Homemade Bread Crumbs

As I've mentioned about 327 times, I got a bread machine for my birthday. It is my most favorite thing in the whole kitchen (until the day I finally get a KitchenAid, that is) and I use it all the time. Like two or three times a week to the point where I do not buy bread at the store anymore. It tastes better, it's cheaper, and it only has the few ingredients bread should have. 

But for some odd reason, I was still buying whole wheat bread crumbs. That is, until I turned the canister around a few weeks ago. I'm not sure why I thought the ingredient list would be any less tragic than a loaf of bread with its 35 components, but I did. And then it hit me - I make my own bread, why not make my own bread crumbs? The whole thing is so simple and (my favorite part) it's made from something I was going to throw away. They are fresh and real and tasty and now my only problem is that I'm suddenly trying to coat everything in bread crumbs. This too shall pass.

Fake-it-till-you-make-it Thin Mint Wannabes

I'd like to clear the air right now. These are not Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies. I am not now, nor have I ever been, a Girl Scout. I am however, a complete and total Thin Mint addict. I remember many many moons ago when you could make a small-ish donation of $2.50 to the cause and get a box of really, really good cookies in return.

As to be expected, I have watched the price creep up little by little over the years. But I still got excited the other day when I saw the group of smiling, uniformed girls hanging out at my local grocery store pushing their lovely treats on innocent passersby. As I walked towards them, I was trying to decide how many boxes I was going to get. And then the girl on the end said, "Would you like to buy some Girl Scout cookies? They're only $4 a box." Only $4 a box? Only?? Don't get me wrong, I understand inflation and all that, but that's ridiculous. No way, it wasn't happening. There had to be another way.

Now, I'm going to level with you. Are these Thin Mints? No. Do they taste exactly like the ones in the beloved green box? No. Will you read the ingredients and make a batch of 5 cookies just to test it out because there is no way they will sufficiently satisfy your craving? Yes. And then you will make the full batch. Twice. In less than 24 hours. True story.

Make Your Own Oat Milk

In case you're new here, I eat a LOT of oatmeal. And I'm not shy with the liquids when I make it either. Most people like a little milk with their oatmeal; I like a little oatmeal with my milk. Hot or cold, quick or old-fashioned, I thoroughly drown the poor stuff. I tend to make it with less liquid so it's really thick, then I cover it with milk, just like regular cereal, and break the bigger chunks up. It really is odd.

Then, one day while I was making my sixth batch of almond milk in 5 days, I started wondering what else I could make milk out of. Then it hit me - I could make oat milk. It would be like oatmeal on top of my oatmeal! What more could an addict like me want??

Ranch Dip and Dressing

I never have fresh herbs on hand. It usually goes something like this... I read recipe after recipe and see show after show highlighting food I would love to create in my kitchen, but it seems like they all require fresh herbs. So I put them on the grocery list, I buy them, I bring them home, and then... nothing. I can't remember what in the world I wanted them for and they languish in the fridge until they die. Just this afternoon, I threw away some rosemary that had turned black. And three seconds later I remembered that I never did make that Rosemary Focaccia I had been craving.

Fresh Hamburger Buns

I got a bread machine for my birthday a few months ago. I figured I'd pull it out once or twice a month and make some bread. Boy, was I wrong. I use this thing at least twice a week. White bread, wheat bread, half-and-half bread, breadsticks, rolls, buns, Italian loaves; I make it all. We actually stopped buying bread from the store over a month ago.

There is just something so amazing about taking some flour and water and yeast and turning it into bread. If you don't have one, I highly suggest you try to get your hands on one. And when you do, come right back here and make these hamburger buns.

Make Your Own Soy Milk

If you or someone in your family is lactose intolerant or otherwise allergic to regular milk, you know how expensive the alternatives can be. I'm not too crazy about all the weird additives they throw in there either. I figured there had to be a better way, and there is. Did you know you can make it yourself? It takes just a few simple (real) ingredients and it tastes way better than anything you can get in the store. Come on, I'll show you how.

2-Ingredient Banana Ice Cream (no ice cream maker required!)

Come here, I want to tell you a secret. Closer... closer... that's close enough. Ready?

I hate bananas. I know, I know, you're so used to me telling you how much I love everything, but I really hate bananas. Totally despise the things. Really, really can't stand them. At all. I like banana flavored stuff - banana milkshakes, banana taffy, banana bread, banana pudding. But I absolutely, positively do not like plain bananas in their natural state. 

Whew. I feel better.

Now that we got that out of the way, I LOVE this. The baby loves this. Soon, you will love this.

Homemade Chocolates

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, not that I really need an excuse to bring out the chocolates. I remember when I was pregnant with my second baby, I had gestational diabetes and couldn't have treats. A week before my due date, and a few days before Valentine's Day, we were walking through the mall and I spotted a HUGE heart filled with chocolates. No lie, this thing was over 2 feet wide.

