by Dana | Feb 23, 2018 | Appetizers, Dressings and Sauces, Easy Recipe, Pasta, Recipes, Salads, Seafood, Side Dishes, Snacks
Shrimp Pasta Salad, a perfect side dish, lunch, or party food! This cold shrimp pasta salad has all the good stuff - bowtie pasta, grape tomatoes, zucchini, and shrimp all tossed in a yummy pesto vinaigrette. It is a little different than your average pasta salad, but isn’t it fun to mix it up sometimes?! Pasta salad, in general, is one of my favorite summer snacks. You can load them up with fresh veggies and you have a refreshing snack for you in the fridge whenever you want! This recipe is the best shrimp pasta salad I have tried. I think it is really all about that dressing you use! The dressing for this recipe is super bright, flavorful, and easy to make! Of course, you can purchase a premade Italian style dressing. But, there is just something special about making it on your own. Shrimp and Pasta Salad Recipe Directions: Cook Pasta per the direction on the back of the box, rinse with cold water and let drain thoroughly. Roughly chop the cooked shrimp, thinly slice the zucchini, and cut the grape tomatoes in half. Throw everything into a large bowl. In a small bowl, make the dressing consisting of vinegar, olive oil, dijon mustard, prepared pesto, and more. Place pasta in the bowl with the other ingredients, pour the dressing on top and mix everything until well coated. Cover and place in the fridge for at least an hour, serve and enjoy. As with most recipes, you can use this as a base to add more things that you love. Alternatives and Add-Ons: You can definitely add lots...
by Lisa | Feb 21, 2018 | Appetizers, Gluten-Free, Side Dishes, Snacks, Snacks (Kid AND Inner-Kid friendly)
Who loves chips like me?! Don’t be shy! As much as I love them, I know I shouldn’t eat them all the time. So instead I make these eggplant chips! Yes, you heard me- eggplant! Not only are they already round, so they look like a chip, but they crisp up nicely when baked! Yay! No more guilt! This simple eggplant recipe is wonderful to have when you are going to a potluck or a tailgate party. You know there will be those tempting chips, but now you can bring your own healthy version and a yummy smoked paprika dip too! Eggplants vary in size and you can always cut them to the correct shape and size you need for your chips. So don’t worry too much if you have a huge one from your garden or a cucumber-shaped one from the store. They will both taste delicious! I always use my food processor to slice the eggplant. It is so easy and it makes them uniform in thickness. If you don’t have a food processor just use a sharp knife and try to be as consistent as possible to get uniform thickness. After slicing lay them out on a parchment-lined baking sheet and sprinkle with salt. This is where you have to be patient. Let the slices sit for at least an hour. Sometimes I leave them for several hours just because I get busy and forget about them. I like to make the smoked paprika dip at this time because it is best if it sits in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Or if...
by Lisa | Feb 15, 2018 | Appetizers, Breads and Quick Breads, Pork, Recipes, Side Dishes, Snacks
Enjoy this delicious pork tenderloin with yummy homemade sweet potato biscuits and top it all with melt in your mouth apple chutney! Talk about a yummy comfort food meal. This will make you want to sit next to a warm fire and read a book after dinner. I made this a few days ago and it was so simple and soooo delicious smelling. When the rosemary is cooking with the pork tenderloin it filled my house with such a delicious smell. It felt like fall had finally arrived. My house smelled even better when I made the apple chutney to top the pork tenderloin. I think adding a cinnamon stick to most things will only improve circumstances and thankfully the apple chutney recipe calls for one! This recipe does have three parts so you will want to plan ahead. Start with baking the sweet potato. Cover the sweet potato with olive oil, use a fork to put some holes in it and then wrap in foil and bake in the oven until squishy. Make sure you let the sweet potato cool before you mash or else you will get burned! You could bake the sweet potato a day or two ahead of time. I like to bake sweet potato like this often. I’ll bake several and then store them in the fridge and pull them out as needed. I typically like to just eat them as is, warmed up with a little bit of butter. They are packed with so many nutrients and fiber. You can’t go wrong! And what goes better with pork than sweet potato? And even...
