Have you ever looked at where you can go with your Southwest frequent flyer miles, and noticed Costa Rica? It’s […]
Oven roasted vegetables are colorful, easy, healthy and delicious. I’ve been experimenting since last fall, and finally have a reasonable […]
I’ve been making this yogurt cake for almost a year and adjusting my method slightly along the way. No matter […]
I’ve been experimenting lately with whole grains as an alternative to pasta or rice. Sometimes we all like a little […]
Homemade pretzels have been something I’ve wanted to try for a long time. I’ve also always loved pigs-in-a-blanket. Pretzel Pigs-in-a-Blanket […]
New Mexico loves green chile. We eat it in and on everything – like breakfast burritos, green chile stew, enchiladas, […]
Regular ground beef tacos are hardly a new recipe. But sometimes the classics are worth sharing. Street tacos are really […]
I’ve been making Chicken Piccata for several years now, but I always struggled to turn it into a meal. I […]
Zucchini bread, or zucchini cake? I’m calling it cake. I bought a nice 5 x 9 inch loaf pan for […]
I’m always looking for more ways to cook fish because fish is so healthy. This Cod with Tomato Basil Sauce […]
The thanksgiving dinner meal can be traditional or new, blending different family favorites as the guests change from year to […]
Homemade chili is one of the easiest meals to make. It does take a little time to cook, but a slow […]
Is it Yorkshire Pudding or a Popover? I think they’re the same, so call them whatever you want. After watching too many […]
This is a super easy version of Mexican Rice using instant rice and ingredients I (mostly) have in my pantry […]
There are some quick breads that are so common that everyone has made them, or at least eaten them. Zucchini bread […]
I’ve been cooking with bottled teriyaki sauce for years, but the empty grocery store shelves of the pandemic finally provided […]
I’m always looking for a good cake recipe to use with my 9 x 5 loaf pan, besides the Lemon […]
I’ve been trying different lo mein recipes for over a year, and I’ve finally found a combination that I really […]
After breakfast burritos, green chile cheeseburgers are about the most popular food in New Mexico. You can make yours with hot […]
My oldest son introduced us to this one, based on a recipe he learned from a meal delivery service (EveryPlate). Yes […]
This recipe makes crumbled Italian sausage, not the kind in a case. But it starts from ground turkey so it’s super […]
I’ve been thinking about how much meat we eat, and trying to cut back a little. That’s not an easy task […]
Chicken Tetrazzini is like an old Minnesota casserole, with three different kinds of cream-of-something soup, except I clipped this recipe […]
This pizza topping combination is a great tasting meat free option. Even my teenage boys approve, and they like a lot […]
When we lived near the coast in Virginia, I loved crab cakes. I never made them myself but I ordered them […]
I’ve got a lot of time to bake during the global pandemic, since just about everything is closed or cancelled. […]
What else can you do with pumpkin…how about cookies? This recipe uses just less than half a can of pumpkin puree, […]
Everyone loves apple pie, but sometimes a little change is nice. And fruit crisp of any type is super easy and […]
I remember my Norwegian grandma making meatballs at Christmas, as an alternative to lutefisk. After a fantastic Swedish meatball lunch at […]
This is the summer of pesto. The boys have been practicing “stay at home” to stop the global pandemic, and they’ve […]
With the global pandemic still raging on, we’re eating at home 7 days a week instead of the usual 6. This […]
Before Orange Julius was a chain restaurant in every shopping mall, we all made orange Julius at home in the […]
I have a scraggly but very productive peach tree in my backyard in New Mexico, in case you care. And New […]
We’re in the middle of a heatwave combined with a global pandemic. It’s time to cook something new, healthy, grilled and […]
This has become Zach’s favorite lunch since the stay-at-home order began. He has a lot more free time, but still doesn’t […]
Mixing up a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough is quick and easy, but dividing the dough into cookies, and […]
This Italian meatball recipe came from my parent’s Italian friends. Mom always made homemade spaghetti sauce when we were growing up, […]
This is a super easy recipe for real cinnamon swirl bread. It’s a yeast bread, not a quickbread, and it does […]
Tacos in the crock pot seem like an appealing way to make a quick meal, except that I really love […]
I used to make that boxed Zatarain’s Jambalaya, which is pretty much just spicy rice and sausage. At some point I […]
I wanted ricotta cheese for lasagna, but the only size available was a 30 oz. container. That left me with extra […]
Running and traveling go so well together. There’s no better way that I know to get your bearings in a […]
So what’s the difference between a muffin and a cupcake? Usually a muffin has some added bits in the batter, like […]
