Recipes

One of our favorite meals to make when we don’t have time to really cook is Pesto Pasta. Making the actual pesto takes less than 10 minutes and you can store a bunch of it in the fridge or even freezer for those days when you just want a fast hot meal. We often make it even healthier by blending in a bunch of kale (you don’t even notice it’s there for those of you who aren’t fans of kale) and we really love serving it with just pasta, chopped tomato, and a little pecorino romano cheese on top!

To make the pesto, you basically just blend up the following items. If this is your first time making pesto, you can follow the recipe. But I’ve made it so many times now that I actually just eyeball the ingredients based on how much fresh basil I have on hand (that is what determines the quantity of pesto I make).

Pesto ingredients (half this or double it as you see fit):

• 2 cups loose fresh basil leaves (not packed down)
• 1/3 cup olive oil (basically you want enough so that the mixture blends up nicely. Add more or less as needed)
• 2 large handfuls grated Pecorino Romano cheese (or Parm)
• 1/3 cup pine nuts (we like to roast them lightly in a cast iron pan to bring out the flavor, but watch them carefully and stir frequently as they can over-roast and turn black in the blink of an eye)
• 2-5 garlic cloves (depending on preference)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• Optional: half a head (or more) of kale leaves (minus stalks) or even baby spinach. You’ll never notice the taste difference and it makes it healthier. Our preference is to use kale and I’ve done as much as a whole head of it depending on the quantity of pesto. Basically just watch it as it blends, as long as it blends down all the way, you’re good to add more, if it starts to get chunky, then you’ve added enough. You may need to drizzle in a bit more olive oil as you blend the kale.

I usually start with blending the basil + olive oil. Then add the cheese + garlic and blend. Then add the pine nuts + salt/pepper and blend more. And finally add the kale (and add in more olive oil as needed to make it blend smoothly). Blend until it has the consistency of a grainy smoothy.

Relevant kitchen sources:

• Matte black drawer pulls (long): Amazon
• Matte black drawer pulls (short): Amazon
• Matte black knobs: CB2
• White cotton wreath: Amazon | (similar option: Wayfair)
• Rectangular cutting board: Amazon
• Utensil crock (white/tan): Wayfair
• Glass & twine vases (different sizes set): Amazon
• Tupperware sets: Amazon | Amazon

For a full list of our kitchen sources, click here!

Apple Crumbles (and actually all crumbles) are one of my favorite fast-and-easy desserts so I thought I’d share my recipe because there are a lot of different ones out there and this one is very flexible (so it can work for any quantity you want to make) and it’s super yummy!

Filling: chop up however many apples (or any other fruit) fit into the baking dish you want to use (I’ve used everything from brownie pans, to this bigger one, to pie plates, to tiny little individual serving baking bowls). In a separate bowl, add the juice of one lemon, some cinnamon, and a couple big spoonfuls of brown sugar to the apples. Mix and spread into pan.

Topping: my topping recipe is all about ratios rather than amounts. It’s: equal parts flour & brown sugar, and double that large flake oats (so for example 1/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup oats) mixed with a few dashes of cinnamon. Then add enough melted butter or sunflower oil to make the crumble topping the consistency you want. I start with a few tablespoons and then add more as needed. With this ratio rule, you can modify the recipe for any quantity of topping you need pretty easily. When it’s done, sprinkle topping over apples.

Bake at 350 for an hour.
And I like to serve it with vanilla ice cream.
ENJOY!!!

Sources:

• Black/white polka dot baking dish: Wayfair
• Long matte black drawer pulls: Amazon
• Short matte black drawer pulls: Amazon
• Black knobs: CB2
• Barstools are from West Elm (mine are sold out so here are similar options or other ones I just like): #1 West Elm | #2 CB2 | #3 All Modern | #4 World Market | #5 Lulu and Georgia | #6 Wayfair
• Patterned island vase: Crate & Barrel
• Stems in island vase: Amazon
• Rectangular cutting board: Amazon
• Utensil crock (white/tan): Wayfair
• Glass & twine vases (different sizes set): Amazon
• Black island lights: Rejuvenation
• Double sink: Blanco (Wayfair)
• Faucet: Moen Align (Wayfair)
• Soap dispenser: Moen (Wayfair)

We made our favorite chocolate chip banana bread today and I thought I’d share the recipe because even though it’s a pretty common recipe it took me a long time before I found one I loved enough to make over and over again and the best part is that if you mix the ingredients in the exact order that I share here, you can do all your mixing in ONE bowl with just a fork!!! Less cleanup, more win, much yum!

