Chocolate Chip Salted Caramel Blondies These salted caramel blondies are soft, tender, slightly chewy, the caramel oozes with every bite, there is an abundance of rich dark chocolate, and the perfect amount of sea salt that I want to lick off before I bite into my blondie. Sort of like licking the rim of a salted margarita before taking a sip. The nuttiness of the browned butter is so comforting and rich-tasting....
comment icon 226 more comments What’s it called when you want something that tastes really, really good… but is also basically a high pile of fresh, vibrant, feel-good-in-your-body vegetables? You call it Cashew Crunch Salad, that’s what you call it. This Salad Is Checking All The Boxes Lunch rolls around and my internal conversation goes like this: I’m hungry. What would taste awesome right now? No, wait, what would be super healthy right now?...
10 Facts I need and crave fresh air. I don’t care if it’s -40F in Minneapolis or 112F in Phoenix. I need to be outside, even for 5 minutes, every single day. This was the view from my neighborhood 15 minutes ago. 65F, breezy, but sunny. I love finding deals on products, clothes, or groceries. Finding a good deal excites me. Contrary to how it may appear on my blog, I can actually go over a week without chocolate....
Looking for dessert recipes? Try my S’mores Bars, Key Lime Pie, or Homemade Rum Cake! Why I love this recipe: Easy – Cobblers are a quick and easy way to enjoy the tasty summer fruit, but without the work of making a pie!Delicious – The sweet, tender cake compliments the bright and delicious cherries perfectly. I love to serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream! Enjoy All Year – Enjoy in the summer with fresh cherries, or use frozen or canned cherries to enjoy any time of the year!...
Just when I thought one pan meals were the best option for quick and easy dinner, foil packet dinners are making a comeback! Foil packets are meals cooked inside an envelope of tinfoil, on the grill, in the oven, or in a campfire. To make foil packs (or “tin foil dinners” as well called them growing up), all you need is your recipe ingredients–usually a piece of meat and some vegetables–and a large piece of tinfoil....
comment icon 41 more comments Thin, but not too brothy. Just enough to stand up to deep, cozy spoonfuls and piles on piles on piles of toppings but not feel like a chili or stew. Tender chicken shreds, buttery pinto beans, all the veg flavor but no big chunks, just the right amount of heat throughout… Ugh, is there a park bench somewhere? We might be here a while. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly the origin of tortilla soup, but it is generally attributed to Central Mexico and especially popular in Mexico City, where it was possibly born in the nearby state of Tlaxcala (which in Nahuatl means “land of the corn” or “place where tortillas abound”)....
Want more cake recipes? Try my German Chocolate Cake, Berry Cake, or Coconut Cake with Pineapple Filling! Why I love this easy mousse cake: Prep Ahead – The chocolate mousse recipe couldn’t be easier to make, and you can prep everything in advance! Elegant – Fancy enough to impress any guests, especially a chocolate lover!Delicious – The chocolate cake is moist and divine. The chocolate mousse filling is creamy and pairs perfectly with the cake....
Today is The Day of New Things for me, and an overwhelmingly yummy Chopped Thai Salad with Sesame Garlic Dressing is only appropriate to match the occasion. Remember when we talked about how I was going to leave my teaching job so that I could cook, photograph, and blog about food full time? Today is that first day. happy screams comment icon 541 more comments In addition to today being the first day that I can wake up early for self-initiated work and enjoy a lunch date with a friend plus incorporate at least four built-in mango pineapple smoothie breaks into my day, today is also the first day that I’m using a computer with a retina display for my blogeristic work....
These easy homemade M&M’s cookies turned out so soft, moist, and tender in the interior with perfectly chewy edges. The dough is buttery, with hints of vanilla. There’s an abundance of M&M’s in every bite and I love biting into their shells. The dichotomy of smooth, supple dough, generously flanked with candy, and hearing those little shells crack and crunch as I bite down, and feeling the crunchy coating bits between my teeth, like sweet little eggshells, it’s just something I love....
