Meet Joseph. He’s a part of our leadership team for KoHuge, our youth group. We met Joseph 2 years ago when he approached Currey about helping with youth group. He had just transferred to a nearby college and was looking to serve in a local church.

At first, we totally blew him off. We’ve had several students approach us about helping with our ministry. Unfortunately it’s never really worked out to have them volunteer  and we assumed the same would happen with Joseph. We were shocked when he not only started consistently attending but began creating games and activities for our weekly meetings.

We quickly realized that Joseph brought much more than really fun games to our group. Currey is an incredible teacher and he has a love of scripture that he’s passing on to our students. We have known that his strength isn’t in creating games or activities for our students and we’ve literally prayed for years that God would fill this void in our ministry. Joseph was that answer to our prayers.

What’s more incredible is that he’s become a dear friend. When he mentioned that he had started dating a girl we’d heard him talk about for several months, we insisted on meeting her. We enjoyed a delicious dinner together and she was gracious enough to let us snap a picture of them for the blog. Yes, we are the weird people that take your picture during dinner at our house. Even if we just met! It was fun getting to know Katrina. Our kids provide endless entertainment to our guests and our night concluded with a dance party in the kitchen.

Another highlight of the evening was this Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding. This recipe is from the archives of my site and it’s a staple at our house. I simply chop store bought croissants and combine them with a simple custard.  I fold in chocolate chips and bake until golden brown. A dollop of whipped cream or scoop of vanilla ice cream adds decadence to this treat. These desserts are perfect for a night in or when entertaining a crowd.

Original article: Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding

©2025 My Chicken Fried Life. All Rights Reserved.

The post Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding appeared first on My Chicken Fried Life.

When the Jodi and Aaron began visiting our church a couple of years ago we invited them over for dinner to get to know them. As soon as they arrived at our home, we knew they’d be people we’d be friends with. Our conversation was easy and the night flew by as we shared stories and lots of laughs.

While our dinners are more infrequent than I’d like, when we get together it’s as though no time has passed. Our friendship picks right back up where we left off. And our evenings together leave me feeling joyful and encouraged.

On this particular night, we were amazed as our kids happily played together for over an hour. This allowed us precious uninterrupted time to catch up. Our conversation covered the trivial to the deeply meaningful as we discussed every area of life. I appreciate that our conversation can always be honest and candid. It’s refreshing to have friends like this!

What made the evening even sweeter was the Boston Cream Pie we shared. This is one of my favorite dessert recipes. It’s easy so to create and the presentation of a layer cake always provides a Wow factor. The chocolate glaze adds the perfect decadence to the simple cake. No one will believe you made this from a boxed cake mix. I think that homemade whipped cream takes this up a notch but Cool Whip would work in a pinch.

*When making this recipe, I prefer to slice one of the layers in half horizontally with a serrated knife giving me 3 layers of cake. I put the full layer as the base then stack the other layers on top. This allows for 2 sections of cream and I prefer the proportions.

Recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything

Original article: Boston Cream Pie

©2025 My Chicken Fried Life. All Rights Reserved.

The post Boston Cream Pie appeared first on My Chicken Fried Life.

It seems fitting that my first recipe post in my new format would introduce Soup Group. These precious people will be regulars here on the blog. For the last 2 years our small group has consisted of our youth group leaders. It’s a time to connect, plan for the following week and pray for our students. Tuesday nights are always a highlight of our week.

On this particular week we were discussing Life Verses. The concept is that you identify a Bible verse that resonates with you and orients your life. I loved getting to hear from our leaders about the verses that they had chosen and wrestle through finding a verse for those of us that didn’t have one.

Our conversation lead me to spend time that week seeking God for a verse for myself. I believe He revealed Romans 12:12-13 to me. “12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”

This speaks to who I was created to be and who I aspire to become. And it was such a sweet reminder that God speaks to us when we seek him.

As our leadership team has grown, prepping dinner for us all has become more challenging. It was important to me that we continued to provide dinner so I started making soup. Every. Single. Week. Hence the name, Soup Group.

I’ve been using my blog to find most of my soup recipes and I’ve found some great recipes to share from the archives. Up first, a copy cat recipe for Chili’s Chicken Enchilada Soup. This soup is so delicious it’s totally worth sharing again.

For starters, this soup is made in the crock pot, which makes it so easy. I love a meal that I can prep in the morning and it’s ready to enjoy at dinner time. Really, it’s well spiced queso that’s masquerading as soup so what’s not to love. It’s recommended to whisk or blend the entire soup before serving.  Seriously, this speaks to my picker-eater-that-hates-chunky-soup self.  It’s hearty as well.  I’m not a fan of soups that leave me hungry a couple of hours later.  I think Chicken Enchilada Soup pairs perfectly with chips and salsa.  It’s easy, it’s delicious and it uses simple ingredients for fantastic results.

