Turmeric Hot Chocolate

So I figured I should post this before Spring comes for good and no-one wants to drink hot cocoa anymore.  This has been one of my favorite comfort drinks this winter.  It's delicious, but also has a lot of healthy ingredients that will keep you healthy while everyone around you is sick!  The main ingredient I am talking about is the turmeric.  Turmeric helps boost your immune system and also is well known anti-inflammatory ingredient you can add to so many things.  Sometimes I'll even add a little to my oatmeal in the morning.  Anywhoooooo here is the recipe.

Turmeric Hot Chocolate

2 cups coconut milk

3 tbs cocoa

2 tbs local honey

2 tsp coconut oil

1/4-1/2 tsp turmeric (you choose)

3 drops Ginger oil (or pinch of ground ginger)

tiny bit of salt

The other ingredients that are naturally antibacterial are the local honey and coconut oil.  Both have so many properties that help cut through the germs and local honey also helps with seasonal allergies for spring time :)

This is honey from my family's bees in New Jersey.

Put everything in a pot and bring to a simmer just until everything melts and combines and then ENJOY!!!

Paleo Gingerbread cookies

My friend GiGi and I had an amazing girly night the other night.  She is 100% paleo and I try to eat as healthy as possible, within reason, so we made these delicious paleo gingerbread men.  I found a recipe for sugar cookies on this amazing website (paleofoundation.com) and adapted it to be allergy friendly for me and added some delicious spices to make them ginger cookies. So here is the final product that we made up, and it turned out surprisingly well :)

Paleo Gingerbread Men

1 1/2 cups sunflower seed flour

1 cup tapioca starch/flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup butter

1 cup date sugar or coconut sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup applesauce

1 tbs vanilla

5 drops Doterra Ginger oil

1 drop Doterra clove oil

1 tbs cinnamon (or cinnamon oil)

So first things first, cream the sugar and butter together.  Then add all other wet ingredients.  In a separate bowl mix together the other dry ingredients.  

I am such a messy cook :D but it always tastes good...

So once the batter is mixed together, it may seem a little sticky, but its ok.  Put down some parchment paper and sprinkle it with some extra tapioca starch.  you will probably use about a half cup of extra tapioca starch when rolling out the cookies.  Roll the dough around in the tapioca a bit to make sure the outside isn't super sticky.  Then put a second piece of parchment on top and get to rolling!  Roll it out until it's about a cm thick, then whip out your favorite shape cookie cutter and start cutting :)

GiGi the hand model lol

In honor of Germany we used the leftover dough to make a gingerbread pretzel lol

So, now that all of your cookies are cut, bake them for 12 minutes on a parchment lined cookie sheet at 350 degrees.  Enjoy all of your delicious healthy cookies when they are done :)

Hearty Vegetable Soup

Today was the first official snowy day here in Frankfurt :)  It snowed a bit the other night when I was walking home which was so wonderful but it didn't end up sticking.  BUT it has been snowing nonstop since about 7am this morning and it looks like a beautiful winter wonderland outside.  Thankfully, I could just admire it from inside my toasty apartment with my fat little christmas tree lol.  

I felt like something warm and hearty today so I made this delicious soup.  It has so many wonderful things in it, including fresh ginger and turmeric, so it has many anti-inflammatory properties as well.  I'm a bit obsessed with turmeric lately, there is a turmeric hot chocolate recipe coming soon too. SO GOOD.  Here goes the soup...

Hearty Vegetable Soup

1/2 small head of cauliflower

1 large white onion

2 large carrots

3 cloves of garlic

1  15 ounce can cooked lentils

1 can on cannellini beans

2 jars of vegetable stock

1 tsp grated fresh turmeic

1 tbsp grated fresh ginger

2 tbsp of olive oil

2 tbsp on butter

salt and pepper to season

This soup is incredibly simple.  Just chop the onion, carrots, and garlic and sautée in the pot in the olive oil and butter.  Once these veggies get going, throw in the cauliflower and let this sautée and get soft.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Next, pour in the stock and grate in the ginger and turmeric.  When the vegetables are almost cooked through throw in the two kinds of beans since they are already cooked, they just need to be warmed through.  It was so easy, and so delicious.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did :)

