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This simple Asian Inspired Cucumber Salad is cool and crisp, and makes a good side dish for many meals this summer! Cucumbers are a summer favorite around here, and this simple cucumber salad is light and crunchy and satisfies my summer cravings! I've had a similar type of cucumber salad in many different Asian restaurants, so it's Asian-inspired but, can go with a variety of different dishes. Asian Cucumber Salad Ingredients: 1 lb mini seedless cucumbers (about 8) 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 Tbsp rice wine vinegar 1 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce 1 Tbsp sesame oil 1 Tbsp honey 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes sesame seeds (optional) Directions: Wash and dry your cucumbers. Cut off the ends and thinly slice. In a bowl, add the cucumbers, and salt. Stir to coat. Add the rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight for the best flavors. Top with sesame seeds before serving. This goes great with many Asian-inspired dishes! I love the crunch and flavors that come together in this simple Asian Cucumber Salad. I like to keep things light and serve mine with sushi but it can be paired with so many other dishes as well. Feel free to adjust any ingredients to suit your tastes! Enjoy!

This is one of my quick and easy, dump-and-go crockpot meals that I make in the fall and winter. It's a hearty chili with chicken and beans as your protein and fiber. This Crockpot Chicken Chili is great for football, especially the Superbowl when nobody wants to cook, firepits, and nights when everyone is busy! For this recipe, you're going to freeze your chicken ahead of time. I try to remember to move my chicken to my refrigerator the night before I'm going to cook this chili, but I've also pulled it directly out of the freezer and put it right in the crockpot. Crockpot Chicken Chili 2 frozen chicken breasts 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained 1 can Rotel 1 can Mexican corn or corn with peppers 1 Tbsp cumin 1 tsp chili powder 1 tsp onion powder 1 package of ranch dressing mix 1 - 8oz package of cream cheese Place your frozen chicken into the crockpot. Rinse and drain your beans and add them to the crockpot. Add your cans of Rotel and corn, without draining them. Add in seasonings and mix them around, covering the chicken with some of the bean mixture. Top the mixture with your block of cream cheese. Cook on low for 6-7 hours. Once everything is cooked, take your chicken out and shred it with 2 forks. Add the chicken back into the crockpot and stir everything to incorporate cream cheese. Serve with crackers, cheddar, or over rice. This is also good as leftovers in a burrito! This makes a pretty good crockpot full of chili and has even gotten me second place in a chili cookoff at my kid's school a few years ago.

Today, I'm sharing one of my favorite (easy) crockpot dinners. This Crockpot Italian Tortellini is quick to throw together in a few minutes and makes a yummy dinner on a busy day. It's practically a dump-and-go meal. Perfect for a busy Winter soupy meal. Jump to recipe! Ingredients: 16 oz frozen tortellini 1 lb ground Italian sausage 5 oz spinach (or a few handfuls) 2 cans of Rotel 32 oz vegetable broth Italian seasoning (I used dried oregano and basil) 8 oz block of cream cheese. In a large pan, brown your Italian sausage. While the sausage is cooking, I start getting out my other ingredients and my crockpot. I'm a timesaver, and this is my hustle meal. In your crockpot, add in the frozen tortellini, Rotel, vegetable broth, Italian seasonings, and spinach. Once your sausage is done cooking, add that to the crockpot too. Stir to mix everything around. Top everything with a block of cream cheese. There is no need to stir at this point or chop up the cream cheese. Cook on low for 5-6 hours. Once you're ready to eat, stir in the cream cheese and serve. ** It's delicious with bread to soak up the sauce. This recipe was one that I was told by a friend when we went to a birthday party. She served it and it was amazing. I may have tweaked it over the years, I can't remember if it's exactly the same as she told it to me, or if it's been changed as I made it for my own family. This crockpot tortellini is so good. We make it year-round over here, but it's even better in the Fall and Winter when you just want a bowl of something delicious to warm you up. It's also a good one to take to someone for a meal train when they've had a baby or need a dinner delivered. It doesn't get much easier than this! We hope you like it as much as we do. Crockpot Italian Tortellini Ingredients: 16 oz frozen tortellini 1 lb ground Italian sausage 5 oz spinach (or a few handfuls) 2 cans of Rotel 32 oz vegetable broth Italian seasoning (I used dried oregano and basil) 8 oz block of cream cheese. In a large pan, brown your Italian sausage. While the sausage is cooking, I start getting out my other ingredients and my crockpot. I'm a timesaver, and this is my hustle meal. In your crockpot, add in the frozen tortellini, Rotel, vegetable broth, Italian seasonings, and spinach. Once your sausage is done cooking, add that to the crockpot too. Stir to mix everything around. Top everything with a block of cream cheese. There is no need to stir at this point or chop up the cream cheese. Cook on low for 5-6 hours. Once you're ready to eat, stir in the cream cheese and serve.

