First things first, here is the list of ingredients you will need to make these recipes, but one piece of advice…be creative and try things too! If the recipe calls for ground turkey and you are a vegetarian, then keep tempeh as a staple in your kitchen. If you don’t like using alcohol in recipes, simply substitute chicken stock or water. So get creative! Let your inner Julia Child come out and take charge.

• Baby Carrots
• Organic Spinach
• Lemons
• Greek Yogurt
• Fat-Free Mozzarella
• White Wine
• Dijon Mustard
• Organic Chicken Breasts
• Organic Ground Turkey

Now that you have these staples, go ahead and try one of my delicious meals I’ve concocted and let me know what you think or tell us how you made one of these meals into a new and exciting dish! Happy eating.

Roasted Carrot and Ginger Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 LB organic baby carrots
• 2 stalks celery, minced
• 1 tsp ginger, grated
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• ½ tsp white pepper
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 quart chicken stock
• ¼ cup white wine
• ⅛ cup orange juice

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375*. Place carrots on a baking sheet, and drizzle with olive oil. Roast until tender and caramelized (shake the pan about halfway through to evenly roast); about 30-45minutes. Set aside. In a Dutch oven, heat about 1 Tbsp olive oil and the butter.
Cook the shallots until tender—about 2-3 minutes.
Add the celery and fresh ginger and cook another 2-3 minutes.
Season with about 2 tsp. coarse salt and white pepper. Add the wine to the Dutch oven and reduce by half then add the chicken or vegetable stock and the carrots. Bring the soup to a boil, then down to a simmer. Simmer for about 15 minutes.
If you have an immersion blender, you can easily puree the carrots. The soup will be very thick.
Add the white wine (if using) and then the orange juice. Taste, and adjust seasonings to your liking. Garnish with fresh chives or chervil, if desired.

Dijon Turkey Meatballs over Sautéed Spinach and Whole Wheat Pasta

Ingredients:

• 1 LB lean ground turkey
• ⅓ c whole wheat dry breadcrumbs
• ¼ c finely chopped shallots
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 Tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper

Dijon Sauce:

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1 ½ c chicken stock
• 3 Tbsp Dijon
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb fresh spinach
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 lb whole wheat fettuccine pasta

Directions:
To make the meatballs, preheat oven to 350*. In a large bowl, combine all meatball ingredients and form into one inch balls. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes. While the meatballs are baking, make the Dijon sauce by heating the butter in a small sauce pot. Whisk in the flour and cook for 2 minutes. Slowly pour in the chicken stock and continue whisking. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer. The sauce should begin to thicken. Add the remaining ingredients and keep heat on low. Boil pasta according to package directions. In a large skillet, heat olive oil and add garlic. Cook for one minute and add spinach. Wilt spinach. When the meatballs are done, add them to the spinach and pour Dijon sauce on top. Serve over whole wheat pasta.

Grilled Tomato and Spinach Salad with Turkey Bacon Dijon Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

• 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 French baguette, cubed
• 4 large vine-ripened tomatoes
• 1 tsp sea salt (preferably Maldon)
• ½ tsp fresh cracked black pepper
• 1 lb fresh baby spinach
• Turkey Dijon Vinaigrette:
• 4 slices turkey bacon, cooked and diced
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• zest of one lemon
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• ½ c extra virgin olive oil

Directions:
Make the vinaigrette first by mixing all ingredients together except for olive oil. Using a whisk, slowly drizzle the oil into the bowl. Keep vinaigrette in fridge until ready to use. Preheat oven to 400*. Drizzle 2 Tbsp of oil onto the bread cubes and bake for 10-12 minutes or until toasted. Using a grill pan, heat on medium high heat and brush with 1 Tbsp oil. Place tomatoes on grill pan and season with salt and pepper. Turn over after 2 minutes and grill on other side. Remove and place over spinach. Top with bread and drizzle with turkey bacon vinaigrette.

Crispy Baked Dijon and Yogurt Chicken Strips

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Plain, Unflavored Yogurt
• 2 cloves (to 3 Cloves) Garlic
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons Parsley, chopped
• 1 whole (juice Of) Lemon
• 1 LB chicken breast, cut into 1” strips
• Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper
• 2 cups Panko Bread Crumbs
• 3 tablespoons butter, small cubes

Directions:

Pour yogurt into a mixing bowl. Peel and mince garlic; add garlic and garlic powder to the yogurt. Chop up a small amount of fresh parsley and add it to the yogurt. Add lemon juice. Mix together to combine.
Rinse chicken and pat it dry. Sprinkle with (kosher) salt and pepper.
In another bowl, place the bread crumbs. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and stir lightly.
Butter a baking dish. With a pair of tongs, place the chicken, one piece at a time into the yogurt mixture. Turn it over thoroughly to coat. Then roll the chicken in the Panko bread crumbs. Cover each piece thoroughly with bread crumbs and place in the baking dish.
Place cubed butter over the large part of each chicken piece. Cover with foil and bake in a 350º oven for 1 to 1 ¼ hours, removing the foil for the last 15 minutes of cooking. When the chicken is nice and golden, remove from the oven. Serve with Dijon mustard.

Baked Chicken Roulade with Spinach and Mozzarella

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup basil pesto (store bought or homemade)
• 12 large spinach leaves, washed, dried and stemmed
• 2 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into ½ inch rounds
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 1 1/4 pounds
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper

Directions:
Heat the oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil, and set aside. Two at a time, place the chicken breasts, smooth side up, between two sheets of plastic wrap.  Using a meat mallet, gently and evenly, pound the chicken to about 1/4″ thick.  Set aside in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Place each pounded chicken breast lengthwise on the covered baking sheet, smooth side down.  Season with salt and pepper.  Evenly divide the pesto and spread it over the surface of each piece of chicken. Press 3 spinach leaves on top, and add 2 teaspoons of mozzarella to the center of each. Very gently and tightly, roll the chicken away from you. Using a toothpick, secure the seam and place seam side down. Rub top of each roulade with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast the roulades until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees, about 15 minutes. Slice in half on a bias, or in a few rounds. Serve over whole wheat pasta or with zucchini noodles as a healthy side dish.

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Spicy Ginger Dijon Dipping Sauce

Ingredients;

• 1 tablespoon canola oil

• 1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce (such as Sriracha)
• 1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon grated orange rind
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• Dash of sea salt
• 4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into small dice
• 1 carrot, grated
• 3 tablespoons water chestnuts, minced
• 2 scallions, minced
• 8 Boston lettuce leaves (about 1 head)
• 1 cup fresh mint leaves (about 10 ounces)
• 1/2 cup bean sprouts (about 2 ounces)
• 1 lime, cut into 8 wedges
• Chopped peanuts (optional)

Directions:
Combine first 9 ingredients in a small bowl; stir with a whisk. Reserve 2 tablespoons oil mixture. Place remaining oil mixture in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add chicken breast halves; seal and marinate in refrigerator for 1 hour, turning occasionally. Remove chicken from bag, and discard marinade. Heat a large nonstick sauté pan over medium high heat and add 1 tsp olive oil. Add chicken and cook through, about 6 minutes. Add in carrot, water chestnuts, and scallion and cook for 2 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before thinly slicing. Divide chicken evenly among lettuce leaves; top each lettuce leaf with 2 tablespoons mint, 1 tablespoon sprouts, and about 1 teaspoon reserved oil mixture. Serve with lime wedges. Garnish with chopped peanuts, if desired. Serve with spicy ginger Dijon dipping sauce on side (recipe below)

Spicy Ginger Dijon Dipping Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Dijon
• ¼ tsp sesame oil
• ¼ tsp fresh grated ginger
• 2 ½ tsp water
• ¼ tsp sriracha

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Serve with lettuce cups.

Turkey and Spinach Orecchiette with Lemon White Wine Reduction

Ingredients:

• 1 box of orecchiette
• Olive oil
• 1 lb. of turkey sausage
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 bag baby spinach, chopped
• ½ c white wine
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions:
Boil salted water for pasta and cook orecchiette according to package directions about 10 minutes. Save 1/4 cup of pasta water. Chop the onion and coat pan with olive oil. Add onion and turkey sausage (remove sausage from casings) and cook until the sausage is browned and onions are soft. Season with salt and pepper. Add the beans and spinach and cook for a few minutes. Then add the pasta water and white wine, reduce for 2 minutes. Finish with lemon juice and a pat of butter. Add the pasta and toss until coated. Serve hot.

Well it’s no secret that smoothies rock and are good for you, seeing that after the last two years of making them I feel great and energized every morning. Not only are the flavors fantastic, but you are getting a significant amount of fruits and veggies into your diet without much thought! Here is my recipe for my morning smoothie that I live by but also know that these ingredients are interchangeable and can be substituted with items such as frozen berries, nut butters, yogurt, soy milk, and other vegetables of your liking. Ready? Set? Get buzzing!!

Super Green Power Smoothie

• 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
• 1 scoop Green Machine powder ( found at Trader Joe’s)
• 1 Tbsp chia seeds
• 1 Tbsp ground flax
• 1 banana
• 1 cup organic baby spinach
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 cup ice

Place all ingredients in a blender and purée till smooth. Serve immediately.

I don’t know about you, but my favorite day of the year has to be Mother’s Day.  I love seeing what kind of fun activities and treats my kids have planned for me and I love getting to shower the moms in my life with love and gifts for all they do in my life. Among my most treasured items I have received is a MOM necklace with “real diamonds,” given to me by my son.  The best treasure though has come from my daughter who has quickly learned that the best gift to give her mama is a dollar to spend on her McDonald’s Diet Coke obsession. My home is littered every year with treasures and cut-out heart cards that make my eyes tear up with their sweetness.

Each year we try to do something special for my mom and mother-in-law. I have found that often the simplest of gifts are the most treasured, especially if they are hand delivered by my children.

Here are a couple of fun gift ideas to try this year for the moms in your life.

Dress up a Supermarket Bouquet- Supermarket bouquets can sometimes not feel as special as the fancy florist so I love to add my own little touches to store-bought bouquets to make them a little more special. You can find rolls of tulle over in the craft section of your superstores or in the wedding section of large craft stores. Cut off a long strip of it to tie an elegant bow on your bouquet.

This bouquet was wrapped in pink and I thought this bow matched it perfectly.  Sometimes the smaller bouquets are wrapped in plain plastic. I love to fill the plastic out with colored tissue paper on the outside or have the floral department wrap the flowers for me.  Don’t forget to take those price tag stickers off the outside. After all, don’t we prefer if people don’t know how cheap we really are?

One of my favorite places to shop for bouquets is at our local wholesale club. The wholesale club offers huge bouquets for less than twenty dollars. Consider splitting one bouquet up and wrapping in tissue paper from your own gift supplies to get the most bang for your buck!

Create a Unique Photo Journal- I adore taking pictures of my family, but I am not very good about printing them out and sharing them the way I should. I thought it might be neat to share a photo album for each of our moms for Mother’s Day one year and I wanted to create a book that they would always remember.

Consider adding a unique spin to your photo albums. For each page of my photo album for our moms, I found a famous quote that could go with each picture and that would add a little more magic to each page. A Google search yielded hundreds of sites that I could use to find the perfect quote for each picture.

I found that it was easiest to sort my pictures by date first so I could group pictures together on pages easier. Sorting by date also helps to allow the flow into the different seasons of the year and pictures to flow a little more naturally. After my pictures were organized, I simply chose a template with a neutral palette that would compliment and not detract away from the beauty of the photos.

Don’t forget to check for coupon codes through whatever photo book publishing site you use. There are usually multiple coupons available. Be sure to compare which coupon will offer you the best deal for your money. My 20% off coupon, for example, was less than the shipping cost so make sure you crunch those numbers before ordering. Just Google, “Photo company’s coupon code” and you should get plenty of codes to use towards your purchase.

Serve Her Breakfast in Bed- The past couple of years, my husband has learned that the best gift he could ever give me is breakfast in bed.  The kids get very excited about delivering breakfast to me and checking on me multiple times to make sure that I am comfortable and well fed. Last year, I spent the entire day in bed reading a library book with lots of breaks with each kid taking a turn to climb in bed with me and snuggle. I can’t think of a more perfect way to spend such a joyous day than that.

Put your Kenmore Stand Mixer to good use and have your husband whip up a batch of these amazing Light Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Pancakes for you. These whole wheat chocolate chip pancakes will satisfy your pancake cravings, but just so happen to be filled with wheat flour, wheat germ, and mini chips for a good balance of sweetness to round them out. I promise you won’t miss that white flour at all and these are a wonderful way to start your Mother’s Day this year!

]]> http://inspiration.kenmore.com/2012/05/a-beautiful-mothers-day-on-a-budget/feed 0 http://inspiration.kenmore.com/2012/05/eating-wheat-in-a-gluten-free-house http://inspiration.kenmore.com/2012/05/eating-wheat-in-a-gluten-free-house#comments Wed, 02 May 2012 21:41:02 +0000 Curtis Silver Home & Family http://inspiration.kenmore.com/?p=5116 Continue reading →]]>

The way humans consume food, is a complex situation to say the least. Over time, there have been many different schools of thought and fads when it comes to eating. From dieting to entire lifestyle changes. There are many contributing factors to how we choose to consume food, and what foods we consume. One of the latest, for numerous reasons is the gluten free diet. A lot of people believe that it is a healthy alternative to a regular gluten filled diet. Many of us though are faced with the reality that a gluten free diet is the required diet for those with Celiac disease.