Cooking for one seems to mean eating a lot of pasta. But sometimes a potato just hits the spot. Although […]
Real Italians eat risotto, because even Italians can’t eat pasta all the time. Risotto with Spinach and Mushrooms isn’t difficult […]
In the spring, when the garden store is full of plants and I’m sure this will finally be the year […]
Green Chile Stew is a New Mexico tradition with many variations. One of the guys at work, a native New […]
I first wrote this post several months ago, but I’ve held off on publishing it. This is a recipe blog, […]
This is an Indian inspired recipe, created for the British population by Indian (or Bangladeshi) migrants to England. It’s nicely […]
Growing up in Texas, Tim learned to love biscuits and gravy. I prefer my biscuits with a little butter and […]
Southwest Chicken BowlChicken Stroganoff with Lettuce SaladTurkey Burgers with Broccoli Salad and FriesTeriyaki Peppers and SausagePork Chops with White Gravy […]
Our “European Vacation” meal plan wouldn’t be complete without some Norwegian meals. Although our relatives made us some fabulous traditional […]
So you’ve planned a big trip to Europe to celebrate high school graduation, and to enjoy your last big family […]
Quesadillas are a staple meal for New Mexico kids. They’re even served in the school cafeteria in place of grilled […]
As a kid growing up in Minnesota, the Saturday night fish fry by the lake was a major part of […]
The Epic Resorts in Colorado are part of the Vail Resorts, and include Vail, Keystone, Breckenridge, Beaver Creek and for […]
My Minnesota mom made Chicken and Wild Rice Soup for us the last time she visited, and the boys immediately […]
Beef Stew is a great meal for a Sunday night, along with some freshly bread and a simple salad. So […]
Eating out in a ski resort town is really expensive and sometimes a hassle. After a day of skiing we […]
For years we ate packaged Spanish rice with every Mexican meal. I’m so tired of Spanish rice. Lately we’ve been […]
I’m addicted to overnight oatmeal. My version is simple and uses regular dairy products. Tim calls it my “morning gruel”, […]
Pico de gallo is so easy to make, and tastes so much better, and of course fresher, than regular salsa. […]
Lasagna has always been my mom’s go to meal for company. When we were kids, she always seemed to have […]
After years of packing lunches, the boys are finally tired of sandwiches. Chicken salad is a fun and easy change […]
This pasta salad can be either a side dish or a lunch main dish depending on the optional addition of […]
Pulled pork feels like a more modern and sophisticated version of the sloppy joes my mom used to serve us […]
A couple of years ago, I had homemade potato salad at a cookout in Arizona, made by one of my […]
Waffles are Zach’s specialty, along with pancakes. He started out using pancake mix, but after that ran out he pulled […]
My mom always made homemade spaghetti sauce, which started with a can of Hunt’s tomato sauce. It’s not much more […]
Summer potlucks seem like a great opportunity to make a cherry pie, but pie is hard to serve. Several years […]
We’ve been making some variation of Greek Pasta since we were first married. The original version was meat free, and […]
Homemade coleslaw, if you can call it that when you start with a bag of shredded cabbage and carrots, is […]
We first tried fish tacos in San Diego around 2012, and we thought they were very unusual and unique. Now, […]
Broccoli is extra healthy, but sometimes it needs a little pepping up. This is a quick, classic salad that combines […]
We eat pork fried rice as a main meal, and it’s really quick and easy. The more butter you add, […]
Apple pie is ridiculously easy to make, and pretty fast too if you use an apple peeler/corer/slicer. Of course, I […]
Beef with Broccoli is a new recipe in our rotation, and an instant hit. It’s both easy to make and […]
For years I made white gravy from a package mix, until I realized how easy it was to make it […]
This is a great recipe for taco seasoning mix. it makes a perfect substitute for the little packets at the […]
I call this fajita marinade, but really I use it for fajitas, chicken quesadillas, chicken enchiladas, and southwest chicken and […]
These simple little appetizers are ridiculously easy, and so amazingly good. We first tried them at a Christmas party, and […]
I grew up in the north, so I didn’t discover the tradition of eating black eyed peas on New Year’s […]
Looking for an easy dinner after a long day? Quiche is always a hit. The French would serve this for […]
I can’t find pita bread in my local New Mexico grocery store, although we have more tortillas than I can […]
Guacamole is so easy to make, I don’t know why it is even sold pre-made. The only tricky part is […]
I’ve been making a meal we call “chicken, rice and veggies” since before we were married, more than 20 years […]
Cranberries look and taste like fall. But I like these cranberry muffins so much that I’m planning to buy fresh cranberries now, and freeze them for later.
