Eating mindfully is a challenge for all of us, especially in a current society of distractions. Following my 8 steps to eat more mindfully may be easier to start practicing at home when you can intentionally clear a space from distractions. But what about when you eat out at a restaurant? There are so many distractions - figuring out what to order, catching up with friends, coworkers, clients or a new love interest. Who has time to eat mindfully when you are trying to figure out if the person across from you is your soulmate?!

Oof, so many things!! A quick reminder that eating mindfully isn’t about perfection. It is a practice, and the more you do it, the proficient you get. It is about letting go of perfection and instead being in the present moment.

It should also be noted that eating out at restaurants can be anxiety inducing for many. Slowing down and trying a few of my mindful eating tips below will be helpful not only to reduce any anxious food thoughts, but also to help digest better and avoid any stomach upset, heartburn and bloat.

1. CHECK IN WITH HUNGER BEFORE YOU GET THERE: how many times have you showed up to a restaurant and between the time you sit down and when your food comes the hanger kicks in? This happens to me all the time and it is distracting. Arriving at a restaurant starving keeps you from checking in with what you really would like to eat. When you are hangry you are ready to order the entire left side of the menu, am I right? Check in with your hungry 30 minutes to an hour before leaving. Have a small snack if needed. Being a just hungry enough when you show up to the restaurant will give you the space to explore the menu and think about what you truly want rather than reacting to a blood sugar crash.

2. PLAN AHEAD: reading the menu of the restaurant you plan to go to before your meal can be helpful if you have a tendency to get anxious when ordering at restaurants. If you are one of those people who waits until everyone else orders, to see what they get before making your decision… then this might work well for you. I do caution that sometimes looking at the menu too far in advance can stand in the way of checking in with your hunger when you are there. Give yourself grace to change your mind if you sit down and something else sounds good to you in the moment. Take a quick scan of the menu before jumping back in to being present with those at the table with you.

3. PAUSE BEFORE THE FIRST BITE. This can be challenging to do if the waiter or waitress puts your plate down when you are engaged mid-conversation. I suggest looking down at your food when it comes and making an exclamation to your current convo buddy about how good the food looks! This will incite them to do the same, and in these few seconds of pause you can check in with your hunger. You will have already taken a moment to take in the smell and colors of the meal, and now take another moment to savor the first bite - the texture, taste and mouthfeel. Taking small moments to savor the meal, even better if in a shared moment with others, helps to turn on your hunger cues as well as fullness cues.

4. EAT DESSERT IF YOU WOULD LIKE. Desserts can be scary for those who have patterns of restriction and food rules. A reminder that sugar is not the devil and that all foods fit and have a place in our lives. If you are interested in a dessert, it is also ok to eat past the point of being full. This is a practice of leaning in to the different types of hunger. Denying yourself something that you would like and would enjoy in the company with others is actually disconnecting your brain from your body, instead of mindfully tuning in to what you want. This also goes the other way, if you don’t want dessert, don’t feel pressured by others at the table who want to order.

5. GO SLOW. Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the moment, whether in the company of others, or in the conversation at the table, and before you know it you have wolfed down your meal and don’t even remember how it tasted. We often feel like we need to keep on pace with others at the table as well, which can result in eating faster than normal. It can feel weird to be the last one at the table who is still finishing your meal. All plates have been cleared and you are still munching. But your digestion will thank you! As you engage in conversation, it is possible to multi-task and be present with the bites you are taking. Slowly eating and chewing while being present with those at the table. It takes practice, but it is possible!

If you know me by now, you know that smoothies are my freaking jam. Especially in the morning after a work out. There is nothing more tasty and refreshing than a protein smoothie for recovery after moving your body.

This is hands down my favorite post-work out + recovery smoothie. I love using collagen peptides for protein in my smoothies, not only because it supports good digestion and enhances your immune system but also because it aids in the growth and repair of tissues, tendons, joints and muscles.

