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Spinach Pancakes ♥ Go Green!

Today's easy pancake recipe: Whole-wheat pancakes with fresh spinach, light and fluffy. The pancakes are "dyed" green (St. Patrick's Day, anyone?!) from the all-natural spinach but yet, there's no bitter spinach taste at all. Surprisingly good, frankly they taste just like regular pancakes except maybe a little "greener". Thanks to both Greek yogurt and spinach, they're also high in protein. And besides, aren't they just plain fun?! Weight Watchers Friendly, WW 2 PointsPlus. Vegetarian. So let's talk pancakes, shall we? Cuz everybody loves 'em, at least my family does! I don't repeat many recipes in my column Kitchen Parade – but pancakes are an exception! There's my sister's recipe (thick and fluffy with tiny, small, medium and large batches for changing family sizes) and my mom's recipe (the classic! calling for either buttermilk or "sweet" milk) and cornmeal pancakes (especially good with blueberries) an

Sweet Potato Cornbread ♥ Naturally Wheat-Free & Gluten-Free

Oh people, what a gorgeous cornbread recipe this is! Sweet Potato Cornbread is made with a whole field full of sweet potatoes – kidding! but lots! But there's no flour so it's naturally wheat-free and gluten-free. Seasonal. Vegetarian. Golden color and delicious! Total winner, here! Y'know, trips to the mailbox just aren't what they used to be, are they? In fact, they're hardly necessary. A bill or two, a statement or two. The odd old-fashioned if much-appreciated thank you note and postcard. But after that? It's just junk mail that hits the recycling bin with barely a glance. But when Southern Living magazine hits the mailbox? Be still, my beating heart! Every month I want to settle in right away, thank you very much. Pour a cup of coffee, now please . (If this sounds like a paid advertisement or a sponsored post, banish the idea! I'm a happy paid subscriber. Southern Living knows this blogger from nobody.) Mine may be a northern soul but page after p

Cajun Dirty Rice with Eggplant ♥

Today's easy recipe: How to make Cajun dirty rice with much-reduced calories and carbs, thanks to the addition of "dirty" eggplant instead of chicken livers or gizzards. Weight Watchers, you're going to love this one, just one PointsPlus per serving! Weight Watchers Friendly. Low Cal. Low Carb. Gluten Free. Paleo. Vegetarian. Not just vegan, " Vegan Done Real ". Our friends Mark and Lisa give a Mardi Gras party every year. But sad-so-sad, we've yet been able to attend. But happy-so-happy, 2014 is our year! It's quite the bash so I've been experimenting with Cajun-style dishes. One Friday awhile back, I cooked red beans for Red Beans & Rice, a Cajun Pot Roast and Dirty Rice with Eggplant. What a meal! WHAT IS "DIRTY RICE" Now after dinner, there's a pile of dirty dishes and a kid who plays outside is likely to come in with dirty clothes and we all know scoundrels who play dirty tricks . But "dirty" rice, what in d

Easy-Easy Barely Roasted Zucchini & Yellow Squash ♥

Today's extra-easy vegetable side dish recipe: Big chunks of zucchini and yellow squash roasted but just barely, leaving some bite. Weight Watchers Friendly. Low Cal. Low Carb. Gluten Free. Paleo. Not just vegan, " Vegan Done Real ". All that good stuff and did I mention yet, really really good, too? So people, really, it is still January . Enough with the cupcakes! and the cookies! and over-the-top Superbowl party food! Enough! It.Is.Still.January. And besides, isn't January food, you know, the food that we should eat "most" of the time, our "every day" food? And aren't all the bazillions of sugar-butter-flour combinations we come up with, even the so-called “healthy ones”) aren't these "December" food and "every once in awhile" food? We each of us make our own food choices but I happen to love the spareness that is January. Doesn't it just feel good? Less food. Less-rich food. Less fussy food. January is a gr

Rustic Tomato Basil Soup ♥

Today's vegetable soup recipe: It's Tomato Basil gone all rustic, showing off its pretty red, green and – hey! what's that orange stuff? - colors. Weight Watchers Friendly. Low Cal. Low Carb. Gluten Free. Not just vegan, " Vegan Done Real ". Across the country, lots of people are seeing "white" this weekend. Me, I learned two things, not bad for just coming off the holidays, eh?! Our new glass-on-two-sides kitchen is a lovely during a snowstorm: warm and cozy inside, so white and windy outside, like being out in the middle of a snowstorm but warm and dry with a cup of hot cocoa in hand. Keep it comin,' Old Man Winter, today was a good day! Yeah, yeah, I know, the basil came from a pricey plastic package. But even for a committed seasonal cook, to my taste Tomato Basil Soup is a winter soup not a summer soup. Usually, it's blended until smooth but I found the tomatoes and carrots and basil so pretty, I left it in its natural rustic state.

Best Vegetable Recipes of 2013 ♥

Your favorite vegetable recipes of 2013 from A Veggie Venture, one per month, all in one handy spot for easy reference. Yes, this year I'm featuring your favorite recipes , the vegetable recipes which you and other readers and visitors come back to again and again, all year long. It's that time of year, the week when we food bloggers look back over a year's worth of recipes and pick our favorites! I love-love-love this process! It really helps us hone our recipe collections, highlighting the best of the already very good, especially for sites like A Veggie Venture and my food column Kitchen Parade which by design, already post only really good recipes, the ones that work, the ones that are special or especially useful. (Here's the 2013 favorite recipes from Kitchen Parade too.) But I also love all the many sources of "best of the year" lists for movies, books, gadgets, etc. So this year, I'm collecting "best of the year" lists on Pinterest