cranberries

Kale Salad with Cranberries, Apple and Cheddar Cheese

This easy, healthy, delicious kale salad with cranberries, sliced apples, sharp white cheddar cheese, and crunchy sunflower seeds is massaged tender with a maple syrup sweetened apple cider dressing for a savory and sweet salad everyone at the table will love.

A Delicious Kale Salad that Doesn’t Taste Raw

Kale has easily become one of the most healthful ingredients in salads today. The health benefits of kale and the virtues of eating this superfood raw—like in salad—are many, including being one of the most nutrient dense foods around. Besides being high in fiber to help you feel full (and regular), every 1 cup of raw kale providing nearly 3 grams of protein and contains more vitamin C than an orange.

With stats like that, you really can’t ignore kale’s super delicious super powers any longer.

This easy kale salad is one you can make up any night of the week, yet it’s pretty enough to add to any holiday dinner table.

But even better, because kale likes to sit and soak in it’s dressing and still hold it’s leafy shape, this kale salad is awesome for the buffet table or to take to potlucks, too. In fact, the last photo in this post is from when I pulled it straight from the fridge and into a bowl to eat for lunch 2 days after I made it.

Now that’s a trendy salad that stands the test of time.continue to the recipe… about Kale Salad with Cranberries, Apple and Cheddar Cheese

Israeli Couscous with Pistachios, Apricots and Cranberries

Perfectly poised for anyone in need of a speedy salad with ingredients on hand, this couscous salad with dried fruit and nuts is easily adaptable and can be served warm or at room temperature, making it the perfect addition to any entertaining or easy dinner-time table.

The only downfall to keeping a well-stocked pantry? Forgetting to use what you have.

One thing I discovered while doing my recent kitchen detox was that I had a plethora of dried fruits and nuts on hand. True to form, they were hidden under the potato chips and extra packages of tortillas I seemed to have stocked up on and promptly forgotten about. The flat tortilla discs did a mighty fine job of hiding the miscellaneous bags of nuts wrapped with mismatched rubber bands, and the smattering selection of errant nuts could very well could have turned stale with nobody inclined to even notice to make for a protein packed snack.

But once I put things in order in my pantry (man how good did that feel!), my recipe creating ideas were sparked thanks to my fruity, nutty discoveries, and this salad is what happened next. continue to the recipe… about Israeli Couscous with Pistachios, Apricots and Cranberries

Chopped Mexican Kale Salad and Better Blog Retreat 2016

Creamy, crunchy, and with mild Mexican flavors, this healthy kale salad with roasted butternut squash is a favorite for lunch, dinner and potlucks alike.

This past fall I was with a group of fantabulous blogging friends at the Better Blog Retreat in Deer Valley, UT. It’s a 3-day and night affair hosted by me and my friend Maria of Two Peas and Their Pod where we all brainstorm, share and inspire one another on how to improve our blogs, aka our businesses, and make them, well…better.

And given it’s a food blogging retreat, naturally we eat really, really well.continue to the recipe… about Chopped Mexican Kale Salad and Better Blog Retreat 2016

Cranberry White Chocolate Chip and Macadamia Nut Cookies

These easy, wonderfully chewy cookies are loaded with chunks of macadamia nuts, white chocolate chips and dried cranberries in an oatmeal batter good enough for breakfast too.

See these cookies? They are chock-full. Chock-full of all kinds of flavors and goodness that go together like peas in a pod. But they’re much sweeter—and most everyone says much better—than peas. Obviously.

But they’re missing one thing for too many people.

They’re missing a giant glass of cold milk for some kids not as fortunate as mine to dip these still-warm-from-the-oven cookies into before setting a glass next to Santa’s plate to wash them down and then wipe from his frosty mustache.

But that doesn’t have to be the case, because I’m doing something about that fact, and you can too. continue to the recipe… about Cranberry White Chocolate Chip and Macadamia Nut Cookies

How to Make the Best Broccoli Salad

This healthier take on classic broccoli salad features fresh, crunchy broccoli florets topped with a light dressing with a little sweetness from golden raisins, cranberries and pineapple for a super summer salad.

Where some visitors to a new city or town search out the best restaurants, bars or bakeries, you’ll find me scouting out grocery stores and specialty food shops. I may not even need groceries, have a kitchen on hand or be planning to cook at all, but a visit lets me know what ‘might’ be available should I happen to be in need.

What is wrong with me??

One of my beeline destinations is the grocery store deli case. That’s where you’ll see me peering over toddlers muddying the glass with their chubby little hands as I look for ideas of what people are really eating. Because if a grocery store is going to give space for a salad, side or main in the ready-made case, it’s likely that it’s a dish people are gonna want.

Broccoli salad is one of those recipes I see time and time again in deli cases across the land. But let us not think these salads are all created equal. Hardly.

continue to the recipe… about How to Make the Best Broccoli Salad

Lemon Poppyseed Bread with Cranberries

This easy to make lemon poppyseed quick bread is studded with cranberries, and uses creamy Greek yogurt to add flavor and extra protein to each sweet slice.

This post is brought to you by Fleishmann’s® Simply Homemade® because sometimes a little shortcut in the kitchen is just what you need.

Picture this. Or rather, smell this.

The wafting scent that hits you when you stride through the front door.

Something’s baking in the oven. Something slightly sweet. Something in need of a slather of butter.

