Recipe: The Best Whole Roasted Cauliflower

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Cauliflower is one of those foods that can be anything from a duty food, the kind you have to force yourself to eat, to the most delicious thing on the table. This recipe is definitely the latter!

My taste testers said it was the best cauliflower they've ever eaten in their lives and, all humility aside, I must agree. It's crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and sooo flavorful throughout. Here's the recipe!

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Recipe: African Peanut Stew with Quinoa

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Sometimes it's fun to take a little culinary adventure to some far-flung end of the globe. A flight to Africa easily takes a solid 24 hours, but this delicious stew takes less than 1 from start to finish - it's also a lot cheaper! 

I'm not saying this stew is a good substitute for traveling to Africa and experiencing some of what is a very beautiful continent with very many very rich cultures in person, but that's not always an option. Experiencing a little of the food culture in the comfort of your own kitchen is a good way to dip your toes into a little cross-cultural exploration!

Plus, it's delicious.

African Peanut Stew with Quinoa

Serves 6

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Busy Girl Fitness

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When my friends moan about trying to get healthy, or letting a fitness resolution falter, the most common complaint is just not having the time or bandwidth to prioritize health. I'm going to go against the grain and say that's totally fine.

Sometimes I prioritize my health and sometimes I don't, but I always manage to live a pretty healthy lifestyle. Finding a healthy lifestyle that's sustainable even when other things are in the foreground is key to long term health (and sanity)! Here's what works for me. You may find that some of these tips work for you and some of them don't, because everyone is different and everyone's needs are different. Feel free to pick and choose!

Cap your day with fitness.

I find that, especially when I'm busy, I just don't find the time to work out sometime during the day. I also find I'm too tired at the end of the day, or I have "just one more thing" to do until suddenly it's bedtime and I haven't moved all day. Starting every day with a little activity works best for me! It becomes routine and it sets me up to feel good all day! 

If I have a lot of time that can be a full workout, but if I'm busy, even 5-15 minutes of at home calisthenics or a few trips bounding up and down the stairs, followed by some light stretching, is much better than nothing! It also sets me up to want to move more during the day, subconsciously.

Make things a little more difficult for yourself.

I know we're all about making things easier in this techno age, but sometimes making things a little more difficult can be good. Getting lunch? Instead of ordering in, go walk the three blocks to that local place you like. You can call your order in ahead (or place it as a pickup order online) so it won't take much longer than ordering in, and you'll have added some fresh air and physical activity to your day. Unless it's seriously terrible weather, I refuse to order delivery from places that are within a seven to ten block radius of me. It's the budget babe in me who stays firm (picking it up yourself saves on delivery costs and tipping, which really adds up over a year) but my health benefits, too!

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(Green) Eating NYC: Top Veggie-Friendly Picks Around the City!

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With the weekend coming up, what better time for a post to help tourists, newcomers, and lifelong New Yorkers alike eat their (veggie-friendly) way around NYC? While I only moved back to the city at the end of this past spring, after a brief stint in Boston, I've cumulatively spent about three years living in New York.

To follow along on my adventures in real-time, follow me on Instagram @danaikadzere

In that time, I've had a lot of fun trying many different vegetarian, vegan, and veggie-friendly places in the city. Here's a list of my favorite standout places over the years - they're the ones I go back to and highly recommend!

Pure Ktchn

Location: 352 W 46th St
Price: $10-15 per meal
Great for: Quick healthy bite, vegans, a casual midtown dinner that won't weigh you down
My favorites: Their pure caesar salad!

Peacefood

Location: 460 Amsterdam Ave (uptown west) or 41 East 11th Ave (downtown)
Price: $15-20 per meal
Great for: Plantbased brunch, vegans, newbies to plantbased eating, and comfort food that's good for you!
My favorites: Raw sushi and the assorted veggies!

