cheese

Strawberry Arugula Salad with Watermelon and Feta

This healthy strawberry and arugula salad recipe with a simple balsamic vinaigrette dressing gets even sweeter with watermelon that’s topped with feta cheese and nuts.

Strawberries. Watermelon. Arugula. Feta.

Sweet. Sweet. Bitter. Tang.

This super simple arugula salad with fruit and a quick balsamic dressing melds so perfectly together it creates a total flavor explosion. It’s smooth, it’s crunchy, it’s fresh, it has bite. And it lets every one of your senses know that baby, summer is on its way.

During spring and summer, I bet I make a version of this strawberry and arugula salad with watermelon, feta cheese and nuts at least once or twice a week. I LOVE the ying and the yang of the flavors and textures. Shockingly, the other two in our trio of a family didn’t get the fruit-in-salad-loving-gene.

Since meal time it’s a democracy in at 0ur house, when I say fruit goes in salad, this democratic (?) Queen (that’s me!) gets her way every time. And guess, what? Thanks to repeated exposure, my king and my princess have seen the light and converted to fruit-in-salad-lovers too.

All hail the Queen! (Still, me.)continue to the recipe… about Strawberry Arugula Salad with Watermelon and Feta

Greek Cobb Salad

This Cobb salad with a twist loads all of my favorite Mediterranean salad ingredients plus the best Greek marinated chicken ever into one savage salad to make a complete, healthy meal in one big bowl.

This Greek Cobb salad is like the Woodstock of salads, bringing so much to one place to deliver peace, love, and joy with a trancelike glow that makes an incredible memory for anyone who experiences it. And just like Woodstock, you too will have wished you’d been there to eat it even if you didn’t.

I heard back from so many of you on my email list where I shared this healthier turkey sausage pasta dinner, when you answered my question, do you want more healthy recipes? The answer was a resounding, YES! like this reply from reader Ann, who wrote:

“Hi I would love any help cooking delicious meals “heart healthy”. I must live a low sodium diet/low fat/etc.., but I miss all the yummy comfort foods I loved. Any help would be appreciated!!”

I admit, this mediterranean Greek Cobb salad may not be everyone’s idea of typical “comfort food”—aka fried, buttered, and gooey-leyed cheesed—but to me, anything that shines with my favorite mediterranean flavors is a comfort to my taste buds—and a whole lot healthier too.continue to the recipe… about Greek Cobb Salad

Healthy Caprese Breakfast Sandwiches

Healthy breakfast sandwiches you can make fast at home can be the saving grace when you don’t have time to eat at the start of your day.

This recipe is brought to you by Dave’s Killer Bread

We’ve all lived in that split-decision moment of choosing whether to make your healthy breakfast at home, or say there’s not enough time and instead do the drive thru cruise to pick up a bagel and coffee or a not-always-so-good-for-you breakfast sandwich on the go.

The thing is, you can totally have the best of both worlds.

Breakfast sandwiches don’t have to be exclusive to the drive thru and are one of the easiest solutions to your morning meal dilemma—and a healthy one at that.

Whether it’s a make-ahead freezer breakfast sandwich, egg and avocado toast on the fly, or an egg sandwich cooked in the microwave, breakfast sandwiches made at home (or at the office) are the quick and easy way to get breakfast on the go.continue to the recipe… about Healthy Caprese Breakfast Sandwiches

The Best French Onion Soup

This traditional French Onion Soup recipe has a rich, decadent broth loaded with caramelized onions and topped with everyone’s favorite part: the toasted bread and melty cheese.

Rich and Delicious Homemade French Onion Soup

If there’s one soup I absolutely cannot resist, it’s french onion soup. I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to F.O.S., so don’t bother with that watery broth or get stingey with the onions. And please, make sure that cheese is plentiful and melty and creates a serious cheese pull.

As an expert french onion soup taster, I’ve narrowed down my very most favorite versions. There’s that one from that French Bistro in San Francisco, and the one I first had when I was probably 11 or 12, shopping with my mom at Trolley Square with lunch at The Pub, now known as Desert Edge Brewery, where they still serve a very good version. I seriously thought I had hit adult hood with our special lunches out.

