Recipes

I used to try to share recipes on my blog on a regular basis, but quickly discovered that I wasn't very good at the regularity part.  But even though I'm not cut out to be a food blogger, I still love to cook (for myself, for my family, and for big crowds!) so I wanted to carve out a spot on my site to share that love and some of my favorite recipes.  Some of these are healthy, some aren't; some my kids eat, and some they refuse to try; some are easy and some take a little more patience -- but they are all yummy and are ones I go back to over and over again!  I'll keep adding to this page as I keep cooking and provide both the links to the recipes I use as well as my own tips and tricks.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Weeknight Dinners

Cheesy Meat Loaf Minis - even if you are more of a 3 ingredient kind of cook, you should totally try making taking your version of meatloaf out of the loaf pan and baking in individual sizes.  You can cover the whole thing with ketchup so every bite has that awesome crunchy crust!

Oven Baked Cheese Risotto with Broccoli - a great risotto shortcut that still comes out super creamy!

Ina's Tomato Soup with Orzo and Grilled Cheese - I use Gruyere for myself and the husband, but cheddar or American for the boys sandwiches

Lemon Chicken Soup w/Spaghetti

This one was so good quick and easy I made it twice this month (and honestly could go for a bowl of it right now!)  I love it without the chicken, but for my meat-loving husband I add shredded chicken instead of cubed - Giada's Lemon Chicken Soup with Spaghetti



Weekend Dinners

Pulled Pork Enchiladas

This is one of our all time favorites!  I found this recipe years ago in a Better Homes and Garden Magazine and love to make it on lazy weekends for Sunday night dinner (if I can I make the pulled pork in my slow cooker the day before)

Pulled Pork Enchiladas


Chocolate Desserts

A few years ago Food Network Magazine had an issue with a year full of chocolate recipes - and as a full-fledged Chocoholic I made every single one.  They were all good, but some were definitely better than others.  Since we broke out the recipe for Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding this month I thought I'd share with you the chocolate desserts that we liked best and have made again.

Double Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding
Chocolate Pavlova with Strawberries and Cream
Chocolate Carmel Banana Ice Cream Pie (THIS ONE IS AMAZING IN THE SUMMER!)
Triple Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

Halloween Dinner
Every year my mom and dad and my brother's family come over for trick-or-treating so I make a big pot of Braised Short Rib Penne; I can braise the short ribs earlier in the day and everyone can quickly grab a bowl before we hit the road.  The day before me and the boys have some fun baking - this year we made Monster Eye and Blood Splatter cookies and they were a HUGE hit!

Thanksgiving Dinner

I've hosted Thanksgiving at my house for the last two years for about a dozen people - and I've really enjoyed it!  One of the main reasons is that I do as much as I can in advance so on the day of I'm only really cooking the stuffing, the turkey, and the veggies.  Here are my favorite recipes and tips to making the day as stress free as possible!

I keep a copy of my Thanksgiving Game Plan in a Google Doc and tweak it each year;  it has my menu, itinerary for the week before and the day of, as well as recipe notes like the evolving steps for my stuffing - which is a combo of my dad's and my husbands mom's recipes that I'm close to nailing!

I also keep a copy of all of my recipes in the same Google Drive folder so I can access everything while I'm shopping if I need to. I use this recipe from Jeff Mauro for my Turkey and dry brine it two days before....the only addition is that I stuff the cavity with Orange and Lemon halves while it's brining.  I use Ina Garten's Make Ahead Gravy recipe - you make the base ahead of time and mix it into the Turkey drippings when it's done.

I also use Ina's Make-Ahead Mashed Potato recipe, but I substitute Cream Cheese for the goat cheese.

For sides I roast Brussels Sprouts with bacon, heat up some corn, bake some quick crescent rolls, and make Alex Guarnaschelli's Cranberry sauce, which I also make a few days in advance.

For dessert I make Bobby Flay's Throwdown Pumpkin Pie - which is the hands down best pumpkin pie ever!  I just make regular whipped cream and serve it on the side.