Hibino

Location: 10-70 Jackson Ave, Long Island City (there's another location in Brooklyn that's actually the original location, but I've never been)

Price: $15-20 per meal

Great for: Sushi, Fish, Pescatarians and omnivore/herbivore groups, a cute date night that won't break the bank

My favorites: Tsukemono, seaweed salad, and the salmon sushi!

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Recipe: Flour-less Whole Grain Seedy Bread

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There's this general misconception out there, probably thanks to the carb-phobic diet industry, that bread is unhealthy. False! Bread can be unhealthy, just like anything else, but it isn't inherently unhealthy. There are all sorts of healthy bread out there and the best way to make sure that the bread in your sandwich/on your plate/drowning under your peanut butter is healthy is to make it yourself!

If you want to keep the carbs down and the healthy fats and proteins and fiber up, this bread is for you. It's wheat-free and, if you use gluten-free oats, is also gluten-free. It's chock-full of heart-healthy nuts and seeds, plus enough fiber to pep up your digestive system *cough, cough* from the chia seeds and whole psyllium seed husks. If you want to make it sugar-free, you can sub stevia for the maple syrup - but honestly, I don't see the point. It's a very modest amount of maple syrup, adds a little nice something, and a teeny-tiny bit of sugar won't kill you. But it's up to you!

Enough blathering on and on from me, here's the recipe. Happy baking!

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Recipe: 100% Whole Grain Dark Chocolate Coconut Quinoa Cookies

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Who doesn't love cookies? Especially when they're packed with coconut and dark chocolate? Unfortunately, most cookies can be nutritional black holes - fine for now and then, but not the best as a regular snack.

These cookies have all the chewy, sweet, chocolatey deliciousness of decadent cookies, but are packed with fiber and protein (they're 100% whole grain and feature protein-rich quinoa), and are pretty low sugar for cookies. 

I'll stop blathering on about them, because the best way to convince you will be if you try them yourselves. They're pretty quick and easy to make, so give the recipe a try!

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Recipe: Whole Wheat Honey Oat Bread

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Who doesn't like bread? I spent my summers in Germany growing up, so I've been completely spoiled as far as good bread goes and snub most store-bought loaves over here in the US. 

So that I don't have to wait for my next trip to Germany to enjoy bread, and because baking a loaf of homemade bread from scratch is so satisfying, I like to make my own bread when I have someone to share it with, a picnic to bring it to, or just a bit of spare time and some yeast in the pantry. 

This honey oat bread is a dense, but soft, loaf that's chewy, nutty, and 75% whole wheat. You won't get as crusty a crust as with breads that have a higher percentage of white flour, because of differences in how whole grains and refined grains bake, but it still has a good crust. Read on for the recipe!

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Recipe: Crispy Coconut Kale

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Kale can be very hit or miss and it's one of the most controversial vegetables out there. On the one hand, you have Those People who buy $7 bags of kale chips (with only two servings per bag) and wear Yale-inspired 'KALE' sweaters. On the other hand, you have the people who make taunting faces at bags of kale in the grocery store.

Yes, this is a thing that I have seen. Welcome to New York, city of characters.

Anyway, even for the most kale-adverse person out there, here's a surefire way to make the curly green enjoyable! It's crispy, it's spicy, it's flavorful, it's green and coconutty: 

It's hipster crack.

Another photo, because yum.

It's also super easy to make! I served it with coconut jasmine rice, roasted salmon, and roasted okinawan sweet potatoes for my first hosted dinner in my new (awesome) Upper West Side apartment. I must get around to writing up those recipes, as well, because the meal was a hit, but this crispy coconut kale was so good that I simply must share it NOW. Without further ado, here's the recipe.

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New Arctic Zero Lineup!

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There are three new chunky pints of Arctic Zero! Plus a new chocolate-dipped bar.

For those of you who aren't familiar with my past reviews of Arctic Zero, and haven't heard the buzz about the frozen dessert in the grocery store or at the gym, here's why Arctic Zero is the ice cream that the #fitfam an #healthnut crowd goes nuts over.

Arctic Zero is a frozen dessert (technically not an ice cream, since it isn't made out of cream) that's fat-free, lactose-free, gmo-free, certified gluten-free, kosher, and low in sugar.

