Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

When it comes to cookies, I generally prefer the chewy variety. These are really easy to make and can be stored up to a week in an airtight container, making them a great make-ahead cookie or gift during the holidays.

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Brie and Cranberry Sauce in Puff Pastry

My family tends to make a big batch of cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving each year. Though we'll eat most of it, there's always some left over. Making this brie in puff pastry is a great, festive appetizer and uses up cranberry sauce that might not otherwise be eaten. Use your favorite cranberry sauce for this recipe.

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Eggplant & Lamb Moussaka

With the cooler weather we've been having, my kitchen preferences have started to shift back to cozy, comfort foods. The last snow day we had was when I decided moussaka would be the perfect dinner. This is very easy to make and the leftovers are delicious. I cute the recipe in half, which would serve about 3-4 adults, but am posting the full sized recipe here. For the half recipe, using a loaf pan worked well.

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Lemon Blueberry Mini Cheesecakes

With the weather cooling down, I have been on a baking kick after my summer hiatus from the oven. I recently hosted a friends dinner and wanted to make a dessert that could be prepared the day prior, but still be just as good the following day. I also wanted to try something new. After looking through tons of recipes, I decided a mini cheesecake would be a great choice I already had blueberries at home so this recipe became my pick. I am so happy I gave this a try! It's delicious and even on day 3 the cheesecakes are delicious.

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Chocolate Raspberry Swiss Roll

I wanted to try making a roulade on a evening when I invited my family over for dinner. I have always wanted to try one but they seemed like they'd be a lot of work for a questionable end result. I went down a rabbit hole and began looking at many different recipes. Some were meringue based, which I was not ready to try on my first attempt. I landed on this one because half of my family loves chocolate desserts, and I assumed that covering the roll with the ganache could help hide any imperfections. It turns out this was true. While you can't really see it, there is a huge crack in my cake that was perfectly disguised by the ganache and whipped cream. This is a time consuming dessert, but it tasted amazing. Between 7 of us there was only 1 slice left at the end of dessert. 

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Za'atar Spice Mix

Anyone that has been to one of my summer barbecues knows I love using za'atar for seasoning chicken or fish. This spice mix serves so many purposes and makes a really easy main course stand out. My favorite option is Za'atar Grilled Chicken, and I've used the same marinade on salmon before too. I have a friend who will regularly request this dish when she knows I am cooking. I sometimes buy the pre-made spice mix, but on days where I've run out, it's easy to make this at home.

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Zucchini & Lemon Pasta

The Pasta Queen has a TikTok/Instagram account that has had me interested in her recipes for a while now. She's an Italian woman living in the US and she shares a lot of different (mostly pasta) recipes. I was looking for a quick and easy dinner idea one night and I happened to have the ingredients to attempt to replicate her "Fettuccine Lemon & Zucchine". My friend had also made a variation of this recipe recently which turned out wonderfully. This is a very simple pasta but it great for a quick weeknight dinner.

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Summer Zucchini & Goat Cheese Tart

My Ina Garten recipe kick is going strong these days. I bought some zucchini the other week with no actual plan for what to do with them. After looking through some recipes, this one seemed like a winner. I had most of the ingredients at home and what I didn't have in the fridge was growing in the garden. This is a great way to use up zucchini if you have them growing in your yard. One note, if you don't have the goat cheese, lemon and herbs, you could make a slightly different variation by subbing Boursin or Alouette cheese instead. Though I recommend trying the original recipe first.

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Ina Garten's Skillet-Roasted Lemon Chicken

The more Ina Garten recipes I make, the more I realize she is always publishing the best recipes. I have said it before, but I have yet to make and Ina recipe I don't enjoy. This chicken was no exception. Because you butterfly the chicken, it cooks much more quickly than a traditional whole chicken so it can easily become a weeknight dinner favorite. While the chicken is roasting, you can prep any other dishes you want to serve with the chicken.

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Chopped Greek Style Salad

Every time I make a Greek salad, I forgot how much I enjoy them and wonder why I don't make them more often. I love that this version can still be eaten on day 2 if you have any leftovers. It won't be as great as day 1, but it's still tasty and saves you having to come up with a lunch idea. This travels well too and is great for picnics. 

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Potato Skins

I was craving potato skins the other day and decided to tackle making homemade ones. They are delicious, but they are quite time consuming. Definitely not a quick and easy weeknight dinner, but a great option when you're in the mood to cook. The ingredients for this are very simple and can be modified to include or exclude your favorite potato skins toppings. Add more or less of any of the ingredients listed below.

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No-Churn Chocolate Heath Bar Ice Cream

getting warm here in Denver, which means it's time to start eating more ice cream. I've made ice cream from scratch a handful of times when visiting my mom and sister, who both have ice cream makers. I don't own one and I have often seen the women on a Swiss cooking show make ice cream without churning it in a machine. I figured it would be time to give this method a shot. I started looking in to it and there are a ton of very easy to make, no-churn ice cream recipes out there. I was in the mood for chocolate heath bar crunch ice cream, so I adapted this delicious recipe. Feel free to use whatever mix-ins you'd like with the chocolate ice cream.

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Herb Butter Steak and Asparagus

Every now and and then I really want o have a good steak. While I enjoy steak and eat meat, I am also happy to skip it for weeks at a time. But this was one of those days where steak sounded great. I also had some asparagus that I wanted to include in this steak dinner. This is a really easy way to cook steak. You can use whatever cut you like, and adjust the time according to how you'd like the steak cooked. 

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Red Cabbage and Carrot Slaw

In this fun time of limited grocery store supplies, I recently ended up buying a couple red cabbages since there was no lettuce available. I have always loved cabbage salads and slaws and decided to look for a lighter recipe that would last a few days. The plus side of a cabbage salad is that it will still be crisp and delicious on day two.

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Leftover Turkey or Chicken Enchiladas

It's not an uncommon thing for me to have leftover chicken in my fridge after a lazy rotisserie chicken dinner or roasting chicken at home. I first found this recipe after Thanksgiving, when here was a plethora of leftover turkey but nobody wanted to eat plain turkey anymore. But it works great with any leftover poultry. Or you can buy a rotisserie chicken and make this recipe for a quick dinner.

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Soft and Buttery Oatmeal Cookies

Soft baked oatmeal cookies are one of my favorite winter snacks. I have tried many different recipes but really love the end result on this one. The cookie might look like it's under-baked when you make these, but trust your timer (so longer as your oven temperate is accurate). They were the perfect soft baked, chewy cookie. I ended up bringing the majority of these to work and they were gone very quickly.
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Oven Risotto with Peas and Parmesan

When it's cold out, risotto is one of my favorite foods. I don't make it too often since it tends to be time consuming (though not difficult). I was in the mood for risotto and realized I had enough ingredients at home to make this recipe. I was very curious about the baking technique used here and decided to give it a try. Though the baking still takes a while, this risotto is much more hands off, which saves so much time that can spent making the rest of your meal. I've only tried this recipe as written, but I am going to dabble in adding other vegetables to it like sauteed mushrooms and shallots.

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