Favorites: Dinner Kits from Good Eggs

I'm so excited to partner with Good Eggs to bring you a preview of their new Weeknight Dinner Kit launching on April 16th. I've tried other meal kits before and there were always two things I didn't like about them--too much wasteful packaging and it took at least an hour to prep and cook. When I received the Good Eggs Weeknight Dinner Kit, I was so happy to see that the box was small, the ingredients were minimally packaged, and any packaging material that was required was compostable.

The kit came with 3 dinners and each one literally took only 10-15 minutes of prep time. Each recipe is clearly marked A, B and C with corresponding labels on the ingredients. It was easy to distinguish and separate for storing in the fridge.

I decided to make the Mint Pesto Pasta with Spring Peas and Green Garlic first. Initially I thought it wasn't enough food but turns out I had some pesto leftover so I could make a lunch the next day. Score! Lucas and Theo LOVED it! They never had mint and arugula pesto before and they kept asking for more. Score again! The meal came with a giant salad and a yummy red vinaigrette.

Love this on the box!

I also got a Buh-Bye Box to encourage being fully present at the dinner table.

Thanks Good Eggs for the amazing Finishing Salt from Omnivore.

And thank you again for the Fresh 2016 Harvest Olio Nuovo from Other Brother. It was perfect for drizzling at the end of the

I highly recommend this dinner kit for busy families. It's absurdly fresh, easy, and delicious.

Here are more details of the Good Eggs Weeknight Dinner Kit:

• Customers who sign up for the dinner kit receive 3 meals, which can be ordered and delivered at the same time as their weekly groceries (subscription not required).
• Kit options change weekly
• Cost is $69.99
• Promotional pricing in April and May: $49.99 (use code DINNERKIT20 for $20 off your first kit)
• 1 meal = 3 servings
• Each weekly menu comes with a Good Eggs seasonal green salad mix and dressing that can be paired with any meal. (pairings suggested on recipes)
• This spring, there will be 2 omnivore meals and 1 vegetarian
• Coming later this year: vegetarian, paleo and other options

+ Ceramic bowls by Colleen Hennessy
+ Napkins by Sweetgum Textles
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Pinterest (@goodonpaperdes) and Tumblr (hellogoodonpaper)
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Recipe: Gluten Free Strawberry Raspberry Rhubarb Cutout Pie

LOOK, I made a pie! And it's GOOOOOD! I love pies but I rarely make them. I never know if I'm making the dough right and then it ends up being too crumbly and just not quite right--insert adult tantrum here. What I usually end up making is a crostata because you know, it tastes like a pie and who cares if it's ugly, it's rustic!

So when I made this beauty of a pie, I couldn't stop smiling and bragging at how well everything turned out (right, Nick?). I'm still kind of in shock. The recipe for this Strawberry Raspberry Rhubarb Cutout Pie is from the amazing new book Alternative Baker by Alanna Tobin-Taylor, recovering pastry chef-turned food photographer, stylist, cookbook author, and blogger of The Bojon Gourmet. Not only are the photos utterly gorgeous, but there's a photo for practically every recipe! I just love that about cookbooks. Alanna talks in depth about the alternative flours she uses, noting their flavor profiles, consistency, brands tested, how to store it and use it, health benefits and more.

I haven't been this excited about a cookbook in a really long time. I went to the Alternative Baker launch party at my friend Sarah's house and sampled many of the recipes from the book. They were all SO GOOD. Immediately after the party, I dragged Theo with me to Whole Foods and picked up the alternative flours I didn't already have on hand. Though I'm not allergic to gluten, I love experimenting with gluten free baking and making something healthier that tastes really good--and this book is so inspiring. I can't wait to make the Pistacio Lime Matcha Snowballs next!

Exciting news! I will be hosting an Instagram giveaway on Tuesday, October 11th that will include a signed copy of Alternative Baker along with a few other amazing prizes. Stay tuned and check my Instagram on Tuesday morning for details.

I've only made one gluten free pie crust before and it was dry and tasteless. This recipe was so flaky and full of butter flavor and to be honest, I was pretty surprised. This is definitely my new go to crust recipe. Apple pie, here I come!

The recipe calls for ground white chia seeds but I only had black chia seeds which worked just fine and even added a nice peppery touch :)

I love Alanna's use of the pie dough as cutout rounds. I just used a floured glass cup and it make the pie beautiful and rustic.

Stay tuned for my Instagram giveaway on Tuesday, October 11th that will include a signed copy of Alternative Baker along with a few other amazing prizes.

