We are headed up to the cabin over Memorial Day weekend and Jason, Katie and Blake will be joining us there. I'm planning to make some simple meals so we can spend time outdoors rather than in the kitchen. The recipe for Grilled Cheesy Potato Packet has just four ingredients and is very easy to make. Best of all, you will have no cleanup because this side dish ...

Tags: foil packets, Grilled potatoes, Memorial Day weekend

After planning a mid-week dinner for friends, I needed to come up with a quick dessert. My goal was to have everything made-ahead and ready to serve when I got home since my guests were scheduled to arrive at our house shortly after I got home from work. Here is the dessert I made. Can you help me figure out a name for it besides Easy Strawberry Dessert? 1. (I did this step the night before my dinner party.) Remove two refrigerated pie crusts from a package; place each on parchment ...

Tags: fresh mint leaves, refrigerated pie crusts, strawberry dessert

Every now and then, I’ll tell you about my adventures of cooking with 2-year old Blake.  For me, it’s a fun challenge to find recipes that he can make.  I’ve known for a long time that food tastes better if you make it yourself—and that’s especially true for kids. Blake loved this Chicken Taco Pizza. Because he eats with his fingers, this is a perfect recipe for him because he could easily pick up the chunks of chicken, tomatoes and shredded lettuce.  This is a main ...

Tags: Chicken Taco Pizza, Cooking with kids, Old El Paso Taco Sauce

Pablo, a blue penguin, is Blake’s favorite character in the cartoon series, The Backyardigans. Several months ago, Katie found a recipe for making a Pablo Cake and asked if Jack and I would make it for Blake’s party.  We, of course, told Katie we would be happy to make any special birthday cake for Blake— and this one looked like it would be really easy to make because it’s just one decorated 9...

Tags: birthday cakes, Birthday Parties, Pablo Cake, paste food coloring, Sugarcraft

Have you ever tasted those all-time favorite cereal treats called, Chex® Muddy Buddies? Maybe you know them as Puppy Chow. They are combination of any Chex® cereal coated with melted chocolate chips, peanut butter, butter and vanilla. Immediately after the cereal pieces are covered with the chocolate-peanut butter mixture, they are shaken in a bag filled with powdered sugar.  They are so good, once you start eating them it’s hard to stop...

Tags: Betty Crocker Cookie Mix, Chex Muddy Buddies, Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cookie Treats, Peanut Butter Cookies, Prize-winning cookie recipes, Puppy Chow

My friend Terri, recently had foot surgery and when I tried to figure out how I could help her get through some rough weeks during her recovery, my decision was an easy one for me—make dinner for her and her husband, Hamid. Here’s Terri with her side-kick, Stanley. I made Easy Paella (pi-AY-yuh) for our main dish – it’s a perfect recipe for a weeknight cook (Me!) because so much of it can be made the night before you plan to serve it. Paella is a Spanish one-dish meal made ...

Tags: Easy Paella, Paella Pan