Recipes have been part of the Home category from the beginning. But freelance journalist and blogger, Stacey A. Shannon, had so many recipes to share, she had to create a subcategory. You’ll find all sorts of family-friendly recipes in this category. Most recipes are easy and simple. All of them will please even picky eaters!
This butterscotch haystacks recipe is as easy as it gets!
I’m a fan of simple recipes, and this butterscotch haystacks recipe is one of the most simple ones I make! With only two ingredients and no oven or stove required, they come together quickly and easily. They make a great addition to holiday baking or any time of year.
Of all the sweet treats I make, this is one of my husband’s very favorites. He isn’t a big chocolate fan, but he loves butterscotch. They’re a crunchy butterscotch treat. You don’t have to tell anyone how easy they are to make unless you want to!
You may notice in the photo above that I have both chow mein noodles and Asian style crunchy noodles. Either one works for the butterscotch haystacks recipe. You can mix them together, which is what I did this time. The chow mein noodles are a bit bigger.
Pour the butterscotch chips into a microwaveable bowl and microwave in 30-second intervals stirring each time until melted. Then pour in your chow mein and/or crunchy noodles and stir gently until they are all covered in butterscotch.
And that’s it. You can add in some peanuts if you want, but I always keep this butterscotch haystack recipe simple with just these two ingredients. I stir in the noodles in intervals to make sure they are all covered with a good amount of butterscotch.
Dole them out with in heaping tablespoons onto parchment or wax paper and let them cool. Store them in an airtight container to keep them fresh and yummy for days — if they’ll last that long without getting eaten!
Pour the butterscotch chips into a microwaveable bowl.
Heat the chips in 30-second increments in the microwave, stirring after each 30 seconds.
Once the chips are melted and smooth, pour the chow mein noodles into the melted butterscotch about 1 cup at a time. Gently stir to cover the noodles in butterscotch.
Place parchment paper or wax paper on the counter. Dole out the mixture one heaping tablespoon at a time to form the haystacks.
Prepare for carb heaven with these delectable yeast rolls!
Affiliate links are used in this post, if you make a qualifying purchase via my link, I receive a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products and services I use and love. It helps support my blog, so thank you for your support! Read my full disclosure here.
There is nothing as good as a soft, scrumptious, warm yeast roll! I started trying to find a good yeast roll recipe back in 2013 after I’d gotten a stand mixer for Christmas 2012. I found a few OK recipes and a couple of good ones.
Then I asked my friend, Kayla, who is a professional baker, what recipe she uses. I tried it and her yeast roll recipe has become my go-to. In fact, I often double this yeast roll recipe for family gatherings and they never go to waste!
Proof the yeast
Like most yeast recipes, you start with proofing the yeast. Combine the yeast, sugar and water. I used quick rise yeast, which says the best temperature is between 110- and 115-degrees. I really do get out my thermometer and check the temperature of the water before adding it into the yeast.
Once the yeast, sugar and water are in your mixing bowl, let it set until it is all bubbly and poofy, usually 6-9 minutes. (Mine took 8.) My doubled-recipe looked like this:
Add more ingredients
Once the yeast is proofed, add the egg, milk and butter. I heat my milk a bit it doesn’t go in cold. I also softened my butter and tried to make sure my egg was pretty near room temperature.
Slowly add in the flour and mix on low so it won’t fly up and make a mess. For my doubled yeast roll recipe, I ended up using 6 cups of flour. Depending on where you live and the humidity and all that jazz, you may not need as much.
For a single recipe, use 2-1/2 to 3 cups. For doubled, use 5 to 6. After I got to 5 cups, I added in a 1/4 cup, a 1/2 cup and then another 1/4 cup, mixing well after each time to make sure that I wasn’t getting the dough too stiff or dry. You want it to be nice and soft but not liquid-y. This dough is a little sticky.
Once you have in all the ingredients, it’s time to mix with the dough hook on your mixer. Mix for about 5 minutes on speed 8 (basically medium-high speed). Add in the salt. (If you add the salt sooner, it will kill the yeast.)
Mix for another 2 minutes. Once the dough starts gathering around the hook and pulling away from the bowl, then it is finished. It looks like this:
Let it rise
Now it’s time to rise. Cover your bowl and let it sit somewhere warm. I use Glad Press ‘N Seal to cover mine.
The dough in the bowl before being covered and rising.
I let mine sit in my kitchen for about 40 minutes to rise. Here is what it looked like when I removed the cover:
Knead, form and rise again
Next is time for some kneading. I spread out a sheet of wax paper on my kitchen counter and douse with some flour. Place the dough on your prepared surface and sprinkle some flour on top as well. Knead it lightly for a couple of minutes.
