Like most Americans - any Americans with a sweet tooth, at least - I have Girl Scout cookie memories. Growing up, my mom had a similar sentiment to the food kept in the house as I do now: lots of healthy food, and then a few "goodies" in one cabinet that were treats we broke out after dinner some nights for dessert. (source) My mom bought Girl Scout cookies, but she would usually get ones that I deemed weird (and that still wouldn't be my pick today). I remember some sort of shortbread cookie and something with lemon (ick), and then there were the two I liked the most: Thin Mints and Samoas. This Girl Scout cookie season, I found myself craving the chocolate mint and chocolate coconut caramel flavors that I looked forward to as a kid for dessert at night. This led to me recreate these ... [Read More]
vegan recipes
My Favorite Low Calorie Post-Workout Fuel: Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Smoothie
Happy Friday friends! If you're off from work for Good Friday, I hope that you enjoy your long weekend, and Happy Easter to those that celebrate it! I am technically off from my PR job, but will be doing a bit of work, food shopping, heading to barre class, and going for a hike later with my little family... but it may be a short one, because I am super sore from strength training yesterday. Yikes, I'm sore! was the first thing that came to mind when I woke up this morning... Anyone else feeling achy from their workouts this week?! Anywho, today I'm sharing a smoothie recipe with you that I make all the time. This smoothie was actually one of the first recipes I ever shared on the blog, and I've been making it probably a couple times a week ever since then...and that was THREE years ago! ... [Read More]
Avocado, Spinach & Walnut Pesto Pasta
Good old St. Paddy's Day is tomorrow, and while I didn't make any Irish soda bread last weekend or have a blast celebrating at any parades, I wanted to share a green recipe in honor of the holiday. My heritage is part Irish, and I have lots of St. Paddy's Day memories: my family getting together at my grandma's house (who was Italian, but loved any excuse to celebrate!) for corned beef & cabbage (hold the corned beef for me), potatoes and Irish soda bread; and day drinking at many Irish parades in Jersey as a college kid. I kind of would like to be wearing green shamrock stickers on my face and day drinking with my girlfriends right about now actually, but any who... here's a fun little holiday tidbit: The color green being associated with Ireland dates back to at least ... [Read More]
Sea Salt Caramel Chocolate Cake for 1
Every time I get anything new for my kitchen, I get seriously excited. Some people may not understand my enthusiasm in the least bit, but kitchen gear to a foodie is like candy to a kid... Okay, I get excited in candy stores too, but you get what I'm trying to say. So you can only imagine how great it was when I walked into Bed Bath & Beyond after my bridal shower a bunch of years back with thousands of dollars in gift cards. My bridal shower was on the east coast, and since I live on the west coast, most people gave me a gift card instead of shipping tons of presents. I wish I had a photo of the awesome madness of that shopping excursion...though I did just find this lovely photo of my face when I walked into my grandma's house for what I thought was a lunch date, only to ... [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]
2-Minute Berry Banana Sorbet
Happy, happy Friday! Any fabulous plans for this weekend? I'm looking forward to my long weekend full of football watching, a hiking date with my hubby, doing some recipe experimentation, a workout with a girlfriend of mine, and a mix of both doing some productive things and relaxing. Today's topic is a never-ending love of mine - fruit. I have a serious obsession with fruit, from apples and banana to cherries and strawberries. In fact, while I enjoy veggies, I have to kind of plan them into my meals mindfully. Otherwise, on the produce front, my diet would consist of all the fruit and none of the veggies. Since I have a huge sweet tooth, I'm always finding ways to make meals that could be dessert, but are also healthy and nutritious enough to be considered a wholesome meal. I'm sneaky ... [Read More]