Cucumber Cilantro Salad with Chicken

I got a vegetable spiralizer tool, which is a lot of fun. Cucumbers and zucchini are my favorite vegetables to make into spirals. If you don't own one, this salad is also yummy with cucumber half circles.

Cilantro Lime Pilaf

Wheat Pita Bread

Restaurants make great pitas, and now I can make delicious, healthy ones at home too.

Fresh pitas are actually a very easy yeast bread to make: You mix it, knead it, let it rise once for an hour, then cook it in a frying pan on the stove. I make the dough in the bread maker so it's even easier.

Mary's Amazing Biscuits--only 3 ingredients

These are great as a last minute addition to dinner (or breakfast) because they're so fast and easy. I also love that because they have mayonnaise in them rather than an egg, I can easily halve the recipe if I only want 4-5 biscuits. That means I can whip up a few fresh for every meal for 2. And don't worry, you can't taste the mayonnaise at all.

My Husband's Favorite Broccoli

I can only think of a few surefire ways to get my husband to eat vegetables, and this broccoli is one of them. It comes with a lot of good flavor and smells.


The garlic and lemon on it is yummy, but the real trick is roasting it.

Easy Baked Potato--low-fat option

My mom has never met a potato she didn't like, and I'm her daughter. Even simple potatoes are worthy of a meal.

Growing up in a family of nine, my mom would make baked potatoes in the oven. I remember scrubbing and wrapping them for my mom, as she prepped the rest of dinner.

But now that I'm living with just my husband it doesn't always make sense to heat up the entire oven for 2 baked potatoes.

My father-in-law showed me this trick: Use plastic wrap to steam your potato in the microwave.

Trivia question for you:

What has more potassium, a banana or a baked potato?

Easy No-Sugar-Added Cinnamon Applesauce

Chunky-style applesauce

Applesauce sometimes get a bad rap--it's too processed, it has too much sugar. Personally, I think making it yourself is the perfect solution, especially if you have another problem: that you have some soft or bruised apples around the house. It's actually a healthy, easy choice!

Easy Slow Cooker Sweet Potato

What to do when your spouse hates a certain food and for some reason you have got to have it? You find an easy way to fix it and eat it all yourself!
Sweet potatoes/yams are that food in my house.

Creamy Spinach Bake

Spinach is the best tasting of the dark leafy green family. Cooked well, it's worth the risk of getting some caught in your teeth. And doesn't it look appetizing in it's own little dish? That's actually a silicone muffin cup.

Italian Tomatoes

When I took French in high school my teacher Madame Kelly, a beautiful French lady, tried to explain many things about France, especially its food! One thing she told us is that in France salads are very different. You wouldn't have a side salad with lettuce, tomato, carrot, cucumber, etc., but usually would just have one vegetable in your salad.
Years later at college I was at a party and one girl brought a tomato salad--slices of tomato with seasonings. I can see what the French like about it!

Golden Rolls

Three years after this recipe post my husband still asks for these. And my 7-year-old Craigslist bread machine that leaped off the counter 6 months ago is still great at making bread dough. (I was shopping and it was making me pizza dough. I think it somehow rocked itself off the counter. Either that or it came alive while I wasn't looking like something out of The Brave Little Toaster.)

*Updated 8-8-17*

I have simplified the recipe a little -- previously I used wheat flour, bread flour, and oat flour. Now I just have white and wheat flours because it's easier. Do you have favorite recipes you have adapted?

Ranch Punched Potatoes

This flavorful dish has the delicious taste of Ranch Dressing without lots of grease. It has creamy potatoes below and crispier chunks above.
The best part? You probably have everything you need to make it right now.
This is a great last-minute dinner side dish idea.