April Fools "Carrot Cake" Meatloaf

It’s April Fools Day!  This is one of my favorite foodie days of the year!

By now, my kids know to expect something rather zany out of me.  I’ve made Meatloaf Cupcakes and tiny Hamburgers and a few other fun things (that need perfecting, so they aren’t blogged yet).

This year, I decided to take the cupcakes to the next level and turn them into a meatloaf cake!

Strawberry Moscow Mule

I’m flying in at the last second for Food n Flix again.  In Food n Flix, those who want to participate watch the selected movie make something delicious inspired by the movie and share! This month, Kimberly at Coffee &Casseroles gave us a broad selection by letting us choose any Tim Burton movie!

I’d already seen a few, had no interest in a few others and was having trouble choosing.  I enlisted Hubs and he was interested in seeing Alice in Wonderland.

When I was young, I saw the Disney animated Alice in Wonderland, and a few years ago I read the book, and yeah…pretty odd.  I can see why it was right up Tim Burton’s alley. 

Homemade Strawberry Sauce

Let’s talk strawberry sauce!  A couple years ago, I shared a chunky fresh Macerated Strawberry Sauce that I served over pancakes.

More recently, I’ve been making silky smooth strawberry sauces.  One was used in a cheesecake (recipe coming soon) and the other is absolute perfection on ice cream and that’s the one I’m sharing today!

Fruit Race Cars

Hey, everyone.  How are you holding up?  I’m in the US where the COVID-19 pandemic is just rearing its ugly face.  School systems are shut down, which means I’m teaching from home (I’m an elementary teacher librarian) and teaching my own children.

Step #1 was to get my kids on a schedule.  It may not work for every family, but my kids thrive on routine!  Things go much better when they know what’s coming next.

We’re doing lots of reading, lots of crafting, lots of walks.  Next week we’ll start school work (this week was to be spring break), so it’ll be a bit different, but this week, we’re focusing on family and fun, in between recording read alouds for my students, that is!

Which bring us to today’s recipe, Fruit Race Cars!

Lolo Buns

On Tuesday, I shared a recipe for Creamy Lentil Soup (Dhal) for the Eat the World Recipe Challenge.  The recipe came form Fiji.  But it wasn’t the only Fijian recipe I made!

As I was researching, I also became fascinated my Lolo buns.  I wasn’t certain, at first, that I would actually make these.  They sounded so interesting (and I love making breads), but I learned that Lolo means coconut (and I really don’t care for coconut…actually no one in my family does).  Even so, I was interested and since I needed a can of coconut milk for the soup anyway, I decided to give them a whirl.

Fijian Creamy Lentil Soup (Dhal)

It’s the 10^th, which means it’s time to buckle up, because we’re traveling the world!  This month’s destination is Fiji!

Fiji is an island, kinda between Australia and Hawaii, so I was surprised to find that the cuisine ha a strong Indian influence, featuring many curries and spice palates from India.

Indian food is always a pretty tough sell in my house, so I worked to find a more moderate recipe.  I actually found two, but I’ll share the second one in a couple days.

Since it is Lent and I’m Catholic, I decided to take a look at meatless recipes, since we abstain from meat on Fridays and I don’t eat seafood or fish.

Creamy Stovetop Mac & Cheese

I’m not going to lie.  I didn’t think it could get better than my previous version of Creamy Stovetop Mac & Cheese.  In that recipe, the pasta is cooked directly in milk to create a rich, creamy macaroni, but it does thicken up quite quickly after cooking.

I started to wonder if I could start my mac & cheese off with a cheese sauce (starting with a roux) to make an even creamier version and yes, yes I could.

This mac and cheese comes together just as quickly as others – the cheese sauce comes together while the pasta cooks!