I use a lot of spreadsheets. Everyone knows that. But I also love a pen-and-paper to-do list. People have told me, “I wish I was organized like you.”

Well, I wish I was creative like you.

But–I’d love to share the organizational wealth so I made these free printables for your blog. Print them, throw them in a binder, and start blogging the organized way! Some of the pages might be more suited for a newer blog and some, for a more established blog. I prefer an spreadsheet for expenses and income, but this would be great to jot some things down until you have a chance to enter them more formally into a spreadsheet on the computer.

Included in this PDF are:

• cover page
• list for blog post ideas
• freelance to-do list
• blog to-do list
• blog post promotion checklist
• list for a recipe bucket list
• list for blog goals
• blog stats: social media
• blog stats: traffic
• blog stats: rankings
• blog income
• blog expenses

Throw a calendar in there where you can plan out your posting schedule and you’ll be good to go.

Organized.

Just like that! Easy as pie. (more…)

It’s no secret that I love quinoa. I’m always trying to think of new things to do with it. I love its nutty flavor and slight crunch and the versatility that it provides. I am so excited about these savory quinoa muffins. They are so full of flavor and nutrition. Not only do they have quinoa, but they also have peas, spinach and zucchini. Thanks to some black pepper, feta, and dill, they also have tons of flavor. We had them as part of a breakfast for dinner meal, but they would be great for any meal. I’m a big fan of savory breakfasts so I’m loving having some of these in the freezer to warm up for a quick breakfast on the go. You can also try my quinoa pancakes if you like the idea of quinoa at breakfast time.

You can use cupcake liners for these muffins, but I tried it both ways and preferred the muffins made without liners. I loved how crispy they got.  I’m thinking come fall, I’m going to have to try these pumpkin quinoa muffins. Not that I’m thinking about fall yet–we finally got summer here in Michigan! Enjoy!  (more…)

Today’s “a day in the life”  is Joelen of What’s Cookin’ Chicago? I loved learning more about Joelen, I think her culinary journey is fascinating.

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Tell me about yourself and how you started food blogging.

I moved to Chicago from the northern suburbs for work. Shortly after, I got married and I started food blogging in January 2007 to capture the day to day recipes I would make at home. As a former suburbanite turned urban dweller, I loved checking out city restaurants… so naturally, I incorporated restaurant reviews on my blog in addition to daily recipes I’d make. I started to look for social groups that shared my passion in the various aspects of food and culture but didn’t find one that fit my needs. So with that, I created my own through a site called Meetup.com.

My culinary social group grew from 3 members present at the first meeting up to over 6,000 in a matter of 3 years where meetings and events took place as often as 9-12 times a month…. Sometimes twice in one day!

I hosted culinary events from neighborhood food tours/crawls, themed dinner and potlucks, restaurant visits, informal cooking sessions at home, etc. Eventually my culinary social group expanded to creating a group dedicated to wine and spirits. When I had my son, I went on to create a group dedicated to moms and children with a focus of kitchen playdates and encouraging learning in the kitchen. In essence, I wanted to capture the way food really impacts all our lives and how it truly can connect everyone regardless of our age, backgrounds, etc. All these experiences were shared on my blog in addition to the daily recipes I made at home.

It’s no surprise that my culinary perspective grew beyond what I knew as the daughter of retired caterers. I went on to culinary school, was an executive chef for a Chicago ethnic restaurant for a brief period. With a baby, entertaining to foodie strangers in my home wasn’t an option so I moved into teaching informal, yet fun and interactive culinary classes around the city and with private clients.

It’s been such a fun and exciting culinary adventure and although I closed my culinary social groups to focus on my family, my blog still captures the various things I do in and out of the kitchen, around the city and suburbs and with my little sous chef son.

Take me through your day.

6am – I wake up & begin our morning routine for me and my toddler, Joel.

7am – I’m out the door to drop off Joel at daycare & I head to work .

8am – 4:30pm – I’m working at a large pharmaceutical benefit management firm where where I create and manage formularies (drug lists) for Medicare D clients/patients.

