Try a fun seafood twist on classic chicken piccata with this Shrimp Piccata. It’s a bright, savory dish full of zesty flavors in a buttery lemon wine sauce!

Oh, my friends. I have a new recipe for you and it’s a solid gold keeper. Straight out of Holly Nilsson’s fantastic cookbook, Everyday Comfort, this Weeknight Shrimp Piccata called my name as soon as I laid eyes on the recipe.

It’s rare for a recipe to jump the line these days. I typically plan out what I’ll be sharing with you weeks and even months in advance, but every so often there’s a delicious reason why something gets pushed forward. This shrimp piccata turned out to be a line-skipping 5-star favorite for my whole family.

Chicken piccata is a long-time favorite of Sean’s. He orders it just about every time we are at an Italian restaurant and I make a few different versions of it. This chicken piccata recipe has been in our dinner rotation for over ten years now. It’s a little different from more traditional piccata recipes and we love it.

I strongly suspect that pretty much every dish in Holly’s cookbook is going to be a hit. These are easy and approachable recipes and I don’t know when I’ve seen a book where so many foods made my mouth water!

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Sharing the details for a free 3-day event that starts this Sunday, directly into your inbox. No need to show up to live calls or videos; all of the info will be emailed to you.

How are you? I hope you had an amazing long weekend and that your week is off to a great start. I’m super excited to share something special with you—a free 3-day event kicking off this Sunday, September 8th, and the best part? It’s all happening right in your inbox! No need to worry about finding time for live calls or videos; you can participate whenever it’s convenient for you.

As many of you know, I’m a huge advocate for the EquiLife quarterly detoxes. They’re the perfect reset for our bodies, and our next community detox is starting on September 16th. (Info is here is you’d like to join!)

But before we get started, I’ve noticed some questions pop up whenever I talk about these detoxes. One that comes up often is, “Do we really need to support our liver’s detox process?” The short answer is: absolutely. While it’s true that our livers are incredible at detoxifying on their own, they weren’t built to handle the sheer volume of chemicals, pollutants, and stressors we face in today’s world. Our modern environment, coupled with physical and emotional stress, can overwhelm our natural detox pathways. This can manifest as fatigue, digestive issues, mood swings, immune challenges, weight loss resistance, brain fog, and more.

That’s why I’m hosting this free 3-day Detox and Thrive workshop. We’ll explore simple yet effective ways to support your detox pathways daily, share practical tips you can easily incorporate at home, help you uncover your unique toxicity profile, and get those dials moving toward increased energy and breaking through weight loss plateaus.

Unlike other virtual workshops that require you to carve out time for Zoom calls or videos, this one is designed to fit seamlessly into your schedule. Everything will be delivered directly to your inbox, starting this Sunday.

If you’re ready to join in, add your email address in the bar below, at this link or just email me gina@fitnessista.com and type DETOX AND THRIVE and I’ll add you)

Smoked Whole Chicken (How to Cook a Whole Chicken on a Traeger)

Never made a Smoked Whole Chicken on a Traeger? Don’t fret, it’s easy! In this post, we give step by step instructions on how to smoke a whole chicken. It is juicy, tender and packed with flavor. You might even like it more than our Traeger Chicken Breast, smoked chicken thighs, or our smoked chicken wings.

Traeger Smoked Whole Chicken Recipe

Whole chicken recipes are really difficult to sort through. I’ve made enough of them, all of which claimed to be the best of the best but all were just cooked chicken. I mean, just because it’s a whole bird does not mean it has to be difficult, time consuming and especially not bland.

So I got all obsessed. We love our slow cooker whole chicken, our whole roasted chicken and our spatchcock chicken, but we needed a smoked version! I decided to make a whole chicken that you’d order in a restaurant over the steak. I know, I know, but really, this smoked whole chicken is going to knock your dang socks clean off of you.

Why, why is that a saying? Knock your socks off? What about your shoes? Why didn’t we knock those off first? Who are all of these people walking around in socks?

Actually, it’s me.

If you know me, if you’re a friend or a neighbor you know that I’m ALWAYS in socks because my feet are ALWAYS cold.