It's made of whey protein concentrate, so it's high in protein, and sweetened with monk fruit concentrate, so it's much lower in sugar than traditional ice cream and won't send you on a blood sugar rollercoaster. It's enriched with fiber to keep you full and *cough, cough* regular. Sure beats bran, doesn't it?

With all of that, it's surprising that it not only tastes good, but is also creamy (especially after sitting out at room temperature for 10-15 minutes, since it freezes firmer than traditional high-fat ice cream). And now there are three new chunky pints in the lineup, plus a new kind of chocolate-dipped bar!

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SmartCakes: A Review

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SmartCakes and SmartBuns are the low-carb, low-calorie products from Smart-Baking Company, a company that strives to make traditional carby snacks accessible to dieters and anyone else looking for a lighter alternative.

It's great to offer a healthy cake alternative, but what good does it do anyone if it doesn't taste good? So many diet foods taste like cardboard, plastic, or just not the food that they're modeled after. I liked the variety of flavors offered by SmartCake - Chocolate, Coconut, and Cinnamon - and was excited to try them.

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My Top 10 Favorite Places to Eat in NYC

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NYC has so much good food and that seems to count doubly for plantbased food. From acai bowls to raw vegan lasagna and sushi that's all vegan and fish-free (Beyond Sushi, you're on my to-eat list!), there's anything and everything you could possibly want to eat!

...and some that you'd rather not. When there's so much good food, it's a pity to waste up precious stomach space on mediocre meals. Especially if you're only in NYC briefly, you should just eat the good stuff.

So here's my list of my top ten vegetarian- and vegan-friendly food places in NYC! Some are totally plantbased and others offer options for omnivores, but also plenty of vegetarian options.

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More Delicious Mornings with Erin Baker's: A Review

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I love getting mail. I also love breakfast foods and mornings. So getting this in the mail was wonderful!

Erin Baker's focuses on making delicious foods out of whole grains and without preservatives. Whether they're eaten as a standalone snack or part of your breakfast, they're food that nourishes you and fuels you for a great day ahead.

The two new products I got to try were The Original Breakfast Cookies Minis:

They taste just like the full size cookies - hearty, just the right amount of sweet, and always fresh (never stale) but they're a smaller size that's great for crumbling over yogurt or oatmeal or slipping into a lunchbox as a sweet, but nutritious, snack. 

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Recipe: Chipotle Creamed Corn

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Corn is one of America's favorite vegetables! 

...even if there's some argument around whether it should be counted as a vegetable or a grain. Still, most of us love it!

Creamed corn is a classic American comfort food side dish. I'm all for the classics, but mixing it up is fun.

Especially if you're pairing creamed corn with a milder main dish, like the Norwegian broiled cod pictured above (called Torsk, recipe coming soon), mixing it up with something a little spicier can be fun. 

Ta-da! Chipotle creamed corn brings a spicy twist to traditional creamed corn. It's a great way to change things up and the recipe, below, is easy to follow and quick enough for a weeknight dinner!

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December Degustabox Review

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Once again, I can't believe it's already a new month - but I'm thrilled, because it's my favorite month! Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday and so all of December and the holiday season is my favorite time.

Everyone is cheerful and tries a bit harder to be kind. The streets twinkle with bright lights and cheerful decorations. And the air is full of the intoxicating scent of holiday flavors!

I can't wait to get started on my annual Christmastime baking madness, but in the interim, I was really excited to open this month's Degustabox. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know Degustabox is a subscription service that delivers a big box full of full-sized new foods (10-15 of them) to its subscribers. I was hoping for a box full of Christmas-themed and holiday-flavored delights, plus a few things to cook holiday dinner party entrees and sides with or bake Christmas cookies with! 

