Here is the perfect side dish for your next cookout. As I've shared before this month (and I'll share again!), I love when you can make an entire meal out on the grill...main dish, side dish, bread and even dessert. Yesterday was a "feels like 107" degrees kind of day, loaded with humidity too. So the very last thing I want to do is add a single degree to the … [Read more...]
Pesto Orzo with Tomatoes
Oh pesto. Pesto, pesto, pesto. Pesto just tastes like summer, doesn't it?! I don't make pesto too often because pine nuts are expensive and I can't always get them into my budget...but I found some on sale this week and made my own pesto! Because, enjoying pesto-laced pasta is like taking a bite out of summer. I've written the recipe below with store bought pesto, … [Read more...]
Apple & Almond Butter Sandwiches
So dipping apples in peanut butter has been a long time snack favorite around here. My older boys will happily dip apples in peanut butter for a protein punch in the afternoon, but neither of them would touch a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a ten foot pole. (I don't get it, but it is what it is.) I decided to 'put it to a test' (albeit, not really a fair test!) to … [Read more...]
Homemade Mac & Cheese with Bacon and Spinach
Please pardon me while I wipe the cheese off my chin. Um, that was sorta embarrassing there...that cheese all over my chin. But you kinda don't care when your taste buds are bursting with joy and want to leap out of your mouth onto the spoon. It's the cream cheese in this recipe that works the magic. Well, that combined with the bacon. And the spinach, and the Italian … [Read more...]
Spinach Salad with Strawberries & Goat Cheese
Splurge Confession! I've shared in the past how I'm a total 'saladforlunch-itarian' - meaning that I eat a salad for lunch most days of the week. Well, I wanted to share my latest salad obsession and the reason I'm obsessed! It's the dressing. (See photo below.) I can blame my mom for this one...she has turned me into a Brianna's salad dressing fanatic, despite the … [Read more...]
Best White Mexican Cheese or Queso Blanco Dip
Queso Blanco Dip... This is the part where I'm going to embarrass myself. But in the process, I think I'll find a new tribe of queso-lovers. This goes back 2 months, let me tell the story... Back in early February, I met some girlfriends for dinner at a new restaurant in San Antonio called Tacos and Tequila. It's a joint out of Austin and they are expanding into other … [Read more...]
Lemon Steamed Broccoli
If you're planning on having broccoli at your Easter dinner, I beg of you to make it like this. All you need (besides the broccoli!) is 2 lemons. It'll work with 1 lemon, but 2 is just right. It's super simple...you squeeze some of the lemon into the water that will steam the broccoli. Then you add zest from the lemons in with the broccoli heads while it's steaming. It's … [Read more...]
Italian Salad with Homemade Balsamic Dressing
I love me some balsamic vinaigrette dressing. It's a RARE occasion that I don't order it with a salad when out for dinner. And I LOVE to make it at home for my lunch salads. {More on my recent 'saladforlunch-atarian' confession.} I think balsamic vinaigrette 'goes' on just about any salad, but it's especially delicious on this Italian inspired salad. Toss this gluten free … [Read more...]
BLT Salad
So. I'm a 'salad-for-lunch-atarian.' I eat salads for lunch almost every day. 6.5 times a week. And the day that I don't have salad, I have bowl of black bean or vegetable soup. Really, just to keep from being burnt out on salads for lunch. I usually throw 2 to 3 veggies on top, depending on what's in the fridge from the sales that week. I sometimes add protein on top - … [Read more...]
Hatch Pineapple Cornbread
Sweet. Spicy. Sweet. Spicy. I love recipes combine the sweet and spicy flavors from different ingredients. And who doesn't love a good cornbread recipe...especially one that's been doctored up with the sweet and spicy flavors! Here's a from-scratch cornbread that highlights the sweet from pineapple and the spicy from hatch chilies. Ooooh-la-la-la-la-la! Taste bud … [Read more...]