Favorite Coconut and Coconut Oil Recipes: No-Bake Samoas Cookie Granola Bars (vegan, GF) Chocolate Coconut Mounds Bar Brownies Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Coconut Oil Protein Bars Raw Vegan Coconut Oil Chocolate Chocolate Coconut Kale Chips Chocolate Coconut Oil Protein Popcorn Chocolate Coconut Princess Smoothie Vegan GF Pancakes Magic Eight Bars Coconut Peanut Butter Magic Cake Bars (coconut flakes used, can use coconut oil in place of canola) Coconut Spice Cheesecake Bars...
Copycat P.F. Chang’s Lettuce Wraps This recipe for lettuce wraps from P.F. Chang’s was originally published in 2017 and since then has become a reader favorite. I’ve updated some photos and am resharing it because they are just THAT good! I don’t go to P.F. Chang’s that often, but when I do someone in my group or family will order their chicken lettuce wraps because they’re just so good. Now you can skip the restaurant version and make your own in 20 minutes....
comment icon 0 more comments This Monday morning that’s not really a Monday morning. This Monday morning without alarm clocks, rushed breakfasts, and stressful blowdrying. Or stressful wet pony-tails. Eww. My hair is a dangerous situation on this Monday morning, with no coworkers or students to hold me accountable. It’s somewhere between that complete wild hair blowout and the infamous wet pony-tail. Probably best classified as bedhead. Remember when that used to be “in”?...
This is not my kind of food, but it’s one hundred percent my husband’s kind. Since I was leaving him home alone with our five year old for four days while I went to Barbardos, I figured the least I could do was make him some comfort food before I left. I had the ingredients on hand and started tossing things into my cast iron skillet and hoped for the best....
How to Make Tomato Basil Soup: Sauté the vegetables: Add the carrots, onion and celery to a pot with a little bit of oil and sauté them for a few minutes. Add: diced tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken broth, oregano, and basil. Bring to boil and cook for several minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Blend. Use an immersion blender or regular blender (you may need to do this in batches, depending on how big your blender is) and purée the soup until smooth....
Like, oh my goodness, HOW ARE YOU GUYS?!?! The last time I was HERE here, I was telling you about the arrival of our baby girl Solvi Afton, and then I left – goodbye, gone, see ya – and have been soaking up the offline time with our favorite little squish for the last three months. Having that Time with a capital T with our tiny Solvi, watching as she grew from a six pound wrinkly baby into a 14 pound full-on chubster with thigh rolls, and being completely uninterrupted by work, was just… enough to make me tear up right now....
I loved the embroidery work on the card Scott gave me. Nice goin’, babe! (he doesn’t read my blog so he’ll never see this unless I tell him) I love embroidered things from dishtowels to sweaters so this card was right up my alley! This was Skylar’s card to me with the message she wanted Scott to write to me: It all comes back to the “you always give me yummy yummy good snacks” doesn’t it....
Looking for more vegetarian recipes? You have to try Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers, Quinoa Burger, or Veggie Enchiladas! How to Make Air Fryer Tofu: Press the Tofu: We want to remove as much liquid from the tofu as possible, so it can get crispy in the air fryer. Cut your tofu slab in half lengthwise and wrap each half in several paper towels. Lay the halves side by side and place a large cutting board on top....
Easiest Fried Rice Recipe with Chicken If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to make fried rice, this recipe will help you in no time! It’s an easy, one-skillet recipe that’s ready in 20 minutes and better than takeout. You’ll never be tempted again to eat rice from a flimsy white takeout container after trying homemade. The chicken is moist and juicy and there are green onions, garlic, sesame oil, and soy sauce for layers of flavor....
Easy Carrot Cake Recipe There are so many great flavors and textures in this easy carrot cake recipe including a perfectly spiced and moist cake that’s laced with plenty of carrots and salted caramel sauce in every bite. The caramel cream cheese frosting takes this carrot cake over the top and into truly rich and decadent territory. You only live once, right? The contrast of the tangy cream cheese frosting with the salted caramel sauce and then sweet cake was all just perfect....
If you’re a fan of asparagus, I’ve got the perfect fast, easy, yet decadent side dish recipe! But even if you’re not the biggest fan of asparagus, or have some picky eaters at your table, when you smother homemade cream sauce reminiscent of alfredo sauce all over the asparagus, and then top it with two types of cheese, and bake it to perfection so that the top gets perfectly crispy, everyone will dig right into this asparagus casserole!...
