Today's weather was absolutely wonderful.  I almost felt guilty making a casserole instead of grilling outside.  Almost.

While grilling is one of my favorite things, I am trying to get into the mindset of fall, and that means a little more comfort food!  I have never really been a casserole type of gal, but I do love me a warm plate of gooey, cheesy delicious-ness.  There is something about rice, cream and cheese that makes my tummy sing for joy. 

This dish actually started with green beans. I have had an abundance of them from our CSA, and decided to experiment a little.  Casseroles normally call for some sort of canned soup (which is also why I stay away from them), but I remembered a recipe I used last Thanksgiving for cream of mushroom, so I dug it up, made some tweaks and got cooking. 

Chicken and Green Bean Casserole
serves 4-6, gluten-free

6 skinless chicken thighs, preferably from a pastured chicken
1 c brown rice
1 3/4 c chicken broth
1 lb green beans, ends trimmed
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
1/4 c pine nuts, toasted
1 T parsley, minced

For the soup:
2 T butter
1 pint mushrooms, sliced
1 T arrowroot powder
1 c chicken broth
1 c heavy cream
salt & pepper
2 t dried thyme

Bring 1 3/4 c broth to a boil and add 1 c rice.  Bring down to a simmer and cook for 25 min.  Meanwhile, sprinkle the chicken with salt & pepper.  Heat olive oil in a skillet and sear chicken until golden brown, about 3 min on each side.  Remove chicken and juices from the pan. 

Preheat oven to 350.  Add 2 T butter to the pan, add mushrooms.  Sprinkle with salt & pepper and allow the mushrooms to soften.  Add arrowroot and whisk for 30 seconds until mushrooms are coated.  Add 1 c broth, whisk for a minute.  Whisk in heavy cream and allow to bubble and thicken.  Make sure you watch that the heat isn't too high, as you don't want to scorch your cream. 

Coat a 9 x 13 baking dish with butter or cooking spray.  Layer rice, then green beans, add chicken and juices and then pour the mushroom soup mixture over it all.  Bake at 350 for 35-40 min.  While the chicken is baking, I toasted my pine nuts and minced my parsley.  You could also add some shredded cheese for the last few minutes of baking.

When the casserole is done, top with pine nuts and parsley.  Serve immediately.

I definitely think there will be more one-pot wonders in my future.  It's fun to experiment with new twists on old favorites.  What is your favorite casserole?

Enjoy!
XoXo,
Nicole

Remember when I first started getting my CSA in the Spring, and had TONS of greens and no veggies?  Yah, that's not the case anymore.  Every week I welcome a box of fresh, delicious vegetables into my home.  Every week I wonder what ever will I do with LAST week's veggies that I still haven't eaten yet?  Well, I figured it out: saute them up, throw them in a bowl with some rice, and call it dinner!

I've made these a couple of times now, each time with different vegetables.  Seriously, this dish is so versatile, it's crazy!  I've made this with eggplant, beets, peppers, squash, greens, mushrooms, carrots, celery, tomatoes, onions, leeks, garlic, corn, beans, asparagus, the list really could go on and on. 

This is what I started with:

Tomatoes, carrots, yellow squash, leeks, eggplant, garlic....then I also sauted some chard that was starting to wilt and added in some sweet corn. 

Saute everything in a little EVOO with salt and pepper, or whatever seasoning you have on hand.

Prepare one cup of sprouted brown rice (add to 1 3/4 c boiling broth).  Cook on low for about 25-30 min. until done.

Add to one big bowl, and if you're really feeling sassy, sprinkle some fresh parmesan cheese over top.

The amount of time it takes to cook the rice is about how long you need to saute your veggies.  You can have dinner in about 35-40 min top

Fall has most certainly arrived!  At first I was a little resistant, afterall, I had a wonderful summer filled with new adventures.  Today; however,  is one of those days that reminds me how much I actually did miss my most favorite season, so I'm content knowing it's here to stay.

The sun is shining, the leaves are changing, my fall decor is up and I'm enjoying the smell of blueberry crisp filling up my house.   I'm anxious to begin experimenting with soups and more crisps with all of my favorite fall foods. 

Apples, pears and squash, oh my!

But today, today I had blueberries. 

And a delicious recipe from purely elizabeth.

