When we were kids our parents used to throw killer football game day parties. I wasn’t so much into the game back then (although I totally am now), but I found the energy and the fun so exciting and I grew to love Sundays! The food was always the best, too, which is why I’m a sucker for a good game day recipe. Today we’re talking loaded nacho tots smothered in the easiest, creamiest Crockpot queso blanco. Even if you aren’t an enthusiastic or skilled cook, these nacho tots are about to make you the talk of the town!
Vegetarian
It’s the season of sandwiches around our house and these babies have quickly become one of my favorite grilled eggplant recipes! The perfect eggplant layered with my homemade sriracha mayo, lettuce, tomato and those easy pickled red onions I’ve been obsessed with all summer long. This is a sandwich that’s as comfortable as weeknight dinner as it is as the star of a casual weekend dinner party. I’ll be making them like every other day from now until forever.
Does anyone else have a family of dippers? Between Bob and I and the kids, seemingly none of us has met a veggie or chip we didn’t want to dip! When the folks at Deep River Snacks sent along some of their delicious kettle chips to team up for a post, I instantly knew that I was making a huge spread of over the top party dip recipes. And make all the dips I did! These dips are totally party-worthy, especially when paired with a spread of Deep River kettle chips. Buffalo bean dip, everything bagel dip, spring pea hummus and loaded ranch dip! All of them are crazy delicious, pretty darn simple to make and loaded with flavor. Serve them on a board surrounded by chips and you’ve got a snack spread your family and friends are sure to love!
I’ve never been a huge fan of traditional jalapeño poppers. You know the kind. They’re usually stuffed with cream cheese, sometimes they’re breaded, and in any case they’ve always just been a little meh for my palate. The exception to that is our buddy James’s homemade poppers! Now those are delicious. What’s even more delicious? Mac and cheese stuffed jalapeño poppers! They’re basically exactly what they sound like – jalapeño peppers stuffed with homemade mac and cheese and baked until golden around the edges. I like to sprinkle them with chives or parsley when they’re done, but cilantro would also be great if you’re a cilantro kind of person! (Does anyone else find it fascinating how polarizing cilantro is? Ha!) In my book of “sure bet crowd-pleasing not to be missed” appetizers, this poppers certainly rank right up there at the top of the list! They’re basically the very best kind of comfort food of all.
It’s Monday morning following an ice storm over the weekend, so the start to my week is looking a whole lot like big cups of coffee, sheltering in place for another 24 hours, and if I’m lucky, some extra snuggles with my kid. (And yes, it’s mid-April and we’re encased in ice.) While the little one sits next to me, armed with a stash of crayons and her favorite coloring book, let’s talk about avocado toast! I know, I know. There’s nothing revolutionary about avocado toast, which is becoming such a mainstay these days that it’s basically ubiquitous. But here’s the thing. We can’t stop eating it! When you have a two year old who is obsessed with avocados and her parents echo those sentiments, well, you buy a lot of avocados. Bob prefers his with tomatoes on top and a big pinch of coarse ground salt. If I’m keeping it simple, I like mine with a generous sprinkle of red pepper flake. If I’m keeping it real though, I love my avocado toast piled high with veggies and herbs and a little bit of interest to keep it fun. Today I’m sharing eight awesome ways to make the best avocado toast on earth. This certainly isn’t the first avocado toast round-up you’ve seen and I bet it won’t be the last, but I can guarantee all of these varieties are crazy delicious. What’s your favorite way to eat it? I have a kitchen full of avocados and marble rye bread and I’m ready to go!
I had a very sick two year old on my hands all of last week. High fevers, a cold, a touch of a stomach bug. It was also sub zero temperatures most of the week, with wind chills hitting -30 far more than once. It was a long week, for sure. The kind of long week that always seem to fall during the darkness of winter when you’re resisting the need to take down your holiday decor and already longing for spring. One of those. Basically, it was a “warm bowl of soup and all the wool blankets” kind of week, a week that practically begs for my favorite homemade veggie soup with vegan dumplings. This is the very best “chicken soup” recipe for those of us who don’t eat chicken, but still need that warm, yummy hug of a dish to make you feel better on crappy winter days when your kid’s fever won’t break and the air outside hurts to breathe.
Wondering what to do with those leftovers? Make stuffing waffles from your leftover stuffing! They’re so easy to make and crazy delicious with loads of flavor and slightly crispy edges that you’ll totally love.
Over the last few years I’ve been really into arranging a bunch of food on a board and serving it up as a casual weeknight dinner, a great party appetizer or a delicious mid-afternoon snack on a weekend. Something about food on a board is just so damn enjoyable, and people naturally seem to love food that’s interactive, which is why this one would make such a good addition to your next party. People love a great cheese board, but this is spin on the classic is even better with an excess of good fresh mozzarella and burrata, loaded up with a variety of tomatoes. Drizzle everything with a good olive oil, max out on fresh basil, then sprinkle the whole mess with yummy coarse grain sea salt and you’re in business.
We had a whirlwind of a weekend, hosting two parties and inviting a combined total of over 60 people through the house over the last two days. This morning it is dark and stormy, and I rolled out of bed a solid hour later than usual. I guess 48 hours of intense back-to-back entertaining will do that to you! When we’re throwing parties my rule of thumb is to keep the food simple, but also a touch unexpected and fun. It makes people feel special and gets them really excited to try something new. This strawberry feta bruschetta recipe perfectly fits that bill! It’s a departure from the tomato-based classic, but it’s equally, if not more, delicious. Plus, strawberries and feta always taste amazing together. In terms of prep, it’s also very easy! If you can dice up berries, you can feel confident serving this bruschetta at your next get together.
There’s something about food served on sticks that people seem to instantly love. Case in point, the antipasto skewers I shared last year were one of your run away favorite posts of the year! (And, guys, they’re so damn tasty!) Spearing yummy little bites onto sticks is also a super easy way to serve up delicious, crowd-pleasing party appetizers. You can make them in advance, mix and match a million different flavor combinations and keep everyone begging for more.
Happy Monday, friends! I hope everyone had a beautiful weekend. After a long, gray week of nonstop rain, we finally had an abundance of sunshine this weekend and it felt incredible. And now it’s the run up to Easter! Naturally no Easter festivities are properly complete without a killer deviled eggs recipe, so today I’m serving up just that. To be honest, my mom tends to be the deviled egg maker in our family, but we love to make them at home from time to time, too.
Bob and I have this little tradition of making what we call “fancy grilled cheese sandwiches” for dinner on Friday nights. Not every Friday night (far from it actually), but for some reason a great grilled cheese sandwich and a bowl of homemade tomato soup is the perfect way to end the week when you’re too tired to want to cook up a more involved meal, but want to attempt something a bit more than delivery. This sandwich is one of our favorite variations! A grilled cheese made with caramelized onions, dill pickle, havarti and munster cheese all on inside-out ciabatta bread.