2025 Food Trends

It's time for all the yearly wrap-ups, and this one being about our food trends. This past year, I cooked mostly from Meal Prep in an Instant. I tended to half the protein in the recipes, as it was more than we needed, but other than that, I seriously recommend the book. We're not finished with it yet, as I cook based on what we have on hand and what we need, rather than the full meal plan each book. Still, this is a resource I would recommend!

I feel into some ruts with other cooking. Dumpling soups had their moment. My husband ate many varieties of lentil soup for his lunches. Muffins somewhat died off. Pumpkin had more than its moment in the sun (and is still easing its way out). I ate overnight oats almost every day. I got somewhat fixated on Pop-tarts, trying five of the boxed kind and making two from scratch. 

After several all day sourdough projects, I decided using discard is my way to do sourdough. With that, I made A LOT of bagels, as well as some other recipes.

I completed 12 Sally's Baking Challenges.

I did a few Fit Foodie Find Cooking Club Challenges and a few from Budget Bytes. (Neither seemed to be regular.)

I am still kind of over cooking. I guess I really like and dislike it at the same time. It is time consuming and tedious, but it also produces great results. There is something so satisfying about saying, "I made this." And so, because it is both duty and delight, it shall continue, unless the Lord somehow deems otherwise.

2024 Food Trends

Here we go! All the wrap-up posts. I really like reading weekly eats round-ups (hence why I started my "What I Used" series).  Birchwood Pie Project does an annual round-up, and though I cannot report on the specific "best" recipes of 2024, I can tell you about trends in my cooking this year.

I cooked mostly from Good Housekeeping Family Italian Cookbook. Although there are plenty more recipes to cook, I think I am about tapped out on pasta. I have plans to start into a different cookbook for the new year.

I made lots of oatmeal mug cakes. (Many of these were for a special project. We shall see whether or not it sees the light of day.)

I once again cooked a lot of muffins (at least 30 different types).

I made quite a few grilled cheese (35), but we pretty much extinguished our use of tortillas. (Well, my husband had me buy a few packages, but then he stopped even that.)

A new trend is sourdough. My husband is making all of the actual bread, but I am using the discard (8 recipes and counting). 

I completed 12 Sally's Baking Challenges.

I completed 13 Handle the Heat Baking Challenges.

I completed all of the Fit Foodie Find Cooking Club Challenges (6). I also made all but two of the recipes in the protein dessert series (13 recipes).

Cooking gets tiring some times, a lot of times, but it is also an area of exploration and play for me. Thank you, Lord for this gift!

2023 Food Trends

Time for all the yearly round up posts! We will start with this one: things we ate. In the past, we engaged in food trends for an entire year (or years, in the case of tacos!) This year, was more of a seasonal year. 

We did burritos most Tuesdays (but not a new recipe every week-30 new recipes):

Christmas-style beef burritos (Home Chef)

After our Wisconsin cheese fest, lots of grilled cheese and quesadillas (34 new recipes):

Grilled ham and cheese with honey mustard sauce (Tastes Better from Scratch)

Plenty of muffins (More than a recipe a week-69 new recipes), 

Apple banana oat muffins (Sally’s Baking Addiction)

And then lots more mug cakes (More than one a day-424 and counting). 

Orange mug cake (Veltessa)

It's been a good food year. Praise the Lord for His provision!

Keeping Up with Meal Prep

Meal prep can get boring, like really boring, especially if you don't like eating the same stuff over and over again. This steers many people away from the practice. I like my habits and routines (having the meals prepped), but I am still one of those people that likes new things. To that end, I have tried to incorporate novelty into meal prep. Here are a few ways I do this:

1. I utilize the freezer. When I make a big batch of beans, or soup, or some other meal that keeps for my work lunches, I often freeze half. The next week, I make another meal and freeze half of that one. The third week, I thaw and eat the first prep, and the fourth week, I thaw and eat the second one again. This at least alternates my meals, rather than leaving me with weeks of the same old, same old.

2. I have a meal prep template and fit things in. I eat overnight oatmeal most mornings for breakfast, but I change up the toppings to keep life interesting. I make granola for my husband's breakfasts (and my snacks) every week, but have taken to making a different recipe every week. It takes a little extra planning, but it's worth it for variety. We almost always do Taco Tuesday, but regular tacos are boring to me. Enter The Taco Tuesday Cookbook, and we got a different taco recipe for every week of the year! 

