Sharing the top reader favorites that I’ve recommended here on the blog in 2022! 

Hi hi! How are you? I hope you had a wonderful weekend. We spent the weekend celebrating Liv’s birthday! I’ll share some more pics in Friday Faves but we had an awesome dinner with her friends, saw Annie yesterday with my mom and nana, and the family came over for dinner. I hope you had a lovely weekend, too!

For today’s post, I wanted to share the reader faves from 2022! It’s always fun to look back on my analytics and see what your favorite finds were from the blog. Y’all have good taste, I tell ya. 😉

Here are the top picks from last year!

Top 10 reader purchases of 2022

1. HigherDOSE Sauna Blanket

The best sauna blanket in the land reigns supreme. I got this little beauty a couple of years ago (and upgraded to the newest version), and it’s still something I really look forward to in my routine. Since it’s been colder outside, I find myself craving the warmth and sweat. I always use it 2-3 times per week, and lately it’s been every couple of days. When I use my sauna blanket, it opens up my detox pathways (I sweat WAY more than I do during most workouts), I notice an improvement in my skin, and I sleep like a rock.

I’m so so happy so many of you are enjoying this one, too! If you decided to order one for yourself, use FITNESSISTA15 to get 15% sitewide.

2. Sakara meals

This is another thing that makes my heart happy that you all enjoy it, too! I look forward to these meals EVERY month. They’re a little treat and I gift myself some beautiful eats and some convenience. I book them during my busiest weeks, and it feels like the truest form of self care to eat a nutritious meal I didn’t have to make myself. A lot of friends have ordered Sakara meals just for lunch, as it can be one of the hardest meals to get in during a busy day. Check out all of the amazing options here and use XOGINAH for 20% off!

3. The tee shirt dress

Love this cute and casual Rails dress. It’s perfect with low-top sneakers and a baseball cap.

4. These golden goose sneakers

I was debating on these sneakers before I bought my other recent pairs of GG and they’re the perfect neutral.

5. The best egg chair!

I got this egg chair for our balcony for a steal and so pumped that many of you snagged it up, too.

6. These heeled sandals

These were so inexpensive but the quality is excellent. I hope they’re still in style this spring because I still plan on wearing them.

7. The jeans I wear constantly

This is when I dubiously accepted the fact that skinny jeans are no longer for the cool kids. This was my compromise. They’re still fitted enough to be flattering, but looser on the bottom to be more on trend.

8. This cozy cardigan

I’m wearing this cardigan while I type this blo

Tangy, sweet Honey Lime Jalapeno Vinaigrette delivers a hint of lingering heat that few can resist. It’s perfect on salads or drizzled over street tacos or burrito bowls.

Jalapeno Vinaigrette

My husband was working out of town a while back and he texted me one night to tell me about the fantastic honey-lime jalapeño vinaigrette from one of the restaurants he visited. His only dinner request that week was that I try to figure out how to make it.

Consider it done. He was a very happy camper with the version I created! This spicy, citrus dressing sweetened with a touch of honey was just the right combination.

I served this jalapeno lime dressing for dinner the first time I made it with a huge chopped vegetable salad loaded with chicken, cheese, hard-boiled eggs, and just about anything else I could think of adding to it. It was so good!

I offered my boys ranch dressing for their salads, thinking that they might not want to try this one. However, two of them surprised me by liking the jalapeno dressing every bit as much as the adults did.

While to some people, salads may seem boring, I just can’t relate to that sentiment. Between changing up the toppings to different homemade dressings. I can eat them every day. In fact, I do. Check out my best tips for eating salad every day and loving it!

Want a few more awesome dressings to try that are a bit off the beaten path? Chipotle, garlic, and lime are combined to create a crazy flavorful Chipotle Vinaigrette that you are going to love.

This Pepperoncini Lime Vinaigrette is perfect for light salads or heartier ones, like this southwestern steak salad. The finely diced pepperoncini give a slight bite and the dill complements it nicely.

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We’ve all heard of the benefits of therapy. But do you need to wait for a big, specific problem to start working with a therapist? We answer your most asked questions about therapy, why people work with a counsellor, and what you should know before starting therapy

Therapy. Our perception of what therapy is – and who it’s for – has changed drastically over the years. According to the Mental Health Foundation, around one in eight adults (12.1%) in the UK receives some kind of mental health treatment – just 3% of which is some form of psychological therapy. In the US, one in five adults (21.6%) are seeking out treatment for mental health issues. Yet many of us don’t realise that talking therapy isn’t just for when you are experiencing ill mental health.

