Hello Whiskers!!

My husband and I watched an interesting documentary on Sunday night called "Forks Over Knives." In short, it talked about the health benefits of a plant based whole foods diet. In an amazing turn of events my husband, the man who prefers his meals to be meat with a meat side, suggested we try it. I'd like to think I hid my surprise well. Then I promptly agreed, we should try it. So, for the next 60 days we've committed to this eating lifestyle; No animal products and no processed food, lots more whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. I'm excited about the healthy change and I'm also excited to learn and try an entirely new way of cooking. I apologize in advance for the little break you may see in my posts, but I promise I'll be coming up with something delicious soon!!

Curried Quinoa Salad

I've been working so much lately that keeping these grain salads in the refrigerator has been more helpful than I ever would have thought! This is a simple Quinoa salad, the first of many I'm sure. I enjoyed this over a bed of baby spinach for dinner every night this week!

Breakfast Baguettes

I saw a picture of something like these on Pinterest one day and decided I needed to give it a go, I never looked at the original recipe, but these turned out great! And they're like choose your own adventure food.. the filling options are endless! We had them for breakfast on Valentine's Day :)

Wannabe Chicken Tagine

Tagines originated in North Africa and are named for the special pot in which they are made. The Moroccan Tagines (or more correctly Tajines) are slow cooked stews. Also typically made in the tagine pot, they often use less desireable pieces of meat because the process makes them so tender. This version is not made in a special pot, nor does it take long at all to cook, but it sure is delicious. As my first journey into the world of tagines I'm happy with it, and now I'm quite interested in exploring a more traditional version.

Farfalle with Creamy Red Pepper Sauce

This roasted red pepper sauce is simple and subtle with plenty of flavor. It comes together really fast and would make an excellent weeknight meal.

How to Roast a Pepper

Have you ever wondered how to roast your own peppers? It might literally knock your socks off when you see just how simple it is.

Veggie Veggie Dip

I know this looks like guacamole, but it's not. It's beans! That's right, I said beans. I'm pretty excited about this super simple edamame bean dip. It's simple and would make an easy throw together item for a potluck or work function.

Farro's Garden

Farro is a pretty cool grain, This was my first time using it and I'm very excited about the results and the possibilities. It cooks up to a great size for a cold salad and has a subtle nutty flavor. This salad is really just a bunch of things I like thrown into a bowl, but it's definitely something I'm happy to eat several days in a row.

Crowd Pleasing Chili (Slow Cooker, or not)

For some reason I always associate the Super Bowl with a bunch of junk food and a pot of chili. Since we're all quite capable of finding our own junk food, and I'm anxious to try more things in the slow cooker, I thought I'd try a simple chili. This is mild enough for everyone yet full of flavor, I'll go ahead and call it a home run.