No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

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No-bake cookies have met their match with these no bake chocolate peanut butter bars. It doesn’t get much easier than just stirring everything together and pouring it into a pan.

Before I tell you more about these amazing homemade candy bars, I’d better confess that no-bake cookies and I have a bit of a love/hate relationship.

No Bake Chocolate Bites

No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

I love how easy no bake cookies are to make; I hate how unattractive they tend to be. I love how rich the chocolate and peanut flavors can be; I hate the raw oatmeal that frequently overwhelms the cookies.

(That whole raw oatmeal situation is balanced with the addition of coconut in these no bake chocolate coconut cookies or bars or bites… whatever you call them, the coconut changes the texture (and improves it!) in the best way possible.)

When I ran across these no-bake bars, (a.k.a. “the best recipe I’ve ever messed up“) I couldn’t believe I’d never thought to try making the cookies into bars. At least they would look better, right?

I’m going to be flat-out honest here and tell you my thinking when I started making these treats. (My friend Donna can attest to it because we were talking on the phone at the time.)

I thought, “I’ll make these because the kids will love having a dessert over the weekend and I won’t be tempted to eat more than one.”

No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bites

Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Bars

That is seriously funny in hindsight. I almost licked the saucepan clean as I was waiting for the bars to harden in the refri

The BEST Slow Cooker Baked Beans

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Slow Cooker Baked Beans are chock-full of bacon and beef, sweetened with molasses and then simmered until thick and sweet.

If you’ve been reading this blog for long at all, you might notice that I very rarely name anything “the best.”

The Best Crock-Pot Baked Beans recipe by Barefeet In The Kitchen

Best Baked Beans Ever

There are many foods that we love and that we make over and over, but for something to be labeled the best baked beans ever, I feel like it needs to be a “wow” food.

You might be thinking that these are just crockpot baked beans, how amazing can they be, right? Well, they are pretty darn amazing as it turns out.

Three different beans with ground beef and bacon are simmered and slowly cooked until thick and sweet. The flavors and textures in this recipe for baked beans are just perfect.

Slow Cooker Baked Beans

Our friend, Tony, brought these beans to a barbecue at our house two years ago and they blew me away.

These beans are so tasty, so full of meat, so sweet and hearty, I  might have “accidentally” tucked a container of Tony’s leftovers deep into my fridge and then forgotten to give them to him at the end of the night.

Later, I asked him if he’d please send me the recipe. And lucky for all of us, he was happy to share it. I’m a believer in baked beans with meat now and I’m confident that you will be as well, just as soon as you taste them.

baked bean ingredients in the crockpot

Baked Beans with Ground Beef

There’s something extra special about a simmering pot of baked beans when there is plenty of meat in the mix. Hearty enough to be a meal on their own, these baked beans with meat make for a spectacularly memorable side dish at any barbecue.

You’ll need the following ingredients to make this recipe:

  • ground beef
  • bacon
  • bacon drippings
  • kidney beans
  • white beans
  • Pork & Beans
  • onion
  • light brown sugar
  • ketchup
  • molasses
  • yellow mustard
baked bean ingredients stirred together in the slow cookerRead more

Herb Rubbed Pork Sirloin Roast

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This spice and herb crusted pork roast is packed with flavor and a surprising kick from the peppers and the salt. Pork Sirloin Roast makes a delicious dinner any night of the week.

Herb crusted pork on cutting board

Pork Sirloin Roast

This is one of the best pork roasts I have ever tasted and it turns out incredibly tender and juicy every single time. After cooking sirloin pork roast this way countless times now, there is nothing that I would change about this recipe.

It tastes impressive enough to serve to company and no one will guess just how easy it is to make. While it does require oven an hour of cooking time, most of that time is hands-off while it roasts in the oven. After mixing the spices together and rubbing them on the pork, you can go about your business while the roast cooks.

The kitchen smells so good whenever this roast is cooking. Every time we make this it takes all my self-control to wait 15 minutes after taking it out of the oven before tasting it.

Every member of my family loves this roast. The first time I made it, I wondered if the combination of spices in the rub might make it too spicy, but even my toddler ate a large portion.

I shared the last bit of it with him for lunch the following day and we were both very happy. This simple pork sirloin roast recipe was a favorite from the first time we tasted it.

Pork Sirloin Tip Roast

I’ve made this recipe for pork sirloin roast countless times now over the past 10-15 years. It is one of our favorite ways to roast pork.

Side note: if you aren’t buying the 4-pack of these 2lb Costco pork roasts, you’re missing out on a heck of a deal.

Wondering just how easy it really is to cook these roasts? Let me show you.

Herb Rubbed Pork Roast

How long to cook a 2 lb pork roast?

Baking this roast in the oven for just about an hour at 350°F results in tender, juicy meat that slices easily. This is by far one of the best roast pork recipes I’ve ever made and we never seem to get tired of it.

If you cook your roast from room temperature, this should take ju

Glazed Orange Bundt Cake

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Glazed Orange Bundt Cake

a photo of a slice of bright orange bundt cake topped with a white glaze sitting on a white plate with a fork in front of if and small orange slices scattered around it.

