Friday Favorites Archives - Page 9 of 10

Five Friday Favorites: Homemade Edible Gifts for the Holidays and a Recipe for Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Bark with Dates and Sea Salt

Holiday gift list. Those three words can make me more stressed out than hearing “OMG! You borrowed my shirt again without asking!” I honestly do not love trudging around shopping malls, looking for parking and standing on looooong lines at this time of year. I would rather sit in my pajamas with a cup of tea and order gifts online like a civilized person. And even better is being in my kitchen cooking up something delicious for the special people in my life. That, to me, is a pleasure.

Today’s Five Friday Favorites are the edible gifts I love to give during the holidays. Everyone will love receiving these treats and you don’t have to worry about things being out of stock or not arriving in the nick of time. You can also make everything organic and with the natural ingredients you would want to share with people you care about. Go put on your slippers and some relaxing holiday music and get busy!

Biscotti

Biscotti are perfect cookies to give out as gifts because they are hearty by nature- they are actually meant to be slightly dry and can last for over a week in the pantry! This ensures that your recipient will have plenty of time to indulge in these tasty treats. Biscotti are perfect for a dunking in a morning cup of espresso or a late sweet liqueur nightcap- both of which take place frequently during the holidays. Their unique shape lends itself to fun gift packaging, so you can really make these cute with a little cellophane and ribbon. Or arrange a bunch in a lovely mug and wrap it all up. My favorite biscotti of all time are these gingerbread biscotti, which couldn’t be more perfect for the holidays!

Other biscotti recipes that look great:

Deep Dark Chocolate Biscotti with whole wheat flour, flaxseeds and almonds at Cooking Light

Whole Grain Cinnamon Nut Baby Biscotti from King Arthur Flour

Nut and Seed Biscotti from 101 Cookbooks

Gluten-free Lemon and Pecan Biscotti from Gluten-free Girl

Chocolate Bark

If you are short on time, chocolate bark is just about the simplest and quickest treat you can make plus everyone LOVES it! I think chocolate bark of any kind looks so pretty and is fun to break off and eat piece by piece. There are two ways I make bark — either by stirring some of the ingredients into the melted chocolate and sprinkling some on top or just sprinkling everything on top. I like a little mixed into the chocolate, personally.

I like to stick with dark or semisweet chocolate since those contain less sugar than milk chocolate. I also prefer using organic chocolate which should be guaranteed non-GMO (sugar is often genetically-modified unless it is label organic or non-GMO.) Good brands are Enjoy Life and Dagoba, but if you are in a pinch, Trader Joe’s has well-priced, good-tasting 1-pound chocolate blocks.

My favorite version of chocolate bark right now is this one with dates, hazelnuts, and sea salt (don’t forget my favorite flavor combo is salty-sweet!,) but the possibilities are endless. You can customize each batch of bark to whomever you are gifting it! Crushed peppermint candies, dried cherries and pistachios, salted almonds, etc. Of course the best part about making homemade treats is that you can control the ingredients. So you can use all organic everything if you want! And since it’s meant to come in broken pieces, it travels easily and no need to worry about being delicate with it. My recipe for Dark Chocolate Bark with Hazelnuts, Dates and Sea Salt is below. So good!

Save Print

Dark Chocolate Bark with Hazelnuts, Dates and Sea Salt

Author: Pamela

Serves: 24 i-inch pieces

Ingredients

1 cup whole, raw hazelnuts
1 pound dark chocolate (70% cacao or higher), chopped
½ cup diced dates (about 6)
1 ½ teaspoons flaky sea salt (such as fleur de sel)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a pie plate or baking sheet, toast the hazelnuts until the skins blister, about 15 minutes. Transfer the nuts to a clean kitchen towel and let cool, then rub to remove the skins. If you don’t mind hazelnut skins, you can skip this step. Coarsely shop the nuts and set aside.
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water until smooth.
Meanwhile, line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Using a ruler and a pencil, draw a 9-by-10-inch rectangle on the paper. Turn the paper face-down on the baking sheet.
Once the chocolate is melted, place half the dates and half the chopped hazelnuts into the bowl with the chocolate and stir to combine.
Pour the chocolate mixture onto the parchment, into the middle of rectangle you drew, and spread out to the edges of the rectangle using a spatula.
Sprinkle the remaining hazelnuts and dates evenly over the chocolate, followed by the sea salt.
Let sit at room temperature for at least 2 hours, or in the fridge for 1 hour to harden, then chop into desired shapes.
Serve at room temperature and store in tightly sealed container for up to a week.

Here are some other bark combinations around the web that look irresistible:

Swirled Bark with Salted Peanuts from Martha Stewart (someone make this for me — looks fantastic!)

Nutty Chocolate Bark with Cardamom and Coffee from Saveur sounds so interesting!

