We had Mexican night at the Hofers a while back, and I was pretty pumped about my contribution. anything with boursin is usually a home run...

It's funny the things you can learn on Facebook. I've known Butch for more years than I want to admit, from bartending in downtown Ames during my college years. In allllll those times we hung out, I never once knew he was a master in the kitchen! Since starting this blog, I've also learned about a few people from high school that have gone to culinary school...talk about my dream! Anyway, Butch likes to share pics of his food and post about what he's making for dinner just like I do...so I find myself jealous of all his meals and begging for the recipes...lucky me that he's nice enough to share them with me, and lucky for you he is letting me share them with you as well :) I've been wanting to try his chicken marinade for quite a while. As you know, I'm really into marinating meat to throw on the grill each night lately....if you couldn't tell from the rosemary ranch chicken, the balsamic garlic pork tenderloin, and the cuban flank steak. Butch said he came up with the perfect marinade for chicken, so of course, I was intrigued! Butch's Chicken Marinade: 1/2 cup zesty italian dressing (I used fat free) 1/4 cup mayo (I used fat free) 1 T spicy mustard 1 T honey 4 chicken breasts Put the chicken in a shallow container laying flat, and mix all the ingredients in a separate bowl before pouring on top of chicken. Let the chicken sleep in the marinade overnight, and have lovely dreams of hopping on the grill for dinner the next day... Chicken breast doesn't take long on the grill so after about 5 minutes on each side, I put some fresh shaved ham on top of it. Then add a half slice of fat free swiss cheese to the top and shut the lid of the gril so the yumminess can melt together in peace. They should look like this when removed from the grill (look at those grill marks), and they should taste like this (oh how I wish I could give out taste tests over the internet)... There is a hint of sweet, a hint of zestiness, and a whole lotta flava in these babies, AND they kept their moisture very well which is a big deal with chicken breast on the grill! This is super simple and is a little different so if you have food ADD like I do, this is def for you...stay tuned for some more Butch posts this week :)

These are very similar to the egg muffins we made for Christmas, but the idea of the ham being the bowl was another Pinterest find. These are super flipping easy, and my new thing is to make them on the weekend to baggie up and take to work for breakfast during the week. Great protein, nice and hearty, and only 200 calories for 2 of them...can't beat that! I just use whatever I have on hand to throw in there...this time it was broccoli and cheese mixed with the beaten eggs, and poured into the ham cups that are layered in the greased muffin tin. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees until a toothpick comes out clean, and you're in business! This is my kinda Monday post...simple, yummy, hearty, and healthy. Happy beginning of the week, all!

Chronicling the adventures of a 30-ish food lover and avid runner/biker as she tries to balance her love for fat kid food while not sacrificing taste for health...everyday cooking at its most simple.

❤️Funny Cooking Sweatshirt "Never Trust A Skinny Cook" Gifts For Cook, Cook Hoodie, Chef Sweatshirt, Gift For Chef, Soft Comfy Unisex Hoodie ❤️This is one of my favorite cooking hoodies! Everyone needs a cozy go-to hoodie to curl up in, so go for one that's soft, smooth, and stylish. It's the perfect choice for cooler evenings! • Gildan 18500 Hoodie • 50% pre-shrunk cotton, 50% polyester • Fabric weight: 8.0 oz/yd² (271.25 g/m²) • Air-jet spun yarn with a soft feel and reduced pilling • Double-lined hood with matching drawcord • Quarter-turned body to avoid crease down the middle • 1 × 1 athletic rib-knit cuffs and waistband with spandex • Front pouch pocket • Double-needle stitched collar, shoulders, armholes, cuffs, and hem • Blank product sourced from Honduras, Mexico, or Nicaragua 👕HOODIES ARE UNISEX so please ignore the US Letter in the size options. If you are in between shirt sizes go with the larger size for more of a loose fit or a small size if you would like a tighter fit. ❤️Check out our shop for more amazing hoodie designs and breathable masks! - https://www.etsy.com/shop/BestBreathableMasks

Until recently, I knew very little about Pennsylvania (including whether or not I could spell it correctly). You may remember I am current...

