Rhubarb Upside Down Cake

Time to celebrate farmer’s markets finally opening! Here in Minnesota, we’ve had such a crazy “spring” (Snow in May? Yeah, we did that.) that we had to delay the opening of some of our farmer’s markets.

But it’s finally here! And you know what that means…time for Kathleen to go nuts and buy way too much of everything.

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First up, rhubarb.  Continue reading

White Chicken Chili

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Like we need an excuse to drink margaritas, and munch on chips and salsa, right?

But if you’re looking for a lighter way to celebrate, try this white chicken chili.

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I hadn’t made a white chili before, but it’s basically a standard chili without tomatoes…probably pretty obvious to those in the know, but I was always a little intimidated by the idea of a white chili. Continue reading

Cranberry Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Um, so I just discovered by all time favorite banana bread/muffin additions. Cranberries and chocolate chips.

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It’s genius! I have no idea why it’s taken me so long to figure this one out, but YUM! Continue reading

Oatmeal Pancakes

Oatmeal is great. Healthy, hearty, and easy. But let’s be real, pancakes are way better.

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So when I found this recipe for oatmeal pancakes I was super excited. Gone was my guilt for wanting fluffy, syrupy pancakes every day of the week.

I can have my (pan)cake and eat it too. Continue reading

Glam Doll Donuts Review

Glam Doll Donuts has made me believe in donuts again. I was never a donut person, but that has totally changed.

Here’s what happened. About 1:30 on a Wednesday, my coworker started wandering up and down the hall, lamenting the lack of dessert in her life. She had quite the craving.

By 1:35 she had convinced another coworker of mine to hop in the car and take a field trip to get dessert. I thought nothing of it, besides sympathizing with mid-afternoon dessert cravings of course.

Then they walked in with these.

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Continue reading

Roasted Veggie Pizza Rolls

With Lent over, and Easter behind us, I can eat cheese again. (YAY!)

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When did I realize exactly how difficult it was for me to give up cheese?

When my boyfriend and I went to this tiny, hole-in-the-wall pizza place that has the best garlic cheesy bread ever, no joke, and after eating a plate full, we contemplated ordering another before we started on our pizza. Continue reading

Nutella Coconut Macaroon Nests

I think Easter is one of the most underrated holidays.

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Speaking purely secularly here, think about this. You stuff eggs full of candy, hide them around your house, find them, eat all the candy, and then start on your chocolate bunny. Which is a chocolately representation of the magical rabbit that delivered the candy filled eggs to your house in the first place.

Is it any wonder I love Easter?

But beyond indulging my sugar cravings, I love Easter because it’s an excuse to get together with my family. Continue reading

Easy Homemade Pad Thai

If you follow the blog, or have the insider scoop to my life in general, you will have heard that I gave up potatoes and cheese for Lent.

Today, I consumed ice cream, a cupcake, and three oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. So as you can see, abstaining from typically fatty foods is going about as well as could be expected.

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The upside to not having my old standbys as an option until April is that I’m experimenting with other types of cuisine. Thai, Indian, Chinese – no one from these countries seem to mind a noted absence of potatoes and cheese.

And while I do find these categories wonderfully delicious, I usually bypass them for my stereotypically American choices of cheeseburgers, fries (and/or tater tots), and pizza.

So imagine my delight when I discovered how easy it can be to make Pad Thai.  Continue reading