Recipes - Measuring Cups, Optional

How to Build the Ultimate Charcuterie

As you all know, I’ve been recipe testing and planning my dinner party menu for over a month. Partially because I’m an over-planner and partially because I was really looking forward to wowing my friends with my culinary abilities. I’ll admit, I kind of wowed myself with my main dish – Seafood Paella. Dinner party planning takes a lot of thought, and I learned so many things from my mom and all her dinner parties. She sets timers on her phone the day of to keep her on a timeline for food prep. That’s dedication. I’m not quite at the mom-level of dinner party planning and execution, but I’m sure in time I’ll get there. I did inherit some of her organization skills. (more…)

Pecan Coconut Cranberry Granola

categories: Posts, Recipes, Snacks

I’ve been obsessed with granola lately. No really, I have. I’ve been taking it to work with fruit, chia, flax and honey. I’ve been adding it to yogurt. I’ve even added it to my favorite raisin bran cereal, and aside from that, I’ve been eating it in handfuls — straight from the bag. If you saw my mini fruit and granola bowl tutorial on Instagram last week, then you know I was already running low on granola. I’ve managed to finish off the entire bag, and in my typical procrastinating way, haven’t gotten out to the store to get any more. So what’s a granola-obsessed girl to do?! Make my own, duh!

Making granola at home is super easy. (more…)

Garlic Herb Lamb Skewers with Mint Yogurt Sauce

categories: Lamb, Posts, Recipes

I love lamb. I’ve seldom met an Arab who doesn’t like lamb. [I said seldom, so if you’re one of the few that are Arab and don’t like lamb, you may want to skip to another one of my lamb-less recipes]. Have you ever seen that scene in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” when Ian, the fiancé, tells Aunt Voula he’s vegetarian. To which Aunt Voula thinks for a minute and exclaims “that’s okay, I make a Lamb!” Yea, that basically sums up the Arab-Lamb relationship. You eat it and you enjoy it, or you eat it and you don’t enjoy it. The common denominator here is that you eat the lamb no matter what.

I’ll spare you the story about the first time I met a whole raw lamb on our kitchen table … but you’re more than welcome to read about it. It was an experience I won’t forget. (more…)

Lemon and Herb Roasted Potatoes

categories: Posts, Recipes, Vegetables & Sides

I love planning things. I almost think that in another life, I should have become an event planner. The only downside is that I don’t like to deal with rude people, and you never know what kind of clients you’ll get. I’m obsessed with planning anything and everything from my outfits, to dinner parties, to weekend trips, to big vacations and beyond. I’m a little biased, but I think I have some pretty good ideas. (more…)

No Added Sugar Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

categories: Desserts, Recipes

I have this love/hate relationship with the beginning of every year. It’s new, it’s a fresh start, it’s 300-some days of opportunities. And it’s also the dead of winter, with no holidays to look forward to. On the bright side, that means we can all focus on our forever resolutions to lose weight. I don’t even consider it a New Year’s Resolution anymore, because I wish for it all the time. For everyone else who’s in the same boat, I have a fun, delicious solution for your dieting sweet tooth! Healthy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies are a game changer. The cookies are packed with everything good for you like bananas, oatmeal and peanut butter. You likely have most of these ingredients in your pantry anyway. Best part? No added sugar (except honey, which is a natural sweetener anyway). So it’s vegan, sugar free and gluten free. It’s a win-win situation. What I really like about these cookies is they take almost no time to make. The baking time only 15 minutes. (more…)

Pesto Spaghetti Squash

categories: Posts, Recipes, Vegetables & Sides

I’m trying really hard to stay healthy (read as: cut carbs) but it’s just so hard. I love carbs. I especially love bread and pasta and rice and all those delicious things that add inches to my thighs when I eat too much. We’re on week 2 of 2017 and I’m doing pretty well so far. I’ve been going to the gym, taking a healthy breakfast to work — and actually eating it, I’ve been packing my lunches, filling up on veggies, fruit and protein. Yes, I’ve been having some cheat meals. But come on, I need to live a little! (more…)