So, what’s the secret? Amino acids. Collagen peptides protein powder contains multiple chains of amino acids, including Glutamine which is a key amino acid for healing and cellular turnover and repair. I have linked below to a few of my favorite collagen protein powders.

(I get a v small kick back if you buy through these links, and appreciate the support as always!) 

Ancient Nutrition Multi Collagen
Primal Kitchen Collagen Fuel
Further Food Collagen (women-owned!)

Ingredients:

1 cup unsweetened nut milk of choice, I like cashew milk
1/2 frozen banana
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1 big handful of spinach
1 tbsp. almond or cashew butter
1/4 avocado
2 scoops collagen (or equivalent to 20g)

Method:
Add everything to a high-speed blender and blend until combined and creamy. I use a Vitamix and have been loving it five years strong! It has been the best kitchen investment I have ever made, I use it every day and it makes the creamiest smoothies EVER.

Want to get 5 more of my favorite smoothie recipes? Click here to download for free!

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Curious about Intuitive Eating? Have your assumptions about it but not sure what it REALLY is?!

All good boo! I am breaking it all down for you, the myths and the truths behind what Intuitive Eating really is so that you can start to educate yourself if you are considering the Intuitive Eating path.

A good place to start is learning the steps to Mindful Eating on a day to day basis - slowing down to focus in on your hunger and fullness cues and to be present with your food. I call Mindful Eating a “lily pad” as you make your way from one side of the pond (Diet Culture) to the other (Intuitive Eating) .

And as you make your way across the food freedom pond, here are some myths about Intuitive Eating so you have a better understanding before you head down this path.

LET’S DIVE IN TO THE MYTHS!

1. Intuitive Eating is a diet for weight loss.
Yep, definitely a myth and the first one I remind my clients of, and also reply to in emails and DMs. Intuitive Eating is not a diet for weight loss. Instead it is learning how to eat OUTSIDE the diet mentality and creating a healthy relationship with food. I use Intuitive Eating in my practice with clients who are recovering from disordered eating to help them heal their relationship with food. To do so, the first step (or lily pad) is to ditch the diet mentality and to unlink food from any rules. Instead, Intuitive Eating looks at food through a lens of satisfaction and enjoyment. For example, on a diet you may look at a bowl of oatmeal topped with fruit and nuts and think “How many calories or grams of carbs are in it? If I eat it do I need to restrict carbs or calories later? With intuitive eating, you simply look at the bowl of oatmeal and ask: Do I want it? You may naturally consider other factors as well from old programming, but it all starts with this simple question.

2. Nutrition is thrown out the window.

This one is a classic. The belief that once you allow yourself to eat what you want, you won’t be able to control your cravings and it will be pizza and ice cream all day long. Won’t this lead to more bingeing and eating ALL OF THE THINGS?! The quick answer is no, but there may be a honeymoon period. One of my clients told me, “I knew I had figured out Intuitive Eating when I went out to lunch with coworkers and ordered a salad, NOT because it was the healthy item on the menu but because I truly wanted it". I think this sums up the Intuitive Eating nicely, but for some there is an in between phase.

The honeymoon period: when you first break out of the diet prison, you might get a little excited. This is because your brain is used to that in-between-diets phase, and it knows the routine: Stock up on the good stuff now, because it's only a matter of time before the pizza and ice cream is off of the table again. So whatever your forbidden fruit was, you might go through an initial phase where you're eating more of those things, and that's normal. It can be really scary, but trust me that this is normal. And, IT WILL PASS. Eventually, you realize pizza and ice cream aren't going anywhere, and so you don't have to hoard them. Your body gets the message: Oh, these are always available? OK cool, because I am getting sick of them and a salad or fish and veggies sounds pretty good right now.

3. You will gain weight.

This isn’t really so much of a myth as it is an unknown. Because here is the truth, when you start to eat intuitively you will either lose weight, gain weight or your weight will stay the same. Intuitive Eating isn’t about the weight. If weight gain is a worry for you, ask yourself where this discomfort is coming from - Diet culture? A society that praises thinness? Internalized fat phobia?

