How To Make A Charcuterie Board

---

Ambitious Kitchen How to Make a Charcuterie Board (Two Different Ways!)How to make a charcuterie board two different ways! These easy, beautiful charcuterie boards have a meat & cheese focus and a vegan option, and are perfect for the holidays. With a few quick tips and tools you can easily customize them! We’re on the home stretch of holiday season and I’ve been loving seeing [...]
The post How to Make a Charcuterie Board (Two Different Ways!) appeared first on Ambitious Kitchen.
Cookie and Kate Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Fries
Attention: these sweet potato fries will change your life. I’m serious! They are salty-sweet, crunchy, and spicy if you wish. Baked sweet potato fries have been one of my favorite snacks since I first shared the recipe eight years ago.
These crispy fries beat their fast-food fried Russet cousins in simplicity and ease. They require fewer cooking steps because they’re baked rather than fried.

Over the years, I’ve learned a few tricks to make my sweet potato fries even more crispy. Crispy fries or bust!
You’ll learn all of them as you make the recipe, but I’m sharing my top tips in more detail below. Are you hungry for sweet potato fries yet?
Continue to the recipe...
The post Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Fries appeared first on Cookie and Kate.
A Sweet Pea Chef Healthy Gifts For The Holidays (A Healthy Eating Gift Guide!)Interested in gifting something more purposeful than traditional Christmas gifts? This gift guide will help you to select the best gifts for your family members and friends who like to cook and eat healthy. In this gift guide, you’ll find numerous healthy gift ideas including gifts for healthy eaters, gifts for healthy living, and gifts for chefs.

December is here. Which means the Winter holidays are just around the corner. Are you excited? I know I am. And my kids are definitely excited, too.
While I love Christmas and everything it entails including the food part – oh, who am I kidding, that’s one of the most important parts – I know this time of the year can be very stressful. There are so many things to do and so little time. We have plans to make, gifts to buy, errands to run, parties or gatherings to attend or host, food to cook, cookies and desserts to bake, and so many other things to do. That’s hectic. And stressful.
I don’t want you to be stressed or to give up your healthy lifestyle during the holidays and that’s why I share healthy, no fail, and delicious recipes you can prep and cook. But, this year, I decided to do a little more and help you out with some gifts for healthy living.
If you want to make your family and friends a little healthier and happier this holiday season, this gift guide that includes a list of cooking tools, kitchen tools, best cookware, kitchen gadgets, meal prep storage, and healthy pantry staples will definitely come in handy. It will also make your job easier ‘cuz this gift guide includes all the kitchen essentials and kitchen appliances needed by someone who wants to change their lifestyle or who is already on a clean eating journey. You don’t have to spend time researching, you have everything in one place.
So, if you want to surprise your loved ones with purposeful gifts that will make their life easier and healthier, you are in the right place.

GIFTS FOR HEALTHY EATING These healthy cooking tools and healthy kitchen gadgets help me a lot. Some are kitchen essentials that are mandatory in every kitchen while others are just useful tools that can make our lives easier. They are all tried and tested. I know I wouldn’t be able to prep, cook or bake so many healthy recipes without them and that’s why I think they make great gifts for healthy eaters.
I divided this list into 5 categories – meal prep storage, healthy kitchen gadgets, healthy cooking tools, best cookware for healthy cooking, and healthy pantry essentials. There’s definitely something for every preference and budget in this gift guide so all you have to do is select your favorite healthy gift ideas and add them to your Christmas gift shopping list.
Sound good?

