Food & fitness obsessed girl.
Bring on fall! The weather finally warranted wearing a sweater or jacket. I absolutely adore this season and it is by far, my favorite. Pumpkins, cool breezes, leaves changing to vibrant colors and apples! Lots of apples. Finally after several busy weekends, we were able to carve out a bit of time to hit up my favorite orchard and pick some apples, in fact 40 lbs! In the coming days I will be sharing all of my favorite recipes for everything apple. [Read more…]
— 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
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
My little farm stand, tucked away on this windy road, surrounded by Amish farms has this wonderful little gem I found probably two or so years ago and I keep going back for more… it’s smoked honey. I’ve gotten a slew of questions about how one smokes honey every time I post a picture. I’m unsure of the exact measures that one takes to yield such an incredible product but I’m sure glad they do! It’s remarkably flexible… I can top grilled fruit with it or use it in glazes, such as this one. Tonight I’m grilling up a pork tenderloin for my family and this glaze will finish it off nicely. You can easily use it over fish or chicken as well.
— Knead to Cook
I feel like my house is filled with peaches! Not a bad problem at all if you ask me. These fuzzy coated fruit are a fave here and we’ve already made a gratin and smoothies with them. Next up… a grilled peach salsa to top your favorite protein. My family is having this with grilled pork tenderloin while I’ll be eating it with some tilapia. Honestly so good, bust out a bag of tortilla chips and have it as a dip too. Farm fresh and eating clean sans any guilt or preservative-packed salsas from the grocery store. Takes only minutes to grill and prepare. Keeps for up to 3-4 days in the fridge and only gets better as the flavors have time to “mingle” in the fridge. Totally vegan too!
— Knead to Cook
My friend Adam makes the most incredible rubs for vegetables and beef, chicken, seafood, pork or whatever you can whip up! I’m addicted! Totally clean, super flavorful – perfection in spice form! Low sodium Gluten free. No preservatives. All natural and NO MSG. Click here to see Adam’s world of awesome rubs. Also makes a great Father’s Day gift!
So this salad this very much up to you and what you love or have on hand. Here is my version. You can make this vegetarian by just adding more veggies and omitting the chicken or use tofu or fish.
— Knead to Cook
I wanted to try my hand at making homemade Naan. My husband’s college roommate was Indian and he had several recipes from him that I wanted to transform and use in different ways. I whipped this recipe up and tried it out on the gas grill outside and it turned out perfectly! Tonight we are going to use it for our pizza base. Made with all purpose and whole wheat flour. I added Greek yogurt for extra protein and it yielded a lovely dough. I hope you give this one a try. Perfect for parties and summer grilling.
— Knead to Cook
Chimichurri is a South American version of pesto that is served atop or along side meat and veggies. I’m planning on grilling up a ton of fresh veggies from the farmer’s market and I thought this would be perfection for a vegetarian dish. I will, however, grill up some chicken for my favorite carnivores to eat with it too. I will use fresh herbs from my garden and you can control the heat with the jalapeño according to your taste and preference. This is also perfect over tortellini pasta or on some crusty toasted bread. Yum! Can’t wait for dinner.
— Knead to Cook
After the Maroon 5 concert in Philly, we spent the next day exploring all my favorite food hot spots on Friday. My daughter, Sydney, spotted this cookbook for teens and insisted we get it so that she can cook for us. WHAT? Excuse ME? This is my daughter who has NEVER expressed an interest in the kitchen or what occurs in there as long as there is food to eat. Ha! I was at the register immediately with the cookbook in hand!
She had to work Saturday night so Sunday was her foray into the kitchen and cooking. She found a burger recipe to grill outside (the weather was gorgeous outside) so it was perfect!
The recipe is loosely based on How to Cook Delicious dishes perfect for teen cooks.
Ingredients:
4 green onions, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
Olive oil
1.5 lbs of ground beef (sirloin) lean 93%
2 teaspoon of Chipotle Chili powder
Salt
Pepper
Cheese for topping (optional)
Directions:
In a saute pan, add some olive oil and get it nice and hot. Add the onions and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic. Cook for an additional minute. Then remove from the heat. Let cool. Then into a large bowl add the meat, mixture, chili powder, salt and pepper. Form into sliders or larger burgers. Heat your grill and cook for about 6-8 minutes. Top with cheese if you desire. Serve on a bun or carb free style with lettuce. Enjoy!
— Knead to Cook
I’m obsessed with all of my new cookbooks! Ideas galore and I have to admit, everyone needs some inspiration here and there. This recipe is inspired from The Sprouted Kitchen. I didn’t make the aioli to top the burgers for several reasons, one – I’m not a fan of aioli sauces, two, I’m eating very VERY healthy lately and I didn’t want to add the calories. And finally, these burgers were so flavorful that nothing needed to top them! Honestly, it’s just crazy. I made these as sliders (meatballs would also be fun) so they would be awesome to serve at your Super Bowl party or dinner. Kids love them, adults love them and hey, we really don’t need to be consuming that much meat. I filled our plates up with a mixed green salad with fresh strawberries and sweet potato strings that I baked. Served the burgers on whole wheat potato buns and let the food fest begin!
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
3 green onions, finely diced
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 Granny Smith apple, grated with the largest holes on a box grater
1.25 lb of ground lean (92%) organic turkey
1 teaspoon of Chipotle chile powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Fresh ground pepper
2 tablespoons of freshly minced parsley
Directions:
Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the celery, onions and garlic for about 6 minutes. Then set aside to cool. In your stand mixer, add the remaining ingredients. Blend with the paddle attachment. Then add the cooled ingredients. Blend again. The texture will be stickier than expected. I believe it’s from the water in the apples. Form into burgers or sliders (whichever you prefer) and let sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes. On your grill or grill pan, get it nice and hot, add the burgers and cook until the temperature reaches 175. If you wish to top with cheese, add that in the pan and cover for a few seconds until the cheese melts. Serve with or without a bun. Enjoy!!
— Knead to Cook