FOOD + DRINK

FOOD + DRINK

THE BEST OLD FASHIONED PEANUT BUTTER POUND CAKE

by Michel Van Devender

If you’re a peanut butter lover like I am, this is the cake for you! A family favorite from an old southern cookbook given to me in my early 20s, this peanut butter pound cake gets requested time and time again for birthdays and special occasions at our house. We’ve even worked it into our holiday baking rotation too. It’s my mom’s favorite cake so I usually bake it for her birthday in October.

For this recipe, you use peanut butter for both the cake and the icing. The pound cake has a nice, dense, moist texture with a more crunchy outer edge. And for the icing, it’s basically peanut butter, butter and powdered sugar. I mean, what’s not to love about that? The mixing is pretty straight forward and the baking time typical of a pound cake, and well worth the wait.

The recipe is authored by Elizabeth Smith of Bethpage. I do not know her, but if my memory serves me correctly this cookbook was complied by a community in my hometown of Concord, NC. It may have even been church related. I received the cookbook as a gift in my early days of cooking and baking. As you can see from the image below, this has been a well used and loved resource over the years.

I hope you enjoy this cake as much as we do. Please drop me a note letting me know how your cake turns out. Happy baking!

THE BEST OLD FASHIONED PEANUT BUTTER POUND CAKE

Print
Serves: 8-10 Cooking Time:
Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

  • Cake:
  • 1 cup butter (2 sticks room temperature)
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 5 eggs (room temperature)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup milk (room temperature)
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • Icing:
  • 1/3 cup peanut butter
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • About 3/4 box powdered sugar (mine ended up being about 2 3/4 – 3 cups)
  • Milk

Instructions

Cake:

  1. Cream together butter and peanut butter.
  2. Add sugars, mixing well.
  3. Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.
  4. Add vanilla extract.
  5. Mix dry ingredients separately.
  6. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk to butter, egg, sugar mixture, ending with dry ingredients.
  7. Pour into a large greased and floured tube pan.
  8. Bake in 325 degree oven for 80 minutes.
  9. Cool slightly then remove from pan.
  10. Ice after cake has completely cooled.

Icing:

  1. Mix peanut butter, butter and vanilla.
  2. Gradually add in powdered sugar.
  3. Add enough milk to make icing spreadable.
  4. Ice cake.

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SIMPLE ONE POT HOMEMADE TOMATO SOUP

by Michel Van Devender

Are you like us and feel like there are just certain things that belong together? Like chocolate and peanut butter (Easter candy still on the mind!)? How about rainy, cold April Mondays and tomato soup? As unpredictable spring weather goes here, we’re back in the 40s. When you have a recipe for an easy one pot homemade tomato soup, it just seems like the perfect antidote for this cooler than anticipated April day. 

We’re coming off of Easter yesterday with the most spectacular weather, an enormous amount of chocolate consumed and a day spent with family. It was a beautiful day in every way. Today, our kids are still out of school for spring break, and we definitely needed a low-key day to rest and recover. I guess you could say we didn’t mind the rain and cooler temps. Just a good excuse to stay inside.

This tomato soup recipe is easy to prepare with minimal chopping. It’s basically just throwing everything in a pot, a quick simmer and an immersion blender. And if you don’t have one of these, I highly recommend purchasing one. We have a Vitamix, but you absolutely cannot beat the convenience of an immersion blender when you’re cooking soups and sauces. It’s quick and definitely reduces clean up. I’m all about that! This tomato soup is a classic version with a slight twist. For our soup, I added some unsweetened vanilla almond milk for some dairy free creaminess. You could also use dairy if you prefer.

Our lunch was on the table in about thirty minutes. This included preparing the grilled cheeses for my guys too. Most of the time, we don’t have the opportunity to sit together for lunch so this was a nice treat. The smiles and thank yous confirmed this was exactly the comfort meal we all needed today! Hope your week is off to a great start!

