Dinner

So, About This Bloody Mary Chili… If you’d told me years ago I’d be pouring tomato juice (yes, like the stuff for cocktails) into my chili pot, I probably would’ve snorted iced tea out my nose. But hear me out: this chili is basically a hug in a bowl for anyone who loves that Bloody …

Let’s Chat About Pizza Style Cottage Cheese Bake So, you know those evenings when you want something a bit like pizza but you’re not in the mood to roll dough or deal with a pizza stone (let’s be honest, those things are heavy)? That’s exactly how this Pizza Style Cottage Cheese Bake ended up in …

So Here’s the Real Deal About Smash Burger Tacos You know those nights when you’re hungry and tired (honestly, isn’t that just Thursday)? That’s when I started tinkering with these Easy Smash Burger Tacos—I just wanted that crispy beef edge you get at a good diner, and I wanted tacos ’cause, well, tacos. The first …

Let Me Tell You About These Beans If you've ever looked at a can of butter beans and thought, "What am I going to do with you?"—well, you’re not alone. The first time I tried to make something Tuscan-inspired with them, I thought I’d mess it up. But then again, how badly can you do …

The Time I (Sorta) Invented Shrimp Egg Roll in a Bowl Okay listen, so I'm no fancy chef. I'm usually juggling a kid, a work call, and maybe a dog or two begging for scraps—but even then, this Shrimp Egg Roll in a Bowl is a game changer. First off, I stumbled onto this idea …

Pulled This Recipe Out After a Long Week (or, Why My Family Doesn't Mind Leftovers) Ever taken a look at your fridge at 7:13 PM after a long workday and thought, 'Well, that's not going to cook itself'? Yeah, same here. That's when Easy Creamy Tortellini with Chicken and Broccoli swoops in. The first time …

Let Me Tell You About This Chili (and That Time I Almost Burned Down the Kitchen) If you ever walk into my house on a rainy Sunday, you’ll probably catch me in sweats, hair in absolute chaos, wrangling a bubbling pot of this short rib and chorizo chili. I started making it after a particularly …

So, Let Me Tell You About These Burgers... First time I tried making these Gochujang Chicken Burgers with Kimchi Jam, I was 80% sure I’d made a mistake and about 100% sure my counter would never recover from the sticky mess. But wow, was it worth it. My friend Mina actually called them "wildly addictive"—she …

How Chicken Shawarma Took Over My Tuesday Nights Pulled this recipe together the first time because I was craving takeout and my wallet was giving me dirty looks. Plus, my kids declared a personal vendetta against plain roast chicken (can't say I blame them). So chicken shawarma with garlic sauce—messy, garlicky, and honestly? It turned …

Hey there, soup-season seekers! You know those blustery autumn days when the only thing that’ll do is something hot, comforting, and way easier than it looks? Well, this Comfort Fall Potsticker Soup is my family's personal hug in a bowl. The first time I made it, I burnt the garlic (classic me) and accidentally dropped …

So Here’s the Thing About This Pepper Steak… If you’ve ever come home after a long day and practically stared at those sad steaks in the fridge thinking, What can I do to make this interesting for dinner? — that’s exactly how I stumbled into this Sizzling Chinese Pepper Steak with Onions situation. Really. The …

Let's Talk About Cheesy Baked Tennessee Onions (And Why I Can't Get Enough) Okay, friend—so the first time I made these Cheesy Baked Tennessee Onions, I was trying to impress my neighbor at a potluck. (You know that urge to bring something besides another potato salad...) I’d heard these onions were a Southern classic and, …

Alright, here's why this pesto chicken flatbread is oddly special to me... I have to start with the first time I threw together this Pesto Chicken Flatbread on a Tuesday night when I was practically running on caffeine fumes and whatever Spotify recommended as background noise. I’d grabbed a couple things from the fridge (some …

