Late August delivers some of the best produce! I’ve been using a lot of zucchini and yellow squash lately because it’s so darn plentiful right now.
This recipe is adapted from Cooking Light and makes the most of summer squash. I added some lemon juice to the dish to brighten it up a bit, but in general kept the recipe in tact.
Ingredients:
1 medium zucchini (about 8 ounces)
1 medium yellow summer squash (about 8 ounces)
8 ounces uncooked fettuccine (I used spinach fettuccine)
It’s probably no secret that I love pasta. My fiance and I eat it every Sunday night. But its so darn hot in Philadelphia right now and I’ve been craving something a bit less heavy to eat.
OXO must have known my pasta-loving dilemma because they sent me their new Hand-Held Spiralizer, which turns veggies into long thin spaghetti-like strands in no time!
Zucchini noodles (or “zoodles”) seem to be all the rage at the moment, so I was excited to try them out myself!
The OXO Hand-Held Spiralizer creates curly noodles from long vegetables like zucchini, carrots, and cucumbers, while it’s open blade design accommodates round vegetables like beets, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. The food holder keeps hands safe from the blade and the easy non-slip grip container makes it simple to turn the Spiralizer. It is also BPA-free and dishwasher safe.
For this recipe, I decided to make a tomato sauce out of the fresh tomatoes I had in my house, so this recipe for Zucchini Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce is a very summery meal!
Note: I was sent an OXO Hand-Help Spiralizer to try for this post. Opinions are my own.
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SwapMilk4Silk #CollectiveBias
Everyone loves a nice, fluffy cupcake. I love when a cupcake is light and airy, with smooth and creamy frosting on top! One of the easiest ways to keep a cupcake moist and fluffy is to use yogurt in the batter. But that doesn’t mean your cupcakes can’t be dairy-free or vegan-friendly!
I really enjoy making vegan cupcakes; they are surprisingly simple to make and taste just as delicious as normal cupcakes (or, dare I say it, even better!) I became interested in vegan baking when I made cupcakes for my sister-in-law a couple of years ago. Since then, I’ve noticed how easy it is to make delicious baked goods that are dairy and egg free!
Silk dairy-free products are perfect for cupcakes, because they add additional flavor to the batter through their Vanilla and other flavored yogurts and milks.
To make these Vanilla Almond Cupcakes with Plum Frosting, I went to Walmart to pick up a Silk Half Gallon Vanilla Almond Milk and a couple of Silk Vanilla Yogurts. You can find them in the dairy aisle, with the normal milk and yogurts.
Silk Almond Milk has 50% more calcium that dairy milk, with no cholesterol and no saturated fat. Silk offers seven almond milk options, all 100 calories or less. I love Vanilla Almond Milk in my cereal, its so tasty! Silk yogurt, made from soy, has 6 grams of soy protein per serving with no cholesterol and no artificial flavors or colors. The yogurt is dairy-free, gluten-free, and vegetarian.
Plums are in season at the moment and I absolutely love their flavor, so I decided to make a plum frosting. The delicious flavor of plums is enhanced with almonds and vanilla, so Silk products are perfect with plum!
Cupcakes:
1 stick margarine (8 tablespoons), at room temperature
I was sent quite a few jalapenos as part of my Door-to-Door Organics box, more than I could really use in a normal time frame. So as part of #MyFarm2Table dinner, I decided to make Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers as one of the side dishes to use up the jalapenos.
I’m not the biggest fan of super spicy dishes, so after cutting and seeding the jalapenos, I placed them in a bowl of water for at least an hour to try to take some of the heat out of them. There was still some in the peppers, but it did help! (Note: there were still a couple of peppers that packed a punch, so be aware that every pepper is different in terms of heat).
This post is sponsored by Door-to-Door Organics. All opinions are my own. #MyFarm2Table
These Zucchini Boats were my favorite part of my Farm-to-Table Meal last weekend. Stuffed with mushrooms and mozzarella cheese, the boats were nice and hearty and had great flavor!
This post is sponsored by Door-to-Door Organics. All opinions are my own. #MyFarm2Table
I was sent some beautiful Local Organic Heirloom Tomatoes from Door-to-Door Organics for my Farm-to-Table post. I love the colors of heirloom tomatoes, especially the lighter ones, so I wanted to use them in a way that highlighted their coloring. What better way to make heirloom tomatoes the star but in a Gazpacho recipe?
Now, the one typical setback of making gazpacho is going through the whole process of peeling and seeding tomatoes. So, for this recipe, I just eliminated it. I have a pretty awesome blender (a Blendtec) which blended the tomatoes well enough to basically eliminate the skins and seeds, so yours may come out a bit more chunky. But removing the skin of a tomato is just such a pain!
I served my silky smooth gazpacho topped with finely chopped cherry tomatoes and a Wild Flour Bakery Hearth Baked Mini Baguette that was also in my box from Door-to-Door Organics. The recipe also includes a green bell pepper and a jalapeno which were also a part of my box.
