• hello fresh: juicy lucy burger;

    March 30, 2016bestwithchocolate@gmail.com

    So coming back from Iceland, I decided to do another round of hello fresh so that I wouldn’t be worried about grocery shopping and cooking and all that jazz when we were back.  The first recipe we tried was a Dijon pork meal, that was satisfactory and I might post it at some point, but this juicy Lucy burger is definitely on my to-make-again list! This burger is more than your typical throw-it-on-the-grill burger, and definitely is schmancy enough to be like a restaurant burger, but it’s fairly straight forward to make.  I’d pull this one out when you want that…

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  • Crescent Breakfast Ring @ bestwithchocolate.com

    crescent breakfast ring;

    March 6, 2016bestwithchocolate@gmail.com

    This breakfast crescent ring is yumm-ee!  It does take a little bit of effort rather early in the morning I’ll admit, with all the different pieces that go together.  But it was tasty, that’s for sure!  Actually it was tastier than I even expected, but I’m glad it was since it took a little more effort than expected at first glance. The one thing to do next time to make it look even better would be to make the ring a little smaller so that there isn’t quite as large of a hole in the middle.  I think that would make…

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  • Strawberry Shortcake Vodka Slush @ bestwithchocolate.com

    strawberry shortcake vodka slush;

    February 22, 2016bestwithchocolate@gmail.com

    The weather’s getting warmer, and we’re getting closer to the time when we break out the mixed cocktails, the wine tastings out in the summery vineyards…  It makes me a little sad that I don’t enjoy winter as much as I used to.  When I was little, winter meant staying inside by the fire, or staying home from school, or playing in the snow.  Now it means brushing off the car, going into work in the cold, and dealing with the extra icy stupidity that overtakes the NoVA area.  And even though it’s not actually that warm out yet, I decided to…

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  • Asparagus Pesto Pasta @ bestwithchocolate.com

    asparagus pesto pasta;

    February 19, 2016bestwithchocolate@gmail.com

    This is a hearty and tasty vegetarian pasta option!  We actually were introduced to this recipe by a friend of T’s who made it when we visited them to chat about their trip to Iceland!  We’re going next month, so we wanted to get the inside scoop since they went only a few months before we will.  But T and I were both impressed with how tasty this meal was, so I decided to recreate it at home for myself! Asparagus is not T’s favorite, but he’ll eat it, and more happily so when it’s mixed into things, so that works out…

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  • Pulled Pork @ bestwithchocolate.com

    pulled pork;

    February 2, 2016bestwithchocolate@gmail.com

    Pulled pork is one of those slow cooker recipes to keep in your back pocket.  I love me a good slow cooker recipe that has people (mostly T) raving about how awesome it is when I almost feel guilty for the praise because I barely touched it.  Seriously, the most amount of time I spent on this was shredding the meat.  I’m not even joking.  And most of it just fell off in chunks anyway! Some of the meat near the bone was a little tough, but I left it until after dinner and just picked off what I could after…

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  • Grilled Cinnamon Pineapple @ bestwithchocolate.com

    grilled cinnamon pineapple;

    January 31, 2016bestwithchocolate@gmail.com

    This grilled cinnamon pineapple is the perfect summer grilin’ recipe! Funny enough, it’s not summer as I write this, and there’s still a fair bit of snow of the ground. But with warm, toasty flavors, and just a slight bit of char on tangy sweet pineapple, it reminds me of summertime. Close enough, right? Grilled cinnamon pineapple is a great addition to any summertime BBQ menu. A healthful dessert that’s easy to prep and grill. A sweet ending to a lovely hot summer day, and so, so easy to make. This recipe is so simple it barely warrants a recipe.…

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  • Loaded Baked Potato Rounds @ bestwithchocolate.com

    loaded baked potato rounds;

    January 23, 2016bestwithchocolate@gmail.com

    I have a little story for you all.  A young girl graduated college and moved in with one of her friends.  Moved to a new state, and in the evenings when they didn’t feel like cooking some nights….they would eat baked potato rounds! Really it’s just a means to get cheese and bacon to our mouths.   We were having a snowed-in game night last night with some friends that live within walking distance of our place (to trudge through the snow), and I whipped out this ol’ recipe to relive the past.  And it’s always amazing.  Though because of the snow, I…

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  • Cream Cheese Vegetable Dip @ bestwithchocolate.com

    cream cheese vegetable dip;

    January 23, 2016bestwithchocolate@gmail.com

    Here’s a great party recipe!  The best part is that the veggies can be swapped out with whatever you have lying in the fridge.  I ended up using celery and carrots, though I’m sure you could add in peppers, jalapenos, broccoli, spinach…anything you want!  And the other ingredients take a number at 4.  Amazing isn’t it? You of course can chop all of these vegetables by hand, but I highly recommend and food processor or chopper.  I love this 1.5 c food chopper and it makes short work of vegetables!  It’s cheap, safe, and reliable, and easy to clean and pack up.  Especially…

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  • Cake Mix Coffee Cake @ bestwithchocolate.com

    cake mix coffee cake;

    January 20, 2016bestwithchocolate@gmail.com

    So I was supposed to have volleyball tonight.  But lucky for you all, instead you get another recipe because it’s snowing and surprisingly dangerous for the less than 2″ of snow on the ground.  But it’s that wet, slippery kind.  I turned around before even going a mile to one of the major roads, and I passed at least 6 cars pulled over on the side of the road, and two in an accident right outside the complex.  Jeez.  And I don’t have an all-wheel drive vehicle, I have a sedan, but I also grew up in the Northeast and feel…

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  • Jalapeno Cheddar Stuffed Burgers @ bestwithchocolate.com

    jalapeno cheddar stuffed burgers;

    January 19, 2016bestwithchocolate@gmail.com

    This recipe worked out great because I had pretty much everything in my fridge.  It actually worked out great, one of those clean-out-the-fridge recipes!  In general, though, I wouldn’t really call it that.  This recipe is adapted from Holly’s Jalapeno Cheddar Burgers recipe on Spend with Pennies.  Definitely tasty, though I had a few twists to the original. Firstly, I ended up using vegetable cream cheese.  Now you only need regular cream cheese, but I think you could spruce this recipe up, or change out the center for something different!  A chive cream cheese with some roasted garlic would make a great stuffer, or you could…

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  • Honey Mustard Pretzel Chicken @ bestwithchocolate.com

    honey mustard pretzel chicken tenders;

    January 7, 2016bestwithchocolate@gmail.com

    Here’s a perfect family-pleaser recipe!  I call it that because it’s a familiar and tasty option, spiced up with a little gourmet twist, but not with ridiculous ingredients.  Chicken tenders, done the normal way, except instead of breadcrumbs, crushed pretzels for extra crunch, and throw in some honey mustard in the eggwash.  That’s really all there is! I like this recipe because you get a little extra crunch for a touch of extra work.  I don’t know if anyone else has this problem but I hate “crushing” things.  Everyone makes it sound so easy–just crush the pretzels, like it’s that…

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  • french dip sandwich @ bestwithchocolate.com

    french dip sandwiches;

    January 6, 2016bestwithchocolate@gmail.com

    So I’m feeling under the weather right now, and after a crazy New Year’s Eve, I’m ready for some easy-peasy slow cooker recipes.  So I turned to this slowcooker french dip sandwich recipe from the magical slow cooker!  I adapted ever so slightly, using what I had on hand–lipton french onion soup mix. Now you’ll notice that even while I mention salt and pepper in the ingredient list, I don’t actually mention in the instructions to use salt.  This is just a personal preference.  I like how easy the french onion soup mix makes this recipe, but I do think it’s got…

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