If you’ve been around me for a hot minute, you know that I love to cook, grill, entertain and be around people.  I love to feed people, to see their smiles and to hear the boisterous laughter and conversation drop to murmurs and mumbles when delicious food is being consumed.

I love empty, messy, fork- scraped plates because that means that both hearts and tummies are full.

I honestly can’t tell y’all what my favorite food to grill is, because the truth of the matter is that I love being outside, and the smell of a hot grill, the sound of the sizzle when food hits those searing hot grates, well that just makes my heart go all 3 times bigger grinch-swelly.

There’s a major grilling holiday coming up this next weekend, in case you didn’t know, and I’m excited to share an amazingly easy and delicious steak recipe with y’all.

These Grilled Steaks with Cilantro Lime Butter are a perfect pairing for Bush’s Black Bean Fiesta Grillin’ Beans

I’m really excited to share this super simple, flavor packed, mouthwateringly tonguegasmic recipe for these Grilled Steaks with Cilantro Lime Butter

“Grillin’ Bold this Memorial Day? Bush’s has the beans for it. Come join the cookout with Cookin’ Canuck and Hoosier Homemade sponsored by Bush’s Grillin’ Beans.”  Link up your recipe and enter to win a great giveaway

If you need inspiration for this Memorial Day, trust me.. the recipes you’ll find in that link-up are sure fire winners!

Happy Monday, y’all! Thanks for bearing with my disappearing act last week.
After the crazy, scary weather… we shut everything down and just spent time with each other.

Thank y’all for coming back, linking up and sharing.

I appreciate y’all and your deliciousness!

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Bush’s Beans, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Seriously, y’all.
I’m not teasing.
The title is not misleading.
I am about to share a recipe with y’all that combines all the best of a Loaded Baked Potato with the homey, delicious comfort of a grilled cheese sandwich
When I say thatI’m about to bestow a gift upon y’all, I’m not even remotely kidding.

I have been converted.

I was not a believer.

She changed me.  She made me see the light.  The ooey – gooey – carby- zingy – comforting – tonguegasmic light

She did this with one post.

Before now, there’s no reality in which I would have envisioned sour cream being included in a grilled cheese sandwich – and I’ve covered the National Grilled Cheese Invitational which had everything from truffle oil – bacon grease – peeps – pound cake – jalapenos – banana bread and more.

I have a new favorite grilled cheese.

A grilled cheese that has flavors I would never have thought to combine.

Sour Cream – Green Onions – Bacon – Potato Bread – Sharp Cheddar and Sour Cream

I have to admit, while searching for a grilled cheese recipe for this month’s CCC, I was overwhelmed and frustrated.

Don’t get me wrong, there were some truly delicious sounding recipes for things like Jalapeno popper grilled cheese and pepperoni pizza grilled cheese , but I’d made versions of them all before.

I wanted something POW. BOOM. TONGUEGASMIC.

I more than found it in this Loaded Baked Potato Grilled Cheese Sandwich recipe from Galley Kitchen.

The first time that I made it, I was more than skeptical – I almost skipped the potato bread and went with the Texas Toast that was already in my kitchen.  (Thank the kitchen gods that I didn’t)

This sandwich is unbelievable.

It will capture you, wrap you up, hold you in its warm, gooey, comforting, deliciously tonguegasmic embrace and never let  you go.

Seriously, y’all.

Take a moment and just embrace the idea of the miraculous ingredients that make up this tonguegasmic delight.

Smoky, salty bacon, cool creamy sour cream, zingy fresh green onions, rich, flavor packed sharp cheddar cheese surrounded by perfectly golden buttery toasted potato bread.  Please, for the love of all things holy, do not forget the potato bread.  Do NOT skimp on these simple ingredients.

If your family is lucky and you’re making bacon for breakfast, bake the bacon in the oven so it is crisp and delicious – set aside 2 slices for each sandwich.

Lay out 2 slices of potato bread and lightly spread each slice with sour cream, top each slice with a slice of good sharp cheddar cheese.

