Healthy Breakfast Smoothies

Learn how to make 5 different fun and healthy breakfast smoothies! These cool, refreshing smoothies are my go-to start to a summer day.

Let’s eat the rainbow! Or, with these healthy breakfast smoothies, drink the rainbow through a straw (or scoop it up with a spoon… how you like to enjoy your smoothie is really up to you). How to Meal Prep Healthy Breakfast Smoothies Today we’re continuing our “grab & go” series with Almond Breeze, (see parts 1, 2 and 3). The idea with these breakfast smoothies is that you assemble all of your fruits & vegetables ahead of time so that your morning smoothie is fast and easy to make. Chop up your fruit (and veggies if you want a green…

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Sesame Basil Soba Noodles

There are times when I cook that I like to pack in every vegetable and also the kitchen sink. And then there are nights when I just crave something simple. This is the latter, obviously, and it’ll take you only ten minutes to make. The ingredient combo here is a little strange, but hear me out – soba noodles, sesame oil and good parmesan cheese all have a delicious nutty flavor in common. Basil and fresh peas are sweet which offer a nice simple balance. I love the subtle flavor of fresh peas here, if you don’t have any, just skip them…

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Green Bean & Purple Potato Salad

If you’re at a picnic, do you go for the potato salad or the cole slaw? I’m a cole slaw person always – the really sweet mayonnaise-y kind. But potatoes smothered in mayo? No thanks. Why is cabbage in mayo better than potatoes in mayo? No clue. But while I don’t go for “potato salad,” I do like a potato salad. Of course, what I mean is that this is a salad… with potatoes (and green beans and yellow wax beans and some other things). Instead of mayo, it’s dressed with everything that I think goes best with potatoes: olive oil, good dijon…

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Waffles with Strawberries & Cacao Nibs

Nothing beats crisp homemade waffles on a weekend morning, and this waffle recipe is the best one I know. Freeze extras for busy mornings!

It’s national doughnut day, so obviously, I have a waffle recipe. The thing about doughnuts is that I like them best when other people make them. But homemade waffles – I like them, well, right at home, piping hot off of the waffle maker. (Or the next day out of the toaster). These are vegan, because I actually like how they get crispier around the edges without any eggs in the batter. Though this recipe calls for spelt flour, these will turn out equally well with all-purpose flour or a white/wheat mix. How to Make Waffles Never made waffles? It’s super easy,…

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Sara’s Strawberry Tabbouleh

A beautiful strawberry tabbouleh recipe adapted from The Sprouted Kitchen Bowl + Spoon by Sara and Hugh Forte. With vegan & gluten-free options, it's great for a picnic.

After I posted my list of favorite spring cookbooks, I could tell that this is the book you’ve all been waiting for – and I’m here to tell you that Sara & Hugh Forte’s new book, Sprouted Kitchen Bowl + Spoon, doesn’t disappoint. The photos are of course gorgeous, and the food… well it makes you want to dig in with a spoon because all of it, like this tabbouleh recipe, looks so incredibly vibrant and delicious! The book has been sitting on my desk for a little while now, among a slew of papers, books, and other messy-desk things – which is how this tabbouleh recipe…

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Avocado & Lemon Zest Spaghetti

A quick and easy weeknight dinner - especially great for avocado-lovers. Use brown rice spaghetti to make it gluten free.

As I’m putting the finishing touches on our book, (T minus 3 days!) I thought now would be a good time to start making recipes from other peoples’ books… Last week, I briefly talked about Anna’s book, A Modern Way To Eat. While it’s been out for awhile now, it’s only recently been released in the US and I finally got my hands on a copy. What I love about it is that it’s more than just a book full of recipes (although there are over 200 of them!)… she offers tons of delicious ideas for how to mix flavors and textures together in creative but not-fussy ways.…

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Vegetarian Cookout Recipes

Over here the skies are gloomy and it hardly feels like the start of Memorial Day weekend – but I hope it’s sunnier where you are and that you have some fun outdoor party plans this weekend. Here are a few recipe ideas to get you started! Portabello Pups Mango Goji Guacamole / Grilled Potato & Arugula Salad Mango & Red Pepper Orzo Salad Corn on the Cob 3 Ways / Tart Cherry Frozen Yogurt  

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Favorite Spring Cookbooks

I don’t even know where to start on this year’s recently-released spring cookbooks – gorgeous, stunning, beautiful, endearing, witty, and drool worthy are not words that even begin to describe them. Because I didn’t know how to choose just one at a time to start writing about, here’s a list of a few of my favorites – I’m sure I’ve missed some (let me know if you have any spring favorites!). Pictured above: Seven Spoons, by Tara O’Brady Can’t wait to make: Chocolate Olive Oil Zucchini Bread and her Esquites and Yellow Tomato Gazpacho My New Roots, by Sarah Britton…

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Matcha Milkshakes

In case you haven’t noticed, I sort of have a thing for matcha. I know it’s SO trendy… but I personally think it’s exciting to see really great healthy foods become insanely popular. Everyone’s drinking matcha lattes and matcha mochas these days – but now that it’s almost summer, here’s a really simple ice cream treat. This one’s really more of an idea than a “recipe.” I didn’t even bother breaking out the blender to make these milkshakes because in the spirit of our “grab and go” monthly series with Almond Breeze, I wanted to make these simple enough to…

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Vegan Spinach Mac & Cheese

A creamy vegan mac & cheese made with cashews, nutritional yeast, smoked paprika, balsamic, and cayenne. A healthy & delicious weeknight dinner.

Jack here, writing for the blog today while Jeanine writes for the book… I have something to admit that I’m having a hard time with. I’m starting to prefer vegan “mac and cheese” to actual mac and cheese. Now, this is a hard one for me. You see, I love cheese. Almost every time we go to Whole Foods, I raid the “under $3 cheese” bin to find crazy new cheeses that I can barely pronounce. And a great grilled cheese is work of art. But these vegan “mac and cheese” recipes Jeanine comes up with pretty much hit everything I…

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Austin Food & Wine Festival 2015

Photos from the 2015 Austin Food and Wine Festival!

One of our favorite foodie events is without a doubt the Austin Food & Wine Fest. It’s a smoky grill-tastic weekend complete with big flavors on small plates… celebrity chefs cooking alongside local chefs… and, of course, bottomless glasses of wine. One highlight for us was watching Hugh Acheson’s demo (we just love watching him on Top Chef!)… Surrounded by a pretty meaty food & wine fest, he made fava bean & leek soup and an arugula salad with mint. He charmed the audience talking about the importance of cooking at home, eating seasonally and using good ingredients. He says “life’s too short for crappy olive…

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A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.