Category: Recipes

I’ve got to tell you prior to last year I had NO idea what Cinco de Mayo was even about.  If you are in the same boat let me quickly recap what I learned:

Cinco de Mayo celebrates the legendary Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, in which a Mexican force of 4500 men faced 6000 French soldiers.  Long story short, the Mexicans won and so they party.

But the more the merrier, right?!  I’m all about celebrating and hosting a party because that equals fun times no matter what the occasion. 

I have a few blogging friends that are SO creative, they make these incredibly cute and healthy Bento Box lunches for their children to take to school (or even to eat at home!).  I was lucky if I remembered to take the ice pack out of the freezer or pack a spoon for the yogurt when I was making lunches for Amber…

But today I’m beaming from ear to ear because I think I nailed a cute Cinco de Mayo Bento Box idea for you guys to run with, make all your own and one up me on (because admittedly I just don’t have the supplies to make it as awesome as it could be like those seasoned Bento moms).  How fun would it be to pack something like this in their lunches on May 5th?

A few days ago, I was paging through a magazine and found an ad with a recipe for an Italian-Style Mac & Cheese with Chicken – since my husband is not a fan of sausage I figured I would substitute chicken breast in it instead, and I had everything else in my pantry and fridge to make it. (Well, almost.)

The creaminess of the cheese sauce was to be made from evaporated milk.  I assembled all my items, got ready to make the recipe and opened the can of evaporated milk..and it was weird.   Ewww it had expired (time to do a pantry clean out I guess!).

Here is a chocolaty twist on a traditional favorite peanut butter cookie.  The cookies will come out of the oven flatter than you would expect, but the insides stay chewy and the outer edges are crispy – the perfect texture combination to the sweet & salty of the chocolate and peanut butter!

Post Pebbles cereal is great tasting on its own for breakfast or a snack with milk or without .  But there are plenty of recipes that you can use it in too!  With everything from whoopie pies to smoothies, the colorful and crunchy Pebbles you already love are brought to life in some new creations from celebrity chef, Kristina Vanni.

These recipes are great for entertaining or just to get your little helper in the kitchen for a fun day together!

Here is a tasty creation from Chef Vanni that is perfect for an afternoon snack – especially on a hot summer day!

As a lot of you know, I’ve been working with eMeals for about a year now and it’s been a fantastic resource for our family.  Every week I get a shopping list and a week’s worth of supper recipes.  We’ve been using the Walmart Family Classic plan for the last year, but I am seriously considering switching to the new Kid Friendly plan.  I know, I know we don’t have any “kids” in our house anymore, but my husband…his tastedbuds are just like a kid’s.  Ask me how many times he ends up ordering off the kid’s menu when we cruise.  It’s becomes a joke with our servers by the end of the week.

When we purchased our home last spring, one of the things that appealed to me about it was this great backyard deck for entertaining.

I think spring has FINALLY sprung here in North Texas!  April ‘springs’ with events for us this year too.  First our 20th wedding anniversary, then Easter, and then our daughter’s 18th birthday.  And if there is anything in the world my husband and daughter can’t get enough of, it’s chocolate.  So when Good Cook sent me their new Sweet Creations Spring Bark Mold and Hop Into Spring Spatula, I immediately had anniversary treats, Easter basket goodies and birthday sweets in mind…using chocolate of course!

If you remember last week I bought a bunch of strawberries at the grocery store.  So besides the Strawberry Banana ‘Soup‘ I made, I was busy finding other uses for all these strawberries.  I ended up doing something quite simple by puréeing some of the strawberries and adding it to pancake mix for a light but fruity flavor.  It is sure to please both adult and kids alike.

My family is crazy about pasta and we eat it a lot.  A lot, a lot.  So I’m always trying to find new ways to switch it up besides the regular red or white sauce.  After making this Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta the other day, it is now one of our favorites.  The grown up flavor profile of the cordon bleu has adults appreciating it, but it’s kid friendly too.