Talk therapies can be helpful for anyone who is experiencing a tough time or who has emotional problems. Therapy can help you to reach specific goals in your life, reflect on your past, and to better understand who you are, what you want, and where you want to go. But you don’t need to have a specific problem, diagnosis, or even be struggling in order to see real benefits from working with a counsellor, therapist, psychotherapist, or psychologist.

Here, we answer some of your top questions on therapy and how working with a therapist can help you (even when you don’t have a specific problem).

Do you need problems to go to therapy?

You don’t have to have a specific problem, issue, or diagnosable mental health problem to go to (or benefit from) therapy. While many of us will wait until a major life crisis hits or we feel like we are struggling before we seek help, it is never too early to speak with someone.

You can work with a mental health professional like a counsellor or therapist to talk in general. Many people find that this can help them to sort out their feelings, release pent-up emotions, or even to discover underlying issues that they didn’t know were weighing in on their minds or actions. Speaking with a therapist can feel freeing, as you can talk about issues, events, experiences, or thoughts you haven’t felt able to share with anyone before.

Can happy people go to therapy?

It’s important to note that not only unhappy people seek therapy. Many people who would classify themselves as ha

Linguica or Kielbasa Sausage and Peppers Skillet

Sometimes the simplest recipe can taste the best! Linguica or kielbasa sausage and peppers only requires 5 ingredients and it doesn’t get any easier (or tastier) to get dinner on the table!

Cade spent 2 years serving as a missionary for our church, and he totally fell in love with the food there. I mean, how could you not, right?! It is SO good! I’m trying to add more delicious Brazilian dishes to our dinner rotation, and this linguica recipe is my latest! Cade says that it is spot on!

We used to visit a Brazilian restaurant every January here in Utah to celebrate Cade’s birthday but over the years it’s gone from delicious to downright terrible. So, I’ve started making more Brazilian recipes from home, kind of like our pao de queijo!

Linguica is so good but it can be a bit tricky to find so feel free to use any sausage like a kielbasa for example that you’d like! Just be sure to pair it with black beans and perfect white rice, or better yet, some feijoada!

Ingredients for Linguica Sausage and Peppers

Remember how 5 ingredients is all you need?! I am allllll about a recipe with minimal ingredient but still bold in flavor. Here is the list of things you will need:

• Linguica Sausage – a flavorful pork sausage that can be tricky to find sometimes, so you can substitute other sausages if you want – chorizo would be a good substitute or a kielbasa
• Mini Bell Peppers – I love how thin and sweet the mini bell peppers are, but you can totally use a full size bell pepper if you need to. I would do one yellow and one red.
• Green Bell Peppers – just remove the seeds and slice that baby nice and thin
• Red On

January 7, 2023

Welcome to the weekend, my friends! I’m headed to Santa Fe with my sisters for a few days next weekend and I can hardly wait. It’s been far too long since our last getaway. Do you have a favorite spot in Santa Fe? Shoot me a note if there’s something new I should try.

ON THE BLOG this week: Crispy-edged baked green chile chicken burritos full of cheesy goodness are an easy-to-assemble mealtime hit, full of green chile flavor.

Potatoes, red and green bell peppers, and yellow onions are combined in a colorful and flavorful breakfast skillet that is perfect for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Loaded with flavor and just a hint of heat, these Italian stuffed bell peppers are filled with ground beef and rice, seasoned with plenty of Italian spices, and topped with cheese.

White bean and corn enchiladas with green chile sauce and lots of cheesy goodness serve as a meal or snacktime dip.

Naturally sweet and bursting with blueberry freshness, banana blueberry pancakes are a weekday breakfast must in our home. Are you wondering how to pull off pancakes on a busy weekday morning?? Check out all the tips in the post.

Warm slices of baked apples covered with cinnamon brown sugar streusel topping are all that’s required to make this easy apple crisp recipe.

What I’m CRAVING: This Chocolate Cream Pie by Valerie’s Kitchen is what chocolate-loving dreams are made of. I haven’t had a chocolate pie in ages and this one needs to happen soon!

My FAVORITE THING this week is the Misen vegetable peeler. (link HERE) My friend Rebecca gifted it to me a few weeks ago and if I’m honest, I wasn’t convinced I’d love it. (I’ve never been a big fan of the Y-shaped peelers in the past.) She was right though. This one is a keeper. It’s wicked sharp and comfortable to use.

What I’m WATCHING: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (link HERE) If I’d been asked half an hour into this movie what I thought of it, I’d have said “serious cringe” and I was about to turn it off. However, I was watching with my kids and we wanted to give it a chance. 

Luckily, it turned out to be an excellent watch. In a terrific mix of the expected a