Simple Yet Gourmet

I am always looking for fast, easy and nutritious meals for my busy weeknight meals.  These wraps have become one of our family favorites.  We serve these with a side of wontons or potstickers to complete the meal. The filling can be made ahead of time and reheated if your day is extra busy. Bibb lettuce is our favorite, but feel free to use iceberg or even romaine for this dish. I hope you enjoy these as much as we do!

New recipe! Can you even believe it?! Kirsti and I decided we need to get back in the habit of sharing our favorite recipes by sharing at least one a month so here you go:   I’m starting off with these scrumptious strawberry muffins. Extra large and fluffy, these muffins are bursting with strawberry bits and topped with the most delicious strawberry glaze. If you end up with extra glaze, go ahead and drizzle some extra.  No judgement here :)   Even if you already love the previous strawberry muffins on our blog, you need to try these- they are the only ones I'll be making from here on out.  They're that good!

Ever since getting a slice of Lemon Cake from Starbucks a few years back I have been on a quest to find a good copycat recipe.  I've tried several and they were all fine, but this cake is officially the winner.  My search is over! I seriously could not imagine a more perfect lemon cake.   Lemon flavor shines throughout the cake, but the real punch of flavor comes from the delectable glaze. The cake itself is so moist yet fluffy and tender at the same time.  It's like a ray of sunshine on a cold winter's day! 

It’s no secret- I love chocolate and peppermint, and when they are added to popcorn it is scrumptious! Each piece of popcorn gets coated with white chocolate mixed with crushed candy canes,  drizzled with milk chocolate, and sprinkled with even more peppermint pieces. Absolutely addicting! This makes the perfect snack for munching on while watching a Christmas movie or driving around to see that lights. It comes together really quickly too so it’s perfect for those busy days when you don’t have time to make cookies but still want a yummy treat.

If I had to choose only one cookie to eat for the rest of my life, it would be these cookies!! They are my favorite cookie ever! I took my favorite brownie cookie recipe, wrapped it around a Candy Candy Cane kiss, rolled it in crushed peppermint and then rolled it in powdered sugar. The result? A rich, fudgy brownie like cookie literally oozing with white chocolate and peppermint with a delightful little peppermint crunch on the outside. If you love peppermint and chocolate as much as I do these are a must make! 

I love this time of year when the temperature drops and it's perfectly acceptable to make and eat all kinds of pumpkin things! I've been meaning to try my hand at cake donuts for sometime now and these pumpkin ones were calling my name.  Unlike yeast donuts that require a few rises and fry up nice and fluffy, these cake donuts come together pretty quickly (with a small chilling period) and are more dense and moist in texture. The outside gets all craggy and crispy which is perfect for collecting all the sugary glaze.  Such a delicious combo of textures and perfectly flavored with pumpkin and spices.  We loved these!! Note: I tried making a few of these in the air fryer as an experiment and was amazed at the difference in texture.  Not in a good way.  The air fryer ones were much tougher and not craggy and crispy.  So stick with frying these in oil and you won't be disappointed.  

These festive little cookies are so fun and delicious! They are intensely chocolatey with a fudgy, brownie-like texture.  So delicious even if you stop there, but to make these more festive I added in white chocolate chips and Reeses Pieces, then rolled them in sprinkles for an added pop of color! I left a few without sprinkles and liked that they weren't crunchy, but they also weren't as colorful so just do what you like.  You can play around with the add-in's too.  Halloween M&M's would be another great option, but you really can't go wrong here!  

If you try one new cookie recipe this Fall, let it be this one!! I'm not kidding when I say that this is  one of the best cookies I've ever made.  They've already received rave reviews and comments such as, "Amazing!", and "Incredible!"  These are not your average snickerdoodle, not that I have anything against the traditional ones, they are made with browned butter and extra brown sugar for a rich caramel taste.  But wait, it also has a caramel center! And of course that classic chewy texture with a cinnamon/sugar coating.  I could eat these every single day. They are SO GOOD you guys! 

