Half a box of pasta, a pound of sausage, and some green cabbage that was tucked in the fridge added up to a winning last-minute meal a few weeks ago. It was such a hit with my family that I decided to make it again and write up the recipe to share with you all.

My family loved this dinner so much, there may have even been an argument over who was going to eat the leftovers. I love it so very much when a dinner created from whatever happens to be on hand turns out to be this delicious.

Pasta with Sausage

The magic that sausage adds to a pasta dish can’t be overstated. Sausage adds incredible flavor to pasta recipes and I find myself using it regularly.

As I learned with my cousin’s Pizza Soup recipe many years ago, a little bit of sausage goes a long way toward flavoring a dish. You don’t need to buy a fancy sausage either! I keep several packages of basic breakfast sausage (mild and spicy varieties) on hand in the freezer for quick and easy dinners.

There are endless ways to use everyday breakfast sausage for easy dinners with minimal effort and the sausage recipes here are a testament to that.

Cabbage Pasta

Pasta with cabbage is another of my favorite ways to cook pasta. The cabb

Hotdogs in the Air Fryer [+Video]

Satisfy your craving for crispy, juicy hot dogs with this easy recipe for frying them in the air fryer. With just a few simple steps, you can indulge in this delicious fried hotdogs in the air fryer at home.

I am fully prepared for the teasing that might ensue. After these next words I write… I absolutely love hotdogs with all of my heart, and will often choose one over a cheeseburger! Gasp!

I don’t even understand what it is completely, but I know that there is something about that snap and pop when you bite into it the juicy deliciousness of the meat and dare I say it’s the combination of both that soft bun and simple ketchup, that is irresistible for me.

I don’t know where I’ve been all these years but when our daughter requested hotdogs for dinner, one night, I started to tell Claire they are so much better on a grill during the summer when it dawned on me, the air fryer could knock this out of the park and sure enough it 100% did.

The outside gets a little crispy while the inside stays juicy. And with the scored top on them, they get little crispy edges. Mmmmmm…I’m totally obsessed with airfryer hotdogs!

What Do I Need to Make Air Fryer Hot Dogs?

All you need is hotdogs and hot dog buns! That’s it! And then whatever toppings you want to add.

How to Make Hot Dogs in the Air Fryer

Get ready for a quick and easy dinner recipe because dinner is going to be on the table in less than 15 minutes! Here are the basic steps:

1. Preheat the airfryer.
2. Score the tops of the hotdogs and place them in the air fryer basket for 6 minutes.
3. Open the airfryer and place each hotdog in a bun and return them to the airfryer for another minute.
4. Remove the hotdogs from the airfryer and serve with all your favorite toppings.

Tips for the Best Fried Hot Dogs

You will want to be sure to buy the right hot dogs and buns for the best results for this recipe. I am a huge fan of Nathan’s hot dogs with Hebrew National. For the bun, the brioche buns by Nature’s Own are my all time favorite. Warming the bun in the air fryer with the hot dog is total game changer!

If you want a little different flavor profile, spread a little butter on each side of the bun and toast them in the broiler before adding the hotdogs to buns. Toasted buns are so delicious!

Score the top of the hot dogs, but make

White Chocolate Key Lime Cookies

Satisfy your sweet tooth with these delicious White Chocolate Key Lime Cookies. Made with a zesty lime flavor and creamy white chocolate chips, these cookies are the perfect treat for any occasion.

A while back the hubby and I were trying to decide on dessert for the evening. We kept going back and forth about what we wanted. Then our dear friends stopped by and voted for trying out a new cookie, Key Lime Cookie. I actually really liked them. I would have liked a touch more lime in mine, but everyone else liked them as they were so I guess go with the majority vote.

Now I’ve circled back to this cookie recipe and updated it. You know I added more lime this time around, but feel free to dial it back if you want a more subtle lime flavor. This is the best key lime cookies recipe!

What Do I Need to Make Key Lime Cookies?

There are no surprises here! Just your typical cookie making ingredients plus come fresh lime juice and zest and white chocolate. That’s all you need! Here is your ingredients list…

• Flour: just regular all purpose flour
• Baking Soda: acts as a leavening agent to give the cookies their rise
• Salt: enhances all the flavors
• Butter: unsalted butter is preferred and you want it softened
• Sugar: adds sweetness
• Brown Sugar: adds additional sweetness and deeper rich flavor
• Egg: gives the cookies structure and binds all the ingredients together
• Vanilla Extract: adds flavor
• Limes: you definitely need fresh limes for the zest and juice, either regular limes or key limes work great
• White Chocolate Chips: or white chocolate chunks work great too

The measurements for all the ingredients can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.

How to Make Key Lime Cookies

1. Prep: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats.
2. Dry Ingredients: Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
3. Wet Ingredients: In the bowl of stand mixer, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Then beat in the egg, key lime juice and vanilla until smooth.
4. Combine: Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
5. Stir: Add the white chocolate and key lime zest to the dough and use a wooden spoon to stir them in.
6. Scoop: Use a cookie scoop or spoon to drop spoonfuls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets.
7. Bake: Bake the cookies for 8-9 minutes and be sure to not overbake them.
8. Cool: Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes and then move them to a wire cooling rack.

