Last weekend’s bridal shower was fun and seriously delicious. Between my mom, my cousin, Angela, and myself, we put together a pretty great spread. The shower started at 2 p.m., so we didn’t serve a full meal. Though now that I look back at the photos, we had quite a bit of food. In addition to Ina Garten’s amazing chicken salad, we had a cheese assortment, crackers, fruit, strawberries and whipped cream, and bite-sized desserts, including homemade lemon bars.

The chicken salad recipe was my mom’s idea. Always one to research for hours online until she finds the perfect recipe with great reviews, my mom eventually deemed Ina Garten’s chicken salad the recipe to serve. (It got five stars online!)  And when she arrived at our house on Saturday night, with pre-cooked and chopped chicken in hand and a bag of grapes, I was happy to supply the mayonnaise and fresh tarragon. Teamwork, my friends.

Although chicken salad doesn’t typically cross my lips, I did have to take a bite so I could find out what all the fuss was about. As someone who hates mayonnaise, I was expecting to strongly dislike this salad. But, surprisingly to me, the flavor was spot-on, with a subtle mayonnaise flavor and a freshness thanks to the tarragon. A word to the wise: the original recipe calls for 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons salt, which seems like a lot to me. We scaled back the salt a bit, but if you find it’s not enough for you, add a little extra.

This week, Joe has been making his way through all the extra chicken salad for lunch. Thankfully, I’m married to a man who doesn’t mind leftovers and eating the same thing multiple days in a row. (I served spaghetti both Tuesday and Wednesday night this week.) Trust me, meal time and lunches aren’t always that impressive in our house!

Ina Garten’s Chicken Salad
Adapted just slightly from this recipe
Ingredients
*4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves  (2 whole chicken breasts)
*Olive oil
*Freshly ground black pepper and kosher salt
*1/2 cup good mayonnaise
*1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
*1 cup small diced celery (2 stalks)
*1 cup seedless red grapes, cut in 1/2

Instructions
*Preheat oven to 350°F. Place chicken in a baking pan and drizzle with the olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and ground black pepper. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Set aside until cooled.
* When the chicken is cooled, chop into 1/2-inch pieces. Place the chicken in a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, along with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper. Stir until well-combined. Add additional salt and pepper if desired. Serve on bread or with whole wheat crackers.

Happy Cooking!
Madison

I’m back! I’m back! I missed blogging and being able to interact with you amazing people. Please excuse my excitement and my absence over the past four days. It turns out when you have a blog that has thousands of comments and hundreds of posts over a 3 year span, it takes a while to migrate your blog to WordPress/self hosting. Thankfully, after a few glitches and a bit of down time, my blog is up and running on the new server. And now that we’ve tackled that (I say “we” when I really mean my awesome web designer, Brad) the actual design process can begin shortly. If, over the next couple weeks, you notice anything wonky, please be patient. There are bound to be a few growing pains along the way, but I promise that E&C’s new look is going to be beautiful!

Now for a few house cleaning items:
1. The “Clothing Charity Sale” has been pushed back to Monday, May 21st. I’ve had some amazing donations roll in from other readers, so be sure to spread the word! You will be able to purchase items throughout the week. The final day of the sale is Friday, May 25th.

2. Because of the site’s down time, I am taking this week off from “No Fat Talk Tuesday” until next week. I have a few weeks of posts scheduled, but am in need of more people willing to share their story. If you would like to share, send me an e-mail (madisonjanemayberry@gmail.com) and I can give you more information and guidelines about posting.

3. I’m working on putting together a post on the Paleo diet/lifestyle in the upcoming weeks. If you are a nutritionist or someone who follows Paleo, I would love to hear from you! (madisonjanemayberry@gmail.com)

Now on to the fun stuff…

On Mother’s Day, my mom and I hosted my aunt’s and cousins over at my place for a bridal shower in honor of my cousin’s fiancé, Claudia. She is from Colombia, which is where the wedding will be held this summer. Over the past year, she has been living in Iowa and attending college. I couldn’t be more excited for her and for my cousin, Curtis. They make an adorable couple! Claudia told us that where she is from, bridal showers are more like wedding receptions, with both the bride-to-be and groom-to-be in attendance, with lots of dancing, gifts and food. It made me feel like our version of a bridal shower was lacking!

