Happy Labor Day! Did you think I was gonna leave you hanging? Nope, this time I’m posting a down and dirty meal that you can enjoy when you’re crunched for time, and kids are sure to love because there are tater tots! This recipe I learned from one of my coworkers–from Minnesota! We were really confused at lunch one day as to what he was eating, and apparently this is a pretty common staple up there where as I (being a Yankee originally) had never in my life heard of it. So that prompted a discussion of what is tater…
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Continue ReadingThis weekend we had another game night: read D&D session, because we’re cool. =D It’s been a couple months since our last one, because summer always seems to get crazy busy for everyone and we have to find a weekend where all 5 of us are in town and not busy. But at least for you that means–more recipes! We’ve started doing a pot luck so everyone contributes, but since I like cooking I’ll usually make one or two things that I’ve been meaning to try out. Other recipes I’ve made before include mediterranean dip, or caramelized bacon onion dip ,…
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Bonus post: here’s another gourmet burger to add to your repertoire! Keep this one in mind alongside jalapeno cheddar stuffed burgers, or the juicy lucy burger. With these three burgers on your menu, you’re sure to impress! This is definitely a different twist on a classic burger, but really the main difference is the ground lamb. Everything else I typically have in my pantry. Make sure that you don’t over-mix the lamb, because you won’t want it to be tough. We served this with garlic butter roasted carrots and actually used what was left of the garlic butter in the…
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Your one-stop-shop for yummy cookies with that splash of gourmet! Check out pudding sprinkle cookies and cake batter chocolate chip cookies for some other gourmet takes! These maple sugar cookies came out fabulous, with no more than a hint of maple, though you could definitely taste it, which is perfect for me. Sometimes if not done properly, I find maple syrup cloyingly sweet. Do make sure you’re using that real stuff instead of the stuff that is basically corn syrup with some brown tint. Because it is used as the flavoring in this recipe, you won’t really get that maple flavor unless you use good…
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Let me just start this off answering the question on everyone’s mind–yes, this recipe is everything you want it to be! Another adventure stemming from my coworkers, though this time from a birthday rather than fresh-from-the-garden produce like baked jalapeño poppers. Since I like cooking and baking (whaaaat), a coworker’s birthday is always the perfect excuse to try out a new recipe! I do ask for a category or a few examples of what they like so that I have a starting place. How bad would everyone feel if I made something the birthday guy/gal didn’t like? That’s awkward for everyone. So…
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Look familiar? I’ll give you a hint: I reviewed a dish quite like this last week from Kona Grill! Here’s my homemade take! The one bite I stole from one of my fellow bridesmaids K at the bachelorette dinner last weekend was so good I was still craving it two days later! So I tried to kinda make something up as I went. This was still quite tasty, and delicious, though of course not exactly the same. Definitely a keeper though! Pesto cream sauce with sausage medallions tossed with some spaghetti or linguine. Hope you enjoy! You’ll notice in this photo…
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From the lady that made jalapeno popper stuffed bread before she made traditional jalapeno poppers, I give you baked jalapeno poppers! As I’ve said, you can thank my lack of spice tolerance for this delay. Somehow a dip that’s made much more of cream cheese and cheese and other goodies seemed less intense than jumping in full to jalapeno poppers. Plus the last batch I had were made by a lady who thought we all loved spice, and were a looooot too intense for me. Delicious, but mouth-on-fire delicious, and hence I had somewhat avoided these. Which is silly really, because when you’re…
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I am definitely becoming the queen of convenience! Okay, not really, because this recipe isn’t exactly as simple as some of my five-ingredient recipes like bbq baby back ribs, but I’ve definitely been reaching for the recipes with a convenience factor (read: cream of potato soup, for this one). Here’s the same plug from my last recipe, spicy cream tomato sauce pasta which uses jarred tomato sauce: convenience isn’t a bad thing. In an ideal world, I’d love to make everything from scratch or nearly scratch (you probably won’t catch me boiling up some seafood to make seafood stock either way). But I’m…
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This recipe came from one of those long-week, long-days, need to throw something together evening meals. But it was surprisingly tasty and actually elevated, and not at all “from-a-jar”. And it really only takes a little bit of cream! Well, not quite. I’ve mentioned it before, but even as a self-proclaimed “foodie”, I feel like canned and jarred items have their place. They’re perfect when you’re tired and lazy, or can’t get up the effort to run to the grocery store. Don’t underestimate those easy cheats! They come in handy when you’re having last-minute company, or you need to impress the…
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Sometimes I’m skeptical of advertised “softbatch” cookies, because I’ve had hit or miss experiences with whether they actually turn out as advertised. This recipe really was a good softbatch cookie recipe though! They weren’t quite as puffy as I usually prefer, but they were soft, and definitely a good chewy. The original recipe from Kim on The ChocolaTess uses pudding mix, and typically I’m a huge fan of using this secret ingredient in cookies. Just see my pudding sprinkle cookies, and my cookies and creme cookies recipes from some ah-mazingly tasty examples. However, since this recipe didn’t specify using a whole packet, I decided to…
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Happy Fourth of July! I know you all will probably be spammed by social media with red, white, and blue galore! So here’s some green to mix it up! =D I wanted to share this because it’s an easy recipe to make for company! If you prep the ingredients before cooking and then just add to a pot to simmer away, it works quite nicely. Let me know if you try this method! I am in Chicago for a family vacation until Wednesday, so I wanted to make sure I shared a recipe at least and didn’t leave you all hanging.…
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This bread is ooey, gooey deliciousness. And I really do mean that, so watch out for some falling dip when you’re stuffing your face! My friends and I had a splat or two on the floor by the time we were done! But it was gobbled up in pretty much no time flat, let me tell you. It really is a quintessential appetizer recipe, and wouldn’t be a horrible pot luck recipe if you had access to a toaster oven, but it’s not really a make-and-carry recipe. It’s definitely better warm and fresh from the oven. We did another “Pokewine”…
