A Simple and Delicious Thanksgiving Dessert Do you love pumpkin pie, but can’t do dairy? Do you have gluten-free guests coming for Thanksgiving? Does the thought of making homemade pie dough give you anxiety? Make these simple dairy-free and gluten-free pumpkin custards. It’s basically the pie filling without the crust. Spicy, creamy pumpkin custard is…
Fall
Chopped Collard Green Salad
The Perfect Fall Salad Next week our school book fair begins. What does that have to do with collard green salad, you say? Texans love a good potluck and my favorite one of the year happens to be at our school book fair. It’s a group effort and a hodge podge of everything from pimento…
Honey Roasted Root Vegetables
Print Honey Roasted Root Vegetables Prep 15 mins Cook 35 mins Total 50 mins Author Marcia W. Smart Yield 6-8 servings A super easy side dish that is perfect alongside a weeknight roast chicken or your Thanksgiving turkey. Add a couple peeled and chopped beets to the vegetable mixture if you’d like. Save leftovers to…
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Super Healthy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins It’s that time of year when I’m craving all the fall desserts: Pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies. So when a friend raved about Skinnytaste’s pumpkin muffins I had to look them up. I’m trying to steer clear of refined grains as much as possible (they make…
New Year’s Eve Fondue Party
Think of this as your last hurrah before resolutions come knocking. Do it up big, with a fondue and wine party to satisfy a crowd. Warm gooey cheese and melted, fragrant chocolate wrap up a season of indulgence with a big red bow. Fondue is my love language, especially if I have on ski boots…
Holiday Granola to Feed a Crowd
Print Cranberry, Pecan and Pumpkin Seed Granola Author Marcia W. Smart If you don’t have a large sheetpan, use two cookie sheets when baking the granola and rotate them halfway through. The granola needs to cook in a single layer so it toasts evenly. If you use dark baking pans, decrease the time by 10…
Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad
Ok friends. I swore to my kids I wouldn’t try to create a healthy Thanksgiving menu, but I do think it’s good to balance virtue and vice. When you have a table filled with probably twenty pounds of butter-and carb-filled side dishes, it’s important to have something green. Yesterday in the Houston Chronicle, I had…
Weeknight Chili
Halloween night. Sports team parties. Potlucks. This weeknight chili recipe sees a lot of action in our kitchen. It’s super versatile, easy, fast and savory. The best part is you can make this chili with either ground beef or ground turkey, canned kidney or pinto beans or no beans at all (just double the meat)….
Apple Cranberry Crisp
Autumn has finally hit Houston, which means the leaves are falling, there are acorns crunching underfoot and it’s 80 degrees and humid. Here’s the plan: Turn down your air conditioning to 70 and fire up the oven for this super tasty apple cranberry crisp. It will make your whole house smell like cinnamon, pecans and…
Pumpkin, Apple and Honey Nut Squash Soup
Squash season is in full swing, and that means a rotation of roasted butternut squash, Delicata and Kabocha. Recently, I noticed a new variety of squash that looks like a baby butternut. Honey nut squash is sweet and tender when cooked, and easier to cut than its big brother. A couple of these cuties are…