The thing of it is, I don’t have Celiac disease, but my wife and six year old daughter do. Both were diagnosed when my daughter was around 18 months old. If you aren’t aware, Celiac disease is an inability to process gluten, primarily found in products containing wheat, but also found in a lot of other products as well. You may have recently noticed a lot of manufacturers marking their packaging with a “gluten free” stamp. Sadly, this is in response to the fad behavior of the gluten free diet, rather than Celiac disease. Though I’m pretty sure Kelloggs response was directly related to my fathers’ heated letter. He’s old. He writes letters.

The change was immediate, as far as their dietary needs, but there wasn’t a sweeping change through the kitchen. There are five of us in the house, and only two of us can’t come in contact with wheat or gluten. So, and I’m pretty positive this won’t elicit a positive reaction, but we have not cleared the house of wheat/gluten products five years later.

You see, we’re not dummies over here. Especially the six year old. She knows what she can and cannot eat, and up until that point everyone around her knew. Her friends know. It’s all about education. More often than not I see a child with allergies who doesn’t know anything about their allergies, even what they are allergic to. When I’m eating a peanut butter sandwich, she knows not to run up and bury her face in my plate. I also know to wash my hands before giving her a high five.

Which brings me to the kitchen and shared surfaces and utensils. Clean them. End of story. When you use the cutting board for a wheat pizza, clean it before using it for a gluten free pizza. Or, slap down some wax paper. Again, this is not rocket science yet many people believe that the only way to adapt to a Celiac in the house is for everyone to go gluten free. That’s ridiculous. For two reasons. First, I will never give up classic pasta just cause my kid can’t eat it and second, I really don’t like rice pasta.

Sitting here writing this, I asked my six year old how she takes precautions to make sure she doesn’t experience any cross contamination. She said, “crumbs.” She’s quite observant and her brothers are quite messy. The point is, while we might be primarily responsible, assigning some of the responsibility to her as well is equally as important.

One of our most oft used appliance is our Kenmore Toaster Oven. We use it to heat up and bake regular and gluten free products. In order to avoid cross contamination we simply bought a second oven rack, they are swapped and cleaned often. Though with some things, like cupcake pans, we only have one because we’ve learned to make gluten free cupcakes (substituting gluten free Bisquick for flour) that are just as good as regular cupcakes. Stay tuned in the future for some great gluten free recipes.

The point is, with vigilance and education, you can cook and eat in a kitchen that carries both wheat and gluten free products. While it’s reasonable that families make sacrifices for each other, it’s also reasonable to ask that I never have to actually eat rice bread again.

Image: C. Silver

Down here in the sunshine state, it’s summer all year round. For the sake of the header of this article, I’ll pretend I live in your state, you know, where you have seasons. So when summer rolls around it’s time to roll out the grill. Whether you are from the propane school, the charcoal school or the smoker school of grilling, it’s summer so it’s time to grill.

For me, I’m a propane guy. I’ve experimented with many methods and while I sometimes turn my grill into a smoker, I prefer the clean heat of propane to the often uneven flame of charcoal. No matter your fuel, that first grill of the season had better be a good one. So you better come stronger than a basic meal of burgers and non 100% beef hot dogs. If I wasn’t grilling all year round, I’d say spare ribs would be the way to go.

Recipe: Badass Spare Ribs

First off, get some spare ribs. I prefer spare ribs because they are larger and more manly than baby back ribs. Plus, they don’t have the tiny bones in baby back ribs which makes flipping and eating them more difficult.

Second, since the first ingredient is pretty easy, make your chosen sauce. Now, you can of course buy some BBQ sauce to put on your ribs but that’s the easy way out. I prefer a nice thick Southern type sauce, with some kick to it and a thickness like 20 weight motor oil. You might notice my recipe has very few measurements, that’s because I don’t measure anything. I’m that good.

• 1 tablespoon oil (vegetable or olive, or that mixed one)
• Half a diced yellow onion
• Two diced up cloves of garlic
• About a half cup cider vinegar
• Same for Worcestershire sauce
• Dry mustard
• Dark brown sugar (same amount as mustard)
• Paprika (same amount as brown sugar)
• Less than the above of salt
• Same for cayenne pepper (though I usually add an extra pinch)
• One cup ketchup

Dump the onion and garlic in a food processor, then saute in a fairly large pan until clear. Add the oil in when you do that. Don’t burn them, otherwise you will then end up with barbeque sauce that tastes like burnt onion. Add in the rest of the ingredients, save for the ketchup. Bring it all to a boil, then turn the heat off. If you’ve got a Kenmore Induction Plate, this shouldn’t take too long.

Add the ketchup as this mixture starts to cool. Stir like you’ve never stirred before, that is – no lumps. This isn’t a brownie mix, you’ve got to smooth it out. When your old tennis elbow injury starts to flare up, you’ve probably stirred it enough.

Put the sauce aside. The trick to grilling ribs, grilling – not smoking, is to cook them first. I know, it sounds like cheating. I cook them in the oven on a broiler pan for about four hours. The ribs are rubbed with a spice mixture of random assortment, and covered with aluminum foil. It’s important to keep them moist, so every 30 minutes or so you open the oven and pour some additional liquid in the broiler pan. I like to use a combination of water, apple juice & Mountain Dew. No lie.

After the ribs are nice and tender, that’s when you throw them on the grill and apply your sauce in a very liberal manner. Slop that sauce on like you are Jackson Pollack with an unlimited paint supply. Apply sauce to both sides, flip often and alternate between top and bottom rack to avoid the sauce burning. You’ll know they are done when you go to flip them and they just start to fall apart. Throw on some Italian sausage and some shrimp skewers (coated with butter & garlic) and you’ve got yourself the perfect meat filled grilled meal to kick off the summer.

When my friends at Kenmore asked me to join their genius blogger team, my first reaction was quite like my favorite Muppet character “who, moi?” I asked with a whimsical flip of my locks and beaming smirk. My mind began racing with ideas of past recipes I’ve created, recipes that have been handed down to me from my family, healthy tips on eating, being able to help cooks across America become one with their kitchen, unifying the world on farm to plate cooking practices! Deep breath Kari, let’s not over think this in post number1. So, before I get too engulfed with the notion of saving the world with my culinary know-how’s, let me just start off with a little background about moi.

Having grown up the daughter of a Master Sergeant in the Army, my childhood youth was spent stationed abroad in places such as Austria and Germany. My most vivid memories of food started about the age of 5 when I was helping the German waitresses at the Molkerei, which was the diary where my father was a food inspector. These robust women would sling 4 litres of beer steins on each arm and be in constant rotation with European delicacies such as sauerbraten, wiener schnitzel, and leberknodel soup (liver dumpling soup) which is hands down one of the most divine eats you should ever ingest. The smells alone have the Proustian Effect on me whenever I head to the Chicago Brauhaus or the Austrian Bakery in Lincoln Park. Those sorts of memories were merely one of the reasons I put myself through culinary school and wanted to further an education in the universe of edible entertainment.

Today, my love and passion for cooking, have been marked by exciting opportunities including owning my own catering company, becoming the In-House Chef for Kenmore, making my Food Network debut on the Cooking Channel’s ‘From The Kitchens Of’, and hosting a bevy of food related shows and how-to cooking demos. Each day is filled with excitement and entertainment, and my passion grows stronger and more inclined to learn from every mentor who crosses my path. After all, you never really stop learning in this business, and I am a bona fide sponge willing to soak up the knowledge. I love what I do. And that’s what I want to share with you in this blogging journey. I want to help those in need of culinary inquiries and food-related issues. So bring it on! Think of me as your culinary fairy godmother or a much younger version of godmother; just forget I said godmother, friend..let’s use the word friend.

So to kick off the first blog, I wanted to invite you into the new Kenmore Craftsman Brand Live Experience studio and show you a day in the life of a busy entertainment chef.  Spring is in the air and it’s a time for new beginnings and healthy recipes to boot. My recipe for Slow Roasted Tomatoes and Arugula Pesto Pizza will not only tantalize your taste buds, but will hopefully evoke a childhood memory like it did for me. Auf Wiedersehen!!

Slow Roasted Tomatoes and Arugula Pesto Pizza

• 1 pint grape tomatoes
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 2 cups arugula
• 1 garlic clove
• ¼ c pine nuts
• ½ c parmesano reggiano
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• ¼ c extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lb fresh mozzarella cheese
• 1 (1- pound) ball store bought pizza dough
• flour for dusting

Directions:
Preheat oven to to 250*. Cut the tomatoes in half and place on a baking sheet. Toss with the garlic, thyme, oil, salt, and pepper. Roast in the oven for 2 hours or until shriveled but still moist. Remove and allow to cool. While the tomatoes are roasting, make the pesto by placing the arugula, garlic, pine nuts, cheese, salt and pepper. Pulse until combined and slowly drizzle in the oil making a paste. Turn the heat up to 450* after the tomatoes are done.  On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a 14-inch circle, 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Spread the pesto mixture on the pizza leaving a 1 inch border. Top with mozzarella slices and scatter the roasted tomatoes on top. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Right before serving, drizzle with olive oil and grate cheese on top. ENJOY!!

Lately, I’ve been into spicy foods. I mean spicy foods that are so uber hot that they will want to make you slap your mama. Well, the latter is actually referencing a spice I found at a specialty foods shop a while back that claims its intensity will have you slapping moms, but all joking aside, it’s a Creole seasoning that I add to just about everything. I love sprinkling my new found spice buddy on culinary delights such as sea bass, pork tenderloin, and chicken breasts to give them a ‘wowza’ factor. I love having that sting hit your tongue but not so much as to make you cry. I happened to already take revenge on my taste buds about a year ago when I went to visit some friends in Key West, where they took me to a hot sauce bar. Yes, a bar dedicated to serving only hot sauce in every variation and heat level. I mean, my kind of bar. Over 100,000 hot sauces ranging from honey based to vinegar based. Then begins the heat levels, also known as the Scoville scale.  The Scoville scale measures units of heat or piquance in a chili pepper. So basically a bell pepper or Cubanelle measure a 0, jalapeno measures around 3,500-8,000, and then absolute insanity begins with peppers like the scotch bonnet coming in at 350,000 Scoville units and ending with the unimaginable Trinidad Scorpion Butch Pepper or also known as the Ghost Pepper which is a mind-blowing 1.5 million units. So the hot sauce bartender starts you off with your run-of-the-mill basics that make you smile and say “how about we try a little more heat.” Our bartender nods and scurries off to fill our temptations of a ‘little more heat’ but we are nowhere near what’s yet to come. Each one of us is joking around, wagering bets on how much heat one can really handle. What happens next is but one of the most memorable times in my entire life. “How about you really turn up the heat!” my over-enthusiastic friend exclaims. Our bartender nods, but this time she has a devilish smirk and wicked look in her eyes. Oh boy. I’m screwed.

Hot sauce girl leaves the bar and goes into the back room that clearly is not for customers and comes out with a folder, a bowl of toothpicks, and a thimble-sized bottle that only has an ‘X’ marked into it. My heart starts pounding with anticipated excitement and raging fear, mixed with a little bit of ‘what the heck am I about to do.’ She places all the materials down in front of myself and my friends, takes a written contract out of the folders and asks us to read the release and sign. Yes, it was a waiver saying you are stupid and if you die from asphyxiation that’s your own dang fault because you thought you were so cool as to try this, please sign here. We all signed. Then prayed. Hot sauce girl is now in a full-on grin as she takes our releases and begins to place each toothpick into the paste-like concoction that you would see in the movie “Love Potion Number 9” or similar. There is a micro bead of this substance on a toothpick and this is supposed to be the hottest thing in the world to try? Really? But before we even give it a lick, we are given a set of instructions including to not lick your lips, do not touch your tongue to the roof of your mouth, and do not swallow for 30 seconds. Go.

What happens to me in the next minute of my life can only be described as going through puberty, childbirth, and menopause in one fell swoop. 5 seconds in there was sweat coming out of my nose, eyes, mouth, and ears..yes, ears. I felt as if I had a tail and was trying to chase it by running around in circles. I looked up to see my friends in the exact same agony but laughing hysterically, because it was obvious the hallucinations were setting in. My only thought was to run out of the hot sauce bar to the sports bar next door and with a swollen tongue, mumble the words ‘pina colada.’ Laughter seemed to be spreading quite quickly through this bar as well, but they weren’t hallucinating, they were just laughing at me and what an idiot I looked like. Finally, the pina colada was placed on the bar and in the most un-lady like way; I dunked my face into the milky substance and felt immediate relief. Never again. By signing that release, we allowed a micro bead of a ghost pepper that had the oils extracted to be placed on our tongues. The Scoville scale units on this particular batch measured in at 2 million. Dumb. Just plain dumb.

So a year later, I find that no level of heat really bothers me because I will probably never come close to tasting anything that resembles the monstrosity of a Ghost Pepper. This is why I love whipping up dishes with a spicy twist and elevation of flavor. This week I made a delicious dinner incorporating lamb chops with a chimichurri sauce. Here is my Spicy Mint Chimichurri with Roasted Lamb Lollipops. Enjoy!!

Roasted Lamb Chops with Mint Chimichurri Sauce

Ingredients:

• 4 large garlic cloves, pressed
• 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 6 1 1/4-inch-thick lamb loin chops
• ⅓ c mint
• ⅓ c flat leaf parsley
• 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 shallot
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper
• ½ c extra virgin olive oil

Mix first 2 ingredients and 1 tablespoon olive oil in large bowl. Add lamb; turn to coat. Let marinate at room temperature at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour.

Preheat Oven to 350°F. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in heavy large ovenproof skillet over high heat. Add lamb; cook until browned, about 3 minutes per side. Place lamb chops in oven and roast  to desired doneness, about 5-7 minutes for medium-rare. Transfer lamb to platter, cover, and let rest 5 minutes. While chops are roasting, place the remaining ingredients into a food processor and pulse until combined. Keep refrigerated up to one day in advance. Place 1 tablespoon on each lamb chop before serving.

