The deep reds, oranges, and golden yellows of the leaves signal the start of the Holiday season and summon the urge to be seek coziness and warm comfort foods, while visions of Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas parties dance in our heads.The time has come, and this year I greet the Holiday season with fresh determination to present our loved ones with flavorful, vegetable based dishes. As I've said before, squash is to Fall as tomatoes are to Summer. Which means I try to fit squash into everything we are eating, from stews, soups, chilis, pastas, salads, you name it.
Hearty Peanut Butter Banana Bread
Let it be known that between the dates of approximately December 8th to December 24th 25th 26th, my body composition consisted of 70% cookies, 10% caramel, 10% chocolate, 5% eggs, 3% oranges, and 2% water. Maybe that's why I feel like December sprinted past me. I was in a cookie/candy coma.
While I had visions of myself presenting people with large platters of delectable, Martha Stewart-worthy Christmas cookies, the very thought of eating another baked good or candy actually increased my bloating exponentially. I really didn’t even want to taste the batter, and the batter is one of the best parts about baking! It finally dawned on me. No one else wants any more Christmas goodies either.
'Pack All the Snacks' Mode - Pumpkin Pie Granola
Eating healthy is definitely a priority to me so setting aside time to plan out or prepare food is necessary. My favorite meal of the day is breakfast, I actually require two of them. Since I’ve been working during this time I had to come up with something easy, satiating, delicious, AND mobile.
Breakfast Crumbles - Second in The Grateful Plate Series!
I have been dreaming of this recipe for a while now. I’ve tried a couple of variations but things all came together Friday night, on a whim. I wanted something similar to granola, but not as scattered. Something akin to an apple crisp topping but may not as crunchy. It needed to have some spice in it, kind of like a good ginger molasses cookie. This is what happened. I figured it was the perfect second post for ‘The Grateful Plate’ series. In case you missed the last post, The Grateful Plate series is my response to the benevolence of those who donated to Lainee’s gofundme account.
Pumpkin Pie Brioche - First item in The Grateful Plate series!
I have decided to start my first series ever! I shall call it, 'The Grateful Plate'. This series is dedicated to everyone who has shown us love and support during Lainee’s journey! Whether it is in the form of comments on Instagram, text messages, emails, visits, cards, or donating to Lainee’s gofundme account, we can’t thank you enough for making us feel so loved and cared for, and for helping to ease the burden of this journey!
Brown Butter Nectarine Muffins
For me, making food is kind of a neutralizer. Or maybe, normalizer is a better way to say that. In stressful situations it makes me feel like I am doing the following:
- being productive
- providing something healthy and nourishing for someone
- showing my family and friends I love them