Recipe
It’s no secret that cinnamon rolls are one of my favorite things to both make and eat. Especially the eating part.
But sometimes you need something a little easier and a little healthier.
The solution?
Cinnamon twists!
A simple dough made with whole wheat flour and pumpkin puree provides a healthy base for these slightly sweet, cinnamon-y delights.
Just roll out the dough…
Cover in non-dairy butter, cinnamon, and sugar.
Slice.
And twist!
A quick stint in the oven and…
Cinnamon twists!
Not an exact cinnamon roll replacement if that’s what you’re going for, but a guilt free & easy snack to have on hand when the sweets craving strikes.
The perfect post-holiday munchie.
by with a Side of Sneakers
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon honey {use agave or maple syrup if making vegan}
- 1/4 cup canned pumpkin
- 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cups whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup bread flour
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon non dairy butter
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
Whisk yeast into warm water. Set aside.
Mix pumpkin, honey, and coconut oil.
Stir in yeast mixture.
Slowly add flour, a third at a time.
When you can’t mix the dough together anymore, move to flat floured surface and knead gently until elastic-y ball forms.
Place in oiled bowl and cover with towel. Set in a warm place for about an hour; up to 2.
After dough has risen, punch down and roll out into 1/4″ thick rectangle.
Spread with melted butter then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture. Adjust cinnamon sugar amounts to your preference.
Slice dough into 1 inch strips and twist.
Place on baking sheet.
Bake ~12 minutes at 375.
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P.S. The NEW winner of the Chobani giveaway is….
Jen! Email me your info so you can get your yogurt! 
And don’t miss my 35 weeks pregnant update!
Recipe
When you frequently experiment with recipes, especially baking recipes, you’re bound to stumble across a disaster or two. I’ve certainly had my fair share.
But every once in awhile, that disaster isn’t really a disaster- it’s just something else entirely. Like this gingerbread:
Let me back up. I received this gift pack from Seventh Generation and the encouragement to come up with a dish that incorporates the flavors from the products’ ingredients.
I loved the Fresh Citrus & Ginger scent and it seemed appropriate for the season, so I figured I’d go with that. In addition to citrus and ginger it has cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Perfect!
I was in the mood for something baked {when am I not?} and a quick bread sounded like the perfect solution. In my head I was envisioning those orange cranberry muffin mixes I always see at the grocery store. I decided I was going to make a citrus spiced pecan version. Ha.
So I played around with some recipes and ingredients, and finally came up with my recipe. Time to give it a try!
I started with one of my banana bread recipes, took out the banana, and swapped in apple sauce, orange juice, and a heap of spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger. Since the dish soap flavor I was channeling was citrus & ginger, I really wanted the ginger to stand out, so I used fresh grated ginger in addition to the powdered kind to give it a little kick.
Into the oven it went; out it came.
I don’t know why I was startled to see it was brown instead of white like the muffin mixes- I used whole wheat flour after all.
Then I sliced into it and helped myself to a still warm from the oven helping. I could smell the aroma of fall spices drifting out of the bread as soon as I cut into it. It reminded me of something…
As soon as I took a bite, I knew what it reminded me of: gingerbread.
And then it hit me: I’d just made gingerbread. Why I didn’t put two and two together before that moment, I have no idea. Let’s blame it on pregnancy brain.
So this bread is nowhere near what I thought I was trying to make in my head, but I sure did end up with a darn good gingerbread- nice and light, and perfect for a snack in this chilly pre-holiday weather.
I guess the moral of the story is not every disaster is really a disaster; it just depends on your perspective.
by with a Side of Sneakers
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 1 tsp vinegar
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
- orange zest
Add vinegar to almond milk. Stir & set aside.
Mix dry ingredients.
Stir in almond milk, orange juice, and applesauce.
Stir in pecans and orange zest.
Spread into loaf pan. Top with extra orange zest if desired.
Bake at 350 degrees for ~40 minutes. Tester should come out clean.
Let cool slightly before removing from pan.
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Or double up the recipe and make a loaf-cake!
