But then, I do believe that everyone needs a bowl of pasta at least once a week, just to keep your sanity. I’m one of those people who truly believes in carbs, which I’m sure you guys already knew by the amount of pizza, pasta, and rice recipes here on HBH. Yes, I do love my carbs, cheese and greens. They’re actually my favorite combo. OK. It’s been a minute since we chatted all things pasta (ahh it’s been like ten days, but whatever) and I have been dying to share this recipe with you guys all month long....

This gnocchi…it’s like a bowl of softy, pillowy, fall goodness. Is that too cheesy to say? Potentially, but I mean, all of it is true. The sweet potato gnocchi is like biting into pillows of soft sweet potato and creamy ricotta. And you guys? That rosemary cream sauce? Oh my gosh. The sauce is truly everything. Creamy, hinted with rosemary, and seasoned with a secret ingredient that makes this sauce stand out from all other cream based sauces....

When the holidays roll around, I always make family favorite side dishes including crockpot mashed potatoes, candied yams, and this brown sugar glaze served over a spiral cut ham, for an epic Easter or Christmas dinner. Ham Glaze Ingredients To make a sweet and thick ham glaze you will need butter, brown sugar, pineapple juice, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg and ground cloves. This ham is one of my favorite Christmas recipes along with peanut brittle, molasses cookies and sweet potato casserole....

On the occasion of Vinayaka Chaturthi today, I am sharing a simple sweet recipe. Thengai Payasam or Kobbari Payasam is a kheer made with fresh coconut and rice. Thengai (Tamil) & Kobbari (Telugu) means coconut and payasam means kheer/sweet pudding. We are big lovers of sweets and desserts at home and payasam is a must for any festival or celebration. I made this Coconut Rice Kheer for Varalakshmi Vratham a few days back and finally got around to sharing the recipe here....

{Apples!!} This classic avocado toast. Needs no other words. These mashed potato cheddar and chive waffles. Savory cheesy waffles are my thing. These are KILLER. These vegetarian coconut rice bowls. You all know I LOVE rice bowls and Coconut. Winner. This boiled cider. This is so cool, it is a fall must have for sure! This sourdough grilled cheese with roasted poblanos, smoked cheddar and curried brown butter. Curried brown butter....

I am probably one of the people who love green leafy vegetables. Even as growing up, I never troubled Amma in eating anything that was served to me.. In short I was a non-fussy eater. As I grew up, my love for green leafy vegetables only kept growing bigger. My Amma makes a lot of things with Amaranth leaves that are a power house of a lot of vitamins and minerals....

At least I think so. Although, in full disclosure I have never actually had a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte. Yeah, never. I am just not a coffee drinker….yet. I may be turning into one, not sure. I love the smell of coffee, I love the idea of coffee, but coffee itself? I have never been able to down it without shaking. Blame my mom who, has never been a coffee drinker either....

When I’m looking for ways to repurpose leftover Thanksgiving turkey, I turn to favorites such as turkey salad, turkey casserole, turkey pasta carbonara or this hearty and comforting turkey noodle soup. Every year when Thanksgiving rolls around, I use my leftovers to make turkey noodle soup. The whole family loves this soup recipe, and it’s a great way to make sure no food goes to waste! Turkey Noodle Soup Ingredients To make the turkey broth, you will need a turkey carcass, onion, carrot, celery, kosher salt, black peppercorns, parsley, thyme, garlic and a bay leaf....

I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m LOVING and having so much fun with this year’s holiday cocktails. The drinks I’ve shared so far have been some of my favorite recipes to create. I love them all so much. And I have to say, I’ve enjoyed testing the mocktail variations too. If you follow often, you know that I’m a one-sip-and-done kind of drinker. The mocktails have been great to enjoy with Asher too!...

I am a HUGE fan of stir fries, from shrimp stir fry and tofu stir fry, to my famous honey garlic chicken stir fry, I can never get enough. This vegetable stir fry is the latest addition to my Asian food recipes collection and it’s a good one! Serve it alongside pan fried noodles and watch the rave reviews come in! I try hard to make sure all the produce that we buy each week gets eaten....

Waffle fry nachos are so much fun to eat and are loaded with great flavors. You can get creative and really pile on the toppings! This post is sponsored by Alexia Foods, all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make Dinner at the Zoo possible. I always have a bag of frozen potato products in my freezer and it’s typically Alexia french fries. It’s a great time saver for nights when I want a quick and easy side dish or the kids want a more substantial snack....