Trail Mix Chocolate Bark from Eating Well

Superfood Chocolate Bark from ThePlantStrongVegan

Granola

A nice change from the traditional Christmas cookies, homemade granola is a perfect gift for the holidays. It is not quite as sugary as all of the usual holiday treats, but still has such a satisfying salty-sweet crunch. It also has so many uses- it can be eaten plain as a snack, finished with almond milk for breakfast, or served over yogurt with a little drizzle of maple syrup for a healthier dessert. Plus, you can buy cute little jars in all different shapes and sizes that can be repurposed by the recipient and look so darling with a little ribbon or twine. I give a little jar of homemade granola to all my kids’ teachers and coaches, etc. and I am always so delighted with their responses. So many of them are health-conscious and they appreciate an edible gift that isn’t dessert. I have also given large jars of granola with a small metal scoop inside as a hostess gift during the year! Click here for my gluten-free, vegan granola recipe.

Custom Almond Butter (or any nut butter)

As I mentioned in my last Friday Favorites post, high quality nut butters are hard to find in any local market right now. And considering the fact that I have been obsessing over Solstice Canyon’s flavored almond butters, I thought this is a perfect time of year to give away homemade almond butter as gifts! First order some wide mouth mason jars like these. Then go here with my homemade almond butter tutorial, and then feel free to mix it up with other nuts, flavors, spices, and add-ins. Try adding vanilla, cinnamon, and maple syrup. Or you could add raw cacao and hazelnuts. Coconut butter or oil would make it really smooth. Or dried figs, honey, and chia seeds. Orrrrrrr, you can cheat and buy plain almond butter and doctor it up with some of the add-in I just mentioned. Think DIY almond butter nutella! Regardless of what you put in, homemade almond butter is so delicious and good for you – and everyone will be shocked that you made it yourself!

Infused Olive Oils and Vinegars

Infused olive oils and vinegars are quick and easy gifts with a personal touch. There are so many different flavor combinations and these can really be fun with all of the different types of bottles that you can find at stores like Cost Plus World Market, The Container Store, Pier One or, of course, amazon. Infused oils and vinegars are great for special salad dressings, drizzling over pasta or seafood, or even just as an appetizer with some crusty bread for dipping. Although I hear that you should never use garlic in infused oil since it can cause botulism! Yikes! I often buy Napa Valley Naturals organic, unrefined cold-pressed olive oil, but you can use whatever is your favorite. Whatever recipe you use, warm the olive oil on low heat instead of high to protect the antioxidants in the oil. Once it’s bottled, cork it well and let it sit for about a week to fully infuse the flavor. If you don’t have that kind of time, the oil will still be flavored after a couple days, but mention to the recipient that he or she should allow the flavors to meld for about 2 weeks for best results. A good idea might be to put a “use by date” just so they remember when it was given. I would store infused oils in the fridge after a month. Check out these how-to’s and different flavor combinations.

Rosemary-Infused Oil from Giada de Laurentiis

Basil-infused Olive oil from Martha Stewart

Lemon-infused Olive oil Video

Cranberry-infused Vinegar from Michael Chiarello (by the way, he has a great book on infusing oils and vinegars)

Five Friday Favorites: Edible Gifts to Buy 12.12.14

‘Tis the season and I have been frantically trying to find the perfect gifts for all my loved ones. You still have a little less than one week before the first night of Hanukkah and two weeks-ish before Christmas, but the clock is ticking! I have a few favorite foodie gifts here, but you should also check out my shopping list for all my favorite kitchen tools and must-haves for additional gift ideas for people who cook (or would like to!) I even have things on there like the portable cart I bring to the farmers market and my favorite stockpot about which I receive so many compliments!

Solstice Canyon Almond Butters

These nut butters from Solstice Canyon are not only delicious but one of the most healthful nut butters on the market right now. They are made from organic, truly raw, unpastureized almonds- something that is almost impossible to find at your local market. The other ingredients (coconut, coconut sugar and Himalayan sea salt) in the nut butters are all top notch and very clean, making these nut butters completely guilt-free. They come in 3 flavors: Original, Aztec chocolate, and Cardamom & Clove. I am absolutely crazy about all three, but the Aztec chocolate is my favorite — the perfect amount of chocolate, slightly sweet with a hint of heat. Delicious. Find this here.

Farmhouse Pottery Maple Syrup and Pitcher or Honey and Pitcher

My best girlfriend gave me one of these sets a couple of years ago and even though I went through the maple syrup quickety-quick, I am still adoring and using the beautiful pitcher that came with it. Both the syrup and the honey are locally sourced in Vermont and I can tell you the syrup is delicious! Plus it all comes packaged in this darling little box to make this an easy gift to give. Find it all at Farmhouse Pottery.

Summerland LA Produce Box

For my Los Angeles friends, what better gift is there for the food lover in your life than fresh, organic produce delivered right to their doorstep? Summerland LA delivers boxes each week filled with a variety of vegetables and/or fruits that is all sourced from local or in-state certified organic farmers, and is hand delivered to your door within 48 hours of picking. The quality here is TOP NOTCH. Plus, Summerland includes recipes each week featuring ingredients that are delivered, which will help ensure that you use up every last piece of produce. If you don’t live in LA, there are so many great local services like this in many parts of the country.

