This white chicken chili recipe is pretty darn amazing. Made with a blend of various beans, fried chicken breasts and seasonings, this chicken chili is perfect for those who prefer the heat of their chili somewhere between mild and medium. My friend, Bambi, is brilliant at taking seemingly non-compatible ingredients and throwing them together to create some of the most amazing dinner dishes I’ve ever had. Since I’ve been staying…
Food Recipes
Molasses Cookies Recipe for Cold Winter Days Curled Up with Hot Cocoa
If you’re looking for a cozy dessert to enjoy with warm cocoa this winter, then give this molasses cookies recipe a try! You will absolutely love how these soft cookies taste. Made with blackstrap molasses, warming ginger, cinnamon and clove, these homemade molasses cookies are perfect for sharing with friends, family and co-workers. Adapted by my friend, Bambi, from the giant ginger cookies recipe found in Better Homes and Gardens Test…
Best Pork Tenderloin Rub Recipe for Your Crockpot Dinner
Do you need a quick and easy recipe idea to liven up your weekday dinners? Give this best pork tenderloin rub recipe a try on your next crockpot pork loin for some fantastic flavor infusion! It’s been literally years, I believe, since I last posted an actual food recipe. However, I’ve been staying with my dear friend, Bambi, since the last week of December and I am constantly bombarded with…
Celebrating Holiday Traditions Through Life’s Changes
Many of us grew up celebrating holiday traditions that were taught to us by our parents and families. You may remember some time honored traditions such as mailing out Christmas cards, decorating with natural elements, baking from scratch and even making homemade gifts. Even as we’ve grown up and left home many of us have continued to carry on those same holiday traditions we learned as children. However, some of these…
Natural Ways to Fight Colds & Flu This Fall
The kids are in school, the holidays are fast approaching and there’s so much planning and shopping still yet to be done. Who can afford to get sick? Whether you’re making soothing medicinal teas, immune boosting syrups or something else entirely, these natural ways to fight colds & flu will keep you in shape to do what needs to be done. After all, we can’t always afford to take time…
Pitcher Sangria Recipe & Other Fun Things for Your Taco Tuesday
Planning a Taco Tuesday brouhaha? Why not pair some adult drinks to go along with the mischief? You’ll love these recipes for making both a pitcher sangria recipe and an adult summer punch! These adult drink recipes are both passed on from Ladles & Linens. The adult summer punch recipe I rediscovered in a Timehop from the Ladles & Linens facebook page a few years back. While the pitcher sangria recipe…
Apple Cider Vinegar Cocktail Recipe + My Weekly Wrap Up!
This weekend I wanted to share my new apple cider vinegar cocktail recipe! It’s a refreshing and light cocktail that can be made with either vodka or gin. Plus it’s a great way to sneak in those extra probiotics. I know not everyone particularly enjoys the taste of apple cider vinegar, but it’s surprisingly easy to hide. Just to be sure, however, I had my friend Cathy also give my…
Lemon Ginger Spritzer Cocktail Recipe
This lemon ginger spritzer cocktail recipe requires just three ingredients for the perfect summer drink! I hope everyone is having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! I came up with this simple, yet delightful lemon ginger spritzer this past week and loved it so much I wanted to share it! I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I do. It’s super simple to make and requires just three ingredients. It…
Green Salad Recipe with Avocado + Pistachios
This Green Salad Recipe with Avocado + Pistachios is simply amazing! Supercharged with good for you ingredients, this healthy green salad recipe is part of a collection of food recipes gifted to my son, Cody, from his girlfriend this past Christmas. This green salad recipe was created by two members of Cody’s girlfriend’s family, Kate and Adam Reinhard, and part of a compilation of original recipes they added to his own unique…
Party Pleasers: Rooibos Peach Tea Rum Punch Recipe & Black Bean Dip
