If you’re looking for a hearty dish to keep you warm this winter, look no further than this Black Beans & Rice Casserole. I love this dish for a few reasons. First, it is gorgeous and since we “eat with our eyes” by surveying our meal before and while tasting it, this colorful culinary creation is mighty enticing. Second, it’s really good for you. I use brown rice for a ton of whole grain and high fiber goodness, black beans for their digestive system benefits and protein without much fat, carrots for their cardiovascular health benefits and tomatoes for their
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My family and I love granola. Typically we eat it over plain Greek yogurt but it’s a great snack by itself, too. Ever since I started making my own granola, I’ve been searching for the secret to making it “clumpy” with big bites of granola goodness. Silly me should have realized right away that the answer would lie with Deb Perelman from Smitten Kitchen. I found her recipe for Big Cluster Maple Granola while reading her amazing cookbook. The secret to the clumpiness? An egg white. A-ha! Because I’m me, I had to tweak the recipe a little bit to
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This frittata is one of my family’s new favorite meals. We love it for the delicious taste and texture and I love it for those reasons as well as the fact that it has starch, vegetables and protein all in one. I decided to use manchego cheese instead of one of my standard cheeses like mozzarella, parmesan or cheddar. The manchego was a huge hit! I used a 2-sided frittata pan but if you don’t have one you can make this using a large non-stick pan with a lid. See directions for using both types of pans below. Enjoy!
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We love apples here in the teeny tiny foodie home. Though we typically just eat them raw, sometimes I get the urge to play around and change them up a bit. I often make them into applesauce or this recipe of baked apple yumminess but recently, I got the idea to create something different. You are welcome to skip the recipe “back story” and just head to the recipe itself. But, I feel the need to share the chain of events that led me to create this recipe… So, here’s the story of this recipe: Recently, on the same day,
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For this week’s Monday Meal, I’m sharing a recipe that combines two of my favorite foods: kale and pizza. I love that this recipe combines a super healthy vegetable with protein from the cheese and starch from the crust to create a tasty, healthy and balanced meal. Besides creating a recipe that combines two of my favorite foods, I am also able to cross off an item from my “Chef’s Bucket List” by making fresh pizza dough. I had always assumed making fresh pizza dough would take forever, but I found this recipe online that only takes around 90 minutes
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You may have already guessed this, but I’m pretty obsessed with food. Yes, I love to eat food. But I also like to play around with it, create with it and try new recipes. There are usually 2-3 new recipes floating around in my head at any time. Eggs in a Hole is one of the recipes that had recently taken up residence in my mind so it was on my “cook soon” list. Then last week I began taking a childhood nutrition class* online and Eggs in a Hole was one of the recipes the professor demonstrated making
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A few months ago, I got it into my head that I wanted to create a cross between a muffin and a frittata. So, I began playing around with ingredient ratios and flavor combinations and did lots and lots of recipe testing. Now, after some trial and error, voila: I present to you my Cheesy Squash Bites! Enjoy! Cheesy Squash Bites Yields 24 mini muffin-sized bites Ingredients: -3 ounces Roasted Butternut Squash Purée (or other squash purée) -4 ounces roasted pumpkin (or other squash), chopped into small chunks -4 eggs, whisked -4 ounces mozzarella, shredded -1 ounce parmesan
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Simple Spinach Purée 6-9 months 9-12 months Ingredients: -5 ounces raw organic baby spinach, rinsed and patted dry Preparation: Steam spinach until wilted, around 3 minutes. Transfer cooked spinach to a mini food processor and purée until smooth. Let cool slightly before serving to baby. Happy Cooking! Related Posts:How to Roast Butternut SquashSimply Spiced Pumpkin Seeds {Kids Cook}Sweet & Salty Cereal Treats: {Kids Cook} Monday MealBlueberry Avocado Smoothie Bowl: {Kids Cook} Monday MealPineapple Banana Kale Muffins: Monday MealLet's Make Hot Chocolate: Toddler Recipe
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I’ve always loved the traditional Rice Krispie Treats by Kellogg. But I don’t love that they are filled with tons of chemicals, sugar, white flour and animal by-products. So, because I’m me, I’ve set out to develop a recipe that makes me happier about scarfing down copious amounts, oh and also, um, to share with my family. Why would I make them a little less unhealthy? The more I read about healthier food choices and options, the more I think that as much as I can, I should use ingredients that are great for our bodies and minds such as
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Happy First Recipe of 2014! I’m excited to share these Yam & Black Bean Tacos because they are one of my family’s new favorite meals. I love the mix of colors, textures and flavors as well as the combination of starch, protein and veggies all wrapped in one tortilla. Balanced and tasty! To me, tacos are like eggs, pasta and grains in that you can customize them with whatever ingredients you prefer or already have on hand. For example, sweet potatoes can be substituted for the yams or even roasted butternut squash. Don’t like black beans? Use red beans instead. This
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Now that winter has officially set in and cold weather is upon us (at least in my neck of the woods), my mind has turned to hearty dishes that warm a body from the inside out. One such dish is chili, and so I asked myself what pairs perfectly with my vegetarian chili? Cornbread! For this week’s Monday Meal I’m sharing my recipe for Jalapeño Cornbread. It’s a little sweet and a little spicy. Enjoy! Before the recipe, a couple of tips and ideas to share: 1. Even though chili is great during winter, I like to make cornbread all year
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The other day I looked into the fridge and saw- GASP –an apple that was about to move past its prime. NOOOOO! I hate, hate, hate when I forget about delicious, healthy, fresh produce and don’t use it in time. Normally, I’ll just turn older apples into applesauce to add to yogurt, oatmeal or eat by itself. But then I got to thinking: apples…oatmeal…maple syrup. Hmmmmm. So what did I do? I came up with this tasty way to enjoy an apple even if it’s on its way out. Enjoy this tasty breakfast on its own or accompanied by some
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