Pumpkin Chocolate chip muffins

As most of you already know, I love Fall.  It's by far my favorite season. Give me a big comfy scarf, sweater, some boots, apples and pumpkins and I'm a happy girl.  But, I have been doing a lot of thinking lately and I've decided that when I turn 25, that will be my healthiest year yet.  Not that I am unhealthy now, or eat badly, but I've decided that I am going to really put in the effort to be super conscious of all of the things I put on or in my body.  Green Beauty and lots of green food :)  But for now, let's talk about one of my favorite orange foods.  Pumpkin :)

My mother used to always make pumpkin chocolate chip muffins when I was younger at this time of the year. There is an on going joke about "1 C means one can of pumpkin right?" instead of 1 cup in our house.  But that is a story for another day, my dad is so helpful sometimes lol ;)  Anyway, I decided I wanted to attempt making these delicious muffins not just allergy friendly, but also grain and refined sugar free.  They came out so delicious! and they are completely guilt free on top of it.  So here it goes :)

Pumpkin Chocolate chip muffins

2 1/2 cups of ground sunflower seeds (flour)

1 heaping tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbs pumpkin pie spice

(you can add more or less depending on how it smells to you)

2 eggs

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1/4 cup oil (coconut or olive both worked fine)

1 tsp vanilla

chocolate chips :)

I can't tell you how addicted I am to these things.  The perfect snack with a cup of tea, or have them for breakfast.  Super yummy.  I may or may not be eating one as I sit here writing this... ;)

So first step, make your sunflower seed flour.  It is the easiest thing. I bought a bag of raw sunflower seeds without the shell from the supermarket.  Throw them in the blender in small amounts and blend until they are finely ground.  Just make sure you don't blend for too long or you will start to make sunflower seed butter!  Which is also delicious but not what we are going for.  After I blended the entire bag up, I let it sit out on the counter for a few hours so it could dry out a bit.  Then I transferred it to a jar so its ready to scoop out for whatever recipe I need it for. 

So, this recipe is super easy.  Combine all of your dry ingredients in one bowl, and all of your wet in another.  Then combine them together and mix in your desired amount of chocolate chips.  I would say 1/2 cup would probably do it. But be my guest to add more.  (There is sugar in the chocolate chips, so I guess this recipe is not 100 % refined sugar free, but you can definitely find certain chocolate chip brands that are healthier than others.) Then scoop your batter into greased muffin tins and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.  Wait until they are cooled to eat, if you try to remove them from the tin while they are still hot they tend to be a bit too gooey and get stuck.

I love these muffins, so I hope you do too.  I just wish it was appropriate to cook pumpkin things year round because I would totally eat this in every season. 

<3

Butternut Squash Soup

So fall is finally here in Frankfurt.  It's been a very hectic and busy few months since moving here. I felt like I needed some comfort food as well as some nutrition the other day, since I've pretty much been living on pommes with my busy schedule, so I made this super simple butternut squash soup.  It is by far one of the easiest soups you will every make, but tastes like you spent hours slaving over the stove. On a side note, how beautiful is my new city in the Fall!!!!

Alright, back to the recipe :)

Butternut Squash Soup

1 small Butternut squash

2 large carrots

2 small apples

2 cloves of garlic

1 medium onion

stock (vegetable or chicken)

salt and pepper

Optional: bacon and chives

Ok, so to start, peel and cut all of your veggies and apples into about 1 inch cubes and throw them into a pot with a little salt and pepper.  Pour in just enough stock to cover all of the vegetables in your pot by about a half and inch or so, and bring to a boil.  I used vegetable stock this time but it will taste just as good with chicken stock. Once it comes to a boil, turn it down to a simmer and leave covered for at least 30 minutes.  Check to see if you veggies are fork tender and if they are you are ready to blend.  I scooped batches into my blender until I had all of the soup pureed.  A food processor would be perfectly fine also. Taste and adjust your salt and pepper, if need be, and then top with a bit of cooked bacon and chives and you're good to go!