Learn how to host a fun party for adults with this collection of party pleasers and recipe ideas. You’ll love my original peach tea rum punch recipe for a crowd. This recipe for party punch with alcohol is perfect for entertaining this summer and it tastes amazing. Plus discover my crowd favorite black bean dip recipe along with creative ways to style your next gathering including ideas for drink stations…
Turmeric Ginger Apple Cider Vinegar Tonic Recipes
My turmeric ginger apple cider vinegar recipes provide your body with natural probiotics and contain both turmeric and ginger which can help to fight chronic inflammation. Both turmeric and ginger are well known for their natural anti-inflammatory properties. In addition, turmeric, a powerful antioxidant, contains curcumin which is believed to have anticancer properties. There have been over 2000 studies and a phase 1 cancer trial in the UK that have shown curcumin…
How to Make Homemade Cocktail Bitters for Cocktails & Digestive Support
Learn how to make homemade cocktail bitters for your favorite drink recipes – or as a healthy supplement to your daily diet. Not only are these bitters as good or better than store bought cocktail bitters, they also make lovely homemade gifts. Don’t just reserve these homemade cocktail bitters for alcoholic drinks though. You can also use your bitters to help aid with digestion and mineral absorption, relieve occasional heartburn,…
Blue Cheese and Bacon Arugula Salad Recipe
This homemade blue cheese and bacon arugula salad recipe is one of my favorites! I can literally eat this salad for lunch every day of the week without tiring of it. It’s basically a spin off a blueberry and bacon arugula salad recipe at one of my favorite restaurants. However, as I am unable to find a blueberry vinaigrette anywhere and am not talented enough in the food department to make…
Ginger Lemongrass Martini Cocktail Recipe
While the fourth of July has come and gone, it did inspire me to try a new vodka. I’ve been on a huge gin kick lately but after seeing the Spud Ginger Lemongrass Vodka at the ABC store I just couldn’t resist. A fifth of this flavored potato vodka was a reasonable $20 and it’s distilled five times so I decide why not. In the end I was pretty pleased…
Homemade Tea Gifts for the Holidays with Printable Chalkboard Labels
Make simple homemade tea gifts for Christmas with this easy, homemade holiday tea gift idea. All you need are a few metal tins, some tea and the free printable labels. These are perfect for last minute gifts as well as an element in homemade tea gift baskets! Homemade Tea Gifts Looking for a simple homemade Christmas gifts for tea lovers? Then this simple tea gift idea is a must. These…
Herbal Tea Recipes: How to Make Herbal Tea Blends for Natural Remedies
Learn how to make custom herbal tea recipes to use as natural home remedies for common ailments with this herbal tea tutorial. These medicinal blends create a soothing way to relieve symptoms of everyday complaints. Discover easy DIY tea blends along with additional information and recipes on concocting homemade teas for cold and flu relief. Homemade Herbal Tea Blends: How To Get the skinny on basic tea making, explore various…
Banana, Chocolate and Coconut Vodka Smoothie Cocktail Recipe
You know when you only have a flavored alcohol in your freezer and nothing to really mix with it? Well, that was my dilemma. I had a bottle of Coconut Chocolate Stoli Vodka that I bought on a whim not thinking of what I’d actually mix it with. However, genius struck when I noticed the bananas on the counter were so ripe they probably wouldn’t make a it another day.…
Chai Tea Mix Recipe: Easy Winter DIY Holiday Gifts
Learn how to make an organic chai tea mix to give as DIY holiday gifts this winter. Don’t forget to make extras though! This easy DIY chai tea mix recipe is so delicious, you’ll want to keep a few extra bags of this spicy, homemade chai tea mix for yourself. Package this recipe for chai tea mix in a jar or in a bag – for personalized gifting and storage.…
Homemade Vanilla Extract Recipe with a Mint Twist (Plus Easy DIY Vanilla Sugar)
Learn how to make homemade vanilla extract as well as easy DIY vanilla sugar for your baking recipes. These easy recipes also make lovely homemade gifts, whether you’re making them for a housewarming basket or gifting them for the holiday season. Keep reading to learn how to make vanilla extract with a chocolate mint twist using herbs and whole vanilla bean. Plus a simple DIY for vanilla flavored sugar to…
Homemade Strawberry Mint Wine Cooler Recipe
Recently I found myself with some very ripe strawberries on hand. So I decided to use it to make a refreshing and tasty summertime drink using fresh picked, ripe strawberries from my parents’ garden! What I came up with was my own homemade strawberry mint wine cooler recipe – complete with strawberries, of course! Here’s how you can make your own! Strawberry Mint Wine Cooler Recipe Ingredients: 1lb. ripe strawberry…
Easy Homemade Pita Pizza Recipe
Ever wondered what to do with that tiny bit of leftover spaghetti sauce? Our solution was to make homemade pita pizzas! It’s inevitable. You make spaghetti and sauce and once dinner’s over it seems you’ve either made too much sauce or too much spaghetti. In our case, we still have leftover pizza sauce. So rather than have spaghetti again and have to buy another jar of sauce, Scott and I…
DIY Easter Chicks Mashed Potatoes for Easter Dinner with the Kids
Traditionally Easter is a time that families spend together celebrating family as well as the resurrection of Christ. But that doesn’t mean Easter has to be entirely a serious occasion. You can add an interesting twist to your Easter dinner this year by crafting these DIY Easter chicks mashed potatoes with the kids! These DIY Easter chicks are actually mashed potatoes. Crazy, right?! They are both fun to make and…
Fresh Shrimp Salad Recipe
I recently purchased an amazing pot of lettuce and field greens from Walter’s Greenhouse on the Roanoke City Market. After getting a few side salads with dinner, it was really time to pick a good portion of the more mature lettuce to eat so some more could grow back in it’s place. So Scott used our home grown container greens to make a really great fresh, shrimp salad. Following is…
Scott’s Easy Pan Fry Rib-eye Recipe
There’s been a little bit of cooking going on in the apartment. Of course, it’s all been on Scott’s end. We made a deal. He cooks and I’ll clean. Because each of us hate to do the other but don’t mind the roles we’ve agreed to. Our first night in the new apartment Scott made some excellent Chicken Parmesan. The next night, we were in desperate need of groceries, however,…
Scott’s Simple Homemade Chili Recipe
Learn how to make this simple homemade chili recipe with an India Pale Ale for a hearty winter dinner idea. During the cold winter months there’s nothing like a huge bowl of chili to warm you up! So I thought I’d share my boyfriend, Scott’s, homemade chili recipe. It’s easy to make and tastes delicious even leftover the next day! Scott’s Simple Chili Recipe Ingredients: 2 1/2 pounds ground beef…
Seared Sashimi Tuna with Sauteed Shrimp in an Orange-Soy-Ginger Reduction Sauce Recipe
For New Year’s Eve my boyfriend cooked me up a special dish choosing from several of my favorite foods to eat: tuna, shrimp and asparagus with the fact that I love sushi niggling in the back of his head. The dinner was in truth a great experiment that we both thought turned out to be a great success. Scott, my boyfriend, calls it Seared Sashimi Tuna and Sautéed Shrimp in…
Easy Homemade Refrigerator Dill Pickles
Refrigerator dill pickles are an easy and delicious way to use up those extra cucumbers in your garden. They also make healthy addition to your diet. Learn how to make my easy, small batch, homemade refrigerator pickles at home. Plus discover the health benefits of fermented foods and the difference between pickled and fermented foods. Now that we have our cucumber plants in the ground I’m already thinking about all…
My Favorite Cornbread Recipe with Just 4 Ingredients That Even Kids Love
Regular cornbread is fine and dandy, but I like mine best moist and little sweet. Here’s my favorite cornbread recipe for a cake like cornbread that will have you and your family coming back for seconds! This kid-friendly cornbread recipe makes a great addition to family dinners and is the perfect side for a kid-friendly chili recipe. Made with just four simple ingredients, this homemade cornbread recipe is, and has…