Ingredients:
3 cups heirloom tomatoes, chopped (I used some yellow and red)
This Saturday marks Jarden Home Brands fifth annual Can-It-Forward Day, which will be broadcast live online at FreshPreserving.com from 11AM – 4PM EST from the new state-of-the-art Jarden Home Brands headquarters in Fishers, Indiana.
An event celebrating the joys of fresh preserving, the -It-Forward Day webcast will have an integrated chat function where viewers can submit their home canning questions to be answered in real time. New this year, there will also be an exciting celebrity mason jar auction unveiled during the webcast!
My future sister-in-law is big into canning, and I’ve “helped” (a.k.a kept her company in the kitchen) once before, but the process of canning is really intimidating to me. I was told that if I can boil water, I can can, so I was both wary and excited to try this out!
I need to give a little shout out to my city, because the Mason jar was, in fact, invented and patented in Philadelphia in 1858 by local tinsmith John Landis Mason. So, this should be in my blood, right?
The Ball Canning Discovery Kit is a great beginners kit; it comes with a canning rack that fits into most pasta pots, a recipe guide, and three jars. The kit is really affordable ($11.99) and allows you to assess if canning is for you before investing fully into the process.
My sister-in-law assured me that if I had a Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving, I’d be just fine canning. So. WHEW. This book lays out each step of the process (and even tells you why you are doing it this way) to ensure a successful canning process. The step-by-step guides are particularly helpful as a beginner.
The Red Design Series Lidsare normal lids and bands, just prettier. 🙂 The lids can only be used once during canning, so it’s helpful to have extras on hand. (You can reuse the jars and bands as many times as you want)
The Ball Fiesta Salsa Mix makes the process of seasoning salsa super easy. You just need fresh or canned tomatoes, a splash of vinegar, and the mix to make a yummy salsa!
I decided to make a salsa from the Ball Blue Book, but adapted it slightly to include the Ball Fiesta Salsa Mix. The recipe is simple, and is basically just cutting up the ingredients, so this post is more about the canning process than the actual recipe.
I am absolutely a beginner with this, but luckily was able to glean some tips from my sister-in-law and the Ball Blue Book, which I will share as well.
I also am giving away a coupon for a free case of jars! Details at the end of the post.
Zesty Salsa (adapted fromBall Blue Book Guide to Preserving)
Yields ~3 pint jars
Ingredients:
5 cups chopped cored peeled tomatoes (fresh or canned)
4 green bell peppers, seeded and chopped (~2.5 cups)
1 large onion, chopped (~2.5 cups)
1 large jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped (~3 tablespoons)
2 garlic cloves minced
2/3 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 cup Ball Fiesta Salsa Mix
Gear:
Ball canning rack with lifter
3 Ball Pint Jars with lids and bands (I used the Red design series lids and bands)
Large stockpot (at least 7.5 inches tall and 9.5 inches in diameter)
a non-metallic spatula (I ended up using chopsticks. They worked just fine)
If you follow my Instagram, you may have seen what “tough” research I had to do this weekend for this post. With the 3rd Annual South Street Spring Festival just days away (Saturday, May 2), I visited Sweet Life Bakeshop at 7th and South to try their signature Banana Pudding.
This. Pudding. Is. Fantastic. I gobbled up the whole thing in minutes, so I’m surprised I even was able to get a photo of it beforehand!
Sweet Life Bakeshop’s banana pudding will be available at the South Street Spring Festival, along with nearly 30 other eateries, bars, and food trucks, so come hungry! From 11am to 8pm this Saturday, 8 blocks of South Street (between Front and 8th) will be shut down and turned into a huge (and free) block party!
Headhouse Plaza will also be in on the fun, so be sure to check out 2nd Street between South and Lombard. The plaza will be transformed into a giant lawn concert complete with grass, lawn chairs, games and beach balls!
Along with all of the delicious food, South Street will feature more than 40 bands on three stages and seven performance areas. Over 100 boutiques, small businesses and other other retailers will cater to your style, beauty, health, fitness and other shopping needs. In conjunction with the Festival, Brauhaus Schmitz will host the third annual German Maifest on the 700 block of South Street, with German beers, dancers, music, food, flower headbands and even a Maypole. Outside of Atomic City Comics (638 South Street) look for free giveaways and character appearances during Free Comic Book Day.
Whew! Ok so, to highlight one of the amazing offerings, I decided to make a spin on Sweet Life’s banana pudding — Peanut Butter Banana Pudding Cheesecake Bars! This recipe is adapted from a Southern Living Banana Pudding Cheesecake recipe, but adds in some peanut-buttery goodness and then is topped with a drizzle of chocolate and some fresh whipped cream.
Every Easter, my fiance’s mom makes peanut butter nests for her sons to take home. They are made with chow mein noodles, mixed in a melted peanut butter sauce, shaped into little nests and topped with egg-shaped chocolate candies. And I absolutely love them! I look forward to eating more than my share of them each year, but this year I just couldn’t wait.
I had a craving for something chocolatey and peanut buttery so, I decided to make mine with semi-sweet chocolate as well as peanut butter. We were visiting my fiance’s brother and his wife last weekend, so I used them as an excuse to make the recipe!
