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I remember my baby shower for boy #1 like it was yesterday. It was about this time of year and it was - as it is for most expectant moms - a wonderful day filled with family, friends and good food. Boy #1 finishes his last day of Kindergarten today. It's trite to say, but I can't believe how quickly the time has gone.
The end of May, into June marks for many of us a season of all kinds of celebrations... whether it's a graduation party, baby shower or wedding shower. It's a time where people gather to mark important milestones, often over a mid-morning meal - brunch.
I'm a big fun of brunch for parties. The kinds of dishes you serve are conducive to make-ahead meals, are often reasonably priced and for the most part, offer lots of crowd pleasing options.
In the south, few brunch menus are complete without a cheesy grits casserole. They can be served alongside an egg dish or even as the base for shrimp and grits. The downside, they're often overloaded on calories and fat.
For this month's Recipe ReDux I decided to make-over this humble breakfast casserole and lighten it up a bit. I've reduced the overall amount of cheese and butter, used Greek-style yogurt to add back some creaminess and used high-flavor, extra sharp cheddar for the topping, rather than throughout the entire dish. I also snuck in a little fresh dill to boost the flavor, but you could omit if you're not a dill fan (although my recent obsession with dill and cheddar begs that I keep it in.)
Whether for a celebration or just to mark a relaxing end to a stressful week, I hope you'll give it a try for your next brunch. And for more tasty variations for brunch, check out the other Recipe ReDux members' post below.
Lightened Cheddar Grits Casserole
Ingredients
Instructions
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I'm not sure who said "Idle hands are the devil's play ground," but if it holds an ounce of truth, I must be growing wings out of my back. It's been a busy spring, which came right on the heels of a busy winter. There have been so many little things here and there that I've wanted to share on the blog. If you follow me on Instagram, some of these you've seen mentioned briefly. But they all deserve a little more convo than that, so I'm catching up by sharing them today. Let me know if you've tried any of these and what you think.
Califoria Olive Ranch Extra Virgin Olive Oils
As we head into summer with its abundance of produce for salad, salsas, etc., THIS is an olive oil you should invest in. I received these sample months ago and have been enjoying them with abandon since. Sure, they'd be great for dipping homemade bread, but the flavor is so spectacular, you must try them tossed with freshly roasted veggies or just fresh veggies. This oil tastes like how warm spring sunshine feels on your face. Seriously. So good.
Yeah, so this is totally not food related, but it's a must-share. Have you heard of Stichfix? This is the first top I received in my Stichfix shipment.
I love it. Stichfix, I mean. (Well, I love the top, too) Or at least, I think I love Stitchfix. I've only had one shipment. But I love the concept without a doubt. Ironically, when I was a SAHM briefly after the birth of Boy #1, I told my dad that I thought a great business idea was to offer a clothing-mail service for pregnant & nursing women, where you could essentially subscribe to the service and be sent a wardrobe picked out especially for you. My idea, though, was that it would be almost like a rental... because let's face it. Who really wants all those maternity clothes hanging around after you no longer need them? Stichfix isn't exactly that, but it is a subscription type service where a stylist chooses clothes for you and sends them to you. You pick what you want, send back what you don't and voila! New clothes. No trip to the mall (which suits me just fine.)
Roasted Radishes
There aren't many vegetables that I would outright tell you I don't like. English peas fall into that category and always will. I'm nearly 40 years old, and I believe I've earned the right to officially say I don't like English peas. There. But radishes, well... I've learned that although I "thought" I didn't like them, I'd never had them roasted.
So. Good.
Try it. You'll be suprised.
Wendy's Berry-Almond Chicken Salad
Okay. Stay with me here. I suspect a lot of you aren't probably fans of "fast food"... and frankly, neither am I. But I recently had the chance to visit Wendy's HQ in Dublin, OH and I'm gonna have to say, I was impressed. There's a lot about the chain that I never knew... from Dave Thomas' commitment to supporting adoption, to Wendy's history as the first fast food restaurant to offer salad bars. But the biggest WOW moment came for me when I learned about their fresh-food approach to what's offered in the restaurants. I know very little of the goings on in fast food world. I thought most everything was delivered frozen, across the board. Not so at Wendy's, and apparently they're really the only chain that holds true for.
Why does that matter? Because it allows them to serve the more perishable fruits and veggies choices that other chains can't. See that salad above? It has fresh strawberries and blueberries, plus freshly grilled chicken (ie. not grilled then frozen, then thawed, then warmed... yuck), field greens that are actually washed and spun dry in the restaurant (ie. not the bagged salad with the wilted chopped up stuff you get elsewhere, which I find extremely undesirable) AND to top it all off, this salad has bleu cheese. I tried it while it I was there and was amazed. It was really, really good.
