This easy nut and seed snack mix can be made ahead of time for your next party. Serve it during cocktail hour or make it a special addition to the dessert table.
I had my fair share of store-bought, flavored nuts before I realized just how easy they are to make at home. A little of your favorite sweetener, some butter or coconut oil and a few spices, plus some relatively low maintenance time in the oven, and you have a holiday gift for friends or a party snack.
These lettuce wraps make a quick and easy seasonal dinner. They are filled with my favorite fall ingredients and served in beautiful red leaf lettuce that is full of nutrients. This post was sponsored by Coastline Family Farms.
Don’t mind my deer-in-the-headlights look. That is just my reaction to how quickly the end of October and most of November have flown by. I’ve been finding myself staring blankly from time to time trying to get my brain to catch up to the date.
It’s not necessarily a bad thing. There’s been a reason for it – events. Lots of awesome, new experiences, meet new people, have fun while learning, eating and drinking, events.
These chickpea and quinoa griddle cakes are made with chickpea and quinoa flours. Spiced with curry powder, they are topped with sautéed spinach and feta cheese.
I’ve been experimenting with socca a lot over the past year. In case you are unfamiliar (like I was just a year ago), socca is a snack made with chickpea flour and water. To me, it’s a cross between a tortilla and a crepe.
This single serving breakfast recipe combines roasted peppers and arugula for scrambled eggs that are simple, but special. 
I often get asked – how do you find ideas for recipes?
Like most people, I find inspiration just about everywhere. Sometimes I get an idea, make a list and ponder it for a while. Other times, I stand in front of the fridge, trying to figure out what to have for breakfast. I grab a few ingredients, mix them together and it tastes so good that I think maybe someone else who is trying to eat protein-rich breakfasts might enjoy it.
This is one of those recipes.
This recipe uses a gluten-free filling made with olives and almond meal. White button mushroom caps are stuffed with the filling, covered in an easy marinara and baked until tender.
Almond meal is my new bread crumb. I sprinkle it on as a topping, coat fish and chicken with it, and use it to make fillings and stuffings. It doesn’t get quite as crunchy as bread crumbs, but it does add a pleasant sweetness. It also makes a grain-free alternative, so if you want to reduce grains or add some protein, it will do the trick.
I picked up some white button mushrooms last week. Yes, I know. At first glance they seem boring, but they are one of my favorite varieties. They are easy to work with, cook quickly and stay tender. This batch was on the big side, as in about 2 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter for each mushroom. Perfect for stuffing.
I’ve been combining green olives with tomato sauces a lot lately. I love the saltiness of the olives with the sweetness of the tomatoes, so I kept that theme with these mushrooms by adding olives to the stuffing.
The almond meal works so well with these. There is enough moisture in the vegetables to create a stuffing you can mold easily, but if you find yours is a little dry, feel free to add a tablespoon or two of stock to get it to the right consistency.
If you use this as a side dish, it can easily serve 3 and maybe even 4. But if you serve it as a main course like I did, plan on 2, possibly 3. After your first helping you are going to want a few more, so plan accordingly!
Switch up your cold grain salads and add some sorghum! In this recipe, the chewy grain is combined with pomegranate and walnuts, and then topped off with tangy goat cheese.
I was cooling down from my run last week, taking a nice leisurely walk back to the house, when I saw it. Tucked between two houses was a tree with long branches that were bending under the weight of beautiful red pomegranates.
I see fruit trees around here all the time – figs, citrus, persimmons – and while I’ve seen a pomegranate tree before, I had never seen one in our neighborhood. It was gorgeous.
And I want some!
When I see trees loaded with fruit that seem to be untouched I am so tempted to knock on the door and ask if the owners are going to use the fruit. But I have never gotten up the courage. Then again, the stakes have never been quite this high. A pomegranate might be just enough to get me out of my comfort zone.
So here is the plan. I’m going to watch the tree for the next few weeks and if none of the fruit disappears, I’m doing it. I’m going to walk up and ring the doorbell.
I think. Maybe.
We’ve lived in California less than two years and I’ve already started to lose track of the seasons. I grew up around all sorts of berries in Indiana and I visited the orchards in Kentucky so I could tell you exactly when strawberry, blueberry, peach, plum and apple season where in full swing at different points throughout the summer.
But here? Here, most of those fruits last all summer long.
It’s quite the experience for the fruit and vegetable lover. I aim to cherish every moment of it, while still grounding myself with thoughts of those produce-lacking winter seasons spent in Kentucky.
This was supposed to be a three bean salad.
I went to the pantry and grabbed three cans of beans, drained and rinsed them and added them to the mixing bowl. It wasn’t until I was halfway done making the recipe that I looked down and thought – wow, all those dark beans look the same. It turns out I grabbed two cans of black beans instead of one black and one can of kidney beans. It seems I have a problem with attention to detail.
Oh well, you are getting a little less variety, but not at the cost of good flavor or a darn easy recipe.
Protein for breakfast.
Of all the improvements we’ve made to our eating habits over the past year or so, this has been the best one by far.
I wasn’t a complete stranger to a high protein morning meal. I’d have eggs on occasion, or a shake with nut meal, but it wasn’t until we started focusing on eating a lot of protein first thing that I realized how much I relied on carbohydrates for breakfast.
Now, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I still work in yogurt with fruit and oatmeal, especially when we are training for a race, but these carb focused breakfasts seemed to be making me crave something sweet every morning.
Once we made the switch, things changed pretty drastically.
So when it comes to dinner, I am seeking simple.
I tend to master this pretty well, but sometimes things can get too simple. I pick up a few vegetables at the market and then stare at them for a good 15 minutes in the evenings trying to figure out how I can season them to avoid another serving of bland steamed broccoli or kale chips (although I do love a good kale chip).
Ingredients
Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the broccoli and onion. Cook for about 1 minute. Add the zucchini and yellow squash, cook for about 3 more minutes. Add the bell pepper and cook until the vegetables reach your desired doneness (for me, it’s about 3 more minutes).
