I have a (super delicious) banana bread recipe that is a family (and friend!) favorite and in serious rotation in my house. I've made it so many times that I've memorized the ingredients and can practically make it with my eyes closed. If you haven't tried it - go here immediately and do so.

Recently I did a week long cleanse. No sugar, no alcohol, no carbs, no processed junk - just lean protein and vegetables. Let me tell you it was not easy, but it was one of the smartest things I've ever done. Once you get your body into a squeaky clean state, you can slowly add back foods, one-by-one, to see which are good for your body, and which are not. (More on that later.)

What I also realized is that while I'm all about splurging from time to time and love to bake, I needed a healthier, lighter version of my traditional banana bread. I found this recipe here (love & light to you, Jacqui) and modified it until it worked for me. I'm pretty sure I've perfected it. My babies loved them and I don't think they even noticed the difference other than the omission of their beloved chocolate chips.

Ingredients:

4 ripe bananas

2 eggs

1 cup coconut sugar

1/2 cup melted butter

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour

To make this vegan, substitute apple sauce for eggs and Smart Balance or any other butter substitute in place of butter.

Bake at 350 for 12-15 min. 
Yields about 48 mini muffins - two tins of 24. Enjoy!

Simple, Healthy & Yummy Farro Recipe

When my husband and I met, he was working as a bartender for AOC, which he opened alongside renowned chef, Suzanne Goin. Admittedly, I wasn't much of a food or wine connoisseur at the time. Blame it on my twenties, if you must. (I even met the hubs while there on another date with another guy - but that's another story for another day.)

Over the years I've come to appreciate the finer things in life, such as good cuisine, very good wine, and a refined palate for the best kinds of men. Er, man. (Singular.)

This recipe is taken very loosely from Suzanne's farro & black rice recipe which I enjoyed often back in the day... Sitting on those bar stools becoming a passionate wine lover and passionately studying a very cute bartender. (Eventually I started to frequent sans dates, and the rest of that story is history.)

I tend to simplify most recipes when I can.  Call it laziness or lack of time, or desperation to get tiny ones to eat more than mac n' cheese. For this dish, I just try to emulate the flavors of warm earthiness from the farro, accompanied by the perfect thyme spice and the touch of sweetness that the cranberries bring.

Ingredients:

1 cup farro

(I like to use the easy 10 min farro)

2 cups chicken or veggie broth

1/2 cup diced onion

1/2 cup dried cranberries 

2 fresh or dried bay leaves 

1/3 cup toasted pine nuts

1 TBS thyme leaves

1-2 tsp parsley

2 TBS olive oil

Directions:

Heat olive oil in medium to large sauce pan and sauté the diced online, thyme, parsley and bay leaf together until the onion is translucent. Toss in the farro to coat with oil and spices and let it toast lightly. (Follow the recipe directions for the farro, I always use the easy 10 min farro, which is 1 cup, to 2 cup water or broth ratio.) Pour the broth in and bring to a boil. Cover and turn the heat down to simmer for 10 min (or longer if you're using traditional farro.) Meanwhile, place your pine nuts on a baking sheet and bake at 375 for 10 min. Drain any excess liquid from the farro and toss in the toasted pine nuts and cranberries.

Now enjoy with some very good wine. 

Cheers to refining our palates and not reliving our twenties! Yikes to those years. 

I love you, babe. 

My mom's albondigas soup recipe

Well, the weather is finally cooperating in southern Cali and feeling a little more like fall every day. These are the moments I cherish being a mother… Bundled up babies and warm soup on the stove.

A few years ago, when Stella was so tiny it hurts my heart to think about, and being a mama was so very new to me, a friend of mine interviewed me for her blog. We chatted about motherhood and I shared one of my favorite recipes passed down from my own mother.

Recently, while looking for this recipe, I realized I had never shared it on my own blog, so I thought a chilly November day would be the perfect opportunity. Read the original article here and read on for ingredients and instructions.

