Good Food on a Tight Budget

The other day I wasn't feeling too well, and for whatever reason I decided to use my couch time to start researching health stuff. I'll get more into that another time, but for now I wanted to share this great guide, Good Food on a Tight Budget, by the Environmental Working Group that I stumbled upon. 

It's such a great, simple resource to make better choices when it comes to food and nutrition. Love it!

GOOP Sweet Potato, Black Bean & Kale Skillet

I've been on a new recipe kick lately. I'm trying to make us meals that are yummy and pack in lots of veggies...and trying to find some new favourites.

I'm not going to lie, I pinned this GOOP recipe thinking that this is the type of thing we SHOULD be eating but also thinking that it probably was going to taste like a big pile of parsley. You know, 'health food'. Gross in theory.



I was WRONG. This meal is SO delicious! Ben ate every last bit of his dinner, and Billy not only was willing to try it, but said he would eat it again. Billy, who saw me cooking it and said "Well that looks good" in the most sarcastic voice of all. He pretty much despises the idea of Kale in general. Based on some of the past recipes I've tried (and failed) I don't blame him.



But this time, this time was a success. I made my potatoes a bit smaller, didn't have any sumac so I left that out, and I put my kale through the food processor thinking it would be a bit more toddler (and husband?) friendly. I couldn't stop eating it. It was so easy to throw together and was on the table in no time. YES!

Dude. Make this. Go!

Slow Cooker Lasagna

The other day I found this recipe on Pinterest and I had to try it. I changed the recipe a bit, I used about double the pasta so it's more like a casserole than a soup, and I didn't have V8 juice so I added a cup of leftover pasta sauce that I had in the fridge.  I made mine vegetarian but it would probably also be amazing with beef. 

It might be the best, easiest slow cooker recipe of all. A new fav of ours for sure, and Ben loved it too!

Easy Summer Recipes - Fried Zucchini Spaghetti /// Watermelon and Blueberry Salad with Ginger Mint Glaze

Happy Tuesday! Today I'd like to share some of my favourite summer recipes with you. The Fried Zucchini Spaghetti recipe is below (we just had this the other night and I forgot how tasty is it) and the Watermelon and Blueberry Salad with Ginger Mint Glaze I've shared over on my friend Melanie's blog, Inward Facing Girl. Be sure you check it out!


Fried Zucchini Spaghetti


Ingredients:


500 g spaghetti (or pasta if your choice)
1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese
1 cup milk
3 tbsp flour
1/4 cup butter 
3 zucchinis, chopped
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
Salt and pepper


Directions:

• Cook your pasta according to the package instructions. 
• Meanwhile, heat your olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Toss in your zucchini, and mix in 1 tbsp of your flour. Allow this to cook until tender and slightly browning. Once it's cooked, top with sea salt. Set aside.
• For your sauce, heat up butter in a sauce pan on medium high until it's melted. Add the remaining 2 tbsp of flour and whisk. It will look sort of crumbly, that's ok. Add in your milk and whisk until it thickens and gets bubbly. Add in your parmesian, whisking until well combined. Add salt and pepper.
• Toss pasta in sauce, serve covered with fried zucchini. Enjoy!

Next time I make this I'm going to add in some more veggies too (I'm thinking mushrooms for sure and maybe some cherry tomatos). Feel free to experiment!

And don't forget to take a look at the Watermelon and Blueberry Salad with Ginger Mint Glaze recipe over on Inward Facing Girl!

Guest Posting over at Life of a Cupcake!

One of the many lovely people that I met at BlogPodium was Jules, who writes Life of a Cupcake, a sweet blog about all things that make her happy. It's so fresh and fun to read!! Her recent post about her four year anniversary totally melted my heart. Oh, and she's a Beatles fan, so I like her even more...






Today I'm guest posting over at Life of a Cupcake, and have shared a recipe for Strawberry Peach Crisp, and a free printable! Pop on over to Jules' blog and say hello!

Saige Wisdom's Link Up - Obsessions

My friend Sara over at Saige Wisdom has started a new link-up called Obsessions, which is essentially just a list of things she's loving right now. If there's a list of any sort involved, I'm obviously in. So, here we go.





The return of Mad Men, after the longest hiatus ever. I am a little annoyed that Betty is in like 5% of the episodes now. But I'll take it. Any Mad Men is better than no Mad Men. Her and Don are going to end up back together in the end, right? Right?