The boys love this, and I’m not kidding. The olive oil and garlic salt are bring out the taste and stir frying keeps a satisfying texture.
I have failed at package brownie mixes more times than I can count. At one point, I was trying to […]
This is a traditional New Mexican dish, adapted for a slow cooker. Carne adovada is just slow cooked pork, marinated […]
Breakfast burritos are a New Mexico specialty. They are especially popular at the Balloon Fiesta on those cold dark fall mornings. […]
Pumpkin is good for more than just pies. Although pumpkin may seem like a fall flavor, with canned pumpkin we […]
These are the three pies I make for “pi day”. You know, March 14, because pi=3.14. Pi day 2016 was […]
Grandma Leone used to cook this meal and always called it “Risot”. Although she was French, her husband Si (short […]
Tuna Melts were one of my staple meals in college, cooked in a small countertop toasted oven. One can of tuna and 2 slices of bread made a meal for one.
This is Grandma Myrna’s Peach Crumble recipe, and for years she made it every time she visited. The boys like Grandma’s cooking better than mine.
Greek chicken souvlaki is easy to make at home, and a real hit with our teenage sons. I’ve made it […]
When the cheap strawberries hit the grocery store, and the summer cherries have are come and gone, it’s time for […]
This is my mom’s recipe, clipped from a magazine around 1980. We liked this meal so much as kids that […]
Summer time is salad time, and this pasta salad with cheese, salami and vegetables has everything it needs for a […]
This Greek salad is full of vegetables, but has no lettuce. I was inspired by a picture of a salad that Patrick sent from Greece during his summer abroad. But that’s a different story.
It’s summer time – it must be time for salads. A Waldorf Salad makes a great lunch for the hot summer months. It’s surprisingly filling on its own, or with a piece of bread or some crackers on the side.
This is my very favorite pie, and I really love pie. Grandma Gunda loved cherries, and she lived to age […]
Let me be honest from the start: I use a bottled stir fry sauce. The vegetables can be cut up ahead of time and stored in a zip top bag in the fridge.
I wish I could tell you this was Grandma Gunda’s old family recipe, but it seems Grandma didn’t write down the recipes she knew by heart.
My mom made this dinner for us when she was staying at our house and waiting for Alex to be born. It was perfectly warm and calming and delicious.
I’ve been trying a lot of blueberry muffins recipes, looking for that one that I’ll make over and over again for years. Here are the top two.
I know it seems odd to marinate fish in Worcestershire sauce, but this recipe is really good. It is adapted from an old Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.
This skillet dinner is very quick to make, it has vegetables built right in, it reheats well, and it tastes great too. Serve with a side of sweet cornbread.
My dad, the good Norwegian that he is, does not care for Mexican food. The one exception is fajitas, which he has adapted to venison and shared with all his friends.
This version of chicken stroganoff doesn’t use cream soup or dried onion soup mix, and it’s better than that old version too!
I saw this bread on The Great British Baking Show. This is my American translation of Paul Hollywood’s Ciabatta recipe.
