I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time containing myself from buying too much every time I’m at my farmer’s market or favorite local produce shop.

How could you resist not going home with one of everything here??

Greens of every kind (I came home with swiss chard, fresh spinach and dandelion greens on this trip), local tomatoes (ours typically come from Ruskin, FL and you can literally smell the freshness as you walk up to the boxes of tomatoes), and a variety of beautiful eggplants, peppers and squashes you don’t typically see on your regular trip to the grocery store. Produce heaven!! I love it. Absolutely love it.

I pretty much always come home with a big bag of tomatoes. That’s a given.

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I picked up a London Broil the other day on sale at Publix.  I wanted to treat my husband to a good steak dinner….since that is his favorite…and since I’m watching my calories, I compromised by picking up a leaner cut of beef like this one so I wouldn’t feel too guilty eating it with him.  I love how economical London Broil is…it’s often on sale and you can get several meals from one good sized steak.

Like this easy London Broil recipe? Pin it here!

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I hope you don’t mind another recipe from the archives…I’m looking for soups to make this week and this one has always been a favorite of mine. I posted it two years ago and thought you might enjoy it right now with the cooler temps approaching.

My family is currently in a busy season and I feel since all the Hurricane Irma madness I haven’t been able to catch up with my routine of cooking and sharing with you here. I’ve been cooking, but mostly quick throw together meals I don’t have to think too hard about.

Click here to Pin this Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup recipe!

I originally posted this Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup recipe  in January of 2015.

Oh split pea soup…it’s definitely not the prettiest in the category of soups but as far as nutrition goes, it ranks up pretty high in my book. It’s full of fiber, some protein and lots of other vitamins from the peas itself along with all the other veggies added in – and I think it tastes delicious. Anyone else love split pea soup like I do??

I love having soup in the fridge to heat up for quick lunches or for light dinners on busy nights. I really try to make a pot (or crockpot) of soup once a week, and when I don’t I definitely miss it.

Vegetarian Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup

This Split Pea Soup recipe for your crockpot is vegetarian based and made with vegetable broth, though it could also be made with chicken broth and a bit of ham, if that’s what you prefer. I love it just like this, full of garlic, carrots, celery and some tomatoes. The tomatoes are not a traditional ingredient for split pea soup but I’ve always added them.

A nice bowl of this vegetarian split pea soup for lunch or dinner definitely fills you up (in a good way!) and is really perfect for this time of year when most of us are trying to get back on track post-holiday. I don’t know about you, but my clothes are feeling a bit snug this week and I am really making an effort to chug water, eat a ton of fruits and veggies and not mindlessly pick on snacks and sweets that I got into the habit of picking on all throughout the holiday.

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Click here to pin this Green Mango Salad!

Mangos are huge in our household right now, my kids are absolutely obsessed with them. I’m grabbing them every time I am at the grocery store and they are gone within the first couple of days. I can’t complain about fruit loving kids that’s for sure! While they are eating mangos straight up, I am remembering some of my favorite mango dishes like this Tangy Mustard Broccoli Slaw with Mango and Maple Mustard Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Potatoes and Mango.

I found myself thinking about this green mango salad I made a couple of years ago after being inspired by a friend who mentioned his family makes it when he visits them in Colombia. I was checking out the mango bin looking for some unripe ones just for this purpose – I know what lunch will be today!

If you are a Trader Joe’s shopper, make sure you grab their Chili Lime Salt and sprinkle a little on your next piece of mango, ripe or unripe. You’re welcome. 🙂

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You all know by now, I like my greens. Spinach, kale, chard…I’ll take it all. Especially this time of year when I find myself googling ‘how to boost immune systems in children’, when I already know the answer. In case you weren’t sure, greens definitely play a part in the good nutrition part of boosting immune systems – and apparently we need all the help we can get lately.

The struggle is real when it comes to including as many greens as possible into my family’s diet. I like to use spinach leaves in place of lettuce in salad and try to include it in pasta or soup as much as possible (see this Pesto Pasta with Turkey and Kale and Chicken Gnocchi Soup). This meatless pasta dish made with whole wheat pasta, greens and Bush’s Great Northern Beans is another way to get some good nutrition on the table – and quick! With beans, pasta and canned crushed tomatoes being pantry staples, this is such a great base pasta recipe to add any fresh vegetable too.

Swiss chard with beans sauteed in tomato sauce are the perfect pairing and a great way to introduce a new leafy green and include beans to your diet.

If your family needs some meat to balance out the meal, add some roasted or grilled Italian chicken or turkey sausage to each dish. With or without the sausage, this is the kind of meal that is exactly what I need when I’m craving something hearty and healthy.

Swiss Chard with White Beans in Tomato Sauce over Pasta

Yield: 3-4 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic minced
• 1 bunch swiss chard, shredded
• 1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup of water (added to crushed tomato can to pick up remnant flavor)
• 1 15 oz can of Bush's Great Northern Beans, drained and rinsed
• a pinch of salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
• red hot pepper flakes, to taste
• 1/2 box of whole wheat pasta

Directions:

1. Prepare pasta according to directions.
2. While pasta is cooking, in a large saute pan, heat olive oil and begin to saute onion and garlic. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook onions until soft, about 3-4 minutes. Add chard to pan and saute until soft and wilted, about 8-10 minutes. Add can of tomato sauce with additional water to pan. Stir and bring to a simmer. Add can of white beans to sauce and cook for about 2-3 more minutes until sauce is slightly thick and flavors have come together.
3. Drain pasta and drizzle with a little olive oil. Serve sauce over pasta with red pepper flakes and parmesan cheese.

So hearty and healthy, I love the combinations of greens, tomato sauce and beans in this recipe. Hope you enjoy it too! Recipe from Aggie's Kitchen, inspired from Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine

This recipe was created in partnership with Bush’s Beans. Thank you for supporting the brands that support Aggie’s Kitchen.

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For the most part, my family has been eating whole grain pasta for as long as I can remember (which translates since having kids, lol). I got hooked on whole grains right after my son was born when I was trying to lose baby weight while following South Beach Diet. South Beach really got me in a healthier frame of mind when it came to eating well, always making sure to include whole grains, fresh fruits and veggies and lean proteins into my daily diet. Eating this way eventually just became my lifestyle.

Lucky for my family, since I do most of the cooking, it’s their lifestyle too. 🙂

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Before I talk about today’s recipe, I first want to thank every single one of you who took the time to fill out my recent Reader Survey. I read through every response and appreciate all of your comments and feedback. It was a treat to learn more about those of you who come here for my recipes!! Thank you thank you. If you have yet to fill one out and would like to, you can do that right here.

Today’s recipe is a special one. It is from my friend Andie’s new cookbook, Eating in the Middle: A Mostly Wholesome Cookbook and I’m so excited to share it with you. Her blog is a source of healthy recipes as well as wisdom and encouragement to live a balanced life after losing weight. Andie lost 130 lbs years ago and has shared her journey in her touching memoir It Was Me All Along (my review of it here). If you’ve ever struggled with weight, her very personal story about her struggles and relationship with food is one that many can and will relate to. (more…)

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(This post is part of the #ThinkRice campaign that I am participating in as a member of the Healthy Aperture network, sponsored by USA Rice.)

Happy Spring!! I don’t know about you, but Spring is most definitely my favorite season of the year. Depending on where you live, the weather has warmed up (we hit the 90s last week – too warm!) and when the weather is nice like it has been I just crave good, light, fresh food. No offense to winter comfort food, but I am so done with all that. Bring on the crunchy veggies, fresh fruit, all things grilled and my current favorite obsession – grain salads! This Caprese Rice Salad screams fresh, warm weather food and was enjoyed along side our favorite grilled chicken.

I know tomatoes are technically a summer food, but here in Florida they are pretty much available all the time. Especially the smaller varieties like cherry tomatoes, which happen to be one of my favorites. They are sweet and bite sized and are perfect for salads like this one.

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To say that I am obsessed with Greek food would be a total understatement. At least twice a month, if we are getting take out it is usually from one of our local family-owned Greek restaurants. I am in love with the flavors of the Mediterranean (if you can’t tell by the recipes I post), and Greek cuisine is high up on the list of food I love.

Today I am sharing with you a recipe from a beautiful cookbook I received recently, It’s All Greek to Me by Debbie Matenopoulos. When I opened up this book I could tell right away how authentic it was, and I was excited to read through it (am I the only one who likes to read cookbooks before they cook from them?).

When I looked through this book, it wasn’t just the beautiful and traditional recipes that caught my eye, it was also all of the gorgeous photos capturing the Greek culture that reminds me so much of my own Italian heritage – full of love, food and living life well. The underlying focus of this cookbook is not only delicious Greek recipes, but including and enjoying whole, natural ingredients as those in the Mediterranean part of our world do effortlessly as part of their lifestyle.

I love it. (and I love this Greek Village Salad too…the first of many recipes I want to try from this book.)

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One of my daughter’s favorite soups to order out is creamy tomato soup. It’s one of my favorites too and after sharing with her the art of dunking grilled cheese (or paninis) into a bowl she asks for it all the time. I really don’t make tomato soup often enough, but a couple of weeks ago when Florida got hit with it’s 2-day winter freeze, this Tomato and White Bean Soup was exactly what we needed to warm us up. It definitely hit the spot.

Speaking of my daughter and her favorite things…my sweet girl turned 8 last Thursday and we have been celebrating her with some of her favorite things all weekend long. She’s growing up so fast and it’s just crazy to me that she was just ONE year old when I started this blog. She wasn’t even walking yet! 7 years later she is my little foodie in the making. She has the biggest heart, loves her brothers, and is just full of spunk…she’s a very funny girl and likes to crack us up – we sometimes refer to her as a mini Kristen Wiig.

Her birthday dinner request? This manicotti (minus the butternut squash) she helped me make a few months ago and key lime pie. That’s my girl.

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