Ever since having kids it’s been super important that we have a morning routine, and even more so once my oldest daughter started school. It’s just me and the kids most mornings, so any way I can make our morning go a little smoother makes all the difference in the world.

I imagine without a routine, we’d be running around in a panic. You know the kind I’m talking about, those moments you forget to set your alarm and wake up minutes before you’re supposed to be out the door. Or those times you repeatedly hit the snooze button to again only be startled when you see what time it is. Oops. Yeah, I definitely don’t want to deal with that and three kids. So we have a routine.

When we’re finally downstairs, it’s time for the fun stuff – the food and the music of course! At this point the Mr will be done with his workout soon so the coffee maker is on and ready to brew. The kids are having their breakfast and the music of the day is blasting away. It’s essential we have music playing. It’s not only just plain fun, but it gets us moving. And quite frankly, if music isn’t playing – my kids request it. “Momma, it’s too quiet in here.” And on the music goes! I’m glad they love music as much as I do. A life without music would be boring.

Once our food is eventually gone (because I swear some mornings the kids take forever to eat a bowl of cereal), we have some play time before catching the bus. Somedays the kids are so into the music that I might even catch them dancing around. It’s really cute and fun to watch. And yes, many times the Mr and I are asked to dance with them. I wouldn’t expect anything different from these kids.

The morning is also my time to start making lists, planning recipes and doing my normal blog work routine. There’s a routine for everything in this house!

Is there a better way to start your day than with laughter, coffee and music? I doubt it

Continue Reading Wake Up With Folgers

Did you hear that 24 is coming back for another run?! 12 episodes next May. I know it’s week old news but I’m still excited about it. I’m looking forward to getting wrapped up in the saga of Jack Bauer all over again. It’s kind of torturous to watch a single episode at a time. I guess that’s why when we first started watching the show, we were lucky it was on DVD and got to watch several episodes at a time. Whenever a disc arrived, we knew what our Saturday or Sunday plans were going to be. Sit down and watch Jack Bauer save the day. Because he always did. You expect that of him. Failing isn’t an option.

It’s that time of year when shows are getting axed for next season. Not a big deal this year for me. I’m pretty sure last year there were a few that annoyed me. The only one that really stood out to me this year was Last Resort. It wasn’t our favorite show by a mile but we enjoyed watching it. I suppose it didn’t really have much left that could be done but who knows.

I’ll be sad when other shows end. Like next year How I Met Your Mother is ending. And they just revealed who Ted’s wife and mother of his future children will be. They’ve only been taunting us with that for seemingly ever – right?

Do you have a favorite show or shows? Did it make the cut?

So this chicken… have you ever roasted a chicken? It’s super easy, but I made it easier. I took the concept from Julie and threw it (not literally) into a slow cooker and let that baby do all of the work for me. Okay… most of the work. Just a bit of seasoning and then the slow cooker does 95% of the cooking. It’s finished off in the oven, broiling the skin to a beautiful deep golden color. Crisp skin is basically a must when we’re talking about chickens.

The result is a tender and flavorful chicken with perfectly crisp skin. I love this method and will stick to it in the future because it gives absolutely perfect results. Plus, you can’t beat making a chicken while you’re at work, out shopping or even doing something anything other than cooking and monitoring the oven. The majority of the country is heating up, so why have your oven heat up the house for over an hour when you can use your slow cooker?

Don’t save roast chickens for cool weather months. Enjoy them year round with this simple recipe and method!

Perfect compliments to this recipe:
Sausage and red pepper stuffed mushrooms
Spicy stuffed mushrooms
Parmesan and onion dinner rolls
Garlic knots
Clover rolls
Parmesan roasted potatoes
Parmesan scalloped potato stacks
Potatoes au gratin
Creamy garlic mashed potatoes

Items used in this recipe:

Continue Reading Garlic and Dijon Slow Cooker Chicken

It’s Friday morning and I’m on a plane to some place warm… by myself… to meet up with some of my favorite blogging buddies. Eeek. So excited. Where you ask… Orlando! Sun, warmth, good times, good people and hopefully some super amazing food and probably a drink or two. Want to follow along with my adventures this weekend? Be sure to follow me on Instagram and Twitter. I’ll be sharing tons of pictures and random Twitter updates.

