Happy Saturday, everyone!I don't know about you guys but the weekends are always harder for me. I am not in my routine, I am home a lot more, and I want to SNACK!! In the past my snacks have always been no-so-healthy choices. I know I am being really bad when I check the refrigerator every half hour or so to see if it has grown anything new. =) Luckily our nutritionist Jessica does homework for the rest of us! Here is what she has to say today.

Autumn is a great time of year for incorporating more soups and stews into your meal plan. Soups are an easy way to eat healthy, balanced and filling meals. Soups can include a good mix of complex carbohydrates, lean proteins and healthy fats.

Sometimes I sit and stare in my cupboards and think that there is absolutely nothing to make. My cupboards are full, but because of my lack of creativity when it comes to food sometimes I just can't think of anything to eat. Luckily there are people like our awesome nutritionist at the Malibu resort, Jessica Hummel, who can see a can of pumpkin and come up with a million healthy things. I love her for sharing her wealth of knowledge because then people like me can just copy her great ideas and still have healthy meals! Jessica will be doing a "tidbit of the week" with us every week from now on so we can all benefit from her talents and knowledge!!

School just started up a few weeks ago and the holidays are just around the corner, what do these two times have in common? With all the traveling involved, both are times that having ready-to-eat meals can be a life saver! A past guest (thanks Beth!) let me know about an awesome resource called GoPicnic for on-the-go meals that can be purchased online from the website itself, Amazon.com or the Costco website.

After posting this recipe, a guest asked for a pumpkin bread recipe (Hi Candy!). First off, you can always replace the butter or oil in any recipe with pumpkin (just like applesauce) and have an instant pumpkin recipe!