It's such a satisfying soup with its savory flavor and a hint of sweetness from the apples.  You could definitely go with the sweet factor even more by leaving out the garlic, using a sweeter onion and adding an extra apple and some cinnamon.  This is also super delicious :)  Up to you and your tastebuds on the day :)

More fall favorites to come :) 

Coconut Raspberry "Snow Scones"

So what better snack to have on a snow day than a scone?? Actually, there are many other things that are probably more appropriate like hot chocolate or soup or something, but I felt like scones!  So I tried out this recipe.  It was a complete "winging it" sort of moment, but they came out really good! I looked at recipe after recipe trying to find things that were more healthy, but ended up just experimenting as I went.  So here it goes!

Coconut Raspberry Scones

2 cups Oat Flour

1/2 cup coconut flour

heaping 1/4 cup coconut sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

6 tbsp chilled butter (coconut oil would work too)

1 large egg

1 tbsp vanilla

1 cup coconut milk

1/2 cup shredded coconut

small carton raspberries

For the glaze:

powdered sugar

coconut milk

To start, I blended up about 3 cups of whole oats in the blender.  That gave me the 2 cups I needed for the recipe plus extra for dusting the counter when I formed the dough.

Next step was to combine, 2 cups of the oat flour with the coconut flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.  Just stir together with a fork.  

Once you have everything stirred together, cut up your cold butter into small chunks.  This will make it easier to cut into your flour mixture. I just used a fork.  Do this until you have small bits of butter evenly dispersed through your dry ingredients.

Next!  Add your wet ingredients and egg and stir with a spatula.  Once I got everything combined, I stuck the bowl in the fridge for a few minutes to make sure it was nice and cold before I started working it with my hands.  I wanted to keep the butter as cold as possible. After 5-10 minutes in the fridge, I took it out and dumped it onto the counter that I dusted with the left over oat flour.  Use your judgement and add as much oat flour as you need to keep it from sticking to your hands or the counter. 

Once you have the dough pretty flattened, dumb your raspberries into the middle and fold the dough over them :)  This way you will have large chunks of your raspberries still intact inside of your scones.

Once you have formed a circle with your dough about an inch or so thick, cut out triangular wedges.  I made 8 decent sized scones with my dough.  Place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, and cook for 20 minutes in a preheated 400 degree oven!  Once they come out they should be crisp on the outside and moist on the inside.  Let them cool on the tray so they can continue to cook a bit, and enjoy as is, or make the glaze!  If you want a little extra sweetness, slowly add coconut milk to powdered sugar until you end up with a thick paste that will drizzle slowly.  If you make it too thin then it won't stick to the scone!

My boyfriend jokingly said they were " Snow Scones" for our snow day, which I am definitely going to rip off.  They were a great snack and I was pleasantly surprised with how they turned out!  I hope you enjoy them too :)  

Lemon Chicken Soup

This chicken soup hits the spot when its cold out or if you have a cold! The light lemon flavor mixed with the comforting familiar chicken soup flavor is such a great combination.  It kind of reminds me of having your bowl of soup and a cup of tea all at the same time.  I made my own chicken stock for this, but you can of course use store bought chicken broth.  Here's everything you'll need!

Lemon Chicken Soup

For the stock:

Chicken breasts on or off the bone

water

1 large or 2 small onions

a few stalks of celery

2 large carrots

3 gloves of garlic

For the soup:

The broth you made or store bought

the shredded chicken from the stock

carrots

onions

celery

salt and pepper

1/3 cup quinoa

Juice of a lemon

lemon slices for garnish

chopped chives for garnish

This soup is incredibly simple.  Just throw everything into a pot and let it bowl for the stock.  You don't have to peel your veggies either, you'll get the nutrients out of the skin into your broth that way.  Put your chicken and vegetable into a pot and fill it with just enough water that everything is covered.  boil the hell out of it until your chicken is cooked through.  Take the chicken out and let it cool.