Okay, so here's how these cheeseburger flatbreads came to be I swear, the first time I made these was during one of those midweek "what-on-earth-is-for-dinner" scrambles. (You know the ones...) My oldest was hangry, my youngest was staging a protest against broccoli, and my husband, bless him, just looked confused by the contents of the …

Catching Up Over Pizza (Roll-Ups, That Is!) So last Friday night (felt like a Tuesday, honestly), I came home craving something pizza-ish but, you know, without the whole debate about whose turn it is to clean the pizza stone — plus I was absolutely done with dough sticking to the countertop. My youngest piped up, …

Let Me Tell You About Beef Enchilada Tortellini Hey there, OK—I’ve got to tell you about the time I first made this Beef Enchilada Tortellini recipe. My cousin Jim calls it “the casserole of the future” (not sure what that means, but I’ll take it). I kind of stumbled into it one rainy Thursday, digging …

Let's Talk Marry Me Chicken Soup Listen. If you show up cold and hungry at my front door, there’s a 60% chance I’ll offer you this Marry Me Chicken Soup before you even sit down. The first time I made it, I sort of threw it together on a whim—honestly because I ran out of …

Let Me Tell You About This Pasta (And My Not-So-Secret Obsession) Okay, full disclosure: I didn't grow up eating fancy pasta. Mostly, it was jarred sauce and, if we were feeling wild, mushrooms politely picked out by certain siblings. Fast forward a bunch of years and, somehow, I'm the person whose friends request "that leek …

So, Here's My Story with Chicken Shawarma and That Creamy Sauce I remember the first time I tried making chicken shawarma at home—it was a mess, honestly. I marinated the chicken, but forgot to actually turn on the oven. Oops. My kitchen smelled amazing for hours with raw chicken sitting on the counter (my cat, …

Let’s just say, this Creamy Bacon and Mushroom Pasta has rescued many chaotic weeknights at my place. I first cobbled it together after a grocery run that, frankly, went sideways (why do I always forget the parmesan?). I’d been ravenous and my kids were lobbying for pizza, but I promised something better. Long story short: …

A Little Story First (Because Why Not?) If I'm being honest, this Easy Garlic Chickpea Soup is my trusty old friend when the weather gets grumpy—or honestly when I just can't be fussed, but still want something heartwarming. I started making this one chilly night after realising I'd eaten toast for dinner four days straight …

So, Here’s the Story With This Chicken Stew If you've ever walked through the door after an endless Monday and wished dinner would just appear (like magic, honestly), this slow cooker chicken stew has become my trick. I’ll never forget the time I threw it all together before dashing out for soccer pick-up, totally forgot …

Alright, Let Me Tell You About This Soup I remember the first time I tried making this Slow Cooker Keto Chicken Cream Cheese Soup, I’d just come home from one of those long days where even my hair felt tired (do people say that everywhere or is that just me?). Honestly, I wanted something cozy …

Hey friend—why spring soup? Okay, picture this: it's early spring, the windows have finally cracked open after months of stuffiness, and the market is overflowing with greens. That’s when I make this Cream of Spring Vegetable Soup. It started as a way to clear out what I’d grabbed (slightly overzealously, I'll admit) at the farmer’s …

Let Me Tell You About This Lasagna… Hey there, friend. So—you know how some days you just need to eat something that feels like a warm hug wrapped in cheese? Well, this creamy spinach mushroom lasagna is it. Actually, the first time I made it, I was trying to use up a sad bag of …

So Let’s Talk Air Fryer Chicken Parm… You ever notice how every time someone comes over (even if it’s just my sister dropping by to “borrow” laundry soap—hi Becky) there’s this expectation for real food? I mean, sure, I love cooking for folks, but there are days when I just—honestly—do not want to crank up …

So, About My Classic Meatloaf (It Never Fails to Fix a Craving) Let me set the scene: It’s raining, someone forgot to take out the recycling (again), and I’m out of patience but also weirdly hungry. On nights like this, meatloaf just calls my name. You know, that smell that kind of hugs the whole …

