And now, onto some simple summer eats: Fresh Watermelon and Blueberries. I love to put my fruit in the freezer about a half hour or so before I’m gonna eat it. The fruit is almost frozen but not quite, and the watermelon is still juice…I love it like that! Simple Summer Raw Veggie Love: *Greens *Baby chard *Yellow Peppers *Orange Peppers *Carrots *Cukes *And then I slathered it with the juice of 1/2 an orange, agave, crack black....

comment icon 90 more comments The story begins with Lunch Envy as I watched my friend and coworker eat her saucy baby pasta with all those tiny chopped veggies in that creamy tomato base in the beloved teacher’s lounge. The place where great lunch ideas are born, right? I asked for the recipe before she had even taken one bite. Like the recipe-hungry food-bloggin’ girl that I am. How To Make Our Pasta e Fagioli: To develop the story for you, things have been pretty crazy for us lately....

We have many easy slow cooker meals to try, including Hawaiian Meatballs and Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala. Why I love Crockpot Chicken Tacos: Quick and Convenient: you can throw together slow cooker tacos in just a few minutes and let the slow cooker do the work. Or if you’re short on time, could make them in the instant pot. Versatile – it’s great for more than just tacos! We use this mexican shredded chicken as a base for chicken chimichangas, taco salad, or any of your favorite burritos, tostadas, or enchiladas....

4-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies These are some of the easiest peanut butter cookies I’ve ever made. And a total new favorite. And in writing Peanut Butter Comfort, I’ve made one or a bazillion peanut butter cookies. These 4-ingredient peanut butter cookies are super soft, very moist, and extremely chewy. As a bonus, these peanut butter cookie accidentally contain no egg. The peanut butter cookies are packed with rich, bold, peanut butter flavor....

Twix Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe I have a thing for Twix Bars. And for chocolate chip cookies. And my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe is even better with Twix baked in. I loved these Twix cookies and I knew I would, because I’ve made them before. Not quite these exact cookies, but I’ve made Soft and Chewy M&M’s Cookies and Snickers Chocolate Chip Cookies, which are both adaptations of my favorite chocolate chip cookies, Chocolate Chip and Chunk Cookies....

Cobblers and Crisps are some of my favorite desserts! Make sure to try this Apple Crisp, Peach Crisp, Blackberry Cobbler, Cherry Cobbler, Peach Cobbler, or Blueberry Cobbler! Buying and Preparing Rhubarb: Rhubarb: fresh rhubarb is available in the Spring (April-June), in the grocery store of the produce section. It comes in stalks, like celery. Buy fresh, crisp, heavy stalks and avoid any that feel limp or dry. How to Make Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp: Make Crumb Topping: Combine the oat crumble topping ingredients with a fork or pastry blender until it resembles small crumbs....

comment icon 61 more comments Because THERE is a very good place to start. It involves: Quinoa Cucumber Tomato Sun dried peppers Feta cheese Grilled shrimp Curlycue greens And a bucket of lemon dill dressing. That would be enough, wouldn’t it? (I just ate it for lunch and I can assure you that it is and was more than enough.) BUT. I like it when things are a little more fun, a little more convenient, a little more real-life-able....

If you missed my last recipe for Mango Ginger Maple Tofu, check that out And Check out my recipe for Sesame Ginger Maple Tofu Today’s Tofu Recipe is: Sweet & Sour Honey Lemon Tofu Averie’s Sweet & Sour Honey Lemon Tofu 1/2 c Sweet Jam/Jelly/Preserves (I used Mango Chutney hence the flecks of red pepper on the tofu but use your fave jelly, jam, or even diced seasonal fruit. Add diced peppers if you like them) 1/3 c honey (if you don’t eat honey, use agave, maple, or yacon syrup) 1/4 c Lemon Juice (in a pinch you can use apple cider vinegar) Optional but recommended: 1/4 c Apple Cider Vinegar 1/2 Tsp Ginger Powder 2 Tbsp EVOO (or coconut, flax, hemp, grapeseed oil) I used new-to-me TJ’s Extra Firm Twin Pack Tofu Mix Marinade in a Bowl and allow Tofu to Marinate for at least 15 minutes up to Overnight (I did the bare minimum, 15 minutes....

