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  • 60 Minutes or Less
  • ABOUT
  • 60 Minutes or Less

  • Lentil Salad with Bacon| Real Food Girl: Unmodified
    Gluten Free,  Grains, Rice, Pasta,  Salads

    Lentil Salad with Bacon

    It’s that time of year.  You know, when the days start to get warmer and out of nowhere an 80+ degree day pops in and dinner time rolls around and you’re like, “Um, no.  It’s not happening. I’m not cooking, uh-uh, no way, no how, it’s too hot. Bleh!”  Tell me I’m not the only one who feels that way on really warm days? I love salads and I have a ton of great recipes written down, but I’ve yet to feature any of them on the blog because my salads feature so many components I’m pretty sure y’all be like “She’s crazy, there is NO way I’m doing all that just for…

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    Kristine Cocchiarella

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    Ridiculously easy lemon curd by real food girl: unmodified|| tart, creamy, amazing!

    Ridiculously Easy Lemon Curd

    September 11, 2014
    Real Food Girl: Unmodified- Decadent Chocolate Pudding with Peanut Butter Whipped Cream

    Decadent Chocolate Pudding with Peanut Butter Whipped Cream

    June 9, 2013
    Classic Tapioca Pudding. Old-fashioned goodness made GMO-Free. This pudding is so good, I ate the entire first batch ALL by myself. No lie, hand to God, it was that good and I snarfed it all down!! Real Food Girl: Unmodified

    Classic Tapioca Pudding

    March 6, 2013
  • Lemon Gems-- Lemon curd filled sandwich cookies by Real Food Girl: Unmodified
    Desserts,  Snacks

    Lemon Gem Cookies

    It’s spring!! It’s been spring for a while here in South Carolina, but I try not to talk about it since they still have snow up in MN where I’m from.  For weeks I’ve wondered why none of my neighbors has opened their windows to air out their homes, let in the lovely fresh air and enjoy the breezes and the singing birds. Then one day when I had the windows wide open and fans blowing, too I discovered that an eighth of an inch of pollen covered every surface of my house inside and out and I’ve been blowing my nose non-stop.  On principle alone, I refuse to shut the windows and…

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    Kristine Cocchiarella

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    Real Food Girl: Unmodified| Cranberry-Coconut Oatmeal Cookies. Chewy cookies with dried cranberries, sweet coconut, tasty organic oats, cinnamon and nutmeg! Yes Please!

    Cranberry-Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

    March 28, 2014
    Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting. GMO-Free--By Real Food Girl: Unmodified

    Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

    August 3, 2013
    Ridiculously easy lemon curd by real food girl: unmodified|| tart, creamy, amazing!

    Ridiculously Easy Lemon Curd

    September 11, 2014
  • 30-Minute Mondays- Pork Milanese| Real Food Girl: Unmodified. Pan fried porky goodness!
    Pork

    30-Minute Mondays– Pan Fried Pork Milanese

    Pan. Fried. Pork. I could leave it at that, post few photos and you’d be salivating while you run to the freezer to see if you have any pork chops you can thaw out. Is there anything better than breaded, pan-fried pork that’s been pounded thin and seasoned just perfectly? Probably, but at the moment I can’t think of anything better. 30-Minute Monday almost didn’t happen this week. Some poor planning on my part left us without the ingredients to make the next dish I had on my list. The recipe, from start to finish took me a wee bit over 30 minutes because I had 8 pork chops to fry (they were…

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    Kristine Cocchiarella

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    A nice departure from a ground beef meatloaf. These are juicy and packed with flavor! Mini Italian Meat Loaves! From #Real Food Girl: Unmodified

    Mini Italian Meatloaves (GMO-Free)

    December 12, 2012
    Real Food Girl BBQ St. Louise Style Ribs on the grill. Juicy, tender, and saucy! www.realfoodgirl.com

    St. Louis Style BBQ Ribs on the Grill

    August 26, 2014
    Pan Seared Pork Chops with Mustard Cream Sauce- Thing of beauty from Real Food Girl: Unmodified

    Pan Seared Pork Chops with Mustard Cream Sauce- (Organic/GMO-Free)

    January 20, 2013
  • Simply Perfect Rice Pilaf by Real Food Girl: Unmodified
    Grains, Rice, Pasta,  Side Dishes

    Simply Perfect Rice Pilaf

    Are you intimidated by rice pilaf so you rely on that “San Fransisco Treat”?  I used to be.  Then I went to culinary school and learned a really easy way to make perfect rice pilaf.  Each grain comes out nice and fluffy, not sticky or clumped together.  I love rice. I could eat rice every day.  The Stud Muffin isn’t a huge fan, but he’s coming around. He does like this pilaf, so whenever I make fish, chances are this rice will be on my plate.   Rice can be flavorless and boring, but this rice is made with homemade chicken stock so it’s definitely not lacking in flavor department.  I have found…

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    Kristine Cocchiarella

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    Real Food Girl Unmodified Guest Posts for Mommypotamus- Risotto alla Milanese with Herbs

    Risotto alla Milanese with Herbs at Mommypotamus

    April 18, 2014
    Real Food Girl Presents: Juggling Real Food and Real Life. Apple Cinnamon Slow Cooker Oatmeal

    Real Food Girl Presents: Juggling Real Food and Real Life

    May 8, 2013
    Lentil Salad with Bacon| Real Food Girl: Unmodified

    Lentil Salad with Bacon

    May 2, 2014
  • 30-Minute Mondays --Maple-Soy Salmon by Real Food Girl: Unmodified
    Seafood