🖤💙,

SIMPLE ONE POT HOMEMADE TOMATO SOUP

Print
Serves: 4-6 Prep Time: Cooking Time:
Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

  • 1 yellow or white onion, finely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons basil
  • 1 teaspoon thyme
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 teaspoon parsley
  • salt + pepper
  • 3 cans diced tomatoes
  • 1 can tomato sauce
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 32 ounces broth (I used chicken but could use any type)
  • Optional:
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (you could use a dairy based milk or cream too)

Instructions

  1. Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan or dutch oven over medium heat.
  2. Add onions and cook 4-5 minutes until soft. Add garlic and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes.
  3. Add salt, pepper and spices and cook for another minute.
  4. Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste. and broth Stir and cook until boiling.
  5. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
  6. Remove from heat and blend in pot with an immersion blender until smooth.
  7. Stir in almond milk.
  8. Serve with grilled cheese or crackers.

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NOT GONNA LIE, IT’S THE BEST CARROT CAKE EVER

by Michel Van Devender

I know, I know, I always say my recipes are the BEST (insert whatever it is I’m making and sharing)! But, they really are… LOL! And I’m not going to lie, this carrot cake is the best carrot cake, ever! I promise you’ll thank me later for this recipe. It’s most definitely the yummiest one I’ve ever had the pleasure to experience. And, it will most definitely be an experience where you want to savor each and every bite. 

After nearly 40 years of cooking (yes, I made my kitchen debut at the ripe young age of 12), I consider myself to know a thing or two about cooking and baking. And let me be 1000% honest here, most of my culinary delight revolves around being an enthusiastic and passionate connoisseur of food. I’ve always said I love baking because I love eating baked goods. So I’ve spent years honing my skills so I can relish in the consumption.

Case in point, take the carrot cake. I would’ve never considered it to be my favorite cake; however, I seem to stay surrounded by people who name carrot cake as their top favored cake. To name a few, my dad, my brother, my youngest son as well as many friends, are huge fans. If you’re in my circle and it’s your favorite, I’ve probably baked this cake for you for your birthday. And I have to say, over the years, carrot cake has really grown to be one of my favorites too. That is saying a lot for this historically queen of all things chocolate!

I’ve tried many different carrot cake recipes over the years. My sweet brother always reminds me of what he considers to be my failed attempts. I would totally discount that notion. You see, he’s a carrot cake purist, the more traditional versions suit him best. So imagine his utter and shocking disappointment, and he’s always one I can count on for honesty, when I added orange zest to a carrot cake. It was actually a tasty cake, but definitely not to his taste buds’ liking.

This cake though, a Southern Living recipe, seems to hit all the marks… more traditional, but with the added depth, sweetness and richness of the caramelly buttermilk glaze. It’s also packed with all the chunky ingredients like pineapple, walnuts, coconut and golden raisins. I’ve modified the recipe a bit, reflected below. I basically cut the buttermilk glaze recipe in half, as there’s a point when enough is enough and half of the glaze is enough. I also added golden raisins as the original recipe doesn’t include. Lastly, I increased the frosting recipe by 50% because prior to doing so I always ran short. There’s nothing more frustrating in the cake baking world than trying to stretch an inadequate amount of frosting. If you want to refer to the original recipe, it is linked above.

Oh, and a word of caution, some friendly advice from a fellow cook/baker… when you’re mixing your cake, do not talk on the phone! I recently made this cake for my youngest son’s birthday party and accidentally omitted the coconut. YIKES! I was totally distracted, chatting it up on the phone and completely forgot. I didn’t say a word and nobody knew or noticed, but me. The cake was still super yummy, but hey, I prefer it with the coconut.

So here you go, here it is… the best carrot cake ever! Whether you bake it for the carrot cake lover in your life or for a holiday celebration, I hope you love this cake as much as my family and friends do! Let me know how you like it. We get a lot of satisfaction knowing we’re bringing some love to you in the way of cooking and baking!

🖤💙,

P.S.

If you’re a citrus dessert lover, you’ll want to try our lemon pound cake recipe too –The Best Lemon Pound Cake, Like Ever. Another “best” and family favorite, also set to be baked this month for my oldest and middle sons’ birthdays. That’s right, three sons, all born in April, and the next two are back to back birthdays. So that may mean two lemon pound cakes! Double the cake joy!

PLEASE DON'T FORGET THE COCONUT!!!!

The Best Carrot Cake (Adapted from Southern Living)

Print
Serves: 8-10
Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

  • CAKE LAYERS
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 cups grated carrot
  • 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
  • 1/2 cup flaked coconut
  • 1/2 cup golden raisins
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • BUTTERMILK GLAZE
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 cup buttermilk
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/2 tablespoon light corn syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
  • 3/4 cup butter, softened
  • 2 (8 ounce packages) cream cheese, softened
  • 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line 3 (9-inch) round cake pans with parchment paper. Lightly grease and flour pans and paper. Set aside.

