Canning Grape Juice

My first juice making marathon has got to be the singular most loving thing I've completed for my second-born who officially drinks his weight in juice every single day. My attempts at mothering have failed. Juice Abhorrer's unite. He loves juice. What shall a conscientious mother do? Find some grape vines, pick those grapes and juice them. So tedious. So purple. E.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e.  

Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chippers

It's Saturday. The day that Before Kids I would lay in bed watching the Food Network until about noon, maybe I'd shlub to the kitchen for a cup of coffee, but probably not. Maybe later in the day I'd proceed to browse Target for the afternoon, completely carefree, buying whatever I wanted, most likely in the accessory department. I didn't even need to consider stopping at the Jumbo Box Warehouse for gigantor boxes of garbage bags, 480 rolls of toilet paper and the largest jug of dish soap known to man. Before Kids the afternoon would proceed into an evening of possibly dancing, maybe dinner, most definitely high heels. And Sunday would be cookies. An afternoon of cookie baking. Something like these Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chippers. You can consider these health food cookies because they have pumpkin. That's Becki Eating Math. See? It's simple: pumpkin + whole wheat flour + coconut oil - sugar = health food cookie. 

Raw Kale Salad

I've hit a blogging wall. I don't know what to write. When I cook I forget to click pictures. I eat every finalized dish without snapping a photo. Even if I do snap a photo, I hate the photo. I'm a half-ass. I suck. And then there's kale. Which is suppose to make you think you don't suck, because you feel smart eating kale. Like you know something everybody else doesn't. 

Maple Coriander Chicken Skillet

My kids are gone. For two days. I have nothing to do. Gone. Do I seem lost? Kind of, but not really. Just a tad. After a blissful morning of no one peeking up at me in the dark of 6:30 am or someone shouting from their crib: MAHHHHHOM! GET ME OUT OF HERE! I'm feeling ready to conquer anything!

Try cleaning the toy box out with the little hands peeking in saying: YOU CAN'T GET RID OF THIS!!! Oh, this McDonald's toy that you played with once and does nothing? Yeah, that one! You can't get rid of that! Oh, but you're not here...so I'm going to!!! Then I'm going to cook a beautiful dinner for Travis and I, like Maple Coriander Chicken Skillet, sit in peace while leisurely eating and I'm going to seriously relish every second and I'm going to miss you so much.

Chia Coconut Energy Bites

CHA! CHA! CHIA! Oh, that was just too easy. And ridiculous. I'll resort to blaming the cocktail. There's something about sipping Rum Chata over ice while composing a blog post that is so...well...creamy. Have you tried Rum Chata yet? It's an oh-so-creamy rum-infused liqueur that has a slight hint of cinnamon and it's made in the Midwest! Rum...made in the Midwest. Yes, please!

You know what else I've been sipping on this past weekend? Wait for it...homemade apple and grape juice! I know! You are slightly dumbfounded right now. Me, too! Homemade. Apple. Juice. All of you with juicers can stop snickering now and welcome me to your world.

Almond-Parmesan Crusted Walleye

I need you to make this walleye now! It is sooo good. No restaurant could ever come close to this. Out of this world unbelievable. So crunchy, so flavorful, so absolutely, unbearably delicious. You will never crust a fillet of walleye the same again. Ever.

Minnesotans adore their walleye. Its kinda like the most prized fish to catch when you're out on the lake. Something about the fish being an elusive species. Makes it more exciting when you reel one in. And, for me, the texture of walleye has got to be the best out of all the Minnesota lake fish. Bass, Northern Pike and Blue Gills all have that mushy texture, walleye is definitely a firmer fish. Let's get cooking!

Pumpkin Oat Smoothie

People are having babies all around me. Precious little bundles of red, mushy skin smelling like something that could never be bottled, but everyone wants to try. Of course, I want to cook some love for all involved. Families that have added +1 to a family of seven and a +1 to a family of five = 14 mouths I get to feed with carefully planned recipes, hours of cutting and chopping behind my cutting board, and delivered right to their front door. Isn't that so Minnesota Nice? What to make? Oh! I'm so excited! 

Crockpot Applesauce

How is it that being home one day with my children after a 3-day blissful vacation with my handsome husband has me wishing I was highly medicated in a psych ward? Not really (OK, yes, really - but I think that's insensitive to say, but now I've said it), I imagine psych wards are a horrendous place I shan't joke about, but recently I'm hyper aware of women locked up in institutions after reading this book. 

Seriously thought provoking. Makes one feel a lil' bit more grateful, for about 3 seconds...then I look at my two year old's work of art and come back to my current reality. The reality of two huge piles of sandbox dirt on the carpet of my bedroom floor. Carpet. Bedroom. Floor. 

How does he do that? Three floors up from ground level. Why does he do that? Because he's two? How does he sneak by me? If you have enlightenment to any of the above or how to discipline a two year old we need to have virtual coffee, stat. Until then, I'll just be feeding the demon child two year old this crockpot applesauce. 

Roasted Turnip Fries

The lowly turnip. Poor dear. When do you ever cook with turnips? I can't say I'm one to chose them at the grocery store, the only other time I've considered a turnip is in chicken stock. But upon the arrival of the purple gems in my CSA box I was forced into turnip submission. After a quick web search on turnips (and I mean quick - can't say much caught my attention), I decided to roast them. What root vegetable doesn't taste infinitely better roasted? This is a root vegetable, isn't it? 

 

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

Do you ever come across a recipe and totally disregard it because you think it doesn't follow your flavor profile, might be too time consuming, or whichever mood you find yourself in at the moment just has you disregarding delicious recipes that you should otherwise consider? That was this recipe for me.

My sister-in-law was drooling over the recipe in Saveur magazine and I wanted to drool, too. However, the drool just didn't flow, but ever the competitor, I knew I had to make said recipe because I needed to be first to eat the drool-worthy creation.

 I'm not sure if my sister-in-law ever got around to making Pumpkin Spice Pancakes, but I finally did. And the household applauded. Something about my house being a routine pancake house. Needless to say, Pumpkin Spice Pancakes are whipped up in my kitchen several times during the fall season. I hope the same for your kitchen.