+ Full recipe for Gluten Free Strawberry Raspberry Rhubarb Cutout Pie
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Pinterest (@goodonpaperdes) and Tumblr (hellogoodonpaper)
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Baking with an 8-year old

Have you ever met a kid (not your own) who reminds you of yourself when you were their age? For me, that's my friend Lisa's daughter Zoya because she loves to bake. Remember when I baked with her when she was only 6 years old? Now Zoya is 8 and she still loves to bake as much as she did two years ago. When I was little, I loved to bake all kinds of things, but it was usually from a Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines (whichever was on sale) box where all I did was add eggs and oil to the mix.

A few weeks ago I invited Zoya to come over to bake. She chose to bake a carrot cake and used this recipe from a DIY post I did for Oh Happy Day. It was fun and messy and perfectly imperfect!

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Recipe: Best Granola Ever No. 2

Remember last year when I said this was the best granola ever? Well, not that I changed my mind, but I decided that I can have as many "best" recipes as I want. And this recipe is aptly named Best Granola Ever No. 2. With its crispy coconut chips, maple glazed pecans, Maldon sea salt (that salty sweet combo effect!), and crackly texture, this granola is seriously addictive. I may or may not have eaten an entire Ball jar of granola in one sitting.

Granola shards! I've decided I like crispy shards over chewy clumps.

The original recipe is so damn good but I modified this recipe slightly to eliminate refined sugar. My modifications include using half olive oil and half coconut oil, adding unsweetened coconut flakes for more coconut flavor, replacing brown sugar with coconut sugar, adding raisins and only stirring once during baking.

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Banchan Workshop No. 4

It was that time again--another opportunity to attend, pig out, oh and shoot photos for Banchan Workshop No. 4 hosted by Selina Lee of Skycreatives and Feastly. Remember Banchan Workshop No. 2 and No. 3? This time the workshop was held at the beautiful Feastly studio in San Francisco. With its flood of natural light and high ceilings, the space was a really nice backdrop for all the delicious food and fun guests.

Here are some of my favorite shots. Tons more details, photos and recipes on Skycreatives.

Love how Selina decorated with succulents for each guest sitting on top of Korean newspapers with white paint strokes.

Lots of goodies donated by the awesome Whole Foods Market Berkeley and Allegro Coffee from Whole Foods Market Gilman.

Look how cute my friends Nancy and Meg are!? ;)

View fullsize

Selina doing her thing.

Um, drooling! I need to make this for my kids!

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Recipe: Oh Yeah, Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

It's been a few weeks since I've posted a recipe -- the last post was about these Soft Baked Pretzels. It's not that I haven't been baking and cooking away, but rather I've been trying to perfect my version of the best classic chocolate chip cookie. After numerous recipe testings and listening to feedback from my select group of cookie critics, I finally found "the one" that met all my chocolate chip cookie criteria -- crispy around the edges, on the thinner side but not flat, chewy in the center, not too sweet, a little salty, perfect chocolate to dough ratio, puddles of melty layered chocolate, good the next day, and most importantly, not cakey. I hate cakey.

The recipe comes from Ashley Rodriguez of Not Without Salt on Food52 (one of my favorite blogs -- have you seen their dreamy office kitchen workspace makeover on Remodelista?). I even tried altering the recipe just a bit to see if some of my favorite elements (espresso powder, semi-sweet chocolate chips, etc.) from other recipes would make this even better. But it is perfect as is according to me and my taste buds.

Puddles and layers and flaky salt -- oh yeah!

A few must do's to make this cookie perfect:
+ Use a high quality (it really makes a difference -- the cheap stuff doesn't melt/puddle the same or taste the same) dark chocolate bar such as Divine or Valrhona and chop it up. Don't think I'll ever go back to chips unless it's an emergency.
+ Don't overmix
+ Always refrigerate the dough
+ Always sprinkle that flaky salt on top before baking
+ Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes

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Giveaway: The 52 New Foods Challenge Book

When I met Jennifer Tyler Lee a couple of weeks ago at her book party and dinner event at Williams-Sonoma (thanks again for the invite Jeanne!), I was really inspired by her dedication to healthy eating and making it fun for kids to try new foods. Lucas eats a variety of foods and will try many new things, but he doesn't eat much and would rather play than eat. I lucked out with Theo, on the other hand, who eats like a champ most of the time. No stranger to mealtime battles, I was really inspired by Jennifer and her latest book, The 52 New Foods Challenge which is full of fun tips and simple recipes.

Check out the giveaway details at the end of the post.

One tip that really resonated with me was to cook with your kids, not for them. I know it's easier said than done, but I love how Jennifer suggested trying it out just once a week. From simply going to the grocery store/farmer's market and having your kid choose one new vegetable to getting their hands dirty in the kitchen, once a week sounded pretty doable. She also said it wasn't about getting the kids to eat the end product but inspiring curiosity and building confidence.

