Full Plate Kitchen - Personal Chef

Butternut squash & spinach pasta rotolo -you can swap out the puréed squash for sausage, ground beef or turkey, but this veggie version is versatile too. Swap out squash for sweet potatoes or pumpkin for a new fall favorite. 🎃 Spinach can switch up with kale or arugula. Fresh sage adds a nice savoriness. Instead of sheets of pasta, you can use regular lasagna noodles, boiled, filled, rolled & sliced to form two individual spheres.

A little intimidating at first, but worth the effort - spring vegetable rolls with yummy peanut butter dipping sauce. Use any number of veggie combinations & prepare yourself for the burst of crunchy freshness quickly followed by the delightfully, creamy smoothness of the dipping sauce. A perfect marriage made in my kitchen. Better than take out.

Need a quick snack or breakfast idea for your kiddos or for yourself? Feels like you’re being bad, eating cookies for breakfast. But wait - it is chock full of healthy goodness - oatmeal, walnuts, peanut butter ( no sugar added), mashed overripe banana, unsweetened applesauce...they give you the energy to do what needs to get done. Can always add some dark chocolate chips for a grown up version.

Stayman Winesap apples 🍏 made a lovely apple cake. Crisp & dense, delicious straight from the tree but a wonderful baking partner. Fall can’t come soon enough. Looking forward to making applesauce, muffins, bread, pies, pancakes....

Perfect day for apple picking 🍏 at Windy Hill Orchard. Fun activity with or without kids ❤️

Combining my love of antioxidant filled blueberries, pie & dogs 🐕 ❤️ Depression, stress & anxiety have been linked to memory issues - eat blueberries, pie in moderation, pet dogs, destress. ❤️

French lentil salad with goat cheese, fresh parsley, celery, rainbow 🌈 carrots 🥕 & purple onion on bed of spinach leaves. This was so tasty! The French lentils had the perfect “bite”, nothing mushy. The true taste shined through. A little fresh lemon juice, a bay leaf, veggie broth, garlic, Dijon & a touch of honey - a hearty salad that uses many pantry/fridge staples. Versatile lentils keep well in your pantry & can carry you through the end of the year & beyond.

Citrus🍋🍊& fresh herb🌿salmon - no butter, very little oil, seasonal herbs from the garden - Thai purple basil, marjoram, parsley plus roasted tomatoes 🍅 & mashed cauliflower to complete a beautiful, versatile weekday dinner in about 30 minutes. You can always switch up the citrus or herbs based on what you have or what you can find - blood orange, limes, lemons, kumquat, grapefruit...

Somebody had to try it - twice. Just to be sure it was good. It was. Banana yogurt cake to use up the four bananas 🍌 that were pleading with me to bake with them. 😋

A wonderful memory from my parent’s garden. Grateful that I was exposed to fresh vegetables & ingredients for all kinds of healthy meals. Knowing where my food came from & learning simple recipes to utilize them saved me many times over the years. Gardening gives me hope, calms me & reminds me that love helps everything grow.

Purple cabbage - underrated & often overlooked in the vegetable aisle, shares the starring role with Brussels sprouts in this yummy, crunchy salad with ginger vinaigrette.

Veggie pizza cooking class with Catherine this evening. We’ve spent many evenings making dinner together in our separate kitchens across the miles. Lots of fun & laughs to help combat this lack of knowing what day it is. We have to eat so might as well learn something new, develop a new friendship & know that you’re not alone. I’ve never met Catherine in person but so enjoy spending time in her kitchen.