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My Thanksgiving All-Stars
I typically spend my Thanksgivings alternating between my grandma’s house and Blake’s family. And so while I haven’t hosted turkey day at my home but once or twice, I’m usually making half a dozen sides to contribute to the meal and so I’ve acquired my favs over the years. My office also has an annual Thanksgiving lunch, and so I get another opportunity to try new recipes and perfect the tried and true. Ever since I began eating cleaner and cutting out all the “cream of whatever” soups, I’ve been on a quest to find recipes that are just as flavorful, but truly made from scratch. So far so good. I’m…
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Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice
A couple of years ago I went through a crock pot phase. I got all excited about making freezer meals and cooking them in the crock pot while I was at work and thought I had solved all my weeknight cooking problems. It didn’t work out so well for me. First, I’m gone too long for most crock pot dishes and even on low with a timer (that turns it to warm), most of my meat was way over cooked. Second, the meat started to get a funny taste that I can’t really put my finger on, but I just didn’t like it. Seemed like everything I put in the…
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Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy
I finally decided to start making some new dishes this week and so I’m excited to share another Pinterest win! Fresh on being infatuated with my recent Salisbury Steak Meatballs, when I saw this recipe with the mushroom gravy, I couldn’t wait to try it. This dish is pure comfort food. I served it over mashed potatoes and it was plate-licking good. Hope you enjoy! Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy Salisbury Steak 1 1/3 lb ground beef 1/2 medium sweet onion, diced 1/3 cup plain panko breadcrumbs 1 egg 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 1 tbsp ketchup 2 tsp dried parsley 2 tsp minced garlic 1/2 tsp pepper 3/4 tsp salt…
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Mushroom Asiago Chicken
Trying to get my husband to tell me what he wants for dinner is next to impossible. So yesterday morning when I got a Facebook notification that my husband had tagged me in a post, only to find it was recipe he was reposting, I was intrigued. And just to be clear, I replied, “Are you trying to tell me you want this for dinner?” and he responded, “Yes.” Hallelujah – at least we can communicate about dinner via Facebook. So trying to seize this rare opportunity, I went to the store, got the all the needed ingredients and made his requested dish for dinner. I must say, he was spot…
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The Perfect One-Pot Pasta Side Dish
I’m always on the hunt for a good easy homemade substitution for the foods I used to love. And when I come across a really great alternative, I’m super excited to share. This recipe takes the place of the box pasta that I’d make once or twice a week (Pasta Roni, Lipton’s Noodles or Knorr’s Pasta Sides). While you can’t make this for less than $2, it is a one-pot side in less than 15 minutes, and I assure you the flavor will blow the others away. Plus, it’s free of all the preservatives and MSG that make the box options a no-go for me these days. I found this recipe…
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Chili – The Official Meal of Fall
For me, chili is the official meal of the fall. It’s hearty and warm and the smell of it cooking on the stove just makes me happy. I make almost the same chili recipe that I had growing up, except the main differences are now I add some celery (because I love the flavor it brings) and beef stock (instead of not draining my beans). It still brings me back to the fall and winter in Florida and one of my favorite meals my mom would make for our family. Chili 1 1/3 lbs ground beef 1 large sweet onion, diced 2 stalks celery, diced 1 tbsp minced garlic 2…
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Salisbury Steak Meatballs
Have I ever mentioned how much I like beef? Well, I like it a lot. I love hearty meals that just make you feel good inside, and this is one of those dishes. I stumbled upon this Pioneer Woman recipe on Pinterest and was instantly intrigued. It’s been quite a while since I had salisbury steak, and frankly, I don’t think I’ve ever made it as an adult. But there was something nostalgic about the concept and so I figured I’d give it a try… jackpot! I mixed up and formed my meatballs yesterday (Sunday) to help make it easier on myself for the craziness that I knew would be Monday evening.…
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Crispy Belgium Waffles
I love waffles, but admittedly it’s more often than not the frozen variety. It’s something about the crispiness of a waffle right out of the toaster where you can spread your butter and get a little bit in every square. I just love it. And since I like to cook from scratch, I decided that I needed a waffle iron in my kitchen arsenal and I sought out to make homemade waffles. However, instead of my homemade version far surpassing the instant option, my waffles were a little lackluster – they were too sweet and worst of all, they were soggy. Such a bummer. So the other day I was home…
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Chicken Parmesan Casserole
The last stop on my cooking marathon yesterday was this dish – Chicken Parmesan Casserole! I love the idea of deconstructing a traditional dish and turning it into a casserole (see also Chicken Cordon Bleu Mac and Cheese). So I thought I’d do something similar to this Italian classic. The fact that I love fried chicken helped to add this to my dinner rotation for the week too. I have to say that it turned out great and every bite was definitely reminiscent of the original dish. Some of the breading from the chicken gets mixed in with the pasta and sauce and continues the flavor throughout. Yum, yum! I…
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Chocolate Mint Cake with Fresh Mint Buttercream Frosting
I spent the better part of my day in the kitchen today – but some really yummy things came out of it, and so it was work well worth it! I tried two new recipes – this chocolate mint cake and chicken parmesan casserole (I’ll post that next). They both turned out so, so good! This spring, I decided to grow some “easy” herbs – basil, rosemary and mint. So far, so good – it’s all still alive! Until today, I hadn’t used any of the mint and so I’ve been searching for something to do with it. My love for Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies made me naturally think of…
