It’s no secret breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. It’s also no secret that if I don’t have my favorite meal, you better stay far, far away. It’s not a pretty sight. Lucky for me, my favorite meal of the day also happens to be the most important meal of the day. That’s right breakfast is the best way to jumpstart your metabolism for the day and fuel you body for it to run efficiently.For all these reasons, I was psyched when I read the Recipe Redux theme for January: Fresh Starts: healthy breakfast makeovers.

My breakfast makeover was inspired by your typical egg scramble complete with ham & cheese, home fries and white toast.

Roasted Vegetable Scramble & Sweet Potato Home Fries 

Ingredients:

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped in 1/2 cubes

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 yellow onion, diced

1 turnip, chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp rosemary

1/2 tsp thyme

6 eggs

1/4 cup milk

2 tsp butter

1/2 tsp cane sugar

1/4 cup shredded asiago cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Prep all vegetables. Combine all vegetables (saving 1 sweet potato for later) in a large baking dish. Toss with 1 tbsp olive oil, rosemary & thyme. Bake in pre-heated oven at 425 degrees for about 25 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Meanwhile, heat butter in a frying pan over low heat. Whisk eggs and milk in a bowl and add to pan. Move the egg mixture around the pan with a spatula as it cooks so that the wet mixture is exposed to the heat. Remove eggs from heat once they look close to being cooked. As the eggs are cooking, add 1 tbsp olive oil to a pan over medium heat. Add the sweet potato cubes and let cook on one side for at least 6 minutes. Sprinkle with sugar, salt and pepper. Then flip potatoes over to cook on the other side. Sweet potatoes should be crispy and browned. Once the vegetables are roasted, combine with eggs. Add cheese, salt and pepper. Serve with whole-wheat bakery bread.

Peace, love, and food,

Kara

Click on the frog link below to read all the other great Recipe Redux breakfast makeovers! 

V-8 Fusion smoothies boast a full serving of vegetables PLUS a full serving of fruit per 8oz serving. So, for the folks that don’t eat many fruits or vegetables, this sounds like a win-win. It’s the same deal with Naked and Odwalla smoothies, claiming they contain 9 strawberries, 12 blueberries, 1/2 banana, and so on…Sweet, right?!

Let’s look a little closer and check out the ingredient list. The first ingredient listed on the label of V8 V-Fusion Smoothies is reconstituted vegetable juice blend which is concentrated juice. Let’s remember that all these smoothie drinks are really just 100% juice & fruit puree, nothing more. The bottom line: eating your fruits and vegetables gives you a whole lot more bang for your buck than drinking these fortified smoothies. When you eat fruits and vegetables, you get a ton of fiber and absorb more vitamins and minerals.

However, like juice, these smoothies have a place to be consumed in moderation. It’s okay to have about 4-6oz of juice diluted with water daily. It’s certainly a better choice than soda or other sports drinks which are loaded with added sugar. These smoothie drinks have no added sugar which is a plus. They taste great too; Steve was a big fan of the V-Fusion smoothies.

V8 was kind enough to send me all 3 new flavors to try – Strawberry Banana, Wild Berry and Mango which all tasted delicious. They also sent me a super cute pink bottle that I’ve been carrying water around in.

So to reiterate my friends, drinking a bit of juice or smoothie once in a while is fine but don’t count on it to fulfill your daily dose of fruits and veggies. If you’re looking to satisfy your smoothie craving, take a few minutes and make your own!

Peace, love, and food,

Kara 

V8 provided me with a tote bag and water bottle but these opinions stated are my own.

I’m all about homemade pizzas. It’s actually a staple at our place now. TJs is kind enough to provide the easy to bake (and cheap!) pizza dough – whole wheat for me and italian herb for Steve. Steve’s become quite the pro at creating veggie pizzas – marinating vegetables beforehand and what not. I’m not trying to honk our own horns here, but if you wanted you could call us a gourmet pizza shop. A pizza shop that also makes the not-so-ordinary hummus pizza.

No, hummus pizza is not Steve’s specialty. I actually tried hummus pizza for the first time last summer after reading a post by Eat Well With Janel. It’s super easy and tastes so yummy, especially if you’re a big hummus fan like myself. My latest hummus pizza creation was the result of me rummaging through my almost bare fridge saying to myself, what could I possibly throw together right now?

