Tilapia used to frighten me. It still kind of does. Often found at my favorite grocer for between $2 and $4 for a bag of 6 delicious filets, I simply didn’t trust it. And yet I’m surprised every single time I make it how utterly delicious it is and I understand why it’s become one [...]

CONFESSION: Nearly all my über-gourmet ingredients come from the Clearance Bin. I can’t help it; I simply can’t pay full price for gourmet ingredients, and I don’t really care how fancy they are. $10 for infused grapeseed oil? Tell me $4 and we’ve got a deal. $6 for Japanese Panko breadcrumbs—hell no. But for $2, [...]

Ikea is awesome. But it’s not just awesome because of the inexpensive homegoods. The café, where you can get mounds of Swedish meatballs, complete with plenty of lingonberry sauce for just a couple bucks, now that’s where it’s at. It’s a favorite comfort food of mine, and lucky for me and my family, the folks [...]

There are some products that come along that are kind of like magic. I really and truly feel that way about Nasoya’s Cubed Super Firm Tofu. I love tofu in restaurants but I could never get the texture right when I made it at home. But once this came into my life, everything was instantly [...]

Since there are now three of us in the house packing lunches for the workday, I decided to make a quick skillet sauce and some pasta specifically for leftovers. It’s a super easy recipe that takes only about half an hour, makes a lot of food and is also nice and light. I had gotten [...]

When America’s Test Kitchen recommends a product, I tend to listen. So when I was trying to decide whether to spend a great deal of money on an olive oil or to go with a basic one, I turned to them for help. And hallelujah, did they deliver.
I’ve tried a number of “whatever’s on sale” [...]

Pizza Beer? Pizza-beer-bread? A wonderful addition to a standard Crock Pot Roast.

An excellent recipe for a rich mushroom sauce that’s perfect for steaks, polenta or over pasta.

Some folks turn to Hamburger Helper for quick meals. Well, I do too time and again, but there are other, more interesting options out there. Some of my favorites come from Kitchens of India.
As easy to use as any ready-made sauce, their curries and other dishes bring the taste of our favorite Indian buffet home [...]

Homemade Naan? That’s right, I made this from scratch!
I can’t take all the credit; my husband was kind enough to start the bread machine going to make the dough before I got home from work. We used this recipe but modified it based on some of the reviewers’ feedback. We used only 3.5 cups of [...]

TOO MANY PUMPKINS! A friend of a friend had a fall wedding and left my friend, the maid of honor, with dozens of pumpkin gourd favors left by guests. She decorated her home with them and wondered what to do with them. I didn’t actually believe I’d do anything with them, but I shocked myself [...]

This super-simple glaze adds a really unique kick to pork chops or chicken. To make the glaze, I mixed 3 tbsp honey with 1 tbsp water and chopped up 3 chipotle peppers (seeds removed). That’s it. Seriously.
I made it with Near East brand Curry Rice, one of my favorite quick-side-dish brands. With a wide variety [...]