Peach season is my absolute favorite, especially when the Colorado peaches come into stores in late summer. They are so sweet they seriously taste like dessert!  I love to bake, so I thought it would be fun to try a peach pie using Colorado peaches, and found a delicious recipe on Food & Wine that I altered slightly. 

I wish my grandma Dilly were still alive to come into my kitchen and help me make her homemade crust, hers was SO good. I still remember eating her strawberry rhubarb pies as a little girl and just loving them.  I found a butter double crust recipe that I used for this pie, but as it was chilling in the fridge, I got nervous about using it, so I used my back up crust, the Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust, because I wanted to try and add some braids to the lattice top and I wasn't sure how the homemade crust would hold up.  Recipe below!

You can find this pie dish here - it seriously makes every pie look so beautiful because of the scalloped edges, and then you don't have to worry about pinching the crust, too. It comes in a variety of colors.

COLORADO PEACH PIE RECIPE 
This recipe is for the filling only - I would recommend using the pre-made pie crust or finding a recipe you love for the crust. Make sure to do a double crust so you have enough for both the top and bottom.

FILLING

• 8 large ripe, but firm peaches (3.5 lbs)
• 3/4 C. sugar
• 1/2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice (you can use up to 1.5 tbsp, but I didn't want to add too much so I made this modification)
• 1/4 C + 1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1.5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, thinly sliced
• Egg wash: 1 egg yolk mixed with 2 tbsp. water 

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 400. 
2. Roll out refrigerated dough and place into pie dish.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Fill a large bowl with ice water. 
4. Mark the bottom of each peach with a shallow X using a knife. Place peaches in boiling water and blanch for 1-2 minutes, just enough to loosen skin. Using a slotted spoon transfer peaches to the bowl of ice water to cool.
5. Drain and peel peaches. (This is actually WAY easier than I ever thought once they are blanched, they come off so easily.) Cut into 3/4 inch wedges. 
6. Place peach wedges in bowl and cover with sugar, flour and lemon mix. Toss well and let stand for 5 minutes. 
7. Pour the peaches and juices into pie dish with the chilled dough, and then scatter the butter slices. Top  the pie with the other crust/lattice. Use egg wash to brush on the crust top and edges to avoid burning. 
8. Bake on a baking sheet to catch any overflow, for 30 minutes at 400, then reduce the temp to 375, cover the edges of the pie with foil and bake for 40 minutes longer or until the pie is golden brown and bubbly. 
9. Let cool completely. Serve & enjoy!  

Growing up we had a big garden in the backyard and I remember we always used the fresh zucchini to make zucchini bread. I had a craving for it the other day so I went on the hunt for the best recipe, and found this one to try. It is SOOOO good! I baked two loaves and delivered one to my girlfriend who just had a baby and we had the other. I loved them so much I even made another batch - one loaf of bread and muffins. Parker, who is a super picky eater, even ate some (YAY for getting him to eat veggies!). I just added a little butter to the muffins or bread and they were soo yummy! Enjoy!

Nothing says Thanksgiving like cranberries. I may be one of the rare people who love them, but if you happen to like them too, you should give this recipe a try!  I stumbled upon this delicious recipe a few years ago and it's become a holiday staple ever since. I love that it incorporates pomegranate, too - for an extra dose of potassium, vitamin C, fiber & antioxidants. 

Recipe 
1. Combine 1/2 C of orange juice & 1 bag of fresh or frozen whole cranberries in a sauce pan.
2. Bring to a boil and gently mash up cranberries & stir
3. Add in 1 C of brown sugar and pomegranate seeds from 1 pomegranate
4. Stir and simmer for 5 minutes. Cool in fridge until ready to serve & enjoy!

Wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving! 

PS - These pictures are from 2 years ago and are before I got a nice camera, so excuse the terrible lighting and styling. :)

Ever since we’ve had Parker, my husband and I have tried to make a conscious effort to find time for us, too. We refinished our deck earlier this summer so now after Parker goes down for the night, we like to enjoy a glass of wine or a cocktail out there while the sun sets. I’ll never get sick of wine, but sometimes I like to change it up and enjoy a yummy cocktail and I wanted to share this recipe because it’s perfect for summer and it incorporates one of my favorite fruits - raspberries. I’ve teamed up with Driscoll’s & TheFeedFeed to bring you this recipe, because not all berries are created equal. Driscoll’s has an exclusive patented berry that was developed with years of research & natural breeding methods to make it sweet and juicy - perfect for this recipe!

