Click Here to Pin this Greek Salad Dressing recipe.

Hi all, I can’t believe it’s been a few months since I posted here, but apparently it has (ironically I started writing this post a month ago and am just now getting around to finishing it). Our spring was filled with sports and school and life and I haven’t had much time or energy to blog to be honest. My friend Kristen just mentioned this the other day and it summed up everything I’ve been feeling this year – I thought having young kids kept me busy but the ages we are in right now (13, 11 and 4) come with so many more activities, school work and life stuff that keeps us going.

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Click Here to Pin this Spinach and Egg Breakfast Toast recipe.

Well, say hello to my current favorite breakfast. If you read my last newsletter, you know that one of my goals lately is to get more veggies into my day (if you don’t receive my monthly newsletter and want to, sign up here!). It’s not that I love veggies any less than I did before, I’ve just been a little lazy about eating them.

Salads are always my go-to way to up the veggie intake but lately I’ve been challenging myself to get some veggies in at breakfast time. Since I eat eggs most mornings, scrambles are usually how I add veggies in at breakfast but I wanted to change things up.  I’ve been eating this Spinach and Egg Breakfast Toast all week and feeling pretty proud of myself for getting in a serving of spinach bright and early in the day. The spinach cooks up in the tiniest amount of time and once it starts to wilt I just push it to the side in the skillet and add my eggs. While my eggs are cooking I take my spinach out and top my toast with it.

Literally so quick and so easy.

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When it comes to finding healthy fresh fish to use in recipes, you have a lot of choices. The Monterey Bay Aquarium compiled a comprehensive list of the healthiest fish choices that is a great guide to take with you to the grocery store. Almost all white fish fillets are considered healthier, primarily due to their low calorie count. Of course, how you prepare the fish has a strong bearing on its overall healthiness. For example, there isn’t any type of fish that will remain healthy after it has been battered, breaded, and deep fried. Deep fried fish and other deep fried foods are great for an occasional indulgence, but not something to be eaten every day.

You may already know that according to the American Heart Association, one of the keys to a nutritious diet includes eating fish twice a week. Fish are a lean, healthy source of protein. Oily fish and seafood, such as salmon, tuna, oysters, are also healthy sources of omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fats are essential for our brain and heart.

Unfortunately, our bodies can’t make Omega fats, so we rely on the health benefits of salmon and other oily seafood to provide them to us.

The greatest news is, these simple salmon recipes aren’t just healthy, they’re easy to make and delicious, too!

Our favorite fresh salmon recipes:

Grapefruit-Pistachio Crusted Salmon

The citrus flavor shines in this grapefruit-pistachio crusted salmon. Fresh grapefruit juice and crunchy pistachios add even more health benefits to this easy salmon recipe.

Salmon with Sweet Spicy Rub

Salmon with sweet spicy rub is an easy, healthy broiled salmon that is packed with flavor! This simple salmon recipe is the perfect way to introduce salmon to your family! 

Old Bay Salmon Cakes

This classic and easy recipe for Old Bay salmon cakes comes together in minutes. Serve these salmon cakes with lemon and a green salad for a light dinner.

Salmon and Veggie Stir Fry

This delicious salmon and veggie stir fry was on the menu during my 17 day diet. The crispy vegetables and flavorful salmon rock my world! Enjoy an easy dinner in 12 minutes!

There are some great ways to add flavor to salmon, without adding calories or unhealthy fats.

Citrus fruits, blackening, spice rubs, and the use of natural sweeteners (like honey) are all features found in these easy salmon recipes!

Almond Crusted Honey Mandarin Salmon

I think this almond crusted honey mandarin salmon is one of the most delicious easy salmon recipes you can make. Sweet, flaky salmon with a crunchy almond crust. You won’t have leftovers of this healthy meal!

Smoked Salmon Scrambled Eggs

Get your breakfast or weekend brunch off on a healthy and delicious note by adding freshly smoked salmon to your scrambled eggs! Smoked salmon scrambled eggs is a decadent breakfast, made in just a few minutes.

Simple Salmon Salad

This simple salmon salad is a healthy and easy salmon recipe that’s a great twist to ordinary tuna salad. Works well using canned salmon or leftover salmon.

Smoked Salmon Frittata

This smoked salmon frittata recipe is inspired by a smoked salmon quiche I enjoyed while on a cruise. It’s healthier and lighter than quiche, but equally delicious!

