Healthy Chicken Parm Patties

It's almost Labor Day weekend!! Yesssss. A long weekend could not have come at a better time; work has been a little crazy, my first class in a graduate certificate program is tonight, and I have a massive to-do list that keeps growing by the day. Needless to say, my life has been a bit hectic this week, so finding a new, quick, and easy dinner to try was a necessity.

Rise and Shine Smoothie

There are some mornings that I find myself seriously dragging. Even after a cup of tea or coffee, I still feel like I'm living in a cloud. This is usually the result of staying up way too late because there is so much to do and so little time. But hey, sleep is for the weak right?

Preacher Cookies Remix

Does everyone know about Biscoff Spread? For those of you who don't, immediately get in your car and go buy some. It's right on par with Nutella. Basically amazing-ness in a jar. It's a smooth, sweet, creamy spread that is made of Biscoff cookies. Trader Joe's has a similar version called Cookie Butter, which is equally delicious.

Beans and Greens

I'm a sucker for chickpeas. Those little beans are so stinkin' cheap and can be used in a ton of different ways (one of the more exotic ways is in this recipe, which is on my list of things to try!).

2 Ingredient Fruit Dip

Ok, so I have a confession to make: I love, love, love eating marshmallow fluff by the spoonfuls. Yes, straight out of the container. No need for peanut butter, although that makes a tasty treat too. My roommates have a running joke about my marshmallow obsession. One of my roommates may or may not have bought me marshmallow flavored vodka for Christmas. And I may or may not have had the biggest smile on my face when I opened it.

Apple Pie Oatmeal

So, who's excited for fall? This girl definitely is! Hockey season, fall foliage, holidays, and pumpkin flavored everything. I've been pinning pumpkin recipes like it's my job. In fact, I just stumbled across a Pumpkin Snickerdoodle recipe. How amazing do those look?! I'm forcing myself to wait until September 22 (the first day of autumn this year) before I make anything pumpkin. So until then, I'll indulge in other fall-esque foods, like this Apple Pie Oatmeal.

Arlington Bars

Desserts are my weakness. They are my favorite thing to make and my favorite thing to eat. When I find a recipe that combines elements of multiple desserts, I have a heyday. Cake and ice cream? Yes please! Brownies and cookies? Oh yeah! S'mores and any other dessert? I've died and gone to heaven! These Arlington Bars combine chocolate chip cookie dough AND cheesecake. Yes, I'm serious.

Roasted Asparagus with Healthy Hollandaise Sauce

Asparagus is one of those vegetables that I love to eat, but I am not familiar with many different ways to prepare it. I usually steam asparagus and serve it with my entree. This is fine every once in a while, but not my idea of the perfect side dish. When I saw that asparagus was on sale at my local grocery store, I grabbed a pound and challenged myself to find a new way to cook this vegetable. I thought about maybe adding it to a salad, mixing it in with quinoa, or adding it to scrambled eggs with other vegetables. But none of those options seemed really appealing, so I kept putting off making the asparagus. While I was heating up some leftovers tonight, it dawned on me to roast the asparagus and serve it with a Hollandaise sauce. But there was one problem: Hollandaise sauce is a treat to your taste buds, but not to your waste line. So a little light bulb went off in my head to make a healthy Hollandaise sauce. And believe it or not, I think I like the healthy version better!

 

S'mores Oatmeal

So, did I mention that I love s'mores? And oatmeal? Because I do. Here is yet another example of my obsessions. I've combined two of my favorite foods into one recipe, and I am one happy camper!

Salmon Patties

As I've said before in this post and this post, I like quick and easy dinners. When I'm just feeding lil ol' me, I don't need anything fancy. As long as it tastes good and I don't have to slave away in the kitchen, I'm happy.

Sneaky Skinny Brownies

I'm not going to lie, I almost didn't try these. I am pretty fearless in the kitchen and usually don't let "weird" ideas or ingredients get to me, but this one was pushing it. I won't even mention what the weird ingredient is; if you are adventurous enough, you'll keep reading and maybe even try this recipe yourself.