This chocolate fondue is so easy to make and only takes 3 ingredients and about 5 minutes to pull together. Something about chocolate fondue feels so decadent and fancy, but honestly, this recipe is so simple and can be made in various ways. Chocolate fondue is a fun thing to make for your Valentine or Galentine party! Easy Chocolate Fondue Note: I make mine in a fondue pot but you can also make a double boiler . 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips (about 2 cups) 1 cup heavy cream 1 tsp vanilla In a fondue pot or double boiler add in your chocolate chips and heavy cream. Heat over low heat, stirring often. You'll want to mix the cream and chocolate at the same time to keep the cream from getting too hot too quickly and curdling. 2. Once it's melted together add in your vanilla and stir together. 3. Keep your fondue on a low heat setting and serve with fruit, cookies, donut holes, or anything that sounds good dipped in chocolate. This fondue has a really great chocolate flavor and is super smooth and creamy and perfectly dippable! Tips and tricks I have a slightly older version of this Cuisinart Electric Fondue Pot but if you don't have one or don't want to invest in one, then you can heat your chocolate over a double boiler (see below for tips) and transfer to a bowl for serving at the table. If you have a little more time you can even make this in a mini crockpot and it will stay warm and dippable for a while. You can also add things to your fondue to make it slightly different, like caramel chocolate yum! Fondue Variations You can add in a scoop of caramel sauce or peanut butter to add some different flavors to your chocolate. You can also try it with milk or dark chocolate if you prefer those. I personally like semisweet because it feels like it has a better balance with the other sweet fruits and foods you are dipping into it. Fondue Dippers There are so many things you can dip in your chocolate fondue! Here are some ideas to get you started: strawberries pound cake potato chips bacon pineapple candy oranges donut holes ritz crackers raspberries bananas cheesecake bites gummy worms peanut brittle pretzels rice crispy treats cookies blueberries apples animal crackers How to make a double boiler To make a double boiler, you need two pots that are the same size across so that they can stack on top of each other without the top one falling into the bottom one. You're bottom pot you're going to enough water to cover the bottom of your pot and then some. You'll place the botttom pot over low heat. Then, you'll place your top bot over the pot with the water. This is the pot that you will melt you chocolate in. The bottom pot will get all simmery and steamy and provide heat for your top pot so it can melt the chocolate without burning it. Happy dipping!

One of the things I make for my kids every Christmas season are these Christmas Tree Waffles! I made them one year and now they've become a tradition in our household and my kids love them! Jump to recipe! Christmas Tree Waffles Making holiday-themed food is always so fun for me. These Christmas Tree Waffles are a great breakfast to enjoy this Christmas season. These semi-homemade waffles are simple enough to make on school mornings or let the kids help make and decorate their Christmas Tree Waffles on the weekend. The best part is that they are made with spinach (not food dye), so you get lots of good vitamins. They don’t taste like spinach either. My kids love them, and even request them! I’ve made spinach waffles from scratch before, but these Bisquick spinach waffles are just as good, and much easier! I just follow the recipe on the back of the box of Bisquick for waffles, but add spinach and adjust the milk a little. First, to incorporate the spinach into the waffles, mix the spinach and milk together in a blender until smooth. Christmas Tree Waffles (with spinach) Ingredients: 2 cups original Bisquick mix 1 large container of fresh baby spinach – about 16 oz 1 1/2 cups milk + spinach blended ( note: the original recipe calls for 1 1/3 cup but I increased it just a little.) 2 tbsp vegetable oil 1 egg toppings: whipped cream, sprinkles, Christmas M&M's Special Tools : Blender, waffle maker Directions: 1. In a blender, add in your 1 1/2 cups milk and the whole container of spinach. Blend until spinach is incorporated. 2. In a large bowl, add your Bisquick mix, milk mixture, vegetable oil, and egg. Whisk together your ingredients until smooth. 3. Pour the waffle batter into your prepared waffle maker and cook. I use this flip Belgian Waffle maker . 4. Cut apart your waffle triangles and arrange them into a tree shape on your plate. 5. Top with holiday M&M’s to look like ornaments and add a squirt of whipped cream at the top as a star! Serve and enjoy! My kids love them with hot cocoa in cute Santa mugs ! To be extra fancy, try drizzling them with chocolate syrup or adding sprinkles! Shop this recipe:

