Blueberry gelato is a delightful fusion of creamy, rich gelato married to an irresistible tangy fruitiness.

When you combine the smooth richness of homemade ice cream with berries or a berry sauce, the result is always a refreshing, creamy treat – and this blueberry gelato doesn’t disappoint.

Blueberry Ice Cream

If you’ve been making ice cream here with me for long, you may recall my long-time love affair with Rusconi’s blueberry chocolate ice cream. That was my introduction to the wonders of blueberry ice creams and gelatos.

I’m grateful to Chef Michael for sharing his recipe with me when we were preparing to move to Ohio. Because once I made my own batch of Blueberry Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream at home, there was no turning back. Blueberry ice creams make regular appearances in our freezer now.

When I’m craving the restaurant’s ice cream and have never time nor motivation to make that custard base, this Blueberries and Cream Ice Cream has become a go-to. With no stovetop time at all and just a blender to whir it all together, you can have that one ready to churn in just minutes.

Blueberry Gelato

This blueberry gelato recipe is a cross between both of those blueberry ice creams. With a simple blueberry sauce reduc

French Dip Sliders [+ Video]

French dip sliders are perfect for a quick and easy family dinner or for the next big game day! These are buttery with caramelized onions and a luscious aus jus!

French dip sliders are not at all something I grew up with but occasionally when life was busy, the weather chilly and mom was tired she’d gather up simple ingredients for French dip sandwiches. Just sliced roast beef, hoagie rolls, and flavorful aus jus was all she needed to get dinner in the table for five hungry kids.

We have our own French dip recipe on the blog but knowing how mouth watering our ham and cheese sliders are, I have been itching to make a new sliders recipe. You guys, forget the ham ones, these are out of this world. The best thing I’ve made in months!

Why Make Sliders?

Not that sliders need to be justified, but just in case you wondering why you should make them, let me tell you! Sandwiches are like the best things ever! They are like a whole meal all in one perfect little package. Sliders are just mini sandwiches, so you can eat more than one and not feel guilty! The bread to meat ratio is even better than in a full sized sandwich, and they can be eaten for dinner or for an appetizer. It’s just all around winning!

How to Make French Dip Sliders?

These french dip sliders come together in three different steps…the caramelized onions, the sandwiches, and the aus jus. First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×13 baking pan.

Caramelized Onions

Let’s start with the caramelized onions so that they are ready to go when you assemble the sliders. Slice a medium yellow onion and then melt a couple tablespoons of butter in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions to the butter with two sprigs of fresh time and water. Stir the onions occasionally and add salt and pepper. The onions will begin to turn golden and soften. They will cook for about 20-25 minutes.

Sandwiches

Now it is time to start assembling the sliders! These are so easy! Start by slicing your rolls in half and place them side by side in your greased 9×13 pan cut side up as shown below.

Then you want to lather the top of each roll with stone ground dijon mustard. A different kind of mustard can be used, but we really recommend a stone ground dijon mustard. It just gives it best flavor and extra texture.

Then add a layer of thinly sliced roast beef. We like to go to the deli counter and ask them for a half pound of their best roast beef. Then we just evenly layer it all over the mustard buns.

Next comes the cheese!! We love these sliders with provolone, so we pick up 9-12 slices at the deli counter when we get the roast beef. You can’t have too much

Hi friends! How’s the week going so far? I’m so excited because I have a new podcast up with Josh Kreifels. I follow the account that he shares with his wife over on Instagram, and love their approach to healthy living. I align with a lot of his values and messaging, and am so thrilled to have him on the show today.

Here’s what we talk about:

Metabolic health

prioritizing health with a busy schedule

biohacks for anti-aging/longevity

and so much more.

146: Metabolic health and biohacking with Joshua Kreifels, RD

Here’s a bit more about Josh:

Josh Kreifels is the founder of kreifwell functional medicine along with his wife Kristina. He is a masters level trained registered dietitian focused on helping you use food as medicine. Josh is passionate about NOT telling you what to eat, but instead teaching you how to eat in order to optimize health, function and longevity. He is best known for helping women with hypothyroid address the root cause and reduce symptoms, increase energy and improve body composition.

Connect with Josh and Tina on Instagram here, check out their website, and use this link to book a free discovery call.

More resources from this episode:

I love love love the meals from Sakara Life! Use this link and the code XOGINAH for 20% off their meal delivery and clean boutique items. This is something I do once a month as a lil treat to myself and the meals are always showstoppers.