After kneading, cut and roll the dough into balls and place them in 9×13 pans sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. You can also use muffin tins by placing two small balls in the bottom of each muffin cup.
Once the rolls are formed, they need to rise again. I usually do my rising in the oven. I turn my oven on to 200-degrees. Once it is preheated, I turn it off and put the rolls in for about 10-15 minutes.
When they’re risen and ready to bake, they’ll look something like this:
I totally love this Rachael Ray 9×13 pan. It’s as awesome and non-stick as all of her other cookware.
Bake the yeast rolls for 12 to 18 minutes at 400-degrees.
Make your butter
When the yeast rolls are almost finished, I usually prep butter to brush over their tops. For the doubled recipe, I used an entire stick, but for a single batch, a half a stick of butter or margarine would work fine. I like to mix some honey and cinnamon into mine for a touch of sweetness. I use about a tablespoon of honey and a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon for a whole stick of butter.
Here is what mine looked like before I melted it on low power in the microwave:
When the rolls are golden, pull them out and brush with the honey and cinnamon butter, if you’d like. Remove them from the pan once they have cooled about 5 minutes. They travel well and reheat well. The delicious results of this yeast roll recipe will make it your go-to for holiday dinners and any other time as well!
1/2cupwarm waterheat to temp according to yeast packet or jar
1/2cupmilkwarmed
1egg
1/2stick butter or margarineoptional
1/2tablespoonhoneyoptional
1/4teaspooncinnamonoptional
Instructions
Put the yeast, sugar and warm water in your mixing bowl. (Make sure water is heated to the correct temperature for your yeast. For example, my quick-rise yeast says 110- to 115-degrees is best. Use a thermometer to be sure it's not too hot to kill the yeast but it hot enough to activate it.)
Let the yeast mixture set until it is all bubbly and poofy (usually around 6-9 minutes).
Add in the egg, warmed milk and softened butter.
Slowly add in the flour. If the dough is still wet or very sticky after adding 2-1/2 cups, then add in 1/4-cup at a time to equal 1/2-cup more total until the dough is soft and only a bit sticky but not wet.
Mix using a dough hook on your mixer at medium-high speed for about 5 minutes. (I used speed 8 on my stand mixer.)
Add in the salt and mix for about 2 minutes more until the dough is gathering around the hook and pulling away from the sides of the bowl.
Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place for 30-40 minutes. (I usually cover mine with Glad Press n Seal.)
Once the dough is risen, dump it onto a floured surface and gently knead it for about 2 minutes. Cut it into pieces and roll it into balls. Place the dough balls in a 9x13 pan that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. (If you prefer, you can use a greased muffin tin and place two small dough balls in each muffin cup.)
Let the shaped dough rise again. You can leave it somewhere warm or use your oven by turning it to 200-degrees. Once it is preheated, then turn it off and put in the dough. In the oven, it takes 10-15 minutes to rise. On the counter, it takes a bit longer depending on the temperature in your kitchen.
Bake the rolls at 400-degrees for 12-18 minutes until light golden on top.
Optionally, just before the rolls are due out of the oven, put the 1/2 stick butter or margarine in a bowl. Add the honey and cinnamon on top. Melt in the microwave for 1 minute on 40 percent power. Brush over the top of the rolls when they come out of the oven.
The peanut butter cookies recipe your family will love!
Affiliate links are used in this post, if you make a qualifying purchase via my link, I receive a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products and services I use and love. It helps support my blog, so thank you for your support! Read my full disclosure here.
I’m the cookie maker in my family. Each Christmas season, I am the one in charge of making the cookies for our family. I’ve tried various recipes for different types of cookies. Some are great; others not so much. This peanut butter cookies recipe is one that has been around for a couple of decades because it is so easy and delicious!
After my toffee cookies, these peanut butter cookies are my most requested cookies from my family. Just like with my toffee cookies, the state of the butter when making the cookie dough makes all the difference.
I will also give you a heads up that this is a smaller cookie recipe that makes about 2 dozen cookies. Usually I double it when we are sharing these cookies with others.
Be sure to plan just a bit ahead with this peanut butter cookies recipe because the dough needs to chill in the refrigerator at least an hour before baking. (You can bake them without the chill time, they will just be a bit stickier as you are trying to shape them into balls and flatten them.)
Like with most cookie recipes, this one begins with creaming the sugars and butter. My family likes these peanut butter cookies a bit on the flat side that are soft inside with a slight crunch on the outside. In order to get that consistency, the butter should be almost all melted, instead of just softened. If you like thicker, fluffier cookies, then only soften your butter instead.
For cookies a bit thinner with a slight crunch outside and soft inside, almost melt your butter instead of just softening it.
