Asparagus Breakfast Skillet

School has begun. My world, like most Moms, begins before the light of day has reached me. I am not a morning person. If I want to get a workout and shower in before I become my kids personal shuttle then I have exactly 15 minutes to get breakfast on the table. Real breakfast, full of real whole foods.

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Mayonnaise

I have tried so many different mayonnaise recipes since I began exploring this real food stuff 6 years ago. Most of the real food mayo recipes use olive oil and I just couldn't get on board with the taste no matter what kind of seasoning I added in. I have tried bacon grease mayonnaise, Mary's oil blend mayonnaise, and just about everyone of my favorite bloggers mayonnaise recipes. I finally started playing around with oils that I had never had in my kitchen before; such as avocado oil and liquid coconut oil, to come up with my go-to mayonnaise. 

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Pepperoni & Mozzarella Topped Eggplant

My kids insisted that this was not pizza, and I have to agree, even if the topping is pretty much a pizza topping. This is fork food, not finger food, and not a pizza substitute. However it is a simple (enough) way to get some eggplant into our diets. Eggplant is beautiful and I often pick some up when it is available only to have it sit around and stare at me. Challenging me to use it before it goes bad.

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Garlic & Olive Oil Red Potato Salad

I debated what to call this basic potato salad; Mayo Free Potato Salad? 6 Ingredient Potato Salad? My Husband's Favorite Potato Salad? In the end I decided to just list half of the ingredients in the title. I know there are a lot of potato salads in the world and I have nothing against any of them, I really like mustard and dill potato salad, sour cream potato salad, mayonnaise based potato salads and greek potato salads. But this one wins out in our household. Seasoned simply with lots of garlic, sea salt, pepper, and high quality olive oil, with the crisp crunch and bite of green onion this dish pairs well with almost any main course (add leftover ham to it the next day and it becomes lunch).

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Simple Stovetop Popcorn- No Special Equipment Needed

 

For the longest time I thought a popcorn maker was needed to make good popcorn. I grew up with an air popper or microwavable bags. When I started learning about traditional food I still assumed I needed special equipment and sought out special stovetop poppers with fancy cranks. It was pretty cool to turn the crank and watch everything pop through the special glass window, but it took up precious room in my kitchen and only had one use. When it broke I didn't want to replace it. Instead I grabbed my stainless steel soup pot with a glass lid and gave it a try. It worked. It was fast and easy. Almost as fast as microwavable bags, but a thousand times better (better tasting and better for you). Today my three boys and I gathered around our stovetop to make a special cinnamon and sugar treat for our snack time.

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