PUREnola

I professed my love for PUREnola snacks on Instagram a while back and I am still smitten. It’s not easy to find truly healthful and nutritious snacks, so when I was introduced to PUREnola, I was super excited. It’s a cluster snack with sprouted organic raw nuts, sprouted organic raw seeds and other natural ingredients to pack a powerful crunch. It is a favorite of those following grain free, gluten free, dairy free, soy free, raw, vegan and paleo diets. I don’t follow any of those diets, but I find myself using PUREnola like I would granola on yogurt, chia pudding, hot porridge and frozen desserts. But it also makes a unique and delicious addition to a cheeseboard. The flavors range from salted chocolate to coconut to my favorite, rosemary spice, and many others. Love this! PUREnola can be found here. PUREnola is offering my readers 10% off their purchases with the promo code PAMELA10

Bulletproof Coffee and Hot Chocolate

Move over, Starbucks. There’s a new drink in town. Bulletproof Coffee is all the rage. Imagine taking So, lowest toxin, highest performance coffee there is and then blend unsalted, grass-fed butter into it, along with an extract of coconut oil that improves brain energy. Repeat, butter. So the idea is you have all the benefits of healthy milk fat with none of the damaging denatured casein proteins found in cream. People say (I haven’t tried it because I don’t drink coffee) it makes for the creamiest, most satisfying cup of coffee you’ve ever had. And it will keep you satisfied with level energy for 6 hours if you need it, without craving simple carbs or sugar, and because one drinks it for breakfast, the body is programmed to burn fat for energy all day long! I know many people that swear by it! Buy the coffee here.

And now, perfect for the holidays and for non-coffee drinkers, there’s a limited edition high quality Bulletproof Hot Chocolate. SO exciting! Find it here.

Next Friday, I’ll post my favorite homemade edible gifts!

Five friday favorites for entertaining 12.05.14

Happy Holidays, friends! I had to take a little blogging break in order to prepare for (and recover from) my 36-person Thanksgiving last week! Hope yours was as special and fun as mine was.

I have a few new Friday Favorites to share! These are some of my go-to items for entertaining and I thought they might be useful right around now. Have a great weekend! xoxo

Silicone ice cube trays

Cocktail hour just got a whole lot more interesting with these silicone ice cube trays! I love using these cubes to spruce up any iced beverage I may be serving to my guests. They come in all different shapes and sizes and are so fun and easy to use. I especially like the large size which chills a drink evenly without diluting it. Plus, food-grade silicone doesn’t leach anything weird into your ice. If you search silicone ice cube molds, do try to find ones that are BPA-free. Of course, you can freeze more than just water in them. Try freezing pesto, baby food or stock. Props to my husband for adding these to our kitchen!

The three images above are the ones I have, purchased from Amazon and Williams-Sonoma.

MYdrap Reusable/Disposable Napkins

MYdrap reusable/disposable napkins have become my ultimate go-to for easy entertaining. My mother-in-law gave me my first roll last year and I have been buying them ever since. They are perfect for occasions when I want an upgrade from paper/disposable napkins, but without the cost, effort, and upkeep of traditional linen napkins. And 99% of the time, people think they’re using my regular linens. Plus, these are made of biodegradable, recyclable materials, so I feel better about not throwing away a lot of disposable paper goods. They can be washed and reused up to 6 times, so you are sure to get your money’s worth! I always buy the neutral “linen” ones because they resemble my real napkins, but they come in so many colors, fabrics and sizes. You can order them directly from buymydrap.com or Amazon.

Gold Flatware

I have admired matte gold flatware for a while. I think it looks unique, stylish, and warm, especially when paired with simple, neutral dishes and a rustic table. It can add that pop of elegance you need when you don’t want to pull out the fine china. For Thanksgiving this year, my husband surprised me by bringing home this beautiful set of matte gold flatware from Design Within Reach. I thought it was the perfect addition to our holiday table and I have already used it again since last week. There are other pretty styles that I have seen as well, such as these from Canvas Home, or these from Vera Wang at Bloomingdales.

Cheeseboard

The perfect cheese board is such a staple for entertaining, especially around the holidays when I want to keep things simple, but elegant. While there are many tricks and tips to creating that perfect cheese plate (and perhaps that should be a post soon,) it all starts with a great board. I think it’s worth investing in a nice board which you can use for not only cheese, but serving hors d’oeuvres as well. I personally prefer wood, but there are some beautiful boards in marble or slate, as well. I have the middle sized oval board pictured on the left. It’s from Spencer Peterman, but I purchased it at Lost and Found in LA. The board in the center and right is from Williams-Sonoma.

Toothpicks and Skewers

What is a party without some kind of skewered hors d’oeurve? Ditch the frilly cocktail picks. You can give your starters a complete makeover with these cute little skewers and toothpicks. I think they add inexpensive chicness (is that a word?) and refinement to my hors d’oeuvres which would otherwise look a little amateur. Norpro toothpicks available here. Bamboo knots from here. Bamboo mini forks from here. When you are ordering skewers and the like, be sure to pay attention to the size since there are many offered. 4-inches is a good basic size to have for hors d’oeuvres, but you may want a smaller size for garnishes for drinks or for holding mini sandwiches together.

