BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!

August 2, 2017 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

Six years ago, I was struggling with the path my life had taken. I had two very small children, I had left my career working with trauma survivors, and I was doing erratic consulting work that bored me to death. I knew I needed a change and so I wrote an email to my closest friends and former colleagues and asked them a question: “If you could see me doing anything, what would it be?” I encouraged them to be creative, to be crazy, to think outside of the box. Every single person responded, and everyone said the same thing: something with food! As soon as I saw the word food, I knew I had found my answer.

Within the year, I completed a training program to become a health coach and launched The Balanced Kitchen. I had found my true calling! I was able to share my belief that cooking could be a simple, easy, healthy, and delicious part of life. I got to help people who really wanted to eat a healthier diet and cook for themselves and their families, but didn’t know where to begin. In short, I had the best job ever!

Today, I am sharing the latest development in this wonderful, challenging, exciting journey. I am SO excited to announce that I have become the new CEO (and owner) of The Six O’Clock Scramble!

What’s The Scramble?

For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, The Six O’Clock Scramble, founded and run by the amazing Aviva Goldfarb, is an online meal planning service committed to helping busy people get quick, easy, and delicious meals on the table every night. Aviva and I share the same philosophy: making dinner should be a low stress and enjoyable experience and that family dinners are one of the most rewarding and important opportunities to connect with and nourish the people we love and ourselves!

The Scramble will give me a platform to encourage even more people to get back into the kitchen, to experiment with new tastes and cooking techniques, and to feed their friends and families healthy, delicious meals that are simple to prepare.

But What About The Balanced Kitchen?

Some of you may be asking, what will happen to The Balanced Kitchen, to the recipes found here, and to my weekly musings on food, feeding kids, feeding ourselves, and life balance? The answer is twofold: my recipes will stay archived here on The Balanced Kitchen, but my new recipes and posts will all be on The Scramble.

I invite you to join me at The Scramble to continue getting inspiration and ideas for feeding yourself and your family well. In an effort to make that as simple for you as possible, I will be merging my list with The Scramble’s. What this means is that you will continue to receive emails from me from time to time with recipes, cooking ideas, and lots of other opportunities to experiment with cooking and eating, just from The Scramble rather than from The Balanced Kitchen.

Join The Scramble Family!

Finally (and perhaps most importantly), as an enticement and in celebration of this big change, I am offering a Friends & Family discount if you’d like to join The Scramble’s meal planning service. I love and believe in this service because it helps to make cooking that much easier and more accessible. So, if getting a meal plan delivered to your inbox or phone each week sounds appealing, if a generated-for-you shopping list sounds amazing, if access to a database of over 1,000 carefully curated recipes sounds wonderful, then join us! (And if you aren’t sure we have a 2 week free trial, so there’s no risk!)

Thank you for your support of The Balanced Kitchen over these past years. I have loved carving out my space in the food and cooking conversation. I have loved working with you as clients, meeting you at workshops, and sharing ideas with you online. I look forward to our relationship growing over at The Scramble! Sign up for a free trial now (and use the code FANDF17 to get 25% off all memberships now through August 16th).

Happy Cooking, Happy Eating, and Happy Scrambling!

Recipe Roundup: May and Early June Edition

June 8, 2017 By Jessica Braider 2 Comments

This morning I heard a story on NPR about this guy who realized that he was living a very comfortable, happy life but that one day he realized that his whole life was being lived in a bubble, so he decided that he was going to break out of the bubble by attending randomly selected, open to the public events in his city. It was an inspiring story about breaking out of your comfort zone and trying new things. He talked about how uncomfortable it could be at moments and how there were times when he was tempted to turn around and walk away, but he didn’t, and the outcomes were wonderful. As I listened to his story, I couldn’t help but challenge myself to think carefully about ways in which I do and do not venture outside of my own bubble. In some ways I am an adventurous person, but in others I’m not, and I hope that hearing this story will push me to start exploring some other worlds, even ones that are close by.

If taking a step outside of your comfort zone sometimes involves cooking, then I’ve got some great recipes for you in this Recipe Roundup! The first two recipes in the Roundup came about because one of my clients gave me some homemade goat milk paneer (Indian cheese) and since Saag Paneer is one of my all-time favorite dishes, I jumped at the chance to make it for the first time, so an Indian dinner was in the cards. The waffle recipe is a game changer if you are a fan of waffles that are crispy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside. And the Southwestern Spinach and Black Bean Dip is likely to become a go-to in our house. Are you ready to step out of your bubble and try a new recipe?