Because weight has nothing to do with Intuitive Eating. This is because you cannot simultaneously create a better or more neutral relationship with food and focus on weight loss. As goals, they are like two magnets held together - they repel each other.

I mean yeah, weight change is a likely side effect of changing your eating habits. But, that change isn't going to look the same for everyone. If your body has excess weight to lose, you probably will lose it. But, if you have been restricting for years and your weight reflects this, you will probably gain weight as your metabolism has slowed while in starvation mode. This takes some time to catch up and for homeostasis (balance) to take place.

Another thing to remember is that normal eaters fluctuate, too. Not just disordered eating. Our bodies reflect our lives and we have to learn to recognize that without judgment and to give ourselves more grace while we check in with where the discomfort is coming from.

4. It’s easy!

I feel like this is the allure of diets, we perceive them as an easy way to lose weight. This makes sense as they promise so much - Lose 30 pounds in 30 days! Sure thing, it may be easy to watch the weight fall off on your first diet and then dieting becomes addicting as a quick fix. But we are missing the statistics that most diets (95% to be exact) don’t work, just take the long-term results of the show the Biggest Loser as an example of what happens to weight and metabolism overtime when you constantly diet.

Intuitive Eating is a big change if you are crossing the pond from the other side of diet culture. And change is hard. It takes time. Intuitive eating is about real, long-term change.

5. It works for everyone

Well, technically, this one may actually be true. Because in the end, intuitive eating really just means, well, eating! It's about eating based on your needs (your mind and your body’s needs), not a diet's rules — so if you put it like that, I guess Intuitive Eating is for everyone. But, if you've been burned by diets, lifestyle labels and strict meal plans in the past, then you may not want to align yourself with any kind of “program”. That's totally fair. But loop this back to myth 1, Intuitive Eating isn’t a diet or a program (wink, wink).

Not quite ready to take the leap and need a framework to bridge you from diet culture/disordered eating to Intuitive Eating? I created an Intuitive Eating Nutrition Plan with an easy to follow framework that includes mix n’ match meal grids (so you can eat what you want!) and worksheets to tap into your hunger and full cues.

Remember, it is important to meet yourself exactly where you are on your journey and grow from there. No judgements. :)

A lot of the clients I work with in my one on one health coaching practice have the health goal of wanting more energy. Most suffer from what I call “the afternoon slump.” You know the feeling, come 3pm you are ready for that afternoon coffee or a nap under your desk. Your energy is zapped.

I ask these clients what they are having for lunch and most of them reply that they are eating a big salad. And when I ask what ingredients are in their salads, it turns out that most of them are lacking sufficient protein.

Not having a sufficient amount of protein in your breakfast and especially your lunch will typically lead to that afternoon energy slump. Protein contains B vitamins that our bodies use to balance our nervous system and particularly B12 in animal protein sources that give us energy*

Adding protein to your morning smoothie or nut butter to your oatmeal or other warm breakfasts is a great place to start. For lunch I like to add a good protein source along with a healthy fat to help satiate me until an afternoon snack and give me energy until dinner. My favorite way to do so is on a salad for lunch.

Scroll for my 5 favorite protein toppers for your salad.

If you are stumped for what protein to add to your salad and how much, look no further! I got my 5 favorite toppers and how much to add, all with ideas for fats to add as well. Can I get a woot woot?

1) CHICKEN. Surprise surprise, but chicken is one of my favorite protein toppers in terms of variety for what salads you can make. I suggest a 4 - 6oz. piece of chicken, or enough shredded chicken that would fit in the palm of your hand. My favorite combinations are a classic chicken caesar like the one pictured above with my easy homemade caesar dressing and avocado; or a chicken salad with sliced almonds, strawberries and olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette.

