Oatmeal is anything but boring when it’s made into Baked Oatmeal Cups – like warm, soft and chewy oatmeal cookies designed to be eaten for breakfast!

Baked Oatmeal Cups

A few years ago, while staying in New Mexico, my kids were spending the night with their grandma, so I found myself with a little more time than usual to get our breakfast together. I took advantage of the lazy morning to play with my baked oatmeal recipe.

I take baked oatmeal seriously. Around here, we enjoy it in just about all its forms from Pumpkin Spice Baked Oatmeal to Heart Shaped Craisin Baked Oatmeal.

For this version, I decided to focus on raisins as the primary mix-in. Sometimes the simplest flavors are the best ones.

I knew my husband and I already loved sweet bites of raisin baked into chewy oatmeal. We’re lifelong members of the meal RAISIN Cookie Club, not Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie. Since I’m usually making baked oatmeal in large batches for the whole family, this weekend I decided to try something different.

Instead of baking the oatmeal in a 9 x 13 pan, I used individual ramekins this time. The oatmeal turned out even chewier this way with a delicious crisp crust.

We absolutely loved this version with the slightly toasted oats on top. They have all the comforting chewy hominess of a classic Oatmeal Raisin Cookie but you can eat them with a spoon.

The individual ramekins also transform a humble bowl of oatmeal into a breakfast that feels extra special. Everyone loves individual servings!

Oatmeal with Raisins

Making baked oatmeal is so easy and comes out so tasty that I’m sure you’ll become as hooked on it as we have. All it takes is mixing oats, a bit of brown sugar, spices, and raisins together with milk and eggs, then letting it bake in the oven.

While baking the oatmeal in ramekins gives you so many more delicious crunchy crust bites, a tripled recipe will also bake nicely in a 9×13 pan to feed a crowd.

Rai

The Secrets to the BEST Quesadilla

The secrets to the best quesadilla recipe are quite simple and possibly crazy to post about but totally necessary as they are so good!

How silly is this post? The secrets to the BEST quesadilla? Does anyone really have to make a post on a food blog about a tortilla and cheese? Why yes, this girl does and I’ll tell you why — because you’ve been doing it ALL wrong.

Making restaurant-style quesadillas is a fine art, and although this is a super easy quesadilla recipe there are a few things you must always do when making homemade cheese quesadillas. Follow the recipe below exactly as written, and you’ll be making the world’s best cheese quesadillas in no time! 

I’m going to also include a couple of our favorite variations on the classic cheese quesadilla that are to die for! Keep scrolling for how to make an Oteo’s copycat quesadilla (uses a corn tortilla!) and a fabulous ground beef quesadilla.

Cheese Quesadillas Ingredients

First up, to make the best homemade cheese quesadillas EVER, you’ll need three simple ingredients:

• fresh homemade tortillas or Vista brand flour tortillas (they are BEST!!)
• shredded cheese: must be chihuahua cheese or quesadilla cheese
• butter (if you’re dairy free, use olive oil!)

No really, that’s all you need! 

What makes this quesadilla recipe so good are the tortillas. I highly recommend homemade flour tortillas (link above) or Vista flour tortillas. If you don’t have time to make homemade tortillas or can’t find Vista brand, you need to look for fresh, uncooked quesadillas at your grocery store. Tortilla Land makes fantastic uncooked tortillas as well! 

What’s the Best Cheese for Quesadillas? 

When making homemade cheese quesadillas, you need to buy flavorful cheeses that melt well. You may want to consider blending different cheeses to amp up the flavor. Chihuahua cheese or quesadilla cheese is our go-to! A Mexican cheese blend (a combination of monterey jack cheese, cheddar, queso quesadilla cheese and asadero cheese) would also work great in these quesadillas, as would a sharp cheddar, or oaxaca cheese. Avoid using mozzarella cheese, as it’s too mild in flavor to be the star of your quesadilla. 

How to Make Quesadillas 

Homemade quesadillas couldn’t be any easier to make! The basic steps for making this cheese quesadilla recipe are as follows: 

1. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat and cook the fresh to

Build your own hot dog bar this summer with four awesome combinations – Chicago-Style, Hawaiian, Green Chile Queso, and BBQ Sundaes!

I first shared these recipes in the summer of 2020 and these combinations remain our favorite hot dog toppings.

Are you as excited for summer as we are right now? Spring felt like it lasted 6 months this year. We may have had to cancel our summer-long road trip, but I’ve been brainstorming ways to make staying local more fun.

One of the things we’ve done this year is to fully embrace the awesomeness that is summer in Ohio. We’ve spent so much time outdoors already and let me tell you, compared to life in Phoenix in June-July-August? It feels like an entirely different world.

All five of us are big fans of the hot dog. Most of the time, I’m pretty happy with a classic dog topped with just ketchup, mustard, and relish. But other times? It can be a whole lot of fun to mix things up.

Hot Dog Bar Ideas

Step One: Grill the hot dogs and toast the buns.

