A Dancer in the Kitchen

Happy National Chocolate Chip Day!

2013-05-15T20:55:00.000-06:00

I don't usually share food holidays with you all but this is a special one. It's also one that I think should be celebrated any time, or any day of the year! It's National Chocolate Chip Day and to help you celebrate I made these vegan chocolate cookies.......really it was just a good excuse to make some cookies and I was craving chocolate. These are incredibly easy and utilize a lot of

Goodbye 20's, Hello 30's!!!

2013-05-07T10:08:00.001-06:00

So today is my 30th Birthday! I must say I'm excited for the next decade and what it will bring. I had a wonderful time in my 20's, lots happened, good and bad but that is life I suppose. Last week, was one of the hardest of my twenties. My husband and I found out that our little Siena had some horrible type of cancer and we had to put her down. I've still been a mess lately but I know that

Quinoa Peanut Soup and other stuff!

2013-03-29T16:53:00.001-06:00

Ahhh, is it really almost April! Seriously the time flies by so fast. I've been busy looking for jobs and it has been very discouraging. I've been applying a lot and getting nothing. I have some part time freelance job prospects that will be interesting at least. It's just a tough job market out there. I went to a group interview yesterday (last time I did a group interview was in high school

High Hand Conservatory Cafe and Wine Tasting in Loomis, CA

2013-03-12T19:14:00.003-06:00

My husband and I have been trying to explore all of our new surroundings in California. So we took a drive up to Loomis the other day to have brunch at the High Hand Nursery and Conservatory Cafe. I was told to make reservations and I'm glad I did because this place was crowded! The cafe is located in a beautiful location in a greenhouse type building and on the grounds of the historic

CALIFORNIA WALNUTS: Farro with Carrots and Shallot-Walnut Gremolata

2013-02-27T10:39:00.001-07:00

Hello! Last post I was raving about Meyer lemons and now I another California gem for you: walnuts! California Walnuts recently invited me to participate in their very first Virtual Dinner Party to help introduce their Chef Menus At Home Collection! I was so excited to be invited and especially thought it was another nice welcoming to my new home being in California. Cool fact:

Big News......!!!

2013-02-22T18:15:00.001-07:00

Wow, okay so I last did a post around Thanksgiving.......and it's now February! I guess you might have thought that I had stopped blogging and well, I did because certain things were happening in my life. My husband and I found out some big news right before Christmas. NO, it's not that we were pregnant however that would have been exciting too (especially now that I'm almost 30 and there are

Thanksgiving 2012 + A Must Make Holiday Salad

2012-12-03T22:23:00.002-07:00

Well, since I last blogged (way too long ago....) I went to NYC (the week right before the bad hurricane Sandy!) and also went to California and had a wonderful time visiting my Grandma. My husband had never been to my Grandmother's house and we had a great time as you can see: My 88 year Grandmother is quite the joker! She has a nice collection of mask that she brought out after dinner!

Quinoa Muffins and off to NYC!!

2012-10-15T06:30:00.000-06:00

I'm off to NYC this morning for an exciting adventure. I'm performing with a group of professors and students from Utah Valley University at a dance festival in Brooklyn. I know it's been forever and I miss blogging so I'm going to make a goal for myself to post more rescipes! Starting with these delicious muffins using the wonderful grain quinoa! I'm packing some with me for my long travel

Utah's Own Taste Local Utah & Giveaway Winner!!

2012-09-07T11:41:00.003-06:00

It's getting to be the end of summer and I cannot believe that it's already September. It's still been hot in Utah but the mornings have begun to be a bit cooler. To be honest, I love summer but I love fall too and I'm ready to start wearing some of my scarves and vests! The Utah State Fair started on Thursday and I was invited to attend the Fair by Utah's Own who was putting on a Taste

Lemon-Lavender Madeleine Cookies, a Belated Birthday + OXO Giveaway!!

2012-08-22T14:53:00.001-06:00

Bon Appetit!! As many of you already know, August 15th would have been Julia Child's 100th Birthday! PBS Food has created a wonderful website to honor this great American icon which I strongly urge you to go check out. Here is the link if you are interested: http://www.pbs.org/food/julia-child-100-birthday/. They featured one of my many favorite quotes from her: Having fun in the

Quick Summery Veggie Tart

2012-08-05T12:13:00.004-06:00

I've had too many people ask lately if I'm still doing my blog. This dancer in the kitchen has still been making dishes like this: Those questions really made me want to get back in to the blog on a more regular basis so here we go. I guess I've just been too tired by the time I get home, to get on the computer to write a post. I think I'm finally getting the hang of figuring out my schedule

Review: Core Foods Meal Bars

2012-07-15T14:34:00.002-06:00

This post is way over due. At this point, any post is way over due! Too many people have asked me lately, if I'm still blogging because I haven't done a post in awhile but I'm still here! Leaving the dance company made me nervous to not have a job so I ended up getting three part-time jobs and working almost more than I did when I had my full-time job! I'll tell you about those jobs in the next

UTAH ARTS FESTIVAL!!

