I live in wild college town, super hippy and very liberal, Madison, WI, and now I’m a tree hugger. It’s true. City girl turned into granola-hipster + Birkenstock lover. Most of the time, when I’m cooking especially, I pretend I’m in SoCal feeling the warm sun beaming down, smelling fresh, ocean breezes, and eating uber healthy like it’s affordable and around every corner. Truth. Most of our produce here in the mid-west is very expensive and it’s hard to keep up with which grocery store’s produce is the best each week and cost friendly. In addition, our local restaurants are mostly pubs that serve big burgers (nothing wrong with a…
Korean Beef Bowl
I decided to spice it up tonight for dinner – and it turned out to be a winner! My little guy has never eaten so fast, so I’m going to share what we made. Korean Beef Bowl Ingredients 1 cup brown rice 2 cups packed fresh spinach 4 cloves fresh garlic, minced 4 scallions 1 inch of fresh, peeled ginger, minced 1/4 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce 2 tsp sesame oil 1 squirt of sriracha (the rooster, as my Dad calls it!) + extra for garnish 1 pound grass fed organic beef 4 eggs Directions In a non-stick sauce pan, prepare the brown rice according…
Perfect Pilaf
Rice is one of my favorite things to make. Now that I know how to make it. I used to suck at making rice. Then I tried a different brand and method, and it clicked for me. We don’t use instant rice – because I can’t make that kind. I always mess it up! We use jasmine rice. Typically, I buy it in bulk since we go through so much. The brand is Rice Select and we use both the Orzo and Jasmati Rice. They come in nice plastic, resealable containers. The kids use the containers for projects when they are finally empty. Good stuff. So here’s what we made…
Sunday Funday
After hanging up my bunny ears for the year, it is time to start thinking about SUMMER! Seems like we have waited a long time to enjoy nice weather. Winter in Wisconsin is no joke. This year wasn’t as snowy as most, nor as cold, but it was still cloudy, cool and depressing outside. Sunshine is here today and we are planning home improvement projects and our big summer parties. Since party planning is once again at the forefront, I’ve started a list of nut-free, healthy snack party ideas: Chex Mix (check label, muddy buddies are NOT safe) Hummus and vegetable sticks Giant sliced water melon with sea salt and…
What the PEEP?!
Note! Not all Easter Peeps are nut-free!! Forgot to mention this, but the Peeps Pops / suckers are made in a facility with nuts! The only safe peeps that I have found are the plain packaged peeps that I have already shown on the blog under “Easter candy” — check labels! SNEAK PEEK OF EASTER PREP COMING TONIGHT!!! Happy Monday!
Easter Sunday Menu
This weekend we are prepping for our big Eater Party next weekend with family! How exciting. The kids are super into it too – Chloe is making center pieces out of peeps and daisies, Carter is working on decorating a cake with chocolate eggs. LOVE it. For the food – keeping it classic and simple. Here’s the menu with links for recipes. Easter Sunday Brunch: Slow cooker cheesy breakfast potatoes – Breakfast Potatoes Valentine Coffee – Valentine Giada homemade biscotti (making this 1 week in advance, store in air-tight container) – Giada’s Biscotti Fruit salad (whatever you have + 1 cup of plain greek yogurt, salt, pepper and dash of vanilla, stir stir…
Carrot Cake Cupcakes & Cream Cheese Frosting
I cheated tonight. On my cupcakes. Usually for Easter I make homemade carrot cake batter with shredded carrot – and tonight, I’m just tired. I picked up a few Betty Crocker Carrot Cake mixes for “stand by” in case I did not have time to do the whole big thing. Turns out my plan B saved me today! Honestly though, I’ve had a lot of carrot cake, and this mix is a very good stand by. Tastes homemade! So there’s the scoop on the mix – a picture of the box is in my previous Easter blog post if you’re interested. The packaging is kind of deceiving since I’m a…
Nut-free Mixed Bag of Candy
This bag is nice – nut-free, gluten free and resealable (you know they can’t eat all this candy right away!). I found it at Metcalfes Sentry. Yesterday I also Primed (that’s a new word right? As in Amazon Prime?) Some easter colored sixlets. And now my shopping is complete. Time to focus up on this menu I’m building. Super simple stuff that I can make ahead and enjoy Easter Sunday with my family. I’ll post the recipes soon!!
Easter Candy
Some of our favorite nut-free Easter candy!!!! And don’t forget Vermont Nut-free candy!!!! Note that the Hershey kisses are in the “classic” bag and not the holiday bags. Holiday bags are NOT safe. Only classic. Annie’s also makes fruit snacks that are safe, just not shown here.
'Twas the week before Spring Break!
…and we’ve totally got this! Most important news first: Did you catch last nights final episode of Big Little Lies?! I don’t want to give it away, but it was AMAZING! This series was by far my most favorite TV series to date. The entire cast did a wonderful job – the chemistry was remarkable. The final scene was very touching – a bond between girl friends and the support they give, just really hit home. Loved it. I’m a day late on posting this weeks menu since we were very busy having FUN this past weekend. We had a sitter for Saturday to attend my little man’s Fundraising Gala.…
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