By 100 Days of Real Food, on December 23rd, 2011  My great-grandparents were born in Italy so for as long as I can remember risotto has been a staple dish in our family. When my dad is the one cooking, which is the norm in my family, we have risotto at almost every gathering including holiday dinners. I even remember my dad making the Italian flag with his risotto one year by mixing tomato paste with a third of the batch and parsley with another third. I don’t remember who was at this particular dinner, how old I was, or what holiday we were even celebrating, but oh how I remember the Italian flag risotto.  Clearly I was destined to somehow have food be a big part of my life.
But enough nostalgia for now… What I am really here to say is that I was slightly devastated when I first thought whole-grain risotto was impossible. You see, when we made the switch to “real food” I looked everywhere for brown Arborio rice to no avail. I even went almost a year without eating risotto (yikes!) until one day I saw a post from Deliciously Organic explaining that you can actually make risotto with just regular brown rice…it doesn’t have to be Arborio or anything special! You know how something can suddenly seem so simple when the information is presented to you like that. Plus this is such a great recipe to have in your dinner rotation because (similar to stir-fry) you can mix in almost anything you have on hand from veggies to seafood to meat in order to make it into a complete meal. And if you have some homemade chicken stock available for this recipe, too…then yum!! Continue Reading »
By 100 Days of Real Food, on December 16th, 2011 I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again…I am not much of a salad person. I think a lot of people envision “healthy diets”  being full of big salads and bean sprouts and tofu, and while there’s certainly nothing wrong with those things, that’s not at all how we eat. Our definition of real food of course includes a variety of fresh organic greens, but also a lot of other things like whole grains and dairy and fruit and even locally-raised grass-fed cheeseburgers.
So when I recently caught myself craving a certain salad, which has never before happened in my 34 years, I of course felt compelled to share it with all our facebook fans. And I also asked them about their favorite salad combinations as well (below) because I’ve learned that not all salads are created equal. Over are the days of somewhat soggy iceberg lettuce pieces topped with stale looking carrots and a side of highly processed salad dressing. If you start with some fresh greens and top them with the perfect mix of “accessories” I am learning that salads can actually be kind of good. And if we really come up with a super tasty combination of accessories my kids might even have a little salad, too. So here are some ideas to keep us all from getting burnt out…and as always leave any additional suggestions you might have in the comments below!
- Mixed greens with apples, toasted walnuts, blue cheese, and olive oil (pictured above)…the salad that inspired this post!
Variations of this salad:
- Add dried cranberries, hold the blue cheese, and use a balsamic vinegar with the olive oil
- Add strawberries, use roasted pecans instead of walnuts, top with salmon and balsamic vinegar
- Gorgonzola or feta cheese instead of blue cheese
- Pears instead of apples
- Add grilled chicken Continue Reading »
By 100 Days of Real Food, on December 12th, 2011 Move over regular popcorn, caramel popcorn, and even cracker jacks because I’ve got a recipe that’s going to steal the show. This glazed popcorn & cashew mix might just be one of the best snacks I’ve ever had…and I don’t say those things lightly. It all started when I was working on those fun little “non-cookie” holiday gift ideas last week. I thought glazed pecans or nuts would be a very tasty gift, but then I took the idea a step further and added popcorn to the mix. Bag up some of this stuff, tie on a bow, and you now have the perfect gift for neighbors, teachers, and even the mailman. Don’t forget to attach a recipe card so the recipient not only enjoys every last bite, but also knows it doesn’t contain a bunch of junk and additives (like those highly processed tubs of caramel popcorn). Just be sure you make some extra so you can enjoy it yourself…yum!
 Continue Reading »
By 100 Days of Real Food, on December 6th, 2011 
This is the “pot luck event” time of year so let’s talk appetizers. Below you’ll find a recipe for a super easy and insanely popular “Pesto Cream Cheese Bake” as well as some general appetizer ideas that would be the perfect real food addition to any party (holiday or not!). If you have any suggestions that I left off the list please share them in the comments at the bottom.
“Real Food” Appetizer Ideas:
- Sliced fruit like figs, apples, pears, grapes, melon, berries, small orange segments, or place a few together on fruit kabobs with a yogurt/honey dip
- Olives
- Cheese cubes
- A spread for crackers like hummus, plain or flavored goat cheese, or pesto
- Whole grain crackers like Ak-Mak, Multiseed Original, or Triscuits
- Miniature caprese salad on long toothpicks (cherry tomato, small piece of mozzarella, and basil leaf
- Homemade whole-grain “easy cheesy crackers“
- Vegetable crudite (cut veggies with ranch dip or tzatziki sauce)
- Lightly salted nuts (cashews, almonds, pistachios, pecans, walnuts, peanuts, etc.)
- Glazed nuts
- Proscuitto wrapped mozzarella dipped in balsamic vinegar Continue Reading »
By 100 Days of Real Food, on December 2nd, 2011 Admit it. When you think of “making” or “baking” some type of holiday gift you think of cookies. Or maybe candy. No matter what it is I guarantee it’s full of sugar, and collectively there’s just too much of that going around this time of year (in my opinion)! I personally think there are many other little holiday gift ideas that are more exciting – and more original – than cookies, and since I like to play by my own rules here’s some of what I will be giving out this year…
- Homemade Vanilla Extract
One of my favorite things about this gift (other than how cute the bottles are!) is that you can make them in advance. In fact – this is a gift that will actually get better with time, which is quite the opposite of a lot of other homemade goodies. Simply slit two vanilla beans down the middle, drop them into 375ml of vodka (I used the red Smirnoff) and within a few weeks you will have infused pure vanilla extract that someone can use in all sorts of recipes like granola, pumpkin bread, French toast, and oatmeal. And save some money by ordering your vanilla beans online (with free shipping) instead of buying them at the grocery store!
- Assorted Whole-Grain Muffins
I adore all those cute treat boxes this time of year, and the ones pictured below from Michael’s Craft Store (that I purchased with a 40% off coupon) are no exception. Continue Reading »
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