Greek Baked Eggs from the Lovely Patty and Spunky Bailey

You are in for another treat! When I first saw my email from my friend Patty with her guest post, this was what I said to her, “Oh my Patty!!!! Wowzers!!! It already sounded awesome and then I saw the pictures! Feed me now please! Wow! Did I say Wow?!” 🙂

Patty is an amazing photographer, a dedicated teacher, a wonderful cook, and a sweet woman!

Want to see something beautiful? Look at this macro picture of a gerbera daisy (which happens to be one of my favorite flowers.) And look at this gorgeous and delicious grilled zucchini salad that she created. Be sure to read that whole post or else you might miss the awesome Bailey dog! Patty & Bailey…these two are a team! Love them both!

Would you like to see what she has cooked for us?! Of course you would! Here you go…

What a treat to be a guest blogger on Creating Beauty in the Kitchen! Lori and I have been WordPress buddies for some time now, and I can’t get enough of her sweet and kind nature. We have bonded over our love for eggs as well as our propensity for kitchen mishaps. Now that we’re also Instagram buds, we get to share even more of our lives with each other! Even though we have yet to meet (and I know we will at some point), Lori feels like an old friend to me. Her posts always bring a smile to my face, and more often than not, a loud chuckle and/or snort. 😉

Now here is my recipe for Lori–a Greek-inspired egg dish that is both vegetarian and gluten-free!

Greek Baked Eggs

• Servings: 2 people
• Print

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 1/2 orange bell pepper, finely chopped (you can use any color bell pepper you’d like)
• 10 grape or cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 10 kalamata olives, pitted and finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon Greek oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 tablespoon chopped chives
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese, more if desired

Directions:

• Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a shallow pan over medium heat. Saute the shallots, bell pepper, oregano, and red pepper flakes until veggies are tender.
• Add the tomatoes, olives, and garlic and continue to saute until tomatoes have softened. Remove from heat and fold in the chives and feta. Adjust seasoning to taste with salt and pepper.
• Divide the sauteed veggies into two wide ramekins or one shallow baking dish. Crack the eggs on top and drizzle a bit of olive oil over the eggs. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes, or until eggs are cooked to your liking. Let cool for 5 minutes and garnish with extra chives and freshly cracked black pepper. Serve warm!

What a wonderful post Patty! I agree, you do indeed feel like an old friend….can’t wait to meet in person!! ❤

You will definitely want to visit Patty HERE and see more of her gorgeous photos, yummy recipes, and some of Bailey’s fun antics! I still laugh so hard when I see THIS post!

Suzanne’s Yeasted Buckwheat Waffles with Buttery Peaches

We are here friends! Here in our new home! 😀 More pics to come soon! And hopefully I can get my kitchen unpacked so I can start “creating beauty in THIS kitchen!” 😉 Until then, you get to continue enjoying the beauty some of your fellow foodie bloggers have been creating for me.

Suzanne from A Pug in the Kitchen was so kind to bring some of her creativity to all of you! In addition to having the cutest name for a blog and the cutest design, I love her tagline, “good food with simple ingredients.” I remember first talking back and forth with this lovely lady…she had started following my blog but wasn’t getting notifications for some reason. Her enthusiasm to make sure that got fixed warmed my heart and so encouraged me! Well, it did get fixed, and ever since then I see Suzanne over here often…means so much! Thanks Suzanne!

So, lets talk beauty and creativity for a moment. You have got to check out her Champagne Grape Galette with Whipped Goat Cheese! When I saw this last week, I am pretty sure my mouth just dropped open! Wow! Wow! Wow!

Drum roll please……

Passing you over to Suzanne!

When Lori @Creating Beauty in the Kitchen,asked me to write a guest post I was and am honored and thrilled to do so,  you see I love Lori’s blog, her recipes are amazing and healthful and I really admire her, when you read it you feel welcomed immediately,  I was struck at how her blog is approachable, beautifully creative and so much fun. Visit her site,  you will find gorgeous recipes that do not use refined sugar, are low glycemic and mostly gluten free, I love this recipe for Southwestern shrimp taco’s with chipotle honey lime sauce  I also have to say I was a little worried about what to do, my recipes are not exactly healthful or free of sugar, I do use only fresh, natural ingredients so that counts for something, I put my thinking cap on, I wanted the dish to be low gluten not necessarily gluten free and of course the recipe had to be free of refined sugar. I remembered seeing a recipe for yeast waffles on Pure Wow and it sounded great, loaded with sugar, the waffles were brushed with butter and coated with cinnamon sugar, ok,we won’t go there but I took the basic waffle recipe and changed it  pretty dramatically adding buckwheat flour, instead of sugar I used honey and instead of the melted butter coconut oil. I thought a fruit topping would be great on these waffles, I had some lovely peaches that were perfectly ripe.  I warmed the peaches in butter (Lori likes butter so it’s ok) and maple syrup and poured it over the waffles. Lori my dear, I hope you like my recipe and thank you for the opportunity to post on your blog.

