Wellness & Boxer Wags 🐾

Chocolate and peanut butter classics made from scratch with real ingredients 👇 Jump to Recipe 📚 Book Club About five years ago, my friend Clarice started a monthly book club, and it has easily become one of my favorite gatherings. We read a fantastic variety of books, which is honestly my absolute favorite part (besides the food and the company, of course 😜). It has pushed me to dive into genres I never would have picked up on my own! We gather on the first Thursday o

Indulgently moist, perfectly spiced, and naturally clean 👇 Jump to Recipe Since stepping into retirement, one of my favorite morning rituals is enjoying the quiet peace of the house while something delicious bakes in the oven, usually with my handsome boxer, Tango, curled up right near me. And, if it’s warm enough, he will definitely be outside sunbathing on the deck! The smell of pumpkin pie spice is truly out of this world! What’s better than the scent of fresh pumpk

You know that first, involuntary groan you make when you step out of bed? The one where your lower back feels like it’s glued together, your hips feel fifty years older than they actually are, and your body actively protests the concept of standing up? (I may be speaking from personal experience on this one 😜) Waking up feeling stiff in the morning is a normal experience caused by your muscles and joints resting for hours, which causes your body's natural lubricants to tempo

Healthy Enough for Breakfast, Soft & Pillowy Pumpkin Cookies 👇 Jump to Recipe Cookies for breakfast? Always. ☕🍪 Meet my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip (Breakfast) Cookies and possibly your new favorite healthy fall treat! Today, we are leaning fully into cozy autumn vibes with a treat that highlights the best flavors of the season. Made with a wholesome blend of oat and all-purpose flours, these cookies are incredibly soft, pillowy, and naturally sweetened. They are wholesome

The Easy 6-Ingredient Homemade Autumn Baking Staple 👇 Jump to Recipe The smell of warm autumn spices filling the house on a crisp day is pure bliss. It instantly makes the entire kitchen feel comfy and cozy. While it is easy to grab a pre-made tin of pumpkin spice from the grocery store aisle, making your own blend at home is incredibly quick and easy and tastes significantly fresher and brighter than anything that has been sitting on a store shelf for months. I will be

If you read my bio page, it’s easy to look at my degrees and certifications and assume I’ve always been the ‘poster child’ for health and fitness. After all, my entire career working with high school students focused around health and fitness and now, in retirement, my focus is the same, just a different group of people (a little bit older, and much wiser). But let me let you in on a little secret: passion doesn't make it easy, and expertise doesn't make me immune to the stru

Clean Ingredient, Fast & Fluffy Oatmeal Blender Muffins 👇 Jump to Recipe If you think living a fit life means giving up baked goods, let me change your mind. I have to confess: I have a massive sweet tooth and am always trying to find ways to swap out refined sugars with alternatives like coconut sugar, maple syrup, or honey. These muffins do the trick! Instead of regular all-purpose flour, they are packed with the benefits of oats, and they rely entirely on pure unrefi