Years ago during Easter mom used to make a deliciousness known as fanesca.

Fanesca is this magical soup traditional to Ecuador (where I was born) that brings back memories of grandma and traditions. Every year around Easter grandma’s house would be filled with the entire family who would gather to eat fanesca. Mom is one of 13 siblings so when I say the entire family…I mean a full house. Making fanesca is not a simple task it requires a lot of ingredients, patience and time.

While I can’t remember the last time I ate fanesca; it’s been a while since I’ve traded this soup for matzo. I do remember how happy I felt to see granny (she passed away in 2005). No matter what you are celebrating this weekend, make sure to give grandma a hug.

I’ve never been one to shy away from a challenge or adventure. Looking back, I think my sense for adventure started on my first Boy Scout camping trip. Since then I’ve taken on a few extreme sports like marathons, triathlons, sky diving, canyoneering, and scuba diving. While I may not be afraid to take on these experiences; injuries terrify me!

When I recently learned that I would need to undergo surgery to fix a shoulder injury, all I wanted to do was fly home and have Mommy soothe my fears. Unbelievable! The idea of going under the knife sends a chill down my spine that only Mom can calm. What’s insane is that after a few sports-related injuries, you’d think I’d be used to orthopedic surgeons.

The more I thought about why I turned into such a baby, it became clear. When I was young and suffered from acute asthma, I’d wind up getting quite a few shots during my visit to the doctor. After every visit, Mom would take me to get pistachio ice cream. When I had knee surgery, after a snowboarding accident, Mom would make me scones while I recovered at home.

Clearly, only ice cream and Mom’s chocolate scones can heal an injury.

Spring Cleaning Your Refrigerator
It is that time of year again where our thoughts turn to freshening up our homes and restoring order in our cluttered spaces. Of course, our homes might not be the only thing that is being neglected. Our appliances in our home can often get overlooked, but maintaining them is essential for your home to run smoothly and to save your family money.

Your refrigerator might be one of those appliances that may get overlooked, but it is one of the most important appliances in a home. Simple maintenance and cleaning procedures though can greatly extend the life & efficiency of your refrigerator.

Today I wanted to share with you some tips for spring cleaning your refrigerator and keeping it running smoothly for your family.

Vacuum Your Condenser Coils
When was the last time you vacuumed the condenser coils on your refrigerator? This is the perfect time of year to tackle this to help your fridge run smoothly through those looming hot summer days. To maintain your refrigerator, this simple task should be done once every three to six months.

Begin by unplugging your refrigerator and locate the condenser coils on your refrigerator. Older refrigerators have the coil (a grid-like structure) mounted on the rear of the refrigerator. Newer refrigerators usually have the condenser coil placed at the bottom of the fridge. You can use a flashlight to assist locating the coil and fan if needed.

With a plastic crevice or brush attachment, carefully vacuum dirt and dust wherever it is seen. Be very careful to not damage the fins or coil. If the fan is visible and accessible, cleaning it will help it move air across the condenser coil as designed. Dirt and dust, if allowed to accumulate on the fan blades, decreases airflow, which can affect balance and can contribute to early failure of the compressor.

Deep Clean the Interior
The interior of your refrigerator can benefit from a periodic deep cleaning. I recommend tackling this task the day before you go to restock your refrigerator to cut down on items that need to be moved around, as well as to help establish inventory of items needed.

You will need two dishwashing tubs and a cookie sheet to clean the interior of your refrigerator. Begin by filling one of these tubs with two tablespoons of baking soda and one quart of warm water for wiping down the interior of your refrigerator. Then use your cookie sheet and other dishwashing tub to put all of the condiments on and empty your drawers into for removing items quickly and easily so you can wipe down the interior without a hassle.

Before cleaning the interior of the fridge, fill each drawer with the same amount of baking soda solution in each one and let the baking soda solution do the dirty work of cleaning them while you are wiping out the inside of the fridge.

Using a rag or microfiber cloth, dampen the cloth with the baking soda solution. Gently wipe the interior of the refrigerator and all of the surfaces. If the washing solution begins to look murky, be sure to dump it and get another tub full for cleaning. For any stuck interior stains, you can sprinkle a little baking soda directly on the spot and add just a little water to it to make a paste. Allow the paste to work on the setin stain and then scrub gently to remove the gunk.

Go back to your drawers and empty them and wipe the interiors of these. Now place these back into the fridge and then take your dishwashing tub of solution and empty it into the sink.

Refill the tub with just warm water and add a dash of lemon juice to the water. Use your rag to do a final swipe using just this water & lemon juice solution. This will remove any grit that might be left in the fridge and the lemon juice will give it a nice fresh scent throughout. Dry thoroughly with a terry towel.
Take your cookie sheet of condiments and make sure to give each of these a quick swipe with the rag before returning them. Half the battle is not having clean items in your fridge and this is a good way to start fresh. Return all of the items in the other tub to their proper homes.

Clean the Exterior
The exterior of your fridge can often be overlooked, but it needs attention too. As a mother of two little ones, fingerprints and smudges are all over my fridge on any given day. To remove these, I use an all-purpose cleaner on my fridge.

You can use a microfiber cloth to clean the outside of your refrigerator, as it is gentle but also abrasive enough to remove any marks. Any scuffs still left? Break out your Mr. Clean Eraser (a mom’s best friend!) You can find a generic equivalent of one of these at your local dollar store.

If you have a stainless steel appliance, dip your microfiber cloth into a little vinegar and give the outside of the fridge a good swiping with the vinegar. Then give the appliance another swipe with just plain water and dry thoroughly with a terry towel.

In our family, we are always looking for opportunities to celebrate. A few years ago, we started incorporating Earth Day into our families list of many celebrations. Celebrating this holiday gives us the opportunity to teach our children about the importance of caring for the Earth. To us, it is more than wearing an Earth Day t-shirt. It is a concious decision to make great choices for our family. It is in the little things that we do every day, like making the switch to cloth items and making green cleaners for our family, to the bigger things like choosing the right appliances for our home and making sustainable choices for our planet.
I wanted to share with you some fun ways that you can celebrate Earth Day, on April 22nd, and do something fun with your family that embraces this wonderful holiday.

Spend the Day Embracing Nature- I can fully admit that we are not much of an outdoor family. That being said, when it comes to celebrating Earth Day, there is no better way to spend it than being out in nature and being thankful for all that the planet can offer you.

Spend the day at the local park and blaze some trails together. Get lost and then find your way back again. Point out things in nature and breathe in the fresh air. Make this family outing a part of your Earth Day traditions and I promise that it will be a day that your family will never forget.

Cook an Earth Day Meal Together- Head to the local Farmer’s Market and have your kids pick out a new fruit or vegetable to try. Purchase local foods and choose ingredients that have a minimal impact on the environment. Pair your meal with a great documentary that teaches kids about where their food comes from. Our kids absolutely loved, “What’s On Your Plate,” which offers information about food told by two eleven year-old girls that are learning about how our food is made and making great choices for the Earth and their bodies (available on instant stream on Netflix). Have a great family discussion after the show.

Plant a Garden- Depending on your growing season, planting a garden together is a great family activity and is a great way to use the plot of Earth you have right in your very own backyard. Our family loves to create a small garden together. If you are just venturing into creating a garden for yourself, start simply with plants that are hearty and easy to grow. We love to load our garden up with herbs and tomatoes and have had great success with these. Have your kids help you with the planting and maintaining your family garden. Include them in the process of selecting the plants and let each child pick one item that they would like to grow.

Talk About the Choices You Make- I know for us, many of the routines that we do in our home most likely go unnoticed in our family. You may be using cloth grocery bags, but have you ever explained why you don’t use plastic. You may choose appliances with energy-efficient features, but do you explain what this means and how it helps the Earth and saves you money? Part of getting our children to make good choices is making them a part of the dialog.

Looking for a great pie recipe? Chef Kari Karch demonstrates the authentic way to make America’s favorite, The Key Lime Pie!

For more recipes and tips, check out http://inspiration.kenmore.com/

Just because you have a gluten allergy doesn’t mean you have to miss out on this slice of heaven…

Chef Kari Karch shows step-by-step how to easily bake a chocolate raspberry ganache cake so delicious, no one at the party will know that it’s gluten free!

For more tips and recipes make sure to check out our Genius blog at http://inspiration.kenmore.com/

Recipe:

• 1 cup whipping cream
• 2 1/2 cups semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons raspberry liqueur
• 7 organic free-range eggs
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 pint fresh raspberries

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the inside bottom of a 9-inch Springform cake pan with a circle of parchment paper. Wrap a large piece of foil around the outside of the pan, covering the bottom and sides, to catch any leaking drips. Set aside.

In a medium sauce pan, gently heat the cream over low heat. When the cream is fairly hot, melt the chocolate chips by adding them slowly to the pan as you whisk. Add the butter, in pieces. Whisk until the chocolate and butter are melted. Add the vanilla extract. As soon as the mixture is melted, smooth, and glossy remove it from the heat.

Using a wire whisk attachment, beat the eggs, light brown sugar and sea salt until the eggs are foamy and doubled in volume, roughly 3-4 minutes.

Slowly add the cooling chocolate mixture to the eggs, and beat gently until combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.

Bake in the center of a pre-heated oven for one hour, until the cake is set and cracked. It will still appear a bit loose in the center, underneath.

Place the cake pan on a wire rack to cool. When the cake is close to room temperature, lightly cover and chill the cake overnight.

Before serving, gently loosen the cake from the sides of the pan using a thin flexible spatula. Release the Springform clasp and remove the ring. Place the cake on a cake plate.

Top with raspberries

Looking for a great pork shoulder recipe? Chef Kari Karch has got you covered with these delicious barbeque sliders hot out of her Kenmore slow cooker!
She also talks about food safety tips and energy efficiency in the kitchen.

Recipe:

• Slow Cooker Cowboy Sliders
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 (4 pound) pork shoulder roast
• 1 cup barbeque sauce
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 extra large onion, chopped
• 2 large cloves garlic, crushed
• 8 Hawaiian dinner rolls, split
• ½ cup bread and butter pickles
• 1 cup prepared coleslaw

Directions:

Pour the vegetable oil into the bottom of a slow cooker. Place the pork roast into the slow cooker; pour in the barbecue sauce, apple cider vinegar, and chicken broth. Stir in the brown sugar, yellow mustard, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, onion, garlic, and thyme. Cover and cook on High until the roast shreds easily with a fork, 5 to 6 hours.

Remove the roast from the slow cooker, and shred the meat using two forks. Return the shredded pork to the slow cooker, and stir the meat into the juices.

Place a small amount of coleslaw on bun, top with pork and pickle. Serve.

Accela-Wash™ gets clothes cleaner, faster with over 35% faster wash cycles using Active Spray™ and Active Rinse™. *

*With Accela-Wash feature activated washing an 8 lb. load on Normal cycle.

Want a smart way to deal with floorcare? Check out The Kenmore Pogressive Canister Vacuum! It’s so smart it even tells you when your bag is full. It also knows when dirt’s there and when it’s not. Take a look and see for yourself!

For more information check out: http://www.kenmore.com/shc/s/p_10154_12604_02021714000P…

Can’t reach the dust bunnies on those high ceilings with your vacuum cleaner? The Kenmore Progressive Vacuum Cleaner not only has an 8-foot hose with telescoping wand to reach those high places, it also has an LED light to show you dirt you may have missed before.

The Kenmore Progressive Vacuum is also proud to show off its AAFA certification and true HEPA filter that catches 99.97% of all dust, dirt and allergens.

For more information, check out http://www.kenmore.com/shc/s/p_10154_12604_02021714000P?intcmp=km_newprogress…

Looking for an easier way to deal with pet hair on your favorite easy chair? Look no further! The Kenmore Progressive Canister Vacuum Cleaner’s Pet PowerMate attachment is so progressive it has its own motor right inside for extra power to clean that “everywhere” pet hair.

As part of its arsenal of 6 powerful cleaning tools, the Kenmore Progressive Canister Vacuum has a crevice tool perfect for getting into tight spots as well as a dusting brush, progressively fitted with natural horsehair bristles, instead of synthetic to trap more dust AND prevent scratches on your furniture.

For more information, check out http://www.kenmore.com/shc/s/p_10154_12604_02021714000P?keyword=kenmore+progr…

As we look to honor women’s courage and creativity in March – Women’s History Month – a plethora of impressive names come to mind: Susan B. Anthony, Amelia Earhardt, Mother Theresa, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Indira Ghandi, Clara Barton, Joan of Arc. We have no dirth of courage in our midst. But somehow, there are two that have always stood out to me, spoken to me with their words, their tenacity, and their style. Yes, their style. Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas didn’t just lord over the most important salon of the century and inspire a whole new artistic and literary language, they did it with style.

A dear friend once wrote to me, “I’ve always seen you as very Steinish. Your apartments were always welcoming places where people wanted to hang out and eat good, simple food. And there was always wine.” Indeed. And it was that same friend, a writing partner, who later would accompany me almost weekly to a dark corner of Fugaise, a Minneapolis restaurant since closed, to write over mussels in cream sauce and a bottle of champagne.

For as we continue our day-to-day struggles and day-to-day chores, we should never lose sight of life’s simple pleasures.

Here’s a recipe adapted from the Alice B. Toklas Cookbook: Mussels in Cream Sauce – a treasure. Enjoy – preferably with a bottle of champagne!