The Le Creuset pan makes it easy, and clean up’s a breeze with the Seventh Generation dish soap!
The best part of this whole thing? You now have a chance to win the same gift pack I received and I promise- you want it.
It’s four full sized bottles of Seventh Generation liquid dish soap in a variety of scents, including their Free & Clear scent free version, along with some natural cleaning supplies: Twist loofah sponges & scour pads, and colorful organic dish towels. There’s also a 3 quart Le Creuset baking dish. Yes, you read that right- Le Creuset can be yours. 
You can also enter their “Nature Makes Perfect Scents” contest to win a trip to Italy, France, or Vermont, where Seventh Generation gets their essential oils.
For a chance to win the prize pack pictured above, answer one of these two questions in the comments:
- Which of the Seventh Generation natural dish liquid varieties are you most interested in trying?
- Which essential oil sourcing site would you be most excited to visit, if you were to win the “Nature Makes Perfect Scents” sweepstakes?
For bonus entries, you can:
Please leave a separate comment for each entry method. You have until Friday at midnight!
Disclosure: The Seventh Generation Natural Dish Liquid prize pack, product and information have been provided by Seventh Generation through MyBlogSpark.
P.S. Don’t miss my 27 week update: pregnancy by the numbers.
Recipe
Apparently the word on the street is that I have a thing for cinnamon rolls.
I don’t ever know what you mean.
But these aren’t cinnamon buns. So quit rolling your eyes and go make some…cinnamon swirl bread. 
My intentions were purely innocent, I assure you.
I just set out to make a regular loaf of whole wheat bread.
We’d been out of bread for a few days, and somehow in my mixed up pregnant brain, I thought whipping up a loaf would be a lot easier than trekking all the way to the grocery store.
Girl needs her carbs. Do not get between us.
And then I channeled my inner Eat, Live, Run and added a tiny cinnamon swirl at the end.
It was modest, I swear.
But of course that ruled it out as sandwich bread.
Now it was dive-right-in-and-devour-it-all bread.
Yes, thanks, I think I will.
All that’s missing is a big dollop of apple butter. C’mon apple picking season!
Ingredients
For the Bread
- 1 1/3 cups warm water
- 1 Tbsp active dry yeast
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil
- 1/8 cup demerara sugar {or regular or brown}
- 1 Tbsp molasses
- 1/2 Tbsp salt {I actually use just under 1/2 T}
- 3 cups whole wheat flour
-
For the Cinnamon Swirl
- Butter
- Brown Sugar
- Cinnamon
Instructions
- Stir the yeast into warm water. Set aside for a few minutes.
- After the yeast bubbles, mix water and yeast with the coconut oil, sugar, salt, and molasses.
- Gradually mix in the flour using an electric mixer {or by hand}.
- When dough is combined, place on floured flat surface and knead until the dough forms an elastic-y ball.
- Place dough in greased bowl. Cover with a dish towel and set in a warm place for 30 minutes to rise.
- When dough has risen, punch it down, then roll it into a rectangle.
- Spread melted butter on dough. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.
- Starting from narrow end, roll dough.
- Place in greased and floured loaf pan.
- Bake for ~35 minutes at 350 degrees. Bread should be lightly browned on top.
- Remove from pan onto cooling rack.
- Go ahead and dig in while it's warm, but let it cool completely before storing.
3.1
https://www.sideofsneakers.com/cinnamon-swirl-bread/
I mean, you don’t have to add the cinnamon swirl… but why not?;)
{Incidentally, it’s quite delicious with Cacao Bliss. My computer ate the picture almost as fast as I ate the loaf of bread.}
Don’t miss the latest baby posts: the first trimester screening & the new midwife appointment.
Recipe
I don’t know about you, but summer time is not when I want to be spending hours in the kitchen with a hot oven. Especially this 100 degree summer. Not that I’d ever really want to do that, but I’d at least prefer to save that for the dreary winter, when it’s dark outside at 6 and the hot comfort food is worth it.