Yeasted Buckwheat Waffles

2 cups milk

6 tbs melted butter, coconut oil or vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbs honey

2 eggs

1 cup buckwheat flour

1 cup All purpose flour (substitute almond flour or use all buckwheat to keep it low-glycemic and/or gluten free)

2 tsp instant yeast

1 tsp salt

Warm milk in the microwave for 40-45 seconds seconds or until warm to the touch. Add the eggs, honey, vanilla and whisk to combine. In large mixing bowl add the flours, yeast and salt and whisk gently so they are combined. Add the liquid ingredients, stir until incorporated. Let sit on the counter for 30 minutes then cover and refrigerate overnight.

Peaches

4 peaches peeled and sliced

2 tbs butter

3 tbs maple syrup

pinch of salt

Optional, a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg

Melt butter in skillet, add the peaches,maple syrup and salt. Saute just until the peaches are heated approximately 2 minutes

Note: Waffles freeze beautifully so whatever you don’t eat, freeze. I separate each waffle with parchment and place in freezer bags. That way you can take out individual servings and keep the rest frozen.

Despite the fact she was a little worried, as you can all tell, Suzanne was definitely up for this task! These sound oh so yummy!! I do love butter, this is true! Buttery peaches?! Oh my! I want to eat this for breakfast in the morning! Do you deliver Suzanne!? 😉

Please hop on over to A Pug in the Kitchen for more delicious recipes! Thank you so much Suzanne!

Breton Style Buckwheat Crepes – Guest Post From Sue @ birgerbird

Our move got pushed up to this Saturday, so I have just a couple days to get our 3 bedroom house all packed up and ready. As you can imagine, I am packing, packing, packing, sometimes eating, getting a little bit of sleep, and packing, packing, packing! 🙂 This is one of the reasons I am so super blessed to have Sue from birgerbird come do a guest post for me!

Sue is such a sweetie! She is fun and spunky and oh so creative! Fig Mint Pesto?! Wow! Now that is what I call creative! ❤ it!! If you haven’t already, you will definitely want to check out her blog! The food she creates is amazing!

Now, for the woman of the hour….

I am so honored to cook these Breton Style Buckwheat Crepes (Gluten Free) with you for my friend Lori, whose blog I am so enjoying getting to know.  I love that Lori has been totally transformed as a cook, by surprise.  She is a gift to our little blogging community.  I just hope she likes crepes!

When I was living in San Francisco there was a wonderful tiny creperie called Ti Couz in the neighborhood adjacent to mine.  All they served was Breton-style buckwheat crepes, hard cider, some wine and beers, and an occasional onion soup and simple salad.  It was fun to take a walk over to Valencia Street and pretend I was in France.  The majority of the seating was at the “counter” where you could dine anonymously by yourself and watch the crepe doctors at their craft.  Last time I was in “the City” I was sad to learn that Ti Couz said goodbye in 2011.

I then went over 20 years without eating a proper buckwheat crepe.  But just last month, on my wedding anniversary, I decided to sneak down to my husband’s work and surprise him with some flowers and, well I hadn’t planned it, but also a fresh, hot buckwheat crepe!  Turns out that the farmers market near his job, where I stopped for the flowers, happens to have a genuine french crepe lady!  Just one whiff of that delicious buckwheat crepe sent me back years, and also peaked my interest in making a really good one at home.

Buckwheat happens to be a really nutritious fruit seed, related to rhubarb & sorrel and not at all related to wheat or other grains in any way.  Known as “farine de sarrasin” in French, it”s high in phytonutrients, minerals, B vitamins, and is a superior source of protein than many grains.  It’s also really satisfying and helps control blood sugar.  It has a very distinct aroma with notes of muskiness.  I like it either toasted raw and added to dishes as a crunchy condiment (“buckwheat’s”) or I’ll use the flour, which lends a very nutty and delicious flavor to baked goods.  Something about straight-up cooked buckwheat does not jive with me.