                A homemade tomato sauce that does not require you to spend the entire day blanching and peeling pounds of tomatoes.  This is a creamy, easy and delicious way to use all of those home grown tomatoes you have this year.  Canned or frozen, the taste of summer tomatoes can last year around.       When I am ready to use it for spaghetti sauce, I add a pinch of sugar, some butter and spices to make an amazing sauce.  Is there anything better than fresh sauce on a cold January day? This is now my favorite sauce to make with roma tomatoes.

I am such a sucker for a good peach cobbler.  As peach season starts I am always on a hunt for a good recipe.  I have collected a few good ones, but none of them are amazing.  Well, my search is over with the find of this recipe!   I had about 6 fresh peaches that needed to be used, so what better way than a cobbler. The peaches were ripe and juicy.  The crust was crunchy and sweet and then topped with vanilla ice cream, the dessert was out of this world!  

You know how some ingredients were just made to go together? Bananas and Dulce de Leche are one of those; and when Nilla Wafer's, creamy pudding, and whipped cream are added to the mix it is just on another level altogether! Not only is the Dulce de Leche found on the bottom of the jars, it's also mixed into the pudding and drizzled on top, so you get caramel banana bliss in every bite!  If you're not familiar with Dulce de Leche, it's a sweet milk caramel made from Sweetened Condensed Milk.  It is divine as a dip for apples and bananas, or as a topping on ice cream, baked goods, or pudding- wink wink.   I think these look so cute and fancy in these little half-pint jars, but you don't have to make it this way.  No jars? No problem. You can layer them in small bowls, or just combine them all in an 8X8 inch pan. Will it look as pretty? Probably not, but hey, it will still taste amazing!  These are best if made a day ahead of time to allow the banana flavor t...

When it comes to summer, I pull out all the lemon and lime recipes.  Ask my family, I love lemon anything!  Who doesn't love a key lime pie?  Here is a recipe for your favorite pie in cake form.  I took it a step further and created key lime cupcakes.  The recipe is for a 3 layered cake, but I found these cute cupcake holders that I had to use.  Plus, I was able to share these yummy treats with more people in cupcake form.   Don't let all of the steps scare you, it just takes time but I promise it will be worth the wait!  Graham cracker crust on the bottom, moist lime cake in the middle, a yummy layer of homemade lime curd and topped with a creamy vanilla buttercream.  I hope your family and friends enjoy this amazing summer treat as much as mine did.

These bars are fantastic!! S'mores bars have all the flavors of a classic S'more with a graham cracker base, marshmallows, and chocolate that we all love, but you don't need to go make a fire to enjoy one of these yummy treats!  I brought these bars to a ward party and every last one got eaten before the surrounding treats were gone.  Good thing I saved a few for us to enjoy later!  Kinda wish I'd saved a few more though ;).  Homemade marshmallow creme gave these bars a huge upgrade so if you have a few minutes to make your own, do it! You will NOT regret it. Besides being a ton easier to spread around the taste is so much better than store-bought.  I'll take these bars any day over regular old s'mores! 

I love grilling, and these Kabobs are on of the best things to come off of the grill this Summer!  The chicken marinates in a delicious concoction that is sweet and spicy with a little kick of ginger and garlic.  Once grilled, they get basted with some more sauce boosting the flavor of these even more!   These are a family favorite! One of those "unicorn" meals that everyone loved and wanted more of!!  We love eating these with rice and broccoli, with some extra sweet and spicy sauce on the side and a little soy sauce for drizzling over the rice.  

This Creamy Vanilla Frozen Custard is absolutely Heavenly!! I've been making it left and right this Summer to go with everything from Cobblers to Pizookies or just to eat on on a cone.  It's my absolute favorite Vanilla Ice Cream! So creamy with an intense Vanilla flavor.  Since I've started making this I've pretty much given up on buying it.  It's cheaper to make and I honestly like it much better.  The base is so easy to make and churning it is a breeze with an electric ice cream mixer.   There are quite a few no-churn ice cream recipes floating around on the internet and we even have one on our blog, but guys, those recipes just don't compare in taste and texture to Frozen Custard, in my opinion.   So basically what I'm saying is if you don't have an Ice Cream Maker now is the time to go buy one so you can experience this deliciousness! 

