Carrot and Zucchini Ribbon Pasta

I love easy recipes.  I love unique recipes that think outside of the box.  I love recipes that look complicated and fancy but in reality aren't.  My sweet mother gave me a cookbook called The Forest Feast for my birthday.  The book's author, Erin Gleeson, has created a vegetarian cookbook that focuses on simple, flavorful, and seasonal foods. The recipes are unique and thoughtful.  Erin takes recipes people might be familiar with and amps up the creativity level.  For example, she has a recipe for a Ceasar salad.  Yeah, we all know what a Ceasar salad is.  In her Ceasar salad, she adds pine nuts and polenta croutons.  What wonderful, tasty additions! I am speaking from experience when writing this because I already made her Ceasar salad recipe and loved it. Also, as an added bonus, the pictures and watercolor paintings throughout the book are breathtaking.  This book is the epitome of easy, unique recipes with gorgeous pictures/paintings.  This cookbook is right up my alley.  (Thanks, Mom!)

The recipe below is a perfect example of how the author takes familiar foods and then spins a recipe to add a new perspective.  Who hasn't eaten pasta with vegetables?  Probably most people have at some point in their life.  However, this book suggests ribboning the carrots and zucchini, sauteing them with some garlic, and then adding the sauteed veggies to fettuccine with a little butter and thyme.  Heck yes!  What a delicious way to feature lots of vegetables in pasta dish!  And as a bonus, it looks spectacular when being served.   

I just used my peeler to create the carrot and zucchini ribbons.  It was so easy and took less than five minutes.  Erin's recipe below calls for two zucchini and two carrots.  I ribboned three zucchini and three carrots because I really like my veggies.

I did not have fresh thyme when cooking this so I just used a teaspoon of dried ground thyme instead.

Look how pretty this dish turned out! I just want to point out I have owned this cookbook for less than two weeks and have already made this recipe twice.  It's literally that good.  I crave it.  It is now on a rotation at our house.  One other thing I want to note about this recipe is it is really good the next day.  Because I work on the weekends, I normally make our weekend meals on Friday.  I made this dish on Friday and we ate it on a Sunday.  The garlic and thyme really melded together with the couple extra days waiting to be consumed.  I love dishes like that.  This dish is easy, quick, delicious, and really pretty.  Who doesn't love a recipe like that?  I hope you enjoy!   

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Carrot and Zucchini Ribbon Pasta

-taken from The Forest Feast by Erin Gleeson

Saute in a big skillet (medium heat, 5 minutes):

-5 garlic cloves, minced

-ribbons from 2 carrots

-ribbons from 2 zucchini

-1 tablespoon olive oil

-salt and pepper

Then add: 

-8oz dry fettuccine, cooked

-1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves (I used 1 teaspoon of ground thyme since I didn't have fresh)

-1 tablespoon butter (allow to melt)

Mix well and serve hot.

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Beer Brownies

Looking at these pictures make me want to eat these brownies.  Right now.  At 7:59am. Even while I am battling a cold. They are that good.  Luckily for me, I still have some sitting on my counter at home.  I definitely know what I will be eating tonight while watching The Bachelor. 

On Friday, I had a chocolate craving like no other.  I was craving it so strongly that I was grumpy. Can anyone else relate to that?  I will acknowledge the ridiculousness of this situation even though it was legit at the same time.  My sweet mother had given me a really nice bar of dark chocolate for my birthday.  This dark chocolate was specifically designed for baking.  So I figured 1) I needed something chocolate ASAP and 2) I had an awesome baking chocolate bar so why not go big and make a dark chocolate chip brownie.  Heck yes! 

While googling, I found this recipe for Beer Brownies on The Kitchy Kitchen website.  Heck yes again! I had to make them immediately.  I put Owen in his little jumper bouncer thing and started baking.  

This is the super nice dark chocolate my mom got me for my birthday.  It's called Scharffen Berger Baking Bar.  It was extraordinarily good.  The bar comes in five sections.  I chopped up two of the sections for the melted chocolate portion of this recipe.  The other three sections I chopped into larger chunks to put into the brownie batter.  Who doesn't like big dark chocolate chunks in their brownies?!?