Make Your Own Almond Milk (and Almond Meal)

I don't know where you live, but around here, almond milk is $4 for a HALF gallon ($3 if you catch it on sale). That's insane. They must be charging for all of the additives, because I can turn a 2-pound $8 bag of almonds into 6 quarts and it only takes 2 ingredients. Even if you don't do it on a regular basis, I think everyone should try it at least once. Bonus - you get a bunch of almond meal as a by-product of the process. That stuff is $8 per bag here. I couldn't love this anymore right now!

Very Veggie Quinoa and Bean Burgers

Meatless Monday has been such a success around here, I'm thinking of adding another meat-free day later in the week. I always seem to have tons of dinner ideas that use alternate forms of protein, like these burgers. Andrew and K can't stand store-bought veggie burgers, but I love them. What I don't love is the price - they are super-expensive, but I bought them for years because I was too intimidated to try it on my own. 

I think I hit the jackpot with these. Not only are they easy to make, but they use ingredients that I always have on hand and the boys finished them in minutes. I was actually quite impressed.

Cold Oatmeal (Muesli)

My name is Lisa and I am addicted to oatmeal. I eat it every day, sometimes twice a day. I used to buy the flavored packets of instant oatmeal, but then I moved onto canisters of quick oats, then old-fashioned, then the really hard stuff - steel cut oats. It was bad.

Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce

I have to be honest here - I don't like red sauce on my spaghetti. Give me a nice creamy alfredo, a light garlic and butter sauce, or a rich marsala gravy; anything but red sauce. But I do use it when I make lasagna, eggplant casserole, pizza, and the like. This sauce is so easy to make, and perfect if you hate relying on those jars from the grocery store.

DIY Rice-a-Roni




The San Francisco treat has always been one of my favorite go-to side dishes for quick weeknight meals. Then it hit me - I was paying a lot of money for a box of rice and pasta (two of the cheapest foods on the planet) with some seasonings. Since I have been looking for ways to make more things from scratch (chicken broth, pumpkin seeds, granola cereal), I figured I would give this a try.

Breadsticks - 3 Ways


I love, love, love my bread machine. I got a new one for my birthday in October and I can't live without it. I had one before that. Two, actually. The first one was older than me and when I finally decided to start using it, it turned out that it was half broken. It would bake, but it wouldn't mix or knead the dough. Then a friend of mine gave me one that someone gave to her and it ended up also being half broken. It would mix and knead, but not bake. So between the two of them, I had a great bread machine, but a total pain in the butt.

The Best Cranberry Sauce Ever



The only way I could capture the ruby red color of
this sauce was to hold it up to the light.
(I didn't think my family would appreciate me taking pictures
of their plates while they were trying to eat.)



The only cranberry sauce I have ever eaten came from a can. For Thanksgiving this year, I decided to change all that. I bought my first bag of cranberries, selected some sweeteners to combat all that tartness, and got busy in the kitchen.

S.O.S. Mix - Thanks Jillee!

I have this love-hate thing going on with canned condensed cream soups. On one hand, they are quick and easy and the cream of mushroom can be pretty tasty, if you're into that sort of thing. And I am. But the ingredient list can be a bit scary, and how comfortable am I really with a milk product that has been in a can for a year or three? Needless to say, I was super excited to find One Good Thing by Jillee, and her awesome mix that she got from her friend Debbie. I happened to have all of the ingredients on hand and made up a batch immediately.

24 Hour Apple Butter

Andrew absolutely adores apple butter. (My 5th grade English teacher would be so proud of my use of alliteration there!) I buy him a jar for Christmas every year. We try out different brands, but they all pretty much taste the same. Since we recently went to a pick-your-own farm and came home with 40, yes 40, apples, the first thing I wanted to do was try to make this on my own. It turned out really well. I don't even like apple butter, but now I'm eating the stuff for breakfast every day on wheat bread. Which reminds me, I need to make some biscuits...

Roast Your Own Pumpkin Seeds

Since it's October, it's practically a pumpkin-fest everywhere you turn. So naturally, I've been craving pumpkin seeds. I have always bought packaged ones. I have always thrown away the pulpy stuff from inside my pumpkins. I'll bet you can figure out where I'm going here. Yup, I finally decided to roast my own since I had some pumpkins laying around. I don't know how much of a decision it was, considering this is no-grocery-shopping month, and it was this or nothing, so I decided to go for it.

Chicken Broth Recipe

When I was little, I remember my grandmother making homemade chicken soup. She'd be in the kitchen forever with the only pot big enough to hold an entire chicken. She made it seem so simple, but it tasted so good. Now that I'm all grown up, I decided to pull out my own big pot and make some broth. I hate copying other people's ideas, so I pulled out my cookbooks for inspiration. I spent a long time researching recipes, and they all called for chicken bones (which freak me out) and they required you to "skim the scum off the top" at various points in the process. I'm sorry, but I don't think the word "scum" has any place in a tasty recipe. Back to cans for me.