Image courtesy of Food Network

Saag Paneer: Spinach with Indian Cheese after poking around online for a while I settled on this recipe because it seemed to be the most manageable. Instead of using frozen spinach I used spinach from my farm share, I used coconut oil instead of vegetable oil, and I skipped the chili pepper in the hopes that my boys would be more open to eating it. Other than those modifications, I followed the recipe closely and the outcome was AMAZING. I could have eaten it for a week straight. My boys still weren’t convinced, but did eat the little bit that they each had on their plate, and my husband loved it almost as much as I did.

Make again? Absolutely and soon!!

Image courtesy of Food.com

Potato Curry with Peas and Carrots I made this to accompany the Saag Paneer because I was confident that my boys would enjoy it, and I was right. I found the directions on this recipe to be a little vague for my taste, but I have made enough curries that I could figure it out. It did take longer than I had anticipated, but the flavors were fantastic and it was relatively simple to make.

Make again? Yes. But I’ll probably type up my own directions to follow. Maybe I’ll post that recipe sometime soon…

Image courtesy of Inspired Taste

Best Homemade Waffle Recipe I stumbled upon this recipe last weekend as I was trying to find a waffle recipe that only required one egg. The secret ingredient in this recipe is cornstarch and I have to say that I am a convert! I made this recipe using spelt flour instead of all purpose flour, to add some whole grain heft, and they were still light and fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside. All four of us LOVED these waffles. Two quick notes: 1) the batter is much runnier than any other waffle batter I have ever made and seemed to require more batter per waffle, so be prepared and 2) I will never make a single batch of this recipe again. Even for my family of four, this recipe was barely enough for breakfast and I guarantee you will want leftovers for the freezer.

Make again? Yes! This is going to be my new go-to waffle recipe!

Southwestern Spinach Black Bean Dip I made this to take as a side dish to a taco night at a friend’s house. Instead of canned corn I used frozen and I added a bunch more spice, but other than that I followed the recipe. It was delicious, filling, and packed with spinach. It also makes a TON! We gorged on it and there was still a lot leftover, which I then mixed with some leftover chicken to make a variation on my baked chimichangas, which were the biggest hit of the week in my house.

Make again? Definitely and definitely will turn the leftovers into baked chimichangas again, too!

Recipe Roundup: April Edition

April 27, 2017 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

This month is kind of a wacky month for my recipe roundup because three of these recipes come from one cookbook: Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem: A Cookbook*. I have a complicated relationship with this cookbook. I love it because everything that I make from it comes out so well, the pictures are beyond beautiful, and the recipes are truly inspiring, but I also find it challenging because many of the recipes include obscure ingredients that, truthfully, I am not willing to drop lots of money on to possibly use just once before they go bad. So I have started adapting when I use the book and so far that has worked out pretty well!…

5 Ways To Stretch a Meal and Save Money

April 20, 2017 By Jessica Braider 2 Comments

My oldest son is turning nine (!!) this week and over the past couple of months my husband and I have started to notice a pattern: sometimes there isn’t enough food on the dinner table. We haven’t yet reached the run-to-the-fridge-to-scrounge-up-more-food levels yet, but we have definitely hit the oh-no-there-won’t-be-enough-leftovers-for-lunch-tomorrow levels. The amount that I have been making over the past few years (which, by the way, is definitely enough food for a family of four, plus leftovers) is just not cutting it, especially on soccer practice days. Just yesterday, for example, I made 13 baked chimichangas and then had to dash out before dinner to get to a meeting. When I got home, there were only three left. Not only had the three of them eaten 10 chimichangas, but they weren’t even sure how it had happened! Where did all that food go?! I knew this time would come, what with having two boys and my husband coming from a long line of big eaters, but I did not expect it to arrive when my kids were six and eight (what is it going to be like when they are 12 and 14?!).

Because of this uptick in food consumption I have definitely noticed that our grocery bills have started to creep up a bit and so I am starting to be even more diligent about using some of the techniques I saw my mom put into place when I was growing up. My mom is a serious pro at these things. Family friends always talk about how amazing it was to watch my mom feed huge groups of people with what appeared to be very little food. So whether you are just trying to cut down on your food bills, you are hoping to save up for a summer vacation, or you have some other fun plans for a little extra dough, here are some tricks to feed the hoards without breaking the bank:…

Moroccan Sheet Pan Chicken

April 4, 2017 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

I developed this recipe for a fellow blogger, Raquel at Sincerely Nourished, but wanted to make sure you all got to see it to! This is a super simple recipe anyone can throw together for dinner and is so packed with flavor you will feel like you are on vacation in North Africa!

