Meatball subs. I love em’, meatballs are definitely one of my comfort foods. But seriously who can eat them without making a mess? They practically demand that you drip sauce down your chin. And my 7 year old wearing his clean baseball uniform? That was a recipe for disaster, so these open faced sandwiches were my solution.
The kids immediately asked if they should use a fork to eat them. Umm..yes, please don’t try to balance a round meatball on a flat piece of bread. Continue reading
Traditionally pesto is made with pine nuts. I do love pine nuts, but wow have they gotten pricey lately. So I decided to switch things up with a little more affordable choice. Sunflower seeds are full of Vitamin E, magnesium and selenium, so it’s great to use them in other ways besides just roasted and salted as a snack.
Another benefit of this pesto, my kids ate peppers without complaint. Peppers are one of the few veggies that none of them like. I was very pleased to find a way we could all enjoy them. I roasted my own, but you can definitely just use the ones in the jar to save time.
What do you get when you combine red peppers, green basil, and brown sunflower seeds? Kind of a brownish color. Yes I admit this is not the most vibrant colored pesto. It actually tasted great about two peppers earlier but I added 2 more to improve the color. But I promise the flavor is out of this world. Continue reading
I love my immersion blender. I use it almost everyday to puree soups, make hummus, blend tomatoes, but most often to make smoothies. It is smaller and quicker to wash than the big blender, although at the rate my three kids are growing, I’ll need to make blender size batches of smoothies soon enough.
A super fast and elegant side dish made from the most humble of vegetables. Took me about 10 minutes to prepare. Shaving the zucchini gives it a unique texture and look that has a certain wow factor. The pecorino adds a nice salty bite.
The zucchini is completely raw, leaving many of it’s beneficial nutrients intact, such as vitamin C and potassium. We don’t often eat as many raw veggies as I would like, so I just love serving up the zucchini this way. Continue reading
Potato salad is the quintessential summer food. I usually make a french style potato salad with a vinaigrette, since I don’t like mayonnaise. This is to the great dismay of my husband, who loves traditional potato salad and hates the french style. He was very excited when I served this dish up, a potato salad with a creamy dressing we both enjoyed, peace restored..
Another reason I avoid potato salad is I can never seem to cook the potatoes just right. I get distracted and the potatoes are overcooked and no longer the pretty slices needed. (I may or may not have placed the prettiest slices on the top of the bowl for these pictures…).
This potato salad would go great with some Mexican Beef Sliders. I did serve this up yesterday which was Cinco De Mayo, but that was completely coincidental. Why wait for a holiday to have some delicious Mexican inspired food? Continue reading
The smell of bread baking in the oven is one of life’s great pleasures. Sometimes I want a soft sandwich bread, and sometimes I want a crusty bread. Either way, I need the bread to be made around my schedule, and that’s exactly what I can do with this recipe. I often start it before dinner, then I can enjoy a nice piece of warm bread slathered with butter as a nighttime snack.
This bread is perfect for dunking into a bowl of soup, dipping into flavored olive oil, sopping up tomato sauce or making a panini. It tastes best the day it is made, pretty good the second day, perfect for toast on the third day. It can also be frozen. If it is frozen, I will warm it back up in the oven and it will taste good as fresh for dinner. If defrosted and reheated I would recommend using it immediately. Continue reading
I am on a mission…. looking for ways to incorporate more veggies into the day. Dinner is easy, lunch is not bad, but breakfast is hard. The way I see it there are 3 ways to eat veggies at breakfast.
If anyone has other ideas for breakfasts that include vegetables, I would love more suggestions.
Everyday Granola
Energy Power Balls Squared
Whole Grain Mini Chocolate Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Yogurt Glaze
Chocolate Orange Mini Muffins
Potato Gnochhi
Honey Whole Wheat Bread
