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Meatless Tex-Mex Bowls
While I am a carnivore at heart, I do love a good meatless meal. The American Heart Association’s recommendations with meat, poultry, and, eggs are 8-9 servings a week. If you are eating 3 square meals daily, then you have to go without meat or animal proteins for more than half of your meals to have a well-balanced diet. If you consume a breakfast burrito one morning that has both eggs and sausage, that is 2 servings of animal protein and you’ve already eaten 1/4 of your weekly recommended animal protein intake. The science behind this is that animal proteins tend to be higher in saturated fats, which is one…
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Oven Roasted Tropical Kabobs
I love kabobs, but I hate the tedious task of grilling them. Oven roasting kabobs gives the same smokey flavor, without the need to stand next to the grill. Kabobs are also a fun dinner for my boys. There is something about eating their food from a stick…corndogs, smores…that causes them to go nuts. There is a ton of flexibility with kabobs. Basically gather two or three of your favorite vegetables and fruits and a protein and you can create a kabob. One key tip is to soak your kabob sticks in water for a few hours beforehand if they are wooden sticks. This is for two reasons; the main…
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Coconut Lime Rice
I am always looking for ways to spice up rice and genius hit me the other day when I was listening to this song… Well..technically I was watching Practical Magic and the Lime in the Coconut song came on and that is when the lightbulb occurred. Like most anything else in my life, my genius ideas come from the oddest places. I guess that is just how my brain works. Anyway, I had planned on making oven-roasted Hawaiian chicken kabobs for dinner and decided that coconut lime rice would pair nicely with the kabob flavors.
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Chocolate Avocado Mousse
Avocados in chocolate mousse sound extremely odd to the typical individual. The thing with avocados is that their natural flavor is rather bland. They can morph into almost any flavor you add to them. Their texture is perfect for pudding or mousse. Avocados are very much a food that either you hate or you love. I have a close friend who loathes avocados and she ended up loving this chocolate mousse. Another friend said that this recipe tastes exactly like the chocolate mousse that is served at the Bellagio on The Strip. Either way, this chocolate mousse recipe has been a huge hit with every person I have had try…
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Copy Cat Noodles & Co. Wisconsin Mac’n’Cheese
The first time I tried Noodles & Co.’s Wisconsin Mac’n’Cheese, I was living in Colorado Springs. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Unfortunately, Noodles & Co. is not yet a restaurant that is found nationwide. So, like many other foods I have fallen in love with and then moving away from, I had to figure out how to make this. AND…since my children have inherited the love of cheese and noodles, of course, I had to recreate this recipe for myself. ALSO…did you know that I have family from Wisconsin? And my Great Uncle had a cattle farm in northern Illinois that would occasionally send milk and…
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Conversation Hearts
At one point, when I was VERY young, conversation hearts were the best thing in the world…next to candy necklaces. Come to think of it, both conversation hearts and candy necklaces are very similar in taste and texture. Conversation hearts got their start way back in the mid-1800s with a pharmacist named Oliver Chase. He invented the machine that rolled the candy type dough and cut it into pieces. At the time these candy pieces were actually throat lozenges. After a while though, Oliver abandoned his pharmacy and opened a candy company that later supplied the world with those NECCO wafers. Eventually, the NECCO wafers dough was made into tiny…
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Buckeyes
Several years ago, my kid brother Mikey, made Buckeyes for the first time. When I tasted them, my mouth totally had a party! I’ve always been a sucker for peanut butter and chocolate together. Peanut butter blossom cookies are some of my favorites. These tasty chocolate peanut butter truffles, dare I say, are even better than Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. Apparently Buckeyes originated in Ohio. They are named for the resemblance to the nuts on the Buckeye tree. Have you made Buckeyes before? What are some of your family’s holiday baking traditions? Do you generally bake during the Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hannukah season? Or are you an every holiday baker? I…
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Breakfast Hash & Fried Eggs
Breakfast for dinner is a staple in this household. We have breakfast for dinner at least once or twice a week. Half of the family loves sweet and doughy breakfasts like waffles and pancakes, while the other half goes for savory meals. I’m smack dab in the middle. Sometimes I am feeling Belgium waffles and other times I want a really flavorful breakfast hash. Breakfast hash is actually super quick and easy to make. It is something I live off of whenever Matthew is gone with work. I’ll eat breakfast hash for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Plus you can make a Mexican spin on it (which is my favorite) or…
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Instapot Cajun Sausage and Cheesy Rice
After living in Mississippi a decade and a half ago, all things Cajun quickly crept into my flavor palate. Just like most of the other recipes I have in my top favorites, anything Cajun is PACKED full of flavor with each bite. Jambalaya is definitely my favorite Cajun meal, but when your family isn’t a huge fan of seafood or spice…a girl creates another Cajun flavored meal. Plus who can turn down any super cheesy meal? If you use brown Jasmin rice, be sure to adjust the cooking time. Brown rice tends to take longer to cook. Another tasty substitute would be quinoa or couscous. Hope y’all are having an…
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Lemon Poppyseed Muffins
I’m currently taking a chemistry food class for my Dietetic degree and lemme tell you, I have learned A LOT. I recently completed a lab involving baking muffins and learning all about the proper leavening agent ratio to acidity ratio. I thought I made decent muffins in the past, but I’ve totally upped my game. This recipe is my first recipe with my newly learned techniques, and the muffins turned out beautifully. Tips for Perfect Muffins: The wet and dry ingredients MUST be mixed separately in bowls before they are combined. It is extremely tempting to combine it all in one bowl, but this is a HUGE no-no. If the…
