Why avo-toast with your morning coffee when you can pesto toast with your evening wine? I'm just saying... Seriously though, now that Halloween is officially behind us we're on to my favorite holiday months - bring on the sweater weather, good food, and of course, the good wine. I feel like a giddy kid every year when November rolls around and I can start holiday decorating, looking forward to holiday meals with friends and family, and having a reason to cozy up and relax with my unnecessarily large collection of soft fluffy blankets and equally unnecessarily large collection of wine. Neither of which I'm apologizing for because they all felt like necessary purchases, and well you can never have enough of something you truly love, am I right? 

Have y'all ever tried making your own popcorn? It is seriously so much easier than you might anticipate - plus a lot better for you as you can control how much oil, butter, seasoning, etc... is added. Not to mention it's fun and only takes about as long as waiting for a microwave bag to make. Have I sold you yet?! This time around I used a tiny popcorn variety and a garlic jalapeno spice blend to make a fun snack with a kick to pack and take to work as snacks. 

Energy bites have become a staple snack I almost always keep on hand. They take only a few minutes to make, are so yummy, and are perfect for a grab and go snack for busy days. As fall rolled around this year and everyone was talking pumpkin spice this pumpkin spice that I decided to give a pumpkin spice twist to the classic peanut butter energy bite recipe I love. The pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice added to this version is so yummy. I also added chocolate chips, because there is always room for chocolate chips in an energy bite recipe! Enjoy! 

If y'all haven't tried roasted pumpkin seeds before you're in for a treat. They are so easy to make and are not only delicious but packed with antioxidants and vitamins! I've come to love pumpkin carving time each year knowing it means I get all my own fresh pumpkin seeds to roast up. So next time around don't just scoop out all the "guts" of your pumpkin into the trash, seriously, save them! All you need is a little butter and seasonings you probably already have in the pantry and you have a free healthy seasonal snack! I made up these sweet roasted cinnamon sugar seeds this year and I can't stop snacking on them. I hope y'all enjoy! 

These. were. addicting. To be honest I'm not sure I'd ever had a shishito pepper until this year, maybe unknowingly at a restaurant, but certainly hadn't bought them before. This year my boyfriend brought home a shishito pepper plant for our garden and it is producing like crazy so I had to think of something to do with them! They're crunchy snacking peppers that are typically not hot, but occasionally you'll get a spicy one in the mix. They came the perfect texture when fried, softened up but not mushy with a nice crispy batter layer - I couldn't get enough of them! The garlic sriracha dipping sauce I made paired so well, so we'll walk through how to mix that up as well, but if spicy or sriracha isn't your thing these would taste great with a ranch, possibly even ketchup, or just plain with no sauce as my guy preferred them. Anything that people like without a sauce or flavor additive I consider a recipe success! These would make a great appetizer to serve up for guests to snack on, for game day, or even as a side dish instead of french fries! 

If I could live off of artisan cheeses, charcuterie platters, and crostinis I would... well + sushi and mexican, we can't forget those either. I love how easy it is to slice up some meats and cheeses to snack on at night... it also doesn't hurt that they taste fab with my glass of wine I most likely have poured after work. Crostinis are a perfect (and super easy) appetizer to make up if you're hosting a party, or just having friends over for snacks and drinks like a girls night or game day get together. The prosciutto and goat cheese paired with a basil leaf and slice of fig taste so fab together, and you'll get cred for being fancy and creative even though these will only take you a few minutes to make. Win, win. 

These flour tortilla chips are so good and so easy! Although we're not making the tortilla from scratch on this recipe, just baking up the chips yourself is so rewarding and delish compared to a bagged grocery store brand sometimes! The key here is to find fresh tortillas that are as small in diameter as the store offers so your chips are a good size. The rest is easy peasy! 

Happy 4th of July y'all! I'm going to keep this post short and sweet as it's super simple and I'm ready to get back to good family holiday time! This watermelon dish is so easy to prepare and perfect to serve up at any of our patriotic holidays like 4th of July, Labor Day, and Memorial Day! Those are usually all great BBQ holidays, and what's a good summer BBQ without some fresh watermelon?! Knowing how easy this as to put together I can't wait to test out some other toppings and spreads on watermelon for healthy snacking... feel free to get creative here! 

Protein and energy balls have become one of my favorite things to make up and have in the fridge or on hand at the office. I know y'all must be loving them too because the number one recipe on the blog so far are these chunky PB energy bites. As soon as I saw Reese's spread in the store I knew I had to try a Reese's version, and to up the dose of "healthy" I mixed it with a whey protein powder and they came out mouth watering delicious! 

Confession time: this was my first time every making my own guacamole recipe from scratch, considering how much I love it that was surprising even to myself. But ready for confession #2? It was one of my favorite guacamoles I'd ever tried ... like whole bowl gone in a few minutes, everyone loved it, why didn't I make like 3X the amount kind of good. While that's how me and my friends felt, I am also well aware that guacamole, salsa, tortilla chips, and quesos are such a matter of personal preference. So before I talk it up too much... I'll let you get to making it so you can form your own opinion and be on your way to fine tuning your perfect guac... while secretly I hope you just love this one! It's such a great recipe to have up your sleeve because it's so quick to make and always a great addition to any party, BBQ, game day, etc...!