How To Herb

In THE KITCHEN that is…

I can tell you right now my love of herbs is genetic. Growing up, my mom was in the garden a lot. She had two big beautiful gardens. One for her flowers and one just for her herbs. So me loving them is no coincidence.

For today’s Perfectly Plated, I’m sharing my go-to herbs for cooking and baking. I get these every single year and making delicious things all summer long.

my favorite herbs and what I do with them:

Hopefully you’re enjoying your first full week in “the green”!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Low Carb Love

Hello Friends!

When I was pregnant with Colette, I had gestational diabetes. I had it with Theo too but this time found out much sooner, around the twelve week mark. This obviously caused me to eat even more healthy than usual and not just healthy but a low carb diet. I got very used to it and ended up really liking it.

I surly am not one to push a diet or lifestyle but I am one to share cool and delicious recipes I come across. Two of which I’m sharing with you today. The last two weeks or so I’ve been strictly Keto (ok minus wine..I am human and all) and I must say I’m pretty thrilled about the results. I’ve been making these “Keto Bagels” on repeat. I make a sandwich for lunch every day with one of them.

Keto Bagels

I adapted this recipe from Savory Tooth.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a heatproof bowl add seasoning mix. For mine I use dried onions, garlic salt, and onion powder.

3. Add almond flour, seasoning mix, and baking powder. Mix together.

4. Add in mozzarella and cream cheese to that same bowl and microwave for 45 seconds, stir, and then microwave for another 45 seconds. Stir together until a dough forms.

5. Add egg to the same bowl and work it in until absorbed and mixed together.

6. Divide the dough into four equal pieces. I actually made mine more into buns instead of making a circle. I found that it didn’t rise quite enough for bagels. Plus I love me a good sandwich.

   Next up is the most perfect breakfast bowl! This starts my day out on the right foot! I’m full, have energy and it’s just delicious.

   What you need:

   -1 bag of spinach

   -1/2 cup cherry tomatoes

   -4 strips bacon

   -2 eggs (however you like them cooked)

   -1/2 avocado

   What you do:

   Simply cook spinach, toss in tomatoes, cook bacon and egg, add avocado.

   Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by!

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!

Fast & French

Have you been cooking more during the quarantine?

Have no fear. The boy is always very supervised.

I often find myself gravitating to recipes that Theo can help with. He loves to help in the kitchen and gets so excited when the opportunity presents itself. A lot of the time he’ll even drag his “cooking stool” over when he sees me making dinner because he wants to help. I always oblige. Especially when he goes and finds his cooking apron and hat and hands them to me. He’s ready. I like to have some easy recipes up my sleeve so that I’m ready too.

I love so many things French and cooking is no exception. In fact, I have a french cookbook that just came in and I’m so excited to dig into it. Anyway, The French get a bad rap for a couple things. Like being mean and I can assure you they are a lovely gracious people. Another one is that French cooking is hard and it can be, but not always.

Today, Theo and I are making what The French would call “Gougeres” but simply put they are light and airy french cheese puffs! I love to learn new things and one thing I took away from this recipe was that it starts with a Pate a Choux.

Pâte à Choux

(sounds like “pat a shoe”)

Simply put is a paste made of flour, water, butter, and eggs. It’s thicker than a batter but it’s not as thick as dough.

what you need:

what you do:

1. Preheat oven to 425, line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a sauce pan bring the water, butter, and salt to a boil. Then add in flour and stir until a dough forms. Cook a couple of minutes to dry out the dough.

3. Put this in a bowl and let it cool a little bit. Add in the eggs one at a time until well combined.

4. Add cheese and parsley and mix really well. Use two tablespoons and drop on to your prepared baking sheet. Set them two inches apart. Then, sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top.

5. Bake for 10 minutes at 425 and another 20-25 minutes at 380 or until golden brown.

   Best served warm.

   If there is one thing that you take away from this QUARANTINE, I hope you find yourself in the kitchen more...and love it.

   Thanks for stopping by today!

“Cooking is one of the great gifts you can give to those you love.”

— Ina Garten