Category Archives: Food

Parsley-Mint Sauce!!!

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This sauce is seriously delicious. My mouth is watering as I type away. It’s green, fresh, delicious, healthy  and simple. You can pair this sauce with pretty much any type of meat or seafood you like. It adds an instant burst of flavor to any meal. My family LOVES this sauce! Last night I paired the sauce with macadamia crusted tilapia, sautéed corn and skillet potatoes. It was super yummy (I’ll post the tilapia recipe at a later date).This is also something you can make ahead and always have on hand in the refrigerator or freezer. Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup fresh parsley

Handful of fresh mint

2 chopped scallions

4 cloves garlic

juice of 1 lemon

3 tablespoons of honey (give or take)

pinch of salt

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 water or white wine ;)

***Literally throw all of these ingredients into a blender and pulse until its a creamy sauce. Delish! ***

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Riley’s Dinner!

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Riley is now 9 months and exploring the wonderful world of food! We started her on solids when she was about 6 months old because she had more than doubled her birth weight and was simply ready to start. Starting solids with your baby truly depends on when you but most importantly your child is ready to start, they’ll definitely let you know in some sort of way. We started out slow with oatmeal cereal and worked our way into the “easy to digest” veggies like squash, sweet potato, peas and apples. Now at nine months we are exploring all types of healthy recipes and she is loving every meal.

Recently, I’ve been setting aside a small amount of whatever veggies and protein we are eating for dinner and making Riley a small serving of her own variation of our meal. I think this is a great way to introduce your baby to new foods and yummy combinations. We had lamb pasta the other night for dinner and this was the “pasta free” version I made for Riley to enjoy. Hope your kiddies love it as much as she does!

Lamb and Veggies! (makes 2 servings)

3 tablespoons ground lamb

organic cherry tomatoes (Halved)

a teaspoon of freshly chopped organic basil

handful of spinach

Grated Gruyère cheese (optional)

First and foremost WASH YOUR VEGGIES! Regardless of if they are organic or not, it is so important to wash your fruits and vegetables to ensure the best for you and your family. I opt for Honest Fruit & Veggie wash when I’m making a meal for my family. I’ll include a link below if you want to check it out :) .

Cook the ground lamb in a small skillet on medium heat for about 3 mins. Lamb has a lot of natural fat so you do not need to add any sort of oil to the pan. Add in the tomatoes and cook until mashable. Lastly add in your spinach and basil.  Depending on your preference you can serve as is or chop it up a bit more in your blender. Riley is at an age where cheese is an option so I love adding a little Gruyère to this dish for her!  I let it cool and place it on her high chair tray so she can feed herself, she loves it! Enjoy!

Honest.com is your trusted source for non-toxic, high-performing, eco-friendly, and stylish products for your family.

(Try the Fruit & Veggie wash and let me know what you think! I love it.)

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Dark Lemonade!

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Tis the season for refreshing icy cold beverages! A favorite of mine is classic lemonade. Over the past couple of days i’ve been playing around with some different variations to jazz it up a bit. Over the next couple of months I am going to post several different lemonade recipes.

This first recipe is what I call “Dark Lemonade.” I use orange blossom water and coconut sugar to sweeten. The cool thing about this lemonade is that it ended up tasting close to an arnold palmer without the caffeine from the sweet tea (not to mention all of the “bad” sugar). Try it and let me know what you think!

Ingredients

6 Organic Lemons

1 tsp of Orange Blossom Water

1tsp of Essence or Pure Vanilla Extract

1/2 cup of Organic Coconut Sugar ( if you love sweet lemonade do 1/4 cup cane sugar and 1/4 cup coconut sugar)

1/2 cup hot water ( to ensure sugar is completely dissolved)

4 Cups cold (preferably filtered) water

Optional; Fresh Mint!

Directions

Freshly half and squeeze your lemons into a pitcher. Add in sugar, orange blossom water and vanilla. Then, add in the hot water and stir until the sugar has completely dissolved. Next add in your cold water (and mint if you choose). You can then refrigerate or serve immediately over ice. I wouldn’t recommend drinking this warm folks! Hope you enjoy it!