3. Stir together first 4 ingredients. Set aside.

4. Beat eggs and next 4 ingredients with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Slowly add flour mixture on low speed until smooth. Fold in carrot and next 4 ingredients. Pour evenly into 3 cake pans.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until wood pick inserted in middle comes out clean.

6. During last 15 minutes of cake baking, work on glaze. Bring first 5 ingredients to boil in heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat, stirring often for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

7. Remove baked layers from oven and drizzle glaze evenly over each layer. Cool in pans on wire racks for 15 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks.

8. Towards the end of cooling, prepare frosting. Beat butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium speed until creamy. I like mine extra fluffy so I do for several minutes using a stand mixer. Add powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Beat at high speed for another minute or so or until smooth.

9. When layers are completely cooled (I sometimes put my in the fridge or freezer to speed process), spread cream cheese frosting in between layers, on top and sides of cake.

10. Enjoy the best carrot cake ever!

Notes

We store in the fridge, but like ours room temperature before serving.

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THE BEST TURKEY BURGER RECIPE FROM BLUE APRON

by Michel Van Devender

It’s Friday and raining in Charlotte with a forecasted, unseasonable high of 61 degrees. Cooler temps are returning later in the weekend with another chance of snow here on Sunday/Monday. We’re just going from one extreme to another here in North Carolina. 

Since we usually do a grocery store run on Friday, I’m already thinking ahead on some easy dinners for the weekend our kids will also like. In the new year, I cut back on my animal protein intake, but do still enjoy a little meat a couple of times a week. Like most kids, our boys love burgers. We often use ground beef or bison, but for a while now, my favorite burger is this turkey burger. And, I believe I’ve found the best turkey burger recipe, like ever! Turkey burgers can sometimes be dry and flavorless, but not these. 

Over the years, we’ve tried a number of food delivery services in hopes of taking the guesswork out and shaving some time off of our hectic, weekday dinner routine. We’ve honestly never found a service we’ve loved and stuck with for any length of time. So if you have, please do share the company in the comments below. I think Blue Apron may have been our maiden food delivery voyage over six or seven years ago. We may have stuck with the program for a month, although my memory is a bit foggy on those details. 

When we cancelled our Blue Apron subscription, we ended up with a couple of recipes we still make at our house on the regular. This turkey burger recipe is one of those. There’s something about the lemongrass and ginger paired with the garlic aioli and marinated radishes that always has me craving this burger. Over time, we’ve adapted the original recipe a bit here and there to accommodate our taste buds, especially our love for extra garlic aioli.

For my burger, I usually use Canyon Bakehouse gluten free bread, and honestly, I don’t miss the hamburger bun. We usually serve our turkey burgers with an easy vegetable (The grilled okra was from late summer when I took the photos.) and sweet potato fries. And, I highly recommend adding some extra garlic aioli to your burger. We make ours with avocado mayonnaise. Give these a try and let me know if you also think they are the best turkey burgers.

Happy Weekend friends! Hoping your February is off to a nice start and the weather isn’t too bad where you are. 

🖤💙,

Lemongrass + Ginger Turkey Burgers (Adapted from Blue Apron)

Print
Serves: 4 Prep Time: Cooking Time:
Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
  • 4 hamburger buns or bread of your choice
  • 1 2-inch piece of fresh ginger
  • 1 stalk lemongrass
  • 1/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise (we love avocado mayo)
  • 4 radishes
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon mirin
  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons cilantro, roughly chopped

Instructions

FOR GARLIC AIOLI

  1. Peel and finely chop garlic.
  2. In a small bowl, mix garlic with mayonnaise.
  3. Cover and refrigerate

FOR MARINATED RADISHES

  1. Cut off and discard ends of radishes. Thinly slice radishes with a mandolin.
  2. Place radishes in a small bowl. Add mirin, vinegar and half of sesame oil.
  3. Season with salt and pepper.
  4. Cover and refrigerate, stirring a couple of times while preparing burgers.

