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Citrus marinaded chicken- three pieces on the table.

Citrus-Marinated Chicken

Ok, I have to say that this is one of my favorite chicken recipes ever, and Zoe and Eli both agree with me. We tried this the other night, gave each other the thumbs up, and said that this chicken was totally blog worthy and need to be posted sooner than later. The chicken is SO moist and full of flavor from the citrus marinade, and the skin gets all crispy and yummy from cooking under the broiler. This is seriously going to be one of my new go-to recipes for chicken, and the best part is that it can be made year round because it’s cooked under the broiler. Yippee! You could also grill it up, or even sear it in your cast iron skillet and then bake it off in the oven.  Hey, it’s a flexible chicken recipe!  I can see paring this chicken with some 5-minute roasted cauliflower or 5-minute roasted Brussels sprouts in the fall and kale mashed potatoes in the winter. This chicken is total comfort cooking anytime of year.

israeli couscous salad in a bowl

Israeli Couscous Salad

I love it when I find new salads or summer side dishes that can be made ahead to marinate all day or made on the fly to eat up right then and there. This salad is one of those salads that tastes great either way. This is the perfect salad to bring to a potluck, picnic or to serve up in your own backyard. It’s full of summer flavor from the fresh mint, parsley and cherry tomatoes. We love pairing this salad with chicken drumsticks and one of my kale salads for a family backyard dinner. You can really make this a year round salad by adding seasonal ingredients to the mixture, like asparagus in the spring, cauliflower or broccoli in the winter.

grilled bruschetta with heirloom tomatoes

Grilled Bruschetta with Heirloom Tomatoes

I’m sure you’ve all seen the cover for the July/August edition of Martha Stewart Living in either a book store or your grocery store. If you’ve seen it, then you know why I just had to run out and make up this bread. I opened up my mailbox last week and saw the cover showcasing this beautiful assortment of heirloom tomatoes on top of this toasted bread. I immediately went to the grocery store, bought me some heirlooms and made this up for lunch. I have to say that I was in food heaven. This bread is crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside from the juicy heirlooms and olive oil. The crunchy sea salt and fresh basil just give it another punch of flavor and texture. John and I split half a loaf up for lunch one day and paired it with my lacinato kale salad and drumsticks another night for dinner. I also brought this to a friend’s house and served it up as an appetizer. Let’s just say it was a hit with everyone. It’s truly the perfect summer bruschetta!

Marin Mama frozen s'mores

Frozen S’mores

Here’s the perfect summer s’more for those hot summer nights. These s’mores are a twist from the traditional s’mores because the chocolate is on the outside and they’re frozen. Yes, they’re frozen, am I tempting you yet? The best part is that they can be made year round, as they are cooked under a broiler instead of roasted over a campfire. So for those of you that don’t have a backyard fire pit, you’re in luck.

Easy overnight steel cut oats.

Easy Overnight Steel Cut Oats

So most of you know that I was a cereal addict since the age of 17. I literally ate a bowl of cereal everyday, usually grape-nuts topped with some other kind of fiberish cereal and granola. I’m one of those people that wakes up hungry and can’t sit around and wait a 1/2 hour for breakfast to cook, so cereal was the breakfast of choice, or should I say breakfast of convenience. Steel cut oats were reserved for those fancy hotel vacations or breakfast out with the family, as I was under the assumption that steel cut oats were a labor intensive and timely breakfast to whip up. I changed that way of thinking though when I cooked up my hot quinoa and oat cereal for the first time. I learned the trick to a quick breakfast of steel cut oats, and that was to bring them to a quick boil and then let them sit out overnight. I still eat cold cereal on occasion, but lately I have been devouring these steel cut oats, my 5 minute quinoa cereal and my quinoa and oat cereal. I would have to say that my breakfast routine has changed for the better!

the best chocolate chip cookie skillet cookie

The Best Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie

Why am I calling this the best chocolate chip skillet cookie? I mean thats a pretty bold statement, right? Well, I have tested this cookie out on my family and friends and we think this cookie rocks. I took my absolute favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, threw it in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet, topped it with a bit of sea salt, and oh my, it turned into this delicious PARTY cookie. Yes, you heard me right, party cookie, because you will want to throw a party when you make this cookie. The chips are all gooey and melty and you feel like you’re eating a slice of the best cookie pie. Top it off with a scoop of ice-cream and some hot fudge, and you have the best cookie sundae ever!

Chicken enchiladas

Chicken Enchiladas with Tomatillo Salsa

I’m so excited to share these enchiladas with you. I made these up last week and my family LOVED them.  I mean John kept exclaiming to me how good they were. These are truly the perfect spring or summer enchilada, because they’re filled with chicken and fresh vegetables and topped with a light tomatillo salsa. The tomatillo salsa is a light and refreshing change from the normal heavy enchilada sauce that you think of when you hear the word enchiladas. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good enchilada sauce, especially the pumpkin sauce I use on our pumpkin enchiladas, but this is a nice change and flavor for spring.  These enchiladias are so light and refreshing that we each ate two!  Yes, we were piggies, but we didn’t feel bad at all. Sometimes you just have to savor the moment and savor the food.

Buttermilk roasted chicken two pieces.

Buttermilk Roasted Chicken

Jump to recipe It’s so nice to have an arsenal of quick and easy weeknight meals that don’t taste like they were quick and easy

Quinoa cakes

Quinoa Cakes

Jump to recipe Ok, so remember when I was obsessed with kale and everything kale?  Well, I’m still pretty obsessed with kale, but now I’m

Chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cupcakes make people happy, at least everyone I know. I can still her cute little raspy voice and see her big grin every time we went to a birthday party and she saw cupcakes. She would jump and down saying, “happy cakes, happy cakes.”

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