Foodwhirl Page for Rawls

Granny’s Chocolate Bar Cake

 This cake is my Grandmother’s recipe and we always had it for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but it’s Easter and it’s also my man’s birthday and I needed to bake a cake for the party.  He’s a chocoholic and I knew this cake would fit the bill.   I’ve never made it before, but I know all too […]

Indian Spiced Eggplant

I love Indian food!  The flavors are always interesting and most times it’s prepared in a healthy way.  In fact, one Indian spice that’s usually included is Turmeric, known for it’s anti-inflammation properties.  The active ingredient in Turmeric is curcumin and scientists are discovering that it is beneficial in the treatment of many different health […]

Spiced Pecan Butternut Squash Bread w/Yogurt Cheese Frosting

You may notice, that I’m not one to go making up new recipes from scratch, but I do love to take someone else’s recipe and take it off on a tangent that I consider healthier or just because I don’t have whatever ingredient is called for – aka improvising.   Sometimes it turns out that that’s […]

Butternut Squash Lasagna

We’re taking a couple of days off for the holidays, so we’re running a few old posts from when we first launched back in February! -ed As much as I’d like to take credit for this one, I have to confess that I saw it on TV….  Get Fresh with Sara Snow.  I just love […]

Using Agave Nectar in Recipes

by Rawls Agave Nectar is a natural sweetener made from the Agave plant (Agave plants also give us Tequila). It is similar to honey, though many prefer the taste of agave.  It is sweeter than sugar, yet has a low glycemic index so is a sweetner that can be used (in moderation) by diabetics and those […]

Penne Pasta with Cream, Pesto and Tomatoes

(originally published June 2010) I’ve been experimenting with selling herbs at the local farmers market recently and the one that seems to sell the best is basil.  I always seem to sell out early.  So this last market, I took double what I normally take and guess what….. I didn’t sell it all.  I did […]

Muscadine Wine Poached Pears

[Originally published 2-18-2010] I had beautiful Bosc Pears in my organic produce box this week and decided to try some poached pears.   One of my favorite cookbooks is Clean Food by Terry Walters and I found a poached pear recipe there that I adapted to what I had on hand.   We make our own Muscadine Wine […]

Beet_Salad_With_Goat_Cheese - gaia's greens
Beet Salad with Goat Cheese

This is an excellent salad recipe that I posted at my Gaia’s Greens website a couple of weeks ago when we had beets in our organic produce boxes.    It is quickly becoming a favorite in my house!!    The combination of flavors is just perfect and it’s fast and easy to make.   So many people avoid beets […]

Fresh Squash 2 Ways

Our 2010 crop is in full swing with yellow and zucchini squash topping the list of most prolific.    In spite of the fact that we’ve eaten squash with almost every meal for the last week or so, I still love it and am always looking for new ways to prepare it.   I decided to test […]

Panela Pecans

Yesterday after a fun-filled 4th of July celebration, I came home and sat down to put my feet up and watch the new Cooking channel.  I had recorded the Indian Cooking show and thought I’d see what they had prepared.    They were featuring  curries, which I love and will prepare some day this week (stay tuned!), […]

When to buy organic?

Some of us who are organic snobs would say “always”, but we all know that buying organic all the time, while honorable, is just not always feasible.    If you have one of the big organic stores near you, lucky you!   If not, consider alternatives such as seeking out an organic co-op, CSA, farmers market or local farm.  Otherwise, you […]

Georgia Shrimp and Grits

I grew up in South Georgia and we frequently had both shrimp and grits at the same meal, but I didn’t have shrimp on top of my grits until I was much older.  I’ve played around with this recipe for a while and make it different ways, but I ran across a recipe that I liked […]

Vegetable Stir Fry with Orange Ginger Sauce

“All of these vegetables need to be eaten before they go bad!!”  Sound familiar?  We went to visit my man’s parents for Mother’s Day and had just gotten my organic produce box the day before we left.   I contemplated taking the whole box with me, but it wouldn’t have fit in the overhead compartment, so […]

