A friend recently gifted me ImmuneSchein ginger elixirs gift pack and I can’t get enough. These elixirs can be added to hot water, sparkling water, or any beverage to create your own special drink. I typically have a hard time drinking the recommended amount of water every dat (always my New Year’s Resolution), so adding these elixirs to my water is the perfect way to consume more.
little potions
While in my happy place this summer (the grocery stores of Oregon), I bought some apple (and pear) chips that turned out to be the most delicious snacks I have ever eaten. Sister’s Fruit Company. Made by a small family company in Oregon, these all natural fruit chips are made out of USDA Grade A Pacific Northwest fruit, that are sliced and dried in an all natural process. The chips just have a touch of pure cane sugar but are not overly sweet. You can eat them on cereal or oatmeal, but I tend to eat them just straight out of the bag. The kids are also huge fans and we can polish off a bag in one sitting. Mainly sold on the west coast, you can also buy online (thank you, internet).
All of the flavors are good — you can’t go wrong! Except for once you start, you cannot stop.
Back to the routine and life in the city…also back to the kitchen and looking for yummy and healthy recipes to cook. I came across this Red Cabbage salad from my favorite salad cookbook, Leon Happy Salads. It did in fact make me happy — super delicious.
Ingredients:
The local community pool in Eugene, Oregon (Amazon Pool) is unlike any other public pool. Sure, there is a random mixture of people (Olympic athletes, White Trash, professors, and a mish mash of kids), incredible views and greenery, and endless options of fun (high dive, platform dive, loopty-loop slide, tunnel slide, obstacle course, water sprays, sandbox, you name it). But it is the snack grill that is my ultimate favorite. It is not your typical pool snacks — no corn dogs or french fries — but rather hippy dippy Asian cuisine served at Ume Onigiri House. Kombucha, of course, and even better their dumplings and onigiri. Even though Ken is half-Japanese, I had never tried an onigiri until this summer. AND MAN, how I love it. Seriously, if you ever go to a restaurant and see it on the menu, get it. It is essentially a rice ball filled with various fillings — teriyaki chicken is my kids go to, but I have had the kimchi and teriyaki tofu and they are DELICIOUS.
Placing the order. Each onigiri costs $2.50 — A STEAL OF A DEAL! That alone makes it amazing.
The kids love it so much that they can barely wait to eat it.
It comes with homemade pickles, spinach, and the rice balls.
Tusia loves to mix hers up…making it a mixture of rice and chicken.
Cruzzie loves the dumplings.
Dumpling dude.
A portrait of feet and onigiri.
Another day, another onigiri dinner.
Basically, twice a week at swim lessons, the kids would eat onigiri for their dinner.
Perfection.
So yes, I understand that Ume Grill is unique to Eugene, but wherever you are, go find ONIGIRI. So good and so healthy, too. The perfect little meal.
The other day, my mom made the most incredible pesto — the typical basil, pine nut, parmesan combination. It was so delicious, I found excuses to eat it (chip, carrot, spoon, you name it). But because everyone KNOWS how to make pesto, I decided to find a more creative (and cost effective) vegan pesto. Instead of pine nuts and parmesan, hellloooo cashews. Instead of basil, welcome cilantro and jalapeno. It is green, healthy, and has just a minor kick to it (next time, I want to add more jalapeno). Enjoy!
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Creamy and oh so dreamy. This salad dressing from my new favorite cookbook “Eat Clean Play Dirty,” is great to make for the week ahead and drizzle on crudites or any salad. It was so good that immediately after I made the first batch, I QUADRUPLED the recipe to have more to grab for any and every salad!
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My new favorite dessert from Gwyneth Paltrow’s most recent cookbook “The Clean Plate”: apricot coconut cashew truffles! Super easy to make, delicious to eat, and ever so healthy.
No bake, no sugar, oh so YUM truffles.
SO easy, so simple, and oh so good. Roasted miso sweet potatoes! Great as a side dish, perfect for leftovers!
Who doesn’t love the color orange?
I am (once again) on a Gwyneth Paltrow cookbook kick. Everything in her new cookbook (The Clean Plate) is delicious and a current go-to. These turkey burgers are so easy, super delicious, and a hit with everyone (such as me, myself, and I).
I always love Gwyneth Paltrow cookbooks as they are simple, easy, healthy, and delicious. So when she came out with her newest book, The Clean Plate, a couple weeks ago, I was so excited to try out all the different recipes. And sure enough, everything I make from it is a WIN and I love them all. Randomly this past weekend when it was Arctic temperatures outside and there was nothing to do besides be cooped up and freezing, I decided to make the black rice pudding from her book. It was suuuuuper easy and extremely tasty. I plan to eat it as a dessert or as a hearty winter breakfast or both.
Ingredients:
For Cruzzie’s birthday last week, a friend gifted him this box set of cookbooks (Cooking and Baking Class Box Set) and we have had so much fun exploring kid friendly recipes!
I have not been into cooking recently — not sure what it is, but I just don’t feel like being in the kitchen and cooking. I have been tired from marathon training (and here I go with another marathon next month), the start and craze of school, and September life is just busy…..I guess I don’t even feel that into food these days — I just want to consume some calories and then be done. But that doesn’t stop me from buying new cookbooks. Here are my current three favorite new ones!
