There’s no doubt that butter is delicious. However, there’s also no doubt that butter is not the best thing for a healthy diet. Do you know what fat is better for your overall health than butter? Olive oil, of course!

Olive oil has long been a staple in Mediterranean diets and a favorite among healthy eaters and those looking to lose a few pounds. Here is a quick list on why olive oil is better to use than butter.

3 Reasons Why It’s Best To Use Olive Oil

1.) It’s a good fat.
Yes, all oils are technically fat, but not all fats are created equal. For example, butter has great flavor, but is so high in saturated fat. So much so that a few tablespoons can push you over your recommended daily amount. Olive oil is widely known to be high in monounsaturated (good) fat. It contains zero trans (bad) fats and is lower in saturated (bad) fat than other commonly used ingredients such as shortening and butter. As Filippo Berio states on their website, olive oil is one of the best ways to add good fat to your diet and avoid bad fat.

2.) It’s super versatile.
Olive oil, specifically Filippo Berio Olive Oil is awesome for more than just salad dressing. It can be used for sauteing, grilling, marinading and yes, even baking! Check out this great chart on how to substitute olive oil for butter. It’s definitely one to bookmark and print. I have one printed on my fridge for reference!

3.) It’s actually cheaper than butter.
Let’s face it, we all want to save a few bucks at the grocery store. It’s the reason couponing has taken off the way it has in recent years. Everyone wants to make their groceries last longer. A great way to do this is to replace butter with a bottle of olive oil. Think about how much you pay for a pound of butter and how quickly it runs out, especially if you bake with it. Replacing that pricey (and fatty) pound of butter with a bottle of Filippo Berio Olive Oil will most likely help you save in the long run. I buy a bottle about once a month and it lasts because you don’t need to use a lot of it to get the job done.

So, have you tried replacing butter with olive oil? How did you like it? Let me know in the comments below!

{Disclaimer: I was provided a bottle of Filippo Berio Olive Oil to write this post because I am a BzzAgent. I was not compensated and these thoughts and opinions are all my own.}

In an effort to eat less meat but more protein, I have started incorporating more seafood into our diets. We’ve had more salmon, more shrimp, and oh sweet baby Jesus, more lobster. The other day on a trip to Whole Foods the sea scallops, which are normally super expensive, were actually on sale. I immediately bought a pound, half for this recipe and half to just eat like popcorn. What? I thought everybody did that.

Have you had scallops? If not, you must! They’re not as well-known as other seafood like shrimp or lobster, but they’re amazing! Little gems of the sea for sure. If you know scallops, you know what’s up.

I would normally make something like a seafood pasta dish, but we’re not stocking our pantry like we normally do (since we’re moving and all!) and I didn’t have the right pasta. I did however have wonton wrappers, and have been dying to make tacos like The Hungry Girl did on her show, but with something other than chicken.

I came up with this recipe for scallop tacos with pico de gallo using the baked wonton wrappers. The verdict? Freaking delicious, I kid you not! The best part is that they’re super low in calories and carbs. Each little wrapper is only 20 calories! If you’re looking to reduce your calorie intake or eat less carbs, I’d definitely suggest cooking more with wonton wrappers.

This recipe is ridiculously easy and tastes awesome. Since they’re finger foods, you could totally serve these at a party as an app and they’re sure to be a hit.

Another thing you’ll want to do is make some kick-ass margaritas to go with these tacos. I teamed up with Jessica from One Martini At A Time to create a yummy cocktail pairing for these scallop tacos. How about a Taste of the Tropics Margarita? I guarantee if you serve those margaritas with these tacos you’ll be one bad-ass host or hostess. Enjoy!

Scallop Tacos with Pico de Gallo in Wonton Wrappers

Once the wonton wrappers have cooled, make the pico de gallo and set it aside.

Season and sautee your Scallops for about 3 minutes on each side, or until they’re sort of firm, but not hard.

Next, cut them into slices. My scallops were average so I cut them into thirds for semi-chunky pieces.

Put the scallops into the wonton shells and top with pico de gallo and a little lemon. Yum!

Don’t forget, if you liked this recipe, please feel free to “pin” it using the button below!

Lately our family has been eating a lot less red meat. You know the deal, it’s best to eat red meat in moderation. That’s why I’ve been experimenting with ground turkey and ground chicken breast. Using either ground turkey or ground chicken breast ensures that we get less fat and cholesterol, but still feel satisfied and full of yummy goodness.

Having a toddler in the house means making meals that are not only nutritious, but also easy for him to eat. Meatballs most certainly fit into the category of easy to eat. When spoons fail, he eats with his hands!

These turkey meatballs are delicious, easy to make, and super nutritious since they’re made with spinach and low-fat mozzarella. I hope you try them and love them as much as we did!

