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This chocolate cherry cake is perfect for the holidays. Easy to make and only 4 ingredients.
These Korean noodles bowls are one of my family’s favorites! Chicken made in the crockpot layered with stir-fried noodles, lettuce and sauces.
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This is a pumpkin recipe definitely worth trying! It’s super easy to whip together and it might be one of my new favorite pumpkin desserts. It’s great for parties served in individual little cups.
I have been making this pumpkin roll recipe for over 10 years now! I got the recipe when I was a sophomore in college and sometimes it’s strange to think that it has already been over a decade since I was a student! I love this dessert; soft pumpkin cake filled with a smooth and luscious cream cheese filling. My family loves it too, and always requests it this time of year.
This recipe is a cross between my kid’s favorite, Hawaiian Haystacks, and one of my favorites, Broccoli Cheese Soup. This creamy and cheesy chicken and broccoli made in the crockpot is the perfect cold weather meal!
They are always a hit when I bring them to parties. I think it’s because there is usually chocolate or vanilla cupcakes so it’s a nice change in flavors. 
I have spent the summer enjoying family time, exploring Utah with my husband and kids, and trying lots of new recipes! I’ve been perfecting these garlic breadsticks for a few years now and I think these are pretty darn near perfect. Homemade bread used to scare me (and sometimes it still does) but I think using instant yeast makes things pretty easy-peasy. It’s also easiest if you have some sort of mixer with a dough hook, but this could be made by hand as well. I have been trying to cut down on the amount of butter and I think this is the least amount possible. They are still indulgent, but they do use a lot less than when I first started making them. They go perfectly with so many meals. One of our family’s favorite is spaghetti and we love to have these and a side salad.
Garlic Filling
6 tablespoons melted butter
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese (the green bottled stuff works great)
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried parsley
Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.
Breadsticks
1 1/2 cups warm water (105 – 110 degrees F°)
1 Tablespoon instant yeast
1 1/2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Add warm water, instant yeast, sugar, salt and olive oil to a large bowl or stand mixer. Stir to combine, using the dough hook if using a stand mixer.
Add 2 cups flour and allow to mix after each addition. Slowly add in the rest of the flour until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is still slightly sticky. You only want to add the flour a little at a time because too much flour will make the breadsticks not soft and fluffy! Do not add more than 3 1/2 cups, but you may not need all the 3 1/2 cups depending on how your flour was measured.*
Cover the dough and let it rise about 30 minutes or until doubled in size. Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a lightly-floured surface. Roll dough into a large rectangle and spread garlic filling (recipe above) over all the dough. Using a pizza cutter, cut into about 12 equal strips.
Starting from the bottom of each strip, carefully twist the dough so that the filling is inside the twist. Put on the baking pan lined with parchment paper. Repeat with all the breadsticks.
Cover the baking pan with a cloth and allow the breadsticks to rest about 30 more minutes.
Preheat oven to 425° F and bake 11 to 12 minutes or until golden.
Breadstick recipe adapted from- Life in the Lofthouse
*I was taught to shake my flour a little bit before measuring so it’s not as compact. This helps not to put too much flour in your recipes.
I really love plants and I am always trying to grow them. Every single one of the houseplants I have ever been given or purchased have died. All of them. Even succulents which were supposedly a no-fail plant. I definitely have a black thumb 🙁 I have always dreamed of having beautiful garden boxes, and when we finally purchased our house a few years ago it seemed like we could finally make that a reality. But with all the other house projects we have, a garden is still on the “to-do” list. Fortunately, I have the best neighbors and they always have tons of yellow and zucchini squashes to share. Sometimes too many! Last summer, I made all the zucchini bread I could handle, used it as a side for lots of dishes and then was running out of ideas. I have always enjoyed eating at Rumbi’s Island grill. They serve a chicken teriyaki bowl with chopped vegetables that is fresh and delicious. I found a teriyaki sauce recipe I loved and this meal came together. It is super quick to make and it’s a great way to use all those summer zucchinis and yellow squashes. It’s also relatively healthy and my kids will eat it if I give them enough of the “sweet sauce” (teriyaki). You can even just use a store bought teriyaki sauce to make this meal faster, but I do think this sauce is particularly delicious. Now you won’t have to leave all your garden squashes on your neighbor’s porch and run. Instead cook up this meal!
Teriyaki Sauce
½ c. white sugar
½ c. soy sauce
¼ c. cider vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
½ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. black pepper
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. cold water
In a small saucepan, mix together all the ingredients except the cornstarch and water. Bring to a full boil over medium-high heat. In a small bowl mix together the cornstarch and water and stir into the sauce until it is thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Serve over the chicken teriyaki bowls.
