No kitchen is complete without basic staple ingredients such as pasta, rice, flour, spices and seasoning in your pantry.

Did you know that there are more than a hundred different pasta shapes. Most pasta is versatile and suitable for use in a wide variety of dishes. When storing pasta in a spaghetti tin make sure the tin is thoroughly dry before filling it with the pasta.
Rice – You can store white rice in an airtight container in a cool dry place. White rice will keep for about a year. You can store whole grain rice for a maximum of six months. …read more

As most of you know, I also write a crafts blog and recently I created clay herb pots as one of my craft projects so I have decided to use the pots to create a herb garden for my kitchen windowsill. Here are the step you can take if you’re interested in creating one for your kitchen.
I started out with three 6” clay pots. Make sure that the pots have a hole in the bottom for drainage. Use a soilless potting mix, I used Scott Miracle-Gro Potting mix. Using a soilless potting mix helps to avoid soil born diseases.
Select herbs …read more

I know this sounds like a no brainer, but how you store your fruits and vegetables will have an impact on their taste when you serve them.  Just about everything can be stored in the refrigerator except for bananas, tomatoes, potatoes, lemons and limes which should be kept in a cool dry area. Garlic and onions should also be kept at room temperature.
Keep all produce separate from any meat in your refrigerator. Crisper drawers help protect and keep your produce moist and aid in the maintenance of freshness for longer periods of time. Mostly all fruits and vegetables can be …read more

Many times when I go to a party, potluck or some other function, I end up finding a great new dish that I’d like to make myself.  When I complement the person, they say, “Oh, it’s really easy.  You just need a little broccoli, some onions, a little this, and a little of that.”  It’s so frustrating because you can’t repeat the dish without the recipe.

Then Wednesday I made a sausage and spinach quiche.  Wouldn’t you know it, someone asked me what was in it.  I think I said something like, “Uhhhhh, some sausage, eggs, spinach, cheese, uhhhh.  Hmmm. Let …read more

When it comes to holidays, Better Homes & Gardens always has great ideas. I always find myself thinking, “That looks easy. Why didn’t I think of that?”. Since their ideas are so cute, I thought you all might need some inspiration for Halloween treats this week. After all, Halloween is only a few day away.
This time, I included a short description of the things needed for each of these cupcake ideas. Perhaps that will help you save some time as you scan through the list. If you’re like me, you’d rather choose a project that you already have the supplies …read more

Fall is here and many of you are looking to cook and bake with yummy ingredients such as pumpkin, cinnamon, and apples.  I’ve searched the internet and found 20 great sounding pumpkin recipes.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal at GoodLife Eats
Pumpkin Waffles at Smitten Kitchen
Black Bean Pumpkin Soup at Smitten Kitchen
Pumpkin Spice Latte from Kettle and Cup
Crockpot Pumpkin Spice Latte from A Year of Slow Cooking
Creamy and Spicy Pumpkin Soup (low carb) at Low Carb Diets
Spicy Pumpkin Bisque at About.com Home Cooking
Baked Stuffed Pumpkin at About.com Home Cooking
Pumpkin Pie and Pumpkin Cheesecake at Pumpkin Patch
Pumpkin Spice Latte Syrup at Think …read more

I have never purchased a store made cake for my kids’ birthdays.  For a few years, I was fortunate to have my mom make the cakes for me.  Due to travel reasons, my mom can’t make the cakes any longer so I try to save money by finding something cute that I can do myself.  Usually I do quite a bit of searching on the internet, decide on some options I can do myself, and then present those to my kids to choose from.  Here are some cool cakes and cupcakes I’ve found.

Animals

frog cupcakes
barn cake with farm animal cupcakes
pony cake
panda cake
monkey cake
dinosaur cake

Sports

easy …read more

A few months ago, I posted a week of Mexican recipes for your enjoyment.  Last week, I made some shredded Mexican beef and wanted to give you the recipe to add to the collection. 

This recipe is great for burritos, tacos, taquitos, and more.  I usually cook a 3-4 pound roast with this recipe and then save half of the cooked roast for the freezer.  It’s nice to pull the cooked beef out of the freezer and have meat that’s ready to use!
 In a crock pot add:

roast (I use one that’s about 3 pounds.)
1 onion, sliced
1/2 bell pepper, sliced
2 beef boullion cubes
Adobo seasoning (salt …read more

I have never purchased a birthday cake for my children. In past years, I was fortunate enough to use my mom’s cake decorating skills to get fabulous cakes. Last year was one of those times.
My son wanted a Lightning McQueen cake for his birthday. I looked around in the stores and tried to figure out what I was going to do. Then I decided to buy the car figurines from the toy section. At $12 for three cars, I thought it was a bit pricey but it was cheaper than buying a cake and then at least he would have …read more

I have been a tad spoiled. In past years, my parents would travel to my kid’s birthday parties and my mom would bake and decorate the cakes. She used to work in a bakery and she always does such a great job with designing and decorating cakes.  By the way, you should have seen the Barbie Princess one she did last year.  I’ll have to put that in another post. 
Anyway, this is the second year that I haven’t had my mom’s cake abilities at hand.  After all, five hours is a bit far to travel for a party.  With a …read more