As an additional garnish, I cut corn tortillas into thin strips then fried them in vegetable oil in a skillet. They browned in 2-3 minutes and added a great crunch to the soup. If you’d prefer not to fry anything you could use store bought tortilla strips or just crush tortilla chips. I just loved the added crunch they provided.

Recipe slightly adapted from Lindsey’s Luscious

Original article: Chicken Enchilada Soup

©2025 My Chicken Fried Life. All Rights Reserved.

The post Chicken Enchilada Soup appeared first on My Chicken Fried Life.

Happy New Year! While time is flying faster than I would like, I always love the start of a new year. It feels like a new beginning, a chance to start fresh. And that’s exactly what’s happening here on the blog!

My goal has always been to share real recipes made in my kitchen that are easy for my readers to make at home. While that’s still really important to me, I also want to communicate our love of sharing food with our friends too. I love enjoying great food, but it’s even better when shared with friends.

Currey and I have spent the last couple of months dreaming and creating and I’m thrilled with our results! If you’ve been a reader for long, you’ll notice that the site has been completely redesigned. Currey created an incredible new logo that includes my handwriting. I love it!

In addition to recipes that we love, we’ll be sharing about the people we share our meals with. We want to give you a peak into our lives and make our blog more personal. Our hope is that we encourage you, our readers, to invite others to your table.

We’re excited for this new season on the blog and we are hopeful you’ll join us on this new adventure.

Original article: Hello 2016!

©2025 My Chicken Fried Life. All Rights Reserved.

The post Hello 2016! appeared first on My Chicken Fried Life.

After a good night’s sleep, we were ready to tackle Day 2 of our New England Driving Tour. We woke up early and headed straight to The Holy Donut. I’d read an article about the Top 10 Donut shops in the US and was happy to see that 2 of the shops were on our trip route. We quickly realized why The Holy Donut had made the list as the donuts were beyond incredible. We tried Chocolate with Sea Salt, Maple Bacon, Sweet Potato Ginger, Mojito, Tripleberry and Chocolate Coconut. They are super moist because they are made with potatoes. Had I not watched a video about how these were made, I would have never known the secret ingredient.

The Mojito and Maple Bacon were my favorites while Currey loved the Sweet Potato Ginger and the Tripleberry. We enjoyed donuts with strong cups coffee and soaked up every last moment of a leisurely breakfast together. A great start to our day!

We drove around Portland and checked out a few shops. We visited Allagash Brewery for a tour then headed to lunch at Susan’s Fish’n’Chips. We were actually driving by Susan’s on the way to another lunch destination and Currey insisted we go in. He was convinced this was a great place for lunch by the sheer number of work trucks out front. I quickly agreed and I’m so glad that I did. Susan’s Fish’n’Chips is exactly what I expected when eating seafood in New England. The walls were covered in beach décor and awards the restaurant had received. The menu consists of every type of fried seafood imaginable.

Our meal was perfection! I enjoyed a shrimp roll with fries. The shrimp was lightly battered and fried then piled high in a buttered bun. So delicious! Currey had fish and chips and raved about them the rest of the day. We were so glad we stumbled upon this gem!

We headed back downtown and did some shopping then headed to the movies to see Pitch Perfect 2. It was the first of 3 movies that we saw in the theater while on our trip. It was nice to have some down time that afternoon and the movie made us laugh! For dinner, we headed down to the water and enjoyed a lobster dinner on the shore. Portland Lobster Company was a fun dinner destination with a large outdoor patio and live music.

Currey enjoyed a complete lobster dinner, which was incredible! I might have stolen a few bites. I had the crab cake burger and it was one of my favorite meals of the trip. The crab cake was made with big chunks of crabmeat and fried to perfection.

After dinner we did more walking around downtown then headed back to our hotel to finalize the plan for our road trip to Vermont the following day. Check back soon for our road trip to Vermont!

Original article: New England Driving Tour – Day 2

©2025 My Chicken Fried Life. All Rights Reserved.

The post New England Driving Tour – Day 2 appeared first on My Chicken Fried Life.

We got to the airport with enough time to grab a quick breakfast burrito from Lalo’s before boarding our flight. We are usually juggling kids on a flight so it was nice to read a book and sip coffee on the flight. We landed in Boston and got our rental car. It was brand new with only 9 miles on it. So fun to have a brand new car for our trip!

We’d been warned about traffic and driving in Boston but we weren’t prepared for the craziness. We drove around for an hour looking for parking and when we finally found a spot Currey had to squeeze the car into it.

