Give the Gift of Cooking Classes with Groupon

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Groupon Gift Shop. All opinions are 100% mine.

Give the Gift of Cooking Classes with Groupon

One thing I absolutely love to do is take cooking classes. Not only do I always learn something new, I also am able to enjoy the fruits of my labor with a friend or my husband.

When brainstorming gift ideas for family members I thought that the gift of cooking classes would be a great gift when paired with a few other fun items. Instead of simply gifting a paper Groupon, I put together a themed basket to go along with my Groupon for cooking classes.

This is the perfect way to personalize a gift and taylor it to the recipients likes and wants. Grab a few ideas off of their wish list and build something you know they’ll absolutely love.  [Read more…]

Holiday Baking with Land o’ Lakes Butter {Gingerbread Cake Recipe}

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This Land o’ Lakes butter shop and gingerbread recipe have been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and its client.

Gingerbread cake - This gingerbread cake is not only full of spices and yum, it's also not overly sweet. It goes great with a nice cup of coffee or a scoop of ice cream.The holidays are here and my kitchen is in full gear for all of the holiday baking that’s going to be done over the next two months. Luckily I stocked up on butter and the rest of my needed pantry staples so that I can whip up whatever I need when the time comes.

Since I’ve been hosting quite a few playdates I wanted to test out a great cake recipe that wasn’t too sweet. My husband and I love baking and the number one rule in our home (and a little inside joke with the husband) is that our fridge can never be without butter.

While we were at Walmart picking up a few crafting items for my daughter’s upcoming birthday I jokingly asked my husband if he was sure we had butter in the house. He sighed, rolled his eyes, and ran to go grab a 4-pack.  [Read more…]

Chicken Korma with Saffron Rice and Peas Recipe

Chicken Korma

Indian food is one of my favorites. Second only to Mexican food. The only problem is… my husband doesn’t care for it. So the only time I get it is when I go out with friends or I make it myself when he isn’t around.

Lucky for me I had the opportunity to create a Life of Pi inspired Indian dish from ingredients found at World Market. I made this delicious Chicken Korma and paired it with some saffron basmati rice with peas and Channa Masala.

Not only is this meal tasty, it’s easy to make and includes5 ingredients in the main dish. If it weren’t for the rice I would have been able to make this meal in less than 30 minutes.

[Read more…]

Easy Bacon Wrapped Asparagus Rolls {Appetizer Recipe}

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

We are a bacon loving family! Who isn’t? And with the holidays coming up, we’ll be thinking of lots of appetizers to serve guests. So why not combine a few favorites with this awesome bacon wrapped asparagus roll?

It’s simple, only 4 ingredients, and easy to make! Plus the combination of the cream cheese and bacon inside with the asparagus is to die for. And how can you go wrong with buttery crescent rolls!

[Read more…]

Homemade Green Bean Casserole {Side Dish Recipe}

Homemade Green Bean Casserole

My family was (and still is) absolutely obsessed with green bean casserole growing up. I have so many memories of Thanksgiving dinners of the past where my mother and aunt fought over who would get the first serving as soon as we were done praying.

And sometimes we’d see them munching on the french fried onion topping before we even sat down at the table.

I shook my head wondering how the heck someone could like a dish that included some of my least favorite things: onions, green beans, and mushrooms. Ick! Then I grew up.

It took a Costco sampling this year to make me realize how much I’ve been missing out this whole time. So I decided I’d attempt my own homemade green bean casserole this year. And you know what? I love it!

Homemade Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients:

  • 1lb green beans
  • 6 ounces crimini mushrooms, sliced into 1/2″ pieces
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup chicken stock
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup french fried onions + 1 cup reserved for topping

 

Homemade Green Bean Casserole

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Boil a pot of water and add salt. Cut green beans into 1-2″ pieces and cook for 5 minutes in boiling salt water.

Homemade Green Bean Casserole

2. Heat butter in a cast iron skillet on medium. Clean your mushrooms off with a towel and slice thinly. Then chop into 1/2″ pieces. Cook mushrooms and salt and pepper in butter until they release their liquid, about 5 minutes.

