There's only one way to describe the weather lately around here. blah. Yesterday was windy, smoggy from a fire, and even though I was in the wind for a total of five minutes (adding together the jogs in and out of the two grocery stores visited) my eyes stung the entire day. Today it is dark and rainy with occasional snowfall here and there. isn't it almost April? and we are to expect more stormy weather in the days coming. I postponed a lunch date with a friend because of today's weather. I baked, sang disney songs, and went on a couple bear hunts instead.

This soup is just what we needed with such gloomy scenery. It's a play on the traditional potato leek soup, or vichyssoise, and I didn't even make it; my talented {husband} did. I know, impressive right? I love the sweet potato in this soup, its sweetness is wonderfully subtle and the texture is silky smooth. It's a perfectly cozy soup for blustery days, and would be equally wonderful chilled for the days I will be talking about, come late July.

and yes; i know. more sweet potato.
yum.

Read more »

Melissa invited me to her workshop at blue lemon this past saturday (like you hadn't heard), and I jumped on the chance to watch her in action and meet her in person. Especially since I didn't have the guts to that first time. We've only shared correspondence through email but when I introduced myself, we hugged like old friends. She is as beautiful, kind, and tenderhearted as you can imagine. Emily was spot on in saying that she has a way of making you feel as though you've been friends for years.

Read more »

in honor of the last few days of national nutrition month, my zupas post today is a vegetarian take on a spanish classic; paella.

I'm all sorts of healthy this week, this paella, starting a garden, getting an invite to attend a raw foods class, watching people make a difference. It feels (and tastes) wonderful being good to my body. When was the last time you thanked yours?

have a wonderful weekend.
do something delicious.

friends got engaged/married/pregnant, my sister got a tattoo, awesome workshops and events have come and gone, and jamie oliver had a preview episode for his upcoming show (starts tomorrow night!).
each of these are things i didn't hear about until afterward, too late, or not at all (still waiting for news).

if you're like me and missed the boat, you can at least watch episode 101 here.

as for other news, you're on your own.
unless i hear it first.
yeah, i've got your back.

I'm taking a moment out of our last day of "spring break" to remind you to register for Melissa Chappell's raw food workshop this saturday. That is, if you haven't already. If you have, get excited! And pray she makes this fudge. I doubt your resolve would stand much against a morsel of this; that is, if you like this sort of thing.

For the past few weeks, tuesday has been my monday. This week, my monday will fall on thursday since our weekend is five days long. This is as close as we're going to get to a spring break. Husband scheduled the extra days off as a small part of my birthday present, I celebrated my twenty fifth this past weekend. My brother asked me if I felt old then described exactly how I felt when he said, 'i'm almost thirty but i feel twenty five'. I still feel nineteen; doesn't say much for my maturity level.

Read more »

It mightn't look like much, believe me I tried to make this look as good as it tastes. I'm pretty sure I polished this thing off by myself. yep. sure did.
My favorite part was the newman's own ginger o crust; and that it was delicious like a cheesecake should be.
check out the recipe at cafe zupas blog today.

and don't forget to register for Melissa's workshop next saturday!
have a wonderful weekend.

your calender of course.

On saturday, march 27th Melissa Chappell and Christopher Stefanciw will be teaching a raw foods workshop at the Blue Lemon in Highland, Utah from 10:30 am until 3:30 pm.

The early registration is over, but if you're in the area you will not want to miss this, you'll fall in love with Melissa's easy recipes, sweet personality and delicious food.  Plus I'll be there, and I've been dying to meet you.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

While the majority of people are sharing their favorite Irish pubs and green colored recipes to celebrate the holiday for the patron saint, I am going to join the ranks and share a green recipe we tried and loved. As well as a few ways our kitchen has a tint of 'green', and no I'm not talking about paint color.

Read more »

March is national nutrition month, I put together a small list of recipes on the zupas blog that highlight natural foods and great taste. Included in the list is this healthy and delicious meal with another grain that has been a regular contributor in our home; couscous. It's a filling meal, even if it doesn't seem like it would be. When you cut into the tomato, the filling spills out to fill your plate with an array of color and texture. Feel free to play with different herbs, and various sides. We paired it with steamed collard greens, and I got two thumbs up.

Read more »

These have made my week so far. I know, it's only tuesday.

Tracy's garlic naan. We had it with coconut lentil soup, open faced avocado sandwiches,and stuffed tomatoes. The naan often stole the attention from anything else we ate. It's that good.

Having grapefruit every morning for the past handful of days. A little amber agave drizzled over half a grapefruit broiled until the flesh plumps... yum.  Thanks to Maria for the idea. Now we just need to get a couple grapefruit spoons, you know the kind; and a way to make the rind not smell like burning plastic when it broils.

Free printable recipe cards that I actually want to download. There are so many out there that aren't even mediocre, just sad. However these, these, and these; I adore.

Neighbors who like good food. I just had a few over and we shared stories, some recipes, and treats while the kids made a human tornado in the living room. It has the makings of a great gathering, although I'm going to need a few more toys to entertain the grownup kids; but what do they play with? I'm stuck in baby-land.

Melissa Chappell has a wonderful almond butter recipe that I was lucky to test for her upcoming cookbook. It was so good Aaron ate almost the entire thing on his own. But we won't be having anymore until her cookbook is released in June. Until then, I found another recipe for nut butter that will suffice, I made some with hazelnuts and sweetened it with maple syrup. It's not the same as Melissa's raw version, but it's purdy darn good. Check out today's zupas post for the recipe.

Don't be fooled. Yes, this cake looks lovely, moist, delicious, and a perfect dessert to ring in the new beautiful spring season. However the texture was less than desirable. The recipe, calling for polenta, doesn't clarify the coarseness of grain so I used the type you find in bulk sections of health food stores. The kind I use when making this. The cake would have turned out perfectly if I'd have used a finer grind or even cornmeal. The polenta didn't soak up all the moisture from the honey and juices, so it was grainy and crunchy, the type of crunchy you get when your rice isn't completely cooked. Instead of savoring the light lemon taste and should-have-been light texture, I was concentrating on grinding the polenta grains without getting them stuck in between my molars. It took much more work to eat than any cake should.

That being said it was delicious, and moist, and had a sweet, light flavor that would be perfect for a sunny spring picnic or easter sunday lunch.  I don't think I'll give up hope on this cake, because it deserves another chance. Plus you achieve great things by learning from failure; amirite?

is shopping day.

i don't know about you, but I love shopping day. I love waking early, even though I get up jane wakes me early every morning, gathering my list, shopping bags and a little bag of dried fruit and heading out the door, baby in tow to get my errands done early. There's no better feeling than placing the last item in the pantry before 10 am.

course I'm writing this the night before so who knows if everything goes as planned.

found this on a friends website, thanks robin.



i love that this is catching like wildfire.
the show begins soon, only a few more weeks now.