I honestly think I became a better person as soon as I tasted these warm dark chocolate and beer infused brownies.  Maybe not a better person in regards to my actual character but a better person in the sense that I was more manageable to be around.

This brownie recipe is the perfect, and I truly mean perfect, brownie to use in an ice cream sundae.  The dark chocolate and IPA additions make the brownies sweet but not too sweet.  If you added ice cream and chocolate fudge to the top of this brownie, you would be in heaven.  I promise! I have no doubt I will be baking this brownie recipe again for a family event or when we have people over for dinner.  Or maybe just on a random Friday when another grumpy chocolate craving hits... I hope you enjoy!!

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Beer Brownies
-recipe from The Kitchy Kitchen.  (I didn't follow the recipe exactly so I have included the recipe below as I made it.)

1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
3 1/2 ounces semi sweet chocolate (I used dark chocolate.)
8 tablespoons of butter, browned
1/2 cup stout (or any dark beer) or cold coffee (I used one of Matt's dark IPAs.)
4 eggs, at room temp
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate chunks here.)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Mix flour and cocao powder together in a small bowl.  Set aside.  Melt the chocolate in a medium t to large microwave safe bowl.  Begin by heating for 30 seconds.  Stir and continue heating in 10 second increments until fully melted. Place butter in a pan over medium heat.  Melt until it turns light brown and smells slightly nutty.  Pour browned butter into melted chocolate, then add the beer.  Add the four eggs and sugars.  Beat until well mixed.  Add the flour mixture and stir until combined.  Add the vanilla.  Stir to combine.  Add the chocolate chunks and mix.  Pour into a buttered and floured 9 x 13 pan.  Bake for approximately 40-45 minutes.

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Tomato Carrot Soup

After I got pregnant, I got really tired. I mean like fall asleep in the middle of a sentence tired.  I mean like fall asleep on the floor because you are too tired to get up to get on the couch tired.  It was intense and almost immediate.  I was tired basically all the time.  Anyone who knows me knows I am a horrible napper.  Napping just wasn't my thing prior to pregnancy.  However, that quickly changed. I would take two hour naps and still feel like I could sleep for another six.  During pregnancy, sleep was basically the only thing I ever wanted to do.   Well, sleep and eat.  Let's be honest here.

While being oh, so tired, I started watching ABC's The Chew during the afternoon.  I would stretch out on the couch and just laugh along with Carla, Clinton, Daphne, Mario, and Michael.  Yeah, we are on a first name basis now.  There were many days when I would fall asleep with their recipes, decorating ideas, and jokes floating into my dream world.  

Since having Owen, he often gets hungry right around the time of The Chew comes on in the afternoons.  I have no problem with this because I still find the show totally entertaining and fun. The other day they featured a variation on a tomato soup recipe called Creamy Carrot Tomato Soup.  The recipe was geared for kids who are picky eaters.  I am no picky eater but I thought this recipe sounded delicious.  I decided to make an attempt at my own variation on the recipe.  While I am sure the original recipe is delicious, the tomato carrot soup I ended up with was incredible!  I ate it for lunch two days in a row and was wishing I had made more.  It was filling and light at the same time.  Because the base of the soup consisted of carrots and tomatoes, I felt really clean after eating it.  I like that feeling.  Oh, and it was ridiculously easy to make.  Who doesn't love a soup like that?  I hope you enjoy!

(And that is my little sous chef!  Although he is drooly, I promise, no drool was added to this soup.  He is super sweet though and I can't promise any of his sweetness didn't jump into the pot.)