Enter, Edamame Hummus Pizza. I was skeptical about using edamame hummus because previously I’ve used garlic hummus which is a safe bet. Edamame hummus though? I took the risk considering how much I adore edamame hummus. It’s ALWAYS in my fridge. I kid you not. I even made it for a Recipe Redux a few months back.

Edamame Hummus Pizza

Ingredients:

whole-wheat pizza dough

2 portabello mushrooms, sliced

1/2 container edamame hummus

1/4 cup parmesean cheese

freshly ground pepper

dried oregeno

Preheat oven to 350. Roll out pizza dough and spread hummus onto dough. Top with portobello mushrooms, cheese, and sprinkle pepper and oregano to taste. Bake for about 10 minutes or until crust is crispy. 

Not too shabby for a last-minute thrown together meal, eh? In order to enjoy this meal, you must come to terms with the fact that you’re eating a green pizza. Just sayin.

Looking for some other ways to healthify your pizza? Look no further! 

Bon appétit!

Peace, love, and food,

Kara

For Christmas this year, I was grateful to receive a handful of lovely foodie gifts. A new spice rack, hand-painted measuring cups & spoons and a sugar bowl from Anthropologie. Even my Secret Santa present from Steve’s family was a gift fit for a foodie (they know me so well ). Two bags of fresh pasta and a beautiful hand-painted pasta bowl.

Last week I put my Secret Santa gift to good use and cooked a bag of lemon parsley mafaldine that was from Flour City Pasta in Rochester, NY. Mafaldine is a ribbon-shaped flat, wide pasta. This particular mafaldine was green in color from the parsley and I have to say the green color turned Steve off a bit to the pasta. He quickly got over that after his first bite.

To accompany the pasta, I made the sauce recommended by Flour City – plum tomatoes, feta, olive oil, lemon juice, pasta water, salt and pepper. Not only was the pasta lemon flavored, but the sauce had a whole lotta lemon love to it as well. The lemon didn’t overpower the dish but definitely made a statement. I thought this would be a perfect spring or summer pasta dish because it was so light and refreshing. You can find the recipe for the pasta sauce here.

I sautéed some baby spinach with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper for a mean green side dish.

Special thanks to my Secret Santa for making this dinner possible.

My next bag of pasta is a Red pepper basil…what sauce would you recommend to go with?

Peace, love, and food,

Kara

I feel like it was just yesterday I was sitting on my couch in my pjs writing a post on my 2010 and here I am once again to do the same. 2011 brought me more wonder and excitement than I could’ve imagined.

Scratched my itch to travel with trips to Orlando, D.C., Boulder, NYC, Charleston, San Diego, Pittsburgh, Portland, Martha’s Vineyard and Charlotte. Decided I would move to Boulder in a heartbeat, especially if I could eat at Salt every week. Got my eat on at foodie festivals like Harvest on the Harbor and Parked, the very first Food Truck festival. Productions of HAIR, the American Tribal Love-Rock musical, and All’s Well That Ends Well at the Common brought me back to my thespian roots. I had a few foodie firsts including sunflower, oysters and pomegranate. I learned a few foodie lessons including wheat berries gone wrong, raspberry jam turned rock candy and poached eggs practice makes perfect. Showed my farm love berry picking at Tangerinis. Got inspired by my little sister’s high school graduation, sunset runs at JP pond and by my cousin’s wedding in an apple orchard. Gave out a whole lot of inspiration to many patients. Amazing coworkers became good friends. Discovered a true love for four-day work weeks and Friday trips to Back Bay Yoga and Saus. Had my first big public speaking gig and rocked it. Started a new and exciting yogurt journey with Chobani. Discovered a unanticipated love for solo road trips as long as I’m belting out tunes. Instagram is my new favorite pastime. Picked out our very own first Christmas tree from Allendale Farms and first time at the Boston Common tree lighting. Oh yes, and I closed out the year finally getting upside down in a yoga class.

Here’s a look at 2011…

2011, you were awesome but I have a feeling 2012 is going to to rock my socks off.

Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays!

Peace, love, and food,

Kara

I picked up apples, pomegranate, and dinosaur kale! Dinosaur kale, also known as Tuscan Kale, has blue-green  narrow leaves with an embossed texture. It has a slightly sweeter taste than curly kale. Now I’m no stranger to kale. I love crunching into kale chips and scooping it up in a quinoa salad. 

For dinner that night, I tossed together a quick, easy and cheap meal using our kale from Allendale.