3. I keep a variety of sauces on hand. We keep several mustards, ranch, salsa, sriracha, and other condiments handy. A little dressing can go a long way in changing up a meal prep to make it more interesting.

4. I make some single-serving recipes. I've been into mug cakes this year. Again, it's a little extra work, but provides variety to my otherwise mostly the same snacks. Having a new dessert to dig into at the end of the night makes me feel more satisfied, especially if I was not excited about food the rest of the day.

5. I cook from scratch on the weekends. We try to take a break from meal prep on the weekend and eat as many meals as we can fresh. Fresh versus reheated food can taste quite different, so this increases our appreciation for both versions of a food. Cooking fresh on the weekend can also yield leftovers that transfer into meal prep. (I have taken to making our tacos this way. We eat them fresh on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday and then reheated on Taco Tuesday.)

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I don't think meal prep has to work for everybody, but I think it can work for anybody who wants to do it. I hope that sharing these tips about how we keep things interesting are helpful to anyway who wants to try meal prep.

Defining Simple Cooking

My dear momma commented that I should define simple cooking. Yes, it's a resource in our tool box, but what does it mean? Good question. Simple cooking can mean several things.

1) Simple cooking can mean one pot, or one dish. This really isn't our style, though it would simplify things. I might look into one pot dinners more when I actually cook on the day we eat it. (Right now, I meal prep most of our food in a single day.) For now, if you like the idea of simplifying dinner dishes, I recommend Budget Byte's list of 50 plus one pot meals.

2) Simple cooking can mean minimal meal prep. This usually involves use of pre-prepared items and/or cans. This is really not our style either, as we do like to cook from scratch. I have found myself buying a few more pre-cut items, though, like the bags of frozen peppers and onions, or frozen chopped butternut squash. 

3) Simple cooking can mean minimal meal cook time. Again, in this season of life, I don't really know what that looks like. I just meal prep everything and then we reheat it when the time comes.

4) Simple cooking can mean easy cooking techniques. This IS our style. Enter sheet pan meals, use of the Instant Pot, and casseroles. When I am making multiple things at one, the recipes need to be simple, i.e. only a few steps, so that I can multi-task. Sometimes we go no-prep, think raw veggies, like carrots and celery, eaten whole. Other things really require no recipe, like boiled beans, chicken poached in water and a few spiced, scrambled eggs, and baked (or microwaved, or Instant Pot-ted) potatoes. Yes, there are lots of fancy ways to cook. Right now, I practice few of them. I save special techniques practice for Sally's Baking Challenge, and that's about it.

5) Simple cooking can mean limited ingredients. This IS also our style. Shop the shelf. Raid the pantry. Throw it in a pot and go. I try to always have a few items in the cupboards for this purpose. Are throw-together meals our every day? No, but when leftovers run short, or we unexpectedly stay home for a meal, or we have spur of the moment company, I need something to make, and it's got to be quick!

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As I said in my previous post, we don't cook simply all of the time. We like challenge recipes, when we want to feel challenged. We are just as guilty as the next person of buying things for only one recipe (hello hoisin sauce in the fridge and furikake seasoning in the pantry). We try to keep things simple overall, because hello, in this life, we need to eat, and we want some time for other things. Simple cooking fits the bill, that is simple cooking according to other definitions.

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Readers, do you cook simply, or with more flair? What does simple cooking mean to you? What are some of your best go-to simple meals? Please share in the comments!

Simple Cooking

We mostly cook from scratch at our house. We usually eat meals twice (and pretty much all of our food is "leftover," because I prep it in advance). We like more complex cooking, but when time is tight and stress is high, we fall back on basics and just go simple. Simple cooking is definitely a skill in our tool box. Here are some reasons why it works for us:

1) Simple cooking saves money. We keep can shop for sales on the things we eat regularly and stock up, knowing we will use them.

2) Simple cooking reduces waste. The less we have in the house, the more we use up what we have. Fewer things get pushed to the back of the cupboard, fridge or freezer (though they still do!). 

3) Simple cooking reduces decision fatigue. We pick a staple and go. We don't have to go searching for ways to use up random ingredients we bought for special recipes.

4) Simple cooking gives me more time to focus on a few "fun" items, like baking challenges, food holidays, making gifts for others, etc.