Thank you for entering. The contest is now closed and the winners have been notified :) What a pleasure it was meeting Allison Fishman in person at the BlogHer Food Conference a few weeks ago in Atlanta. I have been dying to meet her for months since I found her fantastic cookbook! She is beautiful and so talented, so glad I had the chance to meet her. We both have the privilege of working with Wiley Publishing too, so exciting! Wait until you flip through the pages of Allison's book, she's witty, funny and the photos are enough to make

Not much time to cook or to blog lately so this will be a quick one. Wefest was out of this world fun....great music, awesome fat kid food, sunny weather, and fun friends! My favorites were Miranda Lambert (such an awesome entertainer), Blake Shelton, and Lynard Skynard (would love to see them again). We saw Brad Paisley, Sugarland, Rascall Flatts, Willie Nelson, Charlie Daniels Band, Easton Corbin, and a few more too... After getting back from TWO back to back vacations (I dont know why I take non-relaxing vacations as I always need a vaca when I get back to recoop), I am having a tough time getting back on schedule with a routine. I started softball last night and will continue to have that on Monday nights from here on out....last night's game was at 8 pm! So I wanted to have dinner ready for me the minute I got home, because Im not a eat dinner and then go work out type of girl. A crockpot meal was perfect for this... Ive been meaning to make this for a while since it looked so easy and I always have all the stuff on hand, but Summer is not the optimal time for crockpot meals. I want to be outside and grill or have a nice cold salad instead of eating a warm, hearty meal from the crockpot. This was adapted from a recipe on a blog I follow at http://www.babiesandbroccoli.blogspot.com/ 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts 1 envelope Italian salad dressing mix 1/2 cup chicken broth or stock 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese...I used fat free 1 can cream of chicken soup...I used 98% fat free 1 can mushrooms salt and pepper to taste 1 T Italian seasoning *I also added a couple cups of brocolli that I had in the fridge and needed to be cooked Add all of the above ingredients to your crockpot and cook on low for 3-4 hours. 2 cups chicken broth 1/2 box of orzo When crockpot is almost ready to serve, boil chicken broth and add the orzo. Boil for 2 minutes, then let simmer to soak up the broth. Mix orzo into the crockpot with the creamy chicken mixture....and serve!

These are very similar to the egg muffins we made for Christmas, but the idea of the ham being the bowl was another Pinterest find. These are super flipping easy, and my new thing is to make them on the weekend to baggie up and take to work for breakfast during the week. Great protein, nice and hearty, and only 200 calories for 2 of them...can't beat that! I just use whatever I have on hand to throw in there...this time it was broccoli and cheese mixed with the beaten eggs, and poured into the ham cups that are layered in the greased muffin tin. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees until a toothpick comes out clean, and you're in business! This is my kinda Monday post...simple, yummy, hearty, and healthy. Happy beginning of the week, all!

OK, so we did the experiment with the egg roll wrappers and string cheese to make baked cheese sticks and they turned out alright...but not...

Shop Never Trust A Skinny Italian Chef and other curated products on LTK, the easiest way to shop everything from your favorite creators.

After consuming this blueberry crisp, my sister exclaimed that she could go die because her life was complete. As she put it, "But I just ate the nummiest thing ever!" I told her to hang in there because I have yet to make creme brulee. She wasn't lying though. This blueberry crisp truly was amazing. It was so sweet and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. It was also incredibly easy to make, probably taking no more than 15 minutes to get it in the oven. Go! Make it! Summer's almost over, and you must try this summery dessert before it's pumpkin time. Blueberry Crisp Ingredients: 1 pint fresh blueberries 2 tablespoons white sugar 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup rolled/old-fashioned oats 3/4 cup packed brown sugar 3/4 cup butter Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 2. In a large bowl, toss together the blueberries and the white sugar. 3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, oats, and brown sugar. Cut in butter until crumbly. Press half of mixture in the bottom of an 8-inch by 8-inch pan. Cover with berries. Sprinkle remaining crumble mixture over berries. 4. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until berries are bubbly and topping is golden brown. Source: Brown Eyed Baker