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Avocado Toast!

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I recently picked up a copy of Gwyneth Paltrow’s  new book “It’s All Good”. It features awesome healthy recipes and little tips to help you organize your pantry and refrigerator. I fell in love with the “recipe” for avocado toast. It’s super easy, super healthy and super delicious. WIN WIN WIN!!!

I just had to share it with you guys! Try it and let me know what you think. Enjoy!

Ingredients 

A slice of your favorite bread

half of an organic ripe avocado

1 tbs Vegenaise (vegetarian mayonaise alternative. it’s just better for you overall)

sprinkle of Vege-Sal (see photos)

sprinkle of pepper

Directions 

Toast your bread. Spread the Vegenaise on the bread and place your sliced avocado on top. Sprinkle with the Vege-sal and black pepper. Devour the deliciousness that you just created.

It sounds so simple and boring, but it is truly satisfying and yummy. I hope you like it!

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Perfect Pan Steaks !

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This is my recipe for what I consider to be the perfect pan steak! It’s quick, easy and doesn’t require a grill. My steaks always come out tender, juicy and cooked to perfection with this recipe. Try it and let me know what you think!

* If you like my recipes be sure to click on the title and repost using the Facebook, twitter, pinterest or tumblr widgets! Thanks!

Ingredients 

3 Tablespoons of butter

1 tablespoon of olive oil

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary

coarse sea salt and pepper to taste

2 8 oz filets (or any cut of beef you like)

Preheat your oven to 450. In an oven safe skillet/pan heat your butter and olive oil on the stove on a med high heat. Add in the sprigs of rosemary as your pan is heating. Salt and pepper the meat to your liking (I recommend a generous pinch of each, which is a THREE finger pinch :) ). When the butter has melted and the oil is heated add your steaks into the pan to get a nice golden brown sear on them. This should take about 2 mins on each side. Then place your pan in the oven for about 7-9 mins until the steaks are cooked to your preference ( 8 mins makes a perfect medium, my favorite!). These rosemary infused steaks are nothing short of delicious. Enjoy!

Allow the meat to rest 5 minutes before serving

I served my steaks with quick pan potatoes and a caesar salad!

Note*- Allow 2 mins extra oven time for bone in steaks :)

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Weekend Fun!

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We had a wonderful time this Easter weekend, attending a great church service and delicious brunch as a family. We were able to Skype with Riley’s godparents, Brittany and Bryant, so that they could read “The Easter Story” to her (she really has awesome godparents). We watched  my brother in law Seth play the last college basketball game of his career for Duke University. Such a bittersweet moment but we are all extremely proud of him as he has accomplished so much and proved so many people wrong. Hard work and perseverance can certainly take you far!

I have now designated my sunday afternoons as “baby food sunday”, and prepare all of Riley’s meals for the week on that day! It’s actually very fun for me. I will definitely post my favorite baby food recipes in the near future.

Lastly, I prepared a wonderful Easter meal that consisted of sautéed greens beans, roasted squash, lamb chops with a fig sauce and my 10 minute pasta! You can find the recipe here on my blog for the pasta! Only, this time I added fresh basil, parsley and capers to the pasta (delicious) !

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend with your friends and family! What did you do? Let me know in the comments below.

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10 Minute Pasta !

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Sometimes I just don’t feel like going to the grocery store, especially now with an 8 month old. Yesterday was one of those days. Luckily my husband didn’t want a lot of protein in his pre game meal so I didn’t have to trek to the grocery to get my usual pound of ground. I decided that I would use what was on hand. We ate chicken and waffles the night before so I wanted to make something fresh, light, quick and EASY! I came up with this simple recipe  using things that I already had in my refrigerator. Turns out he loved it. It’s a great vegetarian option too! Try it and let me know what you think in the comments below!

