NIGHT BEFORE BY SOAKING THE BEANS IN A LARGE BOWL OF WATER!!! (I always forget to do this and we are usually stuck throwing together breakfast for dinner and making soup the next night!  Follow the direction on the package for soaking the beans.

Heat a large pot over medium, add your olive oil, then your onion.  Saute for about seven minutes just until the onion starts to brown.  Add the garlic and stir for one minute until the garlic is fragrant.  Add in the carrots, tomatoes, and the seasonings.  Give it a good stir before adding the broth and the beans.  Stir again and bring to a simmer.  Allow it to simmer for about an hour or until the largest beans are tender.  This soup is intended to end up with the consistency of a chili but if you feel like you're losing too much broth simply add a little more and cover the soup while it finished cooking.  Discard the rosemary sprig and the bay leaf. Season to taste, transfer to bowls and sprinkle with fresh parsley before serving.

Printable Recipe:
Vegetarian 13 Bean Soup

It's officially feeling like fall around here.  It's crisp and cool and the evenings are perfect for making a pot of soup, curling up on the couch and watching a movie with the ones you love.  Last night I made my first batch of Chicken Noodle Soup for the year.  This recipe is ridiculously easy and the measurements are all in 1's.  One onion, one teaspoon... I could call it #1 Chicken Soup but that would be L.A.M.E.  The trick, in my opinion, is adding the celery, carrots and pasta at the right times so you don't end up with soggy soup.  I also like to add the seasoning really early on so it has a chance to blend with the veggies. So, without further ado, here is my recipe for Chicken Noodle Soup.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:
leftovers from 1 whole roasted chicken (or one whole roasted chicken breast*), cooled and shredded (skin and bones discarded)
1 quart low sodium chicken broth
1 quart low sodium veggie broth
1 large yellow onion
1 cup carrots, sliced
1 cup celery, sliced
1 tablespoon garlic, minced (about 2 cloves)
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon of the following dried herbs: oregano, parsley, thyme, onion powder and garlic powder
1 pinch of the following dried herbs: nutmeg, paprika, red chili flakes
1 bag of your favorite pasta
1 teaspoon salt
extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
In a large dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium high heat, add the onion and all of the herbs.  Saute for about 7 minutes until the onion begins to turn translucent.  Add in the garlic, carrots and celery.  Saute for another few minutes before adding the broth and chicken.  I love Trader Joe's Organic Low Sodium Broths.  They are much richer than any of the other organic (or non-organic) brands.  If you use a different kind you may end up needing to adjust the seasoning a bit.  Bring the soup up to a nice simmer.  If you are serving a lot of people, or want to make it really easy simply add about half the bag of pasta to the soup.  I like to add it a bit at a time and decide how much pasta I want in my soup.  When it's just for Kyle and I, I cook the pasta separately and add it to our bowls.  About one handful per person is perfect.  I hate when the pasta gets soggy in the soup but if you don't care you can just add it in while it's cooking.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve it up and enjoy.  When you reheat the soup for leftovers you may need to add a bit more broth because the pasta absorbs a lot of it.

*If you are roasting your chicken breast for the soup.  Buy a bone in, skin on breast. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Rub the chicken down with olive oil, salt and pepper and place it on a cookie sheet.  Roast it for about 30 minutes or until the temperature in the center of the breast reaches 165 degrees.  Allow is to cool before discarding the skin and bones and shredding it.

Downloadable Recipe: Chicken Noodle Soup

Hey everyone!  Thanks (again) so much for supporting me this week with the launch of my new site.  I'm so grateful for your nice comments.  I love writing this blog and putting my creativity, recipes, thoughts and passions out there into the world wide web.

Fresh-Squeezed Margaritas

Here is my Fresh-Squeezed Margarita recipe!  I posted one last summer but it was only for one drink (I was pregnant at the time) but this summer it occurred to me that I should have a recipe for a pitcher of mix!  I mean, who's going to go through the process of making ONE Fresh-Squeezed Margarita?!  This recipe really couldn't be any easier, it just takes a little effort to do the juicing but it's sooo worth it. 