It’s party time! Enjoy!

Five friday favorites for making a turkey 11.7.14

I am in full Thanksgiving mode, cooking friends! This is the time I check all my equipment so I don’t have to fight the crowds in Williams-Sonoma the night before Thanksgiving because I can’t find my meat thermometer. Today I’m sharing my favorite essentials for cooking and serving a turkey!

Roasting Pan

A good roasting pan will properly cook your turkey and not allow the juices to burn. I highly recommend a stainless steel pan, as opposed to nonstick or aluminum. The bottom should be thick so you can put it on your burner to make gravy. I also prefer straight-sided roasters and not flared which take up more oven space. The roaster should have sturdy handles so you can carry the bird safely out of the oven.

Williams-Sonoma has a great selection of roasters here. If your oven is small, do not assume every roasted will fit. You may want to take measurements. This is the All-clad roaster I have and love. You will also need a v-shaped rack, but you do not need turkey lifters. I just use rubber gloves to flip the turkey and to carve.

Baster

I’m into basting the turkey every 20-30 minutes because I think it helps keep the bird moist. I do not, however, like to use plastic with hot foods. So I recommend a stainless steel turkey baster. Try and buy one that comes with a brush so you can clean the inside easily. I like this one by Aroma.

Meat Thermometer

The only way to determine whether the turkey is done is to test the temperature of the bird with a meat thermometer. You cannot go by a chart on the packaging of the turkey or even a recipe. Those provide good estimates, but there are too many variables that can affect how the turkey cooks. If you are not sure if your meat thermometer works, place the tip into boiling water (wear an oven mitt to protect your hand). If the temp reads 212 degrees (although not every thermometer goes that high,) your meat thermometer is accurate. If it’s off by a lot, you need a new one. I have had this inexpensive thermometer for many years and it’s great. Although I was so intrigued by this one from provisions.com that hooks up to my iPhone that I bought it. You get an alert when the turkey reaches the right temp. So no more trying to guesstimate. I’m going to try it out this week!

Cutting Board with Deep Grooves

It is not ideal to carve a turkey on a cutting board that is straight across with no grooves to catch the turkey juices which end up spilling onto your countertop, or worse, on you and your new shoes. Get yourself a nice big wood board with deep grooves so the juices stay put. I have one similar to this one by John Boos and I’ve had it for years. It is perfect for the job. This Boos board I found on amazon is a similar size and style, but also has hand grips on the side (for $20 more.) If you want a carving board that looks beautiful too, I love this one from provisions.com. It doesn’t have grooves, but instead slopes on an angle and collects run-off that way.

Carving Knife

I like a good sharp knife for carving the turkey that is about 8-10 inches long with a pointy tip, not a round one. You also want a straight edged blade and not a serrated blade which will tear the meat. This Wustof set is what I have been using for many, many years, and I think it does a great job. All knives, even very high quality ones, have to be sharpened regularly, though. If you haven’t taken yours to be sharpened in a while, now is a great time to do that because everyone else will want to do that the weekend before Thanksgiving. Your best bet is to go to a local cutlery store. If you don’t have one of those where you live, try a cooking store. Sharp knives are safer and much more enjoyable to use than dull!

Until next week!

Five Friday Favorites 10.31.14

Happy Halloween! Remember what I always say about today being the day that sets off our sugar binges for the next few months! Be mindful. I have some new favorites I’d like to share with you today. Enjoy!

oster dura ceramic flip waffle maker

I finally found it — the waffle maker I’ve been searching for! I didn’t want a waffle maker coated in nasty teflon or non-stick chemicals. But I had a tough time with a cast iron version for the stovetop. I was so excited to discover this Oster ceramic waffle iron on amazon with mostly good reviews and at a very affordable price! Ceramic is nontoxic and doesn’t leach and I checked that this ceramic is lead-free. There have been complaints about ceramic in general as a coating for pots and pans, that the ceramic doesn’t last long and it starts chipping. Well, I make waffles about once a month and this machine is less than $30. Chipping or flaking is a risk I’m willing to take since I can’t find another acceptable waffle iron. Admittedly, I haven’t had the waffle iron long, so feel free to check in with me in a year to see if I still like it. But I was DELIGHTED at how well my waffles turned out. My family likes them crispy, so I did have to leave them in a bit longer than the recommended time. If you have a better, nontoxic, non-leaching, easy-to-use and easy-to-clean waffle iron, please share!!

seasonal produce: pumpkin

There is nothing that gets me more in the holiday spirit than roasting my first pumpkin of the season. Click here for how to do that. The recommended varieties of edible pumpkins include the smaller ones like Sugar Pie, Cinderella, Baby Pam, Lumina, or Pink Banana Squash. Even blue pumpkins are edible. Jack O’Lantern pumpkins are typically not recommended for eating because they don’t taste all that great and they’re grainy. You also don’t want to cook a pumpkin that you carved and left outside since rodents likely have visited it. Yikes!

