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 14th, 2011 I actually don’t even like oatmeal, but it’s a very easy “real food” meal that both of my daughters happen to LOVE. They love it so much that my 1st grader takes oatmeal to school as her snack every single day and my preschooler sometimes takes it as part of her lunch (in a Thermos to keep it warm). Apparently a lot of people use water to make their oatmeal, but our secret is milk. I feel the same way about hot chocolate, too. Forget the water…use milk! At the start of our budget pledge last year I tried making oatmeal with water as a cost saving measure and my 6-year-old would have nothing to do with it. I didn’t even tell her anything was different I just served it like I normally do, and she knew immediately that something was wrong. And she wouldn’t eat it either. So after more than a year of playing around and tweaking our oatmeal recipe just the way my kids like it I thought I would share.
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!
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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 November 20th, 2011 When making a new recipe I like to see how many steps I can skip without negatively impacting the end result. This pie is a perfect example of not only skipping a few steps, which I’ve deemed as unnecessary , but also substituting (most of) the refined ingredients for whole ones. I replaced the white flour with whole-wheat flour and the corn syrup with maple syrup, but I do admit I left in the chocolate chips and some of the brown sugar because it certainly is okay to indulge in such treats in moderation! Just top a warm piece of the finished pie with some homemade vanilla ice cream and you’ll be in love with this super delicious and non-intimidating dessert as well. Continue Reading »
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