Author: Meredith

I’m grateful for my sweet little family and the fact that we’re all together again this year.

I’m grateful for each Halloween we get. I love dressing up, and I love passing down these fun traditions to my children.

I’ve made it around the sun another year. While my life isn’t perfect — or even a smidgeon like how I want it to be — I’m thankful to celebrate another year of life. I’m thankful to celebrate with my intact family. I’m thankful to celebrate with a delicious cake, straight out of my creative mind once again. I’m thankful to have such talent in the kitchen to create my own unique birthday cake. I’m thankful to have family and friends who love me and care about me. I’m especially grateful to see all the leaves finally starting to pop with vibrant colors worthy of some photography. I believe that birthdays should be special no matter your age, status, or situation. Never let the opportunity to count your birthday blessings pass you by!

Welcome to the Slacker Sunday edition of Foodie Friday! Time got away from me, but I wanted to share these links will you anyway. Up first, we’ve got Apron String’s eggs in bell pepper slices. She calls them “flower power eggs.” It’s definitely a clever way to serve up your eggs!

Next, we have these scrumptious looking zucchini boats from the Proud Italian Cook. Looks like a clever way to make pizza healthier — or for those of us with a gluten issue to enjoy the flavors of melted cheese and marinara without suffering later on!

And from What’s That Smell? we have this low carb pizza. I don’t know about you, but I really don’t care about carbs. I just care about enjoying pizza without feeling bloated and pained later on! It looks delicious, doesn’t it?

I’ve always been a huge fan of Annie’s Eats. That Annie knows her way around the kitchen! She made homemade spinach wraps, and I’m excited to try making my own with some gluten free flour. Wraps are such a fun way to serve up a variety of foods. Sandwiches get a make over. Burritos get an added layer of color. The possibilities are endless.

From Full Fork Ahead, we have a clever chicken cordon bleu casserole. I’m not a big fan of fussy dishes — and rolling up chicken or attempting to stuff it just doesn’t sit well with me. Deconstructing chicken cordon bleu into a casserole? Absolutely brilliant!

Finally, we have the Brown Eyed Baker’s mushroom lasagna. I’m fussy about mushrooms. I eat them in mushroom ravioli from a couple of chain restaurants, and I’ll eat them in homemade chicken marsala and mushroom risotto. So when I saw this recipe, I was incredibly excited. Again, I’m not a fan of fussy — making ravioli from scratch isn’t going to float my boat. So deconstructing those ravioli into a lasagna? Perfection! Buon Appetito!

This evening I whisked up a delicious Chinese American-style takeout sauce for a stir-fry dinner. Very rarely can I get my two younger children to finish the first plate — let alone ask for seconds. They gobbled it up. The results were so delicious, it really did taste like I had visited our favorite Chinese takeout to pick up dinner instead of chopping, stirring, and making myself. I’m very thankful that we had all the ingredients to create such a delicious meal. I’m grateful that it pleased my family’s taste-buds. And I’m especially thankful all those ingredients together cost a fraction of the price of a takeout meal.

These luscious treats have all been tried in my kitchen — and all have come out so delectably delicious.

Up first we have Annie’s Eats caramel apple cinnamon rolls. These babies are so decadent and so perfect for crisp autumn weather. Why have plain old cinnamon rolls when you can fill them with sweet apples and smother them in caramel cream cheese icing? So good with a cup of coffee or tea.

Next we have a rich black bean chocolate cake. Now I can already see some of you squinting and raising eyebrows — let me put those qualms to rest right now. I found this cake recipe when I was first started to remove gluten from my diet, merely experimenting to see how my body would react and to find good gluten free treats. Once you’ve pulverized the beans in a food processor, you really don’t notice them. In fact, it’s very similar to a flourless chocolate cake because you need more eggs to get the cake to rise. I found the cake to be a bit sticky, so my second go-round I made cupcakes with paper linings. Topped with your favorite frosting? You’ll never notice you’re actually eating something (kind of) good for you!

I’m sure by now we’ve all seen those “Slutty Brownies.” I don’t know if these quite count, but they’re such a guilty pleasure. Chocolate chip cookie dough, Reese’s peanut butter cups, and brownie batter. Whip up a batch of these — but don’t blame me for the additional weight or increased blood sugar levels. 😉

Chocolate Covered Katie made these basic cookie dough balls using dates and cashews as a base for all sorts of delicious varieties. I’ve tried these with dates, cashews, peanut butter, craisins, and almonds. They were so good, I had a hard time leaving them alone! You can form them into dough balls, cookie rounds, or snack bars.

I was craving a good lemon loaf one day, so I came across this Starbucks iced lemon loaf copycat recipe. It’s so dense and lemony with a tender crumb. I’ve substituted the cake mix with a gluten free version, and I’ve never looked back.

Want to know a secret? I can’t bake from scratch brownies to save my life. Enter the Kahlua brownies — I love a good boozy dessert! So I got to thinking: What if I use Kahlua in my favorite gluten free boxed mix brownies? The results have been addictive. No one can eat just one of my brownies. And no one, not even me, can taste the alcohol.

Over the summer we picked bowls and bowls of fresh, wild blackberries growing like weeds all over the neighborhood. A friend of mine showed me this recipe for blackberry skillet cake. I quickly gathered the supplies to make this cake, and oh my goodness did we ever enjoy turning some of our blackberry haul into a tasty dessert! I’ve also adapted this recipe for peaches with the same rave reviews.

I remember when Carvel reigned supreme for birthdays. A classic ice cream cake made any celebration a hit. I recounted the flavor of the cookie dough ice cream and chocolate ice cream cake to my son before his birthday, and he decided he had to have one for his 12th birthday this year. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything other than the plain vanilla and chocolate cakes — so I took matters into my own capable hands. I found these instructions to make an ice cream cake, and my son got the cake of his dreams.

And finally, here’s this beautiful, creamy, scrumptious tiramisu cheesecake. I can’t remember the story behind this culinary adventure in my kitchen, but I can tell you that The Tough Cookie created an exquisite dessert. I substituted a tub of mascarpone for a bar of cream cheese, though, but still! It’s no wonder this recipe is in the finals as a layer of my 31st birthday cake.

Happy Baking!

I’m so thankful that the weather is finally shifting into cooler temperatures and crisp breezes. It was a hot, dry summer here, with cringe-worthy electric bills. Finally I can feel good about turning the oven on. Finally I can embrace roasts, soups, stews, and pots full of spicy chili. I can bring out the sweaters and scarves. I can snuggle up in a blanket at night without sweating profusely overnight, likely kicking the blanket off several times over the course of eight hours (or less). The leaves are finally starting to turn lovely shades of red, orange, and yellow, peppering the mountains and woods with traditional fall beauty.