Once your broth is cooled enough, strain it into another pot.  At this point you can salt and pepper the broth to taste. Put the broth on the stove to simmer and chop up the next batch of celery, carrots, and onion.  Toss these into the broth to soften up.  Next shred up your cooked chicken with your fingers or two forks, and toss that into the broth too!  Once your veggies start to soften up, toss in your rinsed quinoa.  Once the quinoa is cooked, your soup is pretty much done.  Before serving, squeeze in the juice of half a lemon into the pot to start, taste it, and if you can handle more lemon, squeeze the other half in too!  chop up some chives, and put a thin slice of lemon in your bowl for garnish and enjoy!!

Christmas Coconut Eggnog

So Christmas this year was great :) It was a nice small Christmas with just my family.  It was nice to be all together for the holidays since I'm not sure if I'll be able to come back home for Christmas next year! You never know what life has in store or where you'll be.  But anywayyyyy, Santa was good to everyone this year.  No one got any coal :)  But I have to say that this eggnog was a big hit this year.  No one else in my family eats dairy free but they enjoyed it as well!

I can't really take credit for this recipe.  It was my mom who came up with it.  We usually just buy eggnog so I didn't know she knew how to make it.  But apparently my Grandpa used to make eggnog every year when she was young so the recipe was hiding in her head!  Here it goes

Coconut Milk Eggnog

5 cups of coconut milk

5 eggs

about 1/2 tsp of cinnamon to a full tsp depending on your taste

1 tsp of vanilla

1/3 cup of honey (or 1/2 cup of sugar)

grated nutmeg on top

This recipe is so easy.  Rule of thumb is that you use 1 egg per cup of milk, no matter what kind of milk you use.  You can easily substitute regular milk in for the coconut milk in this recipe.  You just throw everything into the blender straight out of the fridge so everything is cold, and blend the hell out of it.  Our honey is super duper sweet from our bees so I decided that 1/3 of a cup would probably be better, but if your honey isn't super sweet or you would rather use sugar, use 1/2 of a cup.  This was so yummy with our Christmas breakfast and while we opened presents, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Healthy Breakfasts

My next favorite is this recipe for chive scrambled eggs.  Its so easy and can be paired with leftover steak and avocado like I had, or just on its own.  It is super flavorful unlike some recipes for scrambled eggs.  I actually used to HATE scrambled eggs, but now I could eat these every week.

Chive Scrambled Eggs

5 eggs

onion powder

garlic powder

salt

pepper

chopped chives

(this is enough for 2 very hungry people)

Whip up your eggs and spices to your taste in a bowl first then cook over medium heat in a pan with either a top of butter, or a tiny bit of coconut oil.  Stir slowly constantly until the eggs are cooked completely and aren't slimy looking anymore.  No one wants to eat slimy eggs.  Sprinkle some chives on top so they look pretty :)

The third healthy breakfast that I love to eat is coconut milk yogurt with berries and a drizzle of honey.  This isn't only because I love honey, its part of it, but it is also a very delicious and lighter breakfast for those days that you need something that will be extra nutritious but won't weigh you down.  I used So Delicious brand Plain coconut milk, this doesn't have flavoring or extra sugar.  I also used strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries and my family bee's honey.  

So GOOD!  I hope you enjoy making these as much as I do, but most of all, enjoy eating them!

Apple Crisp!

So as promised, Apple Crisp! I absolutely love apple crisp.  I can eat it any time of day, and any time of the year!  But, since it's fall and officially appropriate to have apple crisp, I have been making it at least once a week!  I've gotten to the point where I could probably make this in my sleep :)  Any kind of crisp is super simple and the crumb part of this recipe you can definitely use with any kind of fruit underneath.  I personally like the crumb to apple ratio to be 1:1 unlike some people who like more apples.  I'd rather have like a giant oatmeal cookie on top of my warm soft apples. So here it goes!

Apple Crisp

3-4 crisp apples

(I like honey crisp but anything works)

1 cup of gluten free flour

1 cup old fashioned oats

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 - 3/4 stick of butter melted

1/2 tsp of salt

1 tsp cinnamon

sprinkle of sugar or drizzle of honey is optional

Cube up your apples in about 1 inch pieces.  Sprinkle them with a tiny bit of cinnamon, not from the 1 tsp in the recipe, and a little bit of sugar or honey if your apples are very tart.  These apples were particularly sweet so I didn't add anything but cinnamon.  If you are going to use different fruit in this recipe like blueberries or something that has more liquid in it, sprinkle the fruit with a bit of corn starch so as they cook it will create a sauce rather than a liquidy mess!!

