Brussels sprouts mash with roasted garlic and mustard - great side dish for Thanksgiving! | in my Red Kitchen #thanksgiving #recipe #thanksgivingdinner #spruitjesstamppot
by Ellen Bannink -

Brussels sprouts mash with roasted garlic and mustard

Brussels sprouts mash with roasted garlic and mustard - great side dish for Thanksgiving! | in my Red Kitchen #thanksgiving #recipe #thanksgivingdinner #spruitjesstamppot

– Click here for this recipe in Dutch -> Spruitjesstamppot met gepofte knoflook en mosterd –

These past weeks I like to go to the Farmers Market on Sundays. Leaving the house quite early (for a Sunday, and especially for us), taking the baby in the stroller and have breakfast at the market itself. And buy fruit and vegetables for the coming week of course. Always following the seasonal offerings. After buying the vegetables it’s time to meal plan for the week and go out for the rest of the groceries.

And almost every week I buy a bag of

Zucchini noodles with crispy chickpeas, vegetarian and low carb! | in my Red Kitchen
by Ellen Bannink -

Zucchini noodles with crispy chickpeas

Zucchini noodles with crispy chickpeas, vegetarian and low carb! | in my Red Kitchen #glutenfree #vegetarian #lowcarb #carbfree #zoodles – Click here for this recipe in Dutch -> Courgette noodles met krokante kikkererwten –

Can’t stop won’t stop… I’m really into zoodles right now, or zucchini in noodle form. A súper healthy alternative to spaghetti or noodles, because duh, it’s green and it’s a vegetable! Is there anything more healthier to eat?

Well then… Just sayin’…
P is currently working super hard, the last two weeks he’s came home around midnight on weekdays. They’re serving dinner at work, so I just eat at home all by myself. I don’t mind, time to eat things I like which he hates. Blue cheese for example, it’s very tasty to melt that in a skillet and add zucchini noodles. I could eat that every day!

What is also nice of a husband who’s working overtime,

Socca with za'atar parsley pesto | in my Red Kitchen #glutenfree #pizza #chickpeas #socca
by Ellen Bannink -

Socca with za’atar parsley pesto

Socca with za'atar parsley pesto | in my Red Kitchen #glutenfree #pizza #chickpeas #socca – Click here for this recipe in Dutch -> Socca met za’atar peterselie pesto –

If you’re looking for me, I’m doing a happy dance in the kitchen next to the oven where I’m making this delicious socca. “Huh? Socca?” I hear you think!

A socca is a kind of pancake made of chickpea flour that you bake in the oven. The origin of the socca (or “farinata”) is

Roasted squash with gorgonzola, mushrooms and apple | in my Red Kitchen #fall #fallfood #pumpkin #squash
by Ellen Bannink -

Roasted carnival squash with gorgonzola

Roasted squash with gorgonzola, mushrooms and apple | in my Red Kitchen #fall #fallfood #pumpkin #squash – Click here for this recipe in Dutch -> Gevulde pompoen met gorgonzola –

The last few days weren’t as hot anymore as it was last week in LA. Ok still a really nice temperature, but no heat wave anymore. Now I could finally prepare the carnival squash I received from Frieda’s. Because believe me, if it’s so hot, I have absolutely no desire to turn on the oven, let alone to eat squash.

I didn’t grow up with pumpkins and only

Zucchini noodles with baked ricotta, such a healthy dish! | in my Red Kitchen #glutenfree #pasta #zoodles
by Ellen Bannink -

Zucchini spaghetti with baked ricotta

Zucchini noodles with baked ricotta, such a healthy dish! | in my Red Kitchen #glutenfree #pasta #zoodles – Click here for this recipe in Dutch -> Courgette spaghetti met gebakken ricotta –

I can’t believe I haven’t even told you yet about that one Friday night that I had to take P to the ER. But fear not… he has been walking around again!

It happened in the evening at 9pm, we were preparing the guest room and we had just received a new internet modem. I was in the bedroom and P was busy connecting the modem in the living room. Suddenly I hear him

Noodles and snow peas with goma dare dressing | in my Red Kitchen
by Ellen Bannink -

Noodles with snow peas and goma dare dressing

Noodles and snow peas with goma dare dressing | in my Red Kitchen – Click here for this recipe in Dutch -> Noodles met peultjes en goma dare dressing –

If I want to do my husband a favor than I have to serve him snow peas. And preferably raw. I try to eat them raw myself sometimes, but alas… I really wish I like them, so I can snack raw snow peas instead of potato chips or chocolate 😉

But however, I like them stir-fried! Fortunately, because there were beautiful purple snow peas in the box I received from Frieda’s this month. I had to be quick because once P would see that there were snow peas in the fridge, I would lose them, and

Oven baked fries with peanut sauce and mayonaise. This Dutch 'patatje oorlog' is the best! | in my Red Kitchen
by Ellen Bannink -

Oven baked fries with peanut sauce and mayonnaise

 

Oven baked fries with peanut sauce and mayonaise. This Dutch 'patatje oorlog' is the best! | in my Red Kitchen

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a Dutch recipe. And here I am, giving you Dutch junk food which you don’t normally make at home 😉

Our recent trip to Amsterdam totally inspired me to share this recipe with you. I didn’t grew up with going out for dinner (so maybe that’s why I enjoy it so much 😉 ) but on weekends we sometimes got some take out food! There wasn’t much choice, it was either Chinese food or fries, frikandellen and bitterballen from the so-called ‘snackbar’.

Dan dan noodles, you had me a spicy peanut sauce! | in my Red Kitchen
by Ellen Bannink -

Dan dan noodles

Dan dan noodles, you had me at spicy peanut sauce! | in my Red Kitchen

– Click here for this recipe in Dutch -> Dan dan noodles in een pittige pindasaus –

You will probably not believe me but I had my first driving lesson when I was 28 years old; and 6 months and 26 lessons later I got my driver’s license. In the Netherlands this is quite fast, but when I tell this to my American friends they are all surprised. In America (or at least in LA), you need 6 hours of driving lessons to do the driving test. In the Netherlands I “only” had to spent €1.500 on my driving lessons, written test and behind the wheel test. In LA the costs are much lower, we only had to pay $33 for our Californian license. That includes 3 times a written test (if you fail, you can do it 2x on the same day to succeed) and 1 behind the wheel test. If you fail the second behind the wheel test costs… hold on… $6!

If you are over 18 then you basically don’t need driving lessons to complete the tests and from 16 you can drive with a temporary license (then you’re under the supervision of your parents). If that’s the case, you need 30 hours of theory lessons and you have to spent 6 hours of driving lessons behind the wheel.

by Ellen Bannink -

Sweet potato and black bean quesadillas

Sweet-potato-quesadilla-1-inmyredkitchen On Mondays  -after a scrumptious weekend filled with brunches, cocktails and grilled chicken- I’m always craving healthy foods. Kale, quinoa, sweet potato, lentils, chickpeas, avocado, black beans… you’ll name it and I’ll eat it.

I start my week with juices, smoothies, green tea and salads and on Friday that’s slowly transforming into fried eggs, waffles, ramen, caffe lattes and pizza. It’s all about balance right?