Citrus, Pomegranate and Fennel Salad

I love this sweet and sour fruit salad. It is super tasty, high in antioxidants and totally a seasonal dish! I also love the presentation, with all the bright colors, and bold flavors it is sure to liven up even the dullest winter day.

Citrus, Pomegranate and Fennel Salad

2 grapefruit, one ruby red and one pink
1 navel orange
1 pomegranate
1 small fennel bulb, shaved thin
Spring salad mix

Cut rind off of the citrus and segment each piece out with a paring knife and remove seeds. Squeeze the remaining juice from the fruit into the bowl. Cut pomegranate into quarters and break apart seeds in a separate bowl making sure to remove all the pith. Once pith has been cleaned from the seeds mix seeds and juice into the citrus bowl. Mix in shaved fennel and then toss over the greens.

Roasted Acorn Squash with Rosemary

Roasted Acorn Squash with Rosemary

Another winter highlight dish is here! Acorn squash is a super healthy and totally delish. It tends not to be as sweet as its more regularly used cousin the butternut but is one of the ones I grew up on and so therefore have a special place in my heart for. This super easy and tasty recipe brings another super nutritious winter side to the table.

1 acorn squash, peeled and chunked into bite size pieces
2 tbs EVOO
1 tbs chopped fresh rosemary
Salt and Pepper

Toss all the ingredients in a bowl and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 for an hour.

Trendy Tot Cooks A LOT

Little B shares his mamas passion for cooking or "tooking" as he says it. While he has not yet mastered his palate yet he does LOVE to help so for our second installment of Trendy Tot's over at Mummy's Busy World I thought I would post a pic of his super cute pint sized apron courtesy of my Grandmother along with a tutorial from another blog I follow on how to make one of your own for the budding chef in your family. 

lil B in a vintage handmade Christmas apron

Crock Pot Applesauce

Disclaimer: This one is so easy it is literally embarrassing that I am posting about it.

Crock Pot Applesauce

1 Dozen apples, cored and chunked
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 c water

Savory Apples
Replace water with chicken stock
add 1/2 tsp cumin

Super Sweet Sauce
Replace water with apple juice or cider
add 1/4 c brown sugar

Place apples and cinnamon in the crock-pot and cook on high for 2 hours or low for 8. Stir well to break up apple chunks before serving. Eat plain as a snack, over oatmeal for breakfast or serve over ice cream and/or pound cake for dessert.

Eggplant Gratin

This is one of my all time favorite recipes from when I was a kid. My mom always called it eggplant Parmesan so it wasn't until much latter in life that I realized that true eggplant parm is fried (which is also delicious but a lot more work and calories.) This *healthier* version is truly a gratin with all the cheesy goodness. Its super quick to prepare and could be assembled the night before and either cooked or reheated when you are ready to eat. Another bonus is that it freezes well and makes super yummy eggplant subs for sandwiches the next day!

Eggplant Gratin

2 Medium Eggplants, peeled and sliced into ¼ inch slices
1 c water
16 oz of Ricotta
16 oz of mozzarella
½ c shredded Parmesan
1 jar of tomato sauce


Place eggplant  and water in a microwave safe dish and cover. Microwave for 5-10 minutes until the eggplant is soft. Cover the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with tomato sauce, layer eggplant on top of the sauce until the pan is covered, place dollops of ricotta cheese on top of the eggplant layer and then sprinkle mozzarella to cover the layer of veggies. Repeat the layers and end with a layer of sauce, a thick layer of cheese (add the Parmesan to this layer) and then a bit of extra sauce for some color.

Bake at 400 for 30 min

Eggplant Gratin Sub

Raw Kale Salad

My sister was the first one to make this super healthy and tasty treat. I had never eaten raw kale before but I found I really like it in this satisfying salad and I love that it is SOO darn nutritious.

The avocado dressing on this salad helps the rather tough raw kale to break down essentially cooking it without the heat. For my version I used purple kale because its pretty but you can feel free to use any type you want. In fact, if you are really scared of kale a good hearty curly leaf spinach would also do the trick.

