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Quick Instapot French Onion Soup
Last month was my mother’s birthday. She and my dad flew in for the holidays on her birthday. Her only request was that no one talk politics (her birthday was the day after the finalization of the House Impeachment Hearings). AND…to everyone’s surprise, my dad appeased her; even though my husband sure tried to goat my dad. As I was meal planning for the holidays, I knew I wanted to create something super special for my mom in honor of her birthday. One of her favorite soups is French Onion soup, but I know she is extra picky about the texture and flavors so she rarely finds one that meets…
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Instapot Brown Noodles
This is a recipe that the 5 of us children begged my mom for dinner almost every week. It’s a sort of spin on Beef Stroganoff, without the sour cream. And bless my mom’s heart, she ALWAYS made egg noodles from scratch. I take the easy way out with Reames Frozen Egg Noodles…which is ALWAYS a staple in my freezer. Making Brown Noodles in the Instapot proved extremely easy and has become my go-to method recently. Brown Noodles is a wonderful recipe for cold nights and is a must my in comfort foods rotation. The next time you are feeling like you need some comfort food and it’s chilly outside,…
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Easy Apple Hand Pies
I LOVE pie! I once heard someone say that their favorite pie was a round pie. I’d have to say I agree, but when you can have a pie and it is portable, what more could you ask for? My parents grew up in Western Oregon, where blackberries grow wild. They are so wild, that the locals actually consider them a weed. But, I’m telling you, driving through Salem on south, you could look out your window and see giant, unruly, bushes of blackberries and those blackberries are some of the most flavorful I’ve ever tasted. Every summer, growing up, we’d trek to Oregon to visit family and I would…
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Mexican Corn Chowder
Right now, the weather has decided to warm up enough to feel like spring…but in the 8 years I’ve lived in Las Vegas, that is rather typical. Winter lasts for approximately a month, or what we natives (or transplanted natives-2 of my kids were born here) call winter. Then usually toward the end of January, we hit 50°F-60°F weather. It is glorious and at the same time depressing…knowing that just around the corner is triple-digit weather. Even though it is the perfect park-playing weather, we are still savoring every moment it is cool enough to consume soup. My kiddos especially love corn chowder, but this time I decided to put…
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Oven Roasted Tri-Tip
Tri-Tip wasn’t even on my radar until we lived in Central CA over a decade ago. I grew up mostly in the Midwest and only knew of the traditional cuts of beef…But when we lived close to Santa Maria and had the Santa Maria Tri-Tip, I just about died and went to heaven. I started preparing Tri-Tip for Christmas dinner each year. Sometimes I’d pair it with shrimp or crab legs and do a surf-and-turf dinner. Mostly the Tri-Tip was the star though. This last Christmas, I finally feel like I’ve perfected the oven-roasted Tri-Tip. I even impressed my mom, who is a Prime Rib lover, hardcore. This version of…
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Pad Thai Chicken and Noodles
To my family’s chagrin, I absolutely love to attempt creating ethnic foods, even if I have no idea what I’m doing. Thai food has been my go-to lately. When I read Sara’s take on Pad Thai, I had to recreate it. The best part was that she did it in the Instapot, which is my most used tool in my kitchen. Sara’s recipe called for carrots and green onions. I did not have enough green onions and was too lazy to run to the store…but I did have a red bell pepper I needed to use, so that is what went in the Instapot. I also used brown rice noodles…
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Whole Wheat Bread+heart healthy
When my dad was a navigator in the Air Force (30+ years ago), his call-sign was Dough Boy. For the longest time, I thought it was due to his love of all things doughy…donuts, cinnamon rolls, bread, rolls. It was not until I was well into adulthood where I put 2-and-2 together and realized Dough was his name ‘Doug H’. Still, his love of all things doughy has been with him his whole life. After his heart attack and double bypass surgery a couple of years ago, life had to change. My mom began making this recipe to replace the regular white bread that they were used to. This recipe…
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Deconstructed: Big Mac Sloppy Joes’
I not-so-secretly love McDonald’s…so when I had no idea what to create for dinner a few weeks ago; the Big Mac Sloppy Joes’ was born. This recipe is super easy and has very few ingredients. An added benefit is this recipe takes less than 30 minutes to prepare and cook. While this version of the Big Mac still isn’t terribly healthy, it is exceedingly less than its counterpart. And…if I can toot my own horn, it is much tastier than the real thing. Do you have a copycat recipe from a famous food? Attempting to DIY highly popular foods from restaurants is one of my most favorite things to do.…
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Carrot Apple Pecan Muffins
This is a story about a mother-in-law wanting to make her son-in-law’s favorite dessert…so her daughter purchased all of the ingredients…and the dessert never was made. So this daughter had 40oz of shredded carrots in her fridge that she had to do something with. Thus the Carrot Apple Pecan Muffins were born. My husband, Matthew, is a HUGE lover of carrot cake. And while I don’t mind the flavors, I just cannot get past the whole vegetable in a dessert thing. That thought process is tucked away in my brain, filed right next to knowing that a tomato is a fruit, but having the wisdom to know it does not…
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Coconut Pineapple Grilled Chicken
Every Thursday night, I meal plan for the coming week. And while it may seem I have dinners always planned to the T; sometimes, just like everyone else, I need a little inspiration from Pinterest. This Coconut Pineapple Grilled Chicken is one such little inspiration. Sara is the author of Dinner at the Zoo and she is the culinary genius behind this yummy concoction. Her original recipe is here, but I tweaked it a little bit for my liking. My chin-chillins a huge lovers of Mandarin Oranges, and I know that they go extremely well with pineapple and coconut. So if your heart desires, add in a can of Mandarin…
