Homemade ice cream cones!

At the end of dinner do you ever crave a big bowl of ice cream? Here is a simple way to make homemade banana ice cream (which just happens to be my favorite flavor since I was little).

Cut bananas in half and flash freeze on a cookie sheet. Once frozen place in a large zip lock bag for storage. Freezing them first on a cookie sheet prevents them from sticking together in a bag.

 



Remove desired number of bananas and place in a food processor- blend until smooth (feel free to add a little water or almond milk if needed), then pour "soft serve" banana ice cream into a freezable container and refreeze.

 

You can enjoy soft serve ice cream at this point too! Mix agave nectar and cocoa powder together for a simple chocolate syrup topping.

 



Once the banana mix is refrozen scoop with an ice cream scoop and enjoy! 

(Add chopped walnuts or cacoa nibs in place of sprinkles)

 

Copenhagen- Denmark

Do you ever have those moments that you pinch yourself to see if its real? That's what happened to  me this summer when I got a phone call from my husband asking me if I wanted to go to Denmark. His company was sending him abroad for a meeting so I got to tag along for a long weekend.

The only things I knew about Denmark before I left were:

• They are the happiest country in the world.
• They are the most organic country
• They have very low obesity rates

It was almost like Denmark was made for me! I was so excited to absorb their culture and see how everyday people live and eat a healthy life.

The food in Denmark was amazing!!! Each morning I usually had Greek yogurt with a Rhubarb compote and muesli. Fruit was rare but I had to share a photo of the big breakfast we got on the last day, it was amazing.

The cost of food in Denmark is extremely extremely high. From a health perspective this makes me realize that the population makes an investment in their food choices. Where in America we tend to gravitate towards cheap meals and low cost purchases. Its noted that Europeans actually spend 25% of their incomes on food, that's a lot! So the take away here is to make the investment in our food choices!

The people of Denmark ride bikes EVERYWHERE!!! Copenhagen had separate bike lanes and even separate bike traffic lights. They also have walking trails all over the place. Jason and I must have walked 10+ miles a day taking in all the sites, it was exhausting but that is a way of life here. So my take away is find tiny ways to live a more active life- take the stairs, park farther away, take a walk during a conference call etc.

Processed food in Denmark was extremely hard to come by. Even the 7-11 sold fresh croissants and danishes which is a favorite here for breakfast along with a coffee. Unlike here in the US where we eat a big breakfast of pancakes or bacon and eggs. Take away here is to lighten up  our breakfast and eat until your 80% full.

And the last big difference I noticed is that lunch was the big meal of the day and they ate slowly. This was such a new experience for my husband and I. We know we should eat slow but being in a culture that practices this, is truly life changing. So slow down you meal- use chopsticks or hold the fork in your opposite hand, and make lunch your biggest meal of the day.

Overall we had an amazing trip and the best recipe trick we learned was with Edamame. In Denmark they serve it with fresh lemon squeezed over top, instead of soy sauce. We were hesitant at first but were obsessed, its so refreshing and easy! We have made it twice already.

Dirty Apples

When you see the photo above what is your first thought? For me its a delicious sweet apple!

I had an eye opening conversation with a local farmer today that I wanted to share. The farmer was apologizing to his CSA customers for the dirty apples. I asked him what he meant by dirty apples and he showed me the spots and brown/yellow coloring. He said he was in the hospital for 6 weeks and his apple trees did not get sprayed (they use many natural sprays) as much as he would have liked. The farmer was embarrassed by their appearance. My first instinct was who cares they are sweet and delicious!

The farmer said people talk and are upset. They make complaints that the apples aren't perfect (meaning appearance only). To me this is eye opening!!! People would rather have an apple sprayed with more chemicals just so it looks like this????

 

When you go to a grocery store many of the fruits and veggies contain chemical additives and preservatives so the produce ripens on the shelf. This takes away from the taste too!

 

 

Next time you go shopping or stop at a farmers market have a new perspective, just because its not "perfect" to the naked eye doesn't mean its not delicious and great for your health.

Baked Salmon and Carmelized Figs

My husband and I choose to buy all of our local meat from a farm where we know the farmers and can see how the animals are raised. When we moved, we knew we were leaving behind our beloved Springfield Farm and decided it was worth the drive if we couldn't find another place to go. We asked around and checked out Local Harvest before we found an amazing local organic farm called Rumbleway.  This place is a new favorite as we have quickly become regulars! The best part is last time I went to the farm they had Salmon- I am not a huge fish lover (yet) but decided it was something we had to try. 

For dinner we grabbed some veggies from the frig (cherry tomatoes from our CSA and asparagus), lined a tray with parchment paper, cut some fresh basil and topped with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. We rolled the parchment paper into a pouch a baked at 400 degrees for 15+ mins (time varies depending on thickness of the Salmon).

