My kids call this spider eggs. But I can’t tell you how much I like it. It’s also really good for you. Chia is packed with fiber so it helps with digestion and keeps you filling fuller longer. Fiber is also supposed to do amazing things for your heart and what not too. Bottom line, nothing but good news when you eat chia seeds. Unless, of course, your children call them spider eggs in which case it makes them a little less appealing.

I’ve never talked about my daily eating pattern before because it seems really boring to me - but I do get asked questions so here goes…

I take a handful of supplements in the morning - for my hair, my stress, and a probiotic - but I cannot tolerate anything in my stomach without food in there too. So I have a bowl full of chia pudding with my supplements. This time of year I mix in fresh strawberries to jazz things up a bit. Plain old chia seeds are not delicious. In a few weeks I’ll switch to raspberries but for now - strawberries are the best.

I like to go with chia pudding first thing because I know it will fill my stomach, give the supplements something land on, and give the probiotics something to work with. It’s also a healthy start to the day and if I start healthy, I find I do better throughout the rest of the day. Or I at least know I started healthy so if things fall off, then I at least tried.

Strawberry Chia Pudding

1 1/2 cups milk alternative

1/2 cup chia seeds

1/4 cup smashed strawberries

1 teaspoon vanilla

STEP 1

Smash the strawberries in a large measuring cup or a small bowl.

STEP 2

Add the milk alternative and vanilla and stir.

STEP 3

Stir in the chia seeds and refrigerate at least one hour but ideally overnight. Stir every 15 minutes for the first hour. Serve with sliced strawberries and granola.

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I make these muffins all the time. They are super simple and a fan favorite. They are literally the perfect muffin. We often have a big crowd at the beach over the summer and a dozen muffins fills a hole at breakfast. They are also great for menu planning for the week!

I started making these with berries that I had around. Then it turned to fall and I tried it with apples and cinnamon - totally worked great. So I kept trying all of the other fruits that I had on hand. It totally works every time. You cannot go wrong with these muffins! I gave some ideas for mix ins at the bottom so you can see what all of your options are!

Options:

• Apples + 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• Blueberries + 1 teaspoon lemon zest

• Strawberries

• Clear out the fridge of all different berries

• Raspberries

• Blackberries + 1 teaspoon lemon zest

Any Fruit Muffin

makes one dozen

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup canola oil

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup chopped fruit

1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

2 tablespoons big chunky sugar of your choice

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease the muffin tins. Combine together the flour, sugar and baking powder.

STEP 2

Whisk together the egg, oil, milk and vanilla. Combine the flour mixture with the egg mixture. Then fold in the yogurt.

STEP 3

Add the fruit and carefully stir in. Scoop evenly into the muffin tins.

STEP 4

Sprinkle the top with the crusty sugar of your choice and bake 15-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

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I started making a scone recipe thinking a scone recipe couldn’t be too hard. I make a great cake, a great muffin and a TON of cookies that are great. So how hard could scones be?? Turns out I was wrong. Scones were harder to crack than I thought. And millions of recipes out there all do something different to make a scone. Doesn’t it seem like a scone is a scone?

Then I started cooking scones. A scone is not a scone. The first few batches tasted good, but boy were they ugly. And they could not replicate easily. So I kept going.

Turns out freezing butter is a big trend in the scone world. Do you know how hard it is to work with frozen butter?? And it does not stay frozen very long once you start working with it. It seemed to me that the idea of baking from cold - with cold butter - was the critical part of keeping things flaky and tender. Frozen, whipped, chilled, room temp, melted; I tried them all.

And then I arrived here! Cold butter is critical and then refrigerating the dough keeps the scones from spreading and losing their shape.

Since strawberries are just coming into season right now, this is the first fruit I tried with them. Over the summer I’m going to work on raspberries, blueberries, etc. and we’ll see if we can make these an ‘every fruit’ scone - which is the goal!

The Very Best Strawberry Scones

makes 8

1/2 cup milk

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup grated butter (very cold)

1/2 cup chopped strawberries

1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

1 egg yolk, beaten

turbinado sugar

STEP 1

Mix together the milk, egg and vanilla and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, combine together the flour, sugar and baking powder.

STEP 2

Blend the milk mixture into the flour mixture until loosely combined. Remove the bowl from the stand and add the butter. With your hands, fold the butter in by kneading the dough until the flour and butter are completely integrated. Use as few kneads as possible. Don’t overwork the dough!

