Another great Ellie Krieger recipe! This salmon recipe comes from one of my favorite healthy cookbooks, The Food You Crave by Ellie Krieger. I highly recommend it to anyone who is new to cooking salmon or trying to introduce new salmon recipes to their family. This healthy salmon recipe is always a winner and has been my go-to recipe for years.

I’m a huge fan of sweet and spicy flavors…though I wouldn’t consider the flavor in this dish spicy. It has great chili flavor but there isn’t any heat, so don’t let the term “spicy” mislead you. It’s the perfect amount of seasoning.

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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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Earlier this summer my daughter requested I make a pasta salad. She didn’t have to ask me twice! I always love a good pasta salad and tend to volunteer to make them whenever invited to a potluck, but I have to admit I avoid making them for our meals at home because honestly, I don’t have a lot of self control when it comes to eating pasta. Knowing that more of that big bowl of pasta salad will be shared with more of my family gave me more incentive to make it for dinner a few times this summer (my husband and daughter will eat it, my older son is still not on board but I have a feeling our littlest guy will be a fan soon enough).

I used quinoa pasta for this pasta salad recipe (found a great big bag at Costco recently), but your favorite whole wheat or regular pasta would work just fine. I kept things simple and summery with sliced raw zucchini, shredded carrots and grape tomatoes. The bite sized pieces of chicken sausage made it a tad heartier (for those that don’t think pasta salad could count as a meal) but the sausage could easily be replaced with beans to turn this pasta salad into a vegetarian dish. And because I’m all about shortcuts these days I used a bottled vinaigrette – this one from Brianna’s was just recenly introduced to me by my friend Shari and I am absolutely in love with it (among a few of their others).

Since I know I have a hard time controlling myself around pasta, I try to bulk up my pasta dishes with as many vegetables as possible. I added a couple large handfuls of spinach and baby kale mix to a serving of this garden pasta salad with a couple extra splashes of dressing. It was perfect. My husband and daughter approved and agreed!

Hope everyone is having a GREAT summer! xo

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We’ve entered the time of year where I am seeing requests for recipes using zucchini everywhere I turn. Zucchini seems to take over gardens, farmer’s markets and produce sections for a good part of summer and I love finding new ways to incorporate it into everyday recipes to keep things interesting.

When my kids were little, I always sliced a zucchini and sprinkled it with salt to give them as a snack on the counter while I cooked dinner. They never questioned what they were eating, and they finished up their healthy raw zucchini snack without complaining every single time (this made me so happy!!). I started eating it this way with them too and over the years started adding raw zucchini (and yellow squash) into salads more regularly. I think it makes a great healthy addition to a salad, especially when you add in some crunch from nuts and sweetness from raisins like in this Zucchini and Walnut Arugula Salad.

Walnuts are one of my favorite nuts to throw into salads. They have a ton of flavor when roasted (or quickly toasted up in a skillet) but I find myself eating them raw more often due to a bit of laziness but more importantly for added health benefits. Whether they are roasted or raw, they are an absolute must in almost every salad I make, especially in the summer time!

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I shared these baked old bay fries on the blog a few years back but wanted to share the recipe again because they are one of my husband’s favorites. Before my husband and I got together, I honestly don’t think I knew what Old Bay seasoning was. My husband and his family introduced me to the world of Old Bay (through crab cakes, crab and shrimp boils, salmon cakes, shrimp salad and these fries). I’m thinking if you are from the Maryland area you are pretty familiar with it as well. 😉

The best part of these easy baked up french fries (other than the Old Bay)? The splash of malt vinegar right before serving. They make the perfect side to grilled burgers or broiled fish. Enjoy!

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Over Spring Break my sister in law, my niece and I spent a morning out on Park Avenue in Winter Park. If you are from Central Florida then you probably are familiar with this part of town. It’s a perfectly quaint and cozy brick lined street full of shops and restaurants, perfect for walking – especially on a gorgeous Spring day in Florida. You seriously can’t beat it.

I’m not much of a “shopper” (I like to get in and out of stores, no lingering for me), but something about Park Avenue always draws me in. The stores are different, there is something for everyone – it’s a very relaxing way of shopping in my opinion, I think the scenery and walking in the open air have a lot to do with it. On this particular day of shopping spices and jewelry were on the agenda.

I treated myself to my first Alex and Ani bracelet ensemble…perfect for spring and summer don’t ya think?

and a spontaneous stop at one of my favorite places to eat happened too.

(Lunch at Bosphorous Turkish Cuisine: we ordered their famous Lavas bread, hummus plate and 2 lunch specials to share – Doner Kebap and Chicken Adana Kebap – so delicious and SO MUCH FOOD!)

On that shopping trip I came home with a new spice blend that combined cayenne & ground black pepper. I’ve been sprinkling it on so much stuff (eggs, tuna, salads) and it was even more awesome on these potatoes. I made them a second time making them without the spice “blend” but with actual measurements of cayenne and black pepper just so I can share it with you.

