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cooking

Food Safety Tips For All Cooks

May 20, 2021 by Rachel 16 Comments

When my husband and I started dating nearly 13 years ago, I was blown away by what a pro he was in the kitchen. I had spent many of my post-college years making easy meals from my freezer. Admittedly, it was well after we got married that I even decided to give cooking a shot. On my first go at trying a new recipe, I posted a photo to Instagram. Immediately I received a comment about cross-contamination. I had no idea the mistakes I was making. Even now, as a much better cook, I need to remember certain safety items, which is why I’ve decided to put together food safety tips for all cooks!

Food Safety Tips For All Cooks

Basic Food Safety

Part of the reason I was always so nervous about cooking was because I didn’t trust myself cooking meat. Like many people, I was worried about undercooking it and getting food poisoning. So I would spend every night trying to figure out if my food was done enough before overcooking it.

Finally, after several years of ‘not getting it quite right,’ I started using a meat thermometer. It has been a lifesaver. I no longer question whether or not the chicken, beef, or pork is cooked safely. Because I know it is! I honestly wish I had started using a cooking thermometer sooner.

Giving Food Safety a Boost

Now, as a more experienced cook, I still struggle. But in different ways. One of my major issues when prepping a meal for my family is that I am distracted. Moreso, I know many moms are distracted during dinner prep. They’ll lose track in a recipe or forget if they added salt. But what if we forget about whether that cutting board would cross-contaminate?!

Food Safety Tips For All Cooks

The new Dixie Ultra™ Cutting Boards available at Walmart (in the foil aisle) help reduce the spread of germs by mitigating that risk. Simply prep, cut & toss! Basically, just toss away the germs when you’re finished.

Make Food Safety for everyone

I grew up with a mom that made a homemade dinner 6 out of 7 nights a week. But, I admit — I wasn’t present much during dinner prep times. So, one of the ways I’m taking food safety seriously is by educating my children in the kitchen.

Food Safety Tips For All Cooks

Teaching them to use a knife, cut veggies, and even grow their own food is important. But what good are these skills if they aren’t familiar with safe food handling? Getting them involved from a young age and talking about why we’re doing the things we are is educating in action.

Dixie Ultra™ Cutting Boards are especially perfect for Summer. When prepping for a cookout (like we recently did with extended family), they are my go-to. Dixie Ultra Cutting Boards helps eliminate the spread of germs between my sister’s fruit salad and prepping my pork recipe for the grill. That way, you’ll have a clean, fresh surface each time.

These tips are the easiest way to remove the worry of whether or not I could be creating a foodborne illness. Instead, I’m confident and able to stay focused on feeding the whole family.

PIN FOR LATER

Filed Under: #MomLife, brews + food, cooking, Home Safety Tips Tagged With: brews + food, cooking, home safety tips

Summertime Rainbow Garden Veggie Pizza

July 27, 2020 by Rachel 25 Comments

This was our first year trying to grow our own vegetables in our backyard garden. We have quite a bit of space, but decided to start small with just two raised garden beds. I went a bit crazy with seeds, thinking very few would take. But I was really wrong and now we have an abundance of veggies! What’s a mom to do with all the veggies?! Make the perfect Summertime Rainbow Garden Veggie Pizza, of course!

rainbow veggie pizza

This is one of those recipes that the kids can be really involved in. In fact, my kids have been super involved in the whole gardening process! They helped me plant the seeds and starters and they help me water every day. You should have seen the reactions they all gave to our first teeny veggie!

I figured that this would be our summer “lesson” in unschooling. And thus far, it has worked! My oldest (almost 8), has had so many questions about how and why plants grow. I do my best to communicate the science behind it, but truthfully, YouTube has been much better at it!

rainbow garden veggie pizza

Rainbow Garden Veggie Pizza

This pizza is as easy as it gets. Instead of traditional pizza dough, I opted for something easier — and perhaps even tastier — pita bread! Another great alternatives to traditional pizza crust would be naan.

As far as veggies are concerned, we used most of the items we could find in our garden. Yellow and red bell peppers, cucumbers, cauliflower, carrots, broccoli, and tomatoes! As far as veggies are concerned, the possibilities are endless!

rainbow garden veggie pizza

The pita bread (or naan) is just the perfect size for kids. They can put on whichever veggies they want, and leave off what they don’t! My middle daughter, for one, wanted her rainbow veggie pizza to consist of nothing but cucumbers and broccoli! No arguments from me, that’s for sure.