If any of my fellow health professional friends are looking for another way to help their clients, I highly recommend IHP. You can also use this information to heal yourself and then go one to heal others, which I think is a beautiful mission. You can absolutely join if you don’t currently work in the health or fitness industry; many IHPs don’t begin on this path. They’re friends who are passionate to learn more about health and wellness, and want to share this information with those they love. You can do this as a passion, or start an entirely new career.

You can use my referral link here and the code FITNESSISTA for up to $250 off the Integrative Health Practitioner program. I highly recommend it! You can check out my review IHP Level 1 here and my review of Level 2 here.

I’m still obsessed with Read more

Sharing a holiday gift guide filled with ideas for your health and fitness-loving friends… or yourself. 

Hi friends! How are you? I hope you’re having a wonderful week so far! I taught at a fun event on campus yesterday and we had an amazing holiday dinner with friends.

For today’s post, I’m popping in to share some holiday gift ideas focused on health and wellness. I’m a huge believer that all you need to improve your health is a safe place to walk, some sneakers that fit well, a good water bottle, a plan, and the dedication to stick to the promises you make to yourself. All of these gadgets and extras are an expense, and definitely classified as “nice to have” instead of “need.” At the same time, they can be super fun, provide extra insight into what’s working in your routine, and the PERFECT thing to gift someone you love (including yourself!!)

Here’s a roundup of some of my favorite health and wellness gift ideas at various price points:

2023 Fitness and Health Gift Guide

Walking pad. I use my walking pad every.single.day and it’s such a great way to get in extra movement and steps, especially during long conference calls (when I don’t have to talk), emails, and watching modules.

HigherDOSE sauna blanket or PEMF Go Mat. These are two of my all-time favorite biohacking products. (You can use the code FITNESSISTA15 for 15% off)

Rebounder

An Aviron rower! This one is definitely a home gym investment, but I LOVE this thing. It’s so fun to row and be able to stream shows from Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and Disney+. I can’t wait to watch the new Bridgerton season in the sauna blanket and on the rower. My review of the Aviron rower is here. 

Water purifier- We use Berkey and Clearly Filtered. We’re getting a Radiant Life whole house system this year!

Oura Ring. The Oura ring provides excellent data on sleep and recovery. You can check out my full review here. 

Air purifier! Clean air and clean water and some of the first

Mexican Wedding Cookies are tiny melt-in-your-mouth cookies that are known by many different names around the world. My grandmother called them Sugar Butter Balls.

The first time I shared this recipe online, I was overwhelmed by the response, it felt like everyone had a different name for these cookies!

Russian Tea Cakes, Polvorones, Snowball Cookies, Egyptian Feast Cookies, Nut Butter Balls, Norwegian Snowballs, Kourambie, Walnut Delights, Pecan Petites, Holiday Nuggets, Swedish Heirloom Cookies, the list goes on and on. If I’ve missed your favorite name for them, please leave a comment here to let me know!

Wedding Cookies

Every time I bite into a wedding cookie, I’m transported to a time when I watched my grandmother roll them between her hands. She was the source of so many delicious foods in my childhood.

She would set the finished cookies on a platter and everything looked so elegant to my young eyes. More than any other holiday treat, these Mexican cookies taste like Christmas to me.

I’d try sneaking them from the tray before it was time but I’m fairly certain that the powdered sugar always left a ring of evidence around my mouth. No matter, Grandmother always made plenty of these cookies to go around.

Mexican Wedding Cookies

The first time I tried making these cookies on my own, I was 18 years old and living in my first apartment. I had my grandmother’s Mexican wedding cookies recipe, but I figured I knew best.

Instead of rolling the warm cookies gently through the powdered sugar, I placed them in a Ziploc bag and poured sugar over them. When I shook the bag to coat them with sugar, at least half the cookies broke apart.

The cookies were still delicious, but they were a mess to eat. In the years since I’ve learned that Grandmother knew best. If you follow her directions for rolling the cookies in the sugar, yours will turn out every bit as perfect as hers always did.

The easiest method I’ve found for coating the cookies in powdered sugar is to put about a cup of powdered sugar in a bowl and roll the warm cookies, a few at a time, through the sugar.

Yes, rolling each ball in powdered sugar might take a little more time but the results are so very worth it. These classic cookies are crisp when you bite into them and then they melt in your mouth.

That first bite delivers sweetness from the powdered sugar on both the inside and outside. This light buttery cookie always brings a smile to my face as I think about my grandmother and all those childhood holidays.