Make-Ahead Meals
Jen’s Incredible Baked Meatballs
These tender, flavorful baked meatballs have been a family and reader favorite for many years. Hundreds of readers have called them the best meatballs ever! Serve them with spaghetti and your favorite sauce, as an appetizer, in a meatball sandwich๏ผor all by themselves. A perfect meal prep recipe that freezes well too! Perhaps you are like me…
Sausage, Mushroom & Pasta Bake (gluten-free option)
Possibly a bigger challenge than creating recipes is naming them! Sometimes, there are lots of delicious ingredients in one recipe, so I feel a need to include as many of them in the name, knowing that different people are grabbed by different ingredients. But then, a recipe name can get rather wordy! Sometimes, I go…
Cheesy Potato Soup with Roasted Poblano, Greens and Bacon…and the Top 10 Flavor Trends
Since I first accepted the new role as a flavor correspondent for Sargento, working in conjunction with Rick Baylessโ list of Top 10 Food Trends, I have started to experiment with new ingredients and combinations and to read about some of the ethnic cuisines that are less familiar to me. I am having fun in…
STAT Chicken Noodle Soup
This quick, soul-warming soup is loaded with tender chicken and colorful veggies and puts on fun twist on the pasta. Pediatrician recommended and family approved! NOTE: Following is an excerpt from my February 2013 column in the Lancaster Sunday News. For the link to the referenced “Ask the Pediatrician” column, which may be of particular interest if you feel…
Braised Chicken with Rice and Spinach
This Greek-inspired, one-pot meal requires a slow braise but is largely hands-off and rewards you with exceptional flavor. Wholesome comfort food at its best! Recipes that are easy to tinker with and easily adapt are often my favorites. They also tend to make for happier diners. We all like choices, right? This is why I’ve…
Baked Oatmeal and a Weekend in Miami…
It is hard to believe a humble oatmeal dish took my husband, Jack, and me on a trip to Miami. When Smart Balance asked me to participate in their national recipe contest, I almost didn’t do it. Would asking for votes, repeatedly over a month, be an annoyance to people? I certainly didn’t want to be…
White Bean Soup with Kale and Cheese Toast (Slow Cooker)
This is one of those meals I have been cooking for years and I look forward to a warm bowl of it when the nights are cold. The aroma wafting from the kitchen takes me right back to my grandmother’s kitchen. It’s the ham hock. The good smell it produces is matched only by the…
Classic Crispy Top Macaroni and Cheese
This is basic mac and cheese at its best โ easy and cheesy with just the right amount of crusty topping! Do you have a favorite comfort food? Good old macaroni and cheese is my 10-year-old’s usual request and he asked for it several times recently and I hadn’t gotten around to it. Then, he…
Crunchy Top Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal
This tried-and-true breakfast offers a deliciously wholesome, make-ahead way to start the day. The recipe even won a national contest! I love oatmeal. I eat it almost every morning. Old-fashioned or steel cut oats, baked oatmeal or boiled, it’s all good. I have experimented with countless baked oatmeal recipes and this is a hands-down winner…
Cauliflower Leek Soup with Parmesan and Bacon
The arrival of cooler weather always puts me in the mood for steamy, savory bowls of soup. Each fall, I start with one of my favorite tomato soup recipes (see the “Soup” category for my top two tomato picks), then work my way through butternut squash and several other fall vegetables before starting in on…
Greek Pasta Skillet
I like to keep a package of fresh pasta and a package of sausage–turkey, chicken or pork are all good options–in my refrigerator for a quick, easy meal. These two ingredients, paired with any number of vegetables, cheeses, and herbs can be the foundation for what is essentially a delicious pasta stir fry. Since the…
Roasted Tomato Soup
Roasting the tomatoes, onion, and garlic heightens their flavors, and what could be easier than scraping the contents of the baking sheet into a food processor and blending with a few additional ingredients? In my family, there are some who prefer cold tomato soups and some who prefer hot. The great thing about this delicious…