Vegetarian Recipes, like this Lemon Basil Pesto Pasta. I'm always looking for yummy EASY recipes, and I'm always leaning towards meatless meals. I can't help it. They're just so good.




Pretty tattoos. I want to get my next one soon, something to do with Benjamin...just not sure what exactly I want. Looking for inspiration. Is it weird that this one reminds me of those horrible No fear shirts everyone has when I was in middle school? Or am I so old no one knows what I'm talking about?




Jewellery by A Merry Mishap. I want to order something SO BADLY, and I keep looking at the collection and trying to decide, but I simply cannot pick just one item. I either need to make a decision already, or just buy a bunch of it. Leaning towards the later.




Paris in Color. Ordering a copy of this book today. How can I NOT have this? There's nothing better than seeing a blogger get published. Living vicariously through you Nichole!



Image Credits:

Mad Men  ///  Lemon Pesto Pasta  ///  Tattoo 

A Merry Mishap  ///  Paris in Color

Easter Weekend

Did everyone have a great Easter weekend? We had a busy one, but it was really nice. Lots of time with family, food, lovely weather...couldn't ask for much more. 






Easter dinner included turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, turnip, and roasted brussel sprouts. I have tried many brussel sprout recipes and have always found them to be a bit dry, and over time I've sort of created my own recipe that I thought I would share. I could eat JUST these for a meal, seriously. 






Roasted Brussel Sprouts


Ingredients:

• Enough brussel sprouts to fill a casserole dish
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 tbsp sea salt
• 1 tsp thyme

Directions:

• Cut the tough edge off brussel sprout bottoms and remove loose leaves.
• Boil brussel sprouts until tender all the way through, drain, allow to cool enough to handle.
• Cut brussel sprouts in half and fill casserole dish.
• Add white wine, chicken stock, butter (just scoop in, feel free to leave it in big chunks), and thyme.
• Cook at 425 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or until some have browned. Stri them often  as they cook.
• Once slightly golden, stir again and top with sea salt. Add more to taste if you like (as I do, probably too much). Yum!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

Yesterday Ben and I got to have a little play date with my friend Ana Maria and her adorable son Jacob, it was so much fun! I baked a really yummy treat for us to have with our tea and I thought I'd share. I found the recipe on Two Peas and their Pod, and they couldn't have been more delicious! Seriously, the entire batch is gone.





I actually had to make a little change to them because my chocolate chips didn't seem to make it into my grocery bags (don't you hate it when that happens?) so I threw a bag of Aero Bubbles into my food processor, did the trick!

DIY: How to make your own Febreze

I found a recipe for homemade Febreze a little while ago and it's AMAZING.





Here's how you can make your own Febreze, via Homemade Mamas:


2 cups warm water
1/4 cup liquid fabric softener
1 tsp. baking soda


Simply put everything in your empty Febreze bottle, and you're set!

My Father's Daughter - Gwyneth's Cookbook

I recently ordered some books from Amazon, and this was one of my first choices. I love to cook, and I love Gwyneth, so it just made sense. Not only is it a beautiful book, but the recipes in it are AMAZING.





So far I've only tried one recipe, Fried Zucchini Spaghetti, but we loved loved loved it. This will officially become part of our regular go-to meals. And I love a good vegetarian dish :) Here's the recipe!


Gwyneth's Fried Zucchini Spaghetti




Ingredients:

• ¾ pound (¾ box) spaghetti
• Coarse salt
• 3 zucchini, very thinly sliced (but thicker than paper thin or they will just burn)
• 1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup finely grated parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
• ¼ cup pasta water, to thin
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Handful fresh basil leaves (leaves from 5 leafy stems) 

Preparation

Boil the spaghetti in salted water until just al dente. Meanwhile, toss the zucchini with flour. Heat the ¼ cup of olive oil in a large nonstick frying pan over high heat and add as much zucchini as will fit in a single layer. Cook, stirring and flipping occasionally, until well browned and a little crispy, about 4 minutes. Remove the zucchini to a plate and sprinkle with coarse salt. Repeat until you’ve cooked all of the zucchini.

Whisk the cheese together with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in 1/4 cup of the pasta water, adding a bit more if necessary. You want the consistency to be creamy. Drain the spaghetti and add to the bowl with Parmesan mixture. Toss together, season with salt and pepper, and fold in two-thirds of the fried zucchini and all of the basil.

To serve, portion the pasta into four shallow bowls and evenly distribute the rest of the zucchini on top of each, along with a couple of gratings of Parmesan.

Yields: Serves 4


Images via Miss Yukisan and Hammertown