Looking to start a weight loss journey or maybe just need to add some healthier meal options into your everyday routine? These 15 simple, easy and fresh recipes are just as satisfying as they are delicious! Great for jump-starting your healthy New Years resolutions, too! We all typically have good intentions to eat healthier and make more mindful food choices. However, sometimes when we don't set ourselves up for success, if often becomes overwhelming to know exactly what to eat. What if I told you that having these simple recipe ideas at your fingertips could help you prepare for every meal of the day, giving you more control to make healthier food choices? Having these healthy, easy and delicious options will help you feel satisfied and in control all the while … [Read more...]
Creamy Tomato & Tortellini Soup
This fantastic creamy tomato soup recipe has it all! Delicious tomatoes are simmered together with Parmesan cheese, tender tortellini and topped with fresh basil. This tortellini soup is a fantastic Christmas Eve dish or wonderful anytime you're looking to warm up on a cold night! Creamy Tomato & Tortellini Soup - an amazing creamy tomato soup recipe! In my family, Christmas Eve has just as much celebration and importance as Christmas Day. Some of my fondest memories as a child are of going to my Great-Grandma Elsie's house to celebrate Christmas Eve with my HUGE extended family. There was always enough food to feed double the crew - Christmas cookies and candies, salads, desserts and the dinner was always soup! Soup on Christmas Eve has … [Read more...]
Roasted Butternut Squash Medley
One of the most flavorful, delicious ways to prepare Roasted Butternut Squash! Roasted with apples, bacon, pecans and shallots, this savory and slightly sweet side-dish is easy enough for a weeknight meal, and fancy enough to accompany your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner! Roasted Butternut Squash Medley with Apples Bacon & Pecans Have you had roasted butternut squash recently? As soon as fall rolls around, this delicious and flavorful squash begins to appear in the grocery stores and farmers markets. It is a fantastic golden vegetable that pairs perfectly with beef, pork and poultry, but especially turkey! That's right - when roasted with a few other sweet and savory ingredients, this butternut squash becomes an amazing side dish that will be a … [Read more...]
Slow Cooker Sirloin Beef Stew
This easy slow cooker beef stew recipe is a delicious dinner option for any night of the week. Made with tender, delicious sirloin, along with big chunks of carrots, celery, potatoes and mushrooms this crock pot beef stew is the ultimate comfort food! As soon as the weather begins to cool off a bit, I get out my crock pot and cook up a big pot of my Slow Cooker Sirloin Beef Stew. My family and I love it, as it is a delicious, hearty meal in one bowl. I love making crock pot beef stew on a lazy Sunday afternoon and letting it simmer for hours. It fills my house with the warm aromas of autumn, and fills our bellies with a hearty, delicious meal. What do I need to make beef stew in the crock pot? Here's a quick reference grocery list of the ingredients … [Read more...]
Slow Cooker Loaded Baked Potato Soup
This super-simple Slow Cooker Loaded Baked Potato Soup is the perfect dinner solution for busy weeknights. Loaded with big chunks of ham, potatoes, and topped with lots of cheese, bacon and onions, this comfort food is a great for anyone who loves a hearty, delicious bowl of soup! Slow Cooker Loaded Baked Potato Soup Fall is just around the corner. It is, without a doubt, my favorite season of the year! Back to school, football season, cooler weather, and the turning of the leaves are just a few of my favorite attributes that come with the season. We'll have several activities going this fall, including my son's baseball season, Drum Corp performances, as well as all of his school activities. It's the perfect time to get the crock pot out and make a big … [Read more...]
Lobster Mac & Cheese
Comfort food at its best! With a delicious three-cheese sauce, big chunks of fresh lobster, and al dente pasta, this Lobster Mac and Cheese is the perfect dinner any night of the week! We are big pasta eaters at our house! My husband LOVES any type of pasta, and my son is the biggest mac & cheese lover out there! I love pasta as well, so when it comes to dinner ideas, noodles are always at the top of my list! A creamy, delicious three-cheese sauce makes this Lobster Mac & Cheese absolutely incredible! Gruyere, white cheddar and American cheeses melt together wonderfully, and coat the pasta and lobster giving you a creamy, flavorful dish. Over the last several months, lobster has come down in price greatly. You can find it in most freezer … [Read more...]
Mac and Cheese with Ham and Broccoli
This Mac & Cheese with Ham and Broccoli has everything you need for an easy dinner, including smokey ham, fresh broccoli, and pasta all in an amazing cheese sauce! Best of all, this simple pasta dinner is done and on the table in under 30 minutes! Mac and Cheese with Ham and Broccoli Do you have go-to meals that you make for your family time and time again? Tried and true recipes that are easy to make that you know everyone at the table will love? This Mac and Cheese with Ham and Broccoli is one of those meals for our family. Like many kids, my 7-year-old is a HUGE mac & cheese guy, and ham is his preferred meat, so this pasta skillet is one that he loves. My husband and I love pasta and the addition of the smokey, delicious ham is a bonus for … [Read more...]