Recipe Source- Our Best Bites
Chicken Teriyaki Bowls
2 cooked chicken breasts cubed
1 yellow squash, sliced into quarters
1 zucchini squash, sliced into quarters
1 head broccoli chopped
2-3 medium sized carrots chopped
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
In a large pan, heat the sesame oil over high heat. Add the vegetables and seasonings. Cook for 3-4 minutes constantly stirring so the vegetables do not burn. Then add 1/4 cup water and place a lid on the pan. Allow the vegetables to steam for 4-5 minutes, checking to make sure there is still enough water in the pan. Vegetables should be tender-crisp when done. Remove the lid, lower the temperature to medium and add the cooked chicken and cook until warmed through. Serve over white or brown rice and the above teriyaki sauce. Enjoy!
I love a good pico de gallo. I think its delicious eaten alone with tortilla chips but it also adds the perfect flavor and acidity to tacos and other Mexican food. Although most recipes are similar, I have a few tips to make this the perfect pico de gallo. The tricks are in the method of preparing the ingredients.
First, you want to make sure you pick the best ingredients. You will want Spanish or yellow onions that are nice and firm, no soft spots. Pick large limes, with a little bit of give when you squeeze them instead of ones that are rock hard. Choose bright, fresh cilantro with no brown spots. Your tomatoes should be firm and vibrant red.
Okay, so now you’ve rounded up the perfect ingredients and are ready to make the pico!
First secret: After you have removed the outside skin of the onion, slice off the top and bottom and cut the onion in half. Run both halves of the onions under cold water to rinse. This helps to take the “bite” out of the onion. You can also soak your onion in cold water to remove more of the bite, but I find rinsing works great for me. Dice your onion small and put into a glass bowl.
Second secret (and I think the most important): Sprinkle the entire teaspoon of salt over the onions. Using the back of a large fork or spoon you are going to smash the onion down with the salt. Do this for a couple of minutes and your onion should start to look wet and glossy. Now add your lime juice, chopped cilantro and tomatoes. Allow flavors to mix for about 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy with tortilla chips or on your favorite taco or burrito! It is also excellent on this carne asada recipe.
Perfect Pico de Gallo
1 large yellow onion diced
2 large hot house tomatoes (or your favorite tomato), diced
1 bunch cilantro, chopped finely (no stems)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 large limes, juiced
Rinse onion and dice. In a large glass bowl, add onion and salt. Using the back of a fork, smash onion pieces down, until wet and glossy. Add lime juice, pepper, cilantro, and tomatoes and stir to coat. Allow to rest for 15 minutes before serving. Taste and add additional salt and pepper as needed.
Fried rice at home is easier than you might think. There are two important tips I can tell you that will affect the taste of your rice. First, make sure to use the right type of rice- medium or short grain. Most of the white rice that is readily available in grocery stores is long grain. The short grain is a sticky rice and is what I prefer to use for fried rice. I usually buy a huge bag of Calrose short grain rice at Costco because we eat lots of rice, but I have found it is usually in the Asian food section at grocery stores. The second tip is to use a good quality soy sauce. There are a lot of different kinds of soy sauces, from light to dark, and Chinese to Japanese. Some soy sauces are chemically or artificially produced. These will not taste very good if you use them. I love to use Kikkoman soy sauce which is available in most grocery stores.
This is a simple recipe, and you can easily jazz it up by adding sesame oil instead of vegetable oil, some green onions, other vegetables like mushrooms, fresh ginger, or even some fresh garlic instead of powdered. I like it the simple way because it means I have usually have everything I need already in my pantry. This recipe is great for those weeknight meals when you aren’t sure what to cook. I use frozen mixed vegetables to make the meal quick (no chopping) and I also have a rice cooker which makes cooking the rice easy.
Spam Fried Rice
5 cups cooked Calrose rice (2 1/2 cups uncooked rice)
1 can Spam diced into 1/2 inch cubes or 2 cups diced ham
1 tablespoon vegetable oil*
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 cups mixed frozen vegetables
5 eggs
In a large pot or pan, heat vegetable oil and add Spam, allowing it to brown for 5-7 minutes, stirring periodically. Add the garlic powder and black pepper and stir. Crack your eggs into a large bowl and whisk. Moving the Spam to one side, add the eggs and scramble them. (You can also cook the eggs in a separate frying pan if desired, I just try to save myself washing two pans). Add the frozen mixed vegetables and allow to cook for 4-5 minutes until warmed through. Add the cooked rice to the pot and mix to incorporate everything allow to cook for another 6-7 minutes. Slowing add the soy sauce and stir until incorporated. Add a few more tablespoons if rice seems like it needs more. Serve with egg rolls.
