Food & fitness obsessed girl.
This weekend my husband and I celebrated our anniversary and his birthday. We always hit the road and end up in NYC somewhere for a weekend of fun, food and laughs. This year was no different. We LOVE NYC. We were fortunate to cover a lot of ground (literally) and attend the Taste of France event held at Bryant Park, meet up with dear friends for an incredible 3 hour dinner and the culmination was my run at the NYRR Series Bronx 10 mile run.
— Knead to Cook
I have been tapering my runs back this week because I’m running in a race this Sunday. With that, short runs allow me to be home earlier so I can get to cracking on breakfast for my girls before they head off to school. Yesterday I made these and they loved them. You can use the fruit you have on hand. This recipe is very versatile and forgiving! These also store beautifully in the fridge for several days so breakfast isn’t a concern on the busy school mornings.
— Knead to Cook
I feel compelled to make this disclaimer… if you’re looking for healthy clean eating, this is NOT your recipe. I have to be honest, I don’t eat refined sugars or processed anything but I realize that’s my choice and sometimes an indulgent, fun treat is good when you’re a kid and I have two of them so here it goes! I spotted these Pumpkin Spice M&M’s yesterday and thought they would be fun in some pumpkin spice blondies. So I bought a bag and off I went. It’s a fun treat for the fall season. Again, everything in moderation.
— Knead to Cook
Maille mustards are my favorite. Honestly, it’s all we use in our house. The flavors and unparalleled and always yield the perfect result in my cooking, sauces or dips. I was so excited when Maille reached out to me and asked me to create some recipes for them. I do have some recipes on my website and this one is by far my standard, go-to, obsessed and can’t live without balsamic garlic bread dip. This recipe I’m sharing today was a bit of a departure from how I typically use mustard and I have to say, it was so good! My kids, husband and father alike couldn’t get enough for the sweet and savory combination of flavors.
— Knead to Cook
Yesterday I noticed the bag of tomatoes that my husband had purchased at the farmer’s market for me to roast -last week. Insert a crazy week and I never got around to it. I was debating between salsa or sauce and opted for sauce. I was going to pair it up with my spaghetti squash (in lieu of pasta) that I also needed to roast (thank God for two ovens) and I had dinner set. The unique twist on my standard sauce was that I grabbed a bottle of chardonnay instead of the red that I had on the counter and before I knew it – about a cup of the white wine was in my beloved roasted tomatoes. Why can I see my grandmother and aunt rolling in their graves observing my mistake. But mistake it was not! I pureed the tomatoes and wine and was blown away by the unique flavor the chardonnay added to the sauce. Hello my newest creation… I think I’m quite smitten with you.
Now, onto the recipe…
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— Knead to Cook
Today I threw caution to the wind and decided to get back into the kitchen, regardless of finger pain. I have to be honest… I’ve been going through serious withdrawal! I kept vacillating on cooking/baking because I’m being so cautious with moving my finger but I can’t do it anymore! So after my workout, taxing to school, doc appointment and walk with the dog I got to it. And I cooked and baked until I had to leave to pick my daughter up and I have to tell you – it felt so good! I felt like myself, finally!
To celebrate the first full day of fall that meant apple and pumpkin cooking in my kitchen. I made my muffin pan mini apple pies because my family wouldn’t let up on how good they were (a big ol’ hint for me to make more) and these pumpkin bars. I wanted a nice moist bar without added butter and less sugar than the typical bar recipes. I wanted these for breakfast to-go ideas and for after-school snacking. They are just perfect and totally portable.
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— Knead to Cook
Get your fork ready…
Yesterday made me stop and really examine the last two weeks of my life. I’m unsure if I’ve been really blessed (I’m leaning towards this) or someone is out there gunning for me. Two weeks ago I had a fairly routine operation on my finger resulting in a case of staph infection that landed me in the hospital with IV antibiotics and another surgery to flush out any remaining staph bacteria. The worse case scenario, the docs told me was that I would have a pic line installed and have to go to the hospital every single day for IV antibiotics for 30 days. Thank heavens this wasn’t the case. I walked out of the hospital with oral antibiotics and have been healing up, dealing with the pain of the surgery. This, the docs said was because I was in great shape and I’m very healthy. Okay great. Plus, I have been granted permission upon discharge to continue training, something very important to me and my mental health. I gain great enjoyment from working out and it is a simple way of keeping the endorphins flowing and me happy. Win! Win! So yesterday I headed out about 5:20 am for a ten mile run. I’m training for a half marathon that I have yet to determine (yes, I need to get on this). As I just hit the 9 mile mark, very close to my home, a car that didn’t see me (because the driver wasn’t looking in my direction) hit me. I was fortunate to act fast and catapult myself over his hood and land on the other side of the car. It all happened in slow motion. I landed on my feet and was partially in shock that this happened and that he was driving away! He then must’ve got a glimpse of me running towards the car and stopped. His comment “I never even saw you.” Are you kidding me? I turned and ran home finishing my ten miles in record time and a bit in shock. Long story short, I walked away from a car hitting me. I remember my hands on the hood of the car and thinking is this for real? The engine roaring underneath my palms, I was blessed with the thought of jumping on the hood an getting legs out of the way. I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried. So I’m going with blessed! I escaped two situations that could’ve left me very injured or even dead. So what did I do… I shook it off, relished my ten mile run and made mini pies for my family. One-handed I might add.
I really prefer to live under the radar but lately that’s been quite difficult!
— Knead to Cook
If you have Rosemary in your garden, you know it is truly the hardiest herb. My rosemary plant survives our PA winters and produces wildly beautiful woodsy stems that I can’t live without. This recipe is so much fun and easy- infusing flavor throughout with very little added fats. Great grilling side dish. Serve hot or at room temperature.
— Knead to Cook
I love gnocchi. Always have. It was the one pasta I always ordered when we went out to dinner with my family as a child and now even as an adult. Funny, now my kids love it too! I thought I would mix it up and not make the traditional red sauce and opted to do a brown butter sage sauce. I have a ton of sage in my garden that I want to use it before the chilly weather takes it away from me. The pasta, using whole wheat flour, definitely yielded a heavier gnocchi versus a traditional all-purpose flour that is lighter and airier so I will leave that up to you. Buon appetito!
— Knead to Cook
This was the first recipe I executed by myself this weekend. I truly miss using both of my hands! One finger bandaged really throws a wrench into being a recipe creator/blogger! With that said, I created this super delicious recipe on Sunday. It was well-received and just kicks my addiction of pumpkin up that much further my radar. I love, LOVE, LOVE it! And pair it with some dark chocolate and you have a winner every SINGLE time! My intention was to make this in a bundt pan until I remembered that I threw mine out and never replaced it (add that to the list) so I made it in a round spring form pan. Worked perfectly and would also be great in muffin tins or a loaf pan. My daughter also topped this with Wilbur buds (local chocolatier) but extra Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips on top would be fun to if you wanted to make it extra special.
— Knead to Cook