Bok Choy Stir Fry

My favorite baby bok choy recipe! Plenty of veggies and a tangy ginger garlic sauce make this easy stir fry a delicious, flavorful weeknight meal.

Stir fry was probably the first healthy-ish meal I learned to make, although it used to look nothing like this. When I was in college, I’d stock up on frozen vegetables because I was broke and they were 4 for $1 at Publix. I’d mix the frozen veggies with instant brown rice and drown it all in soy sauce. While I appreciated the bargain, that dinner was “healthy” for healthy’s sake, and I’d try to convince myself it was delicious while my roommates all ate pizza. Now, I love to make this actually delicious stir fry with lots of fresh vegetables, like baby bok…

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Chickpea & Cauliflower Tomato Stew

A hearty & healthy vegetable minestrone stew topped with kale pesto. Perfect for cold winter nights or make ahead lunches. Vegan and gluten free.

soups / vegan / gluten free

We’re en route to snowy Chicago today and I’m trying to think warm thoughts. Yes, I grew up there, but I’m such a baby about winter. Scraping car windows, not being able feel my fingers & toes – I did it for years & it’s just not my thing. BUT I’m excited to spend a little time with my family, eat some good food, and probably cook a little. On the menu, obviously, will be warm food like this hot & hearty vegetable-packed soup. This is my take on minestrone although it’s a little less than traditional – it’s in between…

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Hemp Seed & Kale Pesto

An easy 5-ingredient homemade Kale Pesto. Great for fall and winter, this recipe is vegan, gluten-, nut- & dairy-free. Serve on pasta or your favorite dish!

vegan / gluten free

I freaking love pesto. I make it all the time – usually with any herbs, greens, nuts, or seeds I have around. I like to swirl it into my soups, top it onto my eggs, or dollop it onto big salad-ey grain bowls. While there are one or two (or twelve) pesto recipes on this site already, I really love this version, so I think there’s room for one more. Before I started the blog, I would have never imagined just how many people are allergic to nuts. So in the spirit of the healthy new year, this tasty pesto is dairy-free, gluten-free (obviously), and nut-free…

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Sparkling Paloma Cocktail

A lighter recipe for a paloma cocktail made with sparkling water and agave nectar. Perfect for New Years Eve or happy hours all winter long!

winter / citrus / cocktail

Happy (almost) new year and also – happy citrus season! If you were thinking “hmm… maybe margaritas for New Years Eve this year?” then you’ve come to the right place. Well almost. I originally planned to make a version of my go-to pomegranate cocktail when these sweet ruby red grapefruits showed up in my Farmhouse box last week. They were a lovely surprise because, well, I’ve been over-doing it on the pomegranates lately, and I was so excited by the idea of a pink drink instead. While Jack is not a fan of grapefruit in general, he loves a paloma cocktail – essentially a grapefruit margarita. This is a slightly lighter…

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Edible DIY Gift Ideas (+ printables!)

holiday 2015 / vegan / gluten free

I have to say that my favorite part about Christmas is wrapping the gifts. When I was in college in Chicago, I had a part time job wrapping gifts at the infamous Marshall Fields on State Street. Their gift wrap room was full of rolls of beautiful wrap, ribbon, and bows – it was a small haven from the holiday chaos that was happening everywhere else outside in the city. So recently, when I was given the opportunity to go through The Container Store’s “Gift Wrap Wonderland,” I was positively giddy. Of course they have gift wrap galore, but they also adorable jars, tags,…

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Creamy White Bean & Tomato Soup

A delicious, healthy & comforting tomato soup thickened with blended white beans. Leftovers are great for packed lunches! Vegan, gluten-free, and simple.

soups / vegan / winter

It’s been a soupy week around here. I’ve said it probably one hundred times before, but I just love the process of making soup. It makes me feel grounded and fancy all at the same time. Simmering flavorful things in a pot (with a glass of wine on the side) is my idea of a perfect night. It could be Tuesday night, it could be Friday night – it doesn’t matter to me. I made this one last weekend when my mom came to visit and again a few days later for Jack who had been out of town. The best part…

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Lemony White Wine Capellini

The simplest elegant pasta dish made with spinach, herbs, lemon-white wine sauce & a toasted pine nut topping. A fantastic weeknight dinner! Gluten-free.

dinner / pasta / gluten free

This recipe describes how I like my holidays: simple and with wine. I don’t get too wrapped up in holiday craziness – I don’t fight crowds at the mall, I don’t bake ten million cookies, and I don’t cook a Christmas ham (is that what people still do?). But I do enjoy making easy elegant dinners like this one. This pasta is bright and merry, with squeezes of lemon and splashes of Barefoot Pinot Grigio. The recipe starts with a very light lemony white wine sauce made with olive oil, shallots, and garlic. Then, I toss in a few handfuls of spinach before…

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Sweet & Spicy Popcorn

Easy 6-ingredient homemade Sweet & Spicy Popcorn is a great holiday gift! Vegan, gluten-free & healthier than classic kettle corn, but just as good.

vegan / gluten free / snacks & dips

Hello everyone, Jack here, pinch-hitting for Jeanine. She’s been busy making this very popcorn, so she asked me to write about it. Popcorn this time of year makes me think of something that has become a bit of an American tradition – gigantic multi-gallon tins of flavored popcorn. You know the kind – they’re the size of an oil drum, separated into three sections on the inside with a literal ton of popcorn inside. It seems like a good idea – popcorn is cheap, so why not preserve it in a sticky, sugary shell to enjoy over the entire month of December? Well,…

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Apple Mimosas & Butternut Baked Eggs

Host a fun & easy-going brunch with these simple baked eggs. Butternut squash, eggs, leeks, and herbs are all you need. With apple mimosas, of course.

cocktail / brunch / entertaining

Thanksgiving has become an odd holiday for us. During the first years that Jack and I were together, we traveled to visit family for every single holiday. It took us a while to realize that Thanksgiving weekend air travel is the worst of them all. So now we have a tradition of staying home with no real tradition. One year we stayed in and made risotto. The year after that we had a friends-giving (before they were called that). Last year, we stayed home and worked (we were just beginning the book). This year we’re going to gather with friends over a fun & easygoing…

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Arugula Salad with Lemon & Fennel

This easy arugula salad is light and lemony with peppery arugula, marinated fennel, crisp radishes, creamy avocado, and toasted walnuts.

salads / side dishes

This bright arugula salad is one of my favorite simple side dishes. It’s so easy to toss together: marinate thinly shaved fennel and radishes for a few minutes before tossing them with arugula, toasted walnuts, and creamy avocado. And if you have it on hand, a dollop of pesto really takes it to the next level. With a simple lemon dressing, this salad has the perfect balance of creamy, crunchy, bright, and bitter components. It’s an excellent choice for a weeknight, but it’s good enough to serve as a side salad for a special occasion. Arugula Salad Recipe Variations Like…

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Simple Sweet Potato Bowl

Meet one of my favorite combos: sweet potatoes + feta. In this recipe, they're the perfect hearty, tangy topping for grains, greens, and nuts.

vegetarian / gluten free / fall

This easy bowl is what I make for dinner most often when no one is looking. It’s my go-to meal when I’m not working on new recipes, when I’m tired after a long day, and when I’ve definitely had too much take-out pho for one week. It’s not a 30-minute meal because roasting a sweet potato takes at least that long, but the rest is so darn simple. Plus, nothing actually calms me more than the wafting aroma of sweet potatoes roasting in my kitchen. There’s no fancy sauce in this recipe. You won’t even dirty an extra bowl to…

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Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.