This is my favorite way to make applesauce.  It’s got the perfect amount of spice, and it’s not too sweet.  It’s become a weekly addition to our dinner routine, served with some pan-fried pork chops, it’s totally delicious and comes together fairly quickly.  We have this so much I’m trying to find an apple peeler/corer/slicer, which is something for this girl who, as a general rule, doesn’t keep things in her kitchen that serve only one purpose.

The post Spiced Applesauce appeared first on The Red Bird Life.

Even though I already have one chocolate chip cookie recipe on the site (which we love), it does take some time so I usually only make those every once in a long while.  But this recipe here, it’s my go-to for The Phoenix’s favorite cookies.  I like that I can mix up the dough and just have it in the fridge over the course of a day or two and bake off a few whenever we want some fresh out of the oven cookies.  I bet it would freeze well too, but it’s never lasted that long for me to find out.  Oh, and the amount of dark brown sugar in here, it’s magical.  It’s easy, and delicious!  Give ‘em a try, man.

The post Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies appeared first on The Red Bird Life.

I loved every single bite of this.  The cakey cobbler with a crisp sugar topping is awesome.  See those brown edges?  My favorite part.  I don’t really need to say much more.  It’s just good.  And I’m going to need the recipe so I can make it again.

The post Blackberry Cobbler appeared first on The Red Bird Life.

As some of you know, I suffer from chronic migraines.  I’ve tried several treatments, and so far, nothing has helped.  Recently I read a few articles on the effects of excitotoxins (such as MSG and aspartame) on migraine sufferers and was intrigued by what I learned.  Intrigued enough to try to eliminate these from my diet, at least 90% of it.  Because apparently MSG is in so much more than just Chinese food.  So we went through the pantry and fridge, and oh my word, you wouldn’t believe how much stuff MSG was in our house.  Like everything packaged…almost.  It is disguised under about 40 different names, those sneaky little food companies.  So I can still have most things, I just have to make them from scratch…which I don’t particularly mind.

And that’s how I came upon these sandwich buns.  We could not find bread, even the “fresh baked” stuff in the grocery store bakeries that didn’t contain MSG.  So it looks like I’ll be doing a lot more bread baking in the future.  Maybe not such a bad thing.  I mean, is there anything that makes a house smell better?  These are the best hamburger buns I’ve ever had and they hardly took any time at all.  No need to let them rise, just 15 minutes or so to rest before baking.  Easy peasy.  I haven’t tried yet, but with the number of nights we have burgers in the summer, I’ll try freezing these then for an even faster, even yummier dinner.

The post From Scratch Hamburger Buns appeared first on The Red Bird Life.

These are some of my favorite muffins.  I love how light they are.  Incredibly moist, delicate lemon flavor, with a slight crunch on the top from a sprinkling of sugar.  And they’re not too bad for you as far as muffins are concerned.  Less than 200 calories a pop (186 to be exact).  I make them intending to freeze them and have one for breakfast each day of the week, but they rarely, no, never, make it to day 3.  The kids and I kinda like them.

And I think you might too.

The post Tuscan Lemon Muffins appeared first on The Red Bird Life.

I really, really, really love Pioneer Woman’s cinnamon rolls.  They’re absolutely delicious, probably the best cinnamon roll ever, but make a ton and take a little while to put together.  So I was thrilled to come across this recipe that only takes about 20 minutes to throw together and makes just one pan, perfect for our family of five.

I enjoyed the texture of these rolls, not too bready (like most cinnamon rolls you find in a bakery, with way too much bread and not nearly enough icing), but a little more like a biscuit and enough icing to satisfy even the likes of me.  No fancy ingredients needed and you can have them on the table in 40 minutes or less, start to finish.  Now I like that.

The post Cinnamon Swirl Cream Biscuits appeared first on The Red Bird Life.

I never would have thought that peaches and pancakes went together, but in my newly discovered opinion, they totally do.  I saw a recipe for nectarine pancakes in a magazine recently, and thought, wow, that’s kinda weird, but, who knows, maybe it’ll be good.  And with some ripe peaches in our fruit bowl, it didn’t take long to find out.

Adding peaches, or another stone fruit, is a fun way to dress up your flapjacks into something a little more delicious, a little more out of the ordinary.  I simply added thin slices of very ripe peaches on top of my very favorite pancake batter.  So simple, yet it definitely kicked them up a notch.  Or two.  Might even be fun to add a couple blueberries too, if you want to live on the wild side.

The post Peach Buttermilk Pancakes appeared first on The Red Bird Life.

