These delicious rice balls are a healthy remake of classic Italian arancini.

Thanks to USA Rice for sponsoring this post.  I was asked to participate in the “#ThinkRice” campaign as a member of the Healthy Aperture Blogger Network.

If you’ve never had arancini before, then you must try this recipe!  Arancini are Italian rice balls and they’re one of those dishes that I have to order when I see them on a menu.  These delectable bites are traditionally made with risotto, an Italian rice dish that has a rich, velvety taste and texture, but is a little time-consuming to prepare.  The risotto is formed into a ball and can be stuffed with various treats like meat, cheese, raisins or pine nuts.  Then the balls are coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried.  The end result is delicious mouthful that’s crispy on the outside with an ooey, gooey, cheesy center.

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No more boring tuna dishes!  My Spaghetti with Tuna is an elegant dish that will make you look at albacore in a whole new way. 

I love pasta.  I often turn to pasta dishes when I’m looking for dinner ideas for my family or even when I’m entertaining guests.  I try to keep things interesting by adding a variety of ingredients to my pasta dishes like colorful, nutritious vegetables and hearty, lean proteins.  You may not think of adding seafood to your pasta dishes but fish, shrimp, scallops, crab, lobster, clams and mussels are all excellent additions to your usual dinner dishes.  In fact, the US Dietary Guidelines recommend eating at least 8 ounces of a variety of seafood per week for those following a 2,000 calorie-per-day diet.  Among other things, seafood is a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids, which have numerous health benefits.  

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Packed with fresh ingredients, my Sunshine State Cioppino is the perfect light post-holiday meal.

This post was sponsored by Natalie's Orchid Island Juice Company.  As always all opinions expressed are my own.


I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  But now that the holiday is over, you may be looking for some lighter dishes.  My Sunshine State Cioppino definitely fits the bill.  Packed with flavor and fresh, nutritious ingredients, it’s the perfect post-holiday clean eating dish.

This dish is a twist on cioppino, a classic seafood stew that originated in San Francisco.  Cioppino was originally developed by Italian fisherman who used whatever fresh seafood they had caught that day including crab, fish, shrimp, clams, mussels, and squid.  It’s typically made with a tomato-based broth that’s infused with wine and served with plenty of crusty bread for dipping.  I decided to make a version of cioppino using fresh Florida seafood.  After all, I’m a Floridian now so why not take advantage of the bounty of fresh, local seafood? 

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An incredibly refreshing dessert, my Cherry Lime Granita just sings summer!

This month, the Recipe Redux challenged us to share how we showcase lovely July fruits and veggies, whether it comes from the farmers’ market, a CSA share or a plot of dirt in our backyard.  Unfortunately, I don’t have my own garden but this time of year, the local farmers’ markets are just brimming with beautiful, vibrant produce. 

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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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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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Who doesn’t love a hearty bowl of slowly simmered meat sauce tossed with pasta and freshly grated cheese?  This version, which uses turkey, is lighter in calories without sacrificing any of the rich flavor. 

I received free samples of wine from Francis Ford Coppola Winery to create this post but I was not financially compensated in any way.  All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

A few weeks ago I mentioned my love for Instagram.  Well that love grew a little bit deeper when the wonderful people from Francis Ford Coppola Winery reached out to me after seeing my Instagram account to ask if I would like to sample some bottles of wine.  After thinking long and hard for a nanosecond, my answer was "Yes, Yes, Yes"!  Right before Thanksgiving, I received these four beautiful bottles in the mail:

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A simple topping of breadcrumbs, herbs, lemon and olive oil is the perfect way to dress up salmon for a quick, nutritious weeknight meal. 

Over the last few months I've become very active on Instagram and I've found it to be an incredibly supportive community.  It's given me the opportunity to interact daily with other foodies, bloggers and food companies.  Recently, I was fortunate to strike up a relationship with Sizzlefish, a wonderful seafood supplier with a simple mission- to offer direct delivery of top quality fish to customers so that they can reap all of its amazing health benefits.  They provide fish from the best-quality fisheries, packaged into individual portions and ready to be turned into fantastic meals.

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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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If you’re looking for a quick and easy dinner recipe that uses fresh summer vegetables, then try my Summer Zucchini and Corn Frittatarecipe.  A frittata is like an Italian version of an omelet.  Mastering a perfect omelet can take years and in fact, many chefs are often asked to prepare an omelet as a test of their culinary skills.  But unlike an omelet, there is no fancy technique or complicated flipping involved with a frittata.  You simply sauté your vegetables, meat or other desired ingredients in a skillet, pour in your eggs and cook on the stove until the edges are set.  Then pop it in the oven and in just 10 minutes, you will have a fluffy, golden frittata ready to eat.  And to make things even easier, you can slice it and serve it right out of the skillet. 

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