STEP 3

Toss together the strawberries with the cornstarch. Fold them into the dough with three or four turns. Form into a 10 inch circle on a floured cutting board and pop in the fridge. Let it chill for at least one hour or up to overnight.

STEP 4

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove the scones from the fridge and cut into eight triangles. Brush the top of each one with egg yolk and sprinkle with the turbinado sugar. Bake 20 minutes until golden brown on the edges. Let cool slightly before serving.

Tell me what you want to see in a scone? Have you had a good one somewhere that we should recreate?

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Cheers to brunch

Toast with an espresso martini! And really kick up the morning.

Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite holidays. It’s cheesy and ridiculous and totally unnecessary - which is why it’s the best! I do this one up big - a fun breakfast, a big family dinner, and themed lunches that are totally quirky. I cut the kids sandwiches into hearts, I draw on mandarin oranges, and I cut hearts out of colored paper and stuff their lunch boxes so they literally explode when they open their lunch.

You can’t celebrate all day if you don’t start early in the morning! This is a super simple breakfast that you can pull off on a school day - swap out waffle mix if you don’t want to make them from scratch - the secret is in adding freeze dried strawberries to the batter. They’ll soften slightly in the batter and totally soften when they are cooked.

You can use fresh berries, but I found that the freeze dried berries keep their flavor better when the waffles are cooked. The fresh berries mush and cook more quickly which adds a cool pink color, but lacks the punch I’m going for here.

STRAWBERRY WAFFLES WITH BERRY SAUCE

2 cups milk

1/2 cup melted butter

2 eggs

1 cup freeze dried strawberries

2 cups flour

2 tbs sugar

1 tbs baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine together dry ingredients in a large bowl. In another bowl, which together milk, melted butter and eggs. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just combined - there will be a few lumps.

Then add the strawberries and stir until they are incorporated into the batter. Let the batter rest 3-5 minutes while the waffle maker heats up.

BERRY SAUCE

1/2 cup strawberries

1/2 cup raspberries

2 tbs orange juice

1 tbs sugar

1 tbs cointreau (optional)

In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients and bring the a boil. As soon as it boils, turn the heat down and let it simmer until it begins to thicken up. Smash the berries with a fork to push out the juices and break them down. Serve warm over the waffles.

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I started creating this cake with nectarines last summer and I became obsessed with it. It’s so ridiculously simple and it’s always so good. I made it with nectarines, peaches, blueberries, figs, Italian plums (I don’t recommend that one), apples, strawberries, and raspberries. It’s such a great recipe to have in your back pocket when you need something that’s impressive and you don’t have to think about it.

Also, makes a good breakfast!

SIMPLE STRAWBERRY CAKE

serves 4-6

½ cup butter, room temperature

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/3 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup sour cream

1 cup chopped strawberries

¼ cup turbinado sugar

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom of a 9” round pan. Cream together butter and white sugar until light and fluffy.

            ½ cup butter

            1 cup white sugar

STEP 2

Whisk in eggs and vanilla until combined.

            2 eggs

            1 teaspoon vanilla

STEP 3

In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients.

            1 1/3 cup all purpose flour

            1 teaspoon baking powder

            ¼ teaspoon salt

STEP 4

Alternate adding dry ingredients and sour cream starting and ending with dry ingredients.  Add the flour in two batches with the sour cream added in between.  Gently fold in fruit.  

            ½ cup sour cream

          1 cup strawberries

STEP 5

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle the turbinado sugar on top.  Bake 35-40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before serving.  

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Spring and strawberries go together like rhubarb and spring.  It's a natural combination.   This simple salad is a perfect accessory to a brunch or lunch.  Or, you can pack it as your "no sad desk lunch" lunch.  It's really good.  You've only got a day or so until the strawberries start to wilt so eat fast.  

It's the perfect Easter dish which is why I paired it with my lemon pepper salmon for a delicious clean eating Easter dinner.  When you're "eating clean" sometimes it feels like you're "eating boring" - this changes that.  At least with one recipe!

STRAWBERRY MINT QUINOA

serves 4

STEP 1

In a glass bowl, combine quinoa and water.  Cover with plastic wrap.  Microwave for five minutes until cooked through.  Add more time if needed.

STEP 2

Remove quinoa from the microwave, uncover, and fluff with a fork.  Let cool 10 minutes.

STEP 3

Toss quinoa with strawberries, mint, olive oil, and balsamic.  Taste and season with salt.  

1 cup uncooked quinoa

2 cups water

1 cup chopped strawberries

2 tablespoons chopped mint

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

salt

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