Ingredients:
7-10 lemons
12-15 limes
1 cup sugar (plus more to rim the glasses)
2 cups hot water
tequila
lemon and lime zest

Directions:
In a large pitcher, mix 2 cups of hot tap water and 1 cup of sugar and stir until it's completely dissolved.  Now it's time to start juicing.  This is a great time to bust out the juicer that's in your cupboard but it can be done by hand too.  Juice enough lemons to yield 1 cup of lemon juice and enough limes to yield 1 cup of lime juice. By this time your simple syrup mixture should be room temp.  Pour the juice into the large pitcher along with the simple syrup.  Put the pitcher in the fridge to chill for a bit.  While it's chillin' sprinkle 1/4 cup of sugar onto a small plate and top with a bit of lemon and lime zest.  Get out your glasses, run a lime wedge around the rim of the glass before dipping it in the sugar/zest mixture.  Toss some ice cubes into the glass.  Pour in your favorite tequila (I usually pour in enough that the glass is just under half full of tequila) and top it off with your fresh-squeezed mix.  Garnish your drink with a thin slice of lemon and lime and your done!  Be sure to pour your leftover mix into ice cube trays and freeze it so you can make Margarita Conjeladas!!!

On Monday night I went out in the evening and harvested a lot of our basil.  After all my blogging, photo shooting/editing and time on the phone it was so lovely to stand in the warm grass without shoes on and methodically trim the fragrant basil.  I washed it and set it aside to make pesto with Poppy.  For those of you who are new to the blog, Poppy is the little girl I have nannied for for the past four and a half years.  She is extremely chumpy and sweet and she is my sous chef!  I love our cooking projects together.  In just one week she is starting kindergarten and I won't have my sous chef on hand as much... uh oh, I'm tearing up...  What I love best about cooking with Poppy is watching her pride as she uses a "grown up knife" or gently places something in a hot pan or eats something she's made and with a big smile on her face.  I got these ingredients out but Poppy basically made the pesto on her own.  I'm one proud nanny.  So, here's my quick little pesto recipe made with lots of love by Miss P.

Basil Pesto

Ingredients:
5 cups basil leaves, packed
3/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2-3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (you probably won't use all of this)
1 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Directions:
Put the basil, pine nuts, garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor and pulse until it's finely chopped. Scrape down the sides.  Turn the blender back on and slowly stream in the olive oil until the mixture is smooth, creamy and thick.  Transfer the pesto to a bowl and stir in the parmesan cheese*.  Add more salt and pepper to taste.

*leave the cheese out if you are planning to freeze the pesto.  If freezing, spoon the pesto into ice cube trays, cover with plastic wrap and freeze overnight before transferring the cubes into a large ziploc bag.

Have fun and enjoy!!!

Grilled Veggie Salad

We make this salad all summer long.  It's inexpensive (especially if you have a garden), easy, healthy and satisfying.  Grilled veggies, goat cheese, garlic... what's not to love? 

Ingredients: 

You can grill up as much as you want, the leftovers are great to use for another salad or a grilled veggie sandwich. I've listed enough for four servings.

2 red, orange or yellow bell peppers, seeded and cut into large slices

1 very large yellow, sweet or red onion, cut into large discs

15 crimini mushrooms, cleaned and stems removed

2 zucchini or summer squash, cut into discs 

1 bunch of green onion 

2 heads of lettuce, washed and torn into pieces

craisins

pine nuts, toasted

goat cheese

3 cloves garlic, minced

large handful of fresh herbs, minced (any combo of basil, thyme, parsley, oregano, chives)

salt

freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Heat up your grill nice and hot.  If you are using a charcoal grill, make sure to use enough charcoal to keep your grill really hot for about 30 minutes.  

In the bottom of a large casserole dish, drizzle a bit of olive oil. Start slicing up your veggies into large pieces.  You WILL lose some veggies in the grill, it's sad but true.  As you slice them, layer them in the casserole dish drizzling each layer with olive oil and sprinkling with salt and pepper. 

Cook all of the veggies (except for the green onions) on the grill to your desired done-ness, flipping them over halfway.  It will probably take two batches on a charcoal grill.  I like my veggies crispy and charred but you can cook them however you like.  

While they are cooking, make up your dressing by mixing together the minced garlic and herbs in a bowl.  Drown the mixture in olive oil (about 1/2 a cup) and season with a bit of salt and pepper. 

