Throughout our first year of marriage, Cole and I ate a lot of pasta. We were still in college and each of us was only working ten hours per week while we completed our student teaching and internships. This meant that groceries were on a tight budget, and of course time was tight too. OnceContinue reading “Not-So-Spicy Buffalo Meatballs”

This next recipe is very unique, in fact, it’s so unique that the first time I saw the concept I almost turned away. It was a cool autumn day and I saw a recipe advertising Pumpkin Chili. I paused, clicked into the recipe, and thought, “No way. Who would possibly ruin chili that way?” IContinue reading “Harvest Turkey Chili”

Cole and I are a poultry family. Almost all of our meals are chicken or turkey. This isn’t because we are trying to live a certain type of heart-healthy lifestyle, but it is simply because we prefer the taste. Cole would probably be completely okay if we never had red meat in the house, butContinue reading “Tasty Turkey Burgers”

There are two items in life that Cole and I will always completely agree on. First, sleeping in until 9:30 on the weeknd is the perfect schedule, and second, that brunch is always better than having both breakfast and lunch. This combo of events means that I have practiced making many different breakfast dishes overContinue reading “Cinnamon French Toast”

One of the easiest ways to cook for a crowd is to buy a large roast and shove it in the oven. Many people are intimidated by large beef roasts because they take a substantial amount of time to cook, but overall, they are one of the fastest items you could prepare, so if youContinue reading “Sirloin Tip Roast”

It is my personal belief that all cookies are better when they are super soft. There is nothing more disappointing than picking up a cookie and discovering it’s crunchy. This summer I was in charge of baking a dessert for a family reunion. Cole’s family reunion is a very active event, with people grabbing snacksContinue reading “Super Soft Peanut Butter Blossoms”

Everyone has a favorite way to eat potatoes, and I believe that mashed potatoes are the winner. However, mashed potatoes can be a bit of a let down for people that don’t like gravy considering that is the typical topper for the dish. Cole is one of those people that strongly dislikes gravy, and heContinue reading “Cheesy Monterey Mashed Potatoes”

Cole and I typically only have steak a couple times per year on special occasions such as our anniversary and New Year’s Eve. It’s the one red meat that Cole truly seems to enjoy. Because of this, I typically buy too much when I’m shopping for these special occasions, and we end up with someContinue reading “Steak Quesadillas”

Before the pandemic, I heavily preferred cooking to baking. While this is still true today, one of the items I have enjoyed baking is various different kinds of bread. In fact, it has gotten to the point where I no longer buy bread from the store and stick to making my own instead. When IContinue reading “Homemade Bread”

As I mentioned in my last post, one of the elements of cooking I am trying to perfect is being able to utilize leftovers to minimize my grocery budget. My favorite way of achieving this goal so far is by roasting chickens. Cole and I only like the white meat when the chicken is initiallyContinue reading “Roasted Cornish Hens”

Cole and I started dating when we were both in high school, but we lived in separate towns 45 minutes apart. This meant I only got to visit him on the weekends. However, one of the huge perks of weekend visits was that his step-dad always cooked large family meals, and he usually was inventiveContinue reading “Cheesy Beef Enchiladas”

In my opinion, zucchini is one of the most underrated healthy foods. It can be used in so many different ways and tastes delicious! So, with that being said, this recipe is one of my favorite quick side dishes. It is so, so easy to make, and only spends 5-7 minutes in the oven. YouContinue reading “Roasted Parmesan Zucchini Coins”

I can remember the first time I ever tried shellfish. My grandma always bought the holiday platters with shrimp and cocktail sauce to serve at our family gathering on Christmas Eve. In my childhood curiosity I wanted to try one so badly, but I was nervous because my dad was allergic to all forms ofContinue reading “Garlicky Grilled Shrimp”

It can be challenging to cook delicious meals on hot summer days. Running the oven makes an already warm house even hotter, and oftentimes appetites drop after a day in the sun. I like to lean towards two different methods of cooking when the temperature tips over 78 degrees –  grilling or skillet dishes. 

One of my favorite skillet dishes to make is buffalo fried chicken tenders. I love all things buffalo flavored, but occasionally I want to have the flavor without having the ordeal of the sauce. Because that’s the thing that most people think of when they hear the word buffalo attached to the word chicken. Immediately the brain pictures the red buttery sauce that makes a mess with each bite. 

My buffalo chicken tenders take a different approach and infuse the flavor directly into the chicken via an egg wash instead of having a sauce directly on top of them. This is a bonus not just because of the lack of messiness, but because of the crispy crunch that is able to be retained when the tenders aren’t being smothered. 

This dish is so easy, and it is light enough to each on a warm summer day with a side of vegetables. Overall this dish is relatively quick to make, but it does need to marinade for at least half an hour before cooking, so make sure you plan ahead!

12 ounces Chicken Breast

1 cup Milk

¼ cup Buffalo Sauce

1 Egg

½ cup Flour

¼ tsp Salt

¼ tsp Pepper

¼ tsp White Pepper

¼ tsp Paprika

¼ tsp Garlic Powder

Olive Oil

1. The first step of making buffalo chicken tenders is to cut up the chicken breasts. To make sure that the chicken will fry up quickly, the chicken should be cut into into ½ inch pieces. By making the tenders thin, this allows the chicken to cook thoroughly while keeping the breading from burning during the process.