How to cook, think and eat

It would take the Academy Award Winner and Comedian Mo’Nique to have a cookbook which includes in the title, “Skinny”, affectionately about the people who are butt of her jokes.-…

One of my favorite gifts of all time (if not THE favorite) is a cookbook my mom gave me for Christmas maybe 6-7 years ago. It's not just any cookbook though...it's a family recipe cookbook, written in each of my family members' own handwriting, with their favorite recipes in it. It still sort of gets me choked up to see my Grandma Mary's handwriting in there since she passed away. If the house were to start on fire, and I had one thing to grab...it would be this cookbook (as long as Justin had my cat), it's my prized possession. This recipe came from the pages of that book, in the penmanship of my dad's sister, my Aunt Nicki Kratoska! I've made this on a regular rotation for quite a few years, and it's been one of my dad's favorites that I've made for him, he requests it when he comes to visit. So when I went back to Carroll a couple of weekends ago to help him recoop from his full knee replacement surgery since Mama K worked all weekend, of course I packed the ingredients for this comfort food to make for his recovery. This is super, duper simple and has waaaaay more flavor than you would imagine having so few ingredients. If you're a pot pie lover, you seriously don't ever need to buy the premade ones again...these taste infinitely better and are much better for you. Make a bunch of these in pie tins and freeze them to pull out whenever...you'll thank me later! Here's what you need: Package of pie crust (2 crusts included) 2 large chicken breasts, baked and diced (I season mine with Lawry's, garlic powder, and black pepper) 1 can cream of chicken soup (low sodium and the 99% fat free kind for me) 1 large can mixed veggies (whatever you prefer) Mix together the chicken, soup, and veggies and set your filling aside.... Roll your dough out into two sections, one for the bottom (a little bigger than the other), and one for the top of your pot pie. Be sure to grease your pie dish so the crust doesn't stick. I estimate the size I will need and then place it in my baking dish, but I use my fingers to smooth the dough out to the exact size needed. Fill the pie crust with the filling you set aside, and then top with the other pie crust. Roll the edges of the two pie crusts together so they are attached. Throw in the oven and bake according to pie crust directions. Everything inside is already cooked so it just needs to warm, but the pie crust needs to be golden brown and not doughy. Dig in!! This was Big Dan's personal pot pie so he ate right out of the pie plate, and I believe he got 3 meals out of it. This has a home cooked comfort food taste to it so I know you will love it as much as we do...enjoy!

When the beguiling and brilliant Italian chef Massimo Bottura stopped by the SAVEUR offices last week to discuss his new book Never Trust a Skinny Italian Chef (Phaidon, 2014), the owner of Modena's famed Osteria Francescana restaurant regaled us with tales of feeding Lou Reed, rendering the loquacious talk show host Charlie Rose silent, and the lessons he learned growing up in northern Italy's Emilia-Romagna region.