Smoked Whole Chicken Ingredients

Believe it or not, you only need a handful of ingredients to make a Traeger smoked chicken. This Traeger whole chicken recipe has three main components: the dry rub used to flavor the smoked chicken, the few extra ingredients needed to actually smoke the chicken, and the ingredients needed to make a gravy from the pan drippings.

Here’s what you’ll need to make a smoked whole chicken on a Traeger:

• Fresh Thyme Leaves
• Salt and Pepper
• Onion Powder
• Cumin
• Smoked Paprika
• Ground Mustard
• Cayenne
• Dark Brown Sugar
• Garlic
• Chili Powder
• Butter
• Apple Juice
• Cornstarch

Note that adding a pan of apple juice to the smoker creates a delicious steam that keeps the meat moist and adds flavor as well.

How to Smoke a Whole Chicken

Smoked whole chicken does not need much time or attention at all. The most important step starts

Plump, juicy blackberries are muddled with fragrant fresh mint to form the base of this irresistibly beautiful and refreshing Blackberry Bourbon Smash. This is a cocktail so gorgeous it’s hard to believe it’s so easy to make!

Blackberry Bourbon Smash

This has been my cocktail of choice this summer for a whole host of great reasons. Gigantic blackberries have been available at bargain prices in my grocery stores, so it’s hard to resist stocking up and I’ve been stuffing blackberries into just about every dish I can.

This particular cocktail, though, is a riff on the classic whiskey smash; a citrus forward drink that tastes like a boozy lemonade. Our blackberry bourbon smash recipe adds a heaping helping of muddled blackberries for both flavor and aesthetics.

The end result is a seriously sippable, perfectly balanced, delightfully refreshing cocktail that is easy on the eyes, too. It’s a winner of a drink!

Bourbon Smash

You’ll need the following ingredients to make this recipe:

• fresh blackberries
• mint leaves
• fresh lime juice
• ice cubes

Peanut Butter Mug Cake

This Peanut Butter Mug Cake is moist, indulgent, and only takes 5 minutes to throw together. Even better, this easy mug cake is a kid-friendly recipe! 

Peanut Butter Cake in a Mug

Peanut butter cake in a mug! Now that I have your attention, I have a delightful little recipe for you, for those days when you are craving a cozy dessert but you forgot to prepare anything.

Who doesn’t love a cute mug dessert — aka a delicious miniature cake for one made in just minutes, perfectly portioned so that all you need to do is find a spoon and a comfy space on the couch to satisfy that sweet tooth?

I used to think my One-Bowl Chocolate Cake was easy, but then I created this microwave cake recipe and now I’m hooked. I’m so hooked that I’ve created protein mug cake recipe too that you totally need to try! Made from scratch, fluffy, and flavorful, I bet you have all the ingredients you need for this recipe on hand right now.

Plus, peanut butter and chocolate chips — like in these Peanut Butter Muffins or this gorgeous Peanut Butter Cheesecake Dip — are just the best of friends.  Is there a more perfect couple? You just can’t beat the taste of those two together!

What’s in This Peanut Butter Mug Cake?

Now, microwave mug cakes are small and we’re trusting the microwave to cook it perfectly, so it’s important to get the right balance of ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need to make this best mug cake:

• Peanut butter and chocolate are of course the main flavor components here.
• Vegetable oil helps to keep the cake moist – no dry mug cakes here.
• Egg white gives the cake structure and helps it to be light and fluffy.
• This cake in a mug recipe uses brown sugar for enhanced flavor and also moisture.
• Finally, cake regulars, flour and baking powder do the job of structure and lift.

Can I Make a Cake in a Mug Without an Egg?

Yes, you can make this eggless and use milk instead, but the texture is much better using the egg white. I should note here that this recipe is dairy-free and you can make it gluten free by swapping the all purpose flour with gluten-free flour.

How to Make a Mug Cake

Mug desserts are as easy as it gets. Here are the basic steps to making this microwave cake in a cup:

1. Start by combining the wet ingredients and sugar in a large microwave-safe mug. Give it a good whisk with a fork.
2. Add the dry ingredients and stir the cake b