4:45pm – I pick up Joel from daycare & head home.

5:15pm – 5:30pm – We arrive at home & settle in to prepare dinner. I have an amazing boyfriend, Patrick, who helps out a lot by preheating the oven and starts on dinner before I get home. Usually I’ll prepare weekly meals in advance so all I need to do after a long day is to pop things in the oven or cook briefly on the stovetop.

6pm – We all have dinner together & catch up on our day.

6:30pm – We all clean up after dinner/dishes.

7pm – I change my little guy into pajamas and start our bed time routine.

7;30pm – Joel is in bed and I finally get a chance to relax watching tv, a dvd or just relaxing and spending time with Patrick.

9pm – Patrick heads home, I do some light prep for the next night’s dinner, do any domestic chores I can and then start my bedtime routine.

10pm – In bed and hopefully sleeping…. So I can do it all over again the next day

My blogging/schedulingand bulk of my meal prep happens on the weekends when Joel is visiting with his dad, which is every other weekend. I tend to use the weekends for grocery shopping, meal planning, preparing freezer meals/make ahead meals so that dinner only requires minimal effort during the week.

What is your one must-have kitchen tool or gadget?

A sharp knife! (more…)

Party food can be rich and heavy, so I’m always looking for something to fill up my plate that won’t make me feel weighted down and gross. So when Sabra sent my some of their products to play around with (I’m super excited to be a Sabra Tastemaker this year!), I decided to make a fun stuffed mushroom recipe that is unlike any other stuffed mushroom recipe that you’ve ever seen. These mushrooms are cool, refreshing and will be a hit at any party you throw. Even better, there is no actual cooking involved so you don’t need to stand over a hot stove. They come together in seconds and would be great for your kids for lunch too. As long as they like mushrooms, of course.

Another thing I really like about these is that you can customize them based on what vegetables you have available or want to include. I threw in some cucumbers, celery, and carrots. Red peppers would add great color and flavor, but I was using what I had in the house. You could also of course use any veggie dip, but I’d highly recommend Sabra Cucumber & Dill Greek Yogurt Veggie Dip. I’ve been buying it for a while now and love how light it is. Only 35 calories per serving but so much flavor thanks to the dill. You’ll never know that it’s not made with mayo and sour cream. So tasty. My daughter loves it too. You know anything she can “dip dip dip!” is her favorite. Enjoy!

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Apparently I’m on a chicken tender kick. They are so fun and easy to customize. It is a toss up to which flavor I like better, these pizza chicken tenders or my taco chicken tenders. The chicken tender recipes could have something to do with having a two year old, too. She of course loves anything that she can eat with her fingers, and even better–that you can dip into something: hummus, salsa, mustard, ketchup, and in this case, pizza sauce.  Anything having to do with pizza is usually a winner in her book as well.

I typically just buy boneless skinless chicken breasts and cut them up into tender-sized pieces. You can buy the pre-cut chicken tenders, but I typically stock up a bit on the boneless skinless breasts when they are on sale so I feel like that is a more budget-friendly option. One extra step, and your tenders might not all be perfectly shaped, but I think it is worth it! All you do is dip these in some seasoned flour, then eggs, and then a crunchy pizza topping composed of panko breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, pepperoni and some Italian seasoning. The nice thing about these is that you get the taste of pizza but some added lean protein and far less cheese. Don’t get me wrong, we won’t stop eating pizza any time soon, but this was good for some variety. Oh and did I mention that they are baked, not fried? Enjoy! (more…)

On Friday I asked E what she wanted for dinner. Why I’m asking a two-year-old what she wants for dinner is beyond me. Ben had a late night at work, so I guess I didn’t really care. Well, sweet little E said “pizza!”

Shocking request.

I opened the pantry only to discover that we had no pizza sauce. Well, helllllo–I could make my own, right? Well, with a little tweaking and a lot of tasting, I think this pizza sauce turned out perfectly. I don’t know why I haven’t been doing this all along.

