Welcome to the weekend, my friends! Good morning, good morning, GOOD morning!! This weather has me in a glorious mood today. I’m headed to yoga now and planning a lovely long walk or hike for this afternoon. Bring on all the fall weather!

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK: French toast is always a fun weekend treat and you’re going to love this cheesecake stuffed french toast topped with a warm berry sauce. Even though this looks fancy, all the components are simple and you can have it on the table in about 30 minutes.

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! This recipe is a solid gold keeper. Straight out of Holly Nilsson’s fantastic new cookbook, Everyday Comfort, this dish called my name as soon as I laid eyes on the recipe – and it did not disappoint.

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!

One of the most popular party snacks we make is Spinach Artichoke Dip. It’s a classic appetizer that pretty much everyone enjoys, and depending on the crowd, you’ll be lucky if you have a single bite left over.

This Garden Vegetable Soup is absolutely exploding with all sorts of fabulously fresh taste. Every spoonful is brimming with wonderful veggies!

Glazed, delicately almond-scented, cake-like Cherry Cookies are pretty darned irresistible. These fluffy, chewy cookies are a sweet treat that goes great with a cup of tea or coffee.

If you love Whoppers or chocolate malted milk balls, you’re going to go wild for this Chocolate Malted Crunch Ice Cream. This old-fashioned chocolate malt ice cream gets a little extra boost of fun from chopped malted milk balls.

My FAVORITE THINGS this week are my wireless earbuds. My whole family has these earbuds and they’re the best ever for road trips, for every day, for exercise, for everything. (I just looked up our first purchase and these have been going strong for 3 years now.) It still impresses me just how inexpensive they are considering how well they perf

If you love Whoppers or chocolate malted milk balls, you’re going to go wild for this Chocolate Malted Crunch Ice Cream. This old-fashioned chocolate malt ice cream gets a little extra boost of fun from chopped malted milk balls.

Chocolate Malted Crunch Ice Cream

For all those who are completely hooked on Thrifty’s chocolate malted crunch ice cream, we present this fantastic copycat recipe. This creamy, deeply chocolatey ice cream has a distinct toasted malt flavor. The crunch comes courtesy of a generous amount of crushed chocolate-covered malted milk ball candy.

The end result is an indulgent, intensely chocolatey ice cream with subtle caramel flavor and old school charm. The chocolate candy stirred into the extra special finished ice cream brings it a little modern flair.

The most popular question I get is whether it’s possible to make ice cream without a machine. The answer is YES. You can make ice cream without a machine. Find the full directions here!

Whopper Ice Cream

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

Sharing 10 of the most useful things I’ve bought from Amazon.

Hi friends! How are ya? I hope that you’re having a lovely week! I have a day full of client calls but am going to sneak in a lunchtime Peloton ride. Also, I’m so pumped that so many of you have signed up for Detox and Thrive! Join us here. We start Sunday and it’s freeeeeee.

For today’s post, I wanted to share some of the most useful things I’ve purchased from Amazon. These are definitely more functional finds, but they’re things that constantly bring me joy because they work well, I use them constantly, and they make life a little bit easier. I always love hearing about the best of the best, so if you’ve found something you love lately, please share the goods in the comments section!

10 of the most useful things I’ve bought from Amazon

1. Retainer cleaner

Why did I wait so long to get a retainer cleaner? I initially was going to ge the Zima one, but it’s $100, and this one was $40 and works incredibly well. It makes me so grossed out to think that I used to simply brush my retainers. They’re SO much more clean when I use this!

2. Tineco vaccum/mop

The hype is real, friends. I never thought I’d love a mop, but I do. It works extremely well, and even though I’m not supposed to (you’re supposed to only use their clenaing product), I add a tiny bit of Branch Basics or Method spray and mop to the water. The floors are sparkling clean. I didn’t get the self-cleaning version, so it’s a little bit of a pain to clean each time, but worth it.

3. Weighted vest

I added this to my morning walking routine because it’s an easy way to add extra resistance and core stabilzation to walks. I ordered the 8-lb vest and love wearing it while I walk Maisey, for hikes, and while I’m using my walking pad. 

4. Walking pad and standing desk

Some days, this is the only way I can hit 10,000 steps. I’m at my desk a LOT throughout the day, so I use the walking pad for phone calls, Zoom/conference calls (where I don’t have to present or take a ton of notes), and to sneak in little movement vitamins throughout the day. I also have this standing desk, and this TV mounted to the wall so I can Airplay videos from my computer, or watch a movie. Worth mentioning

Aussie Bites Copycat [+ Video]

Craving the delicious Aussie Bites from Costco? Learn how to make your own copycat version at home with this easy recipe and step-by-step video tutorial. They are such a great healthy snack on the go and now you can make them at home!

We first posted this recipe back in 2016, so it was time for an update! We had a few complaints about them being too dry, so I’ve reworked the recipe and they are perfection! They are the perfect back to school snack as we head back into the school year!

I went to Costco, checked the label and ended up changing a few ingredients. I changed out flaxseed because it was just too annoyingly dry and only use chia seeds and pepitas now. For the butter, I ended up swapping it with coconut oil because I think too much water was evaporating in the hold recipe with the butter. And I thought golden raisins worked a lot better in flavor and moisture than regular raisins as well. So this is the new and improved Costco copycat Aussie Bites recipe!

Ingredients for Aussie Bites

These Aussie bites have a few different ingredients in it, some for sweetness, some for texture, some for binding, and some for flavor. Here is what you will need:

• Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
• Quinoa
• Pepitas
• Chia Seeds
• Dried Apricots
• Golden Raisins
• Unsweetened Coconut
• Maple Sugar
• Cinnamon
• Sea Salt
• Baking Soda
• Vanilla
• Honey
• Coconut Oil

Keep scrolling down to the recipe card for the measurements of each ingredient.

How to Make Aussie Bites at Home

This is a quick overview of how to make these bites. For all the details, keep scrolling down to the recipe card.

1. Prep: Preheat the oven and spray a mini muffin pan with cooking spray.
   • NOTE: If you don’t have a mini muffin pan, just bake them on a cookie sheet and use a cookie scoop to form them.
2. Blend: Add some of the oats to a blender and pulse them until ground into powder, i.e. oat flour. Place in a large bowl.
3. Pulse: Add the remaining oats and the rest of the dry ingredients to a food processor and pulse until a grainy texture.
4. Mix: Add all the wet ingredients to the food processor and pulse to combine thoroughly. It will become a wet sand texture that will hold together if you squeeze it.
5. Bake: Press the dough mixture into the muffin cups and bake for 10 minutes.
   • NOTE: If you’re using a cookie scoop, scoop out the dough and press it firmly into the scoop before releasing it onto the baking sheet. It will bake for the same amount of time.
6. Cool: This is probably the most critical step of the process, let the bites cool completely in the muffin tin. If you try to pop them out warm, they will fall apart,

These copycat bites are the perfect healthy snack to fuel me through the day and help me avoid the junk

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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