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Happy Cinco de Mayo from my house to yours. But truth be told I am so going to be eating this dessert throughout the year. Because if there is one thing I always have on hand, it is ripening bananas, flour tortillas and cinnamon. And of course it was so delicious I am always looking for a healthier dessert and something to do with bananas that have gotten past the point where my family
Strawberry season is here and this year I promised my family I would make some strawberry jam. Last year I made lots of jam but somehow never got any strawberry made and I had a lot of unhappy eaters in my house. They wanted strawberry jam. So, strawberry season is here and I delivered. However, I like my jam to taste like the actual fruit. Not just sugar and so while I added plenty of sugar to
I have a confession to make. I am one of those gals that will always walk through the grass instead of on the sidewalk if it means that it is a shorter and better route. So, I think it is kind of funny when people assume I make everything from scratch. And they do occasionally. The truth is I a love a short cut. Especially when it comes to baking. Which is why I love Jiffy Mixes. Especially
Happy Happy Pi day. I only ever liked or did well at one type of math -- Geometry. And so I celebrate Pi and that one math class I got As in during high school with a roundup of my fave pies. It is so hard to pick. I LOVE, LOVE Pie. Pie I am making today. I am making a large version of this Double Lemon Tart to giveaway to a deserving person in my neighborhood. . 2. Peach and Bosenberry Mini
My Grandma was half French and Half Italian. Her nationality was French, but her mother was Italian. There is an awesome love story of her parents there with Algeria as a backdrop. A story for another day. This Braciole is not her recipe but it is definitely in honor of her and her mad cooking skills. I love a good stuffed beef roll. Even more I love a braciole which has been cooked in
A Blueberry Biscuit Story: It started out with a craving. I saw a pic of some blueberry biscuits on Pinterest. And well I have been thinking of blueberry biscuits ever since. I have pinned a few of those recipes. But they just were not what I was looking for. I decided to go back to the roots of this blog as I developed this recipe. Many of the original recipes on this blog were my
Desserts are like love! They are all about the layers. I have been thinking up a new tart recipe for weeks now. I wanted something that had some yummy layers but started out with a delicious lemon wafer cookie crust. I recently discovered these lemon wafers at the grocery store. And they were just screaming "MAKE ME INTO A TART CRUST!" I also wanted a layer of Nutella. (When is that
Look at how thick and fluffy these pancakes turned out. Are they not just gorgeous? The best part is that even though I had to alter these pancakes to make them dairy free, they still fluffed up like this using butter and milk substitutes. I have a daughter who is lactose intolerant and so we have to alter A LOT of recipes like pancakes, muffins, rolls and waffles. I am completely
This recipe is hands down one of my favorites. It is simple, it is delicious and it is quick. It has a space in my big black book of recipes. But what if something happens to that big black book of recipes. Losing this recipe would be kind of tragic. Especially, since I want my children to have access to it when they go off to college someday. This is what I would consider an easy
Oh how I wish I had a good camera or at least good light when I took these photos. Because this fish was a thing of bright beauty on a dismal overcast winter day. And we have had a few of those lately in this unseasonably cold winter in Southern Utah. This recipe is also kind of an oxymoron. My son and husband brought it back from an ice fishing trip into the mountains (They didn't catch
This year I vow to stock my pantry with Agave syrup. I am going to eat healthier (again). I have done it before and I know I can do it again. But I am not willing to give up treats. The older I get the less desire I have to deprive myself of dessert. However, there are alternatives to straight up sugar. I have discovered that I really like agave syrup as a sweetener. Agave is still a simple
I know we are all in full on baking mode. I should be sharing sweet little bites on my blog. But the truth is today I needed something savory to balance out all the sweetness (Don't worry I am totally craving chocolate again). I needed something that was simple and yet comforting and healthy for dinner. It's no secret I love Italian food and flavors more than anything. It is my ultimate