2. The next step to making buffalo fried chicken tenders is to prepare the egg wash. In this recipe the egg wash serves two purposes. First, it does what all egg washes do, it ensures that the breading will stick to the chicken. However, it also provides a marinade to infuse the chicken with buffalo flavor. 

To make the egg wash, whisk the milk, buffalo sauce and egg together. Pour the mixture into a shallow container large enough that all of the chicken strips will be able to soak in it. It is important for the tenders to soak in the egg wash for at least half an hour. This gives the buffalo flavor time to seep into the tenders. This container should be stored in the fridge while soaking for best food safety practices. 

3. While the chicken is marinating, use this time to create the flour breading mixture. Use a bowl that will be large enough to hold both the flour mixture and all of the chicken tenders. Pour the flour and all of the seasonings into the bowl and whisk them together. 

4. Once the chicken strips are finished marinating, pull them out of the fridge and use a fork to transfer all of the tenders into the flour bowl. Using the same fork, stir the chicken tenders into the mixture until they are thoroughly coated with a breading. The more coated they are, the crispier the tenders will be after they are fried. 

5. After the chicken has been coated it is time to move over to the stove top. A large frying pan will be needed, and enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan in about an ⅛ – ¼ inch layer of oil. This seems like a lot of oil, but because the chicken is breaded, the flour will soak it up very quickly. Think about it this way, even though it seems like a lot of grease, it’s still way less grease than using a deep fryer. 

When the chicken tenders are frying up, it is important that they are all in a single layer across the bottom of the pan. If you are doubling this recipe or don’t have a large enough frying pan to do this, then tenders may need to be fried in batches. 

Kitchen Tip: In order to make sure that the chicken tenders turn out perfectly crispy it is essential that you let your oil heat up before putting the chicken tenders into the pan. I usually like to let the oil heat up for 3-5 minutes on the burner before adding in the chicken. It should get a bubbly sheen, as seen in the picture above, when it is ready. Be very careful once the oil is hot though, grease burns hurt A LOT! You do not want that oil to touch you. In fact, usually I wear long sleeves when cooking up this dish because sometimes the chicken splatters the grease up when you add it in or are flipping it, and those grease splatters can hurt if you are wearing a short sleeved shirt. 

6. Once the oil is heated, it is time to add the chicken tenders in. Use a slotted spoon or fork to transfer the tenders from the bowl to the frying pan, and try to get just the tenders, not all the extra flour that is sitting in the bowl. If a lot of extra flour gets into the frying pan it can soak up some of the oil instead of allowing that oil to fry the tenders. 

As long as the tenders are cut small enough, these tenders should cook up in 10 minutes, flipping them over after the first 5 minutes. If the breading doesn’t look quite crispy enough after 10 minutes of cooking you can keep them on a little longer. The longer you leave them on, the crispier the chicken will get, but be careful with this. There is a very fine line between crispy and burnt chicken, and that’s not a line you want to cross. 

7. When the chicken is done cooking, transfer the tenders onto a plate lined with three paper towels. The paper towels will soak up any residue grease on your tenders and leave you with perfectly crispy tenders. Before serving put one more paper towel on top of the chicken to quickly dab any more excess grease off them. 

8. Now the chicken tenders are ready to serve! My personal favorite way to serve them is to coat them in a layer of shredded cheddar before they hit the table and then drizzle ranch dressing over the top of them, but they are also equally good on their own. Enjoy!

Looking for a great side to go with these chicken tenders? Try out my Oven Baked Steak Fries!

This week’s post is about one of my absolute favorite dishes in the whole wide world – gumbo. This is the stew that taught me how to truly and fully appreciate a day spent in the kitchen. It showed me that cooking can be an art, and that even when a dish is time intensive to make, it is worth it in the end. Because gumbo DOES take time to make. There are veggies and meats to be chopped and diced, a roux to be made, and like every great stew, there is some simmer time involved. One does not simply DECIDE to wake up and make gumbo, one PLANS to make gumbo, knowing that they are walking through a labor of love for a delicious end product. 

Even though gumbo may be time intensive, it is so delicious. I make a huge batch of gumbo every fall, because it is a great dish to pull out of the freezer when you are snowed in for the day and can’t run to get groceries. This stew is also my “cure all” for the common cold. Whenever Cole and I catch a cold, I pull a bucket of gumbo out of the fridge. It’s got just enough spice in it to make you feel a little better! 

I love making soups more than any other type of food, and Cole and I go back and forth about what our favorite type of soup is. However, no matter what the other contenders are, gumbo is always at the top of the list! I hope you get a chance to try it and love it just as much as we do!

½ cup Butter

½ cup Flour

1 lb Andouille Sausage

1 lb Chicken

1 ½ cups Diced Yellow Onion

1 cup Diced Celery

½ cup Diced Green Onion

1 cup Diced Green Pepper

½ cup Diced Jalapeno Peppers

4 tsp Minced Garlic

1 ½ cups Diced Fresh Tomatoes

4 cups Chicken Broth

1 tsp Dried Thyme

2 tbsp Cajun Seasoning

2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 ½ tsp Hot Sauce (I always use Crystal’s Hot Sauce)

¼ tsp Gumbo File Powder

1. The first step to making gumbo is chopping up all of the veggies. The onions, celery, and peppers should all have a fine dice on them, about ¼ inch cubes. (Make sure to deseed the peppers before chopping them.) After all of the veggies are diced, pile them all on a plate, then mince the garlic and add it to the stack. Set this plate right next to the stove so it is easily accessible. 