Once your butter is ready, add in the sugar and brown sugar. Mix the butter and sugars together until well combined (creamed). You can do this by hand or with a mixer.
When it is all combined, stir in the peanut butter, egg and vanilla. Stir or beat until smooth. For measuring the peanut butter, my favorite tool is a cylindrical measuring cup because then you can just push out the peanut butter and not have to try and get it out of your regular measuring cup or scoop.
In a separate bowl combine your dry ingredients: flour, baking soda and baking powder. Gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well.
Stick the dough in the fridge and let it chill for at least one hour. (I have chilled it overnight and even frozen this dough and thawed it a bit as well.) After it’s chilled, the dough will look something like this:
Shape the chilled peanut butter cookie dough into about 1-inch balls. Put them a couple inched apart on an un-greased baking sheet. I use parchment paper because it makes for easy clean-up!
Flatten each ball by crisscrossing the cookie with the tines of a fork that have been dipped in sugar.
Bake at 325-degrees for 10-12 minutes until the peanut butter cookies are a bit darker and set.
Let them cool for 1-2 minutes before removing them to a cooling rack. The peanut butter cookies will come out a bit “poofy” and settle after just a minute or two. Using a cooling rack helps these cookies get their slightly crispy outside. Store flat in a container for the best results. These peanut butter cookies are so soft inside, that they break apart easily if stored in a zip-top plastic bag.
1/2cupbutter or margarinemostly melted (softened if you like your cookies thicker and fluffier)
1/2cupsugar
1/2cuppacked brown sugar
1/2cuppeanut butter
1egg
1/2teaspoonvanilla extract
1-1/4cupsall-purpose flour
1/2teaspoonbaking soda
1/2teaspoonbaking powder
Additional sugar
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 325-degrees.
In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars together.
Add the peanut butter, egg and vanilla; beat until smooth.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and baking powder. Add gradually to the creamed mixture and mix well.
Chill the dough for at least 1 hour in the refrigerator. (You can skip this step if you are short on time, just know that it will make the dough stickier to work with.)
Shape the chilled dough into 1-inch balls and place them 2-inches apart on an un-greased baking sheet.
Flatten each ball by crisscrossing it with the tines of a fork dipper in sugar.
Bake at 325-degrees for 10-12 minutes until slightly golden.
Remove and cool on the baking sheet for 1-2 minutes (until the "poofiness" is gone) before placing the cookies on a cooling rack to finish cooling completely. (The cooling rack helps these peanut butter cookies maintain a bit of a crunch on the outside.)
This easy Crock Pot potato soup is fast, easy and delicious!
Affiliate links are used in this post. If you make a qualifying purchase via my link, I receive a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products and services I use and love. It helps support my blog, so thank you for your support! Read my full disclosure here.
I love potatoes cooked in any form: baked, fried, scalloped, boiled and mashed. So it makes sense that potato soup is my favorite kind of soup. I like others, sure, but potato soup is the best.
I’ve been making this slow cooker potato soup for a few years and it quickly became a favorite in our family. My daughter, in particular, enjoys it. I love that in a matter of about five minutes, I can put ingredients in my Crock Pot at lunchtime and have dinner ready to go!
It sounds too good to be true, but thanks to the use of frozen hashbrowns, this soup comes together quickly and easily. It serves six people and can easily be doubled if your slow cooker is large enough (at least 6 quarts) and you have a crowd to feed.
I use a disposable slow cooker liner to make even clean-up easy! If you haven’t tried them, you ought to. They save a lot of time and elbow grease on so many slow cooker recipes.
Once your slow cooker is ready to go, open the back of frozen hashbrowns and dump them in. I usually use the Southern style, which are small cubes of potatoes.
Frozen hashbrowns makes this soup so easy!
Next, you add in 28 ounces of chicken broth, which you can get in two 14-ounce cans or measure out 3-1/2 cups from a box of chicken broth. I usually use low sodium, but I’ve also used regular chicken broth. It tastes fine both ways.
Along with the chicken broth, add in a can of cream of potato soup. If your grocery store is out of it, you can substitute cream of chicken soup with no issue. Top it off with some black pepper, a bit of onion powder if desired and stir.
All stirred and ready to cook.
Put the lid on, and cook it on low for five hours. I usually stir once an hour or every other hour, but it’s not all that necessary.
Around hour four, soften the cream cheese. I usually get it to the point of being almost completely melted. Stir it into the soup and continue to cook on low for another 45 minutes to an hour.
The finished soup in the slow cooker. It’s so creamy!
Serve it up topped with shredded cheese and bacon bits. You can add scallions or green onion if you’d like as well. We love to have a total carb fest and eat it with french bread!
My family enjoys the crunch from bacon bits, but you could definitely use cooked bacon as well.