If you are having some friends over for a party and want a quick wow factor, our easy chocolate fondue and edible friendship bracelet skewers are the way to go. These fruit skewers are inspired by the friendship bracelets from the Eras tour and our girl Taylor Swift. This would be a perfect snack for Valentine's Day , Taylor Swift party , or a book club get-together. If you missed our Taylor Swift Eras-inspired book recommendations , you should go check it out Edible Friendship Bracelet Skewers Fruit - I choose to use strawberries and raspberries Marshmallows - These will be your letter "beads" Edible pens - Easy to create your letters on the marshmallows Donut holes - because why not, they taste amazing in the chocolate fondue Bamboo skewers - Dip them in water to make it easier to slide on the marshmallows These edible pens were so easy to use. I used the dab technique instead of dragging the pen across the marshmallow to get clean lines. You can either pre-make these for everyone to have plated when they arrive. They would make cute placeholders for where people might sit. Or, you can have everything divided into bowls for each person to create their own edible friendship bracelet skewer during the party. Strawberry Hearts Also, strawberries cut into heart shapes are easy and fun for these fruit skewers. I simply cut a V shape a the top by the stem and then round up the edges so it's smooth. The left side is rounded and the right side isn't rounded yet. I also felt like they were too big so I cut them in half as well.

The Super Bowl is just around the corner. We rounded up some of our favorite game day snacks. We all know the food is almost as important as the game! Game Day Snacks Air Fryer Buffalo Wings Veggie Pizza Jalapeno Poppers Cheesy Rotel and Sausage Dip Lemon Pepper Chicken Wings Air Fryer Bagel Bites Cream Cheese Fruit Dip Sheet Pan Nachos Crockpot Chicken Chili 7 Layer Dip Buffalo Chicken Dip Fruit Salad Cucumber Salad Chocolate Fondue Pizza Pinwheels Spinach Artichoke Dip

I recently created this black and white snack board for our The Tortured Poets Department listening and candle painting party! But, this high-contrast snack board can be perfect for lots of other types of parties. Maybe you're watching an old black-and-white film, throwing a Halloween party, or having a graduation retirement, or birthday party that is black-and-white themed. Either way, this snack board was a hit for us and we think it will be for you too. Here is what we included on our snack board and some other ideas for yours! Black and White Snack Board Mini powdered donuts Oreos Blackberries Black grapes Hershey's Hugs White cheddar popcorn Cookies and cream brownies cut bite-sized Start with a large black (or white) serving tray to keep with the theme. I have had my tray for so long I can't even remember where I got it from but you can find a variety of black serving trays that will suit the vibe you are going from. Fill up your tray with a variety of sweet and savory treats to enjoy, keeping each type of food grouped together. Throw in some fruit like our blackberries and grapes for good measure and let everyone graze or have it beside a dish like mini sliders and you're golden! Other ideas to include: white chocolate-covered pretzels black olives marshmallows white cubes of cheese black and white cookies Pirate's Booty Play around with it and have fun!

