Category: Blog

When my husband and I were in Chicago this past summer visiting family, my sister-in-law and I went grocery shopping to pick up necessary items for the fourth of July holiday and she picked up a container of candied pecans. 

I knew I could make these sweet treats, but I wanted to make them according to stricter food preferences and I wanted to see if my version of candied pecans, tasted just as good or better than the store-bought version.

Game on!

I must say I am by no means a baker, but I enjoy baking especially for special occasions or if we are having company over.  These candied pecans were seriously, the easiest sweet treats or anything actually I have ever made.  Now, it made my life a lot easier because I already had all the ingredients in my pantry so that was very convenient!

If you do not have the ingredients it’s not hard at all finding them in the health food section of the grocery store. And really the only ingredients that might not be with all the other baking ingredients would maybe be the coconut sugar and coconut oil.  However, the other ingredients should already be located in the baking aisle.   On a side note, when I was making this recipe it not only doubled as a sweet treat and but also as a festive holiday air freshener!!

I actually made a double batch and froze the majority of the pecans and took some home for Thanksgiving and kept the other batch in the freezer.  These candies will last about a month and are great to make ahead of time for any parties or to use in a cookie/candy gift exchange!

Enjoy!!!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Ingredients:

• 1-2 Tablespoons coconut sugar
• 2 Tablespoons 100% pure Maples Syrup
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon salt (I use Pink Himalayan sea salt)
• 2-2 ½ teaspoons coconut oil
• 2-2 ½ cups unsalted pecan halves

Directions:

1. Before you begin lay parchment paper on your counters or separate cookie sheets
2. In a bowl mix together coconut sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon and salt
3. In a larger pan, preferably non-stick add your coconut oil over medium heat, and sugar mixture from the mixing bowl.  Stir this mixture until oil is melted and smooth.
4. Add your pecans and stir until all the pecans are thoroughly coated.  Keeping stirring, careful not to burn the pecans, for 3-5 minutes making sure the pecans are saturated in the mixture.
5. Pour the coated pecans on the parchment paper and scrape out any excess sugar mixture over the pecans trying to keep an even layer.  Allow pecans to completely cool.
6. Store any pecans after they have completely cooled in an airtight container.

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O’ the weather outside is frightful…. but the kitchen is so warm and delightful and since we have NO place to go let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!

In between this wonderful time of the year, the hustle and bustle from Thanksgiving to Christmas have always been magical. I am not trying to be cliché, but this time of year has always been enchanting, to say the least. From attending Christmas parties to buying and wrapping presents, making Christmas cookies, spending quality time with family and friends, and above all celebrating the birth of our Lord, Jesus. These moments help us to detach from the daily grind and remember what is truly important in our lives. In the end, it’s these moments in time we reflect back on and remember the good times.

And isn’t that what the Holidays are really all about anyway???

With great memories being made, food is always front and center for any holiday party or get together you are invited too. Sometimes ‘all of this amazing food’ can be a bit much to handle over the holidays. And sometimes you want comfort food that is both hearty and healthy. My husband and I love to make a large pot of chili, freeze most of it and pull it out during this time of year to warm the soul.

Chili is one of those versatile meals and can be tailored for even your pickiest of eaters. You can make it any which way you want; from white bean chicken chili to a vegan chili. The possibilities are endless but sure to be absolutely delicious!!
So today, I’m sharing my chili recipe with lean ground beef.

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs. of ground beef
3 cloves garlic
1 medium to small onion
2 large diced tomatoes (keep juice)
2 cans of tomato paste
2 cans of beans (chili beans or brown/black kidney beans)
1 cup water
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 tsp. Sea Salt
¼ tsp. Garlic Powder
1 tsp. Black Pepper

Directions:
1.Cook ground beef in a separate pan. This can help cook off additional fat from the chili before it’s all combined.
2. In the actual pot you will be using for the chili; add chopped onion and garlic and chopped celery to the pot and sauté.
3.Drain any excess fat from the meat before adding it to the onion, garlic, and celery mixture.
4.Add your rinsed cans of beans, tomato paste, water, and tomatoes and turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes or longer allow the flavors to blend and heat up.
5.Add salt, pepper, and chili pepper and continue to allow the chili to heat up.

**Optional you can add other ingredients to your chili like corn or make macaroni to add to your bowl and scoop a cup or two of chili on top of the noodles.

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Here’s another ‘Meatless Monday Meal’ to make before or after the ‘oh so delicious’ Thanksgiving Day Feast! Are you looking for something light and delicious? Then you HAVE to try this concoction I conjured up after I came home from Italy where I had the one-in-a-lifetime-opportunity to study the ‘Mediterranean Diet’ when I was in college. Little did I know then, that Romans actually do not follow “diets” but rather the ‘Mediterranean Diet’ is just their way of actually eating. This experience only elevated my love, passion, and interest in nutrition and all things food. So I arrived home with a new found knowledge of food and sought out to make something delicious as well as highlight the simplicity of any dish using fresh herbs. And Viola…this became my new recipe.

Honestly, since this Italian experience I have never looked at food the same way. I have a better appreciation for the simple meals that make your taste buds jump for joy! I make food more specifically geared around my surroundings, or what season we’re in, or the specific occasion the food is the star, all the while using ingredients for those purposes. The blending of flavors to make simple yet, out of this world combinations, add the wow factor to any dish. Simple ingredients in my humble opinion, take food from ordinary to extraordinary!

Upon returning back to the U.S. and before my senior year in college started, my dad, who always had a large garden, always had yellow and green zucchini growing. So zucchini would be my starting point as to what vegetable I was going to use for my new recipe, but what else could I add? So I started sautéing onions and garlic in a pan with olive oil while adding fresh parsley and basil to the mix. I chopped my freshly picked zucchini and thought now this is exactly something that I would have seen on the menu in Italy. But, I didn’t stop there; I wanted to add protein to this so that if I wanted to have this for lunch I would be satisfied for a longer period of time. I also knew that I did not want meat of any kind with my zucchini because to me it just didn’t look quite right. So being also equally obsessed with garbanzo beans I open, rinsed and dumped a can of garbanzo beans (aka chick peas) to the mixture and allowed the flavors to blend. I knew I was on to something when my dad walked in and said ‘you know whatever your making I could smell from outside.” I knew then that if this aroma of blended fresh herbs and onions and garlic could lure him in to tell me this from outside then it must be good! And so the old adage goes without saying…thus my homemade recipe of sautéing garlic and onions in olive oil with sliced zucchini and adding garbanzo beans was born.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium yellow onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 zucchini (1 yellow 1 green)
• 1-2 cans of garbanzo beans
• 1 tsp. each of dried parsley and basil
• OR use a bunch of fresh parsley chopped and 5-7 leaves of fresh basil

Directions:

1. Chop medium onion in skillet with some olive oil
2. Chop garlic and place on top of onion so the garlic does not burn and cook until translucent. 
3. Add herbs to the skillet 
4. Slice zucchini in even pieces add to the skillet once and cook until tender. 
5. Open 1-2 cans of drained garbanzo beans and add to the mixture for about 5 minutes

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