Olive Garden Style Salad

So we were just talking Olive Garden Breadsticks…but what are the breadsticks without the salad?!?  

I mean, let’s be honest, the Olive Garden Salad is all about the dressing.  Sure, you can buy it, but why not make it fresh instead?

So, it’s a little funny that I’m even making this salad/dressing, because I’m notorious for underdressing salads (read: I almost never use salad dressing!)

But I’m willing to make an exception for Olive Garden.  Enough to even make the dressing at home.

This version is spicy and delicious and seems very close to the original! 

Copy Cat Olive Garden Breadsticks

Who doesn’t love a great breadstick?

Let’s be honest, when you think of the best breadstick it’s Olive Garden, right?

Well, I learned how to make them at home and they’re just as fabulous!  Even left over and warmed up in the microwave they’re amazing!

Beef Stir Fry with Leeks, Broccoli, & Bok Choy

A couple months ago, I got a Rachel Ray Magazine in my mailbox.

I paged through and found a yummy picture of stir fry.  Then I read the recipe and realized that the greens I was were wilted iceberg lettuce!

And I just couldn’t wrap my head around it!

I grew up eating iceberg lettuce, but now I typically go for spinach or romaine.  And I’ve heard of grilled romaine but can’t quite wrap my head around that either.

French Onion Burgers on Brioche Onion Buns

It’s Fantastical Food Fight time and with summer right around the corner, this month is a burger fight!  Luckily for me after weeks of rain and chilly temperatures, it finally got warm enough for grilling last weekend!

I spent a lot of time thinking about what to put on a burger – there are so many yummy, creative combinations out there!  I eventually decided that I wanted to play with texture by adding crunchy fried onions as a burger topping.  And with crunchy onions in the topping, why not add them into be burger too?  How about an onion brioche bun to go with it?

Glazed Lemon Shortbread Cookies

Happy Mother’s Day!

How do you celebrate?

I know my boys made little gifts in school that they’ll present later on. 

In past year I’ve “taken the day off”.  I went out shopping and we ordered pizza for dinner…and I had a huge backlog of chores to do on Monday (boo).

This year, I decided that I want to cook and bake all day and make some sort of extravagant dinner.  I requested that my gift be that everyone else cleans up instead of me, but honestly?  If it doesn’t happen, it’s not big deal.  I’m hoping for a family bike ride, but I think it’s supposed to be rainy, so maybe we’ll go out for ice cream instead.

Yes, this Mother’s Day, I want to do what I always do.  I want to be the mom.  I’ll take anything special that happens to come my way, but really, I want to be my kids’ mom – it’s seriously the best job in the world!

Loc Lac (Cambodian Beef with Lime) #eattheworld

Pack your bags and grab your passport!  We’re heading to Cambodia for this month’s Eat the World recipe challenge!

After researching Cambodian food, it looks like stir fries, sea food, and brothy soups are very common cuisine.  Another popular recipe is Loc Lac or stir fried beef.  There are many variations of this dish, depending largely on the region on Cambodia it comes from, additionally Loc Lac is also popular in Vietnam (though without the fried egg).

As with anytime I push the boundaries with recipes, the kids had a comment.  This time, “I thought this was stir fry mom, why is there BBQ sauce, an egg, and salad?”

Strawberry Moscato Slushie #FoodnFlix

Mamma Mia! 

It’s already time for Food ‘n Flix because I’m getting in early this month.  This month’s movie pick (chosen by my friend Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm) is Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.

This movie is a sequel to a movie I wasn’t terribly impressed with, yet, I’m always willing to keep an open mind.  Mamma Mia 2 was one of the 3 Food ‘n Flix movies I watched while on the plane to Disney World back in January!  The other two were Book Club (I made Cheesy Spinach& Chicken Soup) and Crazy Rich Asians (I made a double header – Homemade Wonton Wrappers and Ginger Pork Pot Stickers).

May the Fourth Mix

Happy Star Wars Day!

As the kids and I embark on a Star Wars movie marathon (Hubs is out of town, so he’s missing out), we needed snacks to munch on!

In addition to popcorn, we made a super fun (and super yummy) chex mix. 

Churro Cupcakes

Who’s ready for Cinco de Mayo?

Fun fact!  I was researching Cinco de Mayo and found out that it is commonly misunderstood to be Mexican Independence day, but is actually the anniversary of an underdog victory by Mexico against France in the Franco-Mexican War.  The holiday is noted (a little) in the region in which it was won, but it not really a big deal in Mexico (it is NOT a holiday).

In the United States, however, it has become kind of a big deal and a time to celebrate Mexican culture.  Funny how that works, isn’t?

Cinco de Mayo has been a favorite in our house ever since Dude (now 11) was a baby.  When he was born, someone gifted us a set of “holiday bibs”…Baby’s first Christmas, Baby’s first Easter, and Baby’s First Cinco de Mayo.

Color Changing Sparkling Tea #Sipbysip

Disclosure: I received tea to sample and review from The Republic of Tea.  All opinions are my own.

Today is a fun #SipbySip event coordinated by Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla and sponsored by the Republic of Tea!

The Republic of Tea sent two of their delicious Daily Beauty Beautifying Botanicals for our Sipping Beauties event!

The very first thing I noticed was that the first ingredient promoted on the Blueberry Lavender Tea was “Collagen-Promoting Blue Butterfly Pea Flower”.  Then, nerdy boy-mom teacher in me then got really really excited.