2. Dice the tomatoes up. These can be diced slightly larger than the other veggies, but do not go too large. Gumbo is not a stew that is intended to have large chunks of vegetables. It is also okay to use some of the seedy sections of the tomato in this recipe.Set the tomatoes on their own plate next to the stove and sprinkle the dried thyme and cajun seasoning over the top of them. 

3. Slice the andouille sausage into thin coins, and the chicken into ½ inch pieces. Put each meat on their own plate and set them aside for future use.

4. Once all of the chopping is done, it’s time to start the actual process of making the stew. Like many stews, this starts by making a roux. Melt down all of the butter into a large kettle. (This should be the kettle that you intend to put your entire stew in.) Once the butter has been melted, add in the flour. Simmer and stir for 15 minutes. 

Kitchen Tip 1: Making the gumbo roux is the most critical and challenging step of this dish. The roux CANNOT be left unattended for any span of time. It must be stirred throughout the entire 15 minutes. As you are stirring, you will notice the mixture getting goopy and starting to try and stick to the bottom of the pot. This is why you must keep stirring, otherwise it will burn. As the roux is cooking, it should turn a nice brown color. The darker the roux, the better the gumbo will turn out in the end. 

5. After the roux has come together, add the plate with all the onions, peppers, celery, and garlic into it. Be super careful during this step! The roux will be extraordinarily hot, and it will burn you if it splashes up, so dump the veggies in VERY carefully!  Once they are in, continue to stir this mixture for 10 minutes to combine it together and tenderize the veggies. 

6. Once the veggies have become tender, add in the broth. Sometimes a whisk needs to be used at this point to thoroughly combine everything together, but a good spatula can usually do the job too. 

7. Next, add in the plate with the tomatoes and seasonings, and pour in both the Worcestershire sauce and the hot sauce. Stir everything together, and let it simmer on low for 20 minutes. 

8. While the broth mixture is simmering, the meat can be cooked up. Find the largest frying pan/skillet in your cabinet and heat it up to hot. When the pan is hot, add in the sausage coins and cook them through. 

Kitchen Tip 2: I prefer to use a nonstick pan so that I can avoid using extra oil, thus making my dish less greasy. If you prefer to use stainless steel pans you may have to pour a little olive oil into the pan to avoid too much sticking. The sausage itself is pretty greasy though, so don’t go overboard with the oil. 

9. After the sausage is cooked, scoop it out of the pan with a slotted spoon and spread it out onto a platter that is lined with paper towels. Put another paper towel on top of it to blot excess grease off. The more grease you can get off of the sausage, the better the overall dish will turn out. 

10. Pour the chicken directly into the drippings of the frying pan, and cook the chicken completely. Then, repeat the same grease blotting technique used on the sausage with the chicken pieces. 

11. After the meat has been cooked and blotted add it to the broth. Finally, add in the last ingredient – the gumbo file powder. This powder is a thickening agent, and is not intended to be used in a full roiling boil, so make sure the soup is down to a low simmer before adding it in. Once these ingredients are added, let the soup simmer and combine for another 15 minutes, then serve with rice! 

Kitchen Tip 3: Gumbo file powder can be a little difficult to find in local grocery stores, but it can be purchased through Amazon if you can’t find it around. 

Gumbo has a lot of steps to it, and it means spending a decent amount of time in the kitchen, but it is always worth it when you eat that first spoonful! Next time you have a spare weekend, I highly recommend taking a day to make up your own batch, and if you want a perfect side to go with it, try pairing it with my Jalapeno Cheddar Corn Muffins! They are a match made in heaven!

Before the pandemic, I heavily preferred cooking to baking. While this is still true today, one of the items I have enjoyed baking is various different kinds of bread. In fact, it has gotten to the point where I no longer buy bread from the store and stick to making my own instead. When I started baking bread, I stuck to sandwich rolls, breadsticks, and pretzel buns, since those were the main items Cole and I enjoyed eating with our meals; however, this year we started experimenting with paninis, which meant I needed to work on developing bread loaf recipes. In this recipe, I’ve included ingredient lists for both wheat and white bread, but the directions remain the same for both of them. 

1 ⅜ cups Whole Milk

1 ½ tbsp Sugar

2 tsp Active Dry Yeast

1 Large Egg

4 Cups Bread Flour

1 ½ tsp Salt

2 tbsp Butter

1 ½ cups Whole Milk

1 ½ tbsp Sugar

2 tsp Active Dry Yeast

1 Large Egg

1 ½ tsp Salt

3 Cups Bread Flour

1 Cup Wheat Flour

2 ½ tbsp Butter

Standing Mixer with a Bread Hook

3 Rectangle Loaf Pans

Rolling Pin

1. Heat the milk in the microwave until it is warm. Ideally this should be between 85-95 degrees, or just warm enough to put your finger into without burning it. If you heat it for too long, give it a little time to cool before mixing other ingredients in. 

2. Using a whisk, dissolve the yeast and sugar into the milk. Let this rest for 5-7 minutes or until the top of the milk gets frothy. 

3. Pour the yeast mixture into the bottom of the standing mixer and add in the egg. Turn on low and spin until the egg is combined. 

4. Add the flour and salt into the mixing bowl. 

5. If the butter is not soft, use the defrost function on the microwave to make it softer. Ideally it should be very soft, but not melted. Only use the microwave 15 seconds at a time, or it could get more melty than desired. 

