Baked oatmeal, loaded with summer berries and lightly sweetened with brown sugar is a great way to start the day. 

Baked Berries with Oatmeal

A few days ago, I was having a conversation recently with our followers on our Facebook page about fall flavors and it turned into a discussion about why we associate certain seasons with certain flavors and foods.

It has only been in recent years that things like fresh strawberries and blueberries are in grocery stores year around. While I do love making and enjoying things in season when I get a craving for dishes with fresh berries it is so nice to be able to find them regardless of time and year and location.

That being said berries are a mainstay in my refrigerator. The other day I had a few things that needed to be used up and baked oatmeal is the perfect way to make sure those berries didn’t go to waste.

This oatmeal recipe isn’t overly sweet and it allows the bright flavors of the berries to shine through.

Baked oatmeal is one of those breakfast dishes I don’t like to oversweeten before making. It is easy to take the sweetness up a notch by topping it with honey or maple syrup when you serve it – if the finished oatmeal needs to be sweetened at all.

Oatmeal is one of my children’s favorite breakfasts and we’ve gathered a huge collection of great oatmeal recipes over the past few years.

My youngest son loves oatmeal so much, there was a phase where he attempted to order it at almost every restaurant we visited.

There was nothing quite like watching the waiter’s face when he requested, “A big bowl of oatmeal, please,” while we are dining at a Mexican restaurant. Luckily, he loves chips and salsa almost as much, so it was easy to distract him.

Read more

Pumpkin bread filled with melting chocolate chips and bursting with autumn spices – is there anything more quintessentially fall than the smell of pumpkin spices drifting through the house?

I tasted pumpkin bread for the first time about 20 years ago, when one of my students shared her mom’s pumpkin muffins with me. The recipe below includes both traditional and gluten-free variations.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

I have no idea how I survived up until then without this awesomeness in our life, because pumpkin muffins have been a year-round (yes, pumpkin haters – year-round) favorite in our home ever since.

These muffins are moist, sweet, and packed with real pumpkin flavor. A spoonful of pumpkin pie spice (homemade or store-bought) brings out the classic fall flavors.

And while I’m a bit of a purist about some recipes, I have to admit that pumpkin muffins with chocolate chips added into the mix are truly irresistible.

The aroma of warm cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg wafting through the house as the muffins bake is one of the best parts of this recipe. Aside from eating the muffins, of course!

We can’t get enough pumpkin-based recipes during these last few months of the year. If you like these pumpkin muffins then you’ll love our Pumpkin Spice Waffles too.

Another easy hearty breakfast all of my kids love is Pumpkin Spiced Baked Oatmeal. It’s one of our favorite ways to eat oatmeal; and that’s saying something because we eat a lot of oatmeal around here.

And of course, no autumn lover’s season is complete without a few afternoons sipping homemade Pumpkin Spice Lattes with a friend.

(Our homemade version is just as good as anything from a coffee shop but with real pumpkin instead of syrup!)

Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread

I’ve played with the recipe countless times adding all kinds of ingredients. If that’s your style, have at it. This recipe includes both traditional and gluten-free variations as well instructions for baking a loaf of pumpkin bread or a tray of pumpkin muffins.

Add in handfuls of chocolate or nuts, whatever makes you grin. Chocolate chips and walnuts are a delicious combination. Cranberries, raisins, and other kinds of dried fruit are also tasty.

For me, it’s all about the basic pumpkin bread with a handful of chocolate chips thrown in. Whether I’m eating this for breakfast or sneaking a muffin as an afternoon snack, the simple combination of pumpkin and spice all baked into a portable baked treat, just can’t be beat.

This fully loaded Chicken Potato Broccoli Casserole starts with fluffy mashed potatoes that are mixed with tender bites of broccoli and chicken, then generously sprinkled with bacon and cheese. The result is an absolutely irresistible dinner.

Chicken Potato Casserole

Yes! I just called a “casserole” irresistible and I stand by that. If you love mashed potatoes, chicken, and broccoli, not to mention bacon and cheese, you need to try this recipe! (although, technically, my boys don’t love broccoli and they LOVE this casserole, so….)

This recipe is one of many great ones in my friend Trish‘s cookbook, 100 Creative Ways To Use Rotisserie Chicken. In case you can’t tell from the title, she has literally written the book on ways to cook with rotisserie chicken.

Her book really should be sold next to the rotisserie chicken display in every grocery store. I love how many great ideas she’s packed into this cookbook.

Chicken Potato Broccoli Casserole

This recipe will work well with rotisserie chicken, leftover roasted chicken, or with any cooked leftover chicken.

Monterey Jack, Cheddar, or a Mexican blend shredded cheese will also work with this recipe. I typically use a Mexican blend shredded cheese because I almost always have it on hand and it works great.

This recipe can be mad

The Creamiest Pumpkin Ice Cream

The Creamiest Pumpkin Ice Cream absolutely must be made with two ingredients or it will not be thick, rich and creamy like you get from a fancy store.

Homemade ice cream doesn’t just have to be ice cream flavors like, vanilla or strawberry. I’d guess 90% of the world loves ice cream and it’s a favorite all year round, so how much would your guests love a fall-inspired flavor?

Must Have Tools for the BEST Homemade Ice Cream

1. Best Ice Cream Machine under $100
2. Best Ice Cream Machine without Freezer Bowl
3. Candy Thermometer
4. Mesh Sieve 
5. Best Ice Cream Scoop

The Creamiest Pumpkin Ice Cream

Have you ever had the creamiest milk shake and once you have had it you can never settle for just any milkshake again? That’s what happened to me. 

Cade and I took our little girl out for her very first milkshake.

I believe she chose bubblegum. 

I cannot ever decide which is worse, cotton candy ice cream or bubblegum. 

Either way, I went for a pumpkin ice cream shake because it was October and that just felt so darn right. 

Peanut Butter Apple Dip is simple and slightly sweet, perfect to enjoy with apples, pretzels, or anything you can dip into it.

Peanut Butter Dip

Apples and peanut butter are daily snacks around my house. My kids eat a plate of apples with a scoop of plain peanut butter almost every day.

Random but does anyone else have to ration peanut butter at their house? I am not joking when I say my kids treat apples as the condiment on top of peanut butter instead of the other way around.

A few nights ago, I was taking snacks over to a friend’s house for a party and she requested fruit if possible. I had only apples in the house, so I decided to make a quick peanut butter dip to go with them.

I was aiming for something a teeny bit healthier than the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip that I made last year. While I still love that one, it is definitely a dessert!

Peanut Butter Apple Dip

I bought a huge package of cream cheese a couple of weeks ago; when I was making Cream Cheese Pancakes for the hundredth time – slight exaggeration here, but only slight. I combined the extra cream cheese with the peanut butter and just sweetened it to taste.

Judging from the fact that at least 4 people requested the recipe, (I couldn’t stop laughing when I told them how simple it was) I’m calling this a success.

What’s not to love about an appetizer that takes about 3 minutes to throw together? I learned a long time ago to have a few things in my back pocket that I could whip up at a moment’s notice. This has been added to that pocket.

We were dipping apples and pretzels into this all night and I refilled the bowl a couple of times. If I would have had the ingredients I might have made a batch of Caramel Cheesecake Dip to serve along with this one.

I made a second small batch today and snapped a picture right before my boys inhaled every bite in about two and a half minutes. You can adjust the sweetness as much or as little as you like.

I’ve made this with both brown sugar and honey. Personally, I liked the brown sugar version best, but both are tasty options. (For something a wee bit lighter, try this peanut butter dip made with yogurt.

Read more