comment icon 85 more comments THIS HAPPENS! Also: happy dancing happens. This Spicy Sweet Potato Peanut Stew is just primed for its destiny as a freezer meal. The original version is packed with spicy-sweet flavors, tons of nutrition from those power veggies like kale and sweet potato, and the textural crunch of the peanuts is everything you could ever ask for. And this version maintains all those things we love about the original while also being mega-convenient....

I’m a major fan of crackers of any sort. Except really expensive ones. Rather than fork over big bucks for a tiny package of gourmet crackers, I decided to make my own. It’s been nearly three years since I posted my last cracker recipe for imitation Mary’s Crackers when those crackers were all the rage. I kept those vegan, gluten-free, and they’re made from seeds only. I got sick of paying $4....

Brownie Balls Recipe These brownie balls are made from brownies (use a box mix or your favorite homemade recipe), chocolate frosting, and are dipped in melted chocolate! This trifecta of rich chocolate is absolutely perfect. Brownie balls will cure any late-night chocolate craving. Brownie balls make great gifts, such as hostess gift or a Mother’s Day or homemade birthday gift, because they keep incredibly well, up to two weeks in the fridge....

comment icon 73 more comments I’m finally starting to see fresh tomatoes and basil at the grocery store and HELLO OLD FRIENDS! it sure is good to see you again. I am a big fan of shrimp and grits – I especially love breakfast shrimp and grits, which this is not, but I just got reminded of them right now as I write this out. Who’s to say this can’t be breakfasty?...

I stopped to smell the roses the Bird of Paradise I came inside and made a Biggie Microwave Banana Oat Cake I shared half with Skylar And we had a few Mounds Balls, too And then Skylar danced around and got the giggles. Must be the Mounds Balls. Or anything, really. She just gets the giggles, randomly. Last night for dinner I heated up some Vegan Sloppy “Lentil & Bean” Joes for dinner and paired it with a salad....

Looking for more breakfast recipes? Try my favorite French Toast, Lox Bagel, Breakfast Taquitos, or Breakfast Potatoes! Why I love this recipe: Festive – Nothing makes the holiday season feel more festive than waking up to these Christmas waffles! This recipe is on repeat in our house all season long.Quick – Ditch the box mix and make this easy recipe instead! Family Favorite – Flavorful gingerbread waffles topped with insanely good vanilla cream syrup; the only thing that could make it better is a cup of homemade eggnog or hot wassail!...

Some of my other favorite treats include Homemade Almond Joys, Oreo Balls, Rocky Road, or my Gingerbread Cookies Recipe! What I love about this recipe: Perfect Texture: I’m a snob when it comes to Gingersnap Cookies. They have to be crisp on the outside, but chewy, and these are spot on! Family recipe: these are my mother-in-law’s famous easy gingersnap cookies and she never serves them without some pumpkin dip to go with....

Earlier in the week I realized that Skylar had either outgrown or ripped the majority of her pants so it was time to re-stock. I hit up Old Navy and got 7 pairs of pants, and 2 pairs of socks, for $40 bucks, after tax for her. Mothers that pay designer prices for kids’ clothes, sorry, I don’t get it. Put that money into their educational fund, not their wardrobe at age 3!...

Want more Halloween recipes? Try Caramel Apples, Halloween Pizzas, Spider Cookies or Dinner in a Pumpkin. Can we all agree that this easy Halloween Brownies recipe is about as cute and simple as it gets? They’re proof that you don’t need to be a professional baker or have any special equipment to make a super cool, creepy Halloween dessert! I like a Halloween dessert that tastes as good as it looks, but that doesn’t have me spending hours in the kitchen!...

Easy Sangria Recipe for a Crowd I haven’t shared a party punch, sangria, or adult-themed beverage recipe in awhile. With the weather getting warmer, this pineapple strawberry sangria is the perfect thirst quencher and it goes down very easily. Too easily, but that’s okay. Rather than just adding pineapple, strawberries, and lemons, I first grilled the pineapple. Grilling brings out the natural sugars in the pineapple in a wonderfully sweet way that works so well in the sangria....