6. Add the softened butter on top of the flour in little scoops. I usually divide the tablespoons of butter into about eight small scoops to accomplish this. 

7. Once all of the ingredients are in the bowl, turn the mixer on a low setting and leave it on for 7 minutes. Since the bread hook is attached to the mixer, this will allow the ingredients to be combined and the dough to be kneaded. 

8. Grease a large mixing bowl with butter and place the kneaded dough into it. Cover the bowl with a light towel, and place it somewhere warm to rise. It should take roughly 90 minutes for the dough to rise. 

Kitchen Tip: Dough rises best in an 80-90 degree environment. It might take longer for the dough to rise if it is kept somewhere cooler than this. Some new ovens have a bread proof button. This will set the internal temperature of the oven to exactly the temperature at which dough rises at best. I always use my bread proof feature when making any type of bread, but if your oven does not have this feature, find the next warmest place in your house. 

9. Once the dough ball has risen, take it out of the bowl and shape it into a log. Cut the log into three separate pieces, which will eventually be the three separate loaves. 

10. Use a rolling pan to flatten each separate piece of dough into a flat rectangular shape that is about the same length as the loaf pans. Next roll the rectangle so that it once again resembles a log, but this time there should be a hollow center as it is rolled. This will allow the dough room for expansion so it will be light and fluffy. Pinch the ends of the log shut and round them out so it looks like a loaf. The seam on the bottom of the loaf may need to be pinched shut and smoothed out too. Repeat this process for all three loaves.

Rolled Out Rectangle Rolled loaf before pinching ends shut.

11. If you are using metal loaf pans, line them with parchment paper before placing the loaves into the pans. If you are using glass or stone, grease the pans before setting the loaves in. I use olive oil when I grease my stone pans by gently rubbing in the olive oil with a paper towel until the entire stone is covered in a light layer of grease, but I could see how butter could be a viable option in a glass pan. (Full disclosure – I have never tried this recipe in glass pans.)

Kitchen Tip: Whenever I cook bread I prefer to use stoneware. I buy all of my stoneware products from Pampered Chef, but a quick search on Amazon does show some options from other companies. 

12. Cover the loaf pans with a light towel and allow them to rise in the same warm place you used for the dough ball. It should take about 60 minutes for them to rise. 

13. After the loaves have risen, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake the bread for 25-30 minutes. In my convection oven this takes only 25 minutes, but it could take longer in a regular oven. It will be done when the top is golden brown.

Kitchen Tip: One rule I followed when I first started baking bread loaves was the “knock on your bread” rule. When a loaf of bread is finished, you should be able to lightly rap on it with your knuckles without the top indenting. This should produce a slight hollow sound when it is knocked on.

White Bread Wheat Bread

Baking bread was something that heavily intimidated me before. In fact, I used to own a bread maker and make all of my bread in that machine instead. Bread making machines work great if you only want to bake a single loaf, but I love that my standing mixer can make the process of kneading dough simple, and allow me to make three loaves at a time. Standing mixers are pricey, but they definitely come in handy. 

If you make this recipe but don’t need 3 loaves of bread, there is no need to worry! Homemade bread can be frozen. Simply wrap the loaves first in parchment paper, then wrap them in freezer paper and tape all the ends shut. This will keep the bread fresh for at least 6 months.

Who doesn’t love lasagna? If you were to ask me to make a list of my top favorite Italian foods, lasagna would be right towards the top. I have tried many different recipes over the years, but being from Wisconsin, one of the chief complaints about these lasagnas was that none of them were cheesy enough. Since this was a recurring trend, I decided it was finally time for me to tackle a lasagna recipe of my own. I sat down and compared all of the various dishes I had tried, and I took ingredients from each that I enjoyed most, and changed others to fit my own personal preferences. The end result was an ultra cheesy dish that screams Wisconsin. 

Making a lasagna can seem like a daunting task, because there are so many different components in the dish. Full disclosure here, I used to get SO stressed when making lasagnas because I didn’t know which part of the dish I should tackle first. However, after many rounds of trial and error, I figured out a progression of preparation that makes for the smoothest lasagna creation. By following this step-by-step process, creating a delicious cheesy lasagna can be easily done!

½ cup Diced Green Pepper

½ cup Diced Yellow Onion

1 tsp Minced Garlic

½ tbsp Butter

1 lb Ground Italian Sausage

10 oz Marinara Sauce

¼ cup Parmesan Cheese (optional depending on the type of marinara sauce used)

9 Lasagna Noodles

2 tbsp Olive Oil

20 oz Part Skim Ricotta Cheese

2 cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Kitchen Tip 1: Lasagna takes a lot of dishes during the prep process. As the kitchen proceeds to get messier and messier it can be overwhelming. This is why I find it best to tackle each separate element of the dish one segment at a time instead of multitasking, and trying to complete many items at the same time. The faster the process is rushed, the more chaotic the kitchen will become. 

1. Before any other step can be tackled, the vegetables have to be diced up. Deseed the green pepper, and peel off the outer layer of the onion; then chop them down to quarter inch pieces. Pile the pieces up on a plate or cutting board, and then add the minced garlic to the stack. 

2. Melt the butter down in a large frying pan. Make sure the pan has ample room for not just the veggies, but also the meat and sauce. 

3. Once the butter is melted, sauté the onion, pepper, and garlic until they start to become tender. Then add in the ground Italian sausage. Use a spatula to separate the Italian Sausage into small pieces as it is browning. Italian sausage can be reluctant to break down, but just keep working it until it is.

