Welcome to the weekend and hooray for school finally being out for summer! It’s been a whirlwind of a week and our summer plans have been turned on their head due to some repairs needed for the RV. We’re rolling with it though and looking forward to some fun weekend getaways and a lot of local fun.

Oh! And speaking of local fun, if you have suggestions for things to do and places to see as day trips in Ohio, I’d love to hear about them! We’re planning to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, do some hiking in Cuyahoga Falls, we’ve planned a trip to TN, and hopefully will still get to camp for a week in MI and WI if we get the RV back from the shop in time for that.

ON THE BLOG this week: From the very first bite, these Buttered Steak Bites and Mushrooms became an instant favorite for my whole family. This is the most tender steak you can imagine and my whole family goes nuts for it.

Homemade Steak Sauce is tangy, barely sweetened, and just a little bit smoky. Perfect for steak dipping and burger topping, this sauce is all the best parts of A-1 and Heinz 57 sauce flavors, made at home.

The Sweet Kale Vegetable Salad is my newest favorite salad. I don’t do a whole lot of copycat recipes, but this one, I can’t even tell you how much this one needed to be made.

Creamy refried beans are layered with spicy ground beef, green chile, and plenty of cheese in these Cheesy Beef and Bean Burritos. These burritos have been such a hit with my boys, we’ve made them several times already.

Sweet and tangy Southern Coleslaw is nicely balanced with just enough tang from the vinegar and a sprinkling of sweetness from the sugar. The dressing is so simple, so sweet and tangy, this is a classic coleslaw recipe perfect for any occasion.

What I’m CRAVING: I’m fascinated by this French Toast Fondue that my friend Lynne shared the other day! It’s a childhood favorite for her and I love that it turns a weekend breakfast into a whole experience. I think this could be a fun thing to try for a girls’ night or a sister trip one of these days.

What I’m READING: Lake Silence by Anne Bishop. You already know that my reading tastes are all over the place and I’ve really been enjoying a step away from reality with fantasy and paranormal reads lately. This is a suspense-filled fantasy that is a fun fast read.

“Human laws do not apply in the territory controlled by the Others–vampires, shape-shifters, and even deadlier paranormal beings. And this is a fact that humans should never, ever forget….”&

Sweet and tangy Southern Coleslaw is nicely balanced with just enough tang from the vinegar and a sprinkling of sweetness from the sugar. The dressing is so simple, so sweet and tangy, this is a classic coleslaw recipe perfect for any occasion.

Coleslaw for Pulled Pork

This is the coleslaw we use for the ever-popular BBQ Sundaes and Pulled Pork Sandwiches. When I make BBQ Pork Mac and Cheese, I make a batch of this coleslaw to serve with it every time. We love it that much!

I made this coleslaw recipe for the first time, at my husband’s request, along with the first batch of Memphis Style Ribs we ever cooked. We all loved it so much; I wound up making this slaw twice more with each subsequent batch of ribs.

Updated to add: I’ve been making this coleslaw at least once a month for the past six years. Every time someone tastes it (especially if said person is not already a fan of coleslaw) they ask for the recipe. This is the coleslaw that you’ll want to serve all summer long.

Southern Coleslaw Recipe

If you’ve never made coleslaw before, let me share a secret: it’s the easiest side dish in the world. (Check out the video to see just how easy it is to make it!)

I found this Southern Living recipe for Memphis Style Coleslaw over at Our Best Bites and gently adapted our version from that one. It takes about 3 minutes to stir it all together and then you’re done.

(Even if you shred your own cabbage instead of buying a bag of shredded cabbage, you’re only looking at maybe two minutes longer.)

It couldn’t be any quicker and easier to pull this tasty side dish together. Even grabbing a container of ready-made coleslaw from the grocery store takes longer than this coleslaw recipe.

Let me tell you, that homemade coleslaw is so much better than anything you can get from the deli section at your grocery store. Crunchy crisp shredded cabbage with creamy mayo and tangy mustard makes the ideal complement to so many savory main dishes.

When we all happily eat the same dish three times in a week, that’s good evidence that the recipe was loved. Last night, I piled the last of this slaw over pulled pork sandwiches and pretty much solidified the fact that this the best southern style coleslaw I’ve ever tasted.

If you had a bad experience with a soggy, sloppy coleslaw that’s left you

Creamy refried beans are layered with spicy ground beef, green chile, and plenty of cheese in these Cheesy Beef and Bean Burritos.