Here's what I found in the box:

December Degustabox Unboxing

To start, there were no overtly Christmassy products. That was a tiny bit disappointing for me, because I love Advent Calendars, Spekulatias cookies, holiday spiced things, and dark chocolate peppermint bark. But it was probably a decision on their part to honor that not all their customers celebrate Christmas and I respect that. Especially since the products they included can all definitely be used for Christmassy things!

To start:

Wise White Cheddar Popcorn is gluten free, whole grain, air popped, and a smart snacking choice for holiday parties! The season is full of holiday parties and snacks are a must, but it's nice to keep them on the healthier side, so that we don't get sluggish and bloated as the season progresses. These are a happy medium between carrot sticks and greasy chips!

No holiday season is complete without baking, but not everyone is a baker.

These Pillsbury mixes are easy enough for everyone and I like that they're a little more natural - no colors, preservatives, or artificial flavors! That doesn't mean, of course, that buttercream frosted white cake is healthy, but it can be part of a healthy diet. 

It's great that you can use them to make cupcakes, too. It's perfect for non-bakers who want to bake something sweet to bring to a holiday party or the last day of school before break!

If you really can't be trusted in the kitchen (or don't have the time or desire to bake) you're also covered.

Chips Ahoy! Cinnamon Sugar Thins are a new crunchy cookie from our long-beloved Chips Ahoy! They're cinnamony, with delicious white chocolate chips studding them throughout, and are a great thing to bring along to a holiday party. Perfect for when you're invited to a holiday party at the last minute!

If your crowd isn't into sweets, try these whole grain crackers:

Good Thins Oat & Flax are natural crackers where whole grains are the first ingredient! They're low in sugar, free of partially hydrogenated oils (surprisingly common in salty snacks) and free of high fructose corn syrup and artificial colors and flavors.

Top them with peanut butter and a chocolate kiss, cream cheese with cranberry jam, hard cheese and cucumber, etc. for an easy party snack. They're also great plain!

If you're looking for a jam for your crackers, look no further.

Smucker's new Fruit & Honey jams, which feature fruit sweetened naturally with honey, are another delicious inclusion in this month's Degustabox. The Strawberry Jalapeno jam is delicious and I love the spicy kick!

I also love that they're sweetened with honey instead of sugar and colored with vegetable juice instead of artificial dyes.

When you're out and about, buying Christmas presents, you'll need some sustenance.

Kala Beans are high in protein - they're roasted fava beans with seasoning and they're delicious!

The Kala Beans are my hands-down favorite in this month's Degustabox.

Speaking of holiday gifts, the Loacker cookies make great gifts for foodies!



That is, if you can bear to part with them. The Coconut flavor is my favorite - creamy milk chocolate and a rich coconut filling layered with crispy cookies!



But what if all the parties, overlapping with the seasonal stress and the fact that it's flu season, end with you in bed with a sore throat?

Ricola lozenges are my favorite when I'm feeling off. I love that they're natural, I love their less-medicinal taste, and I love that these honey herb lozenges do more than just fight your current sore throat - they also support your immune system and help fight against fatigue, so you feel better going forward. It's the perfect offense and defense pairing!

I also always love honey when I'm under the weather.

Honey Acres Honey Straws come in more flavors than I knew honey could come in! I love that they're easy and clean to open - just pinch and pop, no smeary, sticky lids - and perfectly portioned for a sweet pick-me-up or to squeeze into a cup of tea!

And finally, because girl can't live on sweets and holiday cheer alone, there's an Urbane Grain Ancient Grain Blend ready-cup in every Degustabox this month!

I got Beef Burgundy, which is a three-minute pasta and protein meal that you can prepare in just three minutes with a microwave. So easy and convenient!

What are your favorite holiday treats? 

What are you looking forward to the most this holiday season?

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Recipe: Eggplant Parmesan

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Do you know what's an easy, flavorful weeknight dinner that's a crowd-pleaser and a family-pleaser? 

Eggplant parmesan with angel hair pasta!

Some like a little extra spaghetti sauce with their pasta, so make a little extra and save it to serve on the side. Other than that, it's straightforward and simple and makes great leftovers! Read on for the recipe.