Some ideas for serving are just as is with a side salad, over pasta with olive oil or a red sauce. You can even make a pan gravy and serve them swedish style. Oh that sounds good….Enjoy!

Turkey, Spinach & Mozzarella Meatballs

Feel free to “Pin It” if you like this recipe… The button to pin this is below!

A few weeks ago, my son turned 2-years-0ld. Since he isn’t a fan of birthday cake, but does adore donuts, I decided the best thing to make him on his special day was a cake made entirely of donuts.

I knew I wanted to make him donuts, so the week before the big day, I began searching for the perfect recipe. I found a great recipe for whole wheat donuts, but I didn’t think my boy would like them with powdered sugar or nuts. It’s weird I know, but he has this strange thing where he doesn’t like getting his hands dirty when he eats. Powdered sugar all over his little hands? That was not going to happen.

I decided to take that recipe and tweak it to suit the tastes of my miniature foodie. Instead of covering them in powdered sugar, I coated them with red melting candy and sprinkles. The verdict? He loved them and ate every last one over the course of his long birthday weekend.

I hope you try them and love them as much as we did. Enjoy!

Thank you COOL WHIP for sponsoring this post. Join us on Facebook for inspiration and recipes for everyday treats. What you add makes it. #coolwhipmoms

An Easy Everyday Dessert

Finding something quick and easy to make for dessert on an average “everyday” kind of day is tough. Most of my favorite desserts require plenty of time and effort on my part. Since I work full-time, I don’t have hours to spend slaving over dessert in the kitchen, especially since I probably already did that with dinner.

When I don’t have time on my side, I usually opt for something that’s quick, easy and yummy. Things like no-bake cookies, frozen yogurt, or this, a Frozen Piña Colada Pie come to mind.

The idea for this pie came from two sources of inspiration. First, was my new obsession of only using ingredients I have on hand. This is something I’ve been doing for the past month and it’s really helping to cut down on our grocery bill each week. I know it seems simple to go through your pantry, fridge and freezer to see what you have before shopping, but I didn’t always do this.

I used to just shop from memory for stuff I though knew we needed. But after Handsome was born, any bit of memory I had was quickly erased due to “mommy brain” and sleep deprivation. (You totally understand, right?)

Now our everyday meals are usually made from whatever we have on hand. Like this pie for example. I knew I wanted to use COOL WHIP Whipped Topping in an impromptu everyday dessert, but wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to make. After searching through my pantry and whatnot, I took to Google and found a recipe for strawberry piña colada pie. That was the second source of inspiration.

Frozen No-Bake Piña Colada Pie

Having very few strawberries left (my son eats them like they’re going out of style); I opted to do a lighter version sans strawberries and with my own little twist. That’s the fun part of searching for and making up recipes. You can always add or leave our ingredients to really make them your own.

Below is the recipe I came up with after my research. I was super excited that I had everything needed to put it together. Sweet! Don’t you just love it when that happens?

If you try this recipe yourself, you can certainly exclude the rum extract if you want, but I think it adds a punch of flavor reminiscent of a real piña colada. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Cheers!

Sponsored posts are purely editorial content that we are pleased to have presented by a participating sponsor. Advertisers do not produce the content. I was compensated for this post as a member of Clever Girls Collective, but the content is all my own.

I have the super sweet, and super smart Kelly from Mom Got Blog as a guest blogger today. I’ve known Kelly for almost a year now and even had the pleasure of meeting her in real life when we attended Bloggy Boot Camp last year in Boston. I say she’s sweet because she’s honestly one of the nicest bloggers I have ever met. Not only is she a wicked sweet and inspiring blogger, but she’s also a foodie. She makes delicious meals all the time and I’m never disappointed when I make one of her recipes. Let’s welcome her to the table, shall we? Take it away, Kelly…

The Root of Roasting Vegetables

When Eve asked me if I would like to write a post for Mama’s Hungry, I immediately said yes. How could I possibly say no to one of my favorite foodie friends, who not only is an amazing cook but can rock an artsy hat like no one’s business, gulp coffee with the best of them, and zip out quick witted posts? I couldn’t. It just wouldn’t happen. So thank you Eve for having me at your table!!

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How many times have you gone through the produce section in your local market, passed by the root vegetables hidden in the top shelf bins and asked yourself “What would I ever cook in order to use those?”

What? Just me?

My daughter has grown into a semi-vegetarian (if there is such a thing) making meal-preparation for three other meat eaters quite the challenge. To help with ideas, we found a cookbook, The Vegetarian Table by Pampered Chef (no affiliation here) and she flagged recipes she would like to try. By looking at this picture, I would say I have plenty of options for meals!