RAINBOW GARDEN VEGGIE PIZZA

Getting the kids involved in the process just increases the odds of them actually eating it. So my advice to you would be this: clean and cut the veggies and place them in separate containers. Ahead of time, mix the cream cheese mixture together. Set out the pita or naan on individual plates. And let them go for it! The worst thing that could happen is that they eat even more veggies!

Rainbow Veggie Pizza

Rainbow Veggie Pizza

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sliced cucumbers
  • 1/2 cup cauliflower
  • 1/2 cup broccoli
  • 1/4 cup sliced rainbow carrots
  • 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes (halved)
  • 1/2 cup of red / yellow bell peppers (cut into chunks)
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 4 ounces of cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
  • 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 4 pieces of pita bread (or naan)

Instructions

    1. Wash and cut vegetables
    2. Using a 9x13 pan, add pita bread to cover the bottom of the pan.
    3. In a bowl, mix softened cream cheese, lemon juice, Greek yogurt, and
      salt and pepper together well.
    4. Spread mixture onto pita bread
    5. Evenly spread vegetables and cheese atop pita
    6. Enjoy!
© Rachel

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Filed Under: children, cooking, easy recipes, parenthood, recipe, recipes, summer, Summer Bucket List Tagged With: children, cooking, easy recipes, parenthood, recipes, summer, Summer Bucket List

Smoky Paprika Grilled Shrimp Skewers

July 13, 2020 by Rachel 25 Comments

Guys, it has been HOT across the midwest lately. Like, really, really, hot! In times like these I just cannot imagine turning on the stove or the oven to make dinner (and the other 5,000 meals a day my kids insist on eating). Luckily, the Instant Pot and the grill are my best friends! And these Smoky Paprika Grilled Shrimp Skewers are the most delicious way to beat the heat!

If you’re a fan of seafood, you’ll love these! They are just the right amount of ‘heat,’ but perfectly balanced from cooking on the grill! To get in our daily dose of veggies, we take whatever we have ready in our garden! Our zucchini and squash seem to be thriving this first year, so we have an abundance!

paprika shrimp skewers

Speaking of gardens, this was our very first year growing and planting! Since moving into our new home almost two years ago, we now have plenty of space. We didn’t plant anything last year, as we were still getting settled. But this year I knew I wanted to plant as many veggies as possible!

smoky grilled shrimp

Chad ordered two raised beds and we assembled them. Naively, I thought this would be enough space for everything. Guys — I was very wrong! While things are growing well and producing fruits and veggies, certain items are completely taking over! I, clearly, did not space seeds and plants out appropriately. And our cucumber plants are wrapping themselves around literally everything else!

grilled shrimp skewers

I’ve certainly learned a lot with this first garden. And I’m already planning on purchasing several more raised beds after the season ends (in anticipation of next Summer)! In the meantime, we will enjoy the heck out of all of the zucchini!

So if you’re looking for a delicious, easy, weeknight recipe — then look no further than these incredible Smoky Paprika Grilled Shrimp Skewers!

Yield: 6-8

Smoky Paprika Grilled Shrimp Skewers

paprika shrimp skewers

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 1 tablespoons of lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon of minced garlic
  • red pepper (to taste)
  • sea salt (to taste)
  • 1 pound of shrimp, peeled and cleaned

Instructions

    1. Soak bamboo skewers in water for 30 minutes in water before using.
    2. Mix the olive oil, lemon juice, smoked paprika, garlic, red pepper flakes, and salt together in a mixing bowl.
    3. Add the shrimp to the bowl and mix until well-coated.
    4. Let the shrimp sit for a minimum of 30 minutes in the fridge, covered.
    5. Preheat the grill (or charcoal grill) to medium heat, oil the grates and grill the shrimp for 2-3 minutes per side until opaque.
    6. Transfer skewers to a plate.
      grilled shrimp skewers
    7. ENJOY!
© Rachel

If you’re looking for a dessert recipe to accompany these grilled shrimp skewers, be sure to check out this delicious chocolate tart!

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PIN ME - SMOKY PAPRIKA GRILLED SHRIMP SKEWERS
PIN ME - SMOKY PAPRIKA GRILLED SHRIMP SKEWERS

Filed Under: brews + food, cooking, dairy-free, easy recipes, recipe, recipes Tagged With: brews + food, dairy-free, easy recipes, recipes

The Perfect Summertime Grilled S’mores Recipe

June 20, 2020 by Rachel 34 Comments

With Summer plans in limbo for everyone, we’re all scrambling to find fun things to keep our families busy. What better time to get creative with Summer recipes, am I right?

