Food

Last week, I shared with you that I started the FWTFL plan. One of the things I love most about the plan is the focus on whole nutrition. Focusing on whole grains, like quinoa, healthy proteins, like ground turkey, and fresh fruits and veggies. This turkey quinoa meatloaf recipe fits perfectly into the plan and a well-balanced diet.

Every Christmas Eve, my mom made this authentic Italian lasagna recipe. It was one of our family traditions that I’ve since carried on to my family. This year, I made a few batches and even shared one with a dear friend who doesn’t have family in town. It makes me feel good to carry on some of my family traditions, and this lasagna recipe is at the top of my list.

Have you heard of La Befana and the feast of the Epiphany? I hadn’t until a few days ago. I’m always looking for more ways to connect to my Italian heritage. My birthday is on Three Kings Day – aka Epiphany, so I researched ideas of traditional Italian desserts and that’s how I learned about befanini cookies.

My favorite time of year! It’s cookie season friends! I love Christmas time but I especially love it because it gives me so many opportunities to bake. When I looked back at all I’ve done in the 6+ years I’ve been blogging, I realized that I’m a bit of a cookie-baking addict. Just on gingerbread cookie recipes alone, I’ve made 5! That’s a lot of gingerbread. They also happen to be some of my favorite Christmas cookie recipes too!

Do you like cranberries? I personally think they are an underutilized fruit. Most people only have them once or twice a year on Thanksgiving and maybe Christmas and they only eat them as cranberry sauce. I wanted to shake things up and see if I could enjoy cranberries another way, so I came up with this cranberry muffins recipe.

What do you do with your leftover stuffing? Did you know you can make super moist meatballs that are quick and delicious using leftover stuffing? I had no idea either, but I’m so glad I stumbled across this recipe because they are SO good!

What do you do with leftover mashed potatoes? Most of the time, we just eat them as-is. Until I saw a recipe for leftover mashed potatoes soup, I never even considered another use for leftover mashed potatoes.

I’m back with another pumpkin spice recipe! I just can’t help myself. It is my favorite time (and flavor) of the year. I’m extra excited about this avocado pumpkin spice cake recipe because – duh – it has fresh avocados!

Are you a pumpkin spice fan? It’s one of my favorite flavors. I love fall because it means I get to bake with as much pumpkin spice as I want. I absolutely adore all things pumpkin spice. If you follow my recipes, you know that I’ve created a lot of pumpkin spice recipes over the years. (cookies, ice cream, coffee cake, bars, pancakes, just to name a few). This year, I wanted to try something completely new. My cousin-in-law recently made these pumpkin spice shortbread cookies, so I knew I had to give this recipe a shot – and my own spin.