Healthier Apple Crisp

Editor’s Note: Classic recipes like this one –updated for today’s world– make a great Mother’s Day Dessert! I’ve been testing all of this organic produce for my new business, Gaia’s Greens, and had an abundance of apples that I wanted to use in a dessert.   Recently, I’ve had the heart wrenching chore of cleaning out […]

Seafood Sausage Penne Pasta

I found this seafood sausage when I was shopping at one of my favorite stores, Trader Joe’s, the other day and decided to combine it with some vegetables and penne pasta.   A while back, I went to a restaurant with a friend and had this great penne pasta & sausage dish, and ever since I’ve […]

Vegetable Pasta Italiano

I just love a meal I can throw together in a few minutes.  This is super easy and makes use of prepared organic marinara sauce.  I’ve tried it with all kinds of pasta sauces and you just can’t go wrong.   I add veggies to it and prefer to leave them chunky, but my sister always “hid” the […]

Easy Italian Bruchetta

Many of you know that I have an organic produce business, and I also coordinated AND had a booth for my business at the Fayette Co. Earth Day Festival here in Georgia.   I sell a great Marinara Sauce through my business and had it at my booth at the festival.  I also had fresh organic herbs […]

Coleslaw

Here’s some trivia for you:  The term “coleslaw” arose in the 20th century as a partial translation from the Dutch term “koolsla”, a shortening of “koolsalade”, which means “cabbage salad”.   In the US, most coleslaw is made with a mayonaise-based dressing, but this is a recipe that has been a favorite in my family for […]

Traditional Deviled Eggs

One of the things I love about Easter is eggs!   And what better to do with hard boiled eggs than deviled eggs.   We are going to an Easter/Birthday Party today and this is one of the dishes I’m taking.  Everybody loves deviled eggs and I’m sure they will disappear quickly!   These will be great alongside […]

How to Cook Greens……for St. Patricks Day!

Ok, I’m from the South, what can I say…. I love greens!   I got Kale in my Gaia’s Greens box last week, and Collards this week so it was time to cook up some greens!  And then when I realized it’s almost St. Patricks Day and Greens are, well….Green, I knew for sure that this […]

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers

You know it’s really hard to do a bacon recipe when you don’t eat bacon!   It’s not that I don’t like bacon, I really love it!  But about 5 years ago, I somehow became allergic to all pork, beef and lamb, so bacon had to be struck from my meal plans.  No BLT, no bacon […]

Festive Potato Salad

You just can’t beat homemade potato salad with BBQ!    I had several organic potatoes from my Gaia’s Greens CSA box and needed to use them before they started growing in my kitchen, and as the Universe would have it, I also needed a side dish to take to a cookout yesterday.   This potato salad made […]

Enchilada Dinner
Arriba! Arriba! It’s a Mexican Fiesta!

I started making this recipe right after Thanksgiving last year when some friends gave us a smoked turkey for Thanksgiving.  We had lots of leftovers and while I love turkey, a little smoked turkey goes a long way with me.   My sister-in-law told me she had made enchiladas out of hers and I started looking […]

Sangria with Fresh Fruit
Sangria with Fresh Fruit

Sometimes it’s best to have something other to drink at a Mexican Fiesta than Margaritas and Cervezas, especially when you have a bunch of wine drinkers on the guest list.   This sangria is super easy to make and goes fast, so make plenty! Sangria 2 bottles red wine (I use an inexpensive blend of Malbec & Cabernet) 3 […]

Salsa & Guacamole for the Fiesta

No Mexican Fiesta is complete without Salsa, Guacamole and chips.    I really don’t care much for the salsa that comes in a bottle or jar, and prefer pico de gallo, so I make my own.   It tastes so much fresher and doesn’t contain all those preservatives and other junk they throw into the bottled kinds. […]