Something you didn’t have to spend the morning, afternoon or evening slaving over. But still smells—and tastes—like you did.

continue to the recipe… about Lemon Poppyseed Bread with Cranberries

Chewy Almond Butter Power Bars

These chewy bars are full of protein thanks to almond butter and sliced almonds and are naturally sweetened with honey and dried fruit, for a healthy snack or breakfast on the run.

I consider myself a fairly friendly neighbor.

I put thought into my holiday neighbor gifts. I wander over with a smile to say “hey, how’ve you been?” And I’m always in search of people to deliver food blogging leftovers to.

You gotta share the love. Just don’t expect reciprocity.

So when one of my neighbors dropped by to deliver a Ziploc bag of homemade power bars last week, I was impressed. Not only because it was the man of the house who made them (kudos to guys who cook beyond the grill), but also because he didn’t take the usual course of action to think that just because I’m a food blogger that I wouldn’t appreciate them.

Let’s get something clear. I’m no snob when it comes to free food.

continue to the recipe… about Chewy Almond Butter Power Bars

Garlic and Herb Gnocchi Salad and Better Blog Retreat 2014

A few weeks ago I gathered with a group of blogging friends for a weekend at Deer Valley Resort in Park City, UT. The purpose? To kick off our shoes and cozy up on the couches to learn from one another in an easy and relaxed setting. It’s the best way to conference in my book.

Even with the constant drone of tweets, Instagrams and Facebook updates, not to mention our actual blog posts, you’d think we’d all be totally in tune with one another. But working in a virtual space makes it hard to connect with peers. While I could tell you a lot about what’s going on in each of my blogging friend’s lives, there’s nothing better than connecting in person.

Thats why Maria and I assembled a group of bloggers to spend the weekend at a lovely mountainside Deer Valley home where we could all hang together and talk about new ways to better our blogs, our businesses and share ways to find balance between work and our personal lives. Because when your business is on 24 hours a day, you have a tendency to be too.

Today I’m sharing some of the highlights of what I learned at the retreat with you. For my fellow food bloggers, I hope you’ll find it helpful. And for non-food bloggers, I think you’re going to love this Garlic and Herb Gnocchi Salad I’m sharing at the end of this post. It’s a win win either way!

continue to the recipe… about Garlic and Herb Gnocchi Salad and Better Blog Retreat 2014

Grilled Romaine Salad with Prosciutto Wrapped Shrimp

I like to think I have an adventuresome palate. Not that you’ll find me eating deep-fried crickets anytime soon—or should I say again—like that time I did in Thailand. But that is another story for another day.

Boring salads are my nemesis. I’m more into loading it on with a fresh and vibrant variety of flavors when it comes to dressing up the greens. Just one reason why I’m happy to share this salad recipe as part of my partnership with DeLallo Foods and their new line of SaladSavors®.

I’ve been on a grilling charge this month and could see no reason to stop at lettuce. Crunchy romaine hearts are sturdy enough to embrace a charcoal sear so that’s whey they were my top choice as the base of this hearty salad.

Next up, protein. If I’m making a salad for a main meal I need to add a dose of protein to get me through to my next mealtime. Shrimp is one of my favorite salad pairings, and since I was already heating up the grill, a wrap of salty proscuitto around my soon to be crusty crustaceans thanks to the char of the embers was exactly what was in order.

Then it was time for my favorite part, the colorful accoutrements. That’s fancy speak for tasty toppings.

continue to the recipe… about Grilled Romaine Salad with Prosciutto Wrapped Shrimp

Autumn Couscous Salad

Salads seem like such a summer thing, but I’m bucking the perception with my version of one of my favorite fall salads. Say hello to butternut squash and fall flavors touched by a tart pucker in my ode to Whole Foods Market’s Autumn Couscous Salad.

The view from the window of my old day job, the window I stared out day in and day out as I daydreamed about working for myself one day (hey! it happened!), looked down from my 3rd floor encasement and across the street to the comings and goings of a bustling Whole Foods Market.

Having a spot right across the street to make my morning coffee grab and go, (“Who wants to make a coffee run?”) then at about 12:10 p.m. take a quick, 5 minute walk for a spin at the salad bar, (“Who brought? Nobody? Cool, let’s make a run across the street,”) and sometimes a stretch of the legs for a late afternoon sweet treat, (“Hey! They’re giving out samples of Ruby Snaps, hustle it up,”) made my work days somehow bearable.

continue to the recipe… about Autumn Couscous Salad

Savory to Sweet: 6 Quick Breads and Cranberry Nut Bread

Food gifts are always a highlight of my gift giving holiday regimen. Is it because I like to cook? Or maybe because I like to eat (!).

This year I was inspired by Jaclyn of Food + Words’ article about homemade gifts in the debut issue of FoodieCrush magazine (page 18) and planned on making one of my favorite quick breads, a recipe given to me years ago by a dear co-worker.

But once I baked my loaves of Cranberry Nut Bread, my distribution intention gears changed toot sweet.

I just had to have one slice. And then another. And maybe just clean up those little old crumbs over there.The combo of tart cranberries and sweet bread with the nuts were just too good to share.

It was Christmas. I deserved a treat too, right? Right?

So instead of receiving the breads, my neighbors found my mom’s awesomest fudge in my cake-crumbed hands, standing at their doors, with a delicious holiday food gift substitute.

Today I found there were just a few slices left, so I used them in a sweet, cakey version of french toast for my daughter and her sleepover friend. Um, yeah. They licked the plates clean.

continue to the recipe… about Savory to Sweet: 6 Quick Breads and Cranberry Nut Bread