I recently celebrated my Birthday and made this scrumptious cake to celebrate! Yes, I made my own cake- not because I had to but because I wanted to! I've had my eye on this recipe for awhile now (it's my favorite kind at the Cheesecake Factory), but it's so involved and requires enough ingredients to designate it to the "special occasion" category.  Well, I figured my Birthday was a special occasion so I went for it.  It was SO worth it! Every bite was pure bliss.  A chocolate lover's dream.   To make this, a moist chocolate cake is topped with decadent chocolate frosting, creamy Oreo Cheesecake, Oreo Mousse ( or not-more on that later ), more chocolate frosting, stabilized whipped cream, crushed Oreo's, and mini chocolate chips! Talk about sinfully delicious!  Since this cake has several layers it helps to make the individual layers ahead of time to break the work up.  All I did on the day of my Birthday was to assemble and decorate the cake. ...

I have always loved the 4th of July! The fireworks, parades, flags, feelings of Patriotism and love for our amazing country, Red-White-and Blue everywhere you look.  It's no wonder that I also love food with patriotic colors mixed in.  And if it also tastes amazing? I'm sold. This Patriotic Popcorn mix fits the bill.  Lightly salted popcorn, pretzels, and M&M's are coated with white chocolate and a few added sprinkles for an extra festive touch. It's simple to prepare and addicting to snack on! It's salty and sweet and perfect for munching on while watching fireworks!  So, good!  Note:I used Skinny Pop popcorn to make this, but you can pop your own if you prefer, and any type of pretzels will work as well. 

These sliders may look unassuming, but they are seriously tasty!  The meatballs are flavored with Hoisin Sauce, fresh ginger, and a small amount of scallions. Once they are baked they get coated with a hoisin/rice vinegar sauce making them extra juicy and flavorful.   Not only are these sliders delicious, they are SO easy to make! In fact, the first time we ate them my daughter Brynlee made them by herself.  She "gets" to make dinner for us every now and then and this is a recipe she picked out from one of her cookbooks.  I’ll admit that I didn't have high expectations for them but we were all pleasantly surprised by how good they were, and have made them a few times since.   To make these extra easy and fast, store-bought potato rolls can be used, but if you have a little extra time and/or want to save a little money, our Homemade Hamburger Bun's recipe is easily converted to make the perfect slider.  

I think I found the perfect Summer Dessert! Light and fluffy Angel Food Cake rolled up with a dreamy whipped  cream cheese frosting and fresh berries. Any fresh berry can be used for this, but using red berries (such as raspberries or strawberries) and blueberries turns this into a fun Patriotic Dessert as well! The fresh berries are a nice contrast to the perfectly sweet whipped cream cheese frosting and the lightly sweet and pillowy Angel Food Cake.  It's almost like a lightened up version of cheesecake.  The whole family loved this one, even my non-cake loving husband! And he really doesn't like Angel Food cake so that's saying something.   The recipe called for an Angel Food Cake mix, but I had some egg whites I needed to use up so I made mine from scratch.  It turned out awesome! I like both types though.  I included the link for the homemade version I made just in case you have a dozen egg whites laying around or feel adventurous!  I was a little...

Have you experienced the deliciousness of a Pizookie yet?! It's a cookie baked like a pizza! Crispy on the edges and top while still being ooey gooey in the middle.  Topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream it is absolute heaven! While this isn't a new idea, I hadn't actually had one until a few years ago.  We ate at a restaurant called BJ's on a family trip and got a mini version of this with the kids meal.  Wow, just wow!  It was so delicious.  We ate there again the very next night just so we could get another pizookie. Since that trip I've been trying to find a copycat recipe but hadn't found one as good…until now! These turned out perfectly.  The recipe itself uses brown butter which adds a caramel undertone, and Ghirardellli Milk Chocolate.  Quality ingredients make all the difference.  Hope you love these as much as we do!