Double Chocolate Pancakes with Strawberry Sauce

My kids found this recipe in my cookbook, Slim & Scrumptious by Joy Bauer, so we decided to make them together for their breakfast. The pancakes couldn't be easier to make and the strawberry sauce was quick and simple too. I adapted the recipe a bit by leaving out the flaxseed (I didn't have any) and I also used fresh strawberries instead of frozen. My kids LOVED these pancakes so much they ate

Orange, Pineapple, and Banana Smoothie

My kids are hot, tired, thirsty, and hungry after swimming lessons so I recently made them a tasty smoothie to cool them down and fill them up after a long afternoon of swimming. I looked in the refrigerator to see what I had on hand and I found pineapple and orange juice; I also spied a ripe banana on the counter and decided to throw that in too. You can't get much easier than a 4 ingredient

Soy Sesame Edamame

This is such a quick, easy, and delicious snack or side dish. I made this for my kids as a snack after their swimming lessons and they LOVED it. I swear the bowl of edamame disappeared within 5 minutes of me serving it to them. This will be a regular on our table from now on.Soy Sesame Edamame:Recipe and photos by For the Love of Cooking.net1 1/2 cups of whole edamame1 tbsp soy sauce1 tsp sesame

Cinnamon Cheesecake Fondue AND a GIVEAWAY!!

I found this recipe in my new cookbook by Joy Bauer called Slim & Scrumptious. This was a fun and quick dish I made for my kids' afternoon snack this week. Needless to say it was a HUGE hit with both of my kids and they gobbled up every last bite. It was fun for them to eat and it was a great way to load up on fresh fruit. My daughter liked to dip the fruit and crackers directly into the dip

Fruit Salad

This recipe was inspired by my wonderful, loving, sweet, and kind friend Joy (can you tell I really love her?). While we were in Idaho we had dinner at a friend's house and Joy brought a salad similar to this. You can use any fruit you have on hand, mix it with raspberry yogurt, and you will have an instant hit. Joy says that she has tried several different flavors of yogurt in this salad and

White Chocolate Dipped Pretzels

For the third treat in the kids' teachers' gift plates (first two treats were the Lemon and Blueberry Bars with a Coconut Crust and Triple Chocolate Cookies) I made pretzels dipped in melted white chocolate and topped with sprinkles. They were fun, easy, and messy to make. The kids had a lot of fun covering them with sprinkles. I loved the combination of the sweet white chocolate with the salty

Fruit Kebabs with Melted Chocolate

This is a very quick and easy way to make your children smile. It's also a great way to get them to eat fruit! I made these kebabs for my kids' after school snack and they were a huge hit. My son said that any child would love them and my daughter said I was a great mom. They both gave the fruit kebabs with melted chocolate two thumbs up - you can't beat that!Fruit Kebabs with Melted Chocolate:

Pepperoni Pizza Cups

Side Note: Sorry for the late post - Blogger has been down since yesterday afternoon. Thankfully they are finally back up and running... now if only they will replace my Creamy Chicken Flautas post from yesterday that they deleted - UGH.I wanted to make the kids a fun and filling snack after school to give them enough energy to get through Taekwondo class. I decided to try baking pizza cups

Sweet and Salty Homemade Granola Bars

I wanted to make a tasty and healthy snack for my kids lunches this week so I went in search of a good granola bar recipe. I found this one on The Green Nut site that looked delicious. These granola bars were filled with oats, coconut, pistachio nuts, sunflower seeds, dried apricots, and craisins. They were very simple to make and smelled delicious while baking. I love that these bars use up

Toffee Crunch Dip with Apple Slices

This recipe is from my sister Dana. She makes this dip for holidays, birthdays, and tailgating for the BSU Bronco football games. It's always a huge hit when she makes it and never lasts long. The dip itself is sweet, creamy, and crunchy and it pairs perfectly with the crispy and tart apple slices. It's extremely quick and easy to make and will make all of your guests very happy. Thanks for the

Homemade Baked Cinnamon Mini Donuts with Maple Glaze

My kids love donuts and usually talk my husband into buying them for breakfast a couple Saturdays a month. My daughter and I recently found this cute little mini donut maker in the kitchen department in a major department store for $20 and I couldn't resist buying it. I love that these donuts are baked instead of fried and that my kids can help make their own breakfast treats with me. They were

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

Over the summer I tried some cinnamon almonds made by my friend Cathy at Wives with Knives. The almonds were amazingly delicious and my kids, especially my daughter, loved them. I picked up a bag of plain almonds recently and decided to try to recreate those fantastic nuts. My son and I had a great time making these tasty treats together. They were crunchy, salty, and sweet - the perfect

Raspberry Oatmeal Crumb Pie

We were heading over to a friend's house for dinner and I was asked to bring a dessert. My daughter really wanted to use the raspberry pie filling that we had in our baking cupboard so I went in search of a recipe. I found a nice oatmeal crumb bar recipe in my Good Housekeeping cookbook that would work well with the pie filling. My daughter didn't want to make bars, instead she wanted to make it

Mini Lemon Pies and Mini Cherry Pies

When I saw this recipe on Georgia's site The Comfort of Cooking, I knew I would be making these beauties immediately. My kids love fruit pies so making them their own perfect little pie made them so happy! My daughter and I had so much fun making these together... she especially loved cutting out each little flower for the top crusts. These were extremely quick and simple to make and they tasted

Peanut Butter Swirl Mini Brownies

My son and I wanted to make something special for my daughter's after school treat today. We finally decided to make peanut butter swirl brownies. I found this recipe on Ezra Pound Cake that looked delicious but I adapted it to make little mini brownies using mini muffin tins. My son had a great time stirring up all the ingredients and an even better time gobbling up the tasty brownie bites. My

Strawberry Crepes

My kids get to pick whatever they want to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner on their birthday. My son just turned 5 years old and he asked for strawberry crepes for breakfast. I whipped up a batch for him and his sister and they gobbled up every last bite. This is a fun and easy recipe to prepare and it makes breakfast extra special.Strawberry Crepes:4 eggs1 1/3 cup non fat milk1 tbsp melted

Citrus Berry Smoothie

It has been very hot here in Portland. The kids and I got home from a long walk and we were all so hot and dehydrated we decided to make smoothies to cool us down and quench our thirst. The smoothies were very quick and easy to make. I filled them with banana, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, yogurt, honey, orange juice, and ice. They were so flavorful and delicious - the kids drank them

Blackberry Galette with Homemade Vanilla Whipped Cream

This recipe is so simple to make and is always a big hit with my kids and dinner guests. I found some beautiful organic blackberries on sale recently and couldn't resist buying them. I used a store bought pie crust because it is a huge time saver for me. The kids and I made this galette for friends who were coming over for dinner, needless to say, it disappeared quickly.Blackberry Galette with

Neapolitan Pancakes

Neapolitan (chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla) is one of my favorite flavors of ice cream so I thought I would try making my kids pancakes using those flavors. I normally whip up a batch of healthy pancakes using yogurt and whole wheat flour but I had hungry kids who wanted breakfast immediately so I used a pancake mix (Bisquick). I added some vanilla bean to the batter, then fresh strawberries

Strawberry Galette with Homemade Vanilla Whipped Cream

I had one pie crust to use up so I decided to bake a strawberry galette with my daughter. It was a fun afternoon cooking with my little sous chef. I think she really liked placing the strawberry slices onto the pie crust and she enjoyed making the whipped cream. This was a wonderful dessert that my entire family loved. Needless to say my daughter was very proud of herself.Strawberry Galette with