Who doesn’t love a good smoothie to start your day? Smoothies are so filling and they’re packed with good nutrients. This recipe makes a batch for the whole family. I’m obsessed with the deep purple color it turned into. When I was picking out yogurt for smoothies I decided to try using Chobani’s coconut yogurt as a base for some fun tropical smoothies. This is one of ...
Recipes
Sheet pan roasted vegetables with beer braised bratwurst
I love roasting vegetables on a sheet pan, and recently discovered how much better they cook on a Pampered Chef Stoneware bar pan. I simply dice some of my favorite vegetables, put them in a bowl, coat them with a little bit of olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, minced garlic and a little bit of salt and pepper. Sometimes I'll add protein like chicken to the top, but I ...
Baked Pizza Ziti Recipe (weeknight meal for picky eaters)
I need easy go-to meals to survive the week. I love cooking, but sometimes you need to throw together noodles, sauce, and cheese and call it a meal. I used my homemade marinara recipe for this particular batch, because the pandemic has been keeping me away from Trader Joe's pizza sauce. I started with al dente ziti, then normally add in pizza sauce, browned hamburger with ...
How to meal plan for real moms and real life.
How to meal plan for real moms and real life. Meal planning is a sanity saver. It saves me from asking myself, "Crap, what's for dinner?" at 2 in the afternoon. It saves us money at the grocery store. It saves me from having a pantry full of dusty canned goods. It makes you feel like your life is a little more put together, even if it isn't. It helps you avoid pizza three ...
Decadent Apple Cinnamon Pancake Topping recipe
Can I tell you a secret? I hate pancakes. They're just ok, and because I don't love them I only eat 1 or maybe 2 if they're small so I'm always starving right after breakfast. I'm just not a fan. This makes AJ and Aliceana so sad. So when we were binge watching Queer Eye with a box of Kleenex very nearby, because oh man that show makes us cry a lot. In one particular episode ...
Venison Stew recipe
Living in Wisconsin venison is something that we grow up with, so we were thrilled this year when AJ got two deer on opening day. This was also the first year that Aliceana went on the journey out to the woods, the biggest take away is that she has a hard time staying quiet for that long, and she's not great at whispering. Anyway, venison is an incredibly lean meat, and we love ...
White Chocolate Oatmeal Craisin Cookies
My grandma is basically the reason why I know how to do more in the kitchen than heat up hot pockets. Lately, she's been absolutely obsessed with The Pioneer Woman's recipe books. We've been her guinea pigs, taste testing every new meal she comes up with. That's not what I'm here to talk about though, I'm here to talk about her amazing oatmeal raisin cookies. One of my ...
Slowcooker Ham and Cheese Pasta, the best ever comfort food.
This recipe is one that has been a family favorite for, well for as long as I can remember. It’s one of the very few things my mom could cook, this and the best ever Rice Krispie treats. I’m pretty sure anyone that can boil pasta can make this one, and that’s the beauty of it. Well that and the fact that it’s probably the best comfort food in the history of ever. It’s perfect ...
Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins
I love chocolate and peanut butter, but I normally can only handle it in small doses. AJ on the other hand is obsessed with chocolate, one of his favorite treats is my Chocolate Explosion Cake, that's the ultimate chocolate lovers cake, Holy chocolate Batman. This week I was craving peanut butter and chocolate pretty badly, so I decided it was time to make some muffins, I ...
Chocolate Explosion Cake
Sometimes you just need a cake that will knock the socks off of someone, it helps if that cake is really decadent, bonus points if its super easy to make. I found this cake when I was nearly 10 months pregnant, and so over pregnancy (the hot, miserable, big-as-a-house, in-hibernation stage of pregnancy.) It was said to be so chocolaty that it could kick start labor. It ...
Better Than Take Out Sesame Chicken
Chinese take out is a weakness for our entire family, it’s the best. It gets so pricey though, we spend a small fortune every time we order take out. It could be because we can’t resist ordering extra egg rolls, then there’s the days you want crab rangoon, and the major splurge days when you need fried donuts. We’re foodies and it’s costly. I normally avoid making Asian style ...