Best French and Italian Food Recipe

Cinnamon Walnut Sweet Bread

Fall is in the air and nothing says fall quite like the warm comforting scent of cinnamon wafting from the kitchen.  This fresh bread baking brought my family to the kitchen as if the scent itself had carried them by their noses, like in a cartoon.   
Click here for Recipe»

Cheesy Pesto and Chicken Pasta Bake in 30 Minutes!

Baked ziti is one of my all time favorite dishes, if not THE favorite.  It makes me think of special occasions growing up and has become my comfort food extraordinaire.  I love to take the classic baked ziti and twist it up.  With cravings for comfort food and a garden full of basil, there was only one thing to do. 



Check out these fantastic, quick and easy dishes from our Simple Kitchen: Creating delicious meals in a snap!   Click on the image or the link and it will open each one in a new tab.

Click here for Recipe»

Hawaiian Muffins: Pineapple, Banana, Coconut and Macadamia Nuts! TWO POST TUESDAY

A simple and delicious breakfast usually leads me to muffins.  I love to freeze them as defrost them as I need them.  In the mood for a change I decided to bake up some Hawaiian flavors; coconut, macadamia nuts, bananas and pineapple.  Oh my, was this a good idea!  These are moist and delicious.  To be honest they are so good I haven't had a chance to freeze them.  The whole family loves them and I am sure you will too!
Click here for Recipe»

Sweet and Sour Meatball Poppers

Dinner party, cocktail party or game day food, meatballs can be dressed up and taken anywhere.   No matter how you enjoy them, you will enjoy them.  My munchkin gets so excited to eat meatballs, she says "Mommy, I love meatballs.  They taste like candy".  Well these ones do for sure!

Click here for Recipe»

Candy Corn Rice Krispies Treats

Two great loves come together and create one purely heavenly treat.  Chad has an undying devotion for 2 foods:  Candy corns and Rice Krispies Treats!  I decided to combine the two and surprise him.

Click here for Recipe»

White Chocolate Ghost Cocktail Shooter

Chocolate covered marshmallows are a Halloween trick or treating score!  Getting white chocolate covered marshmallows are nearly a miracle.  While creating the cocktail for this weeks Ladies Night Celebration Chad was incredibly inspired by some of his favorite candies from his days Trick or Treating.  In the end he had created 3 amazing cocktails and couldn't choose so he decided to share them ALL with you today.  He created a scrumptious and fun White Chocolate Ghost Shooter for me.  It is creamy, sweet and chocolaty. LOVE!

Click here for Recipe»

Candy Corn Cocktail Shooters

As soon as forth of July is here Chad is looking for candy corn. Oh no, I am not kidding.  So, being the supportive and loving wife that I am, I buy a few bags for him.  So weeks later I have an epiphany and decide to make a candy corn dessert.  I ask Chad where are the candy corns.  He looks at me as if I were speaking Greek.  Turns his head to the side...  You know the look.  So, here we go back to the store to buy more. Much to Chads excitement we found a 4 pound bag this year.

Click here for Recipe»

Bubble Gum Cocktail Shooters

This year Halloween has us thinking of Trick or Treating.  It brings  back memories of bags and bags of Halloween candy.  Or for some of us... pillowcases full.  But, I won't go there.  I remember after a long and exciting night of Trick or Treating coming home and sorting the 'haul'.  A pile for tootsie rolls, bits 'o honey and candy corns.  A separate pile or Twizzlers, Nerds, Laffy Taffy and gum.  Of course chocolate earned its own pile.

Click here for Recipe»

Quick-Draw Cowboy Chili

With two types of meat and three bean varieties this is a cowboy chili for sure. This simple recipe is packed with southwestern flavor and a little kick. It is sure to knock your boots off.  By the way ladies, you better believe it's a chili the whole family will love. It goes from prep to plate in just 25 minutes. 

Cowboy Up!  It's Chili Time!  This is now Chad's favorite chili.  I created this recipe with the intention of making it 'stick to your bones good'.  Well, apparently it is "Stupid Good" according to the men that have tried it.  I guess maybe that means it is so good, you can't quite come up with the words to describe it.

Click here for Recipe»

Candy Corn Creeper Pops

It is almost Halloween and candy corns and Halloween treats are everywhere.  The 'Candy Corn People' have gotten dressed up for a night out of Trick or Treating.  Featuring your Candy Corn Creepers!

Click here for Recipe»

Tuscan Lemon Muffins

Fall and comfort food seem to go hand in hand.  This week has been the perfect time to break out all my favorite comfort dishes and desserts.  Lemon and cheese are 2 of my three comfort sweets, chocolate being the third.  Not to be a snob, but chocolate and lemon...  Not my thing.

Click here for Recipe»

Cookies, Cookies and a COOKIE BAKE-OFF with PRIZES!!!

Elmo Sugar Cookies were perfect for a 2nd birthday party for our munchkin. They are even more perfect to enter into PARADE's Holiday Cookie Bake-Off!!!

Click here for Recipe»

The Best Ever Power Packed Vegetarian Chili in Just 30 Minutes

Click here for Recipe»

"All Day" Tomato Sauce in Only 20 Minutes

Click here for Recipe»

5 Halloween Party Perfect Cocktails

Click here for Recipe»

Smoked Sausage Pasta and Vegetable Skillet in 30 Minutes

Long Wednesdays (or any day) call for an easy weeknight dinner. Smoked Sausage, Pasta and Vegetable Skillet is exactly what you are looking for.
Click here for Recipe»

Asian Sesame Rice

Asian sesame rice is so incredibly fragrant and delicious.  From the moment the jasmine rice comes to a boil the nutty aroma permeates your senses.  Once the sesame oil touches the steaming rice, the air is filled with a dynamic nutty aroma.  All of this is building up to the pure satisfaction of diving into a bowl of this fabulous rice.  You are going to love it.

