In our quest to eat healthier, breakfast has been the most challenging. For so many reasons. In the mornings we are usually scrambling over packing lunches, getting kids breakfast pulled together, and racing off to three different schools with three different start times. Adult breakfast has been mostly leftover dinner from the night before so we can get enough protein to not die in a work out. While Sesame Beef is delightful for dinner, it’s not my favorite breakfast.

Breakfasts have been my goal. And honestly, if I start my day off with a better breakfast I am so much more likely to eat better the rest of the day too. When I eat leftover eggs off the kids plates, the day goes a bit down hill from there.

Banana bread is a classic “quick breakfast” option - but it’s loaded with sugar. LOADED. Do you know how much sugar is in bananas? It’s absurd. Then most recipes include white sugar too. It’s too much for the morning. For my version, I eliminated cane sugar and hacked my baked oatmeal recipe to create a banana bread that’s literally a few ingredients - although I did sweeten it up with some maple syrup.

CLEAN BANANA BREAD

1 cup quick oats
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 ripe bananas
2 eggs 
1/4 cup maple syrup

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine oats, baking powder and baking soda.  

STEP 2

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine bananas, eggs, and maple syrup.  Slowly add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture.  Blend until just combined.  

STEP 3
Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake 40-45 minutes.  When the bread no longer 'jiggles' and a toothpick comes out totally clean, remove from the oven.  Let cool before serving.

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The perfect seasonal cocktail. Literally. The combination of honey, sage, orange, and bourbon create a seasonal flavor that’s perfect. It’s like what you wish those candles at Bath and Bodyworks actually smelled like.

TURKEY TAIL

serves 2

STEP 1

In a saucepan combine honey, water and sage leaves.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and stir until combined.  Let cool.

STEP 2

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine bourbon and 1/2 oz sage syrup.  Shake well and strain into a cocktail glass.  

STEP 3

Serve with a sprig of fresh sage and a round of orange.

4 oz bourbon

½ cup honey

½ cup water

8-12 sprigs sage leaves

1 orange sliced

Thanksgiving seems to kick off a season of over eating, loads of butter, and a massive amount of dessert. Not to mention the cocktails!! It’s a season where everything makes it harder to eat well. But it doesn’t have to be that way! There are simple solutions, swap outs, and mindfulness that can take this time fraught with heavy cream and turn it into the celebration it’s supposed to be.

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Everyone needs to have a turkey. The large bird are iconic of the season but if you aren’t hosting a huge crowd, try swapping that out for something smaller like a turkey breast or even turkey tenderloins. If you are cooking the big bird, here’s the best tips for making a centerpiece for your dinner.

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And don’t forget a cocktail! Even the healthiest of eating requires a little libation at the holiday. And on a holiday surrounded by family no less. These cocktails are fun and festive and add a little flavor of fall. Make these in big batches and you won’t have to be stuck trying to pour and shake drinks every few minutes! Trust me, a punch bowl full of booze goes a long way!

Not everyone has or wants to have a giant crowd at Thanksgiving. Or if you’re going to someone else’s house and you won’t have left overs then a turkey breast is the perfect solution. You can buy a breast at any grocery store. If your grocer doesn’t have just a turkey breast, you can ask the butcher at the counter to take the breast off for you. And it either can come with or without the bone.

It’s actually an easy way to create ‘thanksgiving’ any time of the year. With roasted vegetables on the side, it becomes a full meal that’s actually incredibly simple to prepare.

CITRUS TURKEY BREAST

serves 4

4 lb bone in turkey breast

1 grapefruit, sliced

1 orange, sliced

2 lemons, sliced

½ cup white wine

¼ cup fresh thyme, chopped

¼ cup fresh rosemary, chopped

1 clove garlic

1/3 cup olive oil, divided

1 lb small potatoes, chopped

6 carrots, sliced

1 onion, sliced

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 450 degees. Chop together rosemary, thyme, and garlic mix with olive oil and rub on the turkey breast.  

STEP 2

Heat a large pot and place turkey breast, herbed side down, and cook until brown.  (5 mins)

STEP 3

Flip turkey over so the browned side is facing up.  Pour white wine in the bottom of the pan.  Arrange citrus around the turkey. Cover with a lid and pop into the oven.

STEP 4

Toss potatoes and carrots with ¼ cup olive oil.  Spread in one layer on a baking sheet and pop in the oven next to the turkey.  