Happy springtime Cocktail Saturday! And welcome to (the second day of) May! Today we have a very fun, very delicious drink in the spirit of Cinco de Mayo this Tuesday! The Paloma is probably my favorite cocktail. It has been ever since I shared this wintery pomegranate ginger Paloma and then this spring strawberry chamomile Paloma. What I love about the Paloma, versus say a margarita, is that it’s much simpler, much less sweet, and always topped off with club soda....

It’s that time of year when I’m reminded of my childhood favorite, BBQ chicken. Did anyone else eat plenty of BBQ chicken as a kid? My dad would grill chicken and smother it in BBQ sauce pretty much all summer long. It was easy, and not one of us complained. We all loved it, and to this day BBQ chicken just screams laid back summer nights to me. I have to say, I’m really excited for summer this year....

I know, I know. A cocktail in the middle of Healthy January? It doesn’t seem fitting, but I promise, this tequila smash is going to crush any winter bugs lurking in the air this season. Honestly, I wasn’t planning on sharing any cocktails all month long. After 3 full months of sharing a new cocktail recipe every single Saturday, I thought I was done with the cocktails for a while....

Pot roast is a classic dish that never goes out of style, and this version with bacon is always a huge hit. It’s winter. And here in California it’s been raining non stop. While we most definitely need the rain to combat the drought, it’s made my three very energetic children a little stir crazy. Instead of dwelling on the negatives of being cooped up inside while the kids run in circles to burn off energy, I think about the positives of cold weather – like hearty comfort food....

Switching up the usual sweet Tuesday recipe, with a savory Tuesday breakfast…that can easily be lunch or dinner too! I know it might not seem like it, since I rarely share simple egg recipes like this with you guys, but I actually love a savory fried egg breakfast. It’s just that fried eggs don’t really require a recipe, you know? I feel like we can all, for the most part, fry an egg....

But oh man, it sort of feels like I do. Or at least a little. There are no cows or horses, but I do have a chipmunk (that the cat chased in) hiding in my pantry right now. I can actually hear him squealing as I type and there is nothing I can do about it. I put a box in the corner where he is and I just hope he runs in there soon so I can get rid of him before the cat really gets to him....

Now that we’re a couple of weeks into June, I’ve officially gotten into the groove of fresh summer cooking and grilling! This season, more than ever, I have so many ideas!! One of my current favorites is grilling with skirt or flank steaks. I love these cuts because when it comes to steak, they’re the most affordable and require the least amount of stress/hassle to cook. You can’t really mess them up as long as you have the right seasoning!...

25 Of My Favorite Fall Recipes – The Sweetest Fall Breakfasts Cinnamon Crunch Braided Brioche Bread Brown Butter Pumpkin Seed Espresso Glazed Big Cluster Granola Cinnamon Brioche Chocolate Chip French Toast Muffins with Coconut Streusel Brown Butter Caramelized Apple Crisp Bars with Pecan Streusel + Mascarpone Maple Glaze Snacks, Appetizers and Football Food! Cranberry, Brussels Sprout and Brie Skillet Nachos Sweet and Savory Cheesy Bacon Wrapped Puff Pastry Twist Roasted Pumpkin Seed Hummus Cheesy Fontina Chorizo + Caramelized Onion and Artichoke dip Spinach Artichoke + Bacon Stuffed Soft Pretzels Epic Crispy Quinoa Burgers topped with Sweet Potatoes Fries, Beer Caramelized Onions + Gruyere Delicious Dessert Ultimate Triple Layer Chocolate Bourbon Peanut Butter Buckeye Cake Extra Cozy Autumn Dinners Roasted Garlic Sage Pesto Pumpkin Soup with Spicy Fried Pumpkin Seeds Crockpot Beer Braised Chicken with 5-Ingredient Beer Bread Roasted Harvest Veggie, Curried Avocado + Coconut Rice Bowls Butternut Squash Gorgonzola Rigatoni Pie with Fried Sage Curried Butternut Squash Broccoli Cheddar and Goat Cheese Soup Chipotle Quinoa Sweet Potato Tacos with Roasted Cranberry Pomegranate Salsa Chipotle Chicken Stuffed Brown Sugar Roasted Acorn Squash Caramelized Butternut, Crispy Kale + Fontina Pizza Recipes for making the House Smell Amazing (basically all the delicious treats!...

The fact that it’s August 1 already doesn’t surprise me one bit. Summer always goes by so quickly. Just like that, August hits, and soon, we’ll be switching from summer mode to back-to-school/back-to-work mode and into our more structured lives. I know to some of you, that might sound awful, but as much as I hate to see summer go, this time of year always excites me too. I find August brings the prettiest produce the season has to offer, some of the best summertime weather (at least in Colorado), slightly more structure (which I enjoy), and exciting thoughts of the autumn season ahead (which you know makes me so happy)....