Pumpkin is such a great versatile winter vegetable that can be added to soups, oatmeal, smoothies, and of course, used in all kinds of baked goods. Lucky for us, not only is pumpkin delicious, but it is super healthful as well. Pumpkin is loaded beta-carotene, a powerful anti-oxidant which our bodies convert to Vitamin A. And did you also know that this squash has tons of potassium and vitamin C?? What a great way to keep our immune systems going strong through the cold and flu season! Although I prefer to roast my pumpkin from scratch, tetra-paks of pumpkin puree are also so great when I am in a pinch. Check out a couple of my favorite pumpkin recipes from my site and around the web!

Pumpkin Pancakes with Sauteed Apples

Vegan Pumpkin Oatmeal Spice Cookies

Pumpkin Oatmeal

Roasted Pumpkin Salad via 101 Cookbooks

Ginger Apple Pumpkin Soup via Love and Lemons

Pumpkin Granola via Two Peas and Their Pod

superfood spotlight: hemp seeds

One of my favorite toppings for oatmeal, smoothie bowls, porridges, and even salads are hemp seeds! Hemp seeds, or hemp hearts as they are sometimes called, are a seed that come from a variety of the cannabis plant (variety being the key word here, people), and are considered to be one of nature’s perfect foods. Hemp seeds are packed with a type of protein that is a lot more easily digestible to our bodies than animal proteins (such as the proteins found in meat, eggs, and dairy). Also, they carry all 9 of the essential amino acids needed for optimum health, including the rarely found GLA. Hemp seeds are also high in Vitamin E, fiber, zinc, iron- the list goes on and on! Hemp seeds have a pleasant, slightly nutty flavor with a smooth texture that allows them to be blended easily. Their light flavor is hard to detect when added to cookies, granolas, smoothies, and etc. So many reasons to add this superfood to your repetoire, asap! I buy them at Whole Foods or amazon.

diy body scrub: brown sugar and coconut oil

I love a beauty product that can be made from natural items that I have in my pantry. I have been obsessed lately with homemade coconut oil and brown sugar body scrub. Depending on how much you want to make, you take approximately 2 parts brown sugar (white sugar works fine here, too- finally a good use for it!) and mix with 1 part coconut oil. I just eyeball it. It will last in your cabinet for 2+ months, so feel free to make a big batch at one time! You can also play around with adding essential oils like lavender, or vanilla to create a nice scent. The scrub will exfoliate your skin beautifully, which is so important to help our body to regenerate new skin cells- this is what gives us glowing, radiant skin! Coconut oil is also extremely hydrating and moisturizing, which is just another reason why this scrub is a must as the weather turns drier. I prefer to use it in the shower rather than the bath since it will leave an oily film around the tub which isn’t awesome to clean up. I was also thinking we could make some scrubs and package them in cute jars for holiday gifts!

herringbone kitchen towels

These herringbone towels have made their way to the top of my stack of dish towels lately, and I can’t get enough of them! I bought them on amazon a few months ago, and not only are they adorable, but they are extremely useful, durable, and budget-friendly. The herringbone weave provides a little texture to the towel which gives it added cleaning power and makes it super absorbent. These towels are very low-lint too, which is nice if you wanted to use these as napkins for an informal dinner party with a rustic theme or for drying glassware. Also, they aren’t bulky like some of my waffle weave towels, so don’t take up as much space in my ever-shrinking storage areas in my kitchen. This type of towel is available at many kitchen and home stores, but I happen to love these on Amazon and think they are a great price at 13 towels for $17.99.

Have a great Halloween!

Five Friday Favorites 10.24.14

TGIF, friends! Here’s a few of my favorites this week, running the gamut from food to beauty care to kitchen aids and a fun little basket my husband gave me!

Glasslock Containers

Little by little, piece-by-piece, my kitchen is slowly becoming a 100% plastic-free zone. Glass is my preferred medium when it comes to storing food: it doesn’t leach chemicals, cleans easily, doesn’t hold onto odors and is inexpensive. My favorite glass storage products are these Glasslock containers, which I found at The Container Store (check Amazon too!) I do a lot of advance dinner prep, like chopping my veggies before I go to work, and I am so pleased with the way Glasslock doesn’t allow odors to seep out (like onions.) These containers also freeze stock, which I make gallons of every week. This time of year I am stock-ing my freezer (no pun intended), and these containers have made my life much easier. They freeze perfectly with no cracking unlike some other glass jars and even plastic counterparts, and come in a perfect 6.3-cup portion, which allows you to freeze a quart of stock while still allowing room for expansion. I personally love the rectangular sizes so that I am utilizing every last square inch of my freezer! Please, please, please check this post for how to properly freeze liquids in glass without shattering. Of course, you can also use glass to freeze cooked grains, nuts, beans, fruit and the like. I love the littlest Glasslocks for salad dressing in lunch boxes. There are other brands of this type of storage container (such as Store n’ Lock at Bed Bath and Beyond) and Costco has some as well.