Broiled Chipotle Salmon

Chipotle salmon is a healthy salmon recipe with big, bold flavors. Chipotle chiles and warm spices of cinnamon, allspice, and cumin give this salmon recipe extra health benefits.

Salmon Spinach Bake

Salmon spinach bake is a healthy baked salmon dinner that is perfect for a quick weeknight meal. This basic salmon recipe has a creamy Parmesan sauce that is beyond delicious! 

Cajun Baked Salmon Cakes

Baked salmon cakes are healthier than pan fried salmon cakes, and the Cajun flavors in this healthy salmon recipe won’t have you missing the oil at all.

Key West Grilled Salmon

Grilled salmon is a quick, flavorful, healthy dinner. This Key West grilled salmon recipe uses citrus and spices to amp up the flavor! This is one of my favorite easy salmon recipes!

Salmon Quinoa Cakes

Salmon quinoa cakes are quick and easy to make and packed with health benefits of salmon and quinoa. They are great to make for dinner or a make ahead meal for lunches or snacks. Easy salmon recipes don’t get better than the ones that allow you to create a delicious dinner in less than 20 minutes!

Creamy Salmon Pasta Salad

Creamy salmon pasta salad is a quick and easy salmon recipe, perfect for serving as a healthy main dish or side dish. Fresh salmon provides protein and healthy omega 3 fatty acids while reduced fat sour cream keeps this creamy salmon pasta salad lower in fat and calories. 

Chipotle Salmon Tacos

Chipotle salmon tacos will transform taco Tuesday! Broiled chipotle salmon, onion, cilantro, and cojita cheese wrapped into corn tortillas makes a healthy, easy, and delicious salmon dinner.

Cedar Plank Grilled Salmon with Tropical Fruit Salsa

Using wood planks to grill salmon gives them an incredible flavor and keeps the recipes healthy, too. The tropical fruit salsa on this cedar plank grilled salmon is beyond delicious, too!

Orange Glazed Salmon with Stir Fried Veggies

When it comes to easy salmon recipes, this orange glazed salmon ranks right up on the top. This flavorful stir fry comes together in about 15 minutes!

Blackened Salmon Fajita Bowls

Blackened salmon fajita bowls cook on the grill quickly and easily. This flavorful healthy grilling recipe is perfect for making a quick dinner in the summer. It’s one of my favorite easy salmon recipes!

Healthy Broiled Salmon Gyros

Broiled salmon gyros are a healthy twist on traditional lamb or chicken gyros, using broiled salmon, fresh veggies and Greek yogurt dip tzatziki sauce.

Blackened Salmon with Citrus Salsa

Blackened Salmon with Citrus Salsa is the perfect balance between spicy and sweet. Simple to prepare, this makes a fresh, light dinner, perfect for weeknights! Definitely one of my favorite easy salmon recipes!

Blackened Salmon Salad

Blackened salmon salad is a delicious twist from ordinary tuna salad. This easy salmon recipe makes a great addition to a tossed salad, or add to pita or whole grain bread to make a healthy lunch box sandwich.

Now that you know the health benefits of salmon and you have plenty of easy salmon recipes to make, the only thing left to do is to decide which you’ll make first!

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Last weekend I flew to Narragansett, Rhode Island to run in the Ocean Road 10k as a part of the Cabot Fit Team with my friends at Cabot Creamery Co-operative. Leaving the Florida heat for a few days to experience true fall New England weather was such a treat that I am seriously considering making this race a yearly tradition. The race course was absolutely gorgeous!

(Disclosure: My trip and race entry were sponsored by Cabot, but my opinions are my own.)

What is The Cabot Fit Team?

You are most likely already familiar with the farmhouse logo found in your grocery store’s cheese cooler, but (like me) you may not have realized that Cabot is not just a cheese company but an extensive community of farm families (1,100 to be exact) that own and operate the business together to produce not just delicious cheddar cheese, but Greek-style yogurts, butter, cottage cheese and sour cream. I was impressed to learn that Cabot is very involved and committed with connecting with their communities – one way they do that is with their Cabot Fit Team. The Cabot Fit Team’s mission is to increase awareness of the importance of wellness through nutrition and exercise. I think if you know me, you know that I was absolutely honored and thrilled to be a part of this experience and mission!

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If you received my newsletter on Friday then you know I’m totally loving asparagus right now. It’s hard not to pick some up every time I walk past a display of it at the grocery store lately. Like most vegetables, I typically like to simply roast it, but I couldn’t help but add some of my favorite flavors to elevate it a bit – balsamic, gorgonzola and walnuts were meant to be together and you really can never go wrong with that combo.

