The Little Things Newsletter #393 – Life, laughter, and lots of great food!

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Welcome to the weekend, my friends! I’m in Buffalo, NY today to see Rowan Lindamood dance in The Nutcracker and I couldn’t be more excited! My oldest son is here with me and we’ll be enjoying the ballet tonight along with all the tasty foods that we can cram into the weekend.

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK:

Baked Parmesan pork chops are tender and juicy with a crispy Parmesan crust. Pair them with a quick rice pilaf and some sauteed asparagus for a dinner everyone will enjoy. When I can make the whole dinner in 40 minutes or less, that’s a win in my book!

The sweet heat of honey sriracha Brussels Sprouts will have everyone devouring these little bites before they make it to the table.

Spiced ground beef, black beans, and cheese top these stuffed sweet potatoes to combine sweet and savory flavors in the best possible way. Each bite of these Taco Stuffed Sweet Potatoes blends the creamy, sweet potato with the boldness of a beefy taco, creating a delicious, wholesome fusion of Southwestern-inspired goodness.

Crisp and buttery on the outside, fluffy on the inside, this easy waffle recipe is perfection. Included are loads of options for sweet or savory waffles, plus all the toppings you could ever desire.

How many waffle toppings can you think of off the top of your head? My family has a well-established weakness for waffles and with that comes a weakness for all the awesome ways that you can top a hot crisp freshly made waffle.

Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

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In each scoop of this chocolate chip ice cream, the delightful crunch of chocolate creates a fun contrast against the smooth vanilla backdrop. This ice cream has been a kid-favorite in our home ever since I first churned it.

With miniature chocolate chips swirled through every bite of this ice cream, the tiny bursts of chocolate will have you coming back for “just one more bite” until it is gone.

ice cream served in two bowls, one red and one blue

Ice Cream with Chocolate Chips

Do you love chocolate chip ice creams as much as we do? There’s something extra special about bites of chocolate that create a contrasting texture and different flavors in creamy sweet homemade ice cream.

Whether it’s chocolate Nutella swirls or chocolate flakes that melt on your tongue, or chunks of chocolate chip cookie dough, they all have a place in our freezer.

This recipe starts with a creamy sweet vanilla base (no eggs or cooking required). Just stir the base together in a bowl and pour it into your ice cream maker.

Ice Cream Ingredients

Please note that this recipe calls specifically for miniature chocolate chips. This isn’t negotiable. If you add full-size regular chocolate chips to ice cream and then put it in the freezer, each bite is going to feel as if you are chewing rocks.

Double-check your ingredients and make sure you have teeny tiny mini chocolate chips for this ice cream before you add them to the churned ice cream. For an unexpected treat, try adding some toffee bits for a fun new ice cream combination.

That chocolate chip and toffee ice cream has been one of my favorites for several years. And almost every time I make it my youngest son asks me to PLEASE make it with just the chocolate chips for him next time.

So, here you go, kiddo. Your own favorite ice cream. Enjoy!

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Weekly Menu Plan – Dec. 4 to 10

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Weekly Menu Plan – Dec. 4 to 10

Weekly Menu Plan – Dec. 4 to 10

Here is your weekly menu plan for the week! Use up those last Thanksgiving leftovers…

Monday: Leftover Turkey and Stuffing Acorn Squash

Tuesday: Scrambled Eggs with Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins

Wednesday: Roasted Pork Tenderloin

Thursday: Shepherd’s Pie

Friday: Chicken Artichoke Pasta

Saturday: Leftovers

Sunday: Smoked Meatloaf

READ: Weekly Menu Plan – Dec. 4 to 10

Easy Apple Dumplings with Sprite

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Easy Apple Dumplings with Sprite

a blue china plate with two apple dumplings and caramel sauce with vanilla ice cream on top

Who knew that crescent rolls, cinnamon sugar apples, brown sugar, butter and sprite could make the best easy apple dumplings with Sprite ever!

Ditch your old apple dumplings recipe. Do it. Ditch it. These easy apple dumplings have a couple of very minor changes that make a HUGE difference and I’m totally not kidding. I’ll never make another apple dumplings recipe again.

This recipe reminds me so much of my grandma’s apple rolls recipe just because that sugar liquid is so deceiving. You pour it all around the rolls and it almost puts you into a panic attack seeing all of that liquid around the dough, like is this really going to work?! Are they going to be a soggy mess?!

And then those golden, crisp, pillows of dough come out and you’re a real life hero to the whole family.

Creating This Apple Dumpling Recipe

This is seriously the craziest apple dessert recipe. Most apple desserts seem to be inspired largely from the way apple pie is made. Think about it: apple crisp, apple pull-apart bread, and apple pie scones are all takes on the classic apple pie. 

This apple dumpling recipe is similar, but as I’ve been making recipes from others over the years I felt like there was always something missing. Sure, it is a good recipe and one that your guests will love you for, but couldn’t it be taken up a notch without changing the whole recipe?

We started experimenting, a lot. Too much. I could hardly stand to look at another apple dumpling recipe, let alone the apple dumpling itself.

And then it hit me, when you’re trying to do something awesome and it’s not coming together, go back to the original recipe.

So I did. And do you know what I discovered? The apples were not like an apple pie, they were completely plain. No, no, no! Apples need a little cinnamon sugar action to really drive home that fall smell and flavor!

Well don’t stop there, I thought. We need a little cinnamon action in the butter mixture as well. Too many recipes called for just butter and brown sugar. No. We need more. We added vanilla and cinnamon. Let’s get this party started!

All the Best Waffle Toppings

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How many waffle toppings can you think of off the top of your head? My family has a well-established weakness for waffles and with that comes a weakness for all the awesome ways that you can top a hot crisp freshly made waffle.

Is “waffle season” a thing? Or is that just me? We enjoy hot breakfasts all year long, but there is something wonderfully fall and winter about pulling out the waffle iron and watching the steam rise as they cook in the mornings.

All I know is that right now, we are deep in waffle season over here and we’re making all the toppings to pour, stack, and pile on top of our waffles.

Waffle Toppings

From the sweet to the savory there are so many options when it comes to dressing up your waffles. A basic buttermilk waffle can be transformed from simple to spectacular with the right combination of toppings.

I recently shared a list of some of my all-time favorite waffle recipes. After spending all that time thinking about waffles, it became clear that I’d need a whole other post just to talk about waffle toppings!

Craving something sweet? My Grandmother’s Waffle Sauce will forever reign supreme, (just ask literally anyone who has ever tasted it!) but there are so many other delicious ways to top them too.

Grandmother's Waffle Sauce

Sweet waffle toppings are hands-down the most

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