I’m trying Paul Hollywood’s Crusty Cob Loaf this week. The recipe is very similar to the baguette recipe, with the […]
Although we eat Italian food almost weekly, this particular meal reminds us all of Rome. Our most memorable meal was […]
As kids, our family fondue pot was used exclusively to deep fry steak. We never used it for melted cheese, […]
As part of our “European Vacation” meal week, I was looking for an easy French meal besides Steak Frite. Chicken […]
This is one of Tim’s signature meals. He makes it in a slow cooker and brings it to potlucks at […]
My college age son has been making pasties fairly regularly, both for himself and for his roommates. This was not […]
This recipe takes at least an hour from start to finish, longer if you have to chop the veggies and […]
This soup is both beautiful and tasty, and I’m not a big soup person. It comes together really fast […]
I grew up on Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, made with the little packet of orange powder. When the boys were […]
I didn’t think I liked dove until Tim fixed this recipe for the family. We couldn’t get enough. I tried […]
So let’s be clear, enchiladas are made with corn tortillas. Always. If you wrap up some filling in a flour […]
I’ve tried several versions of baked fish and breaded cod, but putting the breading on one side only solves […]
After watching hours of The Great British Baking Show, I needed to try Paul Hollywood’s baguette recipe. I looked it up on the […]
The Kitchen Aid book had a page and a half of warnings and tips for making bread, which left me […]
This is a fun dinner, and our Swiss themed meal during European Vacation Week, even though we didn’t actually eat […]
This spinach artichoke dip recipe just fits in a 2 qt. mini slow cooker. I confess, I bought my mini […]
I made lefse! OK, actually I helped my mom and dad make lefse, but that doesn’t sound as impressive. What […]
These Almond Butter Blossoms are a variation of the traditional Peanut Butter Blossoms, but made with almond butter because Patrick […]
We’ve been eating Magic Cookie Bars since I was a kid, but not necessarily just at Christmas. I found handwritten […]
These 3 Layer Bars are the premium cookies of our Christmas repertoire. They’re everyone’s favorite, and they’re extremely sweet, rich […]
We ate a lot of Norwegian cookies at Christmas time when I was a kid, courtesy of Grandma Gunda. Spritz […]
When we were kids, we always called these “Gunda Bars” named after Grandma Gunda. She called them Caramel Bars, and […]
What’s the difference between Molasses Cookies and gingerbread cookies? Nothing, except these are round and not cut into little shapes. […]
I’ve been baking these for Christmas for the past several years. Although they’re not specifically Christmas cookies, the powdered sugar […]
The turkey burger is in the picture, under the lettuce and tomato. I’ll have to wait until turkey burgers come […]
This meal could be made with any meat, but I usually use chicken sausage flavored with apple, or pre-made […]
I’ve been making lentil soup for about 23 years so far. It’s easy, super healthy, and just right on a […]
I’ve made grilled pizza several times this summer, and it’s much easier than I expected. I found several recipes that […]
The kids now call this dinner “Chipotle”, and turn their noses up at the restaurant because we already eat the same thing at home.
These are my emergency cookies, you know, for when someone announces at 9pm that they need to bring cookies to […]
I never ate asparagus as a child. My first taste was in college when we were served asparagus omelets. I […]
Cutting the steak into chunks lets the marinade reach more surfaces so the taste is more intense. I use lean […]
Tim loves white gravy. It seems to be a Texas thing. I used to use a package mix, but making […]
I actually have 3 versions of chili, including Frito Pie. Frito Pie is a bit like taco salad, but with […]
This is definitely a Minnesota recipe, even though the name sounds like New York. There are a couple of fantastic […]
Who says British food is bad? How can anyone go wrong with sausages, mashed potatoes, and brown onion gravy? Before […]
What to serve with schnitzel? How about German Cucumber Salad. Most versions contain only cucumbers and onions, but I like […]
I know, schnitzel is supposed to be served with potatoes, at least in Germany. But we have several other meals […]
I always hate to throw away overripe bananas, so I make a lot of banana bread. The banana eaters in […]
Compare the ingredient list for chocolate chip muffins to the list of ingredients for chocolate chip cookies. Now ask yourself, […]
This meal was originally shish kebob, but it has evolved over the years to be much quicker to prepare, but […]
Welcome to our family’s online cookbook. All the meal plans and recipes are accessible from the “Menu” tab. Our meal […]
About me
My name is Nicole, and I'm the mother of four boys. I'm also a full time engineer and lifelong runner. These are the meals we really eat as a family. I hope my boys will remember these meals someday after they've left home, and cook something tasty for their own families. By the way, Gunda and Leone are my grandmothers.
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