When the veggies are done, return them to the casserole dish with the green onions and pour the dressing over them while they are still nice and hot.  If you are working in batches, pour the dressing of the first batch and mix it in again when you add the second batch of veggies.  It's important that your veggies are hot when they are dressed. 

Let the veggies marinade and cool.  Put your lettuce on plates.  Once the veggies are cool put a bunch of them on top of the lettuce.  Top with crumbled goat cheese, pine nuts and craisins.  Finally, drizzle the salads with a bit of fresh olive oil.  Enjoy!  

Printable Recipe: 

Grilled Veggie Salad

Margarita Congelada

(pronounced cone-hey-la-da)

Today Gigi and I are having a lovely, cozy movie day.  I'm sipping tea, watching movies based on Jane Austen novels, working on the blog and cuddling with my babe.  Last week I promised to have perfected my accidental cocktail.  So here is the recipe!  This Margarita on Rocks 2.0 was a very happy accident.  Without warning, the sun decided to come out and some little voice deep in the back of my mind whispered to me, "It's margarita time".  Yes!!!  But, we only had a couple lemons and one lime and I didn't want to spend any time making my yummy Fresh Squeezed Margarita and I don't ever use store bought mix cause it gives me a sugar headache.  What to do???  This near tragedy was avoided when I remembered that, the last time I had made a big pitcher of my margarita mix, I had frozen what we didn't use in ice cube trays!  Woohoo!  Rather than waiting for the cubes to melt before making up a regular ol' margarita, I simply made one over the frozen cubes of mix!  It is super fresh, sweet and sour and definitely hits the spot! 

Ingredients:

margarita mix (don't add the tequila though!!!), frozen into cubes*

sugar

1-2 limes, zest one, slice one into wedges

ice

Directions:

Mix together a pinch of sugar and some lime zest on a plate.  Wet the rim of your cocktail glass with a lime wedge before dipping it into the sugar and lime zest mixture.  Fill the glass with the frozen mix ice cubes and a couple regular ice cubes.  Pour in a couple ounces of good tequila.  Top with a sprinkling of the sugar and lime zest mixture and a lime wedge.  That's it!  

This drink is great if you love tequila.  It's like having whisky on the rocks but for tequila lovers!  The sugar added to the drink and on the glass is needed because otherwise it's too tart and the regular ice cubes help to water down the mix as you sip.  By the time you get to the end of your drink (unless you're a really fast drinker) it will taste just like my regular margarita!  Come to think of it, if you are a really fast drinker, skip the regular ice cubes and just use the frozen mix. 

*the cubes can be a bit tricky to get out of the tray.  I had to fill the sink with hot water, quickly and dunk the bottom of the tray before they slid out easily!

I was having a really hard time spelling today.  Here's a few gems that I typed out.  My brain is on a slow roll out today.  Guess that's what happens when your daughter wakes up at 4:30!  Thank goodness for spell check and editing.  

storebot - store bought 

picher - pitcher

accidente - accident (too much Spanish homework)

shugar- sugar

vary - very

repluar - regular

Finally, if you're looking for a slightly more WT (white trash) version of the margarita head over to my friend Jen's blog.

Ok, since the Grilled Kale Caesar Salad recipe from last week got such a great response, I am posting my Kale Chip recipe today!  These are so easy!  They only take minutes to make and are a great snack.  Make them up for a midday boost, to replace popcorn while you watch a movie, or for a snack pack for a trip to the zoo or a picnic.  I can eat an entire bunch of Kale Chips on my own.  They are delicious and so good for you!  Enjoy!  

Kale Chips

Ingredients:

Kale

Olive Oil

Salt

Optional: Lemon zest

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash and dry the kale. Strip it from the stalk into large pieces.  Spread into a single layer on a baking sheet (or two).  Drizzle with olive oil and bake for about 12-15 minutes until kale has crisped up and the edges are a bit brown.  Remove from oven and season to taste with salt.*  Top with a fresh sprinkling of lemon zest.  

*I recommend seasoning after baking because the kale shrinks up so much it's hard to gauge how much salt to use!