My only beef with Wendy's (pun intend) is the look of their stores, both inside and out. And I told them that while on site (Note to PR companies who plan to invite me to an event. I'm a feedback gal. I love to praise good work, but I also call out problems that I see. You've been warned). I immediately came back and ordered the same food at my local Wendy's that I'd had in Ohio.
Did it taste as good as when I was on site? Yes.
Was I dying to go back to my local Wendy's? Sadly, no. And that's purely for cosmetic reasons.
Maybe that makes me shallow and vain, but I think a lot of consumers are like that... and I hope for the Wendy's team's sake ('cause they were seriously some nice folks and I think they truly do have a better approach to fast food), those updates to their storefronts come sooner rather than later. I'll definitely swing through the drive through to grab that salad again. It was that good, but I'm not gonna be hanging out inside unless we do a little facelift.
Now, let's end on a really high note.
I'm not sure if this one needs much explination? But it's a blog after all, so I'll give one anyway.
I met John, the owner of Woodhouse while I was speaking at IACP in San Francisco in April. Delightlful man, he offered to send me some of their handmade chocolates. I, of course, said "how soon can they arrive?"
And if you think the box looks to die for, you should taste what's inside. I should have posted this before Mother's Day and begged you to share these with every mom you knew. But I'll do the dads of the world a favor and suggest that you order this for him instead. If he's worth a darn, he'll share it with his wife :-)
Okay... so now I'm caught up. What about you? What's new in your world. Leave me a comment below!
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You can probably guess by the title and this picture where I stand on this month's Recipe ReDux question regarding cupcakes:
It's not that I don't like cupcakes. I'd gobble one up right now if you put it in front of me. It's just that they're not my cooking style. Cupcakes are cute, fun, whimsical and in many ways, fussily-fancy. I dig that kinda thing thumbing through magazines, scrolling other people's blogs or even salivating over a bakery case.
But in my kitchen, fussy = time consuming. And time is a commodity I constantly find myself trying to cultivate.
So the bar cookie gets my vote. They're easier to make whole-grain since they're mostly crust and less cake. They don't require pre-portioning or multiple batches, another time saver. And they're easier to store since they stack nicely and aren't full of sticky icing. See... no on fuss, yes on yum.
Orange-Coconut Bar Cookies
Ingredients (9 servings)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Combine all ingredients except coconut and marmalade in a large bowl; stir until well combined (mixture will be crumbly.) Reserve 3/4 cup of mixture.
Press remaining mixture into an 8-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully spread with marmalade. Sprinkle with coconut and remaining dough mixture, pressing mixture down slightly into marmalade.
Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Orange & Coconut not your flavor choice? Try my Caramel-Apple Pecan Bars instead.
Where do you stand?
Are you a cupcake-craver or do you lean to less refined handheld sweets?
Check out how other ReDux members weighed in on the question below.
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I sat through a wonderful session last week at the annual IACP Conference, led by Faith from The Kitchn. The Kitchn - as I'm sure many of you know - has (IMO) become to the internet what Martha was to the TV and magazine world back before Martha's unfortunate incarceration. (To read more about my opinion on that subject, click here.)
Most online food blog types hold The Kitchn in high regard. I'm no exception. Irrespective of the fact that they basically crashed our server the day they published a post on Healthy Aperture (which I am still to this day eternally grateful for... server maintenance never felt so good. Come to think of it, I would give most anything for them to crash Fit Framed. My new baby needs a little love, but I digress....), I think the site is full of useable information, coupled with a hefty dose of domestic inspiration.
One of the things Faith talked about in her session was the "recipe" for a successful online post; basically, the types of food articles and recipes people are looking for. While the foodie in most of us might like to think that it's some elaborate lemongrass-infused fish en papillote dish, the reality is that's just not what most people are looking for... at least not to cook at home.
What do they want?
Familiar
Fast
Easy
...and Weird
Weird isn't exactly what you'd think. Not weird in a "eewww, that's gross" kinda way. More like "hey... why didn't I think of that" kinda way. (The example Faith gave was of that banana ice cream that the blogosphere just about exploded over... you know, the one-ingredient, in the food processor soft serve?)
Anyway, it got me thinking about what recipes seem to have the most appeal here, as well as on Healthy Aperture (which believe it or not, I pay much more attention to Healthy Aperture's traffic than I do this blog. I love this space for being whatever I want it to be. Healthy Aperture is a business. Enough said.)
Faith also gave some hints to words, techniques & trends that perform better than others.
Hello "Slow-Cooker" and "Pulled Pork"....
I hope you'll give these a try. They're super familiar, fast and easy. I guess three out of four ain't so bad?
What about you, blog friends? What recipes are the most popular on your blog?
Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork Tacos
Ingredients (4 servings)
Instructions
Place pork tenderloin in a slow-cooker. Combine 1/2 cup each coconut water and salsa verde in a small bowl; stir in cumin and salt. Pour over pork. Cook on HIGH for 5 hours or LOW for 8 hours or until pork is tender and shreds or pulls easily with two forks.
Remove pulled pork from slow-cooker. Strain cooking liquid over pork and keep warm until ready to serve.
Combine tomato, cilantro, remaining coconut water and lime juice in a medium-size bowl.
To serve, divide pork, tomatoes, remaining salsa verde and cheese evenly among tortillas.
]]>Are you tired of ham and deviled eggs yet? Holidays are so funny that way, right? You look forward to that perfect holiday menu and then by the end of the day you're like "Who wants pizza?"
Or is that just me?
Anyway, we're changing gears today regardless and here's how:
One - today's post isn't mine. It's a guest post by Meri Raffetto. Meri is a Registered Dietitian (and author of the Glycemic Index Diet for Dummies® and coauthor of Glycemic Index Cookbook for Dummies®, Mediterranean Diet Cookbook for Dummies®, Restaurant Calorie Counter for Dummies®, and Calorie Counter Journal for Dummies®. Whew. That's a mouthful! To learn more about Meri visit her blog at www.3tomatoes.net.)
Two - today's recipe, while in my favorite category of Desserts, isn't one of my typical baked goods (even though Lent is over, I will remain focused on my less processed approach to eating).
So please welcome Meri and her recipe!
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from Meri...
If you haven’t heard the media buzz…the Mediterranean diet is the next best thing since sliced bread. The reason you’re seeing it in the headlines is because of a new study from the New England Journal of Medicine directly linking this way of eating with a decrease in heart disease for high risk individuals. This study shows that the Mediterranean diet decreases risk of a cardiac event as well or even better than medications.
The traditional Mediterranean style of eating is based on research from rural areas in the region 60 years ago. This isn’t a traditional “diet” the way we think of in the U.S. The people in this region simply used the foods they grew seasonally or could get from the sea; fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, lentils, olives and seafood. They had to use what was available to them and so, became masters at flavor combinations.
This idea of flavor combinations is what I love most about this style of eating. You just don’t find boring, tasteless recipes from this region. Even desserts were often made of simple fruits and nuts (what they had on hand) with smaller amounts of sugar than you’d find in modern day store bought desserts. This is an important attribute for me because I have a pretty significant sweet tooth handed down from my mother and grandmother. I love creating simple “sweets” that curb the craving and also provide some healthy ingredients at the same time. Sort of a win-win.
This recipe for Date and Walnut Drops is one of those recipes. If you enjoy the simple combination of fruits and nuts like me then you’ll love this recipe and it’s so easy you can use it any time you need to curb your sweet tooth!
Date and Walnut Drops
Prep time: 10 min Yield: 24 servings
Ingredients
24 dates
24 almonds or walnut halves
½ cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange
Grated dark chocolate (optional)
Directions
Per serving: Calories 109 (From Fat 24); Fat 3g (Saturated Fat 0g); Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 0mg; Carbohydrate 23g (Dietary Fiber 2g); Protein 1g.
Check out these 5 lunch and dinner Mediterranean recipes http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/lunch-or-dinner-entrees-on-the-mediterranean-diet.html
(Recipe from The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook for Dummies, Wiley Publishing, Nov 2011. Photograph by www.lovejoyphotographer.com)
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So, I guess you don't really "boil" eggs in the oven, but you can bake them. And if you haven't tried it, you should.
I saw this method on Pinterest months ago.
But it wasn't until a friend actually verified for me that it worked (without exploding a pan full of eggs in the oven in the process), that I was willing to try.
I'm so glad I did! My egg eating world has been turned on its head now that I know you can actually make hard-boiled eggs in the oven. It's not that there's anything all that difficult about hard boiled eggs, but this method is the ultimate in easy.
You can find a number of different references for time and temperature. But I simply place them in a muffin tin and bake at 325 degrees (be sure to preheat your oven) for 25 minutes. Some sources say to dunk in cold water. I've discovered that running cold water directly over them in the muffin tin, letting stand for about 5 minutes (until their cool enough to touch) and then placing in the refrigerator works just fine. Once they're cool, they're ready to peel. (Note: Once peeled, you may notice a small brown spot on the egg where it sat against the muffin pan. This is totally normal and doesn't affect the quality of the egg at all.)
Seriously. Could that be any easier?
Never has there been a better time to give this method a try, right? (Easter has seriously cornered the market on eggs.) Need a Deviled Egg recipe? Cooking Light has an entire collection to choose from. Got eggs down pat, but looking for some more Easter inspiration? Check out this collection from Healthy Aperture.
Happy Easter!
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That's not to say the recipes I post here aren't always what I consider "good." They are. I don't post anything that I don't think is tasty. But some dishes simply turn out better than others.
