Beans and Greens Vegetarian Meal My family and I are cruising along on our new vegetable-based diet and loving it. For the first time in... ever, I have no meat in my refrigerator and only three small packages in my chest freezer. In the past, when I started all of our meal planning with the meat, this would have been a problem. We have nothing to eat! Now I find it strangely liberating to push my cart right past the meat department. It has opened up a whole new world of flavors and a good amount of grocery money. We haven't gone hungry, and we haven't missed meat. We aren't vegetarians by any stretch, as we still eat meat if the craving hits or Keep Reading
100% Whole Wheat Pizza Crust recipe
100% Whole Wheat Pizza Crust recipe When my husband and I were dating we'd go out for pizza at this little hole-in-the-wall place in Chicago. They either did a brisk takeout business or were a front for some mob activity because we always had the place to ourselves. And we always ordered the whole wheat thin crust pizza. It was a nice change of pace in the Land of Deep Dish. If you read much about the relationship between whole wheat flour + pizza crust, recipes will warn you to Be Careful! Take it Easy! Don't go further than two-thirds whole wheat flour! Or your crust will turn out tough or coarse or crisp or sandy tasting, and you'll regret it Keep Reading
How to make trail mix with roasted almonds
Homemade Trail Mix with Roasted Almonds With young children in tow, having a ready supply of snacks is a must. Oh, who am I kidding. As I mentioned in this Healthy Snack post, my husband and I also suffer from LBSCBDO (Low Blood Sugar Cranky Butt Disorder, if you're wondering). I am a firm believer that an outing is only as successful as the number of snacks you pack. Bring on the sunshine. Bring on snacks. Our current snack of choice is nuts or dried fruit. Throw them together, and you have trail mix. Add chocolate, and you have something worth talking about. I love buying my dried fruit at Trader Joe's because they carry several options Keep Reading
Middle Eastern Vegetable Salad
Middle Eastern Vegetable Salad I have been making this Ina Garten recipe on a weekly basis. My husband is a big fan, and it receives rave reviews anytime it hits the road, potluck style. This Middle Eastern Vegetable Salad is a great end-of-summer recipe because it highlights vegetables that are coming out of the garden at the end of the summer: tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, parsley, and basil. However, I'll often mix and match vegetables based on what I have on hand; zucchini, green beans, olives, artichoke hearts, or avocado all complement or substitute for the tomatoes and cucumbers. Or whatever you can find at the store. I've only made slight Keep Reading
Vegetarian frittata (seasonal vegetable recipe)
Vegetarian Frittata Recipe I had never made a frittata until I met my friend Elizabeth seven years ago. It seemed like every time I stopped by her house, she was pulling a skillet loaded with eggs and vegetables out of the oven. We'd stand around her kitchen talking, taking piping hot bites of whatever the special was that day, while our children ran wild around the house. She was onto something good. Frittatas are Italian-style omelets, a healthy, filling crustless quiche that's perfect for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner. I find myself going back to this kind of cooking quite a bit lately. Just good honest food, created from a combination Keep Reading
Southern Tomato Pie recipe
Southern Tomato Pie My husband and I lived in the South when we were first married, young, dumb, broke, and in love. I'll never forget the first time I went to the local grocery store, Winn Dixie, and Jim Bob was paged over the intercom. The accent was so thick I could hardly understand the words. I stood there in the middle of the produce section, trying to decide if I should laugh or cry. I came home and told my husband, "I think we moved to a different country." And we had. And we loved (almost) every minute of it. We ate hush puppies and apple dumplings, okra, sorghum, buttermilk biscuits. We plucked a friend's chicken and sat around the Keep Reading
Blueberry French Toast Bake (perfect for fresh blueberries!)
Blueberry French Toast Bake I hit the blueberry fields again this morning, walking away with five hot, tired kids (It's okay. They were ours.) and four bowls of fresh, sweet blueberries. I decided that some of today's blueberries would be tomorrow's French toast. Only I couldn't wait until tomorrow. So we ate this French toast for dinner tonight. It was delicious and would make a great addition to any brunch or breakfast... or dinner menu. This recipe comes from our church cookbook, submitted by two great cooks in our congregation (I made a few minor changes). It quickly became a favorite, making regular appearances at many brunches & potlucks. Keep Reading