the happy kitchen

Recently, one of my friends asked me for my grain-free granola recipe. Her inspiration to make it truly inspired me revisit this goodness by whipping up a batch, as well. I can't tell you how long it has been since this granola has made an appearance in my life. Definitely too long. I created this grain-free granola back when I was doing paleo. But even when I'm not eating strictly paleo, I still enjoy it. It is like a combination of a granola and trail mix. The surprise with every bite makes it fun to eat. Grain-Free Granola Yields about 7 cups INGREDIENTS 1 1/2 cups sliced or slivered almonds (or a combination of both) 1 cup roasted, unsalted sunflower seeds 1 cup roasted, salted pepitas 1 cup roughly chopped/crushed unsalted cashews 3/4 cup chopped unsalted walnuts 1/2 cup dried blueberries 1/2 cup dried cranberries 1 cup shredded coconut 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 cup honey (I use a dry measuring cup) 2 tsp melted coconut oil DIRECTIONS 1. Preheat o...

I have been a little MIA on this blog and in life. A week ago, my friend shared a sourdough starter with me. I never had one before so I did not quite know what to expect. Nurturing a sourdough starter does take some work- it has a regular feeding schedule and needs to be fed very specifically. I did not do so well keeping my herb garden alive, so I was slightly worried that my sourdough starter could potentially not last very long either. I took a chance on this new venture. Since things are, well, very uneventful right now, I figured I could manage taking on the responsibility of being a new sourdough starter mom. It has been great. I have made four loaves since I got the starter last week. Of course, we can't eat that much bread, so I have been distributing the sourdough goods to anyone who wants a loaf. I recently experimented with making an olive sourdough loaf which turned out delicious. My first thought after making the olive loaf was how great it would be paired with a sha...

We celebrated another birthday in this shelter-in-place. Ryan's birthday was yesterday. I asked him if he wanted a unicorn princess birthday party like Bella but he declined. His only request for his birthday was his favorite meal- Fusilli all'Amatriciana. So, I made sure I had all the ingredients I needed in order to make his wish come true. I also made his favorite butter toffee cookies. A lot  of butter toffee cookies. But, I will save those for another post. When Ryan and I first started dating, he requested Fusilli all'Amatriciana. To be honest, I had no clue what it was so I had to do some research. It sounds super fancy but, surprisingly, it is actually not difficult to make. It has all good things like pancetta, garlic, red onion, and lots of freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano. Although, Ryan will argue that the most important part of the dish is the fusilli pasta. It has to be fusilli, because it is the most fun shape pasta to eat.  Fusilli all'Amat...

I finally got a time slot to get a Costco delivery. The one caveat is that the expected shop and delivery time given is considered a "fast and flexible" five-day window. Still, I thought I would give it a try because it would save me the headache of entering the madness that is Costco and we are not completely depleted of groceries. I had a very busy week- two Zoom meetings and a webinar. That was sarcasm, in case it did not come across on page. My life is very much not busy at all these days. Though, it has been nice to catch up and reconnect with people during this time. It seems like most people are still somewhat working for the most part. Funny enough, the reason I chose my profession is because I wanted a job that I can physically go to and do not have to bring any work home. But now I realize that, in times like these, maybe it is not so great to have a job in which working from home is entirely impossible. Oh, well. I have been making the most of the time I have o...

It has been over three weeks since I have worked. Although some may say that tending to all the cooking and cleaning around the house is a full time job, as well. It feels like one around here, at least. At the beginning of this whole thing, I really wanted to make my favorite cheddar jalapeño bagels. They are a real winner. But with no yeast or bread flour to be found for the past three weeks, I have given up on making those pillows of goodness for now. Hoarders, you have crushed my dreams. Just so you know. Unfortunately, I jumped the gun and already bought a whole bunch of jalapeños thinking it would not be difficult to find yeast and bread flour. Big mistake. Learned my lesson the hard way. For the past couple of weeks, I just stare into my refrigerator produce drawer and it's like those jalapeños are sitting there mocking me- reminding me of the bagels they could have been. I knew it was time to take action. I could not stand another day of watching those jalapeños wasting...

It was a very gloomy and rainy weekend over here. Since I had some extra carrots, celery, and onion after making the Instant Pot Beef Stew , I decided that I would attempt chicken noodle soup in my handy dandy Instant Pot. I did some searching on the Internet and came across a popular recipe that fit with the ingredients I already had. Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe by Kristine's Kitchen INGREDIENTS 1 Tbsp olive oil 1 medium onion, chopped 4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces 4 ribs celery, chopped 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp dried oregano 1/2 tsp dried thyme 1 bay leaf 3/4 tsp salt  1/4 tsp black pepper 4 cups low sodium chicken broth 4 cups water 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used chicken boneless skinless chicken thighs) 6 oz. egg noodles (I used fusilli noodles) chopped fresh parsley, optional for serving DIRECTIONS 1. Press the SAUTE button on the Instant Pot and add the olive oil to the...

I have had an Instant Pot for a couple years now and, admittedly, I have not quite mastered it. For some reason, it just is not one of the appliances I could use everyday. Although, everything that I have attempted to make with the Instant Pot has always come out excellent and surpassed my expectations- soups, stews, and any meat recipes. I never thought I could make pulled pork and pulled chicken, but the Instant Pot makes the process quick and the meat always turns out so incredibly tender. Anything that would normally need to cook and simmer for hours on the stove or in the oven can be done in at least half the time in the Instant Pot. Mind blowing. Instant Pot Beef Stew is one of my go-to recipes that I will use over and over. In fact, it is also the recipe I will recommend first for anyone looking for something to make in the Instant Pot. It is the epitome of a great one-pot recipe. Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe adapted from Well Plated INGREDIENTS 2 lbs boneles...