But my new number one favorite French Onion Soup is from Nordstrom Café Bistro. It’s where my mom and I usually stop for a bite when we go shopping together, which in all honestly is actually our excuse to get this french onion soup. I loved it so much after eating it so many times that I asked them for the recipe, and surprise, surprise, they said yes. It’s now replaced my original french onion soup recipe here on the blog because it really is so much better.continue to the recipe… about The Best French Onion Soup

Easy Creamy Au Gratin Potatoes

When your main dish recipe needs a decadent side dish side kick, there’s nothing like a creamy, thyme-infused cheesy au gratin potatoes recipe to do the job, and to do it easily too.

Au Gratin Potatoes Recipe

There are few side dishes that are more comforting than those made with potatoes. Creamy mashed potatoes. Buttery parsley potatoes. The best potato salad ever. Smashed, twice baked, and roasted potatoes, and so many more.

But au gratin potatoes hold a special place in my food loving heart. They’re creamy, cheesy, and no matter how you slice, spoon, or stack them, they fit in just right alongside both special occasion main dishes or simple weekend burgers.

Creamy on the inside with crisped bites along the edges, these au gratin potatoes don’t call for a floured roux or canned soup, instead letting the potatoes, cream and broth combine to do their creamy thing they do so well.

And here’s the final fact of this potato act…whether you make au gratin potatoes for a crowd of one or a crowd of many, they’re going to be a crowd pleaser every which way.continue to the recipe… about Easy Creamy Au Gratin Potatoes

Just Like Taco Bell Tacos Recipe

Forget the drive thru, this is how to make a beef tacos recipe that tastes just like Taco Bell tacos for an easy Taco Tuesday dinner at home any night of the week.

You Quiero Taco Bell Tacos

“So, where did you have lunch today?”

It’s pretty much the same question I ask my husband every day. I mean, there’s only so much stimulating conversation to be had when documenting our day to day after all these years of marriage. And pretty much every day for the past 20 years he has the same answer. “Taco Bell.” If he was a guy who was into tattoos, it’s likely he’d have, “Yo quiero Taco Bell” emblazoned somewhere on his body.

And I have to say, I can’t blame the man for loving his tacos, because say what you will about fast food—I’m not much of a fan—but Taco Bell tacos are pretty much the cat’s meow when it comes to drive thru Mexican food.

I blame my mother in law for creating my man’s Taco Bell taco obsession. Because my MIL makes the best homemade beef tacos ever, and while it took me a while to realize it, one of the reasons they are so good is because they taste eerily similar to the beloved Taco ala Bell.

Years ago I ditched my own taco recipe in favor of hers, and today I’m finally sharing the secrets to these homemade tacos that make them taste so good they could very well curb your drive thru habit too.

continue to the recipe… about Just Like Taco Bell Tacos Recipe

50 Favorite Mediterranean Diet Recipes

The Mediterranean Diet has been named 2019’s diet of the year, and this list of 50 breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes makes it easy to add more of the Med-inspired lifestyle to your weekly meal plan.

The Best Diet of 2019

Just as we were setting our sights on eating better with the New Year, US News and World Report came out with their standings of the best diets to follow for 2019, and for the first time, the Mediterranean Diet took top honors. CNN reports the diets were ranked on: “how easy it is to follow, its nutritional completeness, its ability to produce short-term and long-term weight loss, its safety and its potential for preventing and managing diabetes and heart disease.”

Unlike many of the trendy, silver bullet diets that are at the bottom of this year’s list and you see everyone jumping through hoops to try (and ultimately bail out on), the Mediterranean diet is a centuries-old lifestyle for long-term health and wellness instead of a quick weight loss fad that never seems to really last.continue to the recipe… about 50 Favorite Mediterranean Diet Recipes

Vegetable Lasagna with Butternut Squash and Shiitake Mushrooms

I’ve been making this easy vegetable lasagna for years. It’s layered with a smooth butternut squash puree, shiitake mushrooms, a creamy white sauce, and melty cheese to make an irresistible layered lasagna noodle you’ll love digging into.

This recipe is brought to you by DeLallo Foods

It’s not even Christmas yet and I’ve already been looking toward the new year and listing out a few of the goals I plan to hit next year.

One of the biggies in my new year goal making sessions is to eat more meatless meals. It’s easy for me to do for breakfast and lunch, but where I tend to run into a road block is when I make meatless dinners because that’s not exactly my husband’s idea of a meal. But I’ve found it’s a whole lot easier to convince the family to join me on my veggie train when I’m serving dishes like this vegetable-loaded lasagna where nobody ever misses the meat.

