Veggie Stuffed Twice-Baked Potatoes

I have a shameless love affair with most anything that is potato based. Add in a bit of cheese (my favorite food and word), and I'm done for. I blame it on my Idaho roots. Having said that, I rarely enjoy twice-baked potatoes. It's sad, really. I always want to like them, but I can't get past the gloopy, fatty mess of a filling that typically bears little resemblance to an actual potato.

A few years ago my mother passed along a recipe for twice-baked potatoes, but ones that actually looked pretty good. The recipe included lots of vegetables and I liked the idea of combining a vegetable-herb sauce with the potato flesh (that word just sounds so gross to me every time I type it). However, something about the recipe just wasn't quite right. It did not have quite enough veggies and there was a shocking lack of dairy.

After a lot of tinkering I hit on a combination of vegetables and mushrooms that was just perfect. I also mixed sour cream with the potato innards (is that word better?) because sour cream is everyone's favorite part of a baked potato, right? I added a dusting of paprika - 'cause it's pretty - and of course, I had to top it off with cheese. Potatoes and cheese - I think it's the law or something.

Lemon "Poppy Seed" Pancake

Hi there, pancake lovers. So this post is a bit of a cheat; there are no vegetables in this pancake. I know, I know. But trust me, you'll thank me after you try these.

This pancake follows the same base recipe as my other heath-ful pancakes recipes (Green Monstah and Butternut Pecan Pancakes). Oats, quinoa, almond milk, banana, egg, and some sort of flavor enhancer. This time, it is a massive hit of tart lemon. For the "poppy seed", I use chia seeds, which add a nice boost of Omega 3's. These, as are most of my oat/quinoa based pancakes, are highly customizable. Try using poppy seeds, chia seed, broken up fresh raspberry (my son's personal favorite), or blueberries.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Cobbler

Meet the Rhubarb- that weird vegetable plant that is extremely tart and no one seems to know what to do with. Rhubarb can be extremely tasty especially when paired with the right flavors.

I created this strawberry rhubarb cobbler over Fathers Day for my dad who loves strawberry-rhubarb pie. While I love a good pie, nothing screams summer to me more then a cobbler. It brings on all the memories of summer BBQ's, cooking over a campfire, and all things glorious and warm. After combining a pie recipe and my favorite cobbler recipe, I do believe we have a winner. My husband says I am the only person in America that doesn't like the "traditional" easy cobbler dump recipes that use the boxed cake mix. I just am not the biggest fan of the cake taste and consistence, and prefer making my own topping. Try using this topping for your favorite cobbler fillings. It is divine with peach cobbler also.I hope you enjoy this as much as we do. Feel free to use this recipe for the oven or in a dutch oven with briquettes.

Balsamic Roasted Tomato and Asparagus Pasta

About two months ago I checked out an America’s Test Kitchen cook book from my local library. I absolutely loved it! The technique I fell in love with was roasting tomatoes with balsamic vinegar. The oil and balsamic vinegar made a nice sauce for pasta and it was positively delicious. For me, this opened up a whole new realm of possibilities and this recipe was born. One other notable thing about this recipe is that it is very easy to prepare a few hours before hand, and it’s not something that will send your kitchen and dish pile into shambles.