2) EGGS. I love both hard and soft boiled eggs on my salads. It’s so easy to bring with you to work and add on top of your salad. Eggs are the perfect protein as they contain all nine essential amino acids that our body can’t produce on it’s own. I suggest adding two eggs to your salad, or doing one egg and also 1/4 cup of quinoa (a gluten-free grain that is high in protein) or chickpeas. I love me a good chopped salad with romaine, tomatoes, avocado, eggs and chickpeas.

3) BEANS/LENTILS. Plant-based protein from legumes back a big punch in your salad. I love a mexican-themed salad with romaine, 1/2 cup black beans, avocado, cheddar, tomato and a lime +cilantro + olive oil dressing. I love making this a warm salad with 1/4 cup kidney beans and 4 oz. of ground turkey sautéed in olive oil and taco seasoning.

4) STEAK. Don’t shy away from red meat, but do make sure it comes from a local source that is grass-fed. Red meat is high in iron, selenium, zinc and B-12. I like steak salads for when you are going out to lunch with co-workers or clients for work. It’s an easy menu choice when you don’t want to fuss and someone else has picked the place to eat. If ordering steak, I suggest skipping dairy to help with digestion. Chew your steak thoroughly and a 4oz. to 6 oz. portion the size of the palm of your hand is the perfect amount.

5) SHRIMP. The underdog for salad toppers. Here is one of my favorite shrimp salad combos when you are looking for something quick and tasty. I also love making my own shrimp louie salad using a good ranch dressing like this ranch one and also this thousand island dressing.

*if you are a vegan or a vegetarian I recommend getting a blood test to see where your B vitamin levels are and substituting as needed.

Tuna Salad forever has my heart.

I come back to this recipe again and again. I place it on a salad with avocado and veggies like carrots and radishes. I roll it into a whole wheat wrap with dried cranberries and romaine lettuce. I use it on sandwiches with my favorite healthy bread, butter lettuce and avocado or I make it a tuna melt with my favorite cheese.

Curious what my favorite healthy breads are? Check out my healthy carbohydrate guide.

Curious what dairy I prefer for cheese? Check out my healthy food swap guide.

The possibilities are endless and it is so easy to make. It is my lazy go to for lunch when it’s been one of those busy days and I don’t want to spend more than three minutes in the kitchen.

Here’s how you can make the magic happen.

Ingredients:
1 can of your favorite tuna*
3-4 spoonfuls of your favorite dairy-free yogurt**
1/2 TBSP. lemon or lime juice
1/2 TSP. red wine vinegar or ACV
1/2 TSP. dried parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Combine all the above ingredients in a bowl. Use a fork to break up the tuna. Stir to combine.

Prepare to meet your new favorite tuna salad recipe. Your tastebuds will thank you!

*I like Wild Planet Foods and Safe Catch brands. Note that most cans of tuna claim 2 serving sizes. Remember that a serving size doesn’t dictate your hunger. Personally, I am usually hungry for the whole can and like to stack my sandwich high, but on some days I don’t finish the whole sandwich and that is ok too.

**I like Forager Project cashewgurt, it has a mild flavor that doesn’t overwhelm like almond or coconut yogurt.

I work with a lot of my clients on gut-healing which includes leading them through a personalized elimination plan and reintroduction to pinpoint which foods are causing digestive symptoms. One of the main culprits for many is dairy. Sad but true, because cheese is so so delicious but sometimes we need a break from it in order to heal our guts. With my guidance, I always empower my clients to discover how foods make them feel, so that they can make decisions about what they eat on a day to day basis to feel their best!

I am therefore constantly on the lookout for new products, especially dairy free replacements if dairy is a no-go.

The market of dairy free products is a saturated one, with so many choices it can be hard to know which ones taste good and are made with good ingredients.

But all good, I have done the taste testing and label reading for you!

I have narrowed it down to my top 6 favorite dairy-free products that I always have on rotation when my tummy needs a break from the real thing.

1.     MILK: Forager Project Cashew Milk. Doesn’t get better than this for taste and ingredients. Forager has been around for a minute and has perfected their milk. I love using for smoothies and chia seed pudding as it doesn’t leave a funky after taste like almond milks can.