FOR TURKEY BURGERS

  1. Cut off and discard ends of lemongrass. Peel back and discard fibrous, outer layers until you reach white core. Mince lemongrass core.
  2. Peel and finely chop ginger.
  3. In large pan, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil on medium-high until hot.
  4. Add  ginger and lemongrass, season with salt and pepper. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until softened and fragrant, stirring frequently. Transfer to medium bowl.
  5. Wipe out pan.
  6. To bowl with cooked garlic and ginger, add ground turkey, bread crumbs and remaining sesame oil. Season with salt and pepper. Gently mix to combine. Using hands, form mixture into 4 equal patties. Transfer to plate.
  7. In same pan, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil on medium-high heat until hot. Add turkey patties and cook 5-7 minutes per side, or until browned and completely cooked through.
  8. Toast buns or bread in pan, oven or toaster.
  9. To assemble burgers, spread layer of garlic aioli on 1 or both sides of bread. Add cooked patty and marinated radishes. Top each burger with cilantro.
  10. Enjoy!

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OUR FAVORITE HALLOWEEN DINNER: HOW TO MAKE MUMMY DOGS

by Michel Van Devender

h A p P y H a L l O w E e N!!!!

It’s that time of year again, MUMMY TIME! It’s a fun, festive, favorite Halloween tradition in our house, and one we’ve been doing for over eight-plus years. It’s our absolute favorite Halloween dinner. Even as our boys have gotten older, they still request these EVERY Halloween. Makes me a happy mom! And I mean, who wouldn’t love a good dog covered in crescent roll dough with a side of ketchup and mustard? 

We try to use a higher quality hot dog and crescent roll when possible. We like Applegate Hotdogs and Annie’s Crescent Rolls. However, they are equally as yummy using most any hot dog and crescent roll. I like to serve with a fruit or vegetable along with some good ole classic tater tots.

Here’s a step-by-step, how-to guide, with videos, on how to make these Pinterest-inspired mummy dogs. I’m not going to lie, wrapping the dough bandages around 12-14 of the dogs takes a minute, but it’s well worth the effort. After all, we only make these once a year. And, the smiles and joy these little guys bring is the best kind of reward for this mom and all that round and round and round wrapping!

We hope you and your family get a chance to try this recipe and enjoy this little dogs as much as we do! Happy Mummy Halloween… stay safe!

🖤💙,

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A SUPER EASY PEACH CRUMBLE WITH GRANOLA TOPPING RECIPE

by Michel Van Devender

Okay, I’m going to keep it really simple… this post is all about summer peaches, baking hacks and yummy, easy desserts. If you’re with me, can I please get a thank you from the front and an amen from the back?

Several weeks ago, I had a couple of girlfriends over for dinner. I had picked up some peaches from Simpson’s Produce, one of our local farmer’s markets, earlier in the week so they were ripe and ready to use. Peach cobbler was the first dessert idea that popped into my head. Being born in the south, I was literally raised on old-fashioned fruit cobblers and absolutely love these simple, delicious concoctions. What is there not to like about sweetened fruit with a buttery, golden baked crust? Over the years though, I’ve grown to prefer a healthier, lower gluten alternative which uses oats instead. It’s actually just as good.

The day of the girls’ dinner, we had a busy morning and afternoon around our house. I was a little pressed for time. In other words, looking for any and all the shortcuts I could find! I love cooking and baking from scratch, but sometimes time just doesn’t allow for the extra steps. Standing in one of our local grocery stores, The Fresh Market, I had an idea – Why not use some sort of ready-made granola for the topping? I hadn’t tried this before, but couldn’t think of a reason why it wouldn’t work. I ended up purchasing a granola with honey and pecans from the bulk food area of the store. I could basically skip the topping-making step of the peach crumble. That’s a win!

Arriving back home with my granola and dinner ingredients, I started prepping the food. I left the peach crumble making for last since I wanted to serve it warm. A time consuming step with peaches is the peeling part. It’s actually a whole thing wherein some part of the fruit is actually a casualty to the process. Or at least, this has been my experience. It’s a lot of work to watch some part of the peach lost. So I got to googling peach peeling hacks. And, what I discovered is a method I’d never heard of before called peach blanching. Basically, you place the peaches in boiling water for thirty seconds, remove and place in an ice water bath. Once the peaches cool, the peel comes right off. Then, it’s just a matter of cutting, removing the pits and slicing. Easy!

