Butternut Squash Soup

It's soup season! I love fall. The leaves changing, the weather getting cooler (although it's gotten cold to fast for me this year), and the general bout of excitement that seems to be in the air for the rest of the year because there are so many awesome holidays over the next few months! I'm not usually a craver of soup but I feel like our family has been sick with something new every couple of weeks this season so we have been enjoying A LOT of soup at this house. There is just something about being sick and eating an awesome bowl of soup that makes everything in your body feel better, for the 10 minutes it takes to eat it 😁
Anyone who knows me well knows that fall flavors are generally not my favorite. I avoid Pinterest at all costs once September hits because all I see on there is "Pumpkin this" and "Squash that". Pumpkins should be carved...not eaten...JUST KIDDING! I came across this recipe in a cookbook and it screamed fall flavors. Like I stated above, I usually go right by a recipe like this, BUT, for some odd reason I decided nope we are going to try it. GUYS!!!! I am so glad I did. Who knew butternut squash could actually taste okay?! 😂
This soup has so many "warm" spices in it that roast in the oven with the butternut squash helping the squash to develop some really tasty flavors! So if you are looking for a delicious soup that screams fall, you need to give this one a try.

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

I have a recipe for stuffed peppers that I absolutely love. I decided to tweek said recipe to be an Anti-Inflammatory version and guess what... I literally can't decide which recipe I like better. The other night I decided to make both of the recipes to eat so I could figure out which I liked best and it was an equal tie. They are very similar, but this recipe leaves out some of those inflammatory ingredients that give some of us problems. 
If you have been to my blog before and looked at this recipe, I have changed it a bit so make sure you give this new version a try!

Tilapia Tacos

Okay after taking pictures I realized that I had a LOT of tomatoes in this shot, but I promise there is good fish in there as well!!
We don't eat fish enough at our house, but when we do I like to make sure that I make it in a variety of ways. My kids aren't the biggest eaters of fish (although my oldest LOVES salmon), so when I am cooking fish I tend to try to hide it with lot's of flavor so they don't realize they are eating fish. Thus, the taco. I love fish tacos and I love that there are so many different ways of making fish tacos!
This recipe is great for those who are watching their weight and looking for a non deep fried piece of fish. It's so full of flavor and takes 15 minutes to make!
One of the reasons we don't eat a lot of fish is because it's so darn expensive! Healthy, yes...but expensive! When I'm trying to add some fish in, but not break the bank I always resort to using Tilapia! It's affordable and can be eaten in so many different ways.
So if you are looking for a cheaper way to incorporate fish into your diet, this is your recipe!

Fried Zucchini

Is it truly summer if you haven't had fried zucchini?! Now, I am well aware that summer is over and that most gardens have now officially frozen over but some of you may still have some zucchini in your fridge that need to be used. This recipe has been a family favorite for years. The outside gets super crispy and delicious while the inside stays nice and soft! Growing up I remember the only way we would have fried zucchini is coated in flour and fried in butter (which is still heavenly don't get me wrong) but this version adds in some Parmesan cheese and panko breadcrumbs to give it even more of a delicious crunch!

"Everything" Bagel Baked Chicken

Have you tried the Everything Bagel Seasoning yet?! This stuff is AMAZING! I literally put it on almost everything I make now. Okay, maybe not everything but when I am looking for a simple way to jazz up any kind of meat or veggie I pull out this stuff and sprinkle away! It used to be that you could only find this stuff at Trader Joes, but I have recently been able to find variations of it at Walmart and Costco as well.
Okay now that you know what seasoning I'm actually talking about, let's talk chicken. This chicken is beyond delicious, and probably one of the easiest recipes you can possibly make. It's juicy, full of flavor, and again, incredibly easy. Now this picture does not do this chicken justice, so just trust me when I say that it's delicious. At first I had a hard time getting my kids to try this because they couldn't get past the "little black stuff" all over it, but once I got them to try a bite (possibly forced) 🤷, they shoveled the rest down easily.