I really hope I didn’t forget anything. I’m a worrier like that. I’ll make lists, cross things off and still forget something – either because it was one of those random list minute things I forgot to pack or it just never made it on the list because I didn’t think of it. I’m not going some place in the middle of nowhere, unlike last November, but I still wonder if I’ve left something behind. I don’t want to spend $10 for something I can get for $2 at home. Total exaggeration but you get what I mean. Or there’s the other what ifs… did I pack right for the weather? It’s going to be in the high 80′s while we’re down there. This week it’s been in the 60′s in New Hampshire. My ghostly white skin isn’t ready for this, nor is my hair which I’m sure will get super frizzy from the humidity but I’m still excited.

You know what else is exciting? These waffles. I LOVE waffles. I’m not talking about the frozen variety either, even though we typically have those on hand for easy consumption. I’m talking flavorful homemade crispy waffles. They’re delicious. They’re even better with a generous helping of roasted strawberries on top. And perhaps a drizzle of maple syrup. But I swear the extras like butter and maple syrup aren’t necessary if you use roasted strawberries. So seriously scrumptious.

I made waffles recently again, same recipe but a different day and sadly I was out of roasted strawberries by then. The waffles while still super tasty and fun to eat, weren’t anywhere near as enjoyable without strawberries. I’ve totally ruined waffle eating for myself. I’ll need to keep a supply of roasted strawberries on hand at all times. It’s the new staple for my fridge. And it should be a staple in your home too!

More tasty breakfast recipes:
Lemon blueberry muffins
Perfect breakfast potatoes
Brown sugar apple cinnamon bundt cake with caramel icing
Apple pie French toast
Pumpkin apple muffins with snickerdoodle topping
Hash brown egg skillet
Apple coffee cake muffins
Rolled omelette

Items used in this recipe:

Continue Reading Crisp Buttermilk Waffles with Roasted Strawberries

I know it was days ago, but let’s discuss Monday since that was an unusual day for me. Shall we? I started out by going out shopping alone. That’s such a rarity and I honestly don’t mind taking the kids but it limits what I can do for how long. Plus, the mall doesn’t open until 10 and that would mean rushing around for 30 minutes and speeding back to pick up my oldest from school. So, I finally got to go to the mall and a handful of other places alone and on a regular school day.

Of course I did the dumbest thing starting out… I went to Target and tried on bathing suits. Trying on clothes is bad enough sometimes, but bathing suits?! That’s a whole other level of awful. You have this idea in your head how you want to look and how you want the suit to fit and of course that never happens. Or at least in my case. I mean I’m not a supermodel. I have my flaws. Suits are too big, too small, in between sizes, just awful. The list goes on. I did finally cave and buy one as an option and keeping my fingers crossed it’s not horrible because I’m headed some place warm real soon and may need that swim suit.

You know what doesn’t suck? Shoe shopping. Yep… did that too.  I never wear heels but I get a kick out of trying them on in the store. When my oldest daughter is with me, we find the most absurd shoes and I’ll try them on. We get a kick out of it. I left with two pairs of sneakers and am still contemplating over one of them. I have 60 days to mull it over. I’m super indecisive. They’re cute but I just don’t know. I need to wear them around the house for a bit to decide. The other will be my workout sneakers. They’re basically the same exact thing as another pair I already have but we’re a no shoe house so I need an in house only pair. Me and my rules…

There was also a visit to the dentist, which quite frankly is kind of relaxing. I mean it’s weird because I don’t think anyone ever really enjoys going to the dentist, but it’s quiet and no one is asking for things of me. Can I have a drink/snack etc. No one needs to be changed. I just lay there and let them take care of my teeth. Of course on this particular occasion I needed some novocain. I have a love/hate relationship with it. Obviously if you’re getting it it’s so you don’t feel what’s going on, but the first shot didn’t work so they gave me a second shot which sort of finally started to work. By the time I got home the Mr was laughing at me and asking me to say silly things because he swears I sound like Sean Connery after novocain. Lovely.

