These wholesome, nutritious corn fritters are the perfect snack any time of the day!

By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by Real California Milk products and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.

We’re always on the go in my house so I usually like to keep healthy snacks around.  If a snack is nutritious, tasty and my toddler likes it too, then it’s a winner in my book.  During a recent trip to the grocery store, I saw fresh corn for the first time this year, reminding me that summer is just around the corner!  As I loaded up my cart with several ears, I started thinking about how I was going to use them.  One of my favorite dishes is Mexican street corn.  It's a simple dish that features grilled corn on the cob slathered with a chili-spiked mayonnaise and rolled in crumbly cheese.  It’s absolutely delicious but can be a bit messy to eat.  So I decided to make an easier, portable, family-friendly version of this delicious street food.     

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Skip the boxed macaroni and cheese and make this dish for your family instead!  My mac and cheese is easy to make and a lot healthier. 

As some of you know, my cookbook, Natural Pregnancy Cookbook, was recently released.  The follow up book, which is due to be released next month, is called Natural Baby Food.  I’m really excited about this project because it features over 125 nutritious recipes for babies and toddlers.  And the last section in the book includes easy dishes that the whole family can enjoy together.  While I was writing the book, I got to test many of the recipes on my own daughter Sienna!

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Kids and adults alike will love this delicious and satisfying vegetarian dish.

This time of year I tend to gravitate towards cooking lighter dishes, often vegetarian, to take a little break from all of the holiday eating.  My Sweet Potato and Kale Quesadillasare light yet satisfying and they’re positively packed with important nutrients.  Plus, it’s also an economical dish as sweet potatoes are usually on sale at the market this time of year (and canned beans are always inexpensive).  In fact, this dish is a great way to use up any leftover sweet potatoes you may have from the holidays.

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My Little Italy Meatball Sliders with Whipped Ricotta are the perfect lightened up entertaining recipe to feed a crowd.

Recently, I had the honor of competing in the Entertaining Recipes Challenge sponsored by the wonderful team from Beef. It's What's for Dinner.  My amazing friend Amee from Amee's Savory Dish invited me to participate- we should all have friends like her!  The challenge was to take a traditionally indulgent entertaining recipe and create a healthier take on it.  Right up my alley!  Although I didn't win the contest, I felt like a winner just being selected to participate (cheesy but true).  And I was happy to learn that top honors went to my dear friend Ally from Ally's Kitchen with her North African Spiced Beef Ribeye Wraps. Yum!


I learned quite a few things about beef while participating in this challenge.  Did you know that there are many cuts of beef that are as lean as a skinless chicken thigh?  These lean cuts of beef have less than 10 grams of fat, 4.5 grams or less of saturated fat, and less than 95 milligrams of cholesterol per 3 ½-oz cooked serving.  Beef is also packed with protein, which keeps you feeling full and satisfied, builds muscle and gives you long-lasting energy.  It's also a rich source of several important vitamins and minerals like B vitamins, iron, zinc, selenium, phosphorus and choline.

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Your guests will rave about these adorable bites!  Nutrient-packed sweet potatoes are sliced into coins, roasted in the oven and topped with melted cheddar cheese and chipotle crema.  They’re the perfect, healthy finger food for entertaining.    

By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe challenge sponsored by Cabot Creamery and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.

With the Super Bowl and the Academy Awards both approaching, the folks over at Cabot Creamerydecided to challenge the Recipe Redux members to create a healthier snack that’s perfect for entertaining.  I love a challenge like this!

Cabot Creamery is a family-owned cooperative of more than 1200 farms located throughout New England and New York.  They make several varieties of cheese that I use often in my cooking because they have wonderful flavor and they melt really well.  In addition, their cheddar cheese is a nice protein-packed snack and is naturally lactose free.  Not only do they make a great tasting product, but Cabot also gives 100% of their profits back to their farmers.  Isn’t that wonderful?

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Nutrient-packed cauliflower forms the base of this low-calorie, gluten-free bread that's topped with cheesy goodness.  It's the perfect guilt-free appetizer for the holidays!  

As 2014 comes to a close, it’s nice to take a moment to reflect on all of the events of the past year.  This month’s Recipe Redux theme is all about reflection.  Since the group has been around for 42 months, they decided to put out a fun challenge to finish up the year.  We had to pick a cookbook and create a healthier version of the recipe on either page 42 or 142. 

The recipe I’ve chosen to redux is “Cheese Bread from Genoa” or “Focaccia al Formaggio” from Mario Batali’s cookbook Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home.  There's a full page picture on page 42, so technically the recipe is on page 43.  Mario Batali is of course, a chef superstar with an endless knowledge of Italian cuisine.  In this book, he demystifies many traditionally elaborate Italian dishes, simplifying them for the home cook.

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My Spinach, Mushroom & Gruyere Strata is a perfect dish for Sunday brunch.  A strata is a layered casserole made with cubed bread, eggs, cheese and other ingredients like vegetables or meat.  It’s similar to a savory bread pudding and it’s definitely a comfort food.  The beauty of making a strata is that you can toss in whatever ingredients you have on hand and you can prepare it all the night before.  In the morning, simply bake it and serve it straight out of the oven while it’s hot and puffed up. 

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In my last post I promised you another recipe featuring the delicious Slow Cooker Pulled Chicken that I made.  It's part of my Cook Once, Eat Twice series where I show you how to make a large batch recipe and then use the leftovers in a variety of other dishes. This week I decided to use my leftover chicken to make these scrumptious Pulled Chicken Quesadillas. These quesadillas are a terrific family-friendly meal that you can get on the table in a pinch. You simply layer chicken, shredded cheese and any other desired toppings on tortillas and toast them in a skillet until they're golden brown on the outside with melting, gooey cheese on the inside.


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