Low Sugar, Whole Grain Blueberry Orange Muffins
I have a complicated relationship with muffins. I remember when I was in high school, a study came out by the Center for Science in the Public Interest that alerted consumers to the finding that bakery muffins were as unhealthy for you as donuts. I was stoked. This meant that when my friends and I ended up at Dunkin’ Donuts during open lunch, I shouldn’t order the bran muffin. I should order the chocolate cream-filled powdered donut. Actually,... Read More
*Almost* No Sugar Strawberry Sundaes
Our Sugar Savings Plan is paying off. We’re being a bit stingy with our sugar consumption at home, which gives us a little more freedom away from home. Like fro yo with friends Friday. Ice cream with Dad on Saturday. A few pieces of candy the Easter Bunny delivered to Mimi’s on Sunday. (Perhaps our Lego, activity book, hair pretty and bubble-giving Easter Bunny is just a jerk?) But now that we’re back to school, back to the daily grind... Read More
Super Healthy Banana Breakfast Donuts
I’ve been thinking a lot about sugar lately. Maybe it’s because we were slammed with a sugar blizzard over the holidays. Maybe it’s because we treated ourselves with lots of treats during our recent vacations. Maybe it’s because I read this article, “Why Is Everyone Always Giving My Kids Junk Food?” and nodded my head until I got a crick in my neck and “amen”-ed my way through every word. There’s no question, sugar is everywhere. The... Read More
Spicy Squash Nuggets with Honey Lime Dipping Sauce
I don’t know about you, but so-called “dinner” has been a pretty anti-climactic event as of late. The excited, anticipation-filled daily inquiry of “What’s for dinner, Mom!” has turned into a puzzled, hesitant “What’s…for dinner? Mom?” I could tell you that it’s because I’ve been busying helping Lulu count out 100 buttons to stick in a baggie to take for her “collection” on the 100th day of school today. And... Read More
Park Bars
We definitely like to get our snack on around here. Second breakfast. After-school. Before bed. Snack. Snack. Snickety snack. The only thing I hear more than “Mom! Can I have a snack?” is “Mom! Can I have a puppy?” (No.) Actually, it’s a tie between “Can I have a puppy?” and “We…are never, ever, ever….getting back together.” “Like……ever.” Thanks, Taylor. But these bars... Read More
Falafel Stuffed Pitas with Tahini Sauce
Question: What do you get when you change the serving size of Peppermint Crunch Holiday Drizzle Kettle Corn from six servings to one serving per bag? Question: What do you get when you make the mistake of buying more than one package of Sea Salt and Black Pepper Dark Chocolate? Every time you go to the store. Question: What do you get when all the gingerbread is gone but there is a full Tupperware of extra cream cheese frosting... Read More
Loaded Baked Potato Soup
This soup is THE ANSWER. While we eat dinner as a family every night, not everyone is always head-over-heels in love with what I’m serving. There have been nights, for instance, when a few of us are darting to the cereal cupboard for a post-dinner bowl of Cheerios. But not tonight. I could chalk the enthusiasm for this bowl up to the colorful bowls of toppings I place on the lazy Susan for each member of our family to... Read More
Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai
You guys are so smart. Me? Not so much. After I nearly lost a thumb the last time I made spaghetti squash, hackin’ away at it like a crazy machete wielding banshee, you all said, “Lady, just bake it whole.” Uh, yeah. So that was a lot easier. And then just last week, my friend Dorian nudged me via Twitter, saying, “I feel like Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai would be amazing.” I just so happened to have a spaghetti squash on my counter. So... Read More
Indian-Spiced Roasted Winter Squash Soup
I’ve been waiting for this week all summer. You see, this was the last week of our CSA box. I thought this day would never come. I love the concept of community supported agriculture. I love eating local. I love eating what’s in season. I love that Farmer Bill drove to my house each Wednesday and we chatted about the weather. But seriously: Too. Much. Produce. It makes me feel seriously icky how much food I couldn’t use. Such... Read More
Border Bean Burritos with Mild Sauce
I’ve been hitting the sauce hard. I originally posted this recipe for a knockoff Taco Bell mild sauce over a year ago, but somehow it never made it over to my Recipage. That is tragic. Because this is awesomesauce. (Yes, that’s one word.) And while you could just eat the sauce straight from the fridge with a spoon in between a conference call and going triangle hunting with a kindergartner, you get a real appreciation for the true authenticity... Read More
Pumpkin Streusel Swirl Loaf
Ahhh…Friday. Have you got your weekend all planned out? Every last detail? Every last minute filled with people and plans? Believe me, I know. Soccer games, birthday parties, packing away summer clothes, meal planning, tailgating, football watching, laundry folding, grocery shopping, homework, Sunday School, Sunday supper, lunch packing, bedtime stories. Phew. But will you let me add one more to-do to your list? Take a moment. A... Read More
Slow-Cooker Taco Soup
Remember when I hated slow-cookers? Stupid, stupid me. Truth is, I really was just a frazzled mom to two teeny, tiny girls and I needed to get out of the house more. Oh man, did I ever. I saw very little of 2007. And if I had gotten out, I would have been less frazzled, but I also would have appreciated my slow-cooker more. Because when you are at home 24 hours of the day, juggling breast feeding, potty-training and dirty diapers, the last... Read More
No Sugar Cookies
I thought I knew the secret to getting even just a single, solitary cookie out of a batch in this house. It’s not coconut. Though it was a powerful ally for many, many months, some time this summer, between the coconut cream donuts I baked and a scoop of Ben and Jerry’s Coconut Seven Layer Bar ice cream (oh yes, such a thing exists), the girls decided coconut was no longer a foe. And my arsenal of kid repellant shrunk. I returned... Read More
Roasted Tomato Basil Soup
Let’s hug. Let’s put our arms around each other and just wear us. Like a soft, heavy-knit sweater, keeping out the biting fall air. Like a furry pair of pink slipper socks, wrapped around chilly toes, that help us “ice skate” across the kitchen floor. Like a warm, lavender breeze-scented towel we grab fresh out of the dryer, as we dart down the hallway, dripping and cold from the shower, praying that now is not the moment... Read More
Morning Glory Muffins
I never used to be a morning person. On a “good” day in college and law school, “good” meaning I wouldn’t have morning classes, I’d draw the curtains tight, turn on a fan to block out the noises of the rest of the world, and sleep until noon. On more ambitious days, I’d wake at 10, just in time to eat a bowl of cereal in my pajamas in front of the Price is Right. (Always bid $1 in Contestants’ Row. Just out of rebellion.) What... Read More
Spinach Miso Pesto (and Grilled Pizza!)
