Acai Breakfast Bowl

In my opinion this is one of the healthiest and most delicious breakfasts you can eat! Tom and I discovered this breakfast on the second part of our honeymoon. We were on the island of Maui, staying at a hotel in Kaanapali. Every morning we would drive north to a town called Napili and get a hot cup of Kona coffee at The Coffee Store. We saw a women eating this big bowl of something that looked amazing so we decided to order it and give it a try. It was called the Acai Breakfast Bowl, and turned out to be one of our favorite things we ate the entire trip on Maui. I asked the girls how to make it and they gave me the recipe. Now we make this for breakfast on the weekends.

To make this recipe you need to buy frozen unsweetened Acai smoothie pack from Sambazon. You can find these at Whole Food Market or Wild by Nature. You can also order them online: http://www.sambazon.com/product/pure-unsweetened-acai/

The Acai berry is full of antioxidants and healthy omegas. 

Acai Breakfast Bowl 

Makes 1 

Ingredients:

1 Sambazon unsweetened Acai smoothie pack 

1 banana (save 1/4 of banana to slice on top)

A splash of apple juice 

1/ 4 cup granola (your favorite granola will work)

Berries-optional 

1. Add smoothie pack, banana and apple juice to a blender. Blend on high. Add more apple juice if needed, but keep mixture thick. 

2. Put into a bowl and top with granola, banana slices and fresh berries. 

Corn Chowder Salad

A quick and easy summer side dish adapted from the cookbook The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Cookbook. My parents recently gave this cookbook to me as a gift and it has proven to have great recipes that come out perfect every time.

This cookbook is full of beautiful pictures of recipes that showcase heirloom fruits and vegetables and offers heirloom recipes from their farm, their family and their friends in Sharon Springs, NY.

This recipe caught my eye from the title: Corn Chowder Salad. It was full of flavor; sweet corn, salty bacon and a little spice from the red pepper flakes. The original recipe calls for red onion, I am not a fan so I decided to substitute with scallions. This recipe compliments almost any summer meal. I hope you enjoy!


Corn Chowder Salad
Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 tsp olive oil
2 slices of bacon-cut into 1/2" pieces
1/2 pound Yukon, red or white potatoes-1/2" dice
1 red bell pepper- 1/2" dice
Salt
3 cups fresh or frozen corn (about 6 ears)
3 scallions- thinly sliced
2 tbsp cider vinegar or rice vinegar
Red pepper flakes

1. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-low heat. Add bacon and cook until crisp; about 5 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon and set aside on a paper towel. If there is not a lot of fat in the pan, add a little more oil (you want around 2 tbsp of fat in the pan)

2. Add in potatoes; toss and cook until golden brown; about 5 minutes. Add in bell pepper and season with salt; cook additional 5 minutes.

3. Add the corn and cook until hot; about 3-5 minutes. Add in scallions, vinegar and cooked bacon. Season with salt and hot pepper flakes to taste. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Vegetable Quinoa Burgers with Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms

Lately I have been experimenting with quinoa, which seems to be very trendy right now. A friend of the family dropped off a few quinoa burgers from Wild by Nature (a local health food grocery) and I have been enjoying them for a healthy lunch. Last night I decided to make my own version with all the ingredients I love in a veggie burger. These quinoa burgers are really delicious. They are packed full of nutrition from the quinoa itself and all the added vegetables. When you bake them in the oven they get a little crispy on the outside but they are still soft on the inside. I recommend makes these for lunch or dinner and the left over burgers freeze very well. To defrost, all you have to do is pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds and enjoy!

Vegetable Quinoa Burgers
Makes 6

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
2 tbsp olive oil-divided
1 shallot-minced
1 carrot-peeled and grated
1 zucchini-grated
8 oz button mushrooms-divided in half
1 tsp cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper-to taste
1 egg white
3-4 tbsp all purpose flour (any gluten free flour will work in place of all purpose flour)
1 onion-thinly sliced
1 tbsp brown sugar
6 slices of cheese (your favorite cheese will work)
Mixed greens
Hamburger buns (I used gluten free sandwich bread)

1. Rinse the quinoa under cold water. Add to a small sauce pan and fill with 3 cups of water. Place on the stove top and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 12 minutes or until quinoa is cooked. Drain extra liquid and transfer to a large bowl.