Local Kale and White Bean Pasta

Ingredients:

1/2 lb whole-wheat penne

2 bunches of local Dinosaur kale (any type of kale will do), stems removed and cut leaves in half

1 medium sweet onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup pasta water

1 15-oz can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup grated Parmesean

Olive oil, salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to directions on package. Save 1/2 cup pasta water. In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add diced onion and cook for a few minutes, until soft. Add garlic and let cook for 1 minute. Add kale and 1/2 cup pasta water. Toss to combine and cover and cook for a 5 minutes or until kale is wilted. Add beans and cooked pasta. Toss to combine. Add more olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Top with Parmesean cheese. 

We even ate on our Christmas plates and placemats. Fitting for a night of Christmas tree hunting.

I can’t wait to use the apples and dig into that pomegranate next! Stay tuned…

Peace, love, and food,

Kara

Have you tried Dinosaur Kale? Have you snagged any good farm fresh produce recently?

After a week of traveling, I came home craving a wholesome dinner to be shared with Steve. When Steve mentioned Pomodoro in Brookline Village, although I wasn’t necessarily in the mood for Italian, I knew the food would be fresh and delicious. The opposite of what you get on the road. I’d been to Pomodoro in the North End a handful of times. I couldn’t get enough of the super small restaurant with no bathroom, 3 beverage choices, and a basket full of money to replace the cash register. Despite all these characteristics, the food was authentic and fresh. Did I mention delicious?The Brookline location didn’t disappoint. Still small and intimate, but slightly bigger than its North End counterpart. The lighting was dim and the temperature was toasty, perfect for a chilly night. 

I started with a glass of Italian red wine which was comparable to a Pinot. Steve had an Old Fashioned which prompted the conversation of Steve being an old man . I tried it but, sorry Bourbon, you’ll never be for me. 

While sipping on my wine, I enjoyed a piece of bread with the best olive oil in the world.

We split the arugula salad with pickled shallots, shaved Parmesean and olive oil and lemon juice. Prosciutto on the side for Steve. It was heavenly. I totally thought Steve would be pushing the pickled shallots to the side but he dug right in! The sign of a salad well done!

For my entree I had the pan seared salmon with olive tapenade served over a roasted corn and fennel broth with braised artichoke and creamy potatoes. It was delicious but I was full after eating half of it so I took the rest home and had it for lunch the next day.

Steve had linguini and meatballs with a tomato sauce. I snagged a bite of the pasta with sauce and it was perfect. We declined dessert but I was pleasantly surprised when the waitress brought over a complimentary chocolate pudding with a light cream swirled through to break it up. Since Steve has little to no sweet tooth, the dessert was all on me. I guess there are worse things.

Steve and I both were very pleased with our dining experience at Pomodoro. My only complaint is that the dinner felt a little rushed. I would’ve liked more time in between courses to take a breather. Steve’s already asking when we can go back so I’m sure Pomodoro will be seeing us again soon.

Peace, love, and food,

Kara

Where’s your favorite spot for Italian? Any awesome dining-out experiences lately?

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Healthy Habits Kitchen (HHK) located in Wellesley, MA. I met with Sue, the owner, who talked to me about the inspiration behind HHK and its operations. A meal preparation and delivery service, HHK is all about making healthy food convenient. Sue and I discussed how one of the biggest barriers for people to eat healthy is time and lack of planning ahead. HHK is about filling that gap by packaging nutritious food that is already prepared and ready to cook. The dietitian on staff ensures that all meals contain no more than 400 calories per serving, less than 30% fat and a maximum of 800mg of sodium. 

When in season, Sue buys her produce from the Farmers Markets while she is there selling her meals. She uses antibiotic and growth-hormone free chicken, wild-caught seafood and limits use of preservatives, artificial flavors, colors and dyes. Needless to say, HHK cares about serving good quality food. 

The menu at HHK changes monthly to reflect the season. The November menu featured Pumpkin Turkey Chili and Sweet and Crunchy Mustard Chicken. They even offered a Thanksgiving menu featuring appetizers, sides and desserts. Their menu features a variety of poultry, fish, meat, and vegetarian main dishes as well as sides and cookie dough for dessert. Reasonably priced for its convenience, meal kits sell for an average of $5 per serving. Think of how much you might spend on take-out!  Full order kits serve 4 -6 people and half order kits serve 2 -3 people. 

