One of the things I love the most about living in the Washington DC area is the variety. Everywhere you turn, there is variety for the eyes, the ears, the nose, and the palate. On my street alone, we have representatives from over a dozen different countries; some long time US citizens, and others first…
Menu Planning 101
It’s time to report back about my Budget Bootcamp Challenge #1 – Make a Menu & Stick to It! Beth at In Good Cents said, “Okay, this may sound too easy, but you wouldn’t believe how many people struggle with menu planning and sticking to it. Why a menu plan? If you have a plan,…
Ronzoni SmartTaste Enriched Pasta Taste Test
I can’t tell you how often I have made a huge pasta dish for dinner…..or maybe a meat and veggies with rice….only to have half of the kids insist on eating the pasta or the rice plain. No sauce. No meat. No veggies. No nutrients to speak of? I’ve never understood the desire to eat…
Cafe Rio Creamy Tomatillo Dressing
This is my newest addiction. It is amazing on a salad, with chicken, quesadillas, fresh veggies, and burgers. Yes, I have tried it on just about everything. A couple of friends of mine introduced me to this amazing recipe last month (a copycat version of Cafe Rio’s incredible dressing!), and then I happened to promise…
Hand-dipped Chocolate Truffle Recipe
Chocolate is my weakness (ok–ONE of my weaknesses. I have many). When I discovered how easy it is to make hand-dipped chocolates that are even better than the boxed chocolate truffles, I just about did a back-flip (a friend of mine and her mother in law taught me, and I am eternally indebted to…
POM Wonderful Recipes + Giveaway
* GIVEAWAY CLOSED * Winner is Annette (@annedoggett on Twitter). Congrats! I love pomegranates. In fact, my mom used to send a quarter of a pomegranate in a plastic bag for lunch while I was in elementary school. Growing up in sunny California has it’s advantages. Recently, I was sent a box of POM Wonderful…
How Wheat Works
This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Wheat Food Council. All opinions are 100% mine. I love wheat. I have buckets and bags of whole wheat in my storage room and a wheat grinder in my kitchen. The year that CandyMan gave me the wheat grinder for Christmas, my friend said…
Chocolate Crinkles From the Trenches of Motherhood!
It’s Christmas week, and my family and I are enjoying some warmer weather and time with family in sunny Florida. My friend, Mandy, from The Trenches of Motherhood shared a cookie recipe recently that made my mouth water instantly. She graciously agreed to share it with all of you, too! Enjoy (and as Mandy said,…
The Weather Outside is Frightful (Soup’s On!)
With the first Winter storm dumping several inches of snow on our house yesterday, I am ready to start making soup for dinner. Steamy hot soup is what’s on the menu for this week (in addition to two other soul-warming meals). I wouldn’t mind adding a few of our Christmas goodies to the kitchen mix,…
Top Ten Recipes for Thanksgiving Leftovers
Thanksgiving dinner is one of my favorite meals of the year. I love to cook it, and I love eating it even more. And strangely, I seem to enjoy day two of Thanksgiving food even more than the first (could it possibly have something to do with the fact that I haven’t spent the entire…