This soup screams fall. A warm, cozy potato soup with pumpkin...what could be more fall-y? This soup makes me want to curl up in a warm blanket and sit by the fireplace. Not only is there bacon on top of the soup, but the roux (a thickener typically using a mixture of butter and flour) uses bacon fat instead of butter. Because of this, there is a delicious bacon flavor in each bite of this ...
Almond Butter “Reese’s Cups” with Sea Salt
Reese's Cups really are one of the best candies out there. And they are so simple! Just chocolate and peanut butter. So why not just make your own? These "Reese's Cups" are not only super easy, they are much better for you than the real thing. They use semi-sweet instead of milk chocolate, and they use almond butter instead of the super sugar packed "peanut butter" inside a Reese's Cup. But I ...
Crispy Chickpea and Edamame Oven Snack
Snacking is so much fun - it's even better when your snacks are good for you! I don't know about you, but when I want a snack, it's usually something salty I want. Better yet, something salty and crispy. Enter crispy chickpea and edamame oven snacks. These will satisfy any crunchy, salty snack craving. I love the mixture of the edamame and the chickpeas, they play off of each other so ...
30 Minute Light Shrimp Scampi
Shrimp Scampi traditionally uses a lot of butter and is eaten over pasta, so some might wonder if it is even possible to make a light version of this dish. Those people should definitely try this recipe...because it uses whole wheat pasta and only two tablespoons of butter, and you won't miss the traditional version one little bit! There is soo much flavor in this dish. And it only takes thirty ...
Pesto Grilled Vegetable Salad
Don't you love grilled vegetables? I'm not sure what it is about them, but they just taste so much better than sauteed or steamed vegetables. My love for grilled vegetables is what inspired this recipe. This is the third and final day of my pesto week! After this I will be moving onto recipes that aren't pesto-centric. And this was a good recipe to end on. The pesto flavor is very muted in this ...
Pesto Chicken Salad Pita Pockets
We are on day two out of three in our pesto week! This chicken salad pita is not only very healthy for you, it is packed with tons of flavor. The chicken is juicy and pesto-y (word?), the red onions are sharp and crisp, the arugula is fresh and peppery, and the creamy lemon pesto yogurt sauce brings a final note of brightness to the sandwich. This recipe won't make you feel like you are eating ...
Zucchini Noodles with Pesto Cream Sauce
So we are on day one of our three uses of pesto! This first recipe using our "Perfect Pesto" is this amazing pesto cream sauce. I love this sauce. I could eat it like soup...seriously. And it is SO easy to make! As for the zucchini noodles, if you don't want to go through the trouble of making those, you can absolutely just use whole wheat pasta instead. The point of this recipe is the sauce. So ...
Perfect Pesto Plus 3 Uses
Pesto is so easy to make from scratch! And it tastes sooo much better than store bought pesto, not to mention that the store bought stuff is pretty expensive considering how much you actually get. If you love pesto like I do, you should buy one of those live basil plants they sell at the grocery store and just keep it by your window. Then you always have free basil and can make pesto whenever you ...
Three Ingredient Chocolate Banana “Ice Cream”
This ice cream. It's healthy!! Its actually good for you. It's the equivalent of eating a banana...because that's basically all that's in it. I originally found this blended banana ice cream recipe on www.userealbutter.com and decided to create my own spin on it (link to her original recipe can be found at the bottom). This ice cream literally takes five minutes to make. It's awesome. And it can ...
Light Turkey Chili Mac and Cheese
This recipe does NOT taste healthy. It tastes like a big plate of chili cheese fries. Surprisingly, I would definitely consider this a light meal. It uses whole wheat pasta, 2% milk, ground turkey, and reduced fat cheese. It's not exactly a salad, but it definitely doesn't break your calorie bank. Its about 480 calories for each very sizable serving. These are my favorite meals to make. I love ...