Snap the bacon slices in half and lay them on top of one cheese and sour cream covered slice of potato bread, sprinkle the other half with chopped green onions. (bacon slice covered halves not shown)

Press the two deliciously decorated slices together and then spread butter onto the outside of the sandwich.

Lay on a hot sizzling griddle and cook until golden, toasty brown and the insides are sizzling, melty and oh my holy hell you just can’t resist any longer.

BUT WAIT.

You MUST.

There is a golden rule to perfect grilled cheese sandwiches.

You MUST set them aside and let them rest for a few minutes before cutting or eating, if you cut them too soon, they’re just a giant mess.

This sandwich is worth waiting for, but don’t torture yourself by waiting to long.  Go ahead, print this out and go to the store.  Make these today, and tomorrow, and next week.  Trust me, once you make these – you’ll make them again.

I can’t believe that a sandwich can taste like a piping hot loaded baked potato, but it can, and it’s so worth the 20 minutes… trust me.

If you’re a comfort food lover – an avid devotee of grilled cheese happiness – this is the month for you.
Visit – devour – relish.

I’m sure there are some tonguegasmic recipes, but I don’t know that any could even begin to compare….

Do you like spinach dip?

Do you like chicken?

Do you like quick, easy, classic and delicious?

If you answered yes to those 3 ‘questions’ ooo baby, do I have a recipe for y’all.

Spinach & Almond Topped Chicken

This is the 3rd and final recipe for the Hellmann’s Chicken Change Up Program

The first two recipes are here:

Baked Honey Mustard Chicken Tenders

Baked Chicken with Cream Sauce

This recipe actually surprised me.

The theme for this challenge/recipe is a Twist on a Classic and I can’t tell y’all the number of times that I’ve been at a stuffy bridal/wedding/baby shower or luncheon with my Granny and seen spinach or almond crusted chicken and shuddered when the dishes have been served.

This is not your Granny’s stuffy, club, predictable, BLAH chicken.

This is juicy, delicious baked chicken that tastes like it’s been topped with your very favorite spinach dip with a crunch.

This is easy.

This is delicious.

What more could you want?

Oh – that your kids will eat it?

Both my kids had this for dinner tonight and BOTH have requested it for their lunches tomorrow.

insert pause for fist pumping and happy dancing here

The only things that I changed from the original recipe was to double it for topping and I think I’d add a dash of garlic powder.

The original recipe can be found on here

You can watch the recipe in video form by clicking play on the image below

While this post is part of a sponsored partnership between myself and Hellmann’s and One2One Network – all opinions are completely and 100% my own.

These honey mustard marinated, cornflake and parmesan crusted, baked chicken tenders are the 2nd recipe I’ve made and am sharing with y’all as a part of my participation in the Hellmann’s Chicken Change Up program.

Last month, I talked about our busy lives and shared with y’all my time saving Baked Chicken with Cream Sauce recipe that I made using Hellmann’s Mayonnaise.

It was easy, delicious, and best of all – quick!

This month for my Hellmann’s Chicken Change Up recipe – I’m talking about Picky Eaters and sharing a crazy delicious chicken tenders recipe that will have your pickiest eaters licking their fingers and asking for more.

Don’t shake your head at me or roll your eyes.  I’m serious.

My daughter stuck her nose in the air and straight up told me… I’m not eating any chicken that you make with cereal.

(Cue me grabbing my hair and checking for 27 MORE gray hairs at the attitude and stubbornness that surely have my dad laughing and making snarky comments about karma.)

Monkey, in all his peace-making-everyone-happy way, told her to just try one bite to make Mom happy.

(Cue my heart bursting)

For once, I actually followed a recipe to the letter (I know!) and I must admit, I’m rather pleased with the results – and the kids were, too!

Even Little Miss Nose in The Air LOVED these and asked if she could help make them next time.  And there WILL be a next time.

W. I. N.

Want this Picky Eater pleasing recipe?

