Kristine's Kitchen

Homemade Taco Seasoning

November 3, 2013 by Kristine 1 Comment

For a while now I have been trying to get away from buying packaged foods as much as possible. I know that fresh foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, are much more healthful than processed foods, and I want to feed my family foods in their natural state as much as possible. One result of this is that I have a really hard time buying packages of things like pre-made taco seasoning, which can be loaded with extra sodium and other not-so-nutritious additives. To make my own homemade taco seasoning, I began by researching various recipes online. The differences between recipes are great, and when creating my own I used a combination of the recipes I found. I wanted my taco ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: DIY, Popular, Sauces & Seasonings Tagged With: DIY, homemade, Mexican, spices, taco

Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts with Spiced Buttermilk Glaze

October 28, 2013 by Kristine 2 Comments

Do you sometimes find yourself in the kitchen baking when you know you should be doing something else? Maybe the laundry is piled up, or the kitchen floor needs to be cleaned, or you have papers to correct, or all of the above? If so, then I think we understand each other. Sometimes you just need to put everything else on hold for a few minutes and bake something. Like doughnuts, right? Doughnuts should be the top priority, shouldn't they? That's what I convinced myself of on Saturday afternoon as soon as the kids went down for their naps/quiet time. I knew that there was probably a better use of my time at that moment than baking doughnuts, but I just really wanted to bake (and eat) ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Breakfast, Desserts, Muffins, Scones & Pastries, Popular Tagged With: donut, doughnut, pumpkin

Roasted Butternut Squash Lasagna

October 24, 2013 by Kristine Leave a Comment

I love cooking with butternut squash this time of year. One of our favorite fall meals is butternut squash soup, homemade rolls, and a green salad. Roasted butternut squash, though, is hard to resist, especially when it's combined with a bechamel sauce and three cheeses in a lasagna. This lasagna reminded me of one of my other favorite butternut squash meals- butternut squash ravioli. It has all of the flavors of the ravioli, but is much easier to put together. The roasted squash, cheese, sage, and pasta, it's all there. The lasagna requires minimal prep time, especially since it takes advantage of no-boil lasagna noodles. Plus, I always enjoy adding new and flavorful vegetarian meals to ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Main Dish, Pasta, Vegetarian Tagged With: butternut squash, lasagna, roasted vegetables, vegetarian

Our Trip to Seattle

October 22, 2013 by Kristine 2 Comments

A few weeks ago Brad and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. Since a 10th anniversary is kind of a big one, we decided to go on vacation just the two of us, and the grandparents generously agreed to take care of the kids while we were away. We considered many trip destinations, and settled on spending a long weekend in Seattle because neither of us had been there before, and we were excited at the opportunity to explore a new city. We had a wonderful time on our trip; it was so nice to be on our own time and enjoy each others' company. We stayed at the Inn at the Market, which is right at Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle. After flying in to the Sea-Tac Airport, it was an easy ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Travel Tagged With: Pike Place Market, Seattle, travel

Massaged Kale Salad with Pepitas, Cranberries, and Goat Cheese

October 16, 2013 by Kristine Leave a Comment

I am almost ashamed to admit that this is the first kale recipe I have ever posted. That's right, before today, if you had typed “kale” into my blog's search box, you would have gotten a nice little not found message. Not anymore, though! It's not that I've never cooked with kale, but I certainly haven't done it enough if I haven't had the opportunity to blog about it. Kale is one of the healthiest foods you can eat and it's extremely versatile. It can be used in smoothies, pasta, pizza, and salads. Years and years ago I even made kale turnovers as a side dish to a meal. If you haven't done much cooking with kale, this recipe is a great place to start. Fresh kale leaves are firm, with ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Salads Tagged With: healthy, kale, salad

Pumpkin Spice Granola

October 11, 2013 by Kristine Leave a Comment

Weekday mornings are often rushed, busy times. Whether you are trying to get out the door to head to work or getting kids ready to go to school, there is not much time to prepare breakfast. My usual quick breakfast is a bowl of cold cereal, but I get tired of the store-bought options. I love making homemade granola because I can fill it with nutritious ingredients and customize the flavors to my liking. My all-time favorite homemade granola is made with lots of nuts and maple syrup, but for fall I've been loving this pumpkin spice granola. I made three batches of pumpkin granola in two days, because I wanted to get the recipe just right. This granola has plenty of pumpkin spice flavor, ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Breakfast, Pancakes, Waffles & Cereals Tagged With: Breakfast, cereal, DIY, granola, healthy, homemade, pumpkin

Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice

October 2, 2013 by Kristine Leave a Comment

Fall is here, October is here, and in a few short weeks it will be Halloween and then Thanksgiving. Can you please tell time to slow down a little for me? I want to just sit and appreciate the change in seasons for a little while. I'm in full Fall baking mode, even though the temperatures outside are still warm. After much baking with pumpkin this week and last, I decided it was time I made a batch of pumpkin pie spice. You can buy pumpkin pie spice at the store, but if you keep a well-stocked pantry it is so easy to make your own. Store it in an airtight container at room temperature and you should be set for all of your pumpkin baking needs through the end of the season. Check back soon ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: DIY Tagged With: baking, DIY, fall, homemade, pumpkin, spices

Caramel Apple Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

September 30, 2013 by Kristine 4 Comments

I haven't had many excuses.. I mean opportunities to make cupcakes lately. Baking a batch of cupcakes just for my family isn't a good idea, because we definitely don't need to eat a dozen cupcakes. We had my parents and brother over for dinner this past weekend so I had a reason to make dessert, and I decided that an afternoon spent baking in the kitchen sounded both relaxing and fun. I pretended I didn't have housecleaning to do, laundry to fold, or papers to grade, and just enjoyed myself. These cupcakes have three components- a spiced apple cake, cinnamon cream cheese frosting, and a drizzle of caramel sauce. Have you ever noticed how kids eat cupcakes? They lick off all of the ... [Continue Reading]