Click here for Recipe»

Yellow Grape Tomato Sauce

My birthday was a week ago.  My dear friend brought me 2 cases of delicious yellow grape tomatoes.  Knowing my love for tomatoes, you have to know this could not have been a more perfect gift.  Except...  If I had more time on my hands to do all the things I would love to with these tomatoes.  

Click here for Recipe»

Meat Lover's 4 Layer Pizza Dip (with variations)

Every party calls for an amazing dip and this is exactly what you have been waiting for.  Meat Lover's 4 Layer Pizza Dip is perfect and with some short cuts you can have this ready in no time flat.  My grocery store sells my favorite meat toppings precooked and yours may too.  Add those to this recipe and you have the perfect quick and easy appetizer.  Variations make personalizing this dip so easy.  Click the link to get the recipe and the variations!

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE

Here are more awesome posts perfect for your game day or any day:

Click here for Recipe»

Root Beer Float Martini

Happy Thursday Slow Roasters!  IT'S LADIES NIGHT and have we got a special cocktail for our party tonight!  

Chad and I have had the chance to try many spirits and take every opportunity to broaden our horizons (palettes) and bring you new cocktails.  After stumbling upon a fantastic deal on root beer vodka, we headed home very excited to make a root beer float martini.  Let's just say neither of us were fans of the martini, but we became determined to make one that would live up to our expectations.

Click here for Recipe»

Simple Naturally Sweet Apple Sauce

When you have a 2 year old that loves apples you would think that applesauce would be a staple in your home, right?  Well, I have kind of slacked off on that.  Call it lazy, call it overextended, call it too hot to run the oven.  Either way we haven't had apple sauce since our last large apple purchase about 6 months ago.

Click here for Recipe»

Tuscan Chicken Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's Pie, redefined!  The consummate comfort food with a healthy spin, ready in 30 minutes.  Made leaner and heartier with chicken and a special ingredient, your meat lovers will never miss the beef.  Trust me, my midwestern meat and potatoes man gobbled this up like it was a big fat steak.

Click here for Recipe»

Butterscotch Pecan Cookies

A few years ago I was pretty certain I didn't like butterscotch.  Then I tried these Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies that my friend introduced me to and a whole new world opened up. 
Click here for Recipe»

Italian Lentil Soup

Just recently I spent a week in Florida with my family.  I sure did a lot of cooking (cooking is an expression of love for me.  I love to cook for my family, so every trip I take or every time they visit I find myself in the kitchen...  a lot).

Click here for Recipe»

How To: The Easiest Way to Store Leftover Tomato Paste

Tomato paste is one of those staples that I love.  I really enjoy having my own homemade tomato paste, but if I am buying it...  I opt for the can.  I can't see paying the price of the tube.  I am a big spender like that.

Click here for Recipe»

Caramel Apple Pie Martini

Caramel Apple Pie Martini is an incredibly decadent dessert transformed into this scrumptious cocktail.  A cocktail packed with fall flavors; apple, caramel and pie!  Seriously.  Kick 'em off and pour one tonight!

B52 Layered Cocktail Shooter (with variations)

Can you think of a better fall combination than coffee liqueur, Irish cream and orange liqueur?  Well, okay maybe one...  But we will get to that in a minute.  The B52 is a classic cocktail that has been around since the late 1970's.  No way to tell if it was named for the bomber or the band, but either way their are a ton of variations and different ways to whip up one of these that you are going to love.

Click here for Recipe»

Spiced Cranberry Banana Cookie Cake Bites (Gluten-free, Naturally sweetened, Vegan)

My munchkins new favorite 'cookies' are these Spiced Cranberry Banana Cookie Cake Bites!  Soft and chewy, they are naturally sweet, moist and so healthy.  I was quite surprised that my sugar princess enjoyed these so much.  But, then again I love them too!

Click here for Recipe»

Hearty Pasta Fagioli

Hearty Pasta Fagioli is a robust Italian dish. It is bursting with flavor and packed with pasta and beans with a little bacon tossed in, because lets face it bacon makes everything better.  A simple recipe that is ready in 30 minutes, now you can't beat that.

Pasta Fagioli (pronounced Fah Zool in my southern Italian neck of the woods) is loaded with fresh herbs, vegetables and beans. this soup has layers of delicious flavor sure to please your entire family. You should know, though, if you’d like to have leftovers, you may want to double this recipe. My family loves this dish so much that I have a hard time saving it for later–its that good!
Click here for Recipe»

"Perfectly Chocolate" Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have a little 'thing' for chocolate. I know most of us do.  But, since my daughter was born I also have a 'thing' for simplicity.  Sure, my best friends could tell stories of me spending days on end in the kitchen creating a fabulous cake with imported chocolates.  But, that my friends was my pre-mom life.

Click here for Recipe»

How to Make Really Good Vegetable Broth

So what is the difference between soup stock and broth?  Stocks are made with bones.  Broths are made with meat.  In the case of vegetables, they are always called broth.
Click here for Recipe»