Then there was dinner and I couldn’t feel half of my mouth or open my mouth up wide enough to get a piece of French toast in. It was interesting to say the least and not comfortable.

Oh and speaking of dinner. I have this new electric nonstick griddle. It was a splurge and I totally love it even after just two uses. French toast cooked up beautifully and cooking a large batch of bacon was a breeze. Plus, there’s this awesome hole for the fat to drip through so your bacon isn’t cooking in bacon grease and splattering a ton. Don’t worry, there’s a nifty tray for the grease to hang out in until you discard it or chill to use later. The electric griddle totally beats using the stove top one which honestly was a royal pain in the butt to use. That sucker is absolutely getting the boot soon. If you’re in the market for a new griddle, I highly recommend checking out the Broil King. I’m not being paid to say that – I just love it.

So this ice cream…You need to make a batch of roasted strawberries and have some extra to use as topping. Because trust me, you want the strawberries in and on this. It just makes it that much more irresistible. Don’t fear the custard base for ice cream. I promise, using eggs makes homemade ice cream worlds better than without. It’s creamier, softer and so much more flavorful. I’ll never go back to making ice cream without eggs… unless it’s sherbet because those usually don’t call for eggs.

I wish I had a double batch of this because it was that tasty. It’s a basic vanilla ice cream with dollops of roasted strawberries tossed in during the churning process. Strawberries in ever bite. And I’m not taking teeny tiny bits of strawberries. I’m taking big sweet slices of amazing roasted strawberries in every bite. Not even just one strawberry, but many. This ice cream is packed with sweet goodness and topped off with more roasted strawberries and sauce for an over the top delicious treat. The only thing that would make this even better – homemade whipped cream. But sadly I didn’t have any heavy cream to spare. Next time.

If you love strawberries, you need this ice cream in your life!

More ice cream recipes to try:
Buttermilk strawberry sherbet
Chocolate chip coffee ice cream
York peppermint patty ice cream
Strawberry and fudge swirl ice cream
Cherry chocolate chunk ice cream
Cookies and cream ice cream
Homemade ice cream sandwiches

Items used in this recipe:

Continue Reading Roasted Strawberry Ice Cream

I hope you had a fabulous Mother’s Day – delicious and stress free! Just as it should be. I spent the majority of the day in the kitchen, two rounds of pictures and playing with the kids. It was a nice relaxing day. I know that sounds funny considering I was busy in the kitchen for much of it but to me that’s relaxing, plus I get to eat the results. Yum! If you follow me on Instagram, you got a sneak peek at one recipe to come. It’ll be a little bit of a wait though since I’m now weeks out on recipes.

I can’t even begin to tell you how refreshing it is to be ahead. In the past I often made recipes a day or two prior to posting thing. Talk about pressure and stressful. This method also means I’m doing a great deal of planning. Are there holidays coming up that I should be cooking for weeks out? I suppose come Fall I’ll be working on Thanksgiving recipes in September this year. Crazy but that’s kind of awesome too because it means double Thanksgivings and who wouldn’t love that?! It’s the tastiest holiday of the year! Mmm carbs and pie.

This week is all about strawberries, specifically roasted strawberries. I figured since the other two recipes this week call for roasted strawberries, it’d make sense to share my favorite recipe for them as a stand alone post. It’s also a tease for what is to come and I do hope you love strawberries. Even if you don’t, I’m sure someone in your life does. So, you don’t want to miss what’s coming up later in the week! It’s totally scrumptious.

What you see here is a double batch of the recipe below. It’ll give you roughly 1 1/2 cups or so, but honestly I didn’t measure it out after it cooked – just guessing. If you want a lot of roasted strawberries… and their amazing juices, you’ll want to double the recipe and use 2 pounds of strawberries. Trust me, it will disappear fast. 