Raw Kale Salad

1 head of kale shredded or chopped into bite size pieces
1 c grape tomatoes cut in half
1 avocado, ½ cut into chunks and the other ½ reserved for the dressing
2 tbs EVOO
½ lemon (juiced)
½ tsp sea salt
¼ sweet onion thinly sliced
In a large mixing bowl smash ½ avocado and mix with EVOO, lemon and salt to make the dressing. Mix in onion, tomato, avocado and kale and toss until everything is covered. If you like spice try adding ⅛ tsp of cayenne pepper to the dressing for an extra bit of bite!

Kitchen Sink Cookies

I LOVE oatmeal cookies… actually I love cookies but oatmeal ones are definitely up there on my list. I am going to blame this cookie addiction on my husband and son. The Mr. has always been a big fan of the sweet stuff and ever since the pregnancy I have not been able to get enough baked goods in my stomach. So here I am, not much of a baker, but working on increasing the recipes in my box.

Kitchen Sink Cookies

These chewy oatmeal based cookies are just sweet enough to give my sweet tooth its fix without making me feel guilty. After all they contain oatmeal, cherries, walnuts, coconut and maybe a little dark chocolate. I personally think of all of these ingredients as health food and think so should you.


1 C Butter, soften
1 C packed brown sugar (I used dark)
½ C white sugar
2 eggs
1 C flour
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 C quick cook oats
½ C shaved coconut (no sugar added- I got it at WF)
1 C walnuts
1 C dried cherries
1 C dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven at 325. Cream butter and sugar together with a mixer and add eggs one at a time. In another bowl mix flour, baking soda and salt together and then add to the butter mixture. Next mix in quick oats, coconut, walnuts, cherries and chocolate chips one at a time. Drop tablespoons of the mixture on a baking sheet. Bake for 12 min and let them cool on a rack.

Chicken and Sweet Potato Thai-Style Green Curry

Chicken and Sweet Potato Thai-Style Green Curry

As I have said before, I love Thai and would probably eat it once a week if I could get the hubs to agree to it. Thai curry was my go to meal throughout the third trimester my pregnancy and we continued to order it on a regular basis after lil B was born since I spent most of his first nine months on a dairy free diet and lets face it, a lot of eating out makes a dairy free diet hard.

This particular recipe is another one from my friend Susan who really is a phenomenal cook, mother and homemaker. I love both the bold flavors and beautiful colors of  this dish. The recipe below is a bit tame for my taste so I usually dress my serving up with some sriracha for a bit of added heat.

2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger minced
2 stalks fresh lemongrass, white part, minced or 1 tsp dried lemongrass powder
2 tbs Thai green curry paste
2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 lb) cut into 2 inch pieces
⅛ c light oil (canola, coconut, safeflower)
1 can coconut milk
⅛ c lime juice
2 tbs soy sauce
1.5 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled, and chopped into 1 inch pieces
1 c tomatoes (I used grape tomatoes cut in half)
½ c thinly sliced red onion
¾ c chopped cilantro
¾ c chopped mint
¾ c chopped basil (preferably thai basil)


Mix garlic, ginger, lemongrass and curry paste in a large bowl. Add chicken and mix well to evenly coat the chicken with the spices. Allow chicken to marinate for at least 10 min in the refrigerator. (I have marinated up to 24 hours when I prepped dinner the night before)

Heat oil in a wok or saute pan over medium/high heat. Saute the chicken for five minutes, add coconut milk, lime juice, soy sauce and sweet potatoes and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 25-30 min until the chicken is cooked through and the the sweet potatoes are tender. During the last five min of cooking, add tomatoes, onion and fresh herbs.

I usually add extra veggies to this recipe to make it closer to a stir fry and serve it over a heap of hearty brown rice. Some of my favorite additions include: bell peppers, summer squash, broccoli, sugar snap peas, spinach and edamame. I have also done a veggie only version of this dish for my father that went over great!

