I realized last week it’s officially soup season here – we couldn’t leave the house without sweatshirts in the morning! Really can’t say I’m sad about the return of fall weather.
Cooler days mean I’m craving cozy dinners – and this one just hit the spot! It’s an old favorite – and a fresher-tasting version of the soup you get at an Italian chair restaurant. (If you know, you know!)
Today is Good Friday, the last Friday of Lent – which means it’s time to wrap up this year’s Lenten Friday series. I hope you’ve enjoyed the vegan meal ideas I’ve shared over the last six weeks! I’m closing out this year’s posts with a great recipe for the meal I struggle with most on Lenten Fridays – lunch.
For me, breakfast is always easy. Dinner is always well planned. Lunch, though? Lunch is always just grabbing whatever – and not usually plant based in this house so vegan lunches have been lackluster at best.
This salad, though, was the best lunch I had during Lent this year hands-down. It doesn’t take long to make, but the elements are also perfectly meal-prep friendly if you want to make it ahead. The warm, bbq chickpeas paired with all my favorite barbecue-inspired flavors (including dill pickles!) was such a satisfying mid-day meal.
For me, pizza is synonymous with Lent so even though this year’s Lenten series is vegan, I had to include a pie that fit the bill.
Instead of cheese, this pie has a layer of creamy hummus. Instead of meat or extra cheese, it’s topped off with sliced grape tomatoes, herbs, and toasted pecans.
The result is a beautiful pie – perfect crispy crust, creamy layer, and lots of toppings!
I receivedfree products in exchange for this post. All opinions are my own.
I’m always up for a challenge so I was excited to jump in when JSL Foods asked me to cook up something fun using their egg roll wrappers! We are big fans of traditional egg rolls – and Asian-inspired flavors in general – but I knew I wanted to switch it up and try something a little different with these!
I created these egg rolls with versatility in mind. They’d be a perfect appetizer for the big game or game night at home, but they’d also be a great option for lunch or lighter dinner paired with a salad.
Instead of the traditional chicken and cabbage flavored with soy sauce, these rolls are stuffed with chicken smothered with a Korean-style BBQ sauce, pineapple and red onion – and then cooked in the air fryer to keep them lighter.
So, let’s talk about school. Are you going back? Distance learning? Homeschooling? Something else? It is, for sure, an emotional minefield for so many people. If you’re still figuring things out, I’m sending you big, virtual hugs.
One thing I’ve been hearing a lot is about lunch – some schools are requiring packed lunches, some are sending the kids home early so there will be no lunch served. Lunch so often feels like an overlooked meal – but I believe it’s one we’re all going to be thinking about this year.
I’m a huge fan of make-ahead lunches. Something I can whip together in a big batch and serve all week – and this pizza-inspired pasta salad is just that.
We put in a big garden this spring. It’s something we’ve had plans for but with quarantine, we finally made the jump and did it. We knew it would be a learning year – and it is. I’m having more fails than successes.
One huge success? Our tomatoes.
This simple salad is one of my favorite ways to use up our tomatoes. If you’re going to make this, I highly suggest using tomatoes from a farm or your garden – they’re just so good right now!
If there’s one thing I could eat all summer, it would be sandwiches loaded with vegetables. All the vegetables. Usually toasted and loaded up with some melty cheese.
These sandwiches are one of my favorite variations – the veggies are marinated in a sweet-but-savory marinade for a few hours before being cooked, which gives them a really nice extra layer of flavor.
Lettuce has been in our CSA share every week. And it’s not a little bit – it’s always a big ‘ole head. We’ve also got some in our own garden. As such, salads are a staple. We have side salads nearly every night with dinner – and big, bountiful salads for lunch.
This salad was one I whipped up for dinner one night. Full of produce from our farm share and topped with a homemade dressing, it’s summer in a bowl.
If you’ve watched any of our live kitchen play dates, you know that my time in the kitchen with the kids is anything but polished. We make a mess, the kids fight, and sometimes they end up not liking what we make.
That’s okay, though, because in the end they’re learning to cook.
Sometimes, cooking feels like a bit of lost art – but it’s absolutely something I want my kids to know and be comfortable with when they strike out on their own. Sometimes, that looks like a really fun dessert… and sometimes it’s just learning how to dress up your ramen.
Despite being great eaters and willing to try almost anything, my kids will still always pick pizza – which means we end up infusing pizza flavors into many different forms in our kitchen!
These pizza waffles first entered into our regular rotation when we were redoing the kitchen in our first home and needed meals that didn’t require the oven. Many years and two kids later, they’re still a favorite.