I have been MIA from my blog and from the kitchen. I had some surgery and I am just barely getting back in the kitchen. I was kind of ecstatic the day I made chicken tacos (from chicken that had been precooked and frozen). It was a milestone in my recovery. I am still not up to spending more than about 15 minutes prepping in the kitchen. I get really tired really fast. But today I
There is a Pie Party going on in the blogosphere today. And because this girl loves pies and parties, I had to go. SO --“I’m joining TidyMom and Whirlpool for the 4th Annual Love the Pie Party and entered to win a new Whirlpool Gold® Induction Range I would have joined the party even if there wasn't an awesome prize. Everyone who really knows me knows I am kind of a pie making maniac this
I love the crockpot. It gets used at least once a week. However, I don't always love chicken in the crockpot. Sometimes it just gets too dry. But I gave chicken another try with this recipe and really liked it. The original recipe which can be found in multiple places online refers to this as Thai curry chicken in the crockpot. My sister-in-law who is a die hard authentic Thai cook may just
You Voted! And the winner was Chicken Pomodoro Pizza. Below you will find the tasty recipe I developed. All garlic and basil and fresh tomatoes and a drizzle of balsamic. You are going to love it. I am entering this pizza recipe into the Hodgson Mill Build A Better Pizza Recipe Contest. And here is the recipe for Chicken Pomodoro Pizza The Crust I have had a hard time finding
I love pizza. I mean who doesn't? Which is why I am so excited to be one of 50 bloggers that gets to participate in the "Hodgson Mill's Build A Better Pizza." recipe contest. I have some really yummy recipe ideas tucked inside my apron pockets. But I want your help deciding which recipe I will develop for my entry into the contest. And later after you feel invested in helping me choose, I
Look at that cute ballerina :) that accompanied me to the market. I love the farmer's market. In fact, this week I went twice. I love all those fresh veggies. Now, because I am kind of busy canning salsa, freezing peaches and eating berries, I am going to do a cheater's post. You see I already wrote a post about farmer's market veggies this week on my magazine Alive! Utah. Our Taste
I had the most prolific boysenberry and blackberry bushes this year. We made jam, syrup, pies, sorbet and we ate a ton of berries right off the bush. It was my garden's crowning achievement this year. But we are finally winding down. And I am not pulling these jeweled babies off by the bowl full anymore. So it was time for some muffins. A nice surprise for my kiddos (I never make
RECIPE TRIAL: I have never wrapped my fish up in cedar wood paper before. It is not something that would have occurred to me as something cool to do. However, I found some of this cool Fire and Flavor Cedar paper at the grocery store. Last night I wrapped up some marinated salmon, some carrots from our garden and some zucchini from the farmer's market in these beautiful packets. The
My goodness these mini pies were delicious. One morning this week, this was my fruit harvest. Happiness in a bowl. Pie, berries and peaches. These are a few of my favorite things. So of course I had to combine them all together. 5 little pies for our family. I love individual pies. There is more crust per serving. It is less messy. My pie is all mine. Love them. I used the tin foil
We love a good cornbread in our house. A good homemade cornbread that is thick, moist and sweet. But the best cornbreads are made with buttermilk and we have a lactose intolerant kid in our house. Most lactose free cornbreads can be a little crumbly and dry. I wanted the best of both worlds -- Moist and dairy free. So I Googled and made some alterations. And we have a winner. This was
RECIPE TRIAL: I love beet greens. I can't say I have always felt the same way about beets. But I want to love them, even it is just for their deep burgundy red. So, I decided it was time to try beets again. 1. Because I planted a few beets in my garden (simply because I like the beet greens). But it seemed like such a waste not eating the beets. 2. It is my goal to eat something from
Pantry Recipe: These are one of our favorite summer sides, and they are one of the easiest to make. I have simplified this oven potato fries to 3 ingredients. Which is why they are part of our summer menu. My two older kids have to make dinner once a week. We are trying to teach them how to cook. My 10 year old wanted to learn how to make these 3 ingredient potato fries. They are one of her
RECIPE TRIAL I love the first fruits of summer -- Apricots and Black Currants. These two fruits were meant to come together in a puff pastry tart. Meant to. I can't even tell you how much I loved this tart that I made combining several recipe ideas into one. I am ready to make another one and eat it gone and so are my kids. This year is the first year I have had black currants on my bush.
