carrot cake applesauce

Is it weird that I love MAKING applesauce, but I don’t eat it?

carrot cake applesauce recipe

I don’t know what it is, but I’ve never been a big fan of applesauce. I guess it’s a texture thing – it’s not completely smooth, but it’s not chunky, either. I just can’t do it!

But I love apples – whole, sliced, diced, cooked and put on yogurt or ice cream or in pie. I like apple juice and apple cider and apple butter and everything else apple – except applesauce. As far as I know, I’ve always been that way.

My mom and dad used to make me eat some whenever we had pork chops for dinner (classic combo), and I remember hating it even then.

BUT.

Baby boy LOVES it. Like, if he had his choice of foods for each meal, I’m pretty sure all he would eat most days is applesauce + plain yogurt. And I can’t be mad at that.

If I could eat one kind of cuisine, every single day of my life, I’d choose Greek food. I don’t know what it is – but the mix of spices, sauces, fresh vegetables, and fruity olives sucks me in every time.

spinach and feta turkey meatballs and greek plate dinner

We have an amazing little gyro place in the next town over (that we LOVE), but we’re not always nearby when the craving hits. And while I would love to make the trek every day for lunch or dinner, it’s not possible. So what do you do on those days? Make your own!

First, you need some tasty protein. You can either go the falafel route or something like gyro meat. I know I can’t make super authentic gyro meat at home, so for this easy weeknight meal, I took some of our favorite ground turkey and whipped it up into mini spinach and feta turkey meatballs.

I’ve been thinking of doing a series on the blog for a while now, and today is the day we start!

This is going to be all about REAL food – or, really, how to make sure you’re actually GETTING real food at the store.

I know what you might be thinking: What am I buying at the store if it isn’t real food?

In all honesty? A LOT of things sneak into our foods and if we’re not paying attention to labels, we can find ourselves getting swindled by lots of companies.

how to buy good quality olive oil

Just one example – did you know most shredded cheeses have added flours / binders / cellulose (basically wood pulp) added to keep them from clumping? You may think you’re just getting cheese, but you’re not. And this is just the beginning. Sugar is in everything these days if it’s packaged. We’re eating way more salt than our bodies need plus lots of “ingredients” that don’t qualify as actual food. And many of these things aren’t allowed in other countries, but America is gobbling them up like swiss chocolate.

I completely understand the changes that have happened in our food system over the past 50 years – for demand and efficiency and shelf life – but that doesn’t mean I have to go along with all of them.

I’d like my cheese to just be 100% cheese and nothing else, please and thank you.

So today, to kick off the series, we’re talking about olive oil and highlighting two of our household favorites.

Disclosure: This post is in part sponsored by JORD. I received product in exchange for this post. As always, all recipes and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting brands that support us! 

vanilla white chocolate mousse

I love Valentine’s Day. Maybe it’s because it’s another chance to do something fun and out of the routine like dinner out or a special date or – my personal favorite – making an amazing, new meal at home together. I’m also a hopeless romantic, so duh, I like Valentine’s Day. I love the idea of giving something meaningful to your people or doing something special and, above all, spending quality time with them.

When I first heard of JORD, I thought that these wood watches would make a perfect gift for Valentine’s Day. But my husband doesn’t really wear watches….so I guess I got a gift for myself this year?

I have never seen such a unique watch. Their men‘s and women‘s wood watches are absolutely gorgeous, and unlike anything I’ve ever seen in stores! So many of their watches caught my eye, but the one I decided to review was their Cora Zebrawood & Rose.

Um, hello beautiful.

vanilla white chocolate mousse