by Kami | Feb 13, 2018 | Appetizers, Dairy Free, Dressings and Sauces, Recipes, Side Dishes, Snacks, Vegan, Vegetarian
Who doesn’t love guacamole?! It is one of the best and easiest dips ever! With this fresh guacamole recipe you will see just how quick and easy it is to make on your own! Guacamole is a staple where I am from. We eat it with almost everything. And if we don’t have guacamole you can be certain we have avocados, and let’s be honest, avocados are just a good smash and a few tomatoes away from being guacamole! If you are looking for some fancy complicated recipe, then I would look elsewhere. This is how to make homemade guacamole easy. Who doesn’t love that! When I have a big get together I love to whip up some of this easy guacamole and serve it with chips and veggies. It disappears every time! To make this delicious dip simply: Mash the avocados, then add the rest of the ingredients and stir. Easy peasy! And if you wanted a creamier guacamole and can handle dairy you could even add a little sour cream, but honestly you don’t need to! Oh and I’ll let you in on a little secret; in the past when I didn’t have tomatoes, I just added some salsa and that worked just fine! So it really is an easy recipe that can be adjusted to what you have! Let’s just get the guacamole on the chips and in you! It really is a happy place! And you don’t have to limit yourself to chips! Put this tasty guacamole on fries, hamburgers, chicken, fish, and veggies! Seriously good! Is it just me or does guacamole make you...
by Kami | Feb 2, 2018 | Breakfast, Dairy Free, Desserts, Gluten-Free, Recipes, Smoothies, Snacks, Vegan, Vegetarian
Yummy fruit on any day is so refreshing and this orange juice smoothie is no exception! Not only do you feel good drinking it but it makes your taste buds wake up! The combination of strawberries and bananas is a personal favorite and the added orange juice gives this smoothie an added zing! Give it a try! You won’t regret it! What is it about smoothies that make me think of warm spring or summer days! Shorts, swimming pools and playing outside! Riding bikes, sprinklers and working in a garden. I can’t wait for warmer weather! This strawberry banana smoothie with orange juice is so easy to make and if it’s not summer yet it will bring you warm thoughts! Honestly it’s still really cold where I’m at. We are lucky if it reaches the high 40’s, and I know in other parts of the country it is way colder. But I still love to make smoothies even on cold days (as long as the house is warm!). This smoothie is super simple to make! Simply add orange juice, frozen bananas, and frozen strawberries to a blender and blend! Easy as that! This recipe makes enough for four glasses, if you want to share it that is! The fruit gives you lots of energy and is sweet with all the natural sugar in it. You won’t even realize you are getting several servings of fruit in one glass! Your kids will love it too! If you love this orange banana smoothie you have to try some of my others! They are all amazing and delicious in their own unique...
by Lisa | Feb 1, 2018 | Desserts, Snacks
These are some of the best oatmeal cookies I have ever had! They smell amazing when cooking, they are amazingly soft and chewy when fresh from the oven, and they are super easy to make! Growing up I was never a fan of oatmeal raisin cookies. I always thought- why raisins and why not chocolate chips! Let’s be honest, I still think this way most of the time! I think I didn’t like them when I was little is because I would be expecting chocolate and then get a raisin. Let’s be honest, when you expect chocolate, anything else doesn’t satisfy. Well, I’ve made and eaten lots of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, but I have also come around to enjoying these soft oatmeal raisin cookies because when I make them I know to expect raisins These easy oatmeal raisin cookies are super quick to mix together and will be gobbled up even faster! Simply cream the wet ingredients in a mixer and while those are creaming, mix together the dry ingredients. Then add the dry to the wet and mix. Finally, mix in the oatmeal and raisins and bake! The glaze isn’t necessary but takes the cookies to the next level. So, if you have powdered sugar and a little milk make it! You won’t regret it. While the cookies are baking, combine the glaze ingredients. I like to use almond extract in the glaze because I love the flavor, but feel free to use vanilla or omit the extract all together! When the cookies are done baking, brush with the glaze and enjoy! Now, a disclaimer- these are...