Let Me Tell You About These Smash Burgers (and Baconnaise... Oh Wow) You know, I've made plenty of burgers in my day, but smash burgers? They’re basically my cheat code for winning dinner. It's got drama (that sizzle when it hits the pan!), it's got speed (because who wants to wait?), and, honestly, the first …

Let Me Tell You Why I Keep Coming Back to This Cod You know those nights when you're staring at a packet of cod in the fridge, wondering why you thought you were the kind of person who meal plans on Sundays? Yeah, that’s me—all the time. Honestly, this oven-baked cod with garlic herb crumbs …

Pull Up a Chair—Let Me Tell You About My Go-To Crock Pot Chicken Alright, friend, let me start with a confession: the first time I tried this chicken in the slow cooker, I sorta didn't believe it would turn out juicy *and* seasoned. My old slow cookers (Mom's hand-me-downs) just made everything taste like, well, …

Let Me Tell You About This Creamy Mushroom Soup So, imagine this—one rainy Tuesday, I came home, shoes slightly muddy, craving that warm, hug-in-a-bowl kind of meal. Penne pasta? Nah, not tonight. I opened the fridge, mushrooms staring at me mournfully. (Does anyone else anthropomorphize their produce?) That’s when I whipped up what’s now become …

Pull Up a Chair: Let Me Tell You About Goulash I don't know if you grew up with a pot of goulash bubbling away on the stove, but for me, it always meant something big was happening—usually feeding a crowd, or at least my perpetually hungry teenage brother. Did it solve sibling squabbles? No, but …

Old School Oven Crispy Bread and Crumbs Pork Chops—And Why I’m Still Making Them Let me paint you a quick picture: It’s Tuesday, I’m tired, and all I want is to avoid half an hour of dishes. I grew up eating crumbed pork chops on, well, actually it was usually on Sundays but does that …

The Cozy Pasta Bake That Became a Weeknight Classic I have this vivid memory of trying to impress my cousin with a pasta bake, and—and you'll laugh—halfway through the sauce, I realized I'd used sweetened pumpkin puree (don't worry, this recipe doesn't make that mistake). Still, it actually turned out edible, and she said it …

So, Let Me Tell You How I First Made This If you could have seen the mess I made the first time I tried Irish Chicken in Whiskey Cream Sauce... It was for St Patrick's one particularly soggy weekend, and I'd somehow convinced myself I could cook like an Irish granny. Spoiler: I'm not. But …

Let's Talk About Mardi Gras Pasta (and Why My Cousin is Still Mad at Me For It) Okay, let me paint you a picture: it's a steamy Saturday in Louisiana, and I'm standing over a bubbling pot, debating if adding more cream will actually make this Pappadeaux Mardi Gras Pasta better or just land me …

So, Shepherd’s Pie Baked Potato… this one kind of happened by accident because I’d made a whole bunch of mashed potatoes (like, an embarrassing amount), then realized I was completely out of casserole dishes. But there I was, staring at these lovely baked spuds in the fridge, and suddenly thought—what if the best of both …

Okay, So Let Me Tell You About This Crockpot Chicken Pasta… I still remember the first time I threw together this garlic parmesan chicken pasta in my crockpot. Honestly? It was one of those “what’s in the fridge?” evenings – my brain was fried from work, the kids were eyeing the cereal box like they …

So, Here's the Scoop on This Garlic Parmesan Crockpot Chicken and Potatoes Picture this: it's Wednesday night, you're already zapped after work (honestly, who isn't?), and all you want is something warm, a little cheesy, and okay, that makes it smell like you've been cooking all day (even if you, you know, definitely have not). …

Well, Here's the Story Behind My Crock Pot Pepper Steak You ever have those days where the idea of standing in front of a stovetop feels like climbing a mountain in flip-flops? (Spoiler: It's not a good idea.) That's usually when I dust off my trusty crock pot and make this pepper steak. Actually, I …