When life gives you soupy ice cream, make milkshakes!

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basil, cream, Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, milkshake, peach, summer

Last summer while working super long days in Cleveland, I would stock the office kitchen with food for each meal of the day to avoid starvation. (It really was a good job.) The inevitable ice cream craving kicked in one night during a trip to the grocery store, so I made a beeline for the freezer section. Lo and behold, I discovered pints of ice cream demanding $9.99! Who were these pints and what gave them the nerve to think so highly of themselves?! Actually, the flavors sounded amazing, but I couldn’t justify spending so much.

I later asked friend and co-worker Leslie, “What is this ice cream and why is it so dang expensive?!” She then told me that Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams were really good and based in Columbus. Okay. I then looked up their website and proceeded to swoon over all of the flavors.

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Kale for Beginners

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basil, cashews, cooking, kale, parmesan, pesto, pizza, recipe, spring, vegetarian

Kale (r) feat. its pal, Basil (l)

Nothing quite makes one want to hide in a corner with a heaping plateful of healthy greens like seeing an ad for nacho cheese-drowned Cheetos on a gas station window right after yoga class. But maybe that’s just me.

Either way, you’re getting a post jam-packed with leafy goodness.

I’m sure most people have gotten on the kale train by now, but if you’re still intimidated by it, I’m here to hold your hand. Not literally…that would be weird. Instead, I will share/remind you of some recipes I’ve posted in which kale is featured, but isn’t the tough, bitter thing that haunts you in your sleep. But you really don’t have nightmares about it, right?

I might recommend a smoothie to those most freaked out by kale, which may be ironic since green drinks could potentially seem the most repulsive. But you can’t even taste it in this TropiKale Smoothie, I promise! Just pretend it’s green from the kiwi.

Balsamic Strawberry Basil Pizza

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baking, balsamic, basil, dough, pistachios, pizza, ricotta, spring, strawberries, vegetarian

I was pretty stoked to find out that a farmer’s market now takes place at my Y every Tuesday morning. Produce and elliptical in one trip! Health made easy! And yeah, Tuesday morning maybe seems like an odd time, but I wasn’t the only person there. I guess there are other people here who keep odd hours and like fresh, local food.

I had been thinking of making a pizza with the swiss chard and zucchini because, heck, there is NO PIZZA on this 1.75 year-old baking blog. But then I started to worry about the strawberries and how ripe they were. I can throw strawberries on dough and call it pizza…right? How about letting them hang out with basil in some balsamic vinegar first? I like where this is going!

Wordless Wednesday: Berry Fun

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basil, strawberries

For more WW, click here.

Daring Cooks’ Challenge: Potato Salad!

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balsamic vinegar, basil, caramelized onions, cooking, Daring Cooks, feta, gluten-free, healthy, kalamata olives, Mediterranean, olive oil, potato salad, recipes, red potatoes, roasted peppers, rosemary, summer, sun-dried tomatoes, vegan, vegetarian

Jami Sorrento was our June Daring Cooks hostess and she chose to challenge us to celebrate the humble spud by making a delicious and healthy potato salad.  The Daring Cooks Potato Salad Challenge was sponsored by the nice people at the United States Potato Board, who awarded prizes to the top 3 most creative and healthy potato salads.  A medium-size (5.3 ounce) potato has 110 calories, no fat, no cholesterol, no sodium and includes nearly half your daily value of vitamin C and has more potassium than a banana!

Isn’t this kind of like when they announce something like, I don’t know, potatoes as the secret ingredient for Iron Chef?  That was my reaction, anyway.  At the same time though, it’s kind of fun to be given free reign for these challenges (I’m looking at you, April).