Did you know you can really visit the town where the Halloweentown the Disney movie was filmed? Take a trip to the Pacific Northwest this Fall and plan a trip to visit "Halloweentown" in St. Helen's Oregon, a quaint little riverside town. We went last year and it was so much fun. This blog guide will help you plan your trip to Halloweentown. Put on a spooky outfit and channel your best witchy vibes. Plan a Trip to Halloweentown While we spent the day in St. Helen's, Oregon, we really planned the trip to visit Portland, Oregon, and the Oregon coast so I'll touch on some of that in a later post if you're interested in our entire trip. But let's dive right into some Halloweentown tips and tricks to plan your trip. How Far is St. Helen's from Portland? St. Helen's is only a 40-45 minute drive from Portland so it makes a great day trip. Because it was so close we knew it would be a town to visit to kick off the Halloween season and put us in the Halloween mood. When to visit Halloweentown? St. Helen's is a regular town so you can visit any time of the year, but they really put on a show for Spirit of Halloweentown from mid-September all the way until Halloween (Sep 16-Oct 31, 2023). Because of our trip itinerary, we visited on a weekday which was much more chill, but if you visit on the weekends, they open their main attractions and it's much more fun! What to do in Halloweentown? The main attraction in my opinion is the plaza in front of the courthouse with the large Halloweentown pumpkin! This is open on the weekends (weekdays for free) for photo ops and walking through. You can also see Benny the cab driver and pose with him for a picture. On October 7th , they have a big Halloweentown parade that ends with a pumpkin lighting so that's fun! On weekends you can purchase tickets to other attractions as well such as the haunted house, Big Halloween Exhibit, boat ride to Sand Island to hunt for Big Foot, a decorated houses tour, alien museum, movie theater showings, celebrity photo-ops and more! They host a costume contest every Saturday and Sunday with cash prizes up for grabs so go all out! Weekend attractions are usually open from 10 am to 5 pm unless otherwise noted. Halloweentown Photo Op Places? Giant Pumpkin - Halloweentown Plaza City Hall/Courthouse Plaza - Halloweentown Plaza at 275 Strand Street Benny’s Cab - Parked along Halloweentown Plaza (it's not exactly the cab from the movie, but Benny will be there in the driver’s seat and it's a fun photo to snag!) Bus stop - Halloweentown Plaza Old Theater : 212 S 1st Street (You can actually watch movies here including Halloweentown!) If you're looking for Aggie Cromwell’s house, it's located at 3814 SE Martins Street, Portland, Oregon so that's a bummer. Special events in Halloweentown? On October 21st- 22nd it's the 25th anniversary of the original movie and they will have special guests including "Sophie, Dylan, Luke, and Marnie" there, where you can get paid autographs and/or pictures with the cast. There is even a pizza party with Sophie, Dylan, and Luke you can attend. You can go inside the courthouse and see part of the movie set as well as scripts and other props and view the Halloweentown movie in their theater to celebrate! Other weekends are a host to special events such as Twilight weekend (September), Hocus Pocus weekend (September), Haunted Hotrods (October) and Witches Beer Fest and Witches Celebration (October). If you're a Twilight fan, the Bella Swan Twilight house is also in St. Helen's. You can stop by to see it and take your picture out front as well. Where to park for Halloweentown? During the weekdays you can park in the city on 231 S First Street and it's free. On the weekends, because it's a small town that pulls a big crowd, they offer parking passes for 1810 Old Portland Road and will shuttle you into the town. Parking on weekends costs $15 a day online and $20 in person so plan ahead. To get more information and purchase your tickets for attractions, celebrity photos, parking, and more, visit their Halloweentown website . Visiting Halloweentown is such a fun trip and such a unique place! If you are planning a trip to Portland or the Oregon coast, come back soon for my 4-day trip itinerary and guide! Looking for more Halloween fun? Check out our DIY Cheesecloth Ghosts, 13 Witchy Reads for Fall , and Copycat Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam Recipe .

Summer is just around the corner and I've been looking for creative ways to stay cool. I have made a few versions of popsicles, but these Peach & Strawberry Wine Popsicles are my favorites and I’ll definitely be stocking my freezer with these for the summer. These wine popsicles were inspired when I was grocery shopping and saw this Arbor Mist Peach Moscato. It’s been so hot here, and I’ve been trying to find something new and cool to drink during the summer. I thought it sounded pretty delicious, so I bought a bottle. This peach Moscato is good to drink all by itself, but I immediately thought of strawberries and peaches and popsicles and decided to make my own recipe. Why not take it up a notch? I love the pretty red and peach layers of the strawberries and peaches. Peach & Strawberry Wine Popsicles 1 cup frozen strawberries 2 tablespoons sugar 1/3 cup Moscato 1 cup peaches 3 tablespoons sugar 1/2 cup Moscato Strawberry Layer Start with your strawberry layer. Blend together your frozen strawberries, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 1/3 cup Moscato. Pour into molds, filling about halfway. Freeze while you create your peach layer. Peach Layer In a blender, mix together about 1 cup of frozen peaches, 3 tablespoons of sugar, and 1/2 cup moscato. Pour on top of your strawberry layer. Put wooden popsicle sticks in and freeze overnight. I used aluminum foil to help hold the stick in place while it was freezing. Serve plain or in a wine glass with more Moscato poured over the top. *This makes about 6 popsicles. I used this popsicle mold but used wooden popsicle sticks instead of the plastic bottoms that it comes with. Moms are planning to enjoy this Summer too! Bring on hot mama, wine popsicle summer! Looking for a cold treat for the kids? Try our No-Churn Chocolate Ice Cream !