Soapwalla Deoderant

We are all aware that antiperspirant is not good for our bodies, right? Sweating is one of the body’s methods for detoxifying. If you wear antiperspirant, you are blocking the armpits from sweating and it stays in the body, close to the breasts. Please chose deodorant only and skip the antiperspirant, especially ones with aluminum. But, I am the first to admit, it’s hard to find a natural deodorant that works, i.e. prevents odor and stink. I posted this natural deodorant on Instagram after I put it to the test on my 3-week trip to Europe this summer when I trekked miles a day in the heat. Everyday I would come back to our room and force my family to smell my armpits because I had no smell. Really. I love, love, love this deodorant. Here’s a bummer though, one of my daughters felt a stinging under her armpits when she used it. So I can’t say it’s for everyone.

Seasonal food: Fuyu Persimmons

The only good thing about peach and nectarine season coming to an end is that soon enough I start seeing one of my favorite fall fruits pop up in the markets- persimmons! Persimmons are high in fiber, B and C vitamins, and anti-inflammatory compounds.

Fuyu persimmons, which are the most common kind and non-astringent, can be eaten raw and crisp while still firm (as opposed to Hachiyas, which must be eaten at the perfect level of softness.) Have you ever tried a Fuyu? They are sweet and juicy and have flavors of honey, apple, and peach (in my opinion.) The skin can be eaten or peeled (I always eat it.) Enjoy this yummy fall fruit fresh raw out of hand, in salads, baked into breads or sweets, chopped into a salsa, or my new fave which is sliced on a piece of toast with some almond butter! If you can get your hands on dried persimmons, you are in for a treat. Super sweet and caramel-y. De-lish!

Here are a few good-looking recipes from around the web:

Persimmon and Pomegranate Salad with Arugula and Hazelnuts from Sunday Suppers at Lucques Cookbook (one of my favorite salads EVER!)

Spiced Persimmon Salsa by Cooking Light

Amie at The Healthy Apple has a bunch of great persimmon ideas here

Roasted Root Vegetable Salad with Persimmons from Food & Wine

Persimmon and Buffalo Mozzarella Salad from The Kitchn

Superfood Spotlight: Raw cacao powder and unsweetened raw cacao nibs

Someone in one of my classes asked me recently why I put raw cacao nibs on everything even though they are unsweetened and don’t taste like regular chocolate. Raw cacao can be an acquired taste for sure. My girls and I like it a lot, Mr. Picky and my husband are not into it. I love the crunchy texture and bitter chocolate flavor that this superfood adds to my oatmeals, porridges, puddings, raw desserts (like my Larabars) and smoothie bowls! You can even use the nibs like you would chocolate chips, in cookies and baked goods. And when paired with unrefined sweeteners such as maple syrup or dates, cacao is the perfect substitution for sugar-laden chocolate in sweets.

Raw cacao powder and nibs come from the cacao bean, which grows on a tree. Cacao nibs are the cacao bean broken into little chunks or “nibs”, and raw cacao powder is the cacao bean finely ground. Because they are raw and have never been heated, none of their beneficial chemical properties has been destroyed (which is the case with cocoa powder and processed chocolate). This allows the cacao bean to have powerful antioxidant properties that fight off free radicals, decrease cholesterol, and can enhance your mood and libido! It is also high in magnesium, which is a nutrient that helps decrease stress. When paired with something sweet, I could definitely be fooled into thinking cacao was chocolate! I buy raw cacao powder and unsweetened raw cacao nibs at Whole Foods, but you can order them online from vitacost.com and amazon.com.

“Best Before” Tuti Fruiti Paper Basket

My husband surprised me with a little gift last week! This super cute eco-friendly basket is one of my favorite new additions to my kitchen countertop accessories. It is made from 100% recycled paper, and is the perfect size for holding lemons, apples, or other goodies. He bought it at the Lost and Found shop in Los Angeles, a unique little shop that carries textiles and handcrafted pieces for the home from all over the world. I’m obsessed with everything there! They even have a website if you don’t live in LA and you’re looking for some cool holiday gifts. 🙂

Have a great weekend! Until next time! xoxo

Roasted Vegetable and Black Bean Enchiladas Verdes (and a casserole version!)

A few weeks ago, six other families and mine planned to get together for a pot luck at my friend Lana’s house. One of the families keeps kosher, so we decided to go with a fish and dairy meal. I thought these vegetable enchiladas verdes would be a great vegetarian option. At least it seemed like a good idea at the time, but that’s because I wasn’t remembering Mr. Picky’s haircut after school that day and his basketball practice from 4-5. I think I was just craving enchiladas on the day I volunteered and not thinking it was a bonehead move to offer to make them for 35 people.

Homemade enchiladas are one of my absolute favorite things to eat. But I’m not talking about the overly cheesy and soggy kind. I love a good (GMO-free) corn tortilla wrapped around either some poached chicken or vegetables and beans and then smothered in fresh tomatillo sauce. You can even hold the cheese. We ski a few times each year in Deer Valley, Utah, which is known not only for its great ski runs, but for pretty good lunch on the mountain. Once in a blue moon they serve the most divine roasted vegetable enchiladas, which is how this recipe was inspired. I actually prefer vegetable enchiladas over ones with chicken and my husband says he doesn’t miss the meat at all.

