Back when I was in second grade I had to do a school project on India.  I promise you this isn’t just a trip down memory lane, I’m taking you back to my second grade schoolwork for a reason… I don’t remember the details of the project so much, but what I do remember is that my parents took me all over Miami, searching high and low for all things Indian to report back to my class about.  We went to the Metro Zoo, what is now called Zoo Miami, to learn about Bengal tigers.  We went to a clothing store where my parents recorded me being wrapped in traditional garb.  And we also went to and Indian restaurant to learn about and sample the cuisine.  I don’t remember the restaurant, or the food, but what I do remember is . . . 

We just got back from a looooong road trip 🚙 and the moment we got home I was desperately craving some REAL FOOD.  I did my best to stay on track during our ten days on the road—I packed tons of fruits, veggies and even brought my blender along with some chia seeds and hemp seeds (yea, that really happened).  We picked up spinach, bananas, and cantaloupes at grocery stores along the way and I made as many green smoothies for breakfast, before checking out of our hotel rooms, as I could.  But we were gone for ten days, never stayed more than one night in any given place and we spent a lot of time in the car, driving all over the South, so in some situations . . . 

Pumpkin, cranberries and pecans… Does anything scream November more than that trio?  Seriously, I’m pretty sure not a single one of those has ever been left off of our table at Thanksgiving.  On Halloween, my family and I had a little pre-trick-or-treating dinner at my house and I decided to make a pumpkin soup in the spirit of being festive.  I mean we had carved five pumpkins the day before for decorations, but what’s one more?  Being at the mercy of not just one, or two, but three little toddlers, ages: 2, almost 3, and 4, I knew there was the possibility that . . . 

MMMMM there’s nothing like eating a hearty bowl of soup on a cool fall night.  So, maybe it’s not that cool here, it’s a “cool” 81 degrees and so humid from all the rain we’ve been getting lately, but that won’t stop me from opening up the windows and imagining that the house is being filled with crisp, fall air.  Regardless of the actual temperature, I’m fully in fall mode and to me that means warm, hearty soup as often as possible.  

So I can’t say that I mind that we got to (had to) eat this soup several nights in a row...  Yea my first go around at this soup wound up on the blooper reel.  As you may know by now . . . 

My vegetable drawer probably deserves more credit than I do for this dish, so it’s making its appearance as a mid-week inspiration.  So here’s what happened…  We were packing the night before a three-day vacation and realized that we hadn’t figured out dinner yet.  So, I looked in the fridge to see what we had that we could throw together without much effort.  I didn’t really see anything to put together as a cohesive meal so I decided I would just make some quinoa and throw on all the leftover veggies we had so nothing would go to waste.  But plain quinoa and vegetables needed a little something extra, right?  My first thought was to make a quick lemon-tahini dressing, but I wasn’t really in the mood… and then I thought (cue the light bulb) . . . 

Fellow Foodies, let me introduce you to the PERFECT sandwich.  This is no exaggeration; every bite of this sandwich is like a party in my mouth.   It’s got freshness from the cucumber and cilantro, spice from the sriracha and jalapeno, sweetness and tang from the pickled vegetables, and saltiness from the soy sauce marinated tofu.  I’ve never eaten another sandwich with such well-balanced, or should I say . . .

For this week’s mid-week inspiration, we’re throwing some sandwich action into the mix with these wraps.  We haven’t posted a sandwich recipe in a while and I absolutely love a good sandwich for lunch, so we decided to share this quick and easy Kale Wrap recipe.  This wrap has the perfect balance of . . .

These tacos are made from healthy, clean ingredients and there's no need to top them with shredded lettuce because we've replaced the tortilla shell with fresh, crispy lettuce! 

This is such a flavorful pasta salad recipe and is a lot lighter and more refreshing than more traditional pasta salad recipes. 

This recipe actually came about because of our Disney vacations.  My family spends a lot of time at Disney World—the happiest, but certainly not the healthiest, place on earth.  So, in an effort to be health conscious on vacation, we . . .