The husband’s been asking for lasagna for weeks, and I’ve flat out run out of excuses. So instead I tried to figure out how to spend the least amount of time in the kitchen with it. The solution? Lasagna soup.
Chop, quick sauté, and leave it alone on the stove. That’s a heck of a lot better than chopping, cooking, layering, baking, etc.
Plus, this version of lasagna’s vegan, and you certainly don’t miss the cheese the way you do in traditional lasagna.
Lasagna Soup
First up, the start to any good Italian meal: chopped garlic and onion.
After browning the onion slightly, stir in the garlic and a boatload of chopped mushrooms. As it sautés away, stir in some tomato paste and seasonings.
Next add some fire-roasted diced tomatoes {I used the garlic flavored} and your liquid. Bring it to a boil, then leave it alone to simmer away.
When it’s almost done cooking, toss in the lasagna noodles. At the last minute, stir in the kale. {Note: I used 8 oz of pasta; next time I’ll use half of that. As the soup cooled, the noodles sucked up all the broth. My leftovers were soupless.}
Lasagna in a bowl. 10 times easier than any other lasagna-esque meal I’ve made.
Served with a side of Ashley’s garlic knots, whole wheat-ified, because any recipe that starts with pumpkin is good in my book.
The fluffy garlic rolls are the perfect accompaniment to the thick soup.
To make it even lighter for summer, try adding an extra couple cups of broth or water and omitting the cream, just be sure to bump up the seasonings so it doesn’t taste bland.
Ingredients
- 1 large white onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 Tbsp dried oregano
- 1/2 Tbsp dried basil
- 2 tsp fennel seeds
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 4 T tomato paste
- 1 28-oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 4 c low sodium vegetable broth
- 2 c water
- 1/4 c non dairy cream {optional}
- 4-8 oz uncooked lasagna noodles, broken into small pieces
- large handful of fresh kale, ripped into small pieces
- black pepper
- salt to taste
- chopped fresh basil leaves for garnish
Instructions
- Saute onions in large pan over medium heat until just start to brown.
- Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Stir in tomato paste and seasonings {except salt}. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add diced tomatoes, vegetable broth and water. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add uncooked pasta and cook until al dente, about 10 minutes.
- With just a few minutes remaining, stir in cream and kale. Cook until kale wilts.
- Season to taste with salt.
- Serve in large bowls. Garnish with fresh basil.
3.1
https://www.sideofsneakers.com/lasagna-soup/
Restaurants
Yesterday the husband and I celebrated our four year wedding anniversary.
I will neither confirm nor deny whether one of the parties in said relationship perhaps may or may not have forgotten the occasion…
For our first anniversary, we celebrated with a trip to the Biltmore in Asheville.
By the fourth anniversary, we settled for carry out.
At least it was fancy carry out though: Carrabba’s Italian Grill!
I’d been hanging on to a card for complimentary Crispy Calamari since I went to the Carrabba’s Tastemaker event umm…last August. {The event incidentally was a ton of fun- we got to learn how they make some of their signature pasta’s like the Tag Pic Pac and Penne Franco.}
Anyways, we cashed in the coupon and along with some pasta, salad, and bread, we were all set for a delicious anniversary dinner. What’s better than great food in the comfort of your own home that you didn’t have to cook?? That’s what I was thinking. 
It ended up taking two trips up to Carrabba’s to actually get our whole meal, but once we finally had all the food in our hands it was a delicious meal.
The calamari was good, but after a few bites it was too salty for me to handle. Everything else was fantastic though. We had one of their summer pasta specials, the Pasta Rambo {and no, I didn’t get it just because it has an awesome name…though it does.}
The Pasta Rambo was thick linguine with shrimp, sautéed mushrooms, and tomatoes in a lemon basil butter sauce. The shrimp in the pasta were cooked perfectly, and the light sauce was perfect for the dish.
I could probably eat a whole week’s worth of meals of just Carrabba’s Caesar salad and bread- their dipping oil spice blend is by far my favorite of any restaurant.
I can’t wait to dig into the leftovers for lunch, although there’s not much left.
What’s your favorite restaurant?