Downloadable Recipe:

Kale Chips

Poppy and I spend all day together every Monday and we almost always do a cooking project together.  She loves being my sous chef.  I recently made Tyler Florence's Blueberry Blintzes.  They are so easy and yummy.  When Poppy came over the next morning we used the leftover crepe batter to make fun, sweet crepes together.  It was so much fun to get all the fixin's ready, make them up and devour them.  We both had sugar comas afterward but it was worth it!  Next time, we're going to make savory crepes with healthier filling options.

Blueberry Blintzes

Melted butter, lemon zest, strawberries...

cinnamon sugar, regular sugar, whipped cream and powdered sugar.

Poppy had her face painted specially "for ballet".

Fold them up and top with a little dusting of powdered sugar.

Tyler Florence's Crepe recipe is online here!  Keep in mind the mixture has to rest for at least an hour so it's a good brunch or lunch project!  Good savory fillings could be spinach, prociutto, mozzarella cheese, sauteed shallot, mushrooms, shredded chicken... really anything!  That's what's so great about crepes!  

Butternut Squash and Roasted Garlic Ravioli

 I love making ravioli.  It's fun and really easy and very rewarding because you end up with lots of ravioli in the freezer.  My favorite is my Butternut Squash and Roasted Garlic Ravioli that I make every fall/winter.  Here's two of my recipes!

Spinach and Mushroom Ravioli

Ingredients:

Filling:

15 crimini mushrooms, chopped

10 oz. chopped frozen spinach, thawed and throughly drained

1 large shallot, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

3/4 cup parmesan cheese

1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese

1 egg

olive oil

salt 

freshly ground black pepper

Makes about 30 ravioli.

Directions:

Set up a clean work station. Combine the two eggs and the water in a small bowl and set aside with the pastry brush, the edge cutter and the wonton wrappers.

Heat a bit of olive oil in a large pan and sauté the mushrooms until they are golden brown, transfer to a large bowl.  Sauté the shallot and garlic in the same pan just for 1-2 minutes, until they are fragrant, transfer to the bowl with the mushrooms.  Add the spinach, parmesan and ricotta and mix until well combined.  Season to taste with salt and pepper before mixing the egg in.

From there the assembly and cooking directions are the same as above!  You could skip the fresh sage for the brown butter in this one if you don't have any on hand.

Poppy loves to help make these but she can be a bit heavy handed with the egg wash which causes the ravioli to crack when frozen.  So you've gotta keep an eye on the kiddo's "painting" if you are having them help.  For this recipe I actually let her choose (with some persuasion) the ingredients so that she would enjoy eating them.  She insisted she wanted only cheese but when we picked everything out she got excited and ate five and has the rest stashed in the freezer for easy, healthy dinners for all of us.

Printable Recipe:
Butternut Squash and Roasted Garlic Ravioli

This weekend was wonderful!  We should have been packing, we should have been organizing and we should have been doing things to prepare for our move/baby.  But, instead, we spent the entire weekend reading and relaxing and watching movies and making pumpkin cupcakes!   We spent most day on Saturday in our pajamas, on the couch reading books and magazines, although we did get out of the house for lunch with friends and a short stroll around town.  I found the perfect birthday present for Poppy! Then we came home, put our pajamas back on and made chili and watched Project Runway. On Sunday, we went grocery shopping for the week and then came back home, watched football and Kyle helped me bake up these delicious Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting (recipes below)!  We took a few to our lovely neighbors and brought the rest to dinner at a friend's house.  They were really, really yummy and sweet. All in all, it was a fantastically simple and relaxing little weekend.  It was just what we needed after the last few weeks.  

Into the oven!

The frosting station.

My cute family watching the Seahawks win for a change... although I don't think Calypso was too invested in the game.

Yum!

and yum!

Lemony Roasted Chicken with Crispy Potatoes

This recipe leaves you with great leftovers that we either eat "as is" or use for Chicken Noodle Soup, Chicken Caesar Salad, Healthy Chicken Soup, Chicken Pot Pie, pasta dishes etc.  Enjoy!

Downloadable Recipe:

Lemony Roasted Chicken with Crispy Potatoes

I know what you’re thinking... tuna noodle casserole sounds so old fashioned. But, I promise, this recipe is not your can-of-soup version. This is an amped up, gourmet, version with a creamy béchamel base. It’s the ultimate comfort food in our house and we often make it for a friend or family in need. It’s easy to double and pop in the freezer too.   You can also substitute the tuna for roasted chicken breasts when pregnant. (I buy bone in, skin on breasts, roast them at 375˚F for about 40 minutes/until the internal temp is 170˚, allow to cool, discard the skin and bone, dice up the chicken and toss it in).