Albondigas Soup
1 lb ground turkey
2 eggs
1 cup white rice
3 lg potatoes
1 tbs oregano
Salt & pepper to taste

Combine meat, eggs, spices and uncooked rice. 

Fill a large soup pot 1/2 way with water and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, chop potato into large pieces and set aside.

Roll meat mixture into desired sized meatballs.

Add meat balls to boiling water, reduce heat and simmer. After 15 minutes or so, add in potatoes and continue to simmer until meat is cooked through and potatoes are soft, about another 15 min. 

Serve piping hot with warm tortillas and Mexican cheese. 

Delish! 

Side note: "Albondigas" means meatballs in Spanish and there are several different versions of this soup out there. You can use beef instead of turkey, add different spices and vegetables… This one is very bare bones, with only meat and potatoes. Upon reflection I realize that this could have simply been because I was raised with a limited budget and six siblings. You do the grocery math. But although simple, this soup brings such nostalgic comfort to me. Isn't that the thing about childhood? You see only the best of what you've been given. 

With love, 

T xx

Banana Set Cake with Greek Yogurt

It's been a while since I posted a recipe. Not because I haven't wanted to, but because of the lack of time I have had to dedicate to the kitchen! It's been all about the new biz lately. Which is good. Good stuff happening. But a girl's gotta bake her family a treat from time to time, am I right?

This recipe actually came about from being on set. I bought way too many bananas and way too much yogurt to feed my crew at breakfast time (yes, I do styling, on-camera, crafty and all), so a bag of food came home with me. I was sitting there staring at all of these bananas and wondering what to do with them (there's only so much banana bread one can make) and a giant tub of unopened Greek yogurt too!

So I did a key word search for CAKE-YOGURT-BANANA and came up with this!

Banana Set Cake with Greek Yogurt

After tweaking some ingredients on a recipe I found here, I came up with this.

Ingredients

4 bananas (the riper, the better)

1 cup Greek yogurt

1/2 cup half & half (milk will work)

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp vinegar

1.5 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups flour

3/4 cup butter (room temp)

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

Method: Preheat oven to 350. In your mixer, whirl up bananas, yogurt, cream & vinegar. In a separate bowl, add flour, salt & baking soda. Set aside. Cream together butter & sugar in another bowl. Butter should be room temp. (Mine came out of the freezer, so I chopped it up and let it sit in a bowl on top of preheating oven for 5 min. See pic above.) Fold eggs into butter sugar mix, then alternate adding this and dry ingredients into mixer. Do not over mix! Grease & flour pan (I used two rounds) and bake for 30-35 min.

I still had plenty of yogurt to use up and realized I could just mix it into powdered sugar to create icing! I added in some vanilla to add depth, but you could get creative and use lemon zest or almond extract. Easy!

Frosting:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 cups Greek yogurt

1/2 tsp vanilla

 Sift sugar into yogurt and whip until creamy. Mix in vanilla and let cool inside refrigerator until ready to use.

Hope you enjoy as much as my family and I did! Let me know if you try it! xx

Peanut butter {energy} balls

I remember when I was a kid, my mom made a similar version of these no bake "cookies" and I loved them. We called them "chew-chews" and us kidlets didn't realize they were packed full of so many things that were good for us. They just tasted yummy. So we ate them up. My sis finally tracked down a similar recipe and passed it on.

These are easy to make and there is a lot of room for different variations. The honey is very dominant in this recipe, so next time I'll use a little less. You can add carob powder to make them more chocolate-y, use sunbutter instead of peanut butter for nut allergies, omit the chocolate chips and add nuts, replace honey with agave... so many options!

1 cup oats

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup coconut flakes

1/2 cup flax seed

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/3 cup honey

1 tbs vanilla

With a large spoon, mix peanut butter, vanilla and honey until smooth. Stir in the flax seeds and coconut next. Mix in the oats last and slowly, you may want to use a little less than a cup depending on the consistency - you want them to be malleable. Add chocolate chips last. Shape into tablespoon size balls and let them sit on a baking sheet for a few minutes to set.

