My Undying Love for Sweet Corn

I’ve been blessed to have sweet corn three times this summer already. SO BLESSED. I love sweet corn, which is why I’m devoting a whole post to it. I love everything about it – the shucking, the dripping hot butter, the generous amount of salt, my greasy face…just everything. I don’t mind shucking the corn, it makes it that much more rewarding. HARD LABOR – I WORKED FOR THIS! Not hard labor, but you know what I mean. People sometimes complain about the flossing but who cares. I already floss everyday anyways.

When I was a rambunctious kid with absolutely no digestive concerns, I’d easily eat four ears of corn in one sitting. ONE SITTING. I couldn’t imagine doing that now, but how amazing would that be?

When I had braces on my teeth from 7th grade to 9th grade, I dreamed about sweet corn. I’m not kidding. Sweet corn would bleed into my dreams. I couldn’t have it but I wanted it sooooo bad. The with drawl was almost too much to bear. Yes, I cut it off the cob and sadly ate it with a spoon but it wasn’t the same. I felt so left out and empty inside. Some kids with braces complained about not being able to eat gum, caramel, popcorn and so on. All I wanted was sweet corn. Piping hot sweet corn.

But here I am today, eating sweet corn and happy as a clam. It really isn’t summer without bright yellow sweet corn. Maybe I’ll have more tonight. What’s your favorite summer food?

Ritz Peanut Butter Christmas Cookies

Let’s talk about peanut butter again because it’s one of greatest things to ever be invented.

Am I right?

So here we have a no-bake Ritz Peanut Butter Christmas Cookies recipe, compliments of my lovely mother. These are so easy and so good. It’s also a great Christmas activity for kids! Take my word for it.

Ritz Peanut Butter Christmas Cookies Recipe:

• 1 Box of Ritz Crackers
• 1-2 Packages of Almond Bark (chocolate or white)
• Peanut Butter
• Sprinkles/fun decorations
• Parchment paper

Directions:

1. Spread peanut butter between two crackers to make small sandwiches. Make a whole pile or as many as you’d like. Trust me – they go fast!
2. In microwave safe bowl, melt almond bark according to packaging instructions.
3. Submerge cracker sandwiches into melted almond bark and cover completely.
4. Line up almond bark-covered cracker sandwiches on parchment paper to cool and dry.
5. Use sprinkles, frosting guns, etc to decorate the cookies to your liking.
6. ENJOY!!

And you can even go wild and creative with decorating! I give you creative freedom. I made a batch of plaid ones Saturday morning and I’m happy with how they turned out. They remind me of my school uniform as a kid. 🙂

So, take a crack at these cookies and let me know what you think!

Until next time,

TTFN.

A World-Famous Peanut Butter Ball Recipe

You’re going to be glad you stopped by today after my five-month hiatus! I’m sharing my mom’s world-famous peanut butter ball recipe. Okay, that might be a bit dramatic but these balls are sooooo good. I look forward to making (and eating!) them every Christmas.

And the best part? They’re super straightforward to make and no oven is needed! Add this recipe to your roster for Christmas cookie baking for this year or next.

“Reeses” Peanut Butter Ball Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of melted butter
• 2 cups of powdered sugar
• 1 cup of peanut butter
• 1-2 packages of chocolate almond bark
• Mini cupcake liners

Steps:

1. Mix butter, powdered sugar and peanut butter together in a large bowl.
2. Chill in refrigerator.
3. Roll dough into balls once chilled
4. Melt almond bark in a separate microwave-safe bowl
5. Put melted chocolate in the bottom of the mini cupcake liners, add ball, then cover ball in melted chocolate
6. Let balls chill
7. Enjoy!!

Tip: I like to make the balls on the smaller side because this treat can get very rich once submerged in almond bark.

Tip: The ingredients above make about 1 batch which equals roughly 50 balls  – depending on how big you make them.

Tip: It’s naturally a gluten-free cookie recipe! Okay, let me rephrase that – there’s nothing natural about these balls but the ingredients are all gluten-free.

Well, how about that? Let me know what you think of them!

20th Annual Cookie Day!

On Saturday I went home for Cookie Day. One of my favorite days of the year. Remember when I wrote about the 1,008 Christmas Cookies (and Counting) last year? This year, Cookie Day was extra special as we marked 20 years! The ladies were in charge of the real cookies and I was in charge of dipping pretzels, ritz peanut butter crackers and peanut butter balls in almond bark. I’m so happy my friend Emma joined us and helped me dip. 🙂

What kind of Christmas cookies do you make?

(Please take a second to appreciate that it’s “snowing” on my blog. How fancy is that?)

Brunchy Brunch

If you know me at all, you know that breakfast is my favorite meal. I LOVE IT. This morning I met one of my friends for brunch at The Copper Hen in Minneapolis. All I can say is – YUM. I’d been there once before, but never for brunch. I decided to splurge on a fancy garnished Bloody Mary, which will probably be the highlight of my weekend.

(Yes, that’s a blueberry cupcake on top!)

I tackled my plate before taking a pretty picture for you guys. I know, how rude of me. I ordered the farmer’s brunch which consisted of eggs, potatoes, sausage and a french toast stick. It was delicious!!

I hope you’re all having a good weekend!

A Fresh Take on Chicken Noodle Soup

So it’s officially soup season! The snow has hit the ground which means I’m allowing myself to tackle my ever-growing soup recipe list. Today I made a Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup recipe from Damn Delicious. It’s soooooo good! Go visit the site and try it for yourself if you’re a chicken noodle person.

