The thing is… I never liked tomatoes as a kid. Or cucumbers. Or bell peppers. I also didn’t like spicy things. Something about the self-inflicted pain of hot peppers put me off. I must have been in my teens before I tried actual HOT wings and well into my twenties before I gave all of my most hated vegetables another try. So, up until rather recently, gazpacho never sounded ...
Healthy
Strawberry Salad with Creamy Poppy seed Dressing
Strawberry Salad with Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing is a simple and elegant salad that makes a delicious lunch or side dish. The dressing is sweet with a little tart finish and pairs well with the sweet strawberries. As we box up all of our belongings and throw our lives into a little more disarray, the world outside marches into my favorite time of year. The landscape is ...
Curried Cauliflower
Cauliflower is really experiencing a renascence right now. There are some kind of recipes everywhere out there for cauliflower “rice”, cauliflower pizza crust, or cauliflower “mashed potatoes”. This humble vegetable that was my least favorite thing to ever cross my plate as a child has become the darling of the Gluten-free/ Paleo/ Clean Eating/I-Should-Really-Eat-More-Veggies ...
The Top 5 Kitchen DIY’s
I have been blogging for...7 years!? Holy cow, 7 years. And in 7 years I believe that I have managed to add a little value to the internet (not much, but a little bit). I noticed recently that some of my most useful posts have been swept under the rug so to speak. Many were published years before Pinterest, Digg, or the wild popularity of Twitter and I thought that maybe ...
Teriyaki Turkey Meatball Stir-fry
Bring two favorites together in one dish! Meatballs and stirfry are a great way to make this healthy quick dinner even more kid friendly! I’m sure that I have mentioned this before, but I LOVE Asian food. Not only do I love how fast and fresh most Asian food can be, but I also love all of the sauces and condiments that go along with it. The Asian pantry is teeming with ...
Buffalo Salad with Shoestring Fried Onions
I have to ease into the healthy eating of January. Even though the guilt and the elastic in my waistband is reminding me of all of the pie that I had for Christmas, I can't just dive headfirst into a menu of green smoothies and power bars. After all it is the middle of Winter.It's cold. It's dreary and all my stubborn body seems to want to crave is comfort food. Why, oh, why ...
Southwest Rice Bowls
Some would say that lunch is my life. Ok, maybe no one would say that, but sometimes I certainly think it. For the last year and a half I have been catering lunch to the fine folks of my small town and this has really forced me to explore the possibilities of the midday meal (it has also made me develop an unhealthy obsession with take-out containers that only someone who ...
Creamy Lentil Soup
I am a lentil-lover. It’s a hard confession to make, especially here in the South where lentils aren’t exactly one of the most popular legumes consumed. Creamy Lentil Soup isn’t a common dish on the Southern table. Some folks have no idea what a lentil is or maybe they have only read about them in the Bible or seen them in passing in the grocery store. Well, I am here to tell ...
Mini Chicken Gyros
My first encounter with Greek food was in Chicago during a trip that seems like forever ago now. My friend, Renee, had been living there for a few years and I flew my pregnant self to Chicago for a “last-hoorah” kind of girls’ weekend. We went all over the place, but my favorite place was this little Greek restaurant around the corner from her apartment. We dodged angry drivers ...
Roasted Veggie and Lentil Salad
Full of savory roasted veggies and hearty lentils, this Roasted Veggie and Lentil Salad makes an easy packed lunch or side dish for roasted chicken. Dieting makes me angry. The moment you tell me I can’t have something then that is all my mind can think about. Every “diet” I have ever tried, read, or thought about really hard has taken something that I love to eat away. And ...
Raspberry Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette
Raspberry Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette is a civilized salad with all of the healthy things your Mom would love for you to eat; fruits, nuts and greens. I realize that it has been many many months since I have posted any new recipes on this site. What can I say? Life is crazy! I have been cooking and writing though. You can find my recipes every week at ...
Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup is a crowd pleaser and even the pickiest eaters cannot resist the comforting aroma and satisfying taste of a good nourishing soup. This soup has a little extra creaminess added to make it extra delicious. I think this year could be the year. We have been waiting for it for nearly 7 years now. It's so exciting! It opens up so many doors for ...
Lemon Dill Shrimp Salad
Light and refreshing, Lemon Dill Shrimp Salad is a divine summer lunch or light dinner. Use up any leftover shrimp from the night before in this simple salad. I feel like we are on the cusp of something here and the excitement (and certain amount of fear) that new opportunities bring is not exactly a situation that I am used to. The last time I felt that we were on the cusp ...
Shrimp Tacos with Jalapeno Slaw
Right now, in my mind, I am on vacation. I am not actually on vacation, I am somewhere towards the beginning of what will eventually turn into the busiest, most stressful, and exhausting month of my life. The month of May has now been dubbed Hell Month. Do you ever have one of those months? Where you just stare at your calendar in disbelief and wonder how all of this got ...
Chinese Beef Lettuce Cups
My guilty pleasure is Asian cuisine. More specifically, Chinese takeout. Back when we lived in Atlanta, I kept the local Chinese restaurant very busy, especially after the twins were born. I ordered so often that the delivery guy began to comment on how big the kids were getting and would notice when I didn't call in an order for a while. They even recognized my voice when I ...