I used to make this vegetable lasagna every.single.year when I hosted the volunteer holiday party for my fave animal rescue, where everything had to be served vegetarian. We were an animal rescue, not an animal eatery.

So did anyone (aka my husband) miss the meat? Not a chance! Why not? Because this Italian dinner recipe is completely delicious! That, and the layers of cheese don’t hurt to convince any doubting Thomas too.continue to the recipe… about Vegetable Lasagna with Butternut Squash and Shiitake Mushrooms

How to Make an Instagram-Worthy Charcuterie Board

Charcuterie boards loaded with all the antipasti snacks have taken over the internet. Here’s my tips for how to make your meat and cheese plates Instagram-worthy, along with a special treat for all to share.

This post is brought to you by DeLallo Foods

‘Tis the season for…charcuterie boards taking over the internet.

Whether it’s a spur of the moment gathering for cocktails and fellowship, or a full-blown party to deck the halls and the tree, a meat and cheese board is the easiest appetizer to pull together fast, and it’s always sure to please.

But how do you make your charcuterie board totally delicious, and at the same time a totally impressive image to show off to all your Instagram friends?

These are my tips for building the best charcuterie meat and cheese board platter that’s almost too good to eat. And I do mean, almost…

But first, I have a treat for you!continue to the recipe… about How to Make an Instagram-Worthy Charcuterie Board

Vegetarian Crockpot Lasagna Soup

This crockpot lasagna soup is like a deconstructed lasagna made in an Italian tomato broth full of vegetables with a creamy dollop of a three cheeses mixed in.

This recipe is brought to you by DeLallo Foods

Vegetarian Crockpot Lasagna Soup

If you’ve found yourself trolling Pinterest there’s a pretty good chance you’ve seen the meaty stove top version of this easy vegetarian lasagna soup floating around. And there’s a perfectly good reason for that.

Because it’s so dang good!

I’m very much into giving my favorite comfort foods a different spin to make them brand new again. And when it comes to lasagna, I have a couple of recipe twists on this classic Italian comfort food up my sleeve, or at least, in my recipe box.

This time around, a healthy change-up to everyone else’s lasagna soup was in the works.continue to the recipe… about Vegetarian Crockpot Lasagna Soup

Kale Salad with Cranberries, Apple and Cheddar Cheese

This easy, healthy, delicious kale salad with cranberries, sliced apples, sharp white cheddar cheese, and crunchy sunflower seeds is massaged tender with a maple syrup sweetened apple cider dressing for a savory and sweet salad everyone at the table will love.

A Delicious Kale Salad that Doesn’t Taste Raw

Kale has easily become one of the most healthful ingredients in salads today. The health benefits of kale and the virtues of eating this superfood raw—like in salad—are many, including being one of the most nutrient dense foods around. Besides being high in fiber to help you feel full (and regular), every 1 cup of raw kale providing nearly 3 grams of protein and contains more vitamin C than an orange.

With stats like that, you really can’t ignore kale’s super delicious super powers any longer.

This easy kale salad is one you can make up any night of the week, yet it’s pretty enough to add to any holiday dinner table.

But even better, because kale likes to sit and soak in it’s dressing and still hold it’s leafy shape, this kale salad is awesome for the buffet table or to take to potlucks, too. In fact, the last photo in this post is from when I pulled it straight from the fridge and into a bowl to eat for lunch 2 days after I made it.

Now that’s a trendy salad that stands the test of time.continue to the recipe… about Kale Salad with Cranberries, Apple and Cheddar Cheese

Arugula Salad With Shaved Parmesan Three Ways

The fresh bite of this arugula dinner salad with a simple lemon dressing and shaved Parmesan is made three ways for three easy salad recipe ideas to go with any dinner’s main course meal.

Choosing a main course dinner idea is pretty easy to do. But when it comes to rounding out the meal with some extra plant nutrition, it can add another layer of what-to-make-wondering to your meal planning.

That’s why I depend on a few simple recipe ideas for side salads and dressings that are easily customized to dress up or dress down, depending on what extra ingredients I have on hand.

That’s why this easy 5-ingredient arugula salad recipe with big flakes of salty parmesan is often where I get my start.
continue to the recipe… about Arugula Salad With Shaved Parmesan Three Ways

Easy Couscous with Sun-Dried Tomato and Feta

This easy 5-ingredient couscous recipe combines the Mediterranean flavors of sun-dried tomatoes, green onion, toasted pine nuts and feta cheese for a healthy 10-minute side dish.

