My FAVORITE Iced Tea Recipe (sugar + caffeine free!)

If you're anything like me, you may feel sad and disheartened by the amount of unhealthy beverages that seem to abound in the summertime. I sure love a nice ice-cold Coke, but I really dislike the sugar content (and my hips agree). I get SO sick of drinking water. I know it's good for you and all that, but seriously, it's the most boring drink on the planet.

Do we want to be boring? I don't think so. 

Last year, a friend introduced me to what would soon become my favorite tea on the entire planet. Celestial Seasonings Decaf Sweet Coconut Thai. You can find it at Target, and at most grocery stores! I lived on this stuff throughout my pregnancy and while pumping because it's decaf, and all it really needs is a bit of milk! You can add sugar, but I'm actually partial to it without sugar.

This Summer, I decided to try it iced and see if that was any good. Well, it may just have been the purest stroke of genius I've ever had! I made it once, and had to immediately go out and buy more! We've been drinking this tea like there's no tomorrow. I love that you can drink it without sugar too!

 Here's how to make it: 

Ingredients: Decaf Sweet Coconut Thai tea, ice, and 2% milk (or your choice of milk!)

(mason jar glass is purely optional)

Directions: Boil 4 cups of water, then steep 6 teabags in it for at least 1 hour. Chill the tea in the fridge for a few hours (if you can stand to wait). When ready to serve, pour equal amounts of tea and milk over ice. Ta da! Enjoy. Makes about 5 12 oz. servings.

And no, Celestial Seasonings did not pay me to write this post. But if they want to pay me with a lifetime supply of this tea, I may allow that. ;)

Mealtime Makeovers- Roasted Root Veggies

(Feel free to scroll down to the recipe, or if you want, enjoy me rambling on for a bit about why we are choosing to eat some healthier foods!)

Josh and I have slowly but surely been changing the way we view food. Well, it's been mostly me, because I have had an unhealthy view of food for a long time. Josh can still eat whatever he wants and stay thin (it's unbelievable, really). For me, it all started with an incredibly high metabolism that allowed me to eat whatever I wanted for the first 25 years of my life. My mom is an incredible cook and she always made homemade, healthy foods for us, but I still grew up with literally no clue about portion control. For years I would help myself to unhealthy amounts of pasta, bread, and sweets. I don't mean unhealthy in the gorging-myself kind of way, just more than I should have. I noticed my body starting to adjust a couple of years ago and actually started to gain weight for the first time. Now I actually have to think about what I eat (I know, cue the sad violins!), but it's helped me to start making much healthier choices as well.

In order to slowly make my way into healthier eating choices, I've made three changes to our meals. First, I cut out most breads, white flour, and white rice. These things used to take up about 1/3 of our daily diet (eep!). Instead, when we do have grains we are eating whole wheat bread, pasta, rice, and healthy grains like quinoa and bulgar.

The second change has been to replace the excess bread-y stuff with more veggies and fruit. A lot of our dinners consist of meat and veggies now, and I'm amazed at how filling and delicious it can be! We are loving sweet potatoes, spinach, and broccoli especially. Instead of cheese and crackers as a snack, I love to snack on an apple and natural peanut butter (SO good).

The final change is more of a mental one, but it's been changing the idea that I have to have dessert every day. I know it sounds kind of silly, but I had almost come to expect that it was right and good to have dessert every single day. Again, not like a whole-package-of-oreos dessert, but something sugary and sweet to satisfy that one demanding tooth. I have to admit, the first few weeks of that were hard. I felt depressed and deprived, almost like my body was demanding sugar while holding my sanity for ransom. At one point I was fiercely craving brownies for a good three days. After a few weeks though, it was like my body adjusted to less sugar and suddenly I didn't crave it as much. I still eat dessert sometimes, but it's not something I need to have every day. 

These changes are helping us to not only feel great, but it's also helping me to shed the last few pregnancy pounds (and hopefully then some!). If that's not motivation to eat healthier, then I don't know what is! 

Here's one of the veggie dishes we've been chowing down on a lot lately: Roasted Root Veggies. You have to just believe me when I say that this is the yummiest! And, you can totally pig out on it and not feel an ounce of guilt. How great is that?

  

Roasted Root Veggies

Prep time: less than 5 minutes (seriously!)

Ingredients: One medium onion (cut in smallish slices), one large sweet potato (cubed), one cup (or more) baby carrots, one tablespoon olive oil, pinch of salt, and dried or fresh rosemary. 

