Green Machine Smoothie

Here's another detoxing recipe from our cleanse. This Green Machine Smoothie is packed with nutrients just waiting to go to work in you body. Because they are in liquid form they are absorbed easier and the body doesn't have to work as hard to digest it.

I've never been a big smoothie fan. The idea of a liquid breakfast when there are so many other perfectly good breakfast foods to enjoy just has not been one of my things. However, this was a pretty tasty smoothie AND it really filled me up!

If you don't have a fancy blender like the vita-mix, and we don't, make sure you're giving this smoothie some time to blend for a while. There's a lot of greens in here and they'll need to be broken down or you'll end up with a chunky smoothie. No one, apparently except The Other Williams, likes a chunky smoothie. Blend, people, blend.

Roasted Sweet Potato Stack w/ Poached Egg

As part of our cleanse, I stumbled across this delicious recipe from holistic nutritionist and vegetarian chef, Sarah Britton. The chef is also the author of the blog My New Roots, where she showcases some really fabulous & healthy vegetarian recipes.

Over the weekend The Other Williams and I devoured this delicious vegetarian dish for lunch. The sweet potatoes are sliced and roasted  in the oven until the caramelized goodness starts to happen with halved cherry tomatoes. The sweet and savior come out to play in the caramelized onions.

And although the egg is not the star, it deserves an Oscar for best supporting role in the dish. The gooey yoke makes a delicious sauce that blends well into the whole dish. Truly this one is divine; it melts in your mouth!

The 21 Day Cleanse

Sometimes life just gets hectic and even those of us with the best intentions end up sitting in the drive-thru window more often than we like. The Other Williams and I had reach that point where drive-thru hopping was becoming the norm.

But as Spring rolled around early this year, both The Other Williams and I felt the need for Spring Cleaning. After being inspired by several of our friends we decided that we needed to turn the Spring cleaning inward and embarked on our very first cleanse.

Being lovers of all things meat, pasta and (for me) chocolate, the thought of going meat-free, diary-free, sugar-free, and gluten-free for 21 days was a little more than scary. But now on day 12, with 9 more days to go, I have a whole new outlook on food. The structure and experience of what a meal is supposed to be has been altered, hopefully for good. And....

I feel great!

White Bean Huevos Rancheros

 A few weeks ago I charged The Other Williams with a challenge, to come up with some yummy dinner dishes with eggs as the main ingredient. This is the first answer to that challenge and boy it doesn't disappoint.

The Other Williams made homemade tortilla's, which I highly recommend, but you can also buy corn tortilla's. We also didn't use the chipotle sauce but feel free to add it to yours if you like some serious heat!

This is a lighter version to the traditional Huevos Rancheros because instead of refried beans it uses white beans. However, don't let that fool you into thinking this isn't amazing! The beans really give this one LOTS of flavor and an excellent creamy texture.

You can also make this vegetarian by not using ham or substituting vegetarian refried beans for the beans in the recipe.

Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns

In the Williams Kitchen we've implemented Hamburger Fridays. Every Friday we try a new and delicious hamburger recipe and it's been a huge hit. It keeps us from eating out and it's really fun food!

These aren't your run of the mill burgers, we're talking gourmet burgers packed with fresh ingredients and flavor.

What's one of the most important elements to a burger? The bun. How about some homemade whole wheat buns? Oh yes you can make them at home for a fraction of the cost you pay at the store! A couple years ago I shared with you a tip on freezing buns so you didn't waste food and money. It also applies here.

So many think that baking bread is this super hard thing to do. I'm here to tell you, it's not. The only thing you need is time and a few simple ingredients. What do you have to lose, try it already!

Fall Picnic - BBLT

 For our fall trip recently I packed a delicious Italian Sausage Soup and this fabulous BBLT panini! What's BBLT?

Brie, Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato!

I used a ciabatta roll for the bread and my trusty grill pan to press the sandwich before we left. I wrapped it in some wax paper and it was good to go by the time we had our picnic!

The combination of this panini is just delicious. All my favorites are in play! Really smooth-earthy brie cheese, smoky bacon, peppery arugula, spicy Dijon, and sweet tomato. Yea, it's going to blow your socks off!

Homemade Oatmeal - Maple Brown Sugar

My favorite season is making it's debut here in the south and the Williams Kitchen is hopping with fall recipes! My favorite Fall breakfast is warm oatmeal. For a long time I just bought the Quaker Instant stuff but this is so much better.

The flavor and texture is just awesome and there is nothing more nourishing than a warm bowl of oatmeal. There are so many good-for-you things in this bowl. I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

Some tips:

• This recipe is so versatile add whatever you have on hand or love.
• If you need a quick breakfast make a big batch and throw it in the fridge. Then just take out a serving at a time, add some milk to loosen it up and microwave it.
• If the oatmeal is too thick add more milk
• If sweet isn't your thing, omit the maple syrup or cut the brown sugar in half

Fall Pinic - Italian Sausage Soup

 We recently took a picnic to a local apple farm/pumpkin patch. It was a gorgeous day and just perfect for this delicious soup. We also brought a small panini, but you'll have to wait for that recipe in a few days.

The soup was so simple to make that I, as in, the non-cook, made it the day before. The morning of our picnic I just took it out of the fridge and reheated it.

The farm was packed but we managed to find a shade tree off by ourselves. We brought out the blankets, pillows, and wine. We breathed in the fresh air, shared a delicious lunch, and just enjoyed each others company. I don't think it could have been more awesome. We watched families hunting for that perfect pumpkin and listened to Ole McDonald way too many times as the hayride passed us.

We made a full batch of this soup and ate it for lunches the following week. It's really so good. I can't wait to make it again! Try it, it's amazing!

Hostess with the Mostest - Italian Rosemary Bread

I'm of the belief that if someone invites me to their home and cooks me dinner, I shouldn't show up empty handed. Hostess gifts are also so much fun if you don't wait till your on your way to the party to think about it. If that does happen, grabbing a bottle of wine is always a nice gesture.

However food makes a great hostess gift and the presentation is my favorite part. Recently, we were invited to a formal dinner party where I gave the hostess this gift.

Two homemade loaves of Italian Rosemary Bread and  a bottle of her favorite type of wine wrapped in argyle socks. Just the wine and socks is a cute gift, I think.

I also made this gift box out of a shoe box and left over burlap from my fabric stash and some ribbon. It turned out beautiful and the hostess loved it.

This bread is delicious with just about anything! Make sure you put it in a plastic baggie if it's not going to be eaten that day. Also after 3-5 days, if you want to make it last a little longer, throw it in the fridge. This bread is also great frozen if you want to eat one loaf and save the other loaves.

Italian Sausage Hamburger with Garlicky Spinach

We've started doing Hamburger Fridays at our house when ever possible and we're trying out all kinds of burger recipes.

This burger is so delicious on so many levels. The sausage, the garlicky spinach and the sun-dried tomato pesto spread all add something spectacular to this burger. We're talking restaurant-style gourmet burger here!

We used 1/4 pound of local Italian-style sausage, which was about 1 link a piece. Don't skimp on the sausage, get the best you can find. So far this is my favorite burger yet!