I’ve been craving fish a lot lately – maybe going Primal has made my body realize how much I need Omega-3′s. Whatever the case, all I know for certain is that this recipe turned out fantastic. The balance of salty, sweet, and slightly tart in the sauce melds (dare I say) perfectly with the natural flavor of the fish. Try it – and let me know what you think?
 
 

 
I’ve received requests on Facebook for this recipe, so excuse the poorly executed snapshot and see through the fuzzy pixels. This recipe is fantastic. It’s adapted from a few versions of Gordon Ramsay’s recipe – and then morphed a little to suit our current dietary needs.
   
I haven’t posted in a while, and since the last post Wes and I have started eating like cavepeople. We’ve gone Primal. Which is similar to a Paleo diet, but not quite the same. Basically, 80% of the time we eat no grains or heavy starches, very little sweets, and lots and lots of meat, nuts & seeds, and veggies. This recipe was made with our locally sourced grass-fed beef. It’s quite possibly the best meat I’ve ever had. I’m a little addicted. Anyway, consider this the first (of many) recipes that are completely grain free – and completely delicious.
   
Don’t worry, though, I will still post the occasional cupcake or baked good recipe, pasta, etc. I just don’t eat those things very often anymore, so you probably won’t see much of them. Feel free to ask, though!
   

 
Zuppa Toscana. It’s amazing how much power two little words can have in the depths of a man’s heart. Especially when it comes to food. Zuppa Toscana is hands down one of Wes’ favorite meals. Every time I tell him it’s in the meal plan, he gets this wide-eyed excited look and says, “okay!” I really shouldn’t have been so surprised, then, when my brother in law responded with similar excitement, “Ohhhh…I lovvvvve Zuppa Toscana!”
 
I’ve made this soup many times now, have had this post saved in drafts and (oops!) accidentally posted, but haven’t published it with content yet because I wanted to make sure I had it down well enough to share. The one you see at restaurants usually has heavy cream in it, but being allergic to milk, I needed to perfect one that is dairy-free and still just as good (if not better) than the one people are used to. I read countless recipes, methods, ingredients, etc before arriving at my own perfect fusion of ingredients and technique to deliver the warm, savory taste necessary to be a good Zuppa Toscana. I hope you try making it – and enjoy it as much as we have.
 
Aside: A long post should be arriving shortly about the (entirely too long) hiatus here on TQL. The short story is: We now live in Seattle. Want to hear about it? Keep checking back! As always, I love your comments and your emails so please keep sending them. They encourage me to keep going in this still new blogging lifestyle.
 
 

 
After spending an entire day watching Pantry Raid on Netflix, I was inspired to make Wes a three course meal. Our CSA has been bountiful lately, especially in the area of summer squash (yellow and zucchini) and radishes. We have so much that often things start to turn and go bad before we can use them all. We’re only two people. Six HUGE yellow squashes cannot be eaten in a week. But I digress.
   
This is one of the things I ended up making for him. Ratatouille (inspired) Appetizer Pizzas. Traditionally, Ratatouille has eggplant in it – and I’m quite sure that this would be fantastic with an eggplant spread instead of sun-dried tomatoes, but – like I said – I was watching pantry raid and was inspired to make do with what was in my pantry (& fridge).
   
If you’ve never tried sun-dried tomato pesto, you really are missing out. Sun-dried tomatoes are one of our favorite “fancy” things. We put them in pasta, we put them on pizza, we put them on sandwiches. They add a depth of flavor that isn’t found anywhere else.
   
These are healthy, too! Kids would even love them. Pizza full of veggies and only a little cheese? Yum! I’ve had quite a few requests for them since putting them on my Facebook wall, so here you go everyone – the recipe:

 
If you would have asked me a year ago  if I have ever cooked with honey, I would have said, “Heckkkk no!”
 
If you would have asked me six months ago if I even liked honey, I would have wrinkled my nose in disgust.
 
Honey is something that my darling Husband has been trying to get me to enjoy since we met in 2009. I have never liked it: The taste, the texture, the idea, the sticky residue it leaves everywhere… Gross. But then… the almighty allergy season hit in Florida and he (sneaky man that he is) convinced me to eat  a spoonful a day of local raw honey to help build a resistance to local pollens. The results were kind of shocking for silly me – the severity of my allergic reactions dwindled to almost nothing because of that teaspoon of torture every morning.
 
Eventually, though, I started to enjoy the wildflower and orange blossom taste (It was pretty strong because we wanted the most potent to help with allergies). By the end of the cute little honey bear, I decided honey was something that I could tolerate (although, I admit I had to chase it with water each time I took my dose).
 
