This baked oatmeal recipe is my favorite breakfast of the moment. I love that it can serve a group for a special breakfast or brunch, but it’s also the kind of thing that you can make on a weekend and reheat on busy mornings throughout the week. This blueberry baked oatmeal is made with healthy ingredients—think fresh fruit, almond butter, and whole rolled oats—but it tastes like a treat. The top is toasty and nutty, featuring a layer of pecans and coconut flakes that crisp up beautifully in the oven. The middle, on the other hand, stays soft and creamy,…

“I walked outside and felt like I was swimming,” is what Jack said the other day as I picked him up from the airport, fresh off a flight from LA. It’s humid here, to say the least, and the air is thick. It’s the kind of heat that sort of takes your breath away as soon as you walk out the door. But I’m not complaining, it always takes just a few weeks for the body to acclimate to our summer temps. Hydration is the key. Eight glasses of water (don’t know who recommended that) is just not enough, so I’ve…

Happy first week of spring! With summer on the horizon, at least in my still-Austin-based mindset, I really want to be making lighter and brighter food. But then I’m reminded that it still snowed here last week. Sooooo… a creamy pasta bake it is! This veggie-ful dish is hearty yet cheese-less – it won’t weigh you down, but it will fill you up! Instead of a bunch of cheese and cream, I used my secret creamy blender sauce: almonds, Almond Breeze almondmilk, white miso paste, garlic, lemon juice for tang, and a bit of Dijon mustard for the depth you…

Nothing says love like a smoothie, right? 🙂 I love love love Valentine’s Day, but not in the fancy-dinner-prix-fixe dinner sort of way. I love it for of all of the cute things that remind me of being a little kid… tiny paper cards, homemade cupcakes with pink frosting, heart shaped candies… so in the spirit of being crafty, I made this 3-layer fruit smoothie! I always see layered fruit smoothies on Instagram and think, “who the heck has time to make three separate smoothies?” – but here I am doing it. It actually was pretty simple, and while I…

Before I tell you about this recipe, I wanted to make a quick announcement to our Chicago friends – this Saturday I’ll be attending the Renegade Craft Fair Chicago at the Quaker Oats booth. Stop by to say HI and enjoy a healthy snack of Overnight Oats. I’ll be doing the meet & greet from 11:30am – 12:30pm, hope to see you there! (click here for details) Ok, back to the recipe! Last week, I was up to my ears in corn… this week, I’ve been eating blueberries until I’m blue in the face. They’re so good right now! Plus,…

Every so often, I get on these mean green daily smoothie kicks that, in all honesty, can get a little TOO green over time. The kick starts with delicious well-balanced smoothies, but as the days go on, I start cutting corners. I add too much liquid so that the blender will blend fast, leaving me with a watery smoothie. And speaking of water, that’s what I use when I run out of almond milk. I add ice in the name of “thickness,” and I start skipping all ingredients that actually add flavor. What I (we) are left with to drink first thing in…

There’s a vegan restaurant that we love in Chicago called The Chicago Diner. Jack and I make it a point to stop there nearly every time we’re in town. The food is really good, but the thing to get there is the vegan milkshake – the peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough milkshake to be exact. And yes, it’s as decadent as it sounds. A few weeks ago, we ate lunch there and I tried to not order one. Then Jack’s shake came to the table and I said, “I’ll just have one little sip… ok, well maybe just one more…” and before I had stolen nearly his…

Muffins have such a special place in my heart. Growing up, my family ate muffins for breakfast nearly every day, and it was awesome. My sister and I would *think* we wanted the colorful cereals that the other kids had. We’d beg my mom to buy them and when she would, they’d end up going stale on the top shelf in the pantry. Nothing beat a warm muffin and a big glass of milk first thing in the morning. Of course, I’ve since nixed the milk part, but my love for muffins continues. These mango and coconut muffins are my new favorite morning treat.…

I think there are 2 types of people in this world – those who love tuna salad and those who hate it. Because my mom made it all the time when I was growing up, I definitely fall into the first category. But today, I’m hoping to bridge the “hater” gap with these chickpea salad lettuce wraps. If you’re not into fishy things, no worries, these wraps are completely vegan. If you are into fishy things, I think you’ll love them just the same – mashed chickpeas combined with salty, briny flavors (i.e. good Dijon mustard, capers, and cornichons) and…

I have to admit something to you. This food blog job isn’t always as glamorous as you may think it is. It’s a job, like any job, with fun parts (cooking! eating!) and less fun parts that involve sitting behind a computer monitor, editing, writing, emailing, etc. It’s not a sad life by any stretch, but it’s also not glitz and glory – it’s work. Except… when some of the opportunities that come my way are totally out of left field – and I find myself going to California for a day touring an absolutely beautiful almond orchard instead of touring Adobe…

Happy Saturday friends! We’re currently having a lazy morning that’s consisted of smoothies and Shark Tank… a.k.a our Saturday morning “cartoon.” It’s dark and drizzly outside, so we’re likely not leaving the house anytime soon. I thought I’d take a second to pop in and share this super simple turmeric latte recipe. I posted it on Instagram earlier this week, but I thought I’d share it here too. Earlier this year, I stopped drinking *so much* coffee (not that I feel there’s anything wrong with coffee!) and started drinking more matcha. This week, I’ve moved onto this herbal tea turmeric…

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