5) Simple cooking makes the special more special. Our taste buds recognize when things are more complex. We enjoy splurge purchases. Going out to eat is a treat.

Every meal could be gourmet (depending on resources), but it's not at our house. We often choose simple cooking. It's best for our and our priorities, right now, and overall. Maybe it's a skill to add to your toolbox, too. Consider our reasons and see if it is worth a try.

Friday Fun (Edition 3)

Thoughts on fun for the week:

“It turns out, being myself is far more freeing and far more fun" (Wong, 2021).

“The peace that comes from having fun inside God’s will is far better" (Camp, 2013).

And specific to some of my fun this week:

“Running is hard but doing hard things is fun. We learn. We grow. We get stronger" (Derby, 2022).

“It’s supposed to be hard. If it was easy, everyone would do it (Tom Hanks, as cited in Q, 2022).

My fun for the week:

Mesa Marathon 10K

Touting my race swag (cup, tank, and socks) around all day

Completing the monthly baking challenge from Sally's Baking Challenge with my husband

Making breakfast tacos again for dinner Sunday night (though I know we need to Sabbath more...)

Some of you may have seen my Instagram photo, but my husband likes Reese's and were trying to find and taste test as many Reese's products as we can

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Readers, please feel free to share your recent fun in the comments section!

References:

Camp, J., with Thomas, D. (2013). I still believe: A Memoir. Tyndale House.

Derby. S. [@steph.derby_fitness]. (2022, February 13). Mesa 13.1 [Instagram photograph]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/p/CZ4t8MUppIW/

Q., L. [@ontherunfit]. (2022, February 10). “It's supposed to be hard. If it were easy, everyone would do it.” -Tom Hanks. [Instagram photograph]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/p/CZ15JsdL_bB/?utm_medium=copy_link

Wong, H. (2021). How (not) to save the world: The Truth about revealing God's love to the people next to you. W Publishing Group: An Imprint of Thomas Nelson.



The Latest in Healthy Treats

 I am not going to jump on the "sugar is bad" train. It is good, at least it tastes good. Not always does it make me feel, good, though. Therefore, I like to keep some naturally sweet, and/or less sweet treats on hand for when I want something fun to eat, but maybe not something that will bring on a crash afterward. These snacks fit the bill!

Peanut butter protein balls (Natalie's Health)

No bake, and chock full of healthy ingredients! I substituted honey for the maple syrup, but otherwise made the recipe as is.

Protein cookie dough (Eating Bird Food)

I changed this one up a bit, using unflavored protein powder plus 2 t vanilla, substituting peanut butter for almond butter, omitting coconut sugar, and using regular chocolate chips. Not super sweet, but I cut it into rectangles after refrigerating and it was kind of like less sweet chocolate chip cookie dough Lara bars.

3 ingredient banana oatmeal cookies (Bucket List Tummy)

Whir two bananas and 1/4 c peanut butter in the blender. (I thawed some frozen bananas, drained them of the liquid, and used the Magic Bullet for blending.) Add to 1 1/2 cups of oatmeal. Form into balls. Squish and bake at 350 for 11-14 minutes. Simple, easy, and surprisingly satisfying!

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What are your favorite not too sweet treats? 

Please share in the comments section!

Meals to Feed A Crowd

We were blessed to attend a family reunion this past weekend. My mom planned most of the food, but I helped, and as a note to myself, if nothing else, I wanted to document the meals we made. Feeding many people requires catering to food preferences, food allergies, age differences, and more. The meals below checked all the boxes and successfully met the needs of the 15 people we had attending.

Breakfast

Pancake bar (can be made dairy-free, gluten-free, keto, vegetarian, and toddler friendly)

Toppings: Butter, jam, jelly, syrup, yogurt

Other things to add: bacon, eggs, cocoa, coffee, fruit

Dinner 1: Baked potato bar 

Baked potatoes (caters to dairy-free, gluten-free, vegetarian, and toddler needs)

Optional toppings: broccoli, butter, chopped ham salsa, shredded cheese, sour cream, salt and pepper

Dinner 2: Spaghetti

Spaghetti sauce (caters to dairy-free, keto, gluten-free, vegetarian, and toddler needs)

Additions: cheese, meatballs (I used this gluten-free, paleo recipe), noodles (gluten-free, keto, etc.), vegetables

Dinner 3: Fajitas

Chicken meat (caters to dairy-free, keto, gluten-free, and toddler friendly)

Sautéed peppers and onions (caters to keto, gluten-free, vegetarian, and toddler needs)

*Watch ingredients in seasonings if using a packaged mix.