The stress of the drive and our difficulty finding parking melted away as walked the streets of Boston. That and getting a call from my parents that they had safely landed and relieved our faithful babysitter that had been up with Bennett since 5 am. (Thank you Kelsey!)

We made our way to Mike’s Pastry. I’d read lots of reviews a quickly discovered that asking a Bostonian about their favorite Cannoli is like asking a Chicagoan about their favorite pizza place. People are passionate! We settled on Mike’s because it’s iconic and I totally understand why!

Currey ordered a Pistachio Cannoli, which was incredible. Crunchy shell, creamy filling and dipped in pistachios. You can’t go wrong! I got a Boston Cream Puff because I wanted to try something different. It was totally intimidating to eat but I managed. A basic dough, generously filled with cream and dipped in chocolate. I loved every last bite.

Since we were already in Little Italy, we knew we wanted to have lunch there too so we asked the clerk where he would recommend for lunch. He recommended Antico Forno which was an outstanding choice! Each restaurant in the area proudly displays their awards and accolades outside their doors to encourage you to dine there. Antico Forna is ranked one of the top 10 Italian restaurants in the world. I’m not sure who makes these rankings but we would agree that the food is amazing.

The restaurant was quaint. The front of the restaurant had large windows, which were opened during lunch allowing a nice breeze through the restaurant. A big step up from our usual lunch spots!

Since we’d just enjoyed treats from Mike’s, we decided to split lunch. One of the specials of the day was lobster ravioli with grilled shrimp on top. We’d made a deal to eat all the seafood we could on this trip so lobster ravioli seemed like a logical choice.

Our meal was truly incredible. The ravioli was homemade in house and you could taste the freshness. The marinara sauce was creamy and flavorful but didn’t overpower the flavors of the ravioli. It was so rick that splitting it was a perfect portion.

We took in a few of the sites on the Freedom Trail as we head back to our car. A quick stop for iced coffee and we were on the road to Portland, Maine. Besides the stunning scenery we spent our time listening to the Serial Podcast. We’d heard so much about this show and it totally lived up to the hype! If you are looking for something interesting to listen to on a road trip or your daily commute, I’d highly recommend it.

Once we got settled in our hotel, we headed to downtown Portland for dinner. Duck Fat was one of the first restaurants that we had researched and I was so anxious to finally enjoy a meal there. We opted to again split a meal and settled on the Cuban sandwich that was on special and a large order of Duck Fat Fries. Hands down the best Cuban sandwich I’ve ever eaten. The fries were equally spectacular. The order comes with dipping sauces to we tried truffle ketchup, Horseradish Mayo, and Thai Chili Mayo. The truffle ketchup was a delicious twist on a classic dipping sauce, which I really enjoyed. The horseradish mayo was spicy but not too overpowering and was Currey’s favorite option. We agreed that the Thai Chili Mayo had too much going on for our taste. While the milkshakes looked enticing, we were too stuffed to indulge.

We spent time walking around downtown and enjoying the views along the water. There were so many small restaurants and boutiques to check out as well as great people watching. After a long day of travel, we headed back to the hotel to plan for the next day and to get some sleep. Come back tomorrow for the recap of our second day in Portland.

Original article: New England Driving Tour – Day 1

©2025 My Chicken Fried Life. All Rights Reserved.

The post New England Driving Tour – Day 1 appeared first on My Chicken Fried Life.

If you follow me on Instagram you know that Currey and I have been on vacation. A glorious, 8 day vacation without our kids. In July we are celebrating 10 years of marriage and we felt this milestone was worth celebrating. As soon as my parents said they were free to come stay with the kids, we began planning.

We had no real idea of where we’d like to visit. We were headed out together, sans kids, for 8 days and at times joked that we didn’t care where we were as long as we are together! Southwest was having a sale so we began looking at possible destinations. We wanted to go somewhere that we’d never been and so we started a list of possible locations. The list was quickly narrowed based on flight costs. We discussed lots of possibilities but decided on a tour of New England. We’d fly in and out of Boston and take time to drive from state to state.

Now for a little history. Before kids, road trips were our jam. We went to Texas about twice a year and we always drove. Those drives are some of our sweetest memories pre-kids. Currey was in school and we were both working lots of hours. We loved road trips because it meant that we were in the car together for 16 hours. We really wanted to road trip together as part of the trip and New England seemed like a logical fit.

As we began planning, I didn’t find too many resources on a Driving Tour through New England. SO I’m outlining all our details in case you are interested in making a similar trip yourself.

Let’s start with Airfare. We fly Southwest exclusively. (I’m not endorsed by Southwest. We just love the service we receive through this airline!) The whole bags flying free and being super kids friendly makes this an easy choice for our family. We don’t have any airline credit cards that provide the same perks so we stick with Southwest. They run sales frequently so we just wait for a deal and book. We were able to fly round trip to Boston for $300 as a couple. In our minds, a great rate!