This is one of them.
When ReDux decided to take on green herbs in non-traditional ways (Thank you March for cornering this color. We bloggers simply can't overlook the ode to green in March, post-St Patty's day or not), I knew basil would be my choice. I have an Aerogarden and am overrun with basil (and I'm NOT complaining.)
I don't even recall why granita hit me as a good idea. Maybe it's the impending warmer weather or maybe just the simplicity and ease of it. Either way, it was a great choice.
At first glance, this simple dish is nothing more than an herb-infused fruit and wine frozen mixture. But the first bite will tell you it's so much more. The basil is so rich (if a frozen dish can be described as rich?). It imparts a depth of flavor that works really well with the fruitiness of the berries and the adult appeal of the wine.
Gardens and markets are sure to be a plentiful supply of basil very soon. Please give pesto a rest and go for this granita instead.
Note: My recipe is inspired by this recipe from Cooking Light. Be sure to visit their site parent recipe site, MyRecipes.com, for more great granita recipes. And of course be sure to check out the other ReDux recipes below!
Basil-Berry Granita
Ingredients (4 servings)
Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; let stand 15 minutes.
Pour mixture through a sieve over an 8- x 8-inch baking dish or pan (discard berry mixture).
Cover and freeze until partially frozen (about 2 hours). Scrape mixture with a fork, crushing any lumps. Freeze for 3 hours or until completely frozen, scraping with a fork every hour. Remove from freezer; scrape mixture with a fork until fluffy.
The observance of Lent in the Christian faith is considered a time for prayer, reflection, preparation and to a large degree, self-denial. Denominations within the Christian community interpret all of these aspects differently, but the practice of self-denial of a personal luxury is fairly universal. For some people, that denial is a form of penance. For others, a way to take one's mind off of self & personal enjoyment and instead use that time to reflect on the impending remembrance of Christ's sacrifice.
If you've been reading this blog for any length of time you know that I don't weave politics or religion into this blog. It's just not my style. For all the online communication I do every day, I'm actually a very private person.
No, really. I am.
I believe in your right to be who you are and live how you want. And I believe in my right to be who I am and live how I want... so long as we aren't doing harm to one another or others. I don't see my blog as a platform to convince you to do anything... well, other than eat healthy, great tasting food :)
"So why all the talk about Lent today, Regan?"
Because this year I took a different approach to Lent. I gave up "processed grains" and learned a lot about my diet in the process (no pun intended).
A quick survey of my friends also "fasting" during the Lenten season appears to put me in the solo category on this one. In fact, when I told my husband (who grew up Southern Baptist and doesn't really "get" why I even give up anything for Lent anyway) what I was giving up this year, he said "so what are processed grains?"
(Y'all, this is a smart man. And this week, we will have been married 14 years. After all this time, "what" is a processed grain is still elusive. Clearly, I'm not doing my job as his personal RD. But if the "what" is vague for any of you, too, it basically means I'm not eating any breads, cereals, crackers, etc., that are not 100% whole grain.)
Anyway, the irony in my Lenten observance is that I didn't really think I would learn anything about my eating habits with this fast. I knew I could do a "little" better, but on the whole, I thought I was a pretty "unprocessed" eater.
Boy. Was. I. Wrong.
I have been amazed at how many handfuls of kid cereals & mommy-packing-the-lunchbox pretzels I've been eating. I've identified that my go to snacks weren't the fruits & veggies I love and actively promote... they were crackers. I've also realized I'm a single handly keeping the muffin & scone delivery truck at my Starbucks in business... with neary a second glance to a piece of fresh fruit on the plate.
I've upped my fruit and veggie intake tremendously. I've lost 3 pounds (although, in the spirit of full disclosure, I've also been very committed to my cardio theater runs lately too). And at the risk of getting too personal (especially for the men in the audience), I should share that the monthly ill effects I experience thanks to the womanly "blessing" of being of my childbearing years (and having a genetic heritage of uterine fibroids) were amazingly less painful this month. Totally didn't see that coming.
Am I giving up grains now?
No way.
Am I going to be much more mindful of the amount I'm eating?
Absolutely.
I've said for years - at least to myself - that it's not about grains being "bad." It's that so many of us mistakenly displace beneficial fruits and vegetables by always grabbing a grain-based snack instead.
It's amazing what you can learn about yourself when you actually observe and reflect on your own reality.
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Whether you are observing Lent or not, Easter is on its way. What's on your menu? Visit Cooking Light's Healthy Easter Recipe collection for some holiday inspiration.
I'd also like to invite you to submit your best brunch recipe to the recipe contest we're running on Healthy Aperture right now. The contest ends April 1st, so be sure to check it out soon. You could win a Vitamix blender or Kitchen Aid mixer!
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