Author Archives: KR

<3 My Vitamix!

Posted on by

We just finished up week 2 with our new Vitamix and I really feel like this thing has revolutionized our meals and taken our nutrition to a whole new level. I know, it’s just an appliance, but I can make things now that I really could not have made before. The amount of fresh produce that we are consuming is outrageous, and my 1 and 2 year old boys are regularly consuming things like kale, spinach, flax and celery….and LOVE it! Ok, I’ll stop before I sound like an infomercial :)

I needed to make this list before I forget to jot down these recipes, so here are some of the things I’ve made just in the past 2 weeks…

  • Kale Green Smoothies
  • Banana Blueberry Smoothies
  • Strawberry Watermelon Smoothies
  • Coconut Kale Smoothies
  • Carrot Spinach Smoothies
  • Mustard Green Smoothies (Ok, so this one was a bad bad idea)
  • Cream of Celery & Spinach Soup
  • Carrot Ginger Soup
  • Mashed Potatoes
  • Pureed Sweet Potatoes
  • Banana Oat Cookies
  • Vegan Cream Sauce
  • Peach Sorbet
  • Frozen Basil Lemonade

PS – these are ALL completely dairy/wheat/egg/nut free. With the exception of chicken stock (which could be substituted with vegetable broth) in the soups, these recipes are all vegan or could easily be made vegan.

So fun. Can’t wait to keep experimenting and better our health at the same time!

quiche 1000 ways

Posted on by

I have been making quiche a LOT lately – mostly due to my husband\’s love of it that has only increased after our recent trips to France. The quiche in France is a must-have. The French have a way with cooking that I would say can not be replicated, but it may only be that in order to replicate it we would not want to eat it seeing as how there’s no way to get all that flavor without a LOT of bad-for-you ingredients : )quiche

Quiche is one of my favorite ways to use up random ingredients in the fridge, especially veggies that aren’t going to last if they don’t get used ASAP but the last thing you feel like eating for dinner is a random steamed veggie medley.  Some may think quiche is a breakfast food, but we usually make it for dinner and then have it for breakfast or lunch the next day!  It reheats well and is good ANY time of day.

I have settled into this recipe that we love and hope you will enjoy it too.  I apologize for vague quantities, but it is quite forgiving which gives you plenty of room to play around and experiment.  You can make quiche 1000 ways – this one is my preference.

I use an 11″x 2″ deep round stoneware dish so all quantities are appx for that size

  • 1 lb roll Jimmy Dean HOT sausage OR appx 2 cups diced spiral cut ham
    You can use any type of meat, but the stronger the flavor the better
  • appx 1 cup chopped onions
  • 2-3 cloves garlic
  • 5 or 6 whole mushrooms, chopped
  • 2 handfulls of spinach leaves
  • 1 medium tomato, diced
  • *1 zucchini, squash (I only add if making veggie quiche w/out meat)
  • 1 – 8oz block of cream cheese
  • appx 1 cup shredded white cheese (I use a white jack mexican blend, but you can use swiss, gruyere, or whatever suits your flavor preference)
  • appx 1/3 cup crumbled feta
  • 2 Tbsp heavy cream (optional, but helps cheese melt smoothly)
  • 6-7 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 – 9 in pilsbury pie crust roll

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350

If not pre-cooked, COOK meat it thoroughly and chop into small pieces.  In a separate pan, sautee onions and garlic in pan until softened.  Dice mushrooms or other veggies into bite sized pieces and cook thoroughly.  Remove from heat and add spinach leaves and stir in until wilted.  Add chopped tomato.

In another pan, combine all cheeses and cream and melt over med heat until smooth.  Remove cheese mixture from heat immediately after melted and let cool.  I prefer to break the eggs into the cheese mixture one at a time to incorporate for smoother texture.  **MAKE SURE the cheese has been removed from the heat and cooled enough that it will not cook the eggs.

Place pie crust into your quiche or deep pie dish.  Stir cooked veggies & meat into egg/cheese mixture until well incorporated.  Pour entire mix into the crust and bake at 350 for appx 45 min or until center of quiche has set.

Enjoy!

My favorite Gorgonzola sauce

Posted on by

my favorite gorgonzola sauceThis stuff is SO good and is the PERFECT sauce to top a nice steak , but I like it on almost anything. I often slice up steak pieces into fajita size strips and grill them in olive oil, salt, pepper. Meanwhile I cook up some veggie rotini pasta, grill whatever vegetables I have to grill and mix it all together with a batch of this sauce. It’s like gourmet mac and cheese!

Here’s the recipe:

Gorgonzola Mushroom Sauce

adapted from a recipe by Giada De Laurentiis

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups sliced mushrooms

2 clove chopped garlic

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves

2 Tbsp white wine

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 freshly ground black pepper

3 ounces (about 3 tablespoons) Gorgonzola

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup plain yogurt

2-3 Tbsp Dijon mustard

While grilling steak to desired doneness, prepare sauce.

Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and mushrooms and cook until tender, (wait a few minutes on the mushrooms as they cook faster). Add the thyme, white wine, salt, and pepper and continue to cook until all of the liquid has evaporated, about 5 more minutes.

Meanwhile, put the Gorgonzola, mayonnaise, yogurt and mustard in a food processor and combine until smooth. Transfer the Gorgonzola mixture to the skillet and gently stir it into the mushroom mixture.

So long Starbucks….yeah right

Posted on by

In my obsession to save money and be as thrifty as possible I decided there’s not much out there we can’t do ourselves or make ourselves so why not apply that to our fru-fru coffee?  I got to the bottom of my fave – the caramel macchiato.  Turns out there’s not much caramel in it.  They should probably call it a vanilla macchiato but oh well.  So here’s what I’ve found, and after a few attempts my husband even agrees the taste is spot-on.  You should try it for yourself…

Ingredients: double shot of espresso (or a really strong cup of coffee) + 4 pumps of Vanilla flavored syrup + hot frothy milk or cream + caramel sauce

Caramel macchiato recipe

Caramel macchiato recipe

Step by step method without having a big fancy machine:

1) make espresso using a french press or you can make a really strong cup of coffee

2) add 4 pumps Torani (or any other brand) vanilla syrup

3) pour about 1/4 cup of milk or cream into a separate cup and microwave it for about a minute or until hot

4) use a nifty gadget like the aerolatte to froth your milk

4) pour frothed milk on top and drizzle with caramel sauce

That’s it!