Memorial Day Treat ~ Banana Pineapple Cake

Here's a sweet, little cake recipe for your long weekend! I know a lot of my desserts include banana, but I can't help it. Maybe it's coming from a family of seven (yes, seven) but I simply cannot waste food. And since we always have a bunch of bananas in the house, we always have extra, overripe ones too. I also happened to have extra crushed pineapple left over from a kiddo treat I shared at Stella's school, so I wanted to use that up to! Presenting the super moist, super delicious...

Ingredients:

• 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 1 can (8 ounces) crushed pineapple, undrained
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 2 to 3 overripe bananas

Preparation:

In your mixer, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, sugar, and salt. Stir in the oil, pineapple, vanilla, eggs, and banana. Mix until well blended. Pour batter into a greased and floured pan. Bake at 350° for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

*This is a super simple recipe I found on a Southern Food website. If you google banana/pineapple cake, you'll find a ton of versions with this base. You can toss in nuts or coconut, omit the cinnamon and replace with nutmeg, endless options! I drizzled it with a quick and easy vanilla frosting recipe here. Happy Memorial Day! Enjoy! xx

The most DELICIOUS strawberry cake {you will EVER put in your mouth} recipe.

Truth, I really don't enjoy cooking all that much. Baking, on the other hand... baking, I enjoy. Baking, I can do. I've made a habit of sourcing and experimenting with healthier versions of baked goods (see skinny tricks here), but every once in a while ya just need some good old fashioned cake! 

And it's spring! And strawberries are amazing right now! So I found a recipe on this site, {which was adapted from Cook's Illustrated Classic White Cake} and altered to come up with my own method and version. I served it after Easter dinner to mucho praise and applause, and as I type this, I am savoring the last dense-but-moist, flavorful-but not-too-sweet, delectable, divine, outrageously delicious bites. Enough said. Here's how you make it: 

Cake Ingredients: 

4 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 cup flour, sifted

1 3/4 cup sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt 

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp,cubed

1 cup strawberry puree made from 20 oz fresh strawberries

(see directions to follow for puree)

First, let's start with some fresh and ripe, juicy strawberries for the puree. Cut the "grass" off the tops, (as Stella would say) then "hull" those suckers. How do you hull a strawberry? I had no clue. So I googled it...

And wouldn't you know it? Easy as pie cake. There is a tool for this sort of thing, but I found that a straw works just fine. 

Punch a hole through the center and hollow it out. Then dice them up and toss and coat those babies with 2 tbs organic sugar. Cover and let them sit and marinate for as long as you can - at least an hour. In my case, I put them in the fridge and let them soak over night. (But that's just because I was tired and have two children under three. And I never sleep.)

Next, get your dry ingredients ready. Sift the flour into your mixing bowl and add in the baking powder and salt.

Cube your butter and toss it in with the dry ingredients. Blend for about a minute. The texture will be crumbly. Next, add in eggs and vanilla and mix slightly, being careful not to over mix flour.

Now back to the strawberries. *Side note - you don't have to let them marinate in the sugar for hours. But it does help and makes them super sweet. So does this method. Pay attention: Put them in a pot and bring to a soft boil. Then bring them down to low and simmer for no more than ten minutes. Don't overcook! Your house will smell divine and you will feel like a real master baker at this point.

Set aside and let them cool. Now this is the part in the original recipe that I changed; instead of straining the strawberries and reserving the liquid for the batter, I went ahead and blended the whole thing. You will end up with a liquid that looks like this:

Reserve 1 cup for the cake batter and some more for the frosting. (See butter cream frosting recipe below.) Pour the cup of strawberry puree into the mix and blend well. Confession: I wanted my cake to be super pink, so I added a tiny drop of red food coloring. (Which upon reflection, was totally unnecessary, but totally fine to do.)