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Tomato Carrot Soup

*adapted from Daphne Oz's Creamy Carrot Tomato Soup

7 large carrots, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 large onion, diced

3 tablespoons tomato paste

6 cups chicken stock

1 cup light coconut milk

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

salt and pepper

Add approximately 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a large pot.  Begin heating large pot over medium high heat.  Add diced onions to pot.  Cook onions for 3-5 minutes.  Add a little salt and pepper.  Add carrots to pot and cook for an additional 5 minutes.  Add tomato paste to carrot onion mixture and stir.  Let that mixture cook together for approximately 2 minutes.  Add chicken stock to pot.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20-25 minutes or until the carrots are soft.  Take pot off the heat.  Using an immersion blend (or regular blender), blend the carrot mixture until mostly smooth.  Add coconut milk to carrot mixture in pot. Blend the coconut milk in.  Add cayenne pepper.  Blend the cayenne pepper in.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Blend until smooth or desired consistency is reached.  Enjoy!

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Grapefruit Curd Grapefruit Cake

In the last couple years I have become addicted to the Joy the Baker website.  If you have not been to this blog, you must do it ASAP.  I have baked countless desserts from her site and every single one of them is delicious, delectable, and fantastic.  I am not kidding.  When I need to bake something, I immediately think, "Joy will have a recipe for this occasion" and I am never wrong.  She also has two cookbooks which I have bought for my baking-loving mother.  After Owen was born, my mom stockpiled our fridge with prepared cookie dough.  I am pretty sure I ate at least three cookies a day for way too many days in a row during that blur of new baby days. 

The other day when looking over her website, I came across a recipe for grapefruit curd in grapefruit cake.  Intriguing, right?!?  Well, I printed it out and couldn't get the recipe off of my mind.  What does grapefruit curd even taste like? What about grapefruit cake?  I know I have had lemon cake and orange cake but never a grapefruit cake.  I needed to know the answers to these burning questions.  

So on a Friday afternoon when I should have been meal prepping for my weekend job, I decided to make a grapefruit curd grapefruit cake for absolutely no reason other than I wanted to.  I honestly think that is one of the best reasons to bake.  For no real reason at all. Baking makes me smile.  Cakes make me happy.  Life's too short not to make a random cake on a Friday.  

Here's the link to the recipe on Joy's website, http://joythebaker.com/2016/02/grapefruit-curd-in-grapefruit-cake/  When I was baking it, I made it gluten and dairy-free.  I subbed the self-rising flour in Joy's recipe with gluten-free flour with the addition of a little salt and baking powder.  Instead of the butter, I used Earth Balance.  Even with those substitutions, I think this cake turned out fabulously!  It was just the right amount of citrus and oh so crumbly good.  I honestly don't think anyone would have known it was gluten and dairy free unless I told them.  

And just as a note for all the skeptics out there, grapefruit curd is amazing. You must try it.  I hope you enjoy this recipe! 

Citrus Braised Pork

Does anyone else out there have a go-to shredded pork recipe?  Maybe it is because I grew up seeing billboards that said, "Pork.  The other white meat." but having a solid shredded pork recipe is a must for me and my kitchen.  I was vegetarian for a couple years and the primary reason I ever broke my vegetarianism was for a pork dish.  Not little ol' bacon but an honest, solid, delicious pork dish.  It is definitely my favorite of all the meats.

A couple months ago I came across a book called "Date Night In" by Ashley Rodriguez.  I instantly fell in the love with the concept of the book and ordered it off Amazon.  And when it finally arrived (and by finally, I really mean two days later-thank you, Amazon Prime!), I was not disappointed!  I have made many of the dishes in this book and have loved them all.  Ashley's Citrus Braised Pork recipe has definitely become a staple in our home.  I pull this recipe out whenever I want to impress people with a flavorful pork dish that is ridiculously easy to put together.

In Ashley's book, this braised pork is to be used in a chilaquiles dish.  I have made this dish multiple times and I will let you know it is incredible.  I am pretty sure chilaquiles is now one of Matt's favorite dishes of all times.  In fact, now that I think about it, I have made it twice for my in-laws.  That alone is a testimony to its tastiness. When a chilaquiles recipe is a go-to when cooking for your in-laws, you know it must be solid.  I have also used the just braised pork recipe in a variety of other ways.  We've put the pork on sandwich buns. Delicious!  We've put it in tacos. Amazing! We've made nachos and piled them high with this pork.  Incredible!  It is simply a wonderful and easy go-to shredded pork recipe.

