I’m slowly giving into the fact that it’s no longer summer. The weather in Kansas has been so wishy washy…75 one day, 30 another. I’ve been holding onto those 75 degree days with all my might, but they have been slowly disappearing, giving way to gray skies and colder temperatures. I think we saw our last warm day for awhile at the beginning of this week.

With the cold weather comes the return to comfort food…those dishes that aren’t so popular in the hotter days of summer resurface for the season. My attempt to hold onto summer sometimes shows up in what I make for comfort food. For example, we have Ham and Swiss sandwiches all the time in the summer so to “winterize” that favorite, I like to make a Ham and Swiss soup. This is one of my absolute favorite “hearty” soups to make, for good reason. The flavors blend together so nicely and it really is one of those soups that warms you up from the inside out….

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Wow…what a week, huh? In fact, I bubbled myself up as much as possible, shut down Facebook, and reached out to friends in person to chat. I feel like Facebook and even Twitter to some extent tends to feed that inner anxious girl in me, and I just can’t handle it sometimes. Getting out into the real world and having real life, civil conversations with people who agree and even don’t agree with you can really do wonders. It’s amazing what can happen when we really listen to each other. Give it a try..it’ll make you feel better, I promise!

With that being said, if you, dear reader, need a safe place to turn, please reach out to me. I think the only thing worse than turning to social media during this time is letting your thoughts and feelings stew inside. I’m happy to lend an ear and hopefully give you solace. Consider this my safety pin. …

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The post The Call for Comfort: Chicken Gnocchi Soup Recipe appeared first on Dine and Dish.

My family loves fajitas…especially since we’ve started adding Bush’s Beans to them. You may remember back in 2012 when I first added pinto beans to fajitas. Adding beans to fajitas was a total game changer! They add such substance and flavor to one of our favorite meals. You won’t find us making fajitas without beans again.

That’s why when I decided to make some Veggie Fajita Sheet Pan Nachos, I knew that Bush’s Beans had to be a part of it. If we thought regular fajita with beans included was good, Fajita Sheet Pan nachos with beans? Out of this world! …

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This recipe is created in partnership with Bush’s Beans.

Oh friends, I’m really excited about this keeper of a recipe I’m sharing with you today!

Fans of spicy, easy and protein packed meals will want to stick around, because this Buffalo Chicken and Beans Lettuce Wraps is a recipe you’ll want to make again and again.

As many of you know, I’ve been visiting a nutritionist twice a week now for the past several months. Recently I’ve been feeling really inspired by some of the recipes she’s been sharing. Earlier this month the source of inspiration was from a grilled buffalo chicken recipe. Once I saw the recipe, all I could think about was my craving for buffalo chicken. What does one do when they have a craving? They head into the kitchen and cure it, right?…

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For those of you who participate in the Lenten season, you know that the sacrifice of meat on Ash Wednesday and every Friday during Lent is upon us.

It always cracks me up when people refer to giving up meat as a sacrifice. Maybe back in the days of Jesus, fish and seafood tasted horrible, so it was a sacrifice. But now? Now with all the different varieties of seafood available, the plethora of seafood recipes to follow, the spices to enhance, etc. meatless is not a big deal. Plus, even when you can’t have meat, you can always have beans! Now ask me to give up beans and that would be considered an absolute sacrifice. …

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The post Meatless Made Easy: White Bean Shrimp Chili Recipe appeared first on Dine and Dish.

This was the first year I can remember that I didn’t add “lose x pounds” to my goals for the new year. I wish it was because I was all done losing weight, met my goal, and didn’t need to worry about what I’m eating any longer.  That’s unfortunately not the case. I still have 20-30 pounds to lose that seem to just want to hang on forever and ever and ever.

Instead I’m trying the whole “when you say you are on a diet, that just gives your body permission to gain weight” theory out and NOT being on a diet. I’m eating normal foods, with the goal of just not eating as MUCH in portion sizes as normal. I really believe that’s about the only thing someone in my line of work of recipe development and food photography can do. How can I create all these delicious recipes and not actually eat them? For me, that’d be impossible. …

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I love Asian food. I especially love it when there is a fusion between Asian and American foods. For example, take this Asian BBQ Chicken Chili. I don’t believe I’ve ever eaten chili with Asian inspired flavors, but it works so well, It’s almost like they were meant to be paired together! …

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Oh friends…I am so excited to share this recipe with you today!

As you know, school is back in session for us, which means I’m no longer responsible for feeding my pesky kids at lunch time.  Lunch time gets to be all about me, myself and I. It means no more “kid friendly” lunch food…instead I get to eat what I want and what I crave. I’ve recently discovered this is a big silver lining to my kids being at school all day. A little me time and a little grown up lunch time is definitely not a bad thing! …

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