Chocolate Zucchini Cake

When your garden (or your fridge) is overflowing with zucchini, there’s no better way to use it than by making this chocolate zucchini cake. It’s a recipe I make every summer, when I’ve already had zucchini noodles, zucchini chips, and zucchini salad, and something really decadent sounds like it would hit the spot. This chocolate zucchini cake is moist and delicious, with a rich chocolate flavor that I can’t get enough of. It’s wonderful on its own, but I like it best with a thick layer of frosting on top. If you want to lean into the green theme, you…

When it comes to food “trends,” I’m usually so late to the game. Chia pudding, smoothie bowls, cauliflower smoothies… I didn’t see any of those foods coming and staying (to be honest the cauliflower smoothie thing still sounds a little gross to me). But matcha… I’ve been loving matcha before it was the cool thing to love. I can’t quite remember the first time I tried matcha. It’s been so long, but it might have been on a swirly soft serve cone in Kyoto. Matcha desserts and matcha lattes are all over the place now, but what I want to…

In case you haven’t noticed, I sort of have a thing for matcha. I know it’s SO trendy… but I personally think it’s exciting to see really great healthy foods become insanely popular. Everyone’s drinking matcha lattes and matcha mochas these days – but now that it’s almost summer, here’s a really simple ice cream treat. This one’s really more of an idea than a “recipe.” I didn’t even bother breaking out the blender to make these milkshakes because in the spirit of our “grab and go” monthly series with Almond Breeze, I wanted to make these simple enough to…

Jack here, bringing you one of the many joys from our Japan travels – matcha ice cream. We had no idea, before going, that green tea ice cream was even a thing. But the minute you walk down the street in any touristy area, you’re guaranteed to see giant fake green soft-serve cones outside of ice cream shops. Seeing something so American and familiar as a giant fake soft-serve ice cream cone, but *green*, was, well, it made me want to eat some. Fast forward through the trip, and Jeanine and I must have eaten 1 cone each every other day. So enough…

We have a new favorite food and it’s not what you think. Well, ok, it is what you think, given that the title and photo in this post have given it away. Lately, I haven’t been able to make it through the Whole Foods checkout line without sneaking a package of those Justin’s white chocolate almond butter cups – have you had them? (This is not a sponsored post, btw).  So I thought – how hard would it be to make them at home? First we tried to make a vegan version w/ cacao butter – total fail. (points for trying…

Hot chocolate always has to come with warm fuzzy memories, doesn’t it? I vividly remember being about 9 – otherwise known as the age when snow was fun. My sister and I would spend hours and hours building forts and making snow angels. We’d come in the house with red noses and leave our snowpants in a puddle at the door (you know, for mom to clean up). We’d sit down to mugs of Swiss Miss hot chocolate, no marshmallows for me. I might not have wintery white Christmases anymore, but here’s my fancy adult white hot chocolate that’s made oh…

I’m not sure if you all noticed, but Jack made his 3rd post a few weeks back. (Check out his Blueberry Smoothie, if you missed it). This guy, I tell you, is crazy about smoothies. If he’s the smoothie king around here, then I am the matcha mistress. But both together? Well that’s just a match(a) made in heaven. (I know, bad pun, I just couldn’t help myself…) If you look at this recipe, you’ll notice that I leave out a common smoothie ingredient: banana. That’s because fresh mango works as a nice thickener on its own, so there’s no…

We’re about to get fresh around here… it’s spring and suddenly mint is taking over my yard. When I was first setting up this little “garden” area of mine, I was warned that mint would trail out of control. To me, this sounded like a delightful problem to have. I mean, is it even possible to have too much mint?! (I’ll have to answer that one for you later). First up: this refreshingly simple mint matcha iced tea. This is obviously not a traditional way to use matcha, but I just love it. Instead of whisking your matcha, shake it up…

Ever since our first trip to Japan, I’ve been obsessed with matcha. Matcha ice cream, matcha doughnuts, matcha smoothies… I love them all, but my favorite way to enjoy matcha is in a creamy matcha latte. The slightly bitter matcha flavor mixes with (in this case) coconut milk to create a perfect creamy flavor balance. Often times, coffee shop matcha lattes are too sweet, which is why I prefer to make my matcha latte at home! What is matcha? Matcha powder is made from ground green tea leaves. Unlike when you drink steeped green tea, you consume the entire tea…

About two years ago, I had this idea that Jack and I could start a food blog together. I thought it would be fun to try new things, and to chronicle our highs and inevitable lows. On my list of foods I thought would be “fun” to tackle: macarons. We both love them… good ones are often hard to find… so by all means we should make them ourselves. Fast forward to now… that macaron project has yet to happen. Mostly because I knew it would likely end in a tantrum and a few tears. Second, and most importantly –…

A few days ago, we took this short little day trip to the land of Matcha. Uji is famous for producing the finest Matcha in Japan since the 14th century. It’s not necessarily a “must see,” but it’s an easy 30 minute train ride from Kyoto and it was just so beautiful. We strolled the little main street, saw a (pretty touristy) tea ceremony, drank some frothy matcha, and had a nice cha-soba lunch.

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