My big hang up was the rental car. I hated getting such cheap airfare then paying $600 for a car for the week. I read all sorts of traveling tips online and was shocked to find out that we could rent a car through Costco! We were able to score a rental car for a third of the price that we were finding on the deal sites.

I’ll go into more details about where we stayed with each post but all of our hotels were booked via Priceline. I knew we were going to spend a sizable chunk of our budget on hotel stays. I know that there are varying beliefs on where the cheapest place to get hotels is but my research continued to point to Priceline. I’m not picky about where I stay so I’m fine with being surprised with a hotel.

So that’s the basics. Check back later this week and as I outline all our travel adventures.

Original article: Planning for a Driving Tour through New England

©2025 My Chicken Fried Life. All Rights Reserved.

The post Planning for a Driving Tour through New England appeared first on My Chicken Fried Life.

We are currently on a salad binge here at the Blandford house. Currey and I just returned from an incredible anniversary trip (more on that in posts to come). We spent a wonderful week touring New England. As we were planning our trip, we spent a lot of time looking into restaurants in each city where we would be staying.

Our research paid off and we enjoyed some truly delicious and innovative meals while we were away. I loved every last calorie but as we’ve returned to the real world I’ve needed much more balance in my diet. And lots of green veggies!

Our salads have been extra enjoyable because we are using lettuce we’ve grown in our garden. We grew lettuce last year with great success so we increased the varieties we planted this year. In the week we were gone our lettuce went crazy so there’s plenty to eat. There is something incredibly satisfying about enjoying food that you grew yourself!

My whole family devoured this chopped salad. I loved how easy it came together. I also thought it’s worth documenting how my children eat this salad. Completed dissected with a side of barbecue sauce for their chicken. I find it hilarious!

Bacon and Avocado Chopped Salad is a simple recipe that requires only 5 ingredients. Crisp lettuce is topped with fresh mozzarella, crumbled bacon, chopped chicken and avocado. Add your favorite dressing and you have a quick and easy weeknight dinner. What’s your favorite summer salad recipe?

Original article: Bacon and Avocado Chopped Salad

©2025 My Chicken Fried Life. All Rights Reserved.

The post Bacon and Avocado Chopped Salad appeared first on My Chicken Fried Life.

If you follow me on Instagram then you already know that Currey has recently left his job at Starbucks. We are thrilled that he will be able to focus all his time and energy on work at our church but the fact that that chapter of our lives is over still seems surreal.

He was hired at Starbucks less than 2 months after we got married and had been there ever since. In case you’ve lost count, that’s 9 ½ years. Starbucks provided us so many wonderful things during Currey’s time with the company. We had amazing health insurance that we were eligible for with Currey’s part time status. We meet sweet friends who have loved us well. We’ve enjoyed countless meals together, they’ve celebrated the birth of our babies with us and have shown incredible support of our adoption journey. And of course, the perk of a free pound of coffee every week and a great discount on everything else didn’t hurt either.

This transition has been a long time coming and I wanted to make sure that Currey was celebrated well. He has worked diligently even though he knew this job was just for a season. He poured into coworkers and formed friendships with customers. There was much to celebrate!

While there will be lots of changes to our current schedule, the one I’m most excited about is being able to enjoy breakfast together. Currey opened at Starbucks so he was gone most mornings. The 2 mornings that he wasn’t at work are the days that I’ve worked at the hospital overnight so I’m asleep by breakfast. I can’t wait to try out all sorts of new breakfast recipes and to start our day as a family around the table.

When looking for epic treats I always go to my Momofuku Milk Bar Cookbook. The recipes are challenging and incredibly delicious. I made Cinnamon Bun Pie for dessert for our celebratory date night and had dough left over. As I was looking at other recipes for this dough, I discovered Bagel Bombs and knew they’d be a breakfast hit. A simple dough is wrapped around a ball of bacon and scallion cream cheese, brushed with an egg wash and sprinkled with seasonings. How could you go wrong?

The flavor was amazing and they were so easy to make. The dough is incredibly easy and forgiving. I can guarantee that you’ll see a couple of variations of these on the blog in the weeks to come. I just can’t get enough!

Recipe adapted slightly from the Momofuku Milk Bar Cookbook, by Christina Tosi

Original article: Momofuku Milk Bar Bagel Bombs

©2025 My Chicken Fried Life. All Rights Reserved.

The post Momofuku Milk Bar Bagel Bombs appeared first on My Chicken Fried Life.

While I don’t jump on the weight loss bandwagon every January, I do tend to crave salads this time of year. I enjoy the holidays and all the food that comes with them so by the first couple of months of the new year my body seems to crave fresh produce and lots of greens. There is a feeling that I need to remind my body that sugar cookies aren’t a food group and that vegetables can be eaten without butter and bacon.

