Better Home Cooking Basics: #69 Top Your Ice Cream with Spices to Add More Flavor (Not More Fat!).

It's ice cream weather! While hot fudge, whipped cream & extra sprinkles all offer extra deliciousness to everyone's favorite summer treat they also add extra calories. Today, I'm asking you to put down the typically delicious & caloric toppings & visit your spice rack instead. Spices aren't just for cooking any more. You can jazz up any kind of ice cream with spices which means more flavor without added fat! Keep reading for my ice cream & spice pairing suggestions.

Grilled Blackened Chicken Avocado Salad

It’s grilling season. To marry that fact with my love for salads lately allowed me to dream up this grilled blackened chicken & avocado salad.  The chicken is spicy & the avocado is creamy & cooling. It’s a great combination. Give it a try. It’s also super easy to make!
PS: happy birthday to my dancing partner in crime, Christine!

Better Home Cooking Basics: #12 Grate Your Own Nutmeg

A few (plus!) years ago, Chris & I went to Jamaica to see his buddy marry a fabulous gal (who just so happens to have some great ideas of fresh veggie recipes & living a clean life - read more at the thefreshequation.com). The wedding, scenery & food was to die for. One thing I kept seeing in all the little gift shops (especially at the airport) was a little nutmeg nut & a grater. Jamaican’s use nutmeg in their cooking (until then I only thought of it as a spice my mom put in her banana bread) & they grate their own. I immediately purchased a couple nutmeg/grater kits for my mom & my sister.  When I got home I realized I didn’t buy myself one. Luckily I found some whole nutmeg at the grocery store & I had a microplane at home. Since then I have only grated my nutmeg on a on-demand basis. The thing about nutmeg is you only need a little bit at a time (or else I find it gets too bitter). So I just grate as I need it - a pinch here & there. By using the whole nutmeg this way it last longer & tastes fresher. Whole nutmeg is definitely easier to put back in the jar if you spill it on the counter by accident.

Check out more better home cooking basic tips here.

Blackened Fish + Green Bean Quinoa

After a super decadent Fourth of July bbq at  Brian & Dulcie's house [read: there was lobster... enough said] I felt it was fitting to post about a decadent, yet simple way to make fish.  Make it blackened.  Basically you take a filet of fish dip in melted butter, coat it in spices & cook it on each side until it's cooked through & is white & flakey.  I went off this recipe using pollock & served green beans mixed with quinoa, fresh mint & basil for a simple yet filling meal.