Anyone who assumes the role of “head chef” in their home kitchen knows how difficult it can be to please the whole table. And my table, always includes a temperamental toddler who’s prone to wild deviations in taste. One day a food is in, the next it’s out. But when all else fails and everything[…]
Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel
Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel Makes 12 Ingredients for Muffins: 1½ cups old fashioned rolled oats – stock 1¼ cups whole wheat flour – stock ½-cup packed light brown sugar – stock 1 teaspoon baking powder – stock ¾-teaspoon baking soda – stock ¾-teaspoon ground cinnamon – stock ½-teaspoon salt – stock 2 Tablespoons[…]
Blueberry Kale Muffins
Blueberry Kale Muffins Makes 12 Ingredients: 1½ cups whole wheat flour – stock 1 teaspoon baking soda – stock 1 teaspoon baking powder – stock ½ teaspoon salt – stock 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon – stock 1⁄3 cup maple syrup – stock 1 tspn vanilla extract – stock 1 egg, lightly beaten – stock 1⁄3[…]
Orange-Juice-Glazed Acorn Squash with Cinnamon & Sea Salt
Orange-Juice Glazed Acorn Squash with Cinnamon & Sea Salt Serves 4 Ingredients: 2 acorn squash, halved and seeded – $3.87 1 cup orange juice – stock ¼-cup Demerara or Turbinado sugar (a large-crystal raw sugar, worth having a bag for dusting the top of baked goods with a crunchy caramel flavor) – $3.49 ½-teaspoon ground[…]
Salted Dark Chocolate Pretzel Turtles
Salted Dark Chocolate Pretzel Turtles Makes about 10-12 Turtles Ingredients: 6-oz dark chocolate chunks or morsels (semi-sweet also works): $3.19 30 mini pretzels, crumbled – $1.79 Handful of dried cherries, currants or cranberries – $3.19 Sea salt crystals – stock Grand total assuming well-stocked kitchen: $8.17 Directions: 1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper[…]
3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies Makes about 16 cookies Ingredients: 1 cup peanut butter, room temperature (chunky or creamy) – stock 1 egg – stock 1 cup white sugar – stock Grand total assuming “well-stocked” kitchen: $0 Directions: 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 2. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients, mixing until smooth[…]
Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal with Cream Cheese Drizzle
Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal with Cream Cheese Drizzle Serves 6-8 Adapted from Cooking Done Light Ingredients for Baked Oatmeal: 2 cups old fashioned rolled oats, uncooked – stock ¼-cup flax seeds – $2.69 ½-teaspoon baking powder – stock 1 cup chopped pineapple – $2.99 1 cup grated carrots – $1.50 ¼-cup chopped walnuts – stock[…]
Sweet Potato-Butternut Squash Mac ‘n Cheese
Sweet Potato-Butternut Squash Mac ‘n Cheese Serves 8 Tip: My local grocery store sells Butternut squash already peeled and chopped. This makes the vegetable just so much more “user-friendly” as I simply had to cook it in a pot of boiling water along with the peeled and chopped sweet potato. I didn’t need all of[…]
Lighter Pasta Carbonara with Peas
Lighter Pasta Carbonara with Peas Serves 4 Adapted from Our Eating Habits Ingredients: ½ lb. bacon, crumbled – $3.59 4 large garlic cloves, minced or run through a press – stock 2 large/jumbo shallots, finely diced – $1.89 1 lb. Spaghetti, Linguine or Fettucini – $1.59 Splash of olive oil – stock 1 cup fresh[…]
Cold Sesame Noodles
Cold Sesame Noodles Serves 2 to 3 Adapted from Saveur Ingredients: ½ lb whole wheat spaghetti, cooked al dente, according to package directions (soba noodles also work, but I find they have a slightly bitter after-taste that’s distracting) – $2.19 4 Tablespoons sesame oil, divided – stock 2 Tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce – stock 1[…]
Oreo Cookie Layer Cake
