Marina Delio's Blog, page 32

Berry Filled Witch Hat Cones for Halloween

I absolutely adore all the spooky cute Halloween snacks I've been seeing on Pinterest, but the girls and I wanted to come up with some new ideas this year as well. After our Candy Corn Popsicles, we dreamed up with these cute witch hats made with pointy cones and filled with berries. CONTINUE READING THIS POST »

Healthy Tropical Candy Corn Ice Pops

Whole fruit ice pops that look like candy corn make a healthy Halloween treat.
My girls absolutely love candy corn. They are certainly cute, but most brands are also filled with sugar, GMO ingredients, and artificial colors... ick! Over the weekend I made a batch of tropical ice pops that resemble the kids' favorite Halloween candy, but are actually organic, gluten free, vegan, and packed with healthy nutrients. The girls were so excited to see these in the freezer. CONTINUE READING THIS POST »

Fall Dinner Party Menu

Last weekend I invited some of our friends over for an al fresco autumn dinner party. We were celebrating Yummy Hubby's birthday, and his completing a 100 mile bike ride the previous day. We had 10 adults and 9 kiddos over. Little miss Four was so excited to help me set the kiddie table while I worked on the grown-up table scape. She loved making the table pretty with flowers. Clearly we don't have 10 matching chairs, which is the reason for all the mixing and matching at the tables. 
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The Best Garlic Bread Recipe. Ever.

At dinner the other night, Yummy Hubby asked, "Have you put this garlic bread on your blog? Because it's amazing!" So though this is not exactly a "recipe" because it is so simple, I promised him I would share with you how I make my "amazing" garlic bread. You can get it all ready for the oven early in the day and pop it in when you're ready to eat.

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Easy Blueberry Apple Crisp Recipe

This fall, apple crisp has become one of our favorite sweet treats. It takes about 10 minutes of prep time and then it goes into the oven, making your house smell 1 million times better than any pumpkin pie scented candle ever could. Apple crisp is so easy, that we've even made it on busy school nights. You  probably have all the ingredients at home right now. Though Honeycrisp apples are my favorite for baking right now, I'll use any I happen to have.

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Pear, Walnut, and Goat Cheese Salad with Maple Vinaigrette

This sweet and savory salad will be your new go-to this fall and winter. The maple apple cider vinaigrette is what makes this salad really special. 
Pear, Walnut, and Goat Cheese Salad with Maple Vinaigrette
printer friendly recipe

Yield: serves 6

Ingredients
1 (5 ounce) bag arugula, or other favorite greens 3 pears, sliced 3 oz. herb goat cheese, crumbled 5 oz. candied walnuts (I used Trader Joe's)  1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 1 tablespoon maple syrup 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 1/2 teaspoon sea salt pinch freshly cracked pepperInstructions
Place arugula in a salad bowl. Top with pears, goat cheese, and walnuts. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, syrup, mustard, salt and pepper. Toss salad with desired amount of dressing. inspired by Taste Love & Nourish

Roasted Beet & Heirloom Tomato Salad

Even though it's fall, our farmers markets and my back yard are still producing sweet tomatoes of every color. If tomato season has ended where you are, you could make this without them - just increase the beets. On Saturday the girls and I stopped by the market after soccer and picked up a bunch of organic pink and golden beets, and loaded up our basket with local heirloom tomatoes. When we got home I roasted the beets whole in foil (my favorite method) and saved them for this salad. The sweet beets and tomatoes, together with a fresh balsamic vinaigrette, made a flavorful and beautiful rainbow of a salad. 




Roasted Beet and Heirloom Tomato Salad printer friendly recipe

Yield: serves 6-8

Ingredients
3 large washed and trimmed beets 6 heirloom tomatoes in a variety of colors 1 cup cherry tomatoes 1 shallot, peeled chopped 1 teaspoon dijon mustard 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped 1/4 teaspoon sea salt pinch freshly cracked pepper 1 bunch micro greens (optional) Cooking Directions
To roast the beets, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Drizzle beets with a splash of olive oil and wrap in foil. Be sure foil is completely sealed. Place beets on oven rack and roast until tender, about 40 minutes to 1 hour or more depending on size. Let cool and then slip the skins off and slice beets. Cut tomatoes into wedges and arrange with beet slices on a platter alone or over greens. Add cherry tomatoes to the platter. In a small bowl, whisk together the shallot, mustard, olive oil, vinegar, basil, salt, and pepper. Drizzle over the salad and garnish with additional basil leaves or micro greens.*make ahead: This salad can be made an hour or so early and refrigerated. Keep in mind that micro greens will wilt and should be added just before serving.

Pumpkin and Chard Lasagna Recipe

This savory pumpkin and chard lasagna is a great make-ahead fall dinner. Seasoned with sage and nutmeg, this recipe is a fall must. I've included vegan and gluten-free options at the end of the recipe. 

Last night we celebrated Yummy Hubby's birthday with an al fresco dinner party. I am excited to share all the party details soon, but wanted to post one of the recipes now. Many of our friends asked for it last night. CONTINUE READING THIS POST »

Coconut Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

A healthier recipe for whole wheat pumpkin muffins with coconut and chocolate chips. As usual, vegan and gluten-free options are at the end of the recipe. 
Pumpkin season is in full swing and we are loving it. We're visiting the pumpkin patch regularly - with Girl Scouts, schools, and for family hay rides. I'm currently covered in red sequins as I make my seven year old's requested costume: Peppermint Princess. She's all about the candy, apparently.CONTINUE READING THIS POST »

Cheerio Bars Recipe {School Snack Idea and Free Printable Notes}

A simple, no-bake, three ingredient recipe for healthy "cheerios" bars that are perfect for school snack served with a glass of milk. Plus a free printable of love notes for your kids. This post is sponsored by got milk? but the recipe, printable, and content is 100% mine. 
This new year of longer school days (for my big girl, my little is still with me most of the time, thank goodness) has brought a lot of fun, but also new challenges. It seems like we are always on-the-go. Now that the kids are away from home more and have become more active with sports, packing them nutritious snacks has become more important to me than ever.  We can't just pop home to make smoothies after preschool lunch like we used to. Last week was my day to bring snack for our 1st grade class. The snack had to be gluten-free and nut-free, so I brought organic "O" bars made with gluten free O's and sunflower seed butter. The kids loved these one even asked me to give her mom the recipe. I prefer the taste of these with peanut butter, but if you're sending them to a nut-free school, seed butter is a great option. These cereal bars are perfect with a glass of cold Milk, which will add a boost of protein and vitamins to nourish growing kiddos. The bars are even delicious crumbled into the milk and eaten with a spoon. You can send milk to school in an insulated thermos or in milk boxes. 

To make your snack-packing a little more fun, I made some love notes! My kids watched me working on these in Photoshop and were excited to have them in their own snacks and lunches. Click here to print your copy.

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