2.     MILK: Native Forest Simple Coconut Milk.  This is the only coconut milk I have found that doesn’t add Xanthum Gum! You can buy it on Amazon if you can’t find this in your store.  Make sure the label has the word “SIMPLE” on it ;)

3.     CHEESE/CREAM CHEESE: Kite Hill Ricotta Cheese. One word – texture!! I don’t know how they do it but the texture is just like real ricotta and it tastes dang delicious. I am not a big fan of their cream cheese, because 4 out of 5 that I buy always have mold when I open them (what’s up with that?), but I have used this as a spread on bagels and it’s a better cream cheese alternative.

4.     CHEESE: Miyoko’s Vegan Mozz. Holy crap this stuff is epic. It melts, browns and bubbles just like real mozzarella cheese. I kid you not. I would never lie to you!  So the next time you want to make that panini or pizza dairy free, get this stuff pronto.

5.     YOGURT: Forager Project Cashewgurt. I have tried so so so many dairy free yogurts. I still haven’t found a coconut one I like that is versatile, and the almond milk ones have weird aftertastes. There are oat milk ones out on the market now but the ingredients are shit. Forager has nailed it with the texture and mild taste. I don’t only just eat it with granola and fruit but also mix it into dressings and tuna salads.

6.     BUTTER: Miyokos Vegan Butter. Vegan butters can be, errrrr, quite industrial with their ingredients. But this one is really good, made with coconut oil, and melts and bubbles in the pan, and is delicious on bread too!

 
Tada! Hope you enjoy some new ideas for products and leave in the comments your favorites! Always on the hunt for something new.

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When it comes to intuitive eating, there is a lot of talk about hunger. Eating intuitively is not just about eating when you are hungry and stopping when you are full. It is about quieting the external messages we receive from Diet Culture which disconnects us from our body, telling us to follow certain food rules and to be insecure and anxious about our food choices. When we are disconnected from our bodies, it becomes difficult and sometimes impossible to pay attention to our hunger cues. We have made up so many rules in our minds that we no longer can hear our body.    

One thing I frequently discuss with clients who are working to break the binge/restrict cycle or to calm anxiety with food, are hunger cues. Specifically the types of hunger that we experience which can be tapped into.  This helps my clients to better understand what might be fueling their desire to eat in order to better respond to their body’s cues.

THE FIVE TYPES OF HUNGER IN INTUITIVE EATING

1.     Physical Hunger

2.     Emotional Hunger

3.     Taste Hunger

4.     Necessity Hunger

5.     Nutrient Hunger

When reading through and then recognizing the different types of hunger, it is important to note that all of these are NORMAL AND VALID.  We may have been taught to believe that any other type of hunger that is not physical must not be real, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

What is important is to know which type of hunger you are experiencing so that you have the tools to satisfy it without guilt or shame. To embrace all of them equally as a part of the human experience with food, emotions, taste and pleasure.

1.     Physical Hunger comes from our need for energy. This can manifest as that gnawing feeling in your stomach and also as fatigue, headaches, shakiness, irritability and moodiness. When we are physically hungry, we should eat!

2.     Emotional Hunger is when you have an unmet emotional need that increases your desire to eat. I personally hate that emotional eating has a negative connotation as I truly believe emotional eating is normal and healthy eating. A lot of people refer to binge eating as emotional eating, but these are actual separate. Binge eating is used to not feel emotion at all, and to instead shut it out. By bingeing, we are not meeting our emotional need and instead are suppressing it.

Emotional hunger can also be confused with physical hunger.  The difference is that emotional hunger comes on quickly and is usually coupled with an uncomfortable or intense emotion which can be sadness, anxiety, lonliness, and also extreme joy.  You feel it more in your head than in your stomach and can therefore come on an hour or two after eating.