This recipe is brought to you by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

Mamma Mia! Here we go again! Literally.

We don’t need many excuses to eat good Greek or Mediterranean food at our house, but when we can make a themed night of it, it’s even that much more fun.

So when I was asked to create a recipe that ties into the DVD release of Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again Sing-Along Edition (yes! more Abba to sing along to while I cook!) it was just another reason to get the party started.

continue to the recipe… about Easy Couscous with Sun-Dried Tomato and Feta

17 Friday Night Homemade Pizza Recipes to Make This Fall

Pizza is the ultimate gathering food, and these 17 homemade pizza recipes are the best reason to forget all about delivery and make yours at home instead.

Raise your hand if you love pizza. Anyone? Everyone? YES, indeed, everyone! Ok, good.

It seems like Fridays are a popular pizza-prep night, but then come the weekend there’s all the football games, and then Sunday turns into Monday and how easy is it to whip together a homemade pizza pie to cure those Monday night blues?

Pizza fits into every day.

Pizza is universally appealing, and not just because we’re all trying to capture the perfectly Instagrammable cheese pull. (BTW, have you seen the new Instagram-worthy pizza pop-up museum for us perfectly crusty diehards?)

It’s the ultimate delivery vehicle for innovative flavor combinations, complimentary textures, and beyond-infinite varieties suitable to any diet or taste preference—and season.

That’s why I’ve put together this list of pizza night faves for fall, plus a few FoodieCrush favorites that’ll make you forget all about dialing up to order your delivery-style pizza, and make it at home instead. continue to the recipe… about 17 Friday Night Homemade Pizza Recipes to Make This Fall

Easy Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo (Instant Pot or Stove Top)

This easy Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo recipe is a classic one-pot meal made even faster in the Instant Pot pressure cooker (or on the stove top) for a comfort food dinner that’s ready in just 30 minutes or less.

Silky, Saucy, Easy Chicken Alfredo Recipe

I’ve finally felt a brisk bite in the air. Oh, why, hello October! I’ve yet to make the jump from t-shirts and flip flops to down coats and scarves, but layering is definitely a part of my current wardrobe.

It’s what I like to call hoodie weather. Which in my cooking world translates to comfort food.

I’ve not yet fully committed to the long braise I love so much in colder months, but my Instant Pot is totally getting a workout. And because you’ve asked to see more pressure cooker recipes here on le blog, I’m sharing this simple, silky, saucy, super easy Chicken Alfredo Fettuccine.

This Chicken Alfredo recipe comes together fast. The chicken and noodles are cooked together with the cooking liquid becoming a creamy sauce you could slurp through a straw. It’s incredibly easy to create whether you have an Instant Pot, or want to use the stove top instead.

And just like a zippered hoodie, it’s a simple classic, too.continue to the recipe… about Easy Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo (Instant Pot or Stove Top)

30 Super Savory Salads to Make In September

This list of savory salads that make a meal will have you eating salads every day of the month, all year long.

Summer may be coming to a close, but don’t give up those greens just yet.

I get it, I get it. It can be so hard to give up those warm summer days spent peacefully relaxing or jam-packed with awesome activities. And now that school’s back in session, and there’s a hint of chill in the morning air, it’s easy to fall into a ho-hum meal rotation, or start snacking on lunch box leftovers.

Stop in the name of love for salad!

This is the most bounty-ous time of year to take advantage of all the seasonal harvest favorites. Take your pick of kale, squash, apples, sweet potatoes, and so much more in this monthly roundup featuring 30 days of sumptuous salads that are a full meal in themselves, or an enticing side to any healthy dinner.continue to the recipe… about 30 Super Savory Salads to Make In September

Mozzarella and Tomato Caprese Flatbread

This caprese flatbread recipe is an easy way to take advantage of the best of the season’s fresh tomatoes, basil, and of course mozzarella, making it the perfect appetizer bite or as an easy vegetarian dinner.

Head to the farmers market this time of year and you’ll see everyone around freaking out over the bulbous beauty of the heirloom tomatoes and just-off-the-vine-still-warm-from-the-sunshine beefsteaks.

I think they’re lovely too. But my fave tomato this time of year are the sweet cherry tomatoes I can pop straight in my mouth like candy.

