To rinse, or not to rinse? That is the question. A very Hamlet-esque question for us this fine Tuesday morning! When to Rinse Pasta If you are serving it as a cold salad and you need to get it cold. Fast. If you are cooking a gluten free pasta that is rice based or corn based. This needs to be rinsed with as cold of water as you can get from your … [Read more...]
Rolled Pizza Bread
When you can't have pizza on a regular basis, you have to get creative when you get those pizza cravings! I've got some dairy free and soy free mozzarella cheese and I figured there would be no way that I could cover an entire pizza with it, and keep it under $5! I recalled a Sausage bread that I made years ago...it's basically homemade pizza crust dough with sausage and … [Read more...]
Herbed Meatballs Recipe
This recipe is featured in the 21 Freezer Cooking Recipes from Costco Meal Plan #5. This recipe was originally posted in 2011! A few weeks ago, I shared what I like to do when I get ground meat from the grocery store. (See Batch Cooking - The Ground Beef Edition!)Â This is part 2, if you will. Last week, I purchased 2 packages of ground chuck and 2 … [Read more...]
How to Freeze Meatloaf
Want to freeze that meatloaf, but you need your pan later in the week?! Or want to make double (or triple) batches on meatloaf night? Simply line the pan with foil and then add your meatloaf. Fold the foil around the meatloaf. And pop it into the freezer! After the meatloaf has frozen, take it out of the pan and place the foil-wrapped … [Read more...]
Top 10 Spices in your Pantry
Lynn from Mavin of Savin is doing a spice clear out in her pantry and needs to start afresh and anew! Before she goes at buys out the entire spice rack at the store, she wanted to know... What are the top 10 spices you MUST HAVE in your cupboard? Great question Lynn! And very smart of you to not just go grab a whole bunch at once! I'd get the ones listed below, then slowly … [Read more...]
Spinach and Tomato Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Spinach and Tomato Stuffed Chicken is an easy weeknight dinner for your family! Oh please. Please. Please, for all that is good and right in this world. Please, make these. When I asked for spinach recipes last week, I had this one in the back of my mind to try as I asked. Last summer when on vacation with my family, I made for them a similar recipe that used sun dried … [Read more...]
Reviving Dry Carrots and Dehydrated Celery
(Please pardon the iPhone photo.) A little trick I learned back in my early cooking days in the Dominican Republic... When you see baby carrots, carrot sticks, and celery stalks starting to dehydrate or go limp, all they need is a little water to revive them! Simply place them into a container with some water. When I have baby carrots or cut carrot sticks go … [Read more...]
Gingered Pear and Blueberry Cobbler
First up in this year's Dessert of the Month... Gingered Pear and Blueberry Cobbler! I've made a number of cobblers and crisps in my day. I thought I'd stick to a baking concept that I was familiar with and experiment with flavors. I've never made one, or tried one, with these 3 flavor combinations. I bought 4 pears at the store last week, not really intending to use them … [Read more...]
Tangy BBQ Chicken Wings
With five kids under six it can be pretty difficult to find quick, healthy meals that everyone will actually eat, but these Tangy BBQ Chicken Wings are a family favorite that we can all agree on. Although not much beats the joy of watching everyone eat the same meal without complaint, I also love that this versatile dish can be used as either an entree or an appetizer, and … [Read more...]
Chicken & Black Bean Burritos
If the tortillas were larger, this would remind me of Freebirds. With a backwards F. If there were fresh cilantro mixed into the rice, or fresh guacamole to put on top, this would remind me of Chipotle. Either way, you can't go wrong with these...super simple. Super cheap. Super yummy! But before we get to the recipe... Tacos v. Burritos. What's the main … [Read more...]