Light and slightly tangy creamy pasta salad, with just enough dressing to coat the noodles and vegetables, this is one heck of an awesome summer pasta salad.

Perfect on its own for a light meal or as a side dish for all the summer potlucks and barbecues. Homemade pasta salad is better than any deli salad you can buy at the store.

A few years ago, while visiting my aunt and uncle, we were fortunate enough to arrive around dinnertime. (My aunt is a fabulous cook, so I tend to time my arrivals that way. You know, accidentally on purpose?)

Speaking of Aunt Judy’s amazing foods, have you tried her Almond Bars yet? Put them on your holiday baking list right now.

Her pasta salad was so simple and so delicious, I had to recreate it for my family as soon as I got back home. Thanks once again for the inspiration, Aunt Judy.

Summer Pasta Salad

This salad is filled with broccoli, cucumber, red pepper, black olives, and green onions. I am a big fan of pasta dishes that have a high ratio of vegetables to pasta, so don’t hesitate to add more or switch things up with your favorite vegetables.

Adding extra vegetables to a pasta salad is about more than just making it a little bit healthier. Vegetables add different flavors, textures, and colors to recipes like this one. This salad is about 50/50 pasta and vegetables and I often make it with more vegetables than are actually in the recipe.

Everything gets tossed in a light tangy dressing and the result is a fresh pasta salad that disappears quite literally almost as quickly as I can stir it together.

Recipes like this Asian Pasta Salad and this Summer Couscous Salad are a couple more that thrill my vegetable-loving heart.

Read more

Juicy oven baked chicken thighs are possible with almost no effort at all!

If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you likely know that we eat a lot of chicken. I’ve shared over 150 chicken recipes already and there isn’t an end in sight.

Chicken is so versatile that you can serve it for dinner several nights a week for months and never have to have it exactly the same way.

Baked Chicken Legs and Thighs

Learning a few different ways to cook chicken thighs means always being able to whip up a delicious, inexpensive meal that everyone in your household will love without putting in a ton of extra time or effort.

Today, I’m serving up a round-up of my favorite recipes for baked chicken legs and thighs. These are dishes I’ve made again and again over the years that are simple, nourishing, and incredibly flavorful.

Every recipe included in this post relies on ingredients that are a cinch to find at any grocery store. Many ingredients you are likely to already have in your fridge and pantry.

If you’re wondering what to make for dinner tonight, baked chicken thighs are the answer. If you happen to have potatoes in the house, this Sheet Pan Chicken Dinner is a great idea too.

This is such an easy dinner recipe and my family continues to make it at least once a month. It only takes about 5 minutes of effort to toss the chicken, potatoes, and green beans in a simple lemon and herb vinaigrette before roasting until tender and crisp.

Despite being so easy to prepare and cook, all of these chicken recipes are far and away tastier than almost any takeout meal you could get for the same cost.

Oven Baked Chicken Thighs

Did you know it’s possible to get crisp, flavorful chicken without frying? I’ve always loved the crispiness of a pan fried chicken thighs, but don’t always have the time to monitor the chicken as it cooks on the stovetop.

Crispy oven-baked chicken thighs are what you need. This recipe only requires about five minutes of preparation and an hour of hands-off cooking time that results in the most crisp, juicy, delicious chicken dinner you could want.

I’ve made many variations on this recipe over the years

Lemon Herb Spatchcock Chicken Recipe

If you want the juiciest chicken with crispy skin and the most incredible flavor, then you have to make this lemon herb spatchcock chicken!

When I was pregnant with our second child I was not in any kind of position to cook, eat or even think about either thing. But it was like taking a surfer away from the ocean, I was determined to make better than ever meals when I had the baby. And spatchcock chicken was strangely at the top of my list. I have absolutely no idea why I hyper-fixated on chicken, but it ended up being a blessing. It gave me something to look forward to. To decide without ever deciding that I was going to not only survive, but thrive post traumatic pregnancy.

I’m not saying that anyone who is going through something hard should just think about chicken to fix things, because again, I WOULD NOT think about chicken during that time. But maybe there’s something about positive psychology that could take us from A-B that is found in the kitchen. So without telling you what I think… yet… what is the happiest memory you have around food?

Why does food more often attach itself to happiness than sadness?

I’ll move on, I know you just want the recipe, but it’s something to think about. Is there a secret about food and cooking that might make a difference in your happiness in the midst of your trial?

What is a Spatchcock Chicken?

A spatchcock chicken is the same thing as a butterflied chicken. It is a method for cooking chicken where you remove the backbone of a whole chicken and flatten it so that it lays flat and roasts more evenly. For some reason, this little bird’s legs curled up again at the end, but otherwise it will lay far more flat than this.