We decided to eat extra healthy this year between Thanksgiving and Christmas in preparation of the holidays. I found that salads were an easy lunch option and a great way to add extra veggies to our day. We are trying to stick with that momentum and are continuing to eat salad for lunch a couple days a week.

Shaved Brussels Sprout Salads seem to be all the rage so I decided to create a salad of my own. I loved the texture and crunch that the Brussels sprouts added to this salad. They have a consistency similar to cabbage, which I loved. Most grocery stores sell shredded Brussels sprouts in bags with the other bagged veggies in the produce department. I preferred to shred the Brussels sprouts myself. I just halved each Brussels sprout then thinly chopped it with a knife.

The avocado adds creamy texture and the Parmesan cheese is a lovely addition of saltiness. In addition to beautiful color, the pomegranate seeds add crunch and a lovely tart element to the salad.

The vinaigrette is perfection. I tossed the sprouts in the dressing and let them sit for about 15 minutes so that they could absorb the dressing well. I then added the other salad ingredients and tossed again. A shaved Brussels sprouts salad is a delicious and filling lunch. Add grilled chicken and it would make a great dinner as well.

Original article: Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad

©2025 My Chicken Fried Life. All Rights Reserved.

The post Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad appeared first on My Chicken Fried Life.

One of my favorite ways to start the day is with breakfast as a family. Not the frantic pouring of cereal with a splash of milk, inhaled before flying out the door to our first activity breakfast but the breakfasts that we have the luxury to linger over. A breakfast that takes a little time to create, is served warm and gives us time to sit around the table and discuss whatever my kids have on their minds.

While these meals happen much less frequently then I would like, I treasure them when they occur. I realize that even though my kids are young, they have so much to say. I love listening to their words and stories. It’s hilarious and precious! I’m always looking for recipes that are quick and easy but are more interesting than toast or cereal.

Chocolate croissants are one of my children’s favorites. I’ll admit that it’s a stretch to call this a recipe. It’s a pairing of 2 simple ingredients to make a semi-homemade Chocolate Croissant. Simply roll chocolate chips in store bought crescent rolls for homemade Chocolate Croissants. These are a real treat for my kids because they get to eat a couple of chocolate chips while we cook. It’s a small treat and they can’t believe they are having chocolate for breakfast. What’s your favorite meal to enjoy for breakfast as a family?

Original article: Semi – Homemade Chocolate Croissants

©2025 My Chicken Fried Life. All Rights Reserved.

The post Semi – Homemade Chocolate Croissants appeared first on My Chicken Fried Life.

Friends, I have made this Chicken Tortilla Soup so many times that I’ve lost count. And I take pictures of it every time. What I’ve realized that this soup is not very photogenic. Because I couldn’t get beautiful pictures of this soup, I debated posting it at all. But you need this Chicken Tortilla Soup in your life.

Chicken Tortilla Soup is my go to entertaining food. The soup simmers away on the stove top as your dinner guests arrive and you get to be a present host. I’m working making meals that require less from me when we entertain so that I’ve not spending the entire evening in the kitchen. I usually double this recipe so that we can enjoy the leftovers for lunch later in the week.

I’m always looking for quick and easy weeknight dinners but don’t want to compromise on flavor. This soup delivers great flavor and my kids love it. A double win! It’s easy to customize the heat and flavor to your family’s preferences. I use a mango salsa from Costco that we love and Rick Bayless Frontera Grill Hot Salsa. It adds a nice kick but you could use mild or medium salsa for less heat.

Rotisserie chicken makes this soup hardy enough for dinner. Your guests can customize their bowl with a wide assortment of toppings. My favorites are tortilla chips, shredded cheese, black olives and guacamole. What are your favorite easy weeknight meals?

Original article: Chicken Tortilla Soup

©2025 My Chicken Fried Life. All Rights Reserved.

The post Chicken Tortilla Soup appeared first on My Chicken Fried Life.

Like most people I know, I tend to enjoy certain foods during certain times of the year. After the holidays, with endless sweet treats and decadent meals, we regularly juice and try to eat healthy. During the summer months, we tend to grill out and eat lots salads, when fresh produce is abundant.

As soon as cooler temperatures hit, I immediately crave comfort food. I fill our weekly menu with soups and stews. Pasta reappears after a summer hiatus and I tend to do more baking.  I could spend all afternoon in my kitchen!

