Did you know that you can make creamy, rich, and saucy stovetop mac and cheese from scratch in the same amount of time it takes to cook boxed mac and cheese?

And I’m happy to say that this pasta is infinitely tastier than the boxes of mac and cheese that used to have a home in our pantry.

Creamy Stovetop Mac and Cheese

I’ve tried countless mac and cheese recipes over the years and never found one that I truly loved. This recipe though is absolutely foolproof and it turns out wonderfully creamy every time.

I am so very happy to have a new favorite dinner and my kids are pretty excited about it too. I’ve made this creamy mac and cheese at least a half dozen times over the past few months and we absolutely love it.

The recipe below is loosely adapted from a mac and cheese recipe that I found over on Cookie & Kate. The spices here are the game-changer – adding the garlic, onion, ground mustard, and a pinch of cayenne makes such a lovely difference.

Everyone has their own opinion on the best mac and cheese recipe. For me, the best mac and cheese is creamy as it possibly can be.

While lots of people swear by baked mac and cheese, I’m a stovetop mac and cheese girl for life.

Mac and Cheese with Heavy Cream

Want to make this even easier? Or would you prefer to skip the step with the flour? Replace the milk with additional heavy cream (for a total of 1 ½ cups heavy cream). Skip the flour. Just warm

Easy Spring Salad [+Video]

This is an easy spring salad full of seasonal ingredients like asparagus, radishes, peas, fresh herbs and enhanced with roasted chickpeas, feta cheese, toasted pine nuts, and hard boiled eggs all topped with a bright and tangy lemon salad dressing.

Well, we did it again! We survived winter! And boy was it a doozy here in Utah this year. I have never seen so much snow here and we have lived here a really long time. So the fact that a “spring” salad is even a possibility brings a smile to my face! It is time for bright refreshing flavors and warmer temperatures!

What Goes in a Spring Salad?

One of the beauties of a salad is that they are so versatile, so I’m going to share the ingredients for how we like to make this salad, but keep in mind that you can omit or add ingredients to your liking. Here is what we like…

Dressing

• Olive Oil: the base of the dressing
• Dijon Mustard: adds intense mustard flavor
• Lemon Juice and Zest: adds a bright pop of freshness and acidity
• Shallot: adds mild onion flavor
• Champagne Vinegar: if you can’t find champagne vinegar, you can use prosecco or white wine vinegar
• Salt and Pepper: adds flavor

Salad

• Pine Nuts: adds texture and we toast them for maximum flavor
• Asparagus: remove the tough stem end and then cut it into 1-2″ pieces
• Frozen Peas: let them defrost in a bowl of water
• Baby Salad Greens: this can be any mix of greens you enjoy…romaine, spinach, arugula, chard, etc.
• Radishes: adds a little heat and gorgeous color
• Cucumber: we prefer an English cucumber
• Fresh Herbs: mint, basil, parsley, chives – this blend is so bright and bold
• Feta: totally optional, but we love them saltiness flavor it adds
• Roasted Chickpeas: you can buy roasted chickpeas or roast your own and they add great texture
• Olive Oil: used to roast the chickpeas
• Salt and Pepper: adds flavor
• Hard Boiled Eggs: adds protein and heartiness to the salad

This is meant to just be an overview of the ingredients for this salad. For all the details and measurements, scroll down to the recipe card at the end of this post.

How to Make a Fresh Spring Salad

I like to start salad recipes by making the dressing. It can be made up to a day or two ahead of time, so it’s nice to get that made and out of the way. For this salad dressing, just whisk all the ingredients together and set it aside.

Other parts of this recipe can also be prepped ahead of time. You can hard boil the eggs, toast the pine nuts and roast the chickpeas up

Welcome to the weekend, my friends! Are you as excited as I am about the sunshine in the forecast this week? I’ve been trying to spend an hour outside every day and the weather has finally warmed up enough to make that a far more comfortable time.

And speaking of time outdoors, if you happen to be a local friend and want to go for a walk one of these days, I’m game. I love having company on my walks.

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK: Crispy potatoes, gooey cheese, and spicy green chile nestle together in warm tortillas to make these easy Potato Green Chile Tacos.

Light and fluffy, absolutely perfect pancakes are a recipe that everyone needs to have in their pocket. I’ve been making this pancake recipe for as long as I can remember and every single person who has tried these pancakes has loved them.

And speaking of pancakes, when I first heard that you could use a package of muffin mix to make pancakes, I simply had to try it. It turns out that muffin mix pancakes are the easiest pancakes ever and they’re a fun breakfast twist.

Rich sausage, hearty potatoes, and tender, earthy green beans come together in this incredibly flavorful one-pot meal. It turns out that cooking sausage and potatoes in the crockpot is one heck of an awesome dinner plan!

Sheet pan dinners are a staple on our meal plans and this chicken thigh sheet pan dinner can be made with any vegetable and/or potato combination that you have on hand.

Cinnamon Crinkle Cookies are perfectly crisp on top and irresistibly soft inside, these cookies are a fabulous blend of warm cinnamon and sweet sugar.

Loaded with Biscoff cookies and positively bursting with rich, nostalgic flavor, each scoop of this Cookie Butter Ice Cream is an ice cream lover’s delight.

What I’m CRAVING: Zuppa Toscana with plenty of garlic bread on the side. I’d completely forgotten about that recipe until a couple of days ago and it’s on our meal plan now. It’s so good!

What I’m LISTENING to: Noah Kahan. My cousin introduced me to this artist earlier this week and I’ve been listening ever since. His folk-rock style of music is influenced by early Mumford & Sons and I am loving it all so far.

I like his music so much tha

Weekly Menu Plan – Mar. 4 to Mar. 10

Let us carry the load of deciding what’s for dinner next week! You’re going to love this menu plan…

Monday: Cheesy Ground Beef and Rice Casserole

Tuesday: Easy Cashew Chicken

Wednesday: Mexican Street Corn Soup

Thursday: Buddha Bowl

Friday: Finnish Pancakes

Saturday: Chorizo Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Sunday: Oven Braised Beef Roast

READ: Weekly Menu Plan – Mar. 4 to Mar. 10

Loaded with Biscoff cookies and positively bursting with rich, nostalgic flavor, each scoop of this Cookie Butter Ice Cream is a glorious delight.

Cookie Butter Ice Cream

I adore cookies and ice cream. From the classic, old-fashioned recipes like 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter and Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream, to the gloriously simple combination of Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches.

So, I jump at pretty much every chance I get to play with a cookie flavor of ice cream. And, let me tell you, I’m thrilled with how this Biscoff ice cream recipe turned out.

The texture of this ice cream is simply perfect. The cookies are just the right kind of crunchy, and the ice cream is deliciously smooth. Dig in with a big spoon, because this treat is something else.

Just be aware that this is some seriously rich ice cream. I usually figure a batch of homemade ice cream to be 5-6 servings. However, we tend to enjoy this dessert in smaller portions.

Biscoff Ice Cream

I’d be remiss if I didn’t offer up some personal recommendations for how to top a bowl of biscoff cookie but