Frito pie casserole is the large scale, crowd-friendly version of walking tacos; seasoned taco meat with beans topped with melted cheese and crunchy corn chips. If you want to make it a meal in one, top as you would a taco with lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, onions, and cilantro!

Frito Pie Casserole

I’m sure you’re familiar with walking tacos which are sometimes known as Frito pie. This is the version you make when you want to feed a crew and don’t feel like bothering with a bunch of little snack-sized bags of corn chips.

With all the irresistible qualities of a walking taco tucked in a convenient casserole format, this meal pulls together in a flash. If you’re lucky enough to have three or four cups of our leftover Best Taco Meat, you’re even closer to getting dinner on the table.

Frito Chili Pie

While taco meat is usually our protein of choice for this casserole, you can easily swap in three or four cups of your favorite chili. Whether you choose Hearty Pepper Chili, Spicy Five Bean Steak and Sausage Chili, or even Vegetarian Four Bean and Chipotle Chili, everyone at your table will love this dish!

This Frito pie casserole recipe is as easy as one-two-three. It’s just a matter of layering the ingredients in your baking dish and sending it on a quick trip through the oven.

Read more

One Layer Strawberry Shortcake Cake

Dive into summer with our one layer strawberry shortcake cake! This single layer, 9×13″ white cake uses a simple boxed cake mix that’s been doctored up for the most moist white cake recipe. Top it all off with a dreamy cream cheese whipped cream frosting and plenty of juicy strawberries. The classic flavors of strawberry shortcake in a 1 layer cake!

Watch How This Strawberry Shortcake Cake Recipe is Made…

I’ve found that when we get invited to a summer potluck, BBQ or picnic I struggle to figure out the perfect summer dessert to bring. I want something light and comforting, but it must scream summer too. That to me is always strawberry shortcake, but let’s be honest, individual desserts are kind of a hassle to drag out to a park or friend’s backyard. That’s where my favorite strawberry shortcake cake comes in!!!

It’s a simple, extra moist white cake that uses a doctored up cake mix, a dreamy, creamy whipped cream and cream cheese frosting and a fresh strawberry sauce on top. 

Bonus! This cake is best made a whole day ahead! 

Ingredients for Strawberry Shortcake Cake

• For the Cake: White Cake Mix, Jello Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix, Sour Cream, Canola Oil, Eggs, Milk and Vanilla Extract
  • PRO TIP: Use just the pudding powder for the recipe! Don’t make the actual pudding. Also…don’t use French vanilla pudding mix or your cake will turn out yellow.
• For the Strawberry Topping: Water, Strawberry Junket and Strawberries
  • PRO TIP: You can find strawberry junket by the Jello. It is a packet for making a strawberry glaze. You can also just buy strawberry glaze or skip the glaze altogether and just macerate the strawberries in some sugar. They will be a little less saucy but still heavenly!
• For the Frosting: Heavy Cream, Powdered Sugar and Cream Cheese

Keep scrolling to the end of the post for all the details and measurements you need.

Deviled Egg Summer Pasta Salad

Looking for a crave-worthy recipe for a summer pasta salad? My creamy deviled egg filling creates the most luscious dressing that coats every bite of pasta in this simple Deviled Egg Pasta Salad.

Watch our Video on How to Make Deviled Egg Pasta Salad

Deviled egg pasta salad combines two side dish staples, the classic deviled egg and a traditional pasta salad to create the ultimate summer side dish for any BBQ or potluck. In fact, you may prefer this creamy deviled egg pasta salad over the old-fashioned appetizer after just one bite.

What Ingredients Do I Need to Make Deviled Egg Pasta Salad?

Remember that you’re essentially going to make deviled egg filling and use it as the dressing for this easy pasta salad recipe. You’ll need the standard deviled egg ingredients plus some pasta. Here a quick overview of everything you’ll need:

• Ditalini Pasta
• Hard Boiled Eggs
• Mayonnaise
• Dijon Mustard
• White Vinegar
• Sugar
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic Powder
• Smoked Paprika
• Green Onion
• Red Onion

Keep scrolling to the end of the post for all the measurements and details.

Why Shape of Pasta Should I Use?