Sue was kind of enough to send me home with a meal kit to try which was perfect since I was getting home late with no dinner plans. I tried the Broiled Tilapia With Thai Coconut Curry Sauce. Ingredients included: ginger, garlic, red peppers, curry, cumin, soy sauce, brown sugar and coconut milk. This meal came with jasmine rice. I took home a half order and got 3 servings out of it.

This month’s theme for the Recipe Redux is A Whole New Grain. I currently am singing the theme to the tune of Aladdin, not gonna lie.

The purpose of the theme this month was to encourage people to be adventurous with using whole grains in cooking, and to try something other than the usual whole wheat or oatmeal. I initially was thinking I would try a second attempt at making wheat berries (the 1st attempt ended horribly). But then I got to thinking about the bag of quinoa that was sitting in my cupboard. Usually, I will use quinoa to make a salad or use it as a side dish. For the Recipe Redux, I wanted to shake it up a little and try using quinoa in a dessert or baked good. This month I made apple cinnamon quinoa muffins to keep with the fall season.

Quinoa (pronounce keen-wah) is a super high complete protein grain, making it a perfect protein choice for vegetarians. Given that it is a whole grain, it’s also packed with protein. This combo of protein + fiber is sure to leave you full and satisfied. It’s also wheat and gluten free, making it a great grain choice for those who have Celiac or gluten sensitivity.  

Apple Cinnamon Quinoa Muffins

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa, rinsed

2 cups white whole-wheat flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 cup Greek yogurt

1/2 cup low-fat milk

1/4 cup canola oil

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup maple syrup

1 apple, peeled and chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add rinsed quinoa to 2 cups of water in a medium saucepan. Heat water until reaches a boil and then cover and let simmer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cooked quinoa in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.

Add wet ingredients: yogurt, milk, egg, vanilla, and oil, to a medium mixing bowl and whisk together.

Add apples and wet mixture to flour mixture and mix together. Be careful not to over mix or muffins will be tough.

Line muffin tin with paper liners and divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake muffins for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool on wire rack. 

The muffins turned out great besides the fact that they were a little dense (I must have over-mixed the batter as evidenced by the tunnels in the muffins). I loved the addition of the quinoa to the muffins and that these muffins are protein packed and make for a healthy breakfast to start the day.

Enjoy!

Peace, love, and food,

Kara

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As the first and only recipe challenge founded by registered dietitians, The Recipe ReDux aims to inspire the food lover in every healthy eater and inspire the healthy eater in every food lover. Thank you for visiting. We hope you enjoy!

(Please note that this is a closed link-up for Recipe ReDux posts only. Any links added to this collection for non-ReDux posts will be deleted.) 

1. Regan @ The Professional Palate – Amaranth Holiday Bread	2. Carlene @ Carlene’s Figments-Hot Cereal w/ CranOrange Relish	3. Danielle @ Food Confidence – Quinoa & Kale Crustless Quiche	4. Cherie @ Grain Crazy–Sweet and Spicy Barley	5. Emma Stirling @ The Scoop on Nutrition – Hot Smoked Salmon & Freekeh Nicoise
6. Mary @ brightonyourhealth-Quinoa Stuffed Tomatoes	7. Deanna @Teaspoon of Spice -Pecan Date Breakfast Couscous	8. Kat @ Eating The Week – Accidental Warm Spelt Salad	9. Kristina @ Love and Zest – Crunchy Quinoa Granola	10. Elizabeth Jarrard
11. Janel @ Eat Well with Janel – Popped Amaranth	12. Jackie Mills@DeliciousDiabetesCooking Sweet & Salty Bulgur & Cauliflower Salad	13. Healthful Sense – Quinoa + Sweet Pumpkin Sauce	14. Meal Makeover Moms’ Kitchen – Carrot & Zucchini Farro Risotto	15. Karman @ Nutrition Adventures: Cranberry-Farro Salad
16. Kara @ Peace, Love, and Food – Apple Cinnamon Quinoa Muffins	17. gretchen@kumquat- sunken pecan streusel teff loaf	18. Cream of Mushroom Barley Soup	19. The Spicy RD-Teff Pumpkin Cupcakes	20. EverydayTastiness – Amaranth Spinach Flatbread
21. Meg @ Meg in the Kitchen – Sweet Potato Muffins	22. Katie Hamm, Healthy & Happy Hour	23. Cindy Brison A Whole New Grain–Farro	24. Diane@eatwelleatclean – Tropical Multigrain Cereal	25. Jessica Fishman Levinson @ Nutritioulicious