Easy Caramelized Baked Chicken with Green Olives and Prunes Recipe - 50 Women Game Changers In Food - Clotilde Dusoulier

I make a lot of chicken during the week for my kids. Every night, they ask "what's for dinner?" and on many days, the answer is simply ..."chicken." Of course, that begs the next question, "But what kind, Mom?" Fortunately, there are so many easy ways to cook chicken, that rarely do they complain once they sit down at the dinner table. Sometimes I stir fry chicken with vegetables, other times I poach it, and often, I bake chicken - there's less fuss and cleanup involved. 

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Gluten-Free Dark Chocolate Brownies {Adopt-A-Gluten-Free Blogger}

Gluten-Free Dark Chocolate Brownies

Oh my, can you believe these deep chocolatey brownies are gluten-free? I couldn't, and my little guy was over the moon about these brownies. Even my skeptical boys who are not on a gluten-free diet thought these were amazing.

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Oatmeal Peanut Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe - 50 Women Game Changers In Food - Maida Heatter

Oatmeal Peanut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sometimes I just need an excuse to make cookies. Believe it or not, my kids actually are not huge sweet eaters (although they do love their ice cream), but they do appreciate good home baked cookies once in a while, especially chocolate chip cookies (but only if they're soft and fresh out of the oven...I know...they are so picky!). 

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Spiced Vegetarian Lentil Soup Recipe {Secret Recipe Club}

Spiced Vegetarian Red Lentil Soup

Today is "reveal day" for Group B of the Secret Recipe Club, created by Amanda of Amanda's Cookin. So far, everything I've tried for the Secret Recipe Club has come out really well, including Baked Portobello Mushroom Fries, Anzac Cookies, and Seven-Layer Dip. This club has grown so rapidly that Amanda has created four different groups that have a different reveal day during each month. I am part of Group B, hosted by Tina of Moms Crazy Cooking. The idea behind the Secret Recipe Club is to give bloggers the chance to try each other's recipes without the other bloggers knowing it until everyone posts their results.

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50 Women Game Changers in Food - Sheila Lukins & Julee Rosso - Pasta Puttanesca

Puttanesca Sauce Served On Whole Grain Spelt Pasta

This is our first full week back at school, having been delayed a week due to Hurricane Irene passing through. It's been quite an adjustment so far as my oldest son is off to college this fall, and he was a huge help driving one of my other sons home everyday from school last year. I used to have dinner ready the minute they walked in the door. Now, every day, I am picking my son up right around dinner time (with over an hour commute) and often shuttling him or his other two brothers around in between, so getting dinner on the table has become a lot trickier. There are days when I start driving at 2PM and don't get settled at home until near 10PM (as I'm sure many of you are as well!). So, quick and easy dinners are essential for those busy nights.

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September 11 Remembrance - Chicken Noodle Soup For The Soul

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup For The Soul

Today as we mark the 10th anniversary of the most devastating terrorist attack in America's history, like so many people, I am experiencing a wide range of emotions...sadness, anxiety, shock, fear, uncertainty, and hope. The images conjured up by that day, 9-11-01, will be forever engraved in the minds of Americans.

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Gluten-Free Ratio Rally - Gluten-Free Baked Pumpkin Spice Donuts {Vegan}

Gluten-Free Baked Pumpkin Spice Donuts

I am so pleased to be participating in this month's Gluten Free Ratio Rally, founded by Shauna from the Gluten Free Girl, and hosted this month by Meg of GF Boulangerie.

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Steamed Ginger Peaches with Greek Yogurt {Vegan}

Steamed Ginger Peaches with So Delicious Dairy-Free Greek Yogurt

Although fall is around the corner, there is still plenty of time to enjoy summer peaches. There's nothing like a juicy summer peach, eaten out of hand, or cut up and eaten with yogurt for breakfast. But, what about dessert? Sure, there are peach crisps, peach pies and peach crumbles and cobblers that are summertime favorites, but what if you want something lighter, perhaps a healthier version of peaches and cream for dessert? This is what I pondered as I stared at a bowl of fresh peaches I had picked up from our local farmer's market.

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50 Women Game-Changers In Food - Rachel Ray - Tuna Marinara with Pasta

Tuna Marinara Sauce with Gluten-Free Pasta

Love her or hate her, Rachel Ray has skyrocketed from a no name to a well known brand name across all channels of media over the last decade.  According to Rachel Ray, she grew up on food, with her first vivid memory watching her mom in a restaurant kitchen. Not only has Rachel Ray hosted three Food Network series, but she has also syndicated her own talk and lifestyle show, Rachel Ray, authored 19 cookbooks, is the Founder and Editorial Director of her own lifestyle magazine, and founded the Yum-o! organization (a nonprofit organization to "empower kids and their families to develop healthy relationships with food and cooking." Her Rachel Ray television show has won two Daytime Emmy Awards.

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50 Women Game-Changers In Food - Lidia Bastianich - Sweet and Sour Marinated Vegetables (Caponata)

Sweet and Sour Marinated Vegetables - Caponata

I think our local area is at the peak of summer season produce, with my CSA Box filled with eggplant, bell peppers, tomatoes and zucchini. At the beginning of the season when my share was fairly light, I treated each vegetable that came in my CSA Box as a treasure, featuring them in recipes on their own or combined perhaps with one other vegetable. However, as the summer bounty has increased, I have found myself with loads of vegetables at their peak, and have found the best way to enjoy them is to combine them in dishes so my family can enjoy them farm-fresh.

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A Healthy Banana Split

This Healthy Banana Split is made with 100% Fruit.