Spaghetti Squash and Tomato Casserole

I love finding new recipes that are delicious, easy, and healthy. This is one of those recipes that I plan to make again and again. I have seen many recipes that use spaghetti squash, but have always been too intimidated to actually try making one of them. After going to the Eastern Market and seeing spaghetti squash for sale, I convinced myself to bite the bullet and buy it. And I'm so happy that I did!

Blueberry Clafoutis

Happy 100th birthday Julia Child! With her hearty humor and straightforward attitude, this revolutionary woman was a key leader in America's culinary community. It is amazing to think about what it would be like if Julia Child were still alive, and even more amazing to think about how much she contributed to educating Americans about French cuisine and changing our attitude towards food, cooking, and being in the kitchen. Thank you Julia Child for your ground-breaking movement and all of the cooking advice you passed on to future chefs, bakers, restaurants owners, and every day people who love to spend time in the kitchen. (If you would like to read more about this amazing woman, you can read a short biography here.)

Peach Pie Oatmeal

Being sick is no fun, especially in the summertime. I guess going to two concerts in one weekend will do that to you. Since I haven't been feeling that well and it's been cloudy and rainy outside, all I have wanted to do is curl up in my bed, watch movies all day, and eat comfort food. Since I can't indulge in the first two, I figure I can at least treat myself to some comfort food.

The Best Marinated No Marinate Chicken

This recipe is a winner, hands down. With a prep time of less than 5 minutes, this no marinate chicken is full of flavor, can be used in salads or pasta dishes, can be served hot or cold, and makes great leftovers.

Cookie Dough Bites

Sometimes the dough is better than the baked good. There have been times that I've found myself making a batch of cookies, fully intending on baking all of the dough, but then decide that keeping a bowl of cookie dough is a much better idea. I've also been known to buy pre-made cookie dough to eat, not bake. Don't judge me. We all have our weaknesses.

Skinny Peanut Butter Fudge Brownies

This might be the best, low-fat brownie I have ever tasted. No joke. These brownies are so rich and fudgey that no one would ever guess that they only have 120 calories and less than 7 grams of fat per serving. AND they have peanut butter in them!

Ultimate Oatmeal for Oatmeal Lovers

If you love oatmeal as much as I do, you'll be obsessed with this creation. This recipe takes the same amount of oats called for in a regular serving, but makes nearly double the amount of oatmeal. Oatmeal lovers get that much more yummy goodness. Yes!

Stuffed Pork Loin

I rarely put a lot of effort into the dinners that I prepare. There are a few occasions that I make something nice, but on a normal night when I'm just cooking for little ol' me I'd rather save the time and effort and whip up a quick, easy dinner. But a blog full of quick, easy dinners isn't fun! So to challenge myself, I found a stuffed pork loin recipe off of the Poor Girl Eats Well blog, made a few adjustments to the original recipe, and made this dinner.

Skinny Frosty Copycat

If you love the classic Wendy's Frosty, you need to try this skinny chocolate milkshake. 

Popeye Smoothie

Just like oatmeal, smoothies are a food obsession of mine. I make one almost every day (usually my favorite Strawberry Banana Smoothie). Smoothies are amazing because they are super easy to make and you can add as many different ingredients or combinations of ingredients as you want. But even with my love for smoothies, I am not a huge fan of the green smoothie idea. Who the heck wants to drink something that color?? Plus, the idea of adding spinach to my smoothie makes me all but gag. I do not want to eat a salad with my smoothie, thank you very much.

Dessert Overnight Oats

Anddd my oatmeal obsession continues (refer to this post to read more about it). Before I talk about this recipe, let me start off by saying that one of my new favorite blogs is Peanut Butter Fingers. This blog has a lot of great recipes and ideas for working out and staying motivated. While I was browsing the recipe section on this blog, I came across Uber Chocolaty Overnight Oats. I've been reading a lot about overnight oats on Pinterest, but haven't tried a recipe yet. Seeing a chocolate overnight oats recipe changed my mind.

Mediterranean Style Shrimp Stuffed Peppers

I've been noticing a lot of stuffed pepper recipes popping up on Pinterest lately. While I love stuffed peppers, I've never actually made them for myself. So after seeing so many stuffed pepper recipes, I decided to try creating my own.