pickled radish + shallot fish tacos with sriracha crema

I’ve had fish tacos before but I’ve never made them at home. it’s been in the back of my head to make them forever and i’m kind of annoyed with myself for putting it off for so long.. but that’s why when I had the option to choose this fish taco recipe on plated last week I didn’t hesitate. it’s delicious + the color of the pickled veggies is gorgeous! I was a little nervous that the sriracha crema would be a bit too hot/spicy but it was perfect - these will absolutely be added to the meal rotation!

the recipe called for pickled radish + shallot. it said that you had to let the veggies sit for at least 15 minutes or up to 3 days in the fridge so 2 days before making these tacos I pickled the veggies. I put them into a mason jar - closed the lid + popped them into the fridge.

pickled veggies:
- 4 radishes, thinly sliced
- 1 shallot, thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 1/2 tbsp. sugar

mix red wine vinegar + sugar together

slice radishes + shallots thinly.

mix together.

*this is where you let the veggies sit for at least 15 minutes or up to 3 days in the fridge.

crema:

- 1/3 cup reduced fat sour cream

- 1 tsp. sriracha

- 1/2 lime, juice

- salt, to taste

other:

- 12 oz tilapia, cooked + flaked

- 1 tbsp oil

- corn tortillas, warmed in oven (400 degrees)

- salt + pepper

- cilantro (optional: I left it off because I’m one of those people that hates cilantro)

- pickle veggies. heat oven to 400. make crema – mix sour cream, juice of half a lime + sriracha. rinse fish – pat dry – season both sides with salt + pepper. wrap tortillas in foil + place in pre-heated oven for 8-10 mins. over med-high heat 1 tbsp. oil then add the seasoned fish. cook about 4 mins. each side. flake the fish into bite sized pieces. drain the pickled veggies. assemble the tacos: fish – veggies – crema – cilantro (optional) and serve with lime wedges from remaining half of lime. serves 2 people 3 tacos.

do you have a favorite fish taco recipe?

still loving the plated service!! inspiration in the kitchen is at an all time high!

cinnamon-sugar + banana dutch baby

uhm.. yum. is it just me or does weekend breakfast always taste better than weekday breakfast? even if I make the exact same thing – if it’s saturday or sunday it’s just better like the weekend is the missing ingredient. I whipped up this dutch baby before anyone woke up on saturday morning – it was so peaceful (other than the minute of blending…) + getting to enjoy a slice in silence with a warm cup of coffee was a mini miracle.

I love that this dish is so versatile! it’s a delicious treat for breakfast – it’s pretty so you can totally serve it to guests – it’s sweet and topped with nutella or icecream (or both!) could totally be a dessert + obviously it’s kid approved!

- 3 whole eggs
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup ap flour
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 banana
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- heat oven to 425 + melt butter in a medium non-stick skillet and set it aside. (I would have used my cast iron but it was much too big for this). meanwhile, add the eggs, flour, brown sugar, vanilla + salt to a blender and blend for about a minute until frothy/well combined. mix the cinnamon + sugar together and slice the banana into circles. pour the batter over the melted butter – top it evenly with the banana slices + cinnamon-sugar mixture. pop into the oven for about 20 minutes until it turns golden + puffs up. serve with maple syrup/powdered sugar/nutella etc.

what’s your favorite addition to a dutch baby?

I’m thinking next time we’ll try some blueberries and/or some kind of berry mixture!

vodka pizza + grilled veggies

I’m warning you now – it’ impossible to eat just one slice. this pizza was so good. I got the recipe + all of the ingredients delivered to me from a service that I am newly obsessed with called plated. all I have to do is choose the meals I’d like off the weekly menu – they pack up everything I need (with some exceptions like salt + pepper) and on the day I choose delicious ingredients + recipes show up on my door step!  I joined up with plated to help get re-motivated and inspired in the kitchen and so far it has exceeded my expectations.

