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Edamame And Vegetable Rice Noodle Salad
One of the best things about these noodles is that they are a blank canvas for whatever you want to add. They are great for a quick side dish or you can make a full meal deal. Rice noodles are naturally gluten free and they take just a few minutes to cook. You can find rice noodles at many supermarkets. If you’re a busy person, this is a very good recipe to have. I’d like to tell you about this handy dandy basket that I love to use for all sorts of things. I like stainless steel perforated baskets. When I cook for a lot of people, the large pots…
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Decadent Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
I have two younger nieces who visit me regularly and a boyfriend who just loves chocolate. This weekend, I went on the hunt looking for a super simple and delicious treat that I could cook with the girls that was going to satisfy our chocolate cravings and going to be lower in sugar too. Especially for the kiddos. Bonus: Its gluten free too! I love to cook with the girls when I can and this is a dessert that they can help with as long as they are supervised by an adult. This recipe requires that you melt some chocolate chips. I like to use a double boiler method on the stove…
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Protein Packed Crab And Lentil Cakes
As I grow in my knowledge about what my body needs versus just eating what I like, I am teaching myself how to combine the two to create the best me I can be this year. An incredibly important part of what our bodies need, is protein. I’m not saying here that we need to eat more meat. Gram for gram, there are certain plant based proteins that can rival or equal the amounts in animal proteins. One such protein is lentils. Talk about action packed. Not only are lentils high in protein, they are high in folate, potassium and a slew of antioxidants. They are inexpensive and relatively easy…
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BLT Salad with Tarragon Vinaigrette
One of my favorite things about this salad is that it is a deconstructed sandwich that has easily swappable ingredients. Certain ingredients can easily be swapped to still have the idea or flavor of a BLT sandwich without too much fat or calories. This is a ridiculously flavorful salad that I came up with by using leftovers. I mixed up some plain green cabbage with some shredded kale leaves and added some diced tomatoes and turkey bacon. Instead of using romaine in this salad, (which you could!) I chose a variety of greens for extra vitamins and nutrition. Lots of iron, fiber, folate and vitamin K among others in kale and cabbage . I like…
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Chef Julie’s Kale Slaw
In Western Washington, it can be a very rainy time of year. Nutritionally, our bodies need lots of healthy foods to continue maintaining lots of vitamins from foods such as dark leafy greens and citrus fruits. Did you know citrus fruits including lemons, limes, oranges and grapefruit are at their juiciest in the wintertime? Keeping with our vitamin routine and taking a look at other vitamin rich foods, it’s great to also consider an important aspect sometimes overlooked or lesser known called folate or folic Acid. One of the many functions of folate is that it helps to create normal red blood cells and hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is a red, iron…
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Za’atar Chicken
I recently discovered this wonderful combination of ingredients and spices that make up Za’atar. A delightful earthy smelling and light flavor of seasonings used a lot on bread, tofu, yogurt and other proteins like chicken in Eastern Europe and parts of The Middle East . This combination of spice and cuisine is gaining in popularity in my neck of the woods for its great unique taste (and smell!) and its wonderful flavor addition. One of the primary ingredients is called Sumac which was originally grown in the Middle East as a bush. The Sumac bush produces these deep red berries which are dried and ground into a course powder. The…
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Pumpkin And Sweet Potato Soup
It’s still pretty cold in Western Washington but we’re marching towards spring. There are a few extra minutes of day light every afternoon now but as soon as the sun goes down, there is still a strict chill and cravings for something creamy and delicious. This soup is loaded with vitamins and it has just the right amount of sweetness. Let’s dish on milk real quick. I make this soup dairy free because I love the light flavor and texture of almond milk. This soup was created for its ability to dairy swap. You could certainly use regular cows milk (low fat) or even cashew milk would be okay. At…
