Courtney's Counter
I’m a self-proclaimed lover of food and food nerd. Louis, and family travel experiences.
What I am hoping to bring with Courtney’s Counter is easy and healthy recipes suitable for busy weeknights, reviews of all types of restaurants (mostly St.
01/11/2024
Highly recommend afternoon tea at the in downtown Denver! Absolutely delicious plus live piano music, attentive staff, and lovely atrium setting!✨
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23/10/2024
Visited Denver and was excited to visit and try their epic la roulette stuffed croissant pastries!! This was the matcha cheesecake flavor and it tasted as good as it looked! They had so many epic creations.🤤 plus the is so cozy and filled with high quality vendors. We went twice!
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16/09/2024
This ✨vegan Caesar salad with crisp chickpeas✨from 🤌🏼 (also, I added some roasted cauliflower!)
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30/08/2024
I’m in love with the ✨Mother Earth Bowl✨ with tofu from 💚
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15/08/2024
One of my favorite treats on our Greece trip: Portokalopita (orange phyllo cake) 🍊🧡
📍 is an incredible restaurant bar on the beach with sun beds!
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12/08/2024
✨pork souvlaki in pita✨one of the tastiest eats on the Athens Food Tour with
📍 Agia Irini Square location, Athens, Greece
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30/07/2024
We will miss daily breakfast at our beautiful hotel the ♥️ tables right on the water with an incredible view and excellent staff. Plus, the spread was delicious. I’d always get a cappuccino, and plate with yogurt, spinach pie, & energy bar.
📍Chania, Crete, Greece
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24/06/2024
feast! Loved everything especially the tacos with sunflower taco meat and their trademark skinny fries 🙌🏼
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02/06/2024
The best cake! Plus, a pretty plate and fresh flowers ☺️💐
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25/05/2024
Looking for delicious plant-based meals in ? We loved and their shouk burger with tomato jam, pickled turnip, arugula, charred onion, creamy tahina🥰🌱
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19/05/2024
Epic Hello Kitty and Cinnamoroll sugar cookies for my daughter’s birthday party!! They tasted just as amazing as they looked💖
📍 Vanilla Sugar Bake Shoppe
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05/05/2024
is an absolute must whenever I’m in DC! 🫶🏼I mean, look at this spread. Also, peep the seasonal apricot pistachio cake which was divine. (this time I visited the Capitol Crossing location. Plenty of indoor and outdoor seating, too)
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22/04/2024
New fav tofu-veggie-grains meal for busy weeknights. Tofu is air fried at 400 for 20 min for crispy edges but, first, tossed with an combo: coconut aminos, “the blend” which is garlic/pepper/salt, and nutritional yeast. I’ll share the full recipe soon. Also, my old tofu press stopped working so I bought the press and have been loving it.
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01/04/2024
My new favorite thing: “the works” oat milk soft serve from ! (Yes, they are known for their salads and they were amazing! I loved the umami crunch salad with an epic edamame hummus and gochujang vinaigrette!)
✨pictured: “the works” Matcha & Thai basil vanilla swirl with toasted rice, sesame nougatine, smokey almonds, and miso caramel sauce✨
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26/03/2024
Recently spent spring break in a lovely (solar powered!) explorer cabin at 🏞️ and nightly s’mores at the fire pit by our cabin was a highlight! Also, Reese’s s’mores 💯
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20/03/2024
Thoroughly enjoyed at the 🫶🏼There were also a lot of yummy eats including:
🎾 pepperoni pizza from
🎾 passion fruit shrimp ceviche from
🎾 Coachella forever salad from (and .kombucha 👏🏼)
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10/03/2024
Tofu veggie rice bowl with a delicious nutty/cheesy/curry sauce 👏🏼 for this bowl I did air fryer tofu and roasted veggies with the quinoa+brown rice. Sauce recipe is linked in bio.
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10/02/2024
Lunar New Year feast 😋🐉✨🎉
Top: Singapore Noodles and Sticky Rice Chicken Shumai
Bottom: delectable pasty assortment (don’t make me pick a fav) and strawberry matcha boba
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07/02/2024
I don’t know how I eat any other avocado toast. Loved every bite! Also got a delicious Kazandibi (caramel) latte- half sweet with oat milk- that was fantastic✨
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29/01/2024
My oldest kid and I made some pumpkin oat muffins recipe via 😋 we made a few subs including using coconut palm sugar, almond milk, and 1/4 cup egg whites. We added some pumpkin spice baking chips to the top, of course!
https://kodiakcakes.com/blogs/recipes/pumpkin-oat-muffins
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30/12/2023
Delicious tea and banana/coconut cookies in the relaxing spa heaven 😌✨
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20/12/2023
Elite salad crafting skills 👌🏼from
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15/12/2023
coming thru with this house baked ham sandwich 🙌🏼 I also had their chicken noodle soup which is the best!
30/11/2023
.stl was featured in best new restaurants in the US and well deserved! Pictured is the ✨isaan hamachi✨with coconut naam pla, thai kosho, & candied garlic. One of my favorite dishes!
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26/11/2023
catering for our daughter’s brunch birthday party! We had all the tasty things including an epic pastry platter (muffins, scones, and mini poptarts🥹), breakfast burritos, and overnight oats topped with stewed apples, almond butter, house granola!
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About Me
Hi, I’m Courtney. I’m a self-proclaimed lover of food and food nerd. I hesitated to put out another “foodie” blog because I don’t identify with the non-inclusive or over-indulgent type where the recipes are only for James Beard winners or stacking 10 burger patties with fried mac and cheese is acceptable just because it looks intense. Not that I’m totally against these things, (I mean I would eat a pancake the size of my head) but know the practicality of being a “foodie in real life”.
By lover of food, I mean that I’m genuinely happy when in my kitchen cooking or baking and have such fond memories of food and spending time with family. Growing up, my working mom always had a warm meal on the table and my late-grandma was my food idol in terms of everything from her kitchen was amazing and seemed effortless. When I was about 10 years old or so, my grandma did loan me her sugar cookie recipe and it won first-place at the county fair. And, I can still picture my late-grandpa sitting on a stool in their garage frying up some catfish that he caught to pair with the rest of the meal my grandma would throw together. I can’t forget putting on “cooking shows” for my little baby sister where I would serve her tea aka water with Smarties candies floating in it – ha! Such good memories!
In my twenties, with just my husband and I to feed, I would try a new recipe every night! It was a bit much, but fun to me! I would page through copious amounts of cooking magazines and read food blogs religiously. During that time, we also lived in major agriculture area of California where our food habits and lifestyle really took shape focusing on fresh, healthy ingredients. One of my favorite places was a little café that focused on organic food with their own farm, they even made their own kombucha and almond milk, and this was several years ago when it wasn’t a complete trend.
Nowadays, back home in St. Louis with a growing family and a new full-time day job, my magazines collect dust and my Feedly reader is filling up faster that I can keep up with. You’re more likely to find me trying to sneak in an episode of Netflix’s Chef’s Table or The Great British Baking Show while on the elliptical. Since we lead an active lifestyle, I turn to uncomplicated and healthy options (trying to keep it adventurous) when feeding my family and on the weekends we like to explore how exciting the food scene in St. Louis is becoming. What I am hoping to bring with Courtney’s Counter is easy and healthy recipes suitable for busy weeknights, reviews of all types of restaurants (mostly St. Louis. Is it weird that I love looking at menus? I also love and appreciate excellent hospitality and ambience), and travel experiences focusing on food and family friendliness.