Because buckwheat four is completely gluten-free, you have to work it pretty vigorously, either by hand mixer or stand mixer.  Don’t just whisk or stir as if with a regular crepe or pancake mix, you’ll be left with crepe that tears and breaks at the faintest breeze from your kitchen window.  It won’t be beauty in the kitchen, know what I mean?  If you are not totally gluten-intolerant, I would advise adding a handful of all purpose flour to the mix to make it more pliable.

By really working the batter you are actually gelatinizing the starches in the buckwheat which help make the mix hold together better.  After that let it rest in the fridge to fully hydrate the flour.  The final mix should have the consistency of heavy cream.  It will thicken during the resting time and then you can thin it out with a bit more water before cooking.  A thinner mix produces a lacy, beautifully patterned galette which has a toasty, warm buckwheat flavor.  A thicker mix will be easier to flip, more uniform in color and a bit heavier, obviously.

Traditionally galettes in Brittany are served with a number of savory fillings, often ham, cheese, or ratatouille, as well as some good hard cider.  A nice fresh egg cracked over the top is the most classic finish to a true “Galette Complete”, whether you put ham, spinach, cheese, tomato, mushrooms or ratatouille inside. For this post I created 2 galettes — one with sautéed red cabbage, scallions, arugula and a fried egg; the other, with a sort of chicken korma made with yoghurt, pistachio, poached cinnamon chicken and green beans.  Here is the master recipe for the crepes as well as the chicken kind-of korma crepe.  The red cabbage crepe is just a very informal, loose recipe that you can adapt based upon whatever delicious vegetables you have on hand.

Because we’re all about creating beauty in the kitchen here, I opted not to share photographs of the batter or crepe cooking in process.  It gets messy guys.

Master Recipe for Buckwheat Crepes

Ingredients:

• 2 c buckwheat flour
• 1 egg (optional if you want vegan)
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 c beer (optional)
• 4 c water (plus one or two more cups)

Preparation:

1. In a large mixing bowl or Kitchen Aid bowl, place your ingredients and mix thoroughly for at least 5 minutes.  If you don’t want to add beer, don’t, it’s not necessary, but you could add a bit of seltzer water in its place for added lightness.  Add water until the mix has the consistency of heavy cream. You want the batter to have a nice satiny sheen. Transfer to a container and let rest in the fridge 30 minutes to a few hours.
2. Heat a heavy skillet, non-stick pan, or crepe pan over medium heat, then grease with plain oil.  Rub the oil to a thin, even coat with a folded-up paper towel, then ladle the batter into the pan, turning with your wrist as you pour to evenly spread the mix.  This is not easy at first (the mix pours slowly since it’s a bit heavier than a white-flour crepe mix).  Spread with a thin spatula if that helps.  Let the galette set and start to brown, then put about 1/2 t of butter in the pan and flip to cook the other side, about 2 minutes per side.  You can continue to cook galettes in this way, and pile them up on top of one another on a dinner plate.  This can be done in advance, and then you can finish them in the pan later with everyone’s preferred fillings and serve them hot.

Kind of Chicken Korma:

Chicken Korma

Ingredients:

• 2 cups poached chicken.  I poached a whole chicken with a cinnamon stick and an onion. You can of course substitute roasted chicken or grilled chicken if you wish.
• 1 1/2 cups coconut yoghurt, strained in double cheesecloth over a strainer and saucepan for 1 hour.  Alternatively, you could use greek yoghurt.
• 1 cup pistachios, divided in half
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 onion ( I used the onion that poached alongside the chicken but you could use a roasted or sautéed onion)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 cup cooked green beans

Preparation:

1. Combine yogurt, 1/2 cup pistachios, salt ad pepper, olive oil and lemon juice in a blender and blend until it is the consistency of a nice curry sauce or korma sauce.  Thin as needed with water.  Correct seasoning.
2. Gently warm the sauce in a large saucepan and add your chicken and green beans.
3. Place a portion of the chicken mixture onto a crepe and fold as desired.  Sprinkle with more plain yoghurt if you like and with pistachios.  Enjoy!

These are so lovely Sue! I can only imagine how great they taste! I loved hearing the story behind them too! They sound fantastic!

For more wonderful recipes from this lovely lady, go HERE!