Once you have the sliced peaches, it’s just a matter of tossing those with a few ingredients, placing in a dish, topping with the store purchased granola and baking. The entire prep process ended up taking me around 20 minutes. I promise you this is hands down the easiest peach crumble recipe I’ve ever made, thanks to the hacks I used. 

So head to your local farmer’s market while peaches are still in season and throw together a delicious fruit crumble. Oh, and don’t forget the ready-made granola and vanilla ice cream!

🖤💙,

P.S.

If you love desserts and baking as much as we do, you might also like our Apple Pie and Lemon Pound Cake recipes.

THE EASIEST PEACH CRUMBLE WITH OAT TOPPING

Print
Serves: 6-8 Prep Time: Cooking Time:
Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

  • 8 – 10 large ripe peaches
  • 1/2 medium lemon, juice of
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 pounds ready-made granola* (Mine was honey pecan, purchased from the deli section of a local grocery.)
  • vanilla ice cream, optional

Instructions

1.   Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.   Prepare peaches by boiling water in stock pot. Carefully drop cleaned peaches into boiling water. Boil for thirty seconds and remove from heat. Drain water and place in an ice water bath until cooled completely. The peels will come right off. Cut peaches into halves, remove pits and cut into slices.

3.    Place peach slices in large mixing bowl. Toss with lemon juice, honey, flour and cinnamon. Place in 9 X 13 inch (or some similar size) baking dish.

4.    Sprinkle ready-made granola of your choice evenly over peach mixture. You can decide how much you’d like, light or heavy. I actually purchased 2 pounds, but only needed 1 1/ 2 pounds to generously cover my peaches.

5.    Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 25 minutes, watching closely until top is golden brown and center is bubbling.

6.    Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.  I used coconut ice cream, and it was delicious!

Notes

*If possible, purchase ready-made granola that isn’t already completely browned. The one I purchased was in a clear container so I could actually see that it hadn’t been fully cooked and browned.

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A BETTER CHICKEN SANDWICH RECIPE

by Michel Van Devender

It’s a new week and we’re coming off of a beautiful May weekend. The weather in Charlotte has been a little on the cooler side with zero humidity… highs in the 70s and lows in the high 50s, low 60s, perfect in my opinion. We try to savor every moment of the mild spring weather as it usually turns hot and humid quickly here in the south.

I haven’t posted many recipes lately. Honestly, I feel like I lost my cooking mojo during the pandemic. We did have our April birthday palooza cake baking blitz, but otherwise, my love for cooking has been on a hiatus. I’m trapped in a motivation lull. With everyone home more (perhaps too much), I’ve gotten lost in the kitchen grind of breakfast, lunch and dinner, breakfast, lunch and dinner, breakfast, lunch and dinner… add in the snacks and all of the clean up and you get the idea. Cooking and food prep has turned into a total grind and sucked the joy out of what I usually enjoy. And if one more person asks me, “What’s for dinner?” – like I’m the primary and only food source, I may seriously move. So, I’ve taken a much needed break from my head chef position in the Van Devender house. In an effort to keep everyone fed, we’ve tried Hungry Root, Blue Apron and The Green Chef. And by the way, those get old fast. We’ve gotten more take out. We’ve gotten more precooked meals. We’ve eaten more convenience foods and thrown together meals. My husband has stepped up on the cooking front. We’ve made it work, and it’s all good. 

My youngest son has been requesting these chicken sandwiches for months now. We used to make them pretty frequently to satisfy our fried chicken sandwich cravings (and that’s a serious thing in our house). His cute little face got to me, and I finally had to say yes! This is a recipe from the Food Babe and is her cleaner version of the Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich. They can be made gluten and/or dairy free. These get five stars in our house and hope they will be a winner for you too. Crossing my fingers for a big beam of renewed inspiration and creativity in our kitchen, or maybe it will just come in the form of special requests from cute little faces!