Fresh orange flavor is packed into every bite of this tender glazed orange bundt cake! We use fresh orange juice and zest in the cake, syrup and glaze for bold, bright bursts of refreshing orange flavor.

I have been testing and testing an orange bundt cake recipe in every way you could imagine; I’ve made it with butter, with oil, with sour cream, without sour cream, ricotta, whole oranges, orange zest, orange juice, different glazes and then list goes on. And this is finally the recipe of all recipes.

Listen, in extensive research I found so many people insisting that bakers make the cake with whole oranges and you know what? IT’S NOT THE BETTER WAY. I wanted it to be so bad, but it led to a more dense, heavy bundt cake.

And while yes, it technically wasn’t dry, it also wasn’t light and melt-in-your-mouth moist, so I’d rather have a cake dry out two days later than start out so heavy and not as orangey all due to that white pith holding me back.

What Ingredients Do I Need for Orange Bundt Cake?

This cake recipe is broken into 3 different parts — the cake, the syrup and the glaze. Plan on using about 10-12 oranges depending on how big and juicy they are for all the fresh juice, zest and peel you will need. Here are the ingredients for each part:

Cake:

  • Sugar: just regular granulated sugar
  • Orange Zest: You’ll need about 2 oranges to get the zest you need. Zest adds so much bold orange flavor and rubbing it with the sugar releases the natural oil in the zest to produce even more flavor.
  • Fresh Orange Juice:  You’ll need 6-8 oranges to get all this fresh orange juice. You could also buy a really high quality orange juice if you want to instead of juicing oranges. Make sure it doesn’t have added sugar or the cake will end up overly sweet.
  • Eggs: gives the cake structure
  • Vanilla: adds flavor
  • Almond Extract: adds flavor, if you aren’t an almond extract fan, just omit it
  • Vegetable Oil: all cakes must have fat, and oil keeps the cake nice and moist
  • Flour: just regular all purpose flour, and you’ll want to sift it into the batter
  • Baking Powder: leavening agent that helps the cake rise
  • Baking Soda: another leavening agent to help the cake rise and be fluffy
  • Salt: enhances all the flavors

Orange Simple Syrup

  • Oranges Peels: you’ll need the peel of 2 oranges and they add so much natural orange flavor to the syrup
  • Fresh Orange Juice: you’ll need 3-4 oranges for this step to get the juice you need
  • Water: the base of the simple syrup
  • Sugar: adds sweetness and thickens the syrup

Orange Glaze

  • Butter: unsalted and softened
  • Powdered Sugar: adds sweetness and thickens the glaze
  • He

Lemon Roasted Carrots and Parsnips

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Lemon Roasted Carrots and Parsnips

a photo of a sheet pan full of whole roasted carrots and parsnips topped with chopped parsley

Lemon roasted carrots and parsnips are salty and sweet and get all caramelized and delicious as they roast.

We top them with a honey lemon dressing to make a side dish easy enough for a weeknight meal but  also fancy enough to be a side for your Easter (or Thanksgiving or Christmas) feast!

Filled in More Ways than Just with Food

I’ve been really craving the simple classic recipes of the past lately. It’s almost like a feeling of homesickness and nostalgia for childhood has started to grow inside of me. I don’t quite know what has triggered it or even what to do with it, but I’ve found myself looking back on life with a tenderness and fondness I haven’t ever had.

I was a living-with-one-foot-in-tomorrow-girl for most of my junior high and high school years. I think it was in part because I had two older sisters that were far enough apart from me in age that they were already off to college and I felt left behind. I know now that living that way isn’t the best idea, but I have to be mindful now of not looking back with the same feelings. 

Being present, breathing in happiness right now instead of waiting for it or missing it from yesterday has become really important to me. Part of merging all of my worlds into one has been a bringing together of recipes we used to love but have gotten distracted with new, modern ideas. Roasted carrots and parsnips might seem old-school, but I bet you’ll be filled in more ways than just with food by making them. 

Ingredients for Roasted Carrots and Parsnips

The ingredients are simple and few. Here is what you will need:

  • Carrots: You can peel them if you want but it is not necessary.
  • Parsnips: If the parsnips are really thick, cut them in half so they closely match the size of the carrots.
  • Garlic: Keep the cloves whole and in the peel so they can roast with the veggies.
  • Olive Oil: Helps the veggies caramelize to golden perfection.
  • Kosher Salt: Enhances the flavors of the vegetables.

Dressing

  • White Wine Vinegar: If you don’t have it, red wine vinegar makes the best substitute or rice wine vinegar (not seasoned) will also work great.
  • Lemon Zest: Adds a bright and fresh punch of flavor that pairs so well with root vegetables.
  • Honey: Adds natural sweetness and thickens the dressing.
  • Parsley: Fresh is preferred but if you have to use dried, use 1 teaspoon.
The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.
 

Do Parsnips Need to Be Parboiled Before Roasting?

Normally I would say no, but we like to parboil both the carrots and parsnips for this recipe. Then dry them thoroughly and let the oven do all the work roasting and caramelizing them. Parboiling cuts down on the roasting time and lets the caramelization happen perfectly.

Should I Peel Parsnips Before Roasting Them?

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