Toasted Cauliflower Rice {Gluten-free, Vegan}

Cauliflower makes a delicious side dish and is a great substitute for rice or pasta when you're looking to eat less carbohydrates. It's full of nutrients and fiber too! Mushrooms add great savory flavor so you won't miss the meat. More serving suggestions, nutrition facts and my recipe can be found at type2diabetes.com. Enjoy! ...click here for the recipe!

Oven Roasted Vegetable Medley {Clean Eating, Vegetarian}

Roasting vegetables is my most favorite way to prepare them. Roasting brings out such amazing flavors and aromas. Choose veggies that are hearty and will hold their shape such as broccoli, squashes, mushrooms, bell peppers and cauliflower. Click over to type2diabetes.com to see my recipe. Enjoy! ...click here for the recipe!

Farm Fresh to You, Capay Organic - CSA {Sponsored Post}

I wanted to share with you about our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) that we've been enjoying for about 6 years now.  We use (California Based) Farm Fresh to You, Capay Organic.  

It's a great way to support local while eating tasty, seasonal, organic, nutrient-rich produce.  

Above you can see all the goodies in our box this week {the small "no cooking" box}

1 huge head of green leaf lettuce, 4 Fuji apples, 3 Naval oranges, 7 Murcott oranges, 2 Hass Avocados(that's right, 2!), 1 bunch Nantes carrots, 1/4 pound mushrooms & 1 huge Romanesco 

All delicious, all organic!

My favorite part?  

They deliver!  

That's right.  Their pricing includes delivery. With three kiddos 5 and under we love the convenience of stepping out our front door to find our box each week.  You can visit their website and see what's planned for the following week's deliveries, but we like to be surprised.   It's always fun to open up our box and see what's inside; like opening a present.  They offer office delivery too!

Have you tried a CSA before?  Are you worried, like we were, that you won't eat all the veggies in time?  I'd like to share some things we've learned that help us best utilize our CSA box...

1. Be mindful of your produce shopping before your box arrives.  

We like our produce drawers to be almost empty just before our box arrives with more goodies to fill them up.  This way you don't end up with more produce than you could possibly eat.  We certainly don't want any of it to go to waste; we see it has an investment in our family's long-term health.

2. Choose the box that's right for your family.  

We played around a bit with all the different offerings from Farm Fresh to You before 

settling on the combo that works for us and gives us the right amount of produce for our needs.  

Right now, for our family of 5 (3 little ones), we get a small box every week.  For fun and variety, we

alternate between the "small no cooking" and the "small mixed" boxes each week.  

3. Eat a fruit or vegetable (or two) at every.single.meal and snacks too!  

You may be surprised how quickly you can finish off all that yumminess!  Juice your produce or add it to a smoothie - greens too.  Rather than worry about making our produce last all week, 

we just start eating it, snacking on it and cooking with it right away.  

Fresher is always best.  You may find that you'll need to order a bigger box!

4. Edit your preferences

This, in my opinion, is such an awesome feature that Farm Fresh To You offers it's customers.  You can log-on their website anytime, 24/7, and edit your preferences and delivery schedule.  For example, we have a gorgeous lemon tree in our yard, so even though the Capay Organic lemons are great, we just don't need any more lemons.  With the click of a box I can add them to our "exclusions" list along with a few things I know my family just will not eat.  Also, if you're going on a trip or won't be around for a few days you can modify your delivery schedule, box type or delivery frequency. 

 Easy Peasy.  

5. Be adventurous, try something new!

Don't add everything you may be leery of to your exclusion list, try new things!  

In each Farm Fresh to You box you'll find an informative and entertaining letter that paints a picture of life on the farm and also includes a couple recipes to get your creative juices flowing with ideas on ways to prepare the items in your box.  Step out of your food comfort zone and have fun!

We recently added Pasture-Raised eggs to our delivery service and couldn't be happier!  

They have such rich, deep colored yolks and wonderful flavor!

Sure we'd love to have our own chickens someday, but for now, this is the next best thing.  

Interested in farm fresh produce delivered right to your door?  

Try Farm Fresh to You and get $10 off your first box with 

promo code "wdin"

...click here for the recipe!

Sweet Potato Toppings Bar {Gluten Free}

Everyone loves a good baked potato bar with all the fixings so I thought why not try it with sweet potatoes! They were so tasty and the kids loved it. I'm not a fan of short order cooking for each family member. Sure I do it a bit at breakfast and lunch but dinner, sorry, "this is what we're all eating". Tonight's dinner was fun as it allowed each family member to personalize and create their own potato.  The kids and I enjoyed some tangy, creamy goat cheese on ours!   Bake off some sweet potatoes and fix up some scrumptious toppings {get the kids in the kitchen to help} and you're set. Enjoy!

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400'F.  Scrub sweet potatoes well under running water, place on a baking sheet
      {I like to use a Silpat or piece of foil to make clean up easier}
2. With a fork, stab each potato a few times on top to allow steam to escape
3. Bake in a 400'F oven for 45-60 minutes, depending on the size of your potatoes, until soft and knife tender
4. While the potatoes bake, get some helpers in the kitchen to chop, stir and saute {with adult supervision of course}

our oldest (5yrs) sauteing the mushrooms

5. Arrange toppings in small bowls for everyone to make their own
6. Slice each, slightly cooled, sweet potato in half lengthwise and top with your favorite toppings such as...

Topping ideas:
-steamed broccoli, green beans or asparagus
-sauteed mushrooms, zucchini
-goat cheese, cheddar cheese, blue cheese or sour cream
-diced bacon
-Canadian bacon pieces
-fresh chopped cilantro, diced onions or scallions
-beans
-sunflower seeds
-whatever you like

...click here for the recipe!

