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NTTC’s Best Dishes of 2012

I became a huge fan of Pinterest in 2012. I find new recipes, craft projects, beauty tips, and save everything I love on the world wide web to my boards.

Many of you have also started pinning NTTC recipes to Pinterest this year, bringing new readers to NTTC and introducing more people to the healthy recipes I feature every week.

So, which NTTC recipes are most popular on Pinterest? Are they sweet recipes? Savory recipes?

The top ten that I report below are the Top Ten “Pinned” Recipes. The most popular posts are a combination of sauces, desserts, crockpot recipes, and even a few beverages!

To see a full listing of all of my healthy recipes of the year, click here. To follow NTTC boards on Pinterest, click here.

And… To check out the countdown, scroll down! You can click on the images below to review the recipes. Enjoy!

10. Healthier Cake (AKA Diet Cake)

9. Cafe Rio Creamy Tomatillo Ranch Salad Dressing

8. Arctic Zero Milkshake

7. Slow Cooker Mexican Pork Tacos

6. Asiago-Crusted Pork Chops

5. Cafe Rio Shredded Chicken

4. Cracker Barrel’s Grilled Chicken Tenderloin

3. Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate

2. Cake Batter Martini and Red Velvet Cake Cocktail

1. Red Velvet “Better than Sex” Cake

Not surprisingly, that decadent Red Velvet Cake was everyone’s #1 favorite. It’s one of my favorites for the year as well!

Cooking is one of my true passions. I absolutely love creating new healthy meals, and I appreciate that you guys are pinning and saving my recipes to prepare later. It’s such an honor to help you prepare meals to feed your family. There are MANY awesome recipes coming in 2013. Stay tuned!!! xoxo

What is your favorite NTTC recipe of the year? If you haven’t tried any, which one will be you be adding to your grocery list this year?

I Survived Thanksgiving!

Pasta with Creamy Spinach Pesto

Honey Mustard Pretzel Chicken Tenders

Turkey Everywhere

Yesterday was a day full of turkeys for me, and a REALLY good one at that!

My First Turkey Trot

I started off the morning with the 39th Annual United Way Turkey Trot in Wash Park. My VERY first Turkey Trot! I remember when I was little, my dad used to go every year… I guess I’m taking over that tradition!

This race is allegedly one of the most popular races in Denver and the only one I could find on Thanksgiving morning. I thought Denver would have many, but only one popped up when I googled it… but most of the city was there! And, today, I realize we got SUPER lucky! The weather was clear and around 50 degrees! It was a little chilly when the wind picked up, but overall, we were just THANKful it wasn’t freezing!

I reached out to some of the Denver bloggers to see if anyone would be interested in walking it with me, and while several were going out of town and several were already running it, Lynne said she and her sweet pup Phyllis Diller would be interested in joining me.

I was super-excited to have a chance to walk with Lynne, since we’ve been Twitter-friends for most of the year and have had trouble matching up schedules. We had an awesome time chatting, visiting, and people-watching.

This guy was one of MANY we encountered. I didn’t realize that folks dressed up so much for the turkey trot, but there were people with turkey hats, indian costumes, Christmas sweaters, and so many other festive looks. I wish I had taken a pic of the guy carrying a GIANT TURKEY LEG cutout. Hilarious!

We actually ended up cutting our four-mile walk down a little bit. The walk didn’t begin until almost 10:45, and I needed to be at Deb and Matt’s by 2pm. We still got about 3 miles in during our stroll though, which was perfect.

Friendsgiving Turkey

I got home about 12:30pm, with plenty of time to get ready for Deb and Matt’s Friendsgiving party. My mini desserts were made the night before along with my pumpkin spice cake balls, so all I needed to do was to get myself dressed!

When I arrived, I spotted Matthew pulling this guy out of the fryer… WOW!

Not only had Matt cooked one bird in the fryer, but he also had a second on the smoker. Both were PHENOMENAL, but gosh… there’s something about the smoked variety. Wow, so tasty!

I built my plate per the plan we talked about last week: 1/2 veggies (right side), 1/3 lean protein, and the rest was carbs. Deb even made Skinnytaste’s Green Bean Casserole (which was SO good!)

The only thing I hadn’t quite accounted for was my enjoyment at the appetizer bar. Deb’s famous cheeseball was featured with those darn tasty Wheat Thins, and I ate quite a few bites over there. I also had seconds on mashed potatoes. They’re my fave… I couldn’t resist!

And… dessert was all my doing. I ate a mini pumpkin butterscotch mousse dessert, and about 2 bites of pumpkin pie (I had never tried it!), and 1 delicious pumpkin spice turkey cake ball.