Meals Under 30 Minutes
Beer Margaritas
This unconventional recipe makes a large pitcherful and tastes like the best version of the classic drink. Leftovers freeze well and become slushy-like! Cinco de Mayo is the perfect reason to enjoy a favorite Mexican meal, but what exactly is the holiday all about? Cinco de Mayo—the fifth of May—commemorates the Mexican army’s 1862…
Smoked Paprika Aioli
This 5-ingredient sauce is made bright and light through the addition of Greek yogurt and lime juice, while two simple spices add singular, smoky flavor. You won’t believe how easy and versatile it is! My first introduction to paprika came as a young girl while helping my mom make deviled eggs. She always topped…
Easy Chicken Fajitas
These flavor-packed wraps come together in a snap and always garner rave reviews. As an option, serve the chicken fajita mixture over rice or salad greens. Week to week, I find myself falling back on easy Mexican-inspired recipes for a variety of reasons. Tex-Mex cuisine often begins with a foundation of convenient pantry staples…
Simple Vanilla Syrup
A deliciously easy (and economical) way to sweeten homemade iced coffee, lattes, and a variety of other drinks and desserts. For basic simple syrup, simply omit the vanilla. Have you ever added sugar to a glass of iced tea, stirred vigorously to dissolve it, only to find a puddle of semi-dissolved granules at the…
Prosciutto-Wrapped Roasted Asparagus
For added convenience, these pretty little bundles of savory deliciousness may be wrapped several hours in advance. Simply cover and refrigerate until ready to bake. In the final months of my second pregnancy, my legs were swollen to a rather extreme degree. My friends—and sometimes strangers—often noticed and offered advice based on personal…
Homemade Lattes (and how to froth milk without a fancy gadget)
Café caliber lattes are easy to make in your own home with no fancy equipment and at a fraction of the usual cost － hot, iced, with foam or without! As I was getting breakfast ready on Monday morning, a news story about lattes caught my attention. Teasing his upcoming “exclusive,” the…
Cannellini Tomato Soup… with Grilled Cheese Croutons or Dippers
The unexpected addition of a simple can of cannellini beans provides protein and added creaminess when pureed into the soup…and nobody ever knows it’s there. Whether served with grilled cheese croutons or dippers, what kid (or adult) wouldn’t love it? Plus it’s easy to make with basic, inexpensive, pantry items. You may be wondering how…
Coconut-Banana Bread Breakfast Cakes
Gone are the days when flour as we know it meant all-purpose flour. From almonds to garbanzo beans, rice, and oats, flour is made of almost anything these days. I recently made pancakes with banana flour (yes, really…and they were good!) and sampled chestnut flour crackers (we liked the pancakes better 😀). When used the…
Mushroom Ground Beef (a clever trick that’s healthy and super delicious)
The use of mushrooms and a simple technique seamlessly adds nutrients and flavor to regular ground beef, making it an ideal way to incorporate more plant-based eating into our diets, even if we still enjoy meat. Ground beef that tastes “meatier” and is healthier, too? This kitchen hack tastes great and, at the same…
Homemade Seasoned Salt
So often it’s the simple things made with run-of-the-mill pantry items that serve us best in the kitchen. Thanks to their ease, versatility, and great flavor, staples like classic balsamic vinaigrette, basic marinara, homemade Bisquick, and aptly-named “everything” sauce have found their way into many recipes in my kitchen and throughout this blog. An amped up salt fits nicely…
Not-Mushy Oatmeal (aka Chewy Granola)
This tasty, toasty twist on the usual bowl of stovetop oatmeal may be served hot or cold with your favorite milk. Or layer it with yogurt and fresh fruit for a satisfying breakfast parfait. Did you ever think a bowl of stovetop oatmeal could look like this? I mean, you can actually…
Pan-Seared Heart Chicken
A few simple cuts of the knife transform a boneless, skinless chicken breast into a festive meal. Fun for Valentine’s Day…or any time! ❤️ Special occasion dinners can be memorable for many reasons. Perhaps the artistically plated tapas at a swanky new restaurant made an impression, or the view while cracking crabs by the bay…