Awwwww, who am I kidding? I love these baby tomatoes any time of year.

A few weeks ago I photographed the new winter menu of one of my favorite clients, Deer Valley Resort in Park City, UT. If you haven’t yet been to Park City and Deer Valley, it’s a destination to put on your bucket list, not only for winter skiing, but truly any time of the year.

This time around we shot photos for the new menu items for their low-key bar and restaurant The Brass Tag. But where does that name come from? Back in the day aka around 1890, the silver boom was huge in Park City and local miners would hang a brass tag before entering the silver mines to work. When the day was done, if there was tag still hanging on the board, it was time to start a search for the miner. Think of it as the low-tech GPS system of yesteryear.

This easy to make caprese-style flatbread pizza was just one of the items we shot that day, and after looking at it through the lens, and then taking a bite (okay, maybe more), I knew it was something you guys would love to make at home.

continue to the recipe… about Mozzarella and Tomato Caprese Flatbread

Stuffed Zucchini Hasselback Pepperoni Pizza Style

Stuffed zucchini takes on a whole new look when it’s cut hasselback-style then stuffed with pepperoni pizza fixins’ for an easy, healthy, all-in-one 6-ingredient meal or pull-apart appetizer.

For most every backyard farmers the question isn’t how to grow zucchini, it’s what to do with it all once the harvest begins. These guys are prolific!

So what are some ways to use up all that zucchini? Stuffed zucchini is likely one of the first recipes on your idea list.

But how about this…how about we make the method even simpler and forgo the scoop and hollow method and simply slice these bad boys hasselback-style instead?

They’re ripe for the stuffing, so let’s get slicing.

continue to the recipe… about Stuffed Zucchini Hasselback Pepperoni Pizza Style

Caprese Pasta Salad with Garlic Marinated Tomatoes

This easy caprese pasta salad recipe steeps cherry tomatoes in a garlic-infused oil that becomes the dressing over any type of pasta with sliced mozzarella, capers, lemon, and basil making it a healthy potluck recipe that’s perfectly ripe for brunch, lunch, or a dinner everyone will love.

This is a re-do of one of my favorite tomato pasta salad recipes I published my first year of blogging. I’ve been making this caprese pasta salad on repeat ever since the clock struck summer, but it’s very likely that many of you haven’t ever even seen it, and that’s a darn shame because it’s just too good to miss.

So after looking at it so many times already this summer, I thought it could use a refresh. And so here it is once again, with a spit shine, some new photos, and a video to show you easy it will be for you to make it too.

I’m a huge fan of summer’s fresh tomatoes, especially when my garden starts producing my beloved cherry tomatoes I pop straight into my mouth like candy. So back in August of 2011 when I spied this recipe on the Martha Stewart Living cover peeking over the others on the grocery store rack, there wasn’t a question whether the issue would be coming home with me.

And that’s why this salad has been in my summer recipe-making-repertoire ever since.continue to the recipe… about Caprese Pasta Salad with Garlic Marinated Tomatoes

Healthy Homemade Egg McMuffin

Grab and go breakfasts can be the saving grace of any weekday morning. The eggs in this homemade Egg Mcmuffin sandwich recipe can be batch cooked in the oven, on the stove top, or in the microwave, and make eating a healthy breakfast your easiest decision of the day.

This recipe is brought to you by Kroger

We’re all guilty of it. The alarm blares at some ungodly time of the morning (no matter what time it is) and our first reaction is to fumble about and emphatically hit that snooze button for just.10.more.minutes.of.I.NEED.MORE.SLEEEEEP.

And that my friends is how you your morning time table suddenly becomes irrevocably out of whack. So what’s the first thing to go in your morning routine? Breakfast.

You think to yourself as you hustle out the door, “I’ll just grab something later,” or “Here honey, just eat this pop tart,” and load everyone into the car and buckle up for your day.

But that muffin/bagel/donut you impulsively picked up as your cruised through the drive-thru with your grande skinny latte is loaded with sodium, fat, and calories? Where’s the skinny or the healthy in that? Or worse, you don’t grab anything at all so you overeat at lunch. And your kid finds herself starving thanks to those empty carbs before 1st period is even over.

