Ok so if you guys follow me on twitter, or have seen my instagram or facebook page in the past week, then you know that I tried my hand at making the now-famous “No Knead Bread” in my dutch oven. The “no-knead” bread craze started 6 years ago. (Before I was even interested in making bread at ALL mind you). The small amount of ingredients, and very little handling time quickly made the bread one of the most popular things to make if you really liked “artisan” bread, but weren’t too keen on the high price tag.

Now I have made bread before. You can check out my post Homemade Bread for Dummies to get that recipe.

This is not that bread.

For those of you not as bread savvy, no-knead or “dutch oven” bread as it’s sometimes called is soft on the inside, with a heavy crispy crust. It’s the kind they put in the bread basket at higher end restaurants. The kind of bread that tastes amazing when you dip it in olive oil or spread with hummus.

Every year people go nuts during the holidays, often starting the next year with a host of stress and health-related problems. Not to mention broke. Well here are 15 simple tips that will help you get through the holidays like a sane person and keep you out of the poor house to boot.

1. Prioritize – You don’t have to be at every party or buy absolutely everyone you know a gift. Stop trying to keep up with the Joneses. (You’ll be bankrupt and they’ll still be annoying). Decide ahead of time the people who are worth your time and money. Or if you are having a hard time paring the list down, let your budget dictate who will get the expensive bottle of wine. Your Boss? Sure. Your neighbor? Not so much.

One day for lunch, I pulled out carrots, celery and some tortilla chips I had made and was shocked to find that I was out of hummus. . So I rummaged through the cabinets and found a can of cannellini beans. Then I poked around the web until I found this recipe, and doctored it up a bit. It’s quick, easy, packed with protein and gave me something to dip my veggies in!

A few months ago I found a recipe for chocolate mug cake. For those of you who are new, it’s basically a single serving of chocolate cake that you make in your microwave in under 5 minutes for those must-have chocolate days. Well, I was under (the mistaken) impression that single serving meant low-calories and boy was I wrong! The average mug cake recipe (with it’s 1/4 cup of flour and 3 tbsps of oil) usually rounds out to about 730 calories! Now that’s fine, if you’re willing to make four servings out of it, but me? Nope. When I get hit with a chocolate craving it hits hard. So I set out to find a way to make my favorite quick and easy dessert low calorie without sacrificing taste. I think this one turned out pretty well!

One chilly Saturday morning, I got it in my head that I wanted to have scones for breakfast with tea. However, I really didn’t feel like walking down to the corner café, and paying $5 for a scone the size of my head. (The fact the whole endeavor would require a level of dressing, coat-wearing and shoe-finding that I had no interest in performing didn’t help either). So I did what I usually do. I hopped on the web until I found a recipe that matched the ingredients in my fridge. After a bit of futzing, I altered something I found and came up with this. Enjoy!

I was in a hurry the other morning and lamented the fact that I really wanted a smoothie for breakfast. I also hadn’t gotten much sleep and I really needed some coffee, and then this happened…

I’m always looking for recipes that can make enough to last more than one day, something vegan for Sexy, or can be eaten over more than one meal. This is all three! I adapted this from a recipe I found on allrecipes. This corn bread isn’t dessert sweet, but it’s definitely not bland either. Now, some purists might say that corn bread should never be sweet.

I disagree.

But, for those of you who subscribe to that point of view, feel free to decrease the sugar in this recipe.

This is a great weeknight dish to make and is simpler than you think! It’s basically a rice and bean dish served in bell peppers. The whole thing takes little over an hour to make, and only 35 minutes if you’re using pre-cooked rice!

I found this recipe over at Post Punk Kitchen (love her!) It comes out really moist and yummy and Sexy can’t get enough of the stuff. The only change I made is I used Earth Balance vegan shortening instead of margarine. This is a great way to get rid of those spotted bananas on your kitchen counter.

I swear you won’t care that there’s no butter or eggs in this!

Last month, my good friend and “green twin” Yoli Ouiya contacted me. She’s one of the new hosts over at DeliciousTV and she wanted to use my kitchen. The kitchen in our Brooklyn brownstone often gets used for shoots and I always love it when other people cook, so of course I accepted. The DeliciousTV folks were nice enough to ask me to do a couple of mini-segments with Yoli too!

This episode you’ll learn how to make Stuffed Zucchni Blossoms with Truffle Oil. (It sounds complicated, but it’s really easy, who knew you could cook with flowers?)