Click here to Pin these Oven Baked Black Bean and Cheese Quesadillas!

This sheet pan quesadilla recipe was created in partnership with Bush’s Beans.

For the last few weeks I’ve been really making an effort to write out, shop for, and follow a meal plan during the week. It’s worked wonders for us. The question of what to make for dinner is no longer an issue, and I feel more prepared each day. It’s definitely a habit I’m trying to stick with.

At least one night a week we squeeze in a Mexican themed meal. If it’s a particularly busy night I’ll even turn that Mexican meal into a meatless one to save the extra steps involved to cook up the meat. I always have cans of beans on hand, and if it was up to me, it would be my protein of choice on most nights. Mexican nights are the perfect nights for a good, easy meatless recipe if you ask me!

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Last week my friend Julie and I had a play date. We’ve been wanting to get together for a while, and even though she lives just a little over an hour from me, it seems like it’s always hard to find the time with both of our busy schedules.

We talked about cooking up some lunch, playing with our cameras and just hanging out but little did I know that our time together was going to stir up both of our creative juices in the kitchen. Personally, I’ve been in somewhat of a cooking slump since the holidays, really not in the mood to try anything new…basically it’s been survival mode around here with lots of easy pasta dishes and big pots of soup. That’s not a bad thing. But I’ve missed the excitement and energy I get when I start playing around in the kitchen, and of course I’ve been wanting to share new stuff with all of you!

Our plan that day was to learn how to make Chinese dumplings together. It’s one of my kids’ favorite things to order when we pick up take-out and something I’ve been wanting to get better at making at home. Well, it turns out, Julie was a natural at putting these dumplings together. They turned out delicious and my kids scarfed them down at dinner time. I’m seriously so excited about making them again and experimenting with different types of fillings.

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Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to take a look at McCormick’s Global Flavor Forecast for 2013. With no surprise, the trend that immediately caught my eye was Empowered Eating. Basically, McCormick recognizes that more and more people are starting to take control of their health and what they are eating to support good health – this includes enhancing food that is already good for you to elevated flavors through spices and flavors.

I am all over this trend for so many reasons.

One of the recipes that McCormick featured under their Empowered Eating profile is a spice blend called Dukkah. When I saw this recipe, I immediately knew I was going to make it and probably love it and use it often. I was right.

What is dukkah? (I had no idea either.) Dukkah is a Middle Eastern aromatic spice blend made from a combination of nuts, seeds and whole spices. It can be eaten as shown here, added in olive oil along with bread for dipping – or as a spice rub to enhance fish and meats or to sprinkle over vegetables. After making a batch of dukkah earlier this week, I’m saying yes to all of the above. I personally can not wait to enjoy a piece of dukkah crusted fish very soon (cooked similar to this Almond Crusted Tilapia that I love). Not a bad way to incorporate healthier eating into the new year is it?

I prepared a batch of this dukkah in just a few minutes. All you need is a few spices, sesame seeds and your favorite nut (hazelnuts are traditionally found in this recipe, but I wanted to use pistachios – next time almonds?). After toasting up all the components, I crushed and blended them together in small batches using a mortar and pestle. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, the end of a large wooden spoon and a sturdy bowl would work well. You could also always use a clean coffee grinder (set aside for just spices), or run a rolling pin over everything tucked into a large ziplock bag.

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I wanted to share this awesome turkey veggie platter I found on Pinterest last year and brought to our Thanksgiving feast. It was loved (and welcomed) by all and really helped in the snacking department while we waited for everything to come together. There’s not much to putting it together – check out this link here for the “recipe” and pick up some dip at the store or even better, make your own (for the record, I love Heluva Good Bodacious Onion or French Onion when I’m not in the dip making mood).

I’m all about kicking off a Thanksgiving feast with some heathy snacking…a little less guilt and the cute little turkey veggie platter is always a hit with the kids – and adults.

Here are a few simple dips from friends that would pair up with fresh veggies very well:

Swiss Cheese Onion Dip

Avocado Ranch Dip

Spinach and Kale Greek Yogurt Dip

Ranch Style Veggie Dip

Creamy White Bean Dip with Parmesan and Sage

Cucumber and Feta Greek Yogurt Dip

Svelte Green Goddess Dip

Gobble Gobble!

Hope everyone enjoys the holiday and the long weekend! I am so thankful for every single person who reads this blog and even more thankful for the friendships (virtual and in real life) and the opportunities that have been created because of it. You all make me smile 🙂

Happy Thanksgiving to you! xoxo

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When it comes to building a quesadilla, I think it’s pretty safe to say “anything goes”. I think that’s what I love the most about making them. They are basically just the vehicle for whatever ingredients you have on hand, and most of the time I would say, it’s pretty hard not to get it right.

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Whenever anyone asks me what my favorite kitchen tool or gadget is, my reply is always a sharp knife. A sharp knife is essential to any kitchen as far as I’m concerned, and after experiencing an injury to my hand last year because of a not-so-great encounter with a dull knife and an onion, I now know first-hand how important it is to make sure your knives are good and sharp before you use them.

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During the summer, I try to visit with my grandparents at least every couple of weeks. They don’t live too far from me – just about an hour drive – so it’s not uncommon for the kids and I to wake up in the morning and jump in the car for a spontaneous trip over to surprise them and spend the day. Our visit usually includes lunch, some wine, a dance session with my grandma and a little garden tour with my grandpa. Good times.

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Ahhhh, the 7-layer dip. The dip everyone gravitates too at a party, right? I’m a fan that’s for sure.

For some reason though, I have a hard time keeping it at just 7 layers. But this time I did. Only because I didn’t have layers 8 & 9 (which happen to be shredded lettuce and sliced jalapenos usually).

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This weekend my family got together for our monthly “family day” at my sister’s house to celebrate my brother-in-law’s birthday. I’m not sure exactly when our monthly get-together tradition officially started, but I’m glad it did. My family is close, and we spend a lot of time together normally,  but it seems over the last few years with life getting busy with our growing families, jobs and just “stuff” that we weren’t getting together as a whole as often as we used to. My mom has been great about reaching out to each of us and setting a date that works for everyone to get together each month. We usually rotate houses and it seems that there always happens to be a reason to celebrate, whether it be a birthday or holiday or just each other.

Of course, food is absolutely always involved.

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Last month, I shared with you this super-easy, super-quick chicken recipe as part of Hellmann’s Chicken Change-Up Challenge. It turned out so good that I wanted to play around some more and make an appetizer to serve up some friends at a little dinner get-together at my home one evening.

Now, I’ve mentioned before how much I love appetizers – and it sounds like most of you like to snack your way through a meal too. If you’re one of those appetizer people, like I am, then you will love these Baked BBQ-Cheddar Chicken Bites and Baked Buffalo Chicken Bites (shown above). Call them nuggets if you wish, I like the word “bites” much better, don’t you?

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