When I think about comfort food, think of pot roast. I can’t begin to count how many times we ate pot roast growing up. Before we’d head to church, my dad would fill my grandmother’s roasting pan with onions, carrots and potatoes and a perfectly seasoned roast. We’d come home from church and you’d smell the roast as soon as you stepped in the front door. We’d hover in the kitchen as my dad made gravy and we’d sneak bites of roast as we impatiently waited for his meticulously prepared meal. I would refuse to eat the vegetables in favor of a large pile of roast and a slice of white bread.

Honestly, not much has changed. I still don’t eat the veggies served with pot roast. I prefer to serve pot roast with a side of mashed potatoes and maybe some roasted brussels sprouts. I prefer the consistency to mashed potatoes instead of pot roast potatoes. Yet another one of my idiosyncrasies. They seem to pair perfectly, especially will a side of gravy.

I stumbled upon The Pioneer Woman’s Pot Roast recipe and knew I had to make it. As with all of Ree’s recipes, this pot roast is nothing short of fantastic.  The roast is perfectly seasoned with fresh herbs and is so tender that it was falling apart  A sure sign of a great roast! It’s the perfect meal for a cold fall day and even better as a meal shared with friends.

Recipe from The Pioneer Woman

Original article: Pot Roast

©2025 My Chicken Fried Life. All Rights Reserved.

The post Pot Roast appeared first on My Chicken Fried Life.

Growing up, my family would visit P.F. Chang’s any time that we traveled. It was always fun to explore a new city and we loved finding a P.F.Chang’s along the way. We didn’t have one in the town where I grew up so it was always a special treat to enjoy Mongolian Beef or Crispy Honey Chicken.

When Currey and I were first married, we celebrated many of our first milestones with dinner at P.F. Chang’s. It was a reasonably priced place in downtown Chicago, especially at lunch, and we could even get by with splitting an appetizer and an entrée. I equally loved the people watching as tourists streamed in after shopping on Michigan Avenue.

I’ve yet to try a dish that I don’t love at P.F. Chang’s but my favorite dish has always been the lettuce wraps. While I’ve seen copycat recipes, I’ve never tried one that rivaled the original. I’ve loved so many of the recipes that I’ve found at Foodie with Family so when Rebeca posted a recipe for Cashew Chicken Lettuce Wraps I knew I had to give them a try.

The first batch was so good that I actually made them for dinner the following night. They have quickly become a family favorite. When I add Cashew Chicken Lettuce Wraps to the weekly menu, I still put them on 2 nights because we just can’t get enough. Both my kids will eat the wraps and it’s a great way to add some green to their diet. This meal was extra fun over the summer as we even used lettuce grown in our garden for this meal!

If you family likes Asian inspired meals, you’ve got to add this recipe to your list. Cashew Chicken Lettuce Wraps are a quick dinner that is much healthier than take out.

Recipe from Foodie With Family

Original article: Cashew Chicken Lettuce Wraps

©2025 My Chicken Fried Life. All Rights Reserved.

The post Cashew Chicken Lettuce Wraps appeared first on My Chicken Fried Life.

If your house is anything like ours, you are up to ears in Halloween candy. We saw our first snowflakes of the season on Halloween. While we were out trick or treating it was 40 degrees with high winds. We noticed significantly less trick or treaters out this year and people were unloading candy to my kids by the fist full. How could you not want to give candy to our dragon and mermaid? They were too cute in their costumes!

This has left us with bags of Halloween candy. I have no self-control especially with chocolate. I want to eat all the candy! To keep myself from devouring it all, I’m always on the lookout for candy filled recipes. One of my favorites is Candy Bar Ice Cream.

While I realize that November may not make you think of ice cream, this recipe may just change your mind. I keep ice cream in the freezer year round because it’s my most favorite sweet treat. And I love ice cream that is full of treats. No plain vanilla for me! I prefer Ben and Jerry’s with all sorts of interesting ingredients.

Candy Bar Ice Cream is easy to adapt because you can just use whatever type of candy that you have on hand. I prefer a mix of Twix, Reese’s, Kit Kats and Butterfingers but any chocolate covered candy will suffice. I use my favorite vanilla ice cream base then add the chopped candy in the last couple of minutes of churning. Feel free to adapt this recipe to use your favorite vanilla ice cream recipe. It’s a crowd pleaser every time.

Original article: Candy Bar Ice Cream

©2025 My Chicken Fried Life. All Rights Reserved.

The post Candy Bar Ice Cream appeared first on My Chicken Fried Life.

For the first few years that Currey and I were married, I was a part of the Junior League.  It was a great opportunity to meet new friends and volunteer in my community.  I got to serve on several projects and made great memories. A highlight of every year was our fundraising luncheon.  In addition to the luncheon, there was always a silent auction.