Ingredients

• 2 qts mussels
• 3 shallots
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh fennel or 2 tsp fennel seed
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tbsp saffron
• 2 tbsp flour
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• fresh parsley
• optional: 1/4 cup of white wine

Melt 3 tbsp butter in a large saucepan and add chopped shallots, fennel (chopped or seeds), crushed garlic, salt and pepper. Scrub and wash the mussels and add to the pot. Cover and cook over high heat for 4 or 5 minutes – until the shells open. Remove the mussels from the pan, and then from their shells, draining and reserving the juice in a separate bowl as you go. Strain the juice with a cloth sieve and put back in pot over low heat. When hot, add saffron and stir well. If you are adding wine, do so now. Add flour and stir with wooden spoon until the sauce thickens – about 5 minutes. Add the mussels. Reduce heat and slowly stir in cream. When it is steaming hot (but not boiling) remove from heat, pour into a deep serving dish, and sprinkle with parsley. You are ready to serve.

“If one likes mussels at all one likes them madly, and that is the reason there are so many recipes for their preparation amongst the treasure.” – Alice B. Toklas

Mom has been calling me on a daily basis for quite a while now.

I don’t remember when it started but it has never really bothered me until recently. In full disclosure, her phone calls are usually blessings and well wishes which last less than a minute. I didn’t mind the calls so much since mom always gave us a hug or kiss in the cheek before sending us off to school when we were younger. Her daily calls had become somewhat of a substitute for our school-days exchange.

However a month ago, I told her that her daily calls made me feel like she did not trust that I was making the right decisions. The call ended amicably and we settled on having a call every three days. One day later, I felt so awful that I called her and apologized. I understood all mom wanted to do was hear my voice. In mom’s eyes, I still think she sees me as her small boy.

Mom is not part of any online social networks and we only see each other around the big holidays. She has recently embraced text messaging but she always tells us she prefers to her our voices

Her calls weren’t a question on my decision-making it was just her being mom.

My birthday celebration took an unexpected detour; a visit to the gym. Forget about baking a cake and blowing out the candles, I joined a gym and had a fitness consultation.

Now, before I share the results of my consultation, you have to understand I did not have a reason to believe I was out of shape. I’ve ran five marathons, competed in two triathlons, and just finished running a half-marathon in Dallas with no training whatsoever. In other words, I’d grown to take my personal fitness and health for granted. That all changed when I learned that my body fat percentage had ballooned to 23%, a threefold increase compared to 2008 where it stood at 7%. Talk about a birthday surprise!

Like any normal person, I was in denial for the first few minutes. I did not want to admit, that my eating habits had fallen of the wagon.  When I look back in 2008, I was disciplined around what I was eating, how often and when. The only sound excuse I had to help justify my new body composition was that life had gotten in the way. So instead of dwelling on what got me here, I’ve decided to travel back in time and reclaim those simple eating and nutrition habits I had lost.

Some of those habits are pretty easy like eating more fruits and vegetables. Others are a little more challenging to implement specially eating breakfast. My breakfast currently consist of drinking 32oz. of unsweetened green tea. Yes, I know breakfast is the most important meal of the day but at 6am it’s the last thing to cross my mind.

So for the next few months, I will be making a lot of changes to my diet and eating habits. I’ve already invested in olive oil, grapefruit, and quinoa. Now it’s a matter of learning how these all fit together.

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, I think I’ll start these changes on Wednesday!

Here are a few tips in the meantime.

Kenmore Live Studio: Slim Down During the Holidays

Here at the Kenmore Live Studio host Kari Karch introduces Jessica Altieri of Wine Channel TV and Sarah Burton of Cloudy Bay Wines. Both talents speak to celebrating Waitangi Day again this year and give background to Complexity’s fine wine selection. Throughout the show our talents and audience members taste both white and red wines and even pair them to the amazing food prepared by Bill Kim, who is the Chef/Owner of Urban Belly and Belly Shack. Come learn what white wines go best with Bill’s amazing salmon and what reds mix perfectly with his venison dish. This highlights video will show you everything that happened during the Kenmore Live Studio’s Waitangi Day 2012 celebration event!

With the big game out of the way, now I can concentrate on one of my favorite holidays, my birthday.

Growing up, mom always made sure to make my birthday special. As a child, this included piñatas, clowns, parties, and having lots of family and friends over the house. As I got older, moved to college, started my first job, and eventually moved out on my own, I’ve managed to keep some of these traditions alive. In many ways, these traditions remind of being home, mom preparing my favorite meal, and spending time with my family.

This year however I have been dreading my birthday because I imagined that by now (somewhere close to being 30) I would have been in a different place. By a different place, I mean married and starting a family. It’s hard not to feel this way when most of my peers are either tying the knot or welcoming new members to their family. My own little sister is a mom to two toddlers!

Now here is the problem, I know I am not ready for marriage or to be a poppa. For one, I enjoy being single. Second, my idea of raising kids has always involved boarding school. Third, I am terrified of having to share a bathroom or having to start buying double-ply tissue paper.

So for my birthday this year, I am going to buy a stand-mixer and bake myself a cake. I am going to figure out how the oven works and buy a spatula (I imagine you will need one of these). Instead of focusing on where I thought I should have been by now, I’ll start by learning a few basic lessons.

I imagine I will call mom and ask for her for help baking the cake.

Here at the Kenmore Live Studio host Kari Karch introduces Jessica Altieri of Wine Channel TV and Sarah Burton of Cloudy Bay Wines. Both talents speak to celebrating Waitangi Day again this year and give background to Complexity’s fine wine selection. Throughout the show our talents and audience members taste both white and red wines and even pair them to the amazing food prepared by Bill Kim, who is the Chef/Owner of Urban Belly and Belly Shack. Come learn what white wines go best with Bill’s amazing salmon and what reds mix perfectly with his venison dish.

Each Valentine’s Day I try to create a fun dish that my kids will love and will be an entertaining way to celebrate the holiday. We have done everything from creating heart-shaped pizzas, to baking piles of donuts in red & pink sprinkles, to creating heart-shaped calzones with a delicious red dipping sauce. Thanks to a heart-shaped cookie cutter in my arsenal of baking supplies, there is very few dishes that can’t be given a Valentine’s Day spin in our home.

This year I wanted to try something that I have always wanted to try myself- a frozen hot chocolate drink. The frozen hot chocolate drink is the signature sweet treat at Serendipity in NYC. Unfortunately, our very Midwest family doesn’t live anywhere near Serendipity, but that definitely does not mean that we can’t enjoy them at home.
What is a frozen hot chocolate exactly? Just as the name states, these tempting treats are created using a hot cocoa mix, but instead of preparing it hot, it is prepared frozen. After a long day at school, these were the perfect way to say, “I love you,” and are a fun creation to create for those special kids in your life.

My kids absolutely loved these and I think this is going to be our family’s new way to celebrate Valentine’s Day. With just a few simple ingredients, these frozen hot chocolates are a treat that your kids will long remember you for.

Frozen Hot Chocolate

• 3 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
• 1 package Hot Cocoa Mix (I used my homemade cocoa mix for this- approximately 3 Tablespoons)
• 2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
• ⅓ cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• ⅓ cups White Chocolate Chips
• 12 ounces, fluid Can Evaporated Milk, Divided
• 4 cups Ice
• Whipped Cream

Combine sugar, cocoa mix, and butter in the top of a double boiler that is set over gently boiling water. Stir often until melted and a smooth paste forms. Add semi-sweet & white chocolate chips; stir. When chips begin to melt, slowly stir in 1/2 cup of evaporated milk. Stir until smooth. Cool to room temperature.
Combine the chocolate base mixture, the remaining evaporated milk and ice in a blender (you can do this in batches) and cover. Blend until smooth. Pour into frosty glasses. Top each with whipped cream. Sprinkle with additional chopped chocolate chips or mini marshmallows, if desired.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Serving Size: Serves 4
Recipe Source: Tasty Kitchen

My husband and I have been together since my junior year in high school which is an awfully long time now that we have been married for eleven years and have two children of our own. I am sure you can imagine how Valentine’s Day dinners have evolved since our early years of dating. We have gone from a jar of mom’s Ragu sauce and a box of spaghetti to fancy restaurant dates out to returning to delicious dinners at home.

When our children were small, we didn’t have a lot of money to splurge on a dinner out and a babysitter. We learned that taking advantage of those hours after they went to bed and relocating our setting to another location in the house made for a romantic evening without the ouch factor to our wallet.

Set up your dinner somewhere new whether it is dressing up a simple folding table with a pretty tablecloth, using the dining room (maybe for the first time), or just sitting a few pillows on the floor and setting the table on the coffee table. Just a change in scenery can make it feel like a bit of a getaway even when you are in your own home. Don’t forget to break out the beautiful things you have tucked away in your cupboards.

After being together as long as we have, the romance stays alive through our mutual appreciation for each other, good food, good wine, and great films. I love to pair a delicious dish with a great bottle of vino and a fun rental from Redbox or Netflix.

I wanted to share with you the recipes I will be using for our elegant feast at home to help inspire your own Valentine’s Day evening in. Save your money and create a restaurant-worthy evening at home!
Yes, the romance is still alive in our house even if our dinners have evolved from nights spent out to nights in so we don’t have to get a sitter. I hope you can try a few of these ideas for a romantic night in with your loved one!

This Penne with Spicy Vodka Cream Sauce was an amazingly easy and delicious dish that would be perfect for entertaining or just a midweek luxury meal for a cheap date night at home. Almost as easy as just opening a jar of sauce and a fraction of the jarred vodka sauces on the shelves, it is a recipe that is a surefire winner. It is creamy, hits you with a little hint of heat from a little red pepper flake, and a sauce that really does a great job hugging the noodles perfectly.

Penne With Spicy Vodka Cream Sauce

• 1 pound uncooked penne pasta
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup vodka
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 pound sweet Italian sausage

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain. In large skillet, heat oil over moderate heat. Remove casing from sausage and add to skillet. Cook, breaking up the meat, until brown. Add garlic and red pepper and cook, stirring until garlic is golden brown (approximately one minute). Add tomatoes and salt; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Add vodka and cream and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and add pasta, toss for 1 minute. Stir in fresh parsley and serve!
Side Note: When reheating this dish, rewarm in a skillet and add a little milk to the sauce to restore the creamy consistency of it.
Recipe Source: Adapted from AllRecipes.com

It is all about fun meal traditions in our house and one of our favorite traditions is to share a cupcake at the end of our fancier meals. If you haven’t sampled a Magnolia Bakery cupcake, you are in for a real treat with this recipe. These vanilla cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery are divine and the buttercream icing is absolute perfection for piping and for eating. The icing hardens to add a bit of crunch texture to the top, while the vanilla cake itself remains moist and delicious.

Cupcakes
Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Icing:

• Vanilla Buttercream, recipe follows

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 2 (1/2 cup-12 capacity) muffin tins with cupcake papers.
In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Vanilla Buttercream:
The vanilla buttercream we use at the bakery is technically not a buttercream but actually an old-fashioned confectioners’ sugar and butter frosting. Be sure to beat the icing for the amount of time called for in the recipe to achieve the desired creamy texture.

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 6 to 8 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly. (Use and store the icing at room temperature because icing will set if chilled.) Icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 8-1o hours
Serving Size: 24 cupcakes
Source: Food Network

How do you celebrate Valentine’s Day with your spouse? Do you have any special dinner traditions?

We’re very excited about our impending Blogger Summit this weekend, to which we have invited some of the country’s top parenting bloggers along with other pretty incredible talent.

Kenmore is rolling out the red carpet at the Kenmore Live Studio to showcase home innovations and exciting content. We’ve got a great line-up with exciting activities, great local chefs and talent, and acclaimed presenters from Wired and Google. But best of all, we get to meet 43 of the country’s top parenting bloggers in person, dialog with them, and get their input about what makes an appliance great and how we can make their lives easier. We’re looking forward to putting faces to those great posts we’ve been reading for weeks, months, and years, in some cases.

Stay tuned for great updates, photos, and video clips!

Here are 3 easy ways to keep your stainless steel appliances smudge free:

1) Clean the natural way with water and a cloth or a mild, natural detergent. Towel dry to prevent water spots.

2) Use glass cleaner or household ammonia to vanish fingerprints. Rinse thoroughly and towel dry.

3) Polish your stainless steel to a brilliant shine with a designated stainless steel cleaner. It can also help minimize scratching and remove stains. Be sure to follow directions carefully.

ENERGY STAR® rated appliances use less water and energy, which can help reduce utility bills! Look for high efficiency appliances that are CEE* rated from 1 – 3, (3 being the highest). This means they exceed ENERGY STAR® requirements to help you maximize savings!

*Consortium for Energy Efficiency.

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Whether you’re trying to lose a few extra pounds leftover from the holidays or just need a year-round healthy snack option, jicama is a tasty alternative to your normal crudites such as carrot or celery sticks.

You may have seen jicama in the grocery store and turned the other way, thinking “what is that ugly bulbous thing?” The bad news: it’s delicious and you’ve been missing out. Jicama can range from as small as the size of a plum to several pounds, so they may not always look the same. Admittedly, they’re not easy on the eyes, but I promise they make up for it with the taste. The good news: you can find it in just about any grocery store, so you don’t have to go to a Latin grocer to find it like you do with some other kinds of produce popular in Latin diets.

Jicama, also sometimes known as yam bean root or Mexican potato, is a root vegetable with high water content, a crunchy texture and a slightly sweet or nutty flavor. It’s commonly eaten in Mexico and other Latin American countries, as well as the Philippines, where it’s said to have been brought by the Spanish galleons.

It’s a light and refreshing vegetable that makes a great healthy snack or an addition to a salad. You can even use it in a warm dish like stir-fry. If you only cook it for a few minutes, it retains its crunchiness and can be a great substitute for water chestnuts.