Side items: chips, tortillas (corn and flour to meet different dietary needs), salsa, shredded cheese, sour cream

All the Things With Beans

Remember when I bought that 50 pound bag of black beans? If you follow me on Instagram, you probably saw the picture I posted with what looked like a sack of dog food. Well, we finally finished it off. (To be transparent, we slowed our consumption of black beans considerably as other foods became available, especially as I tired of eating black beans in my lunch salads every day). But we sure made a ton of things with that 50 pound bag of beans. I tried to record all the recipes we completed, but probably missed a few, so without further adieu, the list we have:

Entrees and mains:

Barbecue black bean pizza (Budget Bytes)

BBQ bean sliders (Budget Bytes)

*BBQ black bean tacos (She Likes Food)

*Beef and black bean tacos (Budget Bytes)

Black bean pasta bowl (Ready Set Eat)

*Brown Rice Burrito Bowls With Spicy Black Beans and Onions (Parade)

Dr. McDougall's black bean sloppy joes (Brand New Vegan)

*5-Ingredient vegetarian black bean and spinach enchiladas (Work Week Lunch)

Guinness chicken tacos (The Kitchen Paper)

Instant Pot black bean burrito bowls (Running with Spoons)

*Instant Pot black beans and rice (Cozy Peach Kitchen)

*Instant Pot black bean tacos with avocado crema (With Two Spoons)

Instant Pot cheesy enchilada rice (365 Days of Slow Cooking)

Instant Pot Mexican black beans and rice (365 Days of Slow Cooking)

Instant Pot Mexican quinoa (Cook with Manali, Project Meal Plan)

Loaded mashed potato bowls (Budget Bytes)

Mexican beef skillet (Fit Foodie Finds)

*One pot vegetarian chili mac (Budget Bytes)

Poor man's burrito bowls (Budget Bytes)

Pumpkin quesadillas with black beans and green chiles (She Likes Food)

Roasted sweet potato, black bean and lime rice bowls (This Wife Cooks)

Sheet pan sweet potato nachos (Bucket List Tummy)

Southwestern Black bean pasta salad (She Wears Many Hats)

Southwestern pot pie (Kitchen Stewardship)

Spicy bean and rice burritos (Key Ingredient)

Sweet potato and black bean enchiladas (Bowl of Delicious)

Sweet potato and black bean tacos (with honey and lime) (Cooking Classy)

Sweet potato black bean quesadillas (Well Plated by Erin)

Taco pasta salad (Brown Vegan)

*Taco stuffed sweet potatoes (Running with Spoons)

Vegan bean burgers (Detoxinista)

Vegan tacos with quinoa taco meat (My Crazy Good Life)

Side dishes:

"Baked" black beans (Ready Set Eat)

*Cowboy caviar (Budget Bytes)

Snacks and desserts:

Black bean brownie batter dip (Shaped by Charlotte)

*Flourless chocolate blender muffins (Chocolate Covered Katie)

(See my riff on the recipe here.)

Soups:

*Instant Pot black bean soup (The Food Network Kitchen)

Pressure-cooker black bean soup (Taste of Home)

Smoky chicken and butternut squash chili (Parade)

Spicy black bean soup with cilantro crema (Food and Wine)

Vegan black bean soup (Vegan Richa)

Uses for just plain beans:

-As filler in recipes (to stretch meat)

-As pizza topping

-In chicken and rice bowls
-In salads

-In dinner wraps (with fresh pico de gallo and sour cream)

-To give away (Yes, we did some of this, too!)

-As decoration (My husband has a cup of beans to hold all of his pencils and pens at his desk.)

*I noted recipes that we repeated, or were worth re-peating with an asterisk. We could probably make a lot more recipes with black beans, but after 50 pounds, we might take a break, at least a little one.

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Any recipes you would like to try from this list? Do you have any favorite black bean dishes? Please feel free to share in the comments section.

Bare Bones Recipes

The COVID-19 outbreak of 2020 brought with it many lessons. One of these is how privileged I am in terms of food. Pre-pandemic, I could look up menus and make shopping lists without a second though. I could go to the store and find most supplies. Not so early-mid pandemic. I didn't want to risk going to the store. When I did go, shelves were empty. Although everyone advocates a well-stocked pantry, I didn't have one. So I had to make do with what I had, and what I could eventually find at the store, or via grocery pickup. After the initial shock, I found that having "less" what surprisingly enough. Less led me back to the basics, as well as some enjoyable new recipes.