If you do have leftovers, just store them in the fridge. This soup reheats incredibly well. My daughter always wants to have leftovers for lunch. My mom has frozen it before with good luck, but I’ve never had enough left that my daughter would let me think of doing that!
130 oz. bag frozen hash-brown potatoes (I use the squared, southern style)
214 oz. cans chicken broth (regular or low-sodium)
110.75 oz. can cream of potato soup
1/4tsp.ground black pepper
1/4tsp.onion powderif desired
18 oz. block cream cheese (very softened)
Chopped scallionsgreen onion, if desired
Instructions
In a slow cooker, combine potatoes, broth, soup and pepper. (Honestly, I don’t usually measure the pepper. I just do a few turns on the pepper grinder and call it good.) Add a dash of onion powder, if desired.
Cover, and cook on low for 4 hours.
Stir in cream cheese, cook another 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring occasionally, until combined.
Top each bowl with shredded cheese and bacon bits (or crispy bacon). Add some chopped scallions, if desired. Enjoy!
Put your brown bananas to work with this delicious banana bread recipe!
Affiliate links are used in this post, if you make a qualifying purchase via my link, I receive a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products and services I use and love. It helps support my blog, so thank you for your support! Read my full disclosure here.
When my husband and I got married a couple of decades ago, one of our gifts was a loaf pan with a recipe for banana bread. The recipe said to mix it in the loaf pan, but that never worked well for me.
Then a couple of years later, I was baking the bread again and it bubbled over. My oven literally caught fire with a small flame. I steered clear of banana bread baking for a while.
Fast forward to a decade later when we had kiddos. I decided to track down a new banana bread recipe and see what I could do with it since my baking abilities had improved and I was successfully baking pumpkin bread.
I found a banana bread recipe online and decided to give it a try. It quickly became my go-to banana bread recipe that bakes well and never catches my oven on fire! It’s the right amount of moist and crumbly.
I love that it’s full of protein between walnuts and the addition of Greek yogurt.
With just a few ingredients, this banana bread recipe makes good use of brown bananas. It’s delicious any time of day!
Before I start mixing the bread dough, I utilize my food processor to help me with the walnuts and bananas. You definitely don’t have to do this. The food processor is great for getting the walnuts into small pieces quickly. I also like my 2-3 bananas well pureed so there are no weird banana chunks in any slice.
I measure out 2/3 to 3/4 cup of walnuts needed for this recipe before chopping them in the food processor. The recipe needs 1/2 cup of walnuts and this seems to be what I end up with after they’re chopped. (It’s also pretty easy to add more, less or no walnuts depending on your preferences.)
I like the walnuts pretty well chopped so they disperse throughout the bread more and are easier to eat. My husband prefers this bread with no nuts.
(If you go the food processor route, do the walnuts first and then the bananas so you don’t have to wash the bowl in between!)
Look at those smoothly pureed bananas!
And that’s the most complicated part of this banana bread recipe, which you don’t even have to do! Next you literally just put all of the ingredients except the nuts into a bowl and mix them on low speed for 30 seconds then medium speed for 45 seconds. I use my beloved Kitchenaid stand mixer.
Everything in the bowl and ready to mix.
The batter should be a bit thicker than cake batter but still runny.
Next, it’s time to gently stir in the walnuts. You can do this by hand, but I use the “stir” setting on my Kitchenaid stand mixer and keep an eye on it.
Once everything is mixed together, put the bread batter into a greased loaf pan. (I’m a HUGE fan of all my Rachael Ray bakeware. In fact, I love it so much I bought an additional loaf pan besides the one that came with my set.)
All ready for the oven!
Bake the bread at 350-degrees for 45 to 55 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Let the bread cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Loosen the sides and turn it out onto a cooling rack or cutting board if you are serving it warm. Enjoy!
3/4cupmashed or pureed very ripe bananasabout 2 medium
1 5.3-oz.container of vanilla Greek yogurt
1/3cupvegetable oil
1teaspoonbaking soda
1/2teaspoonsalt
2eggs
1/2cupcoarsely chopped walnutscan substitute pecans or completely omit the nuts
Instructions
Heat the oven to 350-degrees.
Spray the bottom only of a loaf pan (8x4 or 9x5) with non-stick cooking spray (or cover with shortening).
If desired, use a food processor to chop the nuts and puree the bananas.
Add all the prepared ingredients except the nuts to your mixing bowl.
Mix on low speed for 30 seconds then on medium speed for 45 seconds. Scrape the bowl as needed.
Stir in the nuts by hand or with the "stir" setting on your mixer.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 45 to 55 minutes until the outside is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean.
Cool 10 minutes then loosen the sides of the bread and transfer to a cooling rack (or cutting board if you want to serve it soon!).
