Pumpkin Spice Cashew Milk {Gluten-Free, Vegan & Paleo}

The last time I made you nut milk, I made a lot of really bad jokes. I can’t help myself. I’m the girl that still chuckles at the word “nuts”. Nice to meet you. If you add the word” milk” after the word “nut”, I cannot keep a straight face. I’ve tossed around a few other title ideas such as “nut juice” or “creme de nuts” or “sexy pumpkin’ nut juice”. Oh, Lawdy. This is not getting any better. It’s getting much, much worse.  I will try to contain myself this post, but really… I make you no promises. It’s already gone to a strange place. My writing brain has kind of gone off the rails this week. Need I direct you to this Killer Pumpkin Granola post where I used shoddy storytelling to personify Pumpkin Pie Spice and her elicit (yet tender) love affair with Pumpkin Puree? Spoiler alert— they end up getting married in a ceremony performed by their mutual friend, Oats. Weird. So weird. […]

One-Pan Crispy Chicken Legs & Brussels Sprouts {Gluten-Free & Paleo}

Brussels sprouts, oh how I love thee. It’s taken us a long time to get here, but I’m so glad we did.
When I was a kid, I was fairly certain Brussels sprouts were evil. These were clearly tiny cabbages made of nightmares, sent here to earth by aliens  in order to slowly poison us humans (I’ve always has a slight flare for the dramatic). It’s not that my parents were forcing me to eat them. Quite the contrary. We never ate sprouts at home, ever. I think my parents were also skeptical that these lil’ veggies weren’t indeed just the devil neatly disguised in a tiny cabbage suit. If my mom (the Lima Bean Pusher) was skeptical of a vegetable, I was pretty sure it must be  heinous. The only time I had fully experienced the Brussels sprout was through a friend. I was staying the night at friends house, and her mother insisted I eat my vegetables before I left the table. I thought, sure. Fine. I love veggies. This should be no big deal. And, then it happened. A slotted spoon emerged from a pot of lightly stained green liquid. A mushy pile of lifeless sprouts made a sad little mountain on my plate. These sprouts were boiled to disaster. They were bitter and mushy. I had entered into my own nightmare, and the only way out was with hasty large bites and a lot of water. Awful.  […]

Roasted Eggplant & Basil Spread

Every now and then I find myself in a stalemate with a veggie (this week it was an eggplant). We pause, we lock eyes… we just kind of stare at each other. I grumble and look quizzically at it as if it’s going to speak to me. It’s as if I am Michelangelo and this vegetable is my marble. Maybe it will tell me what it wants to be. Nope. It’s not talking. We’ve got ourselves a strong and silent type.  At this point I get all ponderous and morose over why I decided to purchase an eggplant in the first place. I consider letting it live out its final days on the counter top right next to my sad little banana graveyard, but just don’t feel right about it. Plus, let’s be honest…. I’m hungry. Life is hard. […]

Kale Salad With Golden Raisins, Walnuts & Pecorino

As most of you know, my husband went out of town on business. How do you know this? Well… I wrote a pretty awkward post about it. Remember my last post where I drew you a Capybara Ballarina and there were talks of me eating entire boxes of gluten-free mac and cheese? Yeah. #SingleLadyProblems. Well, things didn’t get any more normal in the evenings to follow. I baked and consumed an entire dozen chocolate chip cookies. I spent Saturday evening making jelly and sobbing while watching the movie Stepmom. Don’t worry… I totally saw a bunch of friends and went out into the world, but when it got late and my hands needed to keep busy, I would get in the kitchen or get out a paintbrush or turn on Netflix and watch four solid hours of birthing documentaries. Whoa. Real story. I saw everything. I then spent an hour and a half researching midwives and doulas and water births. And no I’m not pregnant, I just have access to Google, which lends itself to my crazy inquisitive spirit. Thanks, Google. […]