Light and Easy Crab Cakes
The best crab cakes you'll ever have! Filled with sweet, delicious Alaskan Snow Crab, and seasoned with fresh ingredients, these crab cakes will be a perfect dinner solution any night of the week! One of my absolutely favorite seafood dishes is crab cakes! However, I will say that I've been disappointed by MANY crab cakes, from pricey restaurants to the frozen, prepared crab cakes. I'm usually disappointed because crab cakes often tend to have more "cake" than crab and are often overly greasy and heavy, and not seasoned properly. I quickly realized that if I wanted a really good crab cake, I need to make them myself, and use really good crab - Alaskan Snow Crab is the best! I also discovered that when you make your own crab cakes at home, you can create a very healthy, … [Read more...]
Easy Pesto Pasta with Scallops
An easy, delicious dinner option for any night of the week! Spaghetti alla Chitarra pasta is paired with pesto sauce, pan seared sea scallops and fresh Parmesan Reggiano cheese for a wonderfully delicious meal! Just over ten years ago, my husband was sent on extended international business travel with his company....to Italy! The assignment was for six months, so it was short enough where I couldn't quit my job in the U.S. to go with him, but long enough to miss him dearly. He was in Avezzano, Italy, which is in the central Abruzzo region east of Rome. While he was there I was able to make a couple trips over to visit, which for this small town girl, was the adventure of a lifetime. While in Italy, Jason and I traveled to Florence, Venice and Rome and all of the little towns … [Read more...]
Sweet Kale and Grilled Sirloin Salad
The perfect entree salad for the meat lover! Loaded with crunchy, delicious kale, Brussels sprouts, shredded broccoli, cabbage and chicory and topped with grilled sirloin steak, this salad is incredible. Fresh, filling and perfect for lunch or a light dinner! Especially during the holiday season, its easy to go overboard with eating, and then suddenly discover you've gained 5 lbs (or more!), and your jeans no longer fit. I speak from experience here. With this in mind, I'm always looking for healthy, delicious lunch and dinner ideas that keep me on the healthy track. This Sweet Kale and Grilled Sirloin Salad is a fantastic meal idea that is healthy, filling, and full of flavor. This salad starts with an Eat Smart Sweet Kale Vegetable Salad Kit, that is loaded with … [Read more...]
Lime Chicken Chili
This Lime Chicken Chili is a healthy, delicious dinner that's done in under 30 minutes! Made with chicken, beans and peppers along with fresh lime juice and cilantro, this chicken chili recipe is fabulous! Lime Chicken Chili - the perfect Chicken Chili recipe! Today, my son Harrison scored his very first touchdown in a flag football game! He normally plays center, and snapping the football seems to be what he's good at. However, today our fantastic coach decided that it was Harrison's turn to get into the end-zone. As he got the hand-off, he dodged the defensive players and ran it in for a touchdown. He was so excited! Lots of cheers, high fives, and fist-bumps - and that was just by the parents! The boys were thrilled to win their … [Read more...]
Shrimp Bacon and Corn Chowder
Shrimp and his best friend bacon team up together in this amazing soup! Loaded with flavor, this soup is a must-have on a cold fall or winter night. Its the ultimate comfort food! I know I've said it before, but its worth noting again; I'm pretty much always looking for and trying new dinner recipes. They need to be easy to make, quick to prepare, include simple ingredients and on the healthier side for my family. Can you relate? Once I come across something that's easy for me to prepare and my family enjoys it, I consider it a dinner victory! This Shrimp Bacon & Corn Chowder is my latest dinner victory! This soup is fabulous in so many ways! The ingredients are simple, and items that I usually have on hand in my pantry and fridge. The … [Read more...]
Apple Cider Glazed Pork Chops
The Perfect Apple Cider Pork Chops recipe! The ultimate recipe for glazed pork chops! Coated with an apple cider glaze, and grilled to perfection, these sweet and savory apple cider chops are perfect any time you're in the mood for meat! These Apple Cider Glazed Pork Chops are the perfect weeknight dinner for a family to reconnect during the week. Made with a simple, yet delicious apple cider glaze, these pork chops seriously deliver on flavor. Glazed pork chops are fantastic for a great, easy-to-make family dinner. We love pork at our house, and I cook and grill with it often. Pork is healthy and lean, it's easy to cook, versatile, and best of all its really economical! I adapted this recipe from what I normally use for grilled pork loin, and with … [Read more...]
White Pizza with Bacon and Tomatoes
A pizza-lovers dream! Loaded with cheesy Alfredo sauce and topped with fresh, delicious tomatoes, onions, basil and savory bacon, this pizza is perfect for pizza night or for an easy dinner solution any night of the week! Is it me, or do I have the only kid in America that doesn't eat pizza? Isn't pizza one of those foods that kids go crazy for? My husband and I love it, but our 6-year-old son would rather go without eating than grabbing a slice. Therefore, it has become a small mission of mine to create a pizza that my son will enjoy just as much as his parents. I decided to make a pizza that uses an Alfredo sauce, instead of a red sauce (which is what he says he doesn't like.) Topped with some seriously delicious toppings: cheese, bacon, red onion, … [Read more...]