They try to eat vegan as much as possible, so when I began assembling the ingredients for this recipe and realized how simple this recipe would be to make vegan, I did so! You can easily make these Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Nests non-vegan if you so choose.
Ingredients:
1 (12 oz) package chow mein noodles
1 cup roasted unsalted peanuts
12 oz vegan semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 cup creamy peanut butter
~12 oz Jordan almonds or dark chocolate covered almond “eggs” (or any other candy that is egg-shaped if not making vegan) — you’ll need roughly 85 egg shaped pieces
I have made a couple of breads in the past, but never one that yielded a typical bread you’d use for sandwiches. For whatever reason, I’ve always been very intimidated by the whole bread making process. I recently visited a friend that loves to bake bread and she assured me it wasn’t nearly as difficult as I was imagining. So, after putting it off for a couple of months, I finally decided to try!
I decided to make a sourdough bread, because it is a relatively simple recipe. The hardest part is the whole waiting aspect of it. I found this recipe on King Arthur Flour’s website and used their sourdough starter to make the bread (rather than making my own starter which can take a week). My interest in baking bread was well timed, ZWILLING‘s Knife of the Month for March is the ZWILLING Pro 8″ Bread Knife, and they were kind enough to offer to not only let me try one of the knives out, but are also offering one to give away! Details after the recipe.
ZWILLING J.A. HENCKELS knives are no joke, they are great quality knives made in Germany for over 280 years. When I moved out on my own, my mom actually bought me a set of ZWILLING J.A. HENCKELS knives to get my kitchen started, and I still use them daily!
The ZWILLING Pro 8″ Bread Knife has a serrated edge that effortlessly cuts through hard bread crusts, and cuts neat slices due to its aggressive long prongs. The knife is forges from one single piece of steel, is ice-hardened, and is hand sharpened and polished. The knife is dishwasher safe, but it’s suggested you hand wash it to keep it in great shape longer (dishwashers are really tough on knives).
With the holidays fast approaching, everyone needs some new appetizer and hors d’oeuvres options for guests. Nasoya must have known I was in need of some new creative recipes, because they sent me a great holiday entertaining kit to try out their Wonton Wraps. The kit included some fun inventive recipes using wonton wraps, so I wanted to share one of them with you!
These Baked Avocado and Feta Wontons come together in 30 minutes and are the perfect bite-sized hors d’oeuvres for your next party. The wraps are filled with a mixture of avocados, sun-dried tomatoes, and feta cheese and are served with a lime flavored dipping sauce.
Note: I was sent a holiday entertaining kit to review Nasoya wonton wraps. My opinions are my own.
A couple of weeks ago, I was invited on a Chevy Farm-to-Table Road Trip, which was SO much fun! Chauffeured in snazzy Chevrolets, the group first went to Terrain in Glen Mills for lunch at their cafe and then went wine tasting down the road at Chaddsford Winery. (To read more about Terrain and Chaddsford Winery, visit my guest post over on Drive the District.)
All of the food was fantastic at Terrain, but I cannot stop thinking about their fabulous Farro and Arborio Risotto with sweet potato puree and autumn vegetables. So, naturally, I decided to try to make my own version! This recipe is pretty involved but it sure is worth it!
This recipe can be easily made vegan (noted below) and is vegetarian if vegetable stock is used instead of chicken stock. This recipe, however, is not gluten free because farro does contain some gluten.
Ingredients:
Veggies:
2 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash
1 cup halved Brussels sprouts
3 Sweet potatoes, divided
2 Shallots, halved
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon fresh chopped rosemary
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (or margarine to make vegan)
Risotto
3 cups water
1 cup uncooked farro
6 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock to keep vegetarian)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large shallot, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2/3 cup Arborio rice
½ cup white wine
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese (omit for vegan version)
I love love love Brussels sprouts. I truly don’t understand why I was told they were gross when I was a kid, they are a favorite veggie of mine now! So I’m excited to share this recipe for Browned Butter and Lemon Brussels Sprouts!
Most recipes for Brussels sprouts include bacon, however. And as much as I love bacon, sometimes you just want a truly vegetarian side. Cooking Light had this recipe for Browned Butter and Lemon Brussels Sprouts in its November 2014 issue and it sounded so yummy! Lemons brighten up the flavor of the Brussels sprouts and works really well with the browned butter.
Sometimes your sides need a bit more pizzazz. This simple recipe for Steamed Spinach with Curry Butter from Cooking Light adds a ton of flavor (and a little bit of heat if you want it) with little effort and time. The recipe below makes enough for 4 people but can easily be multiplied to fill a crowd (this would be a yummy side at Thanksgiving!)
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter (or olive oil to make paleo)
Stuffing is one of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving, probably because it’s usually the only time of year I get to eat it. But now that I’ve found this awesome single serving version for Apple Sage Stuffing Cups, I can have it whenever I want with little effort!
This recipe from Cooking Light adds the stuffing to a cupcake tin to bake so that you get more crispy edges. It’s also great as a make ahead option because everything is already portioned out for easy reheating.
