What's For Dinner? Recipe Roundup

Do you ever get into a rut where you find yourself making the same (a.k.a. super boring) weeknight dinners? Me too. Good news gals, here are three easy recipes to get you out of your dreaded dinner routine.  

1.) Quick and Spicy Tomato Soup

As far as I'm concerned, Giada can do no wrong. Yesterday I stumbled upon her recipe for spicy tomato soup, and promptly made it for dinner. It only calls for a handful of ingredients, and involves dumping a bunch of things into a soup pot and winding up with dinner. Now that, I can do. Simply saute onions, garlic and carrots in a pot, add chicken stock, a can of tomato sauce, cannellini beans, noodles, salt, pepper, red chili flakes and simmer. I added too many noodles, so it was more of a stew than soup - but quite tasty nonetheless. Whip up a grilled cheese and dinner is served. 

2.) Fish Tacos

I looooove meals that involve cheese and guacamole. My friend Lauren made these tasty fish tacos last night and highly recommended the recipe. (You know something is seriously good when it's the first news to grace your morning g-chat convo.)


 3.) Black Bean and Butternut Squash Burrito

For the record, I'm not a vegan nor do I ever plan to become one. Cheese is just too crucial to my overall happiness. But this vegan burrito recipe shared by my friend Rebecca actually sounds delicious. And it's pretty too!

Anything new and exciting in your dinner repertoire? Please share a link to the recipe below ... we need it!

Reasons to Love the Weekend

It's a gorgeous Sunday morning, and there's still one more glorious day out of the office ahead of us. Just in case you need a reason to appreciate the weekend, here are seven:

1. Whether you're a person or a dog, it's perfectly acceptable to be incredibly lazy.

Could you be a doll and grab me a water?

2. You may even catch an epic Jim Walsh/Dylan McKay showdown on SOAPnet while doing so. (Someone was not happy about a secret rendezvous in Mexico...)

3. You can leisurely read the paper while sipping a cappuccino.

4. You can channel your inner Ina Garten and shop at the local farmer's market.

5. Flowers are finally in bloom!

6. You can enjoy cocktails in cute glasses and then sleep in the next morning.

7. You actually have time to make the recipes you just look at on Pinterest during the week.

If you need some more inspiration to ward off the Sunday Blues, click here. What are your favorite ways to spend the weekend?

The Most Extreme Wedding Diet

Wedding trends come and go, and hopefully this latest weight loss fad will soon end up where velvet tuxedos went to die. The disturbing (to say the least) K-E diet promises to help women shed 20 pounds in just 10 days. Rather than bothering with a healthy, balanced diet and exercise, brides looking for a quick fix are paying big bucks to have a feeding tube inserted into their nose, down into their stomach. They're "fed" a slow drip of protein and fat, mixed with water, totaling 800 calories a day.

Outraged? Me too. I'm about to go "Ashley Judd" on y'all ... so get ready...

There is something just so sad about women that choose to do this diet. (Don't even get me started on the doctor offering this service.) Of course brides want to look amazing on their wedding day. There's nothing wrong with stepping up your workouts or watching what you eat to look and feel beautiful.  During my own wedding prep, I begrudgingly cut down on my cheese and chocolate intake. I splurged and worked out with a trainer once a week. I hauled my tired butt to the gym when I soooo didn't want to go. But the key for me was moderation. A girl still has to go to happy hour and eat the occasional cheeseburger. Am I right?

Even though you get to dress like a princess on your wedding day, you're still you. Why go to such drastic extremes to not look like the you everyone knows and loves? And let's be honest ... could you imagine a guy schlepping around for 10 days with a feeding tube before his wedding? Didn't think so.

I don't have a solution at the moment for changing the unfortunate mentality of brides that want a feeding tube instead of food. But I can share this article I wrote for Shape.com, featuring great tips, weight-loss strategies, and advice from women who walked down the aisle feeling fit, fabulous and healthy. Core Fusion classes, running, healthy food swaps (like substituting balsamic vinegar for full-fat dressings), spa treatments, and Weight Watchers are just a few of the totally normal ways women slimmed down to rock their dream dress.