Basics:

-Eggs (yes, we still had these)-scrambled, fried, hard boiled, poached; in casseroles, for French toast, etc.

Have you hear of oven-poaching eggs? I haven't perfected the art of properly oiling the muffin tins, but this might be my new favorite.

-Potatoes: hard to find at first, but then good for straight-up baked (with toppings), breakfast potatoes, potato fries, mashed potatoes, and a new favorite, potato pancakes

-Salad: lettuce (well-rinsed, but always the case as lettuce can have dirt, if not other germs) + whatever you have on hand (vegetables, leftovers, sandwich meat, stale bread, etc.) + oil and vinegar

-Sandwiches (put in the toaster oven or George Foreman grill, aka panini press for melty cheese)

New recipes:

-Breakfast:

Egg and banana pancake (Fannetastic Food) 
[My version of pandemic banana bread, and much easier]

Flourless pumpkin pancake (Kim's Cravings)

-Mains:

Big batch Instant Pot white beans (Epicurious)

Okay, not new, but used during this time. People didn't buy out the lima bean supply like they did the other beans.

Instant Pot black bean soup (Food Network)

-Dessert:

Chocolate depression cake (Budget Bytes)

Just a few staples, and voila, dessert!

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We've come up with a few more recipes since flour became more available, but overall, we're sticking to simple. It saves money, time, and hassle, and being creative is enjoyable in it's own way? My favorite recipe made during pandemic time? Probably the flourless pumpkin pancake (pictured here). But I'm a sucker for pumpkin.

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What about you? Any favorite recipes from the (ongoing) pandemic times? Please share in the comments section.

Three Things That Got Me Through

As I reflect over this past year, I recognize many things I did wrong. Many ways I failed. Many things I could have done better. And I also see things that worked. Things that mattered. Things that gave life meaning. Among these were:

1) Sally's Baking Challenges: Something "silly" I picked up, but stubbornly managed to make my way through each month. The challenge instructions were sufficient to ensure sufficient success, and the completion of each challenge gave me a sense of confidence. The baking recipes also provided me with goodies to share with my neighbors, an "excuse" to form connections even while social distancing was the norm.

2) Hiking: I have written many times about the benefits of hiking. Hiking took on special value this spring and summer, however. At the height of the pandemic, it was one thing I could still do. Something that gave me a sense of accomplishment. Something that tired my body while helping my mind rest. An occasional way to connect with others, even if walking spaced apart and/or with masks. I started hiking more regularly when I realized the consequences to my mental health when I didn't do it. Meltdowns. More burnout. Less processing. As Abby Cannon stated in her episode of the Just the Good Stuff podcast, sometimes what we need is not more professional therapy, but more therapeutic activity (yoga for her). Hiking was that for me.

3) Blogging about marriage: Suffering is easier to endure when it has a purpose. Don't get me wrong; marriage is an incredible gift. This last year has been extremely difficult, however, in marriage and beyond. Being able to write and share about what God is teaching me has made it easier. Having people who read made my struggles feel more purposeful. And finding purpose in the struggle provided me with courage to endure.

What about you, readers? If you had to list three things you've taken away from this year, what would they be? What habits give meaning and purpose to your existence? What traditions or routines do you hope to carry from 2020 into 2021? I've listed mine above. Please share yours in the comment section below.

Pre- and Post-Feast

Thanksgiving definitely feels different this year. We're living through a global pandemic. Many states have limited how, why, and where people can gather. Loved ones can't travel. Different foods are and aren't on the table, or in stores. It's sad, and yet there is still so much to celebrate. I've been looking forward to a small celebration with loved ones this year. Whether or not it will happen remains to be seen, but for now, I'm still preparing.

Pre-Feast:

Thawing our turkey: These calculators made, well, calculations, so much easier!

Relish: Seen in the photo above, I made this recipe on Sunday so that the flavors had a few days to meld.

BINGO: I made this card based on inspiration from my dear friend and A Cup of Jo.

I like lists, and this is just another way to keep one, to celebrate what we have and count our blessings, which are still many. I plan to use the card as a place setting. Silly and simple, it fits what I feel I could use more of this year.

