Robust Recipes

Healthy, Flavorful Food

Roasted Butternut Squash and Fennel Soup

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Hi friends, how has winter been treating you?  Good, I hope. Last week we had temperatures at a high of negative 13 with wind chills of negative 20 degrees! That’s right; I said N-E-G-A-T-V-E 20 degrees! I am pretty sure that my ears got frost bite just from sticking my head out the door to grab the mail. Not fun! So, I hunkered down underneath blankets and sweatshirts for at least 3 days. I drank a cup of hot tea at least once an hour and refused to eat any food that was at room … [Read more...]

Eggplant Pizzas (GF)

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  Paul and I both love pizza, Paul especially. He worked at a local pizza place for 8 years and received free or discounted pizza almost every day that he worked. As you can imagine, Paul requests pizza quite often and most of the time I am happy to join him in enjoying a good quality Take-N-Bake pizza. It is a treat for me to not cook that evening. When I am trying to eat healthy, such as right after the holidays, I have to deny Paul his pizza requests. I know, I am such a mean … [Read more...]

Beet and Raspberry Smoothie

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Hello 2015! How did you sneak up on me like that? Last I knew it was still Christmas. Did everyone have a wonderful Christmas and New Year’s?  I sure hope so. We had a fun time visiting with family and playing with kids, and we overindulged in lots of food and yummy sweets. I come from a long line of exceptionally great cooks; it’s kind of our thing. Naturally people who love to cook delicious food love to eat delicious food, and we sure did eat. A lot. Which is what the holidays are for, am … [Read more...]

Raw Gingerbread Cookie Bites (V + GF)

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One of my favorite Christmas-time activities as a kid was making homemade gingerbread and sugar cookies with my mom. We would spend hours decorating cookies that we had shaped or cut into gingerbread men, Santa, reindeer, snowmen, and Christmas trees. At the end of the day we would have frosted cookies that were dazzled with sprinkles and sugar. I was a sugar-crazed kid who thoroughly enjoyed scarfing down both the sugar cookies and the gingerbread cookies. Even as a kid my favorite of the … [Read more...]

Carrot Soup

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I originally created this soup out of desperation. It was a cold fall day a couple weeks ago. My stomach began to rumble so I went to the refrigerator to look for food. It was pretty much bare bones in there. I know what you’re thinking: is it even possible for a food blogger to run out of food? The answer is a big fat YES! It happens quite often. I spend so much time planning and cooking recipes for the blog. Although they are all delicious, some are not always a meal. Some are dessert … [Read more...]

Orange Hot Chocolate

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Have you ever had one of those chocolate oranges ? We used to get them in our stocking every year for several year when I was a kid. I remember the excitement of opening the box and whacking the orange-sized ball of chocolate as hard as I could on the floor. WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! Three good whacks usually did it. Then I would peel off the orange tinted wrapper to reveal these luscious, shiny, chocolaty pieces of orange segments. The chocolate was even textured to look like the skin of … [Read more...]

Beet and Yogurt Dip

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It’s Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year! Now that it’s officially Christmas season, it is time to break out the decorations and play Christmas music non-stop. My Christmas tree is up and my Pandora station has switched to Christmas tunes until further notice. All that’s left is some holiday cooking. What better way to spark your Christmas spirit then to make a beautiful, festive, red Beet and Yogurt Dip? As long as you have cooked beets on hand (which I recommend), you can whip … [Read more...]

Spiced Wine

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When the weather begins to drop below 40 degrees all I want to drink are warm beverages. I begin drinking more tea than water. I enjoy a nice cup of hot chocolate for dessert now and then, and I begin making batches of Spiced Wine to enjoy in the evenings. Imagine curling up underneath a blanket while sipping at a glass of warm wine laced with honey, cinnamon, anise, and spicy cloves. Every sip warms you from the inside out. Spiced wine is like winter’s version of sangria! So, if you adore a … [Read more...]

Cheesy Mexican Egg Casserole (GF)

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    So, you have family coming to stay at your house during the holiday season? You couldn’t be more excited to have them, right? Except that you are just a little stressed out about what to serve them for breakfast. I mean you spend so much time planning the big holiday meal, as you should, that you almost forgot about the next morning. Of course, you don’t want to run around the kitchen cooking again. You just made a huge feast the evening before, and the last thing you want to … [Read more...]

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pomegranate

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Back in the day Brussels sprouts were loathed by all. I myself thought they were absolutely grotesque and refused to touch them with a ten foot pole. Whenever I had them in the past they were bitter and mushy. No thank you! Within the past few years Brussels sprouts have become all the rage. The secret to making Brussels sprouts actually taste good: Roasting! That’s right, roasting Brussels sprouts helps to bring out their natural sugars and allow their outer leaves to crisp up and turn … [Read more...]