Recipe Trial and Pantry Recipe: Yep, it is another recipe for ripe bananas. You can never have too many of those now can you? I found the recipe in a cookbook I have had for 17 years. Festive Fare: Lite Menus for Playful Days. I had never heard of these cookies so they became our Sunday baking project. Quite tasty if I do say so. I think you will like them too. The Recipe 1 Small Banana
Seasonal Recipe: I love chives and I love pesto. Imagine my giddiness when I found a recipe for chive pesto. A use for my overflowing chives -- perfect genius. The original recipe from Bon Apetit called for roasted chive potatoes (which sounds delish) but I was feeling adventuresome in the kitchen and decided to create my own recipe using chive pesto. It turned out great! I combined a few of
RECIPE TRIAL: We go through phases with bananas. Sometimes I can't keep them in the house longer than 1 day before they are gobbled. But lately they are going over ripe in record numbers. I didn't feel like wasting them or adding them to the HUGE bag of frozen bananas in the fridge. And I didn't feel up to making banana bread. But I could smell them ripening by the second on the counter.
Pantry Recipe: I admit I am not a lover of jiggly Jell-o dishes. I keep Jell-o in my pantry for other purposes, mainly flavoring for other dishes. When I saw these bright Jell-O cookies on Pinterest, I thought my girls will think those are so fun to make. But I wanted to give these sugar cookies even a little more flavor. Plus it always fun to play mad scientist in the kitchen with your
RECIPE TRIAL: I love Italian food for so many reasons, but I especially love it because it has so many stuffed foods. Yummy delicious food on the outside -- more yummy (usually cheesy) stuff on the inside. It's all about the layers of goodness with Italian food. I have been wanting to try meatballs stuffed with mozzarella forever. And I love a good sausage meatball. So I came up with these
Pantry Recipe: I love the word bruschetta. Mostly because it means some sweet or savory or spicy mixture all served up on a bite size piece of toast. I am especially enamored with fruit bruschetta lately. I dreamed up this recipe because 1. I just bought a case of canned pineapple (my family goes through that stuff) and 2. it just sounded so perfect for spring and Easter. I love that this fresh
Here is a great recipe that follows the guidelines of the paleo diet. This diet is based on the principle of examining the ways humans historically ate during the Paleolithic period of development, from approximately 12,000 to 200,000 years ago. The idea behind the diet is that our digestive and cardiovascular systems were not evolved to deal with many of the processed types of foods we
RECIPE TRIAL I made an exciting discovery last week. I ventured to the garden to see what was greening up. I sat down for a moment and noticed orange little caps poking through the dirt. I had been sure that the jack rabbits and deer had dug up my remaining carrots during the winter months. But lo and behold as I started digging up came handfuls of carrots. Now that is some kind of beautiful
Happy St. Paddy's Day tomorrow. Oh how I love this holiday. Yesterday I had my annual lunch with friends where I served up some tasty green eats. It was a blast. This month for my online magazine we featured Sweet and Sassy Limes. Lime is absolutely one of my favorite spring flavors. Of course I am going to ask you to visit the page for the whole article but I wanted to share the recipe for
What? You haven't heard of fry sauce? Well neither had I when I hauled my college aged self across the country from Pennsylvania to Idaho 20 years ago. I discovered that every fast food restaurant -- every one -- had fry sauce available for their patrons. An orange dipping sauce that I thought was weird. But then I am not really a mayo fan. Legend has it that Fry sauce, which happens to be
Pantry Recipe: Canned cherries and vanilla pudding. I love a good smoothie and this is one of my new favorite combos. I got a new immersion blender for my birthday and I love that I can make single smoothies right in the cup. It is so fun and easy. You can, of course, use a blender if you don't have an immersion blender or want to make a larger amount. This recipe is good for one large or two
RECIPE TRIAL: CAULIFLOWER I don't usually run to the produce section to snatch up some cauliflower. It's white. It just doesn't jump out at me. But that doesn't mean I don't like it. Because I do. I really do. I am part of a vegetable co-op called Bountiful Baskets. Lately, they have been handing out a lot of cauliflower. One time recently I got two giant heads of it. Now that my friends is a
RECIPE TRIAL & PANTRY RECIPE Stock your pantry suggestion: Always have a few cake mixes hanging around your pantry. I crave lemon flavored things all day. Maybe because it is winter and lemon is bright and yellow and sweet and tart and all things summer. And I crave summer come mid February. I have been really wanting to try a lemonade cupcake recipe and (here comes the confession) sometimes
