Welcome to the weekend, my friends! This past weekend with my sisters was great fun – in a whole lot of snow. We arrived at my sister’s cabin (pictured above) to find far more snow than we anticipated. We settled in for the night and then enjoyed a fantastic hike in the snow the next day before we headed back down the mountain.

I finally made it back home on Wednesday night (thanks to canceled and rescheduled connecting flights due to storms), just in time to enjoy the snow that has finally drifted our way here in Ohio. The whole family is home and tucked inside this weekend. I’m sipping a latte, snacking on popcorn, and enjoying the smell of this chili simmering on the stove while I write this newsletter.

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK: Light and fluffy, slightly tangy, Buttermilk Pancakes – these are the diner style pancakes that you love. This recipe is the reason there is always buttermilk in our fridge.

Topped with maple syrup, buttermilk syrup, brown sugar butter syrup, berry sauce and whipped cream, or whipped strawberry butter, you can’t go wrong with a pancake breakfast.

Savory ground beef mingles with the earthy goodness of carrots and peas beneath a warm blanket of cheesy mashed potatoes in this Irish Cottage Pie.

Irresistibly crispy and nutty sprouts are balanced with sweet and tender caramelized carrots in this recipe for Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Carrots.

Gooey cheese, slightly sweet peppers, flavorful mushrooms, and a not-so-secret ingredient come together to make this easy Vegetarian Breakfast Casserole a surefire hit.

Wonderfully simple to make, and with an incredibly bold vanilla flavor, Philadelphia Style Ice Cream is hands down, the best simple vanilla ice cream I have ever made.

Heath Bar Cookies start with a chocolate chip cookie dough base, but in addition to those melting semi-sweet morsels, these rich buttery cookies contain the toffee-tastic magic of Heath bars.

What I’m CRAVING: This very simple Read more

Welcome to the weekend, my friends! I’m curled up on the couch at my sister’s cabin this morning as I send this email. The snowy view out the window is making me very grateful for indoor heating, fuzzy warm socks, and cozy blankets.

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK: With a velvety broth loaded with the goodness of corn, potatoes, and bell peppers, this cheesy, Creamy Vegetable Soup is one heck of a hearty meal.

Hearty noodles serve as the perfect backdrop for slightly sweet cabbage and savory bacon in this simple Cabbage Spaghetti. This is SO good, I ate it three days in a row. And then, I made it again.

The sweetness of caramelized onions gives traditional hummus an extraordinary upgrade with this Caramelized Onion Hummus.

There’s plenty of spicy kick in this easy-to-make Canned Tomato Salsa. It just might have you saying goodbye to store-bought varieties forever. (And no one is more surprised that I’m writing that than I am!)

Loaded with pecan pieces and plenty of coconut flavor, these Coconut Pecan Cookies are perfectly chewy with just the right amount of crunch.

These Cranberry Orange Oatmeal Cookies are soft, chewy cookies filled with tart cranberries and infused with sweet oranges and fragrant cardamom.

Fresh Lemon Sorbet is a light and refreshing treat that is a terrific addition to any meal. At first glance, a scoop of sorbet is unlikely to grab your attention and impress. However, at first taste, you’re certain to be won over immediately.

What I’m CRAVING: There aren’t many cookies that I crave the way I crave my friend Christi’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies. If you love chocolate and peanut butter, these cookies are truly as good as that combination gets. I need to make another batch soon. They are FANTASTIC.

My FAVORITE THING this week is this travel toiletry bag. The interior is waterproof, so it wipes clean easily. The compartments are so well thought out that after using it for almost 3 years now, I have no complaints at all. I like it even more now than I did when I first started using it. And it gets bonus points for the hook that allows you to hang it on a towel rack or hook for super easy access to everything.

What I’m READING: Read more

Welcome to the weekend, my friends! Can I just start by saying “YAY for January”? I love the fresh start that the new year brings us. I’m not one for setting specific goals or resolutions in January, but I do love the fresh clean beginning after the holidays.

The first few months of 2024 are jam-packed for us and I’m looking forward to all of it – while also soaking in every calm moment at home in between times. I’m headed to NM next week for my annual sister trip and counting down the days until I can hug my sisters again.

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK:  Some foods are so basic, so incredibly simple, that it can be difficult to describe their awesomeness. That’s how I feel about cottage cheese with fruit. Two ingredients. (Sure, you can dress it up a bit, if you like, but at its heart, just 2 ingredients.) Whether this is my breakfast, an afternoon snack, or a sweet bite after dinner, I eat this combination at some point nearly every single day.

Savory chunks of chicken mingle with sweet grapes, crunchy walnuts, and crisp apples in this easy Chicken Waldorf Salad. This is a lunch you will put on repeat!

Tender chunks of ham meld with earthy green beans and hearty potatoes in this super simple meal of Crockpot Ham, Green Beans, and Potatoes. When I tell you that this was an unexpected success, I can’t emphasize that enough. This is hearty comfort food that isn’t heavy with cheese or oils. It’s as simple as can be and my whole family gave it two thumbs up.