Pour the batter into greased and floured cake tins and pop them in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes.  Yields two 8-9 inch layer cakes or 24 cupcakes.

Now for the frosting:

Strawberry buttercream frosting
Ingredients: 

3 cups powdered sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla

1-2 tbs whipping cream
(can use milk in a pinch)

approx 1/2 cup strawberry puree 
(to taste)
{adapted from Food Network}

Blend sugar and butter with whisk for a few minutes, adding in vanilla and cream next. Slowly stir in strawberry puree, a little at a time, checking consistency and strawberry flavor to taste. 

When cake has cooled, slather that baby with a ton of frosting. If you're making two rounds, layer frosting in between. I also used a bit of the leftover puree to put in the center, layered with the frosting as well. Top and decorate with more strawberries. Sooo good!

Now sit down and enjoy the fruits of your labor. I promise, well worth the effort. 

{Healthy} Strawberry Banana Muffins

Happy Easter weekend, everyone! Before we get into chocolate bunny everything overload, I thought I'd share a much healthier option to throw into the mix! 

I was looking for something to do with all of my overripe bananas... If you ask the hubs and the little girl, this banana bread recipe will work every time. But I also had a TON of strawberries to use, and wanted something a little lighter and healthier for my family... something I'd feel good about serving up for a quick breakfast or snack on-the-go. I searched the awesomely awesome world of Pinterest and stumbled upon this recipe. I tweaked it a bit and came up with this. MAKE THESE MUFFINS. They are delicious. 

Ingredients: 

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1 cup strawberries, diced

1/2 cup honey (I used mango flavored)

1/2 cup applesauce

4 Tbs butter

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Bake at 350 for approximately 18 minutes. Test with a toothpick.

The original recipe calls for cinnamon, but I didn't want the spice to compete with the natural fruit flavors, so I omitted it. I also happened to have some local, mango flavored honey in my cupboard and that added just a touch more sweetness and fruity depth. If you can get your hands on some fruit flavored honey, it will make all the difference. You could use agave syrup in place of the honey, and even omit the butter and replace with more applesauce. So many different options with this recipe. Whirl it all up in your KitchenAid or mix it by hand, adding in flour last. Making sure not to over mix the flour. 

Hope you like them! They are going on regular rotation in this house! xx

Vegan Oat Banana Cookies

I spent the day yesterday wrapping presents, cuddling up to my little love and visiting with two of my very favorite girlfriends over very good rosé. One of my gal pal's is a serious vegan. (I mean, serious. Did you know that a true vegan doesn't even eat honey?) Anyway, I love the challenge of baking up a sweet treat for her, because in the process I usually find a pretty healthy recipe for my fam. This one is adapted from food.com (I lowered the sugar content, added a banana & substituted coconut oil) and they turned out fantastic! 

With all the holiday gluttony surrounding us, it's sure nice to have a relatively healthy option! These are seriously yummy! Just the right amount of crunch and chewy middle. Let me know if you try them! Have a fabulous weekend, friends! 

Yeilds: 3 dozen

WW points: 2

Pumpkin Pancakes

When you think of pancakes, you generally don't think of healthy. But think again, my friends. These are so good, so good for you... and for-the-love-of-all-things-holy-while-trying-to-shed-those-baby-pounds... seriously delicious too!

I'm a huge fan of using pumpkin for baking healthy treats all year round (see one of my all-time fave Skinny Tricks here), but I made these on the morning of our yearly pumpkin patch visit and the timing couldn't have been better. It was the perfect start to a perfect day.

Ingredients: 

2 cups flour

2 Tbs sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 Tbs + 1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 cup skim or low fat milk

1 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 egg yolks

4 egg whites

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture.

Combine milk and other wet ingredients (excluding egg whites) in a separate bowl.

Add wet mix into center of dry mix; mix until dry ingredients are just moist.