Quinoa, Bocconcini and Oregano Salad: A Visit from Chef Julianna

I am so blessed to have such lovely foodie blogger friends here in the blogosphere! I never, ever imagined what a wonderful community I would find….a community full of caring hearts and encouragement! One of the many, many unexpected ways you have encouraged me has been through doing guest posts for me lately, so that hubby and I could more fully enjoy our vacation these past couple weeks! What a blessing! And in case you thought things were going to slow down for me…..guess what?! We are moving! Not far…just to a different house. But that still requires a lot of packing, cleaning, unpacking (beginning tomorrow)…you see what I am getting at here. 🙂 I am excited to say that I have had some more of you amazing cooks with your own awesome blogs be willing to guest post for me during this month! Don’t worry, I will still be cooking and blogging my own stuff too, but it will be such a huge blessing to have some of you come alongside me as I pack, pack, pack! And I know it will be a super big treat for you all to hear from these lovely guests who have taken on the challenge of making some low-glycemic, no refined sugar goodness for you! I am so excited!

The first of these people is none other than Chef Julianna at Foodie on Board! She is so amazing in the kitchen that when she gives me a compliment my mouth quickly changes into a gigantic smile! 😀 Actually, I am usually thinking, “Wow, this wonderful chef…she actually thinks I can cook well?!” 🙂 Her words have continued to be such an encouragement to me as I continue “Creating beauty in the kitchen!” I feel like she has been one of my biggest fans since she started following my blog, and I feel so honored that she would pop on over here and cook for us all!

Her Roasted Yams and Fresh Figs with Goat Cheese, a recent recipe of hers, just makes my mouth water! I told you she was amazing in the kitchen! And I still remember her Three Ginger Gingersnaps that she made back in April! Delicious…and love the presentation!

Julianna, I am truly so happy to have you here for the day! Thank you for blessing me while I am busy packing, and thank you for blessing all of my followers with your wonderful creativity and giftedness in the kitchen!

Okay, enough from me….here is the lady you have been waiting for 😀 ….

When Lori asked me to do a guest post for her I was so delighted.  How could I say no, to such a sweet person?  Since I started following Lori’s blog, I have been in awe at how dedicated she is to her new way of eating – low glycemic and no refined sugar.  I have also been so impressed that she hated cooking before she began her blog! I have asked myself repeatedly, how is it that these beautifully creative recipes are coming from a woman who hated cooking a few months ago?  But I no longer question this and just enjoy reading her posts, drooling over her sumptuous recipes, and socializing with her through our blogs.

When Lori reminded me that the recipe I chose should be low-glycemic, I rubbed my hands with glee!  Truth be known, I eat this way most of the time too, but I don’t adhere to a strict diet. My body just feels better when I feed it food from natural sources, low in sugar.  For me this means loads of vegetables, protein from plant and animal sources and of course fruits, especially berries. Today’s recipe reflects that way of eating, and I was pretty sure that Lori would like it because she had admired one of my other quinoa salad recipes. This recipe is perfect for summer time because vegetables are very fresh this time of year.  I used fresh peas and oregano, which really make the salad taste like summer.  This recipe is modified from “Quinoa 365”, by Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming.  I hope that you enjoy it, Lori and thanks for the honour of asking me to guest post for you.

Quinoa, Bocconcini and Oregano Salad

• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Ingredients:

¾ cups quinoa

11/2 cups water

½ teaspoon salt

½  cup diced green zucchini

½ cup diced yellow zucchini

1 cup halved cherry tomatoes

½ cup diced red onion

½ cup fresh green peas, or frozen and thawed if you really have to

1 cup diced red bell pepper

½ cup diced yellow pepper

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (brown or white)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh oregano or 2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic

pinch salt

finely ground black pepper

1 cup halved mini bocconcini cheese pieces

 

Method:

Bring quinoa, water and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat to a simmer.  Cover and cook for 10 minutes.  Turn the heat off and leave saucepan, covered, on the burner for another 5 minutes.  Remove the lid and fluff with a fork.  Set aside until completely cooled.

Combine the zucchini, tomatoes, onion, peas and peppers in a large bowl.

Whisk the vinegar, olive oil, mustard, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper together in a small bowl.  Pour the dressing over the vegetables and mix all of the ingredients.  Add the quinoa and bocconcini and mix until evenly combined.

Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 3 days.

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Isn’t this salad amazing?! Julianna knows how much I LOVE quinoa, so I can’t wait to try this! Thanks Julianna! Yum! Yum! Yum!

For more delicious recipes from this lovely lady, head over to Foodie on Board!