Oreo Cookie Layer Cake Serves 8 as a Layered Cake 24 as Cupcakes Note: The cake portion of this recipe is actually our Devil’s Food Cake of yore. The only difference is the very-delicious addition of Oreos to the batter. As for the icing – this is a basic Confectioner’s sugar/butter/milk icing with once again,[…]
Classic Chickpea Hummus
Classic Chickpea Hummus Makes about a pint Slightly adapted from Simply.Food Ingredients: 15-oz can of chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed – $1.29 1 clove garlic – stock 2 tablespoons water – stock 1 tablespoon olive oil – stock 3 teaspoons tahini (sesame seed paste) – $4.79 2 teaspoons lime juice – $0.59 Freshly[…]
Chewy White Chocolate Oatmeal Trail Mix Cookies
Chewy White Chocolate Oatmeal Trail Mix Cookies Makes about 24 cookies Adapted from Smitten Kitchen Ingredients: 1 cup wheat flour – stock ¾ teaspoon baking powder – stock ½ teaspoon baking soda – stock ¼ teaspoon table salt – stock 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, slightly softened – stock 1 cup sugar – stock ¼ cup[…]
Savory Marsala-Infused Mushroom-Shallot Sauce
Savory Marsala-Infused Mushroom-Shallot Sauce Serves 4 Note: The consistency is not particularly creamy nor saucy, it’s almost chunky, even tapenade-like. But it’s perfect and packed with flavor. Ingredients: 2 large shallots, halved – $0.89 3 cloves of garlic – stock 2 Tablespoons of olive oil, divided – stock 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, divided (you[…]
Black Bean Soup with Chicken Sausage and Honey Crisp Apple
Black Bean Soup with Chicken Sausage and Honey Crisp Apple Serves 8 Note: When I’m preparing homemade soup, if I don’t have a stash of my own chicken or veggie stock I buy organic stock, not broth, from my local market. The stock is less salty than canned broth and while it’s more expensive, it’s[…]
Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes with Maple-Glazed Pecans
Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes with Maple-Glazed Pecans Serves 4 Ingredients: 1 cup whole wheat flour – stock 1 cup all-purpose flour – stock 2 teaspoons baking powder – stock ½-teaspoon baking soda – stock 1½ teaspoons cinnamon – stock ½ teaspoon nutmeg – stock ½ teaspoon ground ginger – stock 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves – stock[…]
Link Up: A Week’s Worth of No-Brainer, Kid-Friendly Dinners
Mariel here. Pre-baby, I’d spend almost every deadline-free minute planning my next meal. I’d make Cassoulets and White Chicken Chili. Beer-Braised Brisket and Butcher’s Bolognese. I made dessert. From scratch. Regularly. On weekdays. While “easy” has always been a guiding light in my recipe repertoire, “quick and easy” is now a requisite. The end of[…]
Quiche with Caramelized Onions, Mushrooms, and Ham
Quiche with Caramelized Onion, Mushrooms, and Ham Serves 6 as an Entrée Note: I cut back the amount of mushrooms and onion for the specifics of this recipe, but we highly recommend that you make a much larger batch of the duxelle of shrooms and onion for other dinners. I freeze single serving sizes and[…]
Warm German Potato Salad with Crispy Bacon
Warm German Potato Salad with Crispy Bacon (or Breakfast Hash) Serves 3 generously as a side Adapted from Eat Laugh Love Ingredients: 1 lb red new potatoes – $1.79 4 slices of thick-cut bacon – $2.99 ½ of a medium sweet onion, chopped finely – $0.89 1/8 cup of champagne or white wine vinegar –[…]
Pretzel Blondies with Salted Caramel
Pretzel Blondies with Salted Caramel Makes about 16 bars Adapted from Hugs and CookiesXOXO Ingredients: 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp – stock 1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed – stock ½-cup white sugar – stock 2 eggs – stock 2 teaspoons vanilla extract – stock 2½ cups all-purpose flour – stock 1 teaspoon baking[…]