Of course y’all do

As if this Picky Eater pleasing, easy to make recipe wasn’t enough…

Thanks to Hellmann’s and the One2One Network, I have a Picky Eater Pleasing Giveaway, too!

I actually OWN a Puzzle Sandwich Cutter and use it frequently – my kids LOVE IT.

This Picky Eaters Giveaway includes:

• Deceptively Delicious Cookbook
• Substituting Ingredients Cookbook
• Match & Munch Puzzle Sandwich Cutters
• Kid’s Bento Box
• Kid’s Chopsticks

I got to choose the giveaway that I wanted to do, and this is the one that I saw and immediately though – “I want ALL OF THAT!”

Congratulations to Greta for winning!

Want to win this wonderful Hellmann’s Picky Eater Pleasing Giveaway?

Each entry MUST be left in a separate comment:

There’s a total of 6 possible entries!!!

• (MANDATORY entry)  What’s your favorite Picky Eater Pleasing Recipe?
• Which item in the Picky Eater Giveaway MOST appeals to you?
• Share this giveaway on your favorite social media outlet – twitter, facebook, pinterest and share the link in the comments (up to 4 entries for this one)

The Giveaway on My Blog is now closed – but y’all still have until April 30th to enter into the Hellmann’s Chicken Change Up Sweepstakes!

• From now until April 30, 2012, parents across the country can participate in the Hellmann’s® Chicken Change-up by trying one of the featured Hellmann’s® chicken recipes, sharing their recipe reviews and providing their own advice for managing dinnertime obstacles.  After participating, consumers can enter into a sweepstakes for the chance to win a $5000 grocery store gift card and other daily prizes

 This Contest is Now Closed.

This giveaway is open from 10:00 PM CST April 11, 2012 to 12:01 AM CST April 17th, 2012.  Winner will be chosen by Comment Contest Plug-in and will have 24 hours to respond or an alternate winner will be chosen.

This is a sponsored post.  Hellmann’s product and additional incentives were provided to me.  All opinions stated are my own.

Do y’all remember when I posted about Eggy?

About the 17 Day diet, our successes and my complete lack of inspiration for what to do with eggplant that fit into The 17 Day Diet parameters.

Little did I know… there’s a recipe for Eggplant Parmesan in the back of The 17 Day Diet book.

My brother started raving about it, another friend who has had amazing success with the diet, also raved about the recipes.. so I threw caution to the wind and decided that I had little to lose (if you’ll excuse the pun) by experimenting with this spongy-purpley-black veggie

I can’t be the only one who wants to put googly eyes and ears on them… they just remind me of little purple piglets.

This recipe called for 1 C low carb marinara sauce, I have yet to understand why anyone buys spaghetti/marinara/red sauce when it is so unbelievably simple to make

2 (1-lb) Cans of  Petite Diced Tomatoes – 1/2 a large onion, chopped – 7 garlic cloves, minced and 1 1/2 TBSP of your favorite garlic seasoning (I am partial to Zatarain’s Big and Zesty Garlic and Herb Seasoning – and I have been since LOOOONG before I started partnering with them)  sweat the onions, add the garlic and tomatoes and seasoning and simmer for 30 minutes to all day.  No matter what you pair this with – it will be devoured.

This was my secret weapon for this unknown dish – This 17 Day Diet Purple Spongy Veggie Thing – I knew that no matter what I put this sauce on – it would be edible.

Caution. Meet the wind, and prepare to be tossed.

The first time I made this, I completely made it according to the book – we ate it.

The second time, I adjusted it according to our preferences and we ate it and enjoyed it.

The book suggests pressing the 1/4″ eggplant slices into the fat free parm cheese to coat – in our opinion, this is too much.

I sliced the eggplant 1/4″ thick – dipped it into the frothy egg whites

and lightly pressed both sides into fat free parmesan cheese (yes, the shaker kind) that I had mixed with a bit of paprika and fresh ground pepper.

Spray a vented pan with baking spray and bake at 400 °F for 20 minutes, turn and bake for 10 minutes.