Fresh Summer Salad: Guest Post by Linda at La Petite Paniere

*Please Note: This was a pre-scheduled post, as my hubby and I are enjoying some much needed rest and relaxation for a couple of weeks. Please do stop by and comment…just know that I won’t be able to reply for a while. I appreciate you all!*

What a pleasure it is for me to have a fellow foodie blogger make a recipe and share it with you all here on my blog! So, I was so excited when Linda at La Petite Paniere said yes to my slightly extremely last minute request for her to do a guest post. 🙂

I have always been drawn to Linda’s blog since the very first time I came across it. Her recipes and her pictures kept drawing me back for another visit…and another, and another! 😀 Those of you who know her, know exactly what I mean. For those of you who don’t, check out her Bniwen, a popular treat in Algeria. I have these bookmarked, because I totally want to make them! Or look at this delicious Sweet Berber Omelette! One thing is for sure…this sweet woman will introduce you to some new, exciting, and fabulous food!

Without further ado, it is time for you to hear from this talented woman yourself….

A few days ago I received a nice little message from Lori from Creating Beauty in the Kitchen inviting me to do a Guest Post for her and without any hesitation, I said yes of course!

On that note, I would first like to thank Lori for inviting me. Lori is a dynamic, healthy, charming, friendly woman and very creative in her cuisine. She sent me a list what I can cook and what I cannot cook. As I love simple foods, I was happy with the list! I immediately thought of a healthy fresh summer salad, inspired from one that I saw on Alice’s blog called A Life Moment.

Fresh Summer Salad

• Servings: 4
• Print

Ingredients:

• 4 red bell peppers
• A small jar of marinated artichoke hearts (they can be bought marinated)
• Feta cheese
• kalamata olives
• 3 cloves of garlic chopped
• Extra virgin olive oil
• A pinch of salt

Procedure:

1. Wash the peppers.
2. On a grill pan, add the red Bell peppers  on a hot heat.
3. Turn the peppers regularly on the grill.
4. All the surface of the peppers becomes black and the skin breaks, usually it takes 10 minutes.
5. Remove from the heat an allow to cool for 30 minutes.
6. When the peppers are cold, gently remove the skin with your fingers or grate with a knife.
7. Remove the seeds (delicate procedure) and remove the cup.
8. Cut the peppers in small pieces, you can also cut peppers in thin strip (more esthetic).
9. Rinse and drain the artichoke hearts.
10. In a serving dish place the red peppers.
11. Add on the top the artichoke hearts cut in two.
12. Add the feta cheese, the Kalamata olives and the chopped garlic.
13. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and add the salt.
14. The salad is fresh and the artichoke hearts tender.

Bon Appetit.

Lori, I hope you will enjoy this salad as I much as I did 🙂 Enjoy your vacation.

 

Again, thank you soooo much Linda! Your post is such a blessing to me, and I can’t wait to try out your lovely salad! The colors themselves are so striking! Beautiful! 

For many more awesome recipes from the creative Linda, please check out her blog La Petite Paniere! 

 

Mustard Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa: Guest Post by Jhuls @The Not So Creative Cook

*Please Note: This was a pre-scheduled post, as my hubby and I are enjoying some much needed rest and relaxation for a couple of weeks. Please do stop by and comment…just know that I won’t be able to reply for a while. I appreciate you all!*

Today you are in for a big treat! Why? Because the lovely Jhuls from The Not So Creative Cook cooked for me and is bringing you a super fun recipe! Don’t yet know Jhuls? Please hop over to her blog and introduce yourself! She is a wonderful cook….check out her Yema Cake…looks so rich and delicious! Or what about these sugar glazed doughnuts?! If you haven’t guessed yet, both Jhuls and I like our sweets! 🙂

Here is a woman who has been super busy and feeling stressed, and yet my last minute (and believe me, it was last minute) ask for her to do a guest post for me didn’t sway her a bit! She instantly said yes. This alone says a lot about this dear woman.  In her own words, “I will always find time to cook, especially for a sweet friend like you.” Awe….thank you Jhuls!!

She is giving, thoughtful, funny, witty, sweet….did I mention funny?! This girl always has me laughing! She is a real treasure!

Okay, enough from me….here is Jhuls! 

