The Naptime Chef

Well, Sandy has come and gone and I am getting back into the swing of things with cooking and posting. As most of you on Facebook know, our property managed to stay safe during the hurricane despite our close proximity to the beach. But we lost power for nearly a week. While I wanted to stay put and help my less fortunate neighbors it simply didn’t make sense for me to stick around in frigid temps with a young child while pregnant. So, we fled to Cooperstown for a week of electricity and grandparent TLC and just returned to Connecticut earlier this week. While we were in Cooperstown we did our best to lift our spirits with some fun activities. We helped my daughter master her new Razor scooter, made several trips to the Fly Creek Cider Mill, and celebrated my Dad’s birthday with this awesome Moist Carrot Cake.

Feeding my family from Whole Foods Market for $100 a week was not easy but we managed to do it. After my tour of our local store I learned all the ways to save while shopping and devised a menu plan to fit the deals that were available that week. I also had to make a few assumptions in order to make the budget work. I did not buy basic staples like olive oil, salt, pepper, basic spices, and flour since we already had them on hand. I generally don’t shop for them weekly anyway. I did not include lots of beverages in our budget since we usually drink water, iced tea (made from scratch), milk, and hot tea. My daughter does not like juice therefore I rarely, if ever, buy it. Finally, my husband eats his lunches at work and was on a business trip one night so I did not include his meal costs on the nights he didn’t eat with us.

Last week I revealed a little bit about on my recent collaboration with Whole Foods Market. In mid-October, pre-Sandy, I spent one whole week feeding my family exclusively from Whole Foods on a strict budget of $100. It was not easy considering the “whole paycheck” reputation of Whole Foods Market but I found it surprisingly doable. One of the keys to the challenge was changing my Whole Foods Market shopping habits. I’ll admit, I’ve never been a super-strategic shopper at Whole Foods Market. I was surprised at how much money I could save when I actually applied myself to learning the signage and zeroing in on a set meal plan. Today I am going to share my new favorite tips for shopping Whole Foods Market and tomorrow I will share the menu we enjoyed for the week.

This is the latest installment of my Powernap column. The series where I share quick, easy food that can be made for all kinds of situations. Powernaps are short and sweet, and so are these recipes. These are the things I make in a jiffy when I need a quick snack, am in the mood for a recipe experiment, or simply need to clean out the pantry.

Next week I’ll be unveiling an awesome project I’ve been working on with Whole Foods. This fall they challenged me to feed our family exclusively from their store for one whole week on a $100 budget. I was so excited to take on this task since I’ve always loved Whole Foods but have in the past admittedly been wary of their reputation as a place to spend the “whole paycheck.” However, that all changed last week when, with some strategic shopping and the use of coupons, I was able to squeeze out a week’s worth of healthy meals on an incredibly limited budget. Starting next Tuesday I’ll report on all the details but today I am going to give you a sneak peak at a simple soup I made toward the end of the week to use up some of our tasty leftovers.

It is technically never too early to start thinking about holiday gifts. This year I was especially organized with my ideas. Since I knew I’d be in no mood to stand on my feet long periods in December I canned all my Peppermint Fudge Sauce in August! However, that isn’t the only thing I give out around the holidays. Oh no, my friends, I always have several gifties up my sleeve including simple homemade vanilla extract.

Last week my friend Valessa asked me if I had a recipe for Pumpkin Cranberry Bread. I quickly realized, to my horror, that I have this classic Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread on my website but haven’t posted any major pumpkin bread recipe since (!) I am a little amazed by this since I adore making a quick loaf of pumpkin bread here and there with my daughter and clearly have not thought to mention my recipe for this simply awesome snack in this space. Oops!

This is the latest installment of my Powernap column. The series where I share quick, easy food that can be made for all kinds of situations. Powernaps are short and sweet, and so are these recipes. These are the things I make in a jiffy when I need a quick snack, am in the mood for a recipe experiment, or simply need to clean out the pantry.

Fall colds are not fun. Especially when you are pregnant. When I managed to come down with one last week I turned to all the home remedies I could find. Steamy cups of tea, clear soups, hot compresses – you name it, I did it. Since my taste buds were pretty much on the fritz one of the soups I made, for both its restorative benefits and the strong flavor, was this homemade Apple Cider French Onion version. I’ve been all about oniony flavors lately and I knew this rich, brothy soup full of pungent onions and a hint of apple cider would lend the helping hand I needed.