Kitchen Tip 2: The veggies can be prone to cooking faster than the sausage. If you are worried that they are going to become too crispy, move them to the edges of the pan before adding the meat in. You can always mix everything together after the meat is done cooking.

4. After the meat has been browned, strain the grease out, and then pour it back into the frying pan. Set it aside while working with the marinara sauce.

5. This next step is optional depending on the type of marinara sauce you are using. My personal recipe for marinara sauce already has parmesan cheese melted into it, so I skip this step. Some sauces that are bought in stores also are already cheesy versions, allowing this step to be skipped. However, if the marinara sauce you bought does not already have cheese as an ingredient, then you should heat up the sauce and melt in the parmesan cheese directly into it. 

6. Once the sauce is prepped, mix 1 cup of it directly into the meat and veggies. Set both the frying pan and the extra sauce off to the side.

7. Next, boil a large kettle filled with water, and add the olive oil directly into the water. After the water and oil have come to a roiling boil, add in the noodles and cook according to the box instructions.

8. Now it is finally time to start constructing the dish together! Grease a 13×9 pan and layer 3 of the noodles down across the bottom. (This is easiest to do while the noodles are still warm, if they cool too much they can end up sticking together and ripping.)

9. Spread half of the meat mix over the top of the noodles; then spread half of the ricotta cheese on top of the meat. 

10. Lay 3 more noodles on top, and repeat the process of spreading the second half of the meat mixture and ricotta cheese.

11. Add the final 3 noodles on top of that layer; then spread the remaining sauce on top. Finally, sprinkle the mozzarella cheese on top of everything. 

12. Cover the dish with tin foil, and bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. 

13. Once the lasagna is cooked, it is very important to let it sit a full ten minutes before cutting it. It can be very tempting to eat right away, but letting the dish sit allows the layers to set together and makes serving the pieces out of the pan much easier. 

Even though it can be really overwhelming to look at a lasagna recipe, the process can be simplified by taking it one step at a time. This is a great dish to make for a crowd, or a small busy family that needs leftovers throughout the week, and the best part of lasagna is that it’s one of those dishes that actually tastes better the longer it sits, so sometimes the leftovers taste even better than the first day you have it! Enjoy!

Memorial Day Weekend is approaching, and along with it comes summer, the season of celebrating both college and high school graduations, and weddings galore. While the summer of 2020 may look a little different in terms of large gatherings, one thing remains the same, graduates deserve to be congratulated. If this were a normal school year, I would currently be spending my last full week with my seniors. The side of my metal filing cabinet would be filled with more graduation party invitations than the amount of magnets I own can hold. Now, the invites are digital, and the parties pushed to August, but one fact remains, they made it. They completed thirteen years of education. 

It can be challenging to figure out what to get a graduate for a gift. Some of them will be attending a four year college and moving into cubicle-sized dorm rooms, some are joining the military, some are staying home and attending a technical college, and some are moving into an apartment of their own as they join the workforce. Regardless of the path they are taking, it usually seems like the best option for a congratulatory gift is either cash or a gift card. However, one item is often overlooked – the cookbook. 

I know what you are thinking, if your senior is moving into a dorm, they aren’t going to be doing much cooking, but many dorm buildings have at least one kitchen that the whole building can share.. This can come as a great convenience when a college student wants to share the fun task of whipping up a batch of cookies with friends on a Friday night, or if they want to make some healthy lunch options to store in their mini fridge. I know there were numerous times where I made up a batch of shredded buffalo chicken meat so I could use it in wraps throughout the week instead of frequenting the cafeteria for yet another bowl of pasta.

This brings a question to the forefront. How much does your graduate actually know about cooking? Are they a beginner that has only made mac and cheese? An amateur that has helped out in the kitchen but never made a full course meal for themselves? Or an expert that has cooked as a hobby for sometime now? Regardless of the answer, they have most likely used cookbooks from your own collection throughout their kitchen experiences. For this reason, getting them a cookbook of their own is an incredibly helpful gift.

The cookbook you choose will depend entirely on your own experiences as a chef, but it should be one that mimics the food they have grown up with their entire life. Most likely, when they get sick of eating cafeteria food or take out orders of pizza, they will want food that reminds them of home. So, if you have that one cookbook that you use in your home more than all the rest, try to find them a copy of it that they can use and love. That way they know the recipe they are using to make tacos will end up tasting like it has always tasted their whole life. Nothing is worse than expecting a meal to taste one way and then being blindsided by a different concoction of flavors.

If you are a Pinterest cook, and have always pulled various recipes from here and there, I recommend getting your graduate a basic cookbook that covers various different techniques and recipes. My own personal favorite is Betty Crocker’s Cookbook. Here is the thing about cooking for the first time after leaving home, your child may have learned that you can look up any recipe online to make it; however, online recipes don’t always cover the techniques and terms used throughout the steps.

I will never forget the first time I went to make an apple crisp on my own. The first instruction in the recipe told me to “pare the apples.” This was a term I was completely unfamiliar with and had to look up on Google. Once I looked it up, it made complete sense. Of course I had to cut the skin off the apple before making an apple crisp, but even though I had spent numerous hours in the kitchen before that, a complex recipe could still put me on “pause” from some of the techniques and words being used. 

A basic cookbook like the Betty Crocker doesn’t just give hundreds of recipes, but it also covers all the steps such as how long to boil eggs, how to carve a chicken, etc. These are all tips that seem obvious to the person who has been cooking meals for the family for the last 18 years, but since they are things that are done so naturally, they are also items that we often forget to teach.