Based on the latest COVID-19 update, the shelter-in-place order in California is being extended to May 3rd. It is only April 1st. That means another month of managing all this crazy. I went grocery shopping yesterday and I was exhausted upon reurning home. It is a real feat right now, getting out there and getting supplies. My local Trader Joe's was awesome. I appreciated how organized and thorough they are being given the circumstances. There was no line to get in like there has been my past few visits. A woman was wiping down every cart and handed me a wiped cart right away. There was another woman at the entrance who was regulating how many people entered the store at once, closing the door behind every person that entered. She asked me if I needed any toilet paper. I do not buy my toilet paper at TJ's but appreciated her asking. After I got checked out at the register, the woman who rang me up offered me hand sanitizer as I left. "A+" customer service all around....

I follow a girl named Sara Stewart on Instagram [@sara.haven]. I found her account on my discovery page a while ago, probably due to the number of Trader Joe's related accounts that I also follow. However it happened, I'm glad that I stumbled upon her page. Her account is a great follow. She posts a lot of recipes, meal prep ideas, and great pictures of food. She is a very relatable person with very relatable[food] content and I am all about it. She posts a lot of "blender" recipes. Pretty self-explanatory, but all you have to do is throw the ingredients into a food processor or blender to make the batter. Sounds easy enough. I have never tried any of the blender recipes before but always have them bookmarked. In the corner of my kitchen were a couple spotty bananas begging to be used, so I thought today would be a good day to try one of her recipes. I had all the ingredients already, so I saved myself from having to brave the crazy grocery shopping experience for...

So, [my favorite place] Trader Joe's makes a Mediterranean Style Orzo Pasta Salad. It comes in a portioned container in the to-go salad area. I bought it once a lot time ago. It was good. I enjoyed it. But, as I was eating it, I thought about how I paid $4 for one, little portion and I could probably just make it myself. Since then, I never bought it again. Instead, I developed my own version that I like so much better. When I make this, I can get everything I need at Trader Joe's so I am not quite sure what other stores/brands may carry. I have made this orzo salad with fewer ingredients but enjoy this combination the most. With every bite, there is a little bit of everything and it all goes together well. There is no meat in this dish, but the addition of garbanzo beans gives it the protein it needs. Mediterranean Style Orzo Pasta Salad INGREDIENTS: 1 lb. orzo pasta 12 oz marinated artichokes, drained and roughly chopped (about 8.1oz drained) 12 oz. fir...

Bella's fourth birthday was on March 19th. To celebrate we normally would go to Carmel for a weekend around that time. We always eat at Portabella, walk around downtown, get Bella a toy at Diggity Dog, let her swim at the beach, and [of course] celebrate with lots of decorations and cake. We had our annual Bella's Birthday trip planned but canceled it last minute due to the shelter-in-place order. It is one of the best weekends of the year for us, but we decided it was better to be cautious than not. We are really bummed out that we could not go this year- just bad timing. Hopefully, we can reschedule the trip once everything settles down. Poor little Bella. She did not understand what happened to all of her birthday festivities this year. So, today we celebrated her birthday at home. I made her usual peanut butter dog cake and we put up all the decorations for her unicorn-themed birthday party. She got a lot of new toys that she was excited to play with right away. I am sure...

I forgot how long we have been doing this shelter-in-place. I just know it has been long enough that I can't actually tell you for sure the exact day of the week. We are trying to establish somewhat of a routine around here though. I have always been an early riser, so I go to sleep and wake up just as I would on any given day. I still shower, but I may be wearing sweats or "athleisure" more often than not. Currently, our dining table is doubling as our "office workspace" with our laptops side-by-side. After we each make our morning Nespresso, we plug in our earphones and get to work. Ryan is doing actual  work. My work is making this blog happen and doing some continuing education to stay busy. At some point during the day, in addition to taking Bella outside, I will also go to our second bedroom to do a workout so I don't bother Ryan while he is on work calls. I stopped doing my 1000+ piece puzzles daily because it was hard keeping my iPad charged. I felt ...

Do you ever wake up and just feel like baking? No? Just me? Yesterday, I woke up at 7am with an urge to bake something, so I figured it was a good opportunity to bring back another recipe from the vault. Let me tell you how this recipe came to life. It all started way back in 2013. I was already a few years out of college and trying to find my place in the world. In addition to a few part-time jobs, I had just got accepted into dental hygiene school. One of the part-time jobs that I had after college was working as a baker in a small local bake shop. Although it was not the most glamorous job, especially for someone with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics/Chemistry, it reignited my passion for baking and creating in the kitchen. I dedicated any free moment to experimenting with the endless possibilities that I had constantly streaming through my head. My head is a very busy place, filled with baked good dreams wanting to become reality. Welcome to my head space. It's an adven...

So, since the shelter-in-place, Ryan has been working from home. I am currently out of work. Completing a 1000+ piece puzzle a day has been helping to pass time and keep my mind stimulated. Bella gets lots of loving all day long and she's happier than ever. Other than that, the biggest part of my day is thinking about what I'm going to cook or bake next. Obviously, I have been trying to be compliant by staying in as much as possible and thus limiting my number of trips to the grocery store. I have been making all of our meals and trying to keep it interesting can be challenging. For the week, I try to have a repertoire of meals that I could make that are straight forward and not terribly time-consuming. This is helpful because, during a normal work week, time may not be as plentiful as it is now. Something that I don't make super often, but nice to have in my back pocket as a dinner option, is chicken enchiladas. The great thing is that you can take the skeleton of this...