Forget buying that bottle of strawberry sauce from the store. Make your own amazing strawberry sauce. It’s easy and ridiculously tasty, so much so that you’ll want to eat this as is with a spoon. I’m not kidding. And it’s perfect for topping off so many things from breakfast to dessert.

Continue Reading Roasted Strawberries

We’re but a few days away from Mother’s Day. Do you have special plans? Do you do brunch or maybe make mom breakfast in bed? Don’t get me wrong, the idea of breakfast in bed is sweet and all but inevitably mom would be the one cleaning up the crumbs and mess – and no one wants to sleep in crumbs – so let’s all be in agreement to just say no to breakfast in bed unless it’s at a hotel where you don’t have to change the bed yourself. K?

I hope you’re a fan of Baked by Rachel on Facebook! If you’re not, you’re missing out on fun updates and bi-weekly chat nights. This week, question night revolved around the obvious… brunch! Which I’ve been celebrating here on the blog all week. It only seemed right. I love breakfast and brunch is basically just an excuse to eat breakfast later in the day. Which speaking of brunch and eating breakfast whenever… do we call it brinner or just breakfast for dinner? Brinner just sounds funny.

So two questions came back with overwhelming responses. English muffins won out over bagels and toast. And bacon won out over sausage. People clearly love their bacon and English muffins. I’m a huge fan of both. The way butter just puddles up in the nooks and crannies. So delicious.

I loved the basic English muffin bread that I made a while back. It only seemed right to make an even better version. The name says it all… I stuffed it with bacon and cheddar cheese, which makes this quite possibly the best English muffin bread ever. All of the work is done the day this is made. So instead of fussing with cheese or bacon when you want breakfast, you just grab a slice and cook eggs to your liking. Of course you could totally go egg-less, but why not toss an egg on top and make an open faced sandwich?

If you’ve never made English muffin bread, I can’t recommend it enough. It’s truly delicious and absolutely tastes just like the real thing but with so much less work.

Looking for more brunch recipes? Try these out:
Perfect breakfast potatoes
Hash brown egg skillet
Orange sweet rolls
Blueberry apple strudel
Apple coffee cake muffins
Rolled omelette
Apple cinnamon sticky buns
Banana walnut bread

Continue Reading Bacon and Cheddar English Muffin Bread

I did something ridiculous Tuesday. I worked out twice… in one day. I mean what is wrong with me? I told myself it’s because I was bored. If the Mr had been home I might’ve gone for a walk or run outside. Honestly, I really wanted to run on a treadmill because that means avoiding bugs and people and who knows what else. But sadly no treadmill to use… yet. Hopefully it’ll be here sooner than later. And let’s all hope that the replacement one doesn’t get hit by a forklift. No seriously, the first one we were suppose to get got hit by a forklift before it got to the local fitness place.

Monday I moved on to level 3 of Shred. And lemme tell you… it’s stupid. Most of the exercises my brain couldn’t even comprehend right away and others I wasn’t feeling anything while doing them. So I ditched level 3 and decided on a new plan… back to level 1. Only because I worked out twice today I did level 1 earlier in the day and level 2 at night. Crazy, I know. And I’m sure tomorrow I’ll be feeling it, but that’s a good thing.

Can we please discuss this strange weather? It was nearly 80 degrees yesterday here in New Hampshire, or the real feel or whatever. Still. And in the 1-2 hours hanging out outside with my girls, I got burnt. I mean come on. I’ve been outside before this for an hour or more and didn’t get this red. I guess I hit it just right. I don’t hurt… yet. We’ll see what the days hold for me. The first is usually the easiest.

And of course in other news… MUFFINS. Your mom wants muffins. Make her some muffins for Mother’s day brunch. They’re easy. Dads, kids… make some muffins. Mix, scoop and bake. Voila! Easy peasy. You know my favorite thing about muffins is that they’re an ideal breakfast on the go or as a quick snack. And snack on muffins I absolutely do, which is probably why I need to workout twice as hard. I’m such a carboholic.