One of the recipes she marked was Roasted Root Vegetables with Creamy Polenta (pg. 47)**. We are not strangers to roasted vegetables; in fact we eat them quite often. However, this particular recipe called for parsnips and turnips, two roots I have never cooked. I didn’t even know how to prepare them, so I had to Google it…and just an FYI…you peel them before cooking.

I will share something with you. My family was missing out and I will tell you why.

Roasting vegetables not only changes the texture of a vegetable, but it also brings out sweetness in some and savory in others. Cooking with the new vegetables introduced us to both flavors and had us digging through our “normal” favorites to find pieces of these little treasures. The parsnips were like sugar and the turnips had an earthy spice to them. When paired with the other vegetables we used, they were divine.

As I said, our family really likes roasted veggies so I adapted the book recipe to conform to our tastes and I encourage you to do the same. Don’t pass by those of which you are unsure…grab them and roast…you may find an unexpected surprise in a vegetable you thought you disliked!

Roasted Vegetables with Polenta

If you are not a fan of polenta, serve over rice or pasta. Other uses? Make a pizza, roasted vegetable sandwich, quesadilla or serve over a green salad. You can even enjoy as a side or straight from the bowl! The possibilities are endless.

And remember…every vegetable can be roasted. Be willing to experiment. You may surprise yourself!

**Note- If you would like the original recipe that I noted, please let me know and I can share.

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Doesn’t that make you want to roast some veggies for dinner tonight? Yum! Now before you run out and buy up tons of veggies, stop by Mom Got Blog, visit Kelly on Facebook or follow her on Twitter. You’ll thank me, I promise.

Are you looking for a way to inject mad flavor into your food, without adding calories or increasing the size of your jeans? I have the perfect solution for you: caramelized onions.

Caramelized Onions

Adding caramelized onions to everything from plain white rice to mac and cheese, or even a warm salad will make it pop with flavor, but not add tons of useless calories.

I always find that it’s best to make a large batch of caramelized onions on a Sunday afternoon so that I have plenty to add to dishes during the workweek. If you don’t know how, check out my previous post on How to Caramelize Onions.

Foods That Pair Perfectly with Caramelized Onions

• Rice, whatever kind you like
• Pasta dishes, pretty much any
• Veggies, everything from artichokes to zucchini
• Casseroles
• Mac and Cheese
• Over the top of Pot Roast
• Mashed Potatoes
• Salad, both warm and cold
• Gravies and sauces
• Omelettes or scrambled eggs
• Grilled Cheese or hot paninis

The possibilities are really endless! If you’ve tried adding caramelized onions to your dishes, what’s your favorite pairing and why?

Today is my awesome hubby’s 37th birthday! I asked him what special foods he wanted on his birthday and he immediately responded with Lemon Yogurt Cake and Pot Roast with Mushroom Gravy. So you know what? That’s exactly what we’re having.

I made the Lemon Yogurt Cake on Saturday and I’ll be baking it again later today. This recipe originally came from my favorite Ina Garten cookbook, Barefoot Contessa at Home: Everyday Recipes You’ll Make Over and Over Again. She made a twist on a traditional recipe and this past weekend I took her lightened recipe and made it even lighter!

Low-Fat Lemon Yogurt Cake

I used Chobani low-fat 2% Greek yogurt instead of Ina’s recommended whole milk yogurt. I also cut the oil in half by using applesauce, which did not take away from the delicious lemon flavor like I initially thought it might. I hope you try this recipe soon, I know you’ll love it. If you don’t like lemons, you can do the same with a different citrus like oranges or even grape fruit.

I used Chobani low-fat 2% Greek yogurt, but you can use whatever kind of yogurt you like. Just be sure you DO NOT use fat-free yogurt. The cake does need a small amount of fat or it will be hard and dense instead of soft and fluffy.

Make sure that the bowl for the wet ingredients is larger than the one with dry. This is because you’ll be adding the dry to the wet, so you have to be sure the bowl is big enough to handle everything once it’s mixed together. Trust me, I learned this the hard way!

Before it goes into the oven, give the loaf pan a little shake so that it settles down and doesn’t have tons of bubbles.

It will look golden brown once it comes out of the oven. Don’t freak out when it cracks in the middle. That’s just because it’s a loaf, so it will look similar to a loaf of bread when it finishes baking.

If you don’t have a baking rack to put over the baking sheet, you can easily use the rack from your toaster oven if you have one. If you don’t have a toaster oven, just improvise by putting a few spoons upside down over the baking sheet and gently lay the loaf over the spoons. What you want to do is just raise the cake up a little so that when you add the lemon syrup and glaze, the cake doesn’t absorb everything at the bottom. If you don’t raise it up a little, you’ll end up with wet gooey cake and nobody likes that. (unless it’s soaked in rum of course!)