*You can also use sesame oil if desired.
One of my favorite restaurants in Germany was a little Korean place my mom would take us too. I loved the food and I thought it wasn’t something I would ever be able to recreate at home. Flash forward to my college years and in an introductory cooking class, we made a Korean beef bulgogi recipe. I was so amazed at how delicious and easy the recipe was. I’ve made many versions of Korean beef bulgogi since then, but this one is by far my favorite.
This recipe does have a unique ingredient in it. A quick story. When I had my second baby, I was so excited to make homemade baby food. A good friend gave me tons of pears from her tree and I carefully cooked, pureed and froze them into individual portions. Well, unlike my son, my little girl refused to eat pureed food. She went straight to table food. So I was left with a bunch of pureed pears (which were delicious by the way!). Many bulgogi recipes call for pureed pear so I started using the baby food in my recipes. Now that I no longer have any of that baby food left, I still like to buy a couple of jars of pureed pears every now and then to use in this recipe. You can also substitute a fresh pear pureed in a food processor if you prefer 🙂
Anyhow, back to the important part-the beef. In order to make beef bulgogi, you want a tender prime cut of meat. I like to use ribeye steaks. The grass-fed ribeye steaks from Jones Creek beef were so tender and had a great marbling and fat content. I could tell a difference in the tenderness when I was slicing them. Besides the meat tasting way better, it also has tons of added benefits- lower in total fat, and higher in B vitamins and minerals to name a few. You can check out all of the benefits on their website. You can purchase Jones Creek beef at your local Walmart. If you’ve never had beef bulgogi and you’re wondering what it taste like, it’s probably best described as being savory but also sweet. My two kids really enjoy the flavors and gobble it up over rice. After I made the bulgogi, my husband commented on how tender the meat was. I have to agree that the meat was super tender.
My other favorite part of the meal from the Korean restaurant was the cucumber kimchi. I haven’t tried making my own kimchi at home , but these quick pickled cucumber and carrots only take a few minutes to put together and make the perfect side for the beef. Plus, I’m pretty sure it’s easier to make than kimchi. If you make the beef, I recommend you try the pickled cucumber with it.
Korean Beef Bulgogi
2 Jones Creek beef ribeyes
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 jar pear baby food
3 green onions
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
4 garlic cloves, minced*
In a gallon ziplock bag, add the soy sauce, black pepper, pureed pear, chopped green onions, sugar, sesame oil, sesame seeds and garlic. Seal the bag and mix together. Slice the two ribeye steaks 1/4 inch thick against the grain. Add to the ziplock bag and allow to marinate for at least one hour but preferably overnight. In a large frying pan, add the entire bag of meat and marinade. Cook over medium heat for 8-10 minutes, until the meat is to your desired doneness. I like to transfer the meat to a large serving bowl with all the sauce and then take a few pieces out and allow them to brown up a little more by themselves. This step is optional. The sauce tastes great spooned over the rice. Garnish with additional sesame seeds and green onion if desired.
Quick Pickled Cucumbers and Carrots
1 cucumber sliced (and peeled if desired)
3 garlic cloves, minced*
1 carrot shredded (My peeler has an attachment on the other side that shreds the carrots)
1 tsp grated fresh ginger*
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp red pepper flakes
3 teaspoons sugar
1/4 cup water
In a pint mason jar, add the rice vinegar, salt, ginger, sugar, red pepper flakes and garlic and stir to combine. Add the cucumber and carrots pressing them down into the liquid. Add the water to just barely cover the cucumber and carrots. Refrigerate for at least one hour. Serve with the beef bulgogi.
*Fresh ginger and garlic are a must for this recipe. I love to use powdered garlic in other recipes, but it won’t taste the same in this one. Buy a piece of ginger, peel off the outside skin and keep it in the freezer. Then you will always have it on hand and it’s SO much easier to grate frozen. I use a small hole hand held grater like this ONE
I don’t have anything against taco seasoning packets, but once I started making my own taco seasoning it’s so much nicer to have a jar on hand in the spice cupboard and it tastes way better. Plus, it’s more cost effective, especially if you can buy your spices in bulk at grocery stores like WinCo. This recipe makes a large batch that should last a few months. After I added my seasoning to my jar, I realized it didn’t have a label. I was able to to my Cricut Explore and some gold adhesive foil to make a super cute label for my jar. I upcycled the jar from an old jelly jar that I cleaned out. I loved the square shape.