2. While the quinoa is cooking; cook the vegetables. Add olive oil to a non-stick skillet over medium heat and add in shallots and carrots; cook 5 minutes until soft. Add in zucchini, mushrooms, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper; cook 5 more minutes. Transfer vegetables to bowl with quinoa.

3. Add in egg white and flour to quinoa mixture. Mix together until all ingredients are incorporated. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, form quinoa mixture into 6 patties and place on baking sheet. (If the mixture does not hold form, scoop a large spoonful onto baking sheet and form patty on the parchment paper) Refrigerate for 1 hour to set (you can freeze the patties for 25 minutes for a faster set).

4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place baking sheet with quinoa burgers in the oven for 10-15 minutes. When they are slightly golden brown on the bottom, flip the patties carefully and bake additional 10 minutes.

5. White the burgers are in the oven heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add in sliced onion and brown sugar. Saute the onion until the are soft and caramelized; about 10-15 minutes. Add in mushrooms and cook until soft; about 5 minutes. Set aside and keep warm.

6. The last minute of baking place cheese onto the quinoa burgers to melt. Remove from the oven and place on bun. Top with caramelized onions and mushrooms and a little mixed greens.

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

This is my go to cupcake recipe both kids and adults love. You can make the Devil's Food cake batter from scratch but if you are short on time, boxed cake mix comes out just as good. If you are going to use boxed cake mix, I really like to use Duncan Hines Devil's Food mix. I have not experimented with gluten free mixes much but so far Bob's Red Mill has proven to be a great brand.

These chocolate cupcakes have an Oreo cookie on the bottom and a sweet tangy cream cheese frosting with crushed Oreo's mixed throughout.


Cookies and Cream Cupcakes
Makes 24 (adapted from

Ingredients:
1 box of Devils Food Cake Mix
Egg (amount needed on box)
Oil (amount needed on box)
8 oz cream cheese-softened
1 stick unsalted butter softened at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 1/2-4 cups of confectioners sugar
30 Oreo cookies

1.Place cupcake liners in cupcake pan and place a whole Oreo cookie on the bottom of each liner. Mix the chocolate cupcake batter according to the instructions on the box and pour batter over Oreo in cupcake liners. Bake the cupcakes according to instructions on the back of the box. Cool completely on wire rack.

2. When the cupcakes have cooled make the cream cheese frosting. In a stand mixer or with a hand held mixer beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add in sugar until you have a desired consistency.

3. Crush the remaining Oreo (reserve 2 tbsp for decorating) and mix in with the cream cheese frosting. Make sure the cookies are crushed small enough to fit through a piping bag; if using.

4. Place the frosting in a piping bag and pipe onto cooled cupcakes. Sprinkle with remaining crushed Oreos.

Eggplant Zucchini Parmesan Stacks

Here is a spin on Eggplant Parmesan. This is a really easy recipe to put together for a quick weeknight meal. I breaded half the eggplant for my husband's portion and I left the flour and breading off my eggplant to make is gluten free. Layla also enjoyed the cooked eggplant, zucchini and tomato. At 9 months old, I just cut up the vegetable into small pieces and she feeds herself at the table.

Eggplant Zucchini Parmesan Stacks
Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 eggplants (no more than 1 pound each)
1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup bread crumbs
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Olive oil
2 zucchini- thinly sliced (1/8" thick)
3-4 roma or slicing tomatoes-thinly sliced
8 oz mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
10 basil leaves-chopped

1. Prepare eggplant: Slice each eggplant in about 1/2" thick slices (around 16 per eggplant) Sprinkle eggplant with salt and place into a colander. Let the eggplant drain over a bowl for about 30 minutes. Rinse the eggplant slices with water and dry with paper towels.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  On a sheet of wax paper or in a shallow dish place flour, salt and pepper. In a shallow bowl, place beaten eggs with a little water and on another sheet of wax paper place bread crumbs.

3. Dredge eggplant in flour, dip into egg mixture and then into bread crumbs. Place breaded eggplant slices onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for 15-20 minutes.
***If you want to make this meal gluten free, place unbreaded eggplant slices of baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake according to the instructions above (it may take less time without breading)

4. Flip each eggplant slice and top each slice with a few thin slices of zucchini and tomato. Bake additional 10 minutes.

5. Top each slice with mozzarella cheese, sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and chopped basil. Bake for 5-10 minutes until cheese has melted.

6. For a nice presentation you can stack a few slices of top of each other.