I was always on the search for Junior League Cookbooks as Leagues from all over the US were represented. Oh how I love Junior League Cookbooks! I would often also bid on more obscure prizes that many people weren’t bidding on like the restaurant gift card and a night of laser tag.  Yes, I’m always looking for a deal!  I was always so excited to come home and tell Currey what I’d “won”.  It seemed irrelevant that I was the highest bidder and had purchased my prizes.  I was the winner!

One year, I purchased several gift cards to local restaurants.  It was a great way to support the Junior League and to add new restaurants to our date night line up.  One of the first new restaurants we tried was Carrabba’s.  I don’t remember what I ate for dinner on my first visit but I remember the hot bread and herbed dipping oil that was served.

I’m a sucker for bread, especially warm homemade bread paired with perfectly spiced herbed dipping oil.  We had several dates nights at Carrabba’s before it occurred to me to try to recreate this deliciousness at home.

A quick Google search lead me to seemingly endless copycat recipes.  I’ve tried several versions and we’ve settled on this as our favorite.  This Herbed Dipping Oil pairs perfectly with any Italian meal.  I make a quadruple batch every time then just keep the herb mix in a small jar so it’s ready whenever the mood strikes! Simply add bread and olive oil.

Original article: Carrabba’s Herbed Dipping Oil

©2025 My Chicken Fried Life. All Rights Reserved.

The post Carrabba’s Herbed Dipping Oil appeared first on My Chicken Fried Life.

Hello friends!

As is usually the case, I ended up taking a much longer break from blogging than I had initially anticipated. Life has been crazy busy. Yes, even busier than usual.  I’ve made a change in my work schedule that has taken time for us to get used to as a family. It’s a great change that I’m really excited about but it’s still a change.

As we’ve transitioned to a new schedule as a family, we’ve eaten very simply. I’ve been focused on basic meals with minimal ingredients and prep. Thankfully my family is gracious and just gets excited for whatever I’m serving that day. But I’ve really missed cooking. I’ve missed creating meals that my family will really enjoy. I’ve missed having a steady stream of guests to our house for dinner and sharing delicious meals with friends. I have missed creating recipes and the telling you the stories behind them. I’ve longed for the creative outlet that writing this blog has provided me.

Honestly, I’ve spent most of October talking about getting back on track with blogging but it just hasn’t happened. When I saw a recent post about National Blog Posting Month or NaBloPoMo I decided that it was just what I needed to get back in the habit of blogging. Essentially I’m committing to blogging every day in November. It’s a lofty goal but I’m hoping it gets me back in the habit of blogging.

I’ve been creating a few recipes that I’m excited to share! I can’t wait for you to join me this month as I get back to blogging.

Original article: Here we go again…

©2025 My Chicken Fried Life. All Rights Reserved.

The post Here we go again… appeared first on My Chicken Fried Life.

For the last 6 years, I’ve done a weekly bible study called Bible Study Fellowship. If you are looking for a study to help your faith grow or to learn how to better study the bible, BSF is worth checking out. It’s an interdenominational bible study and there are groups that meet all over the world. Each week we spend time discussing our lesson in our discussion groups, then the entire class hears a lecture on the passage we’ve studied that week. My kids get to go and have a lesson of their own. During my years of BSF I’ve grown in my faith and made lots of wonderful friends.  The blessings that I’ve received have been numerous.

Each discussion group that I’ve been a part of has been a blessing. Spending 9 months studying the Bible with a group of other women always draws you together but this year was special. The words of wisdom shared and the encouragement provided was a precious blessing. I adored my group and was so sad to see the year come to a close.

Thankfully, after our final class, each discussion group enjoys one last lunch together. It seems that lunch often consists of an assortment of salads and this year was no different. One of the salads was similar to this Asian Ramen Cabbage Salad and I decided to be adventurous and give it a try. Oh my goodness! It was love at first bite!

I immediately knew that I wanted to recreate this salad. I had received cabbage in our Door to Door Organics box so I thought it would be fitting to make Asian Ramen Cabbage Salad. A quick Google search showed that there are countless versions of this salad. I decided to put my own spin on this recipe and we were wowed by the results.

Instead of using a bag of coleslaw mix, I chopped red and green cabbage. If you are looking to make this recipe even easier then feel free to use a bag mix. I opted to add the crushed ramen to the salad and let it sit overnight. The dressing softened the noodles, which I liked. If you prefer, you could toast the crushed noodles and add them to the salad with the sunflower seeds and cashews. My family has loved this recipe so much we’l be enjoying it again for lunch this week.

For me, this recipe is a reminder that it’s good to try new things.  Whether a new ingredient or a different cooking style, you won’t know if you like something until you give it a try.  I’d love to know what new foods you’ve tried and ended up loving.

Original article: Asian Ramen Cabbage Salad

©2025 My Chicken Fried Life. All Rights Reserved.

