recipe Archives - Rave & Review

Potluck star: Jalapeño and lime black bean dip

I hope you enjoy this sponsored post on behalf of Bush’s Beans. As always, all opinions are 100% my own. Having a large family living in close proximity is truly amazing. The kids have built-in best friends, I am never lacking for friends to hang out with or to help with kiddos, and when we all … Read more

Olive Garden copycat Zuppa Toscano recipe

I love soup, especially when it’s cold and grey. And, of all the soups I’ve ever tried, my favorite is the Zuppa Toscano from Olive Garden. I’ve been working on perfecting my Olive Garden copycat Zuppa Toscano for over a year now and I love the result. It’s even better than the actual restaurant recipe, … Read more

The best snow ice cream recipe

On our last snow day, we experimented a bit to find the best snow ice cream recipe anywhere. With only a few ingredients and almost no time to mix up, it's a perfect snow day activity for kids.
Here's what you need:

Super easy chicken fajitas with Foster Farms Simply Raised

I don’t know about you, but there’s a direct correlation between the amount of summer sun and the amount of time I don’t want to spend cooking. Basically, my goal each weeknight is to get everyone fed and happy so we can get outside and play as soon as possible to enjoy time as a family after work. So, when Foster Farms contacted me about trying out some of their Simply Raised antibiotic free chicken to create an easy weeknight recipe post, I jumped at the chance.

Why Foster Farms chicken?

Because there are no antibiotics administered, they are produced with no added sodium, given 100% vegetarian feed, American Humane Certified, and 100% natural {minimally processed, no additives or preservatives, steroids or hormones} and they are locally grown throughout CA, OR, and WA. Oh, and the kids love the commercials with the talking chickens.

My summertime meal criteria includes the following: 1) no oven use because it turns the downstairs into a sauna 2) as few pots and pans as I can manage 3) cook extra whenever possible to enjoy leftovers for multiple nights 4) quick and easy meals are preferred and 5) healthy is a must

One of my favorite easy weeknight meals that satisfies all of these criteria is chicken fajitas because they are full of veggies and goodness, can be cooked in one pan, and they are super quick to make and enjoy for multiple nights.

Make blueberries part of your little changes to start the New Year off right

I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council. I received a stipend to facilitate my purchase for my review as well as a promotional item to thank me for my participation.My family loves blueberries. Blueberries in baked goods, blueberries in smoothies, blueberries on dessert, or blueberries by the handful… as long as its blueberries, they are happy. In fact, my son {who is a notoriously picky eater} decided a few months ago that he would like his nickname to be “blueberry Bubs” in honor of his favorite berry.

It all started this past summer when we spent a few hours blueberry picking and eating our fill in the field {yes, eating the berries was allowed as long as you were buying some as well}, and we came home with a huge flat of the most amazing blueberries I have ever tried. However, we made the mistake of leaving that flat of blueberries out on the counter and my son basically ended up eating half of our haul by sneaking a handful every time he walked past until we realized it and then we put them away.

Cheesy Broccoli Pasta recipe

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. #CollectiveBias and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.When I was little, I loved helping my grandma cook and I would help her measure, stir, and taste test whatever we were cooking for our family. Aside from actual cooking, I vividly remember one of my main jobs was to carefully remove all the Campbell's Labels for Education so I could add them to her stack she collected in her kitchen drawer.

At the end of every visit, she would place that thick bundle of labels in my hand so I could take them to my elementary school that was saving them to earn much needed playground equipment. When I returned to school next, I remember taking that huge bundle of labels secured tightly with a rubber band, setting it on my teacher's desk, and hearing an audible gasp from every table at the sheer number of labels I had collected.

From soup, cereal, and snacks to dairy products, beverages, and school supplies, there are over 2,500 items that can earn points for your school and I've been saving Campbell's labels ever since I was little. Before I had kids, I would give them to my nieces and nephews, but now that I have kids, I have my own helpers in the kitchen whose job it is to remove those labels, clip them, and then collect them in our little tin canister on our counter to take to their own schools.

Keep your tablet safe during holiday baking season with AT&T

Remember when we used to use cookbooks to cook? I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but those days are fading fast. These days, I get my recipes from Pinterest, from other bloggers, and from recipe sites – very rarely do I crack open a cookbook.

These days I leave my tablet or laptop on the dining room table and simply memorize the recipe in small pieces while I gather ingredients and cook so it’s safely out of my work zone.

In case you’re wondering, this isn’t the best idea for a forgetful cook who also has very distracting “helpers”. There have been many times I’ve transposed numbers or doubted myself enough to check the same ingredient over and over again because I got sidetracked.

But, not anymore. Now I’ve got this little guy to help me in the kitchen.

Maestro Dobel Tequila for the holidays

During my teens and early twenties, I used to stress about the perfect birthday presents for friends and siblings. But, after age 21, nearly all birthday presents were given in drinks or shots at the bar and gift giving was as easy as hanging out with friends. Then, at some point in the past few years, a few drinks at the bar was replaced with full bottles of the good stuff and we would just swing into a liquor store on the way to celebrate birthdays so we didn’t have to show up empty-handed.

See, growing up isn’t all bad.

Now that I’m coming up on birthday season for our group of friends as well as the holiday season, I know that I can make it as easy or as complicated as I would like. I could go around store to store looking for something for the friends that have everything, or I could do a one-stop shop and grab a few bottles of Maestro Dobel Tequila – no stressing and no wrapping required.

Roasted corn appetizer with manchego cheese and lime recipe

A few weeks ago, my cousin took me to one of her favorite Seattle restaurants, Señor Moose in Ballard, to try a corn dish that she adored. The description said roasted corn and epazote with cream, and I had a hard time imagining how that would taste, but I decided to trust her and take a chance. I’m glad that I did, because one bite of their famous Esquites appetizer, and I was sold.

I'm not normally one who likes creamy flavors mixed with citrus, but somehow in the Esquites, it just all blended together perfectly with the sweetness of the corn and the hint of spice. And, even though it's been weeks since I tasted it, I still dream about how delicious it was.

We’ve been playing around with creating a similar recipe here at home by looking up other fresh corn recipes now that our neighbors bring us ears of corn each week. We came up with our own version of the corn appetizer that uses manchego cheese instead of epazote and doesn’t have a cream base and wanted to share it so you can try it with all the fresh corn of the seaon. It’s not as amazing as what's at Señor Moose’s, but I must admit it’s pretty darn good.

Interested in trying it out? Let's get started:

Verde chicken enchiladas made simple with Kraft Recipe Makers

Are you looking for a simple weeknight dinner that's perfect for back to school? I love enchiladas because they are so easy to make, but Kraft went and made them even easier with the new chicken verde enchiladas Kraft Recipe Makers. Seriously, only a few ingredients are needed and you will feel like a hero … Read more