Photo and recipe from DamnDelicious.net

Warning: It’ll definitely take you more than the 30 minutes like the recipe says. Maybe I’m a slow cooker but recipes always seem to take me way longer.

Have you tried out any new soups? I’d love to hear about them!

4 Sites You Need to Keep Tabs On

Just wanted to share a few sites I enjoy visiting and revisiting every so often. Maybe you’re familiar with them, maybe you’re not! It’s worth sharing anyway.

• HelloGiggles – These writers get me. Especially this fun story about celeb powerbesties and this other story about things not to say to single ladies.
• Refinery29 – It’s the bee’s knees in my book. I like this how to dress for your body type story and I’m saving this $10 quick dinners anyone can master story for a rainy day. Let’s be honest, I’m saving it for the next time I go grocery shopping.
• Greatist – A sister site to Refinery29, it helps me be healthy. Or helps me want to be healthy. Maybe I’ll try out any of these 34 breakfast recipes for busy mornings. I’m getting burned out on oatmeal. Sorry Quaker Oats guy on the box who always looks too happy. (Who can possibly be that happy about oatmeal??)
• Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine – The best place for me to keep track of what’s happening here in Minnesota. Well, the fun stuff that’s happening like new restaurants, breweries, shops and so on.

Tell me. What are your favorite sites?

*NOTE- I’m not an airhead. I have digital subscriptions to actual newspapers where I stay updated on what’s really going on — the good and the bad. But you and I both know that newspapers aren’t very sexy content for a blog.

7 Meatless Meal Ideas for Lent

You know what time of year it is? Lent! That’s right. If you’re a Catholic like me, you might be frantically rummaging through cookbooks and Pinterest to find appetizing, meatless meals for Fridays. Well, don’t sweat it! I’ve got a few menu options for you right here. There’s no reason for you to fall into a boring rut of eating grilled cheese with canned tomato soup, or greasy fish this Lent.

A few of my personal favorite vegetarian-friendly recipes:

Pesto pasta with sun dried tomatoes

found on damndelicious.net

Cilantro-lime shrimp with green beans

found on stephaniezahlmann.blogspot.com

Mexican lasagna

Other ideas I don’t have photos of:

• Build-your-own homemade pizza: Load up personal pizzas with lots of veggies — peppers, onions, mushrooms, garlic, diced tomatoes, basil — get creative!
• Potato soup paired with crackers or garlic bread.
• Spaghetti – Get saucy without meat! Throw in fancy spices or make your own sauce.
• Order in Chinese: Hello? Vegetable low-mein, cream cheese wontons, endless fortune cookies (and tons of other good things you’ve never thought of trying because your go-to is chicken).

Do you have a favorite meatless meal? Let me know!

Easy Homemade Corn Salsa

My chickpea salad recipe from Friday’s post went over really well, so I thought I’d test the waters and use my own photos and recipe instructions. I made a homemade corn salsa from scratch yesterday and it turned out pretty good for just throwing a few things together. I have a feeling that in the summer this recipe will taste way better once I can get a hold of fresh corn and tomatoes–yum. But for now, cans of veggies (or even frozen veggies) will have to do.

Easy Homemade Corn Salsa 

What you’ll need:

– 2 cups of corn (no-salt added from a can and rinsed first, or frozen)

– 1/2 a can of black bean (rinsed first)

– a handful of fresh cilantro (chopped)

– 1/2 cup of white onion (chopped)

– 1 tablespoon of Kraft Light Italian dressing

– 1 cup of canned diced tomatoes with green chilies

– dash of salt and pepper

How to make it happen:

Dump all of the above ingredients into a mixing bowl. Stir thoroughly so the ingredients are all scrambled. Add more cilantro or Italian dressing to taste. Chill in fridge for 1-2 hours, or until cold.

I love cilantro so I went a little overboard with it.  You don’t have to use diced tomatoes with green chilies either. Tomatoes aren’t in season right now in Minnesota so I used what  I had in the cupboard. I like the green chilies because it gives my salsa a little kick. If you wanted a mild taste, just stick with plain tomatoes.

Tips:

If you’re using canned corn and beans, make sure you rinse them underwater first. It’ll strip off some of the sodium.

If you’re using frozen corn (which is actually a healthier option!), make sure it’s thawed out first so your salsa isn’t watery and pathetic.

Tadaa! Now you have an impressive and relatively healthy salsa to share. The best part of this recipe? I already had all of the ingredients in my kitchen. Mix and match, work with what you got. Now, where are those addicting Tostitos chips?

A Super Yummy (and Healthy) Chickpea Recipe

You know how on Pinterest you save recipes and over time completely forget to make any of the recipes you’ve saved? Well, last Monday I sifted through all of my cooking pins and found a recipe that looked very tempting. I wanted something that was dairy-free (for me) and vegetarian (for my roommate), so we could both eat something fun while we watched The Bachelor with glasses of red wine.

We made this delightful cilantro lime chickpea salad from the Oh She Glows blog.

Cilantro Lime Chickpea Salad // Image and recipe source: Oh She Glows

If you like cilantro or lime or anything with a bit of bite, this recipe is for you! We were obsessed. I had leftovers for lunch the next day and I was (sadly) counting down the hours until I could eat it again. Is that embarrassing to admit? Whatever. As a team we whipped up the salad and served it over brown rice so our meal would be a little more substantial.

Cilantro Lime Chickpea Salad // Image and recipe source: Oh She Glows

YUM. This recipe is probably  meant for summertime but I don’t see a problem with eating it in the winter. Speaking of cooking, what’s on your menu for the Superbowl this Sunday? Last year my buffalo chicken dip was a flop so I’ll need to think of something new.