3.     Taste Hunger is present when you are craving something specific.  Meaning a certain food just sounds dang good! An example of this is being at a wedding and wanting a slice of the cake because it sounds really good, even if you just ate a big dinner. It can be the same at a restaurant when you are satisfied with your meal and want a dessert.  This usually means you are eating when you are not hungry, and remember, you are allowed to eat when you are not hungry and that is totally normal!

4.     Necessity Hunger isn’t truly hunger but rather a need to eat in anticipation of hunger later when you won’t be able to eat. Let’s say you are at work and you have back to back meeting coming up, during which you will likely get hungry.  Although you are not hungry in the moment, you eat in order to stay ahead of the inevitable hunger. Remember that this “hunger” is valid and very important to pay attention to.

5.     Nutrient Hunger comes from our need for nourishment. Aka, you head to Vegas for a bachelorette party and you come back craving veggies and green juice. Or you are craving red meat after you finish your menstrual cycle and enter the follicular phase. Our bodies are smart, they know exactly what nutrients we need and when. Diets such as keto, paleo or being vegan can remove entire healthy food groups with essential nutrients that our bodies may need and be asking for when we are restricting.

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OK you want to become a health coach! First step, yell hooray and jump up in the air a few times. Or, put on your favorite song and dance it out in celebration. Becoming a health coach is the most rewarding career, in my opinion. It has changed my life since the day I started coaching full-time. And maybe you only want a side-hustle coaching practice. That’s cool, too.

Whether you are side-hustling, or want a full-time practice, looking to enroll in school, are enrolled in school, or just graduated - you will need to create a website. SO WHERE DO YOU EVEN START? I am walking you through how to build a health coaching business website in 10 simple steps.

Health Coach Website Checklist - LET’S DIVE IN!

1.     Make an inspiration board for your website Go through Pinterest for ideas and start a board. Include other health coach websites, nutrition coach websites, and nutrition/food blogs that you love in an inspiration board for design ideas.

2.     Take photos! You don’t have to hire a professional photographer, have your friends take photos of you with an iphone or find a friend with a dslr camera. Take a few flat lay photos of food. I still use my iphone food photos on my current website. Taking photos will also give you inspiration for the design of your website.

3.     Write your navigation bar What will your links be? Check out my website and other health coach websites from your inspiration board. Write them down and start with at least these three below and add more if needed:
About Me
Services
Contact

4.     Pick a URL I used GoDaddy.com to check to see if the URL for my business name was available. You can purchase your URL through GoDaddy.com.

5.     Pick a host Check out SquareSpace, Wix, WordPress or any other host for your website. I chose SquareSpace because I love the layouts with a built-in blog. I also like how I didn’t have to hire a developer on the back end, and instead I make my own edits (with the help of a few YouTube tutorial videos at the beginning).

6.     Choose a template (Wix or Squarespace). Start with five favorite templates, and play around with these templates. Drop in a few of your photos from Step 2 to see which one looks best to you!

7.     Write out content! Start with writing content for what’s in your navigation bar.
About Me: this is where you tell your story and why you became a health coach
Services: more on how to choose the services you will offer in Module 5
Contact: Add a contact form or simply add your email and a photo of you!

8.     Add photos and written content to your website template. If you are working with a website developer this will be done by them! Again, I loved SquareSpace because of the drag and drop template but have never tried out Wix!

9.     Start your blog. If you are using SquareSpace, all templates have a build in blog page for you to use. Or have one built for you in Wordpress. Start blogging once a week to engage your audience!

10.  Add as you go. Now that you have the basics in place for your health coaching website by following the steps above, you can add as you go!

Maybe you add a link for Group Coaching or Corporate Wellness or your Ebooks. Remember your website doesn’t need to be PERFECT and include EVERYTHING at the beginning.

My website is still a work in progress and I am constantly making updates, which is why I chose SquareSpace and taught myself how to use it so I can add as I go! Do what works best for you and gives you space for creative freedom whether that is hiring a developer or learning the ropes as you go!