This taco seasoning mix makes great ground beef or turkey tacos, but I also use it to make chicken fajitas, and taco soup. There is no salt in the seasoning mixture, but I do season my meat with salt after I have added some of the taco seasoning. Lately we have also really enjoyed adding about 1/4 cup of salsa to our taco meat. Give this taco seasoning a try, I’m sure you will love it as much as we do!
TACO SEASONING
1 cup chili powder
1/2 cup cumin
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon onion powder
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons + 2 tsp ground black pepper
Place spices in a large mixing bowl and whisk together. Store in a large airtight container or jar. Add approximately 1 1/2-2 tablespoons to one pound of meat plus 2 tablespoons water (if desired). Season meat with salt to taste.
Over the years I’ve modified the recipe and this is the version my family loves the most. I love it because the filling is made in the crockpot so I can start it in the morning and forget about it. Right before dinner, I can quickly fill my tortillas and put them in the pan and work on a couple of sides while they bake. I love the green enchilada sauce, but both my kids and husband aren’t fans, so I actually bake most of the enchiladas without sauce, and just a few with the sauce. It’s a great compromise because everyone eats these up. I used to get complaints about not wanting enchiladas, but since I made this change the pan gets wiped out. The other great thing about this recipe is it doubles very easily. If you are needing to bring a filling meal to someone who just had a baby, who is sick , or just needs a nice home cooked meal, this is a great option. Just leave the sauce on the side so they can add it when they choose to bake it up. I love to serve the enchiladas with guacamole or sliced avocado, a side of corn and rice, or a nice green salad.
Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas
1 large boneless/skinless chicken breast (or two smaller ones) about 1 pound total
1 can chicken broth
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp pepper
4 oz Neufachatel cream cheese
1 can (28 oz) green enchilada sauce (I love the Las Palmas brand)
1 can black beans rinsed and drained
10 flour tortillas
1 cup shredded Monterey cheese (or cheddar)
*Optional- 1 can diced green chiles
Place chicken in crockpot, sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper and add the chicken broth around the chicken (so as not to wash the seasonings off the chicken). Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high 4-6, until chicken shreds very easily with a fork. I know my chicken is ready when I can gently push on it and it starts to fall apart.
Preheat your oven to 350. Leaving the chicken in the crockpot, carefully tilt the lid and drain the broth into a bowl, reserving 1/4 cup (you can throw away the rest or maybe save it for some soup!)
To the crockpot add 1/4 cup enchilada sauce, your 1/4 cup reserved chicken broth, the cream cheese and the black beans (and the can of diced green chiles if you desire more of a kick, I leave these out for my kids).
Stir everything together until well mixed. The chicken should be hot enough that the cream cheese just melts and stirs in easily. Spoon approximately 1/4 cup of the filling down the center of the tortilla and a few tablespoons of shredded cheese. Roll up and place seam side down in a 9 X 13 baking dish. Repeat until all tortillas are filled. Cover with additional cheese and the remaining green enchilada sauce (if desired). Bake for 25 minutes until cheese is melted. Alternately, cover the pan of enchiladas with foil, and refrigerate. When ready to eat, bake at 350 for 1 hour covered.
Easy Chocolate Pots de Creme
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Put the chocolate chips, salt, and sugar in your blender and pulse until ground. Add the egg and pulse until smooth. In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream until just simmering (small bubbles will start to form along edge). Carefully and slowly add the hot cream to the blender and pulse until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Add the vanilla extract and pulse to combine. Pour into 4 small ramekins. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours. Garnish with berries of choice and powdered sugar.
Recipe Source- King Arthur’s Flour
School Lunch Peanut Butter Bars
Bars-
1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup peanut butter
1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups old fashioned oats
Frosting-
1/2 cup butter
4 tablespoons milk
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs, peanut butter and vanilla and mix until smooth. Add the flour, baking soda, salt and oats. Spread into a half sheet pan lined with parchment paper (or greased). Bake for 12-14 minutes till top is lightly brown.
For the frosting- Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Turn the heat to low and add the cocoa powder and milk; stir to combine. Gradually add the powdered sugar a cup at a time and stir to incorporate. Pour the frosting over the warm peanut butter bars and spread.
Allow the bars to set up for about an hour for slicing. They will seem very soft when you get them out of the oven, but you do not want to over bake them. They are supposed to be nice and soft.
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