These Vegetarian Lasagna Spaghetti Squash Boats will rock your world. It's super filling and each boat is packed with several cups of mushrooms, onions, and spinach! Talk about veggie-fied. You're going to love this lower carb and meatless take on lasagna that will satisfy that pasta craving. If you follow me on Instagram you have been warned. It's Spaghetti Squash Week!!! I got such amazing feedback from you guys on Smoothie Week that I decided to dedicate this first week of Feb as Spaghetti Squash Week! So yep, you guessed it, all the recipes that I create this week will feature the beloved spaghetti squash. But first, what is spaghetti squash?! Some of you may not be familiar with it or maybe you've seen it or heard of it but have never tried cooking it at home. Spaghetti squash is ... View Post
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15 Yummy Avocado Recipes
You guys... I love me some avocado. How about you. There's nothing like slicing into the perfect creamy avocado and topping it on your salad, burrito bowl, or just eating it right out of the shell with a spoon. Pure bliss I tell ya. So if you're looking for more ways to get avocado into your life.. I've got you covered. I this post, you'll hear all about the nutritional benefits of eating avocados along with interesting tips and tricks for the beloved avocado. And as you can see from all of these yummy avocado recipes... we love 'em here on Love & Zest. Chicken Salad with Avocado Ranch Dressing Bacon Quinoa Chili Interesting tidbits about the beloved avocado + Nutritional Benefits of Eating Avocados: Avocado is a fruit! It’s technically a single-seed berry. Salted ... View Post
11 Slow Cooker Secrets & Recipes
While the Florida heat says otherwise, the summer season is coming to an end. The kids are back in school, and the warm days are drawing to a close. Between baseball practice, dance class, and back to school shopping, it can be difficult to find the time to cook healthy meals for the family. Sometimes our hectic schedules cause us to rely more on convenience than our health. Fortunately, there is an essential kitchen appliance that can save time and money. Dust off the slow cooker that has been hibernating in the back of the cabinet, and let the pot do the cooking. Easy Crockpot Nachos Here are a few tips to ensure the perfect slow cooker meal: Make a Pinterest Board - Now I know this may seem silly to list as the number one tip, but we are all about saving time in this post. ... View Post
Grilled BBQ Chicken Naan Pizza with Tart Cherries
Fire up the grill for this BBQ Chicken Naan Pizza with Tart Cherries—it’s perfect for a summer gathering and comes together in just minutes! Big thank you to Cherry Marketing Institute for sponsoring this post. It’s been a while since I’ve shared a pizza recipe with you all, and this one requires firing up the grill (well, you can totally bake it in the oven or on your stove top grilling pan), but grilling pizza outside is 1. more fun and 2. makes one of the BEST pizzas you’ll ever put in your mouth! Plus it’s summer time; who wants to heat up the oven?! It’s grilling season! Grilling pizza makes the crust crispy and the cheese perfectly melty. I loved this take on BBQ Chicken Pizza because I used garlic Naan bread—hello flavor (and garlic breath, sorry not sorry). It doesn’t get ... View Post
{Wellness Wednesday} Nutrient Spotlight: Magnesium
Hey friends, well it's been a little while since I've had it together enough to publish a nutrition article on the blog but hopefully that will change, at least I anticipate that you will be receiving your regularly scheduled Wellness Wednesday posts moving forward. Today it's all about Magnesium. Tart Cherry, Dark Chocolate, Cashew Granola Bars Satisfy your sweet tooth while eating this magnesium-packed snack! Cashews, almonds, cherries, and pumpkin seeds all provide an excellent source of magnesium. What is magnesium? Magnesium is an extremely helpful mineral that’s responsible for our body’s energy production, energy storage, and hundreds of other crucial biological processes. Although it’s found mostly in bone, magnesium plays a much larger role within our living cells – ... View Post
Q&A Interview for {NEW} Nutrition for Runners Program & E-book
Today I’m introducing you to a newNutrition for Runners Program written by my friend and fellow dietitian Anne Mauney from fANNEtasticfood and running coach Jason Fitzgereld from StrengthRunning.com. I’m trying to think back to when I first met Anne. It was a few years ago, either at a FNCE after party or the CabotFit team when we raced Beach to Beacon together. Either way, she’s become a really good RD blogger friend as we’ve gotten to hang out on different trips and conferences. When Anne asked me to do an expert interview awhile ago for her new program/e-book, I was super excited. As part of the main Nutrition for Runners program, Anne and Jason include interviews with experts in the sports nutrition field, and I'm honored that I'm one of them! Little did I know that ... View Post