That’s why having a stash of make-ahead breakfasts ready to run out the door along with you is the secret to your morning’s success.continue to the recipe… about Healthy Homemade Egg McMuffin

How to Make an Awesome Antipasto Salad Platter

Making a salad for a crowd doesn’t get any easier than adding all the antipasto toppings like olives, pickled veggies, artichokes, pepperoncini, salami, salumi, prosciutto, pasta and mozzarella balls to a big pile of lettuce for an Italian salad everyone will love.

This recipe is in partnership with DeLallo Foods

Antipasto is known as the first course of the Italian meal. It’s the time to get a nibble of olives and pickled peppers or a bite of cured meats and cheeses, and to prepare your belly for the feast about to come.

What I love about this Antipasto Salad Platter is it bridges the gap between that appetizer course and the salad course, for a more relaxed vibe that mixes all my favorite tastes together, and can easily be made into a meal all its own.

And when you serve this salad family-style in the middle of the table, everyone can add “just a little more” to suit their taste and their appetite, creating a more festively communal way to share.

continue to the recipe… about How to Make an Awesome Antipasto Salad Platter

Red White and Blue Watermelon Blueberry Fruit Salad

Juicy watermelon, sweet bursts of blueberries and crunchy jicama dressed with a simple honey and lime dressing make this red, white, and blue salad a favorite worthy of all the fireworks all summer long.

This is a guest post from my mom. We wrote together while on a family vacation in the iconic epicenter of the USA, Yellowstone National Park in 2013 and I’m giving it a little update today. Back then I was pondering what to write about this tasty Red White and Blue Salad, and so my mom helped me brainstorm what to write. She’s good that way.

I think she pretty much summed it all up, so I’m writing it verbatim, from mom’s mouth to daughter blogger’s post. She’s my biggest cheerleader, and in every way she can, makes my job as a blogger that much easier.

Take it away mom.

continue to the recipe… about Red White and Blue Watermelon Blueberry Fruit Salad

Truffled Mushroom Pizza

A simple mushroom and cheese pizza gets an upscale twist with truffled mushrooms and a light arugula salad topping one of the easiest homemade pizza doughs you can make.

I’m pretty sure we can all agree that pizza is the quintessential meal. It crosses all boundaries and pleases people of all ages and gender. And with nearly every culture cultivating its own version of the classic pizza pie, it doesn’t matter if you’re a drunk at 2 a.m. college student, a family ordering it for Friday night, or a high society maven who serves it as a dainty appetizer, if you like food it’s likely you’re a pizza pie fan.

Making pizza at home is one of life’s simple pleasures. At home you have complete control of what tops your pie and make it your choice to keep it super simple, or load on all the fixins’. Mushroom and cheese pizza is always a favorite of mine. I like to keep my pies simple, but simple certainly does not mean boring.

Sure, I like my mushroom pizza topped with simple ingredients, but I like my ingredients fancied up with an upscale twist.

Say hello to my truffled mushroom pizza.

continue to the recipe… about Truffled Mushroom Pizza

Asparagus and Mushroom Frittata with Goat Cheese

Frittata egg breakfasts are usually a meal to share, but this two-egg, single-serving recipe packed with fresh asparagus, mushrooms, green onion and a sprinkling of goat cheese is the perfect way to enjoy a quick and healthy breakfast idea for one.

When I used to hear of people making frittatas, it sounded so glamorous, so exotic. It was a recipe you’d save to serve for company at a languid weekend brunch with mimosas and sunshine. Sure, frittatas can be exactly that. But they can also be one of the quickest, easiest breakfasts for one you’ll make all week, and that’s why a version of this ingredient combo hits my breakfast table at least once or twice a week.

When I started making frittatas for breakfast it was entirely by accident and purely because as a distracted multi-tasker who put my standard scrambled egg combo of asparagus, mushroom and green onion to cook on the stove, then started doing the dishes, and promptly forgot all about my eggs.

And so when I turned around I was happily surprised to see there was a sight to behold, a puffy mass of softly souffleéd egg cooking gently away in my pan.

This egg scrambling “mistake” wasn’t the first time I’d made a frittata (this one is SO GOOD!) but it is the one that made me realize this frittata-making situation just might be the easiest, hands-off way to make a fresh and fast, healthy grab-and-go breakfast each and every day of the week.

continue to the recipe… about Asparagus and Mushroom Frittata with Goat Cheese

Beyond Easy Chicken Mole Enchiladas

This super easy, no-cook, homemade mole sauce is made from scratch, and gives regular chicken enchiladas a delicious twist for a super fast Mexican dinner to meal prep or even throw together for a quick and easy weeknight meal.