Unnecessary items of the old jacket, soap holder, throw pillow, Christmas figurine variety. So it goes without saying that the upcoming garage sale – OUR upcoming garage sale, the one where we get rid of a bunch of our stuff – is giving me hives. And listening to my Brad Paisley Pandora station while pricing my old, unnecessary (but totally necessary) picture frames does not help the cause. It’s funny how that works out – or doesn’t work out – because I live with a man who is a frequent flyer at the Goodwill....

comment icon 59 more comments This pot o glory is the new-to-me wonder known as HOMEMADE BAKED BEANS. They are saucy, semi-creamy, brown sugar sweet + smoky bacon salty, and deliciously comforting. Just five basic ingredients at work here: bacon, onions, navy beans, molasses, and mustard. And then of course, there’s the brown sugar because it’s the right thing to do when it comes to a baked beans recipe – annnnd because Bjork and I recently finished our third 60-day sugar free commitment which left me feeling extra brown-sugar generous with myself this weekend....

Chocolate and peanut butter. One of the best flavor pairings on earth. And you can make your own chocolate peanut butter at home in less than 10 minutes. If you were ever having a bad day, PMSing, your boss was being horrid again, your hair stylist didn’t listen, you dropped your only house key down the elevator shaft, your child volunteered you to be a driver but didn’t clue you into this fact, or life has thrown you some curveballs, try a spoonful of this....

It’s honey butter goodness that’s a cross between frosting and… uhm… butter. Sadly, I did not churn my own butter to make this Honey Butter Spread. Yet somehow I still felt like Laura Ingalls Wilder as I licked Honey Butter Spread off my fingers. It just seemed like an old-fashioned thing to do. Because they needed to eat butter to stay warm in the winter, or something like that. If I was still a student at the community ed “Old Time School”, I would request a Honey Butter Sandwich instead of the lard sandwich that my mom once snuck into my lunch pail....

comment icon 100 more comments Today we are talking HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE GNOCCHI… party style. Because fresh homemade Italian food is best when made with friends and wine and excessive laughter. True story: in 2015, I went on a trip with DeLallo and had the chance to get up close and personal with the process of making homemade gnocchi. It was so glorious. There was a creamy mushroom sauce....

The other day I read a comment on social media from a woman that was unhappy with her instant pot. Her negatvitiy hit a cord with IP fanatics and there was a stream of debate in the comments below her post. I enjoyed reading the comments and afterwards I felt like giving my IP a little kiss. I just love it! Let me teach you how to get the most out of your instant pot!...

comment icon 39 more comments Thick, crispy, golden brown pan-grilled slices of sourdough. The meltiest of melty cheeses, two kinds because we mean it. An exquisitely caramelized, smoky spicy-sweet, almost jammy kimchi and bacon filling. Lordy loo, an adventure awaits you too! And if you’re like, “you really missed an opportunity here not calling this “Grilled Kimchi-se”…you’re not wrong. But let’s get this bad boy on your table, shall we?...

One Skillet Mandarin Chicken Stir-Fry When I was a kid I used to love mandarin oranges. I haven’t eaten many since childhood, but this easy orange chicken stir-fry recipe that’s ready in 15 minutes brings back great memories. The orange chicken is cooked in sesame oil before adding a bag of coleslaw mix, which is just shredded cabbage and carrots. I love the convenience of the mix because it really helps get this Asian-inspired dish on the table in no time....

comment icon 14 more comments Have you heard of it? No? Come to this house and you will hear about it. Possibly every other sentence this week has started with “P90X…” And now’s the part where I smirk and tell you that it’s not actually me that’s doing the P90X exercise program and you think I’m a little bit lazy. And I think so, too. Hard core exercise is not for me....

Everyone loves Italian recipes! Make sure to try Chicken Marsala Pasta, Panna Cotta, Meatballs Arrabbiata, or Creamy Zuppa Toscana! How to make Marinara Sauce: Crush Tomatoes: Pour the can of San Marzano tomatoes in a large bowl and crush them with your hands. If using fresh tomatoes, blanch them and remove the skins before crushing. Use it as a dip for our favorite Cheesy Breadsticks or Stromboli, or serve over Chicken Parmesan, Manicotti, Meatball Subs, or just over some pasta with fresh basil and parmesan cheese....