Getting your child a basic cookbook doesn’t mean they lack any skill either, it just goes to show that cooking is a process that can take years to master. I know with 100% certainty that I placed many calls to my mom throughout college to ask her technique questions. Growing up, I cooked a lot, and yet there were simple concepts that I didn’t know because she had always had them prepped ahead of time. For example, with recipes that called for shredded chicken, she had always already cooked chicken breasts ahead of time and frozen bags of it to pull out at her convenience. For this reason, I didn’t actually know how long a chicken breast was supposed to be roasted in the oven before it would be ready to shred. I also had never liked boiled eggs as a child, so when I got married, and Cole wanted boiled eggs, I didn’t know how to do that. Whenever I was sick I would want a plain potato with just salt and a little bit of butter to calm my stomach, but baked potatoes were, once again, one of those simple foods that I never bothered to learn how to make. I only helped in the kitchen when something more extravagant was being made. 

It is very possible that your senior is in the same boat. They understand how to cook and they can follow a recipe, but they may not have done some of the more simple and obvious tasks. For this reason, a Betty Crocker Cookbook can be an excellent gift. It covers all the basics, and gives recipes to try them out. 

The final option of a cookbook is more time consuming, but is the most meaningful of all. If you are the chef of the household, you can make your graduate their own cookbook with the recipes that you know they love the most. Amazon sells many different versions of blank cookbooks that you can buy for a minimal cost, choosing to spend your time instead of your money. This is the approach my mom took when I graduated high school. She spent hours pouring over her own recipes and her large collection of cookbooks. She put post-it notes on all the recipes she knew I loved and would want to know how to make. Then she gradually copied all the recipes down into a blank cookbook so that I could have my own compilation of my childhood favorites. This cookbook is the one that I use more than anything else. It never even returns to my cookbook shelf, it stays in a kitchen cabinet, ready to pull out at a second’s notice. If I am not experimenting with creating my own recipes, then I am most likely using this book to put a meal together.

The coolest piece of it is that it is all handwritten. Even though we don’t even live in the same town anymore, my mom is in the kitchen with me whenever I’m using it. Another nice thing about this approach is that I can always add to it because it still has blank pages left. This meant that when I would call my mom and ask her how long to boil eggs, I could write it down in the book she gave me. Or if I’m visiting her, and she’s trying out a new recipe that I love, I can use one of the blank pages to add it in. It’s more than just a one time gift, it’s one that can be added to and made fuller with each family get together

Whether it’s a copy of the cookbook you use most, a basic techniques cookbook, or a homemade craft, a cookbook is a gift that your graduate can treasure for life. It can offer them a little piece of you, and a little piece of home, when they are missing childhood. Nothing says home more than a delicious meal or a warm batch of cookies. Congratulations to the Class of 2020! 

Cheesy Potato Soup is one of my family’s favorite and most beloved recipes. Some of my earliest memories in the kitchen with my mom involve standing on my turtle-shaped step stool stirring soup while she prepped the rest of dinner. However, while this recipe is a family classic, it is also a dish that took me a while to figure out how to cook on my own, but one I insisted on mastering since it is one of Cole’s absolute favorites. 

My mom writes recipes the same way my great grandma did, and the same way I do when I’m creating a new dish – in shorthand. This means the recipe she passed down to me included phrases like, “fill the pot half-full of milk.” These notes work great for a chef that has made a recipe over and over again.. However, the first couple of times I made this soup on my own, I absolutely ruined it. Turns out my dishes weren’t the same size or diameter as my mom’s, so my pot half-filled with milk was quite different than hers. I had to work with this recipe through trial and error to figure out what the correct amount of each ingredient would be to make a thick and creamy potato soup. Of course, this also involved multiple video chats to my mom for advice as I was cooking. 

It may have taken about four different tries, but eventually I figured out how to make this soup with actual ingredient amounts written down instead of short-hand notes. Now, I get perfect potato soup every time, and I don’t stress out beforehand about whether or not it is going to turn out. Instead, I KNOW it will. 

After figuring out the necessary formulas for this recipe, it is now one of my favorite convenience dishes to make. It requires very little ingredients, and all of them are items that I typically have in the house anyway. 

6 tbsp Melted Butter

4 tbsp Flour

4 tbsp Dried Parsley

2 heaping tsp Salt

¼ tsp Black Pepper

7 medium Potatoes (about 5-6 inches long)

4 cups Water

2 tsp Onion Powder

6 ½ cups Whole Milk (do NOT substitute other milks. It MUST be whole milk)

2 cups Shredded Sharp Cheddar

1. In a small bowl, melt butter and whisk in flour, parsley, salt, and pepper. Set aside for later. (It’s okay if the butter hardens a little while setting off to the side.)

2. Pour water and onion powder into a 2 quart pot and boil on medium high heat. 

3. Peel potatoes, and chop them into half inch cubes. Once the water is boiling, pour the potatoes into the pot. Turn down to medium heat and boil for 15 minutes.

Kitchen Tip 1: The water will disappear as the potatoes boil. This is intentional so that it won’t need to be strained. However, this means it needs to be stirred occasionally during the first 8 minutes, and constantly during the second 7 minutes to make sure the potatoes aren’t sticking to the bottom of the pot and burning. 