Top with your delicious tomato sauce and serve

Happy Monday, y’all!  Hope it’s tonguegasmic!

Thanks for linking up your deliciousness – I love seeing what you’re feeding your friends and family.  Thank y’all for linking up every Monday.

Remember the Linky Etiquette and make sure y’all are being good linkers:

• link up
• link back
• visit and comment at least 6 other participants
• pin, stumble, tweet etc..

I have discovered something amazing.

UH-MAY-ZING!

Lemon Zested Sugar.

If y’all knew about this and didn’t share this with me… I think our relationship might be somewhat fractured .

When Tina announced that April’s Crazy Cooking Challenge was Blueberry Muffins, I knew that I wanted something different, something more, something tonguegasmic.

Maria is one of my favorite bloggers and I remembered bookmarking a muffin recipe of hers from last year, so I dove into my bookmarks (oh-dear-pinterest-I-am-so-grateful-for-you-now) and once I found it, I remembered why I had bookmarked it:

1) I’ve never used ricotta before

b) her photography is beyond amazing

c) Lemon Ricotta Blackberry Muffins – need I say more?

I adapted them just a teensy weensy bit by using blueberries instead of blackberries

Maria’s recipe needs no adaptation – it’s brilliant and perfect and wonderful as is.

But.

I’ve never had blueberries and lemon together in a muffin before…

I can promise y’all right now.  This combination will be happening again.

Oh yes.  Yes, it will.

It’s from Maria that I learned about the Lemon Zest and Sugar trick – it’s honestly recipe-life changing – I’m going to re-make my Blackberry Lemon Coffee Cake using this trick – it subtly, but powerfully enhances the flavor of lemon in a brilliant way.

Okay — done raving about Maria (for now)

Back to the Crazy Cooking Challenge

• I whisked together all the dry ingredients:  flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
• In another bowl:  cream together, lemon sugar and butter.
• Add in ricotta cheese (hello baking first!) and beat until smooth
• Beat in egg, fresh squeezed lemon juice and vanilla bean paste (or pure vanilla extract – it’s a 1:1)

Once the wet ingredients are combined and smooth, add in the dry ingredients and mix until just blended.

• Line muffin tins with paper liners or spray with baking spray
• Use an ice cream scoop or spoon to fill the muffin tins, press 3 to 5 blueberries (depending on size of the berries) into the batter and then swirl the batter with your finger (or a spoon, if you don’t like gettin’ your fingers dirty)
• Top with turbinado sugar.  Maria suggests a sprinkle – I don’t think what I did qualifies as a sprinkle…

But it definitely  made for divinely crunchy topped muffins.

Need more blueberry muffin inspiration?
Check out the other CCC participants:

I have yet to figure out WHY, but for some reason February and March kick our family’s collective tails.

Just when  we start to feel like we’re getting our feet back under us again…

BOOM!!!

It’s kickball season and that consumes 4 to 5 nights a week.

Between kickball, school, work, and just living life… March to May make me feel like I’m living in one of those cartoons where the clocks all have hands that are spinning at a crazy fast pace and everything is in fast forward.   I feel like if I blink, I’ll have missed a day, a week, a month of life.

Would I trade a hectic, often sweaty, dirt filled, fast paced minute?

Hell No.

I will however, accept any and all advice, help, aid and anything else that makes our days easier.

WAIT FOR IT... (HIMYM reference)

One thing that I try to do even amidst all the crazy, is make sure we eat well, and that doesn’t mean paper bags and drive thrus.

I want real food.

Food that comes from my kitchen, and that’s a hard thing to do when schedules are colliding like kids in a bumper car ring.

If I don’t want it to be drive thru, if I haven’t planned enough for the Slow Cooker, and sandwiches just won’t do… I’m not left with many options.

Unless I want to throw one of those frozen skillet meals together and let’s face it, I’d rather not because I’m not a fan of frozen meals.

THERE.

I SAID IT.

They are always lacking,  Lacking, flavor, texture, taste, substance…. you name it, they’re usually lacking it.