Oven Roasted Corn on the Cob {So easy}

Happy summer everyone!  Hope you are enjoying the final weeks of summer.  We are in the thick of swim lessons, splash parks, longing to go back to our beach vacation and thinking about getting ready for school to start.  On our recent vacation we enjoyed fresh roasted corn in the husk from a street vendor at a Farmer's Market and loved the simplicity of it.  It's a super duper easy way to cook up all that delicious corn that's in season now. I love using the husks themselves instead of wasting foil, genius, and this way they never char!  We don't put a single thing on fresh roasted corn but if you like to, you can add salt, pepper or butter after they're done.  Give it a try tonight!

Recipe
Ingredients:
corn on the cob in their husks

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350'F.  Trim extra leaves from corn husks {the long skinny green ones} but leave main husk completely in tact.
2. Place corn directly on the oven rack and bake at 350'F for 30-40 minutes until it just slightly gives to the touch when you squeeze it {while wearing an oven mitt}.  The husk will turn slightly golden.
3. Let cool slightly then peel back your husk and enjoy your perfectly cooked corn

...click here for the recipe!

Roasted Zucchini "Steaks"

Our vegetable garden is going nuts and we love it!  The plants that are producing the most right now are the cucumbers and zucchinis.  Now cucumbers are a cinch for us to eat up.  We eat them sliced, diced, on sandwiches, dipped in hummas or in salads to name a few.  Zucchinis require a tad more creativity.  Tonight I tried just slicing it into "steaks" to roast in the oven.  Can you say, "fast"?  They turned out great with a wonderful smokey, roasted flavor.  We served them up along side our Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken...delicious. Enjoy!
Recipe: (a baking sheet full feeds 4-6)
Ingredients:
zucchini or summer squash, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
                *my zucchini was HUGE, about the size of my arm, so I had fewer steaks
fresh cracked black pepper
Parmesan cheese, grated
olive oil (or cooking spray)

Directions:
1. Place squash rounds onto a baking sheet.  Drizzle or spray lightly with oil.
2. Sprinkle each "steak" with black pepper and cheese
3. Bake in a 375'F oven for 20-25 minutes or until cooked through and slightly golden.

...click here for the recipe!

Twelve Minute Asparagus

This is the easiest way to prepare asparagus and have it cooked perfectly. My sister passed this recipe along to me and I love how easy it is. It's doesn't really even require a "recipe".  Ready?  Just take one bunch of asparagus, washed and fibrous ends snapped off, and lay it on a cookie sheet. Drizzle lightly with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake in 450'F oven for 12 minutes! Done. Of course if you have smaller asparagus you'll want to reduce the cooking time slightly to ~10 minutes. Go ahead, enjoy your perfectly cooked, still crisp and bright green, yummy asparagus. Go. ...click here for the recipe!

Sautéed Kale with Lemon

Another original recipe by my hubby!  He took some kale and sautéed it up with some bright and fresh lemon juice, grilled onions and a little bacon to make a delicious and healthy side dish for some grilled chicken. Kale can be tough and bitter if not cooked properly, it's important to cut out the tough center of the stalks and add in some acid (lemon juice in this case) to break down the leaves slightly.  It is a nutrient packed veggie, and it's still in season, so give it a try.

Recipe: (serves 4)
Ingredients:
1 head of kale
1 medium yellow onion
1 piece of bacon (uncured to avoid nitrates)
1 clove of garlic
1 lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper

Directions:
1. Heat a large saute pan over medium heat, add 1 tbsp of olive oil to hot pan.  Cut onion in half and then into 1/8-1/4 inch slices, add to pan and saute for 3 minutes
2. Mince garlic and add to pan, saute for another couple minutes until onions are soft
3. Wash kale thoroughly, de-vein it by cutting out tough white center strips (see the picture in this post for a visual with similar collard greens), chop remaining greens into 1 inch pieces. 
4. Chop bacon into small bits. Remove onions from pan and set aside, add bacon to the pan and saute until cooked well, add kale and saute for 5 minutes more.
5. While cooking, add zest of 1/2 lemon and the juice of the whole lemon. Add onions back in and cook until kale is dark green and soft but still has some bite to it, about 2-5 minutes.  Salt and pepper to taste and serve warm with grilled meat. ...click here for the recipe!

Buttermilk Mashed Celery Root, Rutabaga & Potato

I found this recipe in my Eating well in Season cookbook and was inspired to try something new.  Two new things actually.  I have never cooked celery root or rutabaga before tonight.  I was intrigued by the challenge and thought the recipe sounded pretty good, and it was!   The fam liked it too.  It was a nice blend of the familiar potato with a twist of something different with a little celery taste to it.  yum.  We had ours with my turkey meatloaf and some sautéed zucchini and mushrooms.

 a Ruta-what?  Here's what they look like...I know alittle odd right?

wash them, peel them, chunk them up and steam em

mash em up

Recipe: Mashed Roots with Buttermilk & Chives (serves 4-6)
Ingredients:
2 pounds celery root, peeled 
1 pound rutabaga, peeled 
1 pound Yukon gold potatoes
3-4 whole garlic cloves, peeled
2 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup nonfat buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
green onions, diced for garnish

Directions:
1. Cube up root vegetables into fairly evenly sized cubes.  Steam root vegetables and garlic in a large pot using a steam basket over a few inches of simmering water, cover and steam about 15-20 minutes until tender.  Drain water and place vegetables back into the warm pot.

2. Using a potato masher, mash up vegetables gradually adding buttermilk and butter, add salt, pepper and nutmeg, stir to combine, they'll be a little lumpy. Serve warm garnished with green onions. ...click here for the recipe!