He was welcomed into our family just last night and already seems to feel at home.  Currently he is passed out laying next to me.  I am in love with my dog!  I have to make a small plug for anyone who lives in Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin.  The shelter I received him from has truly some of the nicest people that care so much about the dogs.  If you are thinking about adopting a a dog, take a look at them.  They are primarily husky and husky mix but they occasionally have other dogs!

Radar is a  five year old husky that seems to know my house is officially his.  One to never be under prepared, I made sure I had everything he would ever need and more (including wholesome, healthy dog treats!)

There are so many recipes out there for doggie treats but I knew there were things I didn’t want to see in the treats: butter,canola oil, and white flour.  When I did low-fat baking, I would often substitute applesauce for the butter and thought that would be a great way to leave out the butter.  I made sure I had pure apple sauce and natural peanut butter (if I won’t eat it, I shouldn’t expect him to!)  These are simple and make a great, healthy treat for your dog!

Enter in carrots and coconut.
I had carrots from the csa that I knew I needed to use.  I’ve eaten so many stir fries recently that cooking carrots was so far from my mind- I was thinking cake.  Then, after thinking about it, I decided on carrot bread (a slightly healthier cousin of the cake.)

I couldn’t leave well enough alone though.  I mean, carrot bread is good but adding coconut into the mix is even better.  I have to be honest in saying that the carrot really isn’t a strong flavor which didn’t surprise me.  However, the coconut enhances the sweetness in the bread which makes you feel like you are eating something rich and fattening when really, there is only four tablespoons of butter in the whole loaf of bread and I used whole wheat flour.

This bread is perfect for breakfast or a snack and you really don’t have to feel guilty about eating a slice (unless you lather it with butter like I sometimes do!)

I love summer.  Warm weather, quality time outside, and fresh produce.

What don’t I like about summer? (besides the obvious humidity….)  I never seem to have enough recipes to eat all the produce I have.  My refrigerator has been taken over by produce but I suppose there are worse problems to have…

So I start making soup.  I can toss anything I want in these soups and start to at least use some of my produce.

This week I tackled the rather large squash problem I have in my kitchen.  I have such lovely patty pan squash but there is only so many times you can roast squash and call it good.  Have my problem?  Try some soup!  I also plan on freezing some squash so I can make this soup again in the winter!  (I also must admit that thanks to my recent bout with asthma and allergies, I keep my house rather cold; therefore eating soup comes naturally!)

This soup is brought to you by last weeks CSA harvest.  Seriously, every veggie I picked- what an awesome feeling!

Like, what’s sucanat?  What’s the “extra virgin” in olive oil? What’s quinoa?

It is in my nature to do research.  I love research (which has proven to be helpful in grad school and in food) so I have began a page of devoted to the ingredients I use.  It’s still a work in progress but I really wanted to get it up and moving so that if you had questions- you had a reference!

I am going to continue to update and hopefully even aim to have seasonal veggies/fruit page!

Any thing that you don’t see but would love to know about?  Let me know!

Click here to go there or check out the link on the side bar!

Seriously, what do you do with beets?

I had no idea.  The only two encounters I have ever had with beets are chips and pickled beets.

I know there are plenty of great recipes with beets but for my first beets of the season- I went with what I knew: chips.  I mean, how can you go wrong with homemade chips?

The answer is you can’t.  You really can’t.

I am actually surprised any of these chips made it to be photographed.  The second they came out of the oven I started popping chips into my mouth and it became like the Pringle’s saying, “Once you pop, the fun don’t stop…”  I just kept eating and eating- I didn’t want to stop.  Luckily for me, I didn’t make a big batch but still… who knew I would love beets so much?

Plus the chips are so much more colorful than a plain ‘ole potato chip!

As food goes in hot months, I grill a lot and I eat ice cream.  I really eat more ice cream than I probably should.

So when I saw these Popsicles, I knew I had to try them.  With the only ingredients being juice, yogurt, and honey- you really can’t go wrong and I don’t have to feel guilty “scarfing” down these.

Even better?  Super simple to make.

I grew up in a cat family.

Don’t get me wrong, I love cats.  I love their different personalities and their willingness to curl up and cuddle with you.  However, I don’t love their inability to go on walks, greet you at the door, and be your friend.  Cats are more just there- rulers of the house (Trust me, one of my mom’s cats thinks he isn’t a cat but a king trapped in a cat’s body.)

I have always loved dogs.  I did have the chance to grow up with a dog named Pete- he was a golden lab that belonged to my uncle but spent a great deal of time with my grandparents (just liked I did.)  I loved running around the backyard with him and I think even as a five year old I was plotting of to steal him and take him home.

I gave up on trying to get a dog out of my parents because I eventually learned it just wasn’t going to happen.  I decided a dog just wasn’t the right thing- until now.

I’d like you to meet Brittany’s two lovable goofs, spanky and buckwheat, that have slobbered their way into my heart….

I mean, how can you not help but love them?

So today, I am driving to look for a dog of my very own and I seriously feel like an expecting mother (without all the food cravings and gas…)  What’s happens when I get excited?  I bake.  Seriously, I think it may be a bit of a problem.

I present to you the chocolate sugar cookie- for when a regular one isn’t enough and you are in need of a chocolate fix.  I took my favorite sugar cookie recipe and added cocoa powder- super easy and super delicious.

So, when I was walking through whole foods and saw a salad similar to this, I about hit the floor.  How did I not think of this?  This salad seriously combines everything I have been craving over the past month.  I mean, I had the slaw, I had the quinoa, and I had a crazy good peanut dipping sauce- why not combine them all?

And combine them I did.

So long mayo-based slaw, I may never eat you again.

What’s also great about this dish is that with the added quinoa- one could conceivably eat this as a meal.  In fact I did- twice.