It's Friday! This calls for a celebration in the form of a pizza party.... ....a pizza pocket party that is! Pizza pockets are like a cross between a slice of pizza and a calzone... except calzones are known to be humongous, and pockets have perfect built-in portion control. These guys are also more neat & tidy to bring to work as leftovers than pizza. First, we take a precooked whole wheat pizza dough to rest on the counter coated in some flour. You can be an overachiever and make your own dough, but truth be told, I most often take the easy route and buy dough from the farmers' market or my local grocer. Next, we chop and sauté some garlic, onion and broccoli. Once cooked, we combine the veggies with the mozz and ricotta cheeses, then add in some salt, pepper and lemon ... [Read More]
healthy dinner ideas
Zoodles with Basil Cherry Tomato Sauce, Pine Nuts & Lemon Zest
Hi there! Happy 4th of July weekend to all of my fellow Americans! I am certainly looking forward to a 3-day holiday weekend. Whose got fun plans for the 4th? I've got a beach yoga class and hanging out at a friend's house on the agenda, and I'm hoping to catch some fireworks on Saturday night. Today I'm sharing a new recipe that will probably become a go-to dinner in my kitchen. Packed with veggies and flavor, it's a healthy meal that revolves around my recent favorite kitchen gadget: my spiralizer! I've seriously been a spiralizing maniac. My hubby and I have eaten zoodles so often in the last few months, he's started joking around and putting the letter 'z' in words where it shouldn't be. For instance, we started saying 'zauce' instead of tomato sauce. He told me I ... [Read More]
Spring Veggie & Fontina Quiche
Hey there! Hope you had a great weekend and Easter celebration. I had plans to attend a vegetarian festival in town but the event wound up getting postponed a few weeks, so my Easter Sunday turned into a productive weekend day instead! My hubby and I are in the process of revamping our bathrooms and a few other things in the house, so we spent a lot of time picking out mirrors, faucets, paint, and toilets (so glamorous, I know!), and working around the house doing things like calking all of the holes in the master bathroom from the previous tenants (they loved to drill holes all over the place and hang up things excessively - lucky us!) and trying out paint samples on the front exterior of our home. We currently have a bunch of different colors randomly painted in the front, but we ... [Read More]
(Super Bowl Recipe Idea Alert!) Chickpea Sliders with Vegan Garlic Aioli
Hi friends! Hope you had a nice weekend! My weekend was pretty low-key, and the highlights were a Friday evening light hike with my little family, a pedi/lunch date with a girlfriend on Saturday and a trip to the dog beach on Sunday afternoon. Do you know what my weekend did not include? Football. Well, technically that's not true, since I did watch a bit of the Pro Bowl when Serena Williams' match at the Australian Open last night went to commercial, but that's only kinda sorta a real NFL game. This is the time of the year when the NFL season ends, and on one hand, it's nice because I have extra time to do other things on Sundays; but on the other hand, I get a little sad because I love watching football and all of a sudden there's this empty hole in my sports viewing life. ... [Read More]
Mexican-Style Twice Baked Potatoes
It's official, my favorite summertime food obsessions are back in full swing for the season. Over the weekend, I made a strawberry watermelon smoothie not once, but twice. The first time, I made one to quench my thirst while lounging around in my pool for the first time since we moved in a month ago. It was awesome! The second time, my hubby and I had just gotten back from a hike, and a watermelon smoothie sounded like the perfect way to rehydrate. I predict that this smoothie will be back many, many times the next couple of months. Also on the topic of fruit obsessions, I just love pineapple and snacked on it all weekend as well... And then there's my somewhat recent summer food obsession: corn. I never really liked it growing up, and always felt like I could take it or leave it. ... [Read More]
Meatless Monday Recipe Idea: Black Bean Veggie Tacos with Cashew Cream [Gluten Free]
Hi friends! Another weekend has flown by, and it was a good one for me. I kicked off my weekend with a much needed massage at the student massage school near me, San Jose National Holistic Institute. The students perform whatever massage they've been working on in school, and this time it was a Swedish massage. The masseuse did a good job of working on all of my achy muscles for an hour -- for $20. Needless to say, it was awesome! Afterwards I headed over to the mall to spoil myself a little, and I picked up a new Athleta workout top and some beauty loot from LUSH and Benefit Cosmetics. I'm kind of in love with LUSH. I spent some time in there playing around with things and wound up nabbing a facial cleanser and seaweed mask that I tested out and loved this weekend. I don't go shopping ... [Read More]