1. Throw the cubed sweet potato, sliced onions, and carrots in an oven-safe dish. 2. Toss with olive oil, and salt and rosemary to taste, and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes (or until the potatoes are soft when poked with a fork). 3. Enjoy as a filling and delicious side for meat or fish! In this case- we had it with lemon tilapia. YUM!

Sweet Potato Fries

Yum. That's all I have to say about these. Ok, maybe not all. I thought  that sweet potatoes were disgusting for most of my life, then I tried sweet potato fries and instantly fell in love with this vegetable from down under (under the ground, that is, not the Australian Outback...). 

These fries are just the perfect amount of crispy and salty on the outside, with a chewy gooey texture and sweet flavor inside. Plus, sweet potatoes are super good for you, or so I am told.

We've been making these on a weekly basis! The recipe is pretty easy and straightforward, adapted from The Art of Doing Stuff. They also have a good recipe for sriracha mayo dipping sauce that I'm sure brings the health factor down a bit (but of course the yumminess factor skyrockets).

Ingredients: Sweet potatoes, cornstarch, olive oil, salt. Oven @ 400. 

Here's the basic idea: cut potatoes into fry slices (how big or small they are depends on how crispy you want them to be. I like mine a little bigger so the inside stays gooey!). Let them soak in some warm water for a few minutes (I usually can only do five or so because I'm so impatient). After drying off the slices a wee bit with a paper towel, plop them into a gallon sized ziploc with a few spoonfuls of cornstarch. Shake until the fries are coated. Then, lay them on a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt (I use seasoned salt- yum!). You can mix them up with your fingertips, I've found that works the best. The olive oil should be enough to make the cornstarch "disappear" on the fries. Arrange the fries on the cookie sheet so they are not touching one another. Then, bake them for about 15 minutes. Flip them over, and bake for another 5-10 minutes or according to your crispiness quota. I like mine super crispy, almost burnt.

Enjoy!

Summer Eats

To be honest- I haven't been all that creative with our food menu this Summer. It's consisted of a lot of smoothies, salads, grilled chicken, and whatever is easiest to make. But I really do love Summer food best of all. I love the pasta salads, the fresh herbs, the outside dining... Everything about Summer food is just awesome.

So while I don't have any real recipes to share, I thought it would be fun to show you some of the things that are getting in our bellies these warm months. First- caprese salad. Seriously, how wonderful is this stuff? I make it with fresh basil from our garden, grape tomatoes, fresh mozzarella chunks, and balsamic vinaigrette dressing. It's just to die for.

Then, Pioneer Woman's iced coffee has been one of the beverages of choice (after lemonade, the pregnant woman's cocktail, of course). I pinned this recipe ages ago and for some reason just never made it. Finally, a few weeks ago I was yearning for some iced coffee and so I whipped up a batch (actually, it has to sit overnight, so it's hard to whip it up) using decaf coffee. Um, incredible! It truly is the best! 

We picked fresh strawberries from my Grandparent's garden a month or so ago and froze them, and we still have a ton left. I've made strawberry rhubarb crisp twice, as well as used them in smoothies on a daily basis. Know what else I put in my smoothies? Fresh spinach. No joke- you can't even tell it's in there (besides a slight green hue), and it's a great way to get a serving of veggies in. 

Finally, we discovered the awesomeness of Aldi pre-made pizza crust. I must admit, I was a sceptic at first, but once we tried it I was converted. I love making my own pizza dough, but right now it's just not top priority. A pre-made crust makes for a really easy and delicious dinner.

So that's a little bit of what's been on our menu this Summer. Do you have any great Summer recipes to share? I'd LOVE to hear about them!

Strange Cravings...

Sometimes, I love being pregnant. It's obviously not all fun and games, but one of the best parts is being able to give into cravings once in a while. I like singing "Straaange craavings" to the tune of "Strange Magic" as I rummage through the fridge for pickles or cheese sticks.

One of the strongest cravings I've been having is lemonade... I want lemonade all day, every day. If you follow me on Pinterest, you may notice that my recipe board is now chock-full of lemonade recipes. It's the pregnant-ladies cocktail, y'all. 

This version was made with frozen raspberries, fresh lemons, and mint. It was SO good. I actually woke up in the middle of the night and had to chug a big glass of it. Mmmmm. 

Some other recipes I have found include lavender lemonade, sweet basil lemonade, blueberry mint lemonade, and regular lemonade with edible flowers (so pretty!). Instead of posting them all here, I will just link to my recipe page on Pinterest so if you want to check them out you can! With Summer just around the corner, an arsenal of lemonade recipes will come in handy. =)

Anyone else have strange cravings when they were pregnant?

