Wild Rice Pilaf

I'm having a hard time being positive about this Wild Rice Pilaf because I'm on a maniacal fruit cleanse where you pretty much starve yourself for 7 days (not really, but I told you I'm not feeling very positive). Something ridiculous about going on a tropical cruise with 5 other svelte women drives you into a starvation diet. Or maybe it's the obnoxious fact that this cruise is timed right after the eating and drinking holiday madness. Either way, I loathe myself for even saying the word diet. I don't diet! I just eat small portions (only a half truth) - and I make good choices like fruits and veggies (sometimes true - love my Twizzlers!). And I work out - a lot (this is pretty much true). Sigh. But, I am dieting. 

However! I do feel powerful saying NO! to coffee - even for a couple days. I cannot describe the fog on the first morning or raging headache that same afternoon (absolutely positively going back to coffee once this madness is over). However! I literally JUMPED out of bed the second day, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Two great things are developing from my diet: self-control and an inner body cleanse that is energy giving. Om. I release all bad feelings from this cleanse into the universe and grab onto peace and calm and wild rice. Come.

Kale & Feta Meatballs

Are you like me and avoid making meatballs because you think making a meatball dinner is wayyy too much effort and dish clean-up? First, make the meat mixture, then roll the balls, then fry the balls, then maybe bake the balls, then put the balls into a tomato sauce to simmer. That's a lot of ball preparation.

Orange Ricotta Pancakes

I am going to give you the most glorious way to use up that leftover container of ricotta that has been sitting in the back of the fridge since used in last week's lasagna. Pancakes. Moist and dense, but still light and airy. Full of orange flavor, sweet and delicious. The ultimate saturday morning don't get out of your pajamas until at least 1:30 breakfast. The only way to feel comforted in the middle of a Polar Vortex. These pancakes are many things. Let them be your emotional comforter.

Roasted Cauliflower & Pomegranate Salad

Happy New Year! Let's eat cauliflower! After all the chocolate, champagne, butter, puff pastry, cookies, cookies & more cookies, lobster, cream sauce, heavy whipping cream, wine and more wine I'm looking to eliminate some saturated fat from my diet and increase my fruit and vegetable intake. How about you? Easier said than done. First, I need to throw all these cookies to the garbage that are invading my headspace. Which will, in turn, cause my soul to cry out for all that butter waste! BUTTER! I will admit, I was thoroughly looking forward to eating rich, creamy, dreamy food during family gatherings and such, but after having my fill, well, I'm full. I plan on the next few days to really focus on drinking tea with lemon when my reflexes are telling me to eat cocoa-dusted truffles. I'll be trying to refrain from eating for spans of a time when my brain says "hey, it's been 39 minutes since the last flavor affair, feed me." After a couple days of depriving my brain of sugar and alcohol I assume {hope} the shakes, fits, and tantrums will dissipate.  Raisins will be my new sweet. Full of healthy antioxidants. And cauliflower salad will be my main dish. All the mental anguish is worth the way my body and mind feel after a week of healthy eating habits. So. Much. Better. Than. Sugar. Butter. World. Promise.

Chia Almond Granola

Let's get talkin' about granola. The homemade kind, like, is there any other kind?!?! Not in my world. 

My kiddos eat it. Hooray. It turns plain yogurt into amazing, to-die-for, let's eat this whole bowl, and have second and thirds good. Double Hooray. My husband lines the bottom of his squirrel traps with it. Hooray? 

He has watched every single episode of Duck Dynasty (some more than once) on Amazon Prime and now he thinks I need to cook him some squirrel Miss Kay style. Eating squirrel is something I left behind in my 7-year-old girl days when my parent's were the boss of what went into my mouth. Now I'm the boss of what enters my mouth and I say no squirrel goes in my mouth. On second thought, I take that back. This blog could really get popular with culinary squirrel enthusiasts if I created a squirrel recipe worth preparing and eating. Hmmm. How I included squirrel recipes and granola in the same post is beyond me. Let's get back to the granola. Shall we?

Nutty Seed Bread

I'm talking about bread again? Haven't I talked about bread a lot lately? My last bread recipe included olives, ham, bacon and alotta eggs. And then about a week before that was a Swedish Rye Bread that had me considering the word "limpa". In the same month was Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls which I deem bread category material. 

Because we are facing the second day after two days of Christmas eating and drinking extravaganza-ness I think bread needs to leave my radar. My radar should be full of the kale in this cookbook I received as a gift. At least I have a guide and a place to start. Positive thinking.

Expect kale people. From now on. Until then you need to deal with bread. Maybe we can feel good about this bread because it's so seedy and nutty that it's comparable to eating 6 handfuls of nuts with every bite. Not really, but close.

Mac n' Cheese Bites

Since starting my blog a little under 6 months ago this recipe is going to be my second version of macaroni and cheese. If I keep blogging for, let's say 7 years, at a rate of 2 macaroni and cheese recipes per every 6 months, times 7 years, that will be: Ahhh.... Where's my calculator? 

Let's just say that is my type of math problem! 