And before I leave you (but not for long this time!), I wanted to share a recipe for one of my new favorite sandwiches. Although the combination may sound a little strange, I can promise you that it’s crazy good. One word to the wise: make sure your pears aren’t too ripe. It’s better to have pears with a little bite to them for this sandwich to prevent the bread from getting soggy. Plus, with the cheese and spinach, a little added texture makes all the difference.

Pear, Spinach and Blue Cheese Sandwich 
Ingredients
*2 slices whole wheat bread
*2 wedges Laughing Cow Blue Cheese
*1/2 medium ripe pear, thinly sliced
*1/2 cup baby spinach leaves

Instructions
*Spread each slice of bread with one of the cheese wedges. Top one slices with the pears, followed by the spinach. Top with the remaining slice of bread. Cut sandwich in half. If making this sandwich to take with you for lunch, I recommend toasting the bread before making the sandwich to avoid a soggy sandwich.

Happy Cooking!
Madison

 Lately you’ve probably noticed a bit more quinoa popping up on Espresso and Cream, yes? Well, get ready for even more recipes in the months to come! Curtis has kept our house well-stocked with quinoa, and in exchange for the free quinoa, I’ve been creating recipes that go both on this site and on his company’s blog. It’s a win-win if you ask me.

My relationship with quinoa took a while to heat up. I first started cooking with this amazing grain (er…seed) when I went vegetarian a little over two years ago. It wasn’t the taste or texture that drew me to quinoa, but rather the stellar nutritional profile. Since quinoa is a complete protein (meaning it provides 100% of the essential amino acids), it’s ideal for individuals who don’t eat a lot of meat.

But over the last six months, quinoa has really started to grow on me and Joe. It’s so much easier to prepare than rice and stores forever in the refrigerator. I make a large batch without any seasoning every week or week and a half, which does a lot to encourage my quinoa consumption, since it doesn’t require much prep for lunch and dinner.

This past weekend, I made my first foray into eating quinoa at breakfast. Most mornings, okay every morning, I start off the day with a bowl of oats with banana and peanut butter or almond butter. But last weekend, I decided to put a twist on my breakfast stand-by with the addition of quinoa. Cutting my oats with a little cooked quinoa was the perfect breakfast duo. Since quinoa doesn’t have the same gooey texture of cooked oats, adding a tablespoon of chia seeds is the real trick to having your mixture taste more like breakfast porridge rather than a bowl of grain, which I prefer.

In other news, Espresso and Cream is going to be getting a long-overdue redesign in the coming weeks. On top of a visual update, I’ll also be switching E&C over to self-hosting. Although it won’t mean many changes on your end, I wanted to give you a heads-up in case things get a little wonky for a while. Hopefully all goes smoothly and you don’t even notice! But, if you have any suggestions on what you would like to see in the new site, feel free to leave a comment below.

Breakfast Quinoa with Oats
Makes 1 Serving 
Ingredients
*1/4 cup cooked quinoa
*1/4 cup uncooked rolled oats
*1/2 cup milk
*2/3 cup water
*1 tablespoon chia seeds
*1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
*1 packet Truvia or 1 tablespoon brown sugar
*Dash of vanilla extract
*1 medium banana, sliced 
*1/4 cup chopped pecans

Instructions
*In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the cooked quinoa, rolled oats, milk, water and chia seeds. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, until oats and chia seeds have absorbed most of the moisture and the mixture is thickened. Add in the cinnamon, Truvia or brown sugar and vanilla extract. Cook for 30 seconds more.
*Remove from heat and stir in the banana slices. Spoon into a bowl and top with the chopped pecans.