You know what you should do this weekend? You should have people over for dinner. Maybe it’s the friend from the pool. You know, the who always tells you, “You’re doing a good job, Mama.” when you have to coax a small child off of your leg and into the water. Even after three and a half weeks of lessons. Maybe it’s one of your husband’s friends. You know, the one who loans him embarrassingly large Star Wars coffee table... Read More
Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies
I’ve got a couple detectives in our house. This morning they raided the coat closet for knee high boots and hooded jackets and dug through the bottom of toy box, sifting through broken crayons and stray book jackets to arm themselves with binoculars and magnifying glasses. Me? I have an alibi. I was was just innocently baking cookies. Or was I? Last week we enjoyed these cookies, shared by a friend at our family Bible study. My kids,... Read More
Garden Enchilada Bake
Please don’t talk to me about football. Not high school, not college or pro. Not real or fantasy, with it’s magical unicorns and leprechauns. I don’t want to hear about backpacks and binders, not wide-ruled, college-ruled, pink pearl and #2. (For the record, I never want to hear about #2.) Don’t waste your breath chattering to me about stiff blue jeans and shoes that need breaking in. And what’s all this nonsense about sleeves? ... Read More
Szechuan Broccoli and Quinoa
I love broccoli. When two huge heads of broccoli showed up in our CSA box this week, I squealed. Embarrassingly loudly. My husband did not. He tries to be subtle about things he doesn’t like. He swaps out all my CDs when he borrows my car. He’ll read upstairs on nights when a show with any form of the word “Bachelor” in the title is on. He’ll hide a broccoli floret under some rice at dinner (and then I’ll dig... Read More
Cherry Sorbet Bites With Chocolate Magic Shell and Sea Salt
I’ve been doing a poor job performing my housewifely duties lately. I’m not talking about anything over the top here–no meeting the man at the door with slippers, sherry and a pipe. I’m just talking about keeping our home to the minimum standards of habitability. For example, at least twice last week I served something from the freezer with “chik’n” in it’s name for dinner. Mmmm, chik’n-y. Friday, I went to shove one of... Read More
Quick and Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
When people hear what I do, they almost always ask, “Don’t you have a hard time coming up with recipes?” Nope. That’s not the hard part. Truth is, I don’t write up half of the recipes I throw together at home. Like my new go-to cookies. I’ve made four batches in the last week. The hard part of getting you guys the recipe is defending myself from three rabid, hungry beasts breathing down my neck while I take pictures. ... Read More
Sangria For All
I’m having a hard time knowing what to say about this drink. It’s an unfamiliar feeling, this not knowing what to say. Me, the one with the ability to bring grown men to tears with my greeting card inscriptions. Two for two today, baby. Happy Father’s Day! (…was not all I said…) But what to say about this sangria. Hmm. I could simply say it’s hard for me to make a beautiful pitcher full of sweet juice, sparkling water and... Read More
Magic Kale Salad with Pistachios and Apples
Do you like magic? I’ve always had a thing for magicians. I have a cousin on my mom’s side of the family who was a model and used to date David Copperfield. I’m not related to Claudia Schiffer, so the three male readers I have can calm down now. That includes you, Pea Daddy. I had this fantasy in my head that somehow I’d show up at a family gathering and he’d be there with his mysterious demeanor, satin jacket and totally awesome eyebrows. ... Read More
Better Spaghetti Sauce From a Jar
Remember when all you needed for dinner was a jar of sauce, a pound of ground beef and a package of pasta? But now you read all these “fancy” food blogs that have you rolling out your own raviolis, cutting out homemade goldfish crackers and toasting your own cinnamon crunch cereal. Who does that? Seriously, get a life. Or get a jar of sauce, a pound of tempeh and a package of pasta. Plus a few add-ins. And suddenly your spaghetti... Read More
Coconut Collard Greens with Roasted Kabocha Squash
I’ve been talking to myself lately. There is a beauty in having one or more children with you at all times because if you are in public, people assume you are having a conversation with those children and not singing a little ditty about toilet paper, glass cleaner, orange juice and razor blades. In the Everglades. I am a crafty songstress. But when I’m not singing grocery lists to myself, I’m saying affirmations. Like pickup lines I use... Read More