1. Mash 3-4 ripe bananas with a fork in a medium mixing bowl.
2. Add in 2 eggs (just blend ’em up with a fork in the middle of the bananas), 1/2 cup melted butter (or sunflower oil), 3/4 cup sugar, and a couple dashes of vanilla extract. Mix well
3. Add in 1 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking soda and kinda mix them together with your fork right on top of the wet ingredients in the same bowl before fully mixing them into the whole mixture.
4. Throw in a couple handfuls of chocolate chips and that’s it!

Bake in a greased 8×4 loaf pan at 350 for an hour (do the poke test around 55 mins to check).

Allow to cool for 20-30 mins and enjoy!!!

Sources:

• Loaf pan: Amazon
• Log serving platter (similar): Amazon | Wayfair | Crate and Barrel
• Long matte black drawer pulls: Amazon
• Short matte black drawer pulls: Amazon
• Black knobs: CB2
• 3 white ceramic vases (set of 3): Amazon | Wayfair
• Round cutting board (similar, same size): Amazon
• White cotton wreath (similar, my exact one is no longer available): Amazon

We made the most delicious glazed Blueberry Lemon Cake/Loaf last night and it’s one of my easiest dessert recipes so I thought I’d share it if you wanted to try it out. The trick is that you need fresh blueberries and a fresh lemon on hand. If you have those, then this cake takes only about a few minutes to throw together and it is soooo good!! Here’s how to make it

First zest the peel of one lemon and juice it.

Mix dry ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Mix wet ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/3 cup melted butter (or sunflower oil)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup milk (or soy milk)
• 2 dashes vanilla extract

Combine dry + wet ingredients.

Fold in 1/2 cup fresh blueberries & a big sprinkle of lemon zest (you can also add 1/2 cup chopped nuts if you want).

Bake in a greased 8×4 loaf pan at 350 for about an hour (do the poke test around 60 mins to check).

While it’s baking, make your glaze: 2 tbsp lemon juice + 2-3 tbsp sugar. Should be thick. Set aside.

As soon as it’s done baking, immediately brush the glaze over the cake while it’s HOT!!!

Allow to cool for 20-30 mins and enjoy!!!

Sources:

• Loaf pan: Amazon
• Log serving platter (similar): Amazon | Wayfair | Crate and Barrel
• Long matte black drawer pulls: Amazon
• Short matte black drawer pulls: Amazon
• Black knobs: CB2
• 3 white ceramic vases (set of 3): Amazon | Wayfair
• Round cutting board (similar, same size): Amazon
• Rectangular cutting board: Amazon
• Utensil crock (white/tan): Wayfair
• Glass & twine vases (different sizes set): Amazon
• White cotton wreath (similar, my exact one is no longer available): Amazon
• Black island lights: Rejuvenation

This veggie lasagna is one of our family favorite go-to dishes so I thought I’d share the recipe for anyone interested. It’s SO easy to make and takes 10 mins of prep time. Note: I use fresh lasagna sheet noodles that I get at a local Italian deli. The ones I get come in big rectangular sheets (2 cover my lasagna pan).

PS: I love this lasagna pan. You can get it here if you want: Wayfair

1. Sauce: First chop all your veg and throw it in a big pot. I do: 2 white onions, big handful chopped garlic, 1 diced green bell pepper, 2 big handfuls of sliced mushrooms, 2 stalks of sliced celery. Salt it and add 2 big glugs of olive oil and stir it on med-high for about 5 minutes until all the veggies soften and the volume shrinks by about half (the salt helps). Once the veg has softened down, season to taste. I do: red chili flakes, dried oregano & basil, and black pepper. Stir. Add in either about 16oz of crushed tomatos, or you can use a premade sauce. That’s it!
2. Separately, slice one zucchini and set aside.
3. Layer up your lasagna. This is how I do my layers: Sauce. Noodles. Sauce. Zucchini. Cheese. Noodles. Sauce. Cheese. (see pics below)
4. Bake covered at 375 for 30 mins. Then 5 mins uncovered. Then broil 2-3 mins to get the top golden brown.

I serve it with salad. Tonight it was mixed baby greens, chopped kale, cucumber, avocado, roasted sunflower & pumpkin seeds. Dressing: 2 big glugs of olive oil, 2 dashes of balsamic vinegar, bit of garlic powder, couple drops of honey, salt & pepper to taste.

ENJOY!!!!!

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