It turned out perfect and we had easy clean up too!

After dinner I laid down reading the latest copy of Whole Living Magazine and as soon as I read the new fig yogurt recipe I jumped up and ran outside. My little brother gave us a mission fig tree as a housewarming gift and I saw a few ripe ones on the tree this morning. I picked two and was back in the kitchen to make a 5 minute dessert that was heavenly.

Cut figs in half. Heat pan to medium, add a TB of honey and place figs cut side down. Wait 5 mins until they caramelize.

In the meantime pour yogurt in a bowl, top with a drizzle of honey, cinnamon and we opted for sliced almonds (you could also use pistachios or walnuts). Then add the cooked figs. That's it!! 

What are your favorite healthy meals?

Sneak peak of my new pantry!

As you all know I moved from a tiny little row home in the city where storage was hard to come by. The cartoon above depicts how tiny our little make shift "pantry" was..... actually it was a storage closet to hide the switch box. So, as a girl who loves cooking I dreamed big of and organized pantry.

In preparation for the move (ok this may have been a year before we even sold our house) I used a gift card and bought all these cool glass jars from Crate & Barrel and broke out my label maker- Best Saturday Night Ever!  Then they were shoved and stacked back into our tiny little pantry just waiting for their own space one day.

Forgive the primed cabinet (we are painting them all) but here is our cool corner cabinet we are using to house our spices and liquids.

Cabinet Must Haves-

• Natural Peanut Butter
• Braggs Liquid Aminos
• Raw Honey
• Nutritional Yeast (gives dishes a "cheesy" flavor)
• Coconut Oil
• Apple Cider Vinegar
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Sea Salt

Here is a close up of our tiny little jars- I love it!

Any here is our pantry- each jar has its own space and according to my dad it looks like a "damn health food store" (that just may be the best compliment to date, or at least I am taking it as a compliment... haha!)

We have all our grains, nuts, seeds, dried fruits and flours ready to be used to create a delicious meal.

Pantry Must Haves-

• farro- perfect for any warm breakfast
• buckwheat groats- perfect for muffins or vegan overnights 
• oatmeal
• almonds
• walnuts
• raisins
• chia seeds- perfect to add to yogurt, soups, oatmeal, salads etc.
• hemp granola- perfect topping for my acai bowls
• wheatberries - one of my favorites to mix with roasted or fresh veggies
• quinoa
• chickpeas- I add these to everything
• dates- cut in half with a little sea salt and a pecan pressed inside (its like salted turtle)
• cacao- great to make impromptu hot coco or flavor a pudding or smoothie
• tuna fish
• ground flax
• steel cut oats- love these!
• lentils
• goji berries
• mulberries
• brown rice
• whole wheat flour
• cane sugar

Kitchen before and after pictures coming soon!! :) 

Grilled Vegetable Salad

After a long day of painting and yard work, I came inside hungry and with no plans for dinner. Here is an amazing salad that I quickly made, using whatever I could find in the frig. Whats perfect about this meal is you can use any produce or even top with a whole grain ( like quinoa or wheat berries) or a lean protein (chick peas, chicken, hard boiled eggs etc).

Ingredients:
Romaine lettuce (chopped)
Grilled corn (cut off the cobb)
Grilled zucchini (diced)
Grilled carrots (diced)
Sauteed avocado- this turned out great! Just a little EVOO and sea salt cooked on med heat
Feta cheese
Annie's Organic Balsamic Vinaigrette

Local CSA

To be honest one of the most exciting parts of moving out of the city was finally being able to join a local CSA. If you have never heard of this before, it is Community Supported Agriculture where you basically buy a share in a farm and reap the benefits of fresh local produce. Not only to you get to build a relationship directly with the farmer but its also a great way to get exposed to new fruits and veggies.

We picked up our first share last Tuesday and were BLOWN AWAY! Look at what we got:

"we opted for a full share since we eat so many fruit and veggies but you can also get a 1/2 share"

Raspberries, bell peppers, eggplant, beets, zucchini, squash, jalapenos, corn, peaches, nectarines, tomatoes, cucumbers and fresh eggs (the eggs were an additional part of the program).

We pick up a basket like shown above from Wilson's Farm each week for 16 weeks (that takes us into October) and receive fresh local eggs every other week.  One of the really cool things about this specific CSA is they have a "trade table", so if you don't like beets for example you can trade it in for more corn or vice versa.

Here are a few breakfast meals I have enjoyed this past week:

 Fresh green juice, nectarine and raspberries

Sliced nectarine and zucchini and squash egg scramble

Check out Local Harvest for a CSA near you!