Homemade Aioli Sauce

My favorite restaurant in the Twin Cities, Barbette, has the best pomme frites (french fries) I have EVER tasted. As a bit of a french fry connoisseur, I have sampled many fries. Theirs have the perfect amount of flavor, a dark golden, crunchy exterior, a fluffy interior, and are small enough that they actually stay crunchy instead of getting soggy. But perhaps my favorite part of their pomme frites is the sesame aioli sauce that they serve on the side. It is, in a word, divine. (ok, is anyone else hungry for french fries now? Sorry).

So, last weekend, I decided that I really needed some fries with aioli. I knew that I was going to fail miserably at making fries like Barbette, so I decided to focus on the sauce instead. I have never tried making this sauce before, but when I found a recipe online I realized that I had all the ingredients on hand. And it looked rather simple! The recipe is from Epicurious.

Ingredients:

• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Mince the garlic and the salt together to form a paste (a butter knife or the back of a spoon works well). In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, lemon juice, and mustard. Combine the oils and begin to slowly add into the egg mixture, whisking the whole time. The mixture should start to emulsify, if it doesn't, stop adding oil and just whisk until it comes together again. Once the oil is all added, whisk in the garlic paste. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Chill for at least 1/2 hour before serving.

Aioli sauce is also wonderful with egg dishes, on sandwiches, burgers, and fish. There are so many uses for this flavorful, tangy sauce! I think I will be making it quite often.

The Best Cookies

 I'm not normally a huge fan of sweets. I do eat them and enjoy them on occasion, but most of the time I would prefer a pickle over something sweet. However... the one sweet thing I can always tolerate is a good molasses/ginger/spice cookie!

This recipe was given to me by my Aunt a few years back, and I make them frequently. The only complaint I have about this recipe is that it just doesn't make enough! They are always gone within a day or two, even when I double the recipe.

It makes the perfect, delicate, chewy ginger cookie. Trust me on this, you have to try it to believe it!

Molasses Spice Crackles

Makes: about 2 dozen small cookies, recipe can be easily doubled to make more. 

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup margarine or butter, softened
2 tbsp molasses
1 large egg white
1/4 cup sugar (to roll cookies in)

1. Combine first 6 ingredients. Stir well, set aside. Place brown sugar, margarine, molasses, and egg white in mixer and mix well. Add dry ingredients and process until well blended. Refrigerate approximately two hours (longer is fine, but don't skimp on the time!).

2. Set oven to 375 degrees.

3. Shape dough into small (no more than 1 inch round) balls. Roll the top in sugar, and place on a baking sheet 3 inches apart. Bake for approximately 7 minutes. (Tip: These cookies taste better slightly underdone and will keep their chewy texture better!).

Dinner on the Porch

Last week, Josh and I had our first meal outside! It was wonderful. With the warm, Spring-y weather we've been having lately, it's been so nice to spend extra time in the great outdoors. This meal was extra fun because I used two recipes that I found on Pinterest.

I've heard of so many people who are constantly pinning things but never trying them... it's totally different for me! I love pinning recipes and I'm constantly going through them and making new things.

I made Curried Carrot Soup with Ginger using this recipe. I have to admit, at first it didn't sound that good. But this soup was seriously awesome! Plus, I didn't feel guilty about not having veggies on the side, since they were already in the soup. Niiice.  

The other recipe I used was this Blueberry Mint Lemonade concoction. Except I kinda cheated and didn't follow the recipe, I just used my good old fashioned lemonade recipe and added dried mint leaves from our garden last year and some blueberries. It was fantastic. I've been pinning TONS of recipes for unique lemonades since I won't be able to enjoy my favorite summer beverage this year: Sangria. I hope you all feel really bad for me.  

The final part of our meal (and probably my favorite) were homemade green onion and cheddar cheese biscuits. YUM. I just make a normal biscuit recipe (from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook) and add in garlic, chopped green onions, and about 3/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese. They are so yummy. Josh eats like 10 of them in one sitting. I only eat 9.

 It was such a fun dinner and really felt like a "date." I love at-home dates!

How have you been enjoying your Spring so far?

P.S. sorry about the huuuge break from blogging... what can I say. I'm exhausted from this little peanut growing inside! I think it's sucking the life from me. It's ok though, it's all for a good cause! =)

Healthy Choices

I wouldn't really describe this as a "New Year's Resolution" since I've been trying to make healthier eating choices for a few years now, but it does seem like the perfect time of year to renew those decisions.

I made the switch to decaf tea a couple of months ago, and it has made a marked difference in how I feel. I used to have trouble with waking up a lot in the middle of the night, and that has significantly decreased since I stopped consuming caffeine in the evenings. Plus, decaf tea counts as water technically, so I can switch out a couple of glasses of water a day which makes me a happy camper!