Fluffy potatoes with crisp, roasted edges are seasoned to perfection with just rosemary, salt, and pepper in these Rosemary Roasted Potatoes. My whole family starts to grab these right off the pan when they come out of the oven.

Brown sugar is the star of the show in this homemade Brown Sugar Icing with notes of caramel and molasses mingling in this pourable, dreamy frosting.

The unforgettable tang of rich, buttermilk cake is topped with a layer of sweet caramel frosting in this Buttermilk Cake topped with that irresistible icing.

Spicy Chocolate Ice Cream is cold, creamy chocolate with a hint of spicy heat from chili and cinnamon. This ice cream warms your mouth even as you are chilled from the ice cream. The combination of heat with the cold is fantastic.

What I’m CRAVING: I’ve gone from craving all the salads last week to craving all the pancakes today! (Did you know we have

Welcome to the weekend, my friends! I’ve enjoyed my Christmas break so much. I’ve slept in, gone for walks and bike rides, watched movies, read several books, and cooked some of our favorite foods. I’ve also eaten Christmas cookies with lattes almost every night – hence my craving for all the vegetables at this point.

What we’re EATING: It’s been another tasty week over here without a single new blog post to show for it. (And I’m still not sad about that.)

I made a big pot of Lasagna Soup a night or two ago, along with a tray of this Garlic Herb Bread and we’re already down to the last couple of servings. Every time I serve that soup that someone new, they ask for a link to the recipe. We love it. 

I took a pan of these easy-as-can-be Chicken Enchiladas over to friends last night. (I made a big pan for my family at the same time – it’s the easiest recipe ever to double.) My boys will likely polish that off for lunch today. With a pile of tortilla chips on the side for dipping, it’s one of their favorite meals.

I made another Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole this week and once again, I ate a ridiculous portion both for breakfast and the next day for lunch. 

I made a big cheeseboard after the Christmas Eve service this past week and the boys asked if we could do an even bigger snack spread for New Year’s Eve. Looks like I need to head to Trader Joe’s today to pick up more of our favorite snacks, meats, and cheeses.

We cooked our favorite Balsamic Dijon Glazed Ham on Christmas day and there have been plenty of Ham Sandwiches and quesadillas made with the leftovers this week.

I also made another gigantic pot of my grandmother’s Creamy Vegetable Soup that I photographed a while back. We can’t get enough of this one and I’m excited to finally share it with you in a week or two. Thanks for re-introducing me to it, Aunt Judy!

Last, but not least, I’ve been craving vegetables like mad, so I made a giant skillet of this taco meat and have been enjoying it in salads for my lunches. 

What I’m CRAVING: these Red Chile Chicken Burritos! I couldn’t stop thinking of them as I was making the enchiladas this week, so these burritos are on the meal plan for the coming week. 

My FAVORITE THING this week is Read more

Welcome to the weekend, my friends! I hope your week (and your weather) have been fantastic and that you’re enjoying the holidays however you choose to celebrate them. We enjoyed a dusting of snow this week and I was in heaven for the brief day that it lasted on the trees. 

I can dream of a white Christmas, but this year, it’s only a dream. We’re supposed to hit 60 degrees on Monday (just a few degrees lower than the forecast for Phoenix) – what kind of nonsense is that? At least I can look forward to an afternoon walk in the warmer weather.

What we’re EATING: It’s been a seriously delicious week over here without a single new blog post to show for it. (And I’m not at all sad about that right now.)

Sean made the Ground Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry the other night and I may be guilty of having hidden the last serving for my lunch – zero guilt here, that’s how we roll. I tossed the leftover beef and broccoli with some leftover Noodles with Cabbage and the combination was so flipping good it gave me an idea for another new recipe.

I made a batch of Cinnamon Crinkle Cookies and then proceeded to eat an absurd number of them with my morning and midday and late afternoon coffee. I’m pretty sure that when a cookie encourages me to drink more and more coffee, it might not be a good thing, but the cookies are just so perfectly chewy with a buttery cinnamon sugar flavor, sigh. I love them.

We’ve been on a roll with Breakfast Sandwiches lately, although they often get made closer to lunchtime. I’ve also been informed that “Dad’s sandwiches are better than yours, Mom” with the added non-apologetic comment, “Sorry, but it’s true.” So, it looks like I may need to investigate exactly what makes his better. (Odds are good that it’s a whole lot of meat, as my carnivore crew can’t get enough bacon and sausage in their breakfasts.)

I made a version of this Cashew Chicken Salad, but wound up swapping so many ingredients both because they sounded good and because I didn’t have everything on hand, it became a whole new recipe. Not sad about that though, as I made notes so that I can make it again. The whole family was eating the chicken salad on crackers, right out of the mixing bowl.

My youngest son helped, actually did most of the work, to make his favorite dinner last night and it was perfection. Buttered Steak Bites (with mushrooms) and a big pot of Truffle Mac and Cheese, along with a Read more