Cherry Almond Beer Bread

Cherry Almond Beer Bread

It's another snowy day here in PA, and what better way to warm up than to bake a loaf of bread!  OK, I know it might be more fun to sit under a blanket with a good book or watch a movie while snuggling someone you love, but honestly, I don't think there is any better smell in the world than bread baking in the oven.  And when it only takes a couple of minutes to mix a dough from scratch, I swear the aroma is even sweeter.  This recipe is a simple twist on my original Beer Bread, with a few extra flavor enhancers added in.  The result is a bread with just enough sweetness to serve as a dessert, but not so much that you think it's a cake. I like using different flavors of beer as the inspiration and with all the varieties available today, the options are honestly endless.  So experiment with your favorite and get baking!

*I know I usually take a photo of the bread after cutting a few slices, but this bread was so delicious that as soon as I cut it and tried a piece, my kids and I devoured it. Sorry!

Seasonal Salad

" 'Tis the Season" Salad

Merry Christmas 2014!!! I hope everyone who is celebrating has a fantastic and fun filled day.  I am sure most of you, like myself, are not eating spectacularly healthy meals like this one today!  I made this a week ago for my husband and I for lunch and it looked so pretty and so "Christmassy" that I had to post it.  I have recently found myself ordering salads in restaurants featuring beets, goat cheese and fruit, three foods I never used to like, or like in salads (fruit).  Honestly the taste of goat cheese alone turns me off, but when mixed together in a salad like this, I love it.  The dark natural colors give away the intense nutrient benefit of the dish, and yet the taste cannot even be described.  The sweetness of the beets, the spicy peppers, the crunch of the pumpkin seeds and the creamy goat cheese, blend together so well that for once, I promise, a completely vegetarian salad is a fulfilling meal.  So maybe not today, but perhaps tomorrow, or as a side dish to some delectable holiday main course, I guarantee this salad will delight both your palate and your eyes. "Tis the season!"

Harvest Turkey Salad

Harvest Turkey Salad

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!!  I made this recipe back in the summer when I was craving a taste of fall.  I love that my local grocery store sells rotisserie turkey breasts, so the hard part of the meal prep is done for me.  Of course a real home cooked turkey would be even better which is why I have been waiting to post this recipe until Thanksgiving time.  By combining some of my favorite flavors from a Holiday meal, I turned a traditional chicken salad recipe into something completely unexpected.  The crunch of the apples and pecans, the tart sweetness of the cranberries, the spice from the horseradish and the aromatic herbs and spices make an ordinary piece of turkey turn into an awesome taste experience.  I made a sandwich out of it on local whole wheat bread for my husband, but my portion never made it out of the bowl because it tasted so good I gobbled it up with the spoon I used to mix it.  So if by any chance you have any turkey left after your feast up there in Canada today, I highly recommend trying this recipe out in the days to come for a unique twist on leftovers.  I know I will be making it again in November after my family's big turkey meal!!

Kale Salad

Kale Salad
with walnut & cranberries

Everyone knows that kale is super good for you.  It is a cruciferous vegetable that is high in calcium, vitamins A and C and the powerful antioxidant vitamin K.  However, besides a few bites straight from my garden this summer I haven't ever served it raw as part of a meal.  Usually I have baked it into kale chips (my son's favorite!) or cooked it in a soup.  But over the Christmas holiday my mom served a salad that had kale in with the lettuce mixture and I loved it.  So when I was at the store the other day and saw fresh boxes of kale being unloaded onto the organic produce shelf, I had to buy some.  I had already planned out the next few nights' meals and knew I had to use the kale quickly to retain the quality so I decided to make a side salad out of it to go with an Italian Beef Stew I was planning to make.  The dressing is fairly simple and the addition of the cranberries and walnuts adds the perfect amount of sweetness, depth and crunch.  This salad was great the day I made it, and to be honest, even better the following night as left overs.  Because kale is so hardy, it doesn't wilt like other lettuces might when saved for another day.  So give this nutritional powerhouse salad a try the next time you want a quick and simple side dish.  Or add some beans and/or chicken and call it a meal!

Oatmeal On the Go

Oatmeal Bars

Who doesn’t like a sweet warm bowl of oatmeal on a cold morning?  It fills you up, warms you from the inside out and is usually a nutritionally sound option (so long as you don’t add a lot of additional sugar).  A favorite sweetener in our house is mashed up bananas, or frozen berries, mixed into cooked oatmeal and topped with a little cinnamon and chopped walnuts.  Unfortunately the most nutrient dense oatmeal choices are the ones that take the longest to prepare (steel cut) and sometimes trying to cook even regular oats quickly in the morning doesn’t turn out so well.  And although I have tried the trick of par boiling oats the night before, I also find that cumbersome, and to be honest, oatmeal is always best when freshly cooked.  One simple solution?  Oatmeal bars and cookies made to go!!  You can prepare the dry mixture the day before, although these recipes literally take minutes to throw together, and then bake them quickly in the morning.  I even think they taste good the next day, and the day after that, so long as they are stored tightly in the fridge and reheated a bit before eating.  The ingredients are interchangeable depending on what types of dried fruits and nuts you prefer or have on hand.  The following are some of my favorites...  and they are literally as healthy as a bowl of oatmeal... on the go!!

Happy Breakfast Baking!!