Seasonal cooking: a few favorite winter recipes

photo from cookieandkate.com

The idea of cooking with the fruits and vegetables in season is so exciting to me! Most nights, I don’t do it, if I’m being honest. I usually just stick to the regular recipes in our routine: fajitas, pasta, tacos, grilled salmon, etc.

But seasonal is fun! And healthier! So I’ve been doing a little bit more of that lately.

Here are some of my favorite seasonal recipes that have been in the rotation.

New Years Glow Smoothie Bowl-we’ve been making this one a lot lately for breakfast or lunch. The ginger makes it super refreshing!

No Bean Turkey and Sweet Potato Chili-this is one of our dinner favorites, and has been for a few years now. Nick is typically pretty against Chili, but he loves this one.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup-oh my gosh I don’t know what to say about this soup, other than, you need to try it! Its so delicious and from such simple ingredients.

Pasta with Cauliflower, Walnuts and Feta-this has also been a favorite meal of ours for a few years.

Roasted Potatoes, Carrots, Parsnips and Brussel Sprouts -I made these veggies for Thanksgiving and we’ve made them a few times since. We sometimes leaving out a vegetable or two, depending on what we have on hand. They are yummy and such an easy side to throw together.

 

Are there any seasonal winter recipes you love?

 

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Happy third birthday, Jay! + a few birthday traditions

Its Jay’s third birthday today! He is such a delightful boy and I feel like the luckiest to be his Mom.  I couldn’t sleep last night, thinking about how grateful I am to have him in my life. Motherhood doesn’t always feel easy, but this moment looking back on his beautiful little life and all of the joy and happiness he radiates made me so grateful! Life is so good.

Ask my family and they will tell you, birthdays are a big deal to me, haha. They always have been. I love making people feel loved, special and cherished on their big day. Having said that, we have a few traditions that we do (and I’d love to develop some more!)  to help make each other and our boys feel special and cared for on their special day.

Here are a few traditions we have adopted over the years:

  1. Special breakfast-whether this be breakfast in bed (one of my favorites that my Mom did growing up),  going to pick up donuts together, or making muffins as a family at home (like Jay opted for this year!), as long as its personalized and feels special, we love it.
  2. Hiding gifts-we hide his gifts around the room, and then give him clues to be able to find them! This is one we’ve adopted from Nick’s family, and it makes it so much more fun that just opening up the presents quickly and being done. It makes it a game and involves more interaction.
  3. Favorite things about the birthday girl/boy-at dinner every year for our birthdays we go around the table and tell the birthday girl/boy our favorite thing about them. Sometimes its something silly and lighthearted, and sometimes its something meaningful and tender. This is one of my all time favorites that we adopted from my family.

Now, what are your favorite birthday traditions?? I’d love to hear!

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