Spiced Almond Popcorn Snack Mix | #CelebrateAlmonds

I’ve partnered with California Almonds to bring you this sponsored post and all opinions stated are my own.

Almonds and popcorn and seeds—oh my! These three things may just be my ultimate snacking trifecta. They are all easy to pack in my purse or bag when I'm on-the-go, as well as for when I feel a between-meals snack attack coming on. So combining the three might just be one of the smartest things I've done lately.

Craving Fall Buddha Bowls | A Piece of Sky, A Grain of Rice

Today I'm hosting a book tour stop for A Piece of Sky, A Grain of Rice: a Memoir in Four Meditations by Christine Hale. This book is a little different than my usual read, and left me a bit puzzled when it came to writing my review. So, while the review that follows may seem a bit abbreviated, that is exactly the way that I wanted to present it. I hope you'll give it a chance.

Memoir for poetry fans. At first a bit of a turn-off, but the further I got, the more I became accustomed to her writing style.

Read like angst poetry or journal entries. A way to purge and let go of guilt, shame, self-doubt, neediness, hurt, codependence, and shortfalls.

Broccoli Salad with Bacon, Golden Raisins, & Sunflower Seeds

This is one of those classic salads that everybody and their mother has a recipe for. They're all basically the same, but with little personal touches. It's actually not something I grew up with. I got a recipe from a co-worker when I did a brief stint selling motorhome windshields just out of college (no, that's not a joke - I even met Arlo Guthrie when his tour bus windshield cracked and he stopped in to get a new one).

We used to have certain days of the month where we'd bring in food, potluck-style, and a girl I worked with brought in a broccoli salad. Like most people, I was smitten. She wrote the recipe out neatly (and misspelled - "Brocolli Salad") on a pink index card that I still have today. Originally I made it exactly as written. My family started to not only look forward to it but to expect it on the table at our extended-family holiday meals.

Over the years, I've tweaked that original recipe a bit by reducing the sugar, changing the color of raisins that I prefer in it, upping the amount of bacon (duh!), and adding sunflower seeds. As written today, this is pretty much my personal favorite version of this salad...although I'd happily eat your favorite version as well.

Broccoli Salad

Tiny broccoli florets, bacon, golden raisins, sunflower seeds, and red onion are folded together with a sweet and tangy dressing in this classic salad.

by Heather Schmitt-Gonzalez

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Keywords: side bacon broccoli American

Ingredients (serves 8-10)

• 1 pound bacon
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• pinch of fine sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large broccoli crowns
• 3/4 cup golden raisins (or a mix of colors)
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup finely diced red onion

Instructions

Cut the bacon into small strips (or dice if slab). Cook until crisp, drain the grease off, and set the bacon aside.

In the meantime, stir the mayonnaise, sugar, vinegar, salt, and several grates of black pepper into a bowl until smooth. Allow to sit for 15 minutes.

Cut the broccoli into very small florets (reserve stalks for another use) and put into a large bowl; you should have about 6 cups of tiny florets. Add the raisins, sunflower seeds, onion, and reserved bacon to the bowl and toss everything together.

Drizzle the dressing over the salad, then use a rubber spatula or spoon to turn and mix until everything is coated evenly in the dressing.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 24 hours before serving.

Notes:

If you don't have White Wine Vinegar, you can substitute plain white vinegar, cider vinegar, or champagne vinegar

Muesli Rolls | #BreadBakingBabes

I'm quite sure that I have no idea how we've hit the midway point in June already. But somehow today is the 16th, and that means it's time for another Bread Baking Babes challenge reveal! This month, Karen from Bake My Day! told us that it was "time to get rolling" with a breakfast roll of champions that is packed full of seeds, dried fruit, and chocolate; it also has oats, and when combined, those are the components of Muesli—hence, Muesli Rolls!

Here's the thing, though—these rolls don't scream breakfast to me. Like, at all. I do love a good muesli in the morning, but when deconstructed and put into a substantial roll? Not feeling it. That being said, I actually loved the rolls...but I'd rather eat them with lunch or dinner. They actually seem very "harvest-like" to me, as if they'd be perfectly at home on my Thanksgiving table. Split in half, they make one heck of a perfect vessel for a turkey sandwich.

Are you with me, or are you sitting there wondering how a roll with chocolate in it could possibly taste the way I'm describing it? Here's the thing—I left out the chocolate. I'm not one for chocolate in my muesli. Instead, I used some pepitas (pumpkin seeds) that are tossed and roasted in cocoa, giving a nod to the flavor profile without having to bite into actual chocolate bits. But, do you know what's funny? When I told the other BBBabes what I did, a few mentioned that even though they used chocolate, it wasn't all that noticeable anyway. So, take that and use it as you will.

Garbanzo and Brown Rice Burgers

It's not often that I make a point of eating meatless meals. It's usually just done, thrown into the rotation like any other meal. And while it's true that at times one of us will crave a big ol' juicy steak (that's usually me), some messy-face ribs (daughter), a comforting roast chicken (youngest son), some sticky carnitas (the hubs), a fat burger (oldest son), or some good greasy bacon (everybody) - I don't think any of us feels that we have to eat meat at every meal. We always have eggs, beans, lentils, or some other source of protein hanging around.

That said, there are a few meatless meals that I crave from time to time. Broccoli-Tofu is one of them. A platter loaded with roasted broccoli and cauliflower with a giant bowl of garlicky homemade hummus and grilled pitas for scooping everything up is another. And the soft tacos that I ate almost daily about 18 years ago are another - thick, homemade flour tortillas warm and stuffed with Mexican rice, refried beans, lettuce, tomato, cheese, salsa, guac, and sour cream {swoon}!

Sonnenblumenkernbrot (Sunflower Seed Rolls) inspired by The Baker's Daughter {cook the books}

I'm excited to be sharing another round of bread inspired by one of my favorite foodie reads, The Baker's Daughter by Sarah McCoy.  A year and a half ago (holy cow, I can't believe it's been that long), I baked up a batch of Brötchen, or simply - rolls, in honor of The Baker's Daughter.  They are chewy, crusty rolls...and the most typical, best-received variety in my house.  And with a roll still warm from the oven, you can make one of the best treats on earth, a Matschbrötchen.

Well, since I am still so fond of this book, and its author, I decided that I needed to make it my choice for a round of Cook the Books.

The Baker's Daughter is set during WWII, in 1945 Nazi Germany.  It's the story of young Elsie Schmidt, the Nazi soldier who wanted to marry her, and a young Jewish boy, Tobias.  Elsie's young life would change forever when Tobias showed up on her doorstep on Christmas Eve, after escaping imprisonment.

Crunchy Seeded Crackers

Well, summer has come and (almost) gone in a matter of moments, it seems.  My fingers and toes* are crossed in the hopes that autumn is cool, crisp, and filled with cozy sweatshirts and crackling bonfires.  And in no hurry to hand the baton to winter.

And, since life doesn't seem to slow down just because I wish it would, I was pretty happy that the Babes baking adventure for this month was a (relative) quickie.  We pushed aside our bread pans, and pulled out our rolling pins - and enough seeds to make all the birds in my neighborhood happy for weeks - and we got crunchy.

Yes, I'm talking crackers