Step Two: Set the toppings out while the hot dogs are on the grill.

Step Three: Let each person assemble their hot dogs with as much or as little of each topping as they like best.

I hope that you love these hot dog toppings as much as we do!

However you are assembling your hot dogs, you’ll want to check out these summer side dishes to finish off a terrific meal or barbecue with friends.

If you’re grilling and enjoying the weather outside, these salads without mayonnaise are always a hit. From Creamy Pasta Salad to Cucumber Tomato Salad, Tangy Italian Pasta Salad to this Balsamic and Basil Berry Salad, the odds are good that you’re going to find at least one of these salads in my fridge for the next few months.

Spicy Hot Dogs

As much as my family loves green chile, this hot dog topping was a guaranteed w

Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Salmon [+Video]

Tender, flaky salmon fillets rubbed in a bold smoky rub, stuffed with a creamy spinach artichoke filling and baked to perfection! You’ll feel like you’ve ordered stuffed salmon from a fancy restaurant!

It seems like salmon recipes are the rage all over the place, so I have been working on loads of different recipes to cook salmon in different ways and with different flavors.

We have a classic garlic butter salmon, a BBQ salmon in the air fryer, a teriyaki salmon, a baked maple mustard maple salmon, a grilled salmon, an Asian sticky salmon, and a sweet and spicy orange salmon. I’m still working on a smoked salmon, so stay tuned! But this stuffed salmon has a story behind it…

Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Salmon

This last spring my family was just about to board a cruise ship with my parents when we got a text that changed everything; “Tom isn’t doing well. They’ve brought in hospice.”

You see, my entire life my parents were best friends with Tom and Peggy Glem. No, best friends doesn’t really describe it. More like family, they were family. Our kids matched up well in ages. Our vacations were often spent together, holidays were moments and memories and laughter and even our recipes seemed to run together. But no one was closer than mom and Peggy.

I always say that to have a “Peggy” means that you have the best kind of friendship possible. Because of Mom and Peggy, dad and Tom really didn’t have a choice but to become close as well. He was all about the tease, the lemon meringue pie, the fishing and the adventure. He was genuine and he loved his family. Like really loved them. Regardless of who walked in his door and how they were living their lives Tom truly tried to see them and love them.

Tom made it just a few short days and then all gathered for his funeral. Much like Peggy, Tom was taken far too soon, and far too young. This last year has brought a lot of change and chaos into our lives. There have been miracles, blessings, memories and laughter for sure, but I also can’t help but notice how quickly my life is changing.

A daughter about to head off to college, the friends of my parents, whom I have known and love for all my life, struggling through grief, death, poor health, and tragedies and the world spinning, and confusion, it’s a year unlike any other I’ve ever experienced.

I have found myself wanting to really be present to acknowledge those who have come before me to acknowledge the life that I’ve had, and the life that is still ahead of me and so to most, this will just be a stuffed salmon recipe with the most delicious spinach artichoke

Cherry Cheese Danish Sliders [+Video]

Sweet sliders are becoming my new obsession and these cherry cheese danish sliders are like eating a cherry cheese Danish and a cherry cheesecake at the same time.

Sweet cherry pie filling and tangy cheesecake filling all enclosed in sweet Hawaiian rolls, baked to golden perfection and topped with a creamy glaze and sliced almonds.

I made a big batch of cherry pie filling to shoot a bunch of cherry recipes and then I got creative with how to use it. I had a package of slider buns in the freezer and I thought, why not make some cherry sliders? I’d photographed the s’mores sliders the day before sooooo…let’s keep a good thing going!

Whether you are looking to change things up for Saturday breakfast or you want a simple fruit dessert, these cherry cream cheese sliders can please a crowd and they take less than 30 minutes to make.

Ingredients for Cherry Cheese Danish Sliders

Pull your phone out and start adding these items to your grocery pick up list! You’re going to want make these ASAP…

• Hawaiian Sweet Rolls: you can use store bought or make your own if you have the time
• Cream Cheese: make sure it is room temperature and preferably full fat
• Powdered Sugar: adds all the sweetness to the cheesecake filling
• Lemon Juice: adds a pop of acidity
• Egg Yolk: makes the cream cheese filling extra creamy and rich
• Butter: mixed with the sugar and brushed on the bottom of the pan to help the sliders not stick and to create a sugary crust on the bottom
• Sugar: adds a sweet caramel-y crust to the bottom of the sliders
• Cherry Pie Filling: homemade or store-bought will work just fine. You could also use any filling you want…strawberry, apple or blueberry.
• Egg: combined with water, creates an egg wash for the tops of the buns
• Water: whisked with egg to create an egg wash

Drizzle

• Powdered Sugar: the sweetness and structure for the drizzle
• Whole Milk: helps create the drizzle
• Sliced Almonds: adds texture to the sliders and resembles a classic cherry cheese danish

This is meant to just be an overview of all the ingredients. For all the measurements and details, keep scrolling to the recipe card at the end of the post.

How to Make Dessert Sliders