I really can't say enough about this book. I love that the book has recipes based on the availability of seasonal fruits and vegetables.  I love that Ashley has created courses for each of the the date night meals.  It really makes a date night in feel special because there are rounds of food just like if going to a fancy restaurant.  I also love that it has a list of groceries written out for you so you know what ingredients you need to complete each set of date night recipes.  The meals do take some planning to complete but isn't the preparation part of the joy of cooking?  I hope you enjoy!

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Citrus Braised Pork 
Date Night In by Ashley Rodriguez
serves 6 to 8

2 cups orange juice
2 teaspoons freshly grated lime zest
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
10 garlic cloves, smashed
1 yellow onion, sliced
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 dried bay leaves
3 1/2 pounds bone-in pork shoulder or 3 pounds of boneless pork shoulder

In a heavy Dutch oven or other oven-safe pan with a lid, stir together the orange juice, lime zest, lime juice, olive oil, garlic, onion, brown sugar, salt, pepper, oregano, cumin, and bay leaves. Add the pork shoulder and turn to coat.  Cover and refrigerate for at least four hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Cover the whole roasting pan tightly with aluminum foil.  Roast, covered, for 1 1/2 hours.  Carefully flip the pork, cover again, and roast for another hour.

Remove the foil and roast for another 1 1/2 to 2 hours, turning once halfway through.  If the pork falls apart as you try to flip it over, it is done.  If not, continue to roast until it falls apart and the marinade is reduced. For a shoulder of this size, the total cooking time is usually 4 to 5 hours, or an hour to an hour and half per pound.

Remove from the oven and let rest for 20 minutes.  Shred the pork in the pan with two forks and mix with the reduced marinade.  Remove the bay leaves.

The pork can be fully prepared (marinated and braised) 1 to 2 days ahead and stored, covered, in the refrigerator.  The flavor improves over time.

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Cookies for the nursing mommas (and all the other people who just enjoy cookies)

After baby Owen was born, he had some major gas issues that caused him stomach pains and screaming fits.  It was horrible for him and for us.  We hated seeing our little ten day old baby in so much pain.  The pediatrician recommended I cut down on my dairy consumption to see if that helped with the problem.  Low and behold, it did. It made a huge difference so I am basically dairy-free right now.  I definitely have cheat days but a majority of the time I pass on the milk, cheese, butter, etc.  It's a slightly sad life to live dairy free (primarily regarding the lack of cheese situation) but I know it is only temporary.  

I recently had a conversation with a friend and she stated her Nurse Practitioner told her that oatmeal, flax seed, and berries were just some of the foods that increase a mother's milk supply.  As a nursing and pumping mother, I am always on the lookout for ways to increase my milk supply! So the other day when I came across a recipe for lactation cookies on the blog How Sweet It Is, my world was shaken.  What?!?  I didn't even know cookies like this existed.  (And just for clarification, they do not contain any breastmilk.  They are designed to help increase a mother's milk supply.) I looked over the recipe.  Oats, check! Flax seed, check! Brewer's yeast, check! All foods that can help increase milk supply!  I quickly determined that these cookies needed to be made asap.  

So to connect back to the first paragraph of this blog, I needed to make some modifications on the original recipe to make it dairy free.  I didn't want little Owen to be all gassy even though I was producing more milk.  I also wanted these cookies to be gluten-free. (That's a whole other story for a whole other blog post.)

Since I made these cookies and have been eating them on the regular (like literally daily), I really have seen an increase in milk production.  In reality though, even if I didn't see an increase in milk, I would totally keep this recipe in my file. They are super good!  Matt and my sister have been eating them too and love them.  This is definitely a recipe to keep around if you are looking for a hearty, raisin cookie...that also happens to have positive side affects for nursing mothers! I hope you enjoy!

This recipe calls for Brewer's yeast.  I did some googling and found the best price on Amazon.  This is the one I ordered (Brewer's yeast). It adds a really depth to the cookies.  I don't know what else I can use it in but it definitely works in this recipe.