STEP 5

Cook turkey 25 minutes until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees and potatoes are brown and crispy. Slice turkey and serve with potatoes and carrots. 

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The only thing more challenging than eating clean and healthy on a regular day is eating clean on Thanksgiving! The aggressive amount of butter, cream, and white foods makes everything harder. There’s also a significant lack of green - and when there is green it’s usually soaked in the above mentioned butter, cream, and salt. Or some kind of canned soup.

Millet is an ancient grain filled with iron, B vitamins, and is naturally gluten free. It’s the perfect grain for Thanksgiving because of it’s mild corn flavor with a little bit of crunch. Paired with sautéed brussel sprouts and onions and the sweetness of craisins, millet becomes an unexpected side dish that’s actually healthy. Obviously a dash of parmesan cheese is needed.

STEP 1

Bring a very large pot of water to a boil.  There must be at least four cups of water in the pan – eight is ideal.  Pour in millet and cook 15 minutes until tender.  Strain and set aside.

STEP 2

Sauté onion and garlic together in a pan with 2 tbs olive oil until onions are softened.  Add shredded brussels sprouts and cook, stirring often until wilted.  Season with salt and pepper.  

STEP 3

Toss brussels sprouts mixture with cooked millet, craisins and parmesan cheese.  

1 ½ cups millet

2 tbs olive oil

2 cl garlic

1 onion, sliced

1 lb Brussels sprouts

½ cup parmesan cheese

1 cup craisins

Because I know there will be questions:

Q: Why millet? Can I use something else?

Millet is great because it’s gluten free, petite, and has a tiny bit of crunch. You can substitute quinoa or barley. If you use quinoa, combine 1 cup quinoa and 2 cups water in a microwaveable bowl. Cover and microwave five minutes. Fluff with a fork then resume the recipe from step 2. You can also use orzo if you’re looking for a pasta substitute.

Q: Brussel Sprouts are the worst! What else can I use??

Brussel sprouts are the worst when they are cooked wrong. These are sautéed and cooked with garlic and onions which make them delicious. It’s a similar to the flavor of cauliflower which everyone is loving right now so I say, give it a try.

Q: If I’m dairy free can I skip the parmesan?

Of course! There are several vegan options that you can swap out parmesan cheese for made with things like cashews and nutritional yeast.

You can make a complete clean Thanksgiving pretty easily - if you just think outside of the box (of butter). But don’t forget that it’s important to have a little balance so have a drink or a little cheese spread with your millet.

I can’t be the only one who plans their menu around the cocktail? This one is unexpected because its a rum based cocktail and everyone is expecting something bourbon-y or whiskey-y. Mix it up with this sweet, spicy, and boozy cocktail!

Words cannot express how much I love this soup.

I am 90% sure everyone I know is sick right now. I hosted a party on Saturday and a significant number of people couldn’t make it because either 1) they were sick 2) their child was sick 3) their spouse was sick so only one person came to the party. Fall is like a perfect storm for getting sick; kids go back to school and get all the germs from all the people; the weather got really cold and really wet really fast; no one was prepared to whip out rain coats and warm sweaters just yet. So here we’re are. Everyone we know is sick.

The best way I have found to keep everyone healthy is with loads and loads of vitamins - in real ways like vegetables. This Ginger Carrot Soup is a great start. It’s packed with carrots for vitamins and ginger for an immunity boost. You can increase the ginger and garlic for even more of a boost or top this with cojita cheese! Swap out the vegetable broth for bone broth which means it’s no longer vegan, but the immunity boost just increased exponentially!

If you are vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, etc. this is also the soup for you!

GINGER CARROT SOUP

serves 4

STEP 1

Cook carrots and onion in olive oil until tender.

STEP 2

Add ginger, garlic & broth and bring to a boil.

STEP 3

Once carrots are fork tender, puree with an immersion blender or in a blender in batches.   Serve with cilantro and pepitas

3 lb carrots, chopped

2 tbs olive oil

1 yellow onion, sliced

1 inch ginger, peeled

2 cloves garlic

6 cups vegetable broth

salt and pepper

1 bunch cilantro

¼ cup pepitas

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I have always wondered what I could contribute to things like National Donut Day or National Cupcake Day. When you’re not really a ‘sweets’ person, it’s challenging to come up with great ideas - especially when things that are my jam - like National Pizza Day - get taken over by the ‘sweets people’ making pizza cookies and pizza cupcakes! It totally steals the thunder of the ‘savory’ girls.