To eat jicama, I usually remove the skin one of two ways:

• Make a small cut and peel the skin away, then cutting it up
• Cut quarter-inch thick slices and use a knife to remove the skin around the edges

To prepare jicama as a very traditional Mexican snack, it couldn’t be easier. All you need to do is cut the jicama into sticks, like you would with carrot sticks. Squeeze fresh lime juice over the top and then sprinkle with a chile powder meant for snacking such as Tajín, chilito en polvo or chile en polvo para naranja. You can find these in the snack aisle of any Latin grocer. Usually, these chile powders for snacks are made up of ground chile flakes, salt and dehydrated lime juice. You can shake on as much or as little as you like to give your jicama a little salty-spicy kick.

A one-cup serving of jicama is roughly 46 calories, about 6 grams of fiber and it’s composition is 91 percent carbohydrates, seven percent protein and two percent fat, so it’s very healthy. As they start to go bad, they will shrivel slightly and the fibers will start to break down and get sweeter.

To keep your jicama fresh, you should keep it in the refrigerator in an airtight container or plastic zippered bag. Ideally, you should remove the skin and cut it just before you plan to eat it, but they’ll still taste fine if you want to cut up your jicama sticks the day before and refrigerate them overnight.

Another great way to use jicama is when the weather gets warm, you can put a popsicle stick in a slice of jicama, dip it in your favorite salsa or chamoy (the kind you use for botanas like the one I’ve talked about before when I showed you how to make chicharrones de harina), stick it in the freezer for a few hours and you’ll have what we call jicaletas!

Create your own Advent Calendar from two muffins, scrapbook paper, and a little ribbon.  Cut circles out of your scrapbook paper by tracing a glass or jar and number them from 1-24. Cut another set of circles and jot down inexpensive activities that you would like to do for the holidays. Place your activities into each of the muffin holders and then cover with one of your numbers. Tie a little ribbon on top and hang the muffin tin on a nail in your kitchen and prop up with a picture frame holder. Each day draw an activity to do with your kids as you countdown to Christmas together.

Tip 2: Have a Gingerbread Kind of Day

Gingerbread house making is one of our favorite activities. Little ones can become impatient with the task of putting the gingerbread houses together and can be rough with the delicate construction. Skip the icing packets and use your hot glue gun to pull the houses together to create a stable surface.  When you are done making your houses, serve my favorite Gingerbread Waffles for a fun gingerbread day! 

Gingerbread Waffles

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs
• 2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter, plus some to butter the iron
• Syrup, whipped cream or fresh fruits for topping, to pass at table

Preheat waffles iron. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. In a medium bowl, beat eggs and brown sugar until fluffy, then beat in pumpkin, milk, molasses and melted butter. Stir the wet into dry until just moist. Brush the iron with a little melted butter and cook waffles. Serve with toppings of choice.

Tip 3: Cookie Decorating & Family Photos in One

When my children were small, it was impossible to get them to pose or smile for the camera, let alone get a great family picture for our holiday cards. Consider hiring a photographer or having a budding photographer friend come over and take pictures as you decorate and make your holiday cookies this year.  Not only will you have lots of yummy treats to hand out to friends and family, but you will have your family pictures done in the process. I call that a win-win situation!

Tip 4: Skip the Post Office This Year

One of the best investments I ever made for our family was buying my very own postal scale for home. You can find them at your local post office or inexpensively on eBay. From the comfort of your own house, you can weigh your packages and have them picked up on your doorstep. Free shipping supplies can be found through USPS and can be shipped directly to your home. Make sure to have all of your helpers assist you with stamping and sealing of those Christmas cards and enjoy doing it all while sipping cocoa in your toasty house instead of waiting in line this year.

Tip 5: Biscotti Makes the Perfect Gift

Biscotti is my favorite gift to give to all of the helpers in our life. This Snickerdoodle Biscotti is not only delicious, but also light in calories. Wrap the biscotti in clear party favor bags, tie with festive ribbon, and place in a pretty mug for those special people in your life!

Light Snickerdoodle Biscotti

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 large egg white

Preheat Oven to 350. Measure flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and cream of tartar in a large mixing bow bowl. Mix Oil Vanilla and whole eggs in a small bowl and add to the large bowl, your dough will be dry and quite crumbly. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead until it pulls together into a ball. Divide in half. Shape each portion into a roll about 8 inches long, and place them six or so inches apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment. Flatten each roll to 1 inch thick. Combine the 2 tablespoons Sugar and cinnamon, then gently brush the tops of the rolls with the egg white and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Remove from the sheet and cool for 15 minutes. Cut diagonally into 1/2 inch slices and lay them cut sides down on the cookie sheet again. Reduce oven temp to 325 and then bake 10 more minutes, turn over and bake 10 more. They’ll be soft in the middle but will harden as they cool. Cool completely on a wire rack and store in an airtight container.

Desserts are a staple in my home during the holidays, and whenever we head to visit family or friends and we’re asked to bring something, I almost always volunteer to bring the sweets.

And to me, there’s no more special touch to a homemade pie or other baked good than homemade whipped cream!

Hold on, now. I know what you’re thinking. Homemade whipped cream is probably hard to make and time-consuming, and blah blah blah. Let me stop you. I admit I grew up eating—gasp—whipped cream from an aerosol can on my pie. The first time I made homemade whipped cream it seemed daunting. I made the mistake of trying to do it with a whisk and the cream wasn’t cold enough. It was a huge failure and I had just about given up and was thinking about going back to the can.

Then, a friend shared a tip with me that changed my outlook on homemade whipped cream forever. The best way to make homemade whipped cream (and without a mess) is easy and you can use a familiar kitchen appliance you probably never thought of using to make whipped cream before—a food processor.

I was a bit skeptical at first, but willing to try it out because I love the taste of homemade whipped cream. After several tries, I finally developed a pretty perfect method, which I’m sharing here with you. The key to getting this right is that the whipping cream needs to be extremely cold. My best advice to get it to the right temperature is to put it in the freezer for about an hour, making sure you shake the container every 10-15 minutes so that the cream doesn’t freeze completely, but ice crystals still start to form along the sides.

What makes this recipe special from regular whipped cream is that I’ve added cajeta, a goat’s milk caramel, which will give it a beautiful light brown color and a sweet, distinctive caramel taste. It goes great on top of pumpkin pie, apple pie, and just about any other pie, cake, tart or other baked good that you might be serving during the holidays or for a special occasion.

You’ll need:

• 2 cups (1 pint) of whipping cream
• 2 teaspoons of granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons cajeta

I used my Kenmore Elite food processor for this recipe.

Begin by chilling the whipping cream in the freezer for up to an hour, making sure to shake the container every 10-15 minutes so that the cream doesn’t freeze completely. It’s perfectly fine if ice crystals form along the sides or the cream gets little ice chunks in it when you pour it into the food processor. Pour it in and secure the food processor top.

Run the processor for about a minute or two, then add the 2 teaspoons of granulated sugar. Keep running the processor for another minute or two. You may want to stop the motor briefly and open the lid to make sure that the cream is beginning to thicken. If necessary, use a spatula to push any whipped cream down the wall of the bowl.

Turn the processor back on and let it run for about 30 seconds. Begin to slowly add the cajeta. I prefer about 2 tablespoons so it’s not as sweet, but you can add up to 3 tablespoons if you like. Run the processor until the cajeta is incorporated. Unplug your food processor and use a rubber spatula to spoon the whipped cream out of the bowl.

You can serve immediately or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

With Thanksgiving coming up, I always face a unique challenge: my husband doesn’t really like turkey. In Mexico, they also don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, so this was not a holiday he grew up with and had strong preferences about certain dishes like I did. (Except pumpkin pie with homemade whipped cream, which is one of his favorites.)

When we got married, I knew that Thanksgiving was going to be somewhat of a tough sell for him to really enjoy a meal centered around turkey and so I began thinking of ways that I could modify our traditions a little to include some Mexican touches to the menu.

Every year, I try a few small modifications. For example, last year I made an extra turkey breast that I injected with tequila on the advice of chef Marcela Valladolid (she has a show on the Food Network—”Mexican Made Easy”—and now two cookbooks) when I met her during her visit to Chicago a few weeks before Thanksgiving.  That tip got rave reviews at my dinner table and I think I’ll do it again this year. (You can check out The Other Side of The Tortilla for a warm winter margarita recipe adapted from Marcela that has also become a fast holiday favorite in my house.)

But one change that has gone over really well with the entire family is that alongside the pumpkin pie, I also serve pumpkin flan. Some years, the flan has even disappeared before the pie, with some relatives crossing forks over who gets the last bite.

You can make one large flan if you like, or if you want to change it up a bit, you could also make individual sized portions in small ceramic dishes or using a silicone cupcake mold (using a cookie sheet underneath for stability).

The best part is not just the taste of the pumpkin flan, but also how easy it is to make. You can put all the ingredients right into your blender and pour directly into the mold before baking!

You’ll need:

• A Kenmore blender
• A baking mold for your flan, or individual sized dishes
• A 9×13 Pyrex baking dish, similar ceramic baking dish or a 9×13 cake pan

Ingredients:

• Store-bought caramel sauce (preferably cajeta, a goat’s milk caramel)
• 1 cup of canned pumpkin puree
• 3 eggs
• 7 ounces of sweetened condensed milk (Lechera), about half a can
• 6 ounces of evaporated milk, about half a can
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 4 ounces of water

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Add all the ingredients except the caramel sauce to your blender. Puree until completely smooth.

Heat the caramel sauce in a small dish in the microwave for 10-15 seconds so it’s not so viscous, and spread a layer in the bottom of the dish or mold you intend to bake your flan in. Your caramel should not be any thicker than 1/4 of an inch. Let it cool for a few minutes before you move on.

Then, gently pour the contents of the blender over the caramel and only fill the mold or dish about three-quarters of the way full because upon baking, you don’t want the flan to rise and spill.

Put the flan mold or individual dishes inside of the 9×13 baking dish. Fill the baking dish with warm water until it’s about half-way full. This water bath will keep your flan moist.

Bake for about one hour or until you can insert a sharp knife into the flan and it comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and the water bath and set on a towel on the counter to cool. When it’s at almost room temperature, loosen the sides with a rubber spatula or a knife and invert the flan over a serving dish or individual dessert plates. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until you plan to serve it, so it’s ready to go when you’re ready to serve dessert.

You can add a dollop of whipped cream on each serving if you like. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Yields three cups of flan (one big flan or 6 individual half-cup servings). Double the recipe to make two large flan or 12 individual half-cup servings.

You can reference my earlier post about easy flan-making  here on the Kenmore Genius Blog if you want to try other flavors, too.

• Do you make any special dishes for Thanksgiving to incorporate multicultural traditions or flavors?

One of my favorites is called chicharrones de harina, and they’re a puffy, fried wheat snack that gets doused in fresh lime juice and salsa. You may have noticed them hanging from a vendor’s cart, often resembling the shape of a wagon wheel. The most common way you see it served is in a plastic bag; you just squeeze the lime juice into the bag, add salsa, close the bag and shake it to distribute the lime and salsa. It’s the perfect to-go snack!

When you buy chicharrones de harina in the grocery store, they look like hard pellets and are almost always orange in color. The secret is to fry them evenly to get them to puff up properly. They don’t need to be fried for long; just long enough so that they look light and airy.

It’s OK if you burn the first few—you should definitely practice before starting to fry a large batch so that you don’t ruin them. They’re very inexpensive but if you can’t find them locally and are ordering them online, you’ll be glad you practiced before frying the whole batch. Practicing will let you determine whether you’ve got the right oil temperature, especially if you don’t use a thermometer to figure out if your oil is too hot or not.

As a rule of thumb with all frying, if you put a piece into the oil and it doesn’t start to bubble, it’s not hot enough yet. On the other hand, you don’t want the oil so hot that it begins to splatter, so try to keep it at a happy medium. Here’s a video to teach you exactly how to do it. That’s me with my Kenmore portable induction cooktop!

You’ll need:
One 8 or 10 oz. bag of chicharrones de harina (can be found in most Latin grocers, in the Hispanic foods aisle at many mainstream grocers or online for less than $3/bag)
1 cup vegetable or corn oil
Fresh limes
Salsa botanera or chamoy

Instructions:
Heat one cup of oil in a pan over medium-high heat.

Use the first few pieces to test and see how long they need to stay in to puff correctly and how hot the oil is in case you need to adjust the heat, so you can get a feel for how long they need to stay in the oil.

Once you begin cooking the chicharrones, be sure you have a slotted spoon to transfer them to a plate lined with paper towels so they can drain easily. If it seems that the chicharrones are not puffing evenly on both sides, use the slotted spoon to flip them over. Fry as many chicharrones as you want and then turn off your heat source.

When you’re ready to eat, put them into a bowl and squeeze lime juice over them and add as much salsa as you like. The lime juice will make the chicharrones crackle, which is completely normal. Don’t add too much lime juice or the chicharrones will start to disintegrate if you don’t eat them fast enough.

Store any leftover chicharrones (that you haven’t doused in lime and salsa) in an airtight container or bag, making sure there is no moisture. They’ll last for a couple of days, but you probably won’t be able to resist them for that long.

It’s officially fall and that can only mean one thing in my house: bring on the soups!

I love all kinds of soup, from broth to a heavy cream soup. And what’s better than a little cup of soup with lunch or dinner to warm you up? Beans are also a staple in my house, so it seems obvious that we’d also use them to make a hearty soup.

Making soup in the blender is a fantastic trick to cut down on time prepping and cooking for your family. Growing up, my mom used to make an awesome vegetarian tortilla soup in the blender, so I guess that’s where I first learned this method!

Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce add a little spice to the soup and give it a robust, smoky flavor.