I also prefer the “green” version over the red and I love making tomatillo sauce from scratch. Have you ever seen one of these cuties? One of my students thought the supermarket prewraps each tomatillo in these paper husks, but in fact, they grow that way. Tomatillos are related to tomatoes, but they have a tangy, puckery, sourness that Mr. Picky doesn’t care for, so his enchiladas are made with no sauce for now. You know what I say? More for me! If you eat dairy, that tanginess does go particularly well with cheese or sour cream. Just saying. I tried several methods for making tomatillo sauce and broiling them on a sheet pan was not only easy, but that little bit of char on the tomatillos added tons of flavor to the sauce. You can also boil them, but boiling vegetables, especially ones high in Vitamin C, isn’t usually my first choice.

I’m sure you can see from my pictures that dicing up 3 sheet pans of vegetables was a bit of work. When I do this for my family, it’s no big deal. But besides the vegetable prep, there is also the task of rolling each tortilla around a small amount of filling and nestling them side by side in a baking dish. So the first pan started that way until I started cursing myself for not having volunteered a lasagne, the perfect potluck dish to feed a crowd. LIGHTBULB! Enchilada Lasagne! At the rate I was going, there was no way we would make it to dinner even fashionably late. So I took 6 corn tortillas and made one layer on the bottom of the baking dish, dumped half of the remaining filling on top plus a few sprinkles of cheese, put down another 6 tortillas in one layer and covered the whole thing with tomatillo sauce and a bit more cheese. 2 minutes. Done. Am I a genius or an idiot? Toss-up.

There are so many delicious vegetables you can use, or use up if you have a bunch of random odds and ends in the fridge. This time around I used butternut squash, sweet bell pepper, shiitake mushrooms, asparagus and red onions, but I have also added sweet potatoes, zucchini, and carrots. I’ve never used sauteed or blanched greens, such as spinach or Swiss chard, but I think I will the next time around. I was going to post this recipe next month, but it occurred to me that you all may be entertaining for the Super Bowl this weekend and my new discovery of the Enchilada Casserole would be the perfect thing to serve a crowd. Here are a few ways to make this even easier for you:

Use pre-made enchilada sauce — but only if you have access to a good one or if you can’t find fresh tomatillos.
Make your own sauce, but do it the day before.
Dice and roast your vegetables the day before or first thing in the morning. Keep them in a covered container in the fridge until you are ready to assemble your enchiladas.
Make the casserole version. It will take sooooo much less time, especially if you are making more than one pan of it.
Assemble it in the morning. That will give you time to clean up the family room and whip up some guacamole before your guests arrive.
Freeze it. Thaw it out and bake for a delicious dinner another busy night.

Tomatillo sauce ingredients in the blender

Are you planning on having people over for Super Bowl Sunday? Other great options can be Vegetable Chili served over brown rice, quinoa or millet; a Taco bar; a Fajita bar; a Baked Potato bar; and of course, Guacamole and Baked Tortilla Chips. As you can see, I am happy to cook before the opening kick-off, but then everybody needs to fend for themselves so I can concentrate on the game. Go Giants! By special request, my famous cornbread recipe coming up on Friday!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Pamela Salzman (@pamelasalzman)

5.0 from 4 reviews

Save Print

Roasted Vegetable and Black Bean Enchiladas Verdes (and a casserole version!)

Author: Pamela

Serves: 6

Ingredients

5-6 cups mixed vegetables, such as butternut squash, zucchini, sweet bell pepper, red onion, mushrooms, apsaragus, cut into ½-inch cubes
Olive oil for drizzling
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ cups cooked black beans or 1 15-ounce can, drained and rinsed
Sauce:
20 medium tomatillos, about 2 ¼ pounds, husked and washed
1 jalapeno, stem removed (will make the sauce a 5 on a heat scale of 1 to 10)
½ small onion, peeled
3 garlic cloves
10 sprigs cilantro
1 Tablespoon sea salt
3 Tablespoons olive oil
12 corn tortillas
grated cheese, (such as Monterey Jack) if desired or crumbled queso fresco

Instructions

To roast vegetables: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the vegetables on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and toss to coat evenly. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast until tender, but not over-cooked, about 25 minutes. Add the black beans to the vegetables and mix together or put everything into a bowl to combine.
Place all the tomatillos and the jalapeno on a baking sheet. No need to line with parchment paper. Change the oven to broil. Place under the broiler for about 10 minutes, turning over after 5 minutes until tomatillos are lighter in color and contain a few brown spots. Change oven to 350 degrees if baking the enchiladas right away.
Transfer the tomatillos to a blender or a food processor with the jalapeno, 3 garlic cloves, ½ onion, cilantro and sea salt. Process until smooth. You should have 4 cups of sauce.
Heat a skillet over medium heat and warm the olive oil. Add the tomatillo sauce and simmer 5 minutes.
In the meantime, warm the tortillas on a griddle or skillet on both sides until softened.
Pour 1 cup of sauce on the bottom of a 13x9-inch baking dish. Place about ⅓ cup of vegetables down the middle of a tortilla and roll tightly. Place seam-side down in the baking dish. Repeat with each tortilla. Cover all the rolled tortillas with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with grated cheese, if desired. Bake until heated through and cheese is melted, about 10-12 minutes. Serve immediately.
Casserole version: Pour 1 cup of sauce on the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Place 6 corn tortillas in one layer on top of the sauce. Spread all of the vegetables and beans on top of the tortillas. Sprinkle with cheese, if desired. Arrange another 6 corn tortillas over the vegetable mixture in one layer. Pour enough sauce to cover well and sprinkle with more cheese, if desired. Bake until heated through and cheese is melted.