Affiliate links are used in this post, if you make a qualifying purchase via my link, I receive a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products and services I use and love. It helps support my blog, so thank you for your support! Read my full disclosure here.
About seven years ago, I came across a recipe on Pinterest for doughnuts made from canned biscuits. I decided to give them a try one Saturday morning by frying them in oil in a skillet on my stovetop.
I dipped them in melted butter and cinnamon and sugar. They made a tasty treat, but they had a bit of a grease flavor to them. I didn’t make them again.
Fast forward to quarantine and going for fresh doughnuts was impossible for a long time. (In fact, we are few months into the pandemic, and I still haven’t done so since we are continuing to self-isolate.) When a cousin sent me a recipe for making the same doughnuts in the air fryer, I decided to give them a try again.
I’m in love with my air fryer and trying to come up with new things to make for my family in being at home and cooking even more than usual.
The instructions were a bit vague, so I did some experimenting. I had trouble with the dough sticking to the air fryer basket. Then they were in too long and got burnt. I used the flaky layer biscuits, and they didn’t stay together quite as well.
I ended up going through two cans of biscuits and even made a few on the stovetop to compare what we liked best. My whole family preferred the air fryer doughnuts because there wasn’t an oily taste or any greasiness.
My family was quite happy to be my taste testers as I continued tweaking the preparation to find out the best way to make air fryer doughnuts. I took loads of photos, because I knew I had to share the recipe.
These air fryer doughnuts don’t taste like a doughnut you’d get at your local bakery, per se, but they are delectable breakfast treats that you’ll enjoy. They only need a few ingredients and are super easy to make as well.
The trickiest part is making sure the dough doesn’t stick to your air fryer basket. Air fryer baskets are usually non-stick surfaces. As such, you shouldn’t use non-stick cooking spray. It can mess up the non-stick surface and burn off too quickly to work.
I tried rubbing my basket with vegetable oil the first time and that didn’t work so great. I found that the best way to keep the dough from sticking is by covering the basket with parchment paper. You can buy parchment paper inserts for air fryer baskets, but I didn’t have any. So, I just trimmed a piece of parchment paper and used a fork to poke holes all throughout it. It’s not beautiful, but it works.
Next open your biscuits and prepare the dough. (I suggest NOT using biscuit dough that is flaky layers.) I set mine up on the counter on top of aluminum foil or wax paper. You could also use a plate or a cutting board. It doesn’t matter.
The first step is to get the doughnut shape. The easiest and simplest way to do this is with a clean cap from a bottle of water or soda. Press the cap down in the center of each biscuit, gently, but firmly. Gently push the center of the doughnut out. My kids loved doing this part. Save the centers to make doughnut holes with!
Now you’re ready to get cooking. Place the doughnuts in your air fryer basket without touching each other. I can fit three full-sized doughnuts in my air fryer at one time.
Put the doughnuts into the air fryer at 400-degrees (F) and set it for eight minutes. Set a timer for four minutes.
While the doughnuts are cooking, make sure your station is set up for managing the doughnuts once they are cooked. I set up two paper plates: one for the hot doughnuts and one for the finished doughnuts. Melt your butter or margarine in a small bowl and mix your cinnamon sugar in another small bowl. I line them up beside the air fryer and hot pad I use to put the air fryer basket on.
After the doughnuts have cooked for four minutes, pull them out. They should be very lightly browned on top and still doughy on the bottom.
Use tongs to gently turn the doughnuts over and put the basket back in the air fryer for the remaining four minutes. The doughnuts should be golden brown when time is up. If they aren’t, you may need to adjust your time and/or temperature.
Put the hot doughnuts out onto a plate to cool for minute or so. I usually get my next round of dough going in the air fryer while letting them cool enough I can touch them.
Dip the doughnuts on each side in the melted butter or margarine.
Next, dip them in the cinnamon sugar on both sides. I sometimes use a spoon or my fingers to spread more cinnamon sugar on them so that they get well covered.
(SIDE NOTE: I tried using Nutella as icing on a few of the air fryer doughnuts the first time around and we all liked cinnamon sugar much better. And that’s coming from a chocoholic!)
Don’t forget to make your doughnut holes as well. I roll mine so they turn into balls.
The way it works out with my air fryer, I make two baskets of three large air fryer doughnuts and then one basket with two large doughnuts and all the doughnut holes. I found the doughnut holes did OK at the same time and temperature as the big ones, but you might want to check them adjust and make adjustments as needed.
These air fryer doughnuts are delicious when they are warm, but they are also good at room temperature.
I love mine with a good, cold glass of white milk, though chocolate milk would be good, too!