These muffins are perfect for spring with their lemony flavor and bursting sweet blueberries. A bit of yogurt makes these extra moist and delicious. So much flavor packed into a small package. These will absolutely disappear in your house, so be sure to make an extra batch to freeze for later!

Want more muffins? Try these:
Pumpkin apple muffins with snickerdoodle topping
Cran-raspberry jam filled muffins
Banana walnut muffins
Apple raspberry muffins
Strawberry banana muffins
Apple coffee cake muffins

Continue Reading Lemon Blueberry Muffins

The weekend is over. Boohoo, right? Did you do any fun or tasty Cinco de Mayo celebrating? I totally meant to at least have a margarita but honestly forgot. I got completely distracted playing with bubbles for a few hours in the afternoon. It’s such a kid thing but I was just in another world. Sun, semi-warm weather and bubbles. It was peaceful and fun. And it totally beat swatting away bugs. They’re seriously out of control all ready and the mosquitoes aren’t even really out yet. It’s just the awful May flies agh! I really need to move some place that doesn’t have bugs of any kind, or lizards of any size, and no spiders or other creepy crawlies. Is that so much to ask? A place like that must exist. Somewhere.

I realize I shared a potato recipe last week but with Mother’s Day being next weekend, I wanted to dedicate this week to a few must make breakfast recipes. So to be clear, you absolutely must make these – especially for Mother’s day because that special mom in your life will be very happy if you do. These potatoes are ridiculously tasty. Honestly, they’re quite possibly some of the best potatoes I’ve ever made. They’re super soft inside, crisp outside and very flavorful. It’s surprising how flavorful these potatoes are with how simple the recipe is. No crazy seasonings just salt, pepper, olive oil and butter.

I’ve made these a second time since the batch you see. The first batch was devoured by myself and my youngest two. They were sad when the potatoes were gone because they wanted more! I really couldn’t blame them one bit for that. The second time was when I made breakfast for dinner. Obviously these will be made over and over again here – not only because I love potatoes but just because these are that good. Trust me. Crispy, soft and buttery – what more could you ask for?

More must make breakfast recipes:
Brown sugar apple cinnamon bundt cake with caramel icing
Banana chocolate chip bundt cake
Apple pie French toast casserole
Pumpkin apple muffins with snickerdoodle topping
Apple cinnamon cranberry muffins
Apple coffee cake muffins
Strawberry banana muffins
Apple cinnamon sticky buns

Continue Reading Perfect Breakfast Potatoes

As much as I enjoy seeing movies at the theater, it’s just way too expensive. Plus, you have to sit with strangers and either pay and arm and a leg for snacks or try to sneak them in. Which truly isn’t that hard being a girl. Do guys sneak in snacks? Basically what all that means it, I rarely go to the movies and when I do I blissfully go alone. Weird right? I always thought that was weird and lonely but it’s really enjoyable. This of course is coming from someone that stays home with three kids and my kind of excitement for the week is going to Target. Or this week… Home Depot! I know… I lead a very exciting and extravagant life.

And what that all means is, I stick to Netflix most of the time. If you get DVD’s through Netflix, you know about their silly release schedule that is sometimes seriously delayed. And then I sometimes forget to bump up new movies to the top and have to wait months before I can see them. And when it’s a really good movie, it’s kind of torture because you know you’ve already had to wait too long as it is. When I’m aware and plan right, I can get a new release on the day it comes out. It requires slightly strategic planning. If my previous movie isn’t received on Monday then I’ll be waiting forever for whatever movie it is. It’s torture and annoying. I hate waiting. Thus why I’m also totally loving Amazon Prime now. Mrs Impatient over here.

