In the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, finding moments of mindfulness can be a game-changer. As a writer passionate about teaching, motherhood, and the power of journaling, I'm excited to share a new project notebook for the year: A Food and Recipe Journal. The idea for this journal all started with one spread in my journal that my husband and I would come back to over and over again when talking about the “what’s for dinner? question each evening. I would recreate this spread many times each time I moved over into a new notebook.

Nourishing our bodies goes beyond the mere act of eating; it's about embracing an approach to wellness. In this post, I will share how I set up my food and recipe journal. My hope is that this journal over the course of a year not only houses the meals that my family shares together but pushes me to try new things in the kitchen. The first page of my food and recipe journal is dedicated to my daughter. She is the best helper in the kitchen I could ever have, and she reminds me that even when we may self-identify as not being good at something (like cooking) we can try anyway.

As soon as the mornings start getting a little bit cooler, I start trying out different recipes with the crockpot. I love a good chile or beef and noodles on a fall day. Especially, when I need an easy meal during the week or on the weekend while sports are going on in the background. I know so many of us are happy to see football return and cheer no the NBA playoffs this fall. Crockpots are just easy. You dump everything in and the magic happens. This post is a recipe review about easy-to-make crockpot beef and noodles. I keep this one simple without a ton of seasonings. With it ready in 4-6 hours, all you have to do is sit back and enjoy a warm pumpkin spice latte while you look at the leaves before a hearty meal.

This is the perfect recipe for transitioning to fall. Sweet corn is still in season here in Michigan for another few weeks, so you can pile four basic ingredients on to a sheet pan and cook them pretty easily for a hearty meal. The secret ingredient is paprika because it provides a smoky-salty taste to the sweet corn. You could also add some more veggies, but I found that I liked the simplicity of the different elements of this meal. The original recipe calls for okra which would also be perfect. Check out my adapted ingredients list, and then you can see step-by-step directions. The preparation for this took about 15 minutes, and then you will cook everything for another 20-25 minutes. Get the napkins ready!

This is an adapted sheet pan recipe that is easy to make on a weeknight. You can use frozen items or fresh items of produce. It really depends on what is in the freezer during that week and what we have on hand. I prefer turkey sausage for this recipe, but it is also delicious with andouille sausage. Feel free to sub in your favorite veggies to make your own spin on these easy bake sausage, veggies, and rice dish! Remember, you can pin the image below to view the side-by-side ingredients list and steps for directions. Scroll past the image to see each step with pictures. Happy weeknight dinner!

I am not a person who declares that I am a fabulous chef of any kind. For the first 10 years of my relationship, it was my husband who did the majority of the cooking. I have had to work at cooking like I have had to work at learning how to be a teacher. In the past four or five years, I have really tried to do learn recipes I have found on Pinterest, and keep track of the dishes that I feel I am starting to get better at with practice. Sometimes the things that matter take some time to learn. I do remember one recipe that I would make as a 15-year-old teenager. I would first watch my mom bake this bread, and then I would write down the recipe for my own use. I have kept the same recipe card throughout all of these years. Now, whenever I am feeling a little nostalgic, I will make some banana bread…the Butler way. Feel free to pin the image below that has the ingredients and recipe directions side-by-side. Then, brew a cup of coffee or tea and make banana bread today’s snack for the family.

It doesn’t matter what kind of day I have had-I don’t ever dread making oven-baked fajitas. It could be after a day where everything might have gone wrong. It could be on a day when I am overly tired. It could also apply to a day when I don’t necessarily feel like cooking. This recipe is easy to follow and requires little cleanup. One of my favorite parts of this recipe is that there is one pan to cook the ingredients in and one cutting board to scrub when you are done. I am constantly on the lookout for easy one-pan ingredients that I can use for any night of the week. Feel free to pin the image below with the recipe and directions side-by-side (I can’t tell you the number of times I have taken pictures of the ingredients page and then scroll down to take another picture of the directions page on recipes for grocery shopping). This is an easy oven fajitas recipe that can also be substituted with strips of steak or shrimp if you adjust cooking time. Make tonight fajitas night.