Keep scrolling through the post down to the recipe card to see all these instructions in full detail.

Can Yo

Fudge Filled Chocolate Chip Cookies

These fudge filled chocolate chip cookies are simple, classic chocolate chip cookies with a decadent chocolate fudge filling on the inside!  These surprise-inside cookies are sure to be a new favorite!

Chocolate chip cookies are and have always been my favorite cookies — I love the slightly crisped edges, the soft, nearly-gooey centers (doesn’t everyone?!), and, perhaps most importantly, those melty chocolate chips.

Ingredients for Fudge Cookies

Here is your grocery shopping list for these cookies. I bet you have most of these ingredients in your house already!

Fudge

• Semisweet Chocolate Chips
• Sweetened Condensed Milk

Cookies

• Unsalted Butter
• Light Brown Sugar
• White Sugar
• Eggs
• Vanilla Extract
• All-Purpose Flour
• Cornstarch
• Salt
• Baking Powder
• Baking Soda
• Mini Chocolate Chips

The measurements for all the ingredients can be found in the recipe card down below.

How to Make Chocolate Chips Cookies with Fudge Filling

This cookie recipe consists of two different components – the fudge and the cookie dough. Both parts are simple to make! Here are the basic steps:

Fudge

NOTE: Ideally, the fudge should be made at least 4 hours ahead of time (or a full day ahead of time).

1. Prep: Line an 8×8 baking dish with foil and lightly grease with butter.
2. Melt: Add the chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat and stir frequently until the chocolate is completely melted.
3. Pour: Pour the melted chocolate into the prepared pan and allow to set for at least 4 hours.
4. Cut: Cut the fudge into 1″ pieces and prepare the cookie dough.

Cookies

1. Beat: Add the butter and sugars to the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or use an electric mixer and a large bowl) and beat until well combined and fluffy.
2. Mix: Add the eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition and then add the vanilla extract.
3. Whisk: In a separate bowl, add all the dry ingredients and whisk together.
4. Combine: Decrease to low speed and add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until combine.
5. Stir: Add the chocolate chips and stir with a wooden spoon until mixed in and place in the fridge to chill for 15 minutes.
6. Prep: While the cookie dough chills, preheat the oven and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
7. Scoop: Scoop out a heaping portion of cookie dough (about 1 1/2 tablespoons) and make a crater in the center of the dough and press a squ

How to Freeze Fruit and Make Better Smoothies

Freezing fruit can provide an easy way to make delicious and nutritious smoothies. Learn how to properly freeze fruit and create better smoothies with these tips and tricks.

One thing that I’ve really been working hard on this year is having a healthier breakfast. I was always a die hard cereal girl which is totally fine, but I was missing out on a lot of nutrients that could help me have a better, more energized day.

So, I started drinking green smoothies with a little protein or doing breakfast parfaits with granola (or oatmeal but summer is generally more about the smoothies.), but I quickly realized three things which is why we are doing a post on how to freeze fruit and make better smoothies.

Smoothie Musts

So if I’m going to be having fruit smoothies for breakfast, I have some thoughts…

1. I need a little fruit in my smoothies to love them, otherwise it is too bland or bitter for me. Plus everyone needs a little fruit in their lives.
2. Making smoothies is expensive. I know a lot of people that eat the whole foods diet or are big on fresh produce swear it’s not bad, but it is expensive. So my solution was to start buying things on sale and freezing them because it allowed me to still incorporate fresh fruits into the smoothies, saved us money!
3. I like my smoothies thick like a shake and not thin like a juice, so using frozen fruit thickened up the texture of my shake without adding ice cubes.

I’ve compiled a list of fruits that freeze well, but the how-to is quite easy. The most important part about this, other than actually freezing is to buy fresh fruit when it’s on sale at the grocery store, and buy a lot. That way you can freeze fruit at it’s cheapest and overall save money versus buying frozen or fresh fruit that’s not on sale.

Is It Cheaper to Freeze Your Own Fruit for Smoothies?

Yes! I’m looking at a bag of frozen sliced bananas right now at Smith’s. It costs $2.99 for a 16 oz bag (or 1 lb). In comparison, fresh bananas cost $0.25/lb, so let’s say you buy 2 lbs of bananas since you will need to remove the peel. That will only be $0.50 for bananas and little bit of work peeling, slicing and properly freezing them.

Here’s another example for strawberries. A 10oz bag of frozen strawberries costs $2.99. You can get a 1 lb (or 16oz) carton of fresh strawberries for the same price, so you get almost 1/2 lb more of strawberries for the same price. You can get fresh strawberries for even cheaper than that when they are in season or on sale.

How to Freeze Fruit for Smoothies

Peel (if needed), remove stems, and rinse the fruit well, chop into small chunks or slices and dry with paper towels. Next, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and lay the fruit out flat in a single layer, trying to keep a little space between each piece. Now place the tray in the freezer for 3 hours or up to 1 day. Remove the fruit and place in ziploc freezer bags, pressing out all the air and sealing shut. Now the fruit will keep for 6-9 months.