Shaina Olmanson's Blog, page 15

A Menu for Heading Into Summer

A menu to make the most of the final weeks of spring an the first hint of summer vacation.



The last week of school always seems like a waste. Both teachers and students are ready to be done, the sunshine beckoning them from the window. With the hard plastic chairs unforgiving and the clouds in the sky having taken up new residency in students’ heads it’s hard to imagine a less productive time of the year.


This is a week full of field days, trips to the museum, and summer sports already underway...

Carbonara Style Pasta with Sautéed Ramps (and Ribeye)

Springtime ramps meet with creamy pasta carbonara in this foraged take on this classic Italian dish.




Spring has been slow to start with the snow following us all the way into May this year. Only yesterday I commented that our current weather has more in common with March than the first weeks of summer, and the plants agree.


Crabapples bloom everywhere I turn, their white and pink blossoms holding the promise of sunshine. It was just two weeks ago I noticed the first bits of rhubarb sticking out...

Honey Whole Wheat Hummingbird Cake: Last-Minute Entertaining {Eat Well, Spend Less}

Classic hummingbird cake made with whole wheat flour and sweetened with honey is a quick and easy dessert to whip up for last-minute entertaining this summer.




Friday started out slowly with sunshine streaming in through the curtains. Morning light has this effervescent quality and slight bluish undertones that can make everything seem peaceful. It rests on surfaces, illuminates the glassware as you set out the breakfast dishes. Butter and eggs sizzle softer in the early a.m. hours.


Before long,...

Creamy Avocado Yogurt Dressing with a Quinoa Salad

A bright and creamy yogurt avocado dressing pulls together this quinoa salad dotted with bits of bell pepper and served on a bed of fresh spinach.




Let’s talk about lunch.


Back in grade school I started avoiding school lunch. I disliked standing in the line with my red paper ticket purchased that morning from a lady in a hairnet positioned behind a card table with a roll of red carnival tickets and a black metal box handing out rides on the lunch line express in exchange for your white envelope...

Savory Parmesan Granola

I’m sharing a recipe for savory Parmesan granola, combining all your granola clusters and crunch and turning it into a salty snack treat.




Spring took its time showing up this year, with winter lingering far longer than is necessary. Still, I am ready for summer to hit, even if the weather might not be just yet. I’ll let it slowly lull itself from frozen to steamy, but my menu choices have been slanting drastically towards fresh. My breakfasts want nothing but berries and fresh eggs, and by lun...

How to Make Homemade Chapati {Roti: Indian Flatbread}

A simple recipe for unleavened whole wheat Indian flatbread also known chapati and roti with a few tips on the process.




Sometimes I don’t know what to do with myself. I am a mess. Today I keep turning my head into believing that it is Friday. It is not Friday, a rather unfortunate truth. I also keep thinking that if I ignore the atrociousness of my house long enough that elves will come to take care of it for me. I have yet to see these house-elves appear, and so the disarray remains: A pair o...

Mother’s Day Menu: Brunch and a Fair Trade Giveaway

Ideas for your Mother’s Day brunch, plus a fun Fair Trade Certified giveaway and a few gift ideas for Mom.



I am guilty of ruminating. I spend a lot of time inside my own head weighing words and thoughts and ideas, forming opinions. Sometimes I get lost in there with all of those bits and baubles. Today, however, I am just going to share them. (Truth: There is a list of things that I wrote out sitting on the floor next to my bed so that I would remember to share, so this is not spontaneous in t...

Saag Paneer for Spring Spinach

Garam masala, coriander, ginger, and garlic flavor this creamy, spinach-based saag dish with seared pieces of paneer cheese. The recipe can be adjusted to be served with chicken, if desired.






I was introduced to Indian cuisine a few years after I had left home. It was during a college road trip: cars full of bodies, the trunk packed with an assortment of duffle bags as none of us even owned proper luggage at that point nor had the desire to use it.


There was a drive across the flat, Midwestern e...

Eat Well, Spend Less: Looking Back on the Way We Ate

This month in the Eat Well, Spend Less series we’re looking back on what’s changed over the past two years in the purposeful way we feed our family.



This month marks two years of the Eat Well, Spend Less series. Last year for the one-year anniversary I covered a lot of the ongoing changes we were making as a family and a bit of the reasoning for them. As I was considering how our food habits have changed since last year I feel a bit like a broken record playing the same 3-second loop over and...

We’re Going on a Treasure Hunt, a Good Cook Treasure Hunt

Come on a fun treasure hunt for kitchen products to be entered to win one of three grand prizes from Good Cook.

Photo by Brooke from Cheeky Kitchen for Good Cook

We’re going on a treasure hunt.

We’re going on a treasure hunt.


Treasure hunts are fun, right? Sure they are, especially when there’s a basket of goodies at the end worth $1000 in kitchen products. Find the codes attached to Good Cook products and enter them to win one of three grand prizes in the Good Cook Treasure Hunt. (Get the full d...