this pizza looked so delish that I immediately got to work making it for the lunch as I was unpacking the box. the kids weren’t too excited about it - just too many veggies for them - which is fine because that just means more for me. now I’ve got today's lunch, tonight’s dinner + tomorrow’s lunch ready to go. it does take a bit of effort to make this pizza but I’m telling you it’s totally worth it. not only could it be lunch or dinner – since it’s delicious and gorgeous you could absolutely serve this while entertaining guests!

veggies:

- 1 zucchini, sliced

- 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced

- 1/2 a red onion, sliced

- 1 tbsp. olive oil

- salt + pepper

- a few basil leaves, chopped (top pizza at the end – after coming out of oven)

sauce:

- 1 tbps. olive oil

- 2 cloves garlic, minced

- 1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

- 2 tbsp. vodka (optional)

- 1 can crushed tomatoes

- 1/4 cup heavy cream

- salt + pepper

other:

- pizza dough (homemade or just grab some from the grocery store – I find ours near the deli)

- 1 tbsp. flour

- 3 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded

- 1/4 cup goat cheese, crumbled

- heat oven to 450. toss zucchini, pepper + onion with salt, pepper + one tbsp. olive oil. head grill pan over medium high and cook in single layer about 4 mins per side. when done – set aside. meanwhile make the sauce by heating 1 tbps. oil then add garlic + crushed red pepper flakes until fragrant. *optional* add in vodka + let it cook off. add crushed tomatoes and let sauce simmer about 10 minutes. add in the heavy cream – season with salt + pepper. set aside. sprinkle flour on clean/dry surface – roll out dough to shape of pan you’re using. *I used a rectangular baking sheet with parchment paper* move dough to pan – top with sauce – mozzarella cheese – veggies + goat cheese. bake pizza for about 10 minutes *I actually baked this pizza for 13 minutes* take it out + top with chopped basil. enjoy!

what veggies do you like to add to pizza?

if you have any questions about plated ask away + I’ll attempt to find any answers.. this was only my second box!

simple cheese tortellini soup

I haven’t been food shopping in a little over a week – I ran in quick over the weekend and grabbed some fruit + veggies but was in no mood to be making it into an entire 2 hour shopping trip so needless to say I’m low on dinner ideas. on days when I’m prepared with ingredients and know what I want to cook – I’m eager to get into the kitchen and make whatever said meal is but on the days when I’m not prepared.. dinner can get dragged out to later and later because I have no motivation to get up and rummage through the pantry trying to find a substantial meal to call ‘dinner’. yesterday was almost one of those days – but after making a lunch that I was not so impressed with I knew I needed to get an early start figuring out dinner.

a pantry staple for me is chicken broth (well any kind of broth really – it’s such a great/simple way to add flavor.) immediately I grabbed two boxes (8 cups) and checked the dates to not get my hopes up too high. and I knew I had some pre-packaged tortellini in the fridge. generally I wouldn’t make soup in summer but like I said.. choices were limited and this was just too light + simple to pass up. plus after making this - i'll probably be making more soups all through the year.



- chicken broth (8 cups)
- tortellini (2 packages – I used one whole wheat + one spinach)
- basil leaves
- fresh ground pepper (to taste)
- parmesan
- bring the broth to a boil + season with pepper to taste. cook the tortellini in the broth until cooked through (about 8 mins – according to package). while tortellini are cooking – shred some parm + chop some basil. divide the soup. top with parm + basil.

** season to taste – I used low sodium chicken broth so this dish could have used a pinch of salt. next time I’ll keep that in mind. depending on the broth you use you may want to add salt.
** feel free to use any fresh herbs you have on hand – we have basil growing on the back porch so that’s my go to at the moment.