1can of 8 jumbo buttermilk biscuitsnot the flaky kind
1stick of butter or margarinemelted
1/2cupsugar
1tsp.cinnamon
Instructions
Prepare the air fryer basket by covering it with parchment paper. If you don't have specific air fryer parchment paper liners (I don't!), then cut a piece of parchment paper to fit your air fryer basket and put holes in it. If you don't have parchment paper, grease the air fryer basket with cooking oil, butter or shortening. Do NOT use non-stick cooking spray because it will damage the non-stick coating on your air fryer basket.
Prepare your dough by opening and separating the biscuits. Use a clean lid from a water or soda bottle and gently but firmly press it down into the center of each biscuit to cut out a hole. Set aside the dough you cut out to make doughnut holes with.
Put the dough into the air fryer basket without any of the edges touching each other or the sides of the air fryer basket. Set the temperature for 400-degrees (F) and time for 8 minutes.
Set a timer for 4 minutes.
While the dough starts cooking, melt the butter in a small bowl.
Mix together the cinnamon and sugar in a second small bowl.
At the 4-minute mark, open the air fryer and gently flip the doughnuts over so they cook evenly on both sides.
When the time is up, the air fryer doughnuts should be golden brown. Let them cool just enough so that you can touch them. Dip both sides of the doughnut first in the melt butter or margarine and then repeat the same way in the cinnamon sugar. You can use your fingers or a spoon to help put even more cinnamon sugar over the doughnut as well.
Serve the doughnuts right away while warm or at room temperature.
Just a few ingredients come together in this delicious mild salsa recipe
My family loves Mexican food and flavors, like in this taco cornbread bake recipe. If I make something related to tacos or tortilla chips and salsa, I know my family will be on board.
I stumbled across a pantry salsa recipe a year or two ago and gave it a try one nacho night. It was too spicy, even according to my spice-loving husband. So, I tweaked it and ended up with a mild salsa that has a very, very slight kick.
Of course salsa made with garden-fresh ingredients is good, but I never have fresh peppers or herbs. I almost always have onion. I love that I can buy ingredients for this salsa recipe and not get around to making it for a week or two. Being in the Midwest, I also love that I can make this year-round and it tastes the same.
All of the ingredients for this salsa come from your pantry!
And being a busy mom, I love recipes like this one that literally come together in minutes. If your onion needs chopped, you can make this salsa in 10 minutes or less. If your onion is already chopped, you can whip up this salsa in 5 minutes with a food processor or blender. Seriously!
Start with the can of tomatoes with chilis and chopped onion. Put them both into your food processor and zoom them around until they are the desired level of chunky you like. (My family likes salsa with teeny, tiny chunks at most!)
Before pureeing in the food processor
After pureeing in the food processor
Next, add in the seasonings: garlic powder, salt, sugar and lime juice. Whiz everything in the food processor again for 15 seconds or so to blend it.
Your next step depends on how chunky you like salsa. As I mentioned, my family doesn’t like chunky salsa at all. So, I pour my seasoned tomato and chili mixture into a large bowl then puree the crushed tomatoes in the food processor.
If you’re using a blender or have a large food processor, you could maybe do all the ingredients at once, but I use my food processor and it isn’t large enough, so I do it in stages.
Finally, I pour the pureed crushed tomatoes into the large bowl on top of the seasoning mixture and give it a good stir. That’s it! Serve it up with your favorite tortilla chips.
1 10-oz.can mild diced tomatoes with green chilies
1/4cupdiced onioncan add more to taste
1tsp.garlic powder
1/2tsp.salt
1tsp.ground cumin
1tsp.sugar
2tsp.lime juice
Instructions
Put the can of tomatoes with chilies into a food processor or blender. Add the diced onion, and puree until it is the desired level of chunkiness. (My family likes salsa with minimal chunks, so I puree for about a minute.)
Add in the garlic salt, salt, ground cumin, sugar and lime juice. Puree 15 to 30 seconds longer to mix together.
Move the seasoned mixture into a large bowl.
Next you can either add the crushed tomatoes on top of the mixture as they are or puree them in the food processor or blender first depending on how chunky you like your salsa.
Stir the plain tomatoes and seasoned tomato mixture together.
Serve with your favorite tortilla chips and store any leftover salsa in the fridge.
Just the right amount of crunch to make this granola recipe the perfect snack, dessert or breakfast!
Affiliate links are used in this post, if you make a qualifying purchase via my link, I receive a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products and services I use and love. It helps support my blog, so thank you for your support! Read my full disclosure here.
About eight years ago, I tried a homemade granola recipe. My memories of homemade granola were at a bed and breakfast I went to with my parents back when I was in between high school and college. The proprietor offered homemade granola as part of breakfast.