One of his oh.so.clever ways he convinced me to undergo the trial of honey-for-allergy relief, was by pointing out how much I loved a dish at a local Thai restaurant: little pieces of chicken breaded and coated in a ginger-honey glaze over rice. It really is a fantastic dish, and I’ve wanted to create something similar for a while. So we tried.
 

We are definitely still perfecting the technique of this recipe, but as far as flavor goes – it is very enjoyable.
 

 
Every weekday morning, Wes and I reluctantly wake up and get ready for work. I’ve never really been much of a breakfast eater. I don’t like most cereal, I can’t eat yogurt or eggs, and to be completely honest – I don’t like mornings. Wes, however, has grown up with the understanding that no breakfast = migraine. Admittedly, since I don’t eat breakfast until 10 most days, he has slowly weaned himself from eating it when he first wakes up to eating it when I do (at our first break during work). Still, though, it isn’t easy finding breakfast food that I can eat. I tend to eat a banana a day to keep the doctor away. [grin]
 
As of late, Wes has been wanting something a little more substantial for breakfast than a piece of fruit. We were meandering through the grocery store one night after work, both of us extremely hungry (which is NEVER a good time to shop for food) – and then I saw them: fresh, plump, pretty blueberries. I quietly picked up a container and placed it in the cart. Wes looked at me suspiciously, “What are you going to do with those? Smoothies?” I grinned. “No, I’m going to make my man some muffins… let’s just hope I can find a good recipe, eh?”
 
We got home and I started the search for a Kerry-friendly blueberry muffin recipe that leaned more on the healthy side than the sweet side. I found the one that inspired this recipe at Madhuram’s Eggless Cooking. A couple things in mine were different (as you’ll come to realize is a normative thing for me) and they still turned out fantastic! I know it is a little odd to use maple syrup instead of sugar, but the resulting flavor combination is pretty.darn.good.
 
 

I couldn’t resist posting this.

Do you blame me?

   
~Kerry

   
Someday I will post a non-vegan recipe – promise. Today is not that day. When you’re allergic to milk and eggs, vegan just makes sense.
 
When Wes and I first started dating, he decided it was his duty to make sure I actually avoided the foods I am allergic to. One of the first things he insisted I learn to substitute is MILK. Think about it – how many things that you eat regularly have cream in it? Or eggs? How can you eat breakfast without eggs?? So we set out on an adventure to find an enjoyable pancake recipe that didn’t use eggs or cow’s milk. I stumbled across a few before I settled on the ingredients of one and the instructions (technique) of another. Since then the recipe has morphed a little, but not too much. We think we have a winner. At least that’s what our happy tummies say.
 
I’ve never made this with real milk, but I think it would do just fine. We really enjoy using vanilla soy or rice milk in it – the extra vanilla flavor in it makes a vanilla addict smile [BIG smiles here]. The best part about it, though, is how easy it is. Anyone can make this and make it well. So try it… and then tell me about it! [smile]
 

 
 
It’s my Mom’s Birthday today. So, even though she is about as far away as one can be in the contiguous 48… I made her cupcakes. Today also marks the day The Quaint Life goes public – and we couldn’t be more excited!
 
I found this recipe while trolling one of my favorite food blogs and was really excited when I realized not only was it wonderfully lacking in the egg department – it also contained no dairy. I was excited to try it out the first time, but I honestly think they turned out better this time.
 
I woke up early this morning to whip these up before we rushed off to a conference – mix that with being an incredibly novice level frosting piper,and this is what you get. They don’t look t too bad, right? [grin]
 
Happy Birthday, The Quaint Life — and even more importantly: Happy Birthday, Ma! We love you.

 
Osceola county has a local farm with 30 greenhouses and 30 acres of commercial gardens. They ship most of their food out across the country, but like any farm – there are leftovers. Andy, the nephew of the owner, has connected with our CSA and generously given our little group some of what they had left. Part of that gift was something they call ‘ugly overripe tomatoes’.
 
They look gross, but ohhhhh they aren’t! Just as Andy promised, these are some of the best tasting tomatoes I’ve ever had. Since they are ‘overripe’ though, we have to use them quickly. That’s where salsa comes in.
 
Wes and I have a slight obsession with Mexican food. Okay, so really it’s me with the obsession. I’ve made homemade salsa only a handful of times in my life and Guacamole even fewer, but on the way home from work yesterday I decided to try my hand at both and then share them with you, success or failure. I didn’t follow any recipes, so writing my recipe down for you has proven to be an adventure, but Wes insists that it be done because, “You cannot lose this recipe. It must be repeated. Over.and.over.and.over.again.”