Wednesday, March 31, 2021

French Vanilla Chai Cinnamon Rolls

Cake mix and chai spices make these cinnamon rolls extraordinary.

Cinnamon rolls make me so happy. I don't think I've met one I didn't like. I had these specific cinnamon rolls saved because of how much Nick loves chai. The cake mix gives a different texture to these and the chai mix instead of just cinnamon sugar made these really wintery in my opinion. Still pure comfort food but ever so different.


Monday, March 29, 2021

Copycat Texas Roadhouse Rattlesnake Bites

This copycat appetizer is so good that you won't be able to eat just one of the fried cheese balls with a jalapeno bite.

I always get nervous making fried cheese recipes. I initially thought this recipe used a couple of blocks of pepper jack and you made large cubes. It was surprising to find it was shredded cheese. It was super nerve wracking and I was hoping that it would turn out, as these were treats for NYE 2019. They did turn out well and we all loved them. They did not last long at all.

Friday, March 26, 2021

Asparagus, Bacon, & Herbed Cheese Pizza

The perfect springtime pizza with asparagus, bacon, and dollops of rich herbed cream cheese!

I have found many recipes lately with a little cream cheese in them and I don't know what it is but I'm obsessed with it. I have always been a light on the sauce for pizza person, and I find that I really love pizzas that don't have red sauce (and I use pasta sauce for pizza sauce and I love pasta sauce). This pizza has olive oil and I love that the toppings are so simple but so delicious. I love the asparagus and bacon. Plus those little dollops of cream cheese - yum! That bit of super rich savory flavor is fantastic.

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Grilled Chicken Caprese Orzo Salad

This refreshing pasta salad is way better for dinner than as a side with its grilled chicken!

Caprese is one of my all-time favorite food combinations. I don't think I've yet to try a recipe that has tomato, mozzarella, and basil (and sometimes balsamic vinegar) that I haven't liked. This one is great because it's not super heavy with a vinaigrette style dressing with lemon instead of vinegar for that acidity. I replaced agave syrup with honey because it's what I had on hand and is my go-to substitution. I loved that this was grilled chicken. I also absolutely loved that this had mozzarella pearls instead of shredded mozzarella. Mozzarella pearls are just so much better!

Monday, March 22, 2021

Penne Alfredo with Broccoli and Bacon

This quick pasta dish has homemade alfredo and crisp broccoli with some yummy bacon in there too.

This March is flying by compared to last March and it's crazy. I remember making this meal last year and being grateful that the bacon wasn't being overpicked and I was able to find some broccoli and pasta. I appreciate this recipe with how quick it is. I find a lot of pasta recipes that are able to be made in under 30 minutes - maybe that's why I like pasta so much! I also like this recipe because it's lite on meat, but you could absolutely add some chicken to it if you wanted.


Friday, March 19, 2021

Oven Fried Chicken

It's unbelievable that this fried chicken is so crisp because it's baked in the oven!

I love fried chicken and I never thought there could be so many different ways it could be made. I've also made "fried chicken" in the oven before too, but this recipe is still different. I really liked this recipe with panko and the seasonings. We typically do fried chicken with collard greens, corn or macaroni and cheese, and biscuits, but I believe when I made this, Nick was away in training in Georgia for 6 weeks and I could not eat all the collard greens by myself. The older kids will eat them, but are not near as obsessed with them as me and don't like them as much as Nick does.


Wednesday, March 17, 2021

Caprese Fundido

Roasted tomatoes with pesto and tons of cheese make for such a fantastic and easy appetizer served with pretzel crisps or flatbread.

I love pesto, so this was a no brainer recipe to make because pesto is delicious. I did, however, not make the flatbread part of this recipe because it was NYE and I like to make a lot of different foods, so I try not to overcomplicate things. We did pretzel crisps instead of mini flatbreads. Anyways, this is such a great little cheese dip for a gathering (pre-COVID) and is honestly a really good amount of food for 5 people, like my immediate family. Since we all love cheese, it doesn't take long to absolutely obliterate an appetizer like this :)

Monday, March 15, 2021

Caramel Fudge Turtle Cookies

These turtle cookies are made with pouch sugar cookie mix - super easy and insanely good. They will not last long!


I have had this recipe saved for almost as long as I have had a blog which is coming up on 11 years in the summer time. In the beginning, I saved a lot of recipes from Betty Crocker and Kraft. A lot of these recipes use premade mixes, which is something I don't do as much anymore but I was so glad I got to do for these. They look a little intense but they are super easy to put together and then you get your treats faster. These did not last very long at all. They are small and so cute and completely addictive.


Friday, March 12, 2021

PF Chang's Turkey Lettuce Wraps

This copycat recipe is simple and quick and perfect for a meal on a busy day or night.


Spring break is upon us and honestly it's super weird. That's when my kids left in-person school last year and didn't go back. It's strange to me to see recipes from a year ago and think of the struggle that was finding foods. I've always loved meal planning but I found out just how hard that was when the supply is inconsistent. Especially when it's meat and produce that are affected. It took months for our stores to fully recover and I think now a year later, they finally are just putting out toilet paper and paper towels without them being ransacked. This recipe was one I kept hoping to make but struggled to find butter lettuce leaves. I was really happy to finally find them and be able to make it.


Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Blueberry Cornbread Muffins

These perfect little cornbread muffins are sweetened with maple and each bite has a burst of juicy blueberry!

I've only made homemade cornbread a handful of times but I do enjoy it quite a bit. I wanted to make these because they were cornbread with blueberry and I had never had that. Not necessarily what you might think of having with a chili, but we did and it was great! I wasn't sure if I'd like them with the maple but it wasn't a very strong flavor in it.

Monday, March 08, 2021

Hot Bean & Cheese Dip

Reminiscent of 7-Layer Dip, this dip is so quick to throw together and is perfect for a get-together!


This is a recipe I made for New Year's Eve 2019. I typically try to make at least one dip of some sort. This recipe immediately reminded me of 7 Layer Dip and I really wanted it for NYE. The thing that sets this apart a little bit is that there is no sour cream which is something my husband would not eat if he could see. It's really quick to put together and doesn't bake for too long. It's like eating a taco but in dip form and it's so fantastic!

Wednesday, March 03, 2021

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna Boats

A low carb lasagna made with spaghetti squash!


This recipe was one I had to monkey with in order to get it to where we would all enjoy it. The original recipe utilized ricotta cheese and roasted the squash whole, there were some differences in amounts of different ingredients. None of us like lasagna, but we have tried a few different recipes and the one we like the most uses cottage cheese, which funny enough none of us like either. There is something about how cottage cheese cooks down though that makes for a great recipe. We started eating spaghetti squash when Nick was doing keto in 2019 and I actually was pleasantly surprised - although it will never replace pasta for me - it was still very delicious.

Monday, March 01, 2021

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies

Super soft peanut butter bars with chocolate chips, a chocolate ganache, and peanut butter drizzle


When I was in middle school, there was a little bar treat that was an option for dessert in the cafeteria every day. You got two of them and they were just a regular chocolate chip blondie of some sort. They were super soft and moist. I didn't often get lunch money and if I did, I may not have gotten enough to buy a full lunch. I would buy these chocolate chip blondies and that would be my lunch or I'd split my friend's lunch and we'd each get a bar for dessert. These peanut butter chocolate chip blondies are the closest in texture that I have ever come across in a recipe and it was absolutely unintentional. I had no clue that's what I was getting with this dessert. It was pure nostalgia!