Notes

Leftovers? Chop up the enchiladas and add to a pot of chicken broth. Heat and serve. Enchilada Soup!

Building a better breakfast

You probably know that people who eat breakfast generally weigh less and have a lower Body Mass Index than people who don’t eat breakfast. Maybe you’ve learned from personal experience that when you skip breakfast, you have low blood sugar later in the morning and can be more easily tempted by junk food. Or that you are ravenous by lunchtime and tend to overeat. And it likely makes sense to you that children who skip breakfast more often have behavioral and learning problems at school. There are even more reasons I can offer to reinforce the importance of eating breakfast, but I would probably be preaching to the choir. So instead, let’s focus on how to build a better breakfast.

Personally, I get excited to wake up in the morning and eat something delicious. But not only should my breakfast taste good, I want it to help me focus and feel energized until lunchtime. Ideally, my breakfast won’t trigger sugar cravings and more importantly it will keep my blood sugar stable throughout the morning. This is even more important when I consider what to put in my kids’ breakfasts. Here’s how:

Protein — everyone needs a certain amount of protein over the course of a day, but it’s essential that breakfast (as well as lunch) contains some form of protein. Protein stimulates the brain to help us feel alert. It is also takes a long time to digest, makes us feel full, and helps keep blood sugar levels stable, which is especially key for kids in school. Protein does not just come in the form of animal protein. Other high quality sources are organic, free-range eggs, nuts ( we love almonds, walnuts and pecans), seeds (e.g. hemp, sunflower, pumpkin), dairy (if you can tolerate it ; try sheep and goat yogurts or raw unpasteurized cow dairy), legumes and quinoa.

Complex (High Fiber) Carbohydrates — Not all carbs are created equal. Complex carbs partnered with fiber and/or protein release energy into the bloodstream at a slow, steady rate and make us feel more satisfied throughout the morning. Look for WHOLE grains such as steel cut oats, millet, quinoa, brown rice, farro and barley. I am not a big fan of processed grains, such as cold, boxed breakfast cereals, instant oats or foods made with refined flours which your body turns into sugar really fast.

High Quality Fats — the brain is 60% fat and needs high quality fats to perform better. Fats also help you feeling satisfied and full for longer. Avocado, nuts and seeds, organic butter from grass-fed cows, whole eggs and whole dairy are all good sources.

Savory vs. Sweet — if you suffer from sugar cravings, starting your day with a savory meal can really help stave off the desire for sweets. I find that if I start the day with pancakes and syrup or a fruit smoothie, I keep looking for sweet foods all day long. The opposite is true when I start the day with something savory like eggs or soup.

I definitely think outside the box when it comes to breakfast. We’re so accustomed to thinking we can only eat “breakfast” foods in the morning, but who says you can’t give your child a turkey sandwich on wheat or a chicken leg from last night’s dinner? They sure beat sugared breakfast cereals! The key here is balance and listening to your body’s cues to what feels right for you. I love starting the day with a cup of warm water with a squeeze of lemon juice. Some people find their digestion is better off eating fruit on an empty stomach and then waiting an hour to eat something more substantial. I prefer to have some fruit in the late afternoon, but my kids eat fresh fruit at the same time as their breakfast. Here are a few of our favorite breakfasts:

Eggs — scrambled, hard-boiled, frittatas with leftover vegetables, Joe’s special (eggs scrambled with grass-fed ground beef, spinach and onions) with or without a side of whole grain toast.

Yogurt Parfait — whole yogurt layered with granola and fruit or a mix of nuts, fruit and coconut

Whole Grain Pancakes served with or without a side of nitrate-free turkey bacon or chopped nuts

Quinoa Porridge — made with raw milk or almond milk, fresh fruit

Steel Cut Oatmeal — check back on Friday for a recipe for overnight oatmeal and a few of our favorite topping ideas; finished with raw milk, almond milk or hemp milk

Whole Grain French Toast made with eggs

Bircher Muesli

Yogurt or Kefir Smoothies

Whole Grain or Sprouted Toast with Almond Butter and Sliced Bananas

Soup (my favorite breakfast) — provided there is some protein, such as beans or lentils

Roasted Sweet Potato with Whole Yogurt

Toasted Millet Bread with Sliced Smoked Wild Salmon and Avocado

Leftovers from Dinner – also a favorite — anything from fried rice to risotto to tacos

Do you have trouble getting the kids to eat breakfast in the morning? What are some of your favorite breakfast foods??