Turkey Sausage Rigatoni Bake

Warm and hearty pasta like this dish is great for fall meals! Pasta bakes are diverse, allowing you to bake ahead of time and warm up when you need it, or re-heat the leftovers. Also, easy enough to make anytime of the week. 1.Cook pasta 2. Cook sausage and onions 3. Mix all ingredients together and bake – done!

Sweet Potato Boats with Avocado Salad - $$

Sweet potato season is here!  In the fall they are easy to turn to for a healthy comfort food.  For me sweet potatoes are a standard during the holidays and have recently become a staple in my kitchen. They also make a great snack by themselves. Check out my chip recipe here.  Or baked – cut one in half and pop in the oven for 20-30 minutes and then add a little butter. Easy. The sweet potato boat improves upon this 10-fold. This recipe takes one of my favorite healthy snacks to a new level – the dinner table! You could eat these by themselves for lunch or as a side with dinner (or I’ve eaten a couple “boats” as my dinner on a night I’m not super hungry).

Quinoa Veggie Salad - $$

I must admit, I haven’t been very creative using quinoa until now, partially because it’s still new to me. I put it on salads and even eat it plain with oil for a quick healthy snack, so creating this recipe was out of my comfort zone and I second guessed myself a hundred times. One thing I try to remember with my recipes is that it’s ok to mess up. Luckily this was not one of my mess ups.

Honey Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing - $

This simple vinaigrette is quick and effortless, just like a salad dressing should be. I would describe it as light, sweet and tangy. I’ve tried this on different types of salad and it’s always good. For freshness I try to use hand squeeze the lemon, but lemon juice from the fridge is fine too. If you are using this dressing on a kale salad I recommend adding the dressing about 20 minutes before you eat to let the leaves soften (let the oil and ACV do their job!). 

Fruit & Walnut Salad - $$

Since I’ve been eating so many fruit smoothies lately, (checkout my top smoothie recipes here) I forgot how easy it is to throw together a fruit salad – there really is no rhyme or reason to what you include. Mix in your favorites and serve. This one started off as a melon salad and I added the grape for the color and the strawberries are just a must have for me. I’ve been adding them to everything this summer, from green salads and breakfast bowls to smoothies and desserts. It makes me wish I had kept up with the strawberry plants my dad bought me when I was a half-hearted 4-H member in elementary school. As always – if you grow any fruit you can save yourself some serious cash. If not this salad could easily cost $10 (but that’s for a large bowl that serves 4-6 people). I used about a half of the cantaloupe and melon so there was plenty of leftover un-cut for other uses throughout the week.

DIY Spicy Chicken Marinade - $

Just in time for the holiday weekend, here is a new marinade to try on the grill or in the oven. Quick and easy is the name of the game so this recipe doesn’t require a food processor for peppers or other ingredients, just a good old whisk.

Lean Green Smoothie - $$

Sometimes I just need to hit the reset button on a slow morning or post weekend after I’ve over indulged on treats. Why not drink your way to feeling better? With whole food ingredients, smoothies are a great way to get vital nutrients, especially when you are in a rush to quickly cleanse your body and give you fuel for the day. Hard to go wrong sipping one of these babies!