Then my friend Dawn asked me to participate in a National Donut Day hop and I got so excited! Savory girls don’t get invited into hops like this. I jumped at the chance to participate and racked my brain to come up with something that was still a weeknight dinner - but that included donuts.

TA DA!

Find the rest of the donut girls here and follow their projects!

Bakers Party Shop

Celebration Stylist

Fern & Maple

Kingston Crafts

Make Life Lovely

Revel & Glitter

I took my favorite Shrimp Curry Soup and added a Coconut Curry Donut to dunk in it. These are so good. You really do need the soup with them - they’re a set - and they are amazing together. Especially with the sprinkle of coconut on top.

SHRIMP CURRY SOUP

serves 4

STEP 1

Cook red onion, garlic, bell pepper, and lemongrass in a stock pan with 2 tbs olive oil.

STEP 2

Add curry paste and stir to coat vegetables.  Pour in stock and coconut milk.

STEP 3

Bring to a boil and add shrimp.  Cook until shrimp is pink – about 3 mins.  

STEP 4

Immediately scoop out and serve hot with basil, cilantro, and bean sprouts on top. 

6 cups seafood stock

1 stock lemongrass

1 can coconut milk

2 tbs green curry paste

1 red onion, sliced

2 cl garlic, chopped

1 green bell pepper, sliced

2 tbs olive oil

¼ cup fresh Basil, chopped

¼ cup fresh Cilantro, chopped

1 cup Bean Sprouts

12 ounces raw, deveined shrimp

The donuts are so great. I ate multiple as I made them and I made multiple batches of them. But then I took them to the baseball game to get rid of the rest of them and the kids thought I’d lost my mind. Turns out Curry Donuts are a hard sell without the soup.

COCONUT CURRY DONUTS

makes 12

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a stand mixer, combine sugar, eggs, oil, and red curry paste.  

STEP 2

In a separate bowl, combine curry powder, baking powder, salt, and flour.  

STEP 3

Combine together the wet and half of the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.  When it’s just mixed, add the milk - carefully – and mix completely.  Add the remaining dry ingredients and combine again.

STEP 4

Fill a donut pan with the batter and bake for 10-12 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Let the donuts cool.

STEP 5

When the donuts are cool, combine together powdered sugar and milk then top with grated coconut.  

Serve with Shrimp Curry Soup

1 cup sugar

2 tbs canola oil

2 eggs

½ tsp red curry paste

1 ¼ tsp salt

3 ½ tsp baking powder

2 tsp curry powder

3 cups flour

1 ½ cups milk

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup shredded coconut

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Every spring I make a salad like this at least once a week. We have three kids on three different baseball teams that each play at least two games a week - sometimes three games a week! It means we don’t eat dinner at home all spring. If we do eat dinner at home, it’s at 4:30pm or at 9pm. None of those options seem great.

A few year ago I started packing a picnic basket with dinner for the family. My Ultimate BLT sandwiches came out of that era - and now another option. We stopped eating bread a few years ago and it can make picnicking really challenging. Most picnic food is sandwiches (because that’s what’s easy) or it’s a “light salad” that doesn’t really hit the spot.

This last year I focused in on creating something that was filling, full of protein, and had enough vegetables to count as “full of vegetables.” This salad has been the perfect solution. I usually make it with the soba noodles but you can swap out rice noodles or just spaghetti if that’s what you have on hand.

SOBA NOODLE SALAD

serves 4

STEP 1

Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the soba noodles according to package instructions

STEP 2

Chop the cilantro and green onions and shred the carrot.

STEP 3

Drain the noodles – saving some of the water - and reserve them in the strainer.

In the hot pan, combine the tahini, soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, ginger, sriracha, and ¼ cup of pasta water.  Whisk the sauce then toss the noodles into the pan.  If they appear dry, add more pasta water.

STEP 4

Add the vegetables, bean sprouts, and shredded chicken (or tofu) and serve immediately.  

2 bundles soba noodles

¼ cup tahini

2 tbs soy sauce

2 tbs rice vinegar

2 cloves garlic, grated

1 tbs fresh ginger, grated

½ tsp sriracha

1 carrot, shredded

3 green onions, greens & whites chopped

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

1 cup bean sprouts

2 cups shredded chicken

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