15 Delish Casseroles To Warm You Up

 In terms of pure comfort, casseroles are high on the list of my fave autumn cooking.
Double points if they have a good amount of cheese and triple if they also contain quinoa.
In fact, I’m stoked that the chilly weather has brought casseroles back into my meal rotation.

Big batches of Baked Spinach Rice or Cottage Pie not only make the kitchen smell like a million bucks on a Sunday night, but they become easy lunches and dinners throughout the week.
And if a couple of friends swing by, no prob — there’s always plenty to share.

On top of that casseroles don’t deserve their reputation of being heavy and loaded with cream and cheese — don’t get me wrong, they’re definitely delicious when they are — but they can be just as warming and yummy when filled with veggies.

So without further ado here are my 15 fave casseroles: filling, nourishing, and all delish. And trust me there’s not a single can of cream of chicken soup in sight!

10 Recipes To Make When You're Sick

 It finally happened. After months of good health and high spirits, one of my friends has infected me with the cold.
I hate getting colds because there's nothing you can do about it, except let it run its course. I hate getting food poisoning, I hate getting fevers, but I hate cold more.
Have you ever tried reading a book, watching a movie or working with a runny nose?
It is perhaps the most frustrating thing ever.
Just as you start to enjoy yourself, your nose begins to drip like a leaky faucet. Completely killing any enjoyment you have, as you proceed to wipe your nose again and again and again.
Torture.

Anyways, instead of feeling miserable and sorry for myself, I decided to take action and bolster my immune systems with food.

Believe it or not the most authentic way to fight a cold (or flu) is to eat foods that will help you build the healthy cells you need to feel better.

So I went in and selected 10 recipes from The Iron You to make when you’re sick. Most are smoothies, juices, and soups — because, as you have probably heard it like a million times, when you’re sick you need to get plenty of fluids.
And it’s true. The body needs extra hydration when you’re trying to get well.
But there’s also a grilled cheese. Trust me, there's nothing better to do on a sick day than to put cheese between two slices of (cauli) bread and call it a day.
I also included a recipe for popsicles as it’s my favorite remedy for a sore throat.

I hope you'll enjoy it!

15 Delicious Vegan Recipes

Just in case there was anyone still out there mistaking me for some sort of food nazi dictating what others should eat and what they should call themselves based upon their diets, you should know that when it comes to food I really don’t care about labels or semantics.
Sure, lots of my recipes (more like a ton, okay, maybe all) are labeled as this OR that OR this and that OR this but not that. But my one and only concern is that the the food is real food, made from fresh ingredients and - more importantly - that it’s delicious.
Take these 15 recipes for instance, they’re vegan (and almost all are paleo) but what matters is that every single one is so yummy you won't even realize they're healthy too.

Say you enjoyed a few too many heavy meals over the past couple of days, time has come to lighten up a little with some wholesome meals, sweets, or snacks.
And for even more vegan recipes, check out my vegan recipe index.
If you make any of these recipes, please snap a picture and share it on Instagram with the hashtag #TheIronYou. You guys have NO idea how stoked I get when you do stuff like this!

So without further ado, here are 15 delicious vegan recipes:

TIY's 15 Most Popular Recipes

The Internet is a strange (but awesome) place.
I’ve been at this blogging thing now for over four years and I still don’t understand many things that happen on TheIronYou (i.e., my blog).
I feel like I’m starting to know you guys better and that I’m able to predict the kind of recipes you’d like to see on here.
So I really don’t understand why one recipe goes viral while another one — that I believe is just as awesome — doesn’t.
It’s a mystery that I won’t ever really comprehend. I just have to accept it for what it is: some recipes become popular, others don’t. That’s just the way it is.
Still, when the Internet speaks, my job is to listen.
So without further ado, here, in order, are TheIronYou’s 15 most popular recipes of all time.
Not surprisingly there’s a lot of cauliflower crust, some curries, a couple of casserole, and even a pudding.
From 1 to 15, here they are!

My Fave Breakfast Recipes

You probably already know that I’m not a morning person.
Never been. Never will.
I know that the way you start your morning off sets the tone for the entire day, but I’m not one of those persons who wakes up energized, refreshed, charged up, and ready to take on the world.
I, instead, wake up feeling grumpy and grouchy. I push the snooze button at least a hundred times. Seriously.