My two favorite blends of decaf are Tazo Decaf Chai, and Good Earth Sweet and Spicy blend. Yum!

I've also started including a lot more veggies in my meals. I used to fill up on carbs like pasta and bread, but I've found that helping myself to more vegetables instead helps fill me up without packing on the pounds. One of my go-to lunches lately has been frying up an egg (with a butter substitute, of course) in a slice of green pepper and eating it with arugula. SO good. I haven't decided what to call it yet, for now DELICIOUS will suffice.

How about you? Have you found a "healthier" food choice lately that you love? What about tea- do you have any favorite blends? I'm all ears (or eyes, I guess, in this case...).

Milk + Two Sugars Please!

(totally borrowed this pic from my b-day post, but it was too perfect to not use!)

Have I ever told you guys how much I love tea? Seriously, the stuff is like a drug to me. I blame my parents for my "addiction" due to the fact that they put tea in my bottle when I was 2. It was more like 1/8 tea and 7/8 warm milk, but even so...

I grew up in a very British family. My late Grandpa hailed from Scotland, so he brought over the tradition of tea into our family. At my Grandma's house, tea is always steeping on the countertop, waiting to be poured into delicate china cups and sipped as we visit with each other.

At my parent's home, tea is synonymous with comfort. Whenever we had a bad day, or just a long day, coming home and hearing the teakettle singing on the stove was like having a weight lifted. After dinner, we would sit around the table, nibble on shortbread, drink tea, and chat about the day before we went our separate ways for the evening. Tea was more than just a beverage, it was a way of life.

I have to point out though, that for me "tea" is not the fruity, herbal tisanes that you can buy (Celestial Seasonings? Ick). It has to be good old black tea, preferably loose-leaf, that can handle milk and sugar. My absolute favorite is PG Tips: 

Here's how we make tea:

•  Boil water.
• Add 2 heaping teaspoons (or two teabags) to teapot and pour in boiling water.
• Cover with teacozy and steep for 3-5 minutes.
• Remove tea/teabags. 
• Pour into cups, adding a dash of milk and sugar to taste. 
• Enjoy! 
• Repeat process as many times as needed throughout the day...

Do you enjoy drinking tea? What kinds of tea do you like? 

Summer Menu- Grilled Chicken with Homemade Salsa

I have been baking/cooking up a storm lately with all the weird weather here in MN. It's been so rainy and overcast that all I feel like doing is hunkering down inside and eating yummy food. Hopefully the weather will turn around soon, but in the meantime at least I have some new recipes under my belt!

This is quickly becoming a favorite around here. It's SO yummy and fresh-tasting, perfect for Spring/Summer menus, especially because the chicken is best cooked on the grill!

 Grilled Chicken with Homemade Salsa:

Marinade for chicken:
2 boneless/skinless chicken bosoms (I grew up calling them this, am I weird or what???)
1/4 cup olive oil
1tbsp lemon juice
1tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Black pepper

Salsa:
Tomatoes (2 large or 3 small)
1 avocado (not too ripe!)
1/2 large white onion
Fresh cilantro
1 tbsp lime juice
Salt and pepper to taste

In a small bowl, mix the marinade ingredients together, then pour into a bowl with the chicken and marinate for 1-2 hours. 

For the salsa, chop up the vegetables into small pieces, and finely chop the onion (the smaller sized chunks, the better, flavor-wise!). Mince the cilantro and mix it in the vegetables with the lime juice, salt and pepper. I tend to like my salsa really salty, so you may want to experiment with the spices to find what you like best!

After grilling the chicken, pour a generous amount of salsa over each serving and enjoy! I like serving this with cilantro lime rice and black beans, it's the perfect accompaniment!

Sushi Party

This weekend, we felt like being really adventurous, so we invited some friends over to our house to have a Sushi Party. Yup, you read that right. Sushi.

My sister and I went shopping the day before for all of the ingredients from the Peas and Crayons Sushi Tutorial. We went to a few asian supermarkets and found everything we needed (except for the tuna, which we found at Kowalski's).


It's a little time-consuming prepping all the ingredients, but we were all surprised at how easy it was to actually make the sushi rolls.


Josh was a little skeptical at times...


They turned out really well! It actually looked like what we were trying to make, which always surprises me a little. Sadly, I was not a huge fan of the sushi like I thought I would be. Oddly enough, it was the seaweed wrapper that got to me and not the raw tuna. Seaweed. Blech.


But it sure looks pretty, doesn't it?