4. Take the pot off the heat and using a masher, mash potatoes up slightly. Only do this to the top layer of potatoes, leave the bottom layer in chunks. The consistency of the dish will be off if you don’t leave some bites of potato. 

5. Pour the milk into the pot, and put it back on the burner, but turn it down to medium low. Stir to combine, and bring to a low simmer. 

6. Once simmering, add in the butter mixture and cook on low for 20 minutes until thickened. I’ve attached two pictures below so that you can see what this should like before and after the 20 minutes of thickening time.

Potato Soup Before 20 Minutes of Thickening Thickened Potato Soup

Kitchen Tip 2: At this point in the recipe, it is crucial to stir the dish every 3-5 five minutes to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pot. This is the task my mom always gave me as a kid so she could work on the rest of the meal. It is a very important step because the soup will be ruined if it isn’t stirred frequently enough. It is very easy for potato soup to begin to stick to the bottom of the pot and burn, but frequent stirring prevents this from happening. 

7. Add in the shredded cheddar cheese and stir until melted. Cook on low for five more minutes, stirring constantly. Serve warm. 

Kitchen Tip 3: This is one recipe where I always use pre-shredded cheese because I find that the fancy shredded cheese melts more quickly, and with less grease, into the soup. None of my cheese graters can get as fine of a shred as the fancy shreds, so in this instance it is best to rely on the pre-shredded bags, even though usually I insist that block cheese is the best choice when cooking. 

Overall, this soup is relatively easy to make, it just takes some time and attention to stir everything together and prevent burning. I find that if you have a great TV show to watch during the required stirring time is hardly an inconvenience. Although I prefer to serve this soup with a side of ham that I can chop up and mix into the bowl, this is an equally great dish to make for a meatless Monday meal! Enjoy!

For a perfect combo of bread and soup, combine this recipe with either my French Bread or Italian Herb and Cheese Buns.

I don’t cook with ground round very often because Cole isn’t a huge fan of red meat, but occasionally, I crave a good juicy burger. Even though people typically envision a grill filled with flames when making burgers, my favorite way to cook them is in a pan on the stovetop. Not only is this easy, but it also allows me to avoid standing in front of the grill when it’s a cold, chilly, Wisconsin night. Pan-fried burgers are a great go-to when a quick and easy dinner is needed, and the best part about burgers is that they can be dressed up with so many different toppings. That way each person sitting around the table can have their own personal preferences, whether that’s a classic burger, a buffalo burger, or even throwing BBQ sauce on top of it. 

*This recipe makes three ⅓ lb burgers. If you are cooking for a family, you will want to double or triple this in accordance to how many people you are serving.

1 lb Ground Round

¾ tsp Gourmet Burger Seasoning 

1 ½ tbsp Butter

Burger Toppings of Choice – Cheese Slices, Bacon, Pickles, Ketchup, etc.

Burger Buns

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the burger seasoning with the ground round. It is easiest to mix these two ingredients together with a large serving fork so that the meat and seasoning can both slip through the tines as it combines.

2. Use a kitchen scale and weigh out ⅓ lb balls of ground round. Shoot for the scale to read 5.3oz to 5.7oz as the meat is divided. 

3. Spread a layer of wax paper over the top of a plate, then put each ball into a burger press to create perfect patties. Transfer the patties onto the wax-lined plate as they are created.

Kitchen Tip 1: For a long time I believed that burger presses were a waste of money because patties can be easily formed with your hands, but I was WRONG. I won my burger press as part of a grilling basket in a raffle, and I have LOVED it ever since. Burgers cook more evenly when they are formed in a press because they are the same thickness throughout. Long story short, while you can still make this recipe without a burger press, I highly recommend adding this tool to your kitchen. 

4. Melt the butter in a large pan over medium high heat. (My stovetop has numbers 2-8 on it, and I set it to 6 for burgers.)

5. After the butter is melted, Set the patties into the pan. Cook for 3 minutes. Slice your cheese flavor of choice during this time. Do NOT press down on the patties with a spatula while they are cooking! 

6. Flip the burgers, set the cheese on top of each patty, and hold a pot cover over the top of the pan for the next 3 minutes to trap the steam and allow the cheese to melt completely. 

Kitchen Tip 2: Cooking the patties for four minutes on medium high will create a burger that is done medium well, with just a tint of pink in them. This is my personal preference for burgers. If you like yours cooked differently, adjust your cooking time accordingly.

That’s all there is to it! About 10 minutes of prep, 6 minutes of cooking, and dinner is done! The perfect solution for a home-cooked meal on a busy week night. All that’s left is to set the patty on a bun, and serve with your choice of toppings. Below I’ve featured my two favorite combinations of burgers.

#1 The Classic Burger: Cheddar Cheese, Bacon, Pickles, and Mayo

#2 The Buffalo Burger: Pepper Jack Cheese, Bacon, Sautéed Mushrooms, and Frank’s Buffalo Sauce 

*Side note: The Buffalo Burger in the picture has cheddar cheese on it instead, which also tastes delicious. I do prefer this one with pepper jack, but I was unfortunately out of it the evening that I made these burgers.

**If you want to make a Cajun Burger, you can substitute Cajun Seasoning for the Gourmet Burger Seasoning, and then top with sautéed mushrooms and onions, pepper jack cheese, and my Cajun Mayo.