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Once upon a time I was 30+weeks pregnant and said to myself more than a few times — I can’t wait to lose this pregnancy weight! It’s going to be fun, like a game! I’ve done this before, it won’t be hard! I’m going to walk with the baby in the stroller so much the weight is just going to melt off! I’m going to get fit in no time!

Clearly, I was a bit mental at the time. What in the world. Crazy pants.

Now here I am 20+ weeks post partum and I can not even believe how out of shape I am. I’m so low energy and just feel bleh all the time. Pair that up with not sleeping well most nights, I pretty much feel like a mess lately. Oh and it’s full on spring in Florida right now and let’s just say black yoga pants just aren’t cutting it anymore. Something has to be done here.

So I’m committed. I’m committed to exercising in some capacity every day (even if it is just a quick stroller walk with my baby). I need to be selfish with my workouts, it’s very important “me time”. I got back in the gym last week. I also got myself jogging a bit over the weekend (that felt GOOD!). Things have to change and it’s starting first with my attitude —

I need to be telling myself things like:

Just do it!
No more excuses!
and on the days I’m feeling down… What are you going to do about it? (this one is key)

So far it’s working.

I got this. But dang, it’s hard!

I’ve been making this kefir smoothie in the afternoons lately for my car ride to pick up the kids from school. It gives me exactly what I need to hold me over until dinner and I like to believe it gives me a little energy boost too. Micah’s not a huge fan of the blender so I have been avoiding making smoothies for a few months. Now when I turn the blender on I have to put on a really happy funny face to distract him from that “loud scary noise”. You gotta do what you gotta do right?

If you’re not familiar with kefir, it’s very similar to yogurt and can be found in the dairy aisle most likely near the milks. I discovered it a couple years ago when I was on the 17 Day Diet (…for 14 days). It’s a probiotic, has a good amount of protein and calcium, and is a great option for an afternoon snack. I personally like it’s natural tartness but feel free to add a little honey or sweetener of choice if that’s your thing.

Happy Monday!

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Eggs are a staple in our house. When I mentioned in my last post that panic starts to set in when we get down to the last two eggs I wasn’t kidding.

Growing up my grandfather was always frying up thinly sliced potatoes and adding eggs to them for breakfast. Potatoes and eggs just go together don’t they? I started making this potato frittata a couple of years ago for a quick and easy dinner and every time I make it it reminds me of my grandfather. Our methods of cooking this up are a little different (he used more oil and I don’t remember him ever putting it under the broiler) but the concept is the same – fried potatoes and eggs. And a touch of Parmesan in my version. I’ll have to ask him if he ever puts Parm in his eggs, I’m thinking not.

When I look at this Parmesan Potato Frittata photo I laugh because it looks like such a fancy brunch plate, but in reality it’s such a simple “peasant” dish. It has just a small handful of ingredients and the recipe cooks in about 15 minutes. It makes a great breakfast for dinner or lunch or of course breakfast or brunch. I actually cooked myself one for lunch just yesterday, cut it in quarters to keep in the fridge and enjoyed it cold as a protein packed late afternoon snack. You can even throw it between two slices of bread or in a wrap and call it a sandwich! Good stuff.

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We love breakfast for dinner in our house (and breakfast for breakfast of course!) so anytime I can squeeze a BFD in is good! I have always been more of a savory breakfast gal so if I had my choice of BFD foods it would definitely be eggs, a breakfast turkey sausage and some sort of potato dish…and a little fruit on the side for good measure. 🙂

Eggs are quick to whip up obviously so when we go the eggs route a hasbrown side dish recipe like these Cheesy Pepper and Onion Hashbrowns recipe is a perfect addition. All I did was quickly saute peppers and onions, then add half a package of frozen Alexia hashbrowns (this is NOT a sponsored post btw) to the mix and brown it all up. Before serving throw in some cheese and voila – you’ve got yourself a fancy hashbrown dish to eat up alongside your favorite eggs.

Don’t forget the hot sauce!

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Has anyone else’s home been taken over by Rainbow Loom? My daughter has been “looming” since Christmas with her buddies in the neighborhood and my son has finally caught on to the craze this week (after realizing that most of the boys in his class are loomers too). I think it’s hysterical…especially when I woke up to my kids looming peacefully with each other this morning before school (at 5:45am people!!).

Loomers, looming and LoomLove … all part of our daily vocabulary these days. (I love it.)

I also love this pasta. My whole family did (win!). Well, except the kids don’t like shrimp – partial win? More for the grown ups. 😉

I originally wanted to make this shrimp pasta from Damn Delicious (next time!), however I decided that I needed to clear a few lonely veggies out of the fridge. Apparently I had some feta and wine to get rid of too, thankfully. That’s the best part of skillet shrimp pasta dishes like this…almost anything goes!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

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