USUALLY being the keyword. As of about a week ago, I ate my words and I blame Zatarain’s.

Apparently March is frozen food month.

WHO KNEW?

Zatarains knew and they sent me a box filled with a whole bunch of CRAZY frozen deliciousness.

I was hesitant, but I threw caution to the wind, especially when I saw the Ready in 10 minutes on the front of the bag.

I tossed the Blackened Chicken Alfredo into my big skillet with a bag of frozen veggies (we were hungry and I wanted to make this stretch), put the lid on it, cooked for 5 minutes, removed the lid and stirred and cooked uncovered for about 8 more minutes until it was all bubbly and Nathan was hovering around the stove drooling.

I have to tell y’all, the smell was amazing.

The taste… pretty damn good.

Nathan actually stood at the counter and ate this out of the serving bowl.

This would be straight up delicious as is.

The addition of the frozen veggie blend and crushed red pepper flakes just takes it to a heightened level of deliciousness.

I’m curious now – do any of y’all doctor frozen meals?  If you do, what do you do?  What are your favorite tricks?

DISCLOSURE:  I’m a Zatarains Krewe Member/Ambassador.  

I received a box of frozen meals from Zatarains.   I chose to cook them and I chose to write about this meal.  I am compensated for my participation as a Zatarains Ambassador, but all opinions, ideas, recipes and thoughts are my own unless otherwise stated.

There’s something about comfort food.

That food that takes you back, cradles you in home and family and feeds your body and your soul.

Wamsutta is one of my ultimate comfort foods.

Just the act of making it takes me back to all the kitchens of my life, all the different places my family has lived and the memories made there.

Every time I pull Granny’s Wamsutta recipe from my recipe binder and finger it’s tattered edges and squint my eyes at the writing so worn with age and use that it’s almost illegible, it’s like coming home, home to the place where your heart lives.

My mom made Wamsutta while the kids and I were in Bryan for Spring Break and I couldn’t get enough.  A friend asked me what the recipe was and even though the pictures made me gasp in horror – I sent her the link to my family’s Wamsutta recipe, and then put it on my list of things to re-make and re-photograph.

Given the healthier turn in our eating habits, combined with the fact that my soul needed some home cookin’ — this was made fast – quick- and in a hurry and with a few changes – upon returning home and re-stocking the fridge.

I grabbed up some ground turkey, canned tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, water chestnuts and cheese and got to cookin’

Granny’s original recipe, the one that my Mom still makes, calls for canned corn and stuffed olives…

Nathan doesn’t like canned corn and I’m actually not a fan of olives, so I made a few adaptations, including using whole wheat/whole grain penne pasta instead of wide egg noodles.  This is a flexible dish – use the flavors and textures that your family loves.

I sat on the couch tonight with a small bowl of wamsutta, steaming hot out of the oven, inhaled and tears came to my eyes.

Coming home.

Safety.

Love.

History.

Family.

It’s amazing what comfort food can do for our bodies, hearts and souls.

I’d love for y’all to add my family’s favorite comfort food to y’all’s homes.

Thank y’all for coming and sharing your dishes every Monday, I love being inspired by y’all, seeing what y’all are feeding your friends and family and I’m so honored that y’all come back each and every week.

A Few Favorites from Last Week’s Linky

• Perfect Coconut Milk Ice Cream
• Rainbow Blondie Bars
• Baked Parmesan Tomatoes
• Bananas Fosters Bread

Don’t forget to link up your recipe, link back in your post and visit, pin, stumble and comment on the recipes shared by others!

School. Kickball. Work. Homework. Play. Life
Somewhere in between all of that, we’re supposed to fit in quality time, family time and healthy meals.

Go ahead, laugh. Sometimes I do.
One of my favorite recipes is pork chops with a dijon cream sauce, the only problem – it’s somewhat time consuming and with kickball starting – that’s 4 nights a week, at least! I need quick meals, delicious meals, healthy meals, most importantly though, meals that the entire family can and will eat.