I tested many different pasta shapes expecting macaroni to be the winner. I wanted something that would fit well with the shape of the egg as well as trap the dressing. Finally, I landed on ditalini because it’s the perfect size to match the chopped eggs and those little tubes hold onto the dressing so perfectly! Mini shells or orecchiette would also work great!

Welcome to the weekend, my friends! I was in Park City, UT this week and the weather was fantastic. Lovely cool nights and gorgeous days with sunshine – zero complaints about any of that. I’m back in Ohio now though and enjoying a sunny, rain-filled day.

If you’d told me years ago, while we were living in Phoenix, that I’d someday watch the weather forecast and come to love the variety of weather changes we might see in a week, I wouldn’t have understood that. Now? I live for the changing seasons – winter, spring, summer, and fall surely have their beautiful moments and I enjoy them all.

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK:  Pork, shrimp, and vegetables are folded into a paper-thin lumpia wrapper and then fried to crisp golden perfection in this traditional recipe for Filipino lumpia. Almost 30 years ago, I tasted lumpia for the first time and I fell in love with them at first bite.

Old-fashioned split pea soup is a hearty, satisfying soup made from dried split peas, savory ham, and tender chunks of potatoes. It’s a classic winter soup that is also perfect for a chilly, wet spring or summer evening.

Tiny bite-size pieces of chicken are tossed with spices and oil before they’re cooked to juicy perfection in the air fryer. These air fryer chicken bites have become one of my favorite lunches of late. The leftovers keep nicely in the fridge for a few days and they’re a great option for tossing into salads or eating on their own whenever I’m hungry.

Tempting and versatile, these rosemary garlic potatoes are tender roasted potatoes with a crisp garlicky, rosemary crust. They are the ultimate in potato side dishes.

Sweet corn, summer tomatoes and cucumbers, fresh basil, and parsley are tossed with a bright, tangy vinaigrette to create this summer corn salad.

Sweet berries, spicy jalapenos, onions, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime combine to make this strawberry salsa. This comes together in about 15 minutes and the salsa disappears almost faster than that every single time I make it.

Fresh and creamy strawberry ice cream is sprinkled throughout with Nerds candy to create this super fun Nerds ice cream, it’s a completely irresistible kid and adult favorite.

What I’m CRAVING: I tried bavette steak (also sold as “flap steak”) for the first time this week and it was so good! I’d never even heard of it before. The closest thing to it would be flank or skirt steak, but the texture is more delicate and tender.

My friend Sommer told me that that bavette is her favorite cut of beef and I have to agree now that it’s pret

Fresh and creamy strawberry ice cream is sprinkled throughout with Nerds candy to create this super fun Nerds Ice Cream, it’s a completely irresistible kid and adult favorite.

When I stumbled on a question regarding Nerds ice cream a while back, I was immediately intrigued. Nerds candy? I don’t think I’d eaten any Nerds since middle school – at least not that I can recall. Well, I’m happy to tell you that I’m once again hooked on these crunchy, sweet and tart candies. I can’t stop snacking on them now!

And if you also haven’t had Nerds candy since you were a kid, it’s time to change that. (Also – do not buy it from that link, I’m providing it only for the visual aide. Just pick up a box of the candy for a dollar from the grocery store.)

Apparently, there used to be a grape-flavored ice cream with Nerds candy in it. Side note – it turns out that there’s some debate on what the ice cream flavor actually was, but the ice cream was a deep purple-blue color.

So, I tried a couple of different ideas for grape ice cream and well, let’s just say that you can be grateful I’m sparing you that. If I ever nail that one down, I’ll let you know.

Nerds Ice Cream

I then tried adding Nerds candy to a batch of the best ever vanilla ice cream. That was tasty and my husband and the boys enjoyed it. But it wasn’t “wow-ing” me.

Last, I decided to add some Nerds to a batch of old-fashioned strawberry ice cream. Oh. My. Word. What an awesome combination this turned out to be!

With bright and fresh strawberry flavor churned into the ice cream, it’s a perfect match to the strawberry flavor of Nerds candy. I found myself returning to the freezer repeatedly after I made this batch of ice cream – just to “test” the flavor once more.

This ice cream is as easy to make as it could possibly be. You’ll just blend the strawberries, sugar, salt, vanilla, milk, and cream together until smooth and then pour the mixture into the ice