Recipe Trial. I am all about the homemade Valentine. I think Valentine's day is beautiful in it's most simplistic form. I don't think it should be about another chance to spend a fortune on a gift. I think it should be about saying I love you, or I care or you are my friend in a simple heartfelt way. I want nothing more than to spend Valentine's evening at home with my hubby serving up our
(I need a better Camera) Pantry Recipe: Featuring Canned Cherries and Nutella So Nutella Day came and went. But I did actually feed my family Nutella, even if it was the last tablespoons from three different jars. I had every intention of making Individual No Bake Nutella Cheesecakes, but it turns out that all of the Nutella jars in my pantry were practically empty. So what do you do with
Recipe Trial: In my quest to try a new recipe every week. Lamb is part of my winter menu. I bought that whole half of a lamb this year and I am trying out all kinds of new recipes. This is one of my new favorites. I found this recipe at Sheep's Creek Farm Lamb Recipes. My lamb chops were little and so we could pick them up like they were dainty little chops meant for finger food. But this will
Pantry Recipe:don't forget to always have nuts and chocolate chips on hand The title of this recipe was screaming my name. Baking cookies is not exactly my forte. I always forget something, the eggs, the oil, the actual cookies baking in the oven. Last time I made cookies I thought for sure I had it made. I took out prefrozen cookie from the freezer and put them in the oven. 30 minutes later
Recipe Trial: I have never made a caponata. So this recipe has been on my radar for a while. I have to say I am kind of in love with it. I am a big eggplant fan (and would dedicate space in my garden to this plump purple veggie if my husband and I were not the only ones eating it) and in this recipe it is just perfect. I love the way eggplant soaks up flavors and makes them better. This
Seasonal & Pantry The seasonal side: Do you have makeshift orange street vendors on your city sidewalks? Here in Southern Utah the orange guy is hawking oranges all winter. They bring them from warmer climates. But the truth is oranges are cheap and delicious in January. I bought a giant box that was starting to go bad and so I juiced some of my oranges. For some reason the juice was a little
photo by Karynn Jorgensen Pantry Recipe Once a month I post a link to the Taste section on my Alive! Utah magazine. This month we featured 7 soups recipes from Southern Utah cooks. I have tasted most of these soups and they are fantastic. But one of my favorites is the sausage tortellini soup that is amazing and easy and very pantry friendly. I just made it last week for our friends who watched
Recipe Trial #2 Here is how my dinner prep time goes. "Mom, when can we go buy my new shoes?" Mom I don't understand this math problem." "Mom can you sign my homework." Mom have you seen . . . You get the picture -- everybody in my family needs me the moment I start cooking in earnest. It is kind of ridiculous. By the time I sit down to the table I am just thinking. "hurry pass me some food
Recipe Trial So, for my first new recipe of the year I tried a recipe I found on my new addiction. Pinterest. I have to try those recipes too. But I will be getting to the ones floating around my kitchen on scraps of paper as well. I stayed pretty true to the original recipe but I added a few twists. Every kitchen needs a little tweaking going on. I buy these 4 packs of pork sirloin tip roasts
Happy NEW Year! Time for some changes. For the past few years the focus of this blog has been learning how to use food storage and pantry items in a delicious way. I have learned a lot. But by no means do I only cook out of my food storage and so I am rethinking my blog a little. I have a ridiculous amount of recipes that I have vowed to try. They are overflowing out of my recipe cabinet. My New
I am kind of addicted to the gift in a little mason jar idea this holiday season. I mean they are adorable and personal and fun to make. I think they are irresistible. I have shared all these recipes with you before in random posts. Well I rounded them all up and made them into an article for my online magazine. Tasty Gifts -- In a Jar. So if you are looking for a sweet homemade gift idea this
It's sore throat, coughing season. I have one daughter that has serious coughing issues and frankly I get sick of pouring disgusting tasting cough syrups down her throat that may or may not work. Recently we tried this home remedy and she found such relief from it that we stopped using the cough medicine at night. When my other kids get the sore throat and cough they ask for this drink because it