It’s no secret that a yummy homemade breakfast makes me excited to get up on Saturday morning. Our weekday breakfasts usually consist of plain old oatmeal or freezer breakfast sandwiches but on the weekends I like to make something much more fun! This sausage gravy recipe is a TREASURE in our family, thanks to my mother-in-law. She’s made it so many times she has completely perfected the recipe, and now it’s one of our favorite breakfasts....

comment icon 917 more comments Cream-soaked bread mixed with ground beef and ground pork with plenty of salt and pepper, baked to golden meatball perfection, and finally rolled around in a rich and savory cream-based gravy. It is mellow, ultra comforting, and deeply flavorful all at the same time. Swedish meatballs may or may not be something that you want to make on a random Tuesday night because they’re gonna take a little time to make....

You have two options for freezing these turtle cookies. The first option is to make the cookie dough, freeze it, and use it to make the cookies. The second option for freezing thumbprint cookies is to follow the recipe completely and make all cookies, allow them to cool completely, and then place them in a gallon freezer bag. When you are ready to eat them, allow them to come to room temperature on your counter top....

Seven years. That is weird. That is like when your parents talk about how long they’ve been attending so-and-so’s annual bunco party, and it starts to get into the number of years when you’re like, ohhh, you’ve been doing this since before Instagram. Wow. Seven years, huh? Okay. Yep. Got it. Our Christmas party has easily been one of the best holiday traditions that we’ve created for ourselves, mostly because our friends are really, really awesome....

Earlier in the week, I received a Six Pack of Zevia and a TShirt I actually won a Zevia Tshirt in a blogger give away last fall but they only had XS sizes in stock back then, but Margaret at Zevia was nice enough to send me a new shirt now. Unfortunately it’s a man’s large, not a woman’s, so it’s ridiculously huge on me. Scott is a lucky devil because this shirt is sooo soft and it’s his now....

I recently bought a huge watermelon, but I didn’t realize exactly how huge until I was cleaning it. It just kept going, and going, and going. It was multiplying on the cutting board, I swear. But I wasn’t worried about what to do with it all because I can eat my weight in it, and I knew I’d freeze extra for slushies. As a nice bonus, if you’re using frozen fruit in smoothies and slushies you don’t need to add ice which just waters them down....

comment icon 88 more comments This morning I also became the person who responds to emails on the elliptical. Let’s be honest. My elliptical form is questionable at best. Apparently I struggle with balance on those little ski foot things? I don’t know. Moving arm handles and spinning feet thingies and tangled headphone cords and reruns of Real Housewives just seems like a little too much to handle all at once....

And I have a thing for layered bars Some people say white chocolate is too sweet. Are you kidding me? Nothing is too sweet for me. Nothing. Those same people who complain about desserts being “too sweet” will probably say these bars are “too rich” for them. Nothing is too rich for me. I just don’t think desserts can be too sweet or too rich. Period. Or too gooey. If you disagree, then just go back for a second helping of broccoli....

I wanted to thank all the new commenters I’ve had this week, and of course, thanks to my faithful friends, readers, and daily commenters! I love how blogging has basically allowed me to feel like I have a hundred new BFF’s and I keep up on your life and you keep up on mine through our blogs. Not only do we share our food and what we ate, which is great and all, but the little tidbits and details of our life and our personality that come through on everyone’s blog is what keeps me blogging and keeps me coming back to everyone else’s blog and which feeds my blogging & computer addiction, which I am trying to break a bit!...

Now that we’ve established soup season is the best season, have you met soup’s best friend, the Instant Pot? The only thing better than a homemade pot of soup on a cold day is a homemade pot of soup that’s hands-off and done in just a few minutes flat. YES. We are all about that. Need a little push to get started? Here are a few of our favorite tried and true Instant Pot soup recipes (that are conveniently packed with all the veggies)....

These are all easy, no-fuss recipes that will please the party go-er’s and please the chef. Everything is no-bake or nearly no-bake and all are hassle-free. Drinks Peach Mango Pineapple White Sangria Coconut Water Champagne Fruit Punch (Vegan, Gluten Free, Soy Free, No Sugar Added) Horchata (vegan, GF) Snacks, Sides, and Finger Food Spinach and Artichoke Dip (no-bake, fat-free, vegan, GF) Mango Basil Personal-Sized Tortilla Pizzas Fresh Vegan Spring Rolls and 2-Minute Peanut Sauce...

comment icon 118 more comments Meee tooooo. And as of recently, I love roasted sweet potatoes with sesame oil, cilantro, tahini, and sesame seeds drizzled all over the place. Hello awesomest, randomest, most fancy-feeling-easy-snack-turned-dinner. Sesame oil is a new thing in my life, and here’s the thing about it – you don’t need much of it to give your food a really strong, really nutty richness and, uhh, sesame, flavor....