One of the many things I learned recently at the grilling class I took at Premier Grilling in Frisco, TX was how to make an all purpose salt that has herbs, garlic and green onions. You can check our their classes here: Premier Grilling Classes. It has me wondering why I haven't been doing this for the past 15 years?! It's that good. It's a simple process, dries out low and slow in the oven for two hours, and makes an excellent gift. Who doesn't love something delicious and homemade around the holidays?

The salt used is kosher salt. It's a great texture, and one of my favorite for seasoning everything from proteins to pasta water. It's also an affordable salt which is great when you're making a big batch of it for all your friends and neighbors. Fleur de Sel is my favorite salt for baking and it's a bit pricier.

​As for the herbs, you can add anything you like, omit things you don't enjoy or don't have on hand. The ratio is 411, four cups of Kosher salt to 1 cup of garlic and 1 cup of herbs. I made a half recipe and it made enough to fill a half sheet pan and my food processor. If you don't have professional sized oven and kitchen equipment, you'll want to make the half recipe that I have listed below or do it in two batches and use two half sheet pans.

Garlic Herb Salt:
2 cups Kosher salt
1/2 cup fresh garlic cloves
1/2 cup fresh herbs
I used parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, green onions

Preheat your oven to 180F. Rough chop your herbs and remove and woody stems. Place all ingredients into a food processor and process until the garlic and herbs a chopped and everything is well combined. Do not over process. Place the salt herb mixture onto a sheet pan and place in the oven for 2 hours to dry out. You can stir it around a few times during the process. You do not want it to brown. The idea is to dehydrate the herbs and garlic, not roast it. After two hours, remove the pan or pans from the oven and allow the salt mixture to cool. Place the cooled salt mixture back into a food processor and process again to break up any larger pieces. The final texture is your preference or you can get it back to Kosher salt size. Pour into glass jars for storage and gifting!

My obsession with avocados stems from growing up in Southern California. I will take an avocado in any form. I recently brought avocado toast to my Wednesday morning Moms of Preschoolers (MOPS) women's group and a few of the women asked for the recipe. It is so simple that I hesitate to call it a recipe but here it is in all of it's delicious simplicity. You can use any vessel for your "Toast". If you're gluten free or vegan, use your favorite bread products that fit your dietary needs, or consider roasted sweet potato slices, or organic rice cakes, which I happen to love. This recipe can be scaled to any size and I would plan on a third to half of a large avocado per serving. My favorite Everything Bagel Topping is made by King Arthur Flour and is available on their website, or Trader Joes has a great version also. I use it on everything and toast it dry, in a pan on the stove if I am using it on a product that will not be baked in the oven. You can also make your own mix of seasonings.

​Everything Avocado Toast:
Toast of your choice, seedy whole grain bread or GF bread, or organic rice cakes
1 large avocado, ripe but still firm, diced small (1-2cm) or sliced thin
1/2 Meyer lemon (when in season) or fresh lemon, juice and zest
Splash of fresh lime juice, optional
Flaky sea salt, to taste
1-2 tsp Everything Bagel Topping, pan toasted (instructions follow)

In a small bowl, mix the avocado with the lemon juice, zest and optional lime juice.
Lightly toast the Everything Bagel Topping in a dry pan (no oil) over medium-low heat until golden brown. Immediately remove from heat and pan so it does not burn.
Top the toast of choice with some of the avocado mixture, a pinch of flaky sea salt and a generous sprinkle of toasted Everything Bagel Topping. Enjoy!

It's Friyay!!! That means it's time for some fun! Audrey and I love to bake together. Audrey also is about to turn three and has become a bit bossy in the kitchen. I was so excited to discover a product that we can both feel good about. She is in the phase where she wants to do everything herself and that can make baking a challenge when I have to measure everything. Most of my recipes are by weight and while she is learning her numbers she hasn't mastered the patience for a recipe just yet. I'm sure she will in due time. I was so elated when I found Foodstirs Modern Baking Mixes! They are organic! You can read the ingredients and know what is in the box without a science degree. No mystery ingredients, just the good stuff. We tried the Organic Chocolate Chippy Cookie Mix today and it is fantastic! I am so impressed with the product from start to last bite!
The mixes are all vegan and they have tons of ideas on their website of how you can keep them vegan, or you can use organic butter and eggs like we did today. I can't wait to try some more of their products. Foodstirs even has a monthly subscription available for kits that include everything you need to bake up some fun! It is such a great way to get the whole family in the kitchen together. ...more after the pics!

My husband came home around the same time the cookies came out of the oven. He was eager to be a taste taster and LOVED them. The box says it will yield about 24 cookies. We got 23 using my portion scoop after Audrey picked out lots of the chocolate chips before we got started. All around it was a fun thing for Audrey and I to make together and she was so proud and happy that her daddy loved them too! Click on the link below to check out more from Foodstirs and save 20% when you use the code: Love20

Foodstirs offers a line of signature baking mixes: Organic Sweet Tooth Sugar Cookie, Organic Chocolate Chippy Cookie Mix, Organic Brownie Lovers Mix, Organic Brooklyn Brownie Mix, Organic Simply Sweet Vanilla Cake Mix and Organic Frosting Mix. All mixes are vegan and provide great a base to #ThinkBeyondTheBox. From vegan recipes to customization of classic dessert favorites check out their recipe page for inspiration!