Driscoll’s the leading brand of natural and organic berries recently named the Twin Cities as the raspberry consumption capital of the country! For all of you berry lovers in the area, Driscoll’s is hosting a #BerryTogether Minnesota exclusive sweepstakes, where one lucky winner will win a 4-night stay at Madden’s on Gull Lake, and 4 first prize winners will each receive a year’s worth of berries! Visit www.berrytogether.com for your chance to win!

Raspberry Champagne Summer Cocktail
INGREDIENTS
1 bottle of Dry Champagne (I used Deligeroy)
1.5 C fresh Driscoll’s raspberries
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 C. water
1.5 Tbsp. Elderflower Liqueur

DIRECTIONS
1. Mix or whisk raspberries, sugar and water together until well mixed. Using a strainer, drain the raspberry juice into a bowl and discard the seeds/meat of raspberries (unless you’d like to add them in for decoration - I have pictures with and without this for reference).
2. Add the Elderflower liqueur to the raspberry juice.
3. Pour 2-3 tablespoons of the raspberry juice mixture into champagne glasses.
4. Add champagne.  Garnish with a raspberry, edible flowers or the raspberry meat/seeds + Enjoy!

Tips:
Want it sweeter? Add more of the raspberry juice/liqueur mixture.
Want it without alcohol? Use Ginger Ale instead of champagne and leave out the liqueur.


I hope to keep adding a variety of recipes to my Eat + Drink tab of my blog, and would love any feedback you guys have! Cheers!

This blog post is brought to you by Driscolls & TheFeedFeed - thanks for supporting the brands that support me. All opinions are my own.

 Around 2 to 2.5 months, Parker started to become really fussy when he was awake during the day. He was arching his back a lot (but didn't have much spit up), crying without being able to be consoled easily and just seemed like he was in pain.  He would wake up from a deep sleep in the middle of the night and start crying because he had gas that hurt his tummy. He would also get really upset before he pooped, like he was in pain. After about one month of this...and going on lots of car rides (motion always seemed to help) and bouncing him up and down all day long, and lots of mama tears later, I finally saw two people who both recommended that I try the elimination diet.  

I remember the day so vividly. It was May 10th and I was at a BYOB (bring your own baby) yoga class at Blooma and Parker was crying in the class and was totally inconsolable. He didn't want his nook, the bottle, to be bounced, to go to sleep...nothing was working....and after 15 minutes of him screaming, and several mamas looking at me (you know it's bad when you're in a new mom setting and even they are staring at you)....I walked out of the class and just broke down in tears. I hated the feeling of not being able to console my baby. Sarah the owner was out in the lobby and was so sweet. She recommended that I see a baby chiropractor because P seemed really really tight. They got me in that afternoon and Parker screamed the entire appointment. They did some baby massage to loosen up some areas where he was really tight and she recommended I try the elimination diet.  She talked me through what I could and couldn't eat on the diet.
I had to give up:

• Citrus
• Potatoes & Night Shade Veggies (including tomatoes)
• Corn
• Added Sugar
• Gluten
• Dairy
• Soy
• Eggs
• Coffee and Alcohol 

Oh em gee...this was going to be so hard. I decided to keep coffee and wine in my diet, in a very limited fashion because I am a new mom after all and mama needs her coffee and the occasional glass of wine!

I also went to our pediatrician to make sure there wasn't something else wrong with P that I was maybe missing, and he agreed that I should do the elimination diet (although he would've preferred that I eliminate one thing at a time vs. all at once like the chiropractor recommended. He was concerned about the impact on my breastmilk supply, which didn't end up being a problem.)

I started eating lots of fruit, brown rice, avocado and chicken, and slowly I noticed that Parker was no longer waking up in the middle of the night crying because he had to pass gas, or getting really fussy before he pooped, and slowly his fussiness during the day got much better, too.  I would say it took about a good 3 weeks to see these changes. As a bonus, I dropped that last 6-7 lbs. that were still lingering from pregnancy. I kept up with the diet because it was not only making Parker feel better, but me, too. I have never eaten so clean in my life, and I truly enjoy eating this way, especially once I was able to find more recipes that were "allowed" once I added a few groups back into my diet. 