I used Earth Balance instead of butter.  As you can see, when creamed with coconut oil, it looks just like whipped butter would look.  I couldn't even tell it wasn't butter.

The first time I made these with dark chocolate like the original recipe calls for.  The second (and third) time I made these cookies, I added raisins instead.  I loved the change!  The raisins melded so well with the heartiness of the oats, flax seed, and Brewer's yeast. 

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Gluten-free, dairy-free Lactation Cookies
*makes about 36-42 cookies depending on how much of the dough you eat before baking


3 cups old-fashion rolled oats
1/2 cup coconut flour
5 tablespoons of Brewer's yeast
3 tablespoons of ground flax seed
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup of Earth Balance
4 tablespoons of coconut oil
1 1/2 cups of cane sugar or coconut sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon of vanilla
1 cup of raisins (or more)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add dry ingredients in a bowl and mix to combine.

Using an electric mixer, add Earth Balance and coconut oil to bowl.  Mix to combine.  This will take about 2-3 minutes. Add the sugar and beat it until it lightens in color and looks nice and fluffy.  This should take about another 3-4 minutes.  Add one egg at a time until combined.  Add vanilla.  Scrape down the sides as needed.

Add dry ingredients gradually.  Mix to combine.  Stir in raisins.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until the bottoms are golden.  These cookies are great warm but even better when they are cool.  I have been freezing them and they freeze really well.

-Recipe adapted from How Sweet It Is' Lactation Cookies

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New chapters

This wonderful blessing is what has taken up all of my time recently.  Isn't he precious?!?

Clearly I cannot blame a 2.5 year absence from blogging on my sweet 3 month old baby boy.  But honestly, a lot more has changed in the last 2.5 years than just adding a new addition to our family.  We have moved states, changed jobs, and really just about changed our whole world as a married couple.  We have also changed kitchens twice.  Although we renovated both of those kitchens in order to make them into ideal cooking environments, I still did not feel the desire to blog.

Over the last three months of being a mother, it has reminded me that I still need to be connected to the parts of me (cooking, being creative, having some sort of outlet) that makes me, me.  We will see how this goes.

Lavender Pouches

A while ago (and by a while ago, I mean, years and years ago) my sweet mother gave me a lavender scented pouch to put in my underwear/sock drawer.  Using scented pouches in clothing drawers had been a family tradition for her.  Her grandmother and mother put sashes (the technical term for what I am calling "pouches") in their drawers all the time while my mom was growing up and my mom just liked the idea of carrying this onto her girls.  I mean, it makes sense, right?  Who wouldn't want the sweet light scent of lavender to float of your drawers when opening them up?  For me, the idea of scented pouches is just wonderful.  It is calming, a form of self-care (my therapist side is coming out right now), and a memory-maker.  I am so glad my mom shared this family tradition with us.

So with my mother's tradition in mind, I set out to make some lavender pouches as small thank-you gifts.  I have documented below the process of making these simple gifts.  I literally made six pouches (two per gift) in almost exactly one hour.  Once you have the supplies on hand, this is a simple and fast project.

I kind of guessed at what size of pouches I wanted.  I decided the size of a CD case would probably be good for what I was trying to make.  I traced and cut out twelve squares.

After cutting out all of my squares, I ironed them and placed the right-sides together.  I then sewed along three of the sides of my square.  I left approximately 1/4 inch of fabric on each side. I made sure to leave one side open so that I could still flip the material inside out with ease.

This is what the material looked like once I flipped it inside out.  I ironed the open side of the pouch so that it would be nice and flat.

I then started filling my pouches with the lavender.  Each pouch held about 2/3-3/4 cup.

After they were all filled, I pined down the open side.  I wanted to have a guideline for sewing the pouches closed.

This was the finished product.  I just loved how they turned out!

I hope you enjoy this picture collage of my lavender pouch project.  Seriously, these pouches were super easy to make.  If you are looking for a small, fun project to try, definitely give this one a chance.  Your senses will be thanking you every time you open your clothing drawers!