Category: Recipes

Today is National Licorice Day, and I wanted to do something fun for my family using some licorice.  I tried to come up with something unique, but just couldn’t get the creative juices going, so I simply cut some Twizzlers up and added them to Crispy Rice Treats.  Not overly unique – but certainly very yummy!

The Good Cook nonstick knives that I received to review as part of the Good Cook blogger program are proving to be very popular items in my kitchen.

“These nonstick-coated knives come in inviting colors for ready access – the bright coding signals that purple is for sandwiches, green is for paring, etc.  The serrated blades are crafted from high-carbon steel, which stays sharp through regular use.  The nonstick coating prevents crumbs from sticking.  Each knife includes a safety sheath to help protect the blade and allow for safe storage.

So my cousin made these sundaes and posted them on Facebook. She proclaimed them as perhaps the best dessert she has ever made! Oh my word!!! I asked her how she made them and if I could rip off her photo.

In my efforts to clean out my pantry and freezers before we move, I’m getting very creative with the contents inside them!

I’m not a fan of drinking milk straight up or having it with my cereal either, but add it to a smoothie and I’ll toss it back.  Armed with a box of Strawberry Delight Mini Wheats and some frozen strawberries I decided to try making a smoothie and see how it turned out.

This Easter I wanted to make some cookies that weren’t too sweet but that looked and tasted like ‘spring.’

I was paging through some magazines and found a Christmas shortbread cookie recipe in one of them that I thought I could adapt to fit my needs.

A couple of weeks ago, I received some GOYA products and a collection of recipes to try out some healthy, tasty and affordable Latin cooking.  The Best of la Cocina GOYA cookbook is a resource for building a better plate, that plate specifically being the MyPlate nutrition guide by the USDA.  Printed in both English and Spanish, this little cookbook is packed full of balanced meal ideas from around Latin America – including Mexico, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, Spain and beyond!

One of the things about getting ready to move is you start trying to clean out your pantry.  I have a big jar of Nutella and A. LOT. of Hershey Kisses in there.  So I decided to make some of those classic Kiss Blossom cookies, but instead of using peanut butter, I used Nutella.

And you thought they were delicious when they had peanut butter in them.

I think if you’ve followed my blog for awhile, or at least have searched through my recipes on occassion, you’ll realize I’m not a “from scratch” type of gal.  I’m open to learning new things though, and so when I had the chance to review Homemade with Love: Simple Scratch Cooking from In Jennie’s Kitchen, I was eager to see if I could make anything in it without creating an epic fail of a dish.

Surprisingly enough to me, not only were a lot of the recipes not difficult – they were also things my family would eat – and so I hunkered down to mix, whisk and boil from scratch food in my own kitchen.  

My daughter got the love of seafood from the many cruises we have taken.  One of my first memories of her eating seafood (other than fish sticks) was when she was 8 years old.  She ordered an encrusted halibut fillet, and our servers joked with her that they spent the morning fishing off the side of the ship for it.  It was so cute.  She proclaimed the fish nothing short of delicious, and began her quest to order seafood for each meal.  My husband though does not share her love for seafood, so we don’t eat it as often as she’d like.  If I stick to a mild fish, he’s usually okay with it, as long as we don’t have it too often.

The one thing that’s great about the holidays, is that you end up making seasonal food that wouldn’t be on your radar otherwise. When it comes to St. Patrick’s Day one immediately conjures up food recipes that are green and/or have booze.

Thanks to the McCormick Kitchen experts, I tried my hand at a St. Patrick’s Day goody, which incorporates both the green and the booze (well in my case at least the flavor of the booze LOL!). It’s a festive creation to pull out for dessert on March 17th.