Zuppa Toscana Soup

This is one of my favorite soups ever. I made this recipe the other day and it tasted exactly like the one at Olive Garden, probably even better. Is it the healthiest of soups? No, but it is delicious regardless. Plus, it has kale in it, so I figure having that addition makes it healthy right?
It has been off and on cold here lately which has really been getting me in full blown soup mode. This recipe is the perfect way to warm up the body and get you in the mood for cooler weather!
I have made this soup in a variety of ways, on the stove, in the slow cooker, and in the pressure cooker. They all taste the same and turn out great, so you can pick the method that works best for you!

Mediterranean Chicken

I have been loving my slow cooker lately. For some reason, I have been busier then usual lately and by the time I get home I haven't wanted to fix dinner. Thus the amazingness of the slow cooker comes into action. Being able to prepare my meals earlier in the day and let it cook while I am out and about makes my life so much easier! Not only does it make dinner time less chaotic, but your house smells amazing the whole time it's cooking, or you get to walk into a home that smells fantastic after a long day.
Is there anything better then that? Okay, having somebody else do all the prep and cooking would probably be better BUT this is a close second. 😁
This is a new recipe that we tried out that is Anti-Inflammatory! Wahoo, I know it's been a while since I added a recipe that knocks out all of those inflammatory foods, but here it is. This dish is packed with flavor. If you have a love for kalamata olives, you will love this dish...if not...well it may not be your favorite! I LOVED this dish and I hope you do as well!
*I also like to prepare this in the Pressure Cooker so I don't need to dirty up another pan to saute the chicken. I have only prepared it using the saute and slow cooker features so far, so if you try it with a different feature you will have to let me know how it turned out!

Stuffed Zucchini Boats

Growing up, I remember my mom making a recipe similar to this every summer when we would have an abundance of zucchini growing in our garden. Recreating this dish brought back a lot of memories and also helped to create similar memories with my own children. This year our zucchini haul wasn't huge, but it was the perfect amount. We had roughly 1 zucchini pop up every week, so we didn't get burned out and start randomly leaving them on the neighbors doorsteps (yep I'm a weirdo like that).
This recipe is both simple and very adaptable. It reminds me of a noodle-less version of spaghetti and meatballs.

Ranch Chicken and Veggies

I am all for easy meals. This recipe is beyond yummy and has all your side dishes cooked along with the meat on one pan. You can't get much easier then that. Lately I have been loving the "one pan" and "one pot" meals. Less dishes to wash after, and you get your sides and main dish knocked out at once. With little kids it can be hard to spend 30-60 minutes in the kitchen working on everything so the faster I can get everything done, the happier we all are.
*One addition that I have changed about this recipe since I first published it is that I do like to sear my chicken first in another pan because I don't like to rely on the broiler at the end. I have noticed that the skin gets far more crispy and cooked doing this, but it does add an additional pan to clean 😱*gasp*😱

Honey Walnut Shrimp

Oh my.  I have tried making this recipe quite a few times and never could get the sauce to taste like the kind they have at Panda Express. Well....I've figured it out, at least as close as I could tell.
This is my all time favorite dish to order when we go to Panda Express. Yes I realize spending an extra $1 is a lot of money especially when you only get like 4 shrimp...but I love it. I love the crunchy candied walnuts and the sweet sauce on the shrimp..mm..mm.mmmm.
Like I said before, I have tried a few different recipes that I have found online and been given by friends and family and I didn't care for the sauce that much because it had way to much mayo for my liking and the flavor just wasn't quite right. So I played around with the ingredients and measurements a little bit and I think I got it down.
I hope you like it as much as we did.

Chow Mein

Whenever I would go to Panda Express growing up I always got the fried rice. The Chow mein always looked so gross to me, but whenever we would go to any type of Chinese restaurant, my mom would get it. Since Panda changed their rice recipe a while ago (I actually have no idea how long ago it was haha) I decided one day a couple years ago to venture out and try the chow mein. Okay, normally I have a hard time saying that my mom knew what she was talking about ;) but she did. Chow mein rocks! I've never gone back to the fried rice and always get the chow mein now and trust me I have a hard time resisting the urge to tell them to just fill up the whole container and forget the main dishes.
This recipe is a great mock version of the Panda Express kind. It has very similar ingredients, as far as I can tell, and it tastes just as good if not better.
It also comes together very quick so its an easy side to pair with your favorite dishes.  SO YUMMY!
Anyway, enjoy!