For one of my baby showers last fall, my sister (who is married without kids – yet) bought me a gift bag-full of her favorite things for fall. She told me, “I don’t know about babies or what they need so I got you this instead.” I’ll never forget that gift. I absolutely loved it. It helped me stay fashionable and trendy as a new mom during a season when I didn’t have too much energy to think about myself. Plus, I loved opening each and every item and hearing her commentary about each one. So here are a few of my favorite things for this season. Take them for yourself or as gift ideas if you so desire.

We’re cleaning out our fridge and freezer these days. I’ve found that it’s a good habit to get into every six months or so. And so we’re having to get creative in the food department. Let’s just say that some creativity turns out better than others.

I don’t know about you, but frozen bananas are a staple in my freezer: I peel, saran wrap, and freeze mine whole whenever they’re starting to get brown. There are many yummy things I’ve found that you can do with them. Here’s one.

 Fruity Frozen Dessert
1 frozen banana, coined
1 cup frozen berries (blackberries and blueberries are the faves at our house)
1/2 cup vanilla coffee creamer (This may sound weird, but if you think about it, it’s pretty much lower-calorie melted ice cream!)

Pour creamer over frozen fruit. The fruit makes the creamer almost instantly slushy. You can put the whole thing in the freezer for an additional minute or two if you want. Enjoy!

How great is pesto!? I love it because:
1. It’s heart-healthy
2. It’s easy-as-pie to make a big batch and freeze
3. It whips out of the freezer and plops onto plain noodles or pizza dough (with meat and/or veggies if you want) with panache