Food


We’re a football family. I’m from Green Bay, WI – otherwise known as Titletown, USA – and my husband played big time college football. With training camp only a week away, I’m starting to think about tailgating. I love tailgating. Tailgating with my friends before a big game are some of my favorite memories. In Wisconsin, we always have brats and lots of cheese on-hand, but the standard tailgating fare gets old.

I’ve never eaten grilled apricots before. The idea for this grilled apricot salad recipe came about after a failed attempt to grill peaches (we couldn’t get the pits out!). Since apricots were also in season, we decided to give them a try and developed this salad using grilled apricots, watercress, feta, balsamic syrup, and pepitas.

About a year ago, my hubby decided to make grilled sweet potato wedges with cilantro and lime dressing as one of our side dishes for a family party. I love grilled vegetables. Actually, I like all grilled food, but especially grilled veggies. His mom and sister were visiting from California so he created a mini family BBQ for them. Although he made a bunch of yummy food, the grilled sweet potatoes are the stand-out dish that his mom is still talking about.

Coca-Cola™ asked me to participate in their “Share a Coke and a Song Campaign.” I was excited to participate because they asked me to think about songs that remind me of important memories while also creating a fun tutorial to highlight a summer moment. For me, my major summer highlight is graduating. I decided to create candy graduation caps to top my favorite cupcakes as a way to celebrate this major life event.

Do you own special pans or cooking utensils that you never use? For me, it’s my mini bundt pan. I’ve made a few mini bundt recipes in the past (lemon, sock-it-to-me), but it often sits unused. I was trying to think of a good use for it, and I saw how people have used the back of muffin tins to make a cookie cup. Bingo! What if I used the insides of the bundt pan to make chocolate cookie cups?

When Barilla asked me to create a simple, one-pan recipe for this time-strapped millennial, I was up for the challenge. It can be such a struggle to prepare a healthy and nutritious dinner on demand most nights because, like many of you, I’m juggling a full-time job, two little kids and trying to keep up with my blog. Dinner often takes a back seat to all my other priorities.





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