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Review: Healthy Chef Creations Vegetarian Meal Delivery

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Healthy gourmet meals, made for you, and delivered fresh - never frozen - nationwide? To this busy girl, that sounded pretty great. 

I love cooking and baking and spending quality time with my kitchen, but sometimes life gets crazy and having a few days, or a week, where the food just magically shows up ready to eat can be a godsend. Enter Healthy Chef Creations!

Healthy Chef Creations' menu is spa-inspired and delivered weekly all across the US in individually packaged meals, snacks, and desserts that are fresh and never frozen. 

              

As long as you transfer them to your fridge immediately, they'll last for a week. It's healthy, it's fresh, and the dishes are even tempting to non-healthnuts.

They offer meal delivery programs and a la carte meals suitable for omnivores, vegetarians, vegans, and/or people on gluten-free diets. You can customize your meals accordingly! And it's always natural and organic.

Healthy Chef Creations: The Food

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Giveaway: Honey Ridge Farms Honey Cremes Trio

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I love honey!

It's great in my German honey cookies now that it's the baking-all-the-time season again:

It's great just on bread:

It's great on oats or acai bowls or ice cream or eaten out of the jar with a spoon or... any and every way!

I also LOVE autumn. So what better combination than pairing the two?

The lovely folks at Honey Ridge Farms are letting me give away a trio of their honey cremes to one lucky reader! Enter below through 10/16. Good luck!

The Honey Creme Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Review: Honey Ridge Farms Honey Cremes

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I love honey! It's probably my favorite sweetener and it's all natural to boot.

Did you know that honey has antibacterial properties? That's why it's great to have in hot tea (preferably hot peppermint tea) when you're sick. That, and it coats your throat and makes it feel better. I, fortunately, haven't gotten my first cold of the season yet *knock on wood* but my poor co-workers are dropping like flies. They need tea with honey!

I also love honey in my oatmeal, honey on my granola, honey drizzled over acai bowls, bananas and apples dipped in honey, and peanut butter honey sandwiches (also honey cookies). 

When I eat honey on bread, my favorite way to eat it is crystallized! You can either put liquid honey in a jar, let it sit in direct sunlight for a week or two, and wait for it to harden into sweet and delicious crystals. Or you can get Honey Ridge Farms honey cremes!

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Review: Toosum Bars

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I love snack bars! Skeptical? Just check out my comprehensive list of the many, many, many bars I have tried, photographed, and reviewed over the years.

Clearly, I like bars.

But when you're just feeling a little peckish and you don't want a big bar, or you're packing a snack for a kid at school and a full sized protein or granola bar is just too big. And who wants to eat half the bar and leave the other half in an open packet, to dry out?

Luckily, there's a solution.

The healthy, gluten-free snack bar:

Toosum bars are the perfect size for a small snack or a brown bag pack-along.

Toosum bars are 100 calorie gluten-free oatmeal bars. They call themselves 'bites with benefits' and live up to the claim. All four flavors (blueberry & greek yogurt, coconut & banana, cherry & plum, and cranberry & acai) are made of gluten-free, whole grain oats, brown rice flour, and healthy nuts, seeds, and dried fruits. 

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Review: Hak's Paks

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When you're working full-time and juggling some pretty time-consuming side things, having time to cook healthy meals can be a challenge! 

Luckily, Haks' One Pot Cooking Sauces make it easier to juggle busy weekday schedules with cooking healthy meals at home. Eating out every night isn't cost-effective at all! 

I tried Hak's Paks in three flavors: Chipotle Bourbon, Caribbean Jerk, and Korean BBQ.

I like that the ingredients lists are pretty short and natural. No crazy chemicals or unnecessary artificial colors or flavors. All Hak's Paks are all-natural with no-GMOs, no preservatives, and no gluten.

 Cooking Fast, Easy, and Healthy:

Hak's Paks make cooking really easy. Just boil a pound of veggies, meat, fish, tofu, etc. and pour the contents of the Hak's Pak evenly over the boiled base. 

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