Roasted Corn and Pepper Salad

I love roasted vegetables but I don't always have the opportunity, fancy equipment for grilling, or even the right food to create the perfect side dish for what I'm craving. If that's the case though, I improvise by using modified versions of what I do have.

Out and About: Fair Oaks Farms

I visited Fair Oaks Farms a couple weeks ago with my parents and my son. They were on vacation and wanted to have all these adventures with the little guy before they went back to work - Fair Oaks was just one of them. We thought we'd have a great time doing all fun things a kid can do there: going through mazes, seeing the baby cows and eating at their cafe. Well, none of those even happened with the exception of the cafe. I'm not going to get into the lack of things for a kid (or an adult) to do though - because I think we just went on the wrong day - so I'll keep this food-related.

The cafe...oh, the cafe. The food wasn't up to par and didn't live up to the hype at all. My mom and my son got their 'Almost Famous Grilled Cheese' and I'll tell ya, there's a reason it isn't famous! My son took one bite of his kids meal sandwich and said he didn't like it. I did the mom thing and tried to get him to eat more until I tasted it myself. It was so dry and bland and tasted like melted Cheddar on toast. And it wasn't even good toast! My mom's grilled cheese wasn't as dry, but it wasn't anything to write home about. My dad and I got Cuban sandwiches that were also pretty bland. It was a tad dry and the best part was the mustard packet they put on the side.

Visiting the Apple Orchard

The beautiful scenery along the road.

A couple weeks ago, we made a visit to the apple orchard. This wasn't an ordinary, run-of-the-mill orchard though, it was an actual orchard owned by family. My mother-in-law's cousin has this amazingly, beautiful land in Michigan and every year, they invite the entire family for a day of picking.

Chicken Makes Perfect Potstickers

I made potstickers for the first time Thursday night. They were so good and I'm really proud of myself for creating such a yummy recipe. Yes, I create recipes a lot, but this was a new challenge because it was something out of the norm. I never really attempted them before because I was a little intimidated by how difficult they looked, but I'll tell ya, they were actually very easy to prepare! They were also very easy on the budget because there isn't much that goes into them. And, if you don't have one of the ingredients or want to try a different twist on it - go ahead because this is one of those recipes that is so versatile and can suit anyone's tastes.

Raw Applesauce for Cooking

I like to cook with applesauce every once in a while but don't always have it on hand. I have an overload of apples right now from our orchard visit (more on that later) so I decided to make my own this time. Now, I usually make my applesauce for eating, but it's a different consistency than the store-bought types. The jars you find at the store are nice and smooth, while I keep mine chunky. While both taste good, one is much better for cooking!

Malibu Tropic Breeze

I had some strawberries in the fridge that were on their last leg so they were pretty much the inspiration for this drink. Drinking it makes me think of sitting on a patio on a warm summer night while a cool breeze whistles by. Or, maybe it just makes me wish I was...

PB & J Pancake Sticks

Some morning are easier than others in my house. Some are also harder. On those mornings when nothing is going right and I need to get my son settled and get started on some work, I look for an easy breakfast. I'll usually ask the little guy what he would like and I'll almost always get an answer that is actually breakfast food! Every once in awhile I'll get a reply of pretzels or string cheese, but the other morning, my answer was pancakes.