nothing gets me as excited about the holiday season as fresh baked gingerbread cookies!! they're one of my favorite cookies all year round, but for some reason, they just taste even better around this time of year.  but once i start with the gingerbread cookies, i tend to have a hard time stopping.. ya know what i mean?? so i whipped up some of these to help guiltlessly curb my cravings! these are great because they have all the essential gingerbread flavors, but also offer up . . .

have you ever felt like you just have to have a fresh, warm slice of berry pie??  but really, who has time to bake a berry pie from scratch.. the crust alone would take forever!  well, here's the next best thing.  and you don't need any fancy tools or ingredients to make this, all you'll need is . . .

what's not to love about pumpkin spice bread?? even better when it only takes ten minutes and a couple of bowls to make, right?!

usually, around this time of year (well really, pretty much as soon as i can get away with pretending it's fall all the way through christmas) i am ALL about ALL things pumpkin.  but this year, for some reason, i haven't really been feeling it as much.  maybe it's the weird pregnancy cravings, but i've been so much more into other kinds of squash this season.  finally, the other day i got into full on pumpkin mode and had to have some pumpkin spice bread...

years ago i used to be known for my red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.  i even have a friend who used to visit from NY all the time and his request before every visit was that those cupcakes be waiting for him when he landed.  they were definitely a favorite around here, but definitely not something you could guiltlessly eat on the regular...

This recipe is adapted from my Banana Walnut Loaf recipe from last year, but I liked this version so much I wanted to give it some spotlight. 

It's peanut buttah jellayyy time!  Who doesn't love a good, old classic PB&J from time to time?? Well, with these cookie sandwiches you can replace all the empty calories and carbs in a traditional sandwich with a protein packed, whole foods based snack without sacrificing any of that PB&J deliciousness. 

Once you start, you just can't stop.  Seriously, these things are UBER addicting.  I could pop them into my mouth ALL DAY LONG.  These fudgey balls of chocolatey goodness are the perfect little snack to satisfy all your sweet tooth and chocolate cravings.  And they'll probably even give you a little boost of energy (at least for me they do).  They're packed with tons of healthy fats, carbs and superfoods.  So, basically, there's no reason not to put your phone down or step away from your computer right now and go make these!

Everybody needs a good muffin recipe in their life… and one that’s healthy is just a bonus.  There’s nothing like baking up a fresh batch of muffins and eating them fresh out of the oven.  Whether it be banana bread, chocolate chip, blueberry or lemon poppy seed, I don’t think I’ve ever met a muffin that I didn’t like.  But who has, right??  

I’ve never been the biggest blackberry fan—not that I disliked them or anything, but strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries have always been my staples—but I was . . .

In case you don’t already know, I’m completely in love with doughnuts.  But not just any old doughnuts will do… deep-fried vegan yeast doughnuts have my heart and they are a hard thing to come by, at least within a 250 mile radius of me.  😩  Sigh.  There’s this one amazing bakery in Orlando, Fl.  (a three and a half hour car ride away from me and yes I may have driven up just for some doughnuts a couple of times 😳) that makes the most delicious square, deep-fried, vegan, yeast doughnuts.  Unfortunately for me, I’m not the only one aware of just how amazingly delicious these doughnuts are.  Nowadays there’s usually . . .

Who doesn’t love a healthy little treat that can be enjoyed as breakfast, dessert, or even a midday snack?!  Well, here's one more dose of green just before St. Patrick's Day.  This avocado mousse is an incredibly simple and healthy way to satisfy a light sweet tooth craving and is so versatile that it can be served in a number of ways!  You can enjoy it instead of yogurt, layered with fruit and granola, making it a breakfast parfait.  Or you can sneak in an extra tablespoon or so 😉 of maple syrup or agave and enjoy it as . . .

Fun Fact: The runner-up name for Zoey was Lucy after the much beloved Lucille Ball, America's favorite red head… I’m a HUGE fan of ‘I Love Lucy’ and have been since I was a little kid.  So much so that I wanted to name my firstborn after the star of the show! But her dad vetoed that idea…. And of course, as irony would have it, Zoey is a red-head!  

So anyway, there’s this one episode of the show in which Lucy and her partner in crime, Ethel, decide to swap roles with their husbands.  The ladies go out and get jobs, while the men stay home and do the homemaking.  Lucy and Ethel end up getting placed at a chocolate confectionery and, of course, their experience ends in complete comedic disaster.  The ladies fail at every task they’re assigned to.  Lucy had a go at dipping chocolate.  Thinking it would be a walk in the park, she aloofly mimicked the seasoned chocolate-dipping veteran next to her until . . .