Mix your dry ingredients together thoroughly so everything is well combined.

Drizzle your softened/melted butter into your dry ingredients.  Get your hands dirty because that's the best way to make these crumbs!  Don't use a spoon or fork because it'll just annoy the hell out of you.  Scrunch all of the ingredients together with your hands until they have this consistency and will stay stuck together a bit when you squeeze it.  You may have to add all of the butter or a bit less depending on your flour and stuff so just eye ball it until it looks like this.  

Disperse the crumbs on top of your apples.  Leave some bigger chunks of crumb mixture because that will be a nice surprise when you go to eat it later!  It's like a chunk of cookie on top of your apples :) SOooooo good

Cook in your preheated 350 degree oven for about 40-45 minutes until the crumbs are browned and crisp-y (haha, get it? apple CRISP) and your apples are soft to the touch.  I put a scoop of some coconut milk ice cream that I happened to have which was so yummy.  It was strawberry ice cream, that's why it looks pink in the picture, but regular vanilla ice cream or coconut whipped cream is amazing on this as well.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do and make it just as frequently!! It can be a simple cozy night in kind of dessert or can be made fancier for dinner parties by baking them in individual little ceramic bowls.  Whatever floats your boat.

Caramelized Peach Steel Cut Oats

Sooooo it's officially FALL! My favorite season by far.  I love the feel in the air, the colors, the warm spices, that crisp smell you get when you go outside, and of course the food!  It's time for apples, pumpkins, soups, and hearty "stick to your ribs" kind of food.  First things first, a hearty breakfast!  Now, I am definitely all for a good bacon and egg breakfast any given day, as I am apparently a "bacon fiend" according to my boyfriend, (but who isn't?)  but steel cut oats is one of my FAVORITE cold weather breakfasts.  This breakfast recipe is super simple, and also incredibly delicious.  

Caramelized Steel Cut Oats

steel cut oats

1 large peach (two for two portions)

cinnamon

1 tbs coconut oil or butter

a drizzle of honey

a dash salt

Either put a tablespoon of butter or coconut oil in a frying pan if you can't tolerate the butter.  Toss the pieces of peach into the pan and sautée them over medium heat until they are soft.  Sprinkle a little dusting of cinnamon over the top, a tiny bit of salt and about a teaspoon of honey.   Let all of this get warm and mixed together in the pan, then poor on top of the oats that you have cooked according to the package.  To top this yummy warm breakfast, you can drizzle a little extra honey like I did, or maple syrup is super yummy as well.

I hope you love it!!!! Next to come, my amazing apple crisp and other great fall foods to keep you warm inside and out, body and soul :)

kept be full for hours!!!!!

Avocado Bean Dip

As the school year starts, I'm trying to eat healthy and yet still have snacks that hit the spot.  This dip fits that description to a T.  Throughout the entire summer, this was on the menu as an afternoon snack or during cocktail hour before dinner at the lake...so yummy.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! It's super easy, and delicious :)

Avocado Bean Dip

2-3 ripe avocados

1 can black beans

1 can of cooked corn

4 large cloves of garlic chopped

1/2 red onion chopped

olive oil or avocado oil

salt and pepper

Take all of the ingredients and mix it all up! you can of course change the amount of garlic to suit your tastebuds as with the salt and pepper.  drizzle the entire thing with a little bit of olive oil or avocado oil just so its moist, its not that great if its too dry, and it will absorb a bit of the moisture.  This also is better if you let it sit for a bit so the flavors can get all cozy with one another.  Don't forget to drain and rinse your canned beans and corn!!  This is so good that I have even eaten a batch of it for dinner with corn chip, or in place of salsa on top of tacos!  So good!!  

Also incredibly perfect to have before rehearsal or auditions because its filling and yet doesn't make you feel gross and sit too heavily in your stomach :)

Coconut Custard

This coconut custard is so good.  I've been making this for a LONG time.  It just hits the spot every once in a while.  I even made it with sautéed fruit when I was doing the GAPS diet for a while, it can be adapted so easily.  Spring break just started and I thought it was time to make some of this yumminess again.  It's a healthy guilt free dessert that feels very decadent and special.