To serve, I added a little lemon zest and topped with vanilla ice cream {not pictured}. Now that is a grown-up birthday cake, y’all.

Enjoy!

I’m a big fan of oatmeal cookies and whole wheat baked goods. You can imagine my excitement when I found a recipe for chewy oatmeal raisin cookies made with whole wheat flour in my Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet Cookbook.

I used to think whole wheat baking sounded complex and I was nervous about what the food would taste like. The verdict? Delish! This definitely won’t be the last recipe I post using whole wheat. I highly recommend trying a recipe (maybe this one!) if you’ve never tried baking with whole wheat flour.

Not only are these cookies easy to make, but they’re also low in calories (less than 150) and packed full of deliciousness! I’m sure if you try them, you’ll definitely agree.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Mix together the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients into separate bowls, like this:

When you add the dry to the wet, mix them together and then gently stir in the oats and raisins.

Drop by tablespoon or medium-sized ice cream scoop onto a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Then, using a measuring cup or spoon sprayed with cooking spray, gently press each dollop down to flatten it a little bit. I always spray whatever I’m using to flatten with cooking spray so that it doesn’t stick to the cookie batter when I try to flatten them. Using cooking spray just makes it a little easier.

Be careful not to overcrowd your baking sheet. The cookies will spread out a little bit, so keep them at least 1 inch apart on the sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes.

Have you baked with whole wheat flour? Let me know in the comments below!

Cooking and baking are two of my favorite things to do. But every now and then I just cannot for the life of me muster up enough strength to cook dinner after a long day at the office. That’s why I was thrilled to participate in Bertolli’s “Make a Weeknight Meal Special” Challenge using Bertolli Meal Soups.

Normally, I am not a huge fan of frozen foods, but Bertolli Frozen Meal Soups are hearty and fresh-tasting with vegetables, meats, pasta and herbs individually flash frozen at the  peak of freshness. How awesome is that? It’s intriguing at the very least I think. Certainly worth a try.

Bertolli Meal Soups come in four varieties: Chicken Minestrone, Roasted Chicken & Rotini Pasta, Tomato Florentine & Tortellini with Chicken, and Tuscan-Style Beef with Vegetables. Basically, they all looked yummy when I went to my grocery store to pick one up. After calling the hubby to inquire about which variety he’d prefer, we settled on Tomato Florentine with Tortellini and Chicken. It’s described on the package as, “Cheese-filled tortellini, white meat chicken, spinach and tomatoes in a rich tomato bisque with a hint of basil.” Sounds awesome, right?

Since the soup only required about 10 minutes to prepare on the stove top, I decided to pair it with some toasted garlic bread and a garden salad. The whole prep time took less than 20 minutes, minus the time it took for my oven to pre-heat so I could toast the bread.

While waiting for the oven to pre-heat, I took Handsome (my adorable almost 2-year-old) to bed, leaving a quiet dining room for Hubby and I to sit and actually talk to each other. Seriously, anyone who has a toddler in the house knows that dinner time can be overwhelmingly stressful. Luckily, I have a few tips that can help make dinner a little easier.

My Top 3 Tips For Preparing Dinner Quickly & Stress-free

1. If possible, feed and put your child(ren) to bed early so you can have a nice relaxing dinner alone or with your spouse.
2. Set the table with a table-cloth and some candles or dim the lights so it feels like a nice restaurant. Just don’t go all out trying to make the table look fancy or anything. Afterall, you don’t want to give yourself a ton of additional work.
3. Turn off the television and swap it out for some soft music. Have you ever heard the saying “music tames the savage beast?” Well that’s true for a reason. Music has the awesome ability to transform your mood in an instant. Help yourself relax by playing something soothing in the background.

We did all these things and you know what? It was one of the most relaxing and delicious dinners we’ve had in a while. I’ll be honest here, when I saw ”restaurant Quality” on the bag I was totally doubtful that a frozen food could taste even remotely like it came from a restaurant. I hate to say it, but I was wrong. SO very wrong.

I can’t speak for the other soups, because I haven’t tried them, but the Tomato Florentine soup was in a word: awesome. It really did taste fresh, as if I’d just prepared it. The most surprising ingredient was the spinach. It was still bright green and fresh tasting. This totally surprised me being that it was a frozen meal. To learn more about Bertolli soups, check them out on Facebook or on Twitter. They’re always tweeting something yummy.

While the soup was delish, I wouldn’t recommend eating it daily because frozen food does tend to be high in sodium. However, Bertolli Meal Soups are definitely worth keeping one or two in your freezer for those nights when you just can’t or don’t feel up to cooking a big dinner.

What’s your “go to” meal for those nights you don’t feel like cooking? Share in the comments below!

{I was compensated by Bertolli to participate in the Weeknight Meal Special Challenge. These opinions and tips are all my own.}