    30-Minute Mondays– Maple Soy Salmon

    One of the things that I love about cooking, and photography for that matter, is that it keeps me humble.  According to The Stud Muffin, I need to keep my ego in check, so he’s pleased that I’ve found things that challenge me and keep me humble.  The reasons that cooking (and photography) keeps you humble is the moment you think you’ve mastered a technique, ingredient, or a certain dish or recipe, something happens, call it misaligned stars, faulty human, bad ingredients, Murphy’s Law, humidity…whatever, but something happens and for whatever reason epic failure doesn’t even begin to cover how badly the end results were.  As a food blogger and someone who develops recipes I…

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    Kristine Cocchiarella

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    Pan-fried Cumin-Cayenne Tilapia by Real Food Girl: Unmodified

    Pan-Fried Cumin-Cayenne Tilapia

    March 14, 2014
    30 Minute Mondays- Crunchy Baked Cod by Real Food Girl Unmodified This fish is SO good!

    30-Minute Monday- Crunchy Baked Cod

    February 24, 2014
    Real & Easy Shrimp-n-Grits. Cheesy grits topped with shrimp, bacon and a spicy cream sauce. Southern Comfort Food. So good!!

    Real & Easy Shrimp-n-Grits

    March 8, 2013
  • Real Food Girl Unmodified Guest Posts for Mommypotamus- Risotto alla Milanese with Herbs
    Grains, Rice, Pasta

    Risotto alla Milanese with Herbs at Mommypotamus

    I’m so excited I can hardly stand it!! I’m waving my hands, and bouncing in my chair and I may have even clapped for joy and squealed a little.  I’m not sure. I just know I’m excited.  Today I’m sharing my Risotto alla Milanese with Herbs recipe over at Mommypotamus. If you haven’t heard of her, Heather is the phenom behind Mommypotamus and she blogs about Real Food, parenting, vaccines, DIY and a whole host of other topics that I know you’ll find interesting. She even has tasty recipes.  Heather reached out asking her fellow blogging community for some guest posts and I thought “Why not?!”  So I sent her this recipe with…

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    Kristine Cocchiarella

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    Organic Chicken Pasta Salad--Real Food Girl: Unmodified

    Organic Chicken Pasta Salad

    August 2, 2013
    Simply Perfect Rice Pilaf by Real Food Girl: Unmodified

    Simply Perfect Rice Pilaf

    April 23, 2014
    30-Minue Monday's with Real Food Girl- Skillet Mac-n-Cheese. Best comfort food at its best!

    30-Minute Monday- Skillet Mac-n-Cheese

    February 17, 2014
  • Real Food Pico de Gallo by Real Food Girl: Unmodified. A fresh, bright, basic salsa recipe.
    Condiments,  Vegetables

    Salsa Fresca

    One of my first posts as Real Food Girl: Unmodified was a Garden Salsa recipe. It’s a favorite in our home and it is as tasty as it is pretty.  But there is a small problem with that salsa post.  The original (recipe) has photos that were taken with my iPhone and when there was no daylight in the kitchen.  The photos just didn’t capture the vibrant colors in the salsa at all.  New photos and an update to the recipe were long over due.  Because spring is here, and fresh veggies are on my mind, I’m going to change the recipe up a bit from the Garden Salsa recipe that is already on the…

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    Kristine Cocchiarella

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    Strawberry Balsamic Black Pepper Jam by Real Food Girl: Unmodified

    Balsamic-Strawberry Black Pepper Jam

    March 19, 2014
    GMO-Free/Organic Onion-Bacon "Jam". You'll eat most of it from the pan before it's done! |Real Food Girl: Unmodified

    Onion Bacon ‘Jam’ (Organic/GMO-Free)

    April 8, 2013
    Balsamic Roasted Tomatoes| Real Food Girl: Unmodified. I have to try these!!

    Balsamic Roasted Tomatoes

    January 29, 2014
  • 30-Minute Mondays-- Onion Bacon Jam Grilled Cheese by Real Food Girl
    Lunches

    30-Minute Mondays–Onion Bacon Jam Grilled Cheese

    Bacon, caramelized onions, Gruyère cheese and golden, buttery, toasted bread. Are you hungry yet?  If not, please have someone check you for a pulse.  Maybe even take your temperature.  Go ahead. I’ll wait.   Pulse?  Good.  Hungry now?  Perfect. I knew probably didn’t hear me mention bacon and melted cheese. For the past two weeks I’ve been working hard on updating some old posts with new photos, and even revamping the recipes enough where I felt it was best to just write a new post and link to the old one for a couple of reasons.  One- we all get to see just how far I’ve come since I started blogging, and two- these…

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    Kristine Cocchiarella

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    Real Food Girl: Unmodified--Citrus Kale Couscous Salad

    Citrus Kale Couscous Salad

    July 29, 2013
    Amazing Italian Salame with Brie, Pesto and Arugula Panini's from Real Food Girl: Unmodified

    Prosciutto, Calabrese Salame & Capocollo Panini’s with Melted Brie, Pesto and Arugula

    August 5, 2013
    Asian Chicken Pasta Salad with Crispy Wontons by Real Food Girl: Unmodified

    Asian Chicken Pasta Salad with Crispy Wontons

    May 9, 2014
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Meet Real Food Girl

Hi! I'm Kristine!

I'm a classically trained chef, who thinks that every aspect of health and wellness starts with food, but I also believe that you need to make room for a slice of cake every once in a while! Join me as I show you how to navigate a realistic and achievable 80/20 Real Food lifestyle, without breaking the bank, losing your sanity, or feeling shame because you can't live up to the "perfection" preached on other Real Food Blogs. Yeah, I went there.

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