After my guest post for Sonal @ Simply Vegetarian 777, I was not expecting another guest post invitation. Until one day, I received another invitation and it says: “The only requirement? Low-glycemic… no refined sugars.” I think you know now who would require this. You still don’t know? Who else? Lori @ Creating Beauty in the Kitchen. I will tell you again and again that Lori is such an amazing gal. She just rescued me and took me with her during Fiesta Friday #25 as I have not prepared anything and too shy to come. She’s indeed an angel. ❤

I am beyond happy and honored to be doing this guest post while Lori goes hiatus. And I am so, so happy to know that I am the first to do a guest post for her. She’s also the first who did a guest post for me. How sweet! ❤

Going back to the invitation, I have read that message around 4:00 AM as I just finished taking my pre-dawn meal for Ramadan and I told myself “Uh-oh! Low-glycemic and no-refined sugars? How would I do that?” On that same moment (mind you, I didn’t sleep yet and I still need to wake up at 8:00 for work), I searched for low-glycemic index stuffs and I found out that I mostly eat high-glycemic foods. 😀 “So what to prepare now”, I asked myself. Still, I did not sleep – I searched for low-glycemic recipes. After searching for minutes, I wanted to slap my face. Why? Why? Because… why do I keep asking my dear BFF, Google, when I could find something from Lori’s blog? “Ahhh! Finally, now I am thinking!” 😀

I clicked and went for desserts (what else do you expect me to make?), but I was not yet ready to set aside my naughty ingredients. So, I went for dinner recipes. I was stuck in the middle of Mustard Lime Chicken with Avocados and Tomatoes, and Chicken with Avocado Salsa. My mind was struggling. I cannot choose. But then, a decision should be made. Here’s what I did: Mustard Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa. Did you get it? 😉 I took the chicken recipe from the first choice and took the avocado salsa from the second. 😛 I just did very slight changes – I did not have Dijon mustard on hand, so I took 3 tbsp yellow mustard and 1 tbsp honey… and I used ½ tbsp chili powder instead of 1. (Just click the given link to get the original recipe from our dear Lori.)

I am not sure how Lori’s recipe tastes like, so I am not sure if this should be a little tangy or I did something wrong. Nonetheless, I loved the recipe. And Lori, this is my first time to eat Avocado Salsa, and I liked it. 😉

Are Avocados supposed to be sweet?? I take Avocados, but only in smoothies. 😛 So glad that the Avocado salsa did not turn into ‘wash and blend’. 😀

If I feel courageous enough to sub my naughty ingredients, I will try baking some of your sweets. 😉

Again, thank you so much, Lori, for this opportunity. I wish you a fabulous vacation. Please take photos and we’d love to hear about it. We will surely miss you!

Jhuls- I absolutely love that you combined two of my recipes, made a change or two and created a new one! Now that is creative thinking my friend! This sounds wonderful! And your pictures?! Gorgeous! You put so much thought into this…wow! And you made a low-glycemic recipe!! You go girl!! Thanks again Jhuls! I will be able to relax better during these couple weeks thanks to you!! ❤

For some more wonderful creations made by Jhuls, visit her blog The Not So Creative Cook! 

 

Black Bean Fajitas: Guest Post at Simply Vegetarian

My friend, Sonal, asked me to do a guest post over at her lovely blog: Simply Vegetarian. Surely most of you know her by now! She is so sweet and she is often expanding my horizons when it comes to the food in my kitchen! I love that!

Though I am not a vegetarian, this reformed vegetable hater (yes, it’s true), has really grown to appreciate vegetables. And I love that my vegetarian friends, like Sonal, continuously introduce me to new vegetables and wonderful ways of cooking them.

The dish I brought over to Simply Vegetarian was delicious black bean fajitas with homemade guacamole. Loved them! I told Sonal that I didn’t even miss the meat. 🙂

To see my guest post, say hi to Sonal, see more pictures, and get the recipe, go HERE.

(Thanks Sonal! So fun to get to do this…I feel honored!)

Lemon Shortcake Tart Covered in Lemon Cream and Blueberries

There is just something wonderful about cooking for others! Wouldn’t you agree? It puts a smile on my face and brings warmth to my heart! So imagine my excitement when Nancy at Feasting with Friends asked me to cook something up and do a guest post for her while she continues to recover from surgery. My thinking…”I get to cook for Nancy and her friends!”  (Can you see me jumping up and down with excitement?!)

I really like Nancy a lot :-), so it means tons that I get to create something for her! What an honor! Those of you who know Nancy, know that she is wonderful at cooking, she has such a big heart for others, and is super encouraging! She blesses me all the time with her bloggy presence and her sweet words!

So dear Nancy, this lemon shortcake tart covered in lemon cream and blueberries is all yours! 🙂 May it be a blessing to you as you continue to heal!

For more pictures and the recipe of this super yummy tart (it really was delicious…yum, yum, yum)… visit my Guest Post at Feasting with Friends! Stop in and say hello….I know Nancy would love it!