Coconut Cocoa Oats Delight

Start your day with a burst of flavor and wholesome goodness with this uh-mazing Coconut Cocoa Oats Delight.
A delightful breakfast dish that combines the rich flavors of cocoa and coconut with creamy Greek yogurt and hearty oats, creating a breakfast awesomeness that will leave you craving for more.
It’s not just a recipe; it's a breakfast dream come true. As someone who appreciates the importance of starting the day right, this recipe has quickly become one of my favorites.

Raspberry Spuma

Guys, I think I’ve found the perfect dessert for the summer of 2022. Or better yet, my perfect dessert for this summer.
Enter this Raspberry Spuma: a low calorie, fresh treat that is light and full of flavor.

Bolzano Apple Cake

This cake is a northern Italian peasant classic and it’s arguably the apple-iest cake I’ve ever encountered.
Compared to other apple cakes, it has a one-of-a-kind apple to batter ratio. That’s the beauty of it. Super moist, awesome tasting, and also a great way to use up your apple stash.

The Best (Vegan) Apple Cake

Vegan cakes tend to have a bad reputation, and for a reason.
Over the years I’ve noticed that most of them have three major problems: they're either (1) strange tasting (some taste only like sugar while others taste like nothing at all) (2) dry and no moist at all (the ones that get stuck in your throat, if you know what I mean) or (3) have a weird texture (some are crumbly while others are seriously solid.)

Poppy Seed Loaf Cake

I’ve always been intrigued by poppy seeds. If you look ‘em up on wikipedia it says that “The tiny, kidney-shaped seeds have been harvested from dried seed pods by various civilizations for thousands of years”.
I’m not sure why they are described as kidney shaped, to me they look like they are oval-shaped, like uber-mini eggs.
Also, do you know that they are so small and light, it takes about 3,300 poppy seeds to make up a gram, and between 1 and 2 million seeds to make up a pound?
Fun facts…

(Vegan) Double Chocolate Pudding

Children and adults alike love chocolate pudding and have done so for years. Usually eaten as a snack, pudding can be also a refined dessert.
Though it’s easier to buy ready-made pudding (or instant pudding) sold in grocery stores, convenience stores, pharmacies, and even gas stations I urge you to try making it at home at least once.
It’s a hundred times better, way cheaper, and you can tweak to make it suit your tastes — more sweet, less sweet, more thick, less thick, and so on.

Holiday Marble Bundt Cake

Happy New Year y’all!
What a rough year 2020 has been, I’m pretty sure we all agree that it’s the kind of year that belongs in the rearview mirror and we’re all glad to put it behind us.
But before we dive into the new year plans, goals, and resolutions I think it's important to look back and to highlight to yourself the good things that have also happened throughout the year.
I for one originally set my reading challenge to 30 books but with the lockdowns I’ve been reading far more than anticipated and I ended up finishing 54 books (with a good mix of fiction and non-fiction books.) It's a small feat that probably means nothing to anybody, but I am very happy with it.
I took up rope jumping as an alternative to running outdoors and I soon learned it’s a great cardio workout, and I was able to nail the double under after a little over a month of practice.
I've also cleared out my closet and house of a ton of stuff that was crowding out my life, which was good.
Last, but not certainly least, I’ve cooked/baked a ton of good stuff.

Lemon Spice Pound Cake

With the cold closing in and the holidays just around the corner, I feel it’s about time to fire up the oven and bake like there’s no tomorrow. Am I right?
Today I’m sharing with you guys one of my favorite recipes for pound cake: Lemon Spice Pound Cake.

Whole Wheat Almond Cranberry Biscotti

One of the many drawbacks that came with quarantine was not being able to get my fave biscotti from a bakery across town.
Nothing too upsetting, considering that I could easily make them at home. Which is what I did. I mean, if there’s one thing that’s fairly easy to make at home is biscotti.

Italian Jam Tart (Crostata)

With the majority of us hunkered down at home, I know you’d probably expect me to tell you to do things like social distancing from your fridge, drink green juices, workout in your living room every day, etc.
And you should, keeping yourself healthy and active is very important, especially right now.
However, I also believe that it’s paramount to stay sane, light-hearted, and gruntled.
For me, that means eating something comforting, sweet, and delicious every day; such as a slice of this Italian Jam Tart (aka crostata).

Soft Apple Crinkle Cookies

During this quarantine we seem to be discovering our ovens for the first time. We’re all craving something sweet and soothing, so why not try out that Cinnamon Pecan Banana Bread or those Salted Double Chocolate Brownie Cookies recipes that have been hanging on the fridge for the last thousand years?
I mean, the thirty pounds flour, twenty bags of sugar, and ten boxes of eggs (also known as the Covid-apocalypse hoard) aren’t going to bake themselves. Am I right?

