Weeknight Favorite Recipes
Speedy Mexican Pizzas
This speedy, customizable meal is a family-friendly dream when you don’t feel like cooking. It also happens to be a healthy, plant-based option that satisfies meat-eaters and vegetarians alike! My brother’s wife clued me in on this quick and easy meal years ago, and it’s been a favorite in our house ever since. My…
Arepas
A South American staple, arepas are cornmeal cakes that are crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. They can be stuffed with a variety of ingredients, from cheese to chicken salad, and the ingredient list is short. Three years ago, I tagged along on one of my husband’s business trips to Florida,…
Easy Egg Roll Stir Fry
The classic takeout appetizer is reinvented as a complete, one pan meal that comes together quickly with ground beef, pork, or your favorite plant-based alternative. For several years when her children were young, one of my good friends hosted an annual Chinese New Year’s party. Her youngest child was adopted from China, and the yearly…
Spaghetti Squash Pizza Boats
A takeout favorite meets wholesome veggie in this all-in-one dinner the whole family will enjoy. It even comes with its own bowl! If you were to teach a cooking seminar to nearly 40 middle school girls and boys, what would you make? As you ponder that question, I will mention that Janice Estabrook has…
Easy Pizza Sauce
This simple sauce comes together quickly with pantry staples and makes the most of homemade pizza and stromboli. Use it to lend Italian flavor to other saucy other recipes too. Pizza sauce is one of the easiest things to make and will perk up homemade pizzas and a variety of other recipes with its…
Tuscan Lentil Soup
A hint of sausage supplies smoky, savory flavor in this one-pot soup, which is packed with plant-based protein, colorful veggies and satiating appeal. Wholesome comfort food at its best－and a customer favorite at a regional restaurant chain! It never fails. When one of my sons issues a last-minute request for a friend to stay for…
Best Recipes of 2016
Happy New Year! To get things started in 2017, I thought it would be fun to share my favorite recipes from 2016. As a food blogger, I can’t take much time to rest on my culinary laurels. But like everyone else, I crave what’s familiar, satisfying, and easy. So these are the recipes from the…
Cheesy Roasted Lentil and Veggie Casserole
This wholesome dish has just enough cheese to make it decadent but enough plant-based protein and nutrient-rich vegetables provide a healthy-but-filling reset whenever your body needs it. Depending on where a person calls home, the New Year may be ushered in with black-eyed peas, pickled herring, or pork and sauerkraut. But while the holiday meal…
Pink Pineapple Protein Smoothie
Just five ingredients create a filling smoothie that’s frosty, creamy, sweet, and tangy. Anyone else feeling the need for a post-holiday reboot? Party food and cookies notwithstanding, the bigger assault to my system just so happened to come by way of a nasty virus that hit me just days before Christmas. Instead of attending a…
5-Can Weeknight Chili
A great bowl of chili is just minutes away thanks to a handful of economical pantry ingredients. Top with a simple sprinkle of cheese or load it up with chopped avocado, crushed tortilla chips, minced onions, etc. The wee hours of Christmas morning last year found my extended family in an airport. We were trading…
Homemade Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
Homemade Jiffy corn muffin mix beats the boxed version any day, and it can be made gluten-free! Most of us have a short list of recipes that, for one reason or another, we return to again and again. One of the recipes from my own time-honored list is a cross between baked corn and cornbread…
Bacon & Egg Quinoa Fried “Rice”
This twist on a takeout favorite uses quinoa in place of rice for a breakfast-inspired meal that makes a great dinner too. As we coast into the season of mashed potatoes, cookies, eggnog, and pie, I figured it was more important than ever to share a few easy meals that are healthy yet filling–and…