Okay so back to the Netflix/movie bit… I’ve been really excited to see Silver Linings Playbook because I’m kind of obsessed with Jennifer Lawrence. She’s ridiculously cute and seems super down to earth. The kind of person you totally want to hang out with and just be buddies with. Right? I just love her in The Hunger Games and I can’t wait for the next one to come out. I hope they do the rest of the books justice! Anyway… I finally got to see Silver Linings Playbook the other night. Super exciting middle of the week movie watching. Even the Mr watched it. If you haven’t seen it, you have to. It was so good. I asked on Twitter if anyone had seen it and some said others claimed it started slow but honestly, I didn’t think so. Perfect all around. 

I somehow totally forgot about these potatoes when Shawn first posted them. I was immediately smitten when Danae posted about them recently. She glowed about them and I knew from her review and the amazing crispness that I had to make them. Sooner than later, definitely not weeks or months from now.

I’m so glad I didn’t wait. These potatoes are ridiculously tasty and so easy to whip up. I love that it’s basically a shake and bake kind of thing. Toss your ingredients and shake shake shake to coat. Then bake away and devour. Because devour you absolutely will. The insides get nice and tender and the outsides are flavorful and crispy. They can absolutely be eaten as is but I opted to dip mine in ketchup.

The only bit of warning I have for you is to not let too much extra crumbs rest on the pan as they will totally burn and get your oven all smokey. Let me tell you… it’s not a nice thing for the smoke alarm to go off when a child is napping. Our smoke alarms are super sensitive, which I guess is a good thing but it’s also obnoxious. Thankfully lil man slept straight through it. So don’t be like me. Carefully remove the potatoes from the bag and place them on the baking sheet… no pouring out of the bag. Whoops. But other than that ever so minor incident, these were super tasty and I will absolutely make them again.

Continue Reading Parmesan Roasted Potatoes

Can we please start off by discussing where April went? I’m all for warmer weather and longer days, but April seriously flew by.

So I’ve made the jump to level 2 of 30 day Shred. I have this new plan that I think will work wonders for me to get through it. I’m currently doing rotations of 5 days per level with the weekends off, then I’ll repeat. Of course I’m only on day 2 of level 2 but that’s my plan anyway. We’ll see how it goes. If our treadmill ever gets delivered my workout plan will likely change but until then…!

Also, this level is definitely easier in a way, but it’s kind of obnoxious in other ways. I mean double jump roping? Not happening. I’m way more sore after these two days than ever after doing level 1. I’m not really complaining because that’s a good thing but jeez. I can only imagine what I’ll feel like after level 3 starts. I guess that’s a good thing. Also… there is still one segment of jumping jacks, which I think we’ve established how much I hate for some really odd reason. I think those should be banned. I’m dealing though.

So, I’ve been wanting to make a deep dish pizza for the longest time. Obviously it wasn’t for me… I mean hello, there are tomatoes in there and you know how I feel about those. But it’s the concept of it all that intrigued me. The weirdest part, in my opinion of course, is the layer of ham on the bottom. I remember seeing an episode of some food show where they were having a deep dish pizza showdown between two big name Chicago pizzerias and there were layers of so many different things, so I knew I was at least sort of on the right path. I’m not claiming this is a true Chicago pizza, but to me… deep dish pizza is Chicago, thus Chicago style pizza. If it’s close to classic, well hey… great!

The crust… it’s pretty much amazing. I’ve never in my life tasted something like this. The huge difference with this over any other crust I’ve made… it has cornmeal! It helps make it crisp and flavorful. Ahh I want to make a tomato-less version just to eat the crust.

So what about the filling? You already know there is a layer of thick sliced ham. The main layer is a mixture of sautéed veggies, hot Italian sausage and crushed tomatoes. It is of utmost importance that you use whole milk mozzarella. No other cheese will do, so don’t let me catch you cheating and using part skim. If you want truly incredible pizza… this pizza or any other, it must always be whole milk mozzarella. Trust me.

More tasty pizza recipes to try:
Garlic bread pizza
Breakfast pizza
Carnitas pizza
Buffalo chicken pizza
Cajun chicken pizza
Italian sausage and pepper pizza
Bacon and barbecue chicken pizza

Items used in this recipe:

Continue Reading Deep Dish Chicago Style Pizza