LOOKING FOR MORE DIRECTION ON SETTING UP YOUR WEBSITE AND BUSINESS?

My Online Course for Health Coaches on How to Build a Profitable Practice will set you up for success by laying the foundation and dishing all my secrets to growing a multi-stream income practice.

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When I was younger and my grandparents would come to visit, we would pick them up from the airport and stop at the Marie Callendar’s restaurant which right off of the freeway. Although the location doesn’t exist anymore, and neither do my Marie Callendar carvings, the warm and fuzzy memories have remained. They had a refrigerated rotating pie stand on display right when you walked in the door, showcasing all the featured pies. I had two favorites - the Chocolate Cream and most definitely the Double Cream Blueberry Pie.

I’ve taken my childhood pleasure and recreated it into the most delicious breakfast treat - blueberry cream pie french toast! The outcome was absolute heaven, like angels dancing on my tongue. I kid you not, this healthy french toast is other worldly. Get your booty to the kitchen and make immediately!

I also have 12 more healthy breakfast ideas I’m sharing with your in my free Favorite Breakfast Recipe Ebook, so I don’t leave you hanging after enjoying this tasty and healthy breakfast recipe.

Ready to make this mind blowing blueberry french toast?!! Of course you are… you were already drooling just looking at the photo. You know what’s up. So here is how you can DO IT.

Ingredients
(serves 1)
2 pieces sprouted wheat bread
2 eggs
splash of unsweetened nut milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 
a few shakes of cinnamon 
1/4 cup frozen blueberries
1-2 tbsp. maple syrup 
1 tbsp. melted coconut butter

Method 

Whisk the eggs, nut milk, vanilla and cinnamon in a shallow bowl. Dip each piece of toast on both sides until the egg mixture is fully saturated. Cook on a non-stick skillet for 3-4 minutes on both sides. While the french toast cooks place the blueberries and maple syrup in a sauce pan. Heat until the maple syrup starts to bubble and turn heat to medium-low until the blueberries soften. Mash half the blueberry compote with a fork. Place french toast on a plate, top with blueberries and drizzle with the melted coconut butter.  DIVE IN AND ENJOY!!

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David and I always go through the “what’s for dinner?” text at around 3 or 4 o’clock almost every day. This typically plays out as one of us suggesting what we are craving and the other agreeing or suggesting something better (usually me, just saying). David makes a stop at the grocery store to pick up the ingredients and I cook it up when he gets home. Because teamwork makes the dreamwork. And speaking of dreams… that is what this quick and easy pasta recipe is made of!

The pasta dish is the perfect blend of melty parmesan cheese with my favorite summer veggies and duh, bacon of course! I added a generous amount of pepper and also butter for a cacio e pepe vibe and the result was perfection.

Best of all, this dish literally took 15 minutes to cook and can be customized for a party of one or a family of 4. All you need to do is adjust by dividing in half or one-fourth of the serving sizes below.

It’s time for a summer pasta party in your mouth!

Ingredients
(serves 4)

1 box pasta of choice. I chose pasta spirals, but imagine it would be good with fettuccine, rigatoni or orecchiette.
1 bunch asparagus, chopped into small pieces
1 cup frozen sweet corn
1/2 stick of grass-fed butter
1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of shredded parmesan cheese
1 packet of nitrate-free and sugar-free organic bacon
Salt and pepper to season

Method

Cook pasta according to instructions on the box. Use a large heavy bottom pan. While the pasta is cooking, make the bacon in a cast iron skillet. 2 minutes before the pasta is done cooking, add in the corn and the asparagus. Drain the pasta with the veggies and reserve about 1/2 cup of pasta water. Add the pasta and veggies back into the pan with a splash of the pasta water. add in the butter and stir in to melt. Add in 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese and stir to melt. Chop up the cooked bacon and add to the pasta. Add a generous serving of black pepper and a good sprinkle of salt. Stir until everything is combined. Scoop into bowls and sprinkle with the remaining parmesan cheese and DIG IN!

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