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Avocado Chicken Salad with Grapefruit, Coconut + Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette

January 21, 2016 • 4 Comments

This Avocado Chicken Salad is the ultimate power salad — bright, nutrient-packed and flavorful!

I’m probably going to kick myself for mentioning this to you guys, but I had an odd nickname in elementary school. Any guesses out there? I’ll track down the Powerball winners and convince them to give you one million dollars if you guess correctly … Because let’s be real, I certainly don’t have millions just sitting around. Haha.

OK, now that you have an idea in your head I’ll tell you what my nickname was: Thy Salad Muncher. (Jessika B. if you are reading this and would care to explain in the comments section where this came from, be my guest!) I actually don’t remember why I was given this nickname. I just know when I was cleaning the other week, I found tons of handwritten, pen pal letters in storage from elementary school, addressed to me, “Thy Salad Muncher.” Whatever the reason behind this eclectic reason, my hunch is it had something to do with the fact that I. LOVE. SALAD.Read More

Gluten-Free Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins with Lemon Blueberry Cream Cheese

January 18, 2016 • 44 Comments

I feel like muffins the way I feel about men — there’s only one for me.

For my entire life I will live to love Mr. Making Life Sweet, and though it’s not a comparable kind of emotion, I will also live to love lemon poppy seed muffins — especially this new recipe for gluten-free lemon poppyseed muffins.

I’m not going to lie, I’ve botched a lot of baking recipes since going gluten-free. I’ve made cupcakes that ended up tasting like cardboard, and muffins that turned out hard as a rock. Let’s face it folks: baking, let alone gluten-free baking, is not always easy.

At the end of the day no matter how hard it is, however, I keep trying. No, gluten-free baking is usually not as pretty as traditional baking, but I’m telling you when you finally nail a recipe it might not look as spectacular but it tastes even better.

You probably noticed these lemon poppy seed muffins look a little more dense and rigid than ones you might see at the supermarket bakery. This is because they are made with a gluten-free, whole-grain flour blend and refined sugar-free. They are the clean cousin of the bakery muffin. You know what that means? Yes, you can eat one or even two of these for breakfast and feel good about it.

Turkey Meatballs with Sage + Brown Butter Pasta

January 14, 2016 • 31 Comments

Prior to being in my 20s I had never had ground turkey, let alone turkey meatballs.

I thought turkey was something used only for sandwiches and Thanksgiving. This all changed a few years ago when a roommate came home with a pack of ground turkey, set it in front of me in the kitchen and said, “Turkey was on sale and you’re a food blogger. Can you make us something good with it?”

Now there’s something you should know about me. I love a good food challenge. Even if in the back of my mind I know I might fail, I love experimenting in the kitchen. It’s where I thrive. So of course, I didn’t say no to my roommate. I grabbed the pack of ground turkey and opened the pantry to see what else I had to work with.

By the end of my search I had a pile of sweet potatoes, sage, bread, onions, peppers and garlic sitting on the counter. I bet you’re wondering what I ended up making with the ground turkey … but you’ll have to stay tuned until next month to see what recipe I whipped up because today we’re going to start with a more basic ground turkey recipe: Turkey Meatballs with Sage + Brown Butter Pasta.

Sorry for leading you on with a preview of what’s coming to the blog next month, but I guess that just means you’ll have to come back! 😉

Words cannot describe how delicious this pasta dish is and how fun it is to make. All I have to say is watching the butter brown on the stove and sizzle with the sage is something everyone should experience. Just don’t get too mesmerized by the browning process because otherwise you’ll end up with burnt butter, which is arguably one of the saddest things in the world.Read More

First-Ever Reader Survey!

January 12, 2016 • 5 Comments

It’s an exciting day here at Making Life Sweet, and I want you to be a part of the fun!

You might have read on my Most Popular Recipes of 2015 post about how 2015 was the first year I actually started taking this blog and cultivating community seriously. Well today is another big step for me, because today is the day I release my first-ever reader survey!

I want to know what you love about Making Life Sweet, what you’d like to see from the blog in the future, and how I can make this space of the Internet even more inspiring for you!

All I ask is for five (or less) minutes of your time to take a short survey designed to help me make this blog the best blog it can be in 2016 and beyond. Click here to take the survey.

From the bottom of my heart thank you so much for taking time out of your day to take the survey. I am grateful for each and every one of my readers and excited for what the future holds. If I could, as a token of thanks I would hug you through the screen and send you a few of these Coconut Chocolate Chunk Cookie Bars. But a big THANK YOU will have to do for now! XOXO 🙂

Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai

January 11, 2016 • 24 Comments

With this being my second Thai recipe in a row on the blog, it’s probably obvious by now…

The Gaskills like Thai food. Big time. Of the two of us, I am the more adventurous one when it comes to trying different Thai dishes. I’ll go for the Tom Kha Gai, like I featured on the blog last week, or a Pumpkin Curry. On the other hand Mr. Making Life Sweet is more of a Thai purist … or maybe traditionalist is a better word, haha. How so? He legit only orders ONE thing when we get Thai: Pad Thai.

The man has had Pad Thai in probably 15 of the 50 United States — so he knows a good Pad Thai recipe when he comes across one. I didn’t know how he would react to me making this Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai dish at home (and I was kind of nervous to make it) but I was giddy when he gobbled up the whole plate. I knew that meant I’d nailed it for sure.

I love rice noodles, but I’ve been on a spaghetti squash kick recently. 1) Because it’s in season. And 2) Because you can eat an entire half a squash and not feel like you need to lie down on the couch. It’s a delicious way to enjoy a large meal without a crap-I-ate-way-too-many-carbs hangover 30 minutes later.

Tom Kha Gai (Thai Chicken Coconut Soup)

January 7, 2016 • 35 Comments

When you live in a place for awhile, you get attached to its restaurants.

Mr. Making Life Sweet and I fell in love with several restaurants during our two years living in Minneapolis. There was W.A. Frost with its unique, seasonally inspired menu; Red Cow with its juicy lamb and bison burgers; India Cafe with its creamy chicken saag; Pizzeria Lola with its perfect gluten-free pizza crust; the bakery I worked at, Salty Tart, with its addicting coconut macaroons (otherwise known as CRACK-a-roons). The list goes on and on.

There’s one place I didn’t include in the list above, and it was our favorite Thai place — a tiny, off-the-beaten-path, family-owned restaurant with the best spring rolls, pad pak and tom kha gai I’ve ever enjoyed. Since we’ve moved to Des Moines, we have yet to find a Thai place as good as Taste of Thaiyai in Apple Valley, Minn. And so, I’ve made it my personal goal to remake some of those beloved Thai dishes at home.Read More