I recently heard about a study that reported that no matter how many recipes they have on their Pinterest wish list or the dog eared in their favorite cookbooks, the home cook generally makes the same 15-20 recipes over and over and over again.

Now, on one hand, this limited recipe strategy can be a bonus, because:

They’re recipes you know you and your family will eat.
They’re proven recipes that work.
Since you’re familiar with them, there’s no time wasted leaning into a recipe learning curve.

But on the other hand, those recipes can get you totally get stuck in a rut. And who wants to be the boring cook in the kitchen anyway??!!

Today’s recipe is a hybrid of one of my go-to recipes to cook (enchiladas) with a twist (mole sauce!), because:

It’s totally familiar = enchiladas. Approachable = chicken. But with the addition of just two ingredients to regular enchilada sauce, this recipe gets serious brownie points for uniqueness.
When they’re as easy to make as these, enchiladas are pretty much impossible to screw up.
All you need to know about these babies is how to use a blender, an oven, and how to roll with the best of them.

How to Make Mole Enchiladas

Because mole sauce isn’t found at most ordinary Mexican American restaurants, many people aren’t familiar with it which leads to the most popular questions about mole sauce: what is mole made of and what does mole taste like?continue to the recipe… about Beyond Easy Chicken Mole Enchiladas

37 Easy Healthy Breakfast Recipes to Jumpstart Your Day

What’s the best thing to eat for breakfast? All the good things! This roundup of 37 quick and easy, healthy and delicious breakfast ideas will give you all the sustenance and energy you’ll need to keep you going all day long.

When the alarm goes off in the morning, rudely interrupting your peaceful slumber to alert you it’s time to get going, breakfast is likely the last thing on your mind.

But it should be.

Food is fuel, and after being asleep all night, we need a major refill come AM. It’s time to get the energy we need to be alert and power through our day (with a little nudge from our friend caffeine, of course).

Whether we eat breakfast or not, and what that meal might be determines how we’ll feel for the next several hours — dazed and confused, or energized and ready to slay the day. We think we’ll take the latter.

But let’s be real for a minute. We admit, we’re not always on top of our breakfast game, especially on hectic mornings as we wait out traffic. On other frenzied mornings, it becomes something we sacrifice all together for five more minutes of sleep. And as delicious as those few extra z’s may be, they’re nowhere near as delicious as a hearty breakfast burrito or a piping hot bowl of oatmeal with all the fixins.

We know we can do better, we just need a little inspiration and a game plan.

Even if you’re not a morning person, with a bit of planning, it is possible to hit the snooze and have your breakfast, too. And if you’re not a breakfast person, we bet you will be after browsing through these easy, healthy, and totally tempting recipes.

So let’s rise and shine with this list of yummy brekkies!

How to Make an Easy Breakfast On the Go

We all have mornings where we’re lucky if we can get out the door on time, and with matching socks no less. On mornings like those, breakfast tends to get demoted to the bottom of the priority list, or something that escaped our attention entirely.

That’s where these dishes come in.

You can whip them up on the fly, and some can even be prepped the night before, so no matter how early your AM wake up call, you can just grab and go!

Microwave Egg Caprese Breakfast Cups from FoodieCrush

5-Minute Pesto Arugula Breakfast Sandwich from A Couple Cookscontinue to the recipe… about 37 Easy Healthy Breakfast Recipes to Jumpstart Your Day

Arugula Salad with Pesto Shrimp, Parmesan and White Beans

This Mediterranean-inspired arugula and pesto shrimp salad is not only super simple to prepare ahead of time for lunch, but because you can meal prep it straight from your pantry and freezer, it’s incredibly easy to make on the fly, too.

This recipe is brought to you by Kroger

Breakfast. It’s the most important meal of the day.

Dinner. That’s when families come together.

But lunch? Ugh. Who has time to actually make and enjoy lunch?

Preparing a healthier, real good, real food lunch instead of grabbing your mid-day meal at the drive-thru or the food court—or worse, skipping it all together—is probably one of the biggest hurdles of completing our goals of a healthier day.

Because who hasn’t totally derailed their plans of “this week is the week I’m totally going to stick to the plan” and suddenly the day’s in-between-gaps get filled, appointments and projects and schedules and commitments all roll over and blanket one another, and it’s just that much easier to pick up some lunch instead of make up some lunch.