The post Asian Ramen Cabbage Salad appeared first on My Chicken Fried Life.

Before we had kids, we didn’t have great eating habits. We’d eat fast food a couple of times a week. I’d also eat fast food with my co-workers a couple of times a week as well. I had begun making more meals at home but I still wasn’t a great cook. We ate lots of processed food and very few fruits and veggies.

When I was pregnant with Blythe I gained 60 pounds. Yes, 60 pounds. I didn’t change my eating habits and it showed. We welcomed Blythe into our family but our eating habits didn’t change. She started eating purees so she ate lots of fruits and veggies. Then we moved to solid food. It was the first time I realized that Blythe would be eating the same foods that Currey and I were eating.

I knew that we’d have to start making shifts in our diet. I also knew that if I completely overhauled our diet, it would never stick. So we started with baby steps. Fresh veggies and fruit began to enter my grocery basket. I started trying new vegetable dishes and kept the fridge stocked with fresh fruit. Surprisingly, I realized that I didn’t miss all the junk I’d been eating.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I still love a great burger and fries but I don’t eat them a couple of times a week anymore. Over the last 4 years, we’ve made lots of small steps toward healthier eating. And it’s amazing where those baby steps have taken us. We eat leafy greens 2-3 times a week. My children eat fruit several times a day. We eat salads most lunches and we continue to enjoy all sorts of juices too.

I’ve realized that it really does feel better to eat healthier. A big glass of fresh juice fills me up the same way a salad or sandwich does. I feel good because I’m getting my daily fruit and veggies. Our usual juice is a mix of greens, apples, carrots, cucumber and a lemon but we recently got beets in our Door to Doo Organics box. A quick Google search revealed that beets are great for juicing.

I created this simple recipe and was wowed by the results. Blythe declared the Beet Juice delicious although I’m not sure she was more impressed with the juice or the beautiful pink shade of juice the beets produce. This is hands down my new favorite juice recipe. I’d love to hear what kind of juice you like to make at home.

Original article: Beet Juice

©2025 My Chicken Fried Life. All Rights Reserved.

The post Beet Juice appeared first on My Chicken Fried Life.

Can you believe it’s already June? The month of May just flew by! Each year I marvel at how busy May continues to be. Ballet recitals, parties to celebrate the end of school and so many other events celebrating the beginning to summer. It’s all fun but just keeps us busy.

Every Memorial Day weekend, we kick off our summer with All Church Retreat. Our entire church packs up and goes to a camp in Springfield, Illinois for the long weekend. It’s something that we look forward to every year. The weekend always includes great teaching, delicious meals with our church family and lots & lots of time to build relationships with friends from church. It’s a really wonderful weekend!

One of the highlights of retreat is the night we make s’mores. There is something wonderful about toasted marshmallows and melted chocolate sandwiched between graham crackers. The evening is capped by the marshmallow fight that breaks out every year.  I love sitting around the campfire hanging out with friends.

It’s an activity that we’ve enjoyed so much we’ve brought it back to the youth group.  We decided that a S’mores Bar would be a great way to wrap up the wonderful year we had with our students. I can’t actually take credit for this idea. My mom had seen a S’mores Bar in a magazine and told me she thought it would be a fun activity for our students. Yes, she’s the best! (Hi Mom!!)

A quick search of Pinterest led me to endless possibilities for our event. Apparently we’ve been missing out on this trend for awhile!  I realized that the basic idea is to simply get several choices of crackers, marshmallows, chocolate and spreads. Then your guests can get creative in making each S’more.

For crackers we used graham crackers and Rtiz crackers. While I was initially skeptical about the Ritz, they were a huge hit! The salty cracker was a wonderful balance to the sweetness of the marshmallow and chocolate.

I opted for 4 sauces/spreads for our smokes.  I made Salted Caramel Sauce from Two Peas and Their Pod. It’s my go to Caramel recipe and I have it on hand all summer. We also had peanut butter, Trader Joe’s Cookie Butter and Nutella. Our students loved the cookie butter!

I had regular marshmallows and chocolate brownie marshmallows which were both delicious when toasted. For chocolate we had regular Hershey Bars, Reese’s Cups and Mini Rolos (not pictured). We stuff the Rolo into the marshmallow before roasting which melts it perfectly! The Reese’s Cups were amazing with the Ritz Crackers.

Our students had a blast making all sorts of creations. It was such a fun night and the prep was really easy! If you plan on doing any summer entertaining, this is a really fun and super simple event to host. The possibilities of flavor options are truly endless! I’d love to hear your recommendations of additional ingredients to try with our next S’mores Bar.

Original article: S’mores Bar

©2025 My Chicken Fried Life. All Rights Reserved.

The post S’mores Bar appeared first on My Chicken Fried Life.