I slowly started to add things in after about 4-5 weeks on the diet - citrus (surprisingly) was the thing I missed most, so I added that back in. I drink a ton of Spindrift water that has a tiny bit of lemon or grapefruit squeezed into it - it's SO good, better than LaCroix in my opinion! Then, I added in nightshade vegetables, followed by Corn. I did these all slowly and over time to see if Parker seemed bothered by any of these groupings, but I haven't noticed any major discomfort since adding these back in - only an occasional bout of it. 

Now, it's the end of June and almost 7 weeks since I started the diet. I have noticed so many benefits from this diet - Parker's tummy still seems to be feeling much better, I've lost all of my pregnancy weight plus an additional 9 pounds (yay!!), and just feel way healthier. I've kept dairy, eggs, added sugar and gluten out of my diet and will plan to reintroduce them all slowly over time to see how both Parker and I feel.

I will say that at first when I started the diet it was REALLY hard, especially to eat out at restaurants. Like EVERYTHING has dairy in it. I felt really deprived, but now I just feel like I am way more mindful about what I'm eating and the ingredients in everything I am eating. I've also been able to explore new recipes and try things I wouldn't normally, which has been a nice way to add variety. I think what I am going to try and do from here on out is the Whole 30 diet, as it is really similar to what I am currently doing, with the addition of eggs. We have reservations at the new restaurant Bellecour with friends later in July, so I will definitely have a cheat night that night, but hope to keep up with this diet as best I can! 

Here are a few of my favorite resources for this diet:
Elimination Diet: Yes & No Food List
The Guide to Dairy Alternatives 

A few of my favorite products:

• Cherry Pie Larabars - SO good and only have three ingredients!
• My homemade trail mix (Picture below)- made with unsweetened coconut flakes, raw almonds and dried unsweetened cherries - Trader Joe's carries great products for this.
• Toasted Coconut Almond Milk - to use with my coffee, or in smoothies

I also have two awesome recipes I wanted to share, but require you to add back in a few of the food groups in order to eat them - Chicken Tortilla Soup & Citrus Salad

Image Source (I didn't have a good image, so I used a pretty one from Pinterest for this recipe).

​Chicken Tortilla Soup
I was eating over at a girlfriends house for dinner and she made THE best soup, ever! This was before I went on the elimination diet, so I had to wait to make it again until I added back in tomatoes, beans and corn. It is so so yummy!!

• 1 M onion, chopped
• 2-4 cloves of garlic, minced

Saute garlic & onion in olive oil then add:

• 2 C. chicken broth
• 1.5 C. Water
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes

Bring to a slow boil and then add:

• 1 box or pouch of Spanish rice (plus the amount of water instructed on package) - I subbed this item with brown rice instead.
• 2 cans diced tomatoes with chilies
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 can diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning
• 1 can whole kernel corn
• 1 can black beans, drained
• 2 C. shredded chicken (I used a rotisserie chicken)
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. chili powder (add more for additional heat)
• 1 tsp. dried cilantro

Optional: Serve with cheese, sour cream, tortilla strips and avocado.

Citrus Salad
A perfect salad for summer, and paired with white wine. I found this recipe on Jillian Harris' blog, but made a few tweaks to it. 

Salad

• 3 pink grapefruits, peeled and cut into round slices (I used a serrated knife)
• 2 oranges, peeled and cut into round slices
• 2 large ripe avocado, pitted, peeled and sliced lengthways
• ¼ c. thin sliced shallot
• ½ c. cilantro leaves
• 1 c. butter lettuce 

Dressing

• ¼ c. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. lime juice (fresh)
• ½ tsp. sea salt
• 1 Tbsp. honey

​Combine all of the salad ingredients in a large bowl and top with the dressing. Enjoy! 
​

Dessert
Last but not least, I have to allow myself to eat something sweet from time to time because I have a major sweet tooth. During this diet I made "banana nice cream" a lot. It's so simple - all you have to do is freeze ripe bananas (I like to break them into pieces to make blending easier too). Then when you are having a craving, throw 1-2 bananas worth of frozen banana pieces into the blender, add some almond/coconut milk and coconut flakes or cinnamon (both optional), blend - and you have an amazing ice cream-like dessert that is diet friendly! If you look for banana nice cream on Pinterest there are a ton of different iterations too! 

Thanks for reading...sorry this post was novel, there was just so much info I wanted to share! Email me or a leave a comment below with any questions you may have.

Lindsay