This is exactly why getting into the habit of shopping ahead of time for your weekly eating plan, adding a few quality ingredients to your freezer and pantry, and doing a bit of easy meal prep at the beginning of the wekk is more important than ever. Because is can all be in the plan, man!

Real Food Ingredients

A big part of my product choices are those that are part of my real good, real food eating plans. Whole foods with minimal or no processing, no added antibiotics, and great, fresh, quality is key. But only at a price point I feel good about.continue to the recipe… about Arugula Salad with Pesto Shrimp, Parmesan and White Beans

17 Recipes to Make with Leftover Ham

From ham and bean soup to ham fried rice, these 17 irresistible leftover ham recipes are the perfect way to put those smoky Easter leftovers to good use.

If you’re lucky enough to find yourself with leftover ham this Easter (this is one of my favorite recipes), that means spring pastas, soups, fried rice, and more are just a bite away. Of course it takes a whole lot of restraint not to just channel our inner caveman and snack on the remaining ham straight off the bone — the porky goodness is just way too tempting.

Baked hams are a celebratory food. Since we tend to make them for holidays and special occasions, they’re typically not something we have on a regular basis, so when we do, we know there’s a wealth of yummy ideas for repurposing that ham are at our disposal.

From classic split pea soup made in the pressure cooker, to gussied up grilled cheese, these round-two leftover ideas are so good, they’ll give your holiday ham dinner a run for its money .

So let’s carve in, shall we?

Pressure Cooker Split Pea Soup with Ham from Skinnytastecontinue to the recipe… about 17 Recipes to Make with Leftover Ham

Peach Panzanella Salad with Burrata and Bacon

This recipe is not your classic, traditional Italian or Greek panzanella salad, because with sliced sweet peaches, savory bacon, and gooey burrata crunched with sourdough bread chunks and dressed in an easy to make golden balsamic vinegar dressing, this healthy-ish salad goes well beyond the regular old panzanella each and every meal of the day.

Here we are, just three days into spring, and I’m already counting down the days to summer. That would be 72 if you’re wondering.

It’s not the hazy, lazy summer days lounging at the pool I’m waiting for (although that IS always on my summer happiness list), it’s the food I’m craving now. After a winter of simmering soups and savory stews, this girl is ready for the fresh, bright colors of salads of every color. And if it said salad has even a hint of caprese salad fixings—which I classify as a salad that includes some sort of mozzarella dressed in olive oil and balsamic and topped with basil—I am so 100% all over it.

It’s just one reason why I stopped dead in my flipping-the-pages-tracks while perusing the new cookbook of one of my favorite friends, then swiftly scoped my pantry stock for golden balsamic vinegar, checked on my countertop basil plant to be sure it hadn’t expired due to dehydration (those babies dry out fast!), and then headed straight to the grocery store for three loves of my foodie loving life: peaches, burrata, and bacon. Okay, make that four loves, with sourdough bread too.continue to the recipe… about Peach Panzanella Salad with Burrata and Bacon

One-Pot Penne Pasta with Turkey and Spinach

30-minute, one-pot pasta meals recipes that are healthy, tasty, and easy enough to make any night of the week make me look a whole lot just like this → 💃💃💃 because guess what?

You many think because I’m a food blogger, I’m in the kitchen every day, whipping up recipes so that I never have to think twice about what’s for dinner. But the reality is that most days I’m NOT cooking, and when I suddenly realize that it’s not just 5:00 somewhere…it’s 5:00 RIGHT HERE…I panic. Because if I haven’t taken the time to think ahead and do a bit of meal prep, just like my teenager, I’m left wondering what’s for dinner, too.

See, I’m betting I’m a lot like you. A gal who is always juggling my roles as a spouse, mom, daughter, sister, friend, business owner, mentor, volunteer, and wanderer-of-the-aisles-at-HomeGoods-deal-shopper as I continually work on finding the right balance so that my own needs don’t get lost in the shuffle in this circus act called life.

The saving grace? Simple, healthy, bold-flavored, all-in-one meals like this one-pot pasta that don’t require a bunch of hard-to-find ingredients or have too many steps. And bonus points go to the recipe if I can scavenge my pantry for most of it. continue to the recipe… about One-Pot Penne Pasta with Turkey and Spinach

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