Our Go-To Meals

OK. First thing's first: There's a bright coral elephant in the room.

Yup. I'm still Ashley . . . and this snazzy, brightly colored blog is still (never home)maker. My decision to splash the place with some color came about somewhat randomly. I was playing around with my banner over lunch yesterday afternoon . . . and I created something I liked. Then it didn't go with the rest of the look. A couple clicks of the mouse later, and I fell in love. You see, this coral color. Well, it's my FAVORITE color. I painted my nails with it the other night, so I guess it's just kind of on my mind right now.


Anyway, I hope you all like the new vibe. We've come a long way since the beginning (above). I think it's a lot cheerier now -- and that's what health and fitness is to me: FUN. I've also added some more recipes to the recipe finder, added a few more links to the linkbar under the banner, etc.

What else? Well, the kind folks at CSN Stores (you know, we did a giveaway with them a couple months back -- they sell everything from dining room furniture to kitchen gadgets) have now given us the opportunity to review their site and products. So, keep and eye out for that in the coming weeks. We just love their selection, so we're excited to see how their ordering and shipping processes work. This could be the beginning of a beautiful shopping friendship!

REWIND to that delicious hummus melt at the top of the post. Today I'm writing about my go-to meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. As a food blogger, I'm often tempted to create new and exciting recipes at almost every meal. It can be rather exhausting. But there are indeed nights when the cookbooks and cameras don't come out. When I actually just cook to cook. Eat to eat. And those meals are usually my favorites.


For breakfast, oatmeal any day is a good choice. Not just because it's healthy -- but it's extremely adaptable and filling. Two of my favorite recipes are the Cranberry-Hazelnut Crunch Oatmeal and the Chocolate-Peanut Butter Oatmeal (when I'm feeling like I absolutely cannot survive without chocolate for breakfast). My favorite thing about oatmeal, though, is that you really can put anything in there to suit your mood.


Honorable mention: Egg and cheese sandwich on a toasted English muffin. This one needs no recipe -- just fry up the egg, toast the bread, top with the cheese, wrap in aluminum foil, and GO.


For lunch, I like to make hummus. It's so fast and easy. Again, its flavor is totally up to you and what you want to add. But once you blend together your beans and spices, it's not difficult to spread it on a bagel and add some spinach and melted cheese. That's right, people: HUMMUS MELT! For some added nutrition, why not make it GREEN hummus?


Honorable mention: Soups. Seriously slurp-able soups. If I'm particularly busy during the week, I like to plan ahead and use my crock pot to make veggie soup on a Sunday afternoon. I throw in whatever is in the fridge. And you're in luck -- we recently recapped all our favorite soup recipes.


Dinner is the most difficult meal of the day for me to not make fancy. When I get home from work, even if I'm exhausted, I want to create a masterpiece. But there are certainly nights when I get home and just want to lounge around. On those nights, we make stir-fries. We just toss veggies (sometimes tofu) together with olive oil and a little soy sauce. If we have everything needed, my favorite go-to dinner is Red Curry Tofu with Veggies. So, I really try to make sure we always have a can of coconut milk in the pantry and a jar of curry in the fridge.


Honorable mention: Besides ordering pizza (and we do that at least once a week, truth be told!), I love making Pumpkin Garlic Knots and crispy kale. Or some other kind of veggie (asparagus or broccoli, most likely). Nothing is better than my garlic knots. NOTHING.

By now, I'm hoping you've read the Healthy Living Week Celebration pieces. So far, we've featured Laura (who overcame her eating disorder by getting fit) and Josie (who stopped being a quitter and started caring about her health). And there are many more to come. Stay tuned! As always, we sincerely appreciate feedback on our site design and posts, so let us know what you think (leave a a comment or email us).

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