Happy New Year!
Last year I shared a roundup of the top posts for 2012, and I decided I’d like to do it again for 2013. These posts are the ones that were your favorites (many of them mine, too!) and I want to thank each of you that took a moment to read these posts, pin them on Pinterest, share them socially, or leave a comment. It means a lot to me!
I am a member of the Mom It Forward Blogger Network and this slow cooker minestrone recipe is sponsored by Cans Get You Cooking.
Does your pantry kind of look like a “cantry”? Ours definitely does. If you open our cupboard doors you’ll find them fully stocked with cans of vegetables, fruit, broth, stock, beans and more.
Growing up we always had canned and jarred foods on hand. The winters were unpredictable and a full “cantry” meant that even in the middle of a blizzard you could have a flavorful meal made with ingredients picked at the peak of ripeness, locking in their fresh taste. Even on a beautiful, sunny day canned foods are a great shortcut to getting dinner on the table.
One of our favorite meals to make using canned ingredients in a slow cooker minestrone I’ve been making for a few years now. It’s on a short list of recipes that my husband specifically requests over and over. I’m always happy to oblige because in addition to tasting amazing, it’s so easy to put together! Continue reading »
This Orange Rolls recipe is a sponsored campaign on behalf of Halos. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
My grandmother makes a lot of delicious sweets that I love. Don’t ask me to chose just one – they’re all my favorite. But at Christmas each year she puts together a plate (well, sometimes large box) filled with my most favorite treats.
Each year her food care packages include orange sweet rolls and they’re something I greatly look forward to. Sweet and sticky, I always reach for them first. I decided that since I love them so much, I might as well learn to make them myself so I could share them with others.
One thing about recipes that come handed down from my Gram is that there’s a lot of trial and error involved for those who haven’t made them before. She doesn’t really follow a recipe; she reaches for a pinch of this and a splash of that. She can’t even tell you how long to cook or bake something, her reply is always “It’s done when it’s done.” Continue reading »
For holiday gift-giving as part of a sponsored post for Collective Bias® I made these Rocky Road Squares to give to family and friends. All thoughts and words are my own.
I’ve been spending a good portion of my days lately baking, cooking, mixing and stirring. Every year for more than the last decade, I have put together homemade food gift baskets for friends and family alike. I try and have them completed in early December if at all possible, so that they have most of the season to enjoy them.
One of my favorite holiday desserts to make for gift-giving are my Mom’s squares. She has made them for as long as I can remember and they were one of the treats I always requested for my birthday or other special occasions. She just calls them “her squares” but I think most people would consider them to be Rocky Road Squares.
Knowing that I had a lot of Christmas recipes to make over the next couple of weeks I made a trip to Walmart to stock up my pantry. Baker’s Baking Chocolate, Jet-Puffed Marshmallows, Planters Peanut Butter, chocolate bits, sweetened condensed milk, flour, sugar – pretty much the baking aisle. I usually make more than I plan to, and I don’t like needing to run out to pick up extra ingredients if I can help it. Continue reading »
I have been in love with pomegranates for years. In the last few years have become a little trendy due to the potential health benefits. For me, though, they’re just the delicious tart jewels that my grandmother always served from a bowl during the holidays.
After gathering up the courage to try one as a very picky teen I was immediately hooked. Since then I look forward to pomegranates coming into season each fall so that I can stock my refrigerator with the dark red fruits. Getting all the arils out of the pomegranate was never my favorite part, but now you can even buy containers of fresh pomegranate arils from the refrigerated case at the grocery store.
A few years ago I was experimenting with different recipes to find new ways to include either the arils or the juice. I sprinkled them on salads, used a few to garnish cupcakes, and would use the juice to make a delicious glaze for chicken. But my favorite discovery came when I was putting together my yearly food gift baskets for our friends and family. Continue reading »