🖤💙,

FRIED CHICKEN SANDWICH

Print
Serves: 6
Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

  • 3 chicken breasts, split (2 lbs.)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup milk of your choice
  • 1 cup pickle juice
  • 12 pickle slices
  • 3 tablespoons white or apple cider vinegar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
  • 1 cup flour of your choice
  • 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • olive oil or coconut oil
  • 4 hamburger buns of your choice
  • 1 tablespoon butter

Instructions

  1. Split chicken breasts in half and pound each with meat mallet.
  2. Sprinkle both sides of chicken with salt, pepper and paprika (1/2 teaspoon spread out over the 6).
  3. Add pickle juice and marinade in refrigerator overnight or for at least 4 hours.
  4. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
  5. Generously spray or coat wire rack of cooking pan with olive oil or coconut oil.
  6. Place pickle slices in vinegar and allow to sit while preparing  chicken.
  7. In shallow dish, combine and stir flour, powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon paprika, dry mustard and baking soda. Set aside.
  8. In another shallow dish, whisk together egg and almond milk.
  9. Remove chicken from marinade.
  10. Dip one piece of chicken at a time in milk bath, ensuring both sides are wet.
  11. Dredge each piece of chicken in flour mixture, coating both sides. Place chicken pieces on wire rack with pan on bottom.
  12. Spray both sides of flour coated chicken with olive or coconut oil.
  13. Bake in preheated oven for 12 minutes. Turn each piece of chicken and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes. Chicken should be completely cooked and crispy after 25-30 minutes.
  14. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes.
  15. While chicken rests, butter buns and toast in the oven for 3-5 minutes.
  16. Take buns out of oven and place a piece of chicken on each.
  17. Top with pickles, mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato or any other toppings you like.
  18. Enjoy!

Notes

We like to serve with broccoli or some other vegetable. Regular or sweet potato fries are a nice addition too. In true Chick-fil-A style, we also sometimes make coleslaw as a side.

The cute little face... He finally got his homemade chicken sandwich!
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THE BEST GRAPEFRUIT MARGARITA RECIPE

by Michel Van Devender

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, here is one of our absolute favorite margarita recipes. We’ve tweaked it over the years, but it’s on the lighter side with very little honey added. We love the refreshing grapefruit and lime paired with the earthy rosemary. We also found an organic tequila we love, Tres Agaves, so this is close to being a super food drink, or at least that’s what we tell ourselves. Cheers!

🖤💙,

Print
Serves: 2
Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

  • 2 grapefruits, juice of + slices for garnish
  • 2 limes, juice of
  • 1 tablespoon raw honey
  • 4 rosemary sprigs
  • 2 shots organic tequilla
  • Himalayan pink salt, for glass rims

Instructions

1. In small pitcher, juice grapefruits + limes. I prefer mine more muddled, but you can strain if you don’t. 

2. Muddle the honey with couple of rosemary sprigs. Add small amount of water if needed.

3. Combine juice + muddled mixture.

4. Add tequila and stir.

5. Salt two glass rims and fill with ice.

6. Pour juice + tequila mixture over ice.

7. Garnish with sprig of rosemary + grapefruit slice (I cut mine into quarters to fit my glass).

8. Cheers + Enjoy!

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PRESERVING THE TASTE: SIMPLE SALSA RECIPE

by Michel Van Devender

"The beauty of preserving fruits + veggies is capturing the taste of summer in a jar!" -BHBS

We’re not sure there’s anything more quintessentially summer than the garden-grown goodness of a red-ripe, juicy tomato. Here in the south, warmer temperatures persist well into September with tomatoes continuing to grow and thrive. What better way to capture the earthy, sweet and savory tastes of the season than canning and preserving? 

Here’s one of our favorite summer salsa recipes. We mainly used cherry tomatoes, combined with a few random heirlooms we had on hand. We’re so looking forward to opening one of these jars in the winter months to enjoy with our nachos, tacos and enchiladas. That’s of course assuming they last that long!  

🖤💙,


Summer Salsa For Canning

Print
Serves: 4 – 16 oz. jars Prep Time:
Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

  • 4 cups cherry tomatoes (we mixed with a couple of reg. tomatoes)
  • 1 yellow bell pepper
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 3 jalapeno peppers with seeds (you can remove the seeds if you want milder salsa)
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 1 medium-large red onion
  • 1 cup fresh cilantro
  • 3/4 cup white vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

1.    Prepare 4 – 16 oz. canning jars with lids and bands. We do this by washing in hot soapy water. Once the jars, lids and bands are clean, allow to dry.

2.    Rough chop all of your veggies, garlic, onion and cilantro. Using food processor and working in small batches, further chop veggies. We do tomatoes, then bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, garlic cloves, red onion and cilantro. In total, we had four different batches in food processor. If you try to add too much to food processor, it will not chop as well. We love using the food processor because it saves time; however, you do not have to use one, will just require more chopping. You can also adjust your chopping based on whether you prefer chunky or less chunky salsa. 

