Monday Chicken Tikka Masala Tuesday Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Barbacoa Wednesday Roast Beef Sliders Thursday Baked Ziti Friday Egg Roll in a Bowl Bonus Lemon Bars Meal planning can be hard. And grocery shopping without a plan can be disastrous. Let me help! Having a meal plan makes life so much easier. So we have thoughtfully put together a curated menu of 5 amazing dinner recipes each week so you don’t have to plan....
Apparently this is a bit of an unusual preference though so we’ve come up with some other suggestions for you that will ensure you don’t get any raised eyebrows at the dinner table! What to Serve with Chicken Parm 1. Bread Here’s one of our favorites, which is baked often in our home… this No Knead Bread!! This artisan quality bread can happen very fast and is super duper simple....
How to Know if a Child Needs to Gain Weight It’s important to know whether your child is, in fact, in need of dietary modifications to increase their weight before you start trying to add calories and/or fat to their diet, so let’s start there. Is your child meeting milestones, gaining some weight (even if not a lot), and seeming generally happy and content? Are they following their own growth curve?...
After School Snacks If your house is anything like mine, you have hungry kids flying in the door wanting all of the snacks. To help you stay stocked and also mix things up whenever you land in a snack rut, these ideas are here to help. You can use them to complement school lunch recipes, toddler lunch ideas, and kindergarten lunches. Or summer lunches and camp lunches for days when we’re at home when school isn’t in session....
Homemade Lunch Ideas I am always saying how much harder it is to make lunch than any other meal, especially when the kids are home, because it always seems to sneak up on me. And if I have to pack lunch, it always seems hard in the moment to decide what on Earth to put together. So these 5-minute easy kids lunches are here to help whenever you need ideas that are fast, easy to change up according to what you have on hand, and perfect to make for the kids and adults....
We love a good dip with a side of chips or crunchy veggies as a snack or an appetizer. Some of my other favorite dips include Buffalo Chicken Dip, Grilled Mexican Street Corn Dip, and our Jalapeño Popper Dip with Bacon. Growing up, this dip was at every holiday gathering and summer party. It’s still one of my all-time favorites. The distinct layers of color and flavors always make it a crowd-pleaser, and it’s a cinch to throw together, especially if you take some shortcuts like using premade guacamole from the store....
Today’s Latin recipe is bursting with flavors that I find both familiar and exotic. This dish has something for everyone, and I know you’ll love it as much as I do. Chicken and Rice Every culture has some form of rice dish that is pretty iconic. From Biryani from South East Asia, to Paella and Spanish Chicken and Rice from Spain, Jambalaya from NoLa, and Jollof Rice from west Africa, are just a few examples....
It starts with bacon, how can you go wrong? Add in some cheese and jalapeño and your bowlful of chili has a new best friend! Hey everyone, this is Jason filling in for Alpana today. We’ve been wanting to do a cornbread post for a while, and she insisted I write it, as it’s something I grew up on. I’ll leave the curries to her. A little word on cornbread before we get to the recipe....
I’m a big fan of grilling all summer long and the easiest way to approach grilling season is with a couple of trusty marinade recipes in your back pocket. The combination of soy sauce, brown sugar, and balsamic vinegar ensures a perfect balance of sweet and savory flavors for the best grilled chicken flavor. And the acidic ingredients like lemon juice and balsamic vinegar help break down the proteins, making the chicken incredibly tender and juicy....
Learning Towers for Toddlers We love how a learning tower, which is essentially a stool with a guard on top to prevent falling, gets toddlers into the action. Little kids love to help and be with grownups in the kitchen, and this is the safest way to make that happen. And since a learning tower (which is sometimes called a kitchen helper) will likely live in your kitchen for a few years, it’s a good idea to think through:...
One of my main goals as a parent is to foster independent play in my kids so they can play on their own and together as siblings. We’ve had a dollhouse for the past four years that has been a key part of this—especially for my now five year old—and I wanted to share more of our process for choosing one, some of the best options out there, and things to consider when shopping for a dollhouse....
Whenever we have soup I love to serve it with some warm, delicious type of bread and these garlic mozzarella rolls always hit the spot. They are fantastic with our Cheesy Lasagna Soup, Easy Minestrone Soup, and Tortellini Soup with Italian Sausage. But really they go with almost anything! These rolls are relatively quick to throw together too, aside from the rising time. It’s just like making any old batch of yeast bread dough – some mixing of ingredients, a little kneading, and then a nice rise to let the dough double in volume....
This tomato gratin is neither loaded with cream and tons of cheese, nor is it mushy or liquidy. It’s slightly blistered tomatoes that still retain the pop, intermingled with crispy baguette cubes. All this is generously doused with olive oil, fresh herbs and light shavings of parmesan before going in the oven. The sights before and after baking are so refreshing and inviting, and the result is addictive deliciousness. This could be your time to introduce gratin into the holiday season....
This Chicken Stuffing Casserole recipe requires minimal prep time, which is perfect for busy weeknights or an easy weeknight dinner that uses up your weekend roast leftovers! Its origins are humble and rooted in the tradition of ‘waste not, want not,’ making the most of what’s left in your fridge or freezer from holiday meals by transforming simple ingredients like leftover chicken or leftover turkey, and day-old bread or store-bought stuffing mix into a hearty and delicious meal that everyone will love....
Perfected seasoned and well marinated tender juicy chicken is all you need to make this taco dinner a huge HIT! There is no magic formula here. Simple, good food you don’t mind eating every single time. These are chicken tacos, Mexican street style! The one similar to what you get at all the Mexican food trucks and street stands… Seriously, we eat a lot of tacos. Maybe one day you will hear all about it....
Everyone needs a go to baked tofu recipe to feed our inner hippie. It really doesn’t matter if you’re vegan or just trying to eat a bit more plant based! Good baked tofu is for everyone! And this might just be my favorite stand alone baked tofu meal. Tofu, baked with a delicious homemade chipotle barbecue sauce and served with rice (or potatoes or vegan mac and cheese) and smoky collard greens....
If you love this flavor combination, be sure to try my Fudgy Frosted Chocolate Mint Brownies, easy classic Homemade Peppermint Bark, or make a Grasshopper Ice Cream Pie! When I was a kid, I loved Andes mints so much that I started getting packages of them in my Christmas stocking each year. The combination of mint and chocolate has always been one of my favorites. I like it even more than peanut butter and chocolate, which is saying something....
The first time I experienced hummingbird cake was at the extremely popular Hominy Grill in Charleston, South Carolina and I instantly fell in love. This hummingbird cake recipe is the exact same one that made me fall in love with this classic Southern dessert in the first place! When I saw that Hominy Grill had a small paperbook cookbook available with some of their most popular recipes, I immediately grabbed one so I can remake this cake and their shrimp & grits (the best I have ever had) at home....
I have a lot of favorite pie recipes, so if I’m making a cream pie, it’s usually a tough decision to make between banana cream pie and this coconut cream pie. It’s not a big deal if they are both on the dessert table because I can have small pieces of each! However, if I’m only making one flavor, deciding which to make is nearly impossible. They are both so delicious!...
This homemade ice cream recipe offers two variations: a simple coconut milk version for those who prefer a lighter, dairy-free ice cream recipe and a custard style for those who love a richer texture. I tried making homemade coconut ice cream multiple ways before landing on my favorite version that I’m sharing with you today. Originally I started with a dairy-free base using just coconut milk and coconut cream, but while good, it didn’t have the same richness and smooth mouthfeel of the custard-style ice cream recipe that ended up being our favorite....