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Click here to pin this Strawberry Almond Oatmeal Bites recipe!

I can’t believe this is my first post of 2017! I decided I needed a bit of a breather in January, some time to regroup after a month of helping my littlest guy recover from a tonsillectomy and my biggest guy (my husband) recover from a shoulder/rotator cuff surgery. I’ll admit, it was nice to take a break from worrying about picking up my camera and just focus on cooking for my family. My head is always spinning with new recipe ideas, as well as trying to figure out what to make for dinner that I honestly enjoyed just making recipes from cookbooks, friends and my blog without thinking too much of it.

One of the things I’m trying to get better at is making healthier snacks available for my kids to take in the car on their way to basketball or volleyball practices. We are full on entrenched in sports right now and spend many afternoons and evenings trekking back and forth between gyms. It seems like my kids are ALWAYS hungry and I’ve been trying to be more mindful about what they are snacking on and making sure they are eating more than just pretzels or crackers (it’s hard!). One thing I know for sure, anytime I make snacks like these oatmeal bites, quinoa bites or egg muffins, they are the go-to snack and don’t last very long. Seeing my kids choose those first is motivation enough to get myself into the habit of making quality portable snacks more often.

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I love the week that falls between Christmas and New Year’s Day. I am a reflective person so it brings me a lot of joy to look back at my year of personal experiences, my family, and my blog. I have to admit, having a blog makes it much easier to remember since it’s all documented and stamped with a date…makes me appreciate what this blog means to me even more, although due to the evolution of the (sometimes big, bad, scary) internet I find myself sharing more about food and less about personal & family over the years. It’s all good.

2016 was interesting. I turned 40. I went back to college. I embraced fitness and got strong (surprised myself). My oldest started middle school. We survived a scary hurricane. My daughter was a guest judge for a recipe contest at a produce conference. My baby turned 3 and became a little person, not really a baby anymore. I went out of my comfort zone and was a speaker at a dietician/healthy blogger conference (and loved it). I traveled to Vermont, Savannah and the Florida Panhandle. My friend Kristen came to visit me and we went to see Justin Bieber and Mickey Mouse. My family & I went to Disney – a lot. I withdrew from college. My husband & I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary. I watched family members go through some health problems. We attended the most epic Indian wedding celebration. My daughter and I volunteered for the 2016 presidential campaign. I grew personally and professionally.

2016 was interesting, and good. As always, I’m ready and looking forward to a fresh start from starting a new year.

As for food…I shared a lot of recipes! I’m so grateful for all of you who visit me here, I wish you a very healthy and happy New Year.

Here are your favorites:

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The post Top 12 Most Popular Recipes From 2016 {plus my personal favorites!} appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

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We have been lucky to know a few people with hens over the years, one being a friend who once came over with an incredible box. This box full of eggs. Apparently his hens were happy hens.

More recently, we got these from a neighbor…they have been supplying us with a good amount of fresh eggs for the last few years and I am ever so grateful!

How gorgeous are those eggs??

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Click here to pin these Vegetarian Enchilada Stuffed Peppers!

If you’ve been reading my blog a while, then you may remember when vegetarian meals were more of the norm here. There was a good couple of years that I cut a lot of meat out of my diet (sticking with mostly seafood and whole grains for protein). I have always enjoyed eating meatless meals but I’ve learned it’s not always easy to pull those off with the entire family. I still try, though not as often as I used to…and honestly, sometimes I end up eating most by myself (makes lunch during the week extra easy this way!).

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Pin this Baked Bean, Sausage and Kale Skillet for later!

First things first, I miss being here on the blog! My last post was weeks ago and I can’t even believe how fast this month has gone. Life has been a little hectic since I started my classes last month – I have humbly admitted to those in my life that have had to witness my craziness lately (my poor husband and kids), taking two science classes with labs (Anatomy & Physiology 2 and Chemistry I) in one semester was not the best idea. (For anyone who doesn’t know, I went back to school earlier this year with the end goal of becoming a registered dietitian). I am drowning a bit and struggling to keep up with the school work, not to mention the learning curve (which I hugely underestimated) that comes with a class like chemistry – think scientific calculators, basic algebra and math equations and safely working in a lab with test tubes, beakers and “stuff” (aka chemicals). Oh my. The math by itself is rocking my world a bit, my brain is definitely rusty in that department!!

Deep breaths.

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