Crock Pot Ribs

For new years this year we packed up our casa and headed to Bethany Beach, DE with some friends for the long weekend. There were 5 couples, three with children and all who were hungry. Since a couple of us are also quite competitive we decided to hold the first annual Crock Pot Wars on New Years Eve. Each contestant had to cook a majority of their meal in the slow cooker but other than that there were no rules or regulations specified. We ended up with three really tasty entries, a seafood creole, a nutella bread pudding and my entry, crock pot BBQ ribs.  This recipe comes from the blog: http://www.mmmisformommy.com and she says her recipe is an adaptation from Americas Test Kitchen’s Slow Cooker Revolution.

Crock Pot Ribs with Garlic Spinach and Smashed Potatoes

I made them once for the hubs to see how it would work and then again for the large group. I tweaked the sauce a bit to make it more of my own but I must say they turned out fall off the bone tender and delicious!

Spice Rub
1 tbs dark brown sugar
1 tbs ground ginger
1 tbs garlic powder
1 tbs paprika
½ tsp salt and pepper

Sauce
6 oz ketchup
2 tbs molasses
2 tbs sriracha
½ c marmalade
¼ c vinegar (I used apple cider)
1 tsp ground mustard
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
Mix all the ingredients for the sauce together and let it simmer on the stove for 10-15 min. I made the sauce ahead of time and stored it in the fridge.

Crock Pot Ribs held up by beer cans

In a small bowl, mix together the spices for the rub. Cover both sides of the ribs with the spice mix and let them sit overnight. The original recipe just had you drop them directly in the pot but I think the extra time in the rub really bumps up flavor. Arrange the ribs around the pot so they are standing up right with the meaty side against the stoneware. The first time I made the ribs they slid down the side of the pot so on my second run I used crushed empty beer cans to hold the ribs in position which worked really well. Pour sauce over the ribs and cook for 6-8 hours on low. Remove the ribs from the pot and place fat side up on a cookie sheet topped with a wire cookie rack or grill rack so that they will be surrounded by air. Use reserved bbq sauce to baste ribs and broil them for about 15 min basting every 3-5 minutes and turning them over half way through the process.  

Smoky Sausage and Veggie Lasagna

I grew up with vegetarian lasagna. My mom always kept it simple with a classic cheese version or occasionally a spinach twist. My meat eating husband has a hard time understanding why any meal would ever go green so I often work to make some sort of compromise sneaking in extra veggies while not eliminating the meat. My newest take on a classic lasagna featured a smoky andouille sausage and eggplant base with a spinach laden cheese layer and my favorite whole wheat no boil noodles by DeLallo. The result was a super rich and thick lasagna that didn’t make me feel like I also needed to serve a veggie on the side.

DeLallo 100% Whole Wheat No Boil Lasagna Noodles
1 jar of pasta sauce
1 160z package of shredded mozzarella
1 8 oz container of ricotta
Shredded Parmesan
1 egg
1 frozen spinach, defrosted and drained of access water
1 eggplant
3 cloves of garlic, minced
6 mushrooms (I used crimini)
½ zucchini
1 tsp Italian seasoning
2 pork andouille sausages
2 tbs EVOO

Peal and chop eggplant, mushrooms and zucchini. Heat EVOO in a large saute pan, add garlic, Italian seasoning and vegetables to the pan. Add the sausage (without the casing) and saute for 5-10 min or until the eggplant has browned and broken down and the sausage is cooked. In a small bowl mix together ricotta, ¼ c Parmesan, egg and spinach and set aside. Cover the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with a thin layer of sauce, place one layer of noodles on top of the sauce, cover noodles with the spinach and cheese mixture, then a layer of the eggplant and sausage mixture and a layer of mozzarella. Start the process over again and finish with a layer of noodles, sauce and a mix of mozzarella mixed with extra Parmesan.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 40 min covered and another 20 min uncovered.