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cheesy bread goodness
For me, one of the best parts of eating Italian food out is the bread. My favorite is the crusty bread, slathered in butter with mealy cheese everywhere. There is one small local Italian restaurant that inspired this bread that makes everything homemade. Their pasta is homemade, their sauce is homemade, their desserts are homemade and their bread is homemade. It’s all about the butter… Butter is what makes this bread so, so good. I use real unsalted butter (I typically only have unsalted butter in my refrigerator), not the fake stuff but real butter. To make it easy to spread I melt the butter. The melted butter seeps…
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zucchini for everyone
I have found that zucchini is one of those veggies that people either love or not love…but I have found a solution with these zucchini spears. OK I know you maybe asking yourself…a spear for dinner made out of zucchini? Yes, I made spears made out of zucchini coated in a crispy crust that will make everyone a zucchini lover. The very first time I had zucchini (that I can remember) was in Missouri close to my grandparents farm. There was a restaurant on top of the hill and we would eat there A LOT! Every time we would go there we would always order the fried zucchini for an…
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mashin’ up a sweet tater
A sweet tater (or potato if your not my dad) is God’s gift to the land of yummy starches…at least in my opinion. I just love the bit of sweet (or sometimes a lot of sweet) and the bright orange color and of course all the delicious dishes you can make with these little orange treats. OK, now I know some of you might be thinking that a sweet tater dish is for the holidays, like in this sweet potato casserole, or as a side to your burger in fry form…but trust me this mashed sweet potato recipe is a must make that will make everyone fall in love with sweet potatoes…
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one pan & done alfredo
Who doesn’t love a one pan meal…I mean c’mon it comes together with just a few steps and clean-up is super fast making this a perfect dinner option for a busy day. Over the years I made my fair share of one pan meals like this one pan spaghetti and this one pot sausage & potato stew but one of my most favorites it this cheesy one pot alfredo pasta. Alfredo sauce is my favorite sauce to put over noodles and when I can make everything in one pot it makes it even better. Now as we all know this cheesy and decadent sauce can be a little higher in…
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green beans in no time
Green beans are a staple in our home. The Hubby and I love them, my parents love them and my nephew REALLY loves them. They were one of the first foods he ate and still asks for them all the time. Over time we have fixed them all sorts of ways like these delicious green bean bundles, or my brothers favorite green bean casserole or one of my favorites simply roasted green beans but now we all have a new favorite…these skillet green beans. The beauty is they start out in the microwave for a quick steam, and then you finish them in a skillet until they are just…
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Wes & the Asparagus
Two of my most favorite people in the whole world are my niece and nephew Audra & Wesley. Audra is just about 8 months and Wesley will be 2 next week and I am obsessed with them. I try and talk to Wes once a day on the phone and see them as much as I can, and of course I am constantly spoiling them as much as I can. One of my favorite helpers One of my favorite things to do for Wes is to cook for him. From the time he could start eating real food I would bring him almost everything I made him…and sometimes when he see’s me he…
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Bacon + Jam = AMAZING
Bacon & Jam together at last…yes you read that right today is all about Bacon Jam. For those of you who have not had the distinct pleasure of enjoying this wonderful jam then you are going to be in for the treat of your life (ok at least this week, ok maybe today) but is really is so yummy!! I first came across bacon turned into jam at a local hamburger place. They were putting it on their burgers instead of slices of bacon. Now I was a little nervous when I ordered by first bacon jam burger…but all that went away after my first delicious bite. The jam brings…
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healthy + chips = new favorite
The word healthy was a yucky word to me for many years. Healthy meant veggies, no flavor and boring. Did you ever think that? Has the word healthy been hard to swallow before? Well don’t worry…it is soon to become one of your favorite words because now healthy can be chips too! One of the first veggies I first fell in love with was zucchini. It started with the fried appetizer version at a great local dive where my grandparents lived when I was a kid, and eventually it moved to a baked version. When I say eventually I mean EVENTUALLY…it took like 20 years, but I did eventually get there.…
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loving this thai peanut sauce…
Not too long ago I was strolling the aisles at my local Trader’s Joe and came across a thai peanut salad dressing. Now I know this doesn’t sound too special but to The Hubby it is was a HIGE find. You see The Hubby loves peanut butter, he loves thai flavors and he loves sauces so really this was a perfect find for him. Now the Trader’s Joe version is delicious but it does have some things in it that I can’t pronounce so I decided I need to make my own version that The Hubby would love and with ingredients that I know what they are…and then this thai…
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surprise their are veggies in this rice!
rice is a favorite around here…and we have made our fair share. Some of ur favorites are this Mexican version, or this cheesy one and & especially this cilantro lime version…but this green version is a new must make. So why make another version when I already have so many? Well you can really never have too many rice recipes, especially when they are this good. What makes this recipe so good…well I combined two of our favorites and added in some veggies to make it super yummy. I combined the classic red mexican rice and a light cilantro rice to make this green version. There is a little surprise about this rice though that will get some veggies on your kids plates (the big &…