I didn’t think about it too much after that, but then a few years ago, I tried a granola recipe a friend made and decided to make the plunge and try making it myself. I’m glad I did, because this recipe has been a favorite of my family’s for years.
When I made it again last week, I decided it was certainly time I share it on here. This easy oat and honey granola recipe is delicious. When I first made it, I crumpled it up thinking I’d use it in small pieces for cereal or something. After that I left it in chunks, because it’s so good on its own that we eat it for snacks, dessert and breakfast around here.
This oat and honey granola recipe has just the right amount of crunch and sweetness. It’s surprisingly easy to make with simple ingredients you probably have in your kitchen right now. And it has the added bonus of making your house smell great while it’s baking!
Just look at this goodness!
Getting started
I’ll be honest and tell you that when I first started looking for a granola recipe to make, I didn’t even know what kind of oats recipes were talking about.
I learned that it’s the oats you buy in a canister to make oatmeal. You can use either quick-cooking oats for this recipe or old-fashioned. I’ve made it with both. We prefer quick-cooking oats because they are a bit smaller.
Once you have your ingredients and are ready to go, turn your oven to 350-degrees to preheat. Then put the oats, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, vegetable oil, water and salt into a bowl.
Next, stir everything together. It will seem like it is too dry, but it will be fine. Just keep stirring for a couple of minutes until everything is coated. This oat and honey granola isn’t a mix that gets really wet.
Bake it in the oven at 350-degrees for 10 minutes. Take it out, stir it around and press it back into the same layer as before Return it to the oven for 10 to 12 more minutes until the oat and honey granola is a lovely golden brown with crispy edges and your kitchen smells divine!
Even if you like things extra crunchy, don’t be tempted to over-bake this oat and honey granola recipe. I’ve tried leaving it in for a few extra minutes and ended up with a hard block that tasted slightly burnt.
Don’t worry if the oat and honey granola doesn’t seem super crunchy when it’s still warm. It crunches up as it cools.
If you want it in small chunks to eat like cereal or as a topping, then stir it around again as soon as it comes out of the oven.
If you want to leave the oat and honey granola in chunks to snack on like I do, then let it cool completely, lift it off the pan and break it into chunks. I store mine in a quart-sized ziptop bag to keep it fresh.
The oat and honey granola will last about a week before it starts getting on the chewy side.
Easy oat and honey granola
This oat and honey granola recipe is easy and delicious! Just the right amount of crunch and sweetness make it a great breakfast, snack or dessert!
Delicious lunch ideas to get out of the sandwich rut
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As I told you in my 8 tips to reduce the stress of packing lunches, I try to do as much lunch packing the night before as I can. I also try to stick with a same general theme for my two kiddos and switch things up so that they don’t have the same thing every day.
While we do have lunches like peanut butter plain or with jelly or honey on sandwich bread with a side of potato chips and fresh fruit, that isn’t our everyday fare.
I decided to put together a few examples of some of our more creative lunches that aren’t any more difficult than PBJ sandwiches and don’t take any longer to make.
For more information on my lunch packing system and all our favorite lunchbox essentials, check out this post:
Get creative with your bread
One way I’ve learned to break up the lunchbox sandwich monotony is with different bread. Some of my kids’ favorite alternatives to bread are flour tortillas, Hawaiian rolls and Bagel Thins.
I have one kiddo who will eat pretty much whatever I make for her and another who wouldn’t have any protein in his diet if it weren’t for nuts and dairy.
My son has been recently obsessed with bagels. He would eat a toasted bagel with peanut butter pretty much every meal if I’d agree to it. But, a toasted bagel doesn’t pack well for lunch, so we go with Bagel Thins. They’re lower calorie and taste great not toasted.
My kids also love applesauce. The Go Go SqueeZ pouches work well for their lunches because they have no added sugar and the twist top is super easy for the kids to open.
My son’s lunch: A Bagel Thin with peanut butter, an applesauce pouch, baby carrots with Ranch chip dip (lower calorie with some protein and less messy than Ranch dressing) and Goldfish crackers.
My daughter’s lunch on the same day: A Bagel Thin with peanut butter and strawberry jelly, an applesauce pouch, grape tomatoes and Goldfish crackers.
Another favorite of my kiddos is Hawaiian rolls. I use them both to make sandwiches and served solo with peanut butter on the side. We don’t do these quite as often because they are a bit higher calorie and such, but they are a nice every so often to shake up lunches.
My daughter’s lunch: thin-shaved turkey breast with shredded cheese, mayo and honey mustard on a Hawaiian roll, grape tomatoes, strawberries and raspberries and sour cream and onion potato chips
My daughter’s lunch another day: Thin-shaved turkey breast with shredded cheese, mayo and honey mustard on a Hawaiian roll, baby carrots with ranch dip, Jif power-ups and fresh pineapple chunks
My son’s lunch: a Hawaiian roll, peanut butter in a dip cup with a plastic spoon to eat it, Cheez-Its, frosted animal crackers and grapes
Tortilla shells also make another great alternative for sandwich lunches. My daughter, in particular really likes wraps. I also sometimes buy a package of individual baked sides to make packing lunches even easier.