Coconut Custard

1 can full fat coconut milk

4 eggs

1/3 cup maple syrup (substitute honey for GAPS)

shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened for GAPS)

These custards can be whipped up in minutes.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, then put the coconut milk, eggs, and male syrup into a blender.  Whip up everything until it is nice and smooth.  Let it sit for a minute and try to skin off the bubbles.  You don't have to skim off the bubbles, sometimes I don't, but it makes a prettier, more cohesive custard without the bubbles sitting on top.  Next sprinkle the shredded coconut on top of your custards once you pour them into custard cups.

As you can see, I didn't skim the bubbles off this time :)

Next, place your custards into a bigger dish so you can bake them in a water bath.  Any custard-y kind of thing needs to be baked in a water bath to make sure that they bake evenly and don't separate. I put them on the oven rack first before I pour the water into the dish.  I am guaranteed to spill it everywhere if I fill it before transferring.  

Bake these yummy things for 30-40 minutes or until the custard is not liquid-y anymore and the coconut on top is toasted and delicious.  You can serve these as is, add berries on top, or sauté up some bananas or peaches in a little cinnamon and sugar to make these extra yummy.

ENJOY!

Comfort food, chicken noodle soup and egg salad

So, it's a rainy day post Calisto and time for some comfort food and relaxation with my pretty show flowers.  The show went super well and I wish we had a few more performances, but alas! we do not.  So since my schedule was crazy busy with the show, I haven't had much time to food shop.  The fridge was pretty much empty except for some staple vegetables, left over chicken, eggs, chicken broth and pasta.  So, what did I come up with? chicken noodle soup and egg salad.

Chicken noodle soup

1 carton of chicken broth

carrots

onions

celery

garlic powder

chicken chopped

gluten free spaghetti broken up

salt and pepper

I didn't measure the ingredients in this soup.  I pretty much just eye balled everything and did everything to taste. Throw everything into a pot and let them boil until the veggies and noodles are soft. Then enjoy!

As for the egg salad, I threw 6 eggs into a small pot of water and brought them to a boil, let it boil for about 2 minutes, then turn the pot off and let the eggs sit in the hot water until they cool off for about 15 minutes.  I rinsed the eggs in cool water, peeled them, and chopped them into a bowl.  I also chopped a small amount of white onion, do this to taste, throw in about a 1/3 of a cup of mayo, and 1 tbs of mustard.  Salt and pepper to taste and mix it all together! Super simple and incredibly yummy on some gluten free toast.  

I love how it feels to have a couple of lazy days after weeks of non stop hard work and fun performing, and yummy comfort food just makes it that much better.

Paleo Wraps

So I futzed around with a couple different recipes I found and I think I came up with the perfect combination.  These wraps are flexible and delicious, and are the perfect thing to have for breakfast or lunch when you're trying to eat light or just trying to be healthier.  With La Calisto going on, and the very revealing costumes we have to wear, a lot of us were trying to eat lighter, and these were my version of a light and healthy "sandwich".  

Paleo Wraps

2 eggs

2/3 cup plus 2 tbs of water

1 cup tapioca flour

1/4 cup coconut flour

1/4 tsp of salt

The batter for these wraps will look like very thin crepe batter.  Mix everything together and then cook like a crepe over medium heat in a non stick skillet until they are lightly browned on both sides.  I usually store them in the fridge in a zip lock bag for a couple of days.  Just so you know, if they seem a little bit brittle after being in the fridge for a couple days, just throw them back in a pan to heat them up a little and they'll become nice a flexible again!

Here is my breakfast wrap with ham, egg, and avocado to start the day off right before the first performance of La Calisto!!! So yummy.  I hope you enjoy them!

Sunday Frittata

What's better than a lazy Sunday morning?  I can't really think of anything... Sleeping in, lazing around in pajamas, yummy breakfast, cup of tea, some good tv...sounds perfect.  Yesterday Michael and I did just that and I made a super easy and delicious frittata to make our Sunday breakfast a little more special than what we normally do. 