All three of my kids are in this really picky ‘grilled cheese’ phase. You know the kind of phase. It’s where literally all they will eat is plain old grilled cheese and nothing else.

GRILLED S'MORES SANDWICH

The funny thing about kids is that no matter how much they refuse real food, they will never ever turn down sweets. To tell you the truth, neither will I! I mean, we all love sweets, am I right?!

GRILLED S'MORES SANDWICH

The great thing about ‘Summer recipes’ is that it doesn’t have to be Summer to create them. As much as we would like to be around the campfire, life doesn’t always work out that way. In fact, on the best of days a good backyard campfire can quickly be ruined by a quick rainstorm or a fussy toddler. So, why not bring the backyard favorite indoors?

GRILLED S'MORES SANDWICH

For instance, a fun family favorite is S’mores. Everyone loves s’mores, right? Even I, someone who doesn’t really like chocolate, LOVES a good s’more. Truthfully, I prefer a non-traditional s’more with chocolate caramels instead of a chocolate bar. But a s’more is a s’more!

Tips for getting your s’more on indoors!

My first tip is this — don’t eat the chocolate (or the marshmallows!) before you start your s’mores! This is the most important and most difficult task!

My second tip is to use real butter. Margarine just doesn’t fry up and crisp the bread the way that real butter does! And I prefer salted butter — it just gives it a little salty-sweet flavor combo that is extra delicious!

Yield: 1

Grilled S'mores

GRILLED S'MORES SANDWICH

Have this decadent and RICH Summer recipe year-round!

Cook Time 7 minutes
Total Time 7 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 slices of white bread
  • 1/4 cup of mini marshmallows
  • 1/4 cup of chocolate (dark or milk)
  • tablespoon of butter

Instructions

    1. Butter one side of each piece of bread with real butter (works better than margarine).
    2. Place 1 slice of bread onto a frying pan
    3. Set the heat to low (electric level 1 or 2). The process is slow and steady!
    4. Place chocolate chips and marshmallows on top of the slice of bread and top with second piece of bread (butter side up).
    5. Cover with lid to frying pan until chocolate starts to melt.
    6. Flip over once chocolate is melted. Fry other side until it is toasted (lid off).

Notes

This is completely addictive. I am warning you! Also, feel free to try with peanut butter cups or your favorite chocolate (like peppermint patties or ROLOs!).

As you can see, this recipe is simple and easy. I wish I could say it was also healthy, but it most definitely is NOT!

So tell me — what is your favorite chocolate for s’mores — milk or dark?

PIN ME - Perfect Indoor S'mores Recipe
PIN ME - Perfect Indoor S'mores Recipe

Filed Under: #MomLife, baking, brews + food, busy mom, camping, children, cooking, desserts, domesticity, easy recipes, family, food, Intermittent Fasting, mommyhood, parenthood, pinterest, recipe, recipes, Summer Bucket List, vacation Tagged With: baking, brews + food, children, comfort food, cooking, desserts, easy recipes, food, Intermittent Fasting, mommyhood, parenthood, pinterest, recipes, Summer Bucket List, vacation

Easy Memorial Day Cherry Pie Bites

May 22, 2020 by Rachel 35 Comments

When it came time for a Mother’s Day celebration I had ONE request — cherry pie! It turns out that bakeries are hard to come by when you’re in lockdown. We couldn’t find one anywhere! And I had very few items on-hand.

But I did have cinnamon rolls! Queue the cherry pie baking!

I remembered seeing somewhere that someone had made pies using a can of cinnamon rolls. I thought, sure, why not? It’s basically combining two of my favorite foods — pie and cinnamon rolls. What a delicious combination, right?!

mini pies

Cinnamon rolls are just something we always have on hand with three kids under 7. They are our special ‘weekend breakfast’ treat. It’s easier than going out for donuts, and all three kids gobble them up! And these were no exception!

muffin tin

With all of the bakeries running a minimal staff this weekend, I figured this is another great opportunity to try this recipe! I tried ordering an apple pie from my favorite local bakery, but they were sold out of pre-orders. So Cherry Pie Cinnamon Roll Bites it is!

cherry pie

Check out the full recipe for all of the details.

