Sweets

An easy recipe for Lemon Blueberry Muffins

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With the perfect combination of tart and sweet, these Lemon Blueberry Muffins are the perfect thing to make when you’re craving something sweet but not too sweet. If you ask my kids what their favorite thing to make in the kitchen together, the answer would hands down be muffins. And if you asked them what … Read more

My new summer drink is green tea lemonade

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Green Tea Lemonade is the quintessential summer drink. It’s pleasantly sweet, seriously refreshing, and has a kick of caffeine to get you through the day!

Hello warmer weather and hello green tea lemonade, my new favorite drink. It’s pleasantly sweet, seriously refreshing, and has a fun little kick of caffeine to boot. I can see myself drinking this — and every variation I can think of — all summer long.

Last weekend we drove to Cincinnati to visit family and celebrate my oldest nephew graduating from high school. Of course, finding places to stop along the way is generally difficult since the kids want one thing (McDonalds) and the husband and I want another (anything but McDonalds).

We generally compromise on Panera (or, let’s be honest, grab the kids McDonalds and us something from Panera) and go on our merry way. My go-to order is the Fuji Apple Chicken salad and one of their charged lemonades. I love them (and apparently so does The Big Kid).

500-ish miles and 3 super charged lemonades later, I decided that I needed to try making my own version at home. I began looking up green tea lemonades and was seriously surprised at how easy they were to make. I have a feeling I’ll be experimenting with flavors now that I know just how good it is with a plain lemonade.

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Dairy free muffins made from dried mangos

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Perfect for breakfast, lunch, or snacks, these small batch dairy free muffins made from dried mangos are packed with flavor. They are also the perfect way to use up that dried fruit that’s been sitting in your pantry for way too long.

A few months ago, I picked up a bag of dried mango from our local BJ’s because it’s seriously the best. Like, better than any other brand I’ve tried. The first time I had gotten a bag, it was gone in two days flat. I was telling The Little about how excited I was to have some again, and asked her if she would be interested in trying some, too.

Of course she said yes. Who can resist such a delicious treat?! So I ripped open the bag when we got home, handed The Little a piece for herself, and took a bite. It wasn’t as good as I remembered it, but maybe my tastebuds were a little off that day… The Little took a bite a few seconds later and instead of oohing and ahhhing about it, she made a funny face.

I picked up the bag to see if something had changed, but everything looked the same. And that’s when I noticed it. The small lettering on the top of the package that said unsweetened.

Face. Palm.

The unsweetened variety was most definitely not the same and most definitely not very good. It just wasn’t for me. (That’s a fancy way of saying it was effing disgusting and not at all what I had hoped it would be.)

So instead of throwing it directly in the trash and feeling cranky with myself for wasting $14 on a bag of dried mango, I tucked it into the back of our pantry and told myself that I’d find something to make with it. Eventually. I’m pretty sure I even went so far as to look up ideas on Pinterest to see if there was anything that was of interest. There wasn’t, so it sat. And sat and sat and sat in our pantry.

Until today.

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The best way to make chocolate pudding is with avocados

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Chocamole, otherwise known as chocolate avocado pudding, is the creamiest, dreamiest, richest, most decadent chocolate pudding there is. And it’s 100% dairy-free. I have a confession to make: I hate avocados. As in, you couldn’t pay me to eat them on toast, mashed up into guacamole, or any other way that people who like avocados … Read more

This cookie bread pudding is the best way to use up leftover cookies

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Looking for a way to use up stale or dried out and overcooked cookies? Cookie bread pudding is the answer to it all. Sometimes I leave cookies out on purpose just so I can make a batch.  Every now and then I have a batch of cookies that doesn’t quite turn out — they get overcooked or turn … Read more

Maple Thumbprints are the best cookies I’ve ever had

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These maple thumbprints are THE best cookies I’ve ever had. They may be a bit more time consuming than other cookies but they are worth every single solitary second spent making them. Thumbprint cookies aren’t the first cookie I reach for at the cookie table. In fact, they would probably be closer to the last … Read more