2012-06-22T07:49:00.000-06:00

Hello all! Tonight I'm finishing off an amazing 6 years performing professionally with the Ririe Woodbury Dance Company. My last performance to finish the season will be at the Utah Arts Festival in downtown Salt Lake City at 6:30 on the Festival Stage. We will be performing three pieces in the show, outside where it's supposed to be 97 degrees today! I made my debut with the company at the

A busy summer has arrived....!

2012-06-08T08:39:00.003-06:00

Welcome Summer! My husband graduated with his MBA! So proud! I love May in Salt Lake City! Even though we are a few weeks away from the actual start of summer it sure feels like it has already hit here. Growing up in Alaska, I didn't really wear a lot of shorts and tank tops because on a hot day for Alaskans at 65 degrees, I was still cold! Living in Utah for the last six years my

SLC Bites: Roots Cafe

2012-05-17T17:59:00.004-06:00

source I have time off from the company right now, about six weeks off to be exact. It's unpaid time off but that's okay because after being in France last year for all of May and 1/2 of June on tour with the company, I'm loving being home in Salt Lake City during May, my favorite month. I've been using my time off to take yoga classes, go on longer walks with my dog, and of course

Early Cinco de Mayo: Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon Fish Tacos with Mango-Coconut Salsa

2012-05-03T21:58:00.002-06:00

Hello! It's not really Cinco de Mayo yet.....it's only May 3rd but I cannot believe it's already May! Where oh where does the time go.... Last weekend the closing show of Ririe Woodbury's 2011-2012 season and my last show with the company was magical. I danced my heart out in each piece and it was a great way to end six wonderful seasons of performing my dream job. I'll post some pictures/

Wild Alaskan Beer Battered Fish Tacos with Spicy Cilantro-Pepita Pesto

2012-04-24T23:12:00.000-06:00

Way too long ago I received a fun letter from the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (check out their website for great recipes too!) inviting me to participate in the Alaska Fish Taco Campaign. I jumped on board immediately partly because I was born & raised in Alaska. I am proud to admit that I am a fish snob. I really can taste the difference in Wild Alaskan Seafood. It just tastes

Pesto Love: Raw Carrot-Pistachio & Parsley, Lemon, Walnut Pesto Recipes

2012-04-01T21:42:00.000-06:00

These past two months have gone by so fast and were filled with a lot of days of sadness & stress combined with the the joy & stress of adding a new furry friend to our family. Having this new dog has in a funny (and surprisingly) way made me get more done and be more clean around the house. My husband and I wake up around 6:30 AM to take Bandit on a short walk. Then my husband comes home to let

Balsamic Reduction Used Two Ways and an Announcement!

2012-03-09T22:44:00.000-07:00

Things are going better around here and my husband and I have a big announcement. We decided to add a new member to our family: Bandit is a Border Collie/Australian Shepherd Mix who we adopted from the animal rescue group CAWS. We had been thinking about getting a dog off & on but with the loss of a family member recently, I think it was a good time to give a home to a furry companion/

Foodie Pen Pals #3 February 2012

2012-02-28T19:03:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened in the last week. One thing is that I had to tell my job that this is going to be the last season dancing with the company. I'll go into more details later. It's a bittersweet thing because I have loved dancing my job for the last six years but it's time for a change. Ready to move on, but sad to leave such a great company and people. Another thing is that we had a sad event

Saturday R&R with Chocolate-Chip Coffee Muffins

2012-02-18T23:53:00.002-07:00

I feel like I haven't blogged in forever. The last two weeks the company has been busy teaching in local Utah elementary schools and choreographing in High Schools. I however, choreographed for a group of students at an elementary school, so I was surrounded by kids all day long for two weeks. I was so exhausted when I came home at night. I have SO much respect for teachers and what they do/

A Recipe For Life

2012-02-02T22:12:00.000-07:00

(Source) I haven't done a TILT (Things I'm Loving Thursday) in a long time and there are lot's of things I've been loving/enjoying lately. One thing is a forwarded email that I received in 2009 from my mom, printed out and have been saving since then. I've been looking on the Internet recently to try to find the author of this email but have had no luck. I printed this out because at the time

Foodie Pen Pals #2 January 2012

2012-01-31T19:04:00.000-07:00

It seems like just yesterday I was talking about my first Foodie Pen Pal experience! I signed up to do it again and I'm so glad I did! I'm the kind of person that checks my mail everyday and it's even better when there is package with my name on it waiting for me in the mailbox. My mom used to send me wonderful care packages in college and I was thinking the other day that this foodie pen pal

Vegetarian Moroccan Tagine

2012-01-29T22:06:00.000-07:00

Happy Sunday! I hope everyone had a good week. I just can't believe how fast the days go by. Being a dancer, my year pans out in seasons. The season starts in June and ends in May. This season seems to be going by extremely fast. Next week we open with our children's show with free matinee performances for kids during the day and then evening performances on Friday and Saturday. The rest of

Sunday Snacks: Blueberry Glazed Vegan Donuts & Healthy Mezze Plates

2012-01-22T17:40:00.000-07:00

It's been too long again! I can't believe I haven't written a post in over two weeks. Well, actually I can believe it because it's been about two weeks since I've gone back to work after having four weeks off. It always takes me a little while to get back in to the schedule of things. At the studio, we are getting ready for our family show, Kaleidoscope which will be performed at the Capitol