For the feast itself, here's our proposed menu (which, as previously stated, remains up in the air at this time):

Post-Feast:

I'm already eyeing leftover recipes, especially these creative spins on what can become boring leftovers:

Thanksgiving leftovers eggs benedict (The Endless Meal)

Thanksgiving leftover enchiladas (Tasty)

Thanksgiving leftovers lasagna (My Recipes)

Thanksgiving leftovers quesadilla (The Cookie Rookie) 

Turkey gumbo (LA Times)

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. However you may celebrate, pre-, post-, or not-at-all, I hope you give thanks and celebrate your blessings, because there always are some.

Cinnamon, Anyone?

It's still 90-100 degrees here in Arizona, but we're having a heyday with fall spices, specifically cinnamon. Let's be real. We cook with a lot of cinnamon every day. We've just increased our consumption with the following stellar recipes:

Applesauce and cinnamon muffins (Social Moms)

[I omit the sugar, and these still taste great. (This photo is older because I changed up the recipe by adding chai spice most recently. Perhaps more on that in an apple post.)]

Baked apples (Sally's Baking Addiction)

[I doubled the cinnamon and nutmeg in this recipe!]

Best cinnamon roll poke cake recipe (Delish)

[I used a homemade white cake instead of the cake mix.]

Cinnamon swirl quick bread (Sally's Baking Addiction)

Soft and thick snickerdoodles (Sally's Baking Addiction)

Stovetop cinnamon granola (All Recipes)

[I have changed this recipe pretty substantially, but the cinnamon stays the same, so you get the idea].

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If you are a cinnamon lover like we are, I dare you to try one of these recipes. You won't be sorry.

(And feel free to share more great recipes using cinnamon in the comments.)

Simple Summer Suppers

Is it hot? Or is it hot??? 

In honor of the current heat wave, I thought I'd share a few of our current favorite dinners. Heat once, eat (at least) twice, and taste good cold are some of our pre-requisites for recipes these days. With that being said, here are a few of our favorites:

Cold peanut noodle salad with peanut lime dressing (Budget Bytes)

Instant Pot barley and vegetable risotto (Hot Rod's Recipes)

Instant Pot black beans and rice (Cozy Peach Kitchen)

Instant Pot Mexican quinoa (Cook with Manali)

Instant Pot zucchini linguine (365 Days of Slow Cooking)

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What are your favorite summer recipes? 

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Please share in the comments section!

Flops and Faves

Of the many things I'm enjoying about marriage, cooking is one of them. Sure, I cooked at my parents' house, but now it's kind of my responsibility (or at least a responsibility I've taken on, because my husband is also an excellent cook). Here are a few of our flops and faves from the recent days:

Flops:

This Moroccan split pea soup (Recipes from a Pantry)

We expected a thick, rich, soup, and well, this one wasn't. And the split peas didn't really cook all the way. Oh well. We enjoyed it anyway.

Zucchini lasagna (Skinny Taste)

Okay. This wasn't really a flop. It was good the first few times, but it was a lot of work, and I was TIRED of it by week's end. (Chris said he wasn't. So maybe we'll make it again, but probably not for awhile.)

Cajun cabbage and noodles (Budget Bytes)

Again, this wasn't really a flop. It was good the first time, but didn't reheat well, and well, we had it for days.

So maybe the lesson in this is that flops aren't flops. They're just not something I want to eat over and over again.

Faves:

The best weeknight pasta sauce (Budget Bytes)

We've made this twice. (I omit the butter sometimes.) It's so good. And so fast and easy. 

BBQ beef and beans (Budget Bytes)

This was easy and filling and good over rice or on its own.

Eggs Florentine breakfast pizza (Budget Bytes)

I made this several times at home before making it for Chris and I. But it's good, especially the garlic white sauce. And the ingredients needed to make it are minimal.

Noticing a theme here? Budget Bytes is seriously one of my favorite recipe sources.

Bonus:

Chris is a big fan of sauces, so I've been trying to make a new one each week. Here's what we've sampled thus far:

Creamy cilantro sauce (Gimme Delicious)

Homemade ranch dressing (Budget Bytes)

Tzatziki (Cookie and Kate)

The tzatiziki takes the cake (or the taco or rice plate) for now.

Any favorite recipes to share? Please post in the comments section. And we continue to try new recipes, so stay tuned....