Ingredients.

1 onion, chopped

3-4 stalks celery, sliced

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated or shredded

5 cups of pasta

3 cups cheddar cheese, grated

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cans chunk light tuna, drained (lower in mercury than albacore)

1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs 

2 cups low fat milk

1/2 stick butter

3 Tablespoons flour

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder

1/4-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (depending on how much heat you like)

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried parsley

pinch of nutmeg

Directions.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta until just al dente (usually less than the amount of time recommended on the package). Drain the pasta and return it to the large pot.

Meanwhile, heat up the olive oil in a pan over medium heat and saute the onion (with the bay leaf) until the onion is soft and just beginning to brown, then add in the celery and garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Discard the bay leaf.  Add the onions, celery, garlic and tuna to the pasta and toss it all together gently.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  

In a small saucepan melt the butter, then add the flour.  Whisk together until the mixture is smooth and creamy.  Add in the milk and whisk over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens into a creamy sauce (usually about 5 minutes), remove from heat. Then, add in all of the seasonings and half of the cheddar cheese and stir it together until the cheese is all melted. Pour the cheese sauce over the pasta mixture and mix gently until it's all incorporated.

Pour the whole mixture into a 9 by 13 inch baking dish.  Sprinkle the top with the remaining cheddar cheese, parmesan and a healthy dusting of the bread crumbs before placing it in the oven.  Bake for 20 minutes and then broil for 5-10 minutes to get the top golden and crispy.  


Although the growing season wasn't great for us, perhaps you still have some cherry tomatoes left on your tomato plants... if not, go buy some!  This recipe is easy, fresh and a great way to add a bit of variety to your dinner table.  Normally, I make this all the time throughout the Summer, but since we only got about a few handfuls of cherry tomatoes from our plant this year, I only made it a couple of times.  I wish I'd thought to just go out and buy some cherry tomatoes earlier!  This is a great dish to take to a friend's house as a side dish or to bring to a potluck, etc.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. Yum!

Ingredients:

1 pint of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

1 bag of frozen corn

1 handful of basil, roughly chopped or torn

balsamic vinegar

extra virgin olive oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 container of small, fresh mozzarella balls (optional)

Directions:

Heat a non-stick pan over medium high heat with a splash of olive oil.  Throw in the frozen corn and cook until it's heated through and the moisture has evaporated completely.  Throw in the cherry tomatoes and a splash of balsamic vinegar and cook just until heated through and the tomatoes are beginning to break down.  Season the whole dish with salt and pepper to taste and then pop it in the fridge until it's cooled down completely.  Toss in the basil and mozzarella (if you're using it) and gently toss the whole salad together.  Add more olive oil and vinegar to taste.  

Enjoy!

Downloadable Recipe:

Corn Salad with Basil and Cherry Tomatoes

Pasta Primavera

Kacie's Quiche

Sous Chef Poppy

Printable PDF of the recipe: 

Kacie's Quiche

Kacie’s Granola

Printable PDF:

Kacie’s Vegetarian French Onion Soup

Printable PDF:
Baked Corn Tortilla Chips

Hot Toddy with Ginger

I love Hot Toddys. I wish I could convey how much I love them. I like to add fresh ginger to give it a little heat. It's perfect for when you want to curl up with a good book or a favorite movie. I hope you enjoy this Toddy recipe as much as I do.



Ingredients:
Boiling water
1 thin lemon slice
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 cinnamon stick
2 slices fresh ginger, peeled
pinch nutmeg, freshly grated
1 tablespoon honey
1 1/2-2oz bourbon or whiskey (I love Maker's Mark)

Directions:
Pour the lemon juice and honey into a glass along with the ginger slices. Pour boiling water into glass until it's halfway full. Stir until the honey is dissolved. Toss in the cinnamon stick, grate in a pinch of nutmeg. Add about 2oz of bourbon (adjust to taste). Stir. Top with a lemon slice. Enjoy.

Printable Recipe: Hot Toddy with Ginger

You can find all my recipes here.