PEANUT BUTTER & CHOCOLATE PROTEIN MILKSHAKE

I love Peanut Butter!! Seriously, I converted my daughter to love dips through Peanut Butter and apples. Peanut Butter and banana toast is one of our favorite breakfasts. I spread tons of Peanut Butter on my waffles and sandwiches... Way more than I should according to my husband! I even put Peanut Butter in shakes and smoothies... Enter... Peanut Butter & Chocolate Protein Milkshake!

LEMON POPPY SEED BREAD

Now that the temperatures are starting to cool down... I'm so excited to be baking a little bread, a little more often. This bread is actually one that I never made growing up because it was my brother's favorite. So he always made it! I actually kind of forgot about it until I was craving something sweet, but not too sweet! Lemon Poppy Seed Bread is the perfect treat!

CHICKEN TAQUITOS WITH AVOCADO DIP

I love these! They are divine... Lunch, dinner, snack... You name it! These are perfect. The first time we had them was when we were preparing to go on a trip to the beach. We didn't want to be worrying about what we were going to eat and didn't want to eat out for every meal--we just can't afford that right now. So I made some easy dinner and snack foods that we could easily prep in the hotel room. These were a hit!

CREAMY AVOCADO PASTA

I love avocado!! It is one of my absolute favorite things to eat. Period. Luckily, both of my kids love avocado, too. It was the one of the first real foods that I gave to both of them when they started eating "real people" food. To this day, Owen (16 months) can eat a whole avocado on his own in one sitting! He loves it!

CINNAMON QUICK BREAD

Today I'm excited to be sharing a childhood favorite! Homemade bread... but not just any bread. A quick, easy, moist, sweet and scrumptious bread that the whole family will love and devour!! This is Cinnamon Quick Bread and it is perfect for breakfast or dessert! And it smells divine!

COCONUT-LIME WAFFLES WITH STRAWBERRIES

Did you know that National Waffle Day was last Sunday?? I had no idea, but Scott and I did create the most delicious waffles I have ever tasted last weekend... coincidentally! Actually, Scott made the waffles and sliced the strawberries. While I created the creamy Coconut-Lime concoction to go on top!

HOMEMADE FUDGE RIPPLE ICE CREAM

Today I am sharing the Homemade Fudge Ripple Ice Cream from my Ice Cream Party Date Night! If you haven't already checked out that post, you should, my husband and I had a blast creating this Ice Cream and there are some fun FREE printables that I made just for YOU!

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI MUFFINS

Do you have a hard time getting your kids to eat their veggies? Sometimes I do... and sometimes I don't. My kids are weird like that! No seriously, one day avocados are there favorite food and they'll eat a whole one in less than 15 minutes. The next day, they won't touch it. Randomly, Lanae will grab the cherry tomatoes out of the fridge and tell me she wants them for her snack, but then if I pull them out again... won't touch 'em! It's a tough game we play!

LEMON CHICKEN & ZUCCHINI PASTA

Today I am sharing one of our family favorites! It's a good one... It's very filling and very healthy and very very delicious! I grew up hating zucchini, but this recipe changed all that! It's really that good. My kids will down the tomatoes and the zucchini in this pasta! I love it when I can get my kids to eat something healthy without a fight.

CLASSIC LASAGNA

Lasagna is my ultimate comfort food. I would always ask for it for my birthday dinner. Unless we were going out to eat, of course. I loved it when my mom made it because that meant I got a delicious meal without doing any work. 

CAESAR GREEN BEAN SALAD

I love green beans! My family always planted a huge garden and one of my favorite things fresh from the garden is green beans. In fact, summer time is really the only time we had green beans growing up, we weren't really big on frozen green beans. I don't think I even knew canned green beans existed. When I married Scott, he introduced me to his family's Caesar Green Bean Salad and it immediately became one of my favorite sides.

GENERAL TAO'S CHICKEN--A LIGHTER VERSION

I love to travel and love all kinds of foods from different cultures. Both my husband and my brother have spent some time among the Chinese and have a great love and passion for Asian inspired foods. This last Christmas, we were traveling to visit family and we decided to do a double date with my brother. Scott and I rarely eat out. So when we do eat out, we like to order something that we'll both like and we share.

CHOCOLATE CARAMEL CAKE DOUGHNUTS

Have you ever made a homemade doughnut???

Growing up, my family had a tradition to make doughnuts twice a year for a very special occasion. I always looked forward to this event because all the men would go out for the night and all the women and kids would get together in the kitchen and make doughnuts. We made these light and fluffy doughnuts comparable to Krispy Kreme... Except homemade!!

REAL FOOD HONEY VINAIGRETTE

Recently, I have become a huge fan of homemade salad dressing. I blame my mother-in-law. She makes the most amazing salads. Every time we go to visit, I cannot even get enough of her salads... which is totally weird because no one loves salad that much!

CREAMY & TANGY SUMMER SAUSAGE PASTA SALAD

I love, love, love pasta salads. They are the perfect side dish to bring to summer Barbeques. The pasta salads are always my first stop! There are so many words that could describe this salad... so the title just keeps going and going. This pasta salad is full of flavor and a quick and easy fix, you just throw it all together!

ENERGY BITES

I am constantly looking for quick and easy ways to get a little more energy in my life. I love to snack, but if I don't have something healthy ready and available, I sometimes make bad choices... like eating a handful of chocolate chips or not eating at all. When my family and I did our 30 days of real food, I loved to have 3 smaller meals with some snacks in between. So I did a lot of research on simple, healthy snacks. I discovered energy bites. They seem to be very popular right now. There are so many different combinations of flavors and they are quick to make.

SWEET BANANA NUT MUFFINS

I am a total fan of muffins. They are the perfect breakfast food and I love them for snacks. The reason why I love them so much is because they are delicious and I can eat them while I'm walking around. Without making a mess. I like to multi-task. Especially when I eat. 

STRAWBERRY COCONUT SALAD

This is a dreamy salad. I don't know if you can even really call it a salad... It's like dessert, really! But I call it a salad so I can eat dessert, too! :) I started making a more simple version of this salad last summer, but it has evolved into this and the last time I served it I got so many compliments that I thought I would share!

S'MORE CARAMEL POPCORN

Oh my YUM! I love summer, camping, the smell of a bonfire and roasting marshmallows. I love watching the ooey gooey marshmallow melt the rich and delicious chocolate. So, when I got this idea for a fort date night (from my brother-in-law, Steve)... the ingredients for a delicious S'more Caramel Popcorn popped into my head.

ITALIAN CREAM CHEESE CROCKPOT CHICKEN AND RICE

I'm flashing back to college, here, so bear with me. The transition to college was a little rough for me. I gave myself an ulcer from stressing so much about whether I would be able to fit in with my new roommates and balance work and school responsibilities. I'm not sure if that kind of stress is normal, but I'm pretty sure its not. Ha ha. I prayed constantly the whole summer before I moved out that I would have an amazing roommate who would become my best friend. You are learning way too much about me right now...