A recipe for a honey-roasted cauliflower dish with crispy sage, pine nuts that would be a wonderful addition to any holiday meal. Mine was a childhood of frozen vegetables. While salads, cucumbers, tomatoes, fresh garden green beans, and plenty of cut-from-the-head broccoli (always with cheese sauce) were available during summer months, the staple winter dinner vegetable for my Midwestern upbringing was a bag of frozen mixed vegetables. Orange carrot cubes sat amongst the peas, anemic rubbery green... more

Pickle fans will fall over themselves in glee for these pink-hued radish pickles. The recipe take minutes to get in the jar, and then they’re ready for all the things that deserve a pickle. The aluminum on plastic runners squeals crisply, and I hear the screen door rubbing along its track. Wet feet slap the linoleum, echoing through the open room as the hard floor and skin made slick from the pool come in contact with each other. The refrigerator sucks air in on itself followed by the satisfying... more

Crunchy cabbage gets slathered in a honey-sweetened vinegar sauce for a barbecue salad recipe that is equal parts crunch and tang, and just slightly sweet. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” – Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 The 4th of July, Independence Day, July the 4th, however you choose to style... more

A simple yet elegant side dish of Brussels spouts sautéed with bacon and shallots, and tossed with blue cheese and pomegranate. A recipe worthy of your holiday meal. Occasionally I fall into a rut. Ruts can be a varied and sordid affair, ranging from general self-loathing to avoidance behaviors of all things requiring me to scrub. Conversely, they aren’t necessarily all bad. For example, there are instances where a dinner rut can taste very, very good. It was in such a rut that I found myself... more

A springtime salad with lemon roasted asparagus, quinoa with lemon vinaigrette and roasted shallots, all atop a fresh spinach bed. Easter is coming. This isn’t a new revelation. It’s just fact, a fact that I’ve been avoiding. I may have even been hiding from it as though it frightens me. The same way I cowered under my covers after viewing a TV special in the ’80s, convinced that a panther lie in wait in my closet. I was paralyzed by fear then, knowing that if I moved even... more

Today I’m participating in the Ultimate Blog Swap. You’ll find me posting over at GoodLife Eats this morning about a certain Roasted Potato and Spinach Frittata and striving for grace during moments of stress, and I’m excited to welcome Tara from Unsophisticook to Food For My Family where she shares one of her go-to grilled vegetable recipes in easy foil packets : Much like Shaina, I place a high priority on feeding my family wholesome and healthful meals. This can be challenging with five... more

We sit in the pediatrician’s office, the five of us, my four kids and me. They’ve put us in the corner room where there’s a bit more space to roam about as they know I show up with my brood of kids and cramming us into a standard exam room would be near impossible, especially once you add a doctor and a nurse to the mix. Still, there are only two chairs in addition to the wheeled stool the pediatrician spins around on as he talks to my children, attempting to balance the patient... more