My 10 Grocery Must Haves
Yesterday I was building a list with my intern Lindsay of the most important foods for a college athlete to buy at the grocery store, and I got to thinking this might be fun to do on the blog. A list of the top 10 foods that always land in my grocery cart each week, and show you how I use them. Eggs. I'm obsessed. Eggs in the morning, for sure almost. every. day. You can count on that. I like the way that scrambled eggs make me feel first thing in the morning. My favorite way to eat eggs is with a big bowl of roasted veggies on top of either roasted potatoes or grits. Get one of my Veggie Breakfast Bowl recipes here. Greens. I like having a big salad for lunch so I always stock up on greens that are in the containers not bags. I usually go for the "organic girl" greens ... View Post
Tart Cherry Greek Yogurt Pancakes with Tart Cherry Maple Syrup
This post is sponsored by the Cherry Marketing Institute. Vanilla Bean Greek Yogurt Pancakes stuffed with Dried Tart Cherries and Sweet Pecans and topped with a drizzle of Tart Cherry Maple Syrup. If you’ve been around this blog long enough, you know about my love affair with dried tart cherries, long before I began working with the Cherry Marketing Institute. If you’re new here, consider yourself caught up to speed. I’m excited to finally share my first recipe of the year for a series of posts that will be featuring the beloved Montmorency tart cherry. Many thanks to the Cherry Marketing Institute for believing in this blog and helping me share this treasured fruit with all of you. With the New Year, many of you might be trying to fit in a balanced ... View Post
Slow Cooker Steak Nachos with Spicy Butternut Squash Queso
Not your mama’s nachos but these Slow Cooker Steak Nachos with Spicy Butternut Squash Queso are as flavor filled as it gets! Butternut squash makes the queso creamy with half the cheese to save fat and calories. Oh and the steak is crazy tender, perfectly seasoned and made right in the slow cooker! Thank you all for the awesome feedback yesterday on the “How Much Protein Do You Need” blog. I’ll be sure to include more posts like this! Let me know if you have a specific nutrition topic too that you’d like me to blog about. I’m a bit under the weather today, anyone else hit with a cold? Sometimes it’s hard to tell if it’s an allergy attack or cold with me, but with this spotty weather that we’ve been having everyone seems to be getting sick. Kara inspired me to drink tea before my ... View Post
Butternut Squash Chili Mac
This Butternut Squash Chili Mac is the ultimate comfort food. Chili, cheese, pasta.. holy yummo. Bonus, it’s a high protein veggie meal too that is sure to satisfy a hungry appetite. Happy Meal Prep Monday!! I’ve been busy at FNCE this week but the hubby is at home enjoying some home cooked meals {hopefully}. I try to set him up with different meals when I go out of town so that he has options for lunch and dinner instead of resorting to eating out. That’s one thing I dislike about traveling is all the eating out.. it’s fun the first day but gets old real quick. Ya feel me? I got into Atlanta on Saturday and pretty much headed straight to meetings and events. It’s been a fun reconnecting with with lots of my RD & blogging buddies. Last night a few of us went to dinner at Canoe ... View Post
Spinach & Turkey Meatballs + Weekly Menu
These Spinach & Turkey Meatballs are a meal prepping dream. Prep 'em, freeze 'em, bake 'em. Great source of lean protein and a healthy dose of spinach! This recipe is WAY overdue.. I’ve been wanting to share it with you for a while now, but it’s one of those that I make them in a hurry and quickly store them away for lunches and before I get a chance to take some pics in the perfect lighting, they’re gone! #foodbloggerproblems Meatballs are one of my favorite meal prep foods. I can make a big batch, freeze some for later, and enjoy them in different ways… from pasta to sandwiches. Typically we serve these Spinach & Turkey Meatballs with rice and veg. Keepin’ it simple yo. ... View Post
Blog Brûlée + Weekly Eats
I made back to Orlando late last night from Blog Brûlée, an RD food blogger retreat in Vermont. Connecting with old friends and meeting new ones that inspire me really builds me up. Lovely ladies right to left: Kara Lydon, McKenzie Hall, Danielle Omar, Min Kwon, Me While we did a great deal of learning from each other it was more like a “party” where we just spent time together, talking about food blogging from SEO and building a brand, to food photography, styling, and photo editing. I’ll be sure to share more about my major takeaways in upcoming blog posts. Ann and I got out in the chilly weather yesterday morning for a hike to get our blood flowing before a day of travel. Vermont is so beautiful with the scenic views and lots of rolling hills… took me back to the ... View Post