So that was (part of) our weekend. How about you? Did you do anything new and exciting this weekend?

My Love Affair with the Kitchen

Cooking and baking. These are two things that give me endless amounts of joy. But, it hasn't always been that way. In fact, when was I younger I firmly decided to never be found in a kitchen, wearing an apron. My mom worked tirelessly in the kitchen, for hours it seemed every day. Everything we ate was made from scratch. She even ground her own flour for making bread. As much as I enjoyed the fruits of her labor, I solemnly swore to myself that I would never become a slave to the kitchen. It seemed to me that no amount of appreciative "Mmmms" could make up for the time it took to prepare meals each and every day. Besides, I planned to be a Super-Woman who had no time for things like that anyway.


I continued to nurse these feelings of extreme aversion towards cooking through college, surviving on a diet that mostly consisted of Ramen Noodles and Pop Tarts. Once I was living on my own with a couple of roommates, I would occasionally make soup or throw together a pasta salad, but nothing that was too time consuming. It was just food, right?

Then, my whole world turned upside down.


This adorable man walked into my life. He must have awakened some primal voice deep inside me, because suddenly all I wanted to do was fill his stomach with lots and lots of delicious, homemade food. And his face with lots and lots of kisses. Ahem.

Something was different. Instead of mentally planning out my outfits or my weekend plans, I found myself thinking things like, "I wonder if he likes banana bread?" I had never even made banana bread before.


The first time I had him over to my apartment for dinner, everything had to be absolutely perfect. I don't even remember what I cooked for dinner itself, but I do know that there was not a speck of dirt in the whole entire place because I had cleaned every nook and cranny like a deranged woman the night before.

I actually took off from work early that day so I could go home and prepare for our dinner. I spent the whole afternoon in the kitchen, baking and cooking up a storm. The windows were open, the birds were singing, and I was chopping onions and feeling like the happiest girl in the world. It just felt so right.


Even once I had won his heart (he claims it wasn't my cooking, but my smile), my love for cooking and baking only continued to increase. I hadn't cared one whit about food before, but suddenly I had a reason to care. I had someone to take care of, and that alone was enough to propel me into a deep desire and appreciation for the art of food preparation.


So that's part of my story! Of course, it hasn't always been an easy road. Sometimes my adventures in the kitchen turn out to be more, uh, mishaps. But, it's a learning process! And the best part is, now I can tell my Mom that I know exactly how she feels. It's not about being appreciated or even applauded (although that is nice!), it's about providing for the people we love and knowing that even though life isn't always a piece of cake, a slice of homemade pie can brighten up any day.

Black Bean Soup

Even though the first hints of Spring are in the air, I'm still feeling the need to consume lots and lots of soup. Something about the warm, hearty, savory flavor of soup is just so delicious in the colder months!

Yesterday I whipped up my own version of Black Bean soup, and I want to share the recipe with you because it's SO easy, and SOOOO good. Also, I love how most of the ingredients come straight from the pantry, so you can make it without running out to the grocery store for ingredients!

So without further ado, here ya go:

Black Bean Soup (A La Posy the Porcelain Pig)

2 cans of black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
3 tbsp butter
1 small onion, diced
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1-2 tsp flour
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
Dash of cayenne
1/4 cup minced, fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste (I used about 2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper)

Start off by pouring the rinsed black beans, chicken broth, and water in a soup pot to simmer. Then, melt the butter in a pan and saute the onions and garlic until the onions are clear. Add the flour to the onion mixture and stir to form a paste, then add mixture to soup pot. Sprinkle in the chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper and cilantro.

Garnish with cheese, sour cream, and fresh cilantro if desired. (Salsa would be good too! Yum!).

Serves 2-5, depending on your appetite. =)

Bread-Making Part Deux

So I am back again, and this time I have GOOD NEWS! It worked, y'all! Just take a gander at this photo below, and see for yourself what I mean.


That, my friends, is the marvelous sight of bread actually rising. The last time I made bread, the dough was so over-laden with flour that it barely rose at all. But this.... this is how bread should look!

And this:


And finally, THIS:


So thanks to you guys for listening to my woes about baking bread, I finally feel like I'm on the right path! I know now that it's more important to go by what the dough feels like when adding in flour, rather than what the recipe says. Last time, the recipe said to add 5-6 cups of flour, and this time I stopped after adding 4 cups and it was perfect!

Now I can cross the whole "Bake Bread From Scratch" off my life-goals list. =) What, you don't have one of those?


P.S. Did you notice that tiny glimpse of soup to the right of the bread? That is a delicious black bean soup... check back here later for the recipe! XOXO, Mikalah.