Served with Spanish Rice or Chipotle Lime Rice, Elote Dip, and some Pico de Gallo, this is a meal that everyone will enjoy.

Easy Beef Burritos

As soon as I saw these burritos in my friend Jessica’s new Beef It Up cookbook, I knew I’d be making them. Cheesy Beef Burritos? Yes, please!

I have a few other things bookmarked on my must-try list as well, but these babies? I made them for the first time the same day I received the cookbook in the mail.

Next up on my must-try list are Cheeseburger Soup, Pan-Fried Steak, and Beef Pot Roast. Everything in the Beef It Up cookbook looks absolutely mouthwateringly delicious!

I always (and I do mean always) have some of the Best Ever Taco Beef in either the fridge or freezer. So, I grabbed a package and started rolling burritos. I had a very happy family that night.

I’ve tweaked the recipe a bit for my family’s tastes and to provide directions for making the burritos with ground beef, versus with leftover beef that you may or may not have on hand.

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The Sweet Kale Vegetable Salad is my newest favorite salad. I don’t do a whole lot of copycat recipes, but this one, I can’t even tell you how much this one needed to be made.

This is a copycat recipe for Costco’s Sweet Kale Salad and I’m telling you now that you’re going to love it.

Sweet Kale Salad

The crunchy greens, sweet-tart cranberries, and crunchy-salty pumpkin seeds are tossed in a creamy poppyseed dressing to make this salad.

All of the flavors work together to make this salad worthy of our Thanksgiving table, and likely at least a dozen more tables as well before the end of the year.

I would have never guessed that this combination of flavors would work so well, but it does! My kids don’t typically love the “green stuff” in this salad, they watched me make it and were skeptical. However, one taste and they were sold; my middle son even asked for seconds.

Costco Kale Salad

A couple of weeks ago, while I was grocery shopping, there were two women standing in the icy cold produce room at Costco chatting about how amazing this salad is.

I don’t even remember the last time I bought a pre-made salad, (I have a thing for making salads, and rarely am I impressed with the store-bought varieties.) However, these ladies were so enthusiastic, I picked up a bag to try for myself.

Holy smokes. I loved it. Absolutely, positively, loved the Costco salad.

But I knew right away that we could improve on it. I’ve been making this poppyseed dressing for a few years now and every single person that tries it raves about it.

I knew that the homemade poppyseed dressing would take this salad combination right over the top and I wasn’t wrong. Plus, making the salad at home lets me add more of my favorite ingredients.

I went back to the grocery store the next day and picked up the ingredients to make this salad for myself. I made it that night and ate it for dinner, I ate it again the next day for lunch, for a snack, and with dinner again.

Even after tossing the salad with the dressing, it kept nicely for as long as it lasted in my house, about 36 hours.

All of my ramblings are simply to say that you really want to try this salad. If you’re not a b

Homemade Steak Sauce is tangy, barely sweetened, and just a little bit smoky. Perfect for steak dipping and burger topping, this sauce is all the best parts of A-1 and Heinz 57 sauce flavors, made at home.

You only need a couple of minutes to stir everything together, then it will simmer on its own. I served this sauce with these Steak Bites the first time I made it and there was hardly a bite leftover.

Homemade Steak Sauce

I know some steak lovers are purists and eschew sauce. Personally, I love the flavor a good sauce adds to meat.

What I don’t love are overly sweet sauces. However, I also don’t want my sauce to be so sour I can hardly eat it. I’m a little bit high maintenance that way, I guess.

Give me a sauce that’s tangy, smoky, and vinegary with just a little sweetness to finish things off. This homemade steak sauce definitely fits the bill. It’s the only one you’ll ever need!

How to Make Steak Sauce

Have you been buying steak sauce in a bottle your whole life? You’ll love how easy it is to make it at home. You may never reach for the store-bought stuff again.

Don’t let the long ingredients list fool you. All of the ingredients are things you’re likely to have on hand in your pantry already and it couldn’t be any easier to mix them all together.

The body of the sauce comes from a blend of ketchup, brown sugar, soy sauce, and vinegar. Both plain old white vinegar and white wine vinegar are delicious in the recipe. Use whichever you have on hand.

A little dijon mustard, garlic, and lemon juice add flavor and zest while the red pepper flakes give the sauce a touch of spice. Be sure to use dijon mustard, not the bright colored yellow stuff, for the right taste and texture.

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