I threw in a completely weird secret ingredient. Chia seeds. Yes, you probably think I have fallen off of my rocker. No, you do not have to put them in if you don’t want to. They are not integral to the success of this recipe, but I wanted to thow in a little extra nutrition. Why not?

This sauce is beyond easy. Throw all the ingredients in a blender, pour them in a hot pan, simmer for 30 minutes and don’t wear white while you’re stirring. And definitely don’t cook in your birthday suit.

Ouch.

I’d say this recipe makes about enough sauce for two pizzas. You can easily freeze half of it for use at another time. Enjoy! (more…)

Today’s “a day in the life”  is the lovely Heather of Heather’s Dish. I love Heather’s devotion to her family. Her blog is a great balance of personal stories, reflections, and of course, FOOD. Gorgeous, delicious food. 

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Tell me about yourself and how you started food blogging.

I have actually been blogging since about 2006 when my husband used a blog for his portfolio for the photography business he did on the side.  We also had a little blog about our marriage for family and friends, but that quickly fell by the wayside when we started to get really busy with work and life.  In the summer of 2009 I started the precursor to Heather’s Dish, A Joyful Kitchen.  It was mainly supposed to be a little adventure of food through the Denver area, where we lived at the time, but eventually turned into a healthy living blog where I documented my food intake and exercise.  I started to realize that recipe development was my true passion, so over time Heather’s Dish was born and I started only posting recipes and stories of our life.  Now that we have a son I love sharing about just life as well as food, and I’m excited to see how my space online changes over the coming years!

Take me through your day.

I am really lucky that I have a job I can set my own hours for and can work from home while I take care of my son.  My main job first and foremost is as Weston’s mom, which is why I don’t do nearly as much work as I did pre-baby, but I would never have it any other way.  I’ve always wanted to work and have something of my own, even with kids, and blogging is just that for me!  While my schedule most of the day is dictated largely by my son’s needs I could never count myself as anything but completely blessed!

• 6:30 AM: Wake up when my son does; he’s kind of my alarm clock these days! I usually wash my face and brush my teeth quickly before grabbing him and heading up to the kitchen.
• 6:45 AM: Fix breakfast for the two of us (and my husband if he hasn’t already eaten). I usually make a big breakfast casserole for Nate and I to eat off of for the week, and Weston’s typical breakfast fare is Cheerios, banana and yogurt. 
• 7:15-9 AM: Play and clean and organize the day.  Wes is in the middle of transitioning from two naps to one, so if it’s a two-nap day then he usually goes to sleep around 9.  We’ll pretend it’s a 2-napper, so we play and get him good and tired until this point.
• 9:00-11 AM: This is when I do the bulk of my blogging and social media stuff for the day, and then I work out.  I usually try to schedule about an hour apiece for blogging and working out before Wes wakes up so that I’m good and ready for lunch when he is!
• 11-11:30 AM – Wes wakes up and we eat lunch.  It’s usually leftovers for me and a mix of protein/fruit/bread for him + milk.  My little dude isn’t really talking just yet, but we’ll read and “chat” while we eat!
• 11:30-1:30 PM:  Play time!  Wes and I play for a while with blocks, books, puzzles and kitchen stuff.  This is also the time that he’ll watch a little Baby Einstein while I unload the dishwasher and fold clothes.  I like to get those things done then because…
• 1:30-3 PM: Weston’s second nap begins and I’m hustling to get all of my cooking for freelance articles and the blog done during this time.  This is also usually when I do the photography and editing done.  Plus it’s when my dishwasher is totally empty, so cleaning up is a lot easier and lot quieter.
• 3-5 PM:  Wes is up again! This is usually the time we head out of the house for a little while.  I try to get us out once a day if I can so that we don’t get totally sick of one another (more like so Wes doesn’t get sick of being cooped up at home).  During the winter there were a lot of trips to Target or the mall to just walk around, but now that summer is getting closer we do a lot of park activities and walks.  We’ll bring water and snacks to eat while we’re out!  If, for some reason, I haven’t been able to finish up freelance stuff I usually try to get it done before we go, but typically I finish those things at night.
• 5:30-7:30 PM: Daddy gets home and we all get to enjoy dinner, bathtime (for Wes), and playing some more outside.  Wes has his last bottle or sippy cup of milk and then hits the sack!
• 7:30-11:30 PM:  This is the time that I finish cleaning everything up, finish editing photos, write blog posts, work on freelance projects, go through emails and generally spend time working.  The week varies so much throughout with the work I do in the evenings; Moday-Wednesday nights are pretty much nonstop, but Thursday and Friday are pretty light loads.  I try to get everything done as best I can earlier on so that by the time Friday hits I can just relax and get ready to enjoy the weekend!
• 11:30-6:30 AM:  Bed!  Unless Weston wakes up in the middle of the night.  In which case it means snuggles and sleeping with a baby horizontally in our bed     (more…)

