Healthy Pumpkin Muffins

These pumpkin muffins are the perfect way to start out your Autumn season (don't you think they would pair well with a pumpkin spiced latte? Check out a homemade version here ).  Be sure to try and find whole-wheat pastry flour since that will keep them moist and it won't feel like you are eating a bran muffin. :) You can either have them for a snack, or they would make a great breakfast meal on the go.

Tuna Melt with Avocado

Add some chopped avocado and tomatoes and you will have transformed your plain old tuna melt recipe. The lemon juice also gives it a nice fresh flavor that goes well with the tuna. 

This is a very easy lunch or dinner dish that is perfect if you don't have much time, don't want to break the bank but still want to provide something healthy for your family.

Grilled Pizza

 It is super hot right now (90's) in the Sacramento area, and the last thing I want to do is turn my oven on. "But Mom, how are we going to have Pizza? We LOVE Pizza." If anybody asks my kids what their favorite meal is, Pizza and ice cream will be their answer. So when I heard of Grilled Pizza, I was very excited to try it out. My first thought when I heard of putting pizza on the grill was "Isn't it going to stick to the grill and be a super gooey mess?" If anyone else is having those same fears, try out the recipe below. You will have great results! I was pleasantly surprised how very simple the process was, and I didn't have to turn my oven on. Big bonus.

Spinach and Walnut Pesto

This is by far my favorite go-to sauce of the summer. So easy to make, just throw everything into a food processor and Voila...dinner is served in less than 15 minutes. There are SO many ways to use Pesto. Pour the sauce over some whole-wheat spaghetti, brush it on your pizza, use it as a dip for veggies, lather it on BBQ chicken, use it as a sandwich spread on a grilled sandwich with artichokes and fresh mozzarella, and I could go on and on.  There are also many variations of pesto, but I stuck to a no-fuss recipe that incorporates raw spinach and walnuts (pine nuts are just too expensive!). Have fun with the recipe, and check out the Change it Up section below for new ideas.

Eggplant-Almond Enchiladas

    My daughter is starting Kindergarten in 2 1/2 weeks!! Aaahhh, where has the time gone? To keep this summer fun and far from boring, we started doing an activity called Alphabet Adventure. Four days a week, we learn a new letter of the alphabet. Although my 5 year old already knows her alphabet (actually she's reading!), I made it age appropriate for her (she writes in her journal about something that starts with the letter, etc.) and my two kids have really been enjoying it! We made this Eggplant Enchilada dish on "E" day, and everybody helped make it.