Sometimes I think that snack foods and appetizers are the best of all the food courses, and among all the many options in this food category, guacamole consistently comes out on top. Maybe it’s because it can be eaten with a little less guilt. Avocados are notoriously known as a super healthy food, so the fact that they are the main ingredient in guacamole makes one feel less guilt as they dip chip after chip into it. Of course, the chips stray away from the goal of a healthy snack, but guacamole still remains a healthier option in comparison to a lot of appetizer choices. 

Even though the salty nature of chips detracts a bit from the healthy theme that avocados bring to the table, I do try to keep my guacamole as heart-healthy as possible by limiting the sodium content. My recipe only contains ¼ tsp of salt, and I lean on other spices to bring in the flavors. I also recommend adding in the salt last. That way a taste test can be done before putting adding it. It’s very possible that you could be satisfied with the bold flavors brought in by the other ingredients without adding in the salt. 

Two other steps that I take to separate my guacamole out from the rest are in the consistency of the dip and the amount of cilantro used. Personally, I have never been a huge fan of chunky guacamole. Some people put large pieces of tomato or a lot of onion into the dish. I choose to use dried onion flakes instead of fresh onion, and I opt to use canned fire roasted tomatoes instead of fresh tomatoes. While I usually prefer to use pure ingredients that are fresh from the market, using the fire roasted tomatoes helps to smooth out the consistency of the guacamole, and they bring in extra flavor. 

The other distinguishing factor in my guacamole is the small amount of cilantro used. Cilantro is considered a “key” ingredient in this dish, but it is also one of those ingredients that some people absolutely loath. It is either loved or hated, there is no in-between for this flavor profile. For this reason, I limit my cilantro usage to only 1 tsp, and choose to rely on spicier flavors to overwhelm the small taste brought in by the cilantro. 

3 Avocados

2 tbsp Lime Juice

3 tbsp Chopped Jalapeno Pepper

1/2 tsp Dried Onion Flakes

1 tsp Minced Garlic

½ cup Canned Fire Roasted Tomatoes (strained)

¾ tsp Cumin

¼ tsp Cayenne Pepper

1 tsp Cilantro

¼ tsp Salt

1. I like to start making my guacamole by prepping all of my fresh ingredients first. This means chopping up jalapeno. To get the smoothest consistency, I try to chop this up as small as possible. Some people like chunks in their guacamole, but if you are like me, and prefer a smooth and creamy chip dip, these small pieces will help to keep the smooth texture in the end. It is also important to chop the jalapeno up small because it is a very spicy pepper. If the pieces are too big it can lead to an offensive bite when someone gets a chip with a large chunk of pepper on it. 

2. After the jalapeno has been chopped up it is time to tackle the avocados. 

Kitchen Tip – Cutting Avocados: Avocados can be deconstructed and mashed down very easily if a certain process is followed when cutting them up. First, cut the avocado lengthwise until the knife meets the pit in the center. Once the knife has met the pit you can simply turn the avocado in a complete 360 degrees to finish cutting it in half. Remove the knife, and you should be able to twist the avocado in half to break it apart. 

After the avocado has been split in half, the pit needs to be removed. This can be done by slapping the knife down directly into it as seen in the picture below. When the knife is embedded in the pit you can twist it clockwise and lift up. The pit should come up attached to the knife. You can remove the pit from the knife by hitting the pit against the side of the sink. As long as you haven’t gone overboard when slapping your knife down into the pit, it should remove itself easily from the tool. 

When the pits have been removed you are going to take the knife and cut all the way down into the skin in a grid-like fashion as seen in the picture below. After the deep grid cuts have been made, a spoon can be used to scoop out the chunks of avocado into a bowl. By chopping the avocados up in this grid it makes the pieces of avocado small already, and then they are easier to mash up. 

3. Once the avocados have been deconstructed you get to mash them. Before mashing them, add in your lime juice though. By adding in the juice it makes the avocado pieces softer to mash up. I like to completely mash up the avocado, leaving very little chunks in it, but if you prefer your guacamole to be less smooth and more textured, feel free to stop mashing sooner.

4. After the avocado and lime juice are mashed and combined, add in the jalapeno, dried onion flakes, and garlic. Stir until they are combined. Next, use a slotted spoon to scoop out ½ cup of fire roasted tomatoes. It is very important to use a slotted spoon for this job otherwise too much juice will be in the guacamole, and then it will get liquidy. A smooth texture is good, but guacamole should never be liquidy. 

5. Once all of the vegetables have been combined, the last step is to add in the seasonings. As I mentioned before, I like to add in all of the other ingredients before adding in the salt. Sometimes if a jalapeno pepper is an especially strong one, or if the avocados are on the smaller side, the other flavors are sufficient without adding in the salt. However, if you are not satisfied after a quick taste test, add in the salt. Then your guacamole is complete!

Guacamole is best when given at least half an hour to set, and it is usually served on the cooler side. I highly recommend resisting the temptation to snack right away. The flavors will taste even better if you give your guacamole some time in the fridge before eating it. 

Kitchen Tip – Storing Avocado Dishes: It’s possible that you’ve noticed in the past that when you store avocados, or dishes that have avocados as a main ingredient, it turns brown after a while. This brown tinting cannot be completely avoided, but can be lessened by taking care when storing it. Avocados do this when they meet oxygen, so the simplest solution is to avoid as much oxygen as possible. I do this by taking plastic wrap and pressing it directly into the guacamole instead of spreading it over the top of the bowl. The guacamole will still turn a little bit, but this process does help to give some relief. A quick stir covers up any tinting that may have occurred during storage.