It was very quick and an absolutely delicious breakfast for two :) 

Vegetable Frittata

5 eggs

1 tbs water

half a zucchini

half onion

sliced mushrooms

1 red bell pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

salt and pepper to taste

2 tsp of oil or a couple tbs of butter

First chop and sauté all of your vegetables in a small cast iron skillet with either 2 tbsp of butter or a splash of coconut or olive oil.  Whatever you want to use will work.  I used butter because it doesn't bother my allergies when I only use a little bit, and it tastes sooooo good.  So sauté all of the vegetables on medium/high heat until they are cooked thoroughly and no longer crunchy.  The amount of vegetables should look like it's almost too much, they will cook down and this will create a really nice full frittata.  

Once the vegetables are cooked, pour in your eggs that have been whipped up with the water and dry spices.  You should whip them up until they look frothy.  This will help create a nice airy frittata.  Once the eggs are in the pan with your vegetables, throw the entire skillet into a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes, or until the eggs are no longer watery looking, and voila! Super easy, and incredibly delicious Sunday breakfast :)

Snow Day! and Hot Cocoa

Gotta love a snow day!!! This weekend was the perfect time for a snow day after the week I just had.  We started staging for La Calisto at school and I sang in Marilyn Horne's masterclass at Carnegie Hall that was part of The Song Continues.  It was an eventful week! 

It was so nice to wake up to everything being quiet and snow covered.  The whole city pretty much shut down for a full 24 hours.  The cars were off of the streets, kids were sledding on side streets, people were using the main roads as side walks, and almost everything was closed! It was a perfect way to be forced into relaxation. Michael and I went out and braved the storm in the afternoon just long enough to explore a bit.  It was so beautiful!

After our snowy adventure we came back to warm up with some home made hot chocolate.  This recipe is perfect for those who want to use dairy for some in addition to non dairy.  This is more of a hot cocoa mix, just liquid instead of powdered like the ones that you find in the supermarket.  Here we go!

Hot Cocoa Mix

3 cups of water

1/3 cup of sugar

1/4 cup of honey

3/4 cup of cocoa

1/3 chocolate chips

creamer/milk of some kind

mini marshmallows :)

Put water, sugar, honey, cocoa, and chocolate chips into a sauce pan and melt it all together.  Once everything is super hot and melted, mix one part cocoa mixture with 1 part creamer.  Michael used half and half and I used coconut milk.  Both were fantastic!

Of course we put some mini marshmallows on top, that's pretty much a necessity with hot cocoa!

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Holiday Honey

Alright I was not good about posting over the holiday break, but New Year, New Me as far as the blogging goes.  I have so much coming up this next semester with Operas, and trips, and classes, and study, and cooking, and quality time with my favorite people and much much more!  I just got back to school for my second semester and I'm already missing winter break.  I'm sure everyone is feeling the same way though, at least until we all get back into the swing of things. 

One of the best things about being home, along with all of the family time and relaxation, was that we harvested some more honey while I was there.  We have our own bee hives incase I didn't mention that already.  It's so interesting and fun to see those busy bees doing their thing, and I have to say that I look forward to stealing their honey every time we get to harvest! 

Here is one of the frames from our hives. Look at all of that wax and honey!!! It's the little things in life that make me happy, and a giant metal centrifuge full of honey is definitely one of them.

Beautiful golden raw honey :) Just straining the wax out of it before we strain it again into individual jars.

My boyfriend calls me Pooh Bear, and I can't say that's not accurate.  I could add honey to anything, and I really do.... I drink more herbal tea than anything and use a little spoonful of honey in every cup, I put it in coconut milk yogurt, on oatmeal, in baking and anything else I can think of. 

But, it's so good for you and it tastes amazing, so I'm fine with my honey obsession. Raw local honey can be so beneficial.  It can help with seasonal allergies because the bees pollinate the local plants, and it's a natural antibacterial. So go on out and buy some local honey and enjoy it with a nice cup of tea.  I'm so looking forward to spring and summer time when the bees start their busy work again and I can go in and steal some more of that yummy stuff!