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Recipe Roundup: March Edition

March 30, 2017 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

I’m back with another edition of The Recipe Roundup! This month’s recipes were super successful, so I am excited to share several quick, easy, and tasty recipes to add to your rotation!

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Shakshuka Pita Pizza

March 9, 2017 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

“I received free samples of Toufayan Pita mentioned in this post. By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by Toufayan Bakeries and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.”

Shakshuka. Shakshuka is a dish that has been on my list of recipes to blog about for a long time now. When I first heard about shakshuka, a dish in which eggs are poached in a seasoned tomato sauce, I was not enthusiastic (as I have blogged about before, I tend to be a bit of an egg purist), but the dish just kept showing up in different places and was mentioned by chefs and bloggers that I respect and admire. So finally I decided to push myself out of my comfort zone and give it a shot. And, of course, it was delicious and super simple to make—a win, win!

But today I want to share with you and even simpler meal that I am calling Shakshuka Pizza. This is one of those meals that is great for a crazy weeknight when you have about 15 minutes to get dinner on the table but everyone is sick of quesadillas and grilled cheese….

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Tacos with Avocado Crema

February 21, 2017 By Jessica Braider 9 Comments

This month’s challenge from The Recipe Redux is near and dear to my heart: tacos!!

Show us your healthy, creative take on the taco.

For as long as I can remember, tacos have been a favorite food of mine. When I was a kid, my mom had (still has) special bowls that she used to put out the taco toppings and whenever I saw those bowls coming down from the cupboard I knew that an awesome dinner was in store! I think because I was a picky eater I enjoyed the control I had over my own plate—I got to choose which toppings I used and which I avoided and, if I was feeling brave, I could try something new in a small and safe way. As a kid, the taco options were the same every time: ground beef, kidney beans, lettuce, tomatoes, onion, cheese, and salsa. And still, with the exception of raw onions which I am not a huge fan of, I love all of those components and would happily have one of my childhood tacos any night!

For this Taco Tuesday, though, I’m sharing a different version. While the ground beef is great and we definitely eat it from time to time in our house, it isn’t usually something I include with taco night because there are other, healthier sources of fat in the meal. In fact, many times our taco nights are vegetarian, using beans as the protein source. The tacos I’m sharing today involve one of my all-time favorite flavor combinations, black beans and sweet potatoes, along with a creamy avocado-based sauce that makes the whole meal feel special! In fact, the last time I made the avocado crema my 8-year-old said, “wow! This is such a fancy meal!” when the only difference was replacing our standard cut up avocado with the crema.

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Lasagna Soup

February 16, 2017 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

A few years ago I was really desperate to find ways to get vegetables into my younger son. I had tried the battles, I had tried the pleading, and now I was trying to use the division of responsibility approach, which meant that I would choose what foods were offered but that he then would have the freedom to choose what he ate out of what was on the table and there would be no special meals or negotiations. What that meant for our family was that some nights I made a dinner that had vegetables on the side, which he almost never ate, and some nights I made a one-pot meal that included the vegetables in the dish. Often times he would pick around the vegetables, but sometimes I would find a dish that he loved so much that he would plow right through, not even noticing the vegetables.

There were two types of one-pot meals that tended to work for us. Soups and baked pastas. The kid loved (and still loves) pureed vegetables soups, which was very helpful when I felt like I was going to lose my mind. And while he would sometimes pick around the vegetables in a baked pasta, some strays would make it into his mouth and he was always cheerful when pasta was involved. Win-win. So when I discovered lasagna soup I knew I had to give it a go….

Breaking Bread in a Modern World

January 19, 2017 By Jessica Braider 4 Comments

This week I had the amazing opportunity to go to the new National Museum of African American History and Culture with my 8-year-old’s 3^rd and 4^th grade class. It was a powerful experience in many ways and brought many emotions to the surface for all of us—sadness, pain, anger, joy, and hope. After touring the museum the whole group met in the cafeteria for lunch and as we sat there discussing what we had seen and the many emotions and thoughts it had brought up for us I looked up and saw this quote:

I’m concerned that Americans are losing that place of meeting. There are very few times we can be more intimate as to share food together.”

-Maya Angelou

As I sat there, sharing a meal with these children and the other chaperones, I was struck by the fact that in that little moment we were living out the power of Maya Angelou’s words: we were sharing in the intimacy and the power of the experience we had just had, while we ate together….