You could use any granola that you have on hand, but if you have a chance to try this one, I suggest you do!

blueberry granola crisp (gluten-free, vegan)

3 c blueberries, fresh or frozen (I used fresh)
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 coconut sugar
3 t cinnamon
2 T arrowroot powder

topping:
2 c purely elizabeth blueberry hemp granola
2 T coconut oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, toss blueberries, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon and arrowroot powder.  Spread the mixture in a tart dish.  In a small bowl, combine the granola with the melted coconut oil.  Sprinkle the topping over the blueberries and bake for 20 minutes, or until the topping is golden and the filling is bubbling.

Enjoy!
XoXo,
Nicole

One of my favorite meals of the day is breakfast.  Unfortunately, I don't eat the type of breakfast I love most on weekdays.  If I had to choose between pancakes and eggs, I'd choose eggs everyday!  I LOVE eggs.  I wish I had more time in the morning (or, I should say, I wish I got up earlier and gave myself more time in the morning) to make them, but I also love my sleep and that usually wins!

It's easy to get bored with eggs, which is why I've tried to come up with new ways to eat them.  This past week we got a ton of these beautiful zebra tomatoes in our CSA, so I figured a warm tomato salsa would be perfect.

I grabbed a saute pan and threw in chopped orange bell pepper, some onion and garlic, a little swiss chard and salt, pepper and thyme.  It turned out to be a beautiful new take on comfort food, and a great way to start my day!

You could use regular or heirloom tomatoes in this recipe too.  As well, you could add in whatever veggies or greens you had in your fridge.  These paired nicely together, so I'll definitely be trying this again.

Warm Zebra Tomato Salsa
1 shallot, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
3 small zebra tomatoes (or your favorite variety), chopped
4-5 stalks of rainbow chard (stalks removed), chopped
1 small orange bell pepper (or pepper of your choice), chopped thin
fresh thyme, rough chop
salt & pepper, to taste

Saute the shallot and garlic in olive oil.  When soft, add tomatoes, chard and pepper.  Add a little salt and pepper. Saute just until the chard starts to wilt.  Remove from heat.  Add thyme and serve over scrambled eggs.

Do you have any creative ways to eat your eggs??

XoXo,
Nicole

It's amazing how certain things can take you back to a moment in your life as though it were  yesterday.  Songs, places, even old t-shirts have memories that can instantly transport me to a moment in time.  When I was a child, my great-grandmother had a cottage on a lake.  I would spend summers there with my grandparents.  I would swim, watch fireworks, go into town with my grandma each morning, go fishing with grandpa, among many other things.  That lake, that cottage contain so many happy memories, it's hard to put into words.

When I was in middle school we sold her property, and my family stopped going.  It was heartbreaking, but the kids were growing up and no one wanted to take on another property so far from home.   Two years ago I took my husband there for the first time, and he fell in love like I had so many years prior.

I didn't end my birthday month quite the way I had anticipated.  I had lofty goals for the last week in August, but it turned out to be a week of catching up.  I repeated a couple of things I had done earlier in the month (buying coffee for the car behind me in the drivethru....I honestly could do this once a week, it gives me such a high!).  I also hired a cleaning service to come in and give my house a good deep clean once a week.  Those of you who know me, know this is huge for me since I loathe cleaning my house.  Once a month was all I could get the hubs to agree to, but I'll take it.  We also picked up my 3 1/2 year old nephew and took him up north with us, giving my sister and parents a week off!  Then I treated myself to a week of nothing.  Nada.  Zilch.

We rented the cottage right next door to where my great-grandparents once owned (the cottage we stayed in happens to still be in our family, which was neat).  We rented a pontoon boat and had no schedule at all.  It was lovely. 

See for yourself:

Not a bad view to wake up to every morning!  We did so many things, and took so many pictures, it's hard to pick which ones to share with you.  Here are some of my favorites!

What a month it was!  I was able to donate to charity, make a stranger's day, try out some new adventures like paddleboarding and accupuncture, treated myself to a massage, began some new workout classes, got a food dehydrator and started experimenting with raw foods, spent some time camping with my husband, among many other things. 

It's inspired me to continue with this (although, not every day....more like a new thing a month).  On the list: take a photography class, continue to expand my knowledge of new foods and alternative medicine, finally take my scuba diving class, go rock climbing, and much more!

Relaxing at the lake for a week was the perfect way to recharge my batteries and begin to drum up some new creativity. 

I hope you enjoyed my birthday month challenge, and that it inspired you to try new things as well!

XoXo,
Nicole