I love being able to ‘shop my pantry’ and find a meal.

what’s a meal you can almost always make with your pantry items?

pb+‘j’ waffles

if you haven’t put it together yet – I really like peanut butter. some days a good ol’ peanut butter + jelly sandwich just hits the spot. when I was little every pb+j had to have concord grape jelly. it had to be purple or I wasn’t going to touch it. thankfully I grew out of that phase a little while ago.

both zach and adie request strawberry jelly most of the time so that’s usually what’s in the fridge but this morning when I went to grab the jelly I realized the multiple pints of real strawberries taking up almost an entire shelf and grabbed them instead. I wasn’t sure if this substitution would fly since the texture would be different but they were actually excited about it! next time I’m thinking we should even add some banana slices into the mix.



- whole grain waffles. || we used frozen ones because I had them on hand but if you’re up for making fresh ones – go for it!
- peanut butter.
- sliced strawberries.
- toast your waffles + halve them. cover one side of waffle evenly with some ‘pb’. add on your ‘j’ or sliced strawberries. lastly, top with other half of waffle.
- yum.

this is such a great on-the-go breakfast since it’s so compact!

what are some of your favorite on-the-go meals?

basil + almond pesto

we love this pesto! the first time I made it I knew I was going to get the whines of dislike from at least zachary before even trying it – and he didn’t disappoint – but after convincing him to just try one bite he changed his tune and this has become a summer staple in our house. I do make this year round but in the summer if I only have one plant growing it is always basil. I’m not against buying basil from the store – I do that often – but when it’s warm enough to have a bunch on the back porch you better believe I’m doing whatever I can not to kill it!

anytime I make something that disappears it automatically goes on the obviously-making-that-again list. so far they haven’t gotten tired of it even though I’ve been making it at least once a week since we’ve had basil. classic pesto has pine nuts in it but I never have those on hand – what I do almost always have on hand are almonds. I also don’t usually toast the nuts because that’s just one more step that I don’t feel like doing, but I have a handful of times and if you have the patients it’s worth it!

I like to use my mini food chopper/processor that unexplainably ended up in my cart while shopping at target.. crazy how that happens. I don’t really have exact measurements on ingredients – other than the slivered almonds because I buy the 1/2 cup little bag – because I just go by taste. if you add a little salt/pepper to start you can always add as you go. if you’d like more exact measurements just email me or leave a comment and I’ll pay better attention next time I make it.



- salt + pepper to taste.
- olive oil. (about 2ish tbsp)
- heaping handful of roughly chopped basil leaves.
- 1-2 cloves of garlic.
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds.
- 1/2 cup shredded parmesan.
- toss the almonds, garlic and some salt + pepper into the processor and pulse a few times. add in the parmesan and pulse a few more times – try not to over pulse to keep some texture (you don’t want baby food). add in the basil and pulse just to mix everything together. now slowly add in a little oil at a time pulsing in between adding. (if you’re using a processor with an opening at the top use that to stream the oil in a little at a time while you’re pulsing.) once it’s to the consistency you want - you’re done!
** I like to keep the pesto a little bit thicker when I know it’ll be going onto pasta and then I’ll use some reserved pasta water to thin it out while mixing.

what’s you’re favorite sauce to make?

apple ‘cookies’

apples and peanut butter is a classic combo. I’ve been eating it as long as I can remember. that’s why when I saw these apple ‘cookies’ on pinterest the other day I knew we had to make them. I tweaked them a bit because I’m not a fan of coconut so we skipped that and added raisins instead. lately both my kids are raisin obsessed - like they ask for multiple bowls at a time so i bought raisins in bulk. and we used mini chocolate chips instead of regular sized really for no reason other than I thought they’d be cuter. I thought about adding some old fashioned oats – maybe next time!

- apple sliced into circles + core cut out.
- peanut butter
- raisins
- chocolate chips.
- spread the peanut butter evenly on each slice of apple. top each cookie evenly with raisins + chocolate chips.

