Now that the bulk of the holidays are over, you might be noticing some bulking of the waistband. If you're like me and you've been indulging in some things you wouldn't normally eat, a healthy detox smoothie might be just the thing to jump you back into healthy eating.

Ah, the holiday appetizer table. Filled with all sorts of goodies that have been passed down for generations - or at least since the 70's. Sausage balls, pigs in a blanket, lil' smokie franks in bbq sauce, crudites, and the ever popular shrimp cocktail. While a vegetable/dip platter and shrimp cocktail might very well be the healthiest thing you eat all season, I've got a serious beef with what people do to shrimp in shrimp cocktail. It's usually overcooked, rubbery, and flavorless. Who knows how long it's been sitting out since it was probably bought preassembled at the grocery store. Don't deny it, I know you've eaten it. I have too, I'm ashamed to say.

The cool days of Fall are now upon us and that means one thing to me - chili season. I love chili in all of it's traditional formats. Meat, beans, tomatoes, and strong flavors of cumin and dried chiles are what I consider to be key for a delicious bowl of red. Lately however, I've been leaving out the meat to make the dish lighter and I really haven't missed it.

The dog days of summer are officially over and I'm not missing the heat at all. I will, however, be missing all of the fresh local produce at our farmers market on Sundays. It's such a great experience to go buy locally grown and produced products from small farms and purveyers of goods and it's become a staple of our spring and summer. Aside from the excellent prices, quality, and sustainable methods, it's great to meet the actual people that are producing your food and who take pride in bringing you their best. To read further about our love of buying local, check out our recent blog post.

Nudge knows that sometimes it can be difficult to eat healthy. Not only can it be time consuming to make a nutritious meal from scratch, it can be expensive too. That's why it's great to have a fallback recipe when you don't have the time or money for a fancy meal.