I originally saw this photo on Pinterest....ummmmm, yeah. I'll have that. I do follow Gina's blog though, so this must've been back in the archives where I never happened upon it until now. Isn't Pinterest just the best! Anyway, if you want to check out more of Gina's skinny recipes, click HERE! Oh, and judge away...her photos are insane compared to mine! I followed the recipe, but not really to a T. I had a bunch of spinach in the fridge as well as some ricotta so I thought I would give this a go. I didn't really measure my spinach, I just threw the rest of the huge container in there....if you're not a spinach lover, you may want to refrain from using as much as I did. I am in fact a lover of all things green, so this was a perfect amount for me! I wilted the spinach with a tiny bit of butter and 3 cloves of minced garlic in the microwave for about 2 minutes, stirring every 20 seconds. I then added my container of light ricotta, and a package of fresh mozzerella that I chopped up to the spinach mixture. My lasagna noodles were boiled ahead of time and cooled off, so I laid them out on the table and started spooning the filling onto them. Roll 'em on up! And place them in your greased baking pan... Now...you know me. I can't really go meatless. I've tried...it just doesn't satisfy me. You vegetarians are strong people if you ask me. So instead of using just tomato sauce as the recipe called for...I used the leftover jar of bolognese sauce I had from when I made cheese ravioli a couple weeks prior to this. Pour the sauce on top, and sprinkle with fresh parmesan cheese and crushed red pepper to give it a little kick in the pants. Either throw it in the fridge to bake when you're ready for it, or throw it in the oven right away to chow on immediately. I prefer making meals like this on a weekend to throw in the oven for a home cooked dinner during the week...takes me about 2 hours on Sunday to get all meals and cleanup done for the week ahead...I would say that's a good trade off for the time I save during the week. I was not disappointed in this pasta in the slightest (like I've ever been disappointed with one of Gina's recipes)...and I don't think the large mouse in our house was either. There were obviously leftovers since there were just 2 of us eating this dish...but every time I would peek in at the leftovers, half a lasagna roll would be gone! The fork left in the container was another clue. And don't ask why I was opening the leftovers each day either...I can't be trusted around phenomenal pasta. It's something I've had to come to terms with throughout my adult life!

Chronicling the adventures of a 30-ish food lover and avid runner/biker as she tries to balance her love for fat kid food while not sacrificing taste for health...everyday cooking at its most simple.

I originally saw this photo on Pinterest....ummmmm, yeah. I'll have that. I do follow Gina's blog though, so this must've been back in the archives where I never happened upon it until now. Isn't Pinterest just the best! Anyway, if you want to check out more of Gina's skinny recipes, click HERE! Oh, and judge away...her photos are insane compared to mine! I followed the recipe, but not really to a T. I had a bunch of spinach in the fridge as well as some ricotta so I thought I would give this a go. I didn't really measure my spinach, I just threw the rest of the huge container in there....if you're not a spinach lover, you may want to refrain from using as much as I did. I am in fact a lover of all things green, so this was a perfect amount for me! I wilted the spinach with a tiny bit of butter and 3 cloves of minced garlic in the microwave for about 2 minutes, stirring every 20 seconds. I then added my container of light ricotta, and a package of fresh mozzerella that I chopped up to the spinach mixture. My lasagna noodles were boiled ahead of time and cooled off, so I laid them out on the table and started spooning the filling onto them. Roll 'em on up! And place them in your greased baking pan... Now...you know me. I can't really go meatless. I've tried...it just doesn't satisfy me. You vegetarians are strong people if you ask me. So instead of using just tomato sauce as the recipe called for...I used the leftover jar of bolognese sauce I had from when I made cheese ravioli a couple weeks prior to this. Pour the sauce on top, and sprinkle with fresh parmesan cheese and crushed red pepper to give it a little kick in the pants. Either throw it in the fridge to bake when you're ready for it, or throw it in the oven right away to chow on immediately. I prefer making meals like this on a weekend to throw in the oven for a home cooked dinner during the week...takes me about 2 hours on Sunday to get all meals and cleanup done for the week ahead...I would say that's a good trade off for the time I save during the week. I was not disappointed in this pasta in the slightest (like I've ever been disappointed with one of Gina's recipes)...and I don't think the large mouse in our house was either. There were obviously leftovers since there were just 2 of us eating this dish...but every time I would peek in at the leftovers, half a lasagna roll would be gone! The fork left in the container was another clue. And don't ask why I was opening the leftovers each day either...I can't be trusted around phenomenal pasta. It's something I've had to come to terms with throughout my adult life!

Are your kids getting bored with the same old sandwiches for lunch day in and day out at School? How bout you? I know I am! Bread is fa...

