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Coleslaw—like every potato salad that came before this superior Healthy Potato Salad—is one of those potluck sides that feels more like checking off boxes than something I legitimately want on my plate. After all, when there’s seasonal freshness like Asian Cucumber Salad and Watermelon Salad to be had, who wants limp, mayo-drowned cabbage? And yet…we need coleslaw. It’s just the crunch to top Slow Cooker Pulled Pork and Shredded Chicken Sandwiches....

Lean ground beef cooked with noodles in a rich and creamy sauce, this one-pan meal cooks entirely in a single skillet, even the pasta! If you didn’t grow up with Hamburger Helper, it’s a boxed mix that contains dry noodles, a spice packet, and a powdered packet for the “sauce.”Once you purchase the mix, the only other ingredients you need to make Hamburger Helper are milk, ground beef, and sometimes cheese....

With three different kinds of cheese and any of your favorite pizza toppings, this Italian mac is a shoo-in instant family favorite. It will be welcomed with equal enthusiasm from both the kids and adults dining at your table (just like Chicken Alfredo Bake and Zucchini Pizza Boats, which are two other family favorites). It’s also proof that kid-approved recipes don’t have to be bland, deep-fried, or served with a side of ketchup....

I’m an adamant (dare I admit to obstinate?) believer that salads and their vegetable side dish counterparts can and should be more than an afterthought or something eaten out of obligation, instead of actual desire. In fact, I have the most stellar collection of ultra filling, colorful, and creative salads in my cookbook. While we wait for it to come out, I’ll be continuing to share new, useful, and delicious salad recipes here, this potato, pea, and lentil salad included!...

Every time we return from a vacation, reality sets in. It looks a lot like laundry piles, an intimidating collection of unread emails, and the old carton of buttermilk (from making Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins for the plane ride) that I forgot to toss before we left. The first few days back home are y time to reset my body (and bank account) and return to a healthier routine. However, that doesn’t mean I have to give up the sense of vacation indulgence (more Bostock, please)....

One of these is not a real problem. Hint: It’s the one that involves buttery, salty pretzels, sweet, sticky marshmallows, melted dark chocolate, graham cracker crumbs, and creamy peanut butter. We’re contacting an electrician to solve the mystery of the microwave, and the dealership is repairing my car (the window really did completely shatter while I was cruising in the left lane—it was scary and glass showered everywhere; I’m grateful to be OK)....

I can’t decide which part of this pumpkin pecan cobbler has me most smitten. The soft, buttery texture? The cinnamon brown sugar topping? The fact that this pumpkin pecan cobbler makes its own hot caramel sauce in the pan as it bakes? It’s definitely the caramel sauce. When you pull the cobbler out of the oven, it won’t look like much at first. Yes, it will be golden. Yes, your house will smell like a tantalizing cross between a cinnamon bun, a roasted nut stand, and caramelized sugar....

These pillowy soft cookies are based on my Grandma Dorothy’s classic snickerdoodle recipe. I lost her during the holidays three years ago. She was my biggest cheerleader and a fighter who never lost her sense of humor or empathy for others despite being sick for many years. She is still one of my greatest inspirations. When I bake recipes like these rum snickerdoodles, it makes me feel close to her again....

This isn’t your grandma’s old-fashioned potato salad recipe. In fact, I’m betting you’ve never had a potato salad quite like it. That’s because this healthy potato salad recipe is made with sweet potatoes rather than everyday russets or Yukon gold potatoes. (Save those for this Grilled Potatoes recipe.) Plain-old potato salad often lets me down (with the rare exception of this Healthy Potato Salad). This sweet potato salad, however, makes my taste buds sing....

My produce dreams were circumvented by flora and fawna. Our lot is filled with sweeping oak and maple trees which, while pretty, make the yard too shady to support even the hardiest of plants. The only place that receives any direct sunlight is our driveway. Even if Ben did sign off on replacing the concrete with rows of homegrown tomatoes and zucchini, the friendly pack of neighborhood deer, who like to help themselves to everything above ground, would eat them for lunch....