Beat egg whites at high speed with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. (This was my favorite part. I felt like such a chef! I was really quite proud of my egg white fluff!)

 Gently fold beaten whites into pumpkin mixture. Be careful not to over mix.

Pour batter for each pancake into a skillet. I like to use an ice cream scoop to keep things (sort of) uniform!

Voila! Breakfast is served!

Yield: 6 servings

*Side note - using pumpkin makes these very high in fiber. Using egg whites reduces the fat and creates a delicious fluffy texture. 

{Recipe source: Weight Watchers. 4 pancakes - 6 WW points}

PS - That's me being brave and showing you my no makeup, fabulously stylish, "at home" look.

Easy Peasy Strawberry Cheesecake

OK, kids... I'm about to jump back on the Weight Watchers bandwagon to shed these remaining baby pounds... but before I do, I wanted to share a super simple recipe to one of my all time favorite desserts - cheesecake. 
Longing for something sweet and light as the last days of summer come to a close? This recipe is so easy, and you likely have several ingredients already in your house.  I don't think I invented this recipe, however, I didn't follow one and just whipped it up one evening after dinner. I was still pregnant at the time and my hands just followed my cravings around the kitchen. (Something that happens quite often when you're knocked up.) After some research I found it's just one of those common, simple baker tricks. Who knew? 

Ingredients: 

• Graham cracker pie crust (I had one frozen in my freezer)
• Tub of frozen cool whip (or organic whipped topping, which we prefer)
• Whipped cream cheese
• Sliced strawberries
• Brown sugar to taste

Whip  together cool whip and cream cheese with a Kitchenaid or hand mixer. Sprinkle in some brown sugar to taste, about 2 tsp. (I just wanted to add a bit more sweetness and the brown sugar created a sweet granulated texture that I liked.) Pour the mixture into the pie crust and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes - the longer the better. Meanwhile, slice up your strawberries or other fruit. Add berries on top. Refrigerate until served. Done and yum!

Sesame Noodles with Tofu

Sometimes I find myself in a comatose state, barely able to move my pregnant butt off the bed, transfixed on a marathon of cooking shows. I suppose there are worse things to zone out to when finding my peace time, especially since some of these moments result in a really good family meal. 

How much do we love Rachael Ray? She's so much fun to watch and makes every dish look so delicious, and so, so easy to make. She offered up this beauty in a series of 30 min meals, and I just had to try. I tweaked it a little, using whole wheat pasta instead of soba, and added in some baked teriyaki tofu to make it more of a meal, than a side dish. It was amazing.

• 1/2 pound whole-wheat spaghetti
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar or sherry vinegar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup soy sauce (I use Bragg's amino acids)
• 1 two inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
• 1 large garlic clove, peeled and grated 
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• 1 cup frozen shelled edamame, thawed
• 2 large carrots, coarsely grated
• 1 small bunch scallions, very thinly sliced on an angle
• Baked flavored tofu, chopped
• Toasted white sesame seeds for topping (you can use black in addition or instead)

Boil pasta in salted water until al dente. Combine honey, soy, vinegar, sesame oil, ginger and garlic in a large bowl. Whisk in olive oil. Add edamame, carrots, scallions, tofu and pasta to bowl and toss. Garnish with sesame seeds. 

We have a winner! Such a light, fresh and totally yummy summer meal! 

Happy, healthy eating, my loves! xx

Healthy Faux Fried BBQ Chicken

This recipe is a take on a classic Weight Watchers dish, using cornflake crumbs instead of crispy fried chicken skin. I simplified it, and used BBQ sauce (instead of honey mustard) to add extra zing. The hubs and the picky toddler devoured it. {Tip: For an extra skinny trick, serve with veggies, not rice!}

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 cup cornflake cereal (crushed)

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

2/3 cup BBQ sauce (or any sauce of your choice, a lite dressing works better with calories too!)

