Creamy Sausage and Spinach Pasta

I love pasta … my family, not so much. As we continue eating at home, I was looking for recipe to use a block of sweet Italian sausage I had for awhile in the freezer. I didn’t want to make soup since the weather is finally starting to feel more like late spring or early summer. I decided on this dish and I’m glad I did!

My son absolutely loved it! It was even better the next day for leftovers. The sauce is creamy and full of flavor. I threw in a half of a container of sliced white mushrooms I had and it all worked together perfectly. Plus it took less than 30 minutes to make!

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Cucumber Cream Cheese Spread

My kids snack all day long. Do yours? I’m not finding I’m snacking too … which is not great for trying to not gain weight right now. I’m on the hunt for new recipes for snacks that are healthier and will keep them full longer. I swear they have about 15 snacks before lunch every morning. I’m going to need to building a revolving door in the my pantry!

I had bought a bunch of cucumbers during my last Costco run and needed to use them up. I also had a block of cream cheese that was close to expiring, so off to Pinterest I went. I found a recipe for this spread that had both ingredients and I whipped up a batch. It was really good. I love the adding of the diced cucumber to the cream cheese and it was perfect to eat on sliced cucumbers or butter crackers.

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Triple Berry Crumble

Berry season is almost here and I got a jump start with this simple and delicious crumble recipe. I had stocked up when I was at Costco the other week and bought strawberries, blueberries and raspberries – all of my kids favorite fruits. They ate a good amount of them, but I had some that I needed to use up before they went bad. You could easily replace the fresh fruit with frozen if berries are not in season.

The crumble was delicious. The berries cooked down to make a jam like substance and the top was crispy and sweet. It was perfect warmed in the microwave and topped with a dollop of whipped cream. A perfect way to wrap up a barbecue dinner.

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Chunky Ham and Bean Soup

Last week it was feeling more like late winter here in PA, so this soup was the perfect thing to make! The weather has been crazy here – it was even snowing yesterday. We’re entering our 9th week of being at home and managing ok. There’s a good daily schedule in place for the kids to follow while I’m working and they’ve been keeping up with their remote learning assignments. My kids are homebodies … so they’re loving being at home. I’m much more of an extrovert and would prefer to be out and about doing stuff. I hope all my readers are doing well and staying healthy!

After our Easter dinner in April, I made ham stock with my Instant Pot and frozen the rest of the ham. This was the perfect base ingredients to make this soup. The soup was simple to make and delicious – we had no leftovers! With only a few ingredients, it is something that can be thrown together quickly. I also loved how creamy and thick it was without using cream or milk.

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Lemon Poppy Seed Squares

I’m back to baking more delicious treats! I whipped these up on Saturday morning while I was enjoying a cup of coffee. We were up early because my husband wanted to run to the local hardware store to grab some items he needed to paint. Our daughter turned 13 in March and we decided we would makeover her room to be more grown up. The weather was great this weekend and we took full advantage of being able to open the windows. Her room came out great and just needs a few finishing touches.

Back to these lemon poppy seed squares … the recipe is originally for a loaf, but I decided mini squares would be better – plus they’re individually sized. We all need a bit of portion control these days. Being stuck at home, we’re all snacking nonstop. The bars are just the perfect amount of lemon and poppy seeds. They’re made with Greek yogurt and olive oil and delicious and moist! Continue reading →

Toasted Oat Chocolate Chip Muffins

I’ve been doing more quarantine baking and by far, these muffins are my most favorite thing to far. They are delicious … though not great for my waistline. I usually work from home and have no issues with feeling like I need to snack all day long. Now that I’ve been home for the last 5 weeks, I want to eat all day long. Anyone else feeling the same way?

I have made other variations of oatmeal muffins with chocolate chips, but these are so much better. Toasting the rolled oats before turning them into flour adds a rich nutty flavor. The mini chocolate chips add a sweet bite to them and the strudel on top adds a crunchy layer. You’ll definitely enjoy them!


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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Yes, I know….another dessert recipe. Baking is a stress reliever for me, so I’ve been do a lot of baking. My family is loving it, but it’s not good for my waistline. I’m trying to focus on making things that I don’t like, so I’m not tempted.

Lately, I’ve noticed if I eat peanuts or peanut butter, my joint pain flares up. I did sample these bars for taste-testing purposes so I could accurately blog about them; but I should have know they were delicious with how quickly they disappeared.

The combination of peanut butter and chocolate is perfect. These bars are so much better than a cookie! My family loved the hidden swirl of peanut butter in the middle.

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Homemade Cinnamon Raisin Bread

I used to avoid making bread with yeast. I love it but don’t make it near as often as I would like. With some extra time on my hands, I decided to make a loaf over the weekend. There’s nothing like the smell of yeast blooming and knowing you’re going to creating something delicious with your two hands.

This bread was really good and a great way to start experimenting baking with yeast. This recipe uses instant yeast and in a couple of hours you have a homemade loaf of bread. My family loved it and I think I’ll be making a loaf a week for the foreseeable future.

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Creamy Cajun Shrimp Pasta

Just because we’re stuck at home doesn’t mean we need to eat boring dinners. Chicken and beef had been quite scarce in the past couple weeks, so when I saw a bag of uncooked frozen shrimp, I knew I could figure out something to make with it.

After looking through my pantry, I was saw I had everything for this recipe except for heavy cream. It was perfect timing because I was placing a milk order from our local dairy and added a pint of cream into my order.

The recipe was delicious. The shrimp were spicy and the creaminess of the sauce cooled everything down. I’ll definitely be making this recipe again!


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Glazed Lemon Scones

I had some leftover heavy cream and my go-to way to use it up is to make scones. I also had a lemon and thought it would be perfect to whip up a batch of glazed lemon scones. It’s been a bit of challenge to use up everything I have in my house before going shopping – but it’s good to reduce waste.

These scones were amazing – I had to fight my family off to get a picture of them before they were gone. The lemon was perfect and the scones were flaky and buttery. My glaze was a little thin and next time I make it, I’ll go thicker.

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