This Sunday is the Super Bowl, which I always equate with not only football, but food of course! As a huge football fan, I usually get a little sad this time of the year when the season is winding down and the games are no longer on normal Sunday, Monday and Thursday times. But this year, I only feel a smidge sad because my team, the New York Giants, were TERRIBLE this year & it was often sort of painful to watch them play. Still, as a Giants fan, it's an interesting dynamic to have a Super Bowl game be between the Eagles and the Patriots. On one hand, the Eagles are the Giants' nemesis, and being so geographically close to one another in New Jersey & Philly, it's easy to hate on each other. On the other hand, the Patriots are annoying to anyone not a Patriots fan. Tom Brady is ... [Read More]
Archives for January 2018
The Three Plant-Based Soup Recipes I’ve Had on Repeat
Soup is one of my favorite things to whip up on a chilly day. I know, I know... I live in an area where "winter" is in the 60s and 70s, but we do have mild seasonal changes that make me crave soup. It dips into the 40s at night and carries over into the mornings, so my house gets nice & cool. And occasionally we even get rain in the winter months! When that happens, the news can't stop reporting on it, everyone gets scared to drive as if a blizzard is happening, & it's all very exciting. It's mostly amusing for everyone not spoiled by San Diego weather their whole lives like myself, though last year we did get a few weeks in a row of serious rain that ended the drought we'd had going on for several years. But I'm not going to lie, most of the time it's sunny and ... [Read More]
New York City Magic: Views from One World Observatory, 9/11 Memorial, Wicked on Broadway & Eataly
Growing up, one of my favorite kinds of special family days was heading into New York City to see a Broadway show, then having dinner at an Italian restaurant afterwards. My grandma was a big Broadway lover, and she turned her girls and grandkids into show fans as well. In fact, her car constantly had Broadway show tunes blaring on repeat, & a few of her favorite soundtracks were Chicago and Annie. I hadn't seen a Broadway show in about a decade when my parents gave my hubby and I tickets to see Wicked over Christmas. The four of us drove the hour from my Jersey hometown into the city for a fun-filled day - a very wintery one at that. I think the temperature was 11 degrees, and it was face-numbing cold! First up, we wanted to visit the 9/11 Memorial since my hubby and I ... [Read More]
Iron-Rich Green Superfood Chocolate Mint Smoothie {vegan + gf}
Hello friends! How's everyone doing with starting 2018 on a healthy note? Sometimes for me, it's tough to get back to cleaner eating after I've been splurging while traveling as I did for a few weeks over the holidays. I usually just try to start my reset and take it one day at a time. Making my meals healthy while also delicious is THE KEY to me sticking with a lighter diet. If I was forced to eat the same boring meals all the time, I'd be miserable... That's just not how a foodie is supposed to live! Today's recipe is a super tasty, healthy smoothie that fits in lots of superfoods & nutrients, so we're getting lots of bang for our buck. Made with ingredients like frozen banana, oats, hemp hearts, cocoa powder, and a superfood greens supplement, this smoothie is packed with iron. ... [Read More]
A Dreamy Wine Country Day in Ronda, Spain
"The sun, with... planets revolving around it... can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do." - Galileo One of my favorite days on my recent vacation to Spain was when I went on a trip to the country's southern wine country area of Ronda with Tannin Trail. I absolutely love visiting wine country whenever we can, wherever we are, so it was a no-brainer part of our vacation to venture out of the city to Ronda. Tasting different wines, discovering more about the winemaking process, and learning about wines of the world is so much fun, and I've never met a wine region whose beauty I'm not enamored with. On the morning of our wine tour, Tannin Trail's co-owner Kelly picked us up right on time at our hotel. It was convenient to have ... [Read More]
The Best of 2017: Favorite Recipes, Travel & Fitness
I hope that your 2018 is off to a wonderful start! The beginning of January is a great time to take a breath after the madness of the holidays, and to come up with goals for the year. I also love looking back at the year before and reflecting on my favorite memories, so today I wanted to share my best of 2017. Let's get to it... Recipes. I make these banana oatmeal protein pancakes on a weekly basis. I love them so much because they give me my fancy pancake fill, while still being healthy. {vegan + gluten free} potato black bean soup. This veggie-packed soup made for a hearty, healthy meal! {vegan + gluten free} Healthy muffins remained a go-to snack of mine throughout the year, including these strawberry banana muffins with a cashew crumble. {dairy free + ... [Read More]