Why Do You Spatchcock a Chicken?

When you roast a whole chicken, the chicken breasts sit higher and cook first and dry out while the rest of the chicken comes to temperature.

With a spatchcock chicken, everything is at the same level and roasts evenly resulting in juicy chicken breasts, thighs, legs…the whole bird!

And the skin gets so crispy and delicious! I dare say that once you spatchcock, you’ll never go back to roasting a chicken any other way.

Do You Flip a Spatchcock When Cooking?

No, a spatchcock does not need to be flipped while cooking. You roast it with the meat side up and it will come to temperature just fine without flipping.

What Do I Need to Make Spatchcock Chicken?

All you need to do is grab a whole chicken and then hit the produce section for some fresh herbs and citrus. You’ll likely have everything else you need in the pantry already. BONUS…this recipe is so budget friendly! Here is what you will need:

• Whole Chicken: a 4-5 pound chicken works best, skin on<

With just 3 ingredients and about 2 minutes of effort, you can make this salty, sweet, completely irresistible peanut butter ice cream topping. I’m willing to bet that you’ll find yourself pouring it over everything.

Peanut Butter Sauce for Ice Cream

Chocolate syrup, caramel sauce, hot fudge, and berry sauces get a lot of attention when it comes to ice cream toppings. For good reason, they’re pretty awesome, right?

I’m here to tell you that there’s a new hit in that line-up. This nut-filled peanut butter sauce is the salty-sweet ice cream pairing that you didn’t realize was missing in your life.

While you can certainly sweeten your peanut butter ice cream topping with powdered sugar, honey, or the sweetener of your choice, I prefer to keep it richly peanut butter flavored as a balance to the sweet ice cream.

Hand me a spoonful of peanut butter on its own and I’m a happy camper, but when you combine that peanut butter with the creaminess and sweetness of ice cream, it becomes a flavor explosion in your mouth.

The nuttiness of the peanut butter adds a savory element to the dessert, balancing out the sweetness of the ice cream and creating a more complex flavor profile.

Peanut Butter Magic Shell

This is the easiest dessert topping you may ever make. Have you made chocolate magic shell before? Thanks to the magic of coconut oil and the way it firms up when it gets cold, making homemade magic shell is so very easy.

To make the peanut butter topping, you’ll melt peanut butter and coconut oil together. Stir well and add a splash of vanilla extract, if you’d like.

Now you’re ready to pour peanut butter sauce over anything and everything you’d like. When poured over ice cream, it will firm and harden into a crisp shell that will crack when hit with a spoon.

The shell melts smoothly when you bite into it, creating an unforgettable treat for any peanut butter lover.

Read more

The Softest Homemade Dinner Rolls [+Video]

The Softest Homemade Dinner Rolls are going to rock your world. Soft on the inside, warm & buttery outside. Plus our tip that makes all the difference for dinner rolls.

Sunday dinner was a really big deal at my house as a little girl. I have absolutely perfect memories of my mom in her apron and Sunday dress bustling around the kitchen to get the pot roast in the oven before church and instantly I was on Jell-O duty. 

Do not judge me.

Jell-O Duty

Jell-O was my thing. Not only did I love to make it but I was the one licking the bowl clean.

While I stirred and stirred, mesmerized by the gentle red waves and slowly disappearing crystals of the gelatin mom was busy with the rest of dinner. As I got older I took on different jobs like peeling potatoes, browning the roast, and so on. Dinner rolls though, that was intimidating. 

And long. 

I did not want to take on some boring, multi-houred process. 

The Softest Rolls Recipe

And now it’s my thing. If you’ve made our famous Potato Rolls you know what I’m talking about. 

Homemade dinner rolls are far more successful if you learn the feel of the dough.  It’s easier to shape and test for doneness on a roll than a big loaf of bread. 

This recipe doesn’t need hours of kneading multiple times a day. In fact, the most important part is the scalded milk. 

Warmed milk changes how it works in the dough, I’ll save you from the science lesson, but here’s what you do:

How To Warm the Milk for Dinner Rolls

• Heat milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Be watching for foamy bubbles around the sides and a thin layer of skin on top of the milk. You can touch the top with a wooden spoon very gently and it will lift off. 
• Now, add the water and set it all aside to let it cool. Stick your clean finger in it occasionally to see if it feels like a warm bath. Once it does, you’re ready to cruise! 

What Ingredients are Needed to Make Dinner Rolls?

• Instant Yeast (make sure it is Instant Yeast and not Active Dry)
• Milk
• Water
• Sugar
• Honey
• Butter
• Fine Sea Salt
• Vegetable Oi