Avocado Egg Salad

We are going through difficult times and it might not always be easy to stay positive. Nonetheless we have to try our best.
As we hunker down at home, there’s no time like the present to get busy in the kitchen and try out some new delicious dishes.
I wholeheartedly believe that cooking is therapeutic, for yourself and for those around you.
Serve a delicious meal, everyone is happy. A simple source of comfort and pleasure.
It’s the kind of caring for the well-being of your family that ought to be top-of-the-mind right now.

Golden Milk

Golden milk (aka turmeric milk) is at the top of the list when it comes to healthy beverages.
A mix of turmeric and dairy-free milk along with cinnamon, maple syrup, and a pinch of black pepper. Naturally sweetened, incredibly healthy, and so very delicious. Ready in just 5 minutes.
In addition to soothing me to sleep, golden milk has also helped me appease my nightly sweet cravings before.
Lately, I’ve been replacing my evening sweet treat (usually a piece of dark chocolate with sea salt) with a steaming cup of Golden Milk and find myself feeling completely satisfied.

Almond Soft Gingersnaps

It’s undeniable that there’s no winter season without gingerbread cookies. Most people use a recipe that’s been in their family for generations, while others prefer to scout the internet to try out a new ones.
If you fall in the latter category, then this recipe might be for you.

Zucchini Olive Oil Bundt Cake with Orange Glaze

The holiday season is in full swing. Some people love it; some people want to hide under the couch until January 2nd. Whichever group you fall into, we can all agree that this is the best time of the year to fire up the oven and start baking, sharing, and of course, eating.

Whole Wheat Maple Apple Bundt Cake

I’m not sure if it’s the anticipation of holiday celebration to come, or the nostalgia of helping out in the kitchen when I was a kid, or just the weather changing, but something about autumn makes me want to bake.
This is the time when I want to start filling my kitchen with the smell of pies and warm spices after a hot summer — when turning on the oven was the very last thing I wanted to do.
And when baking is involved around here, apples must also be involved. To me there’s nothing quite like the aroma of apple baking in the oven.
I mean, fall, baking, and apples just go together. That’s a fact and there’s no point in pretending otherwise.

Cinnamon Pecan Crunch Banana Bread

I don’t know if this happens to you as well, but I have this tendency of buying way more bananas than I ever would be willing to eat.
I believe it’s always great to have a bunch of bananas on the counter for a healthy grab-and-go snack or light breakfast. I often buy them in varying colors of green and yellow to assure I have plenty of time to eat them all. Still, bananas tend to ripen quickly, sometimes a lot faster than I have time to eat them. There’s other stuff to eat, you know how it goes. Life just doesn’t revolve around eating bananas.

Bacon, Spinach, Avocado and Tomato Sandwich with Goat Cheese

I believe there is something really satisfying about a good sandwich. Any time of year, any time of day or night, there are times when a sandwich is just the thing.
I have heard people say they don’t like sandwiches and I wonder if their school lunches consisted of bad sandwiches: dubious bread with three slices of baloney stacked over questionable mayo.
I tell them that they really need to try a good sandwich — such as a Rueben on whole wheat bread with sauerkraut and melted Swiss cheese or chicken salad with curry, a Sloppy Joe or a French dip sandwich.

Crock-Pot Peach Butter

If you’re anything like me, you’ve been over-ambitious and bought far too many peaches at the farm stand.
I’m not saying there’s something wrong with it, it’s just that — just like myself — you’re probably facing an over-abundance of peaches and need to come up with a way to use ‘em before they go bad.
Crock-Pot Peach Butter to the rescue.
This is hands-off the easiest way to make sure your peach haul is turned into something delicious that will keep through winter (if, of course, properly preserved.)

Sweet Potato and Pepper Quesadillas

I can say without a hint of doubt that quesadillas are probably one of my fave top five dinner choices. I love making them at home and trying out all kinds of different combos: vegetarian, spicy, even quesadilla-pizza.
I also find myself ordering them — more often than I’d like to admit — when I’m out to eat.
I’m not really surprised about how much I love them because quesadillas are basically a kicked up grilled cheese on a tortilla instead of bread. And if you didn’t know this about me — or you couldn’t tell from my cauliflower crust grilled cheese enthusiasm — I honestly think that grilled cheese is one of the most perfect foods there is.
Quesadillas have the same golden brown crunchy outside and warm gooey cheese filling. Plus the addition of the salty, savory, and sometimes spicy fillings bring the concept of grilled cheese to a whole new level.