{Our snow day view. Saturday, Jan. 23.} 

Hi! Happy (one month into) 2016. It almost feels foreign to be sharing with you today because the last I posted was, uh, two and half months ago! I’m just going to jump right in.

Today I am sharing some recipes from around the web that I have been making and loving lately. Our nourishment lately. A sort of “friday favorites” post, but all about food, and on a Monday. This is something I am going to start doing on the blog regularly..but more on that later. First, a couple of thoughts.

This is a recent thought but I’m really feeling it and that is that I’m going to take a more lighthearted approach with my blog this year. My lack of sharing over the past couple of years is due to what I think is being overly conscientious and particular with myself. From what I’ve read lately, there is a shared feeling that blogging has evolved to a place where as a blogger, you feel your content must be perfect. That’s what I’m feeling, and have been feeling. I haven’t wanted to post anything unless my recipe was flawless, my writing was just right, my photos were magazine worthy. Proof: I posted eight times in 2015 – only three of those were food posts!

But, The Dreaming Foodie has always been just a hobby, and I am certain (and happy) that it will stay that way. So bearing that in mind, I want to take a much more gentle approach. I want to share more often and I want to stop being so gosh darn hard on myself. I don’t want my unrealistic goal of perfectionism to be in the way of sharing anything at all. This isn’t a paying job, I am my own boss when it comes to this space and I am not anything near a professional chef, writer or photographer. If I were any of those things, I’m sure this space would look a lot different, and I might want to treat it differently. But I’m just a 25 year old who loves to be in the kitchen and loves sharing and talking about the food that comes out of it. I want The Dreaming Foodie to reflect more of that this year.

That being said, I won’t start posting just to post. I will continue to share only things that I’m completely in love with and things that I think will bring goodness + happiness to the world. But what I am going to do – I intend to share more everyday-type food recipes. The stuff that Greg and I eat regularly, during the week, during busy times. Something like this pasta dish is great, but it’s not a reflection of the yummy, yet simpler stuff that we eat on a daily basis. The more of the simpler stuff that I decide to share, the more that I will have to share in general because really, that’s mostly what I make.

I also intend to do more posts like the one I am getting to today. Fun posts! I’ve been wanting to do something like this ever since I started my blog three years ago (speaking of, check out my first ever post, ha!). I had Week in Photos going for awhile but I’m now looking to do something a little more focused on the sharing of food and what I’m cooking and loving. I’m not going to say that I’ll do this every single week, but I’ll strive to. 

So, here is to 2016. Here is to lightheartedness. Here is to a FUN year of blogging, to sharing more of what I love and what nourishes me so that it might nourish you, too.

For now, my first ever Nourishment Lately.

This homemade peasant bread. At the beginning of 2015, I had a goal of learning to make my own bread. I started right away and learned and kept with it. For all but a few months in the busy summer, I have been making homemade bread just about weekly and am pretty excited about it. This recipe that I discovered a few weeks ago is a game changer. Hardly any work is required and the bread is so gosh darn good! Changes I made – I use 2 cups whole wheat flour and 2 cups all purpose and instead of the sugar I use 1 tablespoon of honey. 

These homemade whole wheat pitas. We are definitely all about the homemade bread products lately – the ingredient list on something like this store bought is a mile long. We have been loving these pitas (I’m making a batch today!). We have used them for homemade falafel, veggie burgers and egg and cheese wraps. It’s so nice to have a bag of these ready in the fridge – sometimes a nice alternative to bread.

These simple peanut butter granola bars. I love trying out new homemade granola bar recipes and so many just have so many ingredients. Which can be great! But sometimes I crave something simple, just back to the basics. These are so good and even the non-peanut-butter-lover, Greg, loves them! They hold up well after not being refrigerated which is a must for us. Changes I made – for one recipe, I only use 1/4 cup of honey and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. I also add a spoonful of coconut oil to the honey. 

This simple vegan pesto. This has become my favorite pesto! I use a mix of whatever fresh herbs I have on hand and usually use walnuts as the nut, but the rest of the recipe as is. We have been putting this on pasta and in soup. 

This butternut squash gnocchi. I had a surplus of butternut squash from fall markets and while I love soup, I wanted to use a bunch of it on something different that would be great for freezing. Greg’s idea – gnocchi! I am so glad I used Iowa Girl Eats’ recipe because it was just so good! I made a triple batch – we had one batch for dinner right away and the other two batches are food saver’d in the freezer. Can’t wait till it’s time to eat them!

This peanut butter + berry smoothie. Still going at it, every single day, for almost two years now. How I’ve been making it lately – 1 banana, scoop of frozen blueberries, scoop of frozen raspberries, spoonful of peanut butter and almond milk is my liquid of choice lately!

A simple winter fruit salad of chopped apple, orange and grapefruit. I have been making a big batch of this combination to keep in the fridge throughout the week for quick snacking. The combo is just so perfect for me. Great bonus: the citrus juice keeps the apple from browning after being cut!

Have a great week!