This isn’t anything fancy.  I mean, just look at it.

You won’t find this at a restaurant.

But I think it might just be a perfect weeknight dinner.  As in, it only requires about 10 minutes of hands-on time.  As in, my whole family loved it, from The Phoenix all the way to the baby.  As in, it tastes good.  We polished it off, no problemo.  It resembles an enchilada casserole, without all the prep time and messy kitchen aftermath.  It’s yummy and satisfying and would be great finished with some chopped cilantro.  (But I don’t have any because my cilantro plants are d-ead.  But that’s another story for another time.)

The post Beef Taco Bake appeared first on The Red Bird Life.

We were having Asian Chicken Salad the other night, and that’s never enough for us, so I decided to make Creole-spiced french fries to go with.  Makes perfect sense, right?

Please don’t ask why I do the things I do.

It was good though!  The Phoenix and I liked them a lot.  It was fun to have french fries with salad too.  They kind of balance each other out, ya know?

These crisp oven fries pack a little heat, but nothing I couldn’t handle, and I’m kind of a heat wimp, so don’t let the Creole seasoning scare you off.  These are good, very flavorful fries, that would go well with just about any grilled meat, and they’re baked in the oven so your house won’t smell like oil.  Ew, I hate that smell.

Give these a try.  They’re yummy and different than your average fry.

The post Oven-Crispy French Fries with Paprika-Parmesan Salt appeared first on The Red Bird Life.

I thought an update to last year’s post would be in order, as some of our favorites have changed.  Now remember, this is just what our family likes…we haven’t been everywhere and we haven’t tried everything, but if you’re coming in town for vacation, these are some places worth checking out.  Read last year’s post too for even more ideas.

Baxter’s Lakeside Grille has become a go-to for us.  It’s a nice place with a wide lake view, consistently good food and great service.  A few of our favorites from the menu : The Phoenix loves the Best of Baxter’s, which is filet and scallops, he pretty much orders that every time we go.  If I’m in the mood for a salad, the Spinach Salad with Salmon is my favorite and for something a little more filling, the fish options are pretty yummy, but my standby is the Caribbean Jerk Chicken.  It’s hard to choose between the sweet potato fries and the regular fries, both are outstanding.  If you get the sweet potato fries, ask for maple syrup to dip; it’s divine.  Their regular fries remind me of a good ol’ fashioned fish fry; yum, yum, yum.  The Beer Cheddar soup is my absolute favorite, but they don’t offer it often.  And for a fairly upscale place, they’re great with kids here.  They have coloring board/books for the kiddos and the waitstaff, especially Joyce, Ashley and Ha-Nee (sorry if you see this, girl, I have no idea how to spell your name, but thanks for being great with my kiddos!) are awesome.  They consistently go out of their way to make sure we’re ALL well taken care of.

El Charco Azul is a new Mexican place that opened up a few months ago in the Wal-Mart parking lot.  We were so skeptical that it’d be another one we just wished we wouldn’t have even tried, but since we braved it, we rarely go a week without.  I’ve had lots of things on the menu and it’s all been recommendable, but friends, I don’t want you to miss this.  Get the sopapillas for dessert.  They are AWESOME.  Best sopapillas I’ve ever had.  They’re pillowy and doughy and topped with cinnamon sugar and honey and awesome.  And yes, I already said that.  We get two orders to share every time we go; it’s definitely my favorite dessert you can get at the lake.

For lunch and sweet treats, you can’t beat Paint Box Cafe.  If you get a sandwich, make sure to order on a Paint Box bun, they’re homemade and utterly delicious.  All the sweets are quite wonderful, but my favorite treat is a tea bar.  They are heavenly.

The little birds fave is still HyVee Buffet.  They get a plate full of in-season fresh fruit and that’s pretty much perfect as far as they’re concerned.  If asked, it’s what they always pick.

Shorty Pants has some really great food for a restaurant on the water.  Definitely more than your typical bar food, it’s mainly New Orleans style, but has other options too.

Wok n Roll is the one of the only restaurants we’ve been to on the strip, but I’m fairly confident it’s the best.  They expanded this year so dining in is more of an option than when they only had 3 tables, but oh how I miss the atmosphere when it was that small.  If you like Thai/Chinese cuisine, this is the place to get it at the lake.

I’m sure I left out quite a few goodies, but these are the few that came right to mind today from where we’ve been frequenting the past few months.  Please let me know what your faves are too.  We’re always up for trying something new.

The post Where To Eat : Lake of the Ozarks Edition 2012 appeared first on The Red Bird Life.