Cookbooks might be retro and outdated, but they are almost like coffee table books — just beautiful and easy to flip through.
My new favorite ingredient to add to salads / bowls / anything / everything ….pickled onions! They are sweet, tangy, and not too pungent. And super easy to make!
Ingredients:
I have always been a Peanut Butter Princess, devouring spoonfuls of peanut butter by the gallons. Especially during marathon training, I crave the richness and fattiness of peanut butter, almond butter and any nut butter even more. So when I came across “Chai Cashew Butter” in the new Run Fast Cook Fast Eat Slow cookbook, I knew that it was something I was going to fall in love with. And sure enough, once I made it, I could not stop eating it. It is rich, full of protein and good fats, sweet and filling. The perfect snack before a run, or to keep me going on a given day. Creamy, smooth, and tasty. A must eat and a must make!
Final product. I could sell this on the street and people would line up for it — that good!
Now that I am back to NYC, I am all about fast, easy dinners. I like simple, delicious, and healthy meals that do not require much thought but are still tasty and good for you. So when I came across Haven’s Kitchen Sauces on Fresh Direct, I jumped especially because my friend Katie Carey, happens to be the brains and beauty behind these delicious sauces! Can you believe how small this world is? TINY! And can you believe how amazing these sauces are? INCREDIBLE.
So good. So good. So good. Worth repeating and eating more and more and more of them.
My favorite cookbook (Run Fast Eat Slow) now has a sequel and I couldn’t be happier! I am so excited to get back in to the kitchen and cook / bake / create some of the recipes from the new Run Fast Cook Fast Eat Slow.
So excited!! Shalene Flanagan and Elyse Kopecky and their second cookbook! Some of my all time favorite recipes are from their first cookbook, so I am super happy to find new favorites in this one, too.
My favorite food in the world for any meal or snack is granola. And not any granola, but granola from Grizzlies who just happens to be from my hometown of Eugene, Oregon. This granola is THE MOST AMAZING GRANOLA IN THE WORLD. It has the perfect amount of sweetness, chunks, flavor, and nuts. The granola, Aunt Maple’s Crunchy Granola, is a staple at all the grocery stores in Oregon. But guess what — they ship! In the past, I have always requested (demanded) that my parents ship it to me (along with my favorite Oregon coffee). But now, I go straight to the source and order a 5 pound bag from Grizzlies website. I am apparently a grown up now.
One of the many canisters that are filled with my beloved granola. It is like precious gold to me. Only true granola snobs can eat it — which in my family is me and my daughter.
I am always looking for something sweet that doesn’t have much sugar, so when I found this recipe in my new favorite cookbook, Healthyish, I made it right away. And since last Friday, I have made it officially seven times (#obsessed). It is super easy, delicious, vegan, and curbs my sugar craving without involving sugar! Win win win!
This is not the banana date smoothie. This is a vanilla milkshake — which is what it is supposed to be similar to. Kinda. Sorta. Similar. Maybe not. Ish. Still great.
I have never been good at making the perfect hard boiled egg, so thanks to my good friend Katie Kaiser, I now know how to make them. Thanks Katie for the guest blog post!
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I’ve developed this method over the years combining tips and tricks I’ve read or heard about from various sources. The trick is four simple principles:
* Eggs that are room temperature and not too fresh
* Baking soda in the water – it somehow helps separate the internal lining of the shell from the boiled white of the egg
* EXACT timing in two segments (on heat and off)
* Ice bath immediately after boiling
All you need are eggs and baking soda. But here is the first tip: if the eggs are too fresh, they will be harder to peel. Eggs about a week old are usually perfect. You also want them room temperature.
Adapted from my new favorite cookbook, Leon Happy Salads, this cabbage salad is crunchy, tasty, and super easy.
Rainbow salad!
For the past 12 years, I have been drinking the same morning shake / smoothie. Here it is!
Sometimes it is green….
Happy March! It feels like it was just January. Time has flown (probably because of my recent travels to Italy and India) but in any case, here we are! I was just gifted three new cookbooks by two dear friends and I love them all so much (both the friends and the cookbooks) that I wanted to share.
I am officially my mom: a collector of cookbooks. I have more cookbooks than real actual books! And I love it……
One of my biffles is an amazing cook — even though she claims she hates cooking. She can easily throw together a five course meal for her family where *everything* tastes divine. Although she likes to experiment and try new recipes, she also has a set of ‘go-to’ recipes that she makes throughout the week. This is her go-to-kale salad. It is so good that this past week, I made it THREE times. So easy, and so delicious!
Ingredients:
Spice, zest, tart, and sweet — the perfect bite. And with good salmon, it is truly perfection. This sriracha salmon recipe is from Gwyneth Paltrow and is a must make. Although I have had the cookbook for years, I had never made the salmon until this week. And in six days, I made it twice. OOPS. But so good. Make it, trust me.
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A new year and a new dedication to eating green! I love having homemade salad dressing in the fridge as an easy snack, and this recipe from Gwyneth Paltrow is one that I make frequently — so delicious and easy. A must make and a must eat!
Ingredients:
The only difficult part of this recipe is buying all 0f the ingredients for it.