These Mini Lemon Flower Tarts are perfect for any Spring celebration, including a Mother's Day Brunch! These two-ingredient mini lemon tarts are super simple and make a stunning presentation for any Spring gathering. We loved them for Easter brunch and think they would be a stunning addition to your Mother's Day celebration! Mini Lemon Flower Tarts Recipe Ingredients: 1 box Ready-to-Bake roll-out pie crusts 1 can lemon creme (We used a can of Duncan Hines lemon creme found in the baking section) powdered sugar, optional Supplies: Flower cookie cutter mini cupcake pan Directions: Set your pie crust out, to become room temperature. Preheat your oven to 450F. Once your dough is room temp, roll it out and cut flower shapes out of it with this flower cookie cutter. 1 pie crust makes about 7 flowers, plan accordingly. Tuck each pie flower down into the mini cupcake pan, being sure to press them down into the bottom well, and gently fold the petals back around the top of the cupcake pan. Give the bottom and sides a few pokes with a fork. Bake for 5-6 minutes. 5 minutes was the sweet spot for me but your oven might be slightly different. Gently remove the flowers and let them cool for a few minutes on a wire rack. Spoon the lemon creme into a plastic baggie and cut the tip off. Pipe the lemon creme into the center of the mini flowers. Refrigerate for a few hours or until ready to serve. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired before serving. I tilted my flowers so that the powdered sugar got on the petals and not the pretty yellow filling. These would be a sweet treat to serve for a Mother’s Day Brunch! Moms always love flowers and they would make such a pretty presentation. These sweet lemon tarts would even be great for a baby or wedding shower or even a tea party or any celebration really! They are so pretty and bite-sized! This post may contain affiliate links.

Elevate your Taco Tuesday with these amazing Chicken Tinga Quesadilla Tacos! Everyone in my family gets so excited when I make these tacos. The tacos taste so good and look beautiful, but the recipe is so easy! These aren't your average chicken tacos, because we turn the taco into a quesadilla. I mean look at that cheese pull! Let's jump right in and make these amazing tacos. As I said, these are stunning tacos, but actually pretty easy to make. Easy enough that you can actually have them on Taco Tuesday without feeling overwhelmed. Chicken Tinga Quesadilla Tacos Ingredients: Olive oil, about 1 tablespoon 1 rotisserie chicken, shredded 1 red onion, halved then sliced 1 can of chipotle chilis in Adobe sauce (I vary how much I use, but usually it's around 4 of the peppers with some of the sauce added in) 1, 28oz can of crushed tomatoes 4 garlic cloves 1/2 tsp cumin 1/2 tsp dried oregano small flour tortillas (you need 2 tortillas per taco) non-stick spray, I like avocado spray quesadilla cheese, shredded Roasted poblano salsa cremosa (so so good, makes those flavors pop) Toppings optional: Onion, chopped (for ease, I buy prechopped) Queso Fresco cilantro lime wedges Note: Special tools this recipe calls for are a griddle (I own this one) and a food processor . Directions: Halve your red onion and cut it into thin slices. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large saute pan and heat over medium-high heat. Add onions to start cooking. While your onions are cooking down, add garlic cloves, chipotles in adobe sauce, crushed tomatoes, oregano, cumin, and salt to a food processor and blend. 4. Once your sauce is blended, add it to your pan with the red onions and bring to a simmer. 5. Add in the shredded chicken and stir to combine. Bring it all to a simmer again and turn it down to low to just heat the chicken through and let that sauce marinate the chicken. 6. Start prepping your toppings for the tacos - we like chopped onion (I often buy pre-chopped to save time), crumbled queso fresco, cilantro, lime wedges, and the roasted poblano salsa cremosa really makes these tacos. Set all this aside and get ready to start making your tacos. 7. Start getting your griddle warm, I think I usually cook mine around 300. Spray with non-stick spray. I like avocado spray. 8. When your griddle is ready, add your bottom tortillas and top with shredded quesadilla cheese. Top with another tortilla. 9. When they are almost ready to flip, spray the top side with more non-stick spray, flip, and cook the other side. 10. Now, you're ready to make your tacos! The easiest way to make your taco fold in half is to use your spatula and made a small indentation down the middle to fold easier. 11. Add a scoop of the chicken mixture to one side of the taco. I sometimes add the rest of the toppings right way, other times I remove them from the griddle and add the toppings. Fold your taco together 12. Top with queso fresco, cilantro, chopped onions, roasted poblano salsa cremo, or whatever toppings your family likes. 13. Serve with a wedge of lime and enjoy! This post may contain affiliate links .