Shaina Olmanson's Blog, page 3

Rice Bowls with Quick Pickled Ginger Red Cabbage

A recipe for quick pickled ginger red cabbage to top off your breakfast rice bowl, plus ideas for what else to stuff in that bowl.

I always regard May as the best-worst month. It’s the best because the rain has stopped, the weather warming to temperatures that encourage long post-dinner walks through the neighborhood. The garden soil begs to be turned and played in. The slowly sinking sun provides the best dinner lighting from the patio. Signs of life and beauty appear everywhere you look, fr...

Lemongrass Chicken Rice Noodle Bowls: Bun Ga Nuong

A recipe for Vietnamese style rice noodle bowls – bun ga nuong – with vermicelli rice noodles, a fragrant lemongrass chicken, plenty of fresh vegetables and herbs, and a lime-based chile-spiked sauce for the top.

There’s a shopping list scrawled in the corner of our monthly calendar. The items are revolving, updated frequently, or left to sit, forgotten. As soon as a few items are removed, others are added for the next trip.

For the past three weeks, the one item that held steady on the list...

Creamy Tarragon Chicken Gnocchi Soup

A recipe for a creamy and comforting chicken soup with fresh tarragon and soft gnocchi pillows.

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. – Kurt Vonnegut, Mother Night

The snow outside keeps falling in intervals, the sun peeking out in between the fits and starts. Like the weather can’t quite decide what it wants to be just yet.

Inside I clutch my tea and curl deeper into my chair. I seem to have forgotten how to sit on it properly. I pull my pajama-cla...

Vanilla Chocolate Cake {Bábovka}

A recipe for a quick and easy Czech-style vanilla-chocolate cake made in a kugelhopf or Bundt shape called bábovka.This post is in partnership with Nielsen-Massey Vanilla. Thoughts, words, opinions, and recipe are my own.

I’d mentioned the cake briefly, as an aside to dinner plans, homework, and whether or not we could fit in a trip to the pet shop and bookstore, which seem to go hand in hand in our house. Still, she bounded through the door from school demanding to know where the bowls and i...

Watermelon Radish and Arugula Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette

This springtime salad recipe is made up of thin slices of bright pink watermelon radishes, marinated in blood orange vinaigrette and tossed with fresh arugula , cilantro, avocado, and a sprinkling of salty feta.

I stepped lightly through the spongy grass, picking up each foot carefully and placing it gingerly, testing how the earth will give before putting my full weight behind it. We were inspecting the fruit trees, assessing the graft point of the cherry, looking at the thin strip of bark t...

Blueberry Almond Buckwheat Granola

A recipe for toasted buckwheat granola with dried wild blueberries, toasted almonds, popped amaranth with plenty of vanilla bean and cardamom, brought together with maple syrup.

Large flakes are falling, turning the brown into a pristine white yet again. This morning the kids ran around the neighborhood to check the tap lines in the sugar maple trees. Pots of already-collected sap are being readied for their sugaring off this weekend, and we are hoping for a few more days of running sap befor...

A Visit to an Organic Dairy Farm with the Kids

We visited an organic farm last summer, and the experience has made a lasting impact. This post is part of a partnership with Milk Life and the National Milk Producers Education Program.

Last summer the kids and I piled into the car one morning and drove south through fields of farmland until we stopped at Zweber Farms. Zweber is an organic dairy and meat farm, tucked away near Elko Speedway.

My kids, hesitantly at first, walked up the drive to where Emily and her children waited to show us...

Homemade Greek Yogurt

Learn how to make thick homemade Greek yogurt with nothing but milk and two tablespoons of plain yogurt. I’m working together with Milk Life to share information about how organic milk makes a difference in our daily lives, from breakfast to dinner.

“What are you eating for breakfast?”
“A British muffin and a banana.”
“What are you missing?”
“Protein.”
“How can you add protein to your meal?”

We try to get our kids to learn how to feed themselves and thinking about what is on their plate and...

Greek Yogurt for Breakfast: My Morning Protein

On breakfast and fitting in everything you need before running out the door to meet the day, and I mean with a bowl of creamy Greek yogurt, fresh fruit, nuts, and a bit of granola. Naturally.

I’m working together with Milk Life to share information about how organic milk makes a difference in our daily lives, from breakfast to dinner.

“What are you eating for breakfast?”
“A British muffin and a banana.”
“What are you missing?”
“Protein.”
“How can you add protein to your meal?”

We try to ge...

Rosemary Cheddar Cauliflower Cakes

An easy recipe that turns cauliflower into crispy little cakes full of cheddar and rosemary. These cakes are a great way to switch up your vegetables, add cauliflower to your menu, or use up leftover steamed cauliflower in a fun and unique way.

This weekend felt like spring, the sun strong as it made its way across the sky. I wanted to open my door and welcome it back, but as quickly as it appeared, the winter wind took over the night, the falling snow leaving a grey day in its wake, remindin...