Cranberry Orange Almond Bark

My husband's mother used to make this when he was a kid and it's his one food item on the wish list when Christmastime rolls around.

It's super simple!

Ingredients:
1 bag 365 brand white chocolate chips
10-20 whole cranberries (you can use dried if you prefer)
1/4 cup sliced almonds
Zest of one orange
1 tbsp butter

1. In mini food processor, finely chop the zest & cranberries
2. In small saucepan, melt 1 tbsp butter, turn heat to low/med
3. Pour chips in and constantly stir for several minutes on low heat until melted with no bumps-- keep stirring the whole time-- chocolate burns easily
4.  Put some of the almonds, zest, and cranberries into the chips and mix
5.  Ona  baking sheet or stone, lay some parchment paper-- put the mixture out onto it and spread out
6.  Top with the rest of the almonds, cranberry, and zest
7.  Freeze for 1 hour, then take out and break into pieces
8.  Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Tabouli Salad

This is a recipe you can totally play with the amounts and it doesn't matter.

I LOVE IT.

I make it with much less oil than "normal"tabouli, but that's me.  I don't want all the extra oil.


2 bunches parsley, finely chopped in food processor
1 large handful grape tomatoes, finely chopped
1 dry cup quinoa (cook it and cool it completely)
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
10 fresh mint leaves
10 fresh basil leaves
salt and pepper

Mix it all together and EAT!

Quiche and Quiche Bites

I LOVE this quiche, and I had the idea to make a little extra so I could also make 24 mini quiche-bites for my kids' lunches.

This will make you one large (pie-sized) quiche and 24 bites.

Inside of quiche:

1 large bunch of broccoli
1 large yellow onion
Seaside cheddar cheese (about 2-3 oz, or to taste- divided)

5 eggs: 4 eggs, 1 yolk
1 cup almond milk (or any milk)

Finely chop onion, saute til brown, then add
Finely chopped broccoli
Saute til softened, a few minutes
Mix well

Beat eggs with milk separately

Outside of quiche:

I use a prepared vegan crust- Wholly Wholesome-- just take it out of package-- poke holes all over with a fork, and bake at 350 for 10 minutes before you start.

For the bites, I used vegan phyllo dough*.  Once defrosted, lay one sheet down, I cut mine about 6-8 inches wide, brush lightly with butter (I use Earth Balance). Continue until you have 5 sheets stacked all brushed with butter.  Cut into 10 pieces, all about 3 inches x 3 inches (does not need to be exact).

Push the phyllo squares down into your 24-count mini muffin pan.
Optional but recommended: Use liner cups and spray them well with coconut oil cooking spray.
Bake phyllo cups alone for 6 minutes at 350.

*You can buy premade mini-crusts but they are pricey.

Put it together:

Large quiche: Line bottom of large crust with cheddar (or just sprinkle some)
Add broccoli-onion mixture til it reaches top
Pour egg mixture over it until it reaches the top
Bake for 35-40 minutes at 375

Bites: Scoop a half tablespoon (estimate) or so into each little cup.  Push it all down with your fingers so it sits tight in the pan. It's okay if the phyllo gets crumbly when you do this, the egg will seal it back together in the oven.  Using a ladle, pour the egg mixture over each cup-- it doesn't need much.

Bake for 10 minutes at 375
Best served at room temperature.

Enjoy!




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Boiled Peanuts

This one is SUPER simple...


Using a HUGE pot of filtered water (I use a 20 gallon pot)...

Pour in peanuts
Cover with water, then add several more inches above that
(The peanuts will float so this is approximate, but since a lot of water will boil off, you want a LOT of water in there)

Add 2 tbsp salt to the water

Bring pot to a boil
Reduce to low and cook covered 5-6 hours
Scoop them out, let them cool, then eat!
They keep in the fridge for 1 week

Vegan Garlic Knots

I love getting these at my local Whole Foods at the pizza counter-- but they have been out of them the last few times I've had cravings, so I decided to whip up a batch by guessing at a recipe.  I used my regular bread recipe a bit and tweaked.

They came out great!


First, preheat the oven to 425 and brush a layer of avocado (you could use olive) oil on the bottom of a baking stone/pan.

I mix up bread in my food processor without proofing the yeast-- I'm too lazy.

Into the food processor, I put:
(This makes about 32 knots, you could halve this if you want less):

6 cups flour (divided)
1.5 T cane sugar
2 packets Red Star yeast
2.5 cups water, somewhat warm
2 T olive oil
2 T salt

Combine all dry ingredients + only 3 cups of the flour and mix well
Add oil and half the water, mix in food processor
add rest of flour
Add rest of water
Mix well until dough forms a ball
Turn dough out onto well-floured surface

Knead 1 minute
For the next hour, come back every 10 min and knead the dough for about 15 seconds
After 1 hour, pull off pieces of the dough, roll into "snakes" and tie in a knot
Make sure you pinch the creases so it doesn't unravel while baking

Place on oiled stone/pan and brush with olive oil (optional)
Bake at 425 for 10 minutes, then at 375 for 10-20 minutes (keep an eye)
Hot out of the oven, brush with olive oil and freshly crushed garlic
Optional- Sprinkle with freshly chopped rosemary or parsley
Eat!