To my surprise, I EASILY got Lucas and Theo to help me peel leaves off brussels sprouts to make her simple and delicious Brussels Sprouts Chips recipe. When they were done, Lucas complained that he didn't get his own bowl of chips. Yeah, these were amazing and inhaled in a flash. And we've made them several times already so this one's a winner.

We even roasted some asparagus the following week and I asked Lucas if he wanted to snap them apart for me and he couldn't have been more excited. And all I had to do was ask!

Another tip from Jennifer was to go to the grocery store or farmers market and have your kid pick out anything from the vegetable aisle -- bonus points for something new. I headed to Whole Foods and told Lucas to pick out anything he wanted from the vegetable aisle. His eyes lit up and he seemed so empowered by this. He immediately chose carrots and I said, "That's awesome, I know you love carrots." As I put them in the cart, he said, "Okay, I'm going to try something else. How about that? What's that?" He pointed to the prettiest bunch of radishes and we both got super excited to try them out. He carried them on his lap on the car ride home. Side note: he instantly forgot about them when we got home but that's not the point, right?

In hopes of inspiring curiosity, building confidence, reducing dinnertime battles and spending more time with my kids, I'm definitely going to try getting them in the kitchen with me more often. I know it won't always work but it's worth a try!

I was so inspired by Jennifer that I would love to give away one of her books!

Here's how to enter:

• Follow @good_on_paper and @crunchacolor on Instagram, leave a comment and tag a friend with a kid(s).

• If you don't have Instagram you can leave your email in the comments below

• Please comment by Friday, April 3rd, 12pm PST

• This giveaway is for U.S. residents only

• I will announce a winner selected by random number generator by Monday, April 6th

Best of luck!

+ You can also buy the book here
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CONGRATS to Michele of @cakewalkbaking for being the randomly selected winner!
This giveaway is now CLOSED.

Favorites: The 52 New Foods Challenge Book and Williams-Sonoma Event

Last week I got a super sweet invitation from my friend Jeanne of Shop Sweet Things (one of my favorite lifestyle blogs) to attend a private dinner at Williams-Sonoma in San Francisco's Union Square to celebrate the latest book by Jennifer Tyler Lee, an award-winning author, game creator (Crunch a Color), and healthy eating advocate. The 52 New Foods Challenge book launch party was so much fun! And even more fun was meeting Jennifer, watching her cook and getting totally inspired by her tips on how to make it fun and playful for kids to eat healthier and try new foods.

Stay tuned for an Instagram giveaway next week!

The Williams-Sonoma team really brought it together with a beautifully simple tablescape that included fresh and pickled jarred vegetables and along with fresh flowers.

Here's the lovely Jeanne introducing Jennifer. That gigantic open kitchen is a total dream!

Another highlight of the night was meeting Amanda Haas, Director of Culinary at Williams-Sonoma, founder of One Family One Meal and author of Cooking Light Real Family Food. We follow each other on Instagram so it was nice to finally meet her in person. She's such an inspiration and a total sweetie with laid back style and humor.

These Quinoa Crumble Cakes were surprisingly one of my favorite dishes of the night. I made quinoa cakes before and they did not taste anything like these! Ha! I had about 9 of these that night.

Also loved the Clay Pot (but not made in a Clay Pot) Chicken Fried Rice. Super easy to make and so good! My kids would love it so it's on my list to make soon (like this week!).

Remember to check in next week as I'll be doing an Instagram giveaway for the book!

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Recipe: Almond Date Vanilla Shake

Last week's weather here in Berkeley was amazing and I was craving a refreshing drink. I whipped up this easy thrown-together (think a dash of this and a bunch of that) Almond Date Vanilla shake -- so refreshing and healthy on a warm day. Reminds me a bit of Mexican horchata. Lucas and Theo love it -- it's gluten free and vegan to boot! Enjoy!

Oh, and just a note about the almond milk. I absolutely LOVE all the ones from Califia Farms. I used the unsweetened one here. It's the only brand of almond milk I can drink plain. I must admit I initially bought it for its cute packaging!

+ Click here for a printable PDF
+ Photo taken with my iPhone 5
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Recipe: The Yummiest Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

When Nick and I first met over 12 years ago, he told me his all time favorite cookie was oatmeal raisin. Cute, right? Well, since then I've tested out several different recipes (I even burned my arm pretty badly trying to make these for him), but none have quite been my hands down favorite. Until now. While perusing through my friend Sarah's blog Snixy Kitchen (amazing photos and recipes by the way), I did a search on oatmeal raisin cookies and found one to try. With only two minor modifications -- adding more raisins and adding nutmeg (a little America's Test Kitchen tip) -- I literally ate five cookies once they were cool enough to touch. They were SO good. I made them again several times after that just to be sure my stomach wasn't lying to me. Yep. they were that good again and again -- crispy on the outside and not too thick or chewy.

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