This recipe is both easy and quick; you can prepare and cook it in about 15 minutes. It’s also healthy; no frying with oil and no fat additives, so the recipe is low in fat and high in fiber. You shouldn’t need to add any salt, as there is sodium in the chicken broth already and the flavor from the cumin and oregano give the soup sufficient flavoring in addition to the garlic, onion and chipotles in adobo sauce.

Watch the video to see how easy and quick this recipe goes from start to finish.

Tips for adding or reducing heat from the chipotles:

• For just a little more heat, add another tablespoon of adobo.
• For more heat, add another chipotle.
• For less heat, use only one-half of a chipotle pepper instead of one whole one.
• If you don’t want to use the chipotles as garnish because you’re afraid they’ll be too spicy, just leave them out.

You can also correct any mistakes or over-zealousness with the chiles by adding a little more beans and broth to reduce the heat of the chipotles. The Mexican crema will squelch anything too spicy.

You’ll need:
A Kenmore blender
A saucepan

Ingredients:

• Two 15 oz. cans of black beans (drain all the liquid out of one)
• 1 cup of low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 small clove of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 small slice of white onion chopped
• One 3.5 oz. can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (you’ll use about 2 tablespoons of adobo sauce and one chipotle pepper in the blender and another pepper sliced as a garnish)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano (optional)

Garnish:

• Finely chopped white onion
• Sliced chipotle pepper (optional)
• A spoonful of Mexican crema (or more to taste)

Add the black beans, chicken broth, adobo and chipotle pepper to the blender. Turn on low and run until all the ingredients look like they’re well-blended and you can’t see any chunks of bean or chipotle.

Add the garlic, onion, cumin and Mexican oregano. Blend again for about 30 seconds.

Pour the contents of the blender into a saucepan large enough for at least 6 cups of liquid. Bring to a boil over a medium-high heat and allow to boil for about 2-4 minutes until the color of the soup darkens a bit and the liquid thickens slightly. Reduce heat to a simmer for 5-7 minutes to allow the soup to thicken a bit more. Stir so the beans don’t get stuck to the bottom of the pot.

Ladle into soup bowls. Yields 2 large servings (about 2 cups each) or 4 small servings (about 1 cup each). Garnish with a spoonful of crema, chopped onion and if you like, some sliced chipotle pepper.

Make healthy snacking accessible

Whether packing those lunchboxes in the morning, or grabbing a fast snack after school, I try to keep healthy snacks at the ready so my kids can be part of the healthy snack solution.  Our pantry has a basket that is accessible to the children with healthy snacks for grabbing. Our kitchen table centerpiece just so happens to be the ultimate convenience food – fruit.  Fill your baskets with lots of healthy options like raisins, granola bars, whole grain crackers, fruit leathers, and popcorn for popping.

Bake once, feast for days

Designate one day a week to tackle the baking task. I love to double or triple batches of light quick breads and muffins so that my children can enjoy these throughout the week in their lunches.

Freezing these treats is a cinch and a wonderful way to prolong the delicious goodness of your baking day. Make sure your bread and muffins completely cool before wrapping or freezing. To freeze, wrap securely in aluminum foil, freezer wrap or place in freezer bags. Label all packages with the name of the recipe and date. Use within the recommended storage time (up to 3 months) for the best flavor and texture.

Create your own snack mixes and granolas

My favorite thing to make for my kids is homemade trail mixes that I make from pantry odds and ends.  There’s no specific formula, just a good balance of nuts, dried fruits, cereal/crackers, and a little something sweet to satisfy my children. Granola can also be made from pantry ingredients and used as a fun yogurt topper.

Think outside the box

It’s easy to get into a snack rut, but think outside the box with snack choices. Delicious fresh fruit smoothies, small veggie tray with hummus, pita chips with fruit salsa, or even an English muffin veggie pizza are fun ways to refuel after school. Try to think of food combinations or flavors that your children love for their breakfast, lunch, or dinner and do a small-scale version for afternoon snacking. You might be surprised how many new snacks you can create from the dishes they are already in love with.

These have everything I want in a good muffin: whole wheat flour, wheat germ, blueberries, bananas, and a little bit of sweetness. The muffin is light with bursts of berries throughout. If blueberries aren’t your favorite, you can halve the amount of blueberries, or even cut fresh blueberries in half. The toasty wheat germ on top adds a little bit of texture to the tops.

Recipe:

Healthy Banana Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole-wheat flour (spooned and leveled)
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 ripe bananas (about 1 pound)
• 1/3 cup reduced-fat (2 percent) milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup frozen blueberries
• 2 tablespoons wheat germ, for sprinkling on top

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a bowl, whisk together flours, wheat germ, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In another bowl, mash bananas with a fork (you should have 3/4 cup); stir in milk and vanilla. With mixer on low, alternately add flour mixture and banana mixture to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined. Fold in frozen blueberries. Divide batter among muffin cups and sprinkle the tops with a little wheat germ for an added crunch. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 20-22 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. Let cool in pan 10 minutes; transfer muffins to a rack to cool 10 minutes more.

Add sparkle and atmosphere to an outdoor ceremony or just add charming ambiance to your walkways, gardens or patio.

1. Collect mason jars or recycled clear jars from flea markets, garage sales and antique stores.
2. Get a spool of thin copper or steel wire that’s bendable. One piece needs to be measured to make the lantern handle & another piece will make a loop/handle that goes around top of lantern.
3. To measure, wrap the first piece of wire around the mouth of the jar, then add 3-4 inches to the length of the wire and cut the wire. Take one end of the wire, wrap it around a pen or pencil to form a unified loop, then wrap that end of the loop wire around itself to close the loop.
4. Now place the loop on one side of your jar and pull the excess wire half way around the jar so it ends exactly opposite your first loop. Make a reference point (bend the wire) as this is where you need to make your second loop for the handle. Make your second loop like you made the first loop.
5. Place the wire around the glass jar and secure the end of the wire by twisting it around the first loop you made. Cut off any excess wire.
6. To make the handle, cut a piece of wire to desired length and loop each end of the wire through the loops on the jar and twist wire on each end to secure.
7. Next add a small amount of white sand inside the jar to help secure the tea light. Add a tea light or small candle, depending on size of jar, to complete your lantern.

We are marking a very special anniversary for the Kenmore brand. It’s been 98 years since Kenmore first appeared in 1913 on a sewing machine. Then as now, Kenmore has been an intrinsic part of American life: the quiet and hard-working appliances that make your life easier, make meals that come together fresh and fast, and make your home more comfortable and clean.

We’re proud to be a part of your family – proud to be in your home when you bake cookies with your kids, when clean, fluffy towels wrap your loved ones, when a neighborhood barbecue welcomes new friends.

Let’s celebrate at home together. Your anniversary gift: up to 30% off all Kenmore appliances, large and small – plus an extra 5% off with your Sears card and 0% financing on appliances over $499. Our Anniversary Event runs until October 1.

Happy anniversary, Kenmore!

About seven years ago, we stopped being able to run out and have dinner out whenever we wanted to. My husband lost his job and it got to a point where we just didn’t have the funds to enjoy a night out on the town.

As I became more acquainted with the kitchen, though, we soon realized that dinners out lacked the pizazz that we could easily get at home. In my kitchen, the food was a bit better, the atmosphere was comfortable, and we could spend a whole heck of a lot less and get a whole heck of a lot more out of an evening.

I did what I could to make life feel special, no matter how much or how little money we had. We discovered that $30 at the supermarket could buy us an elegant steak dinner, a great bottle of vino, artisan bread and fancy bakery cupcakes to finish off our feast. A meal like that could easily have cost $100 and not been half as good.

Dining in doesn’t have to feel like every other night of the week though. Do you have wedding china that has been gathering dust on your shelf? How about fancy stemware or silver that you are afraid to use? Use “date night at home” as an opportunity to bring out the fine linens and tableware just for the two of you.

Here are two of our favorite date night recipes that you can use to create a fabulous night in together. Hopefully your “date” will enjoy a cheap night in as much as my husband does. As long as we’re together, we know it will be special!

Grilling shouldn’t be just a summer activity – it can happen all year long. This steak marinade can make a less expensive cut of meat into a gourmet feast.  No need to splurge on the most expensive beef with this flavorful steak marinade.

Steakhouse Marinade

• 2 steaks (whatever is on sale and looks good)
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar or white vinegar
• 2 teaspoons yellow mustard
• 2 tablespoon soy sauce
• Freshly ground pepper

Mix all ingredients together and place steaks into freezer bag with marinade overnight. This makes enough marinade for two large steaks.

I opt for a little shorter cooking time and prefer my meat medium rare. If you are unsure, a meat thermometer is the best gauge for the perfect steak!

Steak Grilling Timetable (medium doneness)

Filet: 13-18 minutes

Ribeye, Boneless: 6-8 minutes

Ribeye, Bone-In: 9-12 minutes

T-Bone, Porterhouse: 14-16 minutes

Top Sirloin: 13-16 minutes

Strip, Boneless: 10-12 minutes

Asparagus is one of my favorite vegetables. It’s simple, low in calories and packed with vitamins. Roasting it with just a few simple ingredients brings out its nutty flavor.

Simple Roasted Asparagus

• 1 bunch thin asparagus spears, trimmed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• Parmesan cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place asparagus on a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Toss to coat the spears, then sprinkle with garlic, salt, and pepper. Rub the flavors into your asparagus with clean hands. Arrange asparagus in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven until just tender, 12 to 15 minutes depending on thickness. After removing from the oven, give asparagus a light dusting of Parmesan cheese.

One-and-a-half bathrooms in our house just doesn’t seem like enough now that there are four of us getting ready.  In order for us all to look our best and get out the door together, we had to create smooth morning routines to make that happen.

Here are simple strategies we have employed to smooth our school morning routines:

Be Prepared- As with all things regarding organization in our house, over half of the work is done ahead of time to get us ready.  The coffeemaker is programmed and ready to brew, breakfast dishes are set out the night before, marathons of whole grain waffles are made over the weekend for a hearty breakfast, uniforms are laid out for each child, papers are signed, and backpacks are waiting by the door next to their shoes.

What has worked in our house is setting a timer in the evening for the kids to help us tidy up the playroom and I use that designated time (ten or fifteen minutes depending on the mess) to get all of the preparations done for the next day. When the timer dings, we can enjoy a tidier room and a smoother morning the next day.

Make The Kids a Part of the Solution- What part of the morning is stressful for you? I know that I find that my answer may change as the year progresses.

Lunches seemed to be a challenge for me and making sure that we had everything we needed.  Instead of carrying the burden of packing lunches alone, I made my son a part of the solution. A drawer was designated in our fridge and I filled it with a treat, a fruit/vegetable, and sandwiches.  By designating this spot in the refrigerator, my son knew how and what needed to go in his lunches each day and he became the person in charge of that task.

As our children get older, I have to remind myself that many of these responsibilities can and should be their own.  I want them to be wildly self-sufficient adults and each time I make them a part of the solution of our routines, they learn a valuable life skill that they can take with them when they get older.

Try to Stay Unplugged- I find the easiest way for my morning to get off track is to get on my computer.  I know with my own children, I do not allow them to use their electronics until everything they need to get ready for school is done. Shouldn’t that same philosophy apply in my own life?

Try to make a deal with yourself to stay as unplugged as you can and focus on getting everyone off to a great start and tackle those morning to-do’s before you get plugged back in to the world of Facebook or your email box.  I find it is quite amazing how much I can accomplish by just leaving my computer in the off position.

This waffle is our absolute favorite waffle and is filled with whole grain goodness. I make a double batch of these over the weekends and freeze them for a quick breakfast on school mornings. The cinnamon and vanilla in these add a surprising depth of flavor and the stick-t0-your-ribs grains are the perfect way to start your day.

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Waffles

• 1 ¾ whole wheat white flour
• 1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
• 1/3 cup instant nonfat dry milk powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups milk

In a large bowl, combine the whole-wheat flour, unbleached flour, dry milk, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, wheat germ, and salt; mix well. In a medium bowl, mix the eggs, oil, milk, and vanilla. Pour over the dry ingredients. Coat your waffle iron with vegetable cooking spray and preheat. Pour 1/2 cup of the batter into the center of the hot waffle iron and cook until the batter stops steaming, about 6 minutes. Cooking time varies according to the they type of waffle iron you have. Repeat with remainder of the dough, applying the cooking spray between waffles. Serve warm with your favorite syrup or fruit preserves.

What do you do to smooth your morning routines? Feel free to leave ideas in the comment box below!

If you’ve ever been to a Mexican market or an authentic Mexican restaurant, you may be familiar with aguas frescas. The term literally means “fresh waters” and they’re a delightful and refreshing fruit drink.

Common flavors you’ll find are lime, tamarind, watermelon, strawberry, mandarin orange, pineapple, mango and hibiscus flower, just to name a few. For as many different fruits that can be made into aguas frescas, there are also many methods to make them. And depending on where you are, the same flavor of agua fresca may be made differently, too.

This recipe is one of my favorite kinds of aguas frescas and whenever I find agua de melón in the market or at a taquería, I almost always order one. In fact, there’s a little stand at an open-air market here in Chicago (the Maxwell Street Market, which operates on Sundays) where I can get agua de melón in a 24-ounce cup for only two dollars.

This recipe calls for cantaloupe, but you can also use honeydew (melón verde) and adjust the amount of sugar in the recipe to your taste. I like to use a little lime juice in mine, but that’s completely optional.

If you’re interested in other aguas frescas recipes, you can find recipes and methods for agua de jamaica (hibiscus flower juice), agua de piña (pineapple) and agua de tuna roja (red prickly pear) on The Other Side of The Tortilla.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 of a ripe cantaloupe
• 1/4 cup of sugar dissolved in a half cup of warm water
• 1 cup of cold water
• Optional: juice of half a lime

TOOLS

• Kenmore stand blender
• Mesh sieve
• Pitcher

Begin by dissolving the quarter-cup of sugar in a half cup of warm water to create a simple syrup. Set aside and allow to come to room temperature.

