The Phoenix frequently orders salmon when we dine out.  And last night, he said this was among the best, or maybe even the best salmon he’s ever had.  He even gave me a high five at the end of dinner.  Are you kidding me?  You need to try this.

For the record, I loved it too.  The honey and spices give the salmon enough flavor to not taste so fishy, and they just plain work well together.  And the pineapple salsa, oh man, it sends this dish over the top.  There wasn’t a bite left on either of our plates and I already know this will be a frequent visitor to the Bird House dinner table.

If you can, make the salsa in the afternoon to give it a few hours in the fridge to hang out and all those flavors to get comfortable together.  But other than that, this comes together quickly and easily right before dinner, but it’ll taste like you worked all day.

My life changed the other day.

I bought a doughnut pan.  Well, first I saw this recipe.  Then I tried to wait but I couldn’t.  I loaded up all three little birds and went to Target.  All life changing things come from there, right?  And I got me a doughnut pan.

And then I couldn’t wait again.  And I made doughnuts for dinner.

Hehe.

I threw together an Asian Slaw with Grilled Chicken too (I’ll share that with you soon, yum!), but that was really just a cover up.  We were having doughnuts for dinner.  A to the awesome.

These are great.  So airy, moist and delicious…and according to the site I found them on, only 98 calories a pop, that is if you only glaze one side of the doughnut.  Which only happens in our house if we run out of glaze, but alas, still pretty healthy for a normally decadent treat.

The Phoenix liked them too, but he can’t wait for me to make chocolate doughnuts.  And honestly I can’t wait either.

Oh, dear.

Thought I’d share an idea I found on Pinterest recently.  Cute and yummy, what’s not to like about that?  This DIY individual fruit pizza bar is perfect for getting together with friends or even kids’ birthday parties.  And everything is make ahead, so no last minute mess in the kitchen!

For the sugar cookies, I used this recipe.  My favorite, and if you underbake them just a tad, they make eating these pizzas a little less messy.

The cream is simple.  One jar of marshmallow fluff whipped together with one softened package of cream cheese.  Easy peasy.

And then put together whatever fruits you want like.  This time around I used strawberries, kiwi and blueberries.  So good, and pretty too!

Your guests, both kids and adults, will love it!

(Oh, and don’t mind the less than mediocre pic.  It was taken at night and I have no skills when it comes to photography minus natural light.)

We had this last week and loved it.  What a great dish to share with friends on a cold, January evening.  It’s similar to chicken pot pie, but different enough and definitely worth your while.  Feeds a bunch, and if you do have leftovers, is plenty yummy the next day too.  I made it all ahead (see recipe for the how-to) and it came out beautifully.

I’ve made this at least a dozen times, so I figured it was about time to put the recipe in my “book”.  You’re looking at a solid white chicken chili that you can easily adjust the heat level of, can make healthy or totally indulgent, and goes super well with my favorite Buttermilk Cornbread.  It’s made in the slow cooker which makes for an easy weeknight dinner when you need it.

Need I say more?

I don’t think I could take another day looking at that chicken tetrazzini.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a yummy dish, but enough is enough.  I haven’t exactly been making the time to blog, obviously, but I still use the site as my recipe book almost daily and I just needed something else to look at.  Amen.

I made this cake earlier in the week for our small group and it was a hit.  Mostly because of the frosting.  And I’m not gonna lie.  It’s awesome.  We don’t eat cake with anything but it, and we’re more than stoked to know we get to have it two more times this month for my birthday and then for Jesus’ too.  Sweet.

The frosting is light, with just the right amount of sweetness, and, well, pretty much perfect.  It’s best on chocolate cake, but any will do.  I liked the red velvet for the Christmas season.

For the cake I used a box mix (Duncan Hines, people.  It’s the best.) and baked it in a sheet pan for about 18 minutes.  Then I cut it into thirds.  Okay, that’s not entirely true.  It may have started out as fourths, but we needed to do a little QC, so the cake ended up with only three layers.  If you have more self-control, a four layer cake would be even prettier.  Then layer on a platter with the frosting (recipe below) and finish with red and white sugar (not shown because I didn’t get that idea until after I took pictures) but don’t skip that step because the little added crunch was a great finishing touch to the cake.

Give this a try over the Christmas season.  It’ll be a hit with your guests, I promise!

I’ve always had a soft spot for Chicken Tetrazzini.  When I was in college, my grandma would bring me a big meal after our home volleyball games and usually there would be a whole pan of this stuff included, just for me.   (Along with chocolate pie and cinnamon apples…more of my favorites.  Cinnamon Apples is just this before the apples are mashed.  So good.)  And what was so awesome, even though I didn’t realize it then, that because I had to work out hours upon hours every day, I didn’t think twice about eating all this food.  Nowadays, that’s an entirely different story.

For the record, I completely dislike having to think about what kind of food I enjoy.  Eating healthy totally stinks.  And I’m not at all happy that I didn’t make cookies today for my family because I was worried about how many I’d eat.  What a lame way to live.  Ugh.

Anyways, if God blesses me with grandchildren someday, that is exactly the kind of grandma I want to be.  My grandkids are gonna get whole pans of their favorite dishes, whole pies, huge batches of cookies, whatever they absolutely love, just for them when they’re away at school.  Because there’s not much better than amazing home-cooked food that reminds you of your childhood in college.  Amen.

Oh, I’ll do the same thing for my own kiddos too.  Just in case you were wondering about their well-being.  I promise, I didn’t forget them.

Okay, back to Chicken Tetrazzini.  I’ve been making a version of it for years, but it takes a good hour and a half (at least) and uses canned soups, which I’m unfortunately losing a taste for, so I haven’t made it for some time.  But when I saw this recipe in the Dierberg’s magazine, I couldn’t resist.  What I love about this skillet variety…for starters, it’s start to finish on the table in 30 minutes.  There are no cans involved in the making of this dish.  And my favorite, after every bite my 2-year-old little guy took, he said, “Mmm, weely good, Mommy, weely good.”  He even got seconds, which is saying something since most of the time it’s a struggle to even keep him at the table.  I loved it too.  So much so we’re having it again for dinner tonight.

Can’t wait.

The Phoenix’s aunt left a Dierberg’s magazine at our house a few weeks ago because it had a recipe in it she wanted to show me for apple crisp.  I haven’t tried it yet, but I did basically cook my way through their “week’s worth of recipes” this week and, WOW, they were divine.  This is probably my favorite of the bunch, but just barely, the others will make it on here too.

You’re actually getting two recipes today for the price of one.  One, because you need the first to make this Mexican casserole, and two, because The Phoenix only took pictures of the first inside and with a flash.  And that’s just gross.  Not a good representation of how awesome the food is.  Not one bit.  So the best way to have this meal is to have the Southwest Beef Roast over Hot Noodles first, and then whip up this Chilaquiles Casserole a day or so later.  I made something totally different on the “in-between” day because I didn’t want to get tired of the beef, but it’s so good, I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t have happened.

Now, this recipe would work well with shredded chicken too, but I absolutely loved the beef.  It gives the dish luxuriousness, almost melt in your mouth goodness.  I don’t know if I can describe it well, I’m no food writer, well, except on here of course, but I really couldn’t get enough of this and will absolutely make it again and again.  A few tips : Grate your own Monterey Jack cheese.  And cut the corn off the cob or just leave it out if fresh corn isn’t available.  It makes a difference, I promise.