Ok! Ok. I got it. It's 7 X 4. 28! That's almost 30 mac n' cheese variations my adventuresome boys get to consume like the guinea pigs I use them as. Lucky them. 

Oven Roasted Pork Roast

Small children, in my experience, are not always big meat eaters. The texture of meat for kids can be too chewy. I've watched my son as a two-year-old chew on a piece of chicken for what seemed like 10 minutes because he didn't know what to do with it. The piece of food was never getting smaller. What is wrong with this thing in my mouth? It isn't going anywhere. What do I do with it? How do I swallow it? Erm, I'll just spit it out. Splat.

No splatting with pot roast. Perfectly roasted pot roast melts in your mouth. And I've found it's one of the best ways to get my kiddos to devour meat. They almost always want more! I love those words. Yes, food is love.

Making pot roast is a very easy way to prepare an inexpensive cut of meat, feed a family, and it's a hands off way to make your house smell heavenly. Let's do it!

Sparkling Raspberry Gelatin

Did you grow up with Jell-o Jigglers? If you are a child of the 80's, most likely, you did. Do you know what is in Jell-o? It's in my nature to say: poison. My apologies to Kraft.... not really. 

I'd much rather eat my jello with health benefits. And this recipe does the trick. 

According to wellnessmama.com gelatin is practically a superfood! Gelatin is great for hair, skin and nails. Helps lubricate joints. Can help with digestion. Is a source of protein. And it's natural! MMMM. Let's make jigglers!

Ham & Olive Loaf

I'm not sure how I've lived my life up to this point without this bread in my recipe rotation. My life has been utterly meaningless. Life without bread studded with chunks of ham and salty olives of all colors is so boring.

The egg-y crumb of this bread makes me want to almost call it a breakfast bread. Who am I kidding? I shouldn't use the word almost. I should say: Yes, this was my breakfast for 3 straight days. Topped with butter and nuked in the micro, my life suddenly had meaning. 

My brain just didn't function correctly since the day I pinned a picture of the original recipe 5 weeks ago! That's 5 weeks of Bread Brain Fog. My poor family. They'd been wondering where their mother had gone. She's in her own culinary dreamworld. Alas! My dreamworld is a reality! And this reality is sooooooo good.

Italian Ravioli Egg Bake

Do you like egg bake? I'm wondering if it's a Midwestern thing? After a quick Google search on Midwestern quirks egg bake does not appear. I'd imagine I would need to dig further into a search using words like 'traditional Midwestern foods' or 'Minnesota regional favorites'. Alas, I didn't do that. 

However, I did briefly read some impressions on our funny speech characteristics and quirky personality traits. One brutally honest review caught my eye detailing our use of the greeting "How are you?". Which, to be honest, took me until 31 years of life to really fully accept that people don't want to know your emotional state they just want you to automatically reply "Fine, and you?". Well, Mr. Scathing Review - I have a way to combat the Fine How Are You. Egg bake. 

Rosemary Roll & Slice Shortbread

I have about 3 or 4 cookie recipes in my regular cookie rotation. Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chippers make it in about once or twice a year, Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies are made about 2 times during the zucchini months, the Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe from the back of the Toll House bag when I feel like washing dishes and eating 3 cookies after every meal and these crispity, crunchity, herby, buttery babies.

Any other cookie recipes from here on out will be completely experimental. You've been forewarned. 

Maca Energy Truffles

It's eerily quiet in my house this Thanksgiving morning. There isn't a dish in the sink, no pots bubbling. My hair isn't piled atop my head, elbows deep into a pie crust, flour on my nose, timers beeping loudly, onion skins littering the floor below. That would be more my style. So, as I look around my utterly way too clean kitchen wondering what on earth is wrong with me I just relax and leave it to my father who is doing the cooking this year I write a grocery list and head to the grocery store! Exactly. That's what I do. I cook.

These truffles would be a great thing to un-cook for the holidays, un-cook because they require no cooking! Measure, Dump, Stir, Form into balls and eat. And I guess you might call them health food? Maca is a root that was used in ancient Peru as an aphrodisiac and mood lifter! Isn't that great? Because judging from my post yesterday, I might need a mood lift.

Twix Bars

 

I love shortbread. Like, a lot. It's my downfall at Starbucks. I love it so much, it was one of my first blog posts. Something about the crunch and texture. Like kinda sandy.

Once, in line at Marshall's, I was buying shortbread because the cookies stare at you in the check-out aisle, taunting you to make an impulse buy, fueling your shopping adventures with more sugar, I asked the checkout girl if she had ever tried the shortbread that stare at her day in and day out for hours on end? Why no, she was not a fan of my beloved shortbread because they are, and I quote, "sandy" cookies.

That is what she said. I couldn't believe it. Sandy! Cookies! Never thought of shortbread in that way, but I guess she's right. Gah! But I digress. Because these sandy cookies are covered in caramel and chocolate. And that makes any sandy cookie a yummy cookie.