Happy Cooking!
Madison

Last year, after Joe and I ran our first half marathon, I talked a bit about a crazy idea I had to run 30 races by the time I turned 30. Considering I only started running races last year (at age 23) I’ve got a lot of races to run in order to meet my goal!

Even if I don’t end up hitting the 30 by 30 mark, I’m going to have fun trying. I’m hoping to add a couple more short (5k or 10k) local races to this list throughout the summer and fall. And, if I stay healthy and all goes as planned, my mom and I will be running the Twin Cities Marathon two days after my birthday in October!

I still feel a little hesitant even putting that goal out there for all of you to read, but running a marathon has been a goal of mine for the longest time. Both my parents are marathon runners, and a big part of me wants to carry on the family tradition. Plus, it seems like a great time in life to train, since I don’t have any major obligations on my plate.

Here’s a look at the other races I have planned:

Orange City Tulip Festival 5k
Orange City, Iowa 
Saturday, May 19th

Dam to Dam 20k
Des Moines, Iowa 
Saturday, June 2nd

Grinnell Games 5k
Grinnell, Iowa
Saturday, June 9th 

Grandma’s Half Marathon (with my sister-in-law, Amber)
Duluth, MN
Saturday, June 16th

Twin Cities Marathon
Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota
Sunday, October 7th 

Do any of you have races planned for this summer or fall? Is running a marathon a crazy bad or crazy good idea? Help a girl out!

Some of you may have already dismissed this post because of the title alone, and I can’t say I really blame you. A recipe for scrambled eggs? Really? Yes. Please let me explain.

Last Christmas my mom made scrambled eggs for brunch. They took forever to cook and we were starving, but since she was so excited about the method I figured I would see her out. Turns out the eggs lived up to the hype and were well worth the wait. It was at that moment that I realized I’ve been making scrambled eggs all wrong.

In the past my method would go as follows: head the pan to medium-high, melt some butter, whisk together eggs and a little milk, salt and pepper, add eggs to very hot skillet and scoot them around a couple times with a spatula until they were cooked. Of course, this method works OK. The eggs are cooked and uniform, but hardly anything special.

The secret to fluffy, creamy eggs is to cook them low and slow. In fact, the whole process reminds me a bit of caramelizing onions. It takes a while, but the results are stellar. Instead of heating up the skillet to medium-high heat, start by heating it to medium while melting the butter, then reducing the heat to low after adding the eggs. Continuously moving the slow-cooking eggs around the pan (one source said to imitate a snow plow scooping snow) is the true labor of love. It requires constant attention by the cook and takes somewhere between 8 and 12 minutes total. Although I’ll admit I sometimes resort to my old method when time is short, this is my go-to way to cook eggs when I have the time to really do it right.

Am I new to this revelation? Or are any of you as surprised as I was?

Perfect Scrambled Eggs
Serves 1 Hungry Husband
Ingredients
*1/2 tablespoon butter 
*4 large eggs, lightly beaten
*1 tablespoon milk
*1/4 teaspoon salt
*1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions
*In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk t ogether the eggs, milk, salt and ground black pepper.
*Once butter is melted and slightly browned, reduce heat to low. Add egg mixture to the skillet.
*Using a rubber spatula, stir eggs constantly, not allowing any one part of the egg to cook on the skillet for too long. The idea is to cook the eggs low and slow, which prevents large curds of egg and results in an ultra creamy texture. This process requires patience, so give it the time it requires. It may take 10 to 12 minutes total.
*Continue to cook the eggs until they are cooked through bust still slightly moist and glisten slightly. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

Happy Cooking!
Madison

When Friday night rolls around, the last thing Joe and I usually feel like doing is getting dressed up and going out. Usually we end up taking Nutmeg on a walk, putting comfy clothes on and getting a movie from the Redbox. But this Friday night, we made ourselves presentable and went out. And by going out, I mean washing my hair, putting on wedges and going out to Mexican followed by a trip to Costco and ending with a McDonald’s ice cream cone.

