Category: Recipes

As part of the holiday meal planning and entertaining portion of our holiday guide, today we’re featuring Simply Potatoes. These are perfect for those busy hectic meals during the holiday season, as well as for your traditional holiday meals, because they eliminate the hassle of peeling, boiling, slicing and dicing.

I was able to “Simply-fy” a favorite holiday dish, Potato Pancakes, by using a couple of varieties of Simply Potatoes and their website recipe (which I altered a bit for our family). I had the batter whipped up in no time, and we have a new recipe to enjoy a family tradition with now.

What’s the secret to hosting a stress-free holiday gathering? A slow cooker.

Introducing “Holiday Slow Cooker,” a time-saving cookbook featuring easy and delicious recipes for a year of hassle-free celebrations.

It’s never been easier to craft perfect holiday dinners without breaking a sweat… like this Pork Loin with Wine Sauce for New Year’s Day (or even for ‘any’ day, like I made it!)

From bestselling author Jerry Eicher (more than 350,000 books sold) and his wife, Tina, comes this warm and inviting peek into an Amish kitchen, complete with recipes, Amish proverbs, and a dash of Amish humor. Readers will laugh, pray, and eat robustly with The Amish Family Cookbook at their side.

I grew up in a heavily populated Mennonite community, and while I am not Mennonite myself, I spent many, many hours around the table and in Mennonite kitchens. My best friend from third grade on was Mennonite, and one of my favorite foods to this day is Paska (Easter Bread) that her mom would make for me every year. I was just mentioning it to her this year that those loaves are some of my favorite memories of my tween/teen years.

Regular readers of my blog will know about our family’s ongoing saga of testing and moving with our high school aged daughter. For those of you who don’t…let me do a brief catch up for you!

We homeschool our 16 year old daughter Amber. She’s the kind of kid who when she gets interested in something, gets a little obsessed with it and focuses her energy into it hook, line and sinker. For her that happens to be video games, fantasy realms, writing and drawing.

With the nights getting darker and a chill in the air—the stage is being set for one of the most festive seasons of the year. Autumn brings us Halloween and Thanksgiving. Comfort foods abound, and pumpkins, apples, gingerbread, and spices permeate our senses with tastes, sights and scents.

Kraft Foods loves this time of year too, and they wanted to help me get in the spirit of the season with some Kraft Foods favorites and a few brand new products.

I’ve been reading a cookbook that I’ll be reviewing soon, and it had me drooling from page one. There are so many unique but ‘comforting’ recipes in it, and I couldn’t help but make a bunch from it. One of them is a dessert from the author’s childhood, and is perfect for the fall season because it involves apples! I made it for an evening snack the other night, and it was simply ‘sweet comfort.’

September is National Cholesterol Education Month, and high cholesterol can mean increased risk for heart disease. Those that are at risk for either or both, can lower their risk by making simple changes in their lifestyle.

One of those changes is to incorporate corn oil into your meals. Research shows that plant sterols, like the ones in corn oil, can significantly reduce the body’s cholesterol absorption. It’s also recommended that those at risk select choices that are low in sodium.

Well summer is over, but that doesn’t mean we have to leave the tastes of summer behind right? I love the flavors of paradise – tropical fruits like mangoes and pineapples and some coconut too!

This might not be low fat, but it sure is delicious. If you close your eyes and sip this Paradise Milkshake, you might imagine you’re lounging beside the pool.

Last month I shared with you about my inept knife skills and how as a Chicago Cutlery Mom Ambassador I wanted to, at the very least, not be scared to use large sharp knives in my kitchen.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve confronted that fear, and have been using my Chicago Cutlery DesignPro 8” Chef Knife in the kitchen when prepping our food.