Food Family Finds | Illinois Mom Blogger and Foodie
Recipes | Parenting | Reviews
Around here summer is the season of picnics. It's a family activity that we all enjoy because we get to eat outdoors, soak up the sun and have a great time just being together. To celebrate our love of picnicking, Kraft Foods sent our family a picnic basket full of new Kraft products and coupons to sample and create our own family picnic. Unfortunately, our weather has been overly wet lately leaving the ground soggy and muddy so we created an … [Read more...]
For most men, the most irresistible sweet eat you can offer them is chocolate cake. In our family, it's a tradition to give dad his chocolate cake for Father's Day and it's often more appreciated than any store bought gift. This Father's Day is no different which is why I spent most of my Saturday whipping up cake batter and baking cakes. So today, on this very special day, a day to celebrate all the dads of the world, I give you chocolate cake … [Read more...]
Despite being a work from home mom, I'm not much of a meal planner. I'm the kind of cook that will run to the grocery store 3 plus times a week to grab ingredients for a dinner that I'm in the mood for. Luckily (for my gas bill) our local grocery store is less than a mile away. However, I'm working towards becoming a more organized mom and cook by starting with meal planning. The idea is that I'll make a grocery list, plan a menu for an entire … [Read more...]
Between the road trips, play dates at the park and endless hours splashing in the pool, our family is taking a night to dedicate our time (and baking skills) to the one charity we proudly support. I hope that after you learn a little more about it, your family will join us in supporting it too! 1,000 Cooks for the Cure This summer, Friday, July 15--Sunday, July 24, 2011, KitchenAid is asking cooks across the country to join the fundraising … [Read more...]
If you’ve been following along with my home farming journey, you may remember that just a few weeks ago we began planting our cool weather vegetables. Fortunately, our spring weather has been a nice mix of cooler than average temperatures with plenty of rain to give our vegetables a nice start. In fact, they’ve grown so tremendously the raised bed farm is almost unrecognizable since my last home farming update. Watch as I give you a … [Read more...]
Despite all of my delicious recipes and food photos, occasionally I do have a baking fail. I actually had a really bad week that resulted in not one but two baking fails. It all started with a Mexican Corn Casserole that had way too much liquid and ended with these pretty, but broken rainbow cupcakes. My girls have become completely obsessed with singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow lately so I thought I'd feed their passions with some rainbow … [Read more...]
First I bought this ... ... then fed my family this. Our menu for the night included these great recipes from The Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook: Homemade Ranch with Iceberg Wedge Meatloaf PW's Creamy Mashed Potatoes Let me tell you, this was the best meal we've had in months. There's just one problem, I didn't read the serving sizes for any of the recipes and ended up with a meal big enough to feed a family twice our size. On … [Read more...]
In the past week my husband and I have made a commitment to each other to motivate and encourage a healthier lifestyle for our family. After 10 years of marriage (and 3 babies myself) we've both packed on quite a few "comfort" pounds. We're realizing that not only are we both unhealthy and overweight, we're setting a bad example for our children. To make a fresh start with our eating habits, we've committed to eating fresh with Subway. Instead … [Read more...]
Last week I shared an innovative piece of cookware that I got to introduce to my family and change the way we cook our meals. Using the 360 Cookware 3.5 Quart Saute Pan I was able to take one of our favorite family dishes that is often cooked in oil and topped with butter and make it healthier with the use of vapor cooking technology. { see the complete meal, Rosemary Chicken with Steamed Broccoli, Baked Potatoes and Pineapple Upside Down Cake … [Read more...]
If you're like me and holding out until the last minute to shop for your mother, you'll want to pay close attention as I share Strawberries Dipped in Chocolate for Mother's Day. I know firsthand these wonderful edible gifts will be a hit with mom as I got to sample a dozen Swizzled Berries with Dipped Cookies. These incredibly delicious berries are hand dipped and delivered to the recipient chilled and packaged very well. Every berry and … [Read more...]