My daughter’s lunch: Baked potato chips, grapes, a wrap with thin-sliced turkey, shredded cheese, mayo and honey mustard and grape tomatoes
My daughter’s lunch: White cheddar popcorn, a fruit and veggie pouch, frosted animal crackers, a wrap with sliced salami, provolone cheese and a bit of mayo and raisins
Think outside of sandwiches
One of both kids’ favorite lunch days is what we call a “snacky lunch.” I usually send a snacky lunch on Tuesdays and sometimes Thursdays. Granola bars work well on these days. My son especially LOVES sweet and salty peanut bars. He would eat them each meal and for snacks, too!
Snacky lunch options for my daughter can also be a sliced boiled egg. I put it in a silicone cupcake holder. Sometimes I include crackers on the side, but lately I’ve been including croutons, because she loves them so much. I usually include a dip cup of ranch dressing for her as well.
Another option I’ve sent for my daughter is salads. I fill her large container with lettuce and top it with things like shredded cheese, boiled egg, onion and tomatoes. Then I add bacon bits and croutons in a separate container and a dip cup of salad dressing she can pour on as well. I usually send along some peanut butter crackers and fruit to complete her lunch.
Get creative with hot lunches
Hot lunches take more time on the morning of in order to heat the food and make them. But I do usually get the sides put together and in lunchboxes the night before.
My kiddos like breaking up the lunch monotony with hot lunches. I usually do a hot lunch for them on Wednesdays. I love the Thermos Funtainer food jars.
You can find more details on how I use them by warming them with hot water for 15-20 minutes in my post on how to make packing lunches easier. While I sometimes use leftovers for hot lunches, most often I use other options like the ones below that I took a few different days.
Part of my son’s lunch: frozen pancakes, cut up into quarters (This is a favorite for both of my kids! My daughter dips hers in applesauce, so I send an applesauce cup with hers. My son just likes the applesauce on the side, so he gets a pouch.)
These are just a few days’ worth of lunches I’ve packed for my kiddos lately. Just a bit of creativity can shake things up and get them from getting bored. Here are a few grocery ideas to add into your lunch rotation:
If I want to guarantee my family, including my two particular eaters, will gobble up dinner, I know making something pizza will do the trick! (Things taco/nacho-related are also a hit.)
But I don’t want to make, serve or eat the same thing all the time. So shaking it up a bit works really well. With that in mind, I’ve compiled a list of pizza-related recipes that your family is sure to love.
These easy pizza subs I shared back in August are not only easy to make, but they are easy to customize based on what your family members like and they taste delicious!
Heather from The Super Mom Life has another take on pizza with these party pizzas made from English muffins. They are also easily customizable to your family members’ preferences and delicious!
If you want to get a bit more adventurous in the kitchen, this mock napoleon pizza recipe from Shayla at Singing a New Song is a great one to try. The thin crust pizza is best made in a wood-burning, stone oven, but since you probably don’t have one (and neither does she!), she’s found a way to make it taste nearly as good as you’d get at a swanky Italian restaurant.
Famlee of Four has a list of five easy and fun pizza recipes that your family will love for pizza night. With options like barbeque chicken pizza, cheeseburger pizza and meatball pizza, there are some great ideas for how to use leftovers and switch up flavors that even your kiddos will like!
If you’re in the mood for traditional pizza flavors, but are low on time or wanting something just different, check out these pepperoni pizza pinwheels that I shared in January. I just made them again last week. My daughter made them with just a bit of help from me with cutting and my family gobbled them up. Win-win!
While pizza flavors are awesome, there are also some delicious pizza options that aren’t in traditional flavors. This easy veggie pizza from Cassie at Get Your Holiday On uses crescent rolls for a crust and you can use whatever veggies your family likes most. It’s great for an appetizer or carry-in dinner as well!
Another non-traditional pizza that also uses a crescent roll crust is the BLT pizza that I shared back in September. It’s super easy and super delicious!
And if we’re talking pizza, we can’t neglect a dessert pizza! This fruit pizza from Mehgan at Planning for Keeps is a great option with a sugar cookie crust topped with cream cheese icing and fruit.
And if you’re like Sarah from Mom with a Map who told me that pizza is her love language, you’re probably going to want to check out her post about the top five places in America to get pizza named from by the foodies at the Food Network! The best part is you don’t have to clean the kitchen after you eat!
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