The only thing I love about mornings is breakfast.
Breakfast may be my favorite meal to cook because there’s nothing fussy about it.
Most of the time, I start my day with a fantastic smoothie (such as my awesome Immune-Boosting Blueberry Smoothie); sometimes I just want some solid food (apple + almond butter).
But then there those time when I want breakfast to be — you know — awesome, when that happens I turn to one of these ten recipes and start my day in the most legit way possible!

15 Recipes To Detox Your Body

Because I know I can’t compete with your grandma’s green bean casserole, Aunt Mary’s velvety mashed potatoes, or cousin Jean’s super-rich stuffing.
And because I’m savvy enough to realize that you don’t need me to tell you how to choose, cook or cut a turkey — for that and a for any other Thanksgiving situation Martha is there for you.
This year I decided to skip Thanksgiving altogether and move directly to Black Friday.
You know, the busiest shopping day of the year — where we trample people for things we don’t actually need, the day after being thankful for what we have.
Also known as the day you wake up feeling like a bloated, elastic-waistband-wearing version of yourself.

But instead of throwing yourself a pity party with leftover stuffing before you hit the stores: why not start fresh with something healthy?
I went in and selected 15 recipes from The Iron You that will help you detox after turkey-day. Most are smoothies/juices, some are salads/soups but there’s also a dessert that I snuck in too, if you want something sweet.

In the meantime I wish you guys a happy Thanksgiving. And remember, Thanksgiving is not a day to diet — for once, you get to gather ’round the table with family and friends, and eat delicious holiday dishes to your heart’s content.
Because no one wants green juice at their Thanksgiving table. No one.

12 Avocado Recipes

If you know anything about me, then you are aware of my love affair with avocado.
I eat that stuff with a spoon, plain, or coated in coconut and baked into fries, or stuffed into meatballs, or scrambled with eggs.
And why not a smoothie, ice-cream or a pudding? It adds a filling, creamy texture that just cannot be beat. Plus, it ups the good fats as well as adding a small protein boost.
Not to mention brownies. Avocado boosts the fudgy factor, the healthiest, fattiest kind.
I also make extra-creamy, extra-rich, extra-awesome pesto with it.
The possibilities are endless with this magic fruit.
So without further ado, here are 12 of my fave recipes with avocado!

12 Grilled Chicken Recipes

Barbecue season is finally upon us, or is it?
To be honest, the weather is still a touch chilly, but I think it’s time to get ready to fire up those grills.
In my case it means I should clean the barbecue.
Because last autumn I didn’t clean it before putting it away. So I’ll need to remove the dust, cobwebs, not to mention the remnants of the last barbecue...
I know what you’re thinking, what kind of person does not clean the grill before putting it away?
Honestly I don’t know what to say. That's just the type of backwards, ignorant life I've led up until now, and no amount of common sense will persuade me otherwise.
Anyways, personally I think nothing says BBQ season like some delicious, grilled-to-perfection chicken.
Definitely a party favorite. At least, my party favorite.
So without further ado here are 12 clean and flavor-packed ways to make grilled chicken that would implant smiles on everyone faces.

12 Chia Seed Recipes

Chia seeds have gotten a lot of hype this past few years as the new superfood — a long way from chia seed pet that you water and puffs up into some grass poodle.
I don’t think it’s a fad to go away though; because I don’t think it’s a fad anymore.
Actually I would go as far as saying they’re mainstream now, or at least on the way of becoming mainstream.

15 Quinoa Recipes

Let’s get this out of the way: quinoa is not paleo.
KEEN-WAH -> NOT -> PAY-LEE-OH.
Alrite?
So 'Paleo Police' please don’t jam my inbox with your fantastic messages warning me that the Aztec seed is not cavemen-approved.
I’m aware of it and I’m OK with it.
I already mentioned here, here, here, and probably in a couple of other places I don’t remember.
I doesn’t matter though: I dig quinoa therefore I eat quinoa.
It's my favorite gluten-free...seed.
You might have heard people calling quinoa a grain but technically it’s not a grain, it’s a seed treated like a grain (some like to call it pseudo-grain)
Quinoa has great nutrient profile: it is a complete protein source, containing all nine essential amino acids, which is rare for a plant source. It’s also rich in fiber, iron, magnesium, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera...
What I really love about quinoa is the subtle nutty flavour and slightly crunchy texture.
Quinoa is great in casseroles, salads, meatballs/patties, and soups.
If you haven’t tried it yet well, you really should!
So without further ado here are some of my favorites recipes with quinoa: