Yummiest Pasta Salad

I made the yummiest pasta salad to go with our dinner last week and my whole family loved it.  They were fighting over the leftovers!  It was easy, colorful and the perfect addition to any cook out or tailgate.

I chopped up every veggie I could find at our house into the tiniest bites.

purple onion

carrots

red, orange and yellow sweet peppers

black olives

cucumbers

green onions

cauliflower

broccoli

snap peas

extra sharp cheddar cheese

Add a generous sprinkle of Kinders The Blend seasoning.

Cook our favorite pasta.  A tricolor pasta is always fun for a pasta salad.  Let cool.

Combine pasta and bowl full of veggies.  Stir well.  Then drizzle the whole bowl with Olive Garden Italian dressing.  Stir until well coated.  Refrigerate.  It'll be good for a couple days in the fridge.

This recipe is so great because you can customize it for your likes.

I made it again and left out some of the veggies, used shredded carrots, changed up the pasta and did pepperjack cheese instead of cheddar.  It was just as delicious.

I hope your family enjoys this as much as my family did!

Little Smokey Deviled Eggs

I saw some ideas for 4th of July deviled eggs and had to make my own version.  I used little smokies to make the most festive deviled eggs.  They would be perfect for game day or any summer BBQ.

Grill the smokies on your stove top until they have grill marks on them.

Add a sprinkle of brown sugar to them to give them a little crisp.  I used 1T of brown sugar.

Let them cool.

Make your favorite deviled egg filling recipe.

Here's mine:

Egg yolks

Scoop of Duke's Mayo

Generous squirt of mustard

Sprinkle of sugar

Sprinkle of Kinders The Blend seasoning

Directions:

Mix in a ziploc bag until smooth.

Cut the corner of the Ziploc bag and fill your eggs.

Add a cooled little smokey on top.  Add a squirt of mustard for garnish.

Yum!

These did not save well so be sure to eat them all up the day you make them.

Here's another yummy deviled egg recipe from my archives - it includes bacon!

Gourmet Deviled Eggs

3 Homemade Salsas

I made three different homemade salsas for the boy's family birthday parties.  They were all delicious!  It was an easy way to make taco night extra yummy.  They are all easy to prep a couple of hours before a party or dinner.

Guacamole //

3 ripe avocados

1/2 c store bought pico

salt

pepper

fresh squeezed lemon juice

Kinder The Blend seasoning

Mash the avocados, add in all the ingredients, mix until well combined.  Leave an avocado pit in the bowl to keep the guac from turning brown.

Pico //

Finely chop the following ingredients.  Stir until well combined.

Cherry tomatoes

purple onion

yellow onion

green onion

sweet peppers

fresh squeezed lemon juice

Kinder The Blend seasoning to taste

Corn Pico //

1 bag frozen sweet corn

purple onion

green pepper

salt and pepper

fresh squeezed lime juice

I served these salsa dips with two different proteins - seasoned ground beef and carne asada pork.  Look how yummy these tacos turned out!  I hope you can give them a try.

Party Pizzas

Kevin's Nana makes the yummiest Party Pizzas for holiday gatherings and I finally asked her for the recipe.  We enjoyed them for NYE and plan to make them again for the Super Bowl.

Recipe:

1 loaf of mini/ party rye bread

1 lb pork sausage

1T Kinder The Blend seasoning

1 lb of original Velveeta cheese

Directions:

Brown the sausage with a generous sprinkle of The Blend seasoning.  I like to do the sausage extra crispy.  Drain and pat off any excess grease with a paper towel.  Cube up the Velveeta.  This feels like a very Midwest thing to say :)  Return to the skillet and add in Velveeta cubes.  Melt and stir until well combined.  Lay the mini slices of bread out on a cookie sheet.  Scoop a spoonful of sausage + cheese mixture onto each piece of bread.  Spread out evenly.  Pop them in a preheated 400 oven for 8-10 minutes until the mixture is bubbly and a little toasty.  Serve warm!  These reheat well, too.

These Party Pizzas would be a delicious addition to any appetizer spread.

Easy Cheesy Potatoes

I tried a new recipe for cheesy potatoes over break and I loved them!  

My family doesn't love anything cheesey - boo.  So I enjoyed this casserole mostly by myself.  I reheated it for breakfast and lunch.  It was so good with a breakfast plate of bacon and eggs.  Leo loved helping me make it and Fletcher was the only kid I could convince to eat it with me.

Recipe:

1 bag shredded potatoes thawed

1 can cream of chicken

1 16oz block sharp cheddar cheese shredded

1 stick butter

1 c sour cream

Kinder seasoning to taste

Mix everything together.  Save shredded cheese for the topping.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until the cheese on top is bubbly brown.  This was a fun recipe for kids to help with.  It also reheats so well!

I hope you enjoy this cheesy potato comfort food side dish!

Nutella Pastry Pinwheels

I have a new and improved Nutella Pastry Pinwheel recipe to share with you today!

Remember when I shared this - Nutella Bites

They were delicious, but I figured out a way to make them even better!  I took these to a carry in luncheon at school and they were gone so fast.  When you make them as a pinwheel, they stay fresher longer and extra nutella keeps them soft inside.  

Look at those delicious flaky layers + nutella swirl.  Amazing!

Ingredients:

2 pastry puff sheets

1 cup of Nutella for each sheet/ 2 cups total

4 T granulated sugar to coat

Powdered sugar to top

An extra thick layer of nutella across the whole pastry sheet.

Roll up tightly.

Coat the outside in granulated sugar.

Slice into one inch rolls.

Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.

Let cool for 15 minutes and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

These were delicious warm out of the oven, but they were also fantastic the next day.  I sprinkled them with a fresh layer of powdered sugar before serving.

You'll have to give these a try!  I can't wait to make them another time or two over Christmas break.

Nutella Bites

I made the easiest, yummiest treat for breakfast and I wanted to share!  These kinds of recipes are floating around social media like crazy this time of year.

You just need 4 ingredients-

1 pkg pastry sheets

Nutella

one egg for an egg wash

powdered sugar

Look at this nutella deliciousness.

I just used one of these sheets since I was making them for my little family.  We ended up with 12 Nutella bites out of that one sheet.

Thaw the pastry sheets.

Unroll the pastry sheet and smear half of it generously with Nutella.

I used this much and would recommend using a little more next time.  The pastry puffs up pretty thick so a thick chocolate layer is necessary.

Fold it in half.

Slice it into 12 bites.

Do an egg wash on top.

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until everything is browned.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

These are best served warm so enjoy them right away!

I can't wait to try these again!  I might try some different combos - maybe adding in some more chocolate, a stripe of peanut butter, cutting different shapes, etc.  There are so many options!  I might every roll my next pastry up into a swirl and cut Nutella swirls.

You've got to give this a try this Christmas season!

Quick and Easy Artisan Bread

Do you enjoy making bread?

I love homemade bread, but I get scared off from recipes that have tons of steps or take forever.

I couldn't resist an instagram post that advertised having the easiest 4 ingredient artisan bread.  I love finding a recipe that I already have all the ingredients on hand to make. I added chocolate chips to mine so my version is the easiest 5 ingredient artisan bread.  I know sourdough is all the rage.  I just cannot commit the time it takes or learn the process of sourdough right now.

Follow this recipe and directions to a t and you'll be thrilled with the results.

Emily at Handmade Farmhouse has the yummiest bread ever.

Artisan Bread Recipe:

3 1/2 c flour

2 t salt

1/2 t yeast

1 1/2 c warm water

1 cup chocolate chips (optional, but so yummy!  Really any mix ins would be delish!)

Look at this gorgeous loaf of chocolate chip bread!

Mix in a stand mixer and follow her directions.  They are perfect.  I let mine rise for 4 hours.  Baked at 450 covered for 30 minutes and uncovered for 15 minutes.  I let mine cool with a tea towel on top just like she recommended.  

Then we sliced and served it up.  We all loved this bread!  I topped mine with butter or whipped cream cheese like you would a bagel.  Every option was so good.

I can't wait to make this bread again and try out letting it rise longer and try out making the plain version to go with dinner sometime.

I hope you love it!

I'm drooling just thinking about this yummy bread again today.

Enjoy!  And let me know if you give this recipe a try.

Bonus recipe: I tried Handmade Farmhouse's recipe for Fluffy Homemade Buttermilk Pancakes and they were delicious!  It'll be my go to recipe anytime I have buttermilk that I need to use up.

5 Minute S'mores Dip

I have the yummiest, easiest dessert recipe to share with you today!

We loved it so much that we made it twice last week.

Hello, S'mores Dip!

It takes 5 minutes to assemble and bake and the ingredient list is really short.

S'mores Dip #1 (my favorite)

Ingredients:
Chocolate Chips or any of your favorite chocolate

Mini Marshmallows

Graham Crackers

Layer the chocolate on the bottom of a pie or loaf pan.  Put mini marshmallows on top.

Bake at 400 for 2-3 minutes.  Watch it closely! The marshmallows toast fast.  Remove it from the oven when the marshmallows are at your perfect level of toasty.  Let it sit for a couple minutes to ensure that the chocolate is good and melty.  Break apart graham crackers for dipping.  Serve your s'mores dip!

This was so much fun to make and eat.  It would be the perfect treat to make for kids, friends, neighbors or your own crew if you need a simple dessert.

S'mores Dip #2 (the kid's favorite)

Fletcher wanted to change up the chocolate so we did Hershey Bars, Cookies & Cream Hershey bars & Reeses cups.  We broke everything up into small bits and did the same process as above.  It took the chocolate chunks just a little longer to melt than the chocolate chips.  Both options are delicious!

Fletcher is such a good helper in the kitchen.  He loved making this with me and loved creating a new recipe with me.  This is the perfect recipe to make with your kids.  Enjoy!