Cut the cantaloupe into small cubes and put it into the blender with 1 cup of water until it’s completely liquified.

Place a fine mesh sieve over a pitcher and pour the contents of the blender through it. Use a spoon to press any remaining juice through the sieve.

Add the simple syrup to the pitcher and stir well. If you opt to use the lime juice, add that after the simple syrup.

Serve chilled or over ice. Yields 3 to 3-1/2 cups of juice, depending on the ripeness of your cantaloupe. Refrigerate any juice you’re not going to drink immediately and consume within two days for optimum freshness.

This school year was a momentous occasion for our family. This week, I sent both my children off to elementary school for the first time! It was a bittersweet moment for me as a mother. We truly have much to celebrate and be thankful for in our family – including our school milestones – and I always try to make these days as special as possible with a fun celebration dinner for the kids.

Today I want to share some easy ideas for fun school-year celebrations you’ll enjoy all year long.

Create a School Picture Tradition

I love to see how much my children grow each year and I’m always trying to think of a new way to capture this big moment in their life.

Create a sign that says what year they are going into school or search on the internet for free back-to-school printable signs to use for your big day. If you have a small chalkboard, you can also create a DIY sign for the big moment.

Try to capture the big things, like that growth spurt that seemed to happen overnight, and then capture the little things like their fancy new school shoes or their cool character backpack. Even if you might have missed the moment on the first day of school, there is an opportunity to capture this all year long and no one will be the wiser that it wasn’t your kid’s first day back. I promise that these pictures will later be a treasure to you and to your kids when they can look back and see how much they have grown and changed.

Create a Celebration Plate Tradition

One of our wedding gifts when we got married was a Celebrate plate that my mom picked up at our local greeting card store. This tradition was handed down to me because when I was growing up, any time we had a celebration in our family, the special recipient got to eat on the special plate.

You can create your own plate together at a paint-your-own pottery store, or find a plate that is uniquely different from your usual dinnerware. Use a waterproof marker pen to jot down the date and the exciting occasion you’re celebrating together.

Create a Fun Decorating Tradition

Our balloon wreath isn’t just for celebrating birthdays anymore.  I now hang this wreath in our doorway anytime there is a celebration to be had in our house including those school year celebrations. You can make your own balloon wreath by covering a straw wreath with two large packages (of 72) balloons and attaching them with greening pins (in the floral aisle of your craft store). This wreath can be used for any of life’s little celebrations… big or small!

Create a Fun Meal Tradition

Nothing says celebration like a big plate of your favorite food. In our house, the most requested dish is my spaghetti and meatballs. When celebrations arise, whether it’s a great report card or the first day back to school, let your children make the dinner selection for the night.  We have had everything in our house requested, from our favorite sub sandwiches to a taco bar night to homemade pizza.  Not only will you not have to plan dinner one night, but the bonus is your kids will eat it and love it!

Whatever you do, I can assure you that your children will long remember and appreciate! I wish you many celebrations all school year long!

Homemade Spaghetti & Meatballs

For spaghetti sauce:

• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 (28 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 3/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

For meatballs (this recipe makes enough for a double batch, half to eat and half to freeze):

• 1/2  cup plain bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons whole milk
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1-1/2 cups grated Romano (or Parmesan)
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound Italian turkey sausages (meat removed from casings)
• 1 pound ground beef

To make sauce: Saute onion and garlic in 1/4 cup olive oil until onion is translucent. Stir in tomatoes, salt, and sugar. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer one hour and thirty minutes. Stir in tomato paste, basil and pepper and simmer an additional thirty minutes. Gently break apart the tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon. Five to ten minutes before serving, add meatballs. Serve over a big bowl of your favorite pasta.

To make meatballs: In a medium bowl, stir together the bread crumbs, parsley, eggs, milk, ketchup, Romano cheese, salt and pepper. Add the turkey and ground beef, then gently stir to combine. Make your meatballs the standard size and put them on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for ten to fifteen minutes. When done cooking, drop the baked meatballs into the sauce for a few minutes.

Making your own chicken stock is easy and economical—and you can get a few meals out of just one slow cooking session if you get crafty.

I love to make my own chicken stock because it definitely beats the taste of store-bought broth and also because I know exactly what’s in it and can choose how much or how little salt I want. If it’s too rich for you once it’s done, remember you can always add water to dilute it. I use a Kenmore 7-quart slow cooker and while that may sound large, I only get about 6-8 cups of rich broth after removing the vegetables and the chicken.

Slow cooking a chicken leaves the meat moist and gets it to the point that it falls off the bone. The last time I made a chicken in the slow cooker, I was able to get three meals out of it plus a few cups of leftover broth.

A few tips:

• Set the slow cooker on your counter top away from anything that might touch the sides. The outside wall of the slow cooker will get hot to the touch, so you don’t want it too close to anything that could get burned (especially plastic or paper). Make sure there is sufficient breathing room above the slow cooker so you can easily lift and replace the lid.
• Freeze any leftover broth that you know you won’t use within one week; freezer-safe containers, plastic zippered bags or even ice cube trays are all great ways to save the broth for future use. The broth ice cubes are particularly useful for a low-fat option to saute vegetables in place of butter or oil (a trick my mom taught me).

INGREDIENTS

• 1 whole chicken
• 1-2 onions (white or yellow), sliced
• salt and pepper to taste

Optional:

• 1 bay leaf or a few small sprigs of parsley
• chopped carrots

Begin by layering the sliced onion on the bottom of the slow cooker. If you choose to also use carrots, chop them and place them along the bottom as well. Place the chicken over the onions and sprinkle with salt and pepper. (You may want to add more salt later to taste, so don’t use too much to start.) If you’re using a bay leaf or parsley, tuck it on the side of the chicken.

Fill the crock with enough water to almost cover the entire chicken. Place the lid on the top and turn on the slow-cooker to the low setting. Allow it to cook for 8-10 hours. I like to set mine in the morning before work so that it’s done by the time I return home for dinner.

When it’s all done cooking, it should look similar to the photo at the top of this post. Enjoy!

Sometimes the scale of an outdoor space is so grand that it’s challenging to create an intimate area for the ceremony. One way to visually “lower” the scale is to hang floral chandeliers with tea lights. Include aromatics, like eucalyptus branches, in the chandelier for texture, color and a fresh scent.

Another way to lower scale is to create a decorated perimeter around the ceremony space to bring your guests’ eyes down to, well, eye level! It will then be easier for them to focus on the ceremony. One way to do so is to line the area with large candle lanterns and alternating floral arrangements, both hung on tall shepherds’ hooks.

For a modern approach, create an illuminated panel to place behind the wedding party (officiant, bride and groom) as a backdrop. Use 2x4s to frame out the appropriate panel width and wrap the panel with a lightweight neutral fabric. Illuminate the panel from behind with rope lighting or soft spotlights. For a bold look, try a floral or graphic fabric for your panel. Or add details like a hand-stitched or stenciled monogram to the fabric.

Tablescapes

For large, outdoor farm or banquette tables, you’ll want longer, more linear floral arrangements. This helps create a look feels continuous and never-ending. Use long wood or zinc garden boxes filled with your seasonal flowers of choice and low green moss. Add texture and color like red leaf lettuce or kale, and incorporate your favorite aromatic herb like rosemary, mint, basil, etc. Need to add height to your space? Add tall birch branches to your planters, then hang tea lights from or attach little flowers to the branches.

The food tables are an opportunity to use food in an artful way to create interesting and colorful tables. For an example, serve colorful tossed salad in individual martini glasses; place breadsticks in colorful vases or glass hurricanes.

Wedding favors

Wedding favors are a way of saying thank you to your family and friends and can be one of many lasting memories. Create something meaningful, memorable, and useful for your guests. You might try to incorporate a cultural food or other item in your favor, or print a custom wine label to go on bottles of your favorite wine. Consider making a donation to your charity of choice in your guests’ names. Be creative and let your family and friends enjoy a little memory of your beautiful celebration.

If I know I’m not going to have much time in the kitchen during the week, I’ll use about 20-30 minutes on the weekend to prepare ingredients in the food processor and store them in airtight containers or zip bags. My general rule is that if an ingredient is mostly dry, it can go in a bag, but if it’s liquid or cheese I prefer to store it in a plastic container.

The great thing about doing it all at once is that there’s less mess and cleanup to do, and I can just rinse the bowl between uses or switch from the big bowl to the small bowl. When everything is finished, I can put the food processor bowls in the top rack of the dishwasher for easy cleaning.

One reason in particular that makes my food processor a coveted appliance by friends and family: we save lots of money by buying brick cheese instead of the pre-shredded stuff in the bag. And on top of that, I prefer to shred my own cheese because most pre-shredded cheeses have anti-caking agents to prevent the cheese from getting moist and sticking together in the bag.

Here in the video, I’ve demonstrated two quick and easy ways that I most often use my food processor: shredding cheese and chopping onions for salsa. The possibilities are endless though, and many recipes can easily be modified to use your food processor. One tip that my mom gave me that has served me well with my food processor is to utilize the pulse button more often than the regular ‘on’ button. It will give you more control over the consistency, which is important especially if you only want to roughly chop veggies or make a salsa that’s not completely smooth.

And if you’re wondering what I did with the cheese and onions from the video… I used the cheese over several days for quesadillas and ham and cheese sandwiches inside pita pocket bread, and the onions were used in a fresh salsa, in a mango-chile salad and guacamole.

Other ideas for using your food processor to get the job done in less time:

• Chop or puree vegetables to make soups
• Chop mushrooms for recipe ingredients or to add to a salad
• Puree roasted tomatoes to make your own spaghetti sauce
• Making easy salsas, sauces and dips
• Make your own pasta dough (a fun activity to do with kids!)
• Using the dough blade, make your own bread dough
• Make breadcrumbs out of stale bread
• Mince herbs (use within 1-2 days)
• Make your own baby food
• Make your own ground meat

My next adventure with my food processor will be trying to make bread dough. The food processor I used in the video is the Kenmore Elite 14-cup brushed aluminum model. They also make a 10-cup model.

To plan, start with a theme, event or significant memory that you have as a couple and capture it in every detail… from your save-the-dates to your menu. If you met while horseback riding, for example, make it an equestrian-themed event, with beige, cream and taupe dresses and table linens and rich accents of chocolate brown.

Perhaps you’d like to take inspiration from your cultural background. For a casually elegant Southern-style wedding, for example, incorporate roses, hydrangeas or magnolias in clear vases or mason jars for your tablescapes, with dusty pink or white tablecloths and a mix of antique chairs and new wooden folding chairs for seating. Serve Southern-style favorites like po’ boys, crab cakes and cheesy grits.

Seasonal weddings offer a wealth of inspiration: red and white with touches of holly at Christmas, black and gold by candlelight at New Year’s, autumn-leaf colors in the backyard in October. Choosing your favorite season will help you determine the decor and build on every detail.

Find the focus

Most private homes will be naturally limited in space, so determine where to place the focus: ceremony and cocktail hour, ceremony and sit-down dining, ceremony and ballroom dancing.

• Small wedding? You might have your ceremony inside in front of a beautiful fireplace, followed by a simple cocktail hour.
• Generous outdoor space? Perhaps a patio or large deck is available for a summer ceremony, with a backyard reception.

Layering, texture and scale are important when designing the space.

Think about layering in literal terms, for example: literally layering tablecloths in varied hues of one color, i.e. dark pink, light pink, dusty pink. But layering also adds interest when using the same family of pinks across the space: dusty pink tablecloths, pale pink flowers, dark pink bridesmaid’s gowns.

Texture is using one color, such as white, but in many different tones and types: linen white, true white, cream and off-white in your flowers, dresses, candles, ribbons. Another way to incorporate texture is literally, such as with burlap tablecloths, linen napkins, wooden candleholders and birch-bark vases. Offset those textures with satin ribbons and sparkling glassware.

To incorporate scale, use both short and tall vases, large and small floral arrangements on one table. Use big hurricane vases as candleholders along with tea lights to accent the details and light up the tables. Playing with scale keeps your decor interesting, your guests happy and your future memories that much sweeter.

Have you ever had a craving for a cookie but not enough free time or desire to spend hours in the kitchen making it? That’s how I feel about alfajores. I love them – the buttery shortbread that melts in your mouth and the sweet, caramely dulce de leche in the middle are the perfect pair.

But when I’m feeling lazy or pressed for time, there’s no way I’m going to stand in the kitchen for hours making shortbread cookies from scratch, rolling out dough and messing with cookie cutters and parchment paper. And on top of that, sandwiching together dozens of cookies.

As much as I love to cook, there are times that making things from scratch just doesn’t mesh with my busy schedule. And I don’t typically keep cans of dulce de leche in my cupboard, but I do keep sweetened condensed milk to drizzle over strawberries or in case my dad drops by for dinner so I can make his favorite dessert, arroz con leche. It’s a staple in any Latin pantry.

I learned this awesome trick for making dulce de leche in the slow cooker from my good friend Marta over at My Big Fat Cuban Family. If you try it, please give her some comment love on her site — I think she’s a total genius for coming up with the idea for slow-cooker dulce de leche! Without it, I’d never be able to make this lazy man’s version of one of my favorite traditional Latin cookies, alfajores.

You’ll need:

• One box of store-bought shortbread cookies (as thin as possible)
• One can of sweetened condensed milk (sometimes called lechera)
• A few tablespoons of finely shredded coconut (optional)
• 1 tablespoon of confectioner’s sugar, sifted over the cookies (optional, for dressing up the top of the cookie if you don’t roll it in the coconut)

Appliances:

• Slow cooker (I use a Kenmore 7-qt. slow cooker, but any size will do)

Remove the label from the can of sweetened condensed milk and discard. Place the can in the crock of the slow cooker and fill it with water until the can is completely submerged with water covering the top of the can. Set your slow cooker on high for 6 hours.