It’s a crazy life we live, I tell you.

Happy Friday, all! And happy (almost) Cinco de Mayo!

When it comes to ideas, inspiration and education, The Kitchn is one of my favorite food websites. A while back, I saw this adorable idea for a “New Baby Taco Box“. The idea being that you can bring this all-in-one box to parents of a new baby. It was perfect timing, since friends of ours had just had a new baby. What really drew me in was the fact that the taco box would transport ingredients easily and didn’t require that the parents eat the meal right that minute. Instead, the ingredients could be assembled any time within the next day or two. Plus, who doesn’t love tacos?

Here’s a breakdown of what was in my taco box. You could easily customize this to fit your family’s needs and likes/dislikes.

It appears that I forgot to label the ground beef, which is nestled below the salsa and guacamole. Unless the family you’re bringing the box to is vegetarian, don’t forget the ground beef or shredded chicken.

A few other notes:
-I found the basket for $8 at Walmart. You could easily use a wooden box, round basket or a disposable gift bag, but I liked the nice leave-behind element of a pretty basket lined with fabric.
-Make sure you buy new disposable containers. I guess this is up to your discretion, but the idea of bringing food over in used Gladware gave me the creeps.
-If you’re short on time, like I was, don’t feel bad about getting a little help from pre-made items like packaged guacamole or jarred salsa. Trust me, the parents won’t mind.

No new babies in your life? Don’t let that stop you! Bring a taco box over to game night with friends or as a get-well gift for someone who is recovering from a sickness or surgery. Or perhaps for a college student in your life who is studying for finals. I think we can all agree to love tacos no matter the occasion.

What do you bring over to parents who have just had a baby?

Madison

When it comes to eating out, I’m a sucker for places like the Whole Foods hot bar or the salad bar at Jason’s Deli. It’s a little dose of sensory overload, with all the amazing (and often healthy) foods to choose from. Perhaps as a food editor I shouldn’t admit this, but I would much rather eat a healthy, basic, meal any day of the week rather than to sit down at an upscale restaurant.

I don’t exactly have time to make ten different whole grain salads and chop dozens of veggies for dinner every night. But just because I can’t make an entire salad bar at home doesn’t mean the same effect can’t be recreated at home with a whole lot less effort.

Enter, the Chickpea, Kale and Quinoa bowl! Sorry, I find it hard to contain my excitement about this dish. It’s a deliciously salty combination with the perfect mixture of crunchy and chewy. It’s packed with protein from the chickpeas and quinoa and vitamins A and C thanks to the kale.

Although Joe and I ate this dish hot, I could see someone enjoying it chilled for lunch. Either way, it’s sure to be delicious. 

Chickpea, Kale and Quinoa Bowl
Ingredients
*1 cup dry quinoa, rinsed and drained
*2 cups water
*1/2 teaspoon salt
*1 tablespoon butter
*1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
*1 teaspoon fresh thyme
*1 recipe Spiced Roasted Chickpeas 
*1 recipe Roasted Kale (recipe below)

Instructions
* In a large heavy saucepan over medium high heat, combine the quinoa, water and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cover the saucepan with a lid. Simmer for 13 to 15 minutes, until water is absorbed and quinoa is cooked. Remove from heat. Fluff lightly with a fork. Add butter, balsamic  vinegar and thyme to the quinoa and stir until evenly combined.
*Spoon the prepared quinoa into three or four bowls. Place some of the Spiced Roasted Chickpeas and Roasted Kale into the bowls with the quinoa. Serve immediately. Makes 3 to 4 servings

Roasted Kale: Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Set aside. In a large bowl, toss together 4 cups chopped kale leaves (stems removed), 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Spread mixture onto prepared baking sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring once or twice, until kale is wilted and slightly crispy around the edges. Remove from oven and cool slightly.