MEAL PREP STORAGE I’ll start this gift guide with meal prep storage because I truly believe the key to a healthy lifestyle is planning and meal prep. Meal prep storage is definitely an awesome healthy gift idea. And you have a few options:
Airtight containers – you can opt for glass or plastic. I prefer glass containers but plastic ones are good too. Airtight containers are definitely a MUST in any kitchen and, in my experience, the more airtight containers you have the better so they definitely make great gifts for healthy eaters. Besides the classic airtight containers, you can add mason jars to your list. Some meal prep is stored better in mason jars including jar salads, smoothies, salad dressings, homemade lemonade, and overnight oats.Airtight containers for storing dried goods are great as gifts as well. And you can find so many amazing ones. I particularly love this canister set that is perfect for storing coconut sugar, flour, and other pantry essentials.
HEALTHY KITCHEN GADGETS I love my kitchen gadgets. They make cooking so much easier and they are totes amazing as gifts for healthy living. Granted, kitchen gadgets are more expensive than other kitchen tools and they take up a lot of space. They are great gifts but make sure you gift them only to people you know very well so you can make sure they need them and they have the space for them.
Veggie spiralizer – I have this one that comes with various attachments. It’s perfect for making healthy pasta (hello zucchini noodles, sweet potato, beet, and carrot pasta) but it’s great for salads too. If you are curious what a spiralizer can do, check out my spiralizer guide. I use my blender to make smoothies, cakes, sauces, meal sides such as homemade gravy and other healthy meals and treats. Owning a blender is amazing and I think everybody should have one. Food processor – this kitchen gadget is another one I couldn’t live without. I use it to make breadcrumbs, to crush almonds, to make peanut butter, and to puree cauliflower and pumpkin. Slow cooker or instant pot – both are amazing and easy to use. And both can make cooking so much easier. Plus they make everything taste better and they make meal prep very quick. I don’t know about you but I use my grill year round. I have the Weber Spirit Grill and I love it. If a grill is out of your budget but you know someone who owns a grill and loves to use it, you can opt for grill accessories. Digital thermometer – a useful tool in general but particularly good for those who do not have a lot of experience in the kitchen. Many foods require blending – whether it’s soups, sauces or desserts we’re talking about. An immersion blender is great to have around. Check my immersion blender recipes to see all the things you can do with it. Kitchen scale – a kitchen scale is a gift for healthy eaters because it helps during the cooking process for precision but also for portion control.
HEALTHY COOKING TOOLS Off to healthy cooking tools now. We have all the kitchen essentials here including cutlery, utensils, and other useful kitchen tools.
Food Prep Set
The kitchen tools I can never have enough of are:
mixing bowls; measuring cups or measuring glasses; measuring spoons. To be fair, there is a lot of cooking going around in my kitchen every day. That plus testing new recipes. So clearly I need many mixing bowls and measuring spoons all the time. However, these kitchen essentials are great in any kitchen. And a food prep set that includes all these kitchen essentials makes a great gift for healthy eaters.

Set Of Knives
A set of knives is another great gift for chefs or people who love to cook. The chef knife is the most important one but having a good bread knife and paring knife is also great. And you can include knife guards and a knife sharpener in the knives set to make the gift even better. If you want, you can add cutting boards too – extra large or smaller ones.

Cooking Tools
These cooking tools are not only kitchen must-haves that are used all the time but they are also versatile and they can be used for many, many things. Good quality kitchen tools make a great gift, peeps.
potato masherwhiskvegetable peelerfine mesh strainercan openerkitchen scrapercolandergrater
Kitchen Utensils
I don’t think I have to tell you why they are important but I can tell you that they do belong on your healthy gift ideas list. I recommend silicone utensils because they are safe to use in all types of pans, pots, and skillets, are very easy to clean, and they look very cool.
spoonsspatulastongsBEST COOKWARE FOR HEALTHY COOKING Anything cookware and bakeware makes great gifts for healthy eaters and that includes pans, casseroles, and cast iron skillets.

Best Cookware
large skilletomelet pancast iron skilletsaucepanA skillet set is great for pretty much anyone since they can use it to meal prep all kinds of food. If you know someone who needs one of these pans, don’t have second thoughts and get one for them.