Did you know that today is National Banana Split Day? Created by a 23-year old pharmacist in 1904, the banana split is a popular American dessert, traditionally served with a banana split in half, three scoops of ice cream (chocolate, strawberry and vanilla), and topped with chocolate syrup, crushed pineapple, walnut ice cream topping, whipped cream and a cherry. This dessert comes in at over 1000 calories!

Dole Bananas has partnered with Tastespotting today to rally the food-blogging community to invent a healthier banana split with less than 350 calories.

I entered the challenge on the late side today (I've been driving my kids around all day and just got home!), but didn't want you to miss out on the fun. The Healthy Banana Split I came up with is made with 100% fruit.

The three scoops of "ice cream" I made were entirely fruit based, blackberry, strawberry and banana. For the blackberry and strawberry "ice cream", I blended half a banana with 1/3 cup frozen fruit in my Vitamix blender (note: you need a heavy duty blender to make this; otherwise, you will need to add some almond or coconut milk to the fruit and freeze until firm). For the banana "ice cream," I simply blended frozen banana chunks until creamy and smooth.

For my version of the Healthy Banana Split, I used half a banana, one scoop each of the blackberry, strawberry and banana ice cram, and topped it off with fresh strawberries, pineapple and blueberries. That's it! 

The approximate calorie count for my Healthy Banana Split is 280 calories (2 bananas, 1/2 cup strawberries, 1/3 cup blackberries, 1/2 slice pineapple, 1 tablespoon blueberries).

My little guy was the taste tester and he gave it a thumbs up (he thought it was real ice cream). Enjoy!

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College Bound and An Easy Tomato Paste Pasta Sauce Recipe

"Tomato Paste Pasta"

This past weekend we dropped our oldest son off at college where he will be a freshman. I never thought it would be as hard as it was. A few days before we left, a friend called and asked if I was sad, and I replied, "not really." Well, I was dead wrong. I think between the jet-lag from our recent vacation, unpacking everything from that trip, and then packing up my son for college, I just didn't have time to really think about what was to come. 

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Warm Roasted Corn Salsa Recipe

Warm Roasted Corn Salsa

I just got back from our summer family vacation and have missed all the fresh produce from the weekly CSA Boxes (fortunately, I was able to find some vegetable loving friends who were more than happy to pick up my shares while I was gone). Although my family enjoyed some amazing tropical fruits while we were away, I missed my East Coast vegetables. Before we left for vacation, I was wondering how I would get through all the zucchini, corn and cucumber that had been showing up in my weekly CSA Boxes, but having been away for several weeks, it was a welcome sight.

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50 Women Game-Changers in Food - Patricia Wells - Zucchini Carpaccio with Avocado, Pistachio and Pistachio Oil

Zucchini Carpaccio Salad with Avocados and Pistachios

As many of you know, I bought a share in a CSA ("Community Supported Agriculture") this growing season, which means I pick up a box of local vegetables each week, full of whatever is ripe for the picking from the local farm.

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Simply Tropical Fruits - Papaya and Passion Fruit

Fresh Papaya and Passion Fruit, a Simple Tropical Combination, served elegantly.

We just spent the past few weeks in paradise - on the island of Maui in Hawaii. There's nothing that I look forward to more this time of year than spending some quality down time with my family. No sports, no meetings or appointments, no place we have to be at any time (except for a dinner reservation!). Sunsets over the ocean every night, daily dips in the pool, relaxing and just being still. These are all the things that I am grateful for to help me get rejuvenated before we all return to the scheduled life we start living once school begins. 

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Inspiration and a Tropical Guava Pineapple Banana Smoothie Recipe

It's hard to beat the sunsets in Hawaii.

This summer, we returned to paradise for our family vacation - on the island of Maui (or at least it's as close to paradise as I've been so far!). With our oldest son leaving for college this week, family time has been especially precious, as it is hard to predict how many more family vacations we will be able to share together. I know things will never be the same. We won't see him as often. Our family dynamics will change. Life will be different. But it's all good. It's the cycle of life.

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Gluten/Dairy/Egg-Free Mocha Chocolate Chip Muffins {Vegan}

Gluten/Dairy/Egg-Free Mocha Chocolate Chip Muffins

Recently, I received a sample of whole grain flours and mixes from King Arthur Flour, some of which were gluten-free, including their Gluten-Free Baking Mix, Gluten-Free Whole Grain Mix, and Gluten-Free Ancient Grain Mix. The first gluten-free recipe I came up with using King Arthur Flour's Gluten-Free Flour Mixes were a stash of fluffy Gluten/Dairy/Egg-Free Pancakes.

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Korean Bean Sprout Salad "Banchan"

Korean Bean Sprout Salad "Banchan"

This summer, I've been a bit obsessed with the little Korean side dishes called Banchan that accompany traditional Korean meals. Perhaps because it's been so hot lately, or that I opt for simple quick dishes in the summertime, these little cold side dishes are especially appealing and a fun way to enjoy a variety of fresh vegetables.

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50 Women Game-Changers In Food - Irma S. Rombauer - Sauteed Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts with Tomatoes, Capers, and Basil

Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Tomatoes, Capers, and Basil

This summer has been a nice time to try new quick and easy recipes, the simpler the better, the less time behind the stove even better. Our baseball season wrapped up this past weekend, and today I am sharing a recipe for Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Tomatoes, Capers, and Basil, from Irma S. Rombauer's The Joy of Cooking that I made on one of our game days. This dish can be made ahead of time - even better in my book.

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CSA Box #9: Pasta with Caramelized Onions, Wax Beans, Fresh Corn, Tomatoes and Jalapeno

Pasta with Caramelized Onions, Wax Beans, Fresh Corn, Tomatoes and Jalapeno

Each week, my CSA Box has been getting heavier and heavier, which is a good thing. I remember the very first box which was unexpectedly light. After a slow start, my CSA Box has been getting fuller by the week.

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