When I was grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s this week, I discovered Trader Giotto’s Organic Red Lentil Sedanini and my mind was blown. Lentils in the form of pasta! I was even more excited because I’ve been trying to eat healthier. Specifically, I made a deal with myself to avoid pasta. This discovery gave me hope that I could satisfy my pasta craving in a healthy way.

I needed to try it for myself. I looked in my pantry and freezer and found marinara, caramelized onions, and brussel sprouts. The result was delectable and guilt-free.

This protein-packed red lentil pasta with marinara, brussel sprouts, and caramelized onions is a simple, vegan pasta dish with freezer vegetable staples, basic marinara sauce, and this I-can’t-believe-it’s-lentils pasta. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in packing some protein into their diet.

Read More

When I made these Marjoram Pea Pesto Crostini with Fresh Ricotta the other day, I thought I was being so creative. The Marjoram Pea Pesto is a healthy spin on traditional pesto with updated flavor combinations. The Homemade Instant Pot Ricotta Cheese is pretty standard, except it takes advantage of my Instant Pot, making preparation and cleanup speedy.

However, when I checked online to decide what to name these crostini, the first link that came up was Giada’s Pea Pesto Crostini! Whoops! So much for being unique. I’ll take it as a confirmation that my creative endeavors seem to resonate with others–some pretty famous others.

Read More

I roast vegetables all the time: cauliflower, broccoli, kale, and so on. With how often I roast vegetables, the oven may very well be my favorite kitchen appliance.

When I’m cooking, I’m all about efficiency. Roasting vegetables takes surprisingly little effort. I preheat the oven and prepare whatever vegetables I have on hand. After tossing them into the oven, I set a timer, wait 25 minutes, and viola! Dinner is served. Tasty, healthy, crispy roasted vegetables.

Lately, I’ve been really enjoying cauliflower (cauliflower rice and cauliflower crust cheese pizza). This week, when I was grocery shopping, I saw purple cauliflower and got excited. Purple was my favorite color as a child. I can only imagine if I had known about purple cauliflower back then!

Read More

Armed only with your trusty die and a dream, you must grow Machi Koro into the largest city in the region. You will need to collect income from developments, build public works, and steal from your neighbors’ coffers. Just make sure they aren’t doing the same to you!

I love trying new games, so when my friends suggested playing Machi Koro: Bright Lights, Big City at a recent game night, I was all in. The game did not disappoint. I had a fun time learning it (and winning gloriously).

Machi Koro is a city-building card and dice game for 2-4 players and it was a Spiel des Jares Nominee in 2015.

Note, since we’ve only played the base game so far, all my opinions that follow relate to the base game only.

Here are three reasons you might want to give Machi Koro: Bright Lights, Big City a closer look:
Read More