Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding This chocolate chia seed pudding is gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, and super-duper delicious. I promise! Plus, you are going to love how easy this is to make. Good things don’t always need to be difficult. I love chia seeds. You can use them in so many ways. I like that they give baked goods a little crunch, or, as in this recipe,…
Grilled Avocados with Ponzu Sauce If you love the creamy deliciousness of avocados you are going to love this grilled avocado with ponzu sauce recipe. I remember the first time I tasted grilled avocados at an Izakaya restaurant in Washington D.C. I was blown away by the simplicity (and the price!). The first thing I did when I got home to Colorado was to go…
Pumpkin Mac and Cheese Mac and cheese meets fall with this tasty variation on a good ole kid classic. This pumpkin mac and cheese recipe is seriously easy to make, so throw away your box mix and meet me in the kitchen! My kids absolutely love pumpkin. It probably has something to do with Halloween, but if you tell them there’s pumpkin in it, they…
Peach Oat Crumble This yummy peach oat crumble dessert is lower in sugar and made with nutritious foods (peaches, oats, coconut flakes, almonds, almond butter). I like to make a small batch of this up so there is not too much temptation lying around the house! Funny story. We planted a peach tree in our yard last fall and we were so excited to have…
It is really starting to feel like fall here in Colorado. The temperatures are dropping, the leaves are changing color, and the hours of sunlight are noticeably less. Which means it’s time to say goodbye to summer salads and hello to warm slow-cooked foods. I hope you’re as excited as I am for soups, stews, and baking!
Soup has a special place in my heart. I love warming up with a hot bowl of soup on a cool day. Most of all I love dipping some delicious bread in some tasty broth. We eat A LOT of soup. Soup is easy to make and there are always leftovers, which means lunch for the next day, hooray! I love cooking, but it’s always nice to have a break too.
This Vegetable Minestrone Soup is one of my favorite soup recipes. One of the best parts about making minestrone soup is you can throw in just about any kind of summer squash or root vegetable. Any vegetable that goes well with a tomato broth will work: carrots, parsnips, celery, zucchini, yellow squash, butternut squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, kale, peas, green beans, fennel, and probably many more. I especially like adding parsnip, they add kind of a little sweet surprise to a savory soup. The recipe below is my favorite combination of vegetable flavors, but if you are missing something don’t fret or make a special trip to the store, just use what you have. This is one of those everything-but-the-kitchen-sink soup recipes, my favorite kind! Please share a comment if you add different veggies and find a new delicious concoction!
If you are looking for a healthy meal, this soup is crazy nutritious. It includes a rainbow of vegetables and is full of protein, fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, potassium, and antioxidants. In addition to tons of veggies, this minestrone is made with a homemade vegetable stock which is also super nutritious. Add in some beans for protein and pasta to fill you up and there you have it. This soup is pretty much a veggie explosion, it’s so good for your body. Slurp it up!
Veggie Stock It’s been at least a couple of years since we bought the pre-made stock at the grocery store and I can with 100% certainty say we are never going back! Making homemade stock is really simple, affordable, it’s lower in sodium, plus it is a great way to use up veggies that are nearing the end of their shelf life and peels too….
Peach Noyaux Extract – Almond Extract from Peach Pits I started making peach noyaux extract after reading Alice Waters My Pantry (one of my favorite cookbooks!). Peach pit extract adds such a wonderful almond-like flavor to baked goods and it smells oh so decadent. I ran out of noyaux sometime this spring, and I’ve been impatiently waiting for peach season just so I can make…
Black Eyed Pea Burger When you’re craving a good ole fashion burger this Cajun Black Eyed Pea Burger is an excellent meat free option that is super delicious. Our family has tested plenty of bean burgers and have always come back to this cajun black eyed pea burger. The bell pepper, garlic, thyme, and ground fennel make this a super flavorful burger patty. It is definitely…
Vegan Pesto Pasta with Veggies This vegan pesto pasta recipe is inspired by our neighbors who make some seriously amazing pesto. This is the vegan version that is equally delicious and oh so healthy. I absolutely love a good pesto and there are so many different pesto varieties, I don’t think I could ever grow tired of it! Choose Your Fresh Herbs We usually make…
Butternut Squash Salad with Kale and Tahini Dressing Hello, fall! Here in Colorado temperatures are finally starting to cool off a little and so it’s time to change up the menu. This delicious butternut squash salad is the perfect fall meal. Most of my garden is trying to recover from the snow we had last week (yup, snow in early September), but the kale and…