At the end of 6 hours, turn the slow cooker off. If you’re in a hurry, you can immediately remove the can from the crock using tongs and submerge it in a bowl of room temperature water. When the can is cool to the touch, you can open it with a can opener. Another way I like to do it when I have a little more time is to turn off the slow cooker and let the water come to room temperature before removing the lid and the can from the water.

Once you open the can, you’ll see that the silky sweetened condensed milk has turned into a beautiful brown dulce de leche. The consistency will be a little thicker, which makes it perfect for sandwiching with shortbread cookies because it won’t be runny.

Place a generous dollop of dulce de leche in the middle of one cookie and press another cookie on top. Make sure not to overfill them or the dulce de leche will ooze out the sides and make a mess. Ideally, the dulce de leche should just peek out. If you like, roll the edges of the cookie through finely shredded coconut which will stick to the dulce de leche.

You can store any leftover dulce de leche in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to six weeks. If you want to get creative, you can even package up the dulce de leche and give it away as a gift. My friend Marta made some adorable labels and stickers to dress up the packaging for Christmas gifts over on the Tiki Tiki Blog.

And if you have the patience and time to make alfajores from scratch, I love this recipe by Chef Uchi Davidzon for mini cornstarch alfajores over at Spanglish Baby. Buen provecho!

I love easy meals on weeknights. Everybody has something going on and if you’ve got kids running around too, you probably don’t have much time to slave over a meal for your family every night of the week. When I know I’ve got busy days ahead, I like to call on my slow cooker to do all the hard work for me so that I can prep ingredients the night before, throw them into the pot in the morning and have a delicious meal by the time I get home.

A lot of people haven’t thought about using a slow cooker beyond stews, soups, party dips or just as a warmer. But there’s been a big resurgence in slow cookers in the last year or so and I’ve noticed a lot of food magazines including more recipes incorporating this easy-to-use small appliance. The sky’s the limit so you can experiment and be creative.

Two of my favorite slow cooker creations include cochinita pibil, an achiote rubbed pork served with a spicy and citrusy salsa of red onions and chile, and frijoles de la olla, homestyle beans dressed up with spices and a little dried chile for a mild flavor.

If you want more ideas for fun recipes you can make with your slow cooker, check out this post on slow-cooking Latin-style on the Tiki Tiki Blog that includes recipes for paella, brisket, ajiaco (a Cuban stew made with root vegetables), black bean soup, tamale pie, carnitas and more. And if you like other ethnic foods, I’d also encourage you to head over to Indian as Apple Pie for Indian food in the slow cooker – they even have a great cookbook you can purchase.

This recipe here is both simple and versatile because you can use it for either chicken soft tacos, fried taquitos or chicken enchiladas. To make enchiladas, you can blend the onions, some of the chile paste after cooking and cooking liquid to make a salsa for pouring over the top. Just add a little cheese and broil until bubbly and brown.

You’ll need:

• 6 ancho chiles
• 8 cascabel chiles
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp salt
• 2-3 tbsp soaking liquid from chiles
• 1 cup chicken broth or water
• 1 1/2 white onions, cut in half and then sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1 whole chicken or bone-in split chicken breasts

Appliances:

• food processor or blender (I use a Kenmore Elite 14-cup food processor in brushed aluminum)
• slow cooker (I use a Kenmore 7-qt. slow cooker)

Start by soaking your dry chiles in a bowl of hot water for about an hour. Once they’re soft, remove the stems. Place them in your food processor with the garlic cloves, salt, and a few tablespoons of the soaking water that you had the chiles in. Pulse in the food processor until smooth.

Cut the onion in half and then into quarter-inch slices and layer along the bottom of the slow cooker. Place the chicken on top of the onions and spoon the chile paste over the chicken so it’s completely covered or as covered as possible. Carefully add the chicken broth on the side of the chicken, being careful to not wash any of the chile paste off of the chicken. Cover it up and set the slow cooker to low for 8 hours.

When you are ready to take the chicken out, it should fall off the bone, the onions should be soft and transparent and there should be chile-spiced chicken broth in the bottom. Remove the chicken and shred it gently into chunks. Transfer to a bowl and add a few tablespoons of liquid from the bottom of the slow cooker to moisten the chicken. Mix in the onions.

Then you can serve it either as soft tacos with Mexican crema and slices of avocado, roll them up and fry them as taquitos, or use them as filling for enchiladas.

Serves 4-6 depending on portion size.

What about going green in other areas of the home? We might tote our reusable grocery bags now, but give up paper napkins, paper towels, disposable wipes, or disposable diapers? Well, let’s not get crazy!

I’m still working on these areas in my home and I have found that switching to cloth needs to feel convenient, be an inexpensive solution, and be something that our whole family is on board with. Our progression towards switching to cloth started with baby steps, like giving up paper napkins… and then led to bigger steps like cloth diapers for my daughter for eighteen months of her diaper-filled life. I believe that if we can do it, any family can!

Get on board with cloth napkins

Paper-napkins-to-cloth were the first switch we made, and it’s really stuck with us. I started my collection with mismatched cloth napkins from the local thrift store. More recently, I made the investment in two styles of napkins that are worthy of entertaining friends and family.

The first napkins I bought are classic herringbone, wrinkle- and stain-resistant. I recommend neutral colors (chocolate brown, sage green, or white) to go with any tablecloth or table setting.  The one thing I’ve learned over the years is to avoid anything that requires ironing… because if it has to be ironed, it will eventually end up in the donation bin.

The other napkins are a set of bandanas that I found in the women’s accessories section for a mere $1 each. Bandanas are not only inexpensive; they’re a fun way to accessorize a party. These truly wash up like a dream and are perfect for outdoor entertaining or casual dining. You can choose from a variety of patterns and colors.

Launder your cloth napkins with your load of towels and keep them on your kitchen counter in a small basket or cute tin for convenient grabbing.

Banish paper towels

I know there’s a need for paper towels for some of life’s messiest jobs, but in most cases, cloth can easily take the place of paper. As I showcased in my cleaning caddy post, I use recycled newspapers to achieve a lint-free shine on glass windows and mirrors. For almost all other jobs, microfiber cloths get a lot of praise and work well for the jobs they do in our house.

I have several generously sized microfiber cloths. Used dry, they’re perfect for dusting. Used wet, they clean kitchen counters and bathroom surfaces, fixtures and tubs. They are the workhorses in our house, and they can be in yours too.

When you launder your microfiber cloths, skip the fabric softener. Softener will build up on the cloths, reducing their effectiveness and absorbency. Consider purchasing in two colors, one for dusting and one for scrubbing. You don’t need to use a lot of cleaning products on these, as they perform well with just a dab or simply dry/wet with no product on them.

Ditch the plastic bags

Maybe you’re still thinking I’m a tree-hugger for using reusable bags, but this switch is the simplest of all and can be done inexpensively and easily. Invest in a durable set of reusable bags that best fit your family’s needs. I decided to buy five industrial-strength bags and two stackable plastic crates for canned goods, to use when I do our grocery shopping. These bags hold two weeks’ worth of groceries. Are you shopping for just one or two people? Foldable bags that can be slipped into your purse or tucked in your car might be the perfect solution.

Our bags are in constant rotation in our family, whether they’re lugging a huge load of library books, going to the grocery store, taking a family trip, or off with the kids to grandma’s house. I keep them in my pantry for convenient grabbing before we head out, and keep a few in the trunk of my car for all of life’s other occasions.

Reusable bags may require a little laundering from time to time, especially when bringing home fresh meat or items that may leak. I wash our bags on the delicate cycle with a small amount of soap and no fabric softener. Once you pull them from the dryer, turn them inside out and hang on the laundry line until dry.

If you want to recycle plastic grocery bags, check at the front of your local supermarket for their recycling bin, and vow to keep the plastic bag chaos to a minimum in your house.

What’s one switch to cloth that you’re really proud of? Share your strategies for making the switch here!

The dining-hall salad bar can be an asset if you make smart choices. Encourage them to stock up on leafy greens, raw vegetables and fresh fruit. A grilled chicken sandwich can be a good stand-by option. And try to steer clear of creamy dressings, bacon bits, full-fat cheese and mayo-based salads. More good ideas:

• Celebrate (eat) breakfast every day.
• If you don’t take money with you to class, you won’t be tempted to stop at the cafeteria or vending machines between classes.
• Eat foods rich in calcium. Not a fan of milk? Try low-fat yogurt, low-fat cheese and leafy green vegetables like spinach.
• Try to avoid soda as much as you can! It’s full of empty calories and too much sodium (yes, there’s sodium in pop!).
• If fast food is the only option, choose wisely: pizza with half the cheese, regular-sized roast beef sandwich, baked potato or green salad with reduced-calorie dressing.
• Skip the French fries, fried chicken and fish sandwiches and avoid creamy salad dressings.
• Try not to eat after 7 or 8 p.m., and get the sleep your body needs for energy and motivation.

Snack time!

Do you crave snacks while you study? If you’re a nibbler, try these healthy options.

• Yogurt
• Rice cakes
• Lite popcorn
• String cheese
• Nuts or seeds
• Fresh or dried fruit
• Cottage cheese
• Cheese and crackers
• Hummus and baked chips
• Fruit or vegetable juice
• Celery with low-fat peanut butter
• Granola bars
• Trail mix

If you want to be more health-conscious…

Keep healthy snacks on hand so vending machine options won’t tempt you. How about fresh or dried fruit, pretzels, unbuttered popcorn, rice cakes or whole-wheat crackers? If you have a mini-fridge, stock it with raw veggies, low-fat yogurt and bottled tea.

Drink lots of water… at least eight glasses a day, even more if you exercise regularly. Carry a water bottle to class and late-night study sessions.

Another tip I learned and want to share: alcohol has no nutritional value – just empty calories. A light beer, glass of wine or ounce of liquor has about 100 calories. More importantly, be responsible.

Most college campuses have a dietitian on staff – see if you can talk to yours; the service is usually free of charge.

Live off-campus?

Lucky you! You’ll have more control over your nutrition. You’ll eat better – and more cheaply!

• Cook big batches of soup, chili, or rice with veggies, then separate into portions for a quick, healthy meal any time.
• Make up a big jar of sun tea. It’s refreshing and inexpensive, and a nice change from plain water.
• A dozen eggs go a long way for a couple bucks: egg salad, hard-boiled eggs, or quick omelets.
• Eating out? Ethnic restaurants break up the “sandwich” monotony and can be a great value. Satisfy a craving for Mexican food with a side of rice and beans… filling and inexpensive.

Ah, love is in the air! And with a wedding comes the opportunity to share a gift with the newlyweds. I’ll share my favorite gifts to give… and a few that we received when my husband and I tied the knot (amazingly!) eleven years ago.

Board games

In our family, it’s all about board-game night. So I love to get the couple’s board game collection started with a few of our favorite games. When we were newlyweds, we didn’t have a lot of cash and relied on board games to get us through those lean date-night evenings. Pick games that are played with two players (Scrabble, Monopoly, Blokus, Rummikub) and games with are played with larger groups (Apples to Apples, Cranium, Trivial Pursuit) for entertaining at home.

Send them on a picnic

I like to stock up on picnic supplies to give as gifts. Combine a retro picnic basket with outdoor dinnerware, blanket, bottle of wine and favorite picnic recipes the couple can make together. We received a picnic set when we married, and it’s wonderful to still be using it after all these years… now with our children gathered around the picnic table.

Trim their Christmas tree

When we got married, I never thought about what we’d do when Christmas rolled around. For couples that celebrate Christmas, tree decorations are a thoughtful way to gift on a limited budget. Try to shop the after-holiday sales and select trims that will go with any décor. Items like white lights, ornaments in solid colors, a simple star topper, and a little garland can be used in whatever scheme they might choose. Consider an ornament personalized with the year of their wedding or an ornament storage box.

Give the gift of appliance convenience

When I was selecting gifts for my wedding registry, I had no idea what to choose and based my selections on recommendations from others, rather than my own experience. If I could do it all over again, the top four items I’d put on my list would be my slow cooker for easy weeknight meals, my bread machine for creating bread and pizza each week, a stand mixer for all of my baking needs, and a really good coffeemaker that would see me through those long days of work. These simple appliances make a world of difference to meal preparation – and they’d all make fabulous gifts for a new bride. To personalize the gift a little further, tuck in a few well-chosen recipes to get the couple started!

Welcome them home

Nothing says home like a welcoming front door. I love to buy couples a welcome mat and wreath, or a personalized sign to adorn their new place. If you’re crafty and can make one of these gifts, you’ll save a little bit of money and create a truly personalized gift in the process.

Share a big-ticket item

Check the couple’s wedding registry and think about going in on a big-ticket item with a few other couples. Choosing a larger item and splitting the tab lets you spoil the couple without making a huge dent in your wallet.

One of the best gifts that we received was a folding card table and chairs. We’re still using it for every party that we host today. Truth be told, in those early days of marriage, that little table and chairs served as our kitchen set until we could afford to deck out our apartment the way we wanted to. I still get a little misty-eyed when I think of the sweet, simple dinners we shared together at our little folding table.

Make thankfulness convenient

As a new bride, all the thank-you notes I needed to write after our honeymoon overwhelmed me. One thoughtful gift that will really be used and appreciated: a few packages of thank-you cards, stamps, and a self-inking address stamp with the couple’s new name. I promise you that it will be a gift long remembered and utilized!

What are a few of your favorite wedding gifts to give?