I mean – does it get any easier?! I made 6 ‘cookies’ and they were gobbled up within seconds. we will absolutely be making these again + again! I was thinking that they would also be awesome as a sandwich by putting an apple slice on top and not having it open faced. that way I could easily pack them for school lunches too!

have you tried apple ‘cookies’?

simple peanut butter chocolate chip energy bites

I originally posted this energy bites recipe over on binks+babe before I bit the bullet and started this blog. I’ve been tossing the idea around for a little bit – it just seemed like such a huge thing to take on so I kept backing away. it hasn’t even been a full 24 hours yet – but so far so good!

I needed to get this recipe over here asap because we can’t. stop. eating these! they are the perfect little bites when you’re looking for something to snack on – but I’m warning you right now.. it’s damn near impossible to eat just one! if you’re up for the challenge check out the recipe here - good luck!

have you tried a version of energy bites before?

what would you put in yours??

sautéed onions + spinach + scrambled eggs

|| via instagram ||

like I said in my first post – I woke up this morning and decided today was the day I was finally going to get back on track. for the past year most of my breakfasts have consisted of luna bars on a good day or just a cup of coffee on the others. I’m not really sure why I do that to myself?.. I mean I wake up at least an hour before everyone else – sometimes two – that means I have more than enough time to make a legit breakfast and start the day off right.

this morning I was up way earlier than my kids so I just started searching through the fridge. my goal was to use all real ingredients and stay away from the pantry. I knew I had eggs and spinach so that became the plan and then I saw the onion on the counter and figured what the heck. I don’t really look at onions as ‘breakfast’ food but I didn’t use to look at spinach that way either. I think something I need to do is get out of these categories. foods aren’t just meant for breakfast or dinner or sometime in between – real fresh ingredients should have a green light at any time of the day.

these three ingredients are things that I almost always have on hand. eggs are always in the fridge. spinach is something I grab at the store without even thinking about it. and if we don’t have an onion that probably means we ate the last one for dinner the night before.

here's how easy this was to make:
- thinly slice half of a small onion. season with salt/pepper.
- chop a handful of spinach.
- scramble two eggs. season with salt/pepper.
- sauté the onions in a little bit of oil (I used olive oil) until they’re at the desired tenderness. add in the spinach so it can wilt. then pour in the seasoned scrambled eggs and stir until cooked through.

so simple and delish. makes me mad at myself for being so lazy the past year and a half. but I’m not going to dwell – I’m just going to go forward from here and work on making better choices for myself + my family.

what is your favorite go to simple + healthy breakfast?

one meal at a time.

my relationship with food is not a good one.

it’s not healthy.

at times it’s been non-existent.

other times it’s been waaaay too comfortable.

right now I’m struggling.

when my mom died I turned to food. I’ve been eating my feelings for more than a year now and I feel horrible. I’ve gained over 15 lbs. I avoid the mirror at all costs. my energy level is unpredictable. as a whole I just feel off. I know it has to do with what I’ve been putting in my body and what I haven’t. I just don’t like myself right now. I’m disappointed in what I’ve done to myself and things need to change.

I used to look forward to cooking meals and making new things but it’s like the light went off in that room the day my heart was ripped out. I didn’t want to do anything for the longest time let alone cook fancy meals. I made all the classic excuses..I’m too tired. the kids won’t eat it anyway. why should I cook a meal just for myself when cy’s out of town/working late. I just don’t want to. etc. and honestly – I’m human. it’s fine to do that every once in a while but it has become the norm around here and me cooking a meal is once in a blue moon – it’s not okay.

I woke up this morning and dusted off my fitbit – clipped it on my shorts and decided today is going to be the turning point. today I’m making the choice to get back into the swing of things in my kitchen and I know that will make a huge difference. it will absolutely change the way I feel and it will bring us back to the dinner table as a family. I’m ready to feel better and be better for myself and my family. they deserve better and so do i.

I know words are just words – I need to put this feeling into action and that’s why I decided to put it in black and white. I’m hoping this blog will keep me going and accountable in my kitchen while I change my relationship with food one meal at a time.