One of my Pinterest boards, is titled “Recipes to Try”.  Perhaps many of you also have a board that is similar to this one.  Well, I decided it was about time to start trying those recipes out!  {This is the danger of Pinterest.  We find great ideas and then just spend lots of time looking, but no time creating}. This is the original pin and if you follow the link it will take you to the recipe. Source: skinnytaste.com via Lauren on Pinterest Looks great and I’m sure they’re wonderful!  However, I’m more of a not-so-skinny kind of cook, so I changed it up a bit and made my…

Pasta salads are one of my favorite summer meals.  You really can’t go wrong throwing any fresh vegetable, a little meat, some pasta and some sort of dressing into a bowl.  My husband, however, is a pasta salad snob.  This means we don’t normally eat any type of pasta salad in our house.  So, I save these dishes for potlucks and ladies’ nights, where I think most people will enjoy it.  I needed a dish to take to a get together last weekend, and I really didn’t want to go to the store.  There was a box of pasta in the pantry, fresh veggies and herbs in my garden, and…

We are thoroughly enjoying the delicious fresh produce from our garden!  In some ways, we’re getting more than we can keep up with.  We pick about 100 cherry tomatoes every day.  I’m trying to be creative as possible with cooking beans, tomatoes, and zucchini in various ways.  This green bean recipe is delicious, and coupled with some corn on the cob, and maybe some homemade biscuits, you could have an entire meal. Sauteed Green Beans & Cherry Tomatoes 3/4 lb. green beansolive oil {or leftover bacon grease}*5 oz. mushrooms, sliced1 small onion, diced1 clove garlic, minced8 oz. cherry tomatoes, cut in half 1/2 lb. cooked, diced baconsalt and pepper to…

  From backyard cookouts, to picnics at the lake, to bridal showers and other events, summer time  provides countless opportunities for trying out new desserts.  My mom shared with me a recipe a few weeks ago that was given to her over 30 years ago, and I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to try it out.  This past weekend we attended a dinner for some missionaries who were visiting our church, and my assignment was dessert.  I love it when I get to do dessert!  It’s much more interesting than making a salad or bringing condiments for burgers. One of the things that I like to try to do when…

Last week we went and picked strawberries as a family.  My In-laws were in town, so they were able to help pick berries {many hands make light work}, and corral the kiddos.  Even Mason went along; he slept the whole time.  We picked 10 gallons of strawberries!  2 of those gallons were for a friend, but with the rest I made some into freezer jam and then froze a ton whole so that we could have smoothies {or scoothies as my 2 year old calls them} all year long! Strawberries are by far my favorite fruit, and I love most desserts that call for strawberries.  On May 8, 2008, Bradley…

Perhaps the most famous culinary expert of the 20th century was Julia Child.   Often bored and lonely upon her arrival in France with her husband, Julia struggled to learn French and fit into her host culture.  Attending culinary school gave her the joy she had lacked and she quickly mastered French cuisine.  She authored a cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which has been a great tool for cooks in being able to bring French cuisine to the American table. This year, August 15, Julia would have been 100 years old.  In celebration of her life, and the great culinary inspiration she provided, many bloggers are participating in…

I recently picked up a copy of a Food Network magazine at the grocery store.  What about it grabbed my attention?  It was the CHOCOLATE issue!  The front cover tantalized my taste buds and I couldn’t wait to tear into it and discover some incredible chocolate recipes.  Near the center of the magazine I was delighted to find several different recipes for Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I have always made the classic recipe, printed on the back of bags of chocolate chips, so we’ve had fun over the past few weeks trying out some of these various recipes.  The one I’m posting today is our favorite so far.  The ingredients aren’t…

This recipe is one of those ones that you can whip up in several minutes and it tastes so good you wouldn’t even know that it took barely any thought.  {These are the kinds of meals I need to be cooking right now at 38 weeks pregnant!}  I was a bit skeptical because of the cumin and cinnamon combination, but this entire meal was delicious!  I might suggest tossing the chicken with some of the cinnamon/cumin as well as the mushrooms, for some added flavor.  The next time I make this I’m going to try that as the chicken needed a little something more.  My only regret is that I…

This cupcake recipe was born out of some research I did on cream filled cupcakes, combined with a desire to make something up using one of my favorite Easter candies:  Whoppers Robin Eggs.  I offered to bring dessert for our Easter get together yesterday, and it was fun to be able to make something with ingredients I had on hand and a little bit of creativity.  Have lots of Easter candy leftover?  Then, this would be perfect for you to make!  Everyone seemed to enjoy them, and my husband even told me they were the best cupcakes he’d ever had {I hope he wasn’t lying, but it’s quite possible he…

Ice Cream has always been one of my favorite desserts.  In fact, I remember as a young girl laying in bed, hearing the clanking of metal spoons on glass bowls, getting angry that my parents were enjoying a nice bowl of Breyer’s without me!  We registered for an ice cream maker when we got married, and we’ve thoroughly enjoyed it through the years.  With summer quickly approaching {maybe not for all of you, but here in GA, it’s been in the high 80’s!}, I thought it only appropriate to try out a new ice cream flavor.  Key Lime Pie is one of my favorite pie flavors, so this recipe sounded…