White beans mashed with ripe avocado and blended with sharp Cheddar and onion makes an incredibly rich, flavorful filling for this wrap. The tangy, spicy slaw adds crunch. A pinch (or more) of ground chipotle pepper and an extra dash of cider vinegar can be used in place of the canned chipotles in adobo sauce. These would be great served with my Black Bean Salad and Homemade Tortilla chips. Ingredients: 2 tablespoons cider vinegar 1 tablespoon canola oil (optional) 2 teaspoons finely chopped canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce, (see Note) 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 cups shredded red cabbage 1 medium carrot, shredded 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro 1 15-ounce can white beans, rinsed 1 ripe avocado 1/2 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (can use fat free) 2 tablespoons minced red onion 4 8- to 10-inch whole-wheat wraps, or tortillas Directions: Whisk vinegar, oil, chipotle chile and salt in a medium bowl. Add cabbage, carrot and cilantro; toss to combine. Mash beans and avocado in another medium bowl with a potato masher or fork. Stir in cheese and onion. To assemble the wraps, spread about 1/2 cup of the bean-avocado mixture onto a wrap (or tortilla) and top with about 2/3 cup of the cabbage-carrot slaw. Roll up. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Cut the wraps in half to serve, if desired. TIPS & NOTES Ingredient Note: Chipotle chiles in adobo sauce are smoked jalapeños packed in a flavorful sauce. Look for the small cans with the Mexican foods in large supermarkets. Once opened, they'll keep at least 2 weeks in the refrigerator or 6 months in the freezer. NUTRITION Per serving: 346 calories; 17 g fat ( 4 g sat , 9 g mono ); 15 mg cholesterol; 44 g carbohydrates; 12 g protein; 13 g fiber; 462 mg sodium; 491 mg potassium. Source: Eating Well

At one point in my life, I was locked out of my own restaurant, I had negative 600 dollars in my bank account, I was lost, and candidly, I was fat. But in retrospect, it was the best thing that could have happened to me.

Omiljeni kolač u mojoj porodici dugi niz godina.

This is Braising 101.

Legend has it that poached eggs on an English muffin started at Delmonico’s in New York. Here’s my take on this brunch classic, and don’t spare the hollandaise. —Barbara Pletzke, Herndon, Virginia

Super savoury coated tofu is a robustly flavoured pan-fried tofu dish that satisfies even the picky eaters. Tossed in nutritional yeast, spices, and wheat germ for nuttiness.

This shrimp and starfruit stir-fry recipe is easy, fast and perfect for a weeknight dinner. I served this on top of brown rice and fresh baby spinach.

A cozy and relaxing brunch is just a click away!

Oh, fried cornbread, or as we Southerners like to call them, 'Southern Cornmeal Hoecakes.' There's something magical about this dish, deeply rooted in the rich soil of the South, where corn is more than just a crop—it's a staple of life and culture. These hoecakes are more than just food; they're a nod to a bygone era where field workers would cook these hearty cornmeal cakes on the flat of a hoe, right over an open fire in the fields. It's this humble beginning that gives hoecakes their name and this recipe its soul. Growing up, I always looked forward

This savory and delicious comfort food will not only leave you satisfied but will help you keep your waistline trim.

A cozy and relaxing brunch is just a click away!

Laing is not the most visually appealing dish out there but trust me this is a good dish, it’s so good every Filipino gathering I attended this is one of the most sought after dishes. This dish is made out of taro leaves, coconut milk and chillies, it is very popular in the Bicol Region a Southern part of the Luzon Island where the ingredients mentioned is very common.

Who wouldn't want to wake up with breakfast in bed in the shape of a heart!! You could follow up the idea with Toast and some fruit cut in the heart shape using a cookie cutter! You could always Pickle the egg, (soak it in beet juice) for a bright pink take on this!! Ingredients: Hard Boiled Eggs A Milk carton or any juice carton (cut open, washed well and dried) 1 Chopstick (round one is ideal) Rubber bands Directions: Cut the milk carton and fold it in half lengthwise. Make a hard boiled egg. While the egg is still warm, peel the egg and put the egg on the milk carton, place a chopstick on the center of the egg, and put rubber bands on the both ends. Leave it for about 10 minutes. (Keep the egg in the fridge if it’s summer time.) Take the chopstick off and cut the egg in half. TIP: Make sure the egg is freshly boiled and warm. Otherwise the egg might break from the pressure. Source: Ashley Cooper Creations Original Source: Anna The Red