When I was in Texas over the holidays, I went rummaging through my mom's refrigerator trying to come up with a fun appetizer for a family dinner we were having. I found a mango that I was going to use in a fruit salad, but when I cut into it and discovered it was tangy and not-so-sweet, I decided we needed to add more bold flavors, to help hide the tangy mango! I ended up … [Read more...]
Spicy Guaca-Dillas
This post brought to you by TABASCO® Original Red. All opinions are 100% mine. Years ago I remember being in New Orleans and visiting a store that had rows, and rows. And rows. Of TABASCO® Original Red hot sauce on the shelves. The reason: it was the headquarters store for the sauce. The McIlhenny family introduced the Mexican chile to the plantations of … [Read more...]
Easy Fried Rice
This is a guest post recipe from Connie. My family of 10 loves this recipe. There are so many ways to prepare it by adding different vegetables and meats, that we often vary it by what we have in the fridge. The "must haves" for this recipe are simple - just rice, eggs, and soy sauce. Then you can add any other veggies or leftover meats that you have available to round out … [Read more...]
Mushroom Quinoa Pilaf
When I was in Atlanta I bought 8 lbs of organic quinoa for $20. That's about half the price of what I've paid for it before at Whole Foods. I try to get some whenever I'm down in that area (closest store is in Cincy) and whenever I can squeeze it into the budget. In the past, we have enjoyed the following quinoa meals... Red Quinoa with Avocado, Black Beans and … [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...]
Guacamole – 5 Ways
The Super Bowl is just around the corner! And there's one thing that is always, without fail, sitting on the counter during the Super Bowl game at our house. As far as I'm concerned, there are a few ingredients that have to be mixed into a homemade guacamole. Must be. There are no ifs, ands or buts about these. Here goes...freshly crushed garlic cloves, fresh … [Read more...]
Maple-Walnut Muffins
When signing books in Minneapolis last week, the lovely folks at Barnes and Noble asked if I'd like to take a book with me, as a thank you. My "dessert of the month" challenge came immediately to mind, and I knew that I had to get a baking cookbook of some sort. After careful deliberation, and much drooling, over at least 20 books about baking, each with stunning photographs, I … [Read more...]
Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies
When I was in Chicago last week, my sister-in-law took me to a favorite bakery in her neighborhood, Bake°. It is adorable, cozy little spot that reeked of butter upon opening the door. And when I say, reeked...I mean it in the most delicious way possible. I don't do much baking with real butter. So the smell of the buttery baked goods was deafening. (That is, if a smell can … [Read more...]
Healthy Eating…On the Road
In the past 5 weeks, I have logged over 4,000 miles in the car. A trip to Texas. A trip to Georgia. And a trip to Chicago and Minneapolis. 4,000 miles. (Just typing that makes my rear end hurt.) So while I was logging all these miles, I burned approximately 2 calories per hour. Except for the hour that I was driving "white knuckled" through some snow showers in Wisconsin. … [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...]