I hope everyone had a fantastic Mother’s Day! I told my husband that all I wanted for my first mother-of-two Mother’s Day was a card.

Then I changed my mind.

I wanted to not have to cook dinner. I know it’s insane, I have a food blog, I should want to cook 24/7, right? Well, Momma needs a break some times.

I definitely could have thought of a few more things that I wanted for as a present on Mother’s Day, but the truth is, what I want most is more money in our bank account for a new house or a new car. Being a married with kids is so exciting, isn’t it?

Wouldn’t trade it for the world, though. The most important thing to me on Mother’s Day is being with my kids and my husband. I feel so blessed to be living this life that I’m living.

That has nothing at all to do with this quinoa salad, but while we’re off-topic, what did you do for Mother’s Day?

On to this salad, I LOVE it.

Hands-down my favorite spring/summer salad that I’ve tasted so far this year. It is so refreshing and the flavors are just perfect. The grapes are sweet and soft, the celery crisp and fresh, and the orange juice and zest makes everything so lively and exciting. I couldn’t stop eating this salad and I bet you won’t be able to either.

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Clearly I’m obsessed with vanilla beans. This is nothing that we do not already know.  Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese, Vanilla Bean Buttercream, Vanilla Granola, Vanilla Bean Butter, Vanilla Bean Candied Walnuts, vanilla, vanilla, vanilla. Should I go on?  Because there are also meringues, and pancakes…and…

Or perhaps I should seek treatment?

Vanilla bean lovers anonymous. Who’s coming with me?

I just love seeing those little specks of vanilla in whatever I’m eating. It’s pretty much a promise that whatever you’re about to put into your mouth is going to taste great. Moreover, these vanilla bean cookie bars look so pretty and classy. That’s what makes these cookie bars perfect for a party or a Mother’s Day brunch. Girly, feminine and so full of fragrant vanilla. You could even go more traditional and leave out the food coloring for a classic white look. I think they would be prefect in their pure white form for a bridal shower. With some pearly sprinkles or some colored sugar to match the wedding colors.

These are so versatile and fun–customize the colors to meet your needs. The perfect way to end a week of brunch goodness. Enjoy! (more…)

Cocktail? Check.

Egg dish? Check.

Carbs? Completely necessary to every great brunch. And this happens to be brunch week if you’re just tuning in. But back to the carbs. Muffins, scones, bagels, pastries, I don’t really care–give me one of each. Bonus points if they have chocolate, which these muffins do. Now, you could make some healthy blueberry bran muffins, or fun biscoff chip muffins, but who doesn’t like CHOCOLATE?!

Plus, this is a great way to use up that buttermilk you have in the fridge. You know it is in there. It always is.

You don’t have to feel completely guilty about these muffins, though. They are made with yogurt and whole wheat flour so they are definitely skinny-jean friendly. And they still taste great! The recipe I started from, from Erin of Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts, called for vanilla yogurt. I used a mixed berry Greek yogurt because I thought it would taste great with the chocolate. You could taste it if you tried reallllly hard, but it wasn’t an overpowering flavor. Don’t be scared to experiment, but I wouldn’t recommend using something like key lime yogurt. But hey, if you really want to, I’m not going to stop you.

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