This week we'll explore avocado recipes for Super Bowl parties and how to make tofu "ricotta". We'll also delve into tonight's full moon and finding your inner wildness.

Eat Colorfully

Seasonal Ingredient Spotlight: AVOCADOS

Since we're now only a week away from the Super Bowl, this is definitely the time to celebrate avocados and in particular guacamole. I personally live for avocados year-round, but Super Bowl Sunday is always the day when the most avocados get consumed in the US. Ready to make some guac?

Believe it or not, I have numerous different guacamole recipes on my blog that you can explore. Two of my favorite guacamole recipes for parties are this Grilled Corn Guacamole and this Caramelized Onion Guacamole. Less traditional but super fun is this Hawaiian Pineapple Guacamole.

Looking to make something especially eye-catching? Try incorporating guacamole as a layer into these beautiful Vegan Seven Layer Dip Jars. Or, if you want to go in more of a salsa direction rather than guacamole, there are plenty of fruit + avocado salsa examples in my fruit salsa guide.

My biggest suggestion? If you're planning to make guacamole for Super Bowl, buy your avocados now. If you buy them unripe, you can ripen them at your own pace. When you're satisfied, put them in the fridge for the last day or two if needed to slow the process. Don't take your chances betting that the store will have ripe avocados on Friday or Saturday, or you could end up in a guacamole emergency!

Try This Week: TOFU "RICOTTA"

Do you ever feel like you want to add some protein to a meal but don't want to deal with the hassle of cooking it? Recently, whenever I've been feeling like that, I've been turning to tofu "ricotta".

Made from high-protein tofu, this easy, plant-based ricotta substitute is tasty and versatile. Best of all, there's no cooking involved, so it's a great option for a busy evening. You can get all the details in this Lemony Tofu Ricotta post, but basically the process involves pressing all of the water out of the tofu and then flavoring it with lemon zest, lemon juice, a dash of robust olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Although most people think of ricotta as a component in lasagna, I love the simplicity of just dolloping this tofu "ricotta" on a salad or adding it as a component of a bowl meal.

Live Colorfully

In the Natural World: THE SNOW MOON

This evening (February 1), keep an eye out for the full moon. February's full moon is typically called the "Snow Moon", perhaps for obvious reasons if you live in the middle or high latitudes.

Want to view the Snow Moon in all its glory? Its peak fullness will occur tonight (Sunday), so you'll be able to see it best as it rises, looking eastward. You'll also have a great view of it tomorrow (Monday) morning as it sets, looking westward.

On a personal note, this one is very meaningful to my husband and I since it's our 150th "mooniversary"! We got married on the full moon in December of 2013. Since then, 150 full lunar cycles have passed, or a little over 12 years. Assuming the weather stays clear, we're planning to do a full moon dinner picnic this evening.

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Self-Care Pick: FINDING YOUR WILDNESS

Do you know how to find your inner wildness? Are you living in your wildness, or have you been tamed by society? This is something I've been thinking about a lot lately, so I wanted to pose the question here.

Some of you are probably familiar with Glennon Doyle's book Untamed, which is one of my favorites that I usually re-read once a year. What's really speaking to me now is the prologue, which is a story about seeing a cheetah in a zoo who has been trained to show off her speed by chasing a stuffed pink rabbit. The cheetah has lost her wildness, at least on the surface, because it has been trained out of her. But she still knows that she's wild inside.

As many of you know, my husband and I move seasonally and spend winters on the northernmost Hawaiian island. Here, I have found my wildness... or maybe I re-found it, coming full circle back to my childhood. On this little island, I'm freed from societal expectations, societal norms, and the pressure to fit in. I find a level of inner peace and meditative quiet that I don't experience elsewhere. Here, I hike for miles barefoot, swim in the ocean alongside sea turtles, and finish every day with sand on my feet and twigs in my hair. I watch every sunrise and every sunset, and always know the stars and planets.

What does the idea of wildness mean to you? For women in particular, do you feel like you've been slowly tamed out of your wildness? Most importantly, how are you going to find (or re-find) your inner wildness? As Glennon Doyle notes in Untamed, maybe there's not something wrong with you if you're having trouble conforming... maybe you're just a cheetah.

Thanks for joining me for this issue of Eat Colorfully, Live Colorfully! I'd love to hear from you, so please feel free to reply with questions, thoughts, or requests. If you missed a previous issue, you can view all my newsletters here. Have a great week!