I thought I was really well-organized and that my evening Thursday was going to be fairly mellow. Well, as mellow as it can be living amidst boxes and being just days away from our official move into the new place. Boy, was I wrong! It was not a mellow evening! It was full-fledged last minute craziness! I had to pack my suitcase, toiletries, take care of loose ends like mail sorting, bill paying, preschool dropoff details for Skylar, unload the dishwasher, do two loads of wash, it just went on and on!...

Asian-Inspired Mandarin Pasta Salad Recipe If you’re looking for a pasta salad that everyone will love, look no further than this easy mandarin chicken pasta salad that’s easy, ready in 30 minutes, and makes enough to feed a crowd. There’s tender chicken that’s been cooked in sesame and olive oils, red bell peppers, carrots, cucumbers, fresh spinach, and of course mandarin oranges and al dente bowtie pasta. There’s an easy, whisk-together vinaigrette comprised of dry onion soup mix, rice vinegar, sesame and olive oils, ginger, mandarin orange juice, and ginger....

On Sunday, late afternoon, we went out for Happy Hour and some appetizers. I was at the height of succumbing to the worst part of a cold fighting off my cold. Some may say that having a drink is the worst thing one could do, but it sure tasted great to me. It was the Tea Bag Sr. Made with the Sweet Tea Vodka I raved about. We had a few chips and homemade salsa and guac Scott and Skylar split a cheese quesadilla Our waiter brought us a blow-up monkey for Skylar, which she proceeded to “feed” We were going to walk back home but I decided I’d rather be in public feeling pretty miserable with my cold than at home laying around in the 94F heat feeling miserable....

Festive Mimosa Muffins These glazed orange muffins are perfect for a weekend brunch, a girl’s night in, baby and bridal showers, and holiday entertaining. Setting out a platter of these little mimosas by way of muffins is a guaranteed win! You likely have everything on hand to whip up a batch of these easy mini muffins. Well, you do need a bottle of champagne or prosecco, but I always have that on hand....

It was delivered Friday and I had it assembled Saturday morning. Then I started moving in. All the blogging and photography dishes that were crammed into other cabinets in my kitchen, in random spaces and places, stacked dangerously high, and just wedged in anywhere I could find a spot are now all in one place. And boy, does it feel good because I can see the forest from the trees....

I’m glad you enjoyed yesterday’s mega post on everything from my Pottery Painting Trip with Skylar Great memories were made, indeed. As well as a cute coffee mug. For today’s recipe, make sure to have your dates ready. Lots of medjools for lots of balls. Medjool Dates are always needed and will never go to waste in this house! Today we made raw flax cookies with coconut oil and with maple syrup, being that I already had the maple syrup out and all, from making the salad dressing, of course....

I love making bread from scratch, posted four from-scratch bread recipes in November, and in fact, no other kitchen adventure gives me more joy and satisfaction. Kneading the dough, watching it rise, and observing the yeast work their magic is science-meets-baking at it’s finest. But I’m traveling this month and in Aruba and used a shortcut. I made these Nutella-filled rolls with the help of dough from a tube of refrigerated crescent rolls....

I think I am sufficiently stocked with oil until Skylar graduates from high school for at least a few months But you can never have too much oil for making any of these recipes: Cinnamon Sugar & Ginger Roasted Potato Sticks Roasted Sweet Potato Fries Lemon & Dill Roasted Potato Sticks Caramelized Ginger & Olive Oil Roasted Beets Vegan Sloppy “Bean & Lentil” Joes Mango Balsamic Rice, Beans, & Mixed Vegetables...

Peach season is pretty much the best time of the year, am I right?! I love going to “pick your own” farms or buying a large box from a local vendor. Peaches are one of those things I could never get sick of! I have too many favorite peach recipes that I rotate through them each season, starting with my favorite homemade Peach freezer jam. This peach cobbler recipe comes from my mom, and it is a family favorite recipe she made for us all the time growing up!...

Our Thanksgiving dessert table included Raisin Pie every year growing up because it was my Grandpa’s favorite! As I’ve gotten older I’ve come to love it too, especially because it reminds me of him. My mom has really perfected this recipe over the years after making it dozen of times. It’s very easy to make with simple ingredients including raisins, walnuts, orange zest, orange and lemon juice, brown sugar and cornstarch and the flavors are wonderful!...