Homemade Green Bean Casserole

3. Add garlic and nutmeg to the mushrooms and cook an additional minute. Sprinkle with flour and cook another minute.

Homemade Green Bean Casserole

4. Add chicken stock to the pan and scrape up all of the bits on the bottom. Reduce heat and let simmer for a few minutes until thickened.

Homemade Green Bean Casserole

5. Once green beans are done cooking, transfer them to an ice bath to quickly stop the cooking process.

Homemade Green Bean Casserole

6. Add the cream and stir. Let simmer another 2-3 minutes until creamy and fragrant.

Homemade Green Bean Casserole

7. Add the green beans and a cup of french fried onions to the mushroom sauce. Mix well until combined.

Homemade Green Bean Casserole

8. Add the green bean mixture to a 9×9 casserole dish and top with remaining cup of french fried onions. Bake for 15 minutes or until bubbly. Let cool 5 minutes and enjoy!

Homemade Green Bean Casserole

 

Do you serve green bean casserole at Thanksgiving?

Don’t forget the pie! 

Fall Harvest Party Ideas - Mini Pecan Pie Bites

Mini Pecan Pie Bites

pumpkin pie with coconut milk close up

Pumpkin Pie with Coconut Milk

Cheesy Potato Sausage Cups {Appetizer & Sides Recipe}

Cheesy Sausage and Potato Cups recipe

I’ve tried to brainstorm what I’ll be bringing with me to Thanksgiving dinner for about a week now. And I have a few ideas for what I want to make. But I’m not 100% sure.

So I’ve put a few of the recipes to the test before the big day and will be blogging about the ones that turn out tasty!

These cheesy potato sausage cups are jam packed with flavor in every bite. And I love how easy they were to throw together.

Like my kitchen sink egg cups, these potato sausage cups are made up of things I found in my fridge and freezer. And they only took about 30 minutes to make.

The best part is they taste amazingly good the second time around. So I could make them the morning of, bring them over to my brother-in-law’s house and simply re-heat them before dinner! They’d make the perfect side or appetizer dish.

Cheesy Sausage and Potato Cups

[Read more…]

Baby Back Ribs with Homemade BBQ Sauce

Ribs with Homemade Barbecue Sauce

There’s one meal that I wish I could cook better. And that’s baby back ribs with bbq sauce. I absolutely love ribs. Love the taste, the mess, and the pile of bones left over at the end. I know, I know… I’m weird. But a good plate of ribs just hits the spot.

And they’re the perfect dish to make for tailgating! So when I was planning my menu for my tailgating party I knew we had to serve ribs. Not only can they be made at home, but they can also be made on the grill and in the crock pot. So many different ways to make one delicious dish!

These ribs are even tastier because of the homemade barbecue sauce I made to go with them. And I have two surprises… my secret ingredient! Total Iron Chef moment here.

We headed out to Smart & Final for our ingredients and I knew I wanted to pick up some flavored preserves. As soon as I saw the First Street apricot pineapple preserves I knew I needed them for my sauce. And it was the best choice I made! While you can use peach, apricot, or even raspberry preserves in this recipe, the combination of the apricot and pineapple gave this sauce an amazing flavor.

You can check out my whole shopping experience by checking out my Smart & Final Tailgating Google + Album.

[Read more…]

Adventures in Toddler Food: Veggie Bites

My son has been pretty bad at eating his veggies lately. With the vast fluctuation day by day of his appetite we have had very little luck getting the greens in him. He’s much more interested in the colorful fruit we’ve been bringing home this summer. A little too interested…

So I went out in search of a good veggie bite recipe and found a lot online. I got bits and pieces from a lot of different recipes and kinda pieced them together to form this one. And I am quite happy to say that it was a recipe he loved.

Veggie Bites

Veggie Bites

  • 1 bag frozen broccoli & cauliflower, steamed & chopped
  • 1/3 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
  • 2/3 cup shredded cheddar
  • 2 eggs

[Read more…]



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