• Appetizer,  Gluten Free,  Kids,  Recipes,  Vegetarian

    Mushroom And Asparagus Quiche

    Eggs are a super food and known for all of their versatile uses.  I do believe you can serve eggs in America at any meal and not feel like it is inappropriate.  My boyfriend and I will very often eat eggs for dinner in one form or another. For us, eggs are satisfying. I have an awesome egg recipe here that you can pull out any ol’ time and its quick and easy. For the quiche in the picture above, I did use egg whites for a lower calorie version. Quiche will taste great with the egg whites or whole eggs. You don’t get as much of the nutritional value without the egg…

  • Appetizer,  Gluten Free,  Kids,  Vegetarian

    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…

  • Appetizer,  Kids,  Vegetarian

    Five Spice Chicken Hand Pie

    There are beyond numerous options for pizza crust these days with each their own separate health benefits. Whatever pizza crust you’re into, here is an delicious recipe for you that goes beyond the traditional toppings and can work with gluten free crust, egg free crust and almond flour crusts. I have not tested with cauliflower crusts. This recipe has been tested with 120 little ones and the popularity was overwhelming. I came up with this recipe because I wanted to create a dairy free type pizza. Often a good choice for a dairy swap is coconut milk. In this recipe, I used canned coconut milk. Coconut milk has a good…

  • Dessert,  Gluten Free,  Kids,  Vegetarian

    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…

  • Appetizer,  Gluten Free,  Kids,  Recipes,  Vegetarian

    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…

  • Appetizer,  Gluten Free,  Kids,  Vegetarian

    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…

  • Appetizer,  Gluten Free,  Kids,  Vegetarian

    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…