Ingredients 

2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes(halved)

1 small shallot chopped

3 cloves of chopped garlic

handful of FRESH basil chopped

a sprig of fresh rosemary

3 tablespoons of butter

3 tablespoons olive oil

a pinch of salt

1 package of Capellini pasta

Parmigiano Reggiano (to taste )

Bring a pot of COLD water to a boil on the stove. While the water is heating up, place your skillet on med high heat and sauté the butter, olive oil, garlic and shallots in a pan until the shallots become translucent (not brown). Add in the rosemary , cherry tomatoes and pinch of salt for flavor. Sauté for about 2 to 3 mins and add in your chopped basil. By now your water should have come to a raging boil. Add in your capellini pasta and cook as directed on the package (usually about 3 mins). Drain the water from the pasta and add in your tomato mixture. Mix together well and then plate the pasta. Top with fresh Parmigiano and enjoy! DSC01526 DSC01527 DSC01529 DSC01533 DSC01537 photo

Mango Salsa!

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This is an easy recipe I put together. It’s not really a chip dip type of salsa, more of a meal topper! You can put it over any type of grilled meat or vegetable, oven roasted chicken and in my case the salmon recipe from my previous post. It would even work great mixed in with a salad as a dressing alternative. The recipe is extremely quick and can even be made ahead of time. The longer the “salsa” sits in the refrigerator the better. Enjoy!

Ingredients 

1 Cup of diced fresh mango

1 diced roma tomato

1 small shallot minced

handful of fresh mint

a pinch of salt and pepper

2 tablespoon of honey

juice of 2 lemons (be sure to remove any seeds!)

So… I’m not going to go through a long explanation of how to prepare the salsa. You basically throw all of the ingredients into a bowl, mix together and it’s done! So quick and easy you can do it with your eyes closed (but please don’t if you’re holding a knife ;) ). Give it at least 30 mins in the refrigerator for all of the flavors to mend. Let me know what you think !

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24 Til’ 24

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So… I’m turning 24 in exactly 24 hours! I can’t believe it. I’ve learned so much this past year. I’ve some how grown to feel comfortable with myself/ in my own skin. I think it has something to do with motherhood and realizing that I can’t control every situation and everything that happens. I’ve become a go with the flow kind of gal… somewhat. The small things make me happy now. A baby giggle, a smile, a hug, dinner(while watching our favorite show during Riley’s nap time) and  prayer with my husband. Those are the things that truly bring joy into my life at this point. I’ve had to change my career path over the past couple of years. I am completely at peace with that decision and feel like i’ve found my way now through a lot of prayer and a lot of living in the moment and enjoying what God has placed in front of me. At this point being able to cherish the priceless moments with my little family is the best birthday gift I could ask for and I am so grateful that I get to do that. It’s going to be interesting to see what 24 has in store for me. I’m ready for ya so BRING IT ON!

We celebrated a a little early since Stephen has a game on my actual birthday. We went to my favorite restaurant… wait for it… OSHA THAI on 2nd street in San Francisco. I love that place. We definitely over ate and I have no problems with that. We had bacon wrapped scallops, crispy calamari and ahi tuna for appetizers. For dinner we had Kurobuta pork belly, crab fried rice and a land and sea mix of sea bass and filet! Oh and sangria to drink!!! Needless to say after all of that I was stuffed (and still am). I ALWAYS have room for dessert though. I actually look at the dessert menu before the actual dinner menu (anybody else do that?!). I had a chocolate soufflé with thai tea ice cream for dessert. I ate it so fast that I forgot to take a picture! I want to thank my husband for making me a happy lady and taking me to my favorite restaurant tonight, and also to Riley for sleeping through the whole meal! I’ve attached a couple of iPhone photos from the evening. Enjoy!

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Spice Up Your Coffee

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I have coffee most mornings. I either make it in the coffee maker, buy it from my local coffee house and when I’m feeling frisky i’ll make french press (yummy!). I am always looking for ways to spice things up and I literally found a simple way to do it with my coffee! All I did was sprinkle a little bit of ground cinnamon into my french press before I added the boiling water. It completely changed the flavor of my coffee. It was delicious. I might even try it without milk or sugar next time ( I said might you guys). I hope you enjoy this as much as I did this morning! I put some pictures below for fun.

RECIPE 

Ground Coffee (for my french press I used 4 heaping tablespoons)

Boiling water (I used my kettle)

1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

Enjoy!!!

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