Bacon Bread-Crumb Topped Mac n' Cheese

In honor of my first born's birthday being today I must post a recipe that reflects him. His recipe reflection is Mac n' Cheese. Unfortunately, my desire to make every dish a culinary masterpiece is not appreciated here because the only type of mac n' cheese he wishes to eat comes from a blue box. No, I take that back, once he did eat my gourmet version. Most likely because he was starving and would've eaten anything I put in front of him, but nonetheless! I shall push forward in my mac n' cheese masterpiece culinary experiments! 

Swedish Rye Limpa Bread

I'm not sure what Limpa means. But what I do know is that the Dassel Covenant Cookbook from 1972 had 9 recipes listed for "Limpa Bread." And as a woman who has married into Scandihoovianess I'm determined to make and love Limpa bread. Whatever that means.

Maybe another more academic type would Google about, reading all available scholarly descriptions on the word limpa. I could learn its roots and origins. Who was the first limpa maker? Why did they eat limpa? When did they eat limpa? Where did they eat limpa?

Egg Foo Young Casserole

I am so excited about this recipe!! It's one of those recipes that I've been meaning to make for about 3 years, which the can of bean sprouts can attest to, because it had been sitting in my pantry one year after the expiration date patiently awaiting to become something greater. Don't worry, no stomachs were harmed in the consumption of these bean sprouts (in my mind, canned goods never expire -- hmmm, something wrong with that?). Just these stomachs.

Chewy Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are dangerously good. I think I will rename them to Dangerous Chewy Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies. That will be a better descriptor for these bad boys of moist, chocolatey coconut-flecked perfection.

I'm grateful the recipe only makes 2 dozen, because that means only 24 opportunities to fall off the I'm-going-on-a-cruise-in-January-so-I-better-not-eat-24-cookies bandwagon. Or 24 minus the 4 or 5 my kids and husband eat. 

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

This recipe comes from Smitten Kitchen. I'll just make that my first statement because I can't pretend to be as witty, creative or beautiful with the camera as she (but I'll try!). But she is all of those things, plus much more. Her site is amazing. If you've never been there, go there now. Her website has this feature called "Surprise Me." When I'm bored beyond belief doing blog research I sit in front of my computer like a zombie clicking "Surprise Me" over and over again, watching images of delicious food cause my mouth to water and stomach to grumble even though I just ate a whole bag of popcorn and I begin to drool. I may need an intervention. 

Swedish Pancakes

My husband's mom is all things domestic. I worship her. I channel her. But what I find the most awe-inspiring is that she's 100% Swedish. As a child I found it completely embarrassing to be an ethnic no-name, a Heinz 57.  I wanted to proudly wave the flag of Ireland or Germany or Sweden!!  

Chili-Lime Quinoa

My day can only vastly improve after a big bowl of quinoa that has been flecked by black beans, red pepper, carrot, onion and cilantro. Which has been flavored with smokey cumin and chipotle in adobo. Then tanged up with lime juice and smoothed out with olive oil. Yes, you can have this life, too when you welcome Chili-Lime Quinoa into your day.  

Smoked Trout Cakes with Wild Rice

Ook. So listen. Smoked fish. And wild rice. It's happening. These were inspired by a walleye cake I had while up north (it's a term Minnesotans use for the Northern part of the state - so original) at this amazing restaurant. The fish was caught while in Door County. 

Do you know about wild rice?? My sister lives in Steamboat, CO and after she had made a Wild Rice Soup and served it for her co-workers they were all befuddled by the black flecks of chewiness. Quinoa, they guessed? Nope. Wild rice people. Know it. Eat it. Love it.

Mulligatawny Soup

Tomorrow there may be plowable snow. Plowable snow. Please, no. On the bright side my winter travel schedule is looking quite promising with a cruise to the Bahamas in January, a flight to Denver booked for February and a possible March spring break with the family. These are the things I hold onto when the words "plowable snow" are uttered during the weather forecast. 

I also hold onto soup. This version of Mulligatawny Soup is something I'd call a Grandma's version of Indian food. The recipe is from a cookbook literally called "Grandma's Best-Loved Recipes." I'm not making this up. 

Canning Grape Juice

My first juice making marathon has got to be the singular most loving thing I've completed for my second-born who officially drinks his weight in juice every single day. My attempts at mothering have failed. Juice Abhorrer's unite. He loves juice. What shall a conscientious mother do? Find some grape vines, pick those grapes and juice them. So tedious. So purple. E.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e.  

Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chippers

It's Saturday. The day that Before Kids I would lay in bed watching the Food Network until about noon, maybe I'd shlub to the kitchen for a cup of coffee, but probably not. Maybe later in the day I'd proceed to browse Target for the afternoon, completely carefree, buying whatever I wanted, most likely in the accessory department. I didn't even need to consider stopping at the Jumbo Box Warehouse for gigantor boxes of garbage bags, 480 rolls of toilet paper and the largest jug of dish soap known to man. Before Kids the afternoon would proceed into an evening of possibly dancing, maybe dinner, most definitely high heels. And Sunday would be cookies. An afternoon of cookie baking. Something like these Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chippers. You can consider these health food cookies because they have pumpkin. That's Becki Eating Math. See? It's simple: pumpkin + whole wheat flour + coconut oil - sugar = health food cookie.