When I was contacted about working with Hellmann’s for their Chicken Change Up Program, I knew immediately that this was the recipe that  I wanted to re-work into a new and delicious Time Saving post.  I went and picked out the yummy Hellmann’s with Olive Oil (my favorite), some boneless skinless chicken thighs and a few other ingredients and immediately jumped into the kitchen to get started.

I chopped up a couple garlic cloves, juiced and zested a couple of limes, whisked that together with some Hellmann’s with Olive oil and a little dijon mustard

I laid my chicken thighs out on a foil lined, rimmed baking sheet, sprinkled each thigh with fresh cracked pepper and then topped them with Hellmann’s mixture.

Those chicken thighs went into a preheated 400 °F oven for 17 minutes and my kitchen started to smell like a savory piece of heaven.

After 17 minutes, I pulled them out of the oven, let them rest for a few minutes while I plated up some steamed veggies and a dinner roll

Oh, ya’ll.

Y’all.  Y’all!

I may never go back to the old school way of doing this AGAIN.  The actual hands on time is under 10 minutes! The results were just so yummy!

This chicken is SO juicy and full of flavor and holy, yummy, deliciousness!  The creaminess of the Hellmann’s, the tang of the lime juice and zest and the savoriness of the garlic and dijon.  This is one of the most flavor packed, juiciest quick chicken dishes that I’ve ever made, especially considering it was baked.  Usually baked chicken is more like shoe leather, this …. this is mouth melting yummy.

Just FYI -

• From now until April 30, 2012, parents across the country can participate in the Hellmann’s® Chicken Change-up by trying one of the featured Hellmann’s® chicken recipes, sharing their recipe reviews and providing their own advice for managing dinnertime obstacles.  After participating, consumers can enter into a sweepstakes for the chance to win a $5000 grocery store gift card and other daily prizes.[1]

[1] NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Void where prohibited. Hellmann’s Chicken Change-Up is sponsored by Conopco, Inc., d/b/a Unilever. Open to legal residents of the 50 U.S. & D.C., 18 or older. Begins 12:00 PM ET on 03/01/12 & ends 11:59 AM ET on 04/30/12. For official rules, visit the ‘Chicken Change-Up’ tab on the Hellmann’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/hellmanns

And now for my disclosure: This is a sponsored post.  Hellmann’s product and additional incentives were provided to me.  All opinions stated are my own.

I love grapefruit.

Seriously, y’all.

Grapefruits, to me, are the perfect citrus – tangy, slightly bitter, somewhat sour with just a hint of sweet.  Just writing about them right now has my mouth watering.

NOM.

A few months ago, Maria (one of my favorite food bloggers) wrote a post about Broiled Grapefruit, I was intrigued.  I pinned it and forgot about it.

A few days ago, I was browsing my pinterest boards and came across that pin – I jumped off the couch, grabbed a knife, cut into a couple of grapefruits, used a grapefruit spoon to loosen the fruit from the skin and drizzled them with honey, brown sugar and cinnamon.

I turned my broiler on HI and put my dish with the grapefruit in the oven – in retrospect, I should have moved my oven rack up one level so the caramelization would have been more intense.

I left the grapefruit in the oven for about 7 minutes, plenty of time for the sugars to caramelize.

Y’all.

Y’ALL.

{swoon}

I’m loving this deliciousness – it’s warm and sweet, and tangy and just… YUM.

Seriously, y’all – even if you’re in the anti-grapefruit camp, I think y’all should give this a try.  It takes grapefruit to a whole new level of delicious.

So yummy!

Thank y’all so much for linking up every Monday and sharing the yummies that come from your kitchens!

Make sure y’all take the time to visit each other, pin some of your favorite recipes, link back here, comment and share the love!

Here are a few of my favorites from last week’s link up

• Chocolate Bourbon Banana Bread
• Black Bean Soup with Cumin and Jalapeno
• Rainbow Cake in A Jar with Cloud Frosting
• Caramel Coconut Kiss Cookies
• Dreamy Lemon Ice Cream