Combine BBQ sauce, salt, pepper in a bowl; place chicken inside and coat completely. In another bowl, crush cornflakes with spoon or hands. Dip the coated chicken into the crumbs and cover on both sides. 

Coat a shallow pan with cooking spray and place chicken inside. Bake at 425°F for 15-20 min, until chicken in golden and no longer pink inside. 

Serve with a drizzle of BBQ sauce on top. 

{Healthy} Banana Oat Chocolate Chip Muffins

I usually make some kind of banana bread, cake or muffin at least once a month.  (Sometimes more!) 
I can't resist making a fresh batch whenever I see those uneaten bananas ripen to that delicious golden brown. I have a tried and true banana bread recipe that I love and make often {here} but recently found a recipe from this blogger on Pinterest that caught my eye, so I tweaked it a bit and came up with this!

They were quite simply delicious. And although there are bits of tiny chocolate chips, the sugar content is low, there is nearly zero fat, and lots of healthy fiber to make them suitable for a grab-and-go breakfast!

Ingredients 

3-4 mashed ripe bananas (the riper, the sweeter, and the better!)
1 egg 
1/2 cup packed brown sugar 
1/3 cup applesauce (the equivalent of one kids' snack pack size!)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1 cup flour (use whole wheat if you can!)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
2 teaspoons baking powder 
1 teaspoon cinnamon 
1 1/4 teaspoons salt 
1 cup oats 
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

You don't need a mixer for this, but I always use one. Toss in your ripe bananas, egg, sugar, vanilla and applesauce and whirl it up. Then add all of the dry ingredients, stirring in oatmeal last. Sprinkle with chocolate chips (you don't need many!) Pour batter into greased cupcake tins or line with liners.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

*Note: You can make them completely sugar free by substituting 12 Splenda packets for the brown sugar and using raisins instead of chocolate chips. 

*Weight Watchers points = 3

Enjoy!

Deborah's Rainbow Kale Salad

The first time I had kale salad was years ago for Thanksgiving dinner with my husband's side of the family. My sis-in-law is a master raw and vegan chef and made it to accompany our feast. It was nice to have something healthy on the table, and I couldn't believe how yummy it was! I've since become addicted and find myself craving it all the time. 

This salad can be made with several different variations, depending on what you have in the house, or grabbed fresh at the farmer's market. But the trick to Deb's "Rainbow" version, is to keep things colorful! Thus, even healthier for you! 
This is the very basic recipe that I love. To get gourmet, you can add grated ginger root and carrots, some raisins, tomatoes or even avocado! Feel free to get creative, but remember that lemon, olive oil, and really good celtic sea salt is the key to a great dressing. 

INGREDIENTS

• 5 cups Kale, torn, blanched (see note)
• ½ cup thinly sliced red onions
• ½  lemon juiced + zest
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (or less)
• 2-3 colorful red peppers sliced
• 1 white peach (or other summer fruit)
• Sea salt to taste

{Serves about 5}

DIRECTIONS:

Start off with really fresh veggies. 

Grab your bunch of kale... (I don't bother with too much washing, since "blanching" cleans the kale with boiling water. See note below.)

 And get to tearing it apart into bite size pieces, making sure to separate from the stems.

 Place the pieces into a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Grab all of your colorful peppers and onion and slice them up.

Add in your white peach or other yummy fruit to add a bit of sweetness. (This can be achieved by raisins too.)

Place mix into a separate bowl and get ready to blanch your kale. 

Note: To blanch kale, bring 2-3 cups of water to boil and let cool for 1 minute. Place the leaves in a colander, and pour over kale. Pat the kale dry between paper towels.

Once the kale is cooled, add in some lemon zest.

 Toss the leaves with olive oil.

 Then mix in your veggies.

 At this point, squeeze in your lemon juice and feel free to mix it up with your hands.

Don't forget the yummy granulated sea salt. Something fun the kiddos can help with! 

Toss it up again and get ready to chow! Leftovers are the best, the kale gets wilted and even yummier!