Yield: 8

Cherry Pie Cinnamon Roll Bites

mini pies

Quick + Easy Bite-Sized Cherry Pie

Prep Time 8 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 23 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 can of refrigerated cinnamon rolls
  • Cherry Pie Filling

Instructions

  1. Spray a regular-sized muffin tin with your choice of oil (avocado, vegetable, coconut).
  2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  3. Open can of refrigerated cinnamon roll dough. Take each individual roll, and flatten it out with the palm of your hand.
  4. Press into muffin tin.
    muffin tin
  5. Add one tablespoon of cherry pie filling to each of the 8 cinnamon roll cups.
  6. Bake for 15 minutes or until cooked through.
  7. Once cool, drizzle icing from cinnamon rolls on top of cherry pies.
  8. ENJOY!

And tell me — what’s your go-to “in a pinch” recipe?!

PIN ME - Cherry Pie Cinnamon Roll Bites

Filed Under: baking, brews + food, busy mom, cooking, desserts, easy recipes, food, party, recipe, recipes Tagged With: baking, brews + food, busy mom, cooking, desserts, easy recipes, food, foodie, party, recipes

Instant Pot Southwest Chicken Noodle Soup

March 27, 2020 by Rachel 17 Comments

I don’t know about you, but in times of crisis, I need to be busy. During this odd time in our history, being busy looks much different. No longer are we able break up our days by running to the store or the park.

Now breaking up my day means finding joy in things I maybe didn’t before. I’ve always, always, been a baker. Cookies, cakes, breads, and muffins were my go-to. Now I find myself creating new, yummy meals for my family.

Sure, some — like this Instant Pot Southwest Chicken Noodle Soup — have been hits! Others have not fared as well with the little ones. But when I do find something that everyone will eat, I add it to our weekly routine.

Soup in bowl with peppers and radishes

Instant Pot Meals

When my husband bought me an Instant Pot 4 years ago I responded with a hesitant “Thanks?” He had been a pro at pressure cooking on the stovetop, but I wasn’t even sure I wanted to learn how to use it. After making only rice and hard-boiled eggs for a year, I finally decided to up my Instant Pot game.

Once I really go started with my Instant Pot, I was hooked. I told everyone I could that they should get one. I convinced my mom and my sister to jump on board.

soup with peppers

Instant Pot Southwest Chicken Noodle Soup

When I first threw this recipe together, I was nervous. My kids are picky. One of them loves chicken, but hates corn. The other will eat corn all day, but never touch chicken. Meanwhile, I still need to keep our meals dairy-free for the baby.

To my delight, everyone — husband included! — loved this meal! I hope you’ll try it!

Yield: 8-10 servings

Instant Pot Southwest Chicken Noodle Soup

Soup in bowl with peppers and radishes

Dairy-free

Prep Time 28 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

  • 32 ounce carton chicken stock
  • 4 chicken breasts
  • 1 can of corn
  • 4 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 2 cups of Ajoyo Original Unsweetened Almondmilk
  • 12 ounces of (your choice of) pasta
  • Cilantro
  • Jalapenos
  • Radishes

Instructions

    1. Add the entire carton of chicken stock to the Instant Pot along with four medium-sized chicken breasts, a can of corn (do not drain!), nutritional yeast, and Ajoyo Original Unsweetened Almondmilk. Set pressure to manual – high – 12 minutes.
    2. Instant Pot will take about 15 minutes to come to pressure. During that time, clean radishes, jalapeno peppers and cilantro. Thinly slice the radishes. Set aside. Slice jalapenos (remove the seeds to reduce heat). Set aside. Chop cilantro. Set aside.
    3. Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil. Cook pasta according to the box. Drain. Set aside.
    4. Once the Instant Pot 12-minute timer goes off, let it slow release for 5 minutes. Then quick release the pressure.
    5. Remove chicken breasts with tongs. Using two forks, shred the chicken breasts and return to the Instant Pot. Salt and pepper to taste.
    6. Serve immediately. Garnish with radishes, jalapenos, and cilantro. Enjoy!

Tell me — what’s your favorite way to use your Instant Pot!?

PIN ME - Instant Pot Southwest Chicken Noodle Soup

Filed Under: brews + food, cooking, dairy-free, Instant Pot Recipes, recipe, recipes, wellness Tagged With: dairy-free, easy recipes, Instant Pot Recipes, recipes

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