A stock pot makes a great gift too. It’s great for steaming veggies or boiling pasta. The Dutch oven braises meats in the oven and makes flavorful meals. Casserole dishes – perfect gifts for healthy eaters because they are great for large batch meal prep.
Best Bakeware
Baking sheet pan and a cooling rack – perfect bakeware pair but the baking sheet pan is also great for roasting veggies in the oven and for other healthy recipes. That’s why I think these 2 make great gifts for healthy living. Loaf pan – for healthy breads and other healthy recipes. Pie plates – awesome gifts for healthy eaters because it will allow them to try homemade pies which are, obviously, the best pies. Muffin tin – no one says no to muffins because healthy muffins are always a good idea. Having a muffin tin is amazing because they are versatile and can be used to make so many different types of muffins.
HEALTHY PANTRY STAPLES To start and to keep eating healthy one needs to make sure their pantry is stocked with the right pantry staples. The healthy pantry staples. I included these pantry staples in this gift guide because I believe helping someone to stick to their healthy eating habits is a great gift.
We have 5 categories in this pantry staples sections – oils, sweeteners, dried goods, spices, and herbs. Plus some suggestion to transform them into awesome gifts for healthy eaters.
Oils
Oils can be expensive. Especially the healthy ones. To make oils into great gifts for healthy eating, you can make:
An olive oil basket that includes extra virgin olive oil, flavored olive oils, balsamic vinegar, and spices. A coconut oil gift basket that includes extra virgin coconut oil and a mix of dried goods and spices for baking. Sweeteners
These healthy sugar alternatives can be paired together in a basket and gifted to someone who wants to explore the wonders of healthy baking and healthy eating.
pure maple syrup raw honey coconut sugar
Dried goods
You can gift these healthy pantry staples in healthy baking baskets paired with the sweeteners I listed above or in a healthy cooking basket paired with spices and olive oil.
whole wheat flour quinoa rolled oats protein powder nuts and seeds unsweetened dark cocoa powder
Spices
Spices are a great way to add flavor to healthy meals and they make great gifts for those who want to explore the aromas of different cuisines. You can create an American mix, an Italian mix, a Mexican mix, an Asian mix or a seasonal mix, such as pumpkin spice.
Here are my favorite spices:
sea salt ground black pepper ground cumin garlic powder chili powder paprika ground ginger cayenne nutmeg cinnamon cloves Dried Herbs
Dried herbs are just as important as spices since they can easily change the flavors of food. For gifting, they can be paired with the spices to create seasonal or cuisine mixes.
The herbs I recommend:
basil oregano rosemary bay leaves thyme 3 FAVORITE HOLIDAY RECIPES I know this is a gift guide but this post wouldn’t be complete without my favorite holiday recipes. Not to mention these are actually very good gifts for healthy eaters. Edible gifts are great in my opinion particularly during this time of the year when so much cooking is required.
HOMEMADE CRANBERRY SAUCE This delicious and easy Homemade Cranberry Sauce is perfect for the holidays. It’s my favorite side dish BTW.

Made with only 4 ingredients – cranberries, raw honey, orange juice, and orange zest, this Cranberry Sauce is so flavorful and yummy you won’t be able to tell it’s refined sugar-free. Get the recipe.
QUINOA PEANUT BRITTLE The classic Peanut Brittle got a makeover and turned into Quinoa Peanut Brittle. It’s healthy peanut brittle, friends!

No refined sugar, no corn syrup, and butter required to make the crunchy, chewy, sweet and salty Quinoa Peanut Brittle.  Get the recipe.
HOW TO MAKE PUMPKIN PUREE Learn How to Make Pumpkin Puree and never use the canned pumpkin puree again.

Homemade Pumpkin Puree is better than the canned version – it has more texture, a sweeter taste, and a better flavor. Plus it’s super easy to make so there’s no reason for not making it. Get the recipe.
 
This post contains affiliate links for products I use often and highly recommend.
The post Healthy Gifts For The Holidays (A Healthy Eating Gift Guide!) appeared first on A Sweet Pea Chef.

---