The following are one-pot meals, or almost one-pot meals/snacks, take less than 30 minutes to make, all vegan, all Gluten-Free, and delish Spicy Baked Black Beans with Vegetables Vegan Sloppy Joes with Lentils & Beans (bun-less) Vegan Sloppy Joes with Lentils & Beans Ketchup & Mustard Lover’s Protein & Veggie Mash Ketchup & Mustard Lover’s Protein & Veggie Mash Curried Ginger & Raisin Lentils Curried Ginger & Raisin Lentils Chipotle Salsa Lentils with Mixed Vegetables...

If this doesn’t get you excited about eating your vegetables and brown rice and tempeh, nothing will. It’s so good that you may choose tempeh over homemade Twinkies. Well, you may. I may still have the Twinkies for dessert. I used a pre-chopped vegetable mix, which saved time, but it would be the perfect recipe to clean out the odds and ends that are lingering in your vegetable drawer. Or if you over-buy fresh produce or have a garden that’s exploding all of a sudden with fresh vegetables (zucchini comes to mind), toss any of it in here....

And I went here, too. Not on purpose, of course. Why would I ever (over)load the tops of my muffins with peanut butter and chocolate on purpose? No, not me… But, as long as we’re this far gone into peanut butter oblivion with these peanut butter banana flax muffins, I think we’d all be doing ourselves a disservice not to bite into that delicious creamy, rich, sweet goodness. Stop, though....

comment icon 159 more comments Yes, unbelievable trickery. This ice cream is defined as ice cream by me even though it’s actually kind of secretly NOT ice cream. But I mean that in the best possible way, if there even is such a thing as non-ice cream being a best possible ice cream thing. You might not even realize that the non-ice cream is actually not real ice cream because the texture (even though it’s just frozen bananers) is just....

Looking for salad recipes? Try Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad, Burrata Salad, or Three Bean Salad! Why I love this recipe: Festive – This pear salad is perfectly festive and beautiful during the holidays with the bright red pomegranate seeds and the green pears. I love to serve it for Christmas dinner or any holiday party!Delicious – The combination of the flavors in this salad are flavorful and absolutely delicious. The dressing is easy and absolutely worth the 2 minutes!...

The smell of bread baking. Or donut “bread” baking. Either way, it’s been scent-terrific around here. <– Cheesy humor tends to happens after hours in the kitchen followed with two hours of photography. Cranberry + Mango + Orange = Lots of Vitamin C and really tasty. This is my next post, stay tuned. I’m almost finished typing it. A peek into the rain and cloudy skies which has killed food photography the past few days....

Or maybe you were fortunate to pour another cup of this coffee, Cafe Bustelo, which is what I did earlier. It’s my latest coffee find and I am loving how it puts hair on my chest how packed with flavor it is. Very full-bodied and intense, which is preferred for me and the only way I like coffee. Brown-tinged water that is called coffee and served on airplanes or the free “coffee” that’s sometimes served in office waiting rooms is simply colored water, not really coffee....

Easy Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars And the rest of the title is, “with a Brown Sugar-Graham Cracker Crust.” They’re a happy accident that came to be after a recipe fail. I was goofing around with some crescent roll dough and I don’t know how anyone can mess up dough-in-a-tube, but I did. I over-stuffed it and it was 3am. I used to still be out drinking at 3am on Friday nights, now I’m baking....

Easy 5 Bean Salad Recipe I adore this easy 5-bean salad recipe with, as you may have guessed, has five varieties of beans in it. If you want to mix-and-match the exact types of beans used, feel free. For my version which is naturally vegan and gluten-free, I love adding artichoke hearts for a bit of unique flavor and texture, along with red onions and celery for some light crunch contrasted with the tender beans....

comment icon 98 more comments In This Post: Everything You Need For Red Curry Chicken Stir Fry with Cashew Sauce Lindsay’s Notes The way I love this recipe! Wow. Red curry caramelized chicken stir fry, served with steamy rice and broccoli, and blanketed in a creamy, bright, super flavorful cashew sauce that makes this whole thing into a luscious, look-forward-to-it-all-day dinner dream. We are in a phase in our family dinner life that calls for a lot of things: Bjork is eating a lot (A LOT) of protein right now, I like to try to get a lot of flavor into every meal (per usual), and the girls like to have some familiar, kid-friendly foods to choose from....