pineapple

My Favorite Ambrosia Salad Recipe

This classic fruit salad is one of my favorite family holiday recipes because nobody can pass up its tropical fruit and marshmallows bathed in tangy whipped sour cream.

“You’re REALLY going to put that on the blog?” my man questioned. “Really?”

Yes, REALLY.

We each have our holiday favorite dishes. He has his creamed corn. I have my Ambrosia salad.

These are the recipes that if missed on the holiday table cause pain and agony. Even if just for ourselves, because it simply wouldn’t be the same without them.continue to the recipe… about My Favorite Ambrosia Salad Recipe

How to Make the Best Broccoli Salad

This healthier take on classic broccoli salad features fresh, crunchy broccoli florets topped with a light dressing with a little sweetness from golden raisins, cranberries and pineapple for a super summer salad.

Where some visitors to a new city or town search out the best restaurants, bars or bakeries, you’ll find me scouting out grocery stores and specialty food shops. I may not even need groceries, have a kitchen on hand or be planning to cook at all, but a visit lets me know what ‘might’ be available should I happen to be in need.

What is wrong with me??

One of my beeline destinations is the grocery store deli case. That’s where you’ll see me peering over toddlers muddying the glass with their chubby little hands as I look for ideas of what people are really eating. Because if a grocery store is going to give space for a salad, side or main in the ready-made case, it’s likely that it’s a dish people are gonna want.

Broccoli salad is one of those recipes I see time and time again in deli cases across the land. But let us not think these salads are all created equal. Hardly.

continue to the recipe… about How to Make the Best Broccoli Salad

Hawaiian Chicken Skewers With I Wash You Dry

This easy chicken kebab recipe is especially flavorful thanks to a simple soy and orange marmalade marinade and it is sure to become a family favorite.

Like many other food bloggers out there, Shawn Syphus has no formal culinary training. Instead, a series of happy kitchen accidents, and some one-on-one lessons with her mother-in-law helped shape her into the cook she is today.

The food obsessed mom of four has been cooking and writing for her blog I Wash You Dry since 2010, creating quick and easy recipes that require minimal clean up — and obviously by the name of her blog, she’s not so fond of dishes!

Shawn’s first cookbook, Express Lane Cooking includes 80 quick and easy recipes with five ingredients. We love that Shawn’s cooking style is fuss-free and to the point. Her recipes are simple and approachable, fast and delicious.

Having fewer dishes to wash and recipes like these Hawaiian Chicken Skewers that you’ll find at the end of this post also makes us weak in the knees!

continue to the recipe… about Hawaiian Chicken Skewers With I Wash You Dry

Healthier Sweet and Sour Pork With The Clever Carrot

This recipe for the classic Chinese takeout dish is made healthier thanks to lean pork that’s sautéed instead of deep-fried, and a naturally sweetened honey balsamic stir fry sauce.

Emilie Raffa finds inspiration of all kinds, all around her.

In colors, textures, sounds, people, and travel.

Even in the form of a Hawaiian shirt. “The other day, I saw a complete stranger in a tropical t-shirt and suddenly, I was inspired to make a key lime pie (I ended up buying one at Trader Joe’s)!”

Like Emilie, we find inspiration everywhere we look, but we’re particularly inspired by her blog, The Clever Carrot. We’re captivated by her vivid images and charismatic charm, which pull us in with each post we read.

Her aesthetic is natural and unfussy, and her recipes (like this Healthier Sweet and Sour Pork from her new cookbook and shared at the bottom of this post) are seasonal, colorful, healthy, and creative.

But it isn’t just her great recipes and photography that lure us to her blog and her debut cookbook.

It’s her witty banter and totally engaging writing style that keep us coming back for each and every post. To discover what her young boys have gotten themselves into. Or to send her a virtual high five when her dad stops by to surprise her with the new issue of Oprah magazine where her recipes are featured (!).

In fact, it’s the combination of all of these reasons that Emilie was featured here on FoodieCrush as one of our 5 Food Blogs I’m Following Now. We may not be Oprah (cars for evvvvveryone!) but we do share her great taste!

When Emilie let us know she would be publishing a cookbook, we were elated, knowing if her book would be anything like her blog, we were in for a real treat.

And let’s make this clear. This cookbook isn’t just a listing of recipes. It’s smart. It’s a huge help in meal planning because it teaches how to use the precious time we have in the kitchen wisely. It truly delivers on strategies and tips and 100% lives up to it’s name, The Clever Cookbook: Get-Ahead Strategies and Timesaving Tips for Stress-Free Home Cooking.

If I were ever to publish a cookbook, it’s everything I would want my cookbook to be. But I don’t even need to think about that now. I have Emilie’s cookbook to save my day.continue to the recipe… about Healthier Sweet and Sour Pork With The Clever Carrot

Berry Delicious Fruit Salad Recipe

A mix of berries, melon, oranges and pineapple gets tossed with honey, fresh orange and lime juice and mint, making for a healthy, colorful and bright salad that’s both light and refreshing.

Following my route of debauchery last weekend in Las Vegas for our 16th annual NASCAR race (yep, I’ve got a little redneck or “neckcar” in me, and proud of it), I’ve been in need of a thorough cleansing.

Too much rich food for dinners and wacky fair food at the track (fried bricks of french fries?), too many late nights as my dad’s good luck charm at the 21 table only to get up too early to head out to watch cars go round and round and round in the 74 degree sun.

Good thing I evened it out with a spa day spent with my mama. At least they offered cucumber water to counter our mango-ritas.

It’s all about balance.continue to the recipe… about Berry Delicious Fruit Salad Recipe