When we think of pumpkin recipes, baked goods like Almond Flour Pumpkin Muffins and Vegan Pumpkin Bread and desserts like Pumpkin Sheet Cake and Vegan Pumpkin Pie are often the first that come to mind (a certain celebrity beverage notwithstanding). Pumpkin, however, is absolutely fantastic in savory recipes too (just see this list of Healthy Pumpkin Recipes for proof). Pumpkin is mild, healthy, and the fact that it can be purchased in convenient, ready-to-go cans means that it is one of the quickest ingredients you can use to create easy, nutritious meals....

As a self-proclaimed kitchen slowpoke, even the most simple one-pan recipes for me take longer. My typical pace in the kitchen hovers somewhere between “comfortable” and “seriously—what have I been doing in here for the past hour?” I like to thoughtfully select garnishes, chat to whoever happens to be in the kitchen with me (even if it’s usually just my dog), sip on a Jalapeño Margarita, and just relax. Therefore, for fun (and efficiency), I decided to give myself a challenge....

Beer bread is a savory quick bread that uses the carbonation in beer for leavening. Like other quick bread recipes, you make beer bread without yeast, a shortcut that makes it especially easy to prepare. Beer bread is buttery and moist. The inside crumb is sturdy but tender. The outside is lightly craggly. One of my favorite parts about eating beer bread is picking off that textured top! I’m hesitant to use the phrase “you can whip this right up!...

These super juicy, buffalo-sauce-bathed, cheese-sprinkled slow cooker chicken meatballs are the essence of football food (as is this Buffalo Chicken Pizza). They’re a little messy. Everyone loves an excuse to eat them. They might stain your couch. You can DEFINITELY turn what would at other times be considered an appetizer into a full meal and not be judged. These easy buffalo chicken meatballs are a done deal crowd favorite for any game day....

Let me clarify: we were baking store bought cordon bleu. My mom had neither the patience nor the motivation for the kind of painstaking, oily mess it would take to fry chicken cordon bleu at home. Neither do I. This healthy baked chicken cordon bleu, however? It is EASY to make, doesn’t require a deep fryer, and it still has that unstoppably appealing, breading-on-chicken-on-ham-on-cheese situation. Why I Love Cordon Bleu This oven baked chicken cordon bleu gave both myself and Ben the nostalgic feels, except that (as Ben so eloquently put it) “it tastes a thousand times better than the frozen stuff we had growing up....

A plain cheese quesadilla of the white tortilla + prebagged cheese + microwave-until-melted variety can be made a bit of a joke when describing someone’s ability to “cook,” but this juicy chicken quesadilla is well-above basic. Sauteed, seasoned chicken thighs (or chicken breasts if that’s your preference), fajita-style vegetables, and yes CHEESE make this the best chicken quesadilla recipe. While easy, it will be appreciated by cooks of all levels....

Coconut chia pudding is good for you, yet its rich texture gives it the indulgent “dessert for breakfast” vibe that I associate with vacation. Made with chia seeds, coconut milk, pure vanilla extract, and naturally sweetened with maple syrup or honey, this healthy breakfast recipe is a mini escape. Top it with juicy fresh fruit or swirl in some jam. It will be a little break you can return to anytime you need it....

Actually, the proper question is guess who baked herself coconut flour cakes, because this recipe took a few tries to get right. It was worth it! I’m 33 today, and I suppose at some point it will become too embarrassing for me to continue to post my own birthday cake creations in such a public manner. I’m not there yet! This year, I’m not feeling quite so philosophical as I was on my 30th, when I posted this Lemon Layer Cake (which is still the very best lemon cake in the entire world, not to oversell it or anything) or quite as silly as I was the year of the Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake (which will ruin you from store-bought cookie cake forever, sorry not sorry)....

This garlic mashed potatoes recipe is a must-have side dish for your Thanksgiving and holiday celebrations. Or to eat on a Tuesday because they are comforting and indisputably delicious. They can be cooked in advance and reheated too, so you can cut down on meal prep time and save stress in the process. Irish by heritage and a Midwest girl (the region where carbohydrates reign supreme), I know a thing or two when it comes to potatoes....

General Tso chicken is a popular Chinese-American dish. It was invented in America (not China) and consists of pieces of deep fry chicken that are battered, fried, and tossed in a thick, sticky, spicy sauce, served over steamed rice. Whenever Ben picked up crispy General Tso chicken (usually an indicator he’d had a rough day at the office), I was always tempted by its smell, but I never could get past how greasy the chicken was or the cloying amount of excess sugar made my stomach feel icky 10 minutes later....