3.    Place all chopped veggies in large sauce pan. Add white vinegar and spices.

4.    Bring salsa to boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.

5.    You’re now ready to fill your prepared jars with salsa. We use a small measuring cup to ladle into jars. Once the jar is filled, leaving a couple of inches at top, wipe any excess off lid, providing good clean rim for the lid. Place lid and band on filled jar. Close tightly. Continue this step with next three jars. You will have some salsa left over, but not enough to fill another jar. We put this in the refrigerator for our family to eat with our dinner tacos.

6.     Place sealed jars of salsa in water bath, making sure jars are completely covered with water. We do not use a special pot for this step, just pot large enough one to hold the jars and deep enough for jars to be covered in 1-2 inches of water. The jars will boil on stove in bath for 30-45 minutes. 

7.     Remove jars from water and allow to cool completely. As jars are cooling, you may hear lids pop, indicating they are sealed. Sometimes this happens without the popping sound.  You can test lids by pressing in center. If it doesn’t press down, it’s sealed. If it presses down and makes clicking sound, it did not seal. You can retry hot water bath to see if it will seal. Place any unsealed jars in refrigerator and use within a week. Store sealed jars in cool, dry place and use within 6 – 9 months. 

8.     Pull from your pantry and enjoy! If you live in an area with seasons, this is an especially nice treat during the cold, long winter months.

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FOOD + DRINK

HOW TO MAKE A SIMPLE APPLE PIE

by Michel Van Devender

Goodbye August and hello September!!! To say we’re excited about fall over here would be an enormous understatement! After all, we are most definitely autumn people. Don’t get me wrong, we enjoy the other seasons too and so many of the beautiful, unique benefits that accompany each one, but there’s something extra special about fall. And, it has nothing to do with pumpkin spice EVERYTHING either, although we do like pumpkins. We get all the feels when the cooler temps arrive, the cozy sweaters come out, the trees begin their spectacular color show and the earthy smell of burning wood is in the air. Ahhhhh… it’s just the best!!!

One of our favorite fall, family outings is day-road-tripping to the North Carolina foothills or mountains and picking apples at an organic orchard. It’s a convenient, scenic two or so hour drive from where we live. Bonus gift is viewing God’s spectacular showcase of the cycle of life manifested through the changing leaves. This begins at the higher elevations first and the colors always seem far more vivid and brilliant up there.

Once we return home with our bags of apples, we soon realize it will be almost impossible to eat our harvest apple-by-apple before they spoil. We’re then tasked with searching for ways to use and preserve our sweet, crisp, delicious fruit. Although apple butter is always on my list, my kids usually have a different idea about how the apples should be used. This typically involves desserts and baked goods, like this American classic – apple pie! 

I’m sharing a super easy recipe I made with my youngest son who is nine. For this pie, we were pushed for time and wanted to keep it simple so we purchased a Pillsbury deep dish pie crust two-pack. I love making our own pie crust, but sometimes the store purchased ones are fine too. We used one curst for the bottom and the second one for the top. Once the crusts are at room temperature, it’s super easy to remove one from the aluminum pan, roll out and cut into strips. My son actually had fun doing this part so what you see in the photo is his version of a lattice crust without the criss-cross, but just the cross :). We served the pie hot and topped our slices with vanilla ice cream. So simple and so gooooodddd!

🖤💙,

Print
Serves: 6-8 Prep Time: Cooking Time:
Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

  • 8-10 medium apples (about 8 cups or 4 pounds), peeled, cored and sliced
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon coarse sugar

Instructions

1. Place prepared apples in large saucepan. Sprinkle flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon juice over apples. Cook over medium low heat until the apples begin to soften, about 10 minutes. Stir a couple of times while cooking.

2. Pour cooked apple mixture into a 9″ deep dish pie crust. Spread evenly with spoon. 

3. Dot top of apples with the butter cut into small pieces.

4. Top with either second, full pie crust or create lattice top with rolled pastry dough.  Please see above note for how we used store bought crusts for our version of a lattice top.

5. If using a full pie crust, cut slits in top with a knife.

6. Sprinkle top with course sugar.

7. Bake at 425 degrees for 35 minutes or until crust is golden brown. 

8. Allow to cool slightly before slicing.

9. Serve with vanilla ice cream and enjoy!

 

 

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