OK, so this isn’t the healthiest thing I’ve ever made, but lordy, it sure hit the spot… for everyone!

This is going to sound anti-Iowan, heck, anti-American, but Kevin and I just don’t make/eat potatoes like we used to. Generally, we eat fairly healthy, and in today’s society, consuming anything potato related has unfortunately become condemned. But being the meat and potatoes kinda folks that we are, every once in a while, you just want a damn potato! So sorry gluten-free, dairy-adverse, paleo consuming cross-fit nuts—this recipe just isn’t for you. But, if you’re a classic American that is ready to put on their elastic-band stretchy pants and devour a ton of dairy and carbs, even if it’s just for the night, please read on!

The Ultimate Colossal Twice Baked Potato 

Ingredients
4 Colossal sized Russet potatoes
2 Boneless skinless chicken breasts (cooked and chopped)
1 Cup sour cream
4 Tbsp. butter (half a stick, slightly melted)
1 Package of bacon (fried and chopped)
2 Tbsp. Chives (chopped)
1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Word of note before beginning. There are two ways to cook your potato. Mircrowave and conventional oven. Since I personally prefer the oven (One, because it tastes better and Two, because I’m not much of a microwave fan to begin with) that is the route I am taking. But, if you’re pressed for time (because these big bad boys will take time in the oven) feel free to zap them if you prefer.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Scrub your potatoes clean, free of dirt, and use a knife to poke various holes in them. Wrap each with tin foil and  place them on a baking sheet. Place your wrapped potatoes in your preheated oven and bake for a good two hours, turning them over every half hour or so. If you are using smaller potatoes, make sure to decrease your baking time.

After your time has passed, pull your potatoes out, and with oven mits on (because they will be hot!) lightly squish your potato to check for doneness. Your potato should give a bit and should feel soft. If your potato is done, unwrap them from the tinfoil and using your knife, cut a slit the length of the potato (but do not cut it in half!) Scoop out the majority of the white fluffy insides of the potato, adding it to a mixing bowl. Keep your potato shell (the skin) intact as you will be using it later. Once all of the white potato insides have been transferred to the bowl, lightly mash in your butter, sour cream and salt and pepper. Whip until you have a nice consistency. Gently spoon the contents back into the potato skin shells and place the potatoes back into the oven for ten more minutes.

After your potato has been twice baked, remove it and add atop all of your fixins! You can really use whatever you want but we were simply craving the classics! Serve hot and with stretchy pants on. Don’t feel guilty about this wonderful meal—everyone, even health nuts, deserve a splurge every once and awhile!

My entire life I’ve been in love with the way Royal icing makes a cookie look. A Royal Iced cookie looks like something straight out of a Martha Stewart Living or BHG magazine. I’ve yearned to perfect this look, telling myself that one day, someday, I’ll be of the Royal Iced caliber. Most bakers in the making settle for the basic cream cheese and buttercream recipes—the kind your mom teaches you to make right before you lick the spoon. Sorry mom, but as wonderful as your buttercream recipes are, I was meant for more. I was meant to be Royal!

I’ll be honest, Royal Icing isn’t the easiest method of icing cookies. In fact, it’s a Royal pain in the butt. But even though my mother raised me on buttercream and spoon licks, she also raised me not to be a quitter. I will perfect my icing recipe. I will pipe the perfect pipe. I will flood the perfect flood. So help me God, I will create the perfect cookie!

To achieve the ghost and candy-corn cookies you see in the above photos, you will need five things:

A Candy-Corn Cookie Cutter
A Tulip Cookie Cutter (you heard me right!)
Black Gel for Ghost Face
Red and Yellow food coloring (for the candy-corn’s yellow and orange stripes)
A Sugar Cookie Recipe and its ingredients (Here is one I recommend if you do not have your own)
A Royal Icing Recipe and its ingredients  (Here is one I recommend if you do not have your own)

Follow the suggested recipes as instructed and viola—the cutest (and happiest) Halloween cookies you’ve ever made!

We make a lot of chicken at our house. And when I say a lot, I mean A LOT. So I’m always attempting new recipes I find and trying my hand at creating something new. This recipe was inspired by the tail-end of a box of Cheez-Its. Instead of licking my fingers to dab out the leftover crumbs from the bottom of the box, I decided to keep my dignity and turn the cheddar bits into a delicious breading. So I licked my last handful of addictive cracker dust and headed for the kitchen:

Cheez-It Chicken

Ingredients

2 Cup crushed cheddar cracker crumbs (I used Cheez-Its, crushed in a food processor)
4-5 Skinless chicken breasts
1 Cup milk
1 egg
Cooking Oil
1 zip lock bag (shake and bake, baby!)

Begin by heating your cooking oil (either in a fryer or deep frying pan) on medium heat.

In a shallow dish, mix your egg and your milk. Coat chicken breasts until moist as this will help the Cheez-It mixture to stick to the chicken. Add your Cheez-It crumbs to the zip-lock bag and, one breast at a time, shake until the breast is evenly coated in cracker crumbs. Transfer chicken, carefully, to your pre-heated frying pan. Fry for 6-7 minutes, flip and cook for another 6-7 minutes on the other side. Your chicken breasts will need to reach an internal temperature of 170 degrees.)

Remove fried chicken to a paper-towel covered plate to remove excess oil. Serve and enjoy!

*Helpful Hint: If you feel the outside of your chicken is cooking to fast, refrain from burning your breading and move chicken breasts to an oven dish and cook chicken the remainder of the way through in your oven on 375.

My crock-pot is my handy little friend that I sometimes forget I even have. There she sits, tucked away in the pantry, waiting for me to pull her out and let her do the hard work for me. What’s even better, she actually wants to do the work for me. I just need to remember to get her out every now and again!

When I know in advance I have a long work day coming up, maybe it’s a late scheduled meeting or I’m traveling towards the end of the day, I do try to plan ahead and use this handy little cooking device. It’s so much better to come home to an already prepared and cooked meal opposed to start my cooking process so late in the evening.

Anything egg noodle is my favorite item to put in the crock-pot. Soups. Casseroles. Bakes. I love egg noodles. So when I found myself with a bunch of brown beech mushrooms from my organic delivery box, a bag of egg noodles and a 5pm downtown meeting on the books, I knew I had the perfect trifecta for beef stroganoff. You also need wine and beef—but when don’t I have those?!

Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients
2 Tbsp cooking oil (I use olive)
1 carton of sliced mushrooms (I used brown beech mushrooms to try something fun!)
1 yellow onion
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1-2 lb sirloin, cut into fine strips
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup dry red wine
1 cup beef stock
1 small jar tomato paste
¼ cup plain greek yogurt (sour cream works too!)
½ cup fresh parsley

1 bag egg noodles, cooked

On medium heat, warm your olive oil in a skillet. Add mushrooms, onions and the garlic and cook until onions are translucent and mushrooms start to brown. Stir in 1 Tbsp of the flour, coating the vegetables. Stir in your cup of wine and simmer until the liquid is reduced by about half. While your wine is simmering, coat your sliced sirloin in the other 1 Tbsp of flour and toss to coat, adding it to your crock-pot. When your wine has reduced to about half (4-5 minutes) move those contents to the crock-pot as well. Stir in your beef stock and tomato paste, mixing well. Cook for 5-6 hours on low. When ready to eat, add in your yogurt and parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve over cooked egg noodles. Enjoy.

Now that Kevin and I are on a health kick (and by health kick I mean we’ve successfully gone two full days without an abundance of dairy and carbs) I’ve been searching for good-for-you yet appealing dinner recipes. Now, if I were cooking just for me, that wouldn’t be a problem but if Kevin so much as even assumes the recipe isn’t heavily loaded with “Me a man, me need meat” protein, he won’t even consider it.

So here I am. I need healthy dish and one that’s full of meat. I’ve done stuffed peppers. I’ve done wraps. I look in the fridge and there it is. An organic head of cabbage staring me in the face. Viola. Stuffed cabbage rolls.

I looked through a few recipes, and for this most part, the ingredients and  for this polish dish (Gołąbki or Galumpkis) were very similar. I did see you can make this in a slow cooker as well. Here is the recipe I whipped together, adapted from Whole Eats and Whole Treats, using her great aunt’s cookbook.

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

Ingredients
1 Head cabbage
1 pound ground beef (I used ground turkey, health kick remember?!)
1 chopped onion
½ cup uncooked brown rice (or quinoa)
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (2 tsp dried)
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 egg
1 can plain tomato sauce
1 cup canned tomato chunks
1/2 cup grated Colby cheese, optional

Boil one large pot of water (the pot will need to be big enough to fit your head of cabbage.) Once boiling, add your head of cabbage and continue boiling for about 25 minutes. Carefully remove and let cool for 5-10 minutes so you are able to handle.

While you are working the cabbage, brown the beef and onion. In a bowl, mix the rice, salt, pepper, parsley and egg.

When your mixture is ready and your cabbage has cooled, carefully remove 10-15 leaves. Using a knife, cut out the thickest stalk part of the center rib from each leaf, about 1 to 2 inches. It will look as though you cut out a “V” from each leaf. Divide the meat mixture between the leaves and roll up, tucking in the ends so the filling stays put. Place the rolls in a greased casserole dish.

Pour the tomato sauce and tomato chunks over the rolls. Cover with either a lid or